The emotional and physical toll of Haydenโs transformation left him spent. The shackles still held his body in place but his head and neck hung limply above his chest. Georgia needed a minute too. She felt emotionally drained but her mind was also buzzing with the excitement of what sheโd accomplished. Now that sheโd disconnected from his mind, it was like normal life was turned back on. The psychic journey sheโd embarked on felt like an adventure on autopilot. Now back on manual mode, she couldnโt account for exactly how sheโd done it. Some innate instinct had been guiding her. She knew this because sheโd known exactly what to do somehow. A part of her could still feel Hayden and the wolfโs feelings and emotions running through her. She felt strong feelings of warmth and affection for them both. The wolf was full of rage and she understood why it posed a danger. The need for it to violently lash out felt almost uncontrollable in its mind. Despite this, Georgia was still convinced of
Georgiaโs heart was still singing odes of joy when she pulled up to her house. Hayden had taken her halfway and Lisa had picked her up outside their favorite coffee spot to drive her home from there. When he hugged her goodbye before escorting her to the other car, Lisa was practically giddy with excitement. The short ride home was punctuated by her boisterous chatter and endless questions. โOh my God, I knew it! Iโm so happy for you. I knew he liked you. This is so awesome. Tell me everything. Whatโs he really like? Whereโs he from? Did you kiss him yet?โ Georgia spent most of the trip trying to diplomatically answer as many questions as she could. She didnโt want to completely shut her best friend out, especially since Lisa was inconveniencing herself just so Georgia could spend time with Hayden. She gave answers like, โWe just like each other for now. Things are still early. I donโt know where this is all going yet.โThis helped her avoid needing to get into too much detail but
Georgiaโs life had devolved into a circus show. Her parents on one end, worrying for her safety since news of the second victim broke, but oblivious to the fact that she had more knowledge of it all than the police probably did. Her relationship with Hayden was the definition of โitโs complicatedโ. She still had her senior year to contend with at school. Wherever and whatever this other shifter was, he could find and kill Hayden at any time. If she happened to be with him at the time of an attack, her life would be in danger too. In the middle of all this, she still didnโt fully understand her psychic powers, the link to his mind, and what it all really meant. At times she felt like it was guiding her. What if it was simply guiding her to her own doom? What if her connection to Hayden put her parents, or Lisa, or Benny, her teachers, or other students at risk? These kinds of questions peppered her mind endlessly. Her instincts told her they couldnโt avoid the killer forever. Running
Hayden stared blankly at Georgia for a moment. A huge smile spread on her face. โThe answers to all of this have been right in front of me,โ she said.โUmโฆ.okay. What am I missing here?โ he asked.It just hit me now when you mentioned Mexico and Chiapas. I couldnโt figure out where Iโd heard that name before. So Iโm guessing you didnโt realize that Iโm part Mexican?โHayden looked surprised. He raised his eyebrows, seeming a little confused too. โPart Mexican? Which part? You look pretty white to me?โGeorgia chuckled. It was a part of her heritage that no one really knew about aside from her family. โYeah, unfortunately I only inherited the pasty side of my familyโs gene pool. My grandmother on my motherโs side is Mexican though. She was brought to the States by my grandfather. He was a researcher and met her while on an expedition in Southern Mexico in the sixties. The storyโs a bit shocking actually.โHayden was engaged now and fully interested in seeing where this was all going
The rest of the weekend passed by in a depressing blur. Georgia spent the remainder of Saturday night desperately trying to connect to Hayden. She sensed the anger and rage in him as he drove away that night. She managed to keep it bay during the fight but knew as he left that it wouldnโt stay that way. Just as she was getting better at tapping into his mind, he was getting better at blocking her from it. He shut her out completely after that and she was forced to spend the entire night wondering if he was safe. Sleep evaded her completely until eventually, she heard the birds chirping and saw lines of sunlight creeping in through cracks in her curtains. That morning was a drag. She got through it on autopilot, a painful migraine shadowing her every move, and making her feel like the walking dead. Her parents were oblivious. Her mom kept going on about how great Hayden was. It irritated her since she was annoyed with him but played along to not arouse her parentsโ suspicions that thi
It was a crazy thing to be in love after just one week. Despite the strangeness of theirs, Georgia knew it was realโmore real than any other love story sheโd ever known. It wasnโt just words, they truly meant it. She was left rattled but still happy. The pain and fear of knowing Hayden contemplated leaving her was difficult to deal with. She reminded herself that he wanted to leave but didnโt. Instead, when so many surrounding circumstances made him want to walk away, he still chose her and chose to stay.There was no existence without him. It was a scary feeling. Being so dependent on another person wasnโt healthy but whatever binding force drove them to each other seemed to only have one settingโpermanent and irrevocable. She watched him now. Heโd shown up on time to fetch her. He also opened the car door for her, held her hand tightly throughout the day, and kissed her without abandon in the hallway that morning. He even smiled more, was clean shaven, and sincerely cheerful. It was
The drive home was subdued. There seemed to be a silent understanding between them. The quietness acted like a reminder that their entire future together was now predicated on surviving a fight to the death that neither knew if they were ready for. It got to Georgia after a while and she tried to ease the underlying tension. She searched Haydenโs mind. Despite his promises to Abbi, he still kept most of it tightly closed. She searched for a way to calm his mind. She played around with the music, selecting love songs at first. Since they were facing an uncertain future as lovers, these only made the mood more depressing so she switched to more upbeat tracks. These made her feel better at least so she decided to speak first. โI feel terrible for Abbi. To think, all those years we just treated her like a crazy person.โHe agreed and then opened up a little. โIt must have been horrible keeping all that inside for so long. Itโs a very lonely existence to bear. Before you came along, I ex
As Georgia lay in bed that night, the full weight of the last two weeks came crashing down on her. Since meeting Hayden, discovering their connection, and falling in love with him, their world together had dominated everything else. Nothing was normal anymore. So much had happened since meeting him, it felt like months had passed instead of just two weeks. The events of earlier that day played in her mind. Remnants of Haydenโs deep pain and remorse still churned in her brain. She felt it all and now knew why he was such a tortured soul. Seeing Claudine Grimsbyโs mutilated body had been so difficult for her to deal with but it was nothing compared to Haydenโs agony when he discovered his parents. They were almost unrecognizable. To have seen that and then had to live with the knowledge that heโd done it was unimaginably difficult. She felt for him. He kept blaming himself. Later he blamed the wolf and separated himself from its actions as a kind of defense mechanism. It was a lot to
Georgia stood with her head down as she stared at the coffin in front of her while the Priest addressed the mourners. A single tear rolled down her cheek. So many of her childhood memories of Abbi came flitting back to her mind now. She felt guilty about how tainted they used to seem. Between her parents, extended family, and the doctors always telling her that Abbi was crazy, she used to look back on their time together with a level of discomfort. It always felt like her Abbi was lost and nothing she had ever said to her was worth remembering. She knew that Abbi loved and favored her more than her cousins. That part was always obvious. She could still picture the huge smile that would spread on her face whenever Angela took her to visit Abbi as a child. โven aquรญ mi niรฑa,โ she would say, holding out her arms widely to embrace her. โCome here my little girl,โ it meant. The words rang through her mind now and made her tears fall faster. Hayden was beside her and put his arm arou
Once home again, despite all the fear raking through her mind, Georgia fell into a deep sleep that night. She thought of Abbi. Since their visit, sheโd been able to sense her even though they were too far away to communicate. All she could sense was her overall energy and mood. Before falling asleep, the last thing she felt was that Abbi was anxious. She could also tell she wasnโt doing well. Her energy was more distant than ever and it felt like a signal that kept growing weaker. Georgia instinctively knew what this meant. She didnโt have much time left. Knowing how close to the end she was and how much she was suffering, Georgia couldnโt understand why she desperately clung on. She could sense that Abbi was refusing to let go for a reason. She just didnโt know what it was. When the morning arrived, Georgiaโs mood was morose. She showered and changed, taking a lot more interest in herself during these activities than she normally would. It was an unnerving feeling knowing this could
As Georgia lay in bed that night, the full weight of the last two weeks came crashing down on her. Since meeting Hayden, discovering their connection, and falling in love with him, their world together had dominated everything else. Nothing was normal anymore. So much had happened since meeting him, it felt like months had passed instead of just two weeks. The events of earlier that day played in her mind. Remnants of Haydenโs deep pain and remorse still churned in her brain. She felt it all and now knew why he was such a tortured soul. Seeing Claudine Grimsbyโs mutilated body had been so difficult for her to deal with but it was nothing compared to Haydenโs agony when he discovered his parents. They were almost unrecognizable. To have seen that and then had to live with the knowledge that heโd done it was unimaginably difficult. She felt for him. He kept blaming himself. Later he blamed the wolf and separated himself from its actions as a kind of defense mechanism. It was a lot to
The drive home was subdued. There seemed to be a silent understanding between them. The quietness acted like a reminder that their entire future together was now predicated on surviving a fight to the death that neither knew if they were ready for. It got to Georgia after a while and she tried to ease the underlying tension. She searched Haydenโs mind. Despite his promises to Abbi, he still kept most of it tightly closed. She searched for a way to calm his mind. She played around with the music, selecting love songs at first. Since they were facing an uncertain future as lovers, these only made the mood more depressing so she switched to more upbeat tracks. These made her feel better at least so she decided to speak first. โI feel terrible for Abbi. To think, all those years we just treated her like a crazy person.โHe agreed and then opened up a little. โIt must have been horrible keeping all that inside for so long. Itโs a very lonely existence to bear. Before you came along, I ex
It was a crazy thing to be in love after just one week. Despite the strangeness of theirs, Georgia knew it was realโmore real than any other love story sheโd ever known. It wasnโt just words, they truly meant it. She was left rattled but still happy. The pain and fear of knowing Hayden contemplated leaving her was difficult to deal with. She reminded herself that he wanted to leave but didnโt. Instead, when so many surrounding circumstances made him want to walk away, he still chose her and chose to stay.There was no existence without him. It was a scary feeling. Being so dependent on another person wasnโt healthy but whatever binding force drove them to each other seemed to only have one settingโpermanent and irrevocable. She watched him now. Heโd shown up on time to fetch her. He also opened the car door for her, held her hand tightly throughout the day, and kissed her without abandon in the hallway that morning. He even smiled more, was clean shaven, and sincerely cheerful. It was
The rest of the weekend passed by in a depressing blur. Georgia spent the remainder of Saturday night desperately trying to connect to Hayden. She sensed the anger and rage in him as he drove away that night. She managed to keep it bay during the fight but knew as he left that it wouldnโt stay that way. Just as she was getting better at tapping into his mind, he was getting better at blocking her from it. He shut her out completely after that and she was forced to spend the entire night wondering if he was safe. Sleep evaded her completely until eventually, she heard the birds chirping and saw lines of sunlight creeping in through cracks in her curtains. That morning was a drag. She got through it on autopilot, a painful migraine shadowing her every move, and making her feel like the walking dead. Her parents were oblivious. Her mom kept going on about how great Hayden was. It irritated her since she was annoyed with him but played along to not arouse her parentsโ suspicions that thi
Hayden stared blankly at Georgia for a moment. A huge smile spread on her face. โThe answers to all of this have been right in front of me,โ she said.โUmโฆ.okay. What am I missing here?โ he asked.It just hit me now when you mentioned Mexico and Chiapas. I couldnโt figure out where Iโd heard that name before. So Iโm guessing you didnโt realize that Iโm part Mexican?โHayden looked surprised. He raised his eyebrows, seeming a little confused too. โPart Mexican? Which part? You look pretty white to me?โGeorgia chuckled. It was a part of her heritage that no one really knew about aside from her family. โYeah, unfortunately I only inherited the pasty side of my familyโs gene pool. My grandmother on my motherโs side is Mexican though. She was brought to the States by my grandfather. He was a researcher and met her while on an expedition in Southern Mexico in the sixties. The storyโs a bit shocking actually.โHayden was engaged now and fully interested in seeing where this was all going
Georgiaโs life had devolved into a circus show. Her parents on one end, worrying for her safety since news of the second victim broke, but oblivious to the fact that she had more knowledge of it all than the police probably did. Her relationship with Hayden was the definition of โitโs complicatedโ. She still had her senior year to contend with at school. Wherever and whatever this other shifter was, he could find and kill Hayden at any time. If she happened to be with him at the time of an attack, her life would be in danger too. In the middle of all this, she still didnโt fully understand her psychic powers, the link to his mind, and what it all really meant. At times she felt like it was guiding her. What if it was simply guiding her to her own doom? What if her connection to Hayden put her parents, or Lisa, or Benny, her teachers, or other students at risk? These kinds of questions peppered her mind endlessly. Her instincts told her they couldnโt avoid the killer forever. Running
Georgiaโs heart was still singing odes of joy when she pulled up to her house. Hayden had taken her halfway and Lisa had picked her up outside their favorite coffee spot to drive her home from there. When he hugged her goodbye before escorting her to the other car, Lisa was practically giddy with excitement. The short ride home was punctuated by her boisterous chatter and endless questions. โOh my God, I knew it! Iโm so happy for you. I knew he liked you. This is so awesome. Tell me everything. Whatโs he really like? Whereโs he from? Did you kiss him yet?โ Georgia spent most of the trip trying to diplomatically answer as many questions as she could. She didnโt want to completely shut her best friend out, especially since Lisa was inconveniencing herself just so Georgia could spend time with Hayden. She gave answers like, โWe just like each other for now. Things are still early. I donโt know where this is all going yet.โThis helped her avoid needing to get into too much detail but