Kieran
I remembered it all.
Most people would want to forget it. They'd want to forget the sheer, uncontrollable rage that sprung upon them, the way the blood of their loved one tasted, the sound of a pain filled scream that they'd caused.
I didn't want to forget it. If I forgot it, I would'nt have been able to get up, put my clothes on, and walk out the door. That same brush of panic hit but only for a second before it slipped away, smothered by grief that made me shake.
I didn't see anyone as I went to the garage, took the first car that I saw, and drove.
It had stopped snowing. All around there was nothing but a sheen of white. It was about two in the morning, so no other cars were around. If I didn't have a bond in my head, I could pretend that I was the only person alive.
It was around eight o' clock in the morning, Danny woke up just as I was filling up at a gas station. If I had been driving, I probably would have crashed the car from the sheer amount of emotion that came from his end.
Fear, confusion, dazed sleepiness, and--this hurt the most--relief.
I couldn't blame him for feeling it. But it still felt like a kick in the balls.
The gas pumped clicked, shooting me back to the gas station. Feeling like I was going to throw up, I replaced the pump, put the cap back on and got back in the car. Then I leaned forward and rested my head against the cold steering wheel and breathed.
Something came from Danny's end, but it sounded all muddled and indiguishable, like he was trying to talk to me while we were both underwater. I put it in the back of my mind, cranked the car up and started to drive again.
Around four o' clock, sick of the road, I parked at a cheap motel and paid for a single room. It smelled like air freshener and underneath that, cigarettes, sweat, and sex. I kicked off my shoes, took of my jacket, and crawled into the bed in the middle of the room before passing out.
Someone banging on the door woke me up.
I wiped at my cheeks, dimly aware that I'd been crying in my sleep. "I'm coming," I barked, shoving away from the bed. The room was freezing because I had't turned on the heat before I'd gone to sleep.
I was about to open the door when a smell drifted out from under the gap of it.
Shifters.
The hair on the back of my neck stood straight up. I stopped with my hand still on the knob, tense.
"Who is it?" I called.
"Just open the door, Night." A female voice replied. "We don't have time for this."
She sounded familiar, but I couldn't be sure. I looked toward the window, debating on whether I should just open it and jump out, but then she spoke again.
"And don't even think about running again. I've got boys out in the parking lot who are are ready to take care of you. And they won't be gentle."
I was tired. I was hungry. My mate was hundreds of miles away, which was no one's fault but my own.
I opened the door.
Dara Killian was a beta that I was vaguely familiar with from the Hart Pack. She was a wolf, but had strange markings, like a tiger's. Her skin was dark but her teeth were white as she bared them, pushing past me to walk into the motel room. Behind her, a skinny man with glasses and a twitchy eye was holding a bunch of grocery bags.
"There's a good boy." she condescendingly patted me on the head as she brushed past to enter the motel room. "Why aren't the lights on? What are you, a vampire now?"
"Please, Dara," I said, shutting the motel door, "Come on in."
"Don't you get all sarcastic with me, Night. I've got better things to do than run around chasing after little boys." she flipped the lights on and I was left blinking in the aftermath, my eyes fighting to adjust to the sudden brightness.
"Sit down somewhere and eat," she ordered as the skinny guy set the bags on the small corner table and started to unload them. "I could hear your stomach growling from the other side of the door."
Pride nearly made me ignore her. Hunger took over. Before I knew it I was tearing into microwaved calzones, sucking down bottle after bottle of water and shoving down some of the sweetest cookies that I'd ever tasted. I finished all of it so fast that it was a wonder I hadn't choked.
Meanwhile, Dara had made herself comfortable on my bed. She was flipping through channels on the ancient TV, her expression bored. She finally settled on a reality TV show where two women were screaming at each other.
"Jamison," she said without looking away from the screen, "Ten bucks says this Shelby chick is a shifter."
The skinny guy was standing in the corner with his hand in his pockets. His eye twitched as he replied, in a deeper voice than I expected, "Them? No."
"They've got the fire," insisted Dana. "Baby alpha, what do you think?"
I was too full and fuzzy headed to argue about the nickname. "Uh," I said, tilting my head a bit, "Human."
Dara sighed. "Guess I've got to take your word for it," she said, shifting further back into the pillows. "You definetely know more about humans than I do, kid."
I froze. Had news spread that fast?
Dara saw the movement. Her mouth tilted up, but her smile didn't seem remotely friendly this time. "What? You honestly thought you could keep your freakish mating to yourself?"
My hand was around her throat before I could even blink. "You--" I snarled, claws coming out to press against her dark neck--
And the clear sound of a gun being cocked filled my ears. I turned blood red eyes toward Jamison, who was calmly pointing it at my head. He didn't have a twitch anymore.
"Now," Dara said, slightly breathless from the pressure against her throat, "This carpet is nasty enough without adding blood to the mess, fellas."
I looked into her eyes for a long moment. And then I let her go, stepping back with my arms at my sides. My teeth felt too big for my mouth, the sharp edge of fangs thinly slicing my gums. The taste of blood just reminded me of Danny and his screams.
Your freakish mating...
I walked into the bathroom and slammed the door shut behind me.