Hybrid

THIRTY

⫷ ARIA ⫸

"Oh, thank God!" Arms wrap securely around me and suddenly, although I'm not sure why, I feel extremely safe.

"Kasey," I breath out a sigh of relief.

She lets go of me, keeping her hands on my shoulders in order to observe me from head to toe. "James hasn't found you yet, has he?"

I shake my head, causing strands of hair to brush freely across my cheeks.

She sighs heavily. "Good. Who knows what he would have done?" A devious grin spreads across her face. "Then again, maybe I should have let him find you."

"He's my mate." The words spill from my lips faster than I can stop them. They cause reactions that I was expecting; surprise and hope.

Kasey's eyes widen at my sudden revelation and it appears as though she thinks I've got all of my memories back. Oh, how I wish that were the case. "Do you remember?"

"No." Her face falls at my reply. "Is he?"

"Yeah. He is. Not a very good one at the moment, though. Don't tell him I said that. He is my Alpha after all... I mean... my boss."

I roll my eyes at her just as we begin walking. "You're a werewolf too, then? Who isn't?"

She gasps. "Who told you?"

"That doesn't matter."

"Sure it does! Gosh, we had such a good plan going! I bet it was Charles. I knew he couldn't be trusted the moment I met that boy. Ugh, now I'm annoyed." Kasey glances over at me with concern etched on her features. "Your brain isn't going to explode by the overwhelming information, is it?"

"Um... well, I hope not."

"Cool! So you know about werewolves. This is good. Tell me what else you know."

My eyes flicker up to the starry night as I go through what had just happened. "Apparently I had a crush on a guy named Carlos."

She starts choking on air, dramatically throwing her arm out in front of her. After regaining herself, Kasey grabs my shoulders so that I'm facing her. "You did not have a crush on him. Trust me." I don't answer, causing her to start shaking me.

"Okay. Okay. I get it."

A sudden smile lights up her face. "Good." She spins around and starts walking forward again.

Wow, this girl is a handful.

After a few seconds of silence, Kasey suddenly stops walking. Her face is blank and her body stiff as she reads from her glowing cellphone. I wait a few moments until she blinks a few times and looks over at me with regret in her expression. "I guess I have to take you home. Honestly, that guy is way too grumpy."

"Who?"

She flashes me a reassuring smile. "Nobody. Come on. Caleb should be here with a car soon. We'll drive you home."

I nod slowly. "Okay." I follow behind her, wishing the travel back to my house is longer, but it passes far too quickly.

So empty.

Hours later, my tired arms hold my knees tightly against my chest in some form of desperate protection. I left my nightstand lamp on and every other light in the house is off.

I don't think I've ever stayed in this house completely alone. It's unnerving and, frankly, I'd rather sleep on Charles' cramped, uncomfortable futon then deal with this emptiness.

A heavy sigh deflates my lungs and I'm left feeling the utmost discomfort of the silence around me. It's so quiet that I'm able to pick up the shuffling from outside of my window. In a flash, I'm up and ready to investigate.