The Better to Bite

by Cynthia Eden

  I hadn’t saved Sissy. I hadn’t saved Caitlin.

  And I sure hadn’t saved my mother. By the time I’d found mom, it had been too late. She’d been dead, shot four times. One of the bullets had gone straight into her heart.

  My tears came then. For Sissy, for Caitlin, and for my mom.

  For my mom…a woman who’d taken a wrong turn. Gotten lost. And then…lost her life.

  ***

  The football game started later. Not with the same roar of energy that had marked the first game. The players ran onto the field, but even they seemed tense.

  I wondered how many players had known Sissy.

  The cheerleaders came out much more slowly, and I realized Valerie was missing.

  Jenny caught my glance. “I heard it was her punishment,” she told me, raising her brows as she handed her smoking candle to the pep squad member who was walking around and collecting them all. “Mr. Knoxley gave her detention for a week, and he told her that she couldn’t cheer tonight.”

  I bet Valerie was loving me.

  I didn’t really care, though. “Maybe next time, she won’t steal someone’s necklace when she gets pissed.” But Rafe’s voice rumbled in my mind. You really think it was Valerie?

  If not her, then who else?

  Goosebumps rose on my arms. The temperature was sure starting to drop.

  I forced my attention back on the field. Brent was playing tonight, leading the team with his green number seven jersey and showing absolutely no signs of any injury. How could no one else think that was weird? “Jenny…” I cleared my throat. “Just what all do you know about Brent?” Do you know if he ever changes into a wolf when he runs through the woods?

  Jenny turned her head toward me. She had mascara stains beneath her eyes. I hadn’t bothered with makeup tonight, so I knew I’d been spared the raccoon look.

  At my question, her eyes lit up a bit. Jenny seemed eager to have something to talk about, something other than Sissy. “You are so into him,” she murmured.

  I shrugged. Right then, I didn’t think I was into him or Rafe.

  And maybe I was a liar.

  There was a cheer from the students. The first cheer of the night. It took me a moment to realize that we’d scored a touchdown. I clapped, but didn’t jump to my feet. Instead, I leaned closer to Jenny. “What do you know?” I asked her again.

  Her hands lifted and made a vague little gesture in the air. “I know he and Rafe were best friends.” She paused, then finished, “Once upon a time.”

  Now that was total news to me. I had pretty much thought those guys hated each other since birth.

  And speak of the devil, uh, wolf…Rafe raced onto the football field. I couldn’t help it. I stared. Wolf or no, the boy looked good in a uniform. He glanced toward my section of the bleachers, and I could have sworn I felt the heat of his stare touching on my skin.

  “Actually, they were tight until last summer, when Brent and Valerie hooked up.” Some energy enthused Jenny’s voice. She did like her gossip. “Word is that Rafe liked her, too, and he got majorly pissed when she chose Brent.”

  Rafe slammed into a guy wearing a blue jersey with the number twenty-three on the back. Number twenty-three looked to be close to two hundred and fifty pounds. Rafe tackled him like the guy was a scarecrow.

  How can people not realize this isn’t normal?

  My gaze darted around the bleachers. Maybe they did realize it. Maybe I was the only one who didn’t know the score. Maybe—

  “Since Brent and Valerie split, gossip is that Valerie and Rafe are gonna hook up soon.”

  My head snapped back to her. I hope not. I barely bit those words back. And why did it matter to me what wolfie did? It wasn’t like we were a couple of anything. One kiss meant nothing. “Um, you know anything else about Brent and maybe Rafe, too?”

  She frowned at me, and I realized I needed to be more specific. “Have you heard any…weird stories about them?”

  A line appeared between Jenny’s brows. “Weird how?”

  Weird as in fangs and claws. I just shrugged.

  Another cry came from the students. Louder now, and not as banked with sadness. I didn’t even look at the field. I figured we’d gotten another touchdown. With Rafe and Brent, how could we not?

  I hunched my shoulders. “Jenny, do you believe in werewolves?”

  She laughed at me. I mean, like a really, really hard laugh.

  So much for the whole town knowing the secret.

  “OhmyGod…who have you been talking to?” Jeez, her voice was too loud. I hissed at her and, blessedly, she lowered her voice as she said, “Someone told you that old crazy story about wolves running loose in Haven, right?” She was smiling and, despite the embarrassment I was sure stained my cheeks, I was actually glad to see her smile. Tears just made me feel uncomfortable. Always had. “That’s just some BS story,” Jenny told me. “Someone’s pranking you.”

  If only.

  A gasp erupted from the crowd. This time, I did look at the field, expecting to see the players celebrating another score.

  They weren’t celebrating.

  Number seven and number thirteen were brawling on the field. I jumped to my feet. Rafe and Brent were whaling on each other, hard kicks and punches, and six players were trying to pull them apart.

  Trying and failing.

  “Stop!” My scream joined the others around me. I realized there was no way for the guys on the field to hear me, not with all the yells in the air.

  But…Rafe’s head turned toward me. His eyes met mine. His fist paused in mid-air.

  Then Brent slammed his fist right into Rafe’s face. Blood flew into the air.

  I lunged forward. Jenny grabbed my arm, yanking me back.

  Finally, finally, the other players managed to pull Brent and Rafe apart. The referee made some sort of wild gesture with his hands, and I knew both of them had been kicked out of the game.

  They were led off the field, both in different directions. My gaze darted between them even as my heart slammed into my chest.

  What. The. Hell.

  Jenny’s fingernails dug into my arms. “Oh, we are so screwed,” she said, voice distraught.

  The coach led Rafe toward the stadium’s exit. Brent headed toward the locker room.

  Jenny sank onto the bleachers. The kids were muttering around us, and Jenny seemed to sum up their feelings when she said, “Jasper High is gonna kick our butt now.”

  Screw that. I turned and hurried down the bleachers.

  “Anna!”

  I didn’t care about the game, but I sure did want to know why Brent and Rafe had just battled on the field.

  ***

  I hurried to the parking lot, not toward the locker room. I slipped past the stadium entrance just in time to see Rafe being loaded into the back of a deputy’s car.

  What?

  “Deputy Jon!” I called his name as I hurried forward. The deputy turned toward me, a frown crinkling his face.

  “Anna?” The frown eased a bit. “What’s wrong?”

  Rafe was in the backset now and looking highly pissed.

  “Why are you taking him in?” I jabbed a finger toward Rafe. He wasn’t talking. No, he was busy glaring at me.

  My eyes narrowed. It’s not my fault you acted like an idiot and got thrown out of the game.

  Deputy Jon gave a long-suffering sigh. “Rafe here has a bit of a temper.”

  I’d noticed.

  “I’ll let him cool off at the station while he waits for his dad to come and fill out some paperwork.”

  I knew how this game worked. “Are you charging him with something?” Had Rafe started the fight? I wish I’d been paying better attention.

  Deputy Jon shrugged his broad shoulders. “We’ll just see what happens tonight.”

  My temper spiked. “And what about Brent? Are you going to be taking him in for some cooling down, too?”

  Jon’s eyes narrowed a bit, and his mouth tightened. “Brent Pe
ters didn’t take the first swing. I got four witnesses, including Coach Crawford, who all said Brent was just defending himself.”

  Jon slammed Rafe’s door shut. “Now you go back and enjoy the game, Anna. Let me worry about Rafe.”

  I stared through the glass at Rafe. His gaze held mine. “Why?” I demanded.

  Deputy Jon had already climbed in the car. He cranked the engine and the cruiser pulled away. But Rafe—he’d tried to answer. I hadn’t heard him clearly, but I thought his lips had moved and he’d said—

  Don’t trust him.

  I watched the tail-lights vanish down the road. Another cheer erupted from the field behind me. After a moment, I headed slowly back into the stadium.

  ***

  I left the game early. After the weirdness on the field, I just wanted to go home. I dropped Jenny off at her place and drove back to my house. The roads seemed even darker, and I realized that thick clouds had covered the moon.

  A storm was coming.

  My dad still wasn’t back at the house. I figured he was notifying the hiker’s family or maybe even dealing with Rafe. The old house seemed too quiet and far too big, and I wondered how my grandmother had felt, living there alone for so many years. When we’d first come to town, I’d learned that my grandfather, Peter Lambert, had died over twenty years ago.

  If he’d lived, would he have wanted to meet me? Or would he have been like my grandmother? Not caring enough to even bother with a phone call.

  Sometimes, I felt like the house was suffocating me.

  I pushed those feelings away, just like I always did. I locked the windows. Bolted the doors. Double-checked and triple-checked the locks.

  And I waited. Just me and the ghost of my grandmother. That was what it felt like, anyway. Because even though all of her belongings were gone, this place was hers.

  Not mine.

  After about thirty minutes, the phone rang. I grabbed it instantly.

  “Anna?” Dad’s voice, sounding tired. “Baby, I’m sorry, but I’m going to be late tonight.” A murmur of voices sounded behind him. “Very late.”

  My fingers tightened round the phone. “Dad, we need to talk.” I even used the voice. The one he’d taught me. I knew by his hum of silence that he got that our talk would be big.

  It definitely would be.

  “Everything okay?” There was an alert edge to his words.

  No. “I need to talk to you about this—this place.” About monsters and men and nightmares that could become real. “I’m going to stay up until you get home.”

  Silence. Then… “Okay, baby. We’ll talk tonight. I’ll get home as soon as I can.”

  I wondered if he’d give me the answers I needed. I put the phone back in the cradle and waited.

  ***

  He came home just after one that night. I heard his key slide in the lock, and the door squeaked open seconds later.

  He looked tired, but his gaze was alert and worried as it fixed on me. “Anna?”

  Yeah, I had all the lights on in the house. Learning that you’re wolf prey would make anyone want some lights.

  I sat near the bottom of the stairs.

  Dad shut the door behind him, locked it, and frowned at me. He still had on his uniform, but it wasn’t so nice and neat. Stained from the woods, wrinkled.

  “You found Susie Harper,” I said.

  He didn’t show a flicker of surprise. Why would he? Dad knew my secrets. I just didn’t know his.

  “Will the ME find claw marks on her bones, too?” I asked. Then, I pushed, “Marks that belong to a wolf?”

  He put down his keys. “What do you think?”

  I thought I didn’t like his measuring stare. “I think you’ve been holding out on me, Dad.” I’d actually searched the house while I waited for him to get back. I’d wanted to find out something about my grandmother. Something, anything. She was my past, and apparently, in Haven, past was key.

  But there had been no trace of her in the house.

  “You know exactly what’s killing these people,” I said into the silence between us, and I began to play with my necklace. “You know—”

  In two seconds, he was in front of me. He caught my hand, freezing my fingers. “Where did you get this?” The lines around his mouth had deepened even more.

  I lifted my chin. “Recognize it, do you?”

  His gaze held mine. “Anna…”

  “I met this nice lady in town.” Semi-nice. Semi-scary. “Seems she knew mom. She gave it to me.”

  “Helen.”

  I nodded.

  He dropped the necklace and stepped back. “I figured you’d start talking to her, sooner or later.”

  “It was sooner.” Not soon enough. “And, Dad, I know.”

  He turned away. “Helen is, well, most folks call her eccentric. She tells lots of stories, and you can’t always believe what she says.”

  “Oh?” I stood up and my knees didn’t tremble. “I can’t believe her when she says there are people in Haven who can transform into wolves?”

  I saw his shoulders stiffen.

  “And I can’t believe her when she says that I’m descended from the witch who cursed them?”

  He glanced back at me. “Just how much talking have you been doing with Helen?”

  “Enough.” I climbed down the rest of the stairs. “Enough to know that you haven’t been telling me the truth.”

  He didn’t deny it.

  “I thought we left Chicago to get away from the monsters,” I whispered as I shook my head. “But here…”

  “There are monsters everywhere.” He faced me.

  “People!” I threw at him as anger churned inside me. “Crazy, twisted people who hurt and kill but here in Haven, there are werewolves! Real freaking monsters!” And just saying it out-loud sounded insane, but it was true. I glared at him. “When were you going to tell me?”

  He didn’t answer.

  “Dad, these werewolves out there are thinking I can break their curse, I can’t just—”

  His eyes narrowed to tight slits. “Who said that?”

  “Is it true? Can I stop this?”

  His shoulders sagged a bit. “Nothing can stop this. Nothing. Believe me, every damn thing has been tried. Over and over, for centuries.”

  “Then someone needs to tell that to the wolves.” I wrapped my arms around my stomach and rocked back and forth. I didn’t want the wolves after me. I didn’t want to wind up like—

  Sissy.

  “The wolves in this town haven’t killed any humans for over one hundred years.”

  My chin lifted. “No, Dad, you mean they hadn’t been killing them, not until someone started attacking the hikers about six months back.”

  His jaw clenched. “I didn’t know about that when I took the job. If I had—”

  “What?”

  “Then I never would’ve brought you here.”

  Here. Haven. Where nightmares were reality and people were dying in the woods.“Do you know who the werewolves are?” I asked because I knew he was keeping more from me. I could feel it.

  “I know some,” he said quietly. “But there could be more. So many more.”

  He sounded like Rafe. “What are we going to do?” I asked him. “We have to stop them.”

  “I—”

  A fist pounded against the door. “Please! Help me!”

  I knew that desperate voice. Cassidy. I rushed forward, but my dad beat me to the door. He yanked it open, and Cassidy, with long trails of tears on her cheeks, stumbled into his arms.

  “Please, Sheriff Lambert!” She was shaking and crying and I almost couldn’t understand her. “Gran!”

  “Cassidy?” I reached for her, but she didn’t even seem to notice me.

  “Calm down.” My dad’s voice was pitched to soothe. “Just calm down, and tell me what’s going on.”

  Cassidy’s breath heaved out. “My…gran. She’s gone. When I came—came back from the game with Jasper, the shop was wrecked�
�”

  I saw a blank mask slip over my dad’s face. “Did you call the station?”

  “N-no…I came to you.” But then her eyes turned to me. “I knew you could…find her.”

  She wasn’t talking to my dad anymore.

  “Please.” Her whisper. “There was bl-blood in the shop. She’s gone, and I-I have to find her. She’s lost, and I don’t have anyone else!”

  Lost.

  “Anna…” A warning note had entered my dad’s voice.

  Too late. The power inside me had already snapped on. In my mind, I could see Granny Helen. She wasn’t in town. Wasn’t at her home. Her broken body was in the woods, huddled under the branches of a weeping willow.

  I yanked my gaze away from Cassidy’s desperate eyes and ran through the open front door.

  “Anna!” My dad’s footsteps thundered after mine.

  I ran straight for the woods. I knew where Granny Helen was. Maybe I could get to her fast enough, maybe I could save her.

  The way I hadn’t saved Sissy. Caitlin.

  My mom.

  A wolf’s howl filled the night, and I ran faster.

  I’d just reached the edge of the woods when my dad grabbed my arm. I was jerked to a halt as he demanded, “Is she dead?”

  I looked back at him. “I don’t know.” I couldn’t see her face. I could only see the blood that pooled beneath her body. “If we don’t get her soon, she will be.” Blood would attract the predators in the woods. All of them.

  He yanked out his phone. Called for back-up and an ambulance.

  Cassidy had stumbled down the porch. My body vibrated with tension. I had to go. Had to run.

  Find. Her.

  Granny Helen was lost, and she needed me.

  My dad ended his call and pulled out his gun. “She’s close?”

  “In the woods.” I pointed toward the twisting darkness. “She’s hurt.”

  Cassidy whimpered.

  My dad took my hand. “You hold onto me, every second, got me? Don’t run off, and if you see any wolf—”

  My gaze darted to the gun.

  “You let me take care of him,” my dad finished.

  Swallowing, I nodded. Then we ran into the darkness.

  ***

  Twigs bit into my arms as we raced through the woods. We were close now, so very close. Cassidy had followed behind us, even though my dad had ordered her back.