Moments later, we all sat in front of the fire. I lay my head on Chetan's shoulder, and he kisses my head.
"I am sorry."
"Don't be, you did what you had to do," he says.
"I am proud of how quickly we eliminated AB," Ajay says with a grin.
"At the cost of Dixon putting his hands on Zare," Chetan says.
"But it worked," Dev smiles.
"Yeah, I hated using my girlfriend like that," Chetan says, eyeing me.
"I know, me too," Ajay agrees, bringing a hand to his head.
"We have to take care of Dixon, especially with how mad he is," Cricket pipes in.
"I will go after him."
"Zare, it's too dangerous. With one look he can inflict pain on you", Ajay says.
I frown.
Cricket shakes his head in disappointment.
"If you ever get in close proximity to Dixon, I want you to take this and slit his throat quickly. Don't think about it and don't hesitate, just do it,". Ajay walks over and hands me a homemade knife.
I take it with a shaky hand. "I thought I had to kill him with the sword?"
"That is the sword. I used a heated hammer to break off the tip of the sword. Keep it in your sock or keep it in your pocket. Somewhere you can quickly whip it out.
I slide the knife into my bra. "Don't I have to kill him alone?"
Ajay nods. "Yes, I guess we will try this. Maybe he'll appear to you alone."
"Zare, do you understand what to do? Cut his throat fast," Chetan eyes me.
I nod. "I can, I will."
Later, I lay in the den. Can I kill someone? I know Dixon is bad, but he is still a being. I know the pack needs me. Chetan enters the den, with a glass of berry water.
He hands me the cup. "Thanks." I smile.
"I am sorry you had to see me kiss Dixon."
"It hurt a little bit, that was smart thinking, AB is the last thing we need to deal with."
"I am scared I won't be able to kill Dixon."
"You will be quick and fast Zare."
I nod. He grabs my face, moving my hair away. I take a deep breath. Quick and fast. Don't think just do.
The next few days pass normally, with no sign of Dixon. I feel glad, but also on edge, because that means he is planning something with a lot of thought. I am sure whatever it is, it's going to be no good for the pack.
I sit with the pack members. We all play a board game Ajay picked up for Kirsten at the store. I roll the dice leading on eight and move my marker eight places.
The Chetan moves four.
Ajay moves three.
Kristen moves two.
The game goes on for several moments until Dev finally wins. "In your face," he shouts with a grin.
"Do you mind going for a run to check for zombies and spy on Dixon Dev?" Ajay asks, picking up the game.
"Yeah, Chetan, you want to come? He eyes him.
"I don't know dude, I should be here to keep an eye on Zare," Chetan says.
"I'll make sure she's okay," Ajay pipes in.
"I will be fine." I roll my eyes with a laugh.
Chetan gets up from the table. He walks over to me and reaches in for a kiss. "I will be back in a few."
I nod. Grabbing his arm, I bring him in for another kiss.
"Be good for babysitter Ajay, we left call numbers on the table, Zare can't have sugar after eight pm," Dev says with a smirk.
The boys laugh.
"Funny." I roll my eyes.
I watch and the boys change into their wolf and dash off into the woods. They run so fast, leaping as the birds fly up from the trees. I walk to sit with Kiara and Atsila, who were sitting by the fire. Atsila was having tummy time. She can completely hold her head up now.
"Hey you," Kiara smiles.
I wave. "Hey."
"She's getting so big." I frown.
"Yeah, I wish my test wasn't negative at times," she tells me.
"You and Cricket want more kids?"
She nods. "Someday."
"Chetan and I too want a baby, I think he will be such a good dad."
"Imagine Dev being a dad?" Riya says sitting down.
"That kid will have the best playmate." We all laugh.
I watch Forest sit with Smoke. She has been standoffish since the fight with the boys. I feel bad seeing the pack has social limits, but I guess that is expected when you have all these people living together 24/7. Sometimes they fight and get under each other's skin.
Kiara and I ignore how much our boyfriends hate each other right now. It's somewhat of a horrible predicament, but we just don't speak about it. I grab my head, feeling the pain I try to keep the cries in.
I don't smell Dixon's scent, so maybe this is just a normal headache. "I'm going to go lay down for a bit."
I get up to leave. "You alright?" Kiara asks.
"Yeah, I am fine." I lied.
I walk back towards the den, grabbing my head. I couldn't believe Dixon wasn't around. I lay down, pulling the blankets over my head. I close my eyes trying to relax.
"You okay?" I hear Chetan's voice.
"You made it back early," I prop my head up on one hand.
"Yeah, impatient to see you," he says.
I nod.
"Where is Dev?"
"Probably off somewhere, have not seen him," he responds. What are these responses? Has Chetan been drinking?
"He didn't come back with you?"
"I don't want to talk, Zare," he says walking toward me.
I stand up. For some reason, I feel extremely uncomfortable.
Chetan roughly grabs my arm. I cry in pain. "You know I never punished you for kissing Dixon."
He forcefully threw me to the ground. "Chetan?" I cry. I feel so confused.
He climbs on top of me. He brings his hands to my throat and squeezes it. The pressure around my neck causes me to gag. I start coughing and the world spins.
He lets go of my neck. This isn't Chetan. He'll never hurt me. I look into his eyes. I see the same evil look looking into Dixon's.
Chetan unbuttons his pants. I quickly received the knife out of my bra, the knife feels sharp in my hands. I brought the knife to his throat, and cut it. Listening to his cries in pain as he chokes on blood. I see blood shoot out of the wound. And he fell to the floor with a thud.
Sitting in the corner, I put my hands over my face. I see Chetan lying dead on the floor. I scream in pain. Just the scene alone scares me.
I hear many feet rushing. "Zare, what's wrong?" I hear Chetan's voice burst into the den.
I stand up and rush into his arms. He wraps me into a hug, pulling me into his chest.
Peeking out the corner of my eye, I see Dev is the next to enter. He kneels down at the body, lying in a pool of blood.
I see him grab his arm, checking for a pulse. "Dixon is dead."
"Dixon?"
"Yeah," Dev looks at me strangely, crossing his eyebrows.
Analyzing the body, I nod my head.
" He was a shapeshifter."
Ajay enters the Den. "Good girl Zare," he says, looking at the body.
I look at Chetan, grabbing his face in my hands. He notices the bruises on my neck and rubs them with his finger. "He hurt you baby?"
I nod. He pushes me closer to his body.
"Chetan, he was you." I look up at him.
"Me?" He looks confused.
"His form."
"That would explain why his pants were unzipped," Dev points out.
"Did you guys?" He says.
I shake my head. "I killed him when he was trying."
"How did you know it wasn't Chetan?" asks Dev.
"He came in and grabbed my arm with force and threw me down."
Chetan looks at my arm, analyzing the marks. "So then he started choking me. I knew it wasn't you, because I knew you would never hurt me."
I see the look of pain on Chetan's face. He kisses my forehead. "I am so sorry he hurt you Zare."
"You should make a mental note to never grab her neck, or she might stab you," Dev says with a laugh.
"Dev." Chetan shakes his head.
He grabs my face. "I'm glad you know that I will never hurt you like that."
I nod. He holds me tighter.
Seeing Ajay and Dev drag out Dixon's body became real for me. I literally just killed someone. I feel so many feelings. I feel relieved Dixon is gone, but upset I ended his life.
"Why don't you go sit with the other pack members? I'm going to go get some bleach and clean up this blood," Chetan tells me.
I nod.
Walking towards the trailer. I see fire and smell Dixon burning flesh.