Chapter 14
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I gathered up my spare clothes under my arm and made a beeline for the front door of the apartment. I had opened this door so many times over the past few years, but this time felt so different.
I was trying to rehearse possible conversations with Jackson in my mind. What would I say? Jackson, can you find somewhere else to stay for the next two weeks? I’ll move out then, when I head to my next work assignment, Was that too much? Where would he stay in the meantime? Then, I thought about the logistics of all this. Where would i pur all my things when I left for my work assignment? Maybe I could rent storage unit. I could fit a few things in the BookMobile.
Eventually, I decided to worry about those details later. For now just needed to get inside that apartment, shower, and tidy up ideally while keeping my space from Jackson.
I turned the knob and went through the door. My whole body felt a sigh of relief as I stepped into the apartment hall. Even though the building owners never kept the hall too warm, it was so much warmer than outside.
I took a deep breath and turned the knob on the door to Apartment 3. 1 half expected Jackson to be in the kitchen, eating breakfast and making coffee, but much to my surprise, the kitchen was
sempty.
I looked around. There was a half–empty bottle of blood tea on the counter. Had he really not moved this bottle since I left it there three nights ago? Several cans of chicken were sitting by the sink. Of course he wouldn’t bother to cook. I thought to myself.
“Jackson?” I finally called, expecting him to come in the kitchen. But there was no response.
I made
my way into the living room, setting my clothes and purse down on the couch. The blankets on the sofa were all strewn about. Almost by instinct, I picked one up and started folding it. How dare he leave the place such a mess! He had to know I’d come back here at some point. Did he expect me to just clean up after him? My blood started to boil, and I felt the hairs on my back start pushing against my skin, wanting to emerge and be free.
For a brief second, I thought about just transitioning and letting myself go. Jackson didn’t seem to be here,
anyways.
I put the folded blanket back on the sofa, and started to stretch towards the sky, preparing to let my tail emerge.
And then, I heard it: a soft, feminine voice. I stopped in my tracks to listen more closely. I couldn’t quite make out what the voice was saying. Was Jackson watching a video in his office? Why hadn’t he responded when I called to him?
“Jackson!” I called again, trying to project my voice down the hall. Maybe he was just ignoring my presence. That wouldn’t be such a bad thing. If he didn’t respond soon, maybe I would just shower and go on with my day. It seemed immature to just ignore each other, but if that’s what he wanted, then sure. I could go with that.
There was no response from Jackson, but the quiet female voice did continue. It had grown slightly louder. My ears perked, I listened closely. I could have sworn the voice said “is that her?
Was someone else here!
I dropped the second blanket on the sofa and made my way down the hall. “Hello?” I called, loudly. “Is someone here?”
My spine started to prickle. My instinct, as a wolf, was to transition in cases like this where I felt threatened. But having lived among humans for so long. I had learned to control that urge. Things would not have gone well for me had I transitioned every time someone jumped out from behind a corner.
There was no response from the voice. The door to Jackson’s office was cracked. I slowly pushed it open the rest of the way. hall expecting to find him watching porn at his desk. But there was no one there.
“Hello?” I called again, continuing down the hall. I reached the door to nine and Jackson’s bedroom. I could tell from looking at the bottom of the door that the light was on inside. I pushed my ear against the door, trying to listen. Either the wooden door was too thick, or whoever was inside was being very quiet. I couldn’t hear a thing
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Chapter 14
I knocked on the door. Jackson, are you in there? It’s me.” I said,
No response,
“I just wanted to get some of my things,” I said, instantly regretting those words because they suggested I was going to be the one to leave the apartment.
There was still no reply.
“Whatever, dude. Grow up!” I finally yelled, reaching out to open the door.
I flung the door open, and what I saw was not what I expected.
There, laying in our bed, was not only Jackson, but a slender blonde girl. They were laying side by side with the covers pulled пр to their chests. It was clear that they were naked underneath there.
I think I stood there with my mouth wide open for a full minute before I was finally able to say something. When I did. speak, the words that came out were garbled.
“Jackson, what the heck? Who is… who is this? She’s… why is she in my bed? Oh my God. Get out! Get out!” I yelled.
As I yelled and paced back and forth in the hall,I could feel my tail struggling to emerge. I did my best to shove down the urge. Not now, Marlie. Think human. Think human.
smiling. Was he doing this
10 me on
Jackson and the girl didn’t move from the bed. In fact, I could have sworn Jackson was sm purpose? Who was this girl?
Suddenly, it hit me. This must be the girl he was cheating on me with!
“You!” I yelled, pointing my finger furiously at the girl in the bed
And then, I felt it. My tail emerged from my hind end. I tried in vain to control it, but it pushed through. “Arghhhhahaha,” 1 half–yelled, and half–growled, as I bolted down the hall. I assumed this girl was a human. Her hair was simply too blonde and too sleek for her to be a wolf. I couldn’t let her see me like this. After all these years of successfully hiding, was this how I was going to be found out?
I slipped into the bathroom and slammed the door closed behind me. I tried for a second to get my tail to retreat, but I was far too worked up to be successful. So,I let go and transitioned. My spine stretched and my limbs contorted, and before I knew it. I was standing in the bathroom in my full wolf form.
I’d never been my wolf at this apartment when someone else was here. Had she seen me? How obvious had my tail been when I’d run past the doorway? Surely, her first instinct would not be to assume I was a werewolf. She’d think I was wearing a costume, right? Maybe she’d think I was a furry or was really into cosplay.
I climbed into the bathtub and curled up into a ball, trying to calm myself down. Take deep breaths. Marlie. As soon as you calm down, you can transition back, head out there, and take can of this, I told myself.
I was still chilly from being out in the cold for so long, and the cold porcelain of the bathtub reminded me of this. I tucked my tail further under my body in an attempt to keep warm.
There was a loud knock on the door. I jumped, nearly hitting my head on the tub faucet. I almost yelped, but was able to curtall myself before the sound emerged past my lips.
Then, there was another knock. This time, I expected it and didn’t react
Finally, I heard a small voice call to me from outside the bathrug.
“Marlie, is it?” the voice asked.
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Chapter 14
I swallowed. How did this girl know my name? I
ok a few more deep breaths and tried transitioning back. The hairs retreated along my back, but my tail still didn’t want to go. This was going to take more time.
“It’s okay,” the voice continued. “It’s okay. I know. You don’t have to hide.
I chuckled to myself. Oh, you innocent little girl. You think I’m hiding because I found you in bed with my ex. If only you knew, I thought.
Part of me wanted to erupt from the room as my full wolf self and attack her. But then there would be police reports, and paperwork, and lots of angry calls from Fairwood and my parents.
I waited to hear Jackson walk down the hall. I was sure he wasn’t too far behind her, ready to make some excuse for his behavior.
But Jackson’s footsteps never came. Instead, the small female voice continued.
“I’m a wolf, too, Marlie. You don’t have to worry,” the voice explained.
I breathed a sigh of relief. At least I didn’t have to worry about her having seen my tail while I ran down the hall. She had t be the most unlikely wolf I’d ever seen with that long, blonde hair and those big, fake eyelashes. What did Jackson possibly see in her that he didn’t see in me?
The knowledge that this girl was also a wolf did calm me down enough that I was able to transition back. I transformed int my human form, only to find myself awkwardly lying upside down in the bathtub with my face directly under the faucet. 1 wiggled my way down and climbed out of the tub.
I looked down at the base of the bathroom door, and could tell from the shadows that she was still out there.
“Who are you?” I finally asked, my voice gruff with anger.
“I’m Lenore. Please come out. We can talk this over. Really, I don’t mean any harm,” the voice insisted.
I laughed, hoping my laugh would sound as mocking as I intended it to sound. “You don’t mean any harm? I asked. “Is that what we call sleeping with someone else’s boyfriend these days:
“What?” the voice asked, sounding convincingly shocked. “What do you mean someone else’s boyfriend? Jackson’s single.” I cleared my throat. Had he lied to her and told her she was single? Did this girl really have any idea who I was?
“Um, maybe now he is, but all these months you’ve been sleeping with him? He wasn’t single then! I’m sure he didn’t tell you, but we just broke up on Tuesday night!” I yelled through the door.
“Oh,” The voice said, quietly. “Oh. I didn’t know.”
I heard footsteps, and listened as the girl walked down the hall, gresumably back to Jackson’s room. Her absence gave me a minute to ponder what had just happened. Had Jackson been lying to this girl he was cheating with, telling her he was single all along? Or was she the liar? Had she known about me, and was just now trying to cover her tracks?
I sat back down on the bathroom floor, cradling my head in my hands. I was so cold, tired, and hungry that the room was starting to spin
Finally, I heard another set of footsteps coming down the hall, followed by a big ‘thud” The light that had been coming from underneath the bathroom door disappeared
“Marlie, we need to talk,” a deeper voice rang out
Oh, great. Now Jackson was going to try and apologize. Just what needed. I rolled my eyes, wishing he could see me do so through the door.
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Chapter 14
I never replied out loud, but Jackson kept talking nonetheless.
“I’m so sorry this had to happen this way. I was going to tell you. Really I was,” Jackson pleaded.
He did almost sound sorry, but I knew better than to trust him with anything now.
“Tell me what, that you’d been cheating on me?” I quipped. “You all but admitted it the other day in the car when you refused to tell me whether there was someone else. So yeah, big pat on the back for you, sir. You’re just WONDERFUL:
game,”
I heard Jackson sigh through the door. “I know you’re mad at me Marlie. Really, I didn’t want to hurt you like this. It’s ju just.
“Spit it out,” I insisted, coldly.
“She’s my one true mate, Marlie. We bonded. It happened weeks ago. I just. I care about you. I didn’t know how to tell y
The words stung my ears, and I couldn’t do anything other than curl up on the floor in response. I should have known. / years together and being unable to mate bond, I should have known that one of us would run into our one true mate soc rather than later. Why did it have to be Jackson? Why not me? And why could he not have just been honest when it happened?
I closed my eyes, trying to ground myself, but all I could picture was Jackson and Lenore in bed together. I wondered wh her wolf looked like. Probably pale–haired and slender like Jackson. Was she an Irish wolf, too? Maybe that’s why Jackson I never bonded. Could an Irish wolf even bond with an American wolf?
An image of Jackson sinking his teeth into Lenore’s neck popped into my mind, and I let out a deep sob.
“Marlie, I’m sorry,” Jackson plead again through the door. “Just say something.”
I tried to find the right words to say, but they just weren’t coming to me. I thought back over my three–day trist with Cain. times, being with him had felt so right and so natural. I had been so confident we were going to mate bond, but once agair had been wrong. Now, I had been wrong twice: with Jackson and with Cain. What was wrong with me? Why did I keep dati men who I wasn’t compatible with?
The bathroom floor was cold against my legs, causing me to shiver again.
“I’m taking a shower,” I said bluntly through the door.
“Umm… okay…” Jackson replied, hesitantly.
“What did she say?” I heard Lenore ask.
“She’s taking a shower,” Jackson replied quietly.
stripped off my clothing and climbed into the shower. Sitting on the floor, I let the hot water run over me, rinsing away the wolfy odor I’d developed over the past few days.
If only this water could rinse away the past five years, I thought. If I could do it all again
there is so much that I would do differently.
meet Jackson one more time
鱼
