Shadows in Moonlight

I sat at the breakfast nook in the kitchen, poking at a plate of waffles while staring out the window. My heart hurt, and the house seemed more like a prison with each passing minute.

"Hey..." Eleanor said, entering the kitchen.

I stood, dumped my plate in the sink, and brushed past her.

"Come on, Ava..."

"Don't. Talk. To. Me."

She sighed heavily and left the kitchen through the opposite door.

"You can't be mad at her forever," Mom said, standing in the library that was right outside the kitchen.

"Sure I can."

"It's not her fault."

"Mom, I don't care. I'm hurting. This is the worst betrayal. I hate her. I hate him. I hate being here."

"Ava, come on now."

"No, mom. Why can't anyone just let me be sad? Why can't anyone understand that I'm hurting right now?"

"This is an exciting time for your sister. You should be happy for her."

"I don't want to be happy for her. I've loved Jayden for as long as I can remember. I was convinced he was my mate. He's not. I'm not going to be able to just turn that off right away."

"Honey, when you meet..." I cut her off before she could finish.

"No, mom. I'm not staying. I'm not helping Eleanor plan her future with the man that I loved. Abigail and I are leaving for a few weeks after finals."

"Leaving? Where?"

"Everywhere. We're going to visit the other packs and just get away."

She tsked and shook her head. "I don't like that idea. We don't just leave the pack."

"I don't belong here, mom. I'm not dealing with her being the next Luna. I can't."

I felt the tears spill down my cheeks. She sighed heavily and nodded.

"I have to go to school. I'll see you later."

I grabbed my bag off the desk that sat in the corner and made my way for the front door. My heart dropped seeing Jayden's car sitting in the driveway. I could feel vomit rising in my throat.

"Hey, Ava, you wan.."

I turned and walked away from him before he could even finish.

"Hey! Come on! Don't walk away from me!"

"Don't talk to me."

"I'm your future alpha. You can't speak to me like that."

"I just did. Leave me alone."

"Ava!"

"Stop, Jayden!" I shouted. "I'll tell you the same thing I told my mom. I'm going to be in my feelings right now. You marked Eleanor in public. At our birthday party. You could have had the decency to talk to me first. A heads up. Something. But no. I didn't even get that. You literally pushed me out of your way."

"El...."

I looked up when I heard the familiar beeping of Abigail's car. "Come on, loser. Get in."

I smiled lightly and hurried to her convertible. She lowered her sunglasses a bit and wrinkled her nose at Jayden.

"Ew. He's at your house."

I nodded. "Let's just leave."

"So I have news for you."

"News? It's 7 am. What news?"

"I'm magical."

"How, Ash?"

"How pissed would you be to take all of your finals today and just leave tomorrow?"

"What? How? Why? That's a lot of tests."

"Dean Jones heard about what happened and called me this morning."

"Why did he call you?"

"Duh, Ava. He knows we're bff's. Anyway, can I finish?"

"Yes, please finish."

"So, I explained our plan, and he was actually on board with it. He said if we wanted, we could spend today taking all of our finals and just be done."

"Just like that?"

"Yeah."

I narrowed my eyes at her. "That's six finals today. Why is he being so nice?"

"He's a nice guy. He's just a strict disciplinarian. But he does care about us."

"I guess. Yeah, that's a good idea. Let's leave tomorrow."

"What about your parents?"

"Mom is too focused on Eleanor right now. She probably won't even notice I'm gone for a few days. Dad, though. He might miss me. I'll talk to him tonight."

"Pops will be hard to talk to. He's very....I dunno. Pops."