Forsaken, A Werewolf Story (Rewrite)

Chapter 19

I knocked on the door to Miriam's room.

"Come in."

I did, slipping inside quietly.

Miriam was sitting on her bed, wearing only sweats. She looked like she hadn't slept since I'd last seen her.

"You shouldn't be here..."

"Your mom allowed me to talk to you."

She nodded and a heavy silence settled between us.

"Will you be alright?" I finally asked.

"Well, I'm grounded forever, my allowance is cut and they've taken me off the soccer team."

"Is that all?"

"They're my parents Juno, I did something wrong and they did what all parents do. But I'm also in exclusion..."

"Exclusion?"

"Until the next moon, I'm not allowed to be with the pack... I can't eat with them, can't talk to them and I can't do anything with them really. It's a punishment for a first offense."

"Oh..."

"And now that pack includes you. Until then, we'll have to be apart."

Us... The thought sent my guts into a knot.

"Look Miriam, I'm sorry, but I'm not sure if there can be an us anymore."

"What?"

"You assaulted me, Miriam, bit me and left me to deal with the aftermath all on my own. For a month you lied to me. How could you just do that?"

"I didn't mean to... That night, I just wanted to see you... I didn't plan on biting you, but when I saw you, I knew I could never share this part of me with you even though I was falling in love with you... That I'd have to lie to you over and over... Well, that is unless you were one of us... And since passing on the gift requires a bite... I'm sorry..."

"I didn't have a choice..."

"Why not just tell me?"

"I couldn't..."

"Yes you could've, you already broke the laws, you could have asked! You could have told me the truth at any time!"

"And what if you had said no!? What if you'd freaked?"

I froze. "I don't know..."

"I— I— I couldn't take that kind of rejection..." She admitted, staring down at the ground.

"Well, I guess you'll have to live with the consequences."

I turned away, Miriam called me but I closed the door behind me. I wanted to cry, to scream, to punch something...

The fact of the matter was, no matter what excuses she'd had, she'd hurt me, lied to me, betrayed me. She'd made a choice for me that could never be undone...

I needed air. I left the house and ran down to the beach as best as I could, my legs aching. All those stupid werewolves movies lied, you didn't magically become healthy again...

Now that I was away from people for the first time since the change, I lost my shit. I screamed, I kicked random rocks.

WHY? WHY? WHY?

Anger faded to panic and I collapsed down into a ball, struggling to breathe. This was all too much. I needed someone, anyone I could trust...

I called Nico, call me predictable. Damn the Lindell's rules, I needed him more than ever. But the phone rang again and again with no answer.