Fangs vs Claws

by Rua Hasan

  A tap on my shoulder made me turn around. There was a tall, muscular guy smiling at me. He had black hair and blue eyes. I smiled back at him, not wanting to seem rude.

  “How can I help you?” I asked.

  He gave me his right hand to shake.

  “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Luna. My name’s Ian. I’m your new bodyguard,” he told me.

  I lifted an eyebrow at him.

  Bodyguard? Aiden didn’t tell me anything about that. Why do I even have one? I mean I can take care of myself just fine.

  I smiled at Ian and then said, “It’s nice to meet you, Ian, but I have to go see Aiden.”

  He nodded his head understandingly as I excused myself.

  Oh, Aiden’s in so much trouble!

  I walked through the crowd of people, trying not to get stopped every often. I looked for Aiden but saw him nowhere. That’s when I spotted Liam. I quickly walked through the sea of people and over to him.

  “Hey, Liam, do you know where Aiden is?” I asked.

  He nodded his head. “Yeah, he went to his office to go grab some—”

  Before he could continue, I thanked him and ran off to the pack house. Once I was there, I rushed into Aiden’s office to see him looking for some papers. Before he could ask me what was wrong, I got to the point.

  “Why do I have a bodyguard? I can take care of myself!” I said—well, kind of whined.

  Aiden walked closer to me as his large frame towered over my small one.

  “Stella, this isn’t up for discussion. You’re my mate and the Luna now, and I have many enemies, which means that you could be targeted. I’m not taking the risk. Ian is one of our best fighters, and he will follow you wherever you go,” he said.

  His tone told me that he was right—this was not up for discussion. But I didn’t give up.

  “Aiden, I’m a freaking vampire that lived for two hundred years. I can take care of myself,” I yelled.

  He didn’t say anything, only shook his head and walked out of the door.

  This is going to be harder than I thought.

  Chapter 9

  I think I’m about to lose my mind.

  It’s like having a second shadow.

  It had been three days since the ceremony, three days since I met Ian, and it was driving me crazy. Wherever I went, Ian had to be there even if I just took one step outside the pack house.

  I mean, it’s not him. He seemed like a really nice guy. We had talked and got to know each other, and he’s a really cool guy to hang out with. But I’m the kind of girl that does not like to have a second shadow. I needed my privacy and some alone time. But with a guard around, I couldn’t have any of that.

  I tried to convince Aiden to drop this I-need-a-guard act, but he was just so stubborn. He thought that since I was his mate, others would want to target me.

  But come on, I’m a vampire! No one will want to mess with me. I might look small and delicate, but I’m not! I’m viscous and feisty. Believe it or not but I might have more enemies than Aiden does. But he won’t listen to a single word I say. But don’t worry, I have a plan.

  If I can’t convince him to drop this guard thing, then I will have to make him.

  How?

  Well, my dear friend, by using the power of flirting.

  I smiled evilly to myself.

  This is going to be great. I bet this will work one hundred percent. Here’s my plan.

  Flirt with Ian.

  Aiden being his possessive Alpha self, he will obviously get jealous and fire him.

  Then I can finally be free.

  I just hope my plan doesn’t backfire on me and get Ian into trouble. I don’t want Aiden to rip him to shreds because I was flirting with him. I just want him to get mad enough to fire him.

  I walked to the kitchen with Marie to grab a snack. When we got there, we saw Liam eating a bowl of cereal. I grabbed a bowl and the cereal box. It doesn’t matter if it’s the morning or not, I will eat cereal whenever I want.

  “Hey, Stella, how’s the Luna work coming up?” Liam asked as Marie sat next to him.

  I shrugged my shoulders, not having an answer.

  That’s something else I have to talk about with Aiden. Yes, I know I didn’t want to get too attached, but I also don’t want to seem useless.

  Aiden hasn’t even given me anything to do. I mean, aren’t I the Luna?

  That is one of the things I hate to feel—uselessness.

  It’s a horrible feeling. To have others look down at you just because you aren’t helpful. I remember in high school when I used to be in the choir. There was this girl named Katherine. Everyone looked down on her. She was the center of bullying in my class.

  Why?

  Because she couldn’t sing, of course.

  Everyone forgot about the amazing things she could do. She was full of talent, like dancing, writing, and drawing. But everyone chose to look only at her weak side. They judged her for her flaws, making her feel useless.

  They forgot that no one’s perfect because once they saw someone weaker than them, they felt better.

  Which is why when we see someone succeed, we feel bad. When we learn not to love ourselves, we can never learn to love anyone else. Our happiness is someone else’s suffering. And day by day that suffering takes over.

  Once I was finished with my bowl of cereal, I made my way to the living room where I was sure Ian and Aiden were going be.

  It’s time to start my plan.

  As I made my way downstairs, I saw Aiden talking with Ian.

  Perfect timing.

  I ran quickly down the stairs before I could lose that perfect moment. Then I stepped on something sharp. I tried to hold my balance but failed. I ended up falling forward.

  This is going to hurt.

  Before I could hit the ground, muscular arms wrapped themselves around me, preventing my fall. I could right away tell that it wasn’t Aiden because I felt no sparks. I looked up to see Ian smiling at me. I didn’t let that fall stop me.

  I guess this will have to do.

  “Oh, I’m so sorry, Ian. Thanks for saving me,” I said as I put my hand on his chest. I smiled sweetly at him as I batted my eyelashes.

  I was about to continue my act when Aiden pulled me out of Ian’s arms and into his. I looked up to see him frowning. He looked pissed.

  Well, that was easy. I didn’t really have to do anything. I mean, you can’t blame me when this is Aiden we’re talking about.

  “Ian, you may leave now,” Aiden said.

  Once Ian was out the door, Aiden pulled me closer to his chest, tightening his arms around me.

  “I have to tell you something,” Aiden said.

  I nodded my head at him, hoping what I thought it might be.

  “Ian won’t be your bodyguard anymore. It was a bad idea. I’ll have him do pack work.”

  Yes! Hello, freedom.

  I did a little happy dance in my head because of my success.

  I nodded my head eagerly at him. That wasn’t even hard. I smiled smugly to myself.

  “Great. I’ll have Scott come over tomorrow.”

  Wait, what?

  “Who?” I asked raising one eyebrow at him.

  “Scott, as your new bodyguard,” he said.

  What! You’ve got to be kidding me. I get rid of one then comes another.

  “But why? You already got rid of Ian. Why do you have to get me another guard?” I whined. This was ridiculous.

  “I got rid of Ian because he was an unmated male. It was a mistake to bring him here. Scott is your new guard, and he is mated, so that won’t be a problem. He will be here tomorrow. That’s the end of discussion.”

  Great. Mr. Possessive is back.

  I sighed in defeat.

  That was useless. I swear Aiden is the most stubborn person I’ve ever met. He probably has the thickest skull in the world.

  I rubbed my hands over my face, giving up.

  “I have so much work to do so I have to go,”
Aiden said as he kissed my forehead then turned around to head out of the room.

  “Wait!” I said suddenly, causing him to stop then look at me.

  “Can I help with something? It’s so boring to stay here all day,” I asked.

  Aiden smiled showing his bright white teeth.

  “You want to help?” he asked.

  I nodded my head.

  He took my hand in his and dragged me out of the door.

  “The orphanage is really busy today. There are coming couples from outside the pack to adopt some of the children. What do you say, want to help?”

  I thought about it. I guess it is a good start. I wasn’t actually expecting myself to work with a bunch of paperwork on the first try. Besides, I was new to all this. It wouldn’t be that bad to meet new people. I nodded my head.

  

  Half an hour later, I was standing in front of the orphanage. It seemed like a very homely place. It had a friendly vibe to it.

  As I walk in, I saw kids around the age of seven to nine playing tag. I smiled at the sight. It was so adorable.

  I walked into the room that had the word office on the door. There I saw a woman who looked to be in her mid-forties. She wore glasses and had blonde hair with little white strips. There were a couple of wrinkles on her face as she scribbled something on a piece of paper. Once she saw me, she got up immediately and stepped towards me.

  “Luna, it’s a pleasure to have you here. I’m Emily,” she said as she shook my hand, and I smiled at her.

  “The pleasure is all mine. I was wondering if I could help around here, maybe with the children.”

  It was her turn to smile at me.

  “Of course, we could use all the help we can get.”

  She then took me out to the back where there was a playground. There were kids playing everywhere. A little girl came up to me and gave me a big toothless smile then ran away.

  I know I might seem cold and heartless at times, but I’m not at all like that. I love kids and seeing them smile always makes my day. Seeing them smile reminded me of Alice. I think it was her playful and immature personality that I see in those kids.

  Emily left so she could finish some paperwork while I play with the kids.

  It had been ten minutes that I’ve been taking care of the children. One even fell and started to bleed, so I made sure to treat him before I left. I looked around to see all types of race, color, and religion. It’s amazing to see so many children become friends despite their differences. They were all between five to twelve years old. I was chasing one child around when someone sitting on a bench alone caught my eye.

  It was a little girl probably the age of seven to eight. She had brown wavy hair that came past her shoulders. But that’s not what caught my attention. It was the way she was looking at the kids walking off with their new parents. There was something in her eyes.

  Loneliness.

  I stopped what I was doing and walked over to her with a smile on my face.

  “Hi,” I said then sat on the bench next to her.

  “What a pretty girl you are. What’s your name?” I asked.

  Once she saw me, her eyes widened.

  “Luna!” she sounded surprised. “My name’s Sarah.”

  I nodded my head at her and thought of what I could probably say to make her like me. It was obvious she was shy and pretty lonely. I just had to approach her.

  “What a pretty doll. Where did you get it from?” I asked as I pointed to the doll in her hand.

  She smiled.

  “Mommy gave it to me,” she said—but it was more of a whisper.

  My heart broke for her. It doesn’t take a genius to know what happened to her mommy if she’s here.

  “So, Sarah, you want to play hide and seek?” I asked.

  She nodded her head eagerly and got up from the bench.

  I got up and walked to a tree to count. Once I was done, I searched the playground for her and found her hiding under a table.

  “Found you!” I shouted.

  When she saw me, she started to laugh, which was music to my ears.

  Chapter 10

  I ran as fast I could to keep up with the doctors. Tears were flowing from my eyes like a waterfall.

  This can’t be happening. Why did it have to happen now?

  “Ma’am, you have to stay here while we check on the patient,” the nurse told me, but I wasn’t paying attention. All I could think of was how this day came so fast and how will this day end.

  I walked away from the door and leaned against a wall. I slid down and sat on the ground. A sob escaped my throat as I recalled the scene all over again.

  I don’t think I’ll ever be able to forget what I just witnessed.

  Having someone you love disappear in your own hands hurts so much. I was scarred for life.

  I heard the doctor shout to the nurse to get the oxygen tank.

  This seems like a dream. No, make that a nightmare.

  Alice was gone. And she’s never coming back.

  Jamie ran to me with tears in her eyes.

  I engulfed her in a hug as we sobbed together.

  Alice’s death was a very difficult thing to accept, but I thought, At least, she’ll be with him again. Her mate Mason. It’s one of the reasons why she seemed like dying every day. Having your mate lying on his deathbed can kill you instantly. For years, it ate her up alive. It ate me up alive. How could I just stand there and not be able to help? What could I have done to stop this plague?

  Nothing.

  I couldn’t do anything. We can’t escape our fate.

  Of course, I’ve tried million of times to get Alice to be turned into a vampire so she won’t have to face death this easily. But she never gave in, especially not after her mate’s death. She wanted to see him again.

  She always told me that this was her destiny—to be a werewolf, not a hybrid.

  The doctor came out of the door, and Jamie and I stood up. We were both anxiously waiting for the news that might ruin us or save us.

  There’s a chance that Alice will live through this, right?

  She’s a very strong woman who always finds solutions to her life problems.

  But what if this time, death is her solution?

  The doctor shook his head at us sadly and said, “We tried our best as much as we could. But we couldn’t keep her alive. I’m sorry. May she rest in peace.”

  Once those words came out of his mouth, my life seemed to have ended.

  I swore that I will never get too attached to anyone ever again.

  Well, that’s what I thought before I met him.

  

  The sun was shining brightly into the room as I opened my eyes. Once reality hit me, I had no more room for sleep. Today was one of the days I dreaded the most: April 20.

  The day Alice died.

  I turned around to see Aiden’s sleeping face. This dude will never take a hint. I gave up on making him sleep on the couch. If he did, he would just come back in the middle of the night.

  I got up slowly, not wanting to wake him up, and made my way to the bathroom to get ready for the long day.

  I was going to Ervin, a place not that far from here, just a couple hours away by car. It’s where Alice and I went to high school. When I turned twenty, I had to start moving with my parents, but I made sure to keep in touch. We would FaceTime, and I made sure to see her once a week.

  For years, I spent this day with Jimmy and visited Alice’s grave with him. But Jimmy was already gone by this time.

  People keep dying around me—Alice, Jamie, and all her children. What do you expect? Werewolves aren’t immortal. They can’t live as long as vampires.

  I did my morning routine and wore a black dress. I got out of the bathroom to find Aiden looking at me with confused eyes.

  “Where are you going?” he asked as he raked his eyes over my body up and down.

  “Ervin,” I simply said.

  He lifted one of his eyebrows at m
e.

  “Ervin? What are you going to be doing there?” he asked.

  I shrugged my shoulders at him and said, “I have business to deal with.”

  He didn’t look satisfied. That’s when I remembered Scott, my guard.

  “Oh, can you do me a favor and not make Scott follow me today?”

  He shook his head at me.

  “You’re not going. Ervin is hours away. It can be dangerous to leave you alone,” he said.

  I shook my head furiously. That was a very important day. I’ve never once missed a year ever since Alice’s death. I always made sure to visit her grave.

  “No! You can’t stop me. Today is really important, and I have to go,” I said with a tone that meant it was the end of the discussion.

  Aiden nodded.

  Well, that was easy.

  “Fine, but I’m going with you.”

  What?

  Ugh, you’ve got to be kidding me. For once I just want Aiden to nod his head and agree. But no, he just had to be his stubborn Alpha self.

  His tone was firm, and I couldn’t argue with it. What was important was to visit Alice grave, even though I had an Alpha behind my trail. I nodded my head in defeat and looked at my watch.

  “Get dressed. We leave in twenty minutes.”

  

  We had been driving Aiden’s car for an hour and a half. I drank from the blood bag I brought with me as he kept throwing questions about where we are going and why. But I simply ignored him. He was going to find out soon anyway.

  Once we got closer to the destination, I told him to stop at a flower shop I buy from every year. He only gave me a questioning look before I got out of the car and walked into the shop.

  There, I was met with Alex, a werewolf who was the owner of the shop. He was about in his mid-forties and was a very happy man with a loving wife and two children.

  Once he saw me, he came forward and gave me a hug.

  “Sunshine, it’s good to see you again. It’s been ages. I was expecting you today,” he said, and I heard a growl come from behind me.