Heavenly Poison

Emilia Stark

I had been trying to calm down for the past hour, but nothing seemed to be working. I didn’t want to go home if my eyes were red. I hadn’t been able to stop the tears from falling.

The only image that kept playing in my mind was Damien with another girl.

My head was resting on the steering wheel when a knock on the window made me jump.

Damien.

He was looking in through the window. His forehead was creased and he looked concerned.

I didn’t know what to do. I wanted to hug him and never let him go. If he was with me, there was no way he could go away and be with another girl. As soon as I thought of what he’d been doing just before getting here, I felt the anger within me.

My Wolf growled at him. He’d been with another girl and now he was here. At the same time, I couldn’t exactly be mad at him. Damien and I- we weren’t together. If anything, we were strangers. The only time we had ever talked before was the day we met, when I was disturbing his lunch.

Damien walked toward the passenger side of the car. When he pulled at the handle, he was met with the locked door.

“Open up,” he ordered.

I resented that, but I did as he said.

I was being stupid for letting him be here. But my Wolf wanted him near us.

As soon as he got in the car, his intoxicating scent hit me. I closed my eyes, and breathed in his scent. It was enough to calm me down.

“Why are you crying?” Damien asked, turning his body toward me.

“What are you doing here?” I asked him. My voice sounded hoarse, and I hated that. It was then when I thought of how horrible I must’ve look.

When I looked at the mirror up top, I noticed my hair was all over the place and my face was red and blotchy.

It was even worse that Damien looked perfect. His smug dark denim jeans matched his dark gray shirt. His straight longish hair was messily styled. For some reason, that made him look even better.

“I was going to the store and saw you here, crying,” Damien said, sounding uncomfortable. He looked away from me. I noticed that his arms were flexed, which made his muscles stand out. I would’ve gotten distracted by that, if it weren’t for how bothered he looked.

“Is something wrong?” I asked, reaching out for him.

“Why were you crying?” Damien asked again, turning to face me.

I snatched my hand back. I hadn’t gotten a chance to touch him. I wanted to. I was sure that when I did, I would feel the tingly sensation I did last time we touched.

“It hasn’t been a good day,” I answered.

I couldn’t exactly tell him the reason I was crying was because he was with another girl. It wouldn’t make sense to him, and I would probably freak him out.

I grabbed a band, and fixed up my hair in a messy ponytail. My tears were dried up. In the mirror, I could tell my eyes would be rimmed in red for a while.

I was definitely not looking my best.

Damien was looking at me. His gaze was intense and it was making me feel nervous. I wanted so bad to know what he was thinking, but of course, that was impossible.

“What happened?” He sharply asked.

“Are you mad at me?” There was no reason for him to be, but it looked like he didn’t want to be there with me.

“I’m not mad. I’m just asking you what happened today.”

I looked down at my hands, not knowing what to do with them. Again the nerves settled in the pit of my stomach.

“I saw Sebastian earlier,” I told him, remembering the encounter that left a bitter taste in my mouth.

“I heard,” Damien said, looking away once again.

“I thought you were going to be busy all afternoon. Since you were with- someone.” I couldn’t help but hesitate as I said that. I didn’t want to think about him being with another girl. I especially didn’t want to talk to him about his private life involving other girls.

“A guy from back home came to visit. He was mad at Sebastian, so I had to stay home to deal with him. We sorted things out and I took care of it,” he replied.

“A guy? Like, a guy friend?” I quickly asked.

I was sure the wide grin was already showing on my face. There was no way I could hide how relieved I felt when Damien said that.

“Yes, a guy. But, I wouldn’t exactly call him a friend. He was more of an acquaintance and one Sebastian had problems with.”

A dark look took over his eyes when he said that.

“Did you fight with him?” I asked.

He turned to face me. His serious expression worried me. Now I was sure that what was bothering him was the visit from that guy.

Even though I should be feeling bad that something was bothering Damien that much, I couldn’t. I was happy that his anger wasn’t directed toward me.

“We didn’t get a chance to fight,” was all he said, before opening the door and slipping out of the car.

I stared after him, not knowing what to do. I was starting to panic. I didn’t want Damien to leave just yet. We had gotten a chance to talk but it hadn’t been enough.

Damien came over to my side, and opened the door for me to get out. A smile quickly took over my lips.

I got out of the car, breathing in some fresh air. It was mixed with Damien’s scent, which made it that much better.

“Where are we going?” I asked, following after him.

His strides were longer than mine, but I wasn’t struggling to keep up.

“I need school supplies for Monday,” Damien said. He kept his gaze to the front. I didn’t mind. I was just happy to have him next to me.

“You’re going to school here, right?” I asked, already knowing, but wanting him to confirm it.

“I am.”

“What grade are you in?”

We had been walking on the sidewalk, next to the small shops. A few people were coming and going, but it was a calm afternoon.

“I’m a Junior,” he replied.

I kept walking, thinking back to how today had been. When I looked to the side, I realized Damien wasn’t next to me.

I started looking around for him, when I noticed a speeding car heading toward me. I was standing on the middle of the street.

I was going to move away. I had enough time to move away, but for some reason, I felt stuck in place.

It wasn’t until someone pushed me out of the road- that I snapped out of the haze I was in. I only heard the car that almost ran me over honking loudly.

“Are you okay?” Someone asked, shaking me.

I looked up and saw Damien looking down at me with a worried expression. He had his hands on the side of my face.

I wanted to say something, but I couldn’t. My words kept getting stuck in my throat.

Damien grabbed my hand and walked me over to a small bench next to a store.

“Emilia, are you okay?” Damien asked again.

He was kneeling on the ground, his body positioned in between my legs. I didn’t say anything. All I did was reach for him, and wrap my arms around his neck.

Damien was surprised for a moment, but he returned my hug soon after. He wrapped his arms around my waist, and held me tightly.

I could hear his heart. It was beating fast and mine wasn’t fending any better.

“Say something,” Damien whispered in my ear.

“Thank you,” was all I was able to say.

When I said that, Damien tightened his hold on me.

This time, when we made our way to the store, Damien was holding my hand. I had a smile on my face, and Damien just kept looking down at me. It was like he was making sure I was there.

I couldn’t help but indulge in the little electric shocks that ran through us from our joined hands.

I wasn’t sure if Damien could feel it, but my Wolf kept telling me that he did.

I felt slightly worried when we passed by a couple of people who belonged to the pack. They stared at me, and then at Damien.

I was sure it would reach my father that I was holding hands with a human. I decided not to worry about that just yet.

Right now, I simply wanted to enjoy my time with Damien.

Damien walked me back to my car when we were done shopping. After we bought his school supplies, we went looking around the shops in town.

In the shops, he didn’t really buy anything for himself. I was the only one who took clothes home from there.

Earlier, I had seen a really nice sweater. It looked comfortable and it was of my new favorite color- green- which was the color of Damien’s eyes.

“Do you want it?” Damien had asked me. He looked at the sweater and then at me, raising an eyebrow. I got distracted- loving how much that expression suited him. He looked sexy, even if he was just a sixteen year old boy.

I shook my head, even though I really did want it. In my rush to follow Damien earlier, I had forgotten my money.

Damien stared at me for a while, before taking the sweater to the counter. The sweater was the first thing he bought me. It was soon followed by other clothes.

I was thinking back to the money he had spent on me, but Damien didn’t seem worried about that.

“Are you feeling better now?” He asked.

We were both standing next to my car.

“I am. Do you want me to take you home?” I asked him. He didn’t have a car.

After everything he’d done for me, I didn’t want him to walk home. I was also hoping to find out where he lived. It was easier to reach him if I knew where he was.

“I’m fine. I live nearby,” he replied, waving me off.

“I don’t mind,” I quickly said. My face started warming up when I realized just how desperate that sounded.

Damien smiled at me, and then lightly chuckled.

He didn’t say anything, only went to the other side of the car and got on.

We made it to a set of apartments on the outside of town. I hadn’t been on this side of town too many times, so I didn’t really recognize the apartments.

“When were these built?” I asked him, feeling curious about his new home.

He looked up at the building as well. It wasn’t a big building, but it looked luxurious. I made it a note in my mind to find out more about the apartments.

“I’m not really sure,” he replied.

There was silence in the car after that.

“I have to go,” Damien said, opening up the door.

I felt nervous about letting him go. I didn’t want him to leave.

“Can I see you tomorrow?” I asked him, my voice surely sounding desperate.

Damien looked at me, and then up at the building.

“I can’t, I’m busy,” he replied.

There was a sudden change in his mood. Now he looked guarded, more serious than he did before.

“All day?” I asked.

He only nodded his head, not saying anything back.

“What about on Sunday?”

“I’m busy as well.”

I didn’t say anything as he made his way inside the building. He didn’t look back, or even say goodbye to me. I stayed sitting there- letting the last few minutes sink in.

I drove home feeling a blur of confusion.

My day with Damien had been amazing. He’d saved me from getting run over. Given, I probably would’ve survived the hit, but that didn’t matter. What mattered was that he’d risked himself to save me.

He had to care.

All the time we spent together, he seemed to be having a good time.

When Monday morning came around, I was too excited for my own good. On Saturday, I had gone over to Damien’s apartment. I saw Sebastian walking out of it, but he didn’t notice me. I wanted to go and look for Damien but I was scared his parents would be there.

I spent about an hour just staring up, wondering which one was his apartment.

On Sunday, I did the same. Late in the afternoon, I parked my car near his apartment complex. This time though, nothing happened. Neither Damien nor Sebastian came out of it.

All the weekend, I could only think about school on Monday.

My father knew about Damien. People had told him they had seen me around town holding hands with a human boy. As I had been expecting, my dad wanted to meet him.

Now, Monday was finally here. I had woken up at 5 in the morning. I was nervous but excited about today.

I was sitting down on one of the picnic tables outside of school. It was only 7 in the morning and the school was practically empty. I’d been too jumpy at home to stay there. My Wolf had been pushing me to come to school early.

“Fancy seeing you here so early,” Lexi said, as she and Jenna took a seat on my table.

“Em, what are you doing here so early? Luke said you got here half an hour ago,” Jenna said, looking at me weirdly.

“I did. So?”

“Does this have something to do with your mate?” Lexi asked.

She already knew the answer to that, so there was no point in asking.

“We called you this weekend, and you didn’t answer. You also blocked us out of your mind,” Lexi said, sounding hurt.

“I was busy,” I replied, remembering that was the same thing that Damien had said to me. I was lying right now, so I was hoping Damien hadn’t lied to me.

“With your mate?” Lexi asked, not looking convinced.

“Actually, yes, I was busy with my mate,” I replied defensively.

I was about to speak, when I got distracted by a black sleek car pulling into school. It was late, so I was surprised there was still parking spaces next to the sidewalk.

It was easy to tell that it was Damien and Sebastian inside the car.

“Emilia, are you okay?” Jenna asked, waving her hand in front of my face.

“My mate,” I replied, nodding toward Damien and Sebastian.

They had just slipped out of the car and already all the attention was with them. It was rare to get new students in our school. It was even more that the two guys happened to be extremely good looking.

When they passed by, Damien didn’t even turn to look at me. Sebastian did. He gave me a teasing smile, before continuing on his way.

As they walked away together, something about them was- intimidating. I was far enough away and I could sense it. The way they looked, they walked- everything about them was mesmerizing.

I wasn’t excited to get to class. I had Science first period. More than anything, I wanted to see Damien and talk to him.

The first bell had just rung and already I could hear the buzz about the two new guys.

I was sitting on the back table, in the corner. Lexi and Jenna didn’t have any classes with me. I wasn’t happy about that, but I felt relieved that I didn’t have to deal with them right now.

I recognized most of the people in the class. The ones that I didn’t, at least seemed familiar. One third of the population belonged to the pack, so it was expected.

I had just laid my head on the cold marble table, when a voice made me look up.

“Emilia,” Luke said.

He was trying to move my back pack away so that he could take a seat on the chair. I moved my hand toward it, keeping it in place.

“I want to be alone,” I told him.

“C’mon, let me take this seat. No one else will have the guts to come sit with the Alpha’s daughter,” he said, smirking at me.

“I don’t care. Find a seat somewhere else,” I told him.

He rolled his eyes at me, not looking impressed.

“What is this I hear about you being with another guy?” He questioned.

“I found my mate, so maybe you should try looking for yours. Now go away,” I told him.

He looked hurt by my words, which made me feel slightly bad. He’d been after me for a while now and I didn’t really blame him.

We had grown up together, so he had gotten used to me. For a few years now he had confused our friendship with love.

Luke had been the only Wolf who had had the courage to make a move on me. Not that him making a move on me got him anywhere. His father was the pack’s third in command, which meant Luke would take over the position when he turned 18.

My dad wanted a union between Luke and me. Luke was a strong Wolf- one of the strongest in the pack. Deep down, I always knew that Luke and I wouldn’t be mates. He was a good guy, but he wasn’t what made my Wolf and me happy.

Luke turned 16 before me. It was when his Wolf didn’t recognize me as a mate, that he realized I wasn’t his. That didn’t stop him from chasing after me.

He was still standing next to my lab table when I noticed Damien walking into class. He was looking around the room, when his gaze finally settled on me.

Everyone in the class had been talking, catching up with their friends. As soon as Damien walked in, the entire class went silent. Even the teacher who was on the computer looked up to see what had shut everybody up.

“You are?” The teacher asked Damien.

“Damien Gray,” he replied.

“A new student, I assume. I didn’t see you around school last year,” Mr. Smith said.

Damien nodded, and started looking around for a seat.

Guys and girls equally were calling him over to take a seat in their lab table.

Mandy, one of the humans went up to talk to him. She had a name around the school, but not one that amused any of the Wolves.

We didn’t mix. Wolves stuck with Wolves and humans kept away because we didn’t allow them in our groups.

Many times, humans tried to become part of our group, but it never worked out. Their relationship with any shifter mainly came from having a class together and being forced to talk. No shifter was really interested in anything else.

All of the shifters in the pack had their little cliques on their own, but we all knew better than to hang out with humans.

Mandy was one of those who really wanted in on our group. She was mainly interested in Luke- most of the humans were.

The ones that didn’t want Luke- wanted Jason. The ones that didn’t want Jason- wanted Chris. The list went on and on. The only downfall with the humans in the school was that most of them were after Werewolves.

My Wolf became alert the moment Mandy stood up to talk to Damien.

I stared at Damien, willing him to get away from her. When I couldn’t take it anymore, I got up and stood next to him and Mandy.

“Did you need anything?” Mandy asked, looking at me distastefully.

I didn’t waste my time talking to her. I only grabbed Damien’s hand and dragged him away to my lab table. I couldn’t help but smile at the fact that Damien hadn’t fought me. He only followed along until I pointed to the empty chair next to me.

“Hey,” I said when we were both sitting down.

Despite the fact that we had gone shopping for school supplies on Friday, Damien wasn’t carrying anything with him.

“Thank you,” Damien surprised me by saying.

I raised an eyebrow, feeling confused by his first words to me.

“For what?” I asked, opening up my notebook and taking out a pen from my backpack- which was now on the floor next to my chair.

“For saving me from that girl,” he replied.

I turned my head away from him and toward the window that was next to me- trying to hide my grin.

Mr. Smith passed out a simple sixteen square table, which we had to fill out using another handout. It was really easy, so I assumed it was Mr. Smith’s way of smoothing us in.

“So how was your weekend?” I asked, trying to keep my voice steady.

“Busy,” Damien replied.

He didn’t elaborate.

“Do you have a pencil I can burrow?” He asked, staring down at his blank paper.

I continued to stare at him, before shaking my head and noticing his expectant look.

“Oh right,” I said, taking out another pencil from my back pack.

I tried making conversation the rest of the period. Damien was polite enough to answer to my questions, but he didn’t say much. Every time I asked something, would give me one worded answers. I stopped asking when I found myself frustrated by his behavior.

“What class do you have next?” I asked him as I put my things away. Mr. Smith had picked up our work since we only had five minutes before the bell.

The entire class had been giving us looks throughout the period. It was hard to ignore some of the stares.

Mandy looked like she was ready to kill me. Any other day I would’ve ignored it. She was just a common human. Today, I was alert. The reason for her anger toward me involved my mate, and my Wolf wasn’t happy with that.

“I have Art. You?” Damien asked.

It was the first time he followed his answer with a question- even if it was a small one.

My heart beat faster, thinking that at least it was progress that he was interested in my schedule.

“I have Art too,” I replied.

We could’ve had different teachers, but I was praying to all of the Gods that we didn’t.

“Great. Sebastian has Art as well,” Damien said. Now, he sounded mad.

Since the day I’d met him at the diner, I realized that he had sudden mood swings. While most of the time he remained serious, at times something would tick him off. Still, I couldn’t figure out just yet what it was.

Damien and I walked side by side to class. On the way, everyone stared at us. People from the pack looked at us with questioning eyes. The humans all held different emotions.

The Art class was made up of five small round tables with four chairs in them. In the middle, there was a small basket that had supplies.

By the time we got to the room, there were already people there. One of them was Sebastian.

He was standing next to a table, with a few girls surrounding him. It didn’t really surprise me. I already knew how charming Sebastian could be. With his looks- it was the perfect combination.

“Hey guys,” Sebastian said, turning away from the girls and walking towards us.

Damien headed for a table in the back, and I followed after him. Once we were both sitting down, Sebastian took a seat with us.

“I didn’t know we had a class together,” Sebastian said, smiling at me. Just like last time, his smile looked more predatory than friendly.

The situation should’ve been reversed. I was the Werewolf and he was just a human- an important human to me, since he was related to Damien. But he was just that, a human.

“We do,” I replied.

“I’m glad.”

Damien kept quiet, glaring at Sebastian. I wasn’t sure why he was so mad at him, but I didn’t say anything about it.

“Yeah, me too,” I muttered, even though I really wasn’t. I was hoping for another class where I could just be with Damien, alone.

“Hey Sebastian, can I sit here with you?” One of the human girls asked. She turned back to the giggling girls behind her, as they pushed her on.

It made me wonder if I looked that pathetic with how insistent I was with Damien. When I turned to look at Damien, he gave me a small smile. It was enough to brighten me up and know that he wanted to be next to me.

“Sorry girls. I want you to sit here, I really do. Emilia just told me that Ms. Carr only wants three students per table,” Sebastian said, managing to fake an apologetic look.

While the girls were shooting me daggers, Sebastian turned away from them. He looked at me, a playful grin on his face.

I narrowed my eyes at him, wondering why he had lied to them. Now, they were thinking I was the one who didn’t want them in our table.

“Good one,” Damien said, looking at Sebastian and chuckling.

I snapped my head in his direction. I had been slightly irritated with what Sebastian had done. However, my irritation was completely gone when I saw how relieved Damien looked.

Ms. Carr was a lenient teacher. All we did the entire period was work on shading. She gave us two sheets that contained vocabulary which we needed to know by the end of the week.

Having an entire period to “work on shading” really meant free time for all the class. Ms. Carr said that as long as we weren’t too loud, it was all good.

“So, you’ve always lived here?” Sebastian asked me.

I turned to look at Damien, who just shrugged at me.

“Yes, I have,” I replied.

“Isn’t that boring?”

I chuckled and shook my head.

“It’s not. I’m used to it, and I like it here,” I told him.

“What about you guys? Why did your families decide to move here?” I asked, looking between him and Damien.

Damien looked uncomfortable by my question, but Sebastian smiled- his dark smile that I was now getting used to.

“It’s a long story,” Sebastian replied.

“We have time.”

The grave expression that covered now both of their faces told me something was wrong. Sebastian tried to play it cool, but Damien was clenching his jaw.

“Not right now. Maybe one day Damien will tell you all about it,” he said, and continued on his shading.

I looked at Damien, but he was now looking down at his paper as well.

There was so much I wanted to ask them. Even though I’d spent more time with Damien, Sebastian seemed more open to talking. Then, I thought back to what he told me the other day.

“Last time I saw you, you told me Damien was with another girl,” I told Sebastian.

“I did?” He asked, innocently.

“Yes, you did.”

“No, I didn’t. I told you he had company and he was having fun,” Sebastian said, smirking at me.

I glared at him, hating that he had played his words to make me believe Damien was doing something bad.

“He was with a guy,” I told him.

All the while, Damien just sat there, staring between Sebastian and me.

“Yes, he was. I never said he wasn’t,” Sebastian replied.

“You implied that he was doing things with another girl,” I snapped at him.

Sebastian looked amused. He was getting a rise out of me. I wasn’t sure why I kept arguing with him, but I couldn’t stop myself.

“No I didn’t.”

“Yes, you did.”

“So what if I did? What’s it to you?” He asked, cocking an eyebrow. He was teasing me, and he was enjoying every second of it.

“I, well I, I don’t like it when people lie to me.” I was lying and he knew it.

“I don’t think anyone likes being lied to,” Sebastian said.

“Stop,” Damien told Sebastian, with a warning look.

“What? I’m just having a friendly conversation.”

The way Sebastian said that sent a chill down my spine.

“Who knows, maybe Emilia wants to know what you were doing all weekend,” Sebastian continued. This time, he kept his eyes on his paper.

“What was Damien doing all weekend?” I asked.

“Oh, so you do want to know?” Sebastian asked.

I felt my face warm up, and I couldn’t help but look down at my paper, trying to hide from the two guys in front of me.

“Sebastian- stop,” Damien warned once again.

“If she cares about you, I think she should know,” Sebastian said, looking at Damien.

“Know what? Is something wrong?” I asked, feeling worried for my mate’s safety.

“We’re having second thoughts on this town,” Sebastian said, looking at me and then at Damien.

“Sebastian, stop,” Damien almost growled.

“Damy, don’t be mad. She has a right to know,” Sebastian said. Even though he was pretending to be worried, I could almost feel like he was enjoying too much the show he was putting.

“What is it?”

“This past weekend, there was a strange car parked right outside of our apartment. Some creep must’ve been in there. I was telling Damien that maybe this town is full of stalkers and it wasn’t the best idea to move here,” Sebastian said.

By the time he finished talking, my face was burning up.

“It’s nothing,” Damien said, giving Sebastian a hard look.

“Who knows, there are all kinds of psychos in this world. If there is someone out there stalking us, I think we should be worried,” Sebastian said, trying to hide his grin.

When he got up to talk to Ms. Carr, Damien turned to face me.

“He knows it was you,” Damien said, making my heart drop in embarrassment.