Eclipsed Hearts

We’re Not Friends

[Bailey]

“Are you alright?” Ian asked before finally turning away to find a place for his things.

“Does it even matter? If I’m not, it won’t change the fact that those were only three of the people here who want to kill me. I don’t even know how many others fall into that category.” I sighed, leaning back and putting my hands on the mattress behind me. “Who can I even trust?”

He stopped and looked at me. I saw his eyes trail hotly down my body until he shook his head. When his eyes went cold and he turned away, I knew he was distancing himself from me on purpose.

The only question was, was he doing it to avoid getting involved with a hunter or was he doing it because he had his own plans to kill me? Or both?

Before, Ian was just annoying and confusing, but now I understood him. He was a werewolf, and he was my enemy. At least, he was if he was the type that hurt innocent people.

I had some hard boundaries. My parents instilled a sense of morality and justice. I fought for those who could not fight for themselves. It was one reason I didn’t go on pack raids. My clan didn’t care who they killed as long as they were werewolves. All I wanted was to kill the one who killed my family and any werewolf who was like him.

Was Ian like him? He was pretending to be a hunter, but… was he pretending? The way he acted was very similar to the other hunters I knew. He called other hunters for help, which means he’d worked with other hunters before.

“How long have you been hunting?” I asked, pretending that I needed to distract myself from my thoughts.

“I started a couple years after my family was killed,” Ian replied.

“You said that Riverbend Falls was safe for your family. How many survived?” I asked.

He looked at me again, squinting as if he was trying to read me. I slipped my shoes off and curled myself up, drawing my legs to my chest and resting my head and arms on the tops of my knees. Every position I put myself in conveyed trust and vulnerability. I needed to push him, to see what he was hiding.

“I told you, Damson. We’re not friends,” he said before going to grab my things and move them into the closet.

“I don’t need friends. I need allies,” I replied coolly, watching him carefully as he busied himself with my belongings.

“You need to be less fuсking trouble. On the first day we met, I told you I didn’t have time to babysit you. I need to kill that bastard and now you have us holed up in a room instead of getting in with him so we can end his pathetic existence. He’s trying to blackmail me and I should be down with him now, building trust, but I’m here instead.”

“Do you really think I wanted this?! I came here to do a job. This was my last job for my clan. I was finally going to be finished with everything. Whoever did this to me may not realize that, but it doesn’t matter. And I don’t need you lecturing about how if you want to hunt werewolves you should expect to be hunted by them,” I grumbled, turning my head to rest my forehead on my arms.

He annoyed me right from the start. I didn’t know how he did it. No one ever got under my skin, but Ian managed it from his first word to me.

I heard him move and the mattress dipped a little next to me. The gentle heat coming from him instantly transported me back to the sensation of being wrapped in his arms. That’s what threw me off. He hugged me. Did he feel a connection with hunters or was it just me?

Could he have been rebelling against his own feelings? My great-grandfather would be absolutely disgusted. The thought of it was entertaining, but the fear of his anger kept me from exploring the idea further. There would be no internal conflict or emotional battle for him. It was a lesson that I was taught early in life and never forgot.

While out hunting, a werewolf took one of my cousins captive. The team sent to rescue her successfully killed the werewolf, bringing back its head as proof. They then released my cousin in front of my great-grandfather. The leader of the team leaned in close, whispering something into his ear, and in an instant, he drew a gun and fired a fatal shot at her head.

It was silent the whole time. No letting her explain. Later, I learned the werewolf took her because he wanted her to be his mate. After spending some time together, she eventually embraced it. The events may forever remain a mystery, but the contemptuous glare from my great-grandfather is a memory that will never fade. To him, she was lower than dirt. Not even worth giving a chance.

No matter what, I wouldn’t be letting anyone know I let him hug me. Or kiss me. I didn’t believe my great-grandfather would actually take my life over a kiss, but I wasn’t sure if he’d give me a chance to explain.

“Keaton said you told him your name wasn’t Damson. What’s that about?”

“You think you can ask me personal questions, but not answer mine?” I answered with a scoff.

He sighed. “You have a point. I guess I’ve gotten more out of you than you’ve gotten from me. Not everyone died in the attack. I’m taking care of the survivors, making sure they have someone to depend on, but they’re not going to be hunters.”

“It’s not a great life. I can understand why I do it, but not why other people do it. I can’t really understand why you’re doing it. Nothing is holding you to our life anymore. You should do something else, something safer.”

What the hell was I saying? I genuinely meant it, too. I didn’t want him living this life, where every day felt like a struggle to survive. For some reason, I felt a strong sense of protectiveness towards him.

Why, though?

My dad might have thought werewolves could be good people, too, but I’d always been willing to believe the worst about them. Now, I was finding myself thinking of them like humans. I started realizing how much my thinking had changed and how much I’d opened up and acknowledged the softer views I’d always had but never expressed.

"I think we’re both finding ourselves in places we never thought we’d be," Ian replied. “But that’s what happens when you’re forced to adapt and survive.”

He moved closer to me, and I found myself leaning into his heat. Ian wrapped an arm around me and held me close. He smelled good. He always did.

My hunter instincts were urging me to flee or attack, but I found myself unable to heed their calls. I didn’t want to. Although he was a werewolf, our sworn adversaries, I found myself irresistibly attracted to him. Being around him somehow compelled me to confront the truths I had buried deep within myself for the past two decades.

I nestled into Ian’s embrace, feeling the warmth of his body and the steady rhythm of his heartbeat against my cheek. It felt like Ian and I were in our own little bubble. He had a gentle yet firm touch, silently reassuring me. No other person’s hugs had ever felt like his.

“Why can’t we be friends?” I asked softly, feeling vulnerable, but safe in his arms. “Did my family wrong you? Did we meet somewhere else and I did something to make you mad?”

I lifted my gaze to meet his, finding a melancholy light in his eyes. He gave me a loving look and caressed my cheek while tucking my hair behind my ear. His touch sent shivers down my spine as his fingers gently traced the edge of my ear and then the line of my jaw.

I moved, repositioning myself so that I was now straddling his lap. I couldn’t understand my own motivations, but the desire to gaze into his eyes compelled me. They were the most beautiful shade of green I’d ever seen. His lips tightened for a moment, but as I settled in his lap, they gradually relaxed.

Oh, God! What was I doing?

Our eyes met, and a rush of conflicting emotions swept over me. Everything else disappeared, leaving just the two of us in this intense moment. Ian’s touch was gentle as his hand cradled my face, his thumb lightly brushing against my lower lip. I leaned forward, feeling the warmth of his breath mingling with mine. In that moment, our lips brushed against each other, creating a delicate, uncertain connection that sent shivers down my spine.

As our lips met tentatively, I could feel the electricity between us, intensifying the forbidden nature of our connection. The kiss ignited a wildfire of passion within me, sending me on an emotional rollercoaster. With a desperate grip, Ian held me as if he were grasping onto a fading glimmer of hope.

As our kiss deepened, I could feel a rush of emotions flooding through every fiber of my being. The weight of guilt for betraying my clan, shame for indulging in forbidden desires, and an insatiable craving for Ian consumed me completely. Underneath all the guilt, there was this undeniable connection to Ian that went beyond our roles as hunter and werewolf.

But then reality came crashing down on us. Or on him, because I was perfectly content to keep going, but he forcefully pushed me away and tossed me onto the bed as he swiftly moved across the room in just a few strides. I stared after him, feeling cold and abandoned.

Before I could even ask him what the hell that was, someone knocked on the door. Ian went over to check who it was and unlocked the door. He may not have a clue that I knew he was a werewolf, but that would have definitely given it away.

Then again…. As I was thinking about everything that had happened since I arrived in Michigan, maybe I wouldn’t have even noticed. I’d been ignoring and making excuses for a bunch of stuff lately. It was a bit embarrassing. Looking back, I realize I should have pieced together his true nature well before Keaton’s sudden revelation.

Ian closed the door behind Keaton and they talked quietly while I straightened myself out. I realized Ian was keeping Keaton’s focus off of me. I was grateful for him hiding this, but it didn’t escape me that he was probably trying to hide it for a different reason.