CHAPTER 39: DRUNK ON SECRETS

Theodora moved back from Zeke like she had been doing something wrong all this time and turned to Eric. When she had first arrived here, she hadn’t seen him anywhere and had thought he didn’t come.

She was wrong.

And of course, Finn was right next to him.

Eric turned around and began walking away. She stood up to follow her, missing a slight tremor in Zeke’s composure.

"Where are you going?" Aurelius and Liam stood up with her, speaking in unison.

"Give me a second," She replied and ran after Eric.

Finn was still standing there, and whispered tauntingly as she passed by, "Oops, someone’s just made another big mess with her crush - sorry, I mean friend," He made emphasis on a certain word in the sentence.

Theo ran after him, "Eric..., Eric!"

She grabbed his shoulders and forced him to look at her.

"Leave me alone, Teddy," He fired, "Go back there and continue making out with Zeke...and the rest of them. You seemed to be enjoying yourself so much,"

"We weren’t making out!"

"How do you expect me to believe that after what I just saw? After what’s been happening between you and him?"

"You wouldn’t even let me explain anything to you, Eric. You just get mad, lash out at me and walk away. Why wouldn’t you ever listen?!" She asked softly.

"Because you’re supposed to listen to me!" He snapped, "Not go after that devil that calls himself my brother,"

She heaved out a breath, still trying to be reasonable, "I’ve always listened to you, Eric. The only reason I didn’t was that the school gave me no other choice but to stay with Zeke. The only reason I came here was because your father was hellbent on taking me as his wife. You didn’t even care to ask me how I’ve been coping with school, how I’ve been adapting, and all you care about is whether I’m listening to you or not,"

He ran his hand through his hair, "That’s because you don’t listen! You’re over there running your hands and mouth all over him. You want him so bad, don’t you?"

Tears prickled her eyes. If only he knew she would toss Zeke away in less than a second the moment he spread out his arms for her, but she’s never been in her picture for him.

And that was the moment she also snapped, "I do, Eric. I do want him so badly, and I don’t care what you think anymore. You think you’re the only one who’s mad? I’m finding out you’ve been keeping things away from me, and when I confront you about them, I don’t bash, I don’t get mad and I try to understand you for it. But you’ve never done the same for me. All you do is get mad and yell and walk away when you don’t like what I’m doing,"

"Oh," Eric arched a brow and let out a cruel laugh, "So now it’s my fault, right? I’m the bad friend, huh?"

Her chest tightened and tears spilt down her face, "I cannot believe you, Eric. That you would treat me this way. You tell Finn over there everything, don’t you? And I...," She paused, literally, and her memories reversed back to the words Finn had whispered to her as she had walked by.

"Oops, someone’s just made another big mess with her crush - sorry, I mean friend,’

Her heart almost stopped. Maybe it did.

And when it started, it pounded so hard it might burst, "Eric," She breathed deeply, "Did you tell Finn...that I’m a girl?"

Theo never thought it was possible.

That’s the person she trusted the most could treat her this way. That her own best friend for many years would expose her secret like that, to Finn, of all people.

His jaw and his lips tensed, and he shifted on his feet and looked away.

"Oh my God," She struggled to breathe, "You actually told...,"

"Finn promised not to tell anyone, okay?" He said, still sounding angry, "You have nothing to worry about,"

She couldn’t believe her ears, "I can’t...how could you? Why would you tell him my secret? What if...,"

"You’re making a big deal out of something so small. I told you, he’s not gonna tell anyone about you. He promised!"

She knitted her brows in frustration, "And you believed him?"

"Of course,"

Of course he did. Eric has no idea Finn could still be making out with Jeremy behind his back, "It’s my secret, Eric. You shouldn’t have told anyone without asking me first. I don’t care how close you and Finn are, it’s not your secret to tell!"

"Okay, now you’re just exaggerating,"

She blinked again in disbelief. The more words he said, the more shocked she got. It was as if she were talking to a different person.

"Enough is enough, Eric," She gritted her teeth in anger, "If you’re not gonna admit that you were wrong too, then you can keep ignoring me. And I’ll do just the same,"

"Oh really?" He raged, "You’re finally admitting that you’re gonna abandon me for Zeke?"

She never thought she would say these words to him, but she did and she didn’t regret them, "Fuck you, Eric,"

Theo turned around and walked back into Ashwood Retreat. She wiped her tears with the back of her hand, her face red with anger but her heart tight from pain and disappointment.

How could Eric do this to her?

Theo didn’t care who was watching. She walked back to the group and propped down next to Liam, her breath coming out as sharp pants. The more she thought about it, the more upset she became.

Everyone stared at her, but she didn’t care. Even when a tear spilt down her face, she didn’t bother wiping it away. What’s so wrong with a guy crying?

Her lips trembled as she tried to hold more tears back, but she wasn’t strong enough to do that on her own. So she grabbed the nearest bottle of whiskey and brought it to her mouth.

She heard Liam gasp, "That’s not...,"

But the wine was already half drunk as she gulped it down her throat. Once the bottle was empty, she tossed it away and wiped her lips with the back of her hands.

Something surged through her veins, and she suddenly felt more...alive and more confident. The pain didn’t lessen that much, but just enough to make her stop crying.

"What’s my question?" She asked, eyes piercing so deeply into Celeste’s.

He looked stricken for a moment, taken aback by the heat and rage that was oozing from her pores.

"What kind of monster would you be without your Pack rules?"

"The kind you won’t see coming. I would attack every moving thing at sight, and I would kill them in the most heinous way possible," She cracked, hands fisted so tightly her knuckles turned white, "And when I do snap, I promise, my Pack rules won’t be able to hold me back!" Her emotions were heightened, and the pendant gave a soft glow at that moment, pulling everyone’s attention toward it.

*Theo, what did you drink?* Seraphina asked, her voice a little ragged.

*Whiskey* She replied flatly.

*Did that taste like whiskey?* Seraphina raised her voice.

*Who the fuck cares? I feel a bit better,* she groaned.

*No, you’re feeling even more miserable, and your face is getting red, and it won’t be long before you start to sway!*

*You mean...I’m drunk?*

*Yes*

*One bottle of whiskey isn’t enough to make any wolf drunk!*

*Except that wasn’t whiskey!* Seraphina sounded mad, *We have to go to bed, now! You have just ten minutes before you revert back and the chemical in that wine is hitting hard and fast!*

As she said so, Theo began to blink faster than normal. Everything around her was beginning to sway, but she held on and turned to Liam, "What was in that drink?"

Celeste replied, "It’s the most potent werewolf wine there is. We all took a sip while you were gone, but you drank the whole thing,"

"Potent wine?" She blinked again. This was bad. This was really, really bad.

"And with the amount you invested, you’re gonna keep being drunk for at least five days,"

"Five days?!" She flew to her feet, "Why didn’t you stop me?" She growled.

"You look like you needed it," Aurelius shrugged.

Theo took a step forward to leave, feeling lightheaded. There was a fuzzy feeling in her head, and she suddenly had to squint her eyes to see well.

It actually felt... wonderful.

She had this happy, yet sad feeling inside of her.

As she kept moving, she wasn’t sure whether she was the one swaying or everyone around her was also drunk.

Liam stood up to follow her, but she heard Aurelius say something that had him snatching up Aurelius up by the collar. Suddenly, there was an uproar behind her followed by fists colliding with each other.

Theo sluggishly turned around to see what was going on, but a crowd had already gathered around, blocking her view.

"Liam?" She called softly, "I’m off to the dorm. Goodnight," She said, waving at no one in particular.

When there was no answer, she scratched the back of her head, shrugged and continued moving forward.

The air was heavy with the taste of rain as she walked back to the Eastern dormitory. She stumbled through the narrow gravel path, her boots crunching unevenly as she struggled to keep herself moving straight and her head lolling a little too freely on her neck.

She laughed as she went, but it didn’t reach her eyes, "Probably shouldn’t have drank all of that," She said to herself, then shrugged, "But how was I supposed to know it wasn’t whiskey? It tasted so good," She sluggishly licked her lips.

Something far off, thunder rumbled above. The wind picked up again around here, and she instinctively extended her hand forward, waiting for the rain to begin.

Just then, she caught a faint flicker or movement from her periphery. The kind that made her skin crawl, but instead, she caught herself laughing again.

"If that’s you, Professor," She slurred, pointing at where she had caught the movement, "I swear, I’ll throw my shoe at you...," then she giggled, "Maybe I’ll let you kiss me, too,"

Only the howl and the soft rustle of the wind replied.

"Figures," She said to herself, scratching her temple and she kept moving forward.

Her boots kept dragging as she moved, a drunk rhythm in how she moved. She heard another rumble from above and looked up, grinning at the dark clouds overhead.

The first raindrops fell, splattering on her head and her bare shoulders. She looked down, confused, and realised she was still shirtless.

She looked at her reflection in one of the poodles now forming at her feet, then made a snorting noise that sounded like she didn’t care, then, she giggled.

Just then, her body began to tweak. She could feel that subtle change, the same one that happened whenever she was reverting back.

Her shoulders narrowed, and her breasts spilt out of her chest. The curves of her waist were replaced by the masculine waistline, and very soon, she was staring at her feminine self in the growing puddle.

"Look!" She pointed excitedly, "I’m me again," Then, she looked at her breasts and added lazily, "There you are!"

From the darkness behind her, the shadow moved again and she heard a screeching noise too.

Whatever it was, it was watching her.

She turned around and caught the faint outline of someone-or something - standing in the rain, too. Her gaze was too blurry to make out what it was.

"You’re not Sylas Veylor," She murmured to it, "Professor doesn’t screech, doesn’t have yellow eyes, and he’s super tall, but definitely not this tall," She added and squinted her eyes, "Who are you?"

No answer. Just the rain, and another feeling that made her skin crawl even more.

Especially when it began walking toward her. Silently.

She let out a crooked smile, "You walk funny," She squinted her eyes again, "Is that a tail? Can I keep you?!" She squealed

It was almost before her.

Her heart was beating fast, but the drink was too potent for her alarming senses to fully kick in.

Just then, she felt something wrap around her body and she was lifted off her feet.