chapter two//

Later on the next day, I sat in my room wallowing in the misery that finally kicked in. My parent's were gone. I tried to play myself into believing they were coming back by some miracle and this was simply a sick prank. But it wasn't. I knew better.

I peered out the frost coated window at the blanket of forest. Tears swell my eyes. My hollow chest held the broken pieces of my shattered heart. Last night, those men shot my whole life down with only the metal shell of a single bullet.

Their cold, emotionless eyes still pierced my memory with horror. How could a being do that to another being? It takes only a screwed up psychopath with no heart to do such damage. The iniquity behind those actions was perplexing.

A shot of rage discharged inside of me as I began to beat down on the bed. Aggressive tears shredded my cheeks as my fists punched the bed continuously. Punch. Punch. Punch.

"I hate you!" I sobbed as the images of those men swept through my mind. I screamed it again, a little louder. And again. And again; each time my voice trailed off.

I collapsed wearily as I sobbed loudly into the pillow. It wasn't fair nor right. All this pain I'm feeling now was caused by those bastards. A vile numbness vibrated throughout my body as I attempted to calm myself down.

Get a grip, I thought to myself. I wipe the stinging tears away from my reddened cheeks and try to compose myself. Tears still ran down my cheeks and it was battle to keep them in. Managing to slow down my quick breaths, I lay my head down on the cooled pillow.

Flashes of memories tore through my mind. With every memory it only gave me whiplash and a result of more tears. I sniffled as I pressed my legs against my emptied chest. My body and lungs were exhausted. I wore myself down with the constant flow of tears.

Revenge. I wanted revenge. I wanted to stand over them, taking their life into my grasp and destroy it.

"You okay?" A voice asked sympathetically. I wipe away left over tears with my sleeve and followed the voice with my eyes. It was Tyler.

His arms were folded across his chest as he leaned against the door frame. I remembered the cocky attitude that filled his voice last night and compared it with the contrast in it now.

"Why do you care?" I hiccuped and he frowned.

"Because..." He hesitated. "You're crying."

"Well no crap I'm crying. This salty water isn't rain dripping from the blasted ceiling." My voice cracked. I grabbed another pillow near me and threw it with all the energy I could muster up. He picked the pillow that fell a few feet away from him up and walked towards me.

"Just... go away." My voice faded as I buried my face into another pillow. My tears soaked the pillow as more and more flooded out of my eyes.

"I'm not leaving you." He says as he steps closer. I can hear the old floor creaking with every step he took.

"Tyler, it's best to leave her be." Luka's alto voice advised Tyler.

"How would you know what's best for her?" Tyler's voice instantly switched from meek to an angry bull. Man, talk about being short tempered.

"Luka? I thought you were out with Billie?" I sat up to face him, wiping my face clean of tears and drainage from my nose with my sleeve.

Luka walked around Tyler, lightly bumping into him, and took a seat next to me. He laced his arms around me, attempting to comfort and calm me down. I rested my dizzy head on his chest. The kick drum of his heartbeat was soothing to my pounding head. Nuzzling into his chest, seeking the incredible warmth sizzling off of him, I attempt to relax my tensed body.

Tyler mumbled beneath his breath something I couldn't quite make out, but I could tell it pissed Luka off by the way his giant frame stiffened. I felt his grip tighten slowly as a death stare competition ignited between the two.

"Tyler, leave." Luka says sternly, narrowing his eyes upon him.

It was clear he didn't want to leave, nor was he planning to. However, Jared's call for help drew him away. Tyler threw the pillow onto the extra bed before spinning around on his heels. As Tyler exited the room, Luka's hold on me gradually loosened.

I pulled away from him to brush off the unbearable tears from my eyes and sniffled. Luka helped wipe tears away by brushing his thumbs underneath my eyes gently.

"How are you holding up?" Luka probed, stroking my hair tenderly.

"I feel like hell." I shrugged and Luka chuckled softly at my answer.

"Everything will be fine. I promise." He reassures me, but I felt like everything was crumbling around me. My family was killed and I was among the presence strangers.

My father told me in our discussion prior to his brains being blown to bits, that Luka would be here for me and won't leave me; a bodyguard with special ties. He informed me I've met him before yet I wouldn't remember. My dad mumbled most of his words, so I didn't quite pick up on everything. Seeing as how we were trying to remain as quiet as possible so the douches. who were circling my home at the time, didn't hear us, also took part in his hushed tone.

"How about some food? Are you hungry? Billie's wife, Tara, is downstairs fixing dinner." Once the knowledge that food was cooking settled into my brain, I sniffed the air through my stuffed nose. A sweet scent coated the still air and my stomach began to rumble.

I gently nodded my head and followed close behind Luka who guided me down stairs. We entered the dining room to find all of the boys crowded around the table, anxiously waiting for the dinner to be passed around.

The scent of freshly cooked apple pie topped the delicious smell of pasta boiling. Luka and I found our way to two open spots on the right hand of the crowded table. I could sense that everyone in the room was eager to devour the savory food Tara has whipped up.

Her gorgeous honey blond hair was pinned back in a high ponytail with a thick black headband securing the stray hairs from colliding with her flawless face. Her hazel eyes beamed with warmth as did her pearly white smile.

"Alright boys and girls, dinner is ready!" Tara smiled as she took her seat next to Billy at the head of the table. They allowed all of the boys, Luka and myself to go first before they dove right in as well.

As I plowed through my dinner, small thoughts of my parents flashed through my mind. The unanswered questions to why those men stormed our home still taunted my brain. Occasionally I would feel the sudden urge to hurl after working myself up from mentally studying into my parents death. My pace of shoving food into my mouth slowly morphed into having no appetite at all.

Luka turned to me and a smile crossed his lips. A weak smile merged onto my face before Luka returned to shoveling pounds of food into his giant-like body.

Finally, the time came for desserts and everyone departed to their own destinations. I sat quietly eating my strawberry cheesecake while listening to Jared and Noah converse over a few T.V. shows in the kitchen. Tara cleaned the dishes off from any food left over and placed them in the dishwasher behind the island counter.

I could tell she was amused with the conversation that was in motion by the soft smirk on her face. Tara reminds me of my mother. Her gentle and sweet exterior equalized her meek soul.

"What's your favorite show, Belle?" Jared inquired, his mouth full of cheesecake. His demeanor from yesterday differed. It was strange to me, but I can understand.

"Um... I don't necessarily have a favorite show. I bounce around from show to show." I admit.

"We'll have to show you some. You'll love Criminal Minds." Jared chirped, a enormous grin seeping onto his face.

"Dude, that's way too gruesome for her." Noah argued with Jared.

"No it's not. It's awesome." Jared brushed Noah off and sucked off whatever cheesecake was left on his fork.

"It's psychotic."

"Your face."

A silence hugged the air between the three of us. Noah looked at Jared in disbelief and shame. The two were like little toddlers, inseparable and childish.

"Your mother." Noah responded quickly.

"Our mother." Jared immediately lashes back. They both burst in a fits of laughter.

As an uncomfortable ease settled in me, I excused myself and scoured the house in hunt for Luka. I checked the living room where a majority the boys resided to watch television. I looked in the study, our room, even the boys rooms. I couldn't find him.

A panic erupted inside of me as my pace began to speed up. Did he leave me here? Alone? With these strangers?

I roamed through the house in a desperate search for Luka, but no sighting of him. The hollowed feeling in my chest washed inside of me again. Anxiety raised my pulse, triggering a domino effect. My heart beat increased and my breath emptied itself from my lungs.

"Looking for someone?" A deep voice inquired. I spun on my heels and there stood Billy. He tucked his fingertips into his pockets and leaned against the wall.

"Yeah-I mean, yes sir." I corrected my words to be polite.

He gave a heavy sigh and directed me to the basement where I would find Luka. I followed his directions, navigating through the house and down into the basement.

I step down the wooden stairs, which creaked with every step I took. Along the walls there were weapons in closed in glass cases on display. Chairs lined the walls and two giant cabinets stood tall. I found Luka staring into one of those cabinets.

With every slow and quiet step I took on the cold stone ground, nearing him, I was sure he couldn't see me. His focus was too much into whatever the cabinet held.

"You know you're special, right?" Luka blurted. I stopped in my tracks and furrowed my brows.

"What do you mean?"

Luka took a seat in one of the chairs and motioned for me to sit in the one next to him. I scurried to the seat and he sighed.

"Belle... I wish all of this never happened to you. You could've not only been concealed from what I'm about tell you, but you'd still have your family..." He paused for a brief moment. "Your parent's died protecting something that will change everything. You."

"You're more special than you think. You hold a strange power that none of us could ever contain... I don't exactly know how to say it..." Luka rubbed his hands together nervously.

"Say what?"

"I've brought you to the only pack I know who are strong enough to fight back against Jeremiah and his clan. Katherine was raped after your dad went on a hunting expedition. Neither parties knew she was pregnant at the time of the rape. Some how, your DNA collided with your fathers and Jeremiah's. The entire supernatural world broke into a rage after you were born." He explained, still staring at the floor.

"You're a lethal combination of vampires and werewolves. Your parent's tried to protect you and keep you innocent of all of this stuff. It was what your mom wanted. But Jeremiah initiated a search for you a couple of days ago. He's coming for you and it's my job to protect you. There is more, but I figured the pack can go further into everything."

Words cannot exit my mouth. My lungs have trapped it all inside of me. I search for the right words but none come to mind. Vampires? Werewolves? Supernatural? A pack?

"What the hell?" I screamed as the rush of anger overwhelmed me. "So it's all my fault then. They died because of me."

"No, no. Belle, it isn't your fault. If anyone's to blame, it's Jeremiah." Luka argued before he grabbed my face with his hands.

"All these years, I've been some kind of mutant? I guess I should have seen this coming... I've always been a weird kid, but what the hell? Why would you delay telling me this?" Confusion is rich in my voice as I search for answers. I push his large hands away from face.

"You weren't ready." He says silently.

"Who would be? I mean to be told you're a supernatural mutant that, one, not only eats human hearts, but two, sucks blood out of humans as well. That's sick!" I stress the two obvious deadly traits of who I am apparently but all I get is a laugh out of Luka.

"Don't be silly... None of us eat hearts. We're just shape-shifters." Luka chuckled.

"That doesn't matter. I'm still inhuman." I huffed angrily. Luka frown and sighed wearily.

"Bella, I swear..." His voice trails off. "You're stubborn."

"Thanks. My dad's traits carried over." My voice was saturated in bitter sarcasm. I could tell Luka was done arguing with me as he tossed his hands onto his knees and stood up.

"I've told you what you need to know right now. I've got to leave." Luka grabbed my arms and pulled me into an enormous hug. I tried to resist but his grip tightened. It was almost like he didn't want to let go... I wish he would though... I'm starting to lose air.

He stroked my hair gently before giving me one last extremely tight hug. Luka released me at an arm's length and then shuffled out of the basement, leaving me there alone.

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