Werewolf Compilations
Chapter 99

We reach a house tucked between two monstrous trees, and Theodore stops. My chest squeezes and my stomach knots, but I stay cool. "Come on," he says, heading towards the door, "she might not be here."

My lips feel dry, tight. I feel weighed down and scared. A part of me doesn't want to face the girl who haunts the hallway, the green-eyed girl, the girl who had him, her. She's become some mythical beast in my mind, I've given her power.

"Okay," I murmur, hiding behind him, not wanting to see her so close if she were to answer the door. But as I should have expected, Theodore lets himself in and motions for me.

"Hello?" He shouts into the house, provoking her to reveal herself. "Claire?"

My eyes shoot to him. Claire? Her name is Claire? I expected something different, something more...

"What?" A feminine voice shouts back, normal sounding and light. "Is someone here? Who's here, Theo?"

She's upstairs, and her footsteps travel across the floor. Theodore looks to me as if saying 'here's what you asked for.' My eyes harden on him. "She's coming down?"

"You wanted to talk," he says, knowing of my growing regrets. "Come down," he yells again.

"I am, I am. Who's here?" Her voice is louder, she's closer, and my hands are becoming numb. As if she is trying to scare me, she appears around a corner like a sudden flash of light in a room of darkness. I flinch and grab my chest, my heart frantic. My eyes focus on her, and she's frozen. She looks as if she's seen a ghost. "What-why?" She breathes out. "What are you..."

Her eyes turn to Theodore for clarity, but he shrugs and backs away.

"I-I-I wanted to talk with you," I say shaking, trying to retake control.

Claire takes a step back. "Why?" She questions harshly, already putting up her guard.

"I just "

"If this is about James, you can leave."

I swallow. "If you'll just give me two seconds we can talk about="

"Get out. I don't want to talk to you," she nearly shouts, "you took him from me, told me to—"

My jaw clenches. "What?"

She crosses her arms, looking somewhat insulted and fueled. "When you came, he started acting differently. He didn't care about me anymore."

"I'm his mate. You know that. I told you that."

"I don't care! It doesn't change the fact that I loved him. One day he loved me then the next he didn't. Do you know how that feels? My entire world was taken from me. After you came, he told me I couldn't stay at the pack house anymore. I had to pack up all my things and leave because you were coming home with him. I was kicked out and had to sneak in at night like a fool. And you'd watch me. You'd watch from your room. See, I thrived off of that. It was the one thing I had over you."

Theodore has left. He walked out of the door.

My nails dig into my palms, the only thing keeping me from losing it. "I had nothing."

"Nothing? You had everything, and you have everything. You're his mate, and you're the Luna, you live in the pack house, you get to sleep with him in the same bed and not just for sex. So what? I slept with him for a few weeks, big deal. Look where I am now."

"You don't know?" I ask genuinely.

Claire shrugs, annoyed. "What?"

"James wasn't nice to me. He never talked to me, and when he did it was only to take things away from me. He treated me like dirt. He used you just to stop thinking about me. He hated me." Claire's face hardens. "We both may have known that what we had was over, but he did not sleep with me to get over you. He loved me. I bet he still does."

I want a calm, genuine conversation, but it seems like that option is over now. She's trying to provoke me, and I can't give in. I have to be the bigger person. I can't lose, not now. "I don't want to fight with you. I just want to know how-"

"You didn't want a fight?" She shakes her head, tears gathering in her eyes. "So you just came here to brag about your life, and expected me to sit and listen? I get it. You're his mate. Congratulations. But don't you ever come here again, it's humiliating. Please, do us both a favor and pretend like this never happened. I was feeling better, and you dragged me back down. You have the man I love so please just just get out!"

I flinch and take a step back, my heart racing. "Okay. I'll leave."

I watch as she delicately sits on the edge of a living chair and drops her head into her hands, quiet sobs slipping away. I rush out of the house to replace Theodore pacing outside. He perks up at the sound of Claire's crying when I open the door. "I'm sorry," I say while swiftly fleeing the scene, "I'm sorry."

He goes inside, and I continue into the trees, not knowing where I am going, but trying to follow the way we came. I didn't want that to happen. I didn't want her to have feelings. I'd rather deal with a blood- thirsty beast than a woman who loves my mate. She loves him. I wish I could unhear it. I wish I would have followed Theodore on his tour instead.

That girl, that girl has feelings, she has a past with him. Why didn't I think of this before? Why couldn't I think of her as someone more than a mistress? Did James love her? Were they a couple? Can I believe him if he denies it?

Confused and now lost, I walk in a random direction, knowing that I'll either end up at the pack house or at the borders. A guard could help me replace my way back, though I shouldn't have left Theodore. I'll make sure he stays safe. I'll make sure James knows this was my fault.

Why couldn't she have stayed as a ghost? Why did I have to go searching for closure?

She lived there. She slept with him every night. She's a person, a real person.