Chasing the Moon

When I awoke I soon found that I didn't have the energy to force my eyes to open, to make my body move, or even to make a single sound. I could hear feet shifting, but I didn't know who it was until I heard them speak.

"Oh my God, Jonathan! I can't believe you!" Aiden hissed. I heard the sound of hair being tousled by a shaky hand.

"What are you talking about now? You should be happy. Maybe she lost that bastard's kids. That's what you wanted, isn't it?" Jonathan didn't sound half as worried as Aiden.

"What if they... What if they're really mine?" I had to strain to hear the words that came out as a soft breath.

"You said so yourself that she told Marshall that they're not yours. Don't beat yourself up. Leave her behind and find someone who deserves you, not this leech."

"She's not a leech, Johnny. She's just like me. And I still love her." He sounded like he was going to cry.

"Man, who are you going to trust? I'm your best friend, she's a hooker. I told you that she just wanted a quick fuck and you were there. That's it, I'm telling you."

"She said that's a lie. She said she meant it every time she said she loved me. She said that I'm going to be a daddy. She said..."

"She lied."

"How do you know?"

"I saw her with Marshall Wynn. And some other guys. I've seen her with plenty. She seemed pretty intimate with them all."

I wanted to throttle that boy! I just couldn’t believe what he was saying about me; he had acted so nice when Aiden and I were together! And yet, now, he seemed to have wanted Aiden and I to split up long ago. I could see myself tearing the boy’s heart out of his chest, and I could almost smell his blood being spilled. It smelled more heavenly than the wine the Gods would drink from a chalice.

"She said I was her first... Jonathan, please. I need to talk to her."

"Don't crawl back to the hussy," his friend spat. Then a door slammed.

"Gabriella...You're awake aren't you?"

"Yes," I choked out, my voice deciding to work suddenly. I pushed the thoughts of murdering Aiden’s best friend out of my mind. I forced my eyes to open with much difficulty and found that I was in the school infirmary on a small bed. I sat up only to be pushed back down.

"Don't. I don't know how bad off you are...or if your kids are okay." He sighed, sitting on the edge of the small cot. "I just want a straight answer for once. You say one thing, and other people say another thing. I just want to know what's real."

"Jonathan made up that bullshit about me sleeping around, didn't he? Because I didn’t!” I bit my lip as I realized that I was practically begging him to come back. With composure, I added, “Your friend is a filthy fucking liar.”

“Don’t talk about Jonathan like that. He’s my best friend, and I’ve known him my entire life. Why would he lie to me when he knows that you were my whole life? He knows I never expected to find that my world would be found in just one person. Why would he want to crush me?” Sure, that made Jonathan sound noble and just, but it seemed as though Aiden was just trying to convince himself, not me. But what stung my pride the most was the little word “were”. I used to be his life, but now I wasn’t. That hurt me more than any dagger ever could.

“He wants you to be with a perfect little werewolf and leave me and your babies behind you. He doesn’t like me because I’m a half-breed. And I’m used to that, as I’m sure you are, too. Deny it if you want, but we both know that his reason for hating me is race. He’s a racist, Aiden, a racist.”

Aiden opened his mouth, but closed it again before throwing his face into his hands and mumbling, “I can’t just take your word over my best friend’s, Gabriella, and you have to see that. I can’t. You have no proof, but he does—it’s in your stomach.”

“They’re yours!” I hissed, lashing out and catching his sleeve. He jerked himself from me and jumped to his feet.

“I’m sorry,” he muttered, shaking his head. He gingerly took my hand and kissed it, but let it fall again. “I just can’t.”

I watched in despair as he left me alone in the room. The second the door shut behind him, I knew that all hope was gone. I forced myself to my feet and opened the nearby window. I would be leaving nothing behind—no regrets, no faces, no anything. I was sure to close the window after I had gotten out of the building.

I was surely running as fast as the wind. And by the time my tears had fallen, I was miles away from them.