Bella:
"What?" Ryder asked immediately, and I glanced at Hazel, seeing how uneasy she felt.
"I knew I shouldn't have said anything," I muttered, getting to my feet, but Kai grabbed my hand, pulling me down as he sat beside me.
Hazel squeezed my thigh. "Oh, honey, I'm sure it was a mistake, and you shouldn't let Sebastian use it against you," she said, and I glared at her, considering the possibility of compelling all of them to forget what I had just revealed.
"Yeah, Bella, I mean, if you died after you fell that day, we three would be murderers, and it would be fair if we got tormented by our actions. But look at you, Bella, you are..."
"Innocent." I finished Finn's sentence, then I stood up, pushing away from them. I paced around for a moment, then I faced them. "Aside from the fact that Fae was the one who pushed me off the roof that night, this case is very different, and..."
"Fae pushed you?" they asked, their eyes widening.
"That is not the point of this conversation," I said, trying to steady my voice, which was already cracking. "I am a murderer and an outcast from my pack. My father was just one step away from disowning me because I am a monster." My voice broke, tears rolling down my cheeks.
"Bella, you are not a monster, and..."
"Oh, please! Do not pity me!" I shouted, causing Kai to retreat on the couch. "Ryder, can you remember why you stuck with me on the plan to get rid of Fae? Kai, isn't it strange that your grandmother had to perform cleansing rituals when I was at her place?" I questioned, and they narrowed their eyes.
"Bella, where is this heading?" Finn asked, and I scoffed.
"Isn't it strange that Hazel suddenly isn't hurt about Sebastian, who is supposed to be her boyfriend? And Hazel, isn't it weird that you sometimes wake up with no memories?"
Hazel gasped immediately. "You are..." She shook her head, clasping her hand over her mouth. "No, no."
The triplets looked at us, puzzled, having no clue what was happening.
"Please speak in a language we can understand," Kai said.
I took a deep breath, looking down at my feet, then yanked off the necklace the alpha had given me. When I looked up, they gasped, horror on their faces as my eyes turned black, the veins around them becoming visible, and my fangs popping out.
"This is what I am. A hybrid and a monster who killed her best friend because she cheated with a boy I loved," I began. "Every night, her lifeless body being drained of life from the venom infused from my bite haunts me."
They all remained silent, and I tried not to let it get to me.
"Come on, chastise me. My kind has taken people you care about, and I am nothing but a cold-blooded monster who is probably going to kill you, too." While the others remained calm, Ryder walked towards me, pulling me into a hug. The moment our bodies met, I became weak in the knees, reverting back to human form, sobbing into his chest as he patted the back of my head gently.
"You are not a monster, Bella," he said, and I remained in his embrace.
"And while at that, I would like you to know that you didn't kill your best friend," Hazel added, standing up.
"What?" the twins, who had been mute, echoed, and I pulled away from Ryder, staring at her with my tear-stained face.
Then she began to speak.
"Vampires do not have venom that can kill werewolves, you know. It is the other way around, and I do not understand why people assume wolves are weaker. Vampires are just faster." We all stared at her as if she were speaking some kind of foreign language. "In simple terms, werewolf bites kill vampires, and vampires can only drain blood from werewolves."
When she said this, I felt dumb for a moment. How was I realizing this now? Or was she trying to make me feel better? What can I say? My parents have avoided this side of me like a disease, and no one thought me anything about it.
"I am not trying to make you look innocent. If you bit your best friend, then you didn't kill her, and if her body was pale cold, then someone else must have drained her blood prior, allowing you to fall victim."
"Sebastian!"
I reached for my pocket at once, pulling out my phone. "Here is what I found out today about him. He is a hybrid, and my mother has been hiding this from me for a reason I cannot comprehend."
"That body bag of yours will really come in handy because I will beat him to death!" Ryder clenched his fists.
"And risk getting persecuted?" I questioned.
"He killed someone, and..."
"No one knows that yet. It is on record that I am the murderer, so I need proof. Until I get proof, it will remain that way. If anything happens to him, it would solidify what has been said about me, so please don't do anything absurd."
I walked to the couch to sit down while I tried to keep a focused mind, but tears rolled down my cheeks again. Not because of my predicament, but because of Bonnie. She must have been trying to call out to me for help that night, but Sebastian made it look like she cheated. He spitefully manipulated me, and I fell for it. For months, I was ashamed to mourn my best friend. I had locked away everything we shared together and abandoned all her gifts.
Was this a punishment for abandoning you, Bonnie? I am sorry; I said to myself, curling my knees to my chest with my arms wrapped around them.
Ryder and Kai sat beside me, sandwiching me in between them, while Finn pulled up a stool and sat in front of me, taking my hand and rubbing it gently. Hazel stood still, watching me. Then she sniffled, wiping the tears from her eyes.
"Now I cannot help but blame myself for being an asshole. How did you keep all this to yourself?" she questioned, and I glanced at her without a word.
"I'm sorry for compelling you, and if you wish I could.."
"I would rather die than want to know what it feels like to love that bastard!" she cut me off.
Finn kissed my hand. "We promise, Bella, we will not let Sebastian or Fae hurt you," he said, and the others seconded.
"They probably have more lies to tell on the blog, and when this gets out, my mother will probably be glad to expel me," I said, and Ryder opened his mouth to speak but then said nothing.
Suddenly Hazel's phone beeped. "I need to take this," she said, walking away...