Cursed

I almost lost it when I landed on top of Kieran. Not that I was going to attack him, at least… not in the dangerous sense of the word. I don’t know which one scared me more though. If I had done what I really wanted to do, I would’ve humiliated us both in front of a bunch of Shailey’s friends.

But it opened up, no, it slammed open the idea that I really did like him just because he was himself and not because of some kind of senses bullshit. Well, okay, it’s not completely bullshit and I know it. However, even if I have realized it, I could never tell him.

Tears even pricked at my eyes at that thought. If I told him I liked him, I could be rejected. If I wasn’t rejected and we dated, how would he react to me being a werewolf?

So, even if he does, by some miracle, actually like me, I couldn’t date him anyways. Not while being this… this monster.

Then… then I just won’t date him. But I’ll stay by his side and protect him; the only thing that I can do under this curse. But then I’ll have to watch him start his own family with another person, not me. Could I really stand it if that happened? I suppose I would have to.

As soon as I woke up, I was on my feet. I walked into the kitchen to see both of my parents at the table chuckling over something they were reading. “Hey, what’s up?” I greeted.

“Just reading something a human wrote about werewolves,” my mom said. “They even said that we had clans of more than a hundred of our kind! As if we have nothing better to do than sit around in some secluded area with over a hundred other werewolves and preach about killing people. We’re so much more civilized.”

“Well, almost none of them know about us so they think they can make up whatever they want,” my dad explained. “It’s not entirely their fault.”

I took a seat with my parents and lay my head down on my arms. “What’s wrong Finn?”

“No, nothing,” I lied. How could I tell my parents that I liked a guy? I don’t think they’d have a problem with him being human, but… a male? They probably want me to find a girl and continue the bloodline. “What’s for breakfast?”

“I dunno, whatever you can find; I think there’re pancakes and sausage, I think,” my mom told me.

But just then, there was a knock on the door. Mom’s eyes went wide. “Markus?” She called, before getting up to open the door.

My uncle from my dad’s side of the family stood there. It hadn’t been too long since I’d seen him last but he seemed so… different. I couldn’t put my finger on it, though. His hair was the same, dark and medium length, and his clothes were clean. He seemed to be in good shape but there was something… just… weird about the way he smelled and stood.

“Good to see you, Markus!” My dad said as he hugged his brother. “But, um, what are you doing here? Is anything wrong?”

“No, I just, wanted to check up on you guys,” he said.

“Well, have a seat, we’ll make breakfast,” Mom invited.

“No, I can’t stay long, thank you though.”

“So you just came here to say hi? All the way from North Dakota?”

“Okay, you got me, I just moved to the state, granted, I live about an hour away, but I thought I’d take my day off to tell you guys, but I got a call from my boss twenty minutes ago and he said he wanted me to come in to work in a few hours,” he explained. His nostrils flared before he said another round of goodbyes and ruffled my hair as if I were only ten years old as proceeded to leave.

“That was weird,” I spoke up.

“Yeah, actually, it kind of was,” Mom said, chuckling.

*~*~*~*~*~*

“No! I’ll never let you win!” Kieran yelled as we played a video game in my room. He knocked me over to distract me from landing a final blow to his character.

“You cheated,” I groaned.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about!” He chirped.

“Jerk,” I said, frowning.

“Aww… stop frowning Finnegan, I told you you’d get wrinkles!” He said, poking my forehead in the gap between my eyebrows. Even his simple touch flushed my body with electricity. I know I didn’t want to come to terms with it earlier, but I really do like him. But I also realize that the best thing to do is just protect him from a distance seeing as how I’m a monster and monsters have no place alongside a human.

“Right, right,” I sighed, batting his hand away from my face.

I was still surprised Shailey didn’t warn me not to get any closer to him. However, I didn’t really give her a chance… she’ll probably give me a talk about how I can’t like Kieran because of what I am the first chance she gets.

“My uncle came over today,” I told him. “He was really weird at the time. Not quite how I remember him.”

“Huh, what do you mean?” He asked.

“I dunno, he looked normal but he gave me one of those creepy feelings like something wasn’t quite right and he took an hour drive just to say hi,” I tried to explain. I was sure I could confide in Kieran.

“That’s creeper territory right there!” Kieran cried out.

“It still kind of gives me chills,” I shuddered.

“I’ll keep you safe Finnegan!” He cheered.

I gave him a small smile before going back to the game. I’m pretty sure I was more than capable of keeping myself safe.