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  Chapter 3

  “So, what is wrong?” Maddox asked, as he narrowed his eyes at me.

  Just as I thought my evening couldn’t get any worse, Maddox was waiting for me. He was anxious as he stood with his arms folded across his chest, body relaxed as he leaned against one of the large oak trees in my yard.

  “None of your business,” I bit out, as I walked past him.

  Turning and running after me, Maddox didn’t even bother to pick up on my annoyance.

  “Elle, wait,” Maddox yelled, as he raced around me, forcing me to stop before I crashed into his hard chest.

  “What happened? Did Asher upset you?” Maddox asked as a growl escaped past his snarling lips. “Did he hurt you?”

  Ugh, I hated when Maddox went all crazy. “No, Asher didn’t hurt me. But, he did upset me,” I said, as I tried to calm my now beating heart.

  I heard a rustling sound coming from the tree line before Asher made his appearance. He was moving with more speed than ever imagined. I had never seen his legs move so swiftly, almost like he was flying toward us and not running.

  “What is going on?” Maddox asked, as he seemed stunned by Asher’s sudden agility, too.

  “Nothing. I think you need to leave,” I said, as I tried to push Maddox toward his own house.

  Only, I had no luck. Maddox continued to grow stronger each day he was a shifter. I felt like I was trying to move a brick wall as I pushed against his arm muscles.

  Not even phased by my pushing, Maddox continued to stare down Asher. “What did you do?” Maddox yelled, as he pointed at Asher.

  Stopping in front of us, Asher stood without even a panting from his breath. He should have been out of breath from moving so quickly, but he wasn’t. Instead, he was poised and calm like he had just strode over to us.

  “Maddox, maybe you should listen to Elle and leave. This doesn’t concern you,” Asher said calmly.

  Puffing out his chest, Asher refused to back down. “Anything concerning Elle is my business,” Maddox spit.

  “Will you both just shut up,” I yelled.

  Sighing, I knew it was no use trying to argue or rationalize with either one of them. “Asher, Maddox isn’t going anywhere. Besides, I will probably tell him anyway, so whatever you need to say right now, you need to say to Maddox too,” I stated.

  Looking smug, Maddox crossed his arms and waited for Asher to begin.

  Looking between us, Asher appeared frustrated, but he began talking anyway. “Elle, I know you said you needed some time, but I can’t let you walk away from me without knowing that you are alright,” Asher stated.

  I hated that he was so sweet. I wanted to be angry with him, but I just couldn’t.

  “Why wouldn’t Elle be alright?” Maddox questioned, his stance never relaxing.

  “I told Elle something about me today, and it has upset her,” Asher stated.

  “What?” Maddox almost yelled.

  I could tell both guys were growing anxious.

  “I told Elle today that I am…”

  “Asher told me that he is a Vampire,” I spit out, unable to hold the word inside my mind anymore.

  Maddox’s mouth fell open as he looked from me to Asher and then back to me. Neither Asher nor I said anything; our silence told Maddox everything he needed to know.

  After a few minutes, Asher finally spoke. “Well, where does this leave us?” he asked.

  “Confused,” Maddox stated.

  “Curious,” I admitted.

  “I will answer any questions you both have when you are ready. Elle, I will respect your wish to give you some time alone. Please, don’t make me wait too long. I almost lost you once; I can’t bare the idea of losing you again,” Asher said, with sadness dripping from his words.

  Without thinking, I jumped into his arms and hugged Asher tightly. I loved him and knew we would get through this.

  If we could survive Shifter Hunters and dark secrets, we could survive anything.

  “I will talk to you both tomorrow,” I said, as I released my hold on Asher and then slowly walked away.

  I didn’t know what to do. Typically, when I was upset I would call Maddox or Asher. Since they were both the source of my anger, I decided to call Melanie instead.

  Picking up on the first ring, Melanie answered. “Hey girl.”

  “Hi,” I sulked.

  “What’s wrong?” Melanie asked quickly, as she took in my depressed tone.

  “Boys are stupid,” I grumbled.

  “I will be there with Laura in ten minutes,” Melanie said, and then hung up.

  She didn’t even give me a chance to argue before the line went dead.

  Moments later, I heard Melanie's car pull up in my driveway. Before leaving my room, I glanced out my bedroom window and into the backyard of Maddox’s house. He was sulking in his garage as he worked on his truck. As if he knew I was watching, Maddox looked up and locked eyes with me. Quickly turning away, I ran down my stairs before the tears began to flow.

  As I plopped down in Melanie’s car, both she and Laura exchanged glances before Melanie began to drive away.

  “Boy trouble?” Laura asked, sympathetically.

  “Yes, but I don’t want to talk about it,” I said.

  “Don’t worry. I know exactly what you need,” Melanie said, as she focused on driving.

  Fifteen minutes later, we were seated at our favorite booth at the local Applebee’s eating fried mozzarella sticks and drinking our weight in chocolate shakes.

  “Which gorgeous boy in your life is causing you trouble,” Melanie finally asked, as the silence finally became too much for her.

  I took a big gulp of my shake before responding. I was going to give myself brain freeze but I didn't care. The cold, chocolate shake was totally making me feel better. “Both of them,” I said with a sigh.

  “Well, that’s tough,” Laura responded.

  “Yep. I wish they could get along. I wish they would both be more honest with me. I wish…” My words trailed off as I realized I couldn’t say the last part of what I really, truly wished. What I wished more than anything was that Asher hadn’t lied to me about being a Vampire, and Maddox didn’t lie to me about Shifters. But, I couldn’t say any of that.

  “We don’t have to talk about it,” Melanie said, as she placed her hand over mine. “Sometimes we just need our friends and greasy foods to make us feel better,” she said, with a bright smile.

  No truer words had ever been spoken. I smiled at my two friends and felt grateful that they were there for me, even if I couldn’t tell them the truth behind my problems. Just knowing they were there for me, meant the world to me and gave me a glimpse of hope.

  That night, as I drifted off to sleep, I couldn’t help but think back to the dream I had the night before. Knowing Asher was a Vampire changed everything. Still, a part of me prayed my dream wasn’t a premonition.

  Chapter 4

  The next morning, Maddox was waiting for me on my front porch. I had told him I would talk to him the next day, and, like clockwork, he was waiting for me to talk.

  I buttoned up my coat as I opened the front door. My parents were in the kitchen, loudly cleaning up from our breakfast, and I could hear the clanging of pots and pans as they scrubbed bacon grease from the pans. The rich aroma of biscuits and honey still filled the air and I could see Maddox’s nose slightly twinge as he, too, took in the savory aroma.

  “Hi,” he waved, as he carefully watched me.

  “You don’t have boundaries. You know, that right?” I stated, as I brushed past him and walked down the front steps of the porch.

  Following closely behind me, I could feel his warm breaths on the back of my neck. “I am just worried about you,” he stated.

  “Don’t be,” I stopped mid-step and whirled around to face him. “Maddox, what happens between me and Asher is my decision and my business. Not yours,” I said flatly.

  Hurt registered across his face like I had just slapped him. I kn
ew my words could hurt him, but sometimes even I was shocked by their assault. “Elle, everything you do is my business. We are Shifters, part of a pack, and we are best friends and family,” he argued.

  Nodding my head, I agreed. I just wanted to define this… whatever this was with Asher by myself. “Maddox, just this one time, let me handle it,” I pleaded.

  Even though Maddox began to clench his teeth together, I knew he would agree and listen to me, if only for a short while.

  I began walking again toward my car, but Maddox stopped me before I could reach the vehicle. “I am taking you to school today. Weather forecast calls for heavy snow, and you are a terrible driver in the snow,” Maddox said, with a slight grin.

  His eyes were begging me to give him just this one opportunity to protect me. If I were going to stop him from controlling some parts of my life, I, at least, could give him this.

  Following behind Maddox, we got into his truck and drove to school. Neither one of us said a word, but the silence had never been louder.

  ***

  As I stepped out of Maddox’s truck later that afternoon after school, I could feel the air around me grow colder. My breaths came out in tiny white puffs and I shivered as I held my arms across my chest for any warmth I could find. I knew Asher was close, too close.

  “He’s here isn’t he?” Maddox said, with disdain dripping from his voice.

  “Yes, I can feel his presence,” I stated as I sniffed the air. My senses had become more heightened since becoming a shifter. I could smell scents from miles away and right now, I could almost taste the sweet cologne that Asher always wore.

  I slammed the truck door behind me and began to take slow steps toward the woods that surrounded my house. Like he could hear my thoughts, Asher emerged from the shadows lining the side of my house. His face was tense, and his eyes were determined. I couldn’t help but feel nervous and frightened by his proximity to me and that thought alone made me feel awful. I wasn’t supposed to fear talking to my boyfriend. The only other boy I had ever loved.

  Turning to face me, Maddox could read the apprehension written all over my face. “Don’t even think about asking me to leave,” he stated.

  I knew better than to argue with him now. Maddox would never leave my side, especially right now.

  “I wouldn’t ask you to,” I said, with a sigh.

  Taking careful steps toward us, Asher seemed to glide across the snow-covered ground below. His body was rigid, and his fists were balled at his sides. As he closed the space between us, the only sounds heard was the rapid beating of my heart.

  “Elle are you ready to listen?” Asher asked, as his eyes bore deep into mine.

  Only nodding my head yes, I gave him my answer.

  “Can we go talk somewhere more private?” he asked.

  “Nope,” Maddox answered for me.

  Sighing, Asher shook his head. “I figured you would say that,” he began. “I guess this is for Maddox to hear too. Besides, I know you will tell him anyway,” Asher grunted, as he glared at Asher. “Can we at least go somewhere else?”

  “How about the woods?” I asked, as I pointed behind him.

  “Fine,” Asher agreed.

  As the three of us turned and began our descent into the shields of the trees and animals of the woods, I felt like I was going to battle. About to experience the cruelty of war first hand.

  Once we were far enough into the woods that Asher felt secure enough to speak, he stopped in front of us. “Ok, before I begin, I need you to promise me that you will contain yourself,” Asher said, as he pointed his finger at Maddox.

  “Hey, don’t even try to dictate how I act,” Maddox yelled.

  Placing my hand on his chest, I carefully shoved Maddox behind me. “Calm down. Asher, I promise you that we will all contain ourselves and allow you to tell me whatever it is that you need to say,” I promised, as I glanced between the two.

  Maddox kept his stance, tall and firm behind me. “Go ahead and talk, Vampire,” Maddox stated, his words sounding like knives down a chalkboard.

  “Asher, I am not sure why you are being so secretive and… distant. You already told me you are a Vampire.”

  ” There’s more,” Asher says, as his voice drops, and he hangs his head low. Now, he is unable to make eye contact with me.

  Unease settles in my soul as I struggle to keep myself calm. “What else could there be?” I question.

  “Before my family was turned into Vampires, we were…”

  His voice trailed off as I glanced at Maddox who now stood with a fighting stance. Somehow, as our eyes met, we had an unspoken connection that showed we were both about to freak out at any minute.

  “Just spit it out Asher,” Maddox yells, as he voices is his own anger before I can.

  “Please, this is very difficult for me to say,” Asher pleads, as she continues to fight an inner war with sharing information with us.

  “Asher, you can’t keep us on edge like this. Just say it,” I cry out.

  I feel like my world is closing in on me and I suddenly can’t breathe.

  “Fine,” he mumbles, as he raises his eyes to meet mine. “Before I was turned into a Vampire, I was a Hunter,” Asher yells.

  My body freezes as everything around me pauses. The world stopped spinning and I felt like I was having some sort of out of body experience. I don’t hear the screams coming from Maddox, but I see his mouth moving and his face raging mad. I don’t hear the rapid beating of my heart, but I feel the pressure as it bangs up against my chest. This can’t be true.

  First, Asher is a Vampire. Now, he is a descendent from Hunters?

  Shaking my head, I bring myself back to the here and now. “What do you mean, you were a hunter?” I ask, ignoring Maddox as he continues to shout. “You were like Macon and Sutton?” I asked as bile rose in my throat.

  Ignoring Maddox, Asher steps closer to me. “Elle, please, you must understand that I didn’t want any of this,” he says, as he reaches for my hand. “I am nothing like them. My family and I detest men like Macon and Sutton.”

  Swatting his hand away, I refuse to let him touch me right now. “No, Asher. You owe me more of an explanation than that,” I seethe.

  “You are right, I do,” Asher agrees. “My family used to be Hunters, but we didn’t come after all Shifters. Instead, we hunted the Shifters who killed innocent humans. We hunted the Witches who used their spells to harm those that didn’t’ deserve their curses. Everything was fine until one day the Hunters began hunting for fun and not for the moral reasons they first began with. It was then that my family decided we needed to leave the Hunters. To go rogue against our own kind. But, they wouldn’t let us leave. Once word got around the groups that my family was thinking of leaving, they set us up on one last hunt. We were supposed to be hunting a group of rogue Vampires who were on a killing spree in a small village outside of Italy. When we arrived, we quickly realized we had been set up. The Vampires had been told by the Hunters that we were coming and so, they ambushed us when we arrived and turned us. Despite everything, I had wished for so long that they had just killed me. That was, until I met you. Now, Elle, I have a purpose. Please, don’t let my lot in life; both lives I have lived, determine my fate with you. I didn’t ask for any of the bad to happen to me. I was born into a family of Hunters. It was the only way of life I had known. Then, I was reborn as a Vampire, again, a choice that wasn’t mine to make.”

  As I stood there listening to him speak, the words assaulted me like a knife. Asher was in some strange way connected to the very people who wanted to kill me and everyone I cared about. Asher was also a demon-- a night stalker who was anything but pure and innocent like I had once pictured him as.

  “You think your little story changes things?” Maddox growled, as he took a slow step in front of me.

  His protective stance seemed to only agitate Asher and I wasn’t in the mood to break up one of their boy arguments.

  Shaking his head, Asher spok
e but he only seemed to look in my direction. “I know this doesn’t fix anything. What and who I am changes everything between us all,” he began, as his voice seemed to tremble with each word.

  Moving around Maddox, I knew that I had to look at Asher and confront him myself, not cowering behind Maddox.

  “Asher, I really don’t know what to say, but you need to explain this to everyone,” I stated flatly.

  Asher’s eyes grew as he realized he would be forced to tell my family and friends that he was not the person they once believed him to be. However, I think we both were painfully aware that Maddox would be the hardest to deal with in this situation, or whatever this was.

  “You can’t be serious, Elle,” Maddox yelled as he swiftly turned around to face me.

  As I stared into the face of my best friend, I couldn’t help but feel a sense of anguish as I took in his pained expression.

  “Maddox,” I began, as I reached out and tried to take his hand, but he swatted me away.

  “No, Elle. This proves everything I have said all along. Asher isn’t like us, he is different,” he stated, as he spit the last word out. “He used to be a Hunter. He hunted and killed Shifters!”

  “I never killed anyone,” Asher argued, as he turned his attention to Maddox. “That is what I am trying to tell you. Yes, I was a Hunter, but we escaped that life. I’m not proud of what I used to be, but it’s not who I am,” he finished.

  As much as I hated it, I understood Asher. I was still seething with anger that he could lie to me about something so important, but I did understand the need to hide a part of yourself.

  “Maddox, of all people, you have to be aware that while I am beyond angry with Asher for hiding this from us, this isn’t entirely his fault. Neither you nor I asked to be Shifters. Just like Asher didn’t ask to be a descendant from the Hunter or be turned into a Vampire.”

  Maddox opened his mouth again to argue, but he quickly shut it before any words could escape. Shaking his head, Maddox launched himself into the air and evolved into a large, ferocious wolf. The wind around me blew my hair into my face as he began to sprint away from us.