Page 29 of His Hungry Wolf

Chapter 8

Claude

When I received Cage’s call, I didn’t know what to think. Was he inviting me to his post-birthday hangout because he had seen me jogging near his place? It would be humiliating if it were.

I’ve thought a lot about what my mother told me at the birthday party when I was eight. For the people in this town, I was the representative for incubus everywhere. No one yet knew what I was, but how long until they did? When I’m revealed, how will they react?

If they respected me, could that prevent things from devolving into a fight for my life? Could the mere act of being respectable save the lives of my people, as my mother had suggested it could?

If she was right, it meant that my needs came second. I wanted Cage as a friend. At the very least, I desperately needed to feel connected to someone. But I had to do it in a dignified way. Getting a pity invite because he caught me stalking him wasn’t just undignified, it could make things worse if they found out what I was.

Despite all of that, whatever the reason I was invited, I was going. I needed this. It was like swimming to the surface for a breath. And I wasn’t going to screw this up.

‘Am I going to see you on the field?’ Titus texted as I got ready to leave.

‘You going?’ I replied.

‘Heading there now. I think Cage is having a quarter-life crisis.’

‘Ha!’

‘Cali wanted to make sure you were coming?’

‘Cali?’

Titus texted a shrug emoji.

So, mine wasn’t just a pity invite. He was inviting everyone. That was perfect. And it might even be a good way to take my mind off Merri and his offer.

The thing most persuading me to accept Merri’s workout was the thought that I could again be connected to a group. Maybe I didn’t need Merri’s help for that. Maybe I could find what I needed here without him.

‘I’ll see you there,’ I texted Titus with building anticipation.

‘Do you even remember how to play? Haha!’ Titus quipped.

‘It’s the sport with the round ball and the basket, right?’

He replied with a rolling-on-the-floor-laughing emoji. ‘Close enough.’

I wasn’t sure why I hadn’t told anyone in town about my football past. Could it be that I wasn’t always upfront about how I used the team. Incubi could feed on more than just the supernatural. Although less satisfying, we could feed on humans.

Was that what I did to the players on the team? I could never be sure. I didn’t try to. But, what about during the heat of a game when my guard was down. Did I sip on my teammates’ life force? Did I take something from the opposing team’s defensive line?

I knew that, if I had, it wasn’t the only reason we had won. I was also obsessed with football. When I was alone, I never watched TV. I studied plays and games I found on YouTube. There were nights when I couldn’t sleep because I kept going over possible plays in my mind.

But, even with that, did I deserve the victories? As much as the way Merri treated me played into my decision to graduate early, I had to admit that it wasn’t the only factor. There was also guilt because, sure incubi could feed on others without them realizing anything was taken. But how was it that I went three years without once being hungry.

It didn’t make sense. Either I was cheating on the football field, or feeding off someone I shouldn’t have been. So, wasn’t it better to avoid the subject entirely and not raise any questions?

And, it turned out that as hard as it was to leave football behind, it was harder to leave Merri. He had changed my life. He had believed in me before I believed in myself. I liked the way I looked through his eyes.

That was what made how our friendship ended so painful. My mother had made me believe that I was a demon worthy of being hunted. And for a while, being with Merri made me believe that she was wrong.

But then, when it came down to it, what I feared most was true. No one believed I deserved to live, not even the one person I thought was my friend.

On the other hand, he had explained it, hadn’t he? He had said what he had because he had been in love with me. I had hurt him by telling him I was leaving. In return, he said things he didn’t believe.

Considering that, was it fair to stay mad at him?