Infected Blood

Chapter Twelve

After talking to Marco, I rushed in the direction of my house- I've never ran so fast in heels to get home. Draco needed to know this and if he's not there yet I'm going to find that man!

When I got there I lunged inside, but what I saw tore me apart.

Joey was sitting on the couch alone like he was waiting but his eyes snapped up to mine when I came in- I felt my heart tear and I burst into tears.

He jumped up, we ran to each other and hugged tightly. I never thought I would see him again! I squeezed him as tight as I could and he did the same, neither of us said anything to savor the moment for about two minutes- then he said something.

"I f*****g missed you, Kate," he frowned, letting me go and I wiped away tears.

"How did you escape? I thought he killed you after I ran away-" my voice cracked, silencing my statement and he furrowed his eyebrows.

"He didn't kill me- hurt me maybe, but that only lasted a few months. He's the one that let me go! You leaving changed him more than you know, I think his wolf left him- or worse, died..."

Oh... I possibly killed his wolf?

"How do you know?" I asked, hoping he was just trying to freak me out but he frowned at me which only broke my heart more.

"He hates fights, his anger isn't as severe as it should be for a werewolf. I mean, yeah he will still get angry and s**t but he turns down any fighting opportunities- no Alpha would allow someone else to have dominance over them unless their wolf is MIA. He stopped hitting me and that's the first sign I noticed, it only got worse. Kate, werewolves lose nearly every emotion when their wolf leaves or dies. They become numb over time. It's a very bad thing if it's an Alpha because the whole pack falls. Kind of ironic how he starts acting like that after you leave, don't you think?"

His words hurt, I never wanted to kill his wolf... but that explains why he listened to me, why he walked away and didn't argue back.

He obeyed to me.

Did I damage him beyond repair?

"I never meant to," I frowned, Joey looked surprised.

"You care?" He asked, almost perplexed at me and it only made it worse. I'm not that mean!

Am I?

"Of course I do! He doesn't deserve to lose his wolf, he could very well lose his life... I didn't want that, I still want him to be okay- there are innocents in that pack," I defended, he slowly grinned at me and my rage grew at the stupid look on his face.

Okay, so maybe I'm rethinking the whole I miss him thing.

"You have feelings for him, don't you?" He smirked, pushing me back and I scowled as he continued his fun, "caring for the man who tortured your brother- what a love story! So how did it start?"

It didn't last long, thank god, because the door opened and Draco came inside with Claire- she was confused but he was just as shocked as I was. We thought he died years ago, only this time Joey was in shock too.

"Draco?" "Joey?" They asked simultaneously, looking at me and I felt embarrassed so I ran to Claire. They officially hugged which was weird for guys, then they ended it and he explained everything.

"While they do that, I need to go see him," I frowned, Claire gave me a hug and looked at the boys.

"See who?"

"Tiago, your old Alpha, I think I killed his wolf," I responded, her reaction shocked me.

She got angry, pushing me slightly and scoffing, "excuse me? That's not right! You cannot be his mate- you're human."

My eyebrows shot up by her sudden outburst, she's never gotten physical with me but that little shove said a lot. Did she have feelings for Tiago? Was she his actual mate? What is he to her? Why does she care that much?

It slightly bothered me, Tiago wasn't hers so I don't see why she's getting so defensive! I know he wouldn't lie about us being mates.

"Yes, actually, we are. I rejected him several times and it's been years since I seen him last because he didn't want me, aside from tonight, however- he was acting strange..." I trailed off, at this point everyone was staring at me with different expressions.

Claire looked pissed for whatever reason, Draco was pale and horrified, and Joey was surprised- it seems like everything surprises him since he came back.

"You saw him?" Everyone screamed at me, different tones that matched their faces and I felt cornered.

"Yes! At the club with Aaron, he was there! He let me go though, he wasn't fighting for me anymore," I said, the realization made me want to cry but I stayed strong in front of them.

Claire made an angry shriek, "you slut!" She cried, taking off out the door and everyone stood in their spots- perplexed at her outburst.

What the hell was that?

"You saw him?" Draco echoed again throughout the house and Joey rolled his eyes, taking over his words, "simmer down, Draco. He's not doing very good, no need to worry about him."

"Then we have to kill him now-" Joey shut him up with a slap, I looked at the floor with a frown because of the fact nobody wants us to be together- only the moon goddess.

Maybe I shouldn't want him...

"It's okay, Kate! He's an asshole, it's good he's suffering. I'm glad we don't have to watch you attempt to convince him for peace," he added, Joey slapped him harder and my frown deepened.

"Yeah... right," I said sadly, walking out to my backyard and sitting on the grass as the night breeze hit my skin.

The way the night sky looked was peaceful, it calmed me down a lot from the overwhelming people in the house.

Just when everything was working out for me the moon goddess decides to ruin my happiness, am I destined to live in misery my whole life?

"What are you going to do?" A voice asked, I jumped out of my skin and let out a tiny shriek. I glared at the culprit only to see Marco staring at me in all seriousness.

Where the f**k does he keep coming from? Killing my mood already bad mood!

"I don't know," I replied, shaking my head and sitting back in the position I was in before he scared the crap out of me, "this is difficult."

He was nodding, "I understand, I've made difficult decisions too. Knowing if you made the right one or not matters more, but you'll know in time... just follow your heart- not your head."

I didn't reply, instead he added on after a moment, "can I ask you a serious question?"

That question alone made my heart drop, "sure..." I trailed off in fear of his response.

"Why are you so set on hating him?"

The questioned stumped me, the answer was easy by all means but it was not something I was expecting to be open about with his right hand man. He could go back and tell him!

"No, I'm not going to tell him. I need you to trust me, secrets remember?" he laughed, reading my mind and I eyed him suspiciously but he shut me down, "don't be silly, I can't read minds! I just know how predictable people are."

Yeah, Marco... secrets.

He seemed slightly nervous now but I changed the subject back to his question, "honestly, he's way too intimidating and stern. He has an unlovable persona, he's so closed off- I like that a little but he won't even talk to me about it and he's always snappy! Plus he's a wolf, I'd be going against everything I believed in if I got with him and my family here doesn't want us together."

He stared at me weirdly, "you're joking, I hope at least, he's not like that. I bet you've never tried to understand him, I know for a fact if you genuinely asked him to be honest with you- he would in a heartbeat. You're the love of his life. He's in a tough situation but you'll always be what he truly wants- even if he says otherwise, you can't expect him to be okay in the snap of the fingers! May I remind you, Luna, you are also against his beliefs being a serpent and all. Neither of you can control who you are but it is fated for you and him to fall in love- you're soulmates! You shouldn't fight it nor try to change it. Maybe it's a sign to end the wars between species, if people saw a wolf and serpent hybrid it would stop all wars because this is the biggest one yet!"

He made me shake my head, "no, it doesn't even matter. I'll never be with him, I'd rather be with you! Why can't I be mated with you?"

His mouth opened to reply but nothing came out, he was stunned at the sentence and I started to blush the longer he just stared at me in such bewilderment. I figured he would've known this when I kissed him... apparently not. Things would be much easier if it were me and him...

"Don't ever say that," he said, the words were severely unpleasant, "you are my Luna, not my mate! I am to help protect you when the Alpha is away and that is strictly all. I'm sorry, but I don't want to be with you. I have a mate."

"Well I can't be with him! Is Pj available? I'm sure he'd take me! I have to avoid that dreadful man so maybe if I runaway with Pj since you refuse-"

"Why the f**k are you acting like this?" He snapped, "stop saying that, it's not f*****g funny! Why are you doing this?"

"Because I dated Draco for a year and I don't want to hurt him anymore than he already is!" I wailed, the words on the verge of breaking and he went pale- paler than usual which is strange because werewolves are normally tan. He's not too tan like he should be, he's more pale but not that pale. As of right now he's a ghost.

When he didn't reply, I looked down with embarrassment, "it was a few months after Tiago told me to leave... he was treating me right and I fell for him-"

"Katerina," he said, his voice firm and it frightened me. Hearing him say my name made it worse and I was truly afraid of what he was going to do next.

"I was wrong! We didn't last! It's not like that anymore, it happened during a bad time for me-"

"Katerina!" He barked, his voice scarier than before and I was about to hide in a trash can, "you sent Tiago's wolf into depression because you decided to fall in love with someone else!"

"W-what?" I asked, frowning at him and guilt began to form.

"His wolf feels everything! You literally loved another guy, to his wolf that was like being shot in the heart with silver on repeat but never dying! The entire time he had your heart that wolf was going through the worst pain imaginable!" He yelled, scoffing yet his voice was breaking- he was hurting for his Alpha and it only shattered my heart more.

I can't believe I did this...

"I never meant to-" I reached over, taking his wrist but he tore himself away and stood up.

"Don't touch me!" He snarled, his eyes flashed a strange scarlet color and he turned away frantically, "now because of you, we are quickly becoming rogues. You ruined our pack, without an Alpha we fall."

I frowned but realized werewolves only have a limited amount of colored eyes- scarlet not being one of them.

What is he?

Looking at my hands, I sighed and thought about the chaos I just caused, "I'm sorry-" I started but when I looked back up but he was no longer there which was no surprise.

I destroyed everything.