CHAPTER EIGHT

She slipped back to her memories. She had gone to the field to cry her eyes out when she heard

"Need some space?" She heard

She had turned back to see who it was. Yale, the peace his name and presence brought to couldn't be quantified. She smiled when she saw him

"What are you doing here?" She asked

"Uhm.. nothing really. I just needed space" he had replied her

"From what? Your girlfriends?" Beth teased

"You could call them that but I am very much single. Why are you here though?"

"I don't know anymore" she replied

"Want to talk about it?"

"Maybe. I had an argument with Diane and I don't think she was on the wrong side"

"So you were wrong then," he said to her

"I wasn't. I'm not wrong either. We are both right in our ways"

"Then you should both just see things from each other's point of view and you would be just fine"

"I can't. It's about Henry" she had opened up to him

"What about Henry?"

"There is a prophecy about us"

"I know. He told me"

There was an awkward silence between them. His mind was trying to process why that should cause an argument between her and her best friend. He could not see any connection so he looked at things from her own angle

"Henry came to make things up with you didn't he?" he questioned

"Did he tell you?"

"Not yet actually. He didn't tell me anything yet but I guessed as much and I'm guessing that you don't want his apology"

"It is not like I do not want the apology or something. I do want an apology. I want to fix things between us. I am close to all my brothers except him and it hurts a lot…" She said but she was cut short

"But you can't change it because you feel guilty, isn't it?"

"Finally" she sighed. "Somebody that understands"

She said as she looked at him. Tears welled up in her eyes. He grabbed her arm and pulled her into a hug. She broke down and cried. She didn't know what else to do

"It is in no way your fault that he is destined to die while protecting you. It didn't say you were going to kill him. You are in no way at fault for any of it. It is not on you. It is not your fault Bethany. Guilt is a really heavy burden to bear" He always had the right words to say

"But it is my fault. He would die while protecting me. It is all on me. It is all my fault. He has every right to hate me. He has every right to treat me like crap. I am going to be the cause of his death" she cried

"You are not and no, he doesn't have any right to treat you like crap. He has no right to bully you or make you feel less than a person. That wasn't his intention, I am very sure. You are going to be fine and trust me, Henry isn't going to die on you until he's old and grey and cranky. The prophecy didn't say he was going to die young. Stop letting this thing eat you from inside. Stop letting it ruin your friendship and relationship with your brother. You said it yourself. It kills you every time when you can't relate with Henry the same way you relate with the rest. Maybe Henry is a dick almost every time but he wouldn't want this for you. He wouldn't want you carrying this burden. It's not for you"

"I just want him alive. I don't care if he bullies me every hour"

"That was why you didn't tell him about Mr. Daniel, isn't it? You were not considering the fact of your level of relationship with him. You were scared that he was going to do something crazy and get himself killed"

"Yeah. He knows about it now"

"The prophecy said he was going to die while protecting you but it also said that only your brothers can protect you. Beth, you can't fight your battles on your own. You are strong yes. You are one of the strongest to ever exist but there's a reason you were placed with four other boys. They are supposed to protect you. You have to let them. Keeping something as huge as harassment that is turning into physical abuse is way out of it. You could have even told me"

"I am sorry but the last thing I need is any of you getting into trouble because of me"

"You are worth the trouble and I promise you that Mr. Daniel would get what is coming to him"

"What are you going to do to him?" she asked

"Don't stress that pretty little head of yours over someone like him. His kind is supposed to be erased from the surface of the earth. You owe him nothing and whatever happens to him is his own doing"

"Thank you, for being here"

"I would gladly be here than anywhere else"

Yale said as he hugged her tighter. He didn't want to let her go. She fit so perfectly in him. His arms wrapped around her was one of his dreams and now, it was his reality. She sniffed him softly and let his scent roam in her head for free. She didn't ever want it to end. Hugging him was so relaxing. Nothing could beat this. She took deep breaths and let them out. He let her go

"Didn't want that to end"

"Well it had to," She said as she smiled at him

"That's better. A pretty smile for a pretty girl"

She smiled stupidly, remembering it. Her phone rang, interrupting her thoughts. These were events that led to her first kiss. She was angry that it had been interrupted. She looked at the caller's ID, Carl. She picked it up

"What the hell do you want now?"

"I'm sorry. Please, come home. It's almost midnight. It's not safe out there. Mom is about to go out to look for you. Don't make her go out and get hurt. I'm sorry I said all those things. I didn't mean any of them. I wasn't in any position to say any of it and I shouldn't have hurt you that way. I am very sorry I did but please, come home. I am worried about you"

She hung up and sped back home. She got to the door in minutes. She opened it and found the entire family waiting up for her. Her aunt ran to her and hugged her. She didn't return the hug. Emily knew she was angry. She let her go and Bethany went to her room. She got there and took off her blouse. She changed her clothes and a knock on the door came in. She rolled her eyes and gave a go-ahead for the person to come in. It was Carl

"Can we talk?"

"There is absolutely nothing to talk about. What else is there to say? You already said it all remember?"

"Beth, you know I didn't mean any of those things I said to you. I am in love with you and it is not going to change any time soon but I need you to forgive me. I can't sleep with you being mad at me. Please, Beth, I would do anything to make it up to you. Just don't let what happened today come between us. It would kill me"

"There is nothing between us Carl. I figured that we were too close for comfort. Besides, all I think I have to do is help you through your transformation process and that would be tomorrow night. Once that is over, we wouldn't have any reason to see each other anymore"

"Yes we would, Wolfie, don't take things this way please, you're breaking me"

"What do you expect from someone that is already broken? A build-up? You know what? I've had a long day and I think I just need some sleep. I'm going to have a hard day training tomorrow thanks to you and your Mom so please can you just let me be?"

"Would you spend the night in my room?"

"Nah, I don't think so. I'm good here, thanks. Close the door on your way out"

She said as she got on her bed. She turned off the bedside lamp and left him standing there. He sighed. He blinked the tears away and turned off the lights in her room. She heard the door close and she broke down in tears. She did love him back. She did want him back but she loved Yale too. She wasn't ready to hurt him by leaving him for Yale so she would rather hurt him now by turning him down. Besides, she was way better off on her own. Everybody around her was bound to die. Her family was a very good example of that and she wasn't going to let anybody hurt him just because they were together. It hurt like hell but it was what was best for everybody and that was what she had to do. Morning came quickly. She could smell the coffee from the kitchen even though she wasn't a caffeine person. She would rather have her hot chocolate drink with her breakfast.

She sun seeped through the curtains. She could feel the warmth on her skin. She got up and had her bath, changed her bandages, got dressed, and headed down for breakfast. Breakfast was unusual this very morning for this little family. It was silent. Everybody has done something that had hurt somebody else, everybody was hurt. Dan left the table first and said he had to go to work. Emily took the day off to say with her kids, yeah, Beth included. Beth barely touched her breakfast. She just sat there, staring at the food. She pushed her chair back and stood up

"What's wrong?" Emily asked

"Nothing, I'm done with the meal. Thank you"

"But you barely even touched it"

"I have no appetite. I would be down at the gym if you need me for anything"

She said as she headed to her room to change into something more comfortable. She headed down to the gym and went hard on the punching bags, trying to relieve the stress and the anger. She couldn't get rid of any. The more she tried, the heavier her emotions felt. She kept punching until she ruined it. She sighed. Third one today. She said as she removed it from the hook and replaced it with a new one. Carl was in his room, staring at nothing in particular. He wasn't talking to his parents. He was mad at them. His mom had told him that he still had a choice.

He could either remain human and retake the serum or he could transform into a wolf tonight. He wished she had let him make the choice earlier or she had told him about it earlier. That way, he would have been prepared for the worst. He would have learned a bit of self-control. He wouldn't have hurt his mom and the girl he was in love with. He would have avoided everything, chained himself down like an animal if it was necessary but no, everything just had to happen and he wondered why. Was it really to protect him or to protect herself. The choice wasn't hers to make and she shouldn't have made it for him.

He hated her just because she did and now the one person he had truly felt true love for wouldn't even look at him not to talk of speak to him. He hated his life right now and blamed his mom. She was the reason everything was like this and his dad supported he. He stayed loyal regardless