Once Upon A Demon [ ON HOLD ]

13.

so i just started watching marvel's runaways 

and i discovered this song there 

and i'm obsessed 

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

Auden was moving here.

Well, maybe he was. I still didn't know if the pack moving from Pilot Hill was Auden's pack. It'd been three years after all. I really hope it isn't. I didn't want to ever see Auden again. Liar. I feel a slight discomfort. My eyes close tightly and then reopen as I exhale. "Stay out of my head, Claire," I warn. Claire grins, glasses positioned on her nose. "You're always so deep in thought and you always maintain a poker face so I just wanna know what you're thinking." She says cheekily. "But I have noticed that your mental walls have become way stronger than they were when you arrived here," Claire adds. "I guess I have you to thank for that," I let a small smile slip through.

Claire's phone rings. Her smile falls.

She quickly goes back to her laptop. "What is it?" I ask. "They're here." My chest constricts. It's almost getting harder to breathe. I force myself to remain calm. "Where's the packhouse?" I ask. "At the borders. That's one thing both the council and I agreed on, that the packhouse must be far, far away from the institution." I nod along as Claire speaks. "Alexa..." Claire begins. I wait for her to continue. "As annoying as it, to maintain a civil relationship and peace from the start, we need to go have a formal meeting with them. Preferably in a few hours, so we can clear things out." That feeling of not being able to breathe is back again. Digging my nails into my palms hard enough to draw blood, I say, "I completely understand Claire. But as I told you when I moved here, I've not exactly had the best of relationships with werewolves." I take a breath, "I'm sorry Claire. I can't do this. Can you please try to manage this on your own? You can take one of the witches with you in case they try to pull something."

Claire walks to me, laying a hand on my shoulder.

"Of course, Alexa. Just don't worry too much okay? It'll be okay?" I nod and then excuse myself. Walking to my apartment, I slip inside, dropping my bag and resting my back on the couch. I hated leaving Claire to deal with the werewolves alone. But I couldn't go. I didn't want to go. It's crazy how I was feeling this way. I mean, Auden and I didn't even have sex. We only made out. While I admit that the supernatural world is strict about relationships, the reaction to what happened between Auden and me was exaggerated. And moreover, it was made out to be my fault though I'd never been the one pursuing Auden. It'd been the other way around. And what's even worse is how I gave in, accepted it was my fault, cried and hid and ultimately left town. Talk about a weakling. I shook my head at my own past decisions.

I should've stood up for myself. Made more attempts to explain the situation to my grandmother, had a formal talk with Auden to clear things out, tried harder to maintain my relationship with Jamie...but I did none of those things. I just packed my bags and left town like an idiot. Ugh. My own stupidity bothered me. Besides, I was a demon, a moderately powerful demon. I could handle a pack on my own, I didn't need to hide in fear of what a werewolf would do, full moon or not. I couldn't handle them. I was powerful enough.

Feeling empowered by my own inner monologue, I dialed Claire's number.

"Claire, I've changed my mind, what time is the meeting again?"

This packhouse was different from the one in Pilot Hill.

It was bigger for one. It had all these symbols carved onto the walls. Ones that made the house invisible to humans, that created a barrier around the house for protection against other supernaturals and many others. Behind the house were the woods which was perfect for the wolves to run when they shifted. We couldn't make it here on the day the werewolves moved it here because Claire had a meeting with the board and then the following day, we had a slight problem with the portals and so here we were two days later, in front of the big, new packhouse.