Chapter 26

Going back to University after what had happened only a couple days earlier I was not sure what to expect. Would people know that James was dead? I wasn't sure how well known he was or how many people he was close to. I was too scared to even bring up the subject to Tommy, so I didn't even know what happened after they found out James was dead. Did they hide his body? I was still in shock; I had never taken another life before. Even though his death was an accident, it was still haunting me. His face, his eyes...I don't think I will ever be able to forget the moment I realized he was gone.

That memory now sat beside the one of seeing my parents dead at his hands. What was happening? It felt like people die because of me. I was so happy with Tommy recently that I had pushed these thoughts aside so I could enjoy our time together, but now outside of our little bubble I felt like everything was crashing in. I didn't want Tommy to worry about me, so I didn't mention anything this morning when we left for school either. After we had mated, he decided he would stay with me in my apartment for a while. He said that he didn't think the Alpha knew where I lived yet, and since James was gone he thought it was still safe to stay there instead of the pack house.

When he recommended living with me I had a moment where I wonder what my dad would have thought about me living with my boyfriend. Wait is Tommy my boyfriend? I mean we are mates but what is he to me in the human world? He had walked with me to the University entrance but had to rush off to his first class soon after and just waved goodbye when he left. So, were we keeping our relationship secret? I hated how insecure I felt about this, but with everything else so out of control around me I wanted something that was clear and stable. I guess I would have to talk about it with him later.

I tried to push my doubts away for now and walk to my class with Annie, I needed a distraction and gossiping with her about her new mate sounded good. My first question: How long have you known about werewolves? Did you know I was one?

I knew Annie was human as soon as I met her, but did she know about our kind before she went out with Will? I had so much I wanted to talk to her about that I walked a little faster to get to to class sooner. I passed by a small group of girls as I walked and caught par for their conversation as I glanced over in their direction.

"Did you hear that they found his car on the side of the highway? I guess they said he had been drinking." One girl says.

"Oh my gosh, he was so cute! I can't believe he is actually dead!" Another said slightly crying.

"Did you ever talk to him?" Yet another girl asks.

"Yeah we had a class together, he was very friendly and even asked me out for next week. I can't believe this!" The first girl says. "I can't believe James is dead."

His name hit me, and I froze. Someone had found his body! Wait, drunk driving accident? Is that what the police are saying? I had to find out. My breaths were irregular, and I felt like with each breath my chest felt tighter. When I felt like I could move again, I walked toward a nearby bench and dropped down onto it. I needed to see what the police were saying about James. I took out my phone and went to the local news website, and the first article that appeared was a picture of Name's mangled car that now looked burned. It had not been burned when I had escaped after the accident, so why was it burned now?

My finger hovered over my phone; I wasn't sure I wanted to read this. I had to, I glanced down and slowly scrolled down the article. It was like the girl had said, the police believe that James had been drunk and swerved off the rode hitting a tree and dying on impact. His car had caught fire shortly after and became more ignited due to open alcohol bottles in the car. As far as the police were concerned, there was no need for further investigation, and they consider the case closed. I let out a sigh of relief after reading that the police would not be investigating any longer.

So Tommy and the others must have staged the scene, so James would be found but no evidence would point to me being with him. Even though this news was good it did not stop me from feeling sick to my stomach. They had burned James's body after staging his accident! I could not stop the thought that even though James had killed my parents and maybe was sent to hurt me, thinking of him being burned and thrown away like that seemed wrong.

Why am I even thinking like this? He was a murderer and I had every reason to want him gone. Still there was a part of me that felt sorry for him, and because of that I couldn't hold back the small year that fell in his memory.

"Maya?" A voice rang through my thoughts.

I lifted my head quickly whiling away the tear and turned to see Annie standing in front of me.

"Hey!" I replied trying to act like I wasn't just crying.

"Are you ok? Why are you here?" Annie asks sitting beside me.

"I was just siting for a minute, checking the news. Just want to stay up to date with the town and all!" I say nervously.

"Really? So, you heard about James? Isn't it awful?" Annie asks shaking her head.

Did Will not tell her what really happened?

"Oh, hey babe!" Annie said suddenly turning her attention to across the path from us.

I looked up to see Will and Eli walking toward us.

"Hey cutie!" Will replied leaning over and giving Annie a quick kiss making her blush and giggle.

"Hey Maya!" Will said with a smile.

His eyes caught sight of my phone as he stepped back from Annie, and his smile fell to one of slight panic. From his change in expression it was clear that he hadn't shared the truth with Annie. It was enough confirmation for me to keep the truth to myself as well.

"Hey guys!" I said simply.

"Did Tommy come with you today?" Eli asked.

"Yeah, you haven't seen him yet?" I ask.

"No, we aren't in his first class, so we usually wait for him but haven't seen him yet." Will replies.

That's strange.

"Maybe he had to meet with his professor after class." I suggest.

The boys shrug and Will squeezes beside Annie on the small bench, forcing her to move to his lap.

"Uh, it is too early to watch you guys make out! Get a room!" Eli says groaning.

"Shut up!" Will says before turning to bury his face in Annie's neck.

They really did look cute together, and I decided to leave them alone and walk with Eli to my next class.

"So, you say the news about James, huh?" Eli asks when we are alone.

"Yeah. It was awful." I reply keeping my eyes fixed on my shoes.

"I know, but we had to get rid of any evidence of you. If there was another way then we would have done things differently." Eli explains.

"I understand, I just....I don't know." I can't seem to find the right way to explain how I am feeling.

"You feel guilty. Right? I know you want to blame yourself, but the truth is that none of this is your fault. You are innocent in all of this, but somehow all of this stuff seems to be finding its way directly in your path. It's easy to blame yourself when so many bad things have happened around you, but you are not the cause!" Eli says stopping and grabbing my arm softly to turn me to him.

"You are the one who has been hurt, and you never need to feel guilty for surviving Maya. If you didn't fight to stay alive...a lot of people would miss you." He says softly.

Wow, that's really sweet. But what is with him looking at me like that? He looks like he wants to...but he can't!

"Eli..." I try to get him to snap out of it.

"Maya, if anything happened to you...I would be lost." He says suddenly.

Eli? What are you doing?