She began eating again, though her mind was far from easy about the idea that she had danced with a rougarou and had been working alongside another loup-garou for years. Not only that, but the men seated around the table were all well known around school or popular in their own right. How could such a secret society be so assimilated into the lives of humans and no one was the wiser? It was one more facet to her new existence that she couldn’t explain.
8
The bell rang to announce the start of the next period and the students made their way toward the garbage cans to toss away their disposable trays and exit the cafeteria in a mass exodus. Logan and Katey, along with the other loups-garous, hung back to wait for the crowd to die down before making their way toward the halls.
Lily and Katey hugged and promised to talk later. Logan didn’t notice the sly comments and if he did, Katey suspected that he thought they meant they would talk over the phone, not in person after school as she had already arranged with Beth over text.
As the loups-garous parted ways, Katey couldn’t help but feel a sense of new comradery with the Devians. Despite being a female, they welcomed her and talked freely about pack business or their personal lives as loups-garous. It was more than she had heard out of Logan and the others, and closer to what she expected a pack to talk about when they gathered together.
She heard stories of their daily struggles and Katey no longer felt embarrassed for her hunger episode the day before. The others, like Allen and Parker who nearly changed during their weightlifting class, had suffered greater challenges.
As they made their way toward the door, Katey and Logan walked slowly, hand in hand.
A thought came to her mind that gave her pause, but she refused to show it. Logan behaved as if he had already claimed her as a mate or girlfriend, but they hadn’t spoken a word of agreement to one another in the matter. As far as she knew, they were simply friends and packmates, but he told Parker that she was taken. And the way he put on such a display for Erik when he approached the table, anyone would have suspected that they belonged to one another.
But not a single word about it had been spoken. Not one. It hardened Katey’s stomach the more she stewed on it. Why hadn’t Logan confessed his feelings to her face? Why this silence? He had been capable of expressing every emotion up until this point, so why hold back now?
Logan stopped her just outside the cafeteria doors. “Meet me at the end of the senior hall after school.” He paused to take out the packet of beef jerky she had been eating from all day. “Don’t forget to eat something before your next class.”
She took the packet and stuffed it in her bag before giving him an imploring look. “You’re not going to stay?”
“I don’t have a fifth or sixth period and the administration won’t condone loitering on school grounds if I don’t have a class. I promise I’ll come back to get you.”
Logan leaned forward and slipped his hand behind her neck to pull her closer. He planted a quick kiss on the crown of her head and then turned to leave before any teachers or hall monitors could hassle him about his public display of affection.
She sighed as she watched him disappear into the crowd. Already, she could feel the symptoms of withdrawal from his presence. It left her empty and the urge to whine and howl for him to return was almost irresistible. She bit her lips shut to keep from crying out and gathered the pieces of her aching heart together so she could hurry to Dustin’s class without falling apart.
Just as she was walking past the gym, someone grabbed her arm and pulled her aside toward the steel doors.
Katey was met by a pair of dark brown eyes that belonged to the man Logan told her to stay clear of. Not only did the sight of Erik and the toxic stench of his cologne startle her, but also the way that he snuck up on her so quietly. Despite her inhuman senses, she didn’t see this ambush coming. Not even her loup-garou detection sense had alerted her.
She gasped and tried to get away, feeling the dread of a coming storm swell around them, but Erik’s grip was too strong and she couldn’t escape.
“Hey, hey, hold on now. I just want to talk,” Erik said with a grin, pulling her farther away from the doors and closer to the corner to trap her there against the wall.
Katey made moves to step past him, but each time he dodged in her way, like a cat playing with its skittish mouse.
“Logan told me to stay away from you,” she stated coldly, unable to hide the loathing from her tone. She despised Erik and so did the wolf inside of her. It growled and snapped, recognizing that this loup-garou was a dangerous threat. If she weren’t in public, she might have done the same.
“I wouldn’t listen to anything he says.” Regardless of her obvious resentment, Erik seemed calm, just as he had when Logan confronted him in the cafeteria.
“I know what you are,” Katey bit off the words hatefully.
“And I know what you are, too. I’m impressed. I didn’t know Logan had it in him.” Erik reached out and let the back of his fingers glide across her cheek. Katey swatted his hand away and glared.
Her captor chuckled. “You always were the feisty one.”
“What do you want, Erik?”
He leaned his hand against the wall just inches from her shoulder, drawing deathly close. Her wolf wanted Katey to strike now while he was unguarded, but she knew better than to lash out at a fellow student in front of so many witnesses. Her nostrils flared and breaths came quick and gruff.
“I wanted to see what you were up to tonight.” He flashed a toothy grin and she could see his sharp canines gleam back at her.
“Why?”
“Well, I was wondering if you’d like to go and see a movie... with me?” Erik asked with a smug shrug.
“Get lost,” she spat at him.
“Come on, you told me to take a rain check the other week. Why not take me up on it now?”
“Things have changed since then, a lot of things.”
“Oh, like Logan changing you and becoming part of a pack?” Erik’s voice rose a bit and Katey shushed him.
“Keep your voice down.”
“What? Afraid someone would hear us talk about werewolves?”
“Erik, are you crazy?” she hissed, her eyes wildly darting over the masses moving on by them without a care. No one was paying attention to them, but if one student heard them and grew suspicious, it would have made matters more complicated.
“Crazy for you, maybe.” Erik took a step closer, their bodies almost touching. His face was so close to hers that she could feel his cold breath plume on her skin. Katey flattened herself against the wall, letting her nails dig into the gritty bricks. She had to take her irritation out on something other than the arrogant cad that stood before her.
“Let me go,” she growled, feeling her eyes turn gold. If she didn’t break away from the situation soon, Katey knew the wolf would rise up to take care of Erik one way or another.
“Are you turning me down because Logan says to stay away from me or because you two are an item?”
Katey’s lips turned up in bewilderment. “Who uses that term anymore?”
“Well, are you?” Erik pushed, his patience growing thin.
Katey had to think for a moment. She and Logan had never verbally communicated their relationship and he hadn’t confessed his feelings for her yet, at least not when he knew she was listening. Yet, he held her hand and that gentle kiss on her forehead before he left just moments ago, was all proof that he did care. The red eyes of lust when they got too close would have proven that there was certainly something there, even if it was a shallow sexual attraction. However, no words were spoken, nothing had been communicated, nothing resolved between them to say that they were a couple or not.
“I don’t know,” she muttered, feeling guilty for not having a better answer.
“So, then you’re single. I’m single. We’re the same species and there’s no reason not to give me a shot. If you don’t like me after one date, we never have
to associate again. All I ask is for a chance.”
Katey didn’t need more than a few minutes alone with him to figure out that she didn’t like him. Even if he wasn’t a rougarou, Katey didn’t want to be anywhere near him. Still, if she didn’t go out, Erik would never leave her alone. If she did, Logan would be furious with her and Darren would surely punish her for associating with a rougarou.
But, then again, maybe this would be the trick to get Logan to finally tell her the truth about how he felt. This date could be a way to get him jealous enough to admit it to her face. She had seen the petty tricks of some girlfriends who purposefully flirt with other men to make their boyfriends jealous. Up until then, Katey thought they were immature and pointless tactics that would yield no good result. However, the tables had turned and Katey was desperate to hear Logan utter those three magical words to her face.
“You promise you’ll leave me alone?” she asked with a suspicious note in her tone.
“I’ll avoid you like the plague if you wanted me to.”
The wolf inside roared against her plan, but Katey wouldn’t listen. “Fine. What time?” she asked.
“Seven o’clock. I’ll see you at the movie theater.” Erik gave her a wolfish grin and walked away victorious.
Katey took a few soothing breaths until she knew her eyes had returned to normal, then hurried to Dustin’s class before she would be late. With each step, she heard the little voice of conscience inside her head blaring out the alarm sirens. A date with Erik could never end well. If he was as dangerous as the others suggested, then Katey could have been putting herself under the guillotine.
Then again, perhaps this would have been a great opportunity to spy on the enemy and find out if what they said had any validity. Erik, though forward and a player, didn’t seem like the cold-blooded murderer they made him out to be.
Alongside the second thoughts of spending time with Erik, Katey’s stomach wasn’t easy about the idea of betraying Logan’s trust in that way. She knew that she loved him and dating another boy almost seemed as if she were cheating, but how could she feel that way if they had never established a relationship to begin with? There were no claims made, no names tattooed on their bodies to say that they belonged to one another, so why should she feel so dirty?
In Dustin’s place was a substitute to monitor the rest of the European Union presentation. Earlier that day, Logan had presented for them since he had done most of the work. In the hysteria of being turned and the car accident, Katey forgot all about their group project. According to Logan, he had completed the work the evening after Dustin had assigned them as partners.
Katey asked the substitute where Dustin was and she said that he went home to take care of his sick son. She knew Dustin well enough to know that was a lie, but her mouth went dry thinking of what the real reason for his absence might have been. What if it had to do with Logan?
“But if you’re his intern, he told me to give you this,” she said, turning around and handing her a small folded piece of notebook paper. Katey quickly unfolded it and turned her back to the cabinets so no one would be able to read it over her shoulder.
Katey,
Come straight home after school. That’s an order. A vampire was spotted in town last night and we just found out about it this morning. We’ve all taken off early. Nothing to worry about yet, just a precaution.
Dustin
Katey stared at the note for several long moments, letting her mind feebly grasp around the fact that vampires existed, as well as loups-garous. It made her wonder what other nightmarish creatures existed in the world that she had been oblivious to until now. How many deaths and disasters had been covered up because a monster was the cause of it? It was an earth-shattering revelation that Katey hadn’t been expecting. Once again, she felt as if her life had just become more complicated and even more dangerous than before.
That thought segued into the realization that she had two appointments to keep that afternoon that Logan and the guys knew nothing about. Her friends were expecting to see her after school and Erik would be waiting at the theater after dark.
Her pack would be expecting her soon after the bell rang and Logan would be sent to pick her up since she had no other way to get home besides running the whole way. Then, if there was a vampire on the loose, she shouldn’t be out late in the evening. Did Erik know about the vampire? Were rougarous and vampires no threat to one another?
She sat down heavily in her chair next to the counter and sighed in deep thought. The right thing to do would have been to cancel on Erik and her friends in favor of obeying her pack, but perhaps if she came clean about both meetings, then they would allow her some lenience. Then again, they could restrict her even further.
Turning to her new loup-garou instincts, Katey knew that she shouldn’t keep these clandestine appointments from her alpha.
But, once again, Katey’s human reasoning had a weightier ruling on the matter. She couldn’t blow off her friends. She may have been a loup-garou now, but Katey needed to see her friends just as badly as being with her pack. Erik was incorrigible. Appeasing him would be the only way to keep him away from herself and Logan.
She felt the sting of impending treachery. If the guilt were enough to keep her at home, then she might have called the whole thing off.
After school, she ducked and weaved through the crowds, avoiding all the places that Logan could have been. She took the occasional whiff of the air to make sure he wasn’t nearby and although she could feel the pack bond between them, it did little to help her gauge how far away he was at any given time.
Katey met Lily and Beth outside near the statue of the Bulldog, which was their school mascot. Lily and Beth were quietly talking about their experiences with the semester exams when Katey approached.
As she stood with her friends, she hid in the shadows of the Bulldog and made sure the wind wasn’t blowing her scent upwind so Logan wouldn’t pick up her trail from the senior hallway. She partook in the conversation and for Beth’s sake, made it seem like the Environmental Science test was difficult beyond reason.
“I’m sure I flunked it. I didn’t even have time to study,” Katey said.
Beth made a face of apathy. “I know. The weekend flew by and what with that accident and all, they should have made you take it later or something. How can they expect you to take semester exams after what happened to your foster mom?”
Katey hadn’t given much thought to Mary over the last few days. Her life was centered around other things besides an irate alcoholic. The funeral must have come and gone by now, but her death wouldn’t have been the reason she ever failed a test. But she politely agreed with Beth and pretended to be somewhat distraught over the mention of the car accident.
Lily was the first one to notice the way Katey’s eyes darted across the crowds and over her shoulder every few seconds.
“Why are you acting like the secret service is out to get you?” Lily asked.
“Not the secret service,” Katey corrected, passing a furtive look to her friend who knew exactly who she needed to hide from. She wasn’t sure if Lily was on the same short leash as she was, but surely she knew the limitations of a loup-garou pack when it came to socialization with other humans.
“Why?” Beth asked. “What’s going on?”
“Nothing. Logan just expects me to be close by and I can’t stay long. I’m just trying to hide before he finds me,” Katey replied, peeking out from behind one of the stone legs of the statue toward the doors leading to the lobby of the school.
“Oh... So, you’d be in trouble if he found you?” Beth asked, a bit of tension in her voice.
“Pretty much, yeah,” Katey said slowly, checking all the doors from where she was hiding. Lily tapped on her shoulder and Katey turned around to see her staring off toward the front parking lot.
“Well, I think you’re in trouble, then,” she inferred.
Katey followed her gaze and saw Logan sitting on his motor
cycle on the curb of the parking lot across from where the girls were standing. Katey froze, glad that she couldn’t see the cold glare beneath the visor of his helmet. An obscure negative energy flowed off him in buckets, dumping over Katey like a cold, drenching rain.
How could she not have heard the motorcycle pull up? Or even detect his scent on the wind? If he employed some craft stealth maneuvers, Katey wanted to know what they were for future use and prevention.
She looked to Lily and Beth, who were just as mortified as Katey. Both had a vague idea of how attached she and Logan had become and even as humans, they could probably feel the pull of dominance that Logan began to slowly emit from his bike. They didn’t have to be loup-garou to know that Logan was not happy with her.
They both stepped away as if a curse or the scarlet letter had marked her.
“Give me a call later if you’re still alive,” Lily said as she and Beth walked off toward the school. Katey turned back to Logan, who waited impatiently. Slinking forward like a puppy who knew it had done wrong, Katey stood before him to receive her judgment. Spending a few moments with her friends might have been worth the punishment.
He silently handed her the white helmet and jerked his head behind him to indicate she needed to get on the bike. He must have wanted to wait until they were away from people so he could explode. Katey appreciated his discretion. She put on her helmet and mounted behind him, but before she could wrap her arms around his waist, he sped off to the main road, ignoring the speed bumps.
Luckily, she was able to balance herself on the back of the bike as Logan sped back to the house with almost no regard for safety or traffic laws. Katey felt herself tremble with trepidation at the thought of what awaited her when she got home. If Darren or Dustin found out or even got a hint of what she had done, they would certainly discipline her and she didn’t know how well she would take to being yelled at. It brought back memories of when Mary yelled at her. She would usually do one of two things: bottle up or roar back, and with her new short fuse, there was no telling what chaos would ensue.
Becoming the Enigma (The Loup-Garou Series Book 2) Page 12