by Jayme Morse
You won’t know until you try, Luke pointed out. Now try.
Samara took a few steps away from him before turning back, walking towards him on all fours quickly. She growled louder than she ever had before and parted her lips, showing her teeth. Samara got closer to his face, continuing to let out her growls, while baring her teeth.
Weak, Luke said. I know you’re not going to attack me. Try it again.
Samara turned away and repeated the process of growling and gnarling at him. The second time around, he shook his head at her. It won’t cut it. Try again.
Feeling the anger build up inside her, Samara walked away from him again. She thought about all of the things that had happened in the past few months – all of the things that made her mad: Rocco wanting to kill her; Jason wanting to kill her; Jason killing Lilly and Meagan.
This time, when she walked closer to Luke and growled at him, showing him her teeth, she felt more powerful, more in control. If someone messed with her, Samara wasn’t going to let them intimidate her; she wasn’t a weakling. She was going to fight back.
After she growled in Luke’s face for a few minutes, he stared back at her with his golden eyes. Perfect.
*
The doorbell chimed loudly, interrupting Samara’s thoughts. For the past hour, she had been laying on the couch, flipping through the stations on the television. Samara didn’t even want to watch anything; she only had the TV on to keep her mind occupied. She’d been so busy worrying about the Homecoming dance and the events that were going to take place afterwards that she couldn’t have focused on watching something even if she wanted to.
Samara got up and opened the door. When she looked outside, she found Luke’s light green eyes staring down at her. “Let’s go out,” Luke said.
“Now?” Samara asked, glancing down at the ratty sweatshirt and Victoria’s Secret sweatpants that she had been lounging in. Luke nodded. “Where are we going?” Samara asked.
“I thought that we could go on a date,” Luke replied.
“What type of date?” Samara pressed.
“I was thinking dinner and a movie,” Luke said. “You know, the type of date that normal teenagers usually go on . . . something normal.”
Samara smiled at Luke’s werewolf humor. “Okay, just let me get changed.”
When she was back in her room, Samara pulled a white lacy camisole over her head, followed by a hunter green sweater. She debated wearing a jean skirt but decided against it because it was so cold outside. Samara slid into a pair of dark wash skinny jeans instead.
When she went back into the living room, Luke was talking to Mr. McKinley, who, surprisingly, was laughing. Samara raised an eyebrow. She knew that her dad had taken to Luke better than she had been expecting, but this was the first time she had seen her father laugh in Luke’s presence.
“Have her home by ten,” Mr. McKinley said before winking at Samara and heading into the kitchen.
As Samara followed Luke outside and climbed into his Honda Accord, the relief washed over her. At least her parents didn’t absolutely hate her mate. Her life would be far more complicated than it was right now.
“So, did you hear the news about Lilly?” Luke asked.
Samara shook her head. “No, I haven’t been keeping up with the news. What’s going on?”
“The police think Lilly lied about running away,” Luke began. “They think she might have been kidnapped . . . or that she was involved with someone who had really jealous tendencies. They think the same person . . . the kidnapper or the person she was involved with . . . is who killed her that night.”
Samara let out a loud sigh. “I seriously hope this doesn’t fall on Josh.”
Luke stiffened and nodded, looking ahead. “I know.”
“You don’t need to get so jealous, you know. I would say that about anyone who I genuinely thought was innocent. It’s not because I like him or something,” Samara shot at him.
“I know,” Luke said gently. “I just don’t like the kid. I’m sorry. If there was a girl who you knew liked me, you probably wouldn’t like her either.”
Samara sighed again. She wasn’t going to argue that Josh didn’t like her in that way; it wasn’t worth wasting her breath over. Luke was right about one thing, though. Samara still couldn’t seem to like Ashley Everest after what had happened that night at Emma’s party, and she had been friendly with her before then.
Luke pulled into the parking lot at Finecelli’s, a cute little Italian restaurant, and Samara climbed out of the car.
Once the hostess had seated them at a table, Samara opened the menu and began looking through it. She used to love Finecelli’s vegetarian lasagna, but that was back when she was a vegetarian – before she felt the constant urge to eat meat.
Luke placed his hand over hers. “It’s nice to finally be alone with you. I feel like that doesn’t happen nearly enough.”
“I agree,” Samara replied, smiling at him. It felt like they were always with the pack – and if they weren’t with the pack, they were at school, and when they weren’t at school, they were with her family or Emma. It was never just the two of them.
“When you tell your parents about everything, I want them to know that,” Luke began, just as the redheaded waitress, who was standing next to their table, cleared her throat. “Hi, my name is Kelli, and I’ll be your server this evening,” the waitress said. “Can I start you off with something to drink?”
“I’ll have lemonade,” Samara replied.
“A diet Coke for me,” Luke said.
Kelli shot them both a small smile before saying, “I’ll be right back.”
“What do you want my parents to know?” Samara asked quietly.
“That I’m your mate.”
Samara’s breath caught in the back of her throat. Hearing Luke call himself her mate got her every time. “I don’t know if I’ll tell them right away,” she replied. “They’re going to have to find out eventually, though.”
The waitress interrupted them again as she brought back their drinks. “May I take your orders now or do you need more time?”
“I think we’re ready to order,” Samara said. “I’ll have the chicken parmesan with linguini.”
The waitress stared Samara up and down, as though were trying to figure out how she could eat so much and still be slim, before scribbling the order down on her notepad. “And for you?” she asked Luke.
“I’ll have the veal cutlet parmesan,” Luke replied. Once the waitress took the order and walked away again, Samara wrinkled her nose at Luke. “I didn’t know you ate veal.”
“I didn’t before this happened.” Luke didn’t have to explain what he meant by ‘this’; he meant before he had become a werewolf.
Out of the corner of her eye, Samara felt someone’s eyes staring in her direction. Luke? Samara said through mind-speak. Is there someone behind me staring at me?
Luke broke eye contact with her for the first time since they had arrived at the restaurant and glanced over her shoulder. When he looked back, his stare was grim. It’s Colby’s dad.
Samara felt her body froze in panic. She was half-tempted to turn around and tell him off or at least give him a death stare.
Don’t do that, Luke told her. It will only make things worse. Just pretend that you have no idea he’s there, let’s eat, and then we’ll go.
Why is always staring at me, though? Samara asked. It’s freaking me out.
I know it is, Luke replied. I hear you thinking about it pretty often.
Do you think there’s something going on or am I just being paranoid? Samara asked.
Luke shrugged. “I don’t know. I guess we’ll see,” he said aloud. We can’t keep talking in our heads when he’s probably already heard us talking out loud or he’s going to pick up on it.
“Yeah, I agree,” Samara said aloud.
When their dinner was served, Luke and Samara talked, joked, and laughed. Samara tried her hardest to pretend that Darren Jack
son hadn’t been there sitting behind them – and tried to ignore the idea that he might have even followed them to restaurant.
Once they had finished the chocolate raspberry cheesecake that they shared for dessert, Samara turned around and glanced in the area that Darren Jackson had been sitting in.
The chair was empty; he was gone.
Chapter 15
****
On Halloween night, Samara sat on the sofa at Kyle’s house. She was spending the night, which, according to Luke, was probably the best thing for her to do for her own protection. Werewolves were known to act crazy on All Hallows’ Eve, and he was afraid that Jason was planning an attack for tonight.
It had been tempting to accept Emma’s invitation to her annual Halloween bash, but Luke had been afraid that Jason might show up at her house – even though Emma was still seeing Troy.
So, instead, Samara was watching the other guys from the pack play Xbox 360. Even though her mind was filled with worries about what was going to happen tonight or in the near future with the Vyka or Shomecossee, the guys seemed to be at ease playing video games. They were still typical teenage guys.
“Samara?” Colby called. “Can you come here?”
Getting up from the couch, Samara went into the hallway that led to the front door. Colby was the only one who didn’t want to play video games, so he claimed candy duty. He had even dressed up like a pirate with a black and red striped shirt, black boots, a big pirate’s hat, a patch over his eye, and a fake parrot on his shoulder.
“What?” Samara asked.
Colby finished handing out candy to the kids on the porch before closing the door. “I smell someone . . . they’re nearby.”
Samara sniffed. For the first time in human form, she realized that she could also smell the scent of another wolf somewhere nearby. The scent was musky, but she couldn’t fully identify it.
“Thanks, I’ll let the other guys know.”
When she got back into the living room, the other guys were all looking up at her. The look in their eyes told Samara that they could also smell the other wolf.
“Who do you guys think it is?” Samara whispered, as though whoever was nearby could hear her.
“I don’t know,” Kyle said slowly, ruffling his copper hair nervously.
“There’s only one way to find out for sure,” Chris said, jumping up from his place on the floor. Slipping out the back sliding door that led to the back porch, Samara watched from the window as he phased into a wolf.
Steve got up and followed. “I should probably go with him. It might be nothing, but it could be something.”
Once they were both out the back door, Samara turned and looked at Luke. She was beginning to feel the panic taking over her body; it made her throat feel dry, and she felt like she was going to vomit.
“Just relax,” Luke told her soothingly. “Like Steve said, it might be nothing.”
“Do you think it’s nothing?” Samara asked him.
Luke shook his head. “I don’t really know.” He got up and walked over to her. Wrapping his arms around her waist, he pulled her closer to him. “Don’t worry. I’ll keep you safe.”
Samara rested her head on his shoulder. She knew that he was being truthful; Luke would try to keep her safe, but would it be enough? If it was someone who had it out for her this bad, there might not be a way to prevent what was about to happen.
She quickly shook the thought away. If Samara was going to fight any werewolf, no matter how much they wanted to kill her, she was going to have to be confident.
The back door slid open, and Steve and Chris came back inside. Their faces were filled with worry.
“Who is it?” Samara asked. It made her nervous that they had returned so soon. Even though werewolves were fast, they had been really fast.
“It’s Jason,” Chris said breathlessly.
“Great,” Samara muttered. “Is he in the yard?”
Steve shook his head. “No, he’s not after you. Not yet at least. He killed a child.”
“What?” Samara shrieked.
Chris nodded. “He killed a trick-or-treater. We were both instantly drawn to the scent of blood. Once we got down the street, we saw the kid – a little girl – lying on the ground. We also smelled the scent, and sure enough, all of the parents were screaming about the black wolf that had just attacked the girl.”
“Are you sure she’s dead?” Samara asked.
“There’s no way a child could survive all of that blood loss,” Chris said, sitting down on the chair, putting his head in his hands.
Steve sat down on the floor and stared off into space. “I always knew Jason was a douche. I mean, look what he did to Lilly. I didn’t know he was low enough to attack an innocent child, though.”
“That’s it,” Samara said, balling her hands into fists. “We need to conquer Jason. We need to stop what he’s doing.”
“We can’t do that,” Luke spoke up. When everyone looked at him like he was nuts, he went on. “Not yet. We’re not ready yet. I think you’re going to do fine, Samara, but we need more numbers. Let’s at least wait until Josh becomes an Ima. That way, we’ll have more numbers.”
“Numbers, right,” Samara said, pacing back and forth. “You’re right. We should wait. And we need to be prepared.” She turned and looked at the pack. “We need a plan.”
Kyle, who was sitting at the coffee table with his hands folded in front of him, cleared his throat. “I have an idea. It’s going to be difficult, though.”
*
“Did you hear about that trick-or-treater who got killed by a wolf last night?” Mrs. McKinley asked Samara the next morning. It was the weekend, and her mom had invited Samara, Luke, and Kyle over to have chocolate chip pancakes.
“Yeah, we saw it on the news last night,” Samara said as she carefully drizzled maple syrup on her pancakes. “It’s so sad.”
Luke and Kyle just nodded as they stuffed forkfuls of pancakes in their mouths.
“It’s very sad. It was only a six year old girl. I feel terrible for her poor parents,” Mrs. McKinley went on. “Apparently, wolves aren’t all that uncommon in our area lately.”
Kyle and Luke both looked down at their plates, obviously unsure of what to say.
“They’re not?” Samara managed to ask, her voice merely a whisper.
“No, in fact, they’re saying that we have more than just gray wolves in our area now,” Mrs. McKinley replied, setting her own plate down on the kitchen table. “There have also been reports of a white wolf and a black wolf, which are usually seen together.”
“That’s weird,” Samara said aloud. In her mind, she couldn’t help but wonder if the wolves that Mrs. McKinley was talking about were Jason and Seth. Was her brother really spending all that much time with his Alpha lately? Had he gone over to the dark side?
“Yeah, it’s a big shock to me, too,” Mrs. McKinley said. “I never realized that we had many wolves in this area, but I guess we do. It makes me a little nervous because I have good news.” Samara’s mom looked over at her, her lips twisting into a smile. “I just reserved a puppy from a breeder! We’re getting a dog.”
“What?” Samara asked, knowing that the shock had to be obvious in her voice. “A puppy?”
“Yeah, it’s a Yorkie,” Mrs. McKinley said excitedly. “I thought I’d let you name her.”
“But . . . why?” Samara asked. “I thought you said you didn’t want any more pets after Buddy died because you got too attached to them.”
Mrs. McKinley shrugged, dabbing butter on her pile of pancakes. “I thought now would be a good time to get a puppy.” Her forehead wrinkled. “You always wanted another dog. I thought you’d be excited about this, sweetie.”
“I am excited. I’m just surprised.” Samara suddenly felt bad for the way she had reacted. Her mom was right; she had begged her for another dog for years after Buddy died, but her mom had never given in. Samara knew that the reason her mom was agreeing to it now probably had
something to do with Seth moving out, but she wasn’t sure if it was for her sake or her mom’s.
You don’t want a puppy? Luke asked, meeting her eyes from across the table. I’ve always been a dog guy.
No wonder, considering you are one, Samara joked, trying to hide her smile. I love dogs. I’m just afraid that I’m going to eat one.
Eat one? You’re joking, right? Luke smirked.
No, Samara replied. I’m not joking. I always have these strong urges to eat wild animals. I can keep it under control as long as I’m eating enough meat. Don’t you want to eat animals sometimes, too?
No, never, Luke answered. I know some werewolves do get that instinct, but as far as I know, no one on our pack ever has.
Are you saying I’m a freak of nature or something? Samara asked.
No, I’m just saying I’ve never known anyone who experienced it before. I think Colby knows what it means, though.
Samara began stuffing the remaining pancake in her mouth. She had to talk to Colby as soon as possible.
*
Fifteen minutes later, Samara, Luke, and Kyle headed for Colby’s house. They walked down the street and, as they neared Kyle’s house, Samara froze in the middle of the road.
There was a huge blood stain on the black pavement where the trick-or-treater had been attacked the night before. The stain was big, and Samara could clearly see where the pool of blood had been.
Gritting her teeth, Samara remembered, again, how much she hated Jason.
As they walked passed Kyle’s house and got to Colby’s, Samara noticed that there were a bunch of cars that she didn’t recognize in the driveway.
Before they even rang the doorbell, Colby was swinging the front door open. “Come inside,” he whispered.
Glancing into the living room, Samara noticed that there was a group of adults sitting on the sofa. They all had solemn looks on their faces.
Before Samara had the chance to ask Colby who they were, Mrs. Jackson said, “Samara! Luke! Kyle! Please come into the living room. This affects you, too.”