by Holly Hook
"When was he turned?" I sniff the air for any sign of him.
As if detecting what I'm doing, Everly faces the surrounding woods. Birds chirp, telling me no predators are in the area.
"Remo doesn't like to talk about it," she says.
"He's quiet."
"His story's dark. Turning him was the only way to save his life. Turned werewolves have trouble accepting the culture and the rules at first, but you'll get used to it." Everly's hazel eyes harden. Now she's giving me the coldness I expect, using it to hide everything else. "And we're not used to taking people in."
"I can see that. Do you think Cayden will ever feel better? Less angry?"
Everly sits on the barrel. "He needs to forgive himself. He told Wyatt not to follow him into the woods on that day. It's not as if he dragged our brother out there and made him fight."
"I need to tell him that," I say. "Where's Remo?" He seems to be the calmest one in the bunch.
"He's been taking off," Everly says. "With him, who knows? I bet he joined the science club. I'm not very happy about that."
"Remo deserves to have a life and invent stuff if he wants. You said he's super smart. Why not use it?"
"He was in the robotics club at his old school," Everly tells me. "And the Savage Wolves found him there. And you know how they like to bait us into fights. We had to move before they could go after the kids he was hanging out with. Our whole family's moved three times in the past five years. I'd like to stop."
"Where did you live before?" I ask.
The wind ruffles all the trees, and the faint smell of Cayden reaches me. He's somewhere to the right, deep in the woods, though not close enough for me to hear yet. His scent's faint, like it's run through five or six filters of pine needles, but he's out there.
"Nova Scotia," Everly says. "Small town. Surrounded by forest. A perfect home. We moved there after saving Remo's life and taking him in. Then the Baltic Wolves followed. They're an old pack of Savage Wolves, too. The first members came from the Baltics somewhere and they've lasted centuries, splitting into different packs along the way. It was them who...never mind." She gets up to go inside.
"You still don't like talking much," I say, stopping her. "So why do the Savage Wolves hate Noble Wolves? Aren't they...aren't we the same?"
"Maybe thousands of years ago," Everly says. "Most of this is legend. Savage Wolves feel like they're the purest werewolves, closest to nature. They're also the ones who hold the biggest grudges against humans, because humans hunted all werewolves in the past. Savages see Nobles as traitors because we teamed up with hunters at times."
I think of the Hunter side of my family. Aunt May mentioned my parents, a hunter and a Noble Wolf, teamed up to eliminate another pack of Savages in the area. The generations before them did the same.
"So we're facing werewolf racism," I say.
"In a way." She turns her gaze from the faded, gray deck. "To Savage Wolves, we're corrupted. A threat to the species. Some Noble Wolves have even stopped transforming to blend into human life. Like your father. To them, our existence means that our kind could one day go extinct."
I shudder. "So they hunt us."
Everly lifts an eyebrow. "Yes. And they won't stop until we're gone. This is why I agree that Cayden's idea about dealing with Olivia with force is the best one we have. Like it or not, even we Nobles have to kill. And so do you. With most human Hunters now gone, we're the only thing standing between mankind and the Savage Wolves who would terrorize and destroy them."
* * * * *
Everly's words hang with me as I enter the woods behind the Lowe property, searching for Cayden now that he's had an hour alone. They settle in my gut as I think of the battle again, and how an ancient instinct took over and helped me fight. In wolf form I had no qualms about using claws and teeth. It came natural. And I know without thinking too much it'll happen again.
Cayden's scent first blows from the west, and then the north as the wind shifts direction. His pure smell strengthens as I follow it around trees, over boulders, and at last, uphill. I realize halfway up the hill he's sitting at the elevated clearing where we fought the Baltic Wolves twice, and where half of his family died at their claws and teeth for the crime of protecting Breck and its people.
He sits on a boulder, chin on his upturned knees and facing away from me. Cayden remains silent, one ear always listening. I pause at the edge of the clearing. He's facing the spot where Wyatt fell, gaze not moving, and I'm not sure if he senses I'm there at first. Even though my feet are graceful and make little noise, he should still be able to detect my footsteps.
Since he doesn't make a move, I sense he's had enough time alone.
"Hey." I sit on the boulder beside him. "Forgive yourself, okay? And I'm sorry I'm being difficult."
Cayden doesn't look at me for seconds, and I worry I've overstepped his boundary when he speaks. "I should, but I can't. And I know you don't want to hurt Olivia."
The light's fading now. The sky's overcast, leaving us in gloom. "I don't. But I know I will if I have to and that scares me. Look at what I did before." My thoughts turn to Noah and how devastated he'll be if Olivia leaves town or worse, dies. "Will she want to exterminate us if she becomes a Savage Wolf?"
"Maybe not at first," Cayden says, "but their hatred is poison. It infects people just like their bites can. She'll find her community soon enough."
"So Everly was right," I say. "I don't think you're the first Noble Wolves to hide here. My dad's side of the family did. Maybe others. Why are there so many Wolves in Breck?"
"My father might have known, but he wouldn't tell us everything. He said Breck was a last haven and probably our last chance."
"I know what that's like," I say, scooting to Cayden so our thighs touch. "My Aunt May doesn't tell me much, either. Then again, she blended in with human society her entire life. I think my family's got a lot of secrets." My chest hurts as I think of all the relatives I never got to meet, human or otherwise.
"Well, I can't ask my parents why we moved here to Breck," Cayden says.
He speaks as if someone's holding a knife in his heart.
I wrap my arm around him. "I can't ask my parents anything, either. And I'm just plain sorry. It sucks."
Cayden leans on me and lets me hold him up. He's new to this pain, just as I'm new to this whole werewolf thing. We're puzzle pieces as the sun sets, and if we break apart now, we'll crumble.
Chapter Eight
At school the next morning, Tuesday, Cayden meets me by the main doors. All traces of the hurt animal have vanished from his gaze, leaving the beautiful greens and golds of the forest during the summer. A crisp breeze blows dead leaves across the parking lot and two girls from the Key Club struggle to hang an orange-and-black plastic garland over the front doors for the Spooktacular Dance. A gust forces one girl to drop her end, and it waves like a windsock and hits Cayden in the face.
But instead of grimacing and stalking away, he leaps off the pavement and seizes the rogue garland. He grins. "Got it. Here you go."
The girl blushes as he hands her the end. She takes it and Cayden faces me, smiling as he waves me inside. We walk away from the rumbling buses still dropping people off and towards my locker.
"You're in a good mood today," I say, glad to see it.
Cayden hikes up his backpack, but it's more for show. He can't look too strong in a school of normal people.
"I don't ever want to growl at you again. You're my equal and I don't care what tradition says."
"I know you're going through a lot," I say. "Some of it was my fault."
Cayden looks ahead. "I never asked to be al—to be the leader of this." Hand in hand, we walk through a thick crowd of people. "I didn't think it would happen once we got to Breck. Dad said we'd stay safe. Maybe he tried to make a treaty with the Savages because he thought we were out of places to run. If we convinced them we wouldn't threaten them, maybe the Baltic Wolves would leave us alone."
He'
s changed in more ways than I suspected. Cayden's thinking more and planning before he acts. "You're doing fine," I tell him.
"I don't know about that. We'll see." Then Cayden freezes by the water fountain and next to an orange Spooktacular Dance flyer. "There she is."
Though scents swirl through the halls, of breakfasts, coat fabric, paper, and a variety of others, one stands out: makeup. Olivia must wear a top-notch brand, because it smells more like scented clay—natural—than the chemicals wafting off most of the girls.
She stands down the hall, leaning against her locker with her back to us.
And standing on the other side of her is Matthew. He can't keep his gaze off Olivia's curves as she speaks.
"So...the dance. I was wondering if you wanted to go. If you're fine with picking me up."
"I'll show you what I have on offer," Matthew says, lifting one eyebrow. "You'll get the ride of your life." Then he laughs as if he's just made the best joke in the history of the world.
Olivia pulls back like she's cringing. "I heard you have a new car."
"BMW, baby," he says. "Fully paid for, complete with a premium, upgraded package."
Then I see Tiffany and the other so-called friend, Alesha, peeking out of the open Foods room door and trying to watch the happenings. Alesha holds up her phone, recording Olivia and Matthew. I ball my fists, wanting to yank both out and throw them out of the school.
Why am I feeling any sympathy for Olivia? She's still a brat and no one's forcing her to ask Matthew out.
"So, costumes?" Olivia asks, trying to change the subject. "I was planning to go as--"
"Costumes are for losers," Matthew says. "Can you believe some of these people still dress up like pirates and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches?"
"Come on. Don't you want to have fun? Even adults dress up for Halloween. And Ryan won the costume contest last year."
"He was a sandwich."
I'm shocked to hear Olivia defending Ryan, one of the theater nerds.
"What's up?"
Noah steps up beside me and smiles, but only because he hasn't seen the new developments yet.
I go to step in front of him, but Noah follows Cayden's stare to Olivia.
Watching his face fall guts me. "Oh, crap. Matthew. I was hoping you weren't right. I didn't think he was the guy Olivia would ask out."
And Olivia still isn't wearing the silver pendant.
Cayden shoots me a sad look as the warning bell rings and people all around us rush to class. Bodies brush me. Olivia waves goodbye to Matthew and joins her friends at the door of the Foods room.
Already the air thickens between us. "She's going to the dance in a vehicle that'll pick her up from behind closed gates," Cayden says.
"Huh?" Noah asks.
"Nothing," I supply. We're shutting him out and I feel bad.
But Noah doesn't notice. He won't take his gaze off Olivia as she rounds the corner with the shallow girls. Alesha shares the video on her phone with Tiffany as if the two didn't already watch the disaster live. And Matthew stands there and watches with a stupid, smug grin on his face.
"I can't let her go out with Matthew," Noah mutters.
Cayden shakes his head at me before I can open my mouth and say anything. Getting Noah to try asking her out instead will put him in danger, and not just from Olivia. Matthew's a big threat.
But Noah might be the only one who can get her to wear the pendant.
Matthew still wears his smug grin once we all get into class. He saunters in as the bell rings. Cayden and I exchange a glance as he sits in the middle of the room, two seats in front of Olivia. Though Cayden and I still have to sit across the room from each other, thanks to him changing his seating with Mrs. Connors a while back, we can still communicate a lot through eye contact.
Cayden eyes Matthew.
Then he nods back at me.
Noah, fishing through his backpack for an assignment, doesn't notice. He slaps his paper down on the table, shaking it and turning the head of the guy sitting in front of us.
"Sorry," Noah says.
Olivia glances at him. As soon as I look at her, she goes back to her book.
Then Cayden bites his lip, facing Matthew's back.
I get it.
To keep an eye on and maybe protect Olivia, we need to get Matthew out of the way.
Cayden's changing his tune, and without asking, I know it's for me.
* * * * *
"Now he's sitting with her," Noah grumbles at lunch. "I hate that guy."
He watches Matthew force himself beside Olivia in the cafeteria. She eyes him as he gives her a stupid grin. Tiffany is already sitting there, and he wants her seat, but the shallow girl smiles and gets up, carrying her heavy backpack without his offer of help.
Then Matthew plops down beside Olivia.
"We all know what he has in mind," Noah says. "He makes all men look bad."
"I agree," I say.
"Are you and Cayden having problems?" Noah asks out of the blue.
I face him. "Problems?"
"The two of you seem...tense."
"It's still there, huh? We're getting over them. Cayden's never had a girlfriend before." I keep my voice down as I face the Lowe table. Are we? Cayden is still the alpha, but I can't tell Noah.
It appears Cayden's still in the lunch line. Before lunch, we agreed to split up today and keep an eye on Olivia, just in case she smells like a Savage Wolf.
Cayden sits on the other side of the room and Everly joins him. Remo's missing in action today and I spot Cayden leaning around, hunting for his adopted brother. Remo's never refused to show at the table before so I find it odd he's not beside his siblings.
Noah jabs his food with his plastic fork while he watches Olivia.
"You know," I say. "Maybe it's not a good idea to go near her if she's willing to go out with Matthew. Shows her standards. How do you know she's not just going to use you for something? Olivia's only going out with Matthew because of his car. And those awful girls."
Noah glares at me.
Instead of having the desired effect, I've hit his buttons.
"You don't know her. I know she doesn't want to go out with Matthew." Fierce determination fills his eyes. "She's just doing it because those stupid friends of hers are telling her to."
"Noah," I say, thinking of Cayden's warnings about putting him in danger. Instead of steering him to safety, I'm pushing him toward danger. "I know you like Olivia, but she's not the same person anymore. I've tried to see it."
"You won't give her a chance."
"Believe me, I tried."
Noah gets up from the table. All his frustration and disappointment rises with him. "Olivia hit a rough patch when her parents got divorced back in junior high. Did you forget?"
"That's not an excuse to treat everyone like crap." Anger fills me. A growl starts in the back of my throat and threatens to escape, so I get up and grab my books and my tray. I have to leave. "Maybe we'd better cool off."
Noah nods. "Agree." He stalks over to the door, staring at Olivia and Matthew the whole time.
Matthew has his hand on Olivia's back and it creeps downward by the second.
Chapter Nine
I text Noah as I leave the Money Management classroom with Cayden.
"He might not ask Olivia out," Cayden says.
"You didn't see how he got at lunch. Noah's determined. I hate dashing his hopes but I don't want him to get hurt from Olivia or Matthew. Respond, Noah!" I hold the phone up and wait for him. Noah gets back right away after school, but now he's ignoring me. We've cooled off long enough. He should respond by now.
"I know you did," Cayden says. He slams his fist into a locker, making the metal bang. "It's hard to figure out what to do."
Waiting for the surrounding crowds to clear, I say, "But you're the alpha."
Instead of placating him, Cayden takes a sharp breath. "Exactly," Cayden says. "It's stressful. We have the duty of protecting Breck. Even s
topping the dance won't stop Olivia from turning."
"You seem sure she will," I say.
"The Baltic Wolves expect her to," Cayden says. "Who else took her medical records?"
"And we still have poor Oscar's," I say, trying to lighten the mood. "We should mail it back to the hospital before he dies from a medical error."
"Remo already did," Cayden says.
"He's bright." Then I turn my thoughts to Leonora and her naturalist family living back in the woods. "I might have an idea. The girl I work with at Sterling Grocery does herbs. No, not that way. Her family grows them. Maybe we could just weaken Olivia with wolfsbane and keep her from going to the dance? Make her sick enough not to go. Then, we keep an eye on her."
Cayden's eyes flash, but he breathes out. "Instinct tells me to fight her," he says, "but that might be an idea. You found an old vial of wolfsbane in your attic box, right?"
"Right." My stomach turns. Once, I tried to poison Cayden, just a little, to see if he'd react to wolfsbane. That was before I realized it was poisonous to everyone, not just werewolves, and that the vial Leonora gave me was foxglove, another toxic plant.
"Is something wrong?" Cayden asks.
"No," I say. "Well, everything is, but I still hate the idea of hurting Olivia. Even if I hate her."
"Weakening her may be a good idea. A secondary defense. Maybe you should go and talk to Leonora."
"I will," I say.
"Do you want me to come with you?" Cayden's eager to undo yesterday's mess.
"If you want," I say. "But I don't know if Leonora's family will trust someone new. They're even more reclusive than your family."
He lifts an eyebrow. "Really?"
"Cayden. Oh, and Brie."
I whirl to see Mr. Saffron, the drama teacher, shuffling toward us. Sweat beads on his temples as if he's huffed across the whole school. Something's bothering him.
"Mr. Saffron?" I ask.
"You've probably heard how we're having some costumed people perform at the Spooktacular Dance?" He frowns.