19

The rest of the school week was torture.

I was at school alone- alone being the term to describe how I felt without Hayden by my side. I had my friends surrounding me, but there was no denying the elephant in the room. My newly-developed sixth-sense could literally detect the waves of suspicion and jealousy rolling off of Caitlyn, and I knew it would only be a matter of time before I had to address the situation. Indie was proving to be more of a friend than I'd ever asked of her, and with her on my side of the secrecy, I didn't feel completely lost without Hayden.

"So, Dawn," started Caitlyn. Here we go, the confrontation. We were sitting outside, taking advantage of the rare spout of sunshine. Indie was doing some extra work on her photography assignment, and only Amy, Macy and Caitlyn were with us, leaving me in a deer-in-headlights circumstance.

"I went to your house to hang out a few days ago, because you weren't answering your phone." Oops. "You're dad told me you were out, so I went home. But I've been back every day this week, and it's Friday. Every time, you were 'out'. So where have you been?"

Crap.

I didn't know what expression to wear on my blank face, "Oh, um, the thing is...I've been staying staying at..." Quick, Dawn think fast! Caitlyn raised her eyebrow questioningly. "...my auntie's!" I blurted.

"What?"

I sighed dramatically. "Well- technically, she's my great-aunt. And she's lonely. I didn't want to tell you because...it's kind of embarrassing, you know? She's all alone in her cottage and my family's been getting worried about her. So I moved in. I-uh, I help with, um, the laundry, and I....I even read to her before bed! I'm just keeping her company until my, uh, second cousin comes home from her holiday." I was aware that my confession has stumbled into the rambling zone, but I didn't know how to be more convincing.

Truthfully, I was fairly proud of myself for thinking up an excuse on the spot in the first place. I hated lying to people- really, really hated it -but I had no choice. What would people think: a sixteen year-old living with her boyfriend? What would Caitlyn think: her supposed best friend moving in with the guy she called dibs on? An outspoken part of me wanted to sit down with Caitlyn, and throw the weight on my shoulders on her lap so she could sift through it and I'd be guilt-free. But then again, how would she feel to know that I had piled up such a huge mass of secrets that I had excused with pathetic lies?

My thoughts sent a fleeting grimace to my lips as my friends mulled over my admission. Surprisingly, Amy reached over and patted my arm comfortingly.

"Next time, tell us, Dawn. You know we will only ever support you," she said. And- even more shockingly -she winked mischievously at me when Caitlyn wasn't looking.

Oh my God.

She thought I was going out with Hayden every night! That's why she was being so 'understanding'. Well, technically, I was with Hayden all week, but we weren't going on dates every night. Because that makes it so much better: instead of dating him, I was living with him.

From the corner of my eye, I spied Macy's eye twinkling knowingly.

Darn friends.

Finally looking up from her lap, Caitlyn shot me a forced smile.

"I guess everything's fine then," she said, and stood up before walking away in the direction of the main school doors. But I could still tell that she was growing increasingly more upset about my relationship with Hayden- I knew that, to her, it was moving out of the friend zone.

Everything was definitely not fine.

>>

Hayden

I missed Dawn, that I knew.

But I also knew that I was staying home for a reason- to protect Dawn. The half-moon was literally around the corner; supposedly it would light the night skies next Thursday, exactly one week from today.

After realising this, Dad had forced me to stay off school on Wednesday to train. If there was a 'battle', I had to be prepared. After all, I wasn't only going to be fighting for Dawn, no. I would be fighting for Sydney as well: Dad had decided to keep Ash out of the situation. Getting a small boy involved would only cause more harm than good.

"Argh," I groaned, flopping on the grass without an ounce of energy remaining in my muscles. I needed to eat, to drink, to see Dawn.

"Up!" Dad ordered. He was being hard on me, but I didn't blame him. "You have to fight for her, son. Get up. You'll thank me for this."

Grudgingly, I summoned willpower to my bones. I was pushing me limits- no, I had exceeded my limits -but I had to think about the beautiful brown-haired angel who slept beside me every night. Wobbling to my feet, I took a defensive stance, and practiced what Dad had taught me.

Dagger-like claws sprouted from my knuckles, longer than any wolves'; callused paw-pads developed on the balls of my feet for extra traction; hard skin took the place of my human skin on both of my hands; muscly wolf calves bulged in my legs, and saber-tooth canines protruded from my gums. I had chosen what attributes to take from my wolf form, strengthening me, providing me with weaponry almost impossible to disable. I was effectively super-human.

Dad launched at me, his prickly wolf fur scratching my face as he pounced on me, sparking defensive reflexes from my poised limbs. Thrashing calculatedly and slashing my claws, I managed to throw him off of me before being slammed to the ground. My muscles were weak and exhausted, my brain foggy with fatigue, but, with an unexpected burst of adrenaline, I flipped us and pinned my father to the ground.

And then I heard her.

"Hayden?" she called. Dawn! Leaping to my feet, I retracted my super-human characteristics and sprinted to the back of the house, where she was leaning against the door frame.

"Hey," I grinned, and scooped her up in my arms, spinning her around in the air. She giggled and pushed me off her, and I wondered goofily how she was able to rejuvenate me like a new battery in a child's toy. In my pocket, my phone buzzed, and I put it to my ear.

"Hello?"

"Hey man, I'm coming over," Dylan voice crackled through the phone. Immediately my wolf snarled, protective over Dawn, but I breathed in deeply to calm him down.

"Sure, um, Dawn's here, okay?"

"Awesome! It will be great to hang out again." His enthusiasm caused a quiet growl to rumble in my throat.

"See you, then." The phone clicked dead. I turned to Dawn, who was looking at me questioningly. Circling her small frame with my arms, I sighed into her air, and mumbled, "Dylan's coming over."

I felt her nod.

An hour later, it was five-thirty and I was lying on a beanbag facing the TV in the living room with Dylan sitting beside me and Dawn's head on my stomach. She was snoozing quietly, her eyelids flickering from time to time as she dreamed.

We were playing video-games, but we had turned the sound off so as to not wake Dawn.

"I'm going to get a drink, you want anything?" I whispered to Dylan.

Pausing the game, he turned to face me. "Nah, thanks though." I nodded, carefully manoeuvred Dawn off my lap and laid her head softly on the beanbag, then headed into the kitchen. I smiled when I realised that Dawn had rubbed her delicious coconut perfume all over me, which, I noted, significantly lessened the power of my wolf's sense of smell. That could be a weapon against our enemies, I thought to myself. Maybe the smell of coconut could be an asset in a surprise attack? It clearly affects Shifters weirdly.

I searched through the fridge before finding a can of coca-cola, and walked back through the hallway to the dark living room, where we had turned all the lights off to enhance the experience.

As I walked in, the rug beneath my feet quietened my footsteps.

And I watched as my best friend stroked my mate's face whilst leaning in closer to her lips.

"WHAT THE FUCK," I growled, not only causing Dylan's head to snap in my direction but stirring Dawn from her slumber as well. Opening her eyes, she looked confusedly at Dylan's hand still lingering on her forehead and instinctively shuffled away from him, which relaxed me. Slightly.

"What's going on?" Dawn questioned sleepily. I looked pointedly at Dylan, who was locked in my gaze, bearing wide, frightened eyes. He knew what it meant to mess with the mate of a Wolf Shifter, not to mention whilst the male in the relationship was in the area.

Not only was I disgusted by Dylan's attempt to kiss my mate in her sleep, and worried about Dawn, but I felt betrayed.

I was facing a traitor.

Dawn, noticing my gaze and sensing my anger, also turned to glare at Dylan. That's my girl.

"I swear, Hayden, I didn't mean to..." He stumbled to his feet and backed away from me slowly, and I realised that I was approaching him threateningly instinctively. My wolf was taking control.

"I couldn't help it," Dylan whimpered. I backed him closer and closer to the wall. "I don't know why I-"

"SHUT UP!" I barked, my words slightly muffled by the fangs slipping through my lips. My hand slammed Dylan's next against the wall and I had to fight to stop my claws escaping and slicing into his throat.

"I'm going to kill you," I growled, my words dripping with the evil threat. My claws were starting to peek through the skin at my knuckles, an my self-restraint was wavering.

"Hayden, don't," Dawn warned from behind me. I knew that she was stopping me from doing something I would regret, but my wolf pushed that aside. My brain, cloudy with anger and pulsing with an severe lack of reason, interpreted her plea as an effort to defend him.

She's defending him.

She'd defending him.

She's defending him.

A roar reverberated in my chest and echoed out my throat, shaking with such intensity that my protruding canines vibrated. My claws shot out like knives and almost plunged into my prey's neck when my heart stopped.

What am I doing? Am I really going to murder my best friend? Is this what I am- a killer, an animal?

I retracted my claws swiftly and stepped hesitantly away from Dylan, who had his head swung away from my hand and his eyes squeezed shut, expecting the worst. Upon my retreat, he blinked his eyes open and looked at me, shocked.

"Get the fuck out before I change my mind." My voice was calm, but rumbled with authority and pure warning. The sharpness of my tone sparked a flinch from Dylan's hunched body and, within seconds, he had shot out of the front door.

The heavy door slammed shut behind him, sending an echo screaming through the silent house.