by Holly Hook
I might have to. Being a good Mom, she will not want me to go through with this plan. I'll have to convince her to allow me, that if she tries to stop me, I'm doomed.
So I lead Tyler out of the room, hand still on his back, and to my shock, Mom doesn't try to stop me from gathering his clothes and taking them to the room he's in. I close the door and allow him to shift back into human form, hating that he had to put himself through so much pain just to prove a point, but we're past a hurdle. When I go back out into the living room and wait for Tyler to dress, the rest of the Rose Gang is standing there, lingering between the kitchen and the living room and eyeing Mom. Of course, they've heard what happened, and they don't want to leave Mom or Tyler alone.
Mom's sitting on the couch, face in her hands.
"How is she?" Valerie asks.
"Fine?" I sing-song, echoing her tone.
And Mom laughs again. "Oh," she says at last, rising. "The coffee. Great. Now I'm focusing on that."
I clear my throat. "Don't feel bad. When I found out what Tyler was, he asked me to go inside his vacation cabin and grab his clothes."
Mom slaps her hand over her mouth and blushes. "You saw him naked?"
"Mom!" I shout. "Let's just talk about werewolves." Tyler can hear this. How embarrassing.
"I can't believe this," Gia says as Valerie cracks a grin.
"We're dealing with our stress the best we can," I say. "Yeah. Let's do coffee, and Gia and I will tell you all about the Rose Pack and the things we are dealing with. Tyler's parents are only the surface, but they're a big part of the solution."
Mom pauses between the living room and kitchen. "To the curse? Beckah, we have to remove it somehow. Your father—"
"Is yet another victim," I say. Am I relieved in a strange way? Dad has always been somewhat of a jerk, but not a monster, and now I can blame this for his outburst over the phone and the fact that he's seemed so unreasonable. "Come on. Let's all go into the kitchen and we'll tell you everything."
Chaz looks to me with widening eyes that Mom misses. He knows what I mean. Tyler must have told the others in the pack about the scratch that briefly grew hair. About the curse trying to take hold.
We go into the kitchen, and as I wait for Marion and Gavin to arrive, we take turns telling Mom everything. Time seems to drag out and shadows seem to stretch across the kitchen.
When I finally utter that I might be cursed, out loud, she drops her spoon, even though she's been stirring plain hot water for the past fifteen minutes.
"Beckah," she says, voice going raspy.
"And that's why we need to go through with this plan to drive the Roses out of town for good," I say. "Nothing else is going to stop this curse from jumping to me."
"Beckah," she repeats, losing it. "That's so dangerous. You could get killed." She drops the spoon in the pot of water with a splash and rushes me, wrapping her arms around me. "You have to ask those hunters if they can do this instead. Anything."
"Money talks. You know that," I croak. "They're here to serve the Roses, not us."
She can't argue with that because after living with Dad in normal times we both know it's true.
We have to go through with this ourselves.
I'm glad when Marion and Gavin arrive because it gives us all a distraction from the horror unfolding around us. Marion steps in, and then I get to tell her about the curse jumping to Dad. And while Mom stands there, I finally break the truth to her and Gavin that the curse might jump to me in several days, too. It's just after the new year, the time I promised myself I would spill the truth.
"Why didn't you tell us earlier? Back when the scratch happened?" Marion asks, holding me there with a serious, almost angry look.
"Beckah, that's serious," Gavin says. He eyes my mother, who stands in the kitchen behind me. "That could get not just you, but the rest of us hurt."
"Did you want to linger on that over the holidays?" I snap so hard that I wonder if the curse is affecting me already. But my voice comes out completely human.
Tyler steps up. "Give her a break. That would have wrecked the holidays, and we didn't want to ruin that memory for either of you. Or you," he says to my mom. "Besides, Beckah still smells human. She is not cursed yet. I'll be able to tell the difference in her scent if it starts to take over. I did with Alan and Chaz and the girls." He motions to Cammie, who lingers near the doorway, silent as usual.
"Beckah doesn't smell like a wolf, right?" Gavin asks. “You're absolutely sure?”
I want out of Sarah's cabin even if it is spacious. I betrayed them both by withholding the truth, thinking it would make their lives a bit less stressful. I push past Gavin and head to the porch, and Mom lets me go.
"She does not, and that's the truth," Tyler says. "I'm not a liar anymore. And what good would it have done if Beckah told you early about something that might not have even been an issue?"
Marion and Gavin don't have an answer for that one, and I throw open the back door and step out near the chicken coops which are now empty thanks to Gia rescuing the birds a week or two after Sarah's disappearance. The chickens are now over at Gia's, in a hastily constructed coop to keep them safe. I stand there, back against the door, not daring to step too far from the place without my weapon. My bow is sitting inside, in one of the spare rooms. In my moment of shock and weakness, I dropped the only thing that could save my life if the rival wolves come knocking, or if—
I won't think about that.
If all goes right, I won't have to hurt anyone that I love.
But I already have.
"...Beckah is stressed enough. She needs all of you right now," Tyler says, his voice slowly rising. But his voice is human. I don't have to rush back in and be by his side.
Yes. His confession has helped...for now.
"Aren't we all?" Gavin asks. He's letting his anger come through again, just as he did when I first told him about the Rose Pack. "First Chaz tells me he's a werewolf, and then I end up in the middle of a pack war, and now Beckah might end up cursed, too?"
"Don't take this out on Beckah," Tyler says. "Take this out on me. I failed to act fast enough to stop this curse before this happened. Go ahead. Punch me."
I rush back inside, because things are about to get ugly. I can't help but feel relief that Tyler is taking this upon himself and shielding me, but I can't have a fight between the guys. I enter Sarah's large living room to find Gavin and Tyler having a staring match, and Marion ready to jump in and be the referee. Tyler must know I'm coming back in, but he doesn't even turn his head to me. He's got his fists balled and so does Gavin.
"Guys," Marion tries.
"Punch me. It's my fault I didn't move against my parents fast enough," Tyler says.
Gavin lifts his fist like he's about to do it, then thinks better of it.
"Beckah," Mom warns me.
"Both of you. Stop it!" I shout. "We can't be fighting. Hunters were hired to kill the Rose Pack, the rival pack is still circling this town and wanting revenge, Alan is still out there and partly out of control, and we still have to stop the Roses from stealing everything this town has. Oh, and I just found out my father got cursed and that's why he's been so difficult all this time."
There. Everything is out.
Marion and Gavin both whirl, facing me, and Tyler slowly backs off now that he isn't going to get punched.
"No fighting. If we want to duke it out over trust issues, and safety issues, we have to do it later once we end this. Marion and Gavin, we need your help figuring out how this plan is going to work. Yeah, we're going to have to do some on-the-ground research around this town to see how it's all going to work."
"But this curse is a major safety issue," Marion says.
"Stop trying to make Beckah feel guilty about all of this," Tyler says, stepping in front of me. "This is my fault, and she didn't even know about the scratch until a few weeks ago."
"Oh," Marion says, letting her features soften a bit. "But still. We needed to kn
ow right away." She looks to Tyler. "Not all of us can defend ourselves. Or have protection around our homes, twenty-four seven."
Is she jealous of what Tyler and I have? If she is, it's very misplaced.
"But no one will need a security system if we succeed with this plan. I'll be putting myself in danger to make up for this," I say. "Now we need to shut up, sit down, and determine how all these pieces are going to come together."
* * * * *
Finally, after many attempts at smoothing this over, and after many apologies, we sit down in a circle in the big living room and start working out our plan. Mom remains nearby, powerless to stop us and unable to lend any help.
"How do hunters, well, work?" I ask. "I know Gavin and I are technically hunters too, but we don't know the rules of the trade. We're newbies."
"She's got a point," Gavin says from beside Chaz. "Those hunters Beckah described sound like they've been in the business for a long time. There are probably hunter guilds or families or something. They must have knowledge that they've passed down to each other for generations."
"Well, we know about wolves," Valerie says. "Werewolves cannot resist the full moon, and I'm sure the hunters know this. They'll likely do their hunting around that time. And if they're smart, they'll hunt during the day before the moon even rises, which is when we start losing control. No human hunter will want to contend with us at night.”
I gulp, thinking of how close that is to the curse possibly taking hold. I look to Tyler, though we sit with our thighs touching.
"That's going to be very dangerous, to wait that long to hatch the plan," he says. Obviously he likes this idea as much as I do because he swallows hard. "If the curse jumps to Beckah, it'll take hold slightly after moonrise, just as it did with all of us."
That leaves just a few hours of leeway. Yikes. But with the hunters unlikely to move until the day of the full moon, it's all we've got.
"We might not have a choice about the timing,” Marion says. "They must be staking out the area now, learning the trails and the woods. If I were a hunter, I'd take some time to prepare before I go after my prey.”
"I'd do the same thing," Gavin adds. "Yeah. They won't jump into this until they know what they're doing."
"Is my dad in danger?" I ask.
Tyler puts his hand around mine, holding it to my thigh. "It's possible. We don't know where your father will go around Tower, so in the coming days, we'll need to start, um, guiding the hunters away from where he will be. And towards Rose Ranch. After what I did with the data, my parents might expect me to break into the mansion again, and they've probably told the hunters this."
I look to Tyler. "That's dangerous for you."
He nods with a frown. "I know. Worst case, we die. It might be better than losing our humanity altogether."
Mom scrunches her face up from her place at the edge of the living room, making me hate this nightmare even more.
It's very possible not all of us will survive this plan, which will have to unfold over the course of several days. I want to get it done, now, but we don't have a choice but to do it this way. Everything must be exact.
"I can lead the hunters to where we want them," Tyler says. "We should lead them to the west side of Rose Ranch, which is close to where we spied on them earlier today. They'll need to be hanging around there, maybe even camping there, on the day of the full moon. Convincing them that's the best spot to look for werewolves is what we need to do.”
"Got it," Valerie says. "Cammie and I should take charge on that, since we still have some control over our shifts. No offense, Tyler, but we can't have you attacking them without thinking."
"Even as a wolf, I fear silver,” Tyler says. “It's an instinct. I will run from the hunters, not attack them, if I know what weapons they have ahead of time.”
"Are you sure you can do this?” Valerie asks.
Tyler gulps. “I'll hunt beforehand to calm myself down.”
"I can play a role in this part," I say, explaining it. "Gavin and I can, actually. We can jump in tomorrow, if you track the hunters and lead them to us. And away from Gia's cabin." Then I give the details of that plan.
"Okay. We do that, tomorrow," Chaz says. "That just might work. And while we're positioning the hunters, Tyler and I will work on sniffing out what's left of the rival pack."
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
We all spend the night at Sarah's cabin. Marion calls her grandmother and tells her she's staying with me for the night. Her grandmother reports that she's feeling better than before, though she's still stressed.
At least now we have a plan. And Tyler stays up to keep watch, sitting outdoors, just outside my window.
He's watching not only for Dad and for the hunters, but for himself.
At least if he loses control, he won't be inside with us.
I wish he were, snuggling up beside me on this downy bed. And that won't happen until the curse is removed and all is safe.
Mom snores in the next room and Marion is out on my floor, nestled among pillows and blankets. Gavin patrols the house, crossbow at the ready, and after a few hours, my alarm goes off and I get up to relieve him of his shift. The Rose Pack remains outside, and the discarded clothes near the back door reveal that they're taking turns shifting and patrolling the woods around us. Or maybe hunting, getting out their killer instincts before tomorrow when they need to have control.
I'm only somewhat rested when the sun starts to rise and a pink glow fills the horizon between all the tall pines. Everyone begins to stir as if they sense what's to come today.
Gia, Marion, and Mom all cook breakfast for us after Gavin runs Gia up to town for supplies. It's too far to walk from here, though it looks like Sarah did it for years thanks to also having no car. When they get back, Gavin reports that the black SUV's of the hunters are still parked at the cheap motel in town.
"I think we're right that they're patient people," he says.
I gulp, knowing we'll see them soon enough.
Breakfast is great, and I'm so hungry that I don't even have to choke it down. But after eating, the nerves set in.
You've done worse, Beckah, I think to myself as I gather my weapons and head out the door with Gavin. Mom and Gia give me hugs, and Marion announces that she needs to get back to her grandmother. Understandable. She can't help out too much with this first part of the plan.
Gavin and I get into his truck, and I keep my crossbow on my lap, with a silver-tipped arrow placed right in it. But I keep the safety on just in case. We drive through town slowly, as if we're scanning the surrounding area for something, and then just to make things look convincing, we turn down the snow-covered road to the vacation house, which is difficult to go down. I want to check on the rose bush, and Gavin and I need to look like we're hunting for wolves. We need to leave our prints in the places the hired hunters are going to go.
No one is at the vacation house, not even Alan, but the rose bush still stands, and when Gavin and I lift up the tarp, we're relieved to find that it's still intact. The hunters aren't going to be worried about a rose bush that someone is seemingly trying to protect from freezing. Unless Tyler's parents have told them to destroy it, but it's obvious they haven't. Maybe his mother is still holding out hope that Tyler can become human again or get control of his curse. She might still have hope that Tyler will join his parents and continue the family tradition of taking advantage of others.
"That's good," I breathe, letting the tarp fall back over the rose bush. "Someone's been keeping up on this."
"Look," Gavin hisses, pulling on my sleeve.
He points to the edge of the "yard" and I don't see what he means at first. Then I spot the boot prints. There are boot prints everywhere around the premises, and these are wide boots that don't match the pointed ones that Alan wears.
The hunters have already been here.
I see nothing else different, but it's unmistakable. The locals don't come back here due to the curse, but these hunters ar
e outsiders. They're not affected, but they can track their prey in other ways. Just the way they carried themselves screamed experience.
"Leave our prints here, too, so they know we're 'hunting,'" I say, securing the tarp on the bolts Alan must have driven into the frozen ground. Gavin and I walk around the vacation house, up to the door, up to the windows, and then around the woods, keeping an eye out for Alan or the wolves from the other pack. I hope that Alan is still alive and that the other pack hasn't found him. The two survivors that we know of won't be happy that Alan defected and came back to Tower even if that wasn't his fault.
We walk around the house for a while, and Gavin even smashes down a bunch of footprints near a high spot beside the house as if he's staying there and watching the area. After we're satisfied that our prints look "natural," we move on, walking down the trail towards the school road.
And the school road also leads to Rose Ranch.
The walk takes a while, and we follow the hunters' footprints along the trail. That's not hard to do. It's so strange, seeing other footprints through here, as if Tyler's world has been violated. I think of him, out there with Chaz, trying to find the hostile wolves and start bringing them to the right place.
But I force my worry to the side because Gavin and I have our own part.
We cross the road and I try not to stare at Rose Ranch as Gavin and I head towards not the woods where we were before, but the school grounds. We stride across the empty parking lot of the place that will open again tomorrow, leaving footprints that head towards the woods, and by the time we enter the trees and circle Rose Ranch's borders from behind, the world is silent. Rose Ranch is marked off with game cameras, all pointed down at the periphery of the property, and also large wooden posts sprayed with electric orange. The Roses have made it clear they want no riffraff on their grounds, and I'm shocked to not even see any evidence of student parties back in these woods, despite them not belonging to the Roses.