by Holly Hook
"Is it Alan?" I have to state the obvious.
Tyler sets me down and I get my footing, still dizzy from the trip and the happenings of the day. "I'll see you later, Beckah. Just calm my nerves and tell me you'll stay inside." As he speaks, he draws close.
We're about a hundred feet from the back of Gia's cabin. A light is on inside. My cousin is home early, but I don't catch any food smells. "Okay. I'll go in and stay inside until school tomorrow."
Tyler pauses and sniffs. Instantly his shoulders rise as if he's detected something. "Can you skip tomorrow?" He leans forward.
"Skip? I'll fall behind."
He breathes out. "I don't know what's happening yet, just that it's not good. Please, Beckah."
My heart thumps. I can't do that. But dying or getting cursed isn't an option, either. Neither will be good for my college applications, will they?
But I can't deny Tyler's fear.
"I'll see if I can stay home," I say.
"Thank you." Tyler wraps me in a quick hug. "I'll let you know when it's safe to walk to school again."
He's shaking.
"Safe? It's Alan, isn't it?"
"I have to go," Tyler says, clawing at the sleeve of his shirt like he wants to rip it off. "I'll mark the area around your cabin and keep everyone away. But you have to stay put."
A shift is coming.
And I back away, a part of me not wanting to see this perfect guy morph into a pack animal. The reality crashes into me and propels me toward the house. Until now, I knew Tyler was a werewolf, but now I really know. And the world he lives in is a dangerous one.
He runs through the trees as a terrifying growl rips from his throat. It's full of that anger I heard when I told him about Gavin earlier. Anger, and maybe animal terror. Something out of Tyler's control.
I run to the cabin, turning my attention to the apology I owe Gia. It's the only way I can stay sane. Yes. I missed dinner and inconvenienced her.
She is home, maybe an hour early.
"Beckah." She rises from her spot at the kitchen table, leaving a mug of black coffee behind. Before she sweeps me in a hug, I can see that her eyes are red.
"Did something happen?" I ask.
She's shaking. "The police ordered the store to close for the evening. All the other businesses, too. There was...there was a horrible death downtown about an hour ago."
Gia's shaking as if she's never heard of this sort of thing before. And then I realize: she hasn't. This is Tower, Montana, not New York City. A town like this has probably never had a murder since the pioneer days. At least, not one that made it to public record.
I take a sharp breath, mind wandering to the tan wolf.
"A death? Was someone robbed or shot or—"
"Mauled," Gia finishes.
"A mauling? You mean, like a bear or something? A grizzly?"
"The police don't know what did it. It was Ed Sharpling. An animal got him. He's...he's gone. You might have seen him hanging around the bar with his friend. He's been there every day for the past fifteen years and now he's gone." Gia releases me. "He comes into the market for smokes every day. I can't believe it."
A mauling.
An animal.
And with Alan out there, that idea is more terrifying than a shooter.
"Sit down," I tell my cousin. I push her down into her chair and take the coffee away. "Maybe some chamomile tea is in order. No caffeine."
Gia nods. "Maybe."
My own heart races as I start a pot of water on the stove and fish out the tea bags. "Did anyone see what it was?"
"His friend Doug managed to get in his vehicle and he's unhurt. He's traumatized. The police don't know what it was yet," Gia says. She grips the table. I hate seeing this strong, independent woman breaking down like this. "I imagine they'll have to call in someone who can figure it out."
"They'll find what it was," I say, hoping I'm right. I watch the water slowly come to a boil. "Try to breathe."
That's odd of me to say, because I can't.
Someone's dead.
And I think I know why.
I want to vomit. I shouldn't have come here. When Dad asked me to come, I could have said no. Fought more than I did. Worked with Mom to remain at the apartment. And then none of this would have happened, right?
I give Gia some tea and make my own glass. Neither one of us is hungry or wants to cook. We sit together in the living room and watch the low drone of the TV for a while, and I force my nerves to calm. But that does no good. A migraine blooms between my temples and I have to go to bed. Gia agrees.
"I don't know if it will be safe for me to work tomorrow," she mutters.
"I might have to stay home from school, if that's fine with you," I say. "Yeah, I should go, but tomorrow might be an exception." Tension crawls into my shoulders as I think of skipping.
I know I'm being unreasonable on myself.
But I can't stop.
And the headache remains when I wake to pouring rain the next morning, and rolling over sends a wave of throbbing pain across my skull and in a ring of fire around my right eye.
"Thanks, guilt," I mutter. "I guess I have a legit excuse not to go to school now."
"Beckah?" Gia appears in my doorway, concerned, after I don't meet her in the kitchen.
"I can't. Get up," I mutter, squeezing my eyes shut to the tune of raindrops.
"No offense, but your eyes look terrible. They're red."
"Migraine," I say.
"Stay there," Gia orders.
I want to unload my problems because I feel like it'll help, but it's clear that my cousin has enough on her mind. Will Gia be able to afford to miss a day of work? So I stay quiet as she brings me an old ice pack, one meant for a lunchbox, wrapped in a towel. I also get some complementary pain relievers that probably won't touch the storm between my temples, but I'm grateful. "Thanks, Gia."
"You'd better stay here. I'll be inside with you, too. The police brought in a bit of backup and they're searching the area. The verdict so far is wild dogs or wolves."
I rise, trying to ignore the pain. "Wild dogs or wolves?"
"Mrs. Bellows from the cabin next door told me this morning. They called in some park rangers to search the area. Hunters are joining in, too. At the very least, they can scare the animals away for good, but they're all saying it's a good idea to stay home, if you can, until tomorrow. They've got to make sure the animals aren't still in the area. Not everyone can stay home, of course." She bites her lip. "School is still open, if you're asking. A lot of parents can't stay home with their kids today."
"There's no way I can go to school and focus." That just means working extra hard tomorrow when I'm feeling better.
And now I'm worrying about Tyler.
The park rangers and hunters won't care that he didn't maul the guy in front of the bar. They'll just see wolf and shoot. Can werewolves die from regular bullets or do they have to be the silver variety? I groan and close my eyes, hating that I can do nothing about it.
Is Tyler out there now, running around as a wolf in the driving rain, hunting Alan?
What if the police mistake him for the real killer? What kind of description did Doug give the police?
Will Alan die because of me? It's hard to believe that tan monster was once a small, beaten and abused boy, "saved" by Tyler several years ago.
Gia brings me breakfast which I can barely eat, but after I take several bites I feel a bit better. At least I can sit up and roll over without excruciating pain. Tension crawls into my shoulders as my bedside clock tells me that school is about to start.
"I know I'm slacking," I say to Gia when she comes back to collect my breakfast. Really, she doesn't have to do that part.
"You are not," she says. "Beckah, I've known you for a few weeks, and I can tell you're hard on yourself."
"I am not."
"Look. When one has a migraine, one lies in bed and moans in pain until it's gone. Next, you'll be wanting to go to school wit
h a toothache."
Gia has a point. I've suffered through enough of these monster headaches at Averly which thankfully has a good infirmary full of amazing drugs and students' prescriptions. Tower won't have that luxury.
But Tyler—
"I don't get to see my friends," I mutter, realizing how lame that sounds. I've got to stay here for today. Tyler will be upset if I go to school.
And I have a wonderful invention called a cell phone. I can check on Marion and Gavin.
"I know. There's not much to do here, is there?" Gia asks. "You garden, you drink, or you hunt. Some people do all three." A ghost of a smile plays on her face.
"Or work at Rose Ranch," I mutter.
A dark look comes over Gia's face. "Yes. That, too."
And then she storms out of the room.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
Maybe my guilt is still playing at me, but I sleep for much of that day, aided by the rain and my exhaustion from the day before. Then I wake at four A.M the next morning, body heavy from having stayed in bed for too long, but at least the migraine is gone.
"Yay," I mutter, sitting up before the panic socks me again.
Tyler.
I still haven't heard from him.
I'm sitting here while he could still be risking his life...or worse.
I swallow. "Get up, Beckah. Yeah, it's four in the morning, but you've got to get to school as early as possible." Tyler told me to wait here for his word, for his all clear, but I can't stay home for another day. Already I'm falling behind and I can't bear to sit here, not knowing what's going on.
But he wanted me to stay.
A storm of frustration builds inside of me as I pace around my room and peek out of my curtains, hoping for a glimpse of a dark wolf with rusty highlights. None. The trees are black, the sky is black, and everything else out there is a void. I shut my curtains as a shudder races up my spine.
"I'm going to school, then," I say, but I feel no less sure about my decision.
Shoving my bear spray into that pocket of my backpack, I wait. Despite it being so early, I'm fully awake and rested.
And at last, as the first morning light peeks through the trees, someone knocks on the front door of Gia's cabin.
My heart leaps and I sling my backpack over my shoulders, hoping that I look normal for whatever's about to come. Gia's still in bed, sleeping soundly. I wish I had the enhanced senses that Tyler has. So I have to settle for peeking out of the brown curtains to the front porch of the cabin.
It's Marion.
Alone.
And well before school.
I open the door for her, breathing a sigh of relief and regretting it right away.
"What's wrong?" she asks. "You were gone."
"Nothing," I say quickly. "I had a migraine yesterday and couldn't get out of bed. My cousin was great, though." Why is Marion here? "Thanks for stopping by and checking on me. I'm good to go back in today."
Marion breathes her own sigh of relief, but her slumped shoulders only stay down for a bit. Then she looks directly at me and pushes her glasses up her nose. "Things got weird at school yesterday and people are talking. First the mauling happened the day before last, and then, well, you'll see."
"They're always weird," I say, trying to calm myself down. My heart's racing and I know I'm about to hear about Tyler.
"True," Marion says. "But they're really weird. Like, Level 15 weird when it was just a Level 7 before." At least she's admitting that Tower is not a normal place.
"What's going on?" I wish she'd just tell me. I lean against the door frame for support.
Marion takes my arm. "You'll have to see. If we get there early enough, we'll get front row seats to the show."
I don't like this one bit. But I can't hold back a certain truth anymore, no matter how freaked out Marion is going to react. I lock the cabin door behind me, securing Gia inside, and decide that skipping breakfast is the way to go this morning. There's no way I can eat, anyway.
I follow Marion down the long driveway. Thankfully, she doesn't suggest cutting through the woods. I haven't seen any other Tower residents hiking the trails around here other than the Rose Pack. It's as if they know to avoid them like the plague.
"No other signs of wild dogs?" I ask.
"No. Not at all. The rangers and hunters have been searching the whole area, so I'm sure they're gone by now," Marion says. "There haven't been any more sightings. We've all been walking to school in groups, and I know you have that can of bear spray in your backpack, so I figured I'd walk with you." Marion lives about half a mile farther from school than I do, and I now know she passes my house on the way to Tower High.
"Good idea." They're gone? As in, more than one wild dog or wolf is gone? "Was Tyler at school yesterday?"
The question makes her stop and whirl to face me. "Have you been...talking to him?" But she doesn't let her jaw drop. In fact, Marion doesn't seem surprised.
Wow. She's observant. "I've been quiet about it, but we've been doing homework after school together, and no, I haven't died from it. Tyler is not a bad guy."
There. It's out.
"I thought you might be," Marion breathes. "I don't know whether to feel horrified or relieved."
"Your horror is not justified," I say, eager to defend Tyler. "People are just scared of the unknown." It's the curse, I want to tell her. It made everyone in Tower turn away from Tyler, including his own parents.
"Well, I'm glad you got that out," Marion says. "I was worried."
Another thing is eating at me. "Don't tell Gavin. Was Tyler at school yesterday?"
"No. The whole Rose Gang was missing. But there were a couple of new guys in class, and everyone's wondering where the heck they came from."
Pressure settles onto my chest and I can't breathe. "New guys?" The Rose Pack obviously sensed something off the night before last, and I wonder if these new people have something to do with it.
"Yeah. You'll see."
Marion and I walk to school in silence. We both eye the trees. The two guys are missing from in front of the bar, and the tiny police station has a couple of park ranger SUV's parked in front of it. The whole mood just seems subdued.
Marion's told me everything she can. Something went down yesterday and might still be going down. Thankfully, the rain has stopped and the sun is coming out, but that only makes the woods surrounding downtown look darker. We pass the alleys of downtown and I wonder where Mom and Dad had their first argument.
But my thoughts shift to Tyler as we pass Rose Ranch and approach Tower High School.
People are already gathered outside, but even from a distance I can see that almost everyone is standing near the building, huddled around the side entrance in groups. Usually, people stand in their cliques, scattered around the parking lot, but not today.
"Okay. That is weird," I say, scanning the parking lot for any sign of Tyler. Sure, he and the pack typically hang out in the cafeteria building or inside the school before classes start, but I check anyway. Nothing.
Tyler could be—
The whole Rose Pack could be—
If they were, the park rangers and police would have said something. Unless something else got to—
"It's the new guys," Marion breathes.
She's looking at the old, non-functioning bus still nestled in weeds on the far side of the parking lot. The faded yellow frames three figures leaning against the old metal. It's them who seem to have created a gulf between themselves and the rest of Tower High School.
Two guys, probably seniors, stand with their fronts pointed in our direction, and I can tell from here that they're rugged types who look ready to graduate from Lumberjack Academy. One of them even has a beard that he's clearly been putting effort into and he's wearing a plaid shirt, much like Marion's, that hangs over the front of his faded jeans. His bulging muscles push out against the sleeves of his shirt, and his meaty arms are crossed in a manner that warns everyone not to mess with him. The other new g
uy has a military buzz cut and he's wearing camouflage pants and a hunter orange shirt. They're almost Gavin types.
Almost.
Because Gavin doesn't give off an air of dread like these guys do. I don't judge people by their looks, but the irrational sense of dread that sweeps over me pushes me back into Marion, who cries out and almost falls into the weeds growing on the side of the road.
"Yeah. They're like the Rose Gang, aren't they?" she asks. "Oh. Wait. You don't get that feeling from them like I do."
"I do now," I gasp, eyeing the third person near the bus who has his back to us, talking to the new guys.
I can't miss the leather jacket and tattooed head. The proud posture. The way that he sways foot to foot, just waiting for something to happen.
It's Alan.
He's back, and I know instantly that he's brought reinforcements.
CHAPTER TWENTY
"Can we go inside?" I ask Marion, hurrying my step to the school.
I should probably go back home to the cabin, but Gia has work all day and I'll be alone. I try to make my rational mind work. How is Alan back? Are those other two guys werewolves? Are there other werewolves out there, and do they all give off a sense of dread like this?
One thing is clear.
I'm affected by the two new guys just as much as Marion is, because we match each other's paces as we race to join the safety of the herd.
"Where's Tyler?" I hiss, panic rising in my chest.
"I don't know. Everyone's talking about these guys and making rumors about gang wars," Marion says.
Yes. The rumors must be flying. We join the other students at the front door, and everyone talks in hushed whispers. Meanwhile, Alan and the new guys keep to themselves near the bus. Alan hasn't seen me yet, or at least he's giving no indication that he has.
Lulling me into a false sense of security, I think.
I've got to stay near Marion and Gavin for the entire day. I've broken my promise, but Tyler might not have expected Alan to bring backup. I can't stay in the cabin forever.
"We have to go inside," I say. Is this how Tyler makes most people feel? Yikes.