Howl by Annalise Grey

only came back to gather some extra
clothes for the babies. We’ll be staying at Thomas’ for dinner.
Looks like you two are on your own for the evening.” With that she
disappeared into her apartment. A minute later Lorelei left the
house completely.
    “I’ve hated myself for lying to you.” I put
my head on one hand; the other wiped a few tears from my
cheeks.
    “Obviously not enough to stop seeing him.”
The words were icy daggers in my chest. “I do know why you’ve been
lying. I get it. But it really hurts just the same.” Tristan sat
across the table from me, initial anger dissipating. A few tears
clung to the rims of his eyes.
    It wasn’t just that I was dating a human; I
had betrayed my twin – my other half in so many ways. Tristan and I
have shared everything from before birth and beyond. We never kept
secrets – he was the one person on this earth that I could tell
anything and everything to. I wanted to make a vow to never, ever
again lie to Tristan but as soon as the thought crossed my mind so
did Jaime’s face. Was I actually willing to choose Jaime over
Tristan? Who am I becoming?
    “You really care about him?”
    “Yeah, I do. More than words can
express.”
    “If you kept your human, what kind of future
would you have? You can’t deny who you are forever.” He sat back in
chair and studied me. “One thing is absolutely certain: you can’t
have both a human mate and your pack, Sophie. It’s too risky for
all of us.”
    I thought of my pack, my family – my brothers
and sister, Mom and Will, Granddad. Of Tristan sitting not more
than two feet from me. The love I felt for my family was
unparalleled as was the duty to keep my kin protected.
    But Jaime? Wonderful, passionate,
kind…dangerous Jaime. I knew in the depths of my soul that he
should be my mate, bound together under the brilliant silver
moon.
    Did I have it in me to choose? And what if I
stayed with Jaime and he turned on me? Could one love actually
destroy the other?
     
     
     
    ~Complications~
     
    After the explosive argument with Tristan and
Lorelei, I spent a week battling with myself until I finally
decided to give up Jaime. I swore to myself that I would. I avoided
speaking to him for another whole week afterwards. Text messages
were not answered though I reread every word like a pathetic puppy
lapping up the final remnants of a milk bowl. I told myself that I
just needed to find the right moment to break it off
completely.
    But that moment never came. Eventually my
resolve broke and I began texting back. Texts turned into phone
calls and calls turned into sneaking to the research center at
three a.m.
    “Every move I make is suspect.” I laid my
head in my hand and leaned against the Jeep door.
    “Who found my texts?”
    “Tristan. He thought maybe I had a secret
boyfriend and went through my phone to find out if I was seeing
someone. He told Lorelei and they haven’t told anyone else yet but
they are keeping a very close watch on me.”
    “Maybe we should just cool it for a
while.”
    “What?” I couldn’t believe the words had come
out.
    “I’m just saying that if you’re target number
one right now, maybe we should take a break for a while. At least
until your family backs off.” Jaime’s voice was thick.
    “I know you don’t mean that.” I
whimpered.
    “No, I don’t.”
    Several minutes of silence passed as I stared
out the window into the pitch of night.
    “Tell them the truth.” He challenged.
    “You know I can’t do that.” I protested.
    “Why not? You haven’t tried. If they’re
worried about you getting serious too young, tell them to meet me.
I’m a good choice and you know it.” Jaime wasn’t a good choice, he
was the best choice. Any other family would be ecstatic to have
their daughter date someone like Jaime. Solid career with good
income, dedicated, intelligent, exceedingly attractive,
kindhearted, adoring…. The list could go on and on. But he was also
human. No list of