Twenty- One
Kellan
Julia’s face changed in an instant. My bear growled. I frowned and wrapped my arms around her waist. Something was troubling her, but I was too drunk and exhausted to wonder what it was. I held her closer and waited for my breathing to return to normal. When it did, I took her hand and pulled her gently toward the door.
“Maybe another drink or two?” I asked. “Then I’ll walk you home?”
“Give me a minute,” she said. She smiled, but it didn’t reach her eyes. “I want to clean up a little before I head back out.”
“I’ll wait for you,” I said.
“No,” she shook her head. “No need. I’ll be quick. You go order us some drinks and I’ll meet you at the table.”
“Are you sure?” I asked. I searched her face for a clue as to what was bothering her so much, but I found mothing.
“Positive.”
Part of me wanted to stay put, but I could tell she needed space. I turned and unlocked the bathroom door. With a glance back at her, I pushed it open and let myself out into the hallway. When the door swung shut behind me, I stared at it for a fraction of a second. It wouldn’t do any good to wait outside the door, I told myself. With a sigh, I left the hallway and walked slowly up to the bar.
“Two more,” I said to the bartender. He nodded and went to work pouring our drinks. All around me people were getting rowdier. It was almost midnight and even in Mountain Creek, things always began to heat up around this time. Most of the shifters came out later, and the town was full of them.
I glanced around me and noticed the people in the pub. There were a lot more people than before Julia and I disappeared into the bathroom. Most of the tables were packed and there were even a few guys standing over by the jukebox. As I watched, I noticed that one of the guys was someone I recognized. I looked away quickly, my heart beginning to race.
“Alexander!” A voice called from behind me. Shit. The last thing I needed was a run in with McCullers. I pretended like I didn’t hear him until he was standing directly behind me. “Hey, Kellan!”
I turned around slowly and plastered a smile on my face.
“McCullers,” I said. “What the hell are you doing here man?”
“Just making the rounds,” he shrugged. “Visiting some friends up in New Haven. Thought we’d take a little road trip. I didn’t know you lived around here!”
“Yeah man,” I said. “Mountain Creek is home.”
“Where?” McCullers asked. His eyes looked glazed over and I knew he was already drunk. I couldn’t blame him; I wasn’t exactly sober myself.
“Here,” I explained. “This town. Mountain Creek.”
“Right,” McCullers nodded. “Well, let me buy you a drink! Man, it has been way too long.”
“Just a few months,” I said softly. The last time I saw McCullers was at Young’s funeral. His golden tiger eyes never left the casket. The memory made the alcohol in my stomach churn.
“What’s that?” he asked.
“Nothing,” I said. “Look man, it would be great to catch up with you, but I’m actually here with someone. She’s in the bathroom right now, but she’ll be out in a minute.”
“Oh!” McCullers yelled with a grin. “A lady? Well, I should meet her! Tell her what she’s getting herself into with the likes of you.”
McCullers bumped me good-naturedly. I tried to smile, but it came out as more of a grimace. He didn’t notice.
“That would be great,” I said. “But maybe another night, okay? It’s kind of a date, you know? Just us.”
“I see,” McCullers said, his face changing in an instant. “Don’t have time for an old buddy.”
“It’s not that, man…”
“No, forget it,” he snapped. “I don’t know what I expected. You haven’t kept in touch with any of us since we all left the Alpha Squad. Too good for us now?”
“It’s not that,” I said again. “Things have just been hard.”
“Hard?” McCullers laughed. “Yeah, I bet they have. Carrying around all that guilt can’t be easy.”
“Guilt?” I felt my face flush.
“We all know what really happened that night,” McCullers spat, his eye glowing.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I turned away, my head spinning with anger and intoxication. I couldn’t believe McCullers would dare talk about that op. My bear growled, pacing. I knew where this was going.
“Yes, you do,” McCullers said. He grabbed my shoulder and spun me around to face him. He got in my face, spit flying in my eyes as he spoke. “We all know why Young died, Alexander. You should have been there. You were the closest and you let him die. You just let him…”
Fuck him.
My clothes ripped and my body changed before I even knew what was happening. I faced him as a brown bear while the crowd parted. I heard a woman scream and the bartender yell. I didn’t care.
In moments he did the same, a giant tiger prowling across from me like I was his prey. Hell no I wasn’t.
When my paw hit his face, I barely knew what happened. I connected with his jaw and his head jerked to the side. I didn’t wait for him to fight back. I tackled him to the ground, knocking a chair over as we went. We landed hard. McCullers rolled us over and pinned me down. His huge teeth attempting to sink into my neck. Asshole was going to kill me. I kicked him off me and threw him to the ground. My back paw connected with his stomach and I felt him curl inward. The satisfaction I felt was so great that I kicked him again. And again. Until a bear I didn’t know pulled me away from him. He had me by the scruff, and he had to be huge, Grizzly I guessed by the way he easily held me back. The teeth in my neck were killing me.
I struggled against the teeth that held me, kicking wildly.
“Get out of here!” the bartender yelled. “Both of you!”
I was carried out into the parking lot and thrown onto the ground. It wasn’t long before McCullers was thrown next to me. I scrambled to my feet and immediately put some distance between us. The fight was over. We didn’t need to throw anymore punches.
McCullers changed back and one of his buddies threw him some pants and a shirt from his truck. I watched as they disappeared across the parking lot, still in bear form. When I looked back up, Julia was standing in front of me with a look of fury on her face.
Shit. I changed immediately, naked in the parking lot, looking like a complete idiot.
“Julia,” I began. I had almost forgotten about her completely. “I can explain.”
“Save it,” she spat. She stormed past me. I turned and ran after her.
“Stop!” I said. “Please, just listen. You don’t understand.”
“Oh, I understand perfectly, Kellan,” she yelled. She turned on me and took a step forward. Her eyes were on fire with rage and alcohol. “This is just who you are! Right when things start to get good again, you screw it up! You start throwing punches in bars! Beating the crap out of random strangers and…”
“He wasn’t random!” I screamed. “You have no idea what you’re talking about!”
“The hell he wasn’t!” she screamed back. “I can’t believe I fell for your crap again!”
“Will you just listen to me?” I begged. “Please. I can explain. I know that guy, okay? We were in the Alpha Squad together. On the same team and…”
“So, you were fighting with someone you served with?!” Julia demanded. “What the hell is wrong with you?! What kind of person have you become? And now you’re naked in the parking lot, cause you couldn’t even control your bear. What the hell is wrong with you?”
“I don’t know!”
I felt my entire body shake, I knew if I didn’t calm down I’d change again, only further proving her point. My blood was boiling as I remembered the things McCullers said inside Jackson’s. His words hit me harder than anything ever had. He finally put into words exactly how I’d felt since the night Young died. No one knew how much that night tore me apart. Even my own team members thought I was responsible. I always thought it was my fault, but after my confrontation with McCullers, I knew I was right.
“I’m going home,” Julia announced. She looked at me with disgust and shook her head. “Don’t follow me. Don’t ever speak to me again.”
“Julia!” I called after her as she hurried down the street. I moved to follow her, but my legs weren’t strong enough to hold me. After everything that happened that night, I couldn’t stand for another second. I collapsed on the asphalt and rolled onto my back.
As I stared up at the stars, the world around me spun and my stomach heaved uncomfortably. I rolled over and vomited. When I was done, I laid my head back down and closed my eyes.
“Alexander, you look like shit, man.”
I heard Young’s voice in my head as clearly as if he was laying right beside me. The tears began to flow.
“Get up,” he said. “You’re already pathetic enough without passing out in front of a bar. Just get up.”
“I can’t,” I said out loud. “I can’t do it anymore, Young.”
“You have to,” his voice whispered.
“Why?” I asked. My voice cracked with emotion.
“Because you lived, man,” he told me. “You lived.