Playing with Fire #1 ✔

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟐𝟎 - 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐨

After the dryad left me, I ran home and changed out of my school uniform into some casual clothes — couldn't be bloodying my uniform now, could I?

Victoria found me just as the sun sunk over the horizon, yet she didn't begin to lecture me like I thought she would. Instead, she simply sat next to me on the lake shore and waited for the full moon to appear.

It wasn't too long before the glowing orb of the moon rose over the nearby mountains, reflecting on the lake and sending shivers throughout my body. I could already feel its power calling out to me, willing to let the wolf loose.

But I held it back a moment longer. I closed my eyes — hoping Ember was at home, away from the woods. I didn't dare let myself imagine how she would react if she showed up here.

I'm not a killer.

"You know, Theo?" Victoria began, her voice soft, and I braced myself for her voice to turn cruel, but it didn't. "It's impressive what you will do to protect your friends, even if it means killing someone."

"Hmm," I grunted, trying to ignore her worming into my head and trying to fight the beginning pangs of the full moon.

"You're having trouble already, aren't you?" She smirked.

I closed my eyes tighter and tried to find an anchor in Ember — but all I could think of was how she would look at me once she knew what I'd done. She wouldn't be able to forgive me for it; that much I knew.

You don't have a choice, I attempted to remind myself. I don't have a choice, do I? This is the only way I can help Kaden and protect myself from the hunters.

"So, who are you going to kill?" Victoria asked, forcing me to open my eyes.

"There's an old guy living in that cottage over there." I jerked my thumb over my shoulder in the direction of the cottage, just a few minutes' walk from where we were. "He's dying anyway so I thought I'd put him out of his misery."

"Oh, how thoughtful, Theo," she praised mockingly before adding in a serious tone, "You don't know him though, do you? There's no grudge against him, is there?"

"I'm not killing a teenager," I responded through gritted teeth. "Isn't killing someone bad enough without it having to be someone young?"

"Fine." She narrowed her eyes. "But this won't be the last time you kill for me."

"Just as long as you don't drag Kaden into it." I narrowed my eyes back at her, but her power as an Alpha made it hard for me to turn against her word.

"I can't make any promises." She grinned cruelly. "He'll have to kill eventually."

I didn't say anything else, not wanting to make things worse for Kaden or myself. Even though they weren't going great anyway.

Standing up, I sighed, "I should probably just get this over with."

Victoria said nothing and just looked up at me.

I turned and began walking to the cottage where I was about to murder a defenceless old guy.

Okay, so the dryad had been right — it would be easier for me to kill him, but that still doesn't take away the fact that I'd rather not kill anyone.

How is Ember going to forgive me for this?

Surely, she wouldn't want to be with me, let alone talk to me, once she knew everything that I'd done... And yet the dryad had said that if I confessed to her, I'd be closer to finding my pack, and I desperately needed to find my pack.