🖤🖤

"Destiny?" I echo. She unfolds her arms and starts walking around me in a small, slow circle. Her eyes are calculating— unnerving. I shuffle my feet slightly at the intensity.

"That's right," she says. "I suppose that wicked wrench hasn't bothered to mention me."

She finishes her sentence with a scowl, her face pinched into one of annoyance. Wicked wrench?

"Who?" I voice. I'm not even that surprised some random person has shown up in my bathroom. With all the supernatural craziness that has been occurring around me as of late, this was nothing to compare. However, this really was ultimately the cherry on top.

Just my luck.

"Yeah, you know... Artemis." She tells me as she hops up onto my bathroom counter, glancing at her perfectly manicured —and black— nails with a bored expression.

"Who the hell is Artemis?"

"Well," she begins. "The Moon Goddess, of course."

She has a name? I almost want to facepalm at my sheer ignorance. How stupid am I?

Destiny scrutinizes my expression and a small smirk dances at the corner of her mouth. My eyes narrow at her in defense. She hums in response.

"I have to say I am surprised," she tells me.

"And why is that?" I can feel myself scowling.

"I mean, you were the one who found her journal after all."

My mouth drops open.

Oh.

The red book. Her initials are A.T.

For some reason, the thought alone make my blood boil. Knowing she had sketched the endless portraits of Klayton —which feels so intimate— stirred me into a rage that resided deeply within me.

I think I'm the first person to ever actually hate the Moon Goddess.

"She truly is a wicked wrench, eh?" I say to Destiny with the side of my lips upturned. She turns to me at smirks.

"Oh, you have no idea."

I jump slightly as I hear a pounding at the bathroom door. I look over at Destiny who seems to not have a care in the world; almost as if she was expecting this to happen. I take the two steps over to the door and unlock it, allowing him to come in.

Immediate seizing me, I stand shellshocked as Klayton pulls me behind him and accesses the bathroom for any threats.

No one is in here anymore.

"Who were you talking to?" Klayton asks while bringing me in close. I'm not going to bother to lie to him.

"I-I'm not sure," I tell him honestly. "A woman appeared— her name was Destiny,"

"Destiny?"

"Yeah."

Klayton looks at me thoughtfully and then looks down bashfully. My eyes narrow at his actions and I recoil my head up to look at him and meet his gaze. He clears his throat.

"I, erm, kind of know her..." He tells me and uses one hand to scratch the back of his neck. A sudden tension fills the atmosphere, and I felt like I would suffocate at the silence that filled around the two of so quickly.

"Are you serious?"

"Yes. A very very long time ago," he tells me.

"Why did you never tell me? That seems like something someone would tell their girlfriend," I say to him and cross my arms against my chest. In case, you know, they ever randomly appear in someone's bathroom and that person has no idea who they are.

It seems like a good thing to know.

Wait.

Did I just say girlfriend?

Did that seriously just come out of my mouth? I'm immensely mortified at my word vomit and hope Klayton didn't notice.

I am wrong.

"Girlfriend?" The word sounds foreign coming from his mouth too. As if anything could make this more awkward, more word vomit comes spewing out of me.

"Well, I mean— I didn't mean to assume..." I sigh and continue. "Considering we act like boyfriend and girlfriend, talk like boyfriend and girlfriend, and are 'soulmates'... I kind of assumed."

I finish my awkward rambling with a sheepish smile.

"Oh Adira, we are so much more than that."

His answer makes me melt inside and we bring each other in close, our lips meeting briefly. I could do this every day for the rest of my life and never get tired of it. However, I am reminded once again that I am missing the 'sparks' that usually accompany Klayton's embraces.

I think Klayton can sense my distress as he laces our fingers together before bringing them to his lips softly. I want to just swoon at how cute he can be sometimes.

"What are we going to do about our bond, Adira?" He asks me, as if I even have a clue.

"Or the lack of?" I joke.

He shoots me a deadpan look and I lowly laugh it off. Maybe my jokes are a little too soon.

"Well, I know I just met Destiny but I have a feeling she may be able to help," I say in a more serious note. All jokes aside, she seemed to dislike the Moon Goddess —Artemis— as much as I did. That had to count for something, right?

"I'm not sure how much help she will be," Klayton tells me wearily.

"It's worth a shot."

~

Later on that day, Klayton and I made our way to his place. He felt it was best to have material on hand to restrain Destiny if need be, and his house was fully stocked of anything we could ever potentially need. I roll my eyes at the thought.

He is so dramatic.

Thoughts enter my head as silence fills the packhouse living room. Not even Isacc is here to keep me company. The dreadful thoughts never truly left, they were just floating in the back of my mind.

I think about my mom; how her gentle fingers used to feel when they were weaving through my hair. How my dad would kiss me on the head after soccer games - no matter the final score. How could she tell me that it was all a lie?

Anger struck through my core, I can physically feel the heat in my stomach. I look around the packhouse living room, there was no one here, not even Issac to keep me company. Klayton is having a meeting with this highest officers —apparently, rogues had been spotted on the border.

Once I knew I was really alone I let the tears fall. Even though I didn't believe her my brain told me to be rational.What was the point in telling me such a cruel lie? I make the decision before I even know I have made it.

I hadn't seen my parents since I moved to Myserdale and I needed to prove to myself that I was going crazy —werewolves were crazy enough— I didn't need my family to be involved.

I wanted to wait until Klayton got back, I really did, but as the hour's tick by my legs shook with impatience. I check my phone and the last bus out of town was leaving in just twenty minutes. I didn't feel like driving my car so far, I just wanted to be in my own thoughts with nothing to worry about.

I missed taking the bus.

There was no time to pack as I run to the university station. I wasn't going to be home for very long, just long enough to confirm that my life was still mine. My phone battery shines red and I curse myself aloud.

I text Klayton that there was nothing to worry about, that it was my mom's birthday so I was going home. I feel bad lying, but know I need the security. I click my phone into airplane mode in hopes to save the battery and slide it into my pocket.

I am one of the few people on the bus.

The tattered blue seats give off an odd smell. The sun is setting and the overhead lights click on; giving the bus a yellow glow. My head rests against the window and my breathing fogs up the glass. I drift in and out of sleep as the bus drives down the road. As we pass the "Thanks for Visiting Myserdale" sign, I think I hear an echo of a wolf howl.

The bus stops multiple times and by the time we hit my hometown there is only one other person on the bus, other than me and the driver. We both get off, my lack of luggage surprises the driver. I smile in response to his confusion.

"Just a last-minute trip," I say to him.

I turn away from the door and slug on my jacket. I bring my head up to come face to face with the man who had just sat across the aisle from me for the last three hours. It wasn't until this second that I felt his presence as a true concern.

He just watched my face intently as I tried to sneak around him. He didn't make a move and I shook off the strange vibes I was getting; this new world of supernatural had may be far to cautious.

He looks so familiar though.

However, I put it out of my mind as I use the last of my phone battery to call a taxi.

Once safe in the yellow cab, I feel like I can finally breathe for the first time. I look around at my familiar settings, knowing I am only minutes away from my home. I feel excited and giddy somewhat, like a little kid. I can see my porch lights now and I don't even feel myself paying for the cab. I am to focus on what is about to come next.

I knock on the door. I can hear the sound echo through the house. My mom's footsteps coming through the kitchen. I am anticipating the emotions that will be on their faces.

Joy. Shock. Confusion.

Maybe a little bit of everything.

When the door swings open, I know. I can feel it in my heart.

I just know.