Not Even Human

Chapter Ten

“What do you mean?”

Benjamin slapped the back of his son’s head, “My son is an i***t, excuse him. You just have to be engaged, technically. And when the initiation ball comes in sixteen days, you’ll be instated into our clan officially. Afterwards, you’ll just state you both had irreconcilable differences.”

I hummed, “Oh. Not that bad-“

Benjamin dismissed your statement, “Its not that simple. You see, the werewolves and vampires do have their small share of… hybrids here and there and some even stay in this tower themselves."

"They do?"

"Only like, two." Gabe shrugged.

"But they regularly converse. Now, your engagement must look as convincing as can be. No one, and I mean literally no one, outside of this room can know of the illegitimacy of this.” Benjamin whispered.

I looked to Gabriel, doubt creeping in my mind. He had millions of flings, from what I heard from his sister, and suddenly he was supposed to be a devoted fiancé?

“I understand your worries, young one. But this is foolproof. As a matter of fact, you will start a fake relationship tonight, then announce your engagement this time next week. Capiche?”

Gabriel and I nodded as he exited onto the elevator, and I looked to Gabe with a sheepish smile.

He sighed as he got closer, gently grabbing my wrists and examining my healed palms. “What were you thinking?”

“She was in trouble…” I trailed off, looking up at him with conflicting emotions. “I just wanted to help-“

“Well, you screwed us all.” He let go of me abruptly, walking away from me and looking out the window. I sighed bitterly, getting annoyed. He sighed again, “I’m sorry, okay? But the wolves have been ready to start a new war for a while now. You stomping on them, egging them on… It’s not only pissed them off, it’s reignited something that we’ve been trying to put out.”

I ran a hand through my hair, “But they were gonna kill Reyna-“

“Reyna is a turned one. She just would’ve been a casualty-“

“Dude, are you dumb? Them killing her would’ve started the war anyhow, wouldn’t it?”

“Yes, maybe, but not in the next fourteen days!” He shoved past me, and I scowled before gripping at his arm to stop him.

“What’s your problem? Why are you taking it out on me?” I spoke softly at the end, feeling slightly guilty for making him so stressed out. Gabriel sighed again, for the millionth time before turning back to me.

“There could be many casualties. Imagine all the people who will suffer..”

I could read between the lines. He had lost someone... Regardless, I scoffed under my breath, "I'm sorry. But I'm not going to apologize for helping her."

"Next time, just be tactful about it." He spoke sharply, before looking at me with a soft gaze. "I'm glad you're okay though."

I chuckled. "Me too."

He smiled, “Listen, about our… engagement. We don't actually have to go through with this if you don't want to."

"Yeah, we kinda do." I said, shaking my head. "I'll head home-"

"Right. Yeah, I'll... see you tomorrow. After school, I was thinking you should train a little. For protection."

"Okay. Sounds like a date." I teased with a smile.

Gabe looked surprised, "Huh?"

"You know, for our little ruse."

"Oh. Right." Gabe chuckled, looking relieved. I shook my head, smiling at his relief as I went into the elevator.

-

Monica scowled to herself as she looked down at her journal. She didn't know what to write...

She heard cursing from downstairs in her Pack House, and out of curiosity, she opened her bedroom's door to hear what was going on.

Her brother's voice could be heard from below.

"A leech stomped on me! Stomped!"

She grit her teeth at the thought of someone harming her brother. She came out of her room, going down the stairs as she called out to him. "What happened?"

"Some leech passed the border tonight." His friend beside him spoke up, bitter about the whole ordeal.

"Then another came to help and had us go on a wild goose chase while the other escaped. But she was... faster." Another wolf spoke up, the three of them in the living room as they recalled the negative event. "Like a royal."

Monica's brother scoffed, "I swear if I see that redhead again, I'm gonna kill her."

Monica stiffened. "Did you say redhead?"