Moon Blood (COMPLETE)

Chapter Nineteen: A Mother's Love

Neil hadn't wanted to go home. But here he was, tucked in bed with David and James sitting at his side.

"You guys don't have to stay with me, you know. I won't do anything stupid."

"We're not here because of that," said James, "we'll just stay until your mum gets home."

Neil plopped his head on the pillow: even if he wanted to protest, he was exhausted. Weary from crying his eyes out, his face was still hot. He hadn't cried like that since he was a child and even now they had gone and dried up, his chest was hollow and tight. "This is weird," Neil said to the pair.

"We know. It's very weird, but it's obvious now you've been having a hard time. We should have noticed."

Neil shook his head. "Don't worry about it." He was falling asleep. "What does the moon look like in the sky?"

"Huh?" James peered out of the window as the curtains fluttered. "What's that question supposed to mean?"

"Just curious." Neil's voice was barely a whisper.

"Dunno, it's a cloudy day. All I see is grey."

Neil's eyes were closing. "Too bad."

"Do you like me, Neil?"

Neil jumped awake and gasped at the sentence he couldn't bear to hear ever again, and found the face of his mother, who looked pinched and strained. It immediately melted when she looked at him. "I'm sorry, were you awake?"

"I don't know." He looked up at his mother. Since puberty had grown all over his body, it had become such a challenge to even look her in the eye. As an only child and a dad he barely saw, Neil had sought solace in his friends, but James and David were just as clueless as him. Sure, they had passed a bit of pot and porn between each other, but being honest about their changing bodies had not been discussed even casually. He was alone in this body, a body that he didn't even really know anymore. Was it just a shell where he hid the wolf? Was his human side still human?

"I'm sorry, hon, I shouldn't have asked. I know you do, it's just me being a worrywart like always." She smiled and stroked down his linen idly.

"Of course I do, mum."

A moment passed, charged with electric. His mum's eyes glistened and he took her in his arms. Mother and son who had avoided physical contact for literally years, broke down in the embrace, relishing times past when she would carry him back to bed because he was scared of the shadows on his bedroom wall, or when he had fallen from his bike and his eyes were brimming with tears. Neil had always been a child that wouldn't drop everything and bawl his eyes out. He was quiet, reserved and introverted, and hated the spotlight. He still did.

"If there's anything troubling you, Neil, you know you can tell me."

"I know, mum." It tore at him that he couldn't tell her how scared he was. She wouldn't understand. No one understood except Ruby and her family. Strangers he'd fallen in love with. As if she had felt the tremors in his heart, his mum squeezed him harder.

"I love you."

"I love you too, mum."

A week passed. Neil watched the moon slowly slip into invisibility as the days ticked on. He knew Hettie and her cronies were close by, watching him, ensuring he was where they thought he would be. Every other hour he would catch her scent on the wind and shudder. Penned in by them, who had labelled him as their property. And not only that, but he hadn't even told Ruby about what had happened to him the last time he had transformed. His burning shoulders, his feet not touching the ground. It made his head hurt to think about it: there was still so much left undiscovered about what he was.

David and James had been more vigilant too, asking how he was and offering a small solace during lunchtime. Ruby watched them from her own social circle. Ever since they had spent the night together, the air had been awkward between them. She didn't have a phone so he couldn't contact her outside of school, and James and David orbited him. It wasn't until Friday evening that he saw her sitting on the field eating a sandwich.

"Hey." He sat down cross legged and his bag slumped off his shoulder. She watched him, chewing slowly and an indistinguishable look on her face.

"Hi."

"Nice warm day, isn't it?" he said, cringing as the words fell out of his mouth. He flushed and dug in his bag to look for his lunch.

"How are you feeling, Lowell?"

Ruby was never one for beating about the bush, and in this instance, it was very welcome as all potential small talk was lopped off at the neck. Neil didn't see the point in not being blunt.

"Like shit. There's too much to process, too much to think about: I may or may not be a murderer. I have two clans of wolves that want to use me for a sperm bank. My mum barely knows who I am anymore. I don't know who I am anymore. I'm fed up, Ruby. I don't want to keep running or denying what I am. I want to fight, I want to fuck, I want to live without being scared anymore. I want to try and live normally in this abnormal life."

Ruby swallowed the last bit of her sandwich and set it down. For a while, Neil worried she hadn't even been listening, but that was soon thwarted when she leapt at him, the momentum taking them both onto the grass. She squeezed him.

"I want all that too. It's not enough just to try and hide and hunker down anymore. Let's fight them, Neil! Let's tell Lily and Daisy after school!"

She pulled away and kissed him lightly on the lips. "And we'll find out what happened that night: if you don't remember then nothing is confirmed. Don't forget Lily can sniff out anything. We'll cross that bridge when we come to it, but for now, let me train you, teach you a few moves of mine: I bet you've been dying to know my secrets."

Neil smiled.