Where My Demons Hide

Chapter 8

    At this point, I knew I couldn't forget about the boy I once cared about. It wasn't just because of the impact he left on me, but now I knew that somehow, our lives were intertwined. I wasn't sure how, but I was going to get some answers from him.

    I went into the forest and I began to walk around with no destination in mind. I knew Haiden didn't like to be found, so I knew he would have to find me. Just like last time, I hoped Haiden would feel the need to talk to me. After the kitchen incident, I had a feeling he would.

    Although I didn't like to think of the fear and how I felt when I saw Lydia and Haiden together, I couldn't help but feel warm at the thought of what Haiden did. He said he didn't care about me, but he still protected me. Lydia, his teammate - or something more, was the one who attacked me, but he chose to save me despite of that. I had a feeling that even though Haiden made it seem like he wanted nothing to do with me, he did still care about me.

I walked around for an hour, exploring my forest. It was peaceful and I liked how it felt like home. The forest had been a home to me years ago, when my dad had been around, and I would never forget how it had helped me through tough times. It was like Haiden, in that sense.

"Seriously, do you ever listen?" Haiden said, catching me off guard.

I turned to face him and saw that he was standing meters away, shirtless. His muscles were on full display and I couldn't help but look away, feeling nervous. I wasn't used to being around shirtless guys. Especially ones that looked like Haiden.

"Why are you shirtless?" I asked. "Do you just stumble around the forest half naked?"

"Well, I was putting my clothes back on and you just walked in on me before I could finish," Haiden said.

"So... You like to explore the forest completely naked?" I frowned. "I know you've changed a lot but this... Well, this is something I didn't expect. Are you becoming a nudist?"

    "Very funny Luna." He rolled his eyes, but I noticed that the corner of his lips were slowly turning up. "I was just in werewolf form and because I don't like having my clothes ripped off during the transformation, I tend to leave my clothes in a spot I can go back to when I transform back."

    I had to admit, that was smart. Werewolves couldn't choose when they wanted to change and most ended up naked, which was why mortal girls often shunned them, thinking they were perverts. I felt guilty then, knowing I had almost done the same thing.

    "You can look back, you know," Haiden said. "I'm wearing a shirt now."

    I looked back at Haiden and saw that he was wearing a fitted black v-neck. With his hair and shirt being black, his green eyes stood out and I knew they were the one thing that didn't change. That was comforting, but before I could feel better I noticed he looked amused, which led to me frowning.

    "What?" I asked.

"You don't seem comfortable around shirtless guys," Haiden said, giving me a knowing look. "Still as innocent as ever."

I blushed, feeling embarrassed. Even though that was true, that wasn't what made me uneasy. It was Haiden and I wanted to say that, but I knew that would only make him more amused.

    "Shush," I said, not knowing what else to say.

    "Still too innocent to say shut up either," Haiden said, grinning. "Some things never change."