UnMasked

by Yara Gharios

  As I’m struggling, footsteps come running back into my room. There are at least ten people huddling in, but I immediately make out which sound is coming from her.

  “Logan!” Dylan calls out right before she runs to my bed. She grabs the first things she can find, which are my arm and my face. “Logan? Can you hear me?”

  For a second, I deliberate answering her in my thoughts, but I don’t want it to set back whatever progress I have made so far. Instead, I focus on the sound of her voice and use it as an anchor. My eyelids begin to flutter uncontrollably.

  She sighs heavily. “I’m here. You can do this.”

  Slits of light appear in my line of vision. They widen until I am staring at her familiar face. The sight sends a stab of nostalgia and relief through me. I have missed her face so much. She has tears in her eyes, but her smile is radiant. Wanting to reassure her, I find enough strength to smile back. With a cry of relief, she bends down and kisses me. Both of her hands are now on my face. It’s too difficult to kiss her back, and I do try, but I don’t think she cares that I’m failing. Moments later, she pulls back and stares at me, stroking my face.

  “You’re back,” she whispers.

  Everything in me is desperate to pull her close to my chest and hug her tight, but it’s beyond my current physical abilities. Besides, this is a moment that I prefer to have in private and not with an audience around us. I don’t think Dylan even notices the people standing behind her, waiting for their turn. Let’s find out if I can talk.

  “We got...” I whisper the words brokenly, “...company.”

  She laughs and stands up straight again. Her hands slide down to my chest with her movement. “No offense, but I don’t really care.”

  “Well we do,” Sadie interjects. “So please refrain from any PDA while we’re still here.”

  Dylan turns to her, objecting. “Hey, you’re one to talk!”

  Sadie ignores her and comes to stand on the other side of my bed. “How are you feeling Logan?”

  I take a deep breath so I could talk at a normal volume and without stopping, although my voice still cracks. “Exhausted, but okay.”

  “You should probably let him rest,” Dr. Ackhart warns them.

  “No,” I object.

  “We won’t take long,” Cade promises. “Just let us be happy that he’s back for a moment.”

  The doctor presses his lips together in dislike, but he nods. “Five minutes. I’ll get your some water in the meantime.”

  One by one, they each come to my bed to hug me, or in Sadie’s case, plant a kiss on my forehead. Most of them just gently touch my arm to make sure I’m really here. Sadie and Dylan move away so the others would be able to get closer. Thankfully, they do most of the talking, which relieves me from having to say much. As I watch and listen to my pack members, I relish in the rushing sense of home and family. It’s a mostly sweet moment, but while I have missed them, it saddens me a little that the sense of having an incomplete family is still there after all this time.

  “You didn’t miss much, but man you should have been there for when we went looking for that kid Paul’s parents,” Jared says. “Epic road trip of a lifetime!”

  “There will be time to catch up later,” Cade chastises his younger brother. “Right now, we’re only going to check on him, and then we’re letting Dylan see him alone.”

  I have never been so happy that he is my best friend. Of course, I am glad to see all of them, but Dylan is leaving tomorrow, and I need some time alone with her. I have plenty more time to see everyone else.

  Exactly five minutes later, Dr. Ackhart returns with a water bottle for me and kicks the rest of my visitors all out. Cade has to whisper to him that Dylan is staying. Fortunately, he doesn’t put up much of a fight. I gulp down the entire water bottle as they all file out of my room. With everybody gone, Dylan comes back to stand next to me. She takes the empty plastic bottle from my hand and puts it aside on the table. She is smiling, but I can see what she’s been hiding from everyone.

  I open my arm for her, and whisper, “Come here.”

  She lies down in the small space beside me and rests her head on my chest. The pressure hurts a little bit, but I don’t say anything because I want her that close. It’s becoming easier to move with each passing second, so if I can actually hold her, I will.

  “I missed you so much,” she sighs, her voice heavy with relief.

  “Me too,” I second.

  “You’re really back,” she says, as if she still can’t believe it.

  “I wasn’t going to let you leave for Berklee without saying goodbye,” I tease her.

  Her head snaps up, and she looks down at me with confusion. “How do you know about that?”

  I smile crookedly. “It started coming back to me a few days ago,” I tell her. “Not just movement, but my senses too. I heard you yesterday. You should play that in orientation. It’s beautiful.”

  She laughs quietly and puts her head back on my shoulder. “I don’t think an instrumental performance is going to help me impress anyone on my first day.”

  I frown at her choice of words. “What do you mean? You wouldn’t sing along?”

  “No,” she replies, hesitating. “I’m registered as a boy.”

  Confused, I twist my head so I can look at her. “Why? You’ve already been exposed. And it’s not like you won’t have protection there.”

  “I know,” she assures me. “Everyone who knows is supposed to keep it a secret too. Cade made sure of that. But anyway, it’s not that. My school records state I’m a boy. At my audition, I applied as one too and did an instrumental piece. I don’t have a choice in that.”

  I realize she’s right, and that I didn’t think of that before. “Ah. I see.”

  “But,” she counters, suddenly excited, “that doesn’t mean I can’t mingle as a girl outside the classroom. The family packs in Boston are very few and there aren’t that many werewolves in them, so I’ll just have to steer clear of possible hangout spots.”

  My eyes widen. “Really?”

  She nods happily. “That’s why I didn’t take a dorm room on campus. And I have all my stories straight in case I run into someone from class outside of Berklee.”

  “Which are?” I wonder. I brace myself for the ridiculously hilarious explanation I’m positive is coming.

  “I’m not telling you,” she jokes.

  I chuckle, but I let it go. I will see for myself when I come visit her, which I hopefully will be doing a lot. “Where are you staying?” I ask.

  Like a light switch, she suddenly grows tense, and she doesn’t immediately reply. “Uh,” she hesitates.

  I’m back to being confused. “What?”

  “I’m staying with John,” she says all too quickly, “and Kevin.”

  Neither of those names means anything to me, though the fact that they’re both male names doesn’t put me at ease. “Who?”

  “Kevin is one of my dad’s cousins’ sons,” she explains. “My dad doesn’t have any siblings, but he has cousins in the Redwood pack.”

  Now that name is familiar. “Your family’s old pack?” I recall.

  “The very one,” she confirms. “Since my gender is exposed to our allies now, Dad reached out to them for their help in protecting me. Kevin is kind of a musical prodigy. He was enrolled at another college, but he transferred to Berklee when Dad called the pack. He’s taking all my classes with me, so he’ll be around. All the time. Except when I have to use the bathroom. He’ll always be there.”

  The bitter tone of her voice lets me know that she’s not too happy about having a bodyguard. “I’m guessing you’re not okay with that?”

  “I don’t see why it’s necessary!” she protests hotly, like she’s been saying this too many times already to anyone who will listen. “He had to start from scratch. That’s a whole year he lost. All because my dad thinks I’m too fragile to take care of myself. I don’t need a babysitter!”

  I try to hide
my amusement, as I don’t want her to feel like I am taking her father’s side, even though I am. “Kevin is not your babysitter,” I reassure her. “Don’t think of him like that. He’s your roommate who also happens to be taking the same classes you are.”

  Dylan huffs to show her displeasure, but she thankfully doesn’t press the matter any further.

  “You’re not fragile,” I tell her truthfully. “Your dad just doesn’t want to risk losing you again.”

  “I know. I do get it, it’s just... it still sucks.”

  I understand her frustration. All her life, she had fought so hard to be herself, and now that she had a taste of what that’s like, it comes with some tight limitations. That’s not really the freedom she expected, the freedom that everyone else around her enjoys and sometimes takes for granted.

  “I know,” I assure her sympathetically. Not knowing what else to say to make her feel better, I add, “I’m sorry.”

  She sighs and nuzzles against me. “Not your fault. I’m exaggerating a little anyway. I mean, he is my cousin. He must have some of the awesome genes in the family.”

  This makes me laugh. I’m relieved she’s at least trying to look at the bright side. All she needs is some time to get used to this new life. We’ll find a way to make the most of it and make sure she’s happy, as she deserves to be.

  A moment of silence passes during which we simply hold each other. I’m content with the silence, so long as she’s in my arms. Then I recall what she said, and I frown once again.

  “What about the other one?” I ask.

  Her pause is tense. “John?” she hints.

  “Yeah, that guy. Who’s he?”

  “Don’t you remember? John Brock?” she tries again, but I still don’t recognize the name. “Sadie and Zoey’s brother?”

  All at once, it hits me. Of course, John. The guy we were going to see when we had the accident. The accident that ended with Dylan being kidnapped by my lunatic uncle Colton. The same uncle who stabbed me in the back with a poisoned knife and landed me in a coma for two months. That John. I definitely don’t like the idea of Dylan living with him.

  “Oh. Him. Are you sure you’ll be able to be yourself with him around?” I ask, suppressing my possessive need to ward the guy off.

  “That’s the thing,” she says slowly, like she’s treading a landmine and she’s afraid to step on an explosive. She hesitates once again, and bites her lip nervously. I can’t figure out why she’s reacting this way, so I wait for her to tell me.

  “John... kind of already knows.”

  Maybe I am slow from healing, but I still don’t understand. “Knows what?”

  Dylan looks up at me with big eyes. “Everything.”