Chapter 138

Matt found me an hour later, wearing a different pair of jeans and his leather jacket. His expression was subdued, and he barely looked at me when he took my hand.

“We should go,” he muttered.

“Okay.” I tried to catch his eye, but he wouldn’t look at me. There were a few scratches on his cheek, but nothing too serious. Not that I could see, at least.

He let me by the hand through the crowd, his other arm pressed close to his side. I kept sending furtive glances his way, but if he noticed, he pretended not to. Something was wrong, and unease pooled in my gut. What happened out there? Obviously, they took care of the rogue if Enzo and Matt could leave, but then why did he seem so upset?

Enzo met us at the door. He gave Matt a long look that Matt ignored.

“Drive safe,” he said, his eyes still glued to Matt’s face.

“Sure,” Matt murmured. He squeezed my hand and led me outside after him. A cool breeze rustled his dark hair, and a shiver moved through him. I tightened my grip on his hand, but he still wouldn’t look at me.

Something was seriously wrong. “Matt…” I started, but he just opened the car door for me and waited for me to get in. I looked at him for a moment, and he stared at a point above my head. I slid into the passenger seat, my heart pounding.

He got in and started the car without a word, turning up the radio so we couldn’t talk.

“Where are we going?” I asked, raising my voice over the music.

“I’m taking you home.”

I turned the music down. “Did I do something wrong?”

He backed out of the driveway and accelerated down the street. His jaw was tight, and he kept his eyes glued to the road. “No.”

“Okay…”

I fell silent, not sure what to say. How could I get through to him? How could I get him to talk to me? I’d never seen him act this way.

Neither of us spoke again until he pulled into my driveway and shut the car off. “Matt, what happened out there?”

“Celeste–”

“I’m not getting out of this car until I know you’re okay.”

He sighed. “Please.”

I turned to face him, reaching for his hand. He pulled it away and turned to look out of his window, his jaw tense. “Matt, what happened? Are you hurt? What happened to Seth?”

“Seth’s fine. He just had to take care of a few things.”

“What things?”

He leaned his head back against the headrest, a despondent look on his face. “You’re going to hate me,” he said. “I deserve to be hated.”

“Matt, you’re scaring me,” I whispered. I reached for his hand again, and this time he let me take it. He looked down at our intertwined fingers. A look of such sorrow crossing his face, I almost wanted to cry. Something really, really bad must have happened out there. “I could never hate you,” I added.

“I chased after the rogue. I needed to get it away from the house,” he said, glancing at me. “From you.”

“And?”

“Usually, we have three of us to take down one rogue. It's safest that way. We always hunt in trios, or pairs at the very least. And someone always has an antidote on them. Our job is to subdue the rogue so we can give it the antidote. Then it shifts back into a human. We always get them home safe and sound. They never remember what happened, and it's better that way.”

He ran his fingers through his hair, his hand shaking. “I didn’t have the antidote on me, Celeste. Seth had it, but he was too far behind me. We ran too far, and then we started to fight. I tried to get the wolf to stay down, but it was fighting back. It tried to get its jaw around my throat. If a wolf does that with the intention of killing you, you’re dead.”

I frowned and tightened my grip on his hand. “I had no choice,” he muttered. “I wish–” He cut himself off with a shake of his head. “I killed the rogue, Celeste.”

“Oh.”

“A person. She was a person. They always shift back when they die.”

A sinking feeling gathered in my gut. “Who?”

“Celeste–”

“It was someone we know. Wasn't it?”

He nodded. “Celeste, it was Sabrina.”

I leaned back in my seat. I didn’t know what to do, what to say. Now that I thought about it, I hadn’t seen her at the party all night. I ran into her friends, but not her. “Oh my God,” I said. “Is that what Seth’s doing? Hiding the body?”

“We can’t let someone find her that way. Enough people in this town remember a time when werewolves roamed freely here. We’re already on the brink of war.”

“So what? People will just think she went missing?”

Matt hung his head. “Yes. It’s monstrous. I know. I’m a monster.”

I turned to him, squeezing his hand. “Matt, you’re not a monster! It was self-defence. You wouldn’t have hurt her if you didn’t have to. Right?”

“I don’t want to hurt anyone.”

I nodded. “You didn’t have a choice. You can’t blame yourself.”

He looked away from me. “I’m the only one to blame, Celeste. An innocent girl is dead because of me. Self-defense or not, she still had a life, and I took that from her. From her friends and family. How can I live with myself?”

“You’ll be okay,” I said, but I was afraid of what I saw on his face. “I’m not leaving you. I don’t care where we go, but we’re going together.”

“What do you mean?”

“Right now. I’m staying with you. You shouldn’t be alone.”

He frowned. “I’m not going to do anything.”

“I don’t care. I’m not leaving you.”

After a moment, he gave me a shallow nod. “Where are we going to go?”

“Anywhere.” I kissed him on the cheek, then opened my car door. “Come on, I need to grab a bag of clothes.”

He followed me inside the dark house. Jack’s car wasn’t parked out front, thank God, and I figured he was out with friends or doing something nefarious for the Schreibers. Either way, it didn’t matter. I’d leave him a note or something. Matt needed me, and I was going to be there for him.

I packed a bag, then grabbed a piece of paper from the drawer in the kitchen. Matt hovered in the front hall, my bag thrown over his shoulder and a distant look on his face.

Going away for a few days. Don’t worry. I’ll be home on Monday. -Celeste

He wouldn’t be happy, but there wasn’t much I could do about that.

I returned to Matt and took his head. “Come on,” I said. “Let’s get out of here.”

He drove to his dorm next and packed a small bag of clothes. Then we got in the car and drove for a few hours. Matt didn’t turn the radio on, but he didn’t talk either. We just sat in silence, the dark road disappearing beneath the front grill of his car.

When he couldn’t drive anymore, he stopped at a small motel off the side of the road. Trees boarded the small property, and the neon sign flickered, a few of the letters dark. Matt went into the office while I sat in the car, my thoughts on Sabrina and her family. I never liked her, but I didn’t think she deserved to die. I felt sorrow for her, and for Matt. It was a terrible situation.

The only person I could think to blame was whoever turned her in the first place. Someone was creating these rogues, and they needed to be stopped.

Matt returned with a key and grabbed our bags from the car. I followed him to a room at the far end and waited as he unlocked the door.

“Are we going to stay here this weekend?” I asked.

He shook his head. “Just tonight.”

I nodded and followed him into the dim room. The light flickered a few times when he turned it on, then hummed to life. It was a small room with a double bed, a small TV, and a narrow bathroom. Matt dropped our bags and disappeared into the bathroom.

I sat on the bed and looked at my phone. I already had a few missed calls and about 50 texts from Jack. He must have gotten my note. I turned off my phone and put it on the side table.

Matt returned a few minutes later and climbed onto the bed. He wrapped his arms around my waist and buried his face in my stomach.

I ran my fingers through his hair. “It’s going to be okay,” I said.

He didn’t answer.