Shift (The Neturu Chronicles) (79 page)

               
“Kayla, just talk to him.”

               
“No,” Kayla argues, shaking her head vigorously.  “I can’t.  It’s not
fair.”

               
“To whom? Damien?  You aren’t being fair to Jackson by ignoring him.”

               
Kayla stares down at the large package.  “I’ll talk to him again. 
Just not now.”

               
“All right, I’ll send him home,” her mom sighs.

               
With a nod, Kayla shuts her door.  Walking over she lays the package on
the bed.  Horribly curious, Kayla rips the paper off.  Her hand
instantly goes to her mouth.  “Oh
my gosh
.”

               
Inside is the painting of her in the sheet, but it’s totally not what she
expected.  It doesn’t make her look sultry at all, but beautiful.  “I
look so pretty,” she whispers to the empty room.  In the painting, a soft
smile lights her face and there’s a brightness to the picture that makes her
seem almost angelic.  “Jackson, this is so good,” she says ever so softly.
 A card is tucked in the corner of the paper.  She takes it out and
opens it.  All it says is: I love you, please, never forget that.

               
Tears pour down her face.  Kayla takes the card and clenches it to her
chest.  Crumbling to the ground, she sobs.  “I miss him,” she
gasps.  “I miss him so much.”

               
The sun sets and casts her room in shadows as she cries.  When the tears
finally stop, Kayla gets up from the floor and turns on a light.  The
clock says it’s nine-thirty.  She sighs heavily and pulls down the covers
on her bed.  “I’m just going to sleep,” Kayla mumbles to herself.

               
She carefully takes the painting and leans it up against the wall on her
desk.  She studies it for a minute, but it only makes her
miss
Jackson, so she looks away.  She changes into a
nightgown and crawls into bed.  Pulling the covers over her head, she goes
to sleep.

               
Sometime during the night, she wakes to a breeze brushing past her.  The
side of her bed dips down, and she hears, “Kayla.”  Kayla screams and
scrambles out from underneath the covers.  “Kayla, Kayla, stop it’s
me!”  Her side lamp clicks on.

               
“Damien,” she cries, jumping into his arms.

               
“Yeah,” he whispers into her hair.

               
“Oh
my gosh
, you wouldn’t return my phone calls! 
I didn’t think I was ever going to see you again!”

               
He kisses the side of her face.  “You can’t get rid of me that easily.”

               
“I don’t want to get rid of you at all,” Kayla exclaims, sitting back
down.  “Where have you been?  Wait, that’s none of my business. 
I’m just glad you’re here.”

               
“I’ve been all over the place.  I was trying my hardest to stay away, but
then realized I had to come here.”

               
“I’m so sorry,” Kayla gasps.  “Please, I am so sorry.”

               
Damien takes her hands and kisses them.  “You don’t have to be sorry.”

               
“Yes, I do,” Kayla whines.  “I hurt you. I didn’t mean to hurt you.”

               
“You didn’t hurt me.  I am hurt, but you didn’t do it.  It’s just the
way things worked out.  Now, I’m here for a reason.”

               
“Why?  What?”

               
He leans forward and locks his eyes with hers.  “I have a bone to pick with
you.” 

Kayla tilts her head in
confusion. 

“One, you aren’t using a
perfectly good car, which I gave to you as a gift.”

               
“I can’t use it,” Kayla groans.

               
“Yes, you can, or you’re really going to make me mad,” Damien states. 
Kayla glares at him, which makes Damien laugh.  “Okay, so one, you’ll
start driving the car.  The second thing is, why in the world aren’t you
talking to Jackson?”

               
Kayla looks down and fidgets with the blanket in her hands.  “It…isn’t
right.”

               
“What isn’t right about it?”

               
“I’m your…girlfriend…until you tell me otherwise.”

               
Damien snorts.  “Then I let you out of your obligations.”

               
“No!  No, no, no!  I am
your
girlfriend.  I love you, I
do!”

               
Damien laughs softly.  He follows her gaze down.  “You may love me,
but it’s not in the way that I love you, nor is it the way that you love
Jackson.”

               
“But give me time,” Kayla begs.  “I will fall in love with you, and then
we’ll be so happy.”

               
“Oh.” Damien chuckles.  “And what about Jackson?”

               
“He doesn’t matter.  It’s about you and me.”

               
Damien reaches up and brushes Kayla’s hair behind her ear.  “No, it’s
about you and Jackson.  You can’t just fall out of love with someone, and
I wouldn’t expect you to.”

               
“But I don’t know if he really loves me back,” Kayla whispers.

               
Damien rolls his eyes.  “Really?  That’s what you think, that he may
not love you?  Kayla, he loves you.  I talked to him.  He told
me as much.”

               
“You did?”

               
“Yeah, before I came here.”

               
“But…”

               
Giving her a kind look, Damien says, “But what?  Did you really think I
wasn’t going to talk to either of you ever again?”

               
“I wasn’t sure,” Kayla mumbles quietly.

               
“Kayla, listen to me, I love you and I will always love you, but your heart
belongs to someone else.  Nothing is ever going to change that.  If
I’m going to lose you to a guy, I want it to be someone who will take care of
you, adore you, and do everything he can for you.  I know Jackson
will.  He loves you.  You need to realize that.”

               
Kayla starts to get choked up.  “But what about you?”

               
“What about me?  What will I do?”  

She nods. 

He laughs. “Probably get
into trouble.”

               
“I saw your pictures,” Kayla declares softly.  “You have every right to do
whatever you want.”

               
“I figured you saw.  I didn’t do anything, just so you know.”

               
She half laughs and looks at him.  “I wouldn’t blame you if you had.”

               
“I almost did.  Had a couple of girls throwing themselves at me.  It
would have been so easy.”

               
“Wonderful,” Kayla draws out.

               
“But I didn’t.  I thought of you and couldn’t do it, because we hadn’t
ended things.  Also, you taught me that it should mean more than just a
one-night stand, and I want it to mean more.”

               
Kayla pulls his hand into hers. “That’s a good thing.”

               
“It is,” Damien murmurs.  “Now, we need to end this.  So, Kayla, I am
officially breaking up with you.”

               
“Are you sure about that?  I mean, we can try and make it work.  I’ll
do that if you want me to.”

               
“I want you to be happy, and the only way you will be truly happy is if you’re
with Jackson.  So now the question is, when will you tell him?”

               
With a smile, Kayla says, “Right now.”  She picks up her phone and is
about to dial.

               
“He went for a run,” Damien declares, pushing her phone down.  “He said he
needed to clear his head.”

               
“But I want to tell him right now.  It can’t wait,” Kayla whines. 
“I’ve been pushing him away this whole time.  I have to see him.  I
just have to!”

               
Damien leans forward and kisses her on the forehead.  “Then let’s go find
him.”

               
“How do you propose we do that?”

               
“It’s called tracking.  Jackson is better at it, but I can still do
it.  He’s by his house somewhere.”

               
Leaning forward, Kayla says, “You would do that for me, after everything?”

               
“Yes, I would do that for you.  I only want you happy.”

               
“Let’s go,” Kayla declares, standing up.  “We’ll need to sneak
downstairs.  I don’t want to wake up my parents.”

               
“I came in through the window,” Damien retorts.  “I say we go out that
way.  I’ll catch you.”

               
She takes a hesitant step back. “Are you sure about that?”

               
“Positive.”

               
She thinks about it for a moment and then says, “No, we’ll go out the front
door.”

               
“Suit yourself,” Damien chirps, standing up.  “Let’s go.”

               
They drive to Jackson’s house and get out of the car.  “Let’s get into the
woods and shift,
”
Damien
says. 
“
Then you can
follow me as I track him.”

               
“Okay,” Kayla says. As soon as they enter the woods, they shift down into dogs
and take off into the trees. Damien backtracks a few times, trying to pin down
Jackson’s scent, but they finally come to a stop a few miles into the woods.

               
Damien shifts back into himself. “You should be able to track him from
here.  His scent is very powerful, which means he’s close.  Not that
I don’t want you together, but I also don’t want to see it right now, so I’m
going to head the other way.”

               
“Thank you,” Kayla murmurs, wrapping her arms around his neck.  “This
means the world to me.”

               
“He better treat you well, or he’ll have to answer to me.”

               
“I’ll make sure to tell him that,” Kayla whispers.

               
Damien playfully smacks her on the butt. “Go get him.”

               
Kayla nods, shifts down, and takes off running in search of Jackson.  The
sheer adrenaline of finding him courses through her veins.  It’s almost
overwhelming.  When she comes to the edge of a clearing, she slows to a
walk and sees Jackson lying on his back, looking up at the sky.  Kayla
takes a few steps forward, branches crackling beneath her feet, and Jackson
turns to look at her. 

               
He quickly sits up on his knees. “Kayla?”

               
Without a moment of hesitation, she shifts back to herself and sprints toward
him. She throws herself into his arms and tackles him to the ground. 
Placing her lips on his, she kisses him passionately.  Jackson kisses her
back with just as much ferocity.  He takes her and rolls her over, so he’s
on top.  They lie there for a while, kissing each other, until he pulls
away.  “Please, promise me this isn’t just you coming out of a shift.”

               
“No.” Kayla giggles.  “This is just me expressing how I feel.”

               
“Good,” Jackson exhales before bending down to kiss her again.

               
She gently pushes against him, separating their mouths.  “Wait, I have to
say something.”

               
“Uh-oh.”

               
“No uh-oh, I just want to say…I love you.  I love you so much, even if you
don’t love me back.  I do love you terribly, and I want you to know that.”

               
He chuckles. “That’s good because I love you too.  I’ve barely been able
to breathe with you not talking to me.  So please, don’t do that again.”

               
“I won’t,” Kayla whispers, pulling him back down.  She kisses him slow and
long.  Jackson pulls her tight against him and it makes everything in her
come to life.  With everything she’s experienced up until now, this is a
whole new feeling.  It’s love.  She can feel him in every inch of her
soul.  They embrace each other tightly, and softly explore each other,
with soft kisses and delicate touches.

               
The sound of thunder crashes above them, and an instant later it starts
pouring.  “Crap!” Jackson yells.

               
“Cold!  Cold rain!” Kayla exclaims.

               
“Come on, shift, we’ll have to run.”

               
They quickly shift and sprint into the woods.  It takes them a little
while, but they finally make it back to Jackson’s house. By the time they get
arrive, they’re soaked.  Kayla can’t stop shivering and giggling.  He
opens the front door, and they dart to his room.

               
“So cold,” Kayla stutters.

               
“I don’t know,” Jackson quips.  “You completely wet in a nightgown is a
pretty big turn on.”

               
She laughs. “Shut up and give me some clothes!”

               
“I vote naked.  Isn’t that what you’re supposed to do when you’re cold? 
Press yourself against another warm body?”