The Dark Side of the Moon

T W E N T Y - T H R E E

"Touch her and see what happens."

The voice instantly calmed my fears. Which is strange because to anyone else the voice is meant to spread fear throughout their being, but for me I am relieved. Eli looks up and makes eye contact with the man who threatened him, and his eyes widen before he retracts his hand.

"I'll talk to you later, Thea," Eli grumbles, angry that he was interrupted before he could explain himself fully.

"No you won't. Get the fuck out of here before Grayson sees you," Cooper yells, a smirk growing on his face as Eli trembles in fear. Once Eli is gone, I turn to Cooper with a grateful smile on my face. After being so scared by Eli, I'm now left shaking and confused about my "friendship" with him. For reasons that I can't explain, I immediately wrap my arms around Cooper and bury my face in his chest.

Over the weekend, I missed him. I missed Grayson more, but I can't even think about my relationship with him. Cooper's in front of me right now, so I'm going to focus on him. Him coming to my defense proves that he is still my best friend, no matter what species he is. I don't care that he's a werewolf anymore. Maybe that makes me weak for forgiving him so easily, but I need his jokes and unnecessary cursing in my life.

"Whoa there, Thee," Cooper chuckles as he almost loses his balance from the strength behind my hug. He hugs me back tightly. I'm reminded of his werewolf strength when he squeezes me too tightly, and I lightly tap on his shoulder to get his attention.

"I can't breathe," I squeak out to Cooper, who immediately drops his arms and backs away from me as if I tased him. "Shit! Sorry. I forget how fragile you are. Are you okay?" he asks with concern. His unruly brown curls continue to fall in his face, and he frustratingly brushes them aside.

My giggling makes his look of worry go away. "I'm fine, Cooper. Can we get to class?"

We walk side by side to Psychology, not saying anything about the incident. When we sit down in our seats, I check my phone to see that class should have started two minutes ago but the professor is nowhere in sight. With nothing to do but wait for her, I turn to Cooper.

"Can I ask you a question?"

Cooper stretches out his arms and legs as he leans back in the chair, letting out a loud yawn that turns a couple of heads. "Ask away," he grins, leaning his head back on his hands as he looks at me.

I'm not exactly sure how to phrase the question I want to ask, so I just ask it in the most straightforward way possible. I also lower my voice so that no one around us can hear our conversation. "How do you know when someone's a supernatural?"

His eyebrows shoot up, getting lost in his brown mop of hair. He sits up and leans forward, his forearms now resting on his thighs. His carefree look changes to one of concern. "Unfortunately for you, you won't be able to tell. Not clearly, at least. For us werewolves, we can smell out different supernaturals instantly. For you, you'll have to look for details."

"Like with the vampire, his eyes turned red," I whisper, more to myself than to him. Cooper still hears me, and his eyes darken to an almost black color. "Cooper... your eyes..." I slowly back away from him, inching further back in the chair until I am as far from him as possible without it looking suspicious to others.

He closes his eyes, and a few moments later they open to reveal the usual brown shade I'm used to. "Sorry," he says gruffly. "Just thinking about that fucking vampire laying a hand on you..."

He lets out a dark laugh. "If I'm this angry, how do you think Grayson feels? For touching his mate... I wouldn't be surprised if that vamp experiences his second death sooner rather than later."