Bite the Big Heartache (Monstrana Paranormal Romance 2)

“Not until I do this.” He walked up to the cameras and turned them on to record. Snatching his abandoned microphone, he held it up to his mouth. “Will this thing work?”

“Yes...” She slid off the bed and stood, watching him quizzically. “What are you doing?”

“What I should’ve done the moment you got into town.” He threw himself into the chair and turned to the winking eye of the camera. “This is William Finley, werewolf and ex-alpha leader of the Sitka pack, here to tell you exactly what happened. Nothing held back. An all-exclusive interview with Princess Anastasia Pavlosky.”

“Billy...” Stasia edged toward the other chair and sat down. “You don’t have to do this.”

“But I do.” He sucked in his cheeks. “You wanted to know exactly what happened to Esther? I’ll tell you.”

Pain wracked his face and he had to turn away for a second. But when he returned to facing her, steel glinted in his eyes.

“I arrived in Alaska a naive young man. My father had set up an arranged marriage between myself and a young woman named Esther Okpik. She was the daughter of the old Sitka alpha.” He exhaled slowly. “And she was beautiful. Hair as dark as a raven’s feathers. Eyes like polished opals. Skin as soft as the calf leather in a 1976 Corvette. Not to mention, a mind as sharp as a tack and an overwhelming love for her pack. I thought I had it easy. After all, who wouldn’t fall in love with a woman like that?”

Stasia sat back in her chair. Her stomach felt like it’d been filled with lead. There was a foreboding in Billy’s tone, a sign of worse things yet to come. If this had been a horror movie, she would’ve covered her eyes.

Billy worked his jaw and held the microphone closer to his mouth. “It didn’t hit me all at once. I’m not sure if it was a few weeks or months into my time in Alaska before I realized it, but I couldn’t love her. There was a blockage in my heart. Something from the past holding me back. Esther knew before I did. As our marriage date loomed closer, she began to wilt. The idea of a loveless marriage became less of a saving grace for her pack and more of a suffocating prison cell with iron bars.”

He turned his head away. His eyes glistened with angry tears. Stasia wanted to close the distance between them and take him in her arms. Press her lips to his temple. Stroke his head and tell him that everything would be okay. But she clasped her hands tight in her lap and resisted the urge.

“The night of the attack, we’d argued,” he said with a disgusted sigh. “She wanted out of the deal and needed my mutual consent to break the supernatural contract. I wouldn’t budge. My father had set this into motion and I was determined to see his last work finished. The pack needed me and we were already making such strides. I didn’t realize my stubbornness was sentencing her to an early death.”

Stasia leaned forward. Her mouth fell open in voiceless words. She couldn’t believe what Billy was saying. He couldn’t blame himself for that woman’s death. It had been the hunters.

Surely, he could see that.

She should’ve cut him off. Turned off the cameras and told him enough was enough. This wasn’t healthy. He needed to talk to someone. Work through his grief and guilt. But she just couldn’t bring herself to move from her seat.

“When the hunters came, I ordered Esther to lead the others to safety.” He chewed on his tongue and grimaced. “I should’ve known she wouldn’t listen. She was so stubborn and after everything that had happened between us that night, she almost seemed determined to throw herself into harm’s way. She attacked and the hunters caught her. I tried my best to save her. But my best wasn’t good enough. When the dust settled, I cradled her in my arms. She didn’t even fight to survive. Her will to live was gone. The light faded from her eyes like the last few rays of a sunset. And then, she was gone.”

His brow knit together in anguish and he turned to stare directly into the camera lens. “Now, you see it. I couldn’t love her. My heart has always belonged to anoth

er. A girl I loved in my youth, who I would never betray. Not even two decades later. And because of my stubborn pride, I am responsible for Esther’s death and the end of the Sitka pack.”

It felt like the wind had been knocked from Stasia’s lungs. She watched Billy toss his microphone back on his chair and march out of the room, the door slamming behind him. She clasped a hand to her chest and willed herself to breathe, tears springing once again to her eyes.

It was no wonder Billy had evaded all her questions about Esther. He still carried a heavy burden on his shoulders. A burden that also partially belonged to Stasia.

She stood suddenly and crossed over to the first camera. Rewinding through the tape, she found the beginning of Billy’s heart-wrenching confession. This would make great TV. Mr. Treckle would fall at her feet for delivering such juicy footage. The werewolf who murdered his fiancée with a broken heart. Headlines like that sold out newspapers. They filled chairs of theaters and kept evening viewers glued to their TV sets.

And better yet, the supernatural world would finally know her not simply as a princess, but as a hard-wired TV producer and late night interviewer. All her hard work would pay off. On the bottom floor of the studio today and in a corner office tomorrow. She could pick and choose the stories she wanted to do. Have her own team. Truly make a difference in this world outside of stuffy royal conventions and meaningless politics.

Her hands trembled as she fiddled with the camera, pressing a few buttons and popping out the memory card. She did the same thing with the other camera and went to her computer to upload the clips. Within a few minutes, they were ready and she attached all but one in an email addressed to Myra and Mr. Treckle.

Here are the raw clips of the interview with Mr. Finley. There’s nothing to add about the fiancée’s death. Mr. Finley and I have agreed to wrap up the assignment.

Sincerely,

Stasia

After sending the email, Stasia opened up the memory cards. She deleted the clips of Billy’s confession, forever erasing them from the prying eyes of the world. Staring at the bright screen, she said a quiet goodbye to her career and all the dreams she’d built over the years.

She could only imagine how Mr. Treckle was going to respond when he read her email. Would he fire her the moment she walked into the studio next week? Or would he let the fear fester, allowing her to believe she was safe, until kicking her out on her rear weeks later? She wouldn’t put it above him.

All she knew was that she couldn’t share those last few minutes of the tape with anyone. Billy didn’t deserve that. He hadn’t killed his fiancée, even if he felt differently. She knew that. He was a good man. An honorable man.

Stasia hopped back into bed and pulled the comforters over her head. She wished her mom was there to tell her everything was going to be okay. As a child, her parents would check under her bed for monsters and tuck the sheets around her body for extra comfort at night. She could use a bit of babying at that moment.

The only monster in the room tonight was her. A werewolf princess who had crushed a boy of only seventeen because of her own insecurities and fears. As a result, Billy had closed off his heart to all others and in the end, paid a heavy price for loving such a foolish girl.