Chapter 24 - Blue Eyes

**Lily**

"Maybe it's just a coincidence." Alexis speaks behind me.

"How is it a coincidence that my van got on fire and not the gas station? Wouldn't it all just blow up?" Brandon wonders.

"I don't know... it just did." For once, Jesse doesn't have an answer.

"Let's face the facts," Chase remarks, "A bow blew out the tire. A bow almost ripped Jesse's face off! And now, my brother's van blew up." Chase eyes are wide, still in shock. "It's the Red Blood Pack!"

I groan. "Don't bring it up." I get chills. My hands work their way up and down my arms, trying to warm them up and get rid of the goosebumps that form whenever that name is mentioned.

"Why did you *even* come?" Megan asks. "You asked for this."

"We wanted to help, Lily." Debra declares, taking a stand towards the darkness that is Megan.

"No one cares about what you say, whore." Megan snaps.

"Why did *you* come?" Alexis bellows, "All you ever do is fight!"

Megan's eyes turn pitch black. Doesn't she know not to tempt Megan?

"I'll Show You!" Megan leaps toward Alexis. Jeremy wraps his arms around Megan's shoulders, grunting as Megan thrashes in his hold. Jesse holds Alexis back though he doesn't seem to be having as much trouble as Jeremy is.

"Kill Her!" Victor hollers, sitting cross legged on the grass. And you guessed it, he has popcorn on his lap. How does he do? I don't know. But the kernels are popping.

"Get Your Fat Ass Up and Protect My Sister!" Brandon shouts, his eyes wide with panic as Megan's claws almost scratch Alexis' eyes out.

"Fat ass?" Victor questions, popcorn falling out his mouth. "I *do* have a fat ass."

Brandon grunts and grabs Megan's left arm, his face red. "Help!" Megan grunts and her hand lands a punch on Brandon's face. Brandon falls.

"Brandon!"

"Dude." Victor holds his popcorn in the air. "You have a flat ass."

"I won't stand for this!" Brandon swings his arm, aiming at Victor's head. Victor jumps up but not in time, the popcorn bucket flies out his hands and on the grass.

Victor yells. "No!" His eyes turn black. Brandon gulps but it's too late.

He unleashed Victor.

I thought bringing them would be helpful. And now, I'm not sure. They keep on arguing and well, just annoying me.

We're all in shock about what happened to the van. The old man had a bunch of fire extinguishers and was able to extinguish the fire with the help of the guys. Nothing survived, everything was gone. Now we have no extra clothes, food, snacks, and only five of us have wallets. We're on our way to the second nearest hotel inside the forest, exhausted and mentally tired about what is coming towards us. We turned ourselves into wolves and ran for a whole hour, about three hours away from the gas station. Now we're in human form, walking along the road and probably thirty minutes away from the hotel and the nearest small town.

I know what you're thinking. There is an angry pack, werewolves, after you. Why didn't you go inside the hotel next to the gas station? It's a simple answer.

We're not crazy.

That hotel is two hours away from where our tire blew up and a couple of feet away from where our van blew up. If we were to stay there, whoever is after us, would have blown u the hotel too. Not that it matters that much, the hotel was creepy as hell.

"How long have we've been walking?" Joanne gasps, her hands around her midsection.

"Like five minutes, man." Victor chuckles and pats her on the back. Joanne falls on her knees, screeching in pain. Our eyes, once again, glared at Victor. Victor's eyes go wide in panic and his hands go up in a I-didn't-do it type of way.

Jeremy and Megan help her up, setting her down in the nearby rock. "I think he broke my kneecaps," Joanne wheezes.

"Well, it's a good thing you're a werewolf. Should only take a couple of minutes," I mutter. I make my way past them and sit on a nearby rock. For a trail, along the road, there sure are a lot of rocks.

The others follow along and sit on the grass and the big rocks, resting. It's not like we're tired. We're werewolves for crying out loud! I think we're all still thinking about the threats. I've never been threatened like that before and I'm sure the others haven't been threatened like that either.

I was afraid of this. I was afraid they would get hurt and now my stomach won't stop cramping up. I've had a bad feeling since the incident with the bow, and it's been following me since.

"What are you thinking about?"

"Huh?" My eyes align with Chase, who sets himself beside me.

Chase smiles a genuine smile that makes my wolf sense buffer. "How are you doing?" It's a simple question. But that question makes my wolf want to crawl its way out and onto Chase.

I scratch my chest where my wolf pokes my inside. "Good." *Ouch*. I try poking my wolf back but it disappears inside my body. Damn her.

"She still likes me?"

"What?" I dumbly ask.

Chase clarifies, "Your wolf. I can feel her roaming around in there." Argh, I hate my wolf.

I pause. "That's kind of nasty. At least when you say it out loud." I admit.

Chase nods. "I do regret saying that." His mouth lets out a breathy laugh.

"She does. I'm not sure why." I answer his earlier question. My eyes find Jeremy, whose jealous eyes are pinned on Chase.

Chase follows my line of sight. "Your boyfriend doesn't like me." His words are dry.

"Yeah." I pull my hair behind my ear, a movement that catches Chase's eyes. And Jeremy's. Jeremy's figure straightens up, his legs making their way to us. His hands are fists at his side, ready to attack.

Oh please. "Leave, Chase." I can't deal with this right now.

"What?" Chase's wide eyes peer at the side of my face. The small pang at the side of his chest hurts me too but at this moment, it doesn't matter that much.

I sigh. "I need to think. So leave." My eyes fall to the grass, which is looking darker by the minute as the sunlight disappears and the moonlight appears. Chase's eyes don't leave the side of my face as he gets up and walks towards the others. Sensing my mood, Jeremy sits back down on his spot.

I'm lost. My courage and motivation have been beaten by the fire and the van, I feel horrible. My eyes and other senses have been searching the forest and our surroundings, searching for anything, anyone. But my senses haven't detected anything. Call it what you want but I have a feeling, this feeling that we're being watched. My stomach churns and cramps up. I sigh and lean down, groaning.

"Eww, Diarrhea?"

I lift my head and shoot lasers at Victor's head. "No!" Do I? My stomach is churning an awful lot and my body is starting to feel weak.

"I hope not," Megan mutters. "We have sensitive noses." The others chuckle.

Warm sensations travel from the back of my neck and to my cheeks, blushing.

"Now she's a toma - toe." Victor guffaws in laughter as if that is the funniest thing he said.

A pain, much like a churn, erupts in my stomach. A groan leaves my tongue, followed by awful heartburn and an awful taste charging up my throat. I gag.

"She's gonna explode!" Victor yells, panic in his voice.

Megan screams. "Run! This is not a drill!" Megan charges in the opposite direction. "Run!" Chase, Brandon, and Alexis run after her.

I walk a couple of feet away and lean down, bile falling down my throat. My throat burns as the nasty green substance splats against the grass.

"Lily, I'm here."

"No!" More bile splatters against the grass. "Don't look at me!" My eyes water as another round of bile falls out my mouth.

"Okay. Okay." Jeremy's footsteps disappear.

*Snap*

My head snaps to the direction of the noise, a shadow of a figure appearing on the grass by moonlight. My eyes zone in the rustle of trees, I narrow my eyebrows and stand up straight. I look back at my friends, my eyes meeting their backs.

"Are you done?" Joanne asks.

I wipe my mouth. "No." Why did I do that?

My feet tread lightly towards the trees, trying to avoid the fallen leaves and pebbles. My heart thumps slowly, the sound almost deaf to my ears. The rustle of the leaves and trees stops and so does the shadow. I lean down and hide behind the bush.

"Did you see her?"

What? I try to focus on the figures. I puked up so bad that it messed up my eyes. There are around six people, all men, I can tell they aren't werewolves because they smell like nothing. Five of them are crowded around a sixth person, who I can't see clearly. Even by lifting my head, their shoulders are too large for me to see even a little.

"I don't know. It doesn't smell like her."

Smell? Are they werewolves? I look them up and down. The men are dressed in the stereotypical black clothes, tall and muscular. The burn inside my chest worsens, my eyes water, and I place my fist in my mouth. Please don't puke, Lily. Please don't puke.

"But the Royals sa - " Another man tries to speak but the guy in the middle clears his throat. The five other men bow their heads.

Did he say Royals? The old man said the Royals would come to me but I don't think they are talking about me. Could they be the Red Blood Pack? No - I'm confused. I place my left hand on the ground and use my other hand to move some branches out the way.

"I'm in charge. And like I said, we are not to disturb her until her mission is complete."

His voice is full of power but he can't be older than twenty-five. It's manly but kind of soft? Almost raspy, as if he's tired and kind of sad. Why are these guys so bulky? If I just lean my head over -

*Snap*

Crap! My feet unconsciously moved closer and stepped on a branch. I close my eyes tightly and take a deep breath.

"Did you hear that?" The *leader* asks.

Sweat erupts on top of my skin as a pit of nerves spread around my empty stomach. I unfist my hands and wipe them on my short shorts.

"Someone's here... " The voice trails off. The men some steps away from the middle and their eyes search the surroundings. Their eyes move across the forest as if they had some type of scanners in their eyes.

Werewolves can see in the dark but even our eyes can't catch everything, which is why we train with all senses. But the way, their eyes are moving, it's crazy. It's as if they're processing everything in just a couple seconds.

"Smells... like puke."

I'm dead.

Feeling brave, I take a step closer and focus on the guy in the middle. His stance is firm, posture straight, and eyes searching the ground. His aura is powerful, this hot warm ambiance, almost unreal surrounds him. Even the other men have a similar aura, powerful.

"See anything?"

"Could be gone, I can't see anything."

"No. The puke smell is still lingering..."

Crap! As if sensing my thoughts, the leader's bright blue eyes snap to mine. I hold my breath. His eyes stay on mine, an emotion crossing them.

"Lily!"

I jump. Jeremy and Jesse are walking towards me. Sensing movement, I turn my head back to the spot they were conversing on. What? My feet make their way to the spot and my eyes search for tracks, scents, and noises nearby.

Nothing.

Aren't humans and werewolves supposed to leave tracks or footprints? My eyes scan the area, careful to spot any movement. It's as if I imagined it all. Either these people are the best werewolves I've ever seen or they have some type of special power.

"What are you looking for?" Jesse mutters, his eyes searching around me.

"And why did you leave?" Jeremy asks, head tilting.

I cross my arms. "Did you see anything?" My question causes their eyebrows to scrunch into wrinkles.

I couldn't have imagined them. I can still feel the leader's bright blue eyes on the back of my neck.

"I brought you some mint candies." Jesse pulls a handful of mints out his pockets, offering them to me. "Please feel free to use them all." With shaking hands, I take the candies and place them inside my jean pockets.

"Pop one in now."

I roll my eyes at the urgency in Jesse's face. I unwrap the candy and pop it in my mouth. "Happy?" My neck burns.

"When we leave the puke behind." Jesse retorts and turns back, his feet charging out the forest.

"You okay?" Jeremy's soft eyes search my face. "You look pale." I *feel* pale.

I feel the eyes. It's burning at the side of my face but everywhere I look, I just don't see them. His eyes are bright blue, they should be easy to find.

"We should go find that hotel."

Jeremy grabs my hand, his feet moving until they are parallel from mine. "You don't want to talk?"

I move the candy around my mouth. "Why?"

Jeremy doesn't look happy. He licks his lips and his hand is back at his side. "You used to talk to me."

"Jeremy." My feet move an inch closer to him. "I still talk to you." I chuckle. What is he playing at?

"You don't see it?" Jeremy's eyes downcast to his shoes. "Ever since Chase..." He trails off.

I roll my eyes. "He has nothing to do with this. Are you jealous?" Realization dawns on me.

"I wonder why." Jeremy is sarcastic, his hands into fists.

"You're overreacting." I shake my head. My feet walk a couple feet towards the road but I pause. The burning sensation feels intense now, as if I was on fire. "Let's go." I try to grab Jeremy's hand but he backs away, hands in the air.

"I can do it myself." His heavy feet walk ahead of mine.

I don't understand why he's so upset. Maybe I haven't been talking about my feelings but no one likes a whiner. Besides, I don't know what I would say without sounding like a sadistic psychopath.

"When you're ready, tell me about the almost kiss you had with Chase."

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Muahaha! I feel bad for doing this but Lily has been neglecting her boyfriend for way too long. He was bound to found out about the almost kiss anyway, I mean, he has werewolf hearig.

Anyway, thanks for reading!

An update will be up tomorrow! July 14!

Kiki