Free Scarred by Amber Lynn Natusch Page B

numbers only, with a very occasional solo piece. Aesthetically, I just didn't match up well with the other guys, and they weren't strong enough to lift the extra pounds that came with my taller frame. Matty always could.
    “Yeah, let's just say it's been a bit boring for me since you left.” I gave him a playful wink before taking another bite.
    We bantered back and forth for a while, falling back into our old rhythm. Though it was still awkward knowing we had issues to address, it was comforting to regain something that I'd missed so deeply. Matty brought a sense of normalcy to my life that I lacked, and, unlike Alan and Kristy, he knew what I was yet still wanted to be part of the madness. I didn't want to lose him.
    I couldn't lose him.
    Three hours, two pizzas, four cups of tea, and a much needed bathroom break later, we headed on our way to stroll through town. It was Saturday afternoon, but the streets were remarkably empty, the weather having taken a turn for the worse. The sky was dark and foreboding, and it started to give a preview of what was inevitably to come throughout the rest of the day. Seeing the writing on the wall, I ducked into a local pharmacy and bought an umbrella big enough for two.
    We made our way down to the harbor, walking to the end of one of the docks. Just before we got ourselves situated, it started to really rain. It was precisely what we needed. There wasn't a soul around, and the declining weather would only further ensure that. Matty opened the umbrella above us to ward off the pelting precipitation, and I shimmied closer to him for warmth.
    “You're freezing,” he said with a frown. He unzipped his hoodie, and, without asking if I wanted it, draped it around my shoulders. The blast of heat I absorbed from it was intense, almost uncomfortable against my frigid skin. I must have gotten colder than I'd thought.
    “Better?”
    “It's great, thanks,” I replied. “But you're going to get cold now.”
    He shrugged ambivalently.
    “I don't really feel it that much.”
    “Liar,” I retorted. “You’re either trying to play hero, or you're too busy trying to digest all that pizza you just ate to feel anything other than indigestion.”
    Instead of laughing, he regarded me curiously.
    “You must burn through a lot of calories, being...you know...given your situation,” he said cautiously.
    “Yes,” I sighed, knowing we were going to have the conversation whether I liked it or not. “I suppose I do, though it's a bit different for me. I'm a bit different in general—by werewolf standards, that is.”
    “And that really is what you are?” he asked for clarification. I imagined the events that occurred that night had led him to question a lot of things, even things that I'd admitted to already.
    “Yes.”
    “Sean and Cooper too, right?” he asked with slight distaste.
    “Yes,” I replied, feeling it best to leave it at that.
    “How long have you been this way?”
    “Almost two years now, but for about nine months of that I had no idea that's what I was. I kept having blackouts...I didn't know that I was Changing .”
    “So how did you figure it out?” he asked, trying to intercept my gaze.
    “It's a long story,” I sighed, not really wanting to relive anything to do with Eric. “Another werewolf recognized what I was. He told me, and when I didn't believe him, he Changed in front of me to drive the reality home.”
    “What do you mean?” he asked, lowering his face into my view.
    “I mean he turned into a wolf in front of me.”
    “You can really do that?” he asked, sounding a bit like a child asking his favorite superhero about his powers.
    “Yes,” I laughed, the sound cutting through the rhythm of the rain around us with one loud scoff. “But please don't glorify it. It's not cool, or awesome. It's a curse.”
    “But I don't understand how you came to be like this?” he asked, taking my hand in his. The warmth it held felt amazing, so I placed my other in