Chosen By The Moon - First In The Red Wolf Series.

𝕮𝖍𝖆𝖕𝖙𝖊𝖗 18

When I got to Henry’s house, I found Jasper and Addison playing a video game in Addison’s room. Evan was alone in a corner reading a book and listening to some music on his headphones.

“Where is Henry?” I growled, startling Jasper and Addison.

“Shït! I think my soul just left my body,” Jasper exclaimed, putting a hand on his chest.

“What did you do that for?” Addison asked with a scared expression.

My gaze almost softened when I took in their scared expressions, but when I remembered what Emma told me, I hardened my features and growled again so loud that even Evan looked up. “Where. Is. Henry?”

“Packhouse,” Evan replied. “Is something wrong?” I ignored him and ran to the packhouse in the middle of the pack’s territory. Henry had better got a good explanation for what I heard. I got to his study and was about to knock when I heard voices from the other side.

“-are you doing this?” I recognised Henry’s voice behind the door and it drew my attention and I pressed my ear against the door. Call me a creep, but I needed to know what was going on.

“Because I love you,” whispered a female voice. Wait, a female? “Don't tell me you didn’t enjoy what we did? We could do it again if you like?”

What did you do? No, it can't be…

Without a second thought, I flung the door open and barely took a step forward when the image before me shattered my fragile heart into a zillion pieces.

Henry was bare-chested, wearing only a pair of sweatpants and Anastasia wearing nothing but a bra and underwear. She had her hands around Henry’s neck and her chest pressed against Henry’s. Both their attention was turned to the intruder—me—that seemed to disrupt their moment.

I took in their countenances; Henry had a face like someone caught doing something he shouldn’t have, and the girl had a smug smile on her face.

“It’s true…” I whispered numbly. I felt the fragments of my heart that I tried so hard to put back together explode within my soul. I tried to love. I tried to give myself a second chance to love.

But I only ended up hurting myself. I couldn’t even bring myself to cry, because I was warned.

They say only the heart knows what it wants. Well, my heart only knows what’s harmful to it.

“Chloe, I…it’s not what it looks like, I can explain-”

I was done hearing that sentence. It’s not what it looks like. I was done hearing the lies from the people I loved so much that it hurt. For the second time, I made a fool out of myself.

As backed away from the door I felt my throat constricting and my breathing slowing down. I felt the air being sucked out of my lungs by a searing pain in my chest; I needed to get out of there.

I gasped and ran to the door, clawing at my throat, desperate for air. When I was out in the open, I began to run as fast as I could towards the pack borders with a goal in mind:

I needed to get away from here.

As I got to the edge of the borders, tears began to flow like a broken dam. Like my broken-beyond-repair heart. I barely got to the boundary when a huge mass of brown fur knocked into me, pushing me to the ground. From the sparks that erupted on my skin, I knew that it was Henry.

My vision turned red and without a second thought, I sent a kick Henry’s way, which made him fly back a few feet with a sharp bark. “Don’t touch me,” I seethed. With a final look at the wolf on the ground, I began to run again, away from him.

He seemed relentless because he soon caught up to me and pushed me to the ground. Grunting, I wedged my elbow between me and Henry’s furry neck. With a push, I flipped Henry onto his back and grabbed his neck, carefully avoiding his sharp, deadly teeth and settling between his legs.

“I said, do not touch me!” Unexpectedly, I unsheathed a knife from my belt buckle. I know what you’re thinking, how many knives do I have? Well, enough to go to war with. In my defence, they are for self-defence.

I pressed the knife on his furry neck. “I should kill you for what you did to me. I should kill you for the agony you put my heart, my soul through,” I growled and nudged the knife deeper into his skin, close almost enough to draw blood.

To my surprise, he bared his neck for me to see and stopped growling. His eyes stared back at me with sadness, as if telling me that he surrendered to me. A mix of emotions troubled my spirit as the hand holding the knife noticeably trembled. I tried to hold onto what strand of anger I had left.

Feeling the tears coming back, I threw the knife on the ground and pulled myself away from him. I screamed frustratingly, pulling my hair in anger directed at myself.

“Why! Why can’t I kill you?!” I screamed. “Why does my heart ache when I see you?” I clawed at my hair and bawled my eyes out. “Why does it hurt so much?” Slowly, I sank to my knees in tears as my voice reduced to a whisper. “Why?...”

Slowly but surely, he approached me tentatively. When I looked at him with my tear-streaked face, I felt my heart ache all over again. He slowly sank to his knees before me and rested his head on my lap.

I ran my hand through his fur, seeking comfort, which was ironic, coming from someone who just broke me again. He purred and rubbed his face on my cheek. I sighed and ruffled his fur. “I can’t do this anymore, Henry. I…”

I shook my head and stared at the crescent moon above.

Hope…

I need to be strong.