Bitten (Jaiden)

7:36pm (Waxing Gibbous Moon)

3 Days before the Full Moon
(23/8/18)

"Soren's the alpha. But all of us secretly thinks that Gabriel should be the one." Aiden was saying, making Jesse snort.

"And speaking of which, here's Gabriel, Magnus and Ellegaard." Aiden pointed to the photographs. Jesse nodded, writing down everything Aiden was saying.

"Jordan, Chase and Forest. They're the troublemakers. Ivor turned them a few days after you, but lucky for us and them, Soren found them. And promised them sanctuary. So they're part of the pack."

"You and Petra are the most recent ones... so." Aiden moved both of their pictures down to the bottom of the chart.

Aiden was telling Jesse everything he knew about the pack. "Alpha, Beta, Omega." Aiden said, pointing to Soren, Gabriel and himself. Jesse nodded again. And Jesse noticed that he had left out one wolf. A she-wolf. With its head tipped back. Jesse wondered why.

"But... shouldn't you be part of the pack if you helped everyone?" Jesse asked instead as he stopped writing. Aiden scratched the table with his nails and examined them. "I don't know... I almost killed someone once. But they got away." Aiden shrugged, drawing a line over the words, 'cure'. 

"Another thing..." Aiden pointed to the word which was written in big bold letters. "There is no cure. At all. Believe me, I've tried. I used drugs, old medical stuff and everything. None of it works."

Jesse could tell from the time of Aiden's voice that he really put in a lot of effort. Jesse looked down at his book and drew a line across the word, 'cure'.

"Another thing." Aiden held up his pointer finger. "Werewolves live much longer than normal humans. Maybe about five to ten years more. But the thing is, it's not really helpful unless you get shot in the head or taken apart." Aiden shrugged.

Jesse sighed, flipping through his book, which was full of werewolf facts. "Do we..." his voice broke a little. "Ahem, do we get nightmares?" he asked, looking at Aiden, who was ripping some paper apart. He stopped when Jesse asked his question.

"We do... yeah. You've dreamt something?" Aiden asked, suddenly looking interested as he took Jesse's leather bound notebook to flip through it. Jesse scratched the back of his neck, and he felt some scars, making him stop.

"Yeah... the first time was when I tried to attack Lukas. But unlike my dream, I didn't kill him. But Petra got turned instead. The second one is more recent..."

Aiden took Jesse's hand and gently ran his thumb across his knuckles. "I... I dreamt that one of us is going to die." Jesse managed to say. But he was lying. He knew exactly who was going to die. It was the boy... who was sitting right in front of him. His precious lime eyed boy.

Aiden frowned. "I never had any dreams before. But I've heard some other pack members informing Soren and Gabriel about them once. That's how we're surviving for so long, thanks to these... predictions."

Jesse sighed, "But why do I have them? Petra too?"

Aiden raised an eyebrow and scribbled something else in the book. staying silent for almost fifteen minutes. Jesse stared out the window and right at the calendar. Three more days.

Until it was all over.

"Aiden?" Jesse tried to steady his voice but he found that it was rather difficult. Aiden must've heard the nervousness in his voice so he looked up, waiting. "I'm scared."

There was a moment's pause as Aiden processed Jesse's words.

Then Aiden smiled a little and pulled Jesse onto the bed he was sitting on. "Why?" Jesse looked at the chair he was previously sitting on and sighed.

"I don't want to die."

Aiden closed the book shut and gently set it down beside him. "You won't. Because I'll protect you." Jesse gazed at the door opposite them and rested his head on Aiden's shoulder. "But I don't want you to die."

Aiden smiled sadly. "I know. But I'll stay by your side. And if the time comes for me to die... I'll die. There's no way we can change our fates." Aiden whispered, still rubbing his thumb across Jesse's fingers.

"I-I know.." Jesse buried his head in Aiden's chest and started to cry. Aiden closed his eyes and held Jesse close. "I won't leave you."

"I never will."

✼　 ҉ 　✼　 ҉ 　✼　 ҉ 　✼

(9:10pm)

Aiden slowly opened his eyes and found that the whole room was pitch black. The only light was from the moon outside. Aiden looked around and saw Jesse lying beside him, his hands still curled around Aiden's shirt and dreaming peacefully.

Aiden gently uncurled Jesse's fingers and held them close to his chest. Aiden sighed, and rolled over to look at the clock's luminous hands. 9:12pm. He always woke up at this timing... no matter what. Because it was the time when he first shifted into a wolf. Aiden dropped Jesse's hands and stared at his own.

He could imagine the brown fur, and the familiar sounds of the woods all around him. And the flashbacks... Aiden blinked, trying not to let his mind dwell on those for too long. Flashbacks... they were the past. But Aiden couldn't forget those.

Aiden turned a little when he heard Jesse whimper in his sleep. Was he having another prediction again? Aiden held Jesse's clammy hands and gazed worriedly at the other boy's pale face. Jesse shivered and without even opening his eyes, he wrapped an arm around his stomach.

Aiden's eyes widened a little. Jesse couldn't shift yet. Could he? It wasn't the full moon yet. But Jesse was still unstable. And the shifts depended on his moods, if he was upset or hurt. Aiden had to wake him up.

"Jesse... wake up." he said quietly as the other boy whimpered again, tears starting to form in his eyes. Aiden wrapped his arms around him and drew the shaking boy close. "You're not gonna shift."

Much to Aiden's relief, Jesse opened his eyes very slowly... blearily looking at him. "Are you okay?" Aiden asked him, rubbing away Jesse's tears. Suddenly, Jesse's lips trembled and Aiden was shocked to see that he was crying.

This time his cries were the most tortuous sounds Aiden had ever heard.

"Don't cry... I'm here." Aiden's eyes watered as Jesse sobbed, his fingers clenched around Aiden's shirt, as if he didn't want to let go.

"I'm here. I'm here for you."

-End

(We're gonna end soon!)