Katey felt out of place and uneasy without the others there to mediate. That soon ended when Logan caught her off guard with an embrace. She went rigid between his arms at first, but then drowned in his warmth and masculine scent, and melted against his skin.
“I thought I was going to lose you again,” he whispered against her hair.
Katey wanted to shout for joy at the words. He cared. He truly cared. “But you didn’t,” she replied.
Logan pulled away and leaned his forehead against hers. No words had to be spoken for her to understand that they were okay again. Cupping her cheeks in his hands, he held her there for what seemed like an eternity. Katey wished it had been.
The pack bond between them grew stronger and the ruffled fur of their beasts was smoothed down by their togetherness in that instant. The troubled thoughts seemed eons away and just like in the cemetery that night a few weeks ago, the darkness receded from her heart to allow Logan a place once more.
The teachers filed down the stairs and just like that, the moment was broken and Logan stepped away. But even though their bodies were distant, their bond hummed with vitality.
Darren ushered Logan into the kitchen, leaving Katey to wander toward the sofa to wait.
“Listen to me carefully,” the alpha said, his voice dropping low and speaking in their loup-garou language so Katey wouldn’t understand them as he presented Logan with his lunchbox. “There are four meat sandwiches in there. Three are for her. Make sure she eats them. We have no idea if she requires more nutrition than us. I also packed a small container of the raw meat if the sandwiches don’t satisfy her. But, try the sandwiches first.”
Logan examined Darren’s grave expression. “But, she took the-“
“I don’t know how she’s going to react to the pill. They work for us, but her body is different. They may work. They may not. I’m taking a risk letting her have them at all. Just make sure she eats.”
Logan nodded and understood his responsibilities. Katey would be vulnerable at school. If crowds bothered him, they would certainly bother her. The smells alone would make her lightheaded and if some careless student caused a commotion, her ears might bleed from the sudden noise. It happened to him before and there was nothing to say that it wouldn’t happen to Katey.
He had spent the entire night in a fitful sleep, thinking about what Dustin had prompted him to do. As long as Katey was under his care, he would have to set his feelings for her aside and be the dominant mentor that she needed. As far as she was concerned, next to Darren, he was her alpha.
4
After the teachers had left for school, Logan turned to go upstairs and caught a glimpse of Katey moving toward her bag on the sofa.
“Where are you going?” he asked in a little harsher tone than he probably should have.
“I thought I’d drive separate like yesterday,” she said, blinking back her confusion at the new look in Logan’s eyes. It was as if he had expected obedience without ever issuing an order and she could feel the slow leakage of dominance wafting her way.
“Not today. You’ll ride with me. I’ll be only a moment. Wait here.” Logan turned away and hustled up the stairs, presumably to finish getting ready for school and put more clothes on.
Katey was shocked by his suddenly cold and commanding behavior. He talked to her like she was a dog or some animal to command rather than a person. Where was the tenderness he had just so openly displayed moments ago?
Before that day, she might have taken the affront and rolled with it, but today something in her wanted to resist his dominance and she wasn’t sure why. Yet, her wolf needed to submit and did so willingly, despite her counter spirit’s rebellious impulse.
When Logan came back a few minutes later, Katey didn’t have to be told to follow as he grabbed their bags and walked out the door. They made their way out to the driveway to the bike and Katey kept her head low in submission to his palpable authority.
Logan mounted his bike and Katey followed suit, but she was afraid to touch him at first, for fear that a misplaced hand would upset him in some way. He glanced at her from over his shoulder and then his hand moved behind her to push her hard into him, forcing her to lay flat against his back.
Katey let out a squeak in shock at the bold move, but that gentle prodding in her soul told her this was just his way of teaching, like an adult wolf trying to teach a wolf pup to do something it needs to learn. He handed Katey her helmet and she quickly put it on without question.
She wrapped her arms around Logan tightly, savoring his warmth in the cool morning air, and hung on as he sped down the road. His speed didn’t bother her as much anymore. There was no fear of death for her now.
When they arrived to school, they still had about ten minutes until the tardy bell rang. Logan parked in the back near the football field, as usual. When they dismounted, Katey could feel all eyes were on her in an instant. She immediately regretted the decision to not wear a hat to shadow her face. If the change was noticeable to her, then surely everyone else would see it too.
She didn’t think about how her new appearance would cause a stir among the students. She knew gossip would spread like wildfire and by tomorrow, who knew what they would have come up with to explain her sudden change.
Katey kept her head down and stayed close to Logan’s side, merely following his scent to stay with him. Through the harsh scents of the city and parking lot, she was amazed that she could recognize anything. When they entered the school, Katey ran into a wall of smells and sounds that left her reeling as if she were hit by a sledge hammer.
They all mingled together in a discordance that made Katey’s head swim. For a moment, all she could do was stagger and grope for something stable to cling to.
Logan was there in an instant to steady her. “Are you all right?” she managed to hear him ask through the din.
Stunned into silence, she couldn’t answer and squeezed her eyes shut in an attempt to block it all out somehow. Shuffling feet, whispers down the hall, the roar of copy machines, and scents that were indistinguishable from one another all crowded around her.
After a moment, Logan pulled Katey back outside to recover.
“If it’s too much for you, Darren said you don’t have to be here.”
She opened her watering eyes and stretched out her sinus cavities with her facial muscles, trying to clear out everything that had swamped in so unexpectedly.
“No, I’m fine,” she said through a sniffle and cough.
He sighed, admiring her courage. “Try to block it out,” Logan advised. “Just focus only on what you want to hear and nothing else. I’m sorry you didn’t have more practice before today, but... you know…”
Yes, she knew that they didn’t have the time to prepare for her change. It was a spur-of-the-moment decision and they hadn’t the time to train her for anything she was about to experience as a loup-garou. But, she was determined to endure it and prove herself.
Katey nodded and steeled herself before they walked back in. This time, she tried as Logan suggested and tuned out much of the chaos. It worked for the most part, but Katey couldn’t wait to get into a quiet classroom where students would be silently testing instead of screaming.
As they walked the halls, Katey thought they were becoming the center of attention. She dared to glance up and saw one couple leaning against the wall in the hallway. Both of them had their eyes fixed on Katey. The boy was staring like a fool, his mouth agape, and the girl was glaring at her with jealous eyes.
As she looked around more, she saw the same pattern. The boys stopped and stared, while the girls gossiped cruelly.
Logan edged closer to Katey and took her hand in his, gripping it firmly. She jumped and turned her inquisitive eyes up to him. It was the first time they had consensually held hands since the change.
His eyes were fixed upon the crowd, keeping a sharp eye for anything and everything as if he were her bodyguard. His hand was rough and a little damp, as was h
ers, but she held on tightly despite her jittery nerves.
As they were half way to Mrs. Kimbrough’s room for their English semester exam, and the initial shock of sensory overload began to subside, she realized she could sense something else entirely new. Emotions.
They passed by students filled with joy and anxiety over the coming exams, which was to be expected. But as they ventured down one hall, Katey found herself nonplussed by a startling revelation.
Grouped around a set of lockers were several girls, all happy and giggling amongst themselves about the latest shoe sales. Amongst them was a girl that Katey recognized. She was top of their class, beautiful, easy going with all the students, envied by the freshmen girls for her grace, and a prize to be won by the senior studs.
Katey knew she was a great girl and brilliant student, and though they weren’t friends, she had an enjoyable conversation with the girl last year in chemistry class.
But Katey was thrown off guard by something she hadn’t expected to see. The girl was smiling and laughing, but Katey could sense a deep sadness within her. It was a sadness that Katey knew all too well.
She froze in the middle of the hallway and stared at the girl who was wearing a mask just like Katey did only weeks ago to hide how she truly felt from the rest of the world. The depression was so consuming that Katey could feel it thickening around her, even from across the hall.
How could this human, who seemed totally different from Katey in every way, suffer the same way that she had? What did this girl have to be so sad about? This extra sense for emotions could have been a blessing, but Katey could only see it as a burden. She knew that this girl was struggling, and yet, there was little she could do to help.
If she could sense the sorrow in this popular girl, did that mean Logan and the teachers knew about her own depression all along? Tears shone in her eyes and her breaths grew shallow as she thought of all the times her teachers had tried to show her kindness during class and she brushed it off as favoritism. No, they knew all along and they wanted to help. Even then, as a mere mortal human, they cared for her.
Logan saw the distraught look in Katey’s face and followed her gaze to the girl. He sighed heavily and wrapped his arm around her waist to lead her out of the way of student traffic.
“Logan...” she managed to whisper, even though the swell of emotions tightening around her throat threatened to choke her.
“I know,” he replied as he led her into the senior hallway.
Katey tried to hold herself together as they stepped through the door. They took their seats and Katey slunk in her chair, wishing more now than she ever had in her life that she was invisible. However, she was thankful to be in a quiet classroom where she could hear herself think a little clearer.
Lily walked in moments later and when she laid eyes upon Katey, she almost dropped her bag. She gawked at her friend’s new body and Katey forced a weak smile as she wondered how many layers of perfume Lily had sprayed on before leaving the house that morning. There was no mistaking her scent.
“Katey! Look at you!” she shrieked. Katey couldn’t help but laugh at her friend’s amazement.
“I know,” Katey mumbled shyly as Lily ran to her side and pulled her to her feet to gawk at the rest of the improvements.
“What did you do?” she asked. Katey thought quickly, stealing a glance at Logan, who was watching them closely, not saying a word.
“An extreme makeover,” she replied with a confident smile, knowing that answer would suffice.
“Overnight?” Lily cried.
Katey nodded nervously. “After school yesterday,” she replied.
Lily began going on and on about how awesome Katey looked and she couldn’t help but blush. “You’re so much thinner now! You’re skinnier than me!” Lily wrapped her hands around Katey’s waist and she giggled as she pushed Lily away playfully. “I never noticed before! And you’re eyes are so much brighter!”
“Oh, quit making such a big deal about it,” Katey teased.
Mrs. Kimbrough had to break up the moment of hysteria to pass out the exams, but Katey was in brighter spirits now. Lily’s excitement was infectious and it was times like this that Katey was thankful that she had such good friends. She only hoped that she would be able to keep them.
The exam was extremely easy. She could think so much faster, just like Darren said before, and everything that she had learned over the last semester was as fresh in her mind as if she had learned it yesterday. Katey grinned broadly as she quickly finished the test. She didn’t know what to do with the rest of the hour and a half.
The bell woke Katey up from a restless nap. It was a futile effort, seeing as how every little minute noise roused her from the first stages of sleep before they could begin.
The shrill alarm rang in her ears like a piercing gong that continued to buzz in her brain for an extra few long seconds after the alarm died away. Katey felt a hand shoot out to hold her shoulder so she didn’t fall from her seat.
Katey grimaced and picked up her test and her bag as the rest of the class moved into action toward the door.
But, when she stood up, Katey was hit by a wave of dizziness. Her temples throbbed like her heart was trying to pump in too much blood and pangs of intense pain churned her stomach. She began listing backwards and stared into the spinning space.
Logan leapt to his feet and caught her as her knees began to buckle. “What are you feeling?” he whispered in her ear. Luckily none of the students noticed as they were filing out of the classroom.
Katey blinked and shook her head until everything came back into focus. She found a little more strength to lock her knees so she could stand without Logan’s help. But, there was something else rising to that surface and it startled her.
“A little woozy and my head hurts... I don’t feel so good,” she mumbled, her lips barely letting her speak at all. She pressed her palm against her forehead, willing her world to stop spinning as she forced whatever was pushing up to stay down.
Katey let Logan’s arm fall around her waist as he led her to the door and into the hall.
“You need to eat something.”
Katey summoned every ounce of composure she had left and hurried down the hall, occasionally using Logan as a crutch when her strength failed her. She reviled this feeling of helplessness as if her body were fighting against her.
Dustin saw them as they were just about to leave the senior hall and rushed to their side.
Before he even had a chance to ask what was wrong, Logan ordered in a low tone, “Call Darren and tell him we’re going to be late. Katey needs to get something to eat.”
Dustin glanced to Katey’s swaying figure and then nodded, rushing back to his room so he could make the call.
“I’m not hungry,” Katey insisted. “I just need to lay down for a little while.” Her voice was barely louder than a sigh as Logan took her out of the senior hallway, onto the bus ramp, and into the empty wrestling gym where they had lunch together days ago, when everything was different.
He sat Katey down on the shabby couch and Logan knelt down to his bag. Katey sprawled herself across the cushions and pressed the heel of her palms into her temples as the sickness grew stronger.
Logan pulled out his lunch box and set it down just near her face. Katey smelled the meat instantly and her chest was set ablaze.
Her eyes widened and she felt her mouth salivate so much that she drooled from the corners of her lips. She wiped it away and covered her mouth and nose with her jacket sleeve to block the aroma that was almost intoxicating.
“Katey, don’t fight it. You have to eat,” Logan barked at her harshly. They were completely alone in the wrestling gym and with all the students and faculty in exam-mode, no one was likely to bother them here.
She fiercely shook her head and clamped her eyes shut against the sight of the sandwiches he was pulling out. He unwrapped one from the plastic and held it closer to her face. The smell seeped past the fabric and he
r hand, enticing her to take the bite and give into the animalistic instincts that raged against her human mind.
Katey opened her eyes. She felt that cooling sensation wash over her eyes again, but her vision was clouded over and she knew this was different. Something wasn’t right at all.
Logan’s eyes narrowed and he leaned in closer with the meat. He knew if he pushed hard enough, she would break.
Katey felt her lungs convulse. It was like she couldn’t take a breath. Bile rose in the back of her throat and her body rattled violently.
“I think I’m going to be sick,” she wretched as she felt something warm travel her esophagus. She moved her hand and leaned over, letting blood spew out of her mouth.
“Katey!” Logan shouted, tossing the sandwich to the side and putting a comforting hand on her back as more blood flowed from her lips, tainting her tongue with the metallic flavor that she oddly enough, was not repulsed by.
He cursed under his breath and pulled out his phone to speed-dial Dustin.
“Dustin, something’s wrong with Katey... She’s crashing and vomiting blood. I don’t know what to do... Out at the wrestler’s gym off the bus ramp... Okay, we’ll be here.” Logan hung up the call and turned back to Katey. “They’re coming to help and with more food. It’ll be okay.”
An unimaginable anger rose within her, the same anger she’d felt that morning staring into the mirror.
“I’m not hungry! Leave me alone!” she shouted as she paused in her vomiting, scowling at Logan. With every breath, it came out as a guttural growl and her irritation only intensified, creeping through her veins like a poison.
She could feel the blood dripping down her chin. Logan frowned and pulled out a rag from his back pocket to mop up the blood from her face.
“Katey, just calm down. You need to eat. This is what happens when you resist the hunger.”
Katey turned her face away from him and gripped the edges of the sofa cushions, her nails ripping into the upholstery. She could feel her last bit of control slip from her as she shook even more strongly in spurts of seizure-like episodes.
Becoming the Enigma (The Loup-Garou Series Book 2) Page 6