Katey thought for a moment. Maybe a sleepover was what she needed to chase the fog away. She knew she shouldn’t be alone, but she also knew that going out on the town, especially, overnight with a major trip planned the next morning was probably not smart. “I’ll have to make arrangements. I’d like to... I probably can only stay for the evening though. I have a plane to catch in the morning.”
Beth perked up, tearing herself away from her phone long enough to be part of the conversation. “Really? Where are you going?”
She was about to mention the loup-garou gathering and charity luncheon, but Beth was still not privy to the truth of her new life as a loup-garou. “With Logan’s family to Alaska.”
“That’s so cool!” Lily exclaimed. “When you go up there, look for Forrest. He’ll be there for a few days.”
She was sure that Lily knew about the gathering and knowing that Forrest will be there too confirmed it. Katey could sense something like disappointment in her voice. Perhaps Lily wished she could have gone with him.
With a nod, Katey replied, “I’ll have to see if we can get lunch together or something.” There were still a few choice words on Katey’s mind that she wanted to share with Forrest.
“Anyway,” Lily continued. “Just text me and let me know if you can come hang out. We’ll be meeting at the car riders’ spot after school to head to my house. I’ll be ordering pizza, too.”
After lunch, Katey trudged into Dustin’s classroom and fell into her chair at the counter. She stared dimly at the stack of papers before her, but had no motivation to get them graded at all.
Dustin sighed and leaned against the counter next to her. He couldn’t stand to see her so forlorn. “The whole fight thing bothering you?”
She nodded, but didn’t turn her eyes up to him.
“If it helps, Logan is far more experienced than Erik anyway so…” He was cut off by his cellphone chiming in his pocket. He sighed and answered it, seeing that it was their alpha.
"Hey, Darren... Okay... Yeah, she's here... I'll ask her... Yeah, I know, but he'll be fine. One less rouger to worry about...Okay, see you soon, bye.” Dustin hung up the phone and turned to Katey. “That was Darren. Him and Ben are already home and I’m about to head there myself. He hasn’t seen Logan yet. If you want to come, I’ll forge a signature on a dismissal note for you to take off." Dustin stated.
Katey thought for a moment and then shook her head. “No, that’s okay...” She looked up to see him packing up his things at his desk. “I was wondering if it would be okay to hang out with my friends tonight. They’re having a sleepover and they invited me... Can I go?” Katey asked with a little hopeful upturn in her voice. “Just for the evening? I haven’t spent time with them in so long.”
Dustin stopped and scratched at the stubble on his jaw. “I don’t know... You already buggered that up yesterday. You’ll have to get it cleared with Darren first.” Dustin reached in and pulled out his phone for her to use. “If it was my call, I’d tell you to go ahead because no one will be home this evening anyway. You’ll need some kind of company and a bunch of giddy girls may do the trick.”
Ignoring his remarks about giddy girls, she dialed Darren’s number and pressed the phone to her ear as students began flooding into the classroom.
“This is Darren.”
“Hey, it’s Katey,” she said, trying to sound as normal as she could under the circumstances.
“Is something the matter?” he asked, a note of concern in his tone.
“No. I was just wondering if I could spend the evening with a couple of friends. I’ll be home before midnight.”
Katey heard something like the rustle of upholstery fabric as if Darren were sitting down in his armchair. “You’re not going to watch Logan’s fight?”
“Aren’t y’all?” she asked curiously.
“No, it’s Ben’s night tonight, so we’re going out to change with him...” Darren was silent for a long moment. “My first impulse is to tell you to stay home, but there will be no one to stay there with you. At least you’re asking to see your friends this time instead of running off without our consent. I don’t see too much of a problem as long as you’re only out for a few hours. Just take extra care and make sure you eat something every hour.”
Katey was inwardly glad that he didn’t refuse her, but she showed no sign of it in her face. The fact that they were all going out to change hadn’t slipped past her. Logan remembered when he told her that if one changed, they all would change together. Would they be out all night? Would they run as wolves or the half-beast monsters that she had yet to see? When would she be included on these runs? The thoughts heralded in a new wave of anxiety that she didn’t need.
At the mention of eating, she winced. Through the haze of her depression, she’d been forgetting to eat as often as they wanted her to. However, the wolf was far from hostile today as it was empathetic to her emotional pain. “Thank you. Have you been able to talk to Logan?”
“No. He hasn’t shown up here at all yet and I haven’t heard from him. But, he’ll show up eventually, if not before the fight, then after. Don’t worry.”
Katey was surprised by how often they were saying “don’t worry” when that’s all she seemed to be able to do. She hung up the call and handed the phone back to Dustin, who had heard the whole conversation.
Dustin took the phone from her, shrugged on his jacket, and ruffled her hair teasingly. “Take care, kiddo,” he said as he walked out the door of the classroom.
She wasn’t even in the mood to fix her tousled hair. The substitute for the class arrived shortly after Dustin left and Katey set herself to grading the papers, hoping to channel some of her angst into the busy work.
She wanted to be happy for getting permission to go to Lily’s that night. She wanted to feel something, anything but the gloominess that lingered over her like a raincloud, but it wouldn’t leave. The only thing that could bring the sunshine back was a tender word and caress from Logan. Nothing else would do.
11
After the final bell rang, Katey dropped off all of her binders in her locker since she wouldn’t need them over the winter break and then made her way out to meet with her friends. The halls were congested with ecstatic students who were more than ready for the two-week long vacation from tests and assignments. Katey wished she could share in the joy that pulsated through the air, but knowing that the fight was just hours away quelled any hint of happiness.
When she arrived out to their meeting spot, Lily and Nikki were giggling as they waited for Katey, but Beth was leaning against the bench with her head down and arms crossed, looking just as dejected as Katey. This caught her attention and she went to her side instantly. At lunch, she seemed perfectly fine.
Beth looked up and her eyes were red and puffy as if she had been crying. Her nose put Rudolph to shame and Katey felt the same sadness in her friend as what inundated her own heart.
Lily turned to Katey. “Her boyfriend broke up with her after lunch.”
Katey’s face twisted with sympathy. She knew how close they were. “Oh, I’m sorry.”
Beth shrugged and sniffled. “It’s all right... I’ll get over it.”
There were a million things that Katey could have said. A major break up like this wasn’t something that someone just “got over”. Just like Katey, Beth would have to ride out the pain as best as she could, but a hurt like this wouldn’t go away overnight.
“Come on, you two!” Lily exclaimed with a grin. “No more sour faces! It’s winter break! Let’s go have fun!”
Lily and Nikki skipped away arm-in-arm toward the parking lot, scattering giggles in their wake. Katey looked to Beth and somehow found the courage and strength to give her an encouraging smile. If she couldn’t be strong for herself, then she would be strong for Beth.
Katey hooked her arm around Beth’s and pulled her from the wall, leading her toward the parking lot.
Back at the house, the guys were standing in the
billiard room, finally finding time to finish their game. Ben was slumped in a chair, shaking off the pre-effects of the change that began to pull on him. His eyes were a cold golden color as he let himself relax from the long day. Darren leaned on his pool stick, watching Dustin take his shot.
“What do you mean we’re not goin’ to go watch the fight?” Ben exclaimed after just hearing from Darren that they all were going to stay home for the change. “Someone has to be there to keep any eye on him. One of us always goes to his fights.”
“Granted, he never knew it,” Dustin muttered, still focused on lining up his shot.
“I’m deciding to give him a loose leash this time. And besides, someone needs to be here to keep an eye on you, too,” Darren said, feeling weary with having to juggle his pack members in this way. Ideally, he would have wished that he could be in three places at once. He wanted to be with Ben while he changed, Logan while he fought, and at home when Katey came back to make sure she was packed and ready for the following morning.
“But, he’s goin’ up against Erik! He’s only fought Devians before, never a rouger. He’ll get himself killed. They don’t have any sense of self-control.” Ben’s temper began to flare and he forced himself to take the deep breaths his alpha had taught him.
Dustin struck the ball, but he missed his target completely. He slammed down his stick on the green velvet and turned to Darren, leaning against the table, trying to keep his own temper under control. “I don’t like it either, Darren.”
Darren looked sternly at his two packmates. “He’s been doing this long enough that he doesn’t need our guidance anymore.”
It was a profound statement for the alpha to make. Logan had been fighting for nearly a century, ever since he stepped into his first fight club in Chicago. There were many aspects of his time in Chicago that made his job as alpha more difficult, but wrestling was one of the only ways Logan could blow off some steam to the point where he was manageable again. It had been dangerous to allow himself to fight from the start, but Logan had never revealed his true identity in the ring and there was comfort in that track record.
“Are we overlookin’ the fact that he could get killed?” Ben shouted.
Dustin turned on Ben, his own eyes now glaring gold. “Will you stop saying that?” he roared in his Irish accent, grabbing his stick again and chunking it at the wall. Splinters and shards of the lacquered wood tumbled to the ground.
Darren barely flinched and raised an eyebrow at his sudden outburst. “What’s shoved up your bagpipes?” he asked. They were all worried for Logan, but this was the first time the beta had shown this much fear for his grandson’s wrestling hobby.
Dustin began to pace the length of the floor, running his fingers through his hair in frustration. “I don’t know... I just...” he searched for the words. “I care about the lad and I don’t like the idea that he could really get hurt tonight. He may be a champion, but one wrong move and he could slip up... I’ve got a bad feeling that he will get hurt or even killed and I just can’t sit around twiddling my thumbs waiting for the phone call to come and identify his body.”
Darren cracked a smile. “You’ve never shown this much care for Logan before.”
“I know, I know. I’m turning into a big pansy.” Dustin leaned himself against the wall and rubbed his face in an attempt to burnish the anxiety away.
“You see!” Ben said, motioning to Dustin’s distraught figure across the room. “This whole fight even has Dustin nervous. We’ve got to go make sure he’s not goin’ to bite off more than he can chew.”
The game room fell silent as the alpha deliberated the options. The other two watched as Darren circled the pool table, his eyes scanning over the field of play. Then he spoke.
“Logan knows the risks as well as we do... I said we’re going to leave him alone and that’s that. He’s off at a fight, Katey is with her friends, and we have the night to ourselves. Granted, it’s a little restricted with Ben’s schedule, but we haven’t had a guys’ night out in a very, very long time. And this may be our last chance for one. We don’t have any kids to look after and it’s just us. Let’s make the most of it.”
Darren leaned over and took his shot, knocking three balls in at once.
“How about this one?” Nikki asked, showing the movie cover to Lily.
The four girls crowded around the entertainment center in Lily’s living room, frantically pulling out cases and looking at the back covers for the summaries. All of them, even Katey and Beth were in good spirits.
“No way,” Lily replied. “It’s too gory. Let’s watch this one!”
“Oh yeah! That one has that one really sexy guy!” Nikki giggled, then proceeded to grab the case out of Lily’s hands and toss it to Beth whose arms were getting overloaded with movie cases.
Katey’s quick eyes scanned over the titles and pulled one out that caught her interest. “Let’s watch this after that one,” she said, showing the front cover to Lily.
Taking the case from her hand, Lily made a face. “I didn’t know you liked romances.”
Normally, Katey didn’t, but lots of things had changed. “I’ve got a new taste for them,” she said, shooting her a sly look that should have explained herself well enough.
“No doubt because of Logan,” Nikki said, her tone fluctuating sensually and wiggling her hips. Katey rolled her eyes and blushed a bit as the other three giggled at her expense.
All four of them twittered, giggled, and squealed like children, trying to pick out and filter through the hundreds of movies that Lily had in her collection. They ended up settling for nearly every romance movie she owned and spread them across the coffee table in the living room.
Lily’s family was a little above middle class and she had a bigger TV that even Katey’s pack had, along with a surround-sound system that almost put a movie theater to shame.
“I’m starved. What pizza does everyone want?” Lily called out from the kitchen as she went in to get a water bottle.
“I want Hawaiian style!” Nikki said.
“Just cheese for me,” said Beth, the vegetarian.
Katey paused to think, then replied with, “Ask for meat-lovers with no cheese please.”
Lily stepped out of the kitchen, phone in hand. Nikki and Beth gave Katey strange looks, but Lily knew well enough why she made such a request.
Katey only shrugged. “Cheese doesn’t agree with me.”
They bought it.
“Well, I’m getting something with pepperoni,” Lily said as she proceeded to dial the phone. “Parker is working there tonight,” she told the others while the phone was still ringing.
Beth, Nikki, and Katey all sat down on Lily’s huge leather sectional and listened in.
“Hey, Parker! Can we get some pizza?” Lily giggled, twirling her blonde hair between her fingertips and biting her lip with a mischievous grin. “What about a discount?... Oh, come on!... No, I will not!” she cried. Katey only guessed what the frisky loup-garou could be suggesting as Lily walked away with the phone.
Being around the giddy Lily or Nikki could put a smile on anyone’s face. Even Beth seemed to be enjoying herself, despite the circumstances. Katey’s loneliness wasn’t as intense as it was before, but she still missed Logan with an inexplicable passion. At least when she was with her friends, she could try and forget about her woes for a while.
“You know... I think I’m already over him,” Beth said randomly as their giggling subsided, referring to her ex.
“Really?” Nikki exclaimed, grinning to Beth.
“Yeah,” she said, nodding confidently as she stared at the back cover of one of the DVDs. “I’m ready to move on.”
“That’s great,” Katey said, genuinely elated for her friend, but knowing that there was still a spark of remorse in her that no one else could see. “Now maybe you can stop smoking, right?”
Beth sighed and stared off into space for a bit, but kept the soft smile on her face. “Yeah, I really should
... Know any single guys in our class?”
The three laughed a bit and Katey replied, “I think Logan knows a few guys that would love to go out with you.”
Lily came bounding back in from the kitchen after hanging up with Parker. “Okay, I got them ordered and with a twenty percent discount.” Then she began her victory dance.
“What did you have to promise Parker to get it?” Katey asked. “And is it something I need to inform Forrest about next time I see him?”
Nikki grabbed one of the pillows from the couch and playfully chucked it at Lily.
She caught it and rushed upon Nikki, beating her with the pillow. The living room erupted in laughter as the other three grabbed their own pillows, whacking wildly at each other.
Katey couldn’t remember the last time she had laughed so hard. For the first time in what seemed like forever, she felt normal and human again. There were no teachers, no Logan, no drama, no Mary, nothing to get in the way of her fun. Her cheeks and jaw muscles ached from how much she laughed and smiled just within the last couple of hours.
Then, her merriment was interrupted as her cell phone vibrated on the coffee table. Katey threw her pillow aside, snatched it up quickly before the others had a chance to see the caller ID was from Dustin.
“Hello?” Katey greeted, breathless from all the giggling. She walked closer to the front door so her conversation wouldn’t be heard from the living room.
“Hey, it’s Dustin. I have a big favor to ask you,” he said, a hint of concern in his hushed voice.
“What?” she replied as she wrapped an arm around her stomach and began to feel edgy again. She wondered what could be so important as to personally ask her for anything.
“I need you to go watch Logan fight and make sure he’ll be okay.”
Katey felt like scoffing off his request. She desperately wanted to make sure that he was okay, but she didn’t want to miss this time with her friends. She sighed. “But why? You guys seemed to think that he was going to do just fine.”
Becoming the Enigma (The Loup-Garou Series Book 2) Page 16