The Faerie Slayer

"I figured," I stepped to the side and let her proceed. She sat at the edge of my navy bed and I sat across.

"I heard you were close to killing her today, but a water faerie almost beat you to it."

I nodded," that's true. I almost had the girl but the faerie and I got into it. She got away."

"Is that so?"

I showed no sign of forgery. I did not swallow to moisten my throat. I merely nodded again.

"You came to see me last week. You asked questions about the Moiety Children of the folk."

I nodded once again.

"You were referring to the girl. You knew."

"Yes I did."

"Which would mean that you knew far before your father and I that the girl was half mortal,"

She did not state this as a question but I nodded anyway," and then because you were unable to kill the half human, you killed a different faerie and presented her dust to your father as an attempt to fool him into closing this case because you assumed that your father would never find out that the girl is half mortal."

I felt my teeth grind and squared my jaw," have you told him?"

"What good would that do to anybody, Kade?"

"All that you said is true."

"I know."

"What now?"

"Now I am trying to put the puzzle pieces together. Why hadn't you come to your father as soon as you had found out that the girl is a half human? Why commit forgery instead?"

"Because I'd knew that father would demand me to kill her anyway."

"You took an oath as a the Faerie Slayer for the Odin Pack of Deadwood Creek. All that bear the blood of the folk were enemies of wolves."

"I did not take an oath to kill those who are human."

"Half human. The other half is wicked, evil and capable of the wildest intentions."

"Not Aubrette. She's different, I watched her for days. She doesn't even know what she is. She's good. A true mortal, if not then better."

Grandma raised her eyes to suggest that I'd said something to trigger a thought.

"There is a missing part of the puzzle Kade."

"Which is what?"

"You claim you cannot kill the girl because for you, it would be murder, but you shouldn't have a problem with someone else doing it."

I did not answer. She continued.

"The people of the fey wish no battle with the werewolves, a water faerie would have never attacked you first. Which would mean that you began the fight in that forest with the snake and not the other way around."

This time, I could not stile a swallow.

"That's true."

"The snake was trying to kill Aubrette. Instead of seeing this as a solution to your problem, our problem, you rescued the girl and killed yet another faerie in her place."

"How would this have been a solution grandma? You heard father, I have to be the one to kill the girl."

"Who would find out, Kade? If you were to watch the snake choke the girl into her death and then proceed to kill the snake. Who would question that you were the one to have killed the girl? Not I, and certainly not your father. If you were clever enough to try to fool your father the first time, you are certainly capable of thinking this up on your own."

I remained silent. Of course I had thought of this, to let the snake rid of Aubrette and claim the kill as my own. I'd be satisfying my oath and my father but somehow I could not let the creature hurt Aubrette and I could not hold my morals fully accountable. I could not reveal that to her without an a explanation nor a justification because I may self bore no such thing.

Grandma placed a hand on my thigh," you rescued her."

"I rescued a mortal from the wicked wrath of a faerie-"

"You saved Aubrette Evergreen from her predetermined fate. That girl is bound to die, if not by her own people then at the merciless hands of your father. You cannot save her and you are breaking your oath by simply desiring it."

"I'm not fixated on saving her, she is not for me to worry about-"

"Then what is your obsession with the girl?" In response to my silence, her rebuttal was," It seems to me like you are fresh out of excuses Kade."

On the television screen hanging on the wall across from the both of us, a news segment was just airing. It caught the attention of both my grandma and I. She reached for the remote and turned the volume up. On the screen displayed a video of myself, in wolf form soaring through the streets of New York City. The footage was blurry, it was taken by someone with a phone and it captured my last 10 seconds of coursing past traffic and the lineage of chaoes of screaming humans and wreckage of car parts left in my trail. The cameraman held the camera to catch the aghast of the mortals who ran into themselves before daring to near the big bad wolf.

The voice of the news reporter began to explain the events of the night.

"Quite possibly one of the biggest wolves to have ever been spotted here in New York. People are wondering how it could have wandered this close into the city.....they travel in packs, there are likely more and they may be lost....13 car collision, 3 people suffering minor injuries, no deaths reported at this time."

Grandma muted the television. She could recognize the wolf immediately, it was apparent on her face.

"The truth, Kade," she simply demanded.

"Remember the story you told me, about the rogue wolf and the faerie girl?"

Grandma said yes with her eyes, I continued.

"Did they ever find out if he was entranced or glamoured to love and protect the girl after all?

Or was she truly his fated mate?"

"We've learned to make up our own ending for the good of us all. Although mating between the two could have been possible, the boy must have been glamoured to witness the slaughter of his own pack and remain with the wicked creature. Surely, there is no love as great to surpass and look past such a crime. This is why the law was created to ban all faeries from werewolf towns, termination by death."

"But it's like you said, mating between the two could have been possible. There's no law capable of permitting something that's destined."

"A truly destined mate does not care about the law that the wolf men have put into place. Your wolf chooses his own mate when fate brings you together. It does not care if she's wolf or not. A soulmate is decided by something beyond us all. It's up to us to make the right sacrifices for the better of the most."

I was suddenly lost in thought. I wanted to ask her for symptoms of finding your mate, but I did not want to her to grow suspicious nor hurt her. Grandma never found her mate, or maybe she rejected him. She never wanted to talk about it, and I never budged.

"Do you suspect that the half girl is your mate, Kade?" She bluntly asked and I felt as if I was shrinking.

"No. She can't be."

"She can be, and if she was?"

"I would be strong enough to resist," I concluded without a thought. She seemed pleased enough and said," just like I did."

I raised my eyes brows.

Did grandma find her mate and refuse him? Could it be because he was a faerie? I wanted to question her further but she was already on her feet and headed for the door.

As her frail fingers touched the brass knob on the door she turned back to say," use it to your advantage that the girl has others looking to kill her. Next time, be man enough to witness a them finish the job, rid the murderer and claim Aubrette as your kill."

When she left, she left me with a massive weight of stress. I did not want to admit to myself that there was the possibility that Aubrette Evergreen could be my mate. In what world would we ever be destined for peace? In this lifetime, our fate was forbidden to exist. I could not kill her, I could not let another do the same, I could not let down my father or break my oath to my pack, I could not escape this endless losing battle. I was stuck in a loop of endlessness and it led to nowhere every time.

My phone buzzed and on the display screen was a text with Candice's name.

'Can you meet me by the old oak in 5 minutes'

This could be the perfect distraction to take my mind off of Aubrette. I knew exactly what Candice had in mind. The old oak tree by the side of the woods was isolated and it was the perfect location for us to explore with outdoor pleasures back when we were together. We marked that tree as our own with carved initials that were still there. Immediately I texted back confirming that I would be there and began to make my way. When I was down the stairs and by the door to the exit, I heard the rushing footsteps of Borris.

"Kade, wait!" he called and I paused.

"Yes?"

"Your father needs you back in the study, he's seen the news, everyone has-"

"I really can't right now Borris," I mumbled and headed outside despite his calls to bring me back.

By the oak tree, Candice was dressed in a white sundress that stirred by the breeze alongside her perfect hair. She smiled softly when she seen me and I didn't hesitate to cup her face and plant my mouth on hers. She only let the kiss go on for a minute before pushing me back, I responded with the confusion on my face and to that she said," I didn't call you down here for that." In the night time, she wore no makeup at all. Her usual heavy eyeliner was replaced by the natural beauty of her face and I could not care to pick a preference, I was hungry for her either way.

"What did you call me down here for then?"

"To talk, that night in the gym meant something to me, but you haven't called or texted. You just walked out-"

"I'm not really in a talking mood, Candice," I felt cornered. This was the least of my worries and I could only admit this to myself. To say it out loud would be far too harsh.

"Well get into one," she grabbed my arm when I began to turn away,"Did that night mean anything to you at all Kade? Because for me it brought back years and years of feelings and emotions. I don't think that I ever really got over you-"

"I thought you called me down here for something else-"

"Did that night mean anything to you Kade? Answer the question,"her dark eyes were wide with eager anticipation. I was afraid to say the wrong thing. If I were to not take into consideration how my response were to make her feel, then the easy answer would be that it didn't. It might not be the most truthful. If I was being honest with myself, the closest version to truth that I could muster up right now was that I hadn't thought about it. I haven't had the time nor the will to really think about Candice. I have feelings, sure, but ever since Aubrette had entered my life, I could not trust myself to confirm the colour of the grass as green. I had no answers for her, I merely had cravings.

"I don't know," I finally said," my father tasked me with an impossible assignment, I've hardly had the time to think."

"It's not a yes or a no, its an I don't know? You couldn't leave me in less of a grey area-"

"I'm not trying to. I'm just-stressed. You helped me stop thinking for just a couple of minutes that night at the gym. I'm too distracted for it to mean anything more," a look of hurt crossed her face and I sighed out loud. This was what I was trying to avoid. Hurting Candice was the last of my intentions," I'm not saying it didn't mean anything or it never will. What I'm saying is that night with you at the gym was the first time in a long time I had gotten myself to stop thinking, but when it was over, I was far too overwhelmed to really think about it."

"You seem exhausted," she placed a gentle hand on my arm," and tomorrow is your mothers birthday."

"I keep forgetting about that."

She checked the time on her phone," it's not midnight yet."

I gazed up at the moon and suddenly I could see my mother. She resembled Candice in someways, both bore long jet black hair that sunk like silk, big black eyes and tan skin. My mother had a tribal tattoo that began at her mid arm and kissed the ends of her shoulders where her neck began. Whereas Candice was petit, my mother was a hovering five feet eleven inches and whereas Candice was warm and loving, my mother was cold and hardly ever wore her heart of her sleeve.

"I'm sorry," Candice began again,"how could I completely forget what you have been going through."

"Did you see the news?" I changed the topic.

"I did. That was you wasn't it?"

I responded with a sigh.

"Are you alright? What can I do to help?"

"Right now, my brain needs to be turned off. I want to to stop thinking.

"I can think of something that I can do."

Lit by the generosity of the moonlight, Candice teased the skin of her chest with her fingertips. She let both straps of her dress fall down her arm, gaze locked with mine the entire time. The dress began to fall off of her small frame, inch my inch exposing her braless breasts firsts, and down her smooth flat abdomen and eventually, fell flat against the soil. Candice was clothed with nothing but naked skin. I felt a sudden shift in the wrong direction of desire. With more guilt then I cared to explore, I pictured Aubrette's face. I took two quick strides to close the distance between us and planted my mouth on her perfect red lips. The kiss felt empty, driven by nothing but pure lust and my need to stir my thoughts away. Where Candice tried to take it slow, I was there to speed and roughen it up. I turned her to face the tree and envisioned once again that in my hands were someone else. Subconsciously, I knew that this wasn't what Candice was used to. Before, I used to be gentle, loving, caring, and attentive. Now, I was but a brute seeking my own satisfaction. When I was done, I zipped up my pants and hardly glanced at a naked Candice. I reached for her dress and it was when she grabbed it that I realized I could not look her in her eyes.

"You're different," she whispered suddenly now fully clothed.

"What do you mean?" I asked but I knew.

"You're cold. You're just not like you used to be. Is it me? Is there someone else?"

She'd hit a trigger. I changed the subject before she asked again. Surly, she knew me enough to know when I was lying.

"I'm surprised you haven't found your mate yet."

"I'm surprised you haven't found yours."

I merely nodded and she inquired further.

"Or have you? Kade, I'm not looking for a hookup with you. I don't-I can't be your hookup friend. It hurts too much. I-I think I still love you-"

"What time is it?"

She seemed stunned. I waited for my answer.

"11:45."

"I gotta get to my moms grave," I mumbled. She nodded. I kissed her cheek goodbye and felt as if I were stranding her by the old oak tree. I told myself that this was the last time I'd allow myself to sleep with Candice. She deserved better, she deserved someone who wasn't using her body and soul and disguising it with someone else's face. I was fooling myself, and she was to.