Chapter 4 - Marian
I left home at 5 am, and after an hour of jogging, I stopped and started walking instead or, more accurately, I got so lost in thought I didn't realize I'd stopped jogging.
The fresh morning air, the fog drifting through the trees, and the comforting silence were precisely what I thought I needed, but my chaotic thoughts were still running rampant.
Three days ago, I saw Dorian, and since then, I haven’t been able to stop thinking about him. I hadn’t even been to the pack since because I didn’t want to run into him. What would I say?
Nothing, I told myself. I'd say nothing because I knew I'd lose it the second I started talking.
We’d met during a party in town, and after literally bumping into each other, it was downhill from there. No one had ever made me laugh as much as he had, which was crazy because he didn’t look like someone that joked around.
He was reserved and one of those people who only smiled when needed. But whenever he did, it drew the attention of everyone. He didn’t need to be openly friendly because his actions spoke for him. He was charming when he needed to be and always willing to give a helping hand. I wanted nothing with him.
I was showered with affection, and I fell for him fast and hard.
We were together for almost two years but only physically together for a few months before he left Wolfcreek to join the police academy. Those months before he left, those few months of pure happiness had felt like an eternity. His son, Nikoli, was so sweet and a fantastic kid, and now I had no idea what he looked like.
I’d encouraged Dorian to go. It was a longtime dream of his, and I supported him through it all. Nikoli even stayed with me sometimes and went back and forth between the pack because even though Dorian was away, I loved that little boy as if he were mine.
With Dorian joining the force, I’d postponed going to college to stay with Nikoli. His father had just left and couldn't visit often, and I couldn’t leave. I just couldn't. Then after a few months, Dorian started to change.
It started with us speaking less, and then he enrolled Nikoli in a boarding school in Switzerland. At the end of the day, he was Nikoli’s father, and I wasn't his actual mom. I had no say in the matter, but it was heartbreaking to have them both leave. My relationship with Dorian had started to get rocky, and it worsened after Nikoli left.
Whenever we spoke, we argued until, eventually, weeks went by during which we wouldn't talk and not for lack of trying on my part. Then Dorian admitted he was promoted to the Hunter division, a collection of the most skilled from various species who’d hunt dark creatures.
I wasn't surprised he'd climbed so far in such a short time, but it was a dangerous and gory job being a Hunter, and I’d hated the idea, which was why he had waited so long to tell me.
Plus, the initial plan was that he’d return home and work in the neighboring town after graduating. So I didn’t mind waiting for him. I loved him and his passion for protecting lives, just as he was protective of Nikoli and me.
Once he returned, I’d be able to go to college, but he sent Nikoli away and got promoted to a division where unknown amounts of time would go by without seeing him. Still, I was willing to wait, I would have been glad to do my courses online in order for Nikoli to remain in Wolfcreek with his family, but every suggestion I made, Dorian objected.
I couldn't get through to him, but it wasn’t just his new promotion that pushed us apart. We were drifting apart emotionally, or at least he was until he called it quits one day. He told me he simply didn't see a future for us anymore, and as consumed by love as I was, I told him that wasn't true.
I told him we could make it work, and I kept pushing, but he pushed back. I didn’t stop until the day he said he didn’t love me anymore.
I stopped walking and touched my cheek to find that I was crying. Frowning, I wiped the tears away.
I wasn’t sure why I was crying because all of this happened so long ago. I left for college and worked for the life I'd initially wanted before meeting Dorian. He was living as he wished, and I moved on and did the same. I’d healed from his betrayal but seeing him after so long was like opening a chest of old photos and memories and remembering things I’d forced myself to forget.
After taking several breaths, I closed my eyes.
“The past doesn’t matter,” I whispered to myself. “Not anymore.”
When the bushes on my left rustled, I stopped to stare, but there was nothing. I looked around for a second and stared behind me, but there was no other jogger on the trail. When I faced forward, a scream was torn from my lips that surely woke up the remaining sleepy animals in the forest.
A man standing ahead of me raised his hands as soon as I screamed.
"I'm so sorry," he said, and through my panic, I realized it was the vampire I'd met a few days ago. "I didn't mean to startle you."
I placed my hand over my heart. “You probably wouldn’t have if you’d approached me like a normal person and not just appeared out of thin air.”
"I apologize, but I didn’t expect to find anyone out here so early," he replied, and I walked forward until I was standing closer to him.
“It’s all good,” I told him. “I wasn’t either.”
Just like before, I was struck by how handsome he was, but there was no sexual attraction like I'd felt before. It was simply gone, but I could definitely acknowledge how gorgeous he was. He was wearing a deep blue t-shirt and jeans.
“Having a morning jog, yeah?" He asked, and I nodded.