Luna

MY TRUCK'S NATURAL HUM is hushed once I turn the engine off.  I'm parked in my usual spot near the bike racks, and I've arrived around my usual time.  Exiting my truck, I tuck my keys in one of the many pockets of my bag and pull a wedgie out of my shorts.

It's the first time this year I have worn anything without sleeves.  The breeze feels nice against my skin as I walk over to an empty picnic table and place the copy of The Dread Doctors on the surface of it.  I wasn't able to finish it last night.

When I finally woke up, it was getting late and the rest of the night was spent talking with Theo at my house.  Our conversations ranged past memories to future memories.  We talked about our hopes and our dreams.  I told him I wanted to become a writer and publish a book.  He told me he wanted to settle down with a pack because since he left Beacon Hills, all his family did was travel.  He wanted to finally stay in one place.  That disappointed me a bit since all I've wanted to do is travel once I got my shifting under control.

I flip to the page in my copy that I left off on and prop my head up on my hand.  I'm almost halfway through the book, and I know if I keep reading, I'll finish before school ends.  Someone wraps their arm around my shoulders, pulling me away from the book.  I don't even need to look over to know who it is.  I can tell by their cologne.

"Good book?"  Theo asks since I haven't looked up from it.  I nod and keep reading.  "Too good you can't even say hello?"  I shake my head.

"No, but you can remove your arm from me.  People are talking."  I turn a page to seem nonchalant.  He shrugs his shoulder, moving my upper body with him, and glances around at everyone.  The people around seem to be paying attention to their own business, and I would've believed they were if I didn't have the power to hear their conversations.

"Eh, who cares?  Once you stop caring, they do."  I give him a pointed look.

"Believe it or not, Theo, I'm actually antisocial.  I don't like talking to people."  It's his turn to give me a pointed look.

"You talk to me, and Scott, and Stiles, and Lydia, and-"

"You're different.  They're different.  I've always liked them, so I'm not against talking to them.  Although, I don't think Malia likes me much and I haven't really been able to talk to Liam, but I know he likes me."

"How do you know?"  His fingers brush against my upper arm, goosebumps rise as a result of the light touch.  Then, I feel his legs touching mine, and I notice he's sort of straddling the bench with each leg on either side.  His other hand is flat on the table, but I'm hoping he'll move it soon.  Maybe to hold my hand.  Or my thigh.

"Chemo signals.  Plus, he kept smiling like he had just passed gas and, not to mention, he called me pretty."  I chuckle at the memory of Liam's adorable smile and Stiles scolding him for complimenting me.  "His little crush was really obvious."

"Huh," is all he says.  I close the booklet and turn my body a smidge to stare at him.  A certain smell hits my nose.  It's only for a moment, but I'm able to pick up the scent of jealousy.

"Are you jealous, Theo?"  My eyes close to slits as I point out the chemo signal.  When he doesn't say anything, I laugh.  "Aw, that's adorable."

I ruffle his hair, ruining whatever style he had it in, and he grabs my wrist with the hand that was around me.  He huffs as he tries to fix his hair with his free hand.  Once it's somewhat fixed, I try to use my other hand to mess it up again.  He catches that one too, and we're left staring at each other.  My lips are pulled into a wide, cheesy smile and Theo is trying to hide a grin, but I can see the amusement twinkle in his eyes.

For a minute I sit there, my smile fading into a small amused one, and I take in his features.  His eyes were a dark shade of blue for sometimes they could be mistaken for green or hazel.  The crease in his forehead he'd get when he'd raise his brows made him look younger in a way.  His jawline was bare and sharp, making me wonder what it looked like with facial hair since he's always clean shaven.  The last feature my eyes land on are his lips.  His bottom lip is more plump than his top, but they look soft regardless.

Theo notices me staring and lowers our hands to his lap.  His right hand releases its grip on my hand and moves to my neck, his thumb traces the edge of my jaw.  With a smile, he pulls me closer and I find myself kissing my best friend for the second time in twelve hours.  My free hand clutches the hem of his shirt as our other hands move to each others bicep.  The kiss was soft and sweet.  Our tongues occasionally met each other, and our teeth graze the other's bottom lip when we wanted more.  Before we could exceed any further, someone's hands slammed down on the table.  We jump apart and meet the eyes of everyone in the pack, including Liam and Mason.

"Hey, guys!"  I greet them excitedly, my mood ten times higher than normal.  I remove my hands from Theo as they all take a seat around us.  Lydia by my side with Stiles beside her.  Then, Scott and Liam with Mason by his side, ending with Malia next to Theo.  It's then I noticed Kira wasn't among them.

"You two done sucking faces?" Stiles asks, throwing Theo a glare and me a weary stare as if to tell me to be careful.  I just shoot him a grin.

"I wasn't," Theo mutters under his breath.  I pretend not to hear him.

"You haven't finished that yet?" Lydia questions, pointing at my copy of the book with raised eyebrows.  "I was sure you would finish before the rest of us."

"I did too, but I've been a little," I pause trying to think of the word.

"Distracted?" Scott offers with a knowing smile.  My cheeks heat up at his accusation, but I ignore it and pick up the booklet.  Scott changes the subject from one of a humorous topic to a serious one.  He reminds everyone that the book can cause serious hallucinations which can potentially turn to deadly if we don't watch each other's backs.  Everyone casts their eyes on everyone around the table before returning them to Scott.  "We keep an eye on each other today, okay?"

"Some more than others," Lydia mumbles just loud enough for me to hear, rummaging through her bag.  My elbow meets her side to scold her without bringing attention to us.  She shoots me a warm smile before we hear the first warning bell for class.  I had planned on walking to class with Theo, but Lydia left me no choice when she hooked her arm with mine.  "You're walking with me today."  She glances back at Theo over her shoulder.  "Sorry, Theo.  Girl talk."  I meet his gaze with an almost frightened look.  He puts his hands up to tell me he doesn't have any idea what she could possibly want to talk about, but his face breaks out in a grin and he finally waves.  I know he knows exactly what conversation I was going to be having with the wailing woman.

We reach the entrance of the school and walk through before she says anything.  To be honest, what she said next wasn't at all what I thought the conversation was going to go.  I thought it was going to be about schoolwork or books, or, at the very minimum, clothes.  But when she started talking about Theo, it threw me for a loop.

"So, I noticed you and Theo have been getting very, hmm what's the word I'm looking for, cozy.  Anything you'd like to spill?"  We stop as she opens up a locker to grab her biology book.  I avoid her stare by looking at everyone around us.

"Nope."  Her gaze is burning holes in the side of my face.

"Nothing?"

"Nada."  I lean against the lockers with my shoulder and meet her eyes.

"Not even about the steamy make out session on Scott's front porch?"  I shake my head.  "Or the ones that just took place outside?"  I pretend to think about it, but shake my head again.  "So, we're just going to ignore the fact that you two spent the entire night together?"  I stand up straight while placing my hand on her shoulder, already getting defensive.

"How did you know about that?"  My voice squeaks, not knowing how in the world she could have known about the two of us together.

A mischievous smile plays on her lips, "I didn't until you confirmed my suspensions."  My mouth drops open as I realize I've been played.  The hand that wasn't on her shoulder splays across my chest in faux hurt as the rest of my body relaxes.

"You sly dog.  I'm actually impressed.  Bravo."  I applaud her which prompts her to grab the hem of her skirt and give a small bow.  She shuts her locker linking her arm with mine once again before leading us to my locker.  As we reach it, the final warning bell sounds over head meaning we had five minutes to get to class or we were going to be late.  I hurry to fill my bag with my first three periods as Lydia leans against the lockers just as I did.

"So, spill it.  What's going on between you and Theo?"  I sigh as I slam my locker closed.

"Nothing," I confess.  Her head tilts to the side, obviously not believing me.  "I'm being completely honest.  There's nothing going on."  I turn to walk towards our class.  She doesn't link her arm with mine, but she keeps up with my pace.

"But I thought you guys spent the night together?"  I nod.

"We just talked.  No Rated R scenes were created.  No kissing happened.  Honestly, I have no idea why we're even doing that anyway."  I run a hand through my hair, pushing it out of my face.  "It's like I have no control over myself when it comes to him, and I don't know why."

Lydia's quiet the rest of the walk to class.  I didn't know if she was thinking about what to say or if there wasn't anything to say.  Regardless, nothing else was said until we stepped into the classroom.

"Maybe it's because you were best friends and, if my assumptions are correct, either you or the both of you had feelings for each other at some point."  She places a hand on my arm to stop and look at me.  "Did you?"

My eyes find a stain on the floor and I stare at it as I mumble, "He was my first kiss."

"Sorry, I didn't quite catch that.  He was your what?"  I look up to find her smirking.

"You heard me, Martin."  I walk away to take my seat in the back, but she pulls me to sit next to her.  Kira and Scott are sitting together, and Theo is sitting behind them.  I send him a small smile before taking a seat.

〰〰〰

"You guys try to find Stiles and Lydia," Scott tells Malia, Theo, and I as we step into the hospital.  "I'm gonna find my mom."

We all disperse in different directions, only somehow Theo and I got stuck together as we made our way to the higher levels of the hospital.  Lydia and Stiles came here earlier so she could remember what the Dread Doctors did during her surgery.  As it got later in the day and Scott nor Malia heard anything from them, we all decided to come look for the two.  Stiles hadn't had his hallucination before he left and who knew what Lydia could be hallucinating.  Scott had a fully blown asthma attack after AP Biology and had to use a inhaler, so we didn't want the two of them to be alone.

"Is there something wrong?"  Theo asks as we take the stairs up to the roof.  I had been awfully quiet since leaving the school.  Between him and Malia, I could tell something happened with them.  It didn't help that I could smell her on him at the school and even now as we trudged up the empty stairwell.  Of course, I didn't have the whole story and, as far as I knew, Malia and Stiles were still a thing.  But I also know Malia doesn't like me much.  She's made it very clear since the time of research in the library, so I wasn't sure if she was doing anything to make sure I knew she didn't like me or it just didn't happen the way I thought.  The latter was more than likely.

Only thing is, I don't understand why I'm so bothered by the thought of them getting together.  Theo and I have only kissed a couple of times and we haven't even begun to talk about our feelings for each other, if they're even there.

"No, not really," I answer finally with a heavy exhale as I skip a few steps to a platform.  I start up another set of stairs, almost to the top, with Theo right behind me.

"You haven't really talked to me since we left school."  I grunt as a reply, reaching the top of the stairs to yet another platform before starting up the last set of stairs.  "I'd just like to know what you're mad at me about."

"I'm not mad at you, Theo.  Whatever you do in your free time is your business, not mine."

"In my free time?  What's that suppose to mean?"

"And if you want to spend it with Malia," I continue to ramble as if he hadn't even spoken, "I have no say in it because all we've done is kiss and it's not like kissing means much to people these days, so we could just be kissing for the hell of it, you know?  This all could just be a one-sided thing that's happened in plenty of books I've read, which are totally cliché by the way, and I could possibly just be digging up old feelings I had for you when I was nine years old.

"So, we probably should stop kissing because it's kind of a big deal to me, you know since you were my first kiss and I haven't really kissed anyone since?  And I don't want to create all of these feelings for you if you don't even feel the same.  Do you know how much that would suck?  If my life was depressing before, it'd be worse to find out I'm delusional on top of it.  Now that we both agree, let's-" I'm about to push the door to the roof open when Theo grabs my arm.

"I don't agree," he says turning to face him.  "I don't know what you think went on between Malia and I, but nothing happened.  And about the kissing not meaning anything, it meant everything.  Believe it or not, I like you just as I did when we were kids.  The circumstances aren't the best, but my feelings are real."  His hand caresses my cheek as he stares deep into my eyes.  "You're not delusional, and I want to keep kissing you, alright?"  The other hand finds itself on my other cheek and his thumb rubs my cheekbone.  "I want to do more than that.  I want hold you close.  Take you out on dates.  Show you off.  Help you control your shifts.  I want to be with you."

"Are you sure?"  I scrutinize.  "You know, once you lock in your answer, there's no turning back.  You're stuck with me until I can't stand you."  He laughs and nods his head.

We hear growls and the sounds of someone hitting something.  The two of us burst through the door and find Stiles on the ground being attacked by an electrified Chimera.  I can tell by the glazed over look in Stiles' eye he was in the middle of having his hallucination.  Theo rushes over and pulls the attacker off of Stiles and I run over to help him up.  I take stance in front of Stiles; my eyes glowing, my fangs growing, and my claws protruding.  The bones in my back doing their usual grind, but I try to stop it just like I did that night in the library.  It doesn't happen like that night though.

My bones continue to grind, and I can feel my spine trying to grow.  I lurch forward to try to help Theo, but I get a couple of steps away from the two fighting boys before I'm tumbling to the ground.  Stiles catches me in his arms and pulls me up so I'm still standing.  Once I'm balanced, I step closer.  Theo has a grip on the kids throat.  My lungs are on fire as I try to catch my breath and before I get the chance, a heavy, liquid substance is being sprayed in my face.  My mind forgets about the fact I might turn into a murderous wolf and focuses on what's happening around me.

Theo's in full wolf mode and his glowing, yellow eyes are glancing between Stiles and I.  The kid is lying on the ground, his eyes wide open and his throat gone.  My breathing hitches in the back of my throat as my trembling hand reach up to my face.  When I feel the wet substance touch my fingers, I jerk my hand away to see if what I was thinking was right.  My eyes catch the red already staining my fingertips.

"Stiles, you can't say anything," Theo pleads.  "Please, don't say anything."

"Why not?"  Stiles says, but I can barely hear him over my panting.

"Because I never said anything about Donovan."  I step back, barely registering Theo's confession of being there that night.  My legs hit the concrete molding along a skylight, and I fall on my ass.  I wipe the blood on my hand on my white shorts.  I start to panic and start gathering up the blood on my face, wiping them on my shorts.

"I know what happened to Donovan," Theo continues.  "I know everything."  There's a clanging followed by grunting, but it's the last thing I hear as my mind takes me somewhere else.

Her screams seemed to bounce off the trees, creating a larger sound than she was letting off.  My claws dig into her skin as if I were digging into the ground to bury a bone.  I got as far as tearing into her skin so blood was pouring out at a heavy dose before her knee came up to kick me in the ribs.  I yelped and jumped back.  She took the chance to run towards a small bridge.  I growled and ran after her.

Since she was running along the small creek, there were a few times when her footing almost caused her to fall into the water.  Or it could've been the state she was in, I didn't know.  But when she grabs a hold of the bridge's railing, I gain up on her and jump to push her down with my front paws.  Only she doesn't fall to the ground, no, she tumbles over the edge and into the water.  The once blue-ish, brown water is now contaminated with red blood, and I have no desire to jump down there to finish her off.

A boy walks slowly towards the middle of the bridge and stares down at the girl's shivering body.  I watch the short exchange between the two.  The girl is reaching up to the boy, but he's making no movement to help her.  He just continues to stare at her as she gasps for breath.  I start to walk towards the boy, my claws scratching the wood causing his eyes to snap over to me.  I stop when a foreign noise overloads my sense of hearing, and I'm a few steps from the boy.  It sounded like some kind of clicking, but I don't know who's doing it.  Large, boot-sounding steps resonate against the wooden bridge.  I turn around to see who it is-

"Luna!"  Theo yells, snapping me out of the daze.  Theo's hands are on either side of my face, and Stiles is looking over his shoulder, staring at me apprehensively.  My breath is coming out in short pants and my entire body is shivering, the wind nipping at my bones as if I had no skin.  I shove Theo's hands off of me and stand up.  My legs are a little weak, but I'm able to stay on my feet.

I groan, "Theo, I was so close to seeing something!  Why did you do that?"

"Luna, you were barely breathing.  Your skin was pale and your whole body was shaking.  We didn't know what was going on," Theo informs me.  "I had to."

"Yeah, and what did you mean you were close to seeing something?  Seeing what?"  I keep quiet at Stiles' question.  "Were you having a hallucination?  Did you finish the book?"  I shake my head.

"No, I have a few more chapters left."

It's Theo's turn to ask a question, "Then, what just happened?"

"It was nothing.  It's just something that happens on occasion."  I brush it off with a wave of my hand.  Theo gives me fretful look.  "Don't worry about it, okay?"

The boy on the ground catches my eye, and I remember what was going on before I spaced out.  A siren blares in the distance and Theo turns to Stiles.

"That's not an ambulance, is it?"  Stiles shakes his head.  "We should get out of here," he says grabbing my hand.

"We can't just leave him," Stiles voices what I was thinking.

"Fine.  All right, let's take him."  Stiles is hesitant with that idea and Theo notices.  "Someone's stealing the bodies anyway, right?  Here's our chance to find out who."  Stiles looks down at the body.  "Stiles, come on.  We gotta do something."

Stiles squints his eyes at him, "You killed him."

The fact hits me harder than I thought it would.  Now, I wasn't the only one who had blood on their hands, literally even.  Theo, the boy who's werewolf best friend had killed his sister, spilled someone else's blood.

"In self-defense," he counters.  Stiles tilts his head in disbelief.  "He was going to kill you and me, and if he had the chance, he would've killed Luna, too."  Stiles' eyes met mine and I looked to the ground.  "If we stay, we're either going to have tell the truth or we're going to need a pretty convincing story.  It's your choice."

I walk up to Stiles and put my hand on his shoulder comfortingly.

"Whatever you choose to do, it'll be okay.  I know I've been kind of pushing you to tell Scott or your dad."  He scoffs which causes a small smile to form on my face.  "But, I don't think tonight would be a very good night."

"I'm not going to ask you to lie to your dad, either," Theo chimes in.  Stiles shakes his head a little.

"Don't worry, I've had plenty of practice."  He walks over to one side of the kid's body.  First, he unzips his jacket and tosses it to me.  When he sees the confused look on my face, he explains.  "You have blood all over you."

I slip on the jacket without looking down to confirm his explanation.  Also, I wipe my face off with the inside of the jacket, already deciding I was going to wash it for him later.  Theo joins Stiles on the other side of the kid's body, and they both take a shoulder before hoisting him up.

Now, all we had to do was get him out without doctors, nurses, or police officers seeing us.  Should be easy.  Right?

Hi, guys! I actually thoroughly enjoyed this chapter. I don't know if y'all did, but I hope so.
so. many. Leo. moments.
they are cute smol beans I love them. Luna is like my child she deserves the whole world.
thank you to all over you who's reading, commenting, and voting I appreciate it so much. especially last weekend when my first dog ever was hit by a car and the worst weekend ever turned a little brighter from your kind words thank you.
please vote or comment what you think!

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