There. I said it.

That was, quite possibly, one of the most nerve-wracking moments in my life. I guess it had to come out sooner than I had hoped, considering she thinks I'm some Mafia leader.

Now I just have to wait for her response. Slowly, I open my eyes and brace myself for whatever this girl is going to say. Honestly, I don't know what to expect. She's unpredictable.

So when I see her face is blank, I myself don't know how to react.

"Did you just say... werewolf?" she asks. I nod slowly, gauging her every move. "Ok..." Then she motions for me to come over. Alright then...

Slowly, I come stand at her side. She grabs my hand gently and pulls me down next to her.

"Cayton, how long have you been a werewolf?" she asks calmly.

"Uh... Since birth..." I say.

"And how many people know you're a werewolf?"

"Basically everyone I know... Are you ok?" I ask, examining her expression, which has gone from blank to oddly sympathetic.

"Ok, so you're a werewolf. Have you talked to anyone about this?" she asks, resting her hand on my shoulder. My eyebrows knit together in my state of confusion. She's taking this... strangely.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, have you seen a... specialist about this?"

"A specialist?"

"Have you ever been in a padded room with a nice comfy jacket that makes you hug yourself?" she asks slowly. What the hell is she talking about?

"Wha..." It takes a second, but then it hits me. She thinks I'm crazy. "No Macy, listen. I'm being serious. I am a werewolf." She smiles sadly and pulls me into a hug.

"Ok Cayton. You're a werewolf. Am I a werewolf too?" Obviously, this isn't getting through to her.

"Macy, I'm not joking here. I'm not some crazy guy who thinks he's a werewolf. I am one. So is Tami, Hunter, Trenton, and Carter," I explain, in hopes that it's enough to convince her.

"Ok, I believe you," she says, raising her hands in a surrendering fashion. "I think I'm just going to go make some calls. If you'll excuse me..." She starts to get out of her spot but I hold up my hands to stop her.

"You don't believe me. Do you want proof?" If she really thinks I'm crazy, then the only way to convince her is to show her. This should be interesting.

"Sure Cayton, give me proof," she says.

So, no longer is Cayton a Mafia leader in my mind, he's just some crazy person who thinks he's a werewolf. I don't think trying to convince him that he isn't a werewolf is the smartest idea, so I'm just going to go with it. At least until I can contact a psychiatrist or something.

"You don't believe me. Do you want proof?" Proof? This should be good. If he has a werewolf costume stored somewhere in this house...

"Sure Cayton, give me proof," I say. I wonder if everyone else knows that Cayton thinks he's some wolf-man. Maybe they're all crazy and I'm the only sane person. Maybe they don't know, and I just get the luck of being the one he confesses to.

He pulls his shirt over his head and tosses it to the side, then starts working on his belt buckle. My eyes widen and I hastily grab his hands.

"Uh, what are you doing?"

"Showing you that I'm a werewolf," he says, like it isn't obvious enough.

"Is undressing really necessary?"

"Just trust me on this," he says. Ugh. Reluctantly, I let go of his hands and take a couple of steps back to give him some space. I've had enough images of naked men today, so I cover my eyes.

However, my pulse does slightly increase at the perverted images playing in my head.

I swear, I didn't peak as he took off the rest of his clothes! There just happened to be a crack between my fingers, and my eyes accidentally looked through the crack.

Hey, you can't blame me. He may be crazy, but that doesn't mean he isn't still hot as hell. And, for the record, what I saw was not disappointing.

"Here's your proof," he says, still stark naked and, shockingly, not some supernatural creature.

"Cayton, you naked doesn't prove-" My words get stuck in my throat when I remove my hand and see the sight before me. Where a naked man once stood, is a massive black wolf.

I swear on all that is good in this universe, that there is an actual WOLF in my room. Not some She-wolf in the closet like Shakira sings about, an actual wolf in front of me!

I can't help but notice how its eyes are, in fact, the same blue hue as Cayton's. And that I'm not as scared as I should be with a wild animal, twice my size, standing in my room.

Holy hell.

Now am I the one going insane? Is my brain making me hallucinate again? I know! I'm dreaming. A very vivid, creepy dream. I'll wake up soon, and still be snuggled next to Cayton, who will be human.

Usually though, all my dreams are in cartoon form. I don't know why, but that's the way my brain works. So just to be sure, I have to pinch myself. And since I'm convinced it's just a dream, I don't try and make it gentle. So yes, it hurts a lot when I feel it.

Just for complete reassurance, I do something that is possibly the most dangerous thing I will do in my life. Slowly, I step forward, to see if my hand is going to go through the mirage. My hand meets soft fur however, and I'm forced to conclude that I am awake, and Cayton is actually a werewolf.

On the other hand, maybe he's a really good magician.

"Uh... Cayton, is that you in there?" I ask quietly. The wolf gives a sort of bark-type-thing as a response, which I take as a yes. Then, I watch the wolf turn back into the man who has gone through about three different personas in the span of twenty minutes.

It's weird; the whole shift isn't like what they show in those old movies. In the blink of an eye, the wolf is a human again, I think to myself.

Now is not really the time to think about that! Logic shoots back.

Cayton doesn't say anything. I don't know what I expect him to say, but I guess he's waiting for my response. The problem is though that I have no idea how to react. It seems my vocal chords do though, because they take control.

A scream so loud, it shocks even me comes from my mouth. Cayton actually has to cover his ears when the surprise scream comes out. For some reason, I grab onto the closest thing to me, which is the bedpost. I hug it tightly, and squeeze my eyes shut.

This is insane. This is... This doesn't even have an explanation. I don't even know what to do with myself, besides the current in-progress reaction.

"Macy..." Cayton starts, but trails off, as he can't think of anything to say. Possibly an explanation would be nice, or something that would tell me that this is some elaborate prank.

"At least put some pants on," I say after some silence, my eyes still squeezed shut.

Aside from processing this information—and throwing out everything I know about reality—I'm trying to figure out why I'm not freaking out more than I already am. Don't get me wrong, I am terrified, but not in an I-think-my-life-is-about-to-end way.

Wait, forget that. This isn't the time to figure out my emotions. This is the time to figure out what in the hell is happening.

"Why did you scream? Are you ok?" I hear Tami's frantic voice coming down the hall. When I open my eyes, the whole gang is in my room, looking between Cayton and I.

"You didn't," Tami says in disbelief, most likely talking to Cayton.

"Oh, but he did," Carter says. Then all eyes are on me, watching carefully.

Is what Cayton said true, that the rest of them are werewolves as well? I've been in a house with WEREWOLVES for the past few weeks?! And I'm still alive?!

I've actually kissed a werewolf. That's so many levels of weird I can't even begin to think of it.

'Werewolf' does explain a lot though. Why they all seem to be so fit, why they can hear my sarcastic remarks that I try to say quietly. Why Cayton could see so well in the woods on my birthday. Oh god, my birthday. I was alone, in the woods, with a werewolf?!

It all makes a lot more sense than Mafia leader, I guess. In my defense, any sane person wouldn't have guessed werewolf, and Mafia leader was more reasonable. At least a Mafia Leader is human.

"Is there any human in here besides me?" I ask, breaking the silence, and the suffocating tension. They all exchange looks before Tami shakes her head.

"No, just you."

"And you're not going to eat me or anything, right?"

"That's gross," Carter says, crinkling his nose in disgust. I bet I would taste delicious, actually. However, I don't want them testing my theory.

"Well excuse me! You people are freaking supernatural wolves! I don't know who or what you eat!" I exclaim.

"We eat regular food, just like you," Trenton says.

I notice that Cayton hasn't said a word. All he's doing is watching me with some unreadable expression on his face. Now I'm really questioning his motives. On top of the million other questions that are suddenly bouncing around in my head. Like, if werewolves are real, does that mean all the monsters from my childhood exist?! Was it all a lie when my mom told me the Boogey Man isn't real?!

I want to ask someone, but... What if, I don't know, they go all wolf on me? Plus, who am I going to ask? I thought I could trust these people, but I guess I can't. How can I trust people who kept a secret like this from me?

How many times have I been lied to since I've been here?

In reality, I think I should hate these people right about now. Nevertheless, the thing is, I've gotten too attached. And that's why this hurts more than it scares me.

"Get out," I say, barely above a whisper. I don't have to question if they can hear me now. I know they can.

"Macy, can we at least explain some things to you?" Tami says.

"What's there to explain? All of you have been lying to me. I trusted you guys, which was a stretch in itself, considering how I got here," I say, harsher than I intended. The guilty looks are instantaneous, even from Carter who is usually the cocky asshole. "Just give me a bit."

I can't bring myself to even look at Cayton. For some reason, I know that if I see the guilty expression that is most likely on his face that I might possibly cave in. A mix of emotions inside me are directed towards him, that I really need to sort through.

"We'll be right downstairs if you need anything," Cayton finally says, almost painfully. Without looking, I nod. They all leave, and once the door is firmly shut I release my death grip on the bedpost and collapse onto the bed.

What the hell has my life turned into?

A few days ago, I thought that I could finally get back to a semi-normal life. And I thought that, maybe, that life could include Cayton. Now, I'm not so sure.

Therefore, I sit on the bed and stare at the ceiling, contemplating my next action. Talk to them and try to figure this out, or leave.

"Tami?" I open the door a fraction and yell out. After some thinking, I decided that maybe I should give them a chance before I do something drastic like leave. Tami might possibly be my safest bet, because despite everything, she was my best friend before I found out her secret.

"You called?" she asks, coming up the stairs all cheery and hopeful.

"You. Explain. Now," I demand. She gives me a small smile and slips in the room, casually going to sit on my bed like it's any normal day. Ha, that's a joke. This day is far from normal.

"So, what do you want to know?"

"Everything." I stay a safe distance from her and she notices. She rolls her eyes at me.

"Alexis, you're acting like I'm suddenly some kind of monster. I've been the same way the entire time you've known me."

"Obviously I didn't know you very well."

She sighs. "I know, and I'm sorry. But in my defense, none of us wanted to freak you out. We were going to ease you into it."

"What exactly happened to that plan?" I ask. Slowly, I make my way over to sit next to her. I guess she has a valid point; she has been the same the entire time.

"Joshua happened," she says darkly.

"Where does he come into this equation?"

"That's something that should be explained... later. Right now, well, I guess we can start with the basics..."

She tells me everything. Apparently, Cayton is the Alpha of the Dusk Valley pack, and Carter is the Beta, which is like the vice-president- or at least that's how she explained it. She explains the basics of werewolf-ism. And I find out that Creek Run, my dad's town, is one of the towns in the pack's territory, the other being Maysville, where the mall and everything is, and everything in between the two.

After some probing, she finally tells me about Joshua. He's Alpha of the Midnight Fire pack and a real nutcase. Some grudge he has against Dusk Valley has been causing him to try to infiltrate the territory, and attack others. And, go figure, Hunter was lying when he talked about Zack.

"Ok... This is really strange. So you guys don't just change during a full moon?"

She laughs. "Nope. We can control when we shift. Well, unless we get incredibly angry. Then it gets hard to control."

Ok, note to self: Don't make them angry.

"So, why was I kidnapped? I mean, I'm only human, and I was positive you guys didn't exist before."

"That's another thing about werewolves. We all have our mates, which is along the lines of soul mates. I'll let Cayton explain that to you..." she trails off, as if asking permission. I hesitate.

Do I really want to know this? Am I ready to face Cayton yet? The answer to that is no. I don't think I am.

The sucky thing is though, that despite everything, I can't really bear the thought of staying away from him. He's been attached to my side for the past few days, and I've grown use to it. What am I supposed to do?

"Not yet. I'm just going to... process all this." She nods and smiles sadly, giving my shoulder a gentle squeeze.

"Take all the time you need."

With that said, she leaves the room. I slump down on the thick comforter, mentally preparing myself for some deep thought.