42. VANYA: SOMETHING'S WRONG

Ezra stilled.
My eyes shot over to Joy and narrowed. She was smiling as it what she said was the funniest thing ever, and I guessed for her it probably was. I looked at my father but he was acting like he hadn’t heard a thing.
“So?” Joy questioned when I didn’t answer. “Do they—?”
“Shut up,” I hissed at her.
Her mouth dropped open and then slammed shut. “Excuse me?”
“You’re excused.”
Joy’s eyes shot over to my father. “Are you going to allow that brat to talk to me like that?”
“Joy—”
I pushed my chair back as I stood. Planting my hands on the table, I leaned forward and smiled at her. “I can talk to you anyway I want because you are not my mother.”
She gasped. “I raised you!” She pressed a perfectly manicured finger against her chest. “I gave up on everything I wanted to do to raise you! I bought you clothes and I—”
I scoffed. “Buying me clothes and dragging me to little tea parties is not raising me,” I yelled. “I don’t remember all that much about my mom, but I knew she—”
“Your mother was a cheating little bitch—”
With a scream, I threw myself across the table and tackled her. The chair was knocked backwards by the force of our bodies colliding.
How could she fucking say that about my mother when she was the one who was responsible for my mother’s death?
Joy screamed as she fought me. My cheek burned where she had managed to hit me and so did my arm where she caught me with her long nails.
I managed to get a few hits in before an arm wrapped around my waist and pulled me away from her.
“What type of behaviour is this?” my father questioned as he helped Joy to her feet. “A few weeks living in the forest and you turn into one of them!”
A laugh fell from my lips. “It’s funny how you call them animals when it’s actually the other way around. Humans are the real animals. Don’t you see it, father?”
“Vanya,” Ezra whispered against my ear, but I ignored him.
“Those people living in the forest you call animals are more fucking human than you’ll ever be! They have more morals than you! They might not be blood related but they would do—”
“Enough!”
I fell silent even though I had more I wanted to say.
Ezra stepped in front of me and blocked my view of my father and Joy. He carefully gripped my chin and tilted my head back so our eyes locked. I wasn’t prepared for the emotion I saw in his eyes.
“We need to leave,” he whispered. “Now. We need to leave now.”
He didn’t give me time to argue.
I expected him to lead me back up to my room, but he didn’t. Ezra led me right out of the door and then out of the gate.
“I’m going to shift,” he told me as he took a step back. “Get onto my back and hold on.”
“Ezra. . .” my words died down when he pulled his shirt over his head.
Within seconds he was naked and crouching on the ground. I flinched when his bones started snapping and squeezed my eyes closed. The sound made me feel sick to my stomach.
A soft nudge against my hand had my eyes snapping open.
They all looked different in their shifted forms.
Ezra walked around me, rubbing his large body against mine. When he stopped in front of me, he lowered his body and growled low.
“How the hell am I supposed to do this?” I questioned him.
His hair was too short to grip and his was way too big to wrap around.
Another low growl, but this time he flashed sharp teeth at me.
I swallowed and risked a glance over my shoulder at the house. Nobody had followed us outside, but it could change at any second.
Shit. Why was he in such a hurry to get away?
Charlene’s funeral was tomorrow. We couldn’t leave now, even though I didn’t want to stay either. I wanted to attend my best friend’s funeral.
I gasped when Ezra nipped at me skin with his teeth. “Ouch!”
He hissed at me.
Even though it was the last thing I wanted to do, I climbed onto his back and held on for dear life when he took off into the trees.

***

We didn’t go to the cabin or the main house.
Deeper and deeper into the forest until we were swallowed completely by the darkness. Out in the forest, night time fell faster than in the town. I couldn’t see a damn thing so I had my face pressed against his velvety fur.
What felt like hours later, Ezra finally slowed, making me raise my head.
He was panting and shaking slightly.
Ezra slowly lowered his body to the ground and pressed his snout against my elbow.
My body was stiff from staying in the same position for so long which made it a struggle to climb of his back and stand on my feet.
The moment I was on my feet, Ezra started shifting.
“Close your eyes,” he muttered, taking hold of my hand.
“Why? I can’t see a thing, Ezra,” I told him.
“Sorry, I forgot that you don’t have the same eyesight as us.”
He entwined out hands and then started guiding me. The ground was uneven which made me stumble but thankfully Ezra was there to steady me. We had only walked a few minutes before we stopped again.
I heard something creak and then we were moving again. A few steps forward and Ezra suddenly turned and gripped my hips, making me gasp and reach out to grip his shoulders.
Light suddenly broke through the darkness, blinding me momentarily. It was dim—like Obsidian’s bedroom—which didn’t help much.
“I need you to stay right here, Vanya.”
I frowned at him. “Why?”
“Just listen to me sugarplum,” he begged. “You’re not supposed to be here.”
“Where exactly is here?”
Ezra ignored me. “Stay.”
After a moment’s hesitation, he spun around and disappeared down what looked like a tunnel.
My stomach churned when I couldn’t hear him any longer. I was standing in an unfamiliar place all alone and with no damn clue where the hell the exit was.
I glanced around before staring at the tunnel he had disappeared into. How long had he been gone for? Where does that tunnel lead?
It was a bad idea, I knew it and I should’ve listened to Ezra, but I didn’t.
I sucked in a deep breath and then entered the tunnel.