Chapter 88 - The Truth - Part 3

"What the actual fuck?!"

Evan knew it had to be a shock, so he braced himself in advance against any negative reaction. What he didn't have much time to prepare for, however, was the explanation he owed his friends.

"You're..." Josh was the only one to respond out loud so far, but eventually, even he ran out of words and just ran his hands through his hair in desperation.

"A werewolf," Evan filled in for him. Even though it wasn't the first time he'd said it out loud, his voice still wavered slightly, lacking confidence.

"Fuck," he responded to his words. Josh's hands were still anxiously in his hair, and it looked like there was a battle brewing in his mind, which was understandable given the situation.

"Go get him some clothes." Kieran finally spoke. Josh looked at him at first as if he heard his words, but didn't understand their meaning, so Kieran gave him a slight shove and nodded his head somewhere behind Evan, where his room was probably located.

Evan remained silent, as he too had no idea how to handle the situation himself, so he waited for the questions that hadn't come yet.

"Go," Kieran repeated in a soft tone, and this time Josh nodded and headed in the direction his best friend was pointing. His gaze was focused straight ahead as if he was still in his head and just going on autopilot, not giving Evan another glance even though he walked straight past him.

That left just the two of them in the room, and Evan immediately sought Kieran's gaze nervously, but he paid him no mind. Or so it seemed.

Evan watched as he walked over to the couch and picked up the box that turned out to be a first aid kit. Without a word, he set it down at Evan's feet, and for the first time, Evan shifted his attention to his ankle, which he'd been ignoring despite the pain. His transformation caused the bandage to loosen and hang off his leg, giving him a perfect view of the teeth imprint the wild wolf had left there. It didn't look good at all, but Evan wasn't worried as he knew it would heal faster than humans would assume.

Kieran silently unwrapped the bandage from Evan's ankle and placed it beside him. He obviously didn't like the state it was in, as he bit his lip, and although Evan couldn't see his eyes, he knew exactly what Kieren's worried expression looked like.

"It'll heal," he spoke almost inaudibly, but Kieran caught it clearly as he immediately lifted his head.

Kieran looked like he wanted to say something, but in the end, he just furrowed his brow and lowered his attention back to Evan's leg. He carefully applied the disinfectant to it, and Evan couldn't hold back a hiss. It was silly since he could manage the bite for real, but the small sting bothered him. Kieran still didn't say a word, but he softened his touch as he put a clean gauze over it and began wrapping a clean bandage around his ankle.

Evan knew that Kieran wasn't one to start a conflict first, much less someone who asked questions when it wasn't necessary, but he had a feeling that the discovery of the supernatural world was more than necessary.

"Here." Evan automatically caught the clothes Josh dumped in his lap, though he hadn't been expecting it. The act suggested he was still angry, but Evan knew his anger stemmed from confusion and decided not to make anything of it for now. If he was going to be angry with him even if he knew the whole truth, then he had reason to be sad.

Kieran finished nursing his leg and stepped back. Josh immediately took advantage of this and decided it was time to ask, but Kieran grabbed his arm and turned him around while he did the same. It was a signal for Evan to get dressed quickly and he didn't hesitate.

With each passing second that silence reigned between them, Evan grew more and more nervous, and though his hands began to shake, he quickly pulled on a pair of shorts and a t-shirt that were a little loose, but it was better than nothing.

When he was done, he cleared his throat and sat back down in his original spot, as he had no idea what else to do, and standing was out of the question.

"Now." Josh was in front of him in a second, and his voice still sounded more like a scream than anything else. "You have a lot of explaining to do."

"I know," Evan assured him, and though he tried, he couldn't maintain eye contact. "I'll answer anything."

"He still saved us," Kieran pointed out, and Evan looked up at him in surprise. It sounded like he was still on his side, and while it wasn't fair after everything Evan had done to him, he was glad for it and felt terrible at the same time.

"I know," Josh muttered, then sighed. Then he sat down on the floor and put his palms to his face, closing his eyes as if trying to calm himself down while thinking about his next move. Kieran followed suit and sat down next to him so that he was directly in front of Evan.

"Werewolf," came quietly out of Kieran involuntarily, and he blinked in surprise as he realized what he'd said. The word worked like a spell for Josh, though, as he opened his eyes and folded his hands in his lap, and generally seemed to collect himself.

"A fucking werewolf," Josh repeated aloud, shaking his head at his own words.

If this situation was different and Evan was just an observer, he would be amused. But now, amusement was the last thing he felt.

"Have you been bitten or..." Josh paused, and Evan didn't understand his question at first, since it was clear from his leg that he'd been indeed bitten, but then it dawned on him how his friend meant it.

"No, I was born this way," he answered honestly. "The bite is just a myth," he added after a moment to make sure his friends had all the answers they needed.

"So are the werewolves," Josh muttered almost inaudibly.

"I don't think it's going to work this way," Kieran remarked after the moment of silence that ensued. "Can you tell us some basics?"

"Yeah...I can do that," Evan hadn't expected that, and it showed in his tone.

He cleared his throat and decided to improvise, not wanting to prolong this silence any longer than necessary. "So... Werewolves are supernatural beings. I guess you knew that," he mumbled the end of the sentence, but he didn't let it deter him. "I guess I should say that there are other supernatural beings, but I don't know what they are either, since it's not something that's commonly known. We distinguish werewolves from humans mainly by smell. Our senses are more animal than human. We can guide ourselves primarily by smell, but we also have better sight and hearing. We are also faster and stronger than normal humans."

He paused again, not knowing how to continue, but this time Josh filled the silence with his question. "What about your claws? Can you pull them out on command like in the movies?"

Rather than answer, Evan decided to demonstrate. He clenched his fist and then opened it sharply, his fingernails turning into dark claws.

"That's so fucking cool," Josh commented, looking at his hand.

Kieran, on the other hand, didn't look as interested as his friend and instead looked like he was debating something in his head. "Wolves live in packs, right?" he finally said, looking Evan straight in the eyes. And although he used the word wolves instead of werewolves, Evan immediately understood what he was asking.

He nodded, "We do too."

"You told me that you live in a strict community. That's your pack, isn't it?" Evan could only nod, and Josh looked from one to the other, which only told Evan that although he had once broken Kieran's heart, he kept his secrets to himself.

"Doesn't Angie live in the same place as you?" Josh asked, and Evan hesitated for a moment. However, there was no point in denying it, and he promised to tell the truth.

"She's a werewolf too," he confirmed what his friend had suggested.

"Your parents..." Kieran started, but then trailed off, as if he wasn't sure, it was the right question.

"You can ask me anything," Evan reminded him.

"Are they really homophobic or do they just dislike humans?" Kieran finally said, still frowning as if unsure of his question.

Evan sighed, not knowing the exact answer himself, but eventually decided to answer directly. "Both, I guess. Riley's mate was a guy and a human, and they weren't happy, so..."

"Mate?" Josh repeated and it was only then that Evan realised he had used that word instead of boyfriend as he had done in the past.

Evan cleared his throat and unconsciously ran his fingernails over his palm as his nervousness grew. They were approaching dangerous territory, and he wasn't going to lie. At the same time though, he didn't want to hurt Kieran, so he had no idea what to do.

"Werewolves have mates," he said, then elaborated, "Soulmates."

"Soulmates," this time it was Kieran who repeated after him. All Evan could do was nod.

"And Kieran wasn't yours," Josh commented, addressing the elephant in the room.

"No," Evan confirmed verbally, though his voice sounded more like a sigh than an actual word.

"Do you know who is?" Evan paused and that was enough for Josh to know the answer to his question.

"You told me before that you couldn't give me an explanation yet," Kieran spoke again, and Evan didn't have to be a genius to know when that was.

"You found your soulmate while you were still with Kieran," Josh concluded, and Evan could only nod as his eyes dropped to the ground.

"So you dated both of us at the same time?" Kieran asked and his question was enough to make Evan's head jerk back in alarm.

"Of course not," his voice was the loudest and steadiest it had been during the entire conversation.

Kieran looked confused by his answer but didn't ask any more questions and Josh looked like he was waiting for an explanation as well.

"It's hard to explain," Evan sighed, but still decided to give them the best explanation he could. "Wolves have a special ability that hasn't made it into any of the legends. Once a year, we can see through the eyes of our soulmate for a few seconds. We have no idea when it will happen, you just suddenly see something different to what you saw a second ago. These glimpses are meant to help us find out who our mate is."

"And you found out who yours was while you were with Kieran?" Josh interrupted.

"Yes," he replied, adding, "but he didn't know at the time, so I thought I had time to figure out what to do next. I was wrong".

"He as in your mate?" Josh asked just to be sure.

"Yeah," Evan said.

"What has happened?" Kieran asked. "Something happened between Saturday at the Depot and Monday morning, didn't it?"

Luckily his claws managed to disappear on their own or Evan would have cut his palm badly. His nervousness continued to grow, and he knew he had to choose the right words to avoid hurting Kieran more than he already had.

"It's a long story," he eventually said, contemplating his next words.

"We have time," Josh reminded him, making it very clear that he couldn't back out.

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What do you think? Is Evan doing a good job of explaining so far? How will Kieran react when he hears the whole story?