Chapter 6
1053 Words
ARIA'S POV
I shoved Caden away from me. "What are you doing, creep?"
The asshole actually looked shocked. Like he hadn't just planted his lips on mine after just meeting me like ten minutes ago. "I was just...don't you feel..."
"I feel like you're a freaking weirdo. Do you invite strangers here and take them outside to try to mack on them? What the hell, man? I don't even know you."
He straightened up. "I'm not a 'freaking weirdo,' as you so kindly want to refer to me as. I'm a lot of things, but weird is not one of them."
"I don't know about you, but meeting someone and immediately trying to make out with them screams all kind of weird to me," I argued.
I turned and started heading back inside, but he grabbed my arm and stopped me. "Wait."
I looked down at his hand. "Excuse me. You're not going to be one of those guys, too, are you?"
“What guys?"
"The ones who don't take no for an answer?"
His nostrils flared. "No. I just wanted to talk more with you. Don't go."
I searched his eyes. I really should have left him there after he forced his lips on me like some deranged high schooler at prom, but part of me wanted to hear what he had to say. Who really thought that was okay nowadays, and why? What was ticking in the ole noggin?
I grabbed his hand and pried it off of me. "Don't grab me again, and I'll listen. But the grabby stuff happens again, and I'm out of here."
He held up his hands. "I'll keep my paws to myself."
Weird again. "Right."
He gestured towards a concrete bench near a rose bush. It was a lovely little setting, so romantic for this creepy conversation. I sat down, ready to hear what he had to say. "So go ahead. Talk about what's in that weird little head of yours."
"You can stop calling me weird. I'm not weird."
"That's not happening anytime soon."
He rolled his eyes. "I'm choosing to ignore you when you talk like that."
"Go ahead, weirdo," I said, grinning.
He pressed his fingers to the bridge of his nose. "Anyways. What did you know about your Grandma Jo?"
"She was the greatest person on Earth and apparently lived a double life helping out a cult I knew nothing about."
He lowered his hand. "She never mentioned anything about us? Not a peep?"
I shook my head. "Nothing."
"What do you know about the rest of your family?"
"Dad was a deadbeat, Mom was kind of wishy-washy. Yada yada, pretty much the same old poor me story. Why? What does that have to do with you?"
"Your father was Jo's child?"
"Yeah, how'd you know?"
He grimaced. "Just a hunch."
"She was nothing like him and didn't like him much from what I could tell. He disappeared when I was like...I don't even know. Two or three, I guess."
"But she stayed in your life."
"Of course. She wasn't going to abandon me. Like I said, she was the greatest person on Earth. Plus, she knew my mom wasn't the greatest. So someone had to be there for me. Now, why does any of this matter, and how is it any of your business?"
He grabbed my hands and placed them in his lap. I snatched them back from him. "What did I say about the grabbing?"
He sighed. "I'm just trying to tell you something here, but I don't know how you will take it. I'm not sure how you're going to take any of this. It's a hard thing to say. Because I don't think you're going to believe me. It's...hard."
"I...what?"
"It's..."
"Just come out and say it, Caden. Stop being weird. You're even weirder than when you kissed me when you just met me."
He closed his eyes and then opened them, his eyes showing a red glow. "Maybe it's better I show you," he said.
I stood up. "How are you doing that?"
"I need you not to freak out."
I started to back away. "What are you?"
When he opened his mouth, instead of human teeth, I saw fangs. He was a beast. A vampire, maybe? "Aria, stay calm."
"Are you a f*****g vampire?"
"What? Don't be crazy."
"You're the one with fangs and glowing red eyes!"
He stood and started walking towards me. I held a hand out. "Get the f**k away from me."
"I'm not going to hurt you. I'm not a vampire. I'm a werewolf."
"And that's less crazy than a vampire?"
"Well, yeah. Werewolves actually exist."
I kept walking backward, not taking my eyes off him. "Are you going to eat me?"
"You're still talking crazy. Werewolves don't eat humans. They never have."
"I'm not taking that risk. You need to back up, buddy, like a good 100 yards. I'm going to take my friend, and we're going to call it a night. We were never here. You and your cult—your little wolf pack or whatever you call it—can go back to howling at the moon or whatever you it is you do."
He closed his eyes, and they returned to their normal shade of brown. "There's more I need to tell you."
"I really don't need to hear it."
My back pressed against the door, and my hand went to the handle. He sighed, "You'll really want to hear this."
"I'm good. I promise."
"You're a shifter, too. Not fully, but Jo...she was a part shifter. Meaning you are. I'm unsure about your mother, but you could be more if she were. Your father may have mated with a part-shifter or full-blooded."
"Get the f**k out of here. Grandma Jo wasn't a werewolf or shifter or what-the-f**k-ever you want to call it. She was my grandma. She was a sweet, little old lady."
"Since you've never shifted or felt the pull of it, you're more diluted. But it's okay. I can help you pull it out. We can all help you."
"I don't want to pull anything out of me. I want to leave."
He reached out to grab me, but I gripped the handle and turned, ducking out the door and starting to run.
- Writer
