My Lycan Boyfriend's Dark Secret

consequences

*Avery Black*

“I’ve been wondering how long it would take you to find me,” a voice says from the cave below. Barely halfway down the jagged rock surface, I freeze on the spot, unable to move. He knows I’m here. I was right. He is a vampire.

“Calm down, boy, I won’t bite,” he says with a malicious chuckle. Somehow, his reassurance only caused me further unrest.

“How did you know I was coming?” I ask, my voice calm.

“Don’t patronize me child, I have walked this earth for hundreds of years. Who do you think orchestrated turning you into a vampire hybrid?”

“That was you?” I feel my blood boil in anger as I step into the cold, dark cave. I see him standing in the shadows, a cloak draped over his hunched shoulders. His skin is pale to the point of being translucent. His eyes were black as night and he had no sign of hair on his head. He is no doubt the source of children’s nightmares…

“I created you to fulfill a destiny. You have a purpose. The sooner you realize that you have no place in their world, the sooner you can join us.”

“And what would this supposed destiny be? What makes you think I would ever betray my people? I would sooner die.” My fists clench and my muscles vibrate with tension. Killing him will bring me so much satisfaction.

“You can’t kill me,” he says, gliding to stand right before me, “if you kill your creator, you will die along with him. It is one of the most basic rules of nature,” he says, smiling menacingly.

“You can read my mind?” I asked, a frown forming between my brows. “You know what? I don’t care. What makes you think I want to live, anyway?”

He laughs, gliding away from me. The sound of his laugh echoing through the barren cave sent chills down my spine. “Boy, I am almost seven hundred years old. I don’t need to read your mind to know that you cannot protect her if you are dead.”

“You sick son of a-” I said before he pinned me to the rocks with his hand on my throat.

“Your father’s pack is a threat to my coven,” he said, staring into my eyes. “You are going to help me by bringing it down.”

“I won’t do it,” I told him, spitting in his face.

“It seems you will need to be house-trained, dog. Now, sit! If you don’t cooperate willingly, you will force my hand.”

I gulp as he lets me go, dropping to my knees like a rag doll.

*Oceania Burns*

After falling to my knees, clutching at my chest as if someone had ripped my heart from its cavity, I lay there in the sand. I cried until there were no more tears to shed and my throat became sore and dry. My body was so tired that I didn’t have the energy to stand and walk back to my room. I lay there like a discarded piece of trash.

I open my eyes to the sun glowing on my cheek. FUDGE. What time is it? I scramble to my feet without brushing the sand off my face or clothes. This can’t be happening. Sherbet! I run through the woods barefoot and in my shorts and t-shirt. Maybe it’s not too late. Hopefully, nobody noticed that I was gone. It is against the rules to venture out on our own. The offence was serious enough to be disciplined for. As soon as I reach the edge of the woods, I notice them. The entire team of security officials stationed at every entrance. The senior class sat in the middle of the courtyard, legs crossed on the damp grass. Our school principal pacing back and forth in front of them. Fudge! I inhale a deep breath, my heart sinking in my chest when I notice the absence of him. You can do this, I tell myself, forcing my legs to move me forward.

“There she is,” I hear the first guard exclaim as he points to me.

“You’re in a heap of trouble,” our house mother says, grabbing my arm and pulling me to the center of the courtyard. My peers giggle and roll their eyes when they see me. It is only Steph, my only genuine friend on campus, that has a look of concern on her face. She gestures for me to wipe my cheek. I take a moment to process what she is showing me but when I finally understand and wipe my fingers over my skin, I feel the coarse feeling of cakes sand. My cheeks burn with embarrassment as House Mother leads me to the Principal who stood with his arms crossed and his foot tapping impatiently on the lawn.

“Oceania Burns, I am terribly disappointed. I never summed you up as a rebel,” he says. Marge bursts out with laughter in the crowd and covers her mouth with her hands to hide it when everyone looks her way.

“Let this serve as a warning to all of you. If you break the rules set before you, you will suffer the consequences. Oceania will clean the bathrooms and emptying the trash for the rest of this month.” I am looking into the crowd as he speaks and see Marge restrain her laughter. She is enjoying this.

“Miss Burns, you may have a seat,” he says.

Steph moves over to clear a space for me to sit next to her. She feels sorry for me. I can see it in the way her brows pinch together.

“Happy birthday,” she whispers wearily when I sit next to her. Yes, I feel sorry for myself too. There is nothing happy about this birthday, the biggest and most important one of my existence. All I have to look forward to is running into a mate who doesn’t want me and being punished for crying myself to sleep. I can’t wait for this nightmare to be over and go back home.