MARCELLO
It was one o'clock in the morning and her face was all I could see when I closed my eyes. For a while, I tossed and turned in bed, trying to fall asleep, but that was futile. I could not even get a wink of sleep. I was torn between going to find her and giving her her space. And I was so confused as to why I felt so unsettled because of her. It was so bad that I could not think of nothing else at that moment. I had even opted out of border duty for the night because I was simply not in the mood, and it was because of her. So I decided to give into whatever was pushing me to her and go find her in the woods. I had to take a longer alternative route to her tent as the people that were manning the river were surely going to find me if I had gone through that path. When I found her, she was seated on a log of wood in front of her tent, fanning the fire under a roasting meat hoisted up by sticks. I was going to watch her in silence for a while, but I stepped on a freaking twig and her head shot up immediately and then our gazes locked. Immediately, a grimace appeared on her face and her nostrils flared. Angrily, she marched towards me and snarled, "What are you doing here? What do you want now?" "I just wanted to make sure that you are alright." I spoke gently, careful not to provoke her even more. "And how exactly is my well-being your concern?" She spat. "Do you even know who I am? Do I have anything to do with you?" I was quiet because even I could not answer those questions. I had no idea why I felt drawn to her like this. And I felt helpless, because it was not looking like there was anything that I could do about it. "You looked really scared the other night and I've been feeling really bad that—" "I'm okay now." She cut me off. "Now, you can be on your way out of here." "No." I shrugged, choosing to be insistent. "The first time we met, you promised to be my friend, remember?" "That was because you had me pinned down by force!" She argued. "There was no way I would have agreed to that if I had any other choice." "You pinned me down first." I reminded her, chuckling, and her frown deepened. "But a promise is a promise." "I don't care. I don't want anything to do with you. Just leave this place, let me be!" I sighed, frustrated. "Look, I know that werewolves and vampires do not usually get along, but—" "How do you know that I am a vampire?" She raised a brow at me. "What makes you think that?" I looked at her in disbelief. There was no way she was seriously asking me that. "Are you being serious right now?" "Is there any reason for me to be joking with you?" "First off, you have freaking fangs." I started. "And have you seen your reflection lately? You're pale as hell. And your lips, they're red like che—" "That's enough." She lifted her hand, looking embarrassed. I chuckled at that, admitting within me that she looked adorable like that. "I won't harm you, I promise." I said to her in all seriousness. I really needed her to understand that. "You don't have to be this... guarded around me." She scoffed and let out a humourless chuckle. "And I'm just supposed to believe anything that you tell me?" "I..." I paused. She was right. There was, in fact, no reason for her to trust me. If anything, she should have been beating me up with a stick right now. I mean I was just a man that showed up to her tent on a random night and forced her to agree to be my friend. Thinking of it like that really opened my eyes to see that I was kind of being a creep. "You what?" She eyed me. "There's nothing you can say to prove yourself, huh?" "Absolutely nothing." I agreed with a sigh. "I guess I'll be on my way." "And never return." That hurt me for some reason. The words of a stranger should not hurt me like that but it did. And before I left, I had just one request from her. "Can I at least know your name?" I asked. I just wanted to have a name to associate with her face. Because I was sure as hell not going to forget her anytime soon. "How is that of any importance to you?" "Just..." I exhaled. There was really no tangible reason "Please?" "Valeria." She pointed forward. "Now, leave." I nodded, throwing her a salute. But I had only taken three steps when a figure came out of the shadows and I went completely still, holding my breath. I could not believe that that was happening. How was I so careless to not have noticed that someone was following me? Now, her life was in danger because of me. "So this is where you spend your nights now?" He asked, his low deep voice causing my body to run cold. "Don't you think it's a little bit dangerous?" "I..." I managed to mumble. "Um... It's just..." "Your little secret has been busted, Marcello." He chuckled. "And everybody will hear it." I swallowed hard, unsure of what to do. In fact, my head was blank as I had no idea how to salvage this situation. But even being aware of the fact that I was in deep shit, all I wanted to at the moment was to get her away from him. No matter what it was going to be, I was ready to face it as long as I got to get her out of harm's way. "Look, we can talk about this—" "Hell no." He did not even let me try. "Father will be the first person to hear about this."MARCELLO My heart was beating erratically in my chest. And my brain racked for possible ways to get Valeria out of here fast. And as I stood there, still freaking out inside, he began to laugh, clutching his stomach. That caused my face to morph into a frown as I had become confused. "My goodness..." He breathed between his laughter. "You should see your face right now. You look like you have come in contact with the scariest thing on earth." I frowned, eyeing him suspiciously. He was the most cunning person I knew and the fact that he was amused got me even more afraid. "You're meeting a girl in the woods to hide from what exactly?" He chuckled and glanced at her for a second. "Be bold like me and flaunt her around town." I looked at my cousin in confusion. From the way he spoke, it sounded like he was not even aware that she was a vampire. Surely, his tone would not have been that mellow if he had been aware. So, just to be sure, I asked him, "how long have you been standi
VALERIA Immediately he left, I got busy with packing my things. It had been a while since I had felt fear at the intensity at which his cousin made me feel. There was some kind of mischief in his eyes that threw me off, something about him that did not just sit well with me. So I packed my backpack and collapsed my tent. I was going to move deeper into the woods. And as I walked deeper and deeper, with the hopes that he would never find me again, I ignored the part of me that wanted to turn back. Since my parents died, that was the only place that had felt like home to me. The river, the canopy trees, everything came together for my comfort, and the fact that I had to leave weighed me down. Now, I was in a bald patch of grass and, just to the right of the space, were trees that had thick shades underneath them. I took the opportunity to rest as I had already covered a reasonable distance and the sun was going to be out in an hour or two. But as soon as I sat down, I felt a pre
MARCELLO I did not keep my words. I went to look for her the following night. I was fooling myself when I thought that Iwas going to be able to stay away from her. And I only realized that when I tried to sleep that night. I closed my eyes and she was all I could see: her frown, the way her lips curled when she was irritated, how her eyebrows would come together. Her face haunted me and I could not go two minutes without thinking about her. If I did not know better, I would have concluded that she had cast a spell on me. Because she was supposed to be nothing but a stranger, so the pull I felt towards her was not even logical at all. So imagine my dilemma when I got to where I usually found her and it was completely empty. No tent, nothing. Just sticks and ash that was left in her wake. I was confused and utterly distraught. And I almost went into panic mode. Did she run away? Or was she kidnapped? Where the hell did she even go!? I breathed and forced myself to reason logically
VALERIA The smell of dust was what welcomed us as soon as we walked into the cabin. But after almost two hours of walking, that was the least of my worries. I dumped my backpack on the floor and sighed once I was relieved of the weight. My eyes followed Veronica around as she walked around the place, smiling from ear to ear. And a little smile of my own creeped up on my face as I watched her be happy. That was until Marcello stepped into my line of vision and my face immediately morphed into a grimace. "I've not been here in a while..." He was telling me as he stuffed his pockets with his hands. "It shows." I nodded and picked up my bag, walking past him to talk to Veronica that was still prancing about. "We should try to clean up a little." "I can help with that." He spoke from behind me, I could hear the enthusiasm in his voice. "It's just a living room and a bedroom, it will not take too long with three of us on it together." I turned back to look at him with a sly sm
MARCELLOIt was at the darkest time of the night that she usually came out to swim in the river, and I would watch as her clothes would fall to the ground, exposing her skin like milk. The first time I saw her, I was high up in an oak tree, watching out for intruders as it was my turn that night. As soon as I sighted her, my first instinct was to attack, but the moon cast its silver glow on her face and I was stopped in my tracks. I had simply not seen anything like her before. Her grey eyes caught the moonlight beautifully and, at that moment, all I wanted to do was to watch her exist.Since then, I had taken it upon myself to be on the lookout every night. Not because, I wanted to be of service to the pack, no. It was just a silly excuse to come out and see her again. Plus, should any other wolf sight her here, she would be as good as dead.Now, there were two reasons I had not yet approached her. One, she was very obviously a vampire. It was easy to decode that given how pale her
MARCELLO It was implicating enough that I even left the tree that I was supposed to be stationed at. Then it was even worse that it was because I was out trying to befriend a freaking vampire. That was something I could not admit to my brother, even in a million years to come. "Where did you go?" He repeated, clearly growing impatient. "Um..." I cleared my throat, thinking of an appropriate lie. "I needed to stretch my legs so I went for a little walk." He raised a brow at me, not buying my lie. "Since when do you ever need to stretch your legs when you're here?" "I don't know, Bran." I shrugged. "I was bored too, so..." "You were bored?" "Yes." "And you quit looking out without calling for backup?" Bran was beginning to raise his voice. "It's not that serious, okay?" I rolled my eyes. "Besides, we've not had any intruders for months now. Nobody would dare trespass our land, they've learnt from the brutal examples we've set with the ones that have tried it in the past." "An
MARCELLO Her outburst had been disturbing my mind for a while now. And as my feet dangled from the tree branch, I began to recall everything that happened. How she had, somehow, realized that I was a werewolf. I was only trying to warn her. Bran had decided that we would now be two at every station, meaning I was no longer going to be alone at the tree. It was already three o'clock in the morning, around the time that she usually came to the river. And I was restless for her sake. Jay was with me today. And if there was anything I knew about him, it was that he hated vampires more than anybody that I knew. He had a huge scar on his left cheek and he claimed that he had gotten it from a vampire when he had unknowingly run into one in the mountains that were on the outskirts of town. I vividly remembered the day that he came home bleeding, holding his face that was covered in blood as he screamed. That night, his father dispatched about fifty wolves to go and comb the area but the
VALERIA My head began to bang once I opened my eyes. I had slept off in a very awkward position so it also hurt to move my neck. And as soon as I became fully aware of my surroundings, I recalled what I had discovered during the early hours of the morning, that the one that called himself Marcello was actually a werewolf. And what scared me the most was that he knew exactly where to find me. I have to leave here immediately, I thought to myself as I scurried to my feet and shoved the few clothes that I had into my backpack. I rolled up my sleeping mat and buckled it into my backpack too. I peeped outside and the sun was already out, but I was smart enough to have my tent under a tree with a canopy of thick leaves so the shade was enough for me to come out of the tent. But as soon as my feet touched the soil, it felt as if everything had gone still, like time itself had paused. Then I began to hear voices from my left, when I looked, I saw myself standing with that boy— Marcell