by Jayme Morse
“You do have one.” Standing up, he grabbed her hand and pulled her down the hallway. Once he reached a bedroom, he closed the door. “Take off your shirt.”
As Samara pulled off the red sweater she was wearing, Luke fumbled in a drawer. When he stood up, he was holding a mirror. “Stand here,” Luke said, pointing to a spot in front of the full length mirror that hung from the door.
“Turn around,” Luke said softly, giving her the handheld mirror.
Samara cautiously raised the mirror in her hand to look at her back before losing her grip on it, sending it to the floor.
Chapter 4
****
Samara traced the seven large paw prints that climbed up her spine with her fingernail. She knew that she should be proud of her new Alpha tattoo because it was something important, but she had been expecting something smaller, like the tattoos her pack members had gotten when they initiated. Samara had never been a big fan of tattoos. She’d never really wanted one, even though she loved how they looked on other people. Her biggest worry right now, though, was hiding the tattoo from her parents.
In the summertime, Samara and her mom went to Starlight Lake together almost every day. Even if she wore her hair down to try to cover the upper portion of her tattoo, how was she was going to explain to her mom that she had decided to ditch her bikini for a one piece bathing suit? And what if her mom wanted to take her clothes shopping for a backless dress or something? How was she going to hide the tattoo while they were in the dressing room?
Sighing, Samara turned to Luke. “This was way more than I asked for.”
“It’s a good thing, though,” Luke replied. “Your tattoo is the biggest Alpha tattoo I’ve ever seen or heard of. The bigger an Alpha’s tattoo is, the more powerful they usually are.”
Samara stared at him wide eyed. She hadn’t believed – or maybe she hadn’t wanted to believe – that she would be as powerful as her grandfather. But maybe she was going to be as powerful as him. The thought scared her because she knew that with power, there was usually abuse of power. More than anything, Samara didn’t want her power to go to her head. She didn’t want to end up like Jason: a werewolf who was willing to do anything it took to be the best.
“Besides,” Luke went on. “You’re also the first in history.”
“What do you mean? There have been plenty of other Alphas before me,” Samara replied confusedly.
“But never a girl,” Luke pointed out. “You’re the first female Alpha who has ever existed.”
*
Samara was surprised to find that it had only been an hour since she had left her house and woken up on Colby’s couch. Knowing that her mom was going to begin questioning where she was if she didn’t get home soon because it was a school night, she had Luke drive her home.
When Luke pulled into her driveway, she looked over at him. Before she had gone through initiation, she’d found him more attractive when he was in wolf form, and he had explained that it was because he was her mate.
Now, though, Luke was attractive to her in human form, too. She didn’t think he was just attractive like usual – she thought he was really attractive now. Samara had always thought Luke was cute . . . but now, it was as though she was drawn to him. Samara couldn’t imagine herself having eyes for anyone else in the world; no one could compete with Luke right now.
“I guess this is what Declan meant,” Samara told Luke, trying to ignore the pang that she felt at mentioning her former best friend’s name. “My feelings for you are so much stronger now that I’ve gone through initiation.”
“Oh, yeah?” Luke asked flirtatiously.
“Yeah,” Samara replied, giggling. She felt like a giddy school girl who was just talking to her crush for the first time. It was almost like she and Luke were meeting – really meeting – for the first time, though. Everything was changing between them now that things were different.
“I’ll let you in on a secret.” Luke leaned into her so that his face was next to hers. Samara felt his warm breath against her ear. “I feel stronger about you, too.”
Luke reached over and tilted her chin. He ran his fingers through her hair as he leaned in and met her lips. Samara kissed back, running her hands over his shirt, grabbing the soft material in her fingers. She wanted to pull it off, to climb into the backseat with him, but she knew that it wasn’t the right time yet, so she pulled away from him while she still had control over herself. “Goodnight,” she told him, giving him one last kiss and forcing herself to climb out of the car. She felt like a hormonal teenage boy right now. Samara had vowed to stay a virgin until she knew for sure that the time was right, but it wasn’t going to be easy now with the strong physical attraction that she suddenly felt towards Luke.
When she unlocked the front door, all of the lights in the house were turned off – which wasn’t an unusual occurrence in the McKinley house at ten o’clock on a school night.
Feeling the gurgle that came from her growling stomach, Samara went into the kitchen to grab something to eat.
“Hi, Sam,” Mrs. McKinley said from behind her.
Startled, Samara jumped. “Oh, hi, mom,” Samara said warmly, trying to hide the guilt that she felt. She hated when her mom stayed up late at night worrying about her. If only her mom knew that she didn’t have to worry anymore, that Samara was able to take care of herself . . .
Samara grabbed a container of leftover fried chicken from the fridge and sat down across from her mom. “Is everything okay?” she asked, noticing that her mom’s expression was rather solemn.
Mrs. McKinley looked down at the mug that she was grasping between her fingers, her fingers paling from the force that she was gripping it with. “Seth moved out of the house today.”
“What?” Samara asked, not even trying to mask the shock in her voice. She was both surprised and hurt. Sure, she had known that things would change after she initiated, but she really hadn’t been expecting this to happen. “How do you know that?”
“He told us he was moving in with a friend,” Mrs. McKinley replied. Her voice cracked a little, and Samara realized that her mom was choking back tears. “He just came home to pack his bags, and then he left.”
“Which friend did he move in with?” Samara asked, pulling off a piece of chicken and popping it in her mouth.
Mrs. McKinley shrugged. “I – I don’t know. He wouldn’t say. I was really surprised – and your father was, too. We didn’t even know that he had any friends.”
“Me either,” Samara murmured. She hadn’t seen Seth hang out with any friends in months. It was probably because he had been so angry since he had started the transformation into a werewolf – and he probably felt out of place. Samara knew that she could no longer relate to her own best friend, Emma Taylor. Of course, it probably didn’t help that Emma was in love with Jason – Samara’s enemy.
Samara hoped that Seth wasn’t staying with Jason, but she knew that if he was staying with anyone, it was probably someone from the pack. Then again, it didn’t really matter if he was staying with Jason or not. Jason was still Seth’s Alpha, and it was obvious that Seth was loyal to him.
Even though Samara hated that her brother had left, she knew there was nothing she could do about it. She should have been prepared for this all along. Had she really expected her brother to continue living under the same roof as her after they were officially on different packs and, thus, enemies?
Samara had been expecting to continue living with him, actually. It hadn’t crossed her mind that he would just leave without saying goodbye. She had just figured that they would continue living in the same house, even if it meant that they didn’t speak to each other. Samara hadn’t expected Seth to put her parents through this pain. Part of her hated his selfishness, but she knew that if she had made different decisions, she wouldn’t have forced him into making this one. Once again, it was her own fault.
In fact, her initiation was probably the reason Seth had chosen to leave today, of a
ll days . . . which also meant that Jason and the rest of the Vyka had to know that she was officially an Ima by now.
“Samara?” Mrs. McKinley asked, snapping Samara back to reality. “Is everything okay, honey?”
Samara forced a smile and nodded, knowing that she couldn’t cry in front of her mom. How could she expect her mom to be strong when she was weak? No, she wouldn’t cry . . . not until she was alone. Deciding that she had lost her appetite, Samara put the remaining chicken back in the fridge. “Yeah, everything’s fine. I’m just going to miss him.”
*
“So, guess what we’re doing tomorrow night?” Emma asked the next morning in biology class. Her voice was as cheerful as the highlighter-yellow sweater that she was wearing.
Samara raised one eyebrow. She really hated when people made plans involving her without asking first. “What?”
“A double date!” Emma replied excitedly. “You, me, Jason, and Luke! I bought us tickets to see that new Johnny Depp movie that already sold out, and I thought we could go to the Olive Garden for dinner afterwards, since it’s vegetarian-friendly and all.”
“I’m not a vegetarian anymore.”
“Oh, that’s right,” Emma said, smacking her palm against her forehead. “Sorry, I keep forgetting . . . probably because you’ve been a vegetarian ever since I’ve known you.”
Samara smiled. “It’s okay. I don’t think a double date is a good idea, though.”
“Why not?” Emma asked, her face twisting in anger. “Don’t you want to go out with us?”
“I want to,” Samara lied, “but whatever’s going on between Jason and Luke is serious, Emma. They’re not going to want to have to pretend to be nice to each other just to make you happy.”
Emma gawked at her. “You’re kidding me, right? You don’t want to go because Jason and Luke don’t get along? That’s all this is about?”
Samara sighed. “Have you even told Jason that you’re planning on this double date?”
Emma shook her head, her blonde waves bouncing across her back. “No. I thought it would be really fun to surprise him.”
“I can’t help it, I think it’s a bad idea. Me and Luke won’t be coming with you. I’m sorry.”
“Fine, whatever,” Emma said, turning away from her and giving her the cold shoulder.
Samara gritted her teeth. She didn’t want to argue with Emma again, but she also knew there was no way they could go through with this double date. Not only were Luke and Jason enemies, but he was Samara’s rival now, too. She still hadn’t seen him yet since she had been initiated – and she wasn’t looking forward to it. Jason had said that she was first on his list to kill, after all.
Would Jason try to kill me on school grounds? Samara asked Luke inside her head.
There was a long pause. Finally, Luke replied, I’m not really sure. Usually, we don’t put ourselves in situations where we could risk humans finding out what we are. If there was no one around, though, I wouldn’t put it past Jason.
Great, Samara thought. Hey, I wonder if he knows I’m Alpha yet.
No, he probably doesn’t, Luke answered. The only way would be if someone from our pack has told him or if he’s seen your tattoo.
Well, that’s good at least, Samara replied. I can’t imagine how much more he’d want to get rid of me if he knew I was Alpha.
Just thinking about what Jason would do if he found out about it made her shudder. At least she had (unintentionally) done something right throughout all of this – she had been able to keep Colby safe, though that meant that she now had an even larger target placed onto her back.
I think you need to call a pack meeting tonight – except we shouldn’t go to the woods. It’s not safe right now, Luke said. Let’s have it at Colby’s house instead.
Why do we need a pack meeting?
Luke hesitated. There are some things that we need to talk about now that you’re Alpha. So, you should let the pack know that we’re meeting tonight.
I don’t see most of them during the day, Samara replied.
She heard Luke chuckle inside his head. Now that you’re Alpha, you don’t need to see them, remember? You just have to communicate with them mentally.
Oh, Samara said. Umm, do you know how I do that?
Do I look like I’ve ever been Alpha? Luke asked, laughing. That’s probably a better question for Colby. But I can’t imagine that it would be much different than talking to me.
Okay, I’m going to try, Samara said. She closed her eyes and thought about how she wanted Colby, Steve, Kyle, and Chris to all hear her. Guys, we’re meeting at Colby’s house around eight. Be there or be square.
Colby’s voice immediately filled her head. Okay, cool.
The rest of the guys agreed, and Samara breathed a sigh of relief. Being Alpha wasn’t going to be easy, but she would get used to it.
*
Samara walked into the classroom that was scheduled to host the Grandview High ski club meetings. They wouldn’t be officially skiing until the ski slopes opened this winter, but they would be going over some of the routine stuff, like safety. Today, all Samara had to do was drop off her parental consent form . . . and she was dreading it.
Ski club was the one thing that she and Declan had always done together, so he would probably be at the meeting. Even though Samara wanted to just quit ski club now that they could no longer be friends, she knew that her parents would probably start to ask questions – and she wasn’t ready to answer them yet.
Samara hadn’t even seen Declan since she had become an Ima. She had no idea how he was going to act. There was always the off-chance that he would act like everything was normal, like they were still best friends, and she would have to find a way to hide her friendship from the rest of the pack like Kyle did with Josh.
Samara knew that wouldn’t happen, though. She had really hurt Declan. He would definitely be giving her the cold shoulder and, most likely, acting like she didn’t exist. She was going to have to find a way to compose herself because having Declan hate her was the only thing worse than having to choose another pack over him.
As she rounded the corner and went inside the classroom that the ski club meetings were held in, Samara nearly bumped into Chrissy, one of the girls who was also in the club. “Samara, hi!” Chrissy trilled. “How have you been?”
“Good,” Samara replied, giving her a warm smile. “How about you?”
“Bad, actually. Ben and I broke up.”
“Aww, that sucks,” Samara said sympathetically. “What happened?” Even though she didn’t really care, Samara figured that it was best to try to pretend to. That’s what other normal teenagers who didn’t have life or death matters would do.
“Between his new afterschool job and basketball, he just doesn’t have time for me,” Chrissy replied. Her eyes became cloudy with tears. She wiped one away. “I should be a priority, ya know?”
“You should,” Samara said, trying not to roll her eyes like she wanted to. Was Chrissy seriously crying over this breakup? It didn’t sound like they even had that many problems. Samara wondered what Chrissy would do if she had to give up her best friend who she had just realized that she sort of maybe had a crush on, but had to stop being friends with him for the rest of her life because they were going to be rivals for possibly hundreds of years to come. Chrissy could probably fill up buckets with those tears she’d cry. Samara realized, right then, how strong she had really been through all of this. There wasn’t even anyone who she could really vent her true feelings to. Sure, she had Luke, but she didn’t want to keep talking about Declan around him. It just felt wrong.
As though she had read Samara’s mind, Chrissy tossed back her light brown hair and asked, “Where’s Declan? He’s usually here by now.”
Samara glanced at the clock on the wall. Chrissy was right. Declan usually was here by now. In fact, he usually got here long before Samara did. Timeliness was one of his virtues. For him to not be here now, something was wrong. S
amara reached into her pocket to grab her cell phone before she remembered that she couldn’t call him.
Once the meeting started, Samara realized that Declan wasn’t late. He was just avoiding her. He had given up ski club, one of his favorite things, just so that he wouldn’t have to see her anymore.
Samara blinked back the tears. This was how it was going to be from now on. And it hurt.
Chapter 5
****
“So, why did you call a pack meeting?” Steve asked as he flopped down on the white plush sofa at Colby’s house.
“Umm, I don’t actually know,” Samara said, scanning the room for Luke, who had suddenly disappeared, just when she needed him to explain why they were here since he hadn’t already told her – which, of course, made her feel stupid. Wouldn’t a good Alpha know these things? “I guess Luke will explain it when he gets back.”
“Figures,” Chris whispered from across the room, an annoyed look on his angular face. “Wonder what else he’ll need to do for her.”
Colby elbowed him and said, “Dude, shut up. She’s still new at this.”
Samara eyed them both curiously. She wanted to ask what Chris was trying to get at, but she didn’t want to seem too nosy. The last thing her pack members needed was another mother. Samara wanted to like them, even if that meant forcing herself to stay out of their business.
He thinks you’re going to be a bad Alpha because you’re a girl, Colby said, allowing Samara to hear his thoughts.
Samara looked down at the floor, surprised by what Colby had just told her. She had figured that it was going to be weird for her pack members to have a female Alpha since they weren’t used to it – and because she was the first one to ever exist. Since most of them had been raised by werewolf parents, they were probably brought up to believe that a male-dominated werewolf pack was best. What she hadn’t realized was that some of the guys in her pack might give her a hard time because she was a girl. It made her understand how Colby had felt when the pack disobeyed him.