Chapter 10: Chapter Ten

Axel

Way to go, Axel. You made her faint, his wolf said.

"Me?" I hissed. "You were the one that shifted, and attacked the lycan. She's scared of you, not me."

His wolf huffed. "Actually, she hates us both. At least I didn't bully her for four years."

Axel shoved his wolf back into his mind, and bent down to pick up Claire. Her small body was limp in his arms, her head swung as he walked her over toward her car, jerked the door handle opened, not caring that he completely broke it, and placed her into the backseat. He'd pay to have it fixed, but he needed to get her to her apartment before someone saw them. He searched her car for something to wear, only finding one lone towel that looked damp, but he had no choice, his clothes shredded when he unexpectedly shifted.

Axel tied the towel around his waist, and jogged over to grab her purse and keys. Thankfully, the campus was bare of students, so it was easy to leave the parking lot undetected. He drove toward her apartment complex, checking the backseat to make sure she hadn't woke.

He feared she'd hit him in the back of his head when she did wake up. Shifting on campus hadn’t been the plan, but when he saw her walking by herself toward the parking lot, and smelled the lycan, he had no other choice.

Something told him to make sure she made it home okay, especially with the lycan attacks going around campus. Claire stirred when he hit a speed bump in the parking lot, but didn't wake, not even when he lugged her from the backseat, and up to her apartment.

Axel used her keys to open the door, and shut it with his foot behind him. The small apartment was cozy and decorated in soft tones and thrift store furniture.

Axel's wolf howled at her scent everywhere in the apartment, and the soft smell of her soap. He put her down on her made bed, and searched her room for a pair of basketball shorts big enough for him. He found one lone pair that looked like it belonged to a male, but he pushed it aside.

He didn't have time for jealousy.

Axel checked for her heartbeat before walking to her kitchen to make her a cup of hot tea. He felt like a creep going through her things, but he needed to take care of her, and get ready to explain everything.

This wasn’t supposed to happen now.

He planned to tell her after he wooed her, or at least after she could tolerate his presence. But it was too late now.

He sensed Claire stir in the other room, and her heartrate picked up. Taking a deep breath, he walked in with her tea. She wasn't sitting on the bed so he put her tea on top of her dresser, and turned toward the bathroom when something hit him in the side of the head. He stumbled from the shock of it, and turned to see Claire holding the stand of her lamp in her grasp, her eyes wide in fear.

"Get back!" she screamed, poking it at his chest.

It was almost funny to see her so scared, but then when he thought about it, he probably would have been, too.

"Claire," Axel said with his palms up. "Calm down. I know you're scared,"

"Scared?" she said in a hysterical voice. "I'm freak the hell out! Not only did I get attacked by a beast, but you turned into a dog, and then turned back! And you were naked!"

Axel nodded his head, keeping her at arm's length, so that he didn't end up with a concussion, and Claire didn't call the police while he was down. "If you'll let me explain … I saved you, Claire. Do you really think the lamp is necessary?"

She laughed humorlessly. "I don’t know, Axel. You tell me. You're the one that bullied me for years. And then turn into a dog,"

"I'm not a dog," he snapped. "Put down the lamp."

Claire waited several seconds before she lowered the lamp, but kept it in her clutches. "You tell me right now why I don't need to call the cops,"

"Because they won't believe you, and you'll end up in a psych ward."

Claire folded her arms over her chest. "Is this just a bad dream? Yes, it is a bad dream," she said, dropping the lamp and walking toward her bed. "Go ahead …" she said. "Try and explain this madness."

Axel leaned against the wall across from Claire and cleared his throat, rubbing his neck in an attempt to avoid her gaze. "I'm … I'm a werewolf, Claire. I'm part of a pack, which is my family, The Shadow Pack. The beast that attacked you was a lycan. They aren't friendly, they do not like humans, and they're our enemy. I'm not sure why this one is attacking the campus, but I've told my dad about it, and we may have to intervene with some of the other local packs."

Claire blinked several times before a bubble of laughter slipped from her mouth. "You're joking, right? There are more of you?"

Axel scoffed. "This is no different than that book I saw you looking at in the library."

"Yeah, a big difference, they're fiction!" she shouted.

"Obviously not," he snapped, gesturing toward himself. "Listen, I know it sounds crazy, but I just shifted in front of you. You saw it. It's real."

"I know," she said weakly. "Does being a werewolf make you an ass?"

Axel rolled his eyes. "No, but it does cause me to have a temper … and a mate."

You couldn't have slid that conversation in another way? My wolf asked. No wonder she hates us.

Claire made a face. "A mate?"

Axel nodded, biting his bottom lip, he gathered the courage to speak. "Every wolf has a mate. Someone that is destined to be with them. They know immediately. It's in the air, their smell, and their wolf recognizes it once they come in contact with them, after we turn eighteen."

"Well that's helpful. You don't have to wonder around trying to trial date for the perfect person."

Axel nodded. "Exactly."

Silence enveloped them.

Claire tucked her hair. "So you can shift or turn whenever you want to?" she asked.

"Yes."

Claire began to kick her feet. "Are there other wolves on campus, besides the beast?"

He nodded. "Yeah, I'm sure. I haven't ran into any, but we go to normal universities unless we have a position within the pack or don't want to go to school."

"Position? What does that mean?"

"Like alpha, beta, gamma, that kind of thing. Every wolf has a job within the pack. Whether it is a guard, a cook, and so on. It's a giant family."

Claire swallowed nervously. "What is your position?"

"I'll be the Alpha after my father steps down in a few years. My mother is the current Luna, and my … mate will be my Luna."

Claire sighed deeply, looking everywhere but at his eyes. "Well, I appreciate you saving me. I would be dead right now, probably. I'm guessing that was his objective. To kill me."

Axel shrugged. "I'm not sure to be honest. He either wanted to kill you or turn you."

"Turn me into what?" she gaped.

"A lycan. He'd bite you," he said. "Which makes me wonder if the other girl was bitten or not."

"That's not scary or anything. I need to warn Cat,"

Axel put his hand on her shoulder and guided her back to the bed. "You can't warn anyone. People don't know that we exist for a reason. You have to keep this to yourself."

"How do people not know about this?"

"Because if the world found out about us they would kill us, Claire. I know you hate me, but I really don't want to die at eighteen."

"I don't hate you," she whispered. "But I don't like you. I've spent the last four years of my life miserable because of you, but I do forgive you," she said. "So, I'm moving past it kind of."

That felt like a definite step in the right direction.

"Thank you," Axel said, glancing around. "Would you mind if I slept on your couch tonight to make sure the lycan didn't follow us home?"

Claire twisted the end of her braid, and glanced around nervously. "Yeah, uh, sure." She got up and walked over to her closet, pulling down an extra pillow and blanket. "Here you go. The couch isn't very comfortable. Sorry."

"It's fine, I promise. Thank you. You holler at me if you hear anything or … need me for anything."

Claire nodded, and gathered her change of clothes for bed, but stopped and glanced down at one of the drawers. "Hey Axel."

I stood in the doorframe staring at her pretty features. "Yes?"

"You said everyone has a mate. Have you found yours yet?"

Tell her, my wolf hissed. Finally, you can tell her.

I bit my bottom lip in frustration. I'd been dying to tell her, but I didn't want her to think she had no choice in the matter. I didn't think she needed to know tonight. Maybe in a week or so once I've earned her trust enough to hold a conversation without me saving her from a beast being the reason.

"No," I lied. "Not yet."

Idiot, my wolf sighed.