Un.Requited (Claimed Series) (4 page)

By the time she entered her apartment,
Hayden
’s mother was up from her chair, a worried expression
creasing
her face. “
Hayden
, is everything alright?”
Rebecca
had a voice that could immediately soothe away fears and concerns.

Tonight,
her voice only heightened
Hayden
’s guilt and doubt.
Whenever
she
looked at her mother, she always felt as if she were looking into the future.

Rebecca was aging
beautifully, just as
Hayden
imagined she would look someday.
They had the same
honey-blonde hair
,
yet whereas her mother’s
hair
was tamed and cut short,
Hayden
struggled
with
her
long,
unmanageable waves. They also
used to share the same eyes.
Now
,
sharp amber had replaced
Hayden’s
original
soft brown.

“I’m fine.” Again,
Hayden
tugged her scarf closer.

Her mother’s
approaching and smothering
proximity was beginning to drown
Hayden
in uncontrollable lust. Automatically, her eyes lowered and stared at
her mother’s exposed neck
.
Her gums began to itch
and she had to swallow the excessive amount of saliva in her mouth.

After realizing her body’s reaction,
Hayden closed her eyes.
After all the years of her mother’s nurture and love, one bite from a stranger could make
Hayden
see her as food, as prey.
It was disgusting.
She
was disgusting.

“
Hayden
,”
Rebecca
started
, “y
ou haven’t been the same since you came back from Montana.” Pausing, she
exhaled
uncertainly
. “Did something happen between you and your aunt? Did you find a boyfriend there?”

“No
, M
om,”
Hayden
said sharply
. “I haven’t been feeling very well. That’s all.”
It was odd, these conflicting emotions. She wanted to take advantage of her mother’s protection and tell her everything, but that would also put her family in danger.

Hayden
’
s stepbrother suddenly
exited his bedroom to her immediate right
and he began laughing.
“Why are you wearing that scarf around your face?”

“Anthony,”
Hayden
’s stepfather warned harshly.

The blond-haired cretin threw his hands in the air. “She was
wearing it all day at school, d
ad. She looked like an idiot.
What are you hiding under there?
A hickey?
”
 

Unable to handle three humans in such a small room,
Hayden
brushed past her mother and headed to her room without another word.

“
Hayden
!”

“I’m going to bed,”
Hayden
informed coolly from over her shoulder
.

Before they could try to convince her to stay behind, she shut the door and locked it behind her.
Without wasting another minute, she hastily tore the scarf off and balled it into her fists. She had
the
intense desire to shred it to pieces, but she knew it would be counterproductive.
It was the only barrier she had between the humans and her teeth.
No matter how flimsy that barrier was, it was still effective.

Whirling around,
Hayden
stared at the mirror. Across her neck sat an ugly scar, a vivid reminder of what she was.
S
he looked horribly
wil
d, untamed, her eyes too bright
and focused, like an animal.

Swallowing the tears and contorting her expression into one of
resignation
,
Hayden
collapsed on her bed. She began replaying the events of tonight, wondering if
her family was in more danger from Tracer or from her.

Standing motionlessly on the sidewalk, Hayden stared tentatively at her school. Her fingernails, which had grown overnight, pierced her backpack strap in unease.

A part of her wanted to call in sick and protect the house from any attempt Tracer might make at breaking inside. Fortunately, everyone in her family was at work or school, giving Hayden a small bit of hope that everything would be all right for a few hours.

Unfortunately, school wasn’t where she wanted to be right now. She didn’t think she would be able to handle the humans’ proximity as well as she had yesterday. The very thought of having to suffocate herself with a scarf again was unpleasant, and she didn’t want to give her stepbrother anymore ammo for his crude insults.

Flashing the school one last dour look, Hayden made her mind up and confidently walked away.

“No, no! Hayden!”

There wasn’t any reason to turn around and search out the owner of the loud footsteps. She knew it was Gregory Martin following her, bumping past the students
in his way just to get at her.

Hayden buried her face in the collar of her jacket, ignoring him as he shouted after her a second time. The scarf from yesterday hung loosely between her fingers, ready in case she needed it as a last resort.

“Please, Hayden, don’t leave.”

The hand came out of nowhere, grabbing hold of her elbow. Flinching from the physical contact, Hayden couldn’t stop the animalistic growl that purred threateningly through her chest. Yanking her arm back, she set her sights on Gregory. The human reeled backward, his face pale and his stance defensive. The hand that had grabbed her elbow was now up in the air, a gesture of fierce surrender.

As soon as Hayden realized what she was doing, her hatred cooled. She turned away from him, ashamed. “You see why I can’t go to school? I can’t be in a school full of
humans
.”

A few students rushing on the sidewalk overheard Hayden’s statement and looked at her peculiarly. She paid them no heed as she watched Gregory shift awkwardly from the corner of her eye.

“Why don’t we get something to eat? I know you must be hungry for some meat.”

The suggestion sounded odd to her.
Something to eat?
Now
?
It wasn’t common practice to invite a potential enemy to lunch. Strangely enough, the mention of meat
did
seem to lessen the persistent hunger pains she had been experiencing.

Cautiously, Hayden inclined her head in agreement, following Gregory at a much slower pace. She looked suspiciously at his curled hands and his pockets. “This wouldn’t be your way of luring me into a trap just to kill me, would it?” she asked dryly. 

Throwing a shaky grin over his shoulder, Gregory reddened at her stare. He averted his eyes quickly. “No,” he denied softly. “I don’t think I could hold that gun again if I tried. I called Blake last night,” he announced abruptly before turning back forward.

He must have been too scared to walk behind or beside her. It was understandable, but it wasn’t smart to turn his back on her either. Hayden couldn’t help but to follow his exposed throat with her eyes as he looked both ways before crossing the street.

“You talked with your brother?” She cleared her throat, breaking her concentration from the boy in front of her. “What did he say?”

“Let’s wait until we get some food in you,” he muttered in response. 

Pressing her lips together, Hayden followed him across the street. Her mother always claimed that the way through a man’s heart was through his stomach. Apparently, the same held true for female werewolves.

Gregory led Hayden to a small sub shop down the road from school. She had been there countless of times before, mainly after school with her friends. If she imagined hard enough, she
could even see herself sitting near the window, so untroubled, with not a care in the world. Funny how fast it changed, and even more so with the realization that it may never happen again. 

“Looking into the past doesn’t do you any good,” Gregory murmured gently, as if he could somehow understand what Hayden was feeling. His chocolate-colored eyes took special interest in tracing over her faraway expression. 

Even if he could
sound
understanding, it would be impossible for him to fathom what it was like to become an animal. He wouldn’t know what it was like to withdraw from physical contact or distance
himself
from loved ones. Numbly, Hayden met his inquiring stare.

“What future can I possibly look forward to?” she countered bitterly, pushing past him and entering the restaurant.

In attempt to stifle her growing depression, Hayden did the only thing that would settle her. She ordered the largest meat sub they had, minus the toppings. Naturally, the employee behind the glass counter gave Hayden a peculiar stare as she began constructing the sub. Hayden
turned a blind eye to
the woman’s intrusive glances, finding it easier to ignore the human when there was food in front of her. 

After they received their sandwiches, they scouted a small table near the windows and sat down. Outside, the clouds were becoming heavier and the scent of approaching rain rushed into the restaurant as soon as a customer exited the doors.

“I’m not a fan of ham.” Gregory made a face as he tossed a few slices of meat at her.

Torn, Hayden wondered if she should feel insulted that he treated her like a dog, or guilty that she needed to give him something in return. “Would you like my bread?”

Before he could answer, she tossed him the foot-long bread. Overlooking Gregory’s distaste, Hayden inhaled her meat with as much dignity as she could muster. Her teeth tore through the tender chicken with ease and she was pleasantly surprised to notice the painful tension in her stomach began to lessen.

Across the table, Gregory froze, blinking at her in unease. “Perhaps…” he trailed off nervously and licked his lips.
“
Maybe we should have waited to eat after I told you what Blake said.”

“It’s obviously bad news,” Hayden muttered airily as she picked listlessly at the ham. His nervousness bothered her. “I’m
not going to attack you, Greg.
You saved me last night. The least I can do is
refrain
from biting off your head.”

He chuckled tensely, not exactly finding humor in her reassurance. “Blake and Cole are coming here.” His fingers shook as they began to tear holes in the bread Hayden had given him. Slyly, he looked up at her. “They’re going to collect you and bring you to a pack in Minnesota. Keiran is the Alpha there—”

“What?” The slab of meat dropped from Hayden’s fingers. “He’s going to relocate me to
Minnesota
?” Looking around the small restaurant, she was suddenly mindful of listening ears. Luckily, they were alone. “Gregory,” she started, “I can’t leave New York.” The boy had been right about getting food in her stomach before springing news like
this.

As soon as his piece of bread was a pile of unrecognizable mess, his fingers then began to fumble with the sub wrappings. “You can hardly control yourself around your family, Hayden. The closer the full moon gets, the less likely you wil
l be able to control yourself.
You need an Alpha and Keiran is one of the best Alpha’s out there. He’ll take good care of you.” 

She remained silent, staring blankly at her discarded sandwich. Leaving her family, leaving New York especially, was out of the question.

As if sensing her rebuttal, the boy heaved a heavy sigh. “It was hard trying to convince Cole to spare your life. And if you’ve ever been in that man’s presence, you would know how
frightening
it was to argue with him, even if it was just over the phone.” He broke off, shooting a wary glance out the window. “I told him you were different than most newborn werewolves. He gave me the benefit of the doubt because I’m Blake’s brother. But he doesn’t have the patience to take a newborn werewolf into his pack, so he asked Keiran to take you.”

“And I have no say in this?” Hayden asked bitterly.

As Gregory sat in a contemplative silence, a customer entered the sub shop, inviting in a burst of rain-scented air. Inhaling, Hayden straightened when she detected something more than just rain in that gust of wind. There was an undercurrent of burning wood and a hint of an iron scent, like blood. Before Hayden could turn and search for the customer that brought in the smell, Gregory claimed her attention.