Howl (Howl #1)

by Jody Morse

“Reason number three. Your favorite color is red, and you hate the color blue.”

  Samara laughed at him. “Seriously, Declan? That’s the best reason you can come up with. Your argument’s getting pretty weak.”

  “Well, you see, my next two reasons are so good that I had to give you a lamer one just to prepare you,” Declan replied with a wide grin. “Reason number four. If you don’t become a Vyka, you’re going to die. There’s no way around it. Jason has this plan to kill you and destroy most of the Ima pack before he takes over some of the stronger ones. It’s planned out really well.”

  “Wait, why are you telling me this?” Samara asked. “Can’t he hear your thoughts when you’re in human form? Colby told me he can hear whatever I’m thinking.”

  Declan shook his head and grinned. “No. I found a way to block him from my thoughts.”

  Samara breathed a sigh of relief. She knew he would be in serious trouble if Jason found out that Declan was warning about what he was plotting. If he knew, he would probably either exile Declan from the pack or, even worse, kill him for betraying the Vyka.

  “Okay, so I can follow through with my destiny, keep talking to my brother, get a red tattoo instead of a blue one, and stay alive if I choose to become a Vyka. What’s the fifth reason I should choose the Vyka?”

  “Me,” Declan said. “I don’t want to lose you, Sam. I’ve invested too many years in this friendship to just let you go.”

  Samara touched his shoulder and pouted her lips. “I don’t want to lose you either, Declan. I just don’t know what to do.”

  “It’s gotta be a hard decision to make, but how could you just turn away from me, Sam? I don’t know how you can just choose the Ima because you want to be with Luke instead of being able to still talk to me for the rest of your life. And to choose Luke over your own brother? That’s messed up.”

  Samara groaned. “It’s not just Luke, Declan. It’s the whole pack. I feel . . . closer to them than I do the Vyka. I mean, yeah, I have you on the Vyka, but even Colby seems cooler than Jason.”

  “Colby?” Declan snorted. “The kid’s a loser. He’s not a real Alpha.”

  “Colby’s a really nice guy. What do you mean he’s not a ‘real’ Alpha?” Samara could hear the irritation in her voice, but she couldn’t help it. He was insulting her alpha.

  “I mean, he has no control over his pack whatsoever. They do whatever they feel like doing. He doesn’t give them orders. He doesn’t keep them in line. Nothing is organized for the Ima. That’s part of why we’re becoming so much stronger than them.”

  That’s why Colby was so worried about what she would think of him, Samara realized. No one took him seriously because no one respected him in his human form. If Samara decided to become an Ima, that was going to change, though. She was going to give Colby a makeover and help him learn how to stand up for himself so hopefully the other members of the pack would learn to respect him.

  “Maybe Colby’s a laidback Alpha, but he’s not a jerk like Jason,” Samara replied. “If you want to know the truth, the main reason I really don’t know if I want to become a Vyka is because of Jason. I know you say he’s a good guy, but I don’t see that in him. I see someone who’s controlling and vindictive and really manipulative who is threatening to kill me if I don’t agree to do what he wants. Do you know how hard that makes it to choose his pack?”

  “I’m sure it’s hard, but . . . Sam, we’re powerful. We’ll be able to keep you safer than the Ima will. If you choose their pack, you’re probably going to die.”

  “Why exactly are you becoming stronger than the Ima?” Samara asked, putting her hands on her hips.

  Declan shook his head. “I can’t tell you the secret. If you become an Ima, you’ll tell them. They’ll become more powerful, which will hurt my pack.”

  “So, basically . . . if I decide that I want to be an Ima, we’ll be keeping secrets like this from each other all of the time?” Samara asked.

  Declan looked her in the eyes. “No. If you choose to become an Ima, we won’t be able to keep secrets from each other. We won’t be speaking.”

  *

  After Declan left, Samara turned to begin walking back towards her house. Before she had even started walking up the rocky path, she spotted a gray wolf walking towards her. Samara spotted the heart-shaped patch of light brown fur on his side right away.

  Samara, we need to talk, Colby said, coming to a halt in front of her.

  “About what?” she asked, hoping that the conversation he had in store for her wasn’t going to be to try to convince her to choose to be an Ima. The decision was complicated enough without everyone trying to sway her opinion. As it was, Samara was having a hard time enough time digesting everything that Declan had just told her.

  First you need to block Declan out of your thoughts, Colby said. I don’t want him to hear what I’m about to tell you. This is really important.

  Samara closed her eyes and thought about how she didn’t want Declan to be allowed into her mind. When she opened her eyes, she felt different, as though her mind lacked something. This let her know that it had worked, and Declan couldn’t hear anything.

  I heard everything that you said to Declan. Remember I’m your Alpha and even though Declan might know how to block Jason from overhearing, you haven’t mastered keeping me out of your mind yet.

  Samara crossed her arms impatiently. “Okay, so you listened to my conversation. What about it? Get to the point.”

  Colby sat down in front of her and looked up at her. If you decide that you want to be an Ima, I need you to find out how the Vyka are getting so powerful. I want you to go to them and pretend that you’re going to become a member of their pack. Take note of everything that they do. Hang around them. Ask them questions. Dig up any dirt that you can. Once you figure out the secret, come back to us and join our pack instead.

  Samara hesitated. “I’m not sure if I want to be an Ima or a Vyka yet, but I’m a little confused. If they think I’m part of their pack, Jason won’t let me leave if I want to when I’m ready. He won’t let Lilly Phillips leave his pack, even though she doesn’t want to be a part of it. That’s what my brother told me, at least.”

  Colby snorted at her. As long as you don’t actually join his pack, he won’t be able to have any control over it. That’s why you must come back before he wants to do your initiation ceremony. As long as you don’t take part in initiation, you won’t officially commit to being a member of the pack, and he won’t be able to not let you leave.

  Samara sighed heavily. “I really don’t know, Colby. Being a spy feels wrong. I guess that if I decide that I want to be an Ima, this all could work. What happens if Jason finds out, though? I’m not a very good liar, and it sounds like it’s going to be really hard to pull this off.”

  Colby shook his head and glared at her. He’ll never find out about this. It’s not possible. The only way he could find out what we’re planning is for you to tell him. He can’t hear your thoughts the way I can because, at this point, I’m the closest thing that you actually have to an Alpha.

  “Well, just so you know, I’m not going to tell him. Even if I decide to become a Vyka, I won’t tell him that you asked me to do this for the Ima. I don’t want to get you into any sort of trouble, especially with what they’re already planning.”

  That’s really nice of you. I appreciate it, Colby replied.

  Samara smiled at him. “I should try to get home soon. My parents will start to ask questions if they see I’m gone. How do you deal with your parents when you’re out late at night?”

  My parents know all about this, Colby replied. Both of them are werewolves themselves. They’re in the adult Ima pack.

  Samara sighed. It seemed like she was the only werewolf with parents who had never mentioned anything about the whole werewolf thing to her. It made dealing with this a lot more difficult. The only thing that had helped keep her sane for the past few weeks was her friendship with Colby, but they weren’t goi
ng to be allowed to stay friends with each other if she decided to become a Vyka. “This is really random, but why can’t we stay friends with someone unless they’re a member of our pack? Why can’t we all just try to make peace with each other?” Samara asked.

  Colby looked up at the moon. I’ve sometimes wondered about that myself. Then I realized there was no point in wondering about it. We’re all set in our ways. Our parents have more or less taught us that we shouldn’t get along, that we should hate people from other packs. We won’t be able to change it now…even though it would be nice if there was harmony between all of the packs.

  “Well, we could try,” Samara huffed. “How do you know unless you try?”

  Colby let out a deep growl, and Samara jumped back. You need to get that idea out of your head right now, Sam. We’ve tried to get along. It doesn’t work. There’s always going to be a power struggle between all of the packs. One pack is always going to want someone else’s territory or to form a larger pack. No matter what pack you choose to belong to, you must remember that you can trust no one but yourself.

  *

  When Samara got back to her room, her cell phone was chiming. Wondering who could be sending her a text message at three o’clock in the morning, she picked it up and glanced at the screen. She had thirty-two new text messages. Another text message appeared on the screen and then another. Thirty-four new text messages.

  They were all from Emma.

  Just as Samara went to open and read one of the text messages, her phone chirped again and a text message popped up. Sam? Wake up! I need 2 talk 2 u.

  I just woke up, let me read your texts, Samara texted back. Within seconds after she hit send, her phone rang.

  “Emma?” Samara whispered loudly, trying to keep her voice down. “What’s wrong?” She knew that something was going on because Emma would never allow herself to look this pathetic unless something was seriously wrong.

  “Oh God, Sam! Things didn’t go good tonight,” Emma said in between sobs.

  Samara remembered that Emma and Jason were supposed to go on their date tonight. The one that he had told her was going to be really important. Suddenly, she had an incredible sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach. “What happened?”

  “The date went great at first, but then he got really weird,” Emma replied, sniffling. “He asked me about that guy I dated like a year ago, Brian. I said I didn’t have feelings for him anymore, but it didn’t seem to matter. He got so angry, and –”

  “Did he hit you?” Samara asked when Emma couldn’t get the words out.

  “No, no, Jason would never do that! But he asked me to give him back the ring that he gave me. He said that he wanted to give it to someone who was more deserving of it,” Emma managed to say in between her tears. “How could he do that to me? I wasn’t even lying. I don’t have feelings for Brian anymore! I haven’t for months now.” She let out a sob. “My heart belongs to Jason, no one else.”

  Samara breathed a sigh of relief. She had been afraid that Jason had physically harmed Emma or, even worse, bit her. Samara should have known better, though. It was just like her best friend to get upset about having to give back a ring. “Emma, it’s obvious that Jason just isn’t the right guy for you. I think that you’re probably way better off without him. If he’s that worried about you having feelings for Brian when everyone in school knows that the two of you have been over for a long time and he’s been with Michelle for months now, he’s obviously insecure.” And not even human, she thought to herself in her head.

  “Better off? Better off?” Emma gasped dramatically. “He is the greatest thing that’s ever happened to me!”

  “I’m sure lots of other great things will happen to you,” Samara said, softening her voice. “I really think you can do better.”

  Emma sighed. “You’re probably right, but it still hurts right now. Anyway, I just want you to know that you shouldn’t expect to see me in school on Monday. Me and my Snuggie have a date with Ben and Jerry’s and Lifetime Movie Network for the next week.”

  “Okay. Well, I hope you feel better about this. I’m always here to talk. Goodnight,” Samara said, hanging up the phone. Even though she wanted to tell Emma that she was being ridiculous by being so upset over something as small as this, she had decided against it. As much as she wanted Emma to act more mature and realize that there was more to life than boys and clothes and popularity, Samara knew that there was no way she would ever understand unless she knew about everything. And there was no way Samara was going to tell Emma everything anytime soon.

  Chapter 20

  ****

  On Saturday morning, there was a loud knock at her bedroom door. “Samara?” her mom called. “Someone’s here to see you!”

  Samara looked at the clock and groaned. It was only nine o’clock. She scrambled to get out of bed and pulled on a hoodie. Glancing at herself in the mirror, she decided that her hair was a total mess, but she didn’t care. Whoever was nuts enough to wake her up at nine o’clock in the morning shouldn’t expect her to look like Miss America.

  When she strolled into the living room, she found Luke standing in the hallway. He was staring at a photograph on the wall. In it, Samara was wearing a pink polka dotted dress with her hair in long pigtails. Seth was sitting next to her, a dreamy look in his eyes. He was wearing a stethoscope around his neck. Samara remembered the day perfectly. Seth had been working on a project for school on what he wanted to be when he grew up. He’d decided that he wanted to be a veterinarian so that he could save pets like Buddy, their thirteen year old Lab who had passed away that same year.

  Sometimes, she wished that Seth would get that same type of motivation back. She knew that things were hard, but she seriously doubted that he would be graduating from high school this year. It wouldn’t bother Samara so much if she didn’t know that it was going to spark even more arguments between Seth and her parents.

  “Luke? What are you doing here?” Samara asked.

  Luke turned and looked at her. “Do you think we can talk outside?” he asked, motioning towards the kitchen, where Samara could see her mom opening and closing the cabinet doors. She knew her mom was just trying to stay within earshot, so that she could make sure they kept their conversation in a family-friendly zone.

  “Sure. Mom, I’m going outside,” Samara called, as she stepped out the front door. She followed Luke into the front yard. “What’s up?”

  Luke had a worried expression on his face. “Last night after you went inside, Colby was ambushed in the forest by a few wolves.”

  “What?” Samara asked, a sick feeling forming in her stomach. “Is he okay?”

  “Yeah, he’s fine,” Luke replied. “Luckily, we were all nearby. Otherwise, I’m not sure what would have happened to him. Out there all alone, he probably would have died.”

  “Wow,” Samara whispered. In that moment, she realized how much she really cared about Colby, the same way one would care about a brother. “I decided, Luke. I want to be an Ima. Colby needs me . . . You need me. Kyle needs me. The Ima need me more than the Vyka . . . and Jason scares me. I don’t want him to be in control of me.”

  Luke’s face brightened. “I’m really glad to hear that. Because here’s what you don’t know about the ambush. It had to do with you.”

  “Me?” Samara whispered, surprised. “Was it Jason and his pack?”

  Luke shook his head. “No, it was wolves from the Seku and Zuri packs. What you need to know about these two packs is that they have become the weakest in the area, mostly because their members have decreased over the years. They’ve lost some prominent members who came from strong bloodlines during attacks. So, it’s not too surprising for us to find out that they’re joining forces to make the Seku a larger pack. The Zuri will eventually be unheard of.”

  “Okay, so they’re joining forces. What does that have to do with me?” Samara asked.

  “Well, the reason they ambushed Colby is because they want you on their p
ack,” Luke said. “They’ve threatened to kill him if he doesn’t agree to allow you to be on their pack. What they don’t realize is that you’re not an official Ima . . . yet.”

  Samara sighed. “Everyone wants me to be on their pack. I don’t understand. I’m not that special. We don’t even know that I’m powerful yet. My grandfather’s power gene or whatever might have skipped me . . . Maybe Seth is the one who got it. Why doesn’t everyone want him on their pack?”

  “Everyone knows better,” Luke replied. “He’s on the pack with the strongest Alpha in the area. It’s not worth trying to fight with them just to get Seth on their side.”

  “That makes sense,” Samara nodded. “Still, I could be the weakest werewolf ever, for all we know.”

  Luke shook his head. “No, I don’t believe that for a minute. You’re going to be very powerful, Sam. They don’t only want you because you’re powerful, though.”

  “Why else would they want me?” Samara asked. Immediately, she realized how insecure she sounded. Maybe she was insecure, for all she knew. She’d never been wanted so bad by anyone, and now it seemed like everyone wanted her.

  “They don’t have any females on their pack. None of their members have mates yet. If they don’t get some females on their pack, there will eventually be no babies born and the Seku will become nonexistent, even after they’ve combined packs.”

  “So, why don’t they just all go bite their girlfriends or something?” Samara rolled her eyes and muttered to herself, sitting down on the bench in the McKinley’s front yard, looking up at Luke. “This is all so stressful for me. You have no idea.”

  “Yes, I do,” Luke replied, sitting down beside her. He grabbed her hand. “It’s never easy to find out that you’re not human.”

  “Actually, that’s not it at all. I’m starting to get used to not being a human. I might even be beginning to like it,” she smiled, thinking about how much more exciting her life had been lately than when she was just an ordinary human. “The hard part is that everyone wants me to join their pack and no matter what decision I make, I’m hurting someone.”