Chapter 3

Chapter 3

I tore through my closet at lightning speed, shoes slapping against the wall as I tossed them behind my head.

It had taken an hour to get out of that stuffy room. An hour of nodding my head and promising to be a good non-shifting whatever the hell I was. An hour of promising not to show or tell a single soul about the handprint on my shoulder–Kota and Elena included.

As if.

It had taken me half of that time to squeeze their location out of Mrs. Davenport.

After explaining they were at a freshman field day the college held every summer, she exhaled through her nose and huffed. “It’s about time they did something other than search for you. I thought Elena would never come home.”

My voice thickened. “They searched for me?”

“They tried to get a party together and everything, but–well, no one is interested in looking for a wolf who can’t shift. It’s a blessing you aren’t dead.” 

Rage once again simmered beneath my skin.

With a decent change of clothes in hand I ran to the bathroom Elena and I shared, stubbing my pinky toe against the frame in the process. Bastard.

I glared at the stream of rust brown water flowing from my body and scrubbed until the feeling of dirt grinding against my skin subsided. When I emerged I was raw, red, and as clean as I could possibly be. As if it’d ever be enough. . 

I backed my car out of the small, gravel driveway off to the side of the paved one where Elena’s car typically sat. It wasn’t often I used it since it was always needing repairs and Mrs. Davenport was less than charitable.

Still, it worked well enough. 

I barely managed to slide the shifter into park after gliding to a stop against a curb.

There were people spilling out of the courtyard and onto the long stretches of grass. Music weaved in between them, coming from somewhere further off. There were males hoisting coolers of beer over their heads, whooping as they marched them across the grass to where several grills were, smoke wafting into the air. 

My eyes darted over to a group that had broken out some water guns. 

Avoiding them, I pushed through and started playing a game of Where’s Waldo. A tug in my chest led me to the left, past a slip-and-slide someone had coated in chocolate syrup. 

There was already a line forming. 

I found Kota first and increased my pace to a jog. He stood against the wall of the auditorium, his arms folded over his chest and his head lowered. Elena stood beside him, her eyes ringed with dark. 

The distance closed between us and Elena’s name lingered on my tongue when the pair looked up, finally noticing me.

Elena’s eyes went so wide I could see every inch of white. She broke into a sprint while Kota remained where he stood, a look of pure disbelief on his face.

She slammed into me with a grunt, her arms wrapped so tightly around my neck that spots danced in my eyes. Just as quickly, she jumped back. 

“What the absolute fucking hell, Chloe Clark.” 

I reared my head back, stunned at honest-to-goddess anger in her voice. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to go missing. Goddess, that even sounds insane. Please, just let me explain–”

“Let you explain?” Kota’s voice rumbled. He had finally unglued himself from the wall and now stood close enough to touch. “After what you did, you want us to let you explain?”

Pinching the bridge of my nose, I held up a hand as if it could stop this avalanche. “Wait a damn second. What exactly did I do, Kota?”

Elena’s eyes cut to the left and a soft snarl slid past her lips. “Not around all of these ears.” 

She grabbed our wrists and pulled us away. We rounded the back of the building where a large patch of shade sat, courtesy of a wall of trees past the college’s property line.

The moment we were out of sight, Kota snapped.

He threw his hands up. “How can you even ask that? You run away and leave some half-assed note, only to what–change your mind a week later?”

“I didn’t leave you a note, because I didn’t run away.” There was something dangerous about the tone my voice had taken on. Sensing the same, he clamped his jaw shut. 

With a growl he tore a wad of paper out of his front pocket. “I guess I’m just imagining things, then.”

The note was crudely folded, the corners not even remotely touching. I would’ve done it perfectly.

Kota,

I wish I could say I’m sorry, but it’s something I’ve needed to do for a really long time. The truth is, I haven’t been happy. Not here, not in this pack, not with you. I tried so hard to be grateful for what I had, but I couldn’t. I want more to my life than living surrounded by people who have something I’ll never, ever have. Let's face it, I don’t belong here. I never have. You deserve better than me.

Chloe

I lifted my head slowly, the rage in my eyes so blistering I swore I was about to start leaking smoke. “You deserve better than me. In what reality would I have ever said that? And this isn’t even my handwriting!” I looked between the two of them. “You have to believe me. I didn’t do this. Even if I had, which I wouldn’t, why would I show back up a week later?”

“I don’t know why you do what you do anymore,” Kota looked away, the hurt in his voice like a blow to the gut. He pulled something else out of his pocket. “You left this with the note. Go ahead and explain that.”

The necklace he’d gotten me from the flea market years ago dangled from his fingers. The necklace I wore every single day–including the day I was murdered.

“I–” 

My voice cracked as realization hit me. Someone had murdered me. Shoved me off a cliff and stole my necklace afterwards, just to use it to make it look like I had run away.

How. dare. they.

“I can tell you, but not here. We need to be somewhere private,” I urged, my voice fading off as Kota took a deliberate step back.

He shook his head and pocketed my necklace. A war waged within the depths of his hazel eyes. “I can’t do this right now, Chloe. I don’t know what to believe.”

“Kota–” Elena called out as he turned and walked away, melting back into the crowd. 

I waited with my heart in my stomach, my entire body pulsing with its frantic beat. A cruel laugh sat in the back of my throat. When I found the person that did this to me… I couldn’t let myself go down that path right now. Later, then.

Elena placed her hands on her hips and sighed. “You said you had an explanation, right? Well, I want to hear it.” She laced her arm with mine and gave me a shadow of her smile. “Let's go before the media arrives.”

It was inside my bedroom, nestled against the headboard just as we’d done when we were kids, that I showed Elena the goddess mark.

There had been an initial flash of fear so explosive that I was stunned it had come from her. Never had someone looked at me like that. Quickly it was replaced with shock, amazement, and even a touch of envy.

“That’s a–a–a–” 

I pinched her arm. “Quit malfunctioning.”

She pinched me back. “I’m not malfunctioning. I’m in shock.”

Feeling a bit like a specimen, Elena leaned in close and inspected the handprint, as if she were trying to see the whorls in each finger and the creases in the palm. Slowly, her gaze lifted to meet my own.

“I want to touch it.” Her voice oozed excitement. “Oh, come on! Let me be one of the only wolves in existence to touch a goddess mark. I want to see if my hands are the same size as our goddesses.”

My eyes rolled into the back of my head. “Help yourself.”

She gasped quietly as she pressed her fingers against the layer of gold. “It’s colder than the rest of you. Can you feel it? It’s like it erased part of your scar.”

“Weird right? No, not really.” I shrugged, “it all just feels like skin to me.”

Her face turned ashen as she examined her fingertips. “So, this happened after you died? Goddess, Chloe… I’m so sorry you went through that alone. That sounds so terrifying.” 

“It was,” I forced the words out, making no mention of the hands that had been at my back, sending me flying to this fate. “I should’ve been watching where I was going. I know I don’t need to say it, but don’t tell anyone.”

I hated lying to her, but this was one truth that refused to squirm free. Its shadow hid in the back of my mind, peeking around corners and shaking its head. Don’t tell anyone, it said. Not even those you trust.

Tears welled in the corners of her eyes, but she quickly blinked them away. “You shouldn’t have been there at all, because Kota should’ve picked you up on time.”

I grunted in agreement and tugged at a stray thread in the blanket we lounged on. “Blaming yourself doesn’t change the situation. Maybe this will be a good thing …if I can get Kota to believe me.”

Elena sat forward and tucked her hair behind her ears. “The mark on your shoulder is real. There’s no denying that, but the situation with the letter is different. You’re telling me someone found your …your body, stole your necklace, and wrote a letter as if you ran away.  I know the wolves here can be a bit …cruel, but that’s actual insanity. Who would even do something like that?”

My eyes focused on a dark corner in the room, one the lamp on my bedside table couldn’t illuminate.

“Someone who was glad to see me dead, that’s who.”