Shadowed Strength: Shadowed Series Book One (10 page)

The next morning, Melanie was waiting outside
for Tara to pick her up when Jeremy’s truck came cruising down the street and
pulled into her driveway. She stood there with a shocked look on her face as he
threw the truck into park and jumped out.

“What are you doing here?” she asked as he ran
to her and picked her up in a big bear hug. “And what was that for?”

He gave her a loud, smacking kiss on the lips
before he replied, “Can’t I be happy to see my beautiful girlfriend on a wonderful
Monday morning?”

“Uh, I guess. Why’s it so wonderful and why
are you here instead of Tara?”

“It’s wonderful because I’m here with
you
,
and I’m here
with
you because I called Tara and informed her that she is
officially off taxi duty today.”

“You want to drive me to school today?” she
asked happily.

“I want to drive you to school every day, but
I don’t think Tara would ever forgive me if I stole you from her,” he smirked.
“And no, I do
not
want to drive you to school today.”

“Wait, what? Now I’m confused.”

“You and I are skipping.”

“Skipping? As in school? Jeremy, I don’t know.
I have never skipped a day of school in my life before we left when I got that
note last week! My mom would kill me if she found out.” She lowered her voice
on that last bit, just to be safe.

“That’s exactly why you should do it! Listen,
it’ll be fine. They never call parents to let them know anymore. And if they
do, you can just tell your mom you needed a mental health day. Come on,
please?”

“I don’t know, Jer-”

“Pretty please,” he said again while giving
her sad, puppy dog eyes.

She took a deep breath and let it out slowly.
“Okay.”

“Okay?” he said back, nodding his head with an
excited look on his face. “Yes!” he yelled while pumping his fist in the air.

She grabbed his arm and dragged him toward the
truck. “Shh, before my mom hears you and our day is over before it even began.”

A few minutes later, they were pulling into
the apartment complex where Jeremy was staying with Chris. They were silent on the
drive over and Melanie kept fidgeting nervously in her seat. Her fear of
getting caught skipping school was superseded by her fear of what was going to
happen next. For all his exuberance at her house, Jeremy was unusually quiet
and tense during the short ride.

Jeremy parked in his designated spot and got
out of the truck without a word. She watched him as he walked around the front
to her side and opened the door for her. Melanie grabbed her purse and got out,
but left her backpack on the floorboard. She wasn’t sure what was going on in
his head, and it was starting to freak her out a little.

He threaded his fingers through hers and led
her to the apartment. Letting go of her hand to unlock the door, Jeremy ushered
her inside with his palm flat on her lower back. Melanie didn’t look at him as
he turned to shut and lock the door, nor did she when he took her hand and led
her to his bedroom.

He pulled her inside and kicked the door shut
behind her, then gently pushed her back until she was pressed against the door.
He put both hands on her cheeks and kissed her gently. Her emotions were at
war. Part of her was freaking out because she was alone, with Jeremy, in his
bedroom and he still hadn’t spoken. The other part of her melted a little,
reveling in the spark of heat his kisses caused inside of her.

Jeremy pulled back, way too soon for her
liking, and gave her a sad smile. “Melanie, can you please sit down? I need to
talk to you.”

She turned and walked to the bed and sat down,
tears swimming in her eyes. Jeremy saw them and walked over and sat beside her.
He used the pad of his thumb to wipe the tears from her cheeks.

“Why are you crying?” he asked incredulously.

She sniffed and took a deep breath. “Are you
breaking up with me?”

His head reared back. “What? Why would you ask
me that?”

“Well,” she sniffed again, “you were so
serious and quiet on the ride over here, then you kissed me, but you looked
sad. Then you said ‘we need to talk.’”

Jeremy chuckled and pulled her forward for a
hug. “You are so crazy,” he said, his voice muffled by her hair. Then she
thought she heard him mumble something like “you got that backwards,” but when
she asked him to repeat it, he just shrugged and said “Never mind.”

He pulled back and stared into her eyes. “I am
not breaking up with you. Never think that. But I do need to talk to you about
something important.”

“Is that the real reason why we’re skipping
school?” He nodded. She took a deep breath. “Okay, I’m ready. Lay it on me.”

He smiled at her for a brief moment, then it
slipped from his face again. He stood up and started pacing back and forth on
the carpet in front of her. His eyebrows were pulled down over his beautiful
dark eyes and a muscle was ticking in his jaw.

Melanie let this go on for a few minutes
before she blurted out “Jeremy! Speak! You are going to give me a stroke if you
don’t get to it.”

He stopped in front of her and looked down at
her with a serious expression. “I’m sorry I ran away from you when you told me
that you loved me.”

Melanie’s whole body reared back for a moment
in shock and confusion. “Wha...what?” she stammered. “I never said that to
you.”

He just stared at her with that same serious
look on his face and nodded. “Yes, you did.”

Melanie shook her head in denial. She had
never told Jeremy that. She had never told any boy that, ever. But he was still
staring at her, as if willing her to remember something that didn’t happen.

“No Jeremy, I didn’t.”

“Yes Mel, you did. Yesterday.”

“But I didn’t even see you yesterday. Are you
ok? Did you hit your head or something?”

He didn’t reply. He just kept his eyes locked
on hers and waited. She thought back to the weekend. Yesterday she walked Tara
out after their sleepover and went back inside, where she spent most of the day
studying. Later, she went outside and saw… Her eyes widened and she took a deep
breath. Jeremy seemed to sag a little then walked over and sat back down next
to her on the bed.

“I only saw Tara, my mom, and the dog
yesterday, Jeremy.”

“Ace,” he said.

She narrowed her eyes at him. “Were you out in
the woods watching me play with him?”

“No.”

“No? Then how do you know his name?”

“You told me.”

“Jeremy I am so confused. Are you playing some
kind of mind game with me? You must have been there if you know about the name
I gave him. Why are you lying?”

Jeremy leaned towards her and held her face
between his hands. He stared deep into her eyes and said “I was there, but I am
not lying about being in the woods.” He paused for a second. “I
am
Ace.”

Melanie jerked her head back. Jeremy
straightened up and let his hands drop to his sides. She hopped off the bed and
stood over him with her hands on her hips.

“That is not funny, Jeremy.”

He didn’t say anything. He just stared at her
with an anguished look on his face. Now it was her turn to pace.

“Why are you doing this? Is this all some big
joke? Make Melanie think you really like her, then rip the rug out from under
her?”

“No, Mel, I’m telling you the tru-”

She interrupted him with a harsh laugh. “How
stupid do you think I am? So what, you’re some kind of werewolf or something?”

“No,” he said quietly, staring down at his
feet with his elbows braced on his knees. “Not a werewolf, a shapeshifter.”

“Oh, well that makes it
so
much
better!” she said sarcastically. “I want to go home. Now.”

“Melanie, please, I…”

“Now! I am not going to let you humiliate me
any longer. Take. Me. Home. You know what? Never mind. I’ll walk.”

She stomped to the bedroom door and flung it
open. She started to walk through, but changed her mind at the last minute and
turned around to blast him again. She took a deep breath as she turned and
choked on it. Sitting on the floor in front of the bed was the dog.

“Ace?” she whispered.

He didn’t move or blink, just sat there
staring at her through soulful dark eyes. She looked around the room and didn’t
see Jeremy anywhere. She rushed to the closet and peeked in, but he wasn’t
there either.

“Jeremy, where are you?” Ace huffed, stood up
and wagged his tail.

No, no, no, no, no. This can’t be
happening. This can’t be real,
she thought.

She took a few hesitant steps forward, then
kneeled on the floor in front of Ace. She touched his face, rubbed the fur of
his neck and chest.

“Jeremy?” she croaked out. He licked her cheek
in response.

“No. No! I don’t believe this. I can’t believe
this!” She stood back up and pointed at him. “You know what? I got it. Change
back. Change back right here, right now, and I’ll believe it.”

Ace let out a little whine and turned around
and looked at the floor behind him. Melanie took a step forward to see what he
was looking at. Her eyes widened at the sight.

“Oh. Oh!” She blushed as she noted the haphazard
pile of clothes on the floor. Not just any clothes, but the clothes Jeremy was
wearing just a few minutes earlier.

Ace got up, turned around and scooped the pair
of jeans up in his mouth, then trotted around her and into the closet. Melanie
quickly turned her back and waited. Several seconds later, she felt a hand on
her shoulder and she jumped away quickly and spun around.

Jeremy stood there in just the jeans, hands up
in a placating gesture. “Melanie, please, I can explain.”

“Explain what? That you’re a part-time dog?
That you’ve been lying to me for over a year? Oh, God. Wake up. Wake up, wake
up, wake up.”

Melanie walked over to the bed and sat back
down. Her hands were shaking and her breath was coming in quick, harsh, gasps.
Jeremy hurried over and dropped his knees to the floor in front of her.

“Mel, you’re going to hyperventilate.
Concentrate on slowing down your breathing. Slow, steady breaths, Mel. Slow and
steady.”

Listening to his voice, Melanie managed to
calm down her breathing enough to speak again. “Tell me the truth, Jeremy.”

The tension in his shoulders melted and he
stood up then sat on the bed next to her. When she didn’t flinch or scoot back,
he took her hand in his and rubbed soothing circles along the back of it.

“I’m still Jeremy. I am the guy you’ve known
and cared about, the one who’s cared about you, all this time. There are just
parts of my life I’ve had to keep hidden, for obvious reasons.”

Melanie stared at their joined hands and
thought hard about what to ask next. She had so many questions, she didn’t know
where to start.

“Have you always been this way?”

“Sort of. I was born a shapeshifter, as were
both my parents, but I didn’t actually shift for the first time until I turned
seventeen.”

“But you’re seventeen now.”

“Yes, but I’ve known my whole life that this
would happen, so I was ready when it did. Listen, Mel, I wanted to tell you
from the beginning, really I did. But there are rules. Rules my parents have
ingrained in me. I can’t tell anyone. I can’t shift in front of anyone. We’d be
in a lot of danger if anyone found out.”

“Then why? Why are you telling me?”

Jeremy’s grip on her hand tightened. “I always
planned on telling you, Mel, no matter what my parents said. I don’t want there
to be secrets between us, and you have to agree, this is a big one.” She nodded
slowly.

“I just didn’t plan on telling you this soon.
I thought we’d have time. Time to get to know each other better, time for our
feelings to grow, time for me to figure out how the hell to do this without
freaking you out.” He gave a self-deprecating laugh. “Failed on that one, for
sure.”

“What made you change your mind and tell me
now, Jeremy?”

“You. I’ve been working so hard trying to
protect you, as myself and as…Ace, and you weren’t scared of me in that form.
You showed me kindness and affection, and yesterday-“

“I said I love you,” she interrupted,
remembering how this insane conversation started.

“Yes. And I ran.”

She looked down at her lap and pulled her hand
out of his. “Yes, I guess you did. It’s okay, you know. I was saying that to a
dog, not to you. No need to have a boy-freak-out because a girl said those
words,” she said without looking up.

“Melanie, look at me, please.” She lifted her
head and met his eyes. “I was not having a ‘boy-freak-out.’ I ran because I
hated hearing those words from you, for the first time, when I was in that
form. I wanted to be in this form,” he took her hand again, “so I could say
them back.”