by Jayme Morse
She heard Kyle stirring on the floor. Glancing down, she noticed that his coppery hair was a disheveled mess. “Kyle?” Samara asked.
“What?” Kyle asked groggily.
“I’m curious about something,” Samara said. “What’s up with Colby’s dad?”
Kyle looked up at her from his sleeping bag on the floor. She had won the bed anyway, in their coin toss. “What do you mean?”
“I mean, I feel like he looks at me like I’m a biology project or a celebrity or something. The way he does it . . . it just freaks me out,” Samara replied.
Kyle shrugged. “Actually . . . it’s kind of weird. I’ve been hanging out at their house for months now, and I don’t know much about him. He stays holed up in the library or his bedroom a lot when he’s home. He usually isn’t home as much as he has been lately, though. It’s only been ever since you started coming over that he’s hung around at home.” Kyle paused. “That’s kind of unusual for an Alpha.”
“Hmm,” Samara murmured, thinking to herself. Was the whole reason Mr. Jackson was coming home lately because of her? The way he looked at her, it wouldn’t surprise her that he just wanted to be there to observe her. Just the thought was really creepy, though.
“Did your dad ever say anything about him?” Samara asked, turning to Kyle. “I mean, your dad was an Ima, so wouldn’t that have made Mr. Jackson his Alpha?”
Kyle thought for a moment. “He didn’t talk about him that much. Most stuff that happens on a pack is kept private. He did say something once, though. I’ve never really thought about it until now, to be honest. My dad told me that when Darren wants something, it needs to be done his way . . . or else.”
“Do you remember why he brought that up?” Samara asked. It seemed like an odd thing for a father to tell his son, especially when he kept most of the other pack stuff a secret.
Kyle shook his head. “No, but . . . it was weird. The way he told me, it was like . . . he was afraid of him, I think.” Pausing for a moment, Kyle shrugged. “I’m sure it was probably nothing. They probably just got into some weird type of argument or something. I think Darren Jackson is probably fine. I mean, would Colby really be such a nice guy if his dad was a psycho?”
Samara thought about Josh and Jason; they were twins who were born within minutes of each other, and they couldn’t be any more different. Shrugging the idea off, she hopped out of bed. “Let’s go eat breakfast.”
When they went into the kitchen, Mrs. McKinley was sitting at the kitchen table. She had laid out a tray of bagels, muffins, and a variety of types of cream cheese, ranging from strawberry to vegetable.
Samara grabbed a cinnamon raisin bagel and began spreading it with cinnamon cream cheese, while Kyle reached for a chocolate chip muffin.
“How’s your mom doing?” Mrs. McKinley asked Kyle. “I haven’t spoken to her in about a week.”
“She’s good,” Kyle replied, his mouth full of muffin. He wiped his mouth on his sleeve.
“She’s just been really busy lately. Her and Billy are going on a cruise in a few weeks.”
“Oh, yeah?” Mrs. McKinley asked. “I was thinking of booking a cruise soon, too. Where are they going?”
“The Bahamas.”
“I wonder if there’s still time for us to book for the same cruise,” Mrs. McKinley murmured.
“What?” Samara asked. “You’re going to go on a cruise in the middle of the school year?”
Mrs. McKinley raised an eyebrow and nodded. “Yeah, with how crazy things have been lately, your father and I just really need to get away. Maybe you could stay with Rae while we’re gone.”
“Not if you’re going on the same cruise as her,” Samara pointed out, rolling her eyes at her mom.
“Oh, I guess you’re right,” Mrs. McKinley realized. “Well, I think you’re old enough to stay here alone and fend for yourself. Maybe Kyle can stay with you if we do go at the same time as Rae.”
“But,” Samara began to protest. She was going to ask why her mom suddenly trusted her to stay home alone – especially when she had a boyfriend who could sleep over whenever she wanted – in hopes of changing her mind.
Before she could get a word out, though, Kyle said, “Sounds good to me.” He grinned at Samara from across the table at Samara. She knew what he was thinking: that this would be a lot of fun – and that they could throw parties and do whatever they wanted while their parents were gone. Fun wasn’t what Samara was thinking about, though.
Her biggest fear was that Jason or Rocco or some other werewolf who wanted her dead would have easier access to her while her parents were gone. Samara was going to have the whole pack spending every night at her house (or at Kyle’s) every night her parents were gone.
When Mrs. McKinley had left the room, a thought occurred to Kyle. “Does Billy know?” Samara asked.
“Yeah, he’s really excited for the cruise,” Kyle replied. “He actually suggested it. Their anniversary is coming up soon.”
Samara rolled her eyes impatiently. “Not about that.” She glanced over her shoulder to make sure that her mother wasn’t in earshot. “About you being a werewolf.”
“Oh,” Kyle replied, shoving the remaining bits of muffin into his mouth. “No, he doesn’t actually.”
“How do you explain everything then?” Samara asked. “I mean, doesn’t he notice when you go out late at night?” In a way, it made her feel relieved to know that she wasn’t the only one on the pack who was hiding this from someone in their family.
“Billy doesn’t seem to care,” Kyle shrugged. “He doesn’t ask questions, at least. I think he has the attitude that disciplining and parenting me isn’t one of his chores. It might have been different if I grew up with him as a stepdad, but I’m almost an adult.”
Samara nodded. That made sense.
“My mom also doesn’t want Billy to know,” Kyle added, gulping down some orange juice.
“Why not?”
“She’s afraid that telling him would be putting him in danger,” Kyle replied, shrugging. “I don’t know the exact reasoning . . . I’m guessing it has something to do with Grandpa Joe, though.”
“Hmm,” Samara murmured. She was surprised that Rae hadn’t mentioned that she didn’t want Billy knowing that they were werewolves when Samara had spoken to her. What if Samara hadn’t known and had slipped up? She was just glad that she had thought to ask Kyle what Billy thought.
Samara definitely didn’t want to be the one to put Billy’s life at risk.
Chapter 19
****
On Saturday night, Emma brought makeup bags and hair tools over to Samara’s house. “We are going to get beautified,” Emma said excitedly as she plugged in a curling iron. “What shoes are you wearing?”
Samara motioned to the silver sparkly shoes in the corner of her bedroom, and Emma wrinkled her nose. “You should have gone with a bigger heel. Those are only what . . . two inches?”
“Something like that,” Samara replied. “I don’t mind smaller heels.”
“Don’t you want to be closer in height to Luke? He’s like . . . way taller than you,” Emma said.
Samara frowned. “He’s not that much taller than me . . . only a few inches. Besides, I kind of like his height.”
“Whatever floats your boat,” Emma replied, waving the curling iron in the air. “Troy is a good height for me, I think.” Emma began curling a piece of Samara’s dark chocolate brown hair. “Aren’t you starting to get bored of Luke?”
“No, why would I?” Samara asked, surprised that Emma had even asked.
“Oh, I don’t know,” Emma replied, meeting eye contact with Samara in the mirror. Emma’s own blonde hair had been twisted into a bun on top of her head with a few curls hanging in the front. She had applied a shimmering light gray eye shadow that made her blue eyes pop, and there were clumps of mascara on her long lashes. “It feels like the two of you have been together for a long time already, and, to be honest, you’re kind of boring me.”
“How are we boring you?” Samara asked.
“You just never want to do anything,” Emma explained. “It almost seems like he’s the type of guy who just wants to watch movies on the couch with you all night. And it seems like he’s in control of you. Like he didn’t want to go to the Homecoming game with us, so then you didn’t want to go. He’s not really into partying, and it doesn’t seem like you do anything all that adventurous with each other.”
Samara laughed. The irony of that statement was almost funny. She wasn’t sure what could be more adventurous than being with a werewolf when you were in high school. “We’re fine. I really like him. Actually, I think I’m falling in love with him.” Even though Samara hadn’t actually said the words aloud before, she knew that it was true; she didn’t want to think about what her life would be like right now if Luke wasn’t it.
“Well, that’s good, I guess,” Emma said, starting on a new curl. “All I have to say is that I’m glad it’s you and not me who ended up with him. I don’t think he’s my type at all anymore. He’s not as much of a bad boy as I thought he was.”
Samara breathed a sigh of relief. She had always worried that Emma held some sort of grudge because Samara had ended up with Luke instead of her. It was good to know that she was accepting it and moving on.
As Emma placed a sparkly clip in Samara’s hair, Samara noticed that she was still wearing the ring. “You haven’t given Jason his ring back yet?”
Emma shook her head. “I already told you . . . I’m not going to.” She held the blue ring up to her Homecoming dress. “Besides, doesn’t the ring match my dress perfectly?”
Samara shrugged. She didn’t think that that the blue sparkly sapphire ring matched the periwinkle dress that well, but her opinion was probably clouded by the fact that the ring had belonged to Jason.
After Emma finished curling Samara’s hair, Samara changed into her royal purple dress and glanced at herself in the mirror. This was the first time she had ever gone to a dance and, with the exception of Aunt Rae’s wedding, which she had gone to dateless, it was the first time she had gotten so dressed up.
Even Samara had to admit that the results were good.
When the doorbell rang, Samara was expecting it to be Luke; she was surprised to find Troy standing in the doorway. He gave Samara a sheepish smile. “May I come in?”
“Sure,” Samara said hesitantly, opening the door wide enough to let him in. Emma was still in Samara’s bedroom fixing her lip gloss, and for some reason, it made Samara nervous to be alone with Troy.
Just as Samara was about to tell Emma that Troy was here, he yanked her wrist. “I just want to tell you that I know who you are,” Troy said.
“Oh,” Samara replied, surprised that Troy was admitting it aloud. “Umm, okay.”
“My cousin, Rocco . . . he’s told me all about you. He says you’re a little stubborn,” Troy said.
Samara shrugged. “I don’t think I’m stubborn. I just know what pack I want to be on, and I’m not going to take orders from Rocco – or anyone else, for that matter.”
Troy glared at Samara, and suddenly, she couldn’t help but feel like his hazel eyes weren’t as warm and friendly as they had been when she first met him. Did he have a problem with her, or was he just another person who wanted her on his pack just because Rocco wanted her, too?
Either way, Samara was relieved when the doorbell rang again.
This time, it was Luke. As she looked out the window, she told him, Troy’s not as good as I thought.
I heard the whole conversation, Luke replied. I think we both just need to stay away from him tonight as much as we can.
I’m afraid for Emma, Samara protested. Do you think he’ll try to hurt her if she does something to annoy him?
Probably not. It’s usually only pups or crazy wolves who can’t keep their anger under control, Luke replied.
“Are you going to open the door?” Troy asked from behind her, his thick brown eyebrows raised.
“Uh huh,” Samara replied, as she turned the doorknob. When Luke stepped inside, he circled a corsage around her wrist. It was made up of two royal purple lilies that matched her dress and a white rose, along with tiny yellow flowers that Samara couldn’t identify.
“You look beautiful,” Luke whispered.
“Thank you,” Samara replied, staring into his eyes.
“Well, let’s get this show on the road,” Emma said, as she walked into Samara’s living room to join them. “The limo’s already here,” she said, pointing to the black limo that had pulled into the driveway.
Troy wrapped his arm around Emma’s waist. Emma grinned at Samara. “Are you guys ready?”
Samara nodded, her curls bouncing over her shoulders. “Yeah, we’re ready.”
As Emma stepped outside, she noticed the corsage that Samara was wearing around her wrist. She turned to Troy. “Why didn’t you get me a corsage?”
“I didn’t know I had to,” Troy said, shrugging. “Oh well. Sorry.” He slid into the limo.
Shrugging, Emma slid into the limo behind him.
It doesn’t seem like he cares about her that much, Luke said, as though he were reading Samara’s mind, as they both climbed into the limo.
It makes me wonder why he’s dating her in the first place, Samara agreed.
Emma must have picked up on the same thing – that or she was annoyed that Troy hadn’t thought to get her a corsage – because she didn’t say a single word throughout the whole ride to the school.
Once they arrived at school, they all climbed out of the limo, and Luke and Samara followed Troy and Emma into the gymnasium, where the dance was taking place.
Samara took in the white streamers that hung from the ceiling, the blue and white balloons that floated in the air, and the Eiffel tower that had been designed from Christmas tree lights. The Homecoming theme this year had been “Around the World,” so each float had been designed to look like a certain country, and the dance had been decorated to resemble Paris, the most romantic of the countries that had been assigned.
We should go to Paris one day, Luke said, as he led Samara onto the dance floor.
Samara smiled as she wrapped her arms around his neck. Really? You want to go to Paris someday, too?
I want to go anywhere you want to go, Luke replied. Paris is a city of love, though, so of course I’d love to go there with you.
Samara rested her head on his shoulder as they began swaying back and forth to the beat of a Bruno Mars song.
I’m glad that you chose to be an Ima, Luke told her, tucking a curl behind her ear. I don’t know if I’ve ever told you that before.
I’m not sure if you have either, Samara replied hesitantly.
Luke wrapped his arms around her waist. Well, I am. I’m glad that you chose to be with me.
Me too, Samara replied. For some reason, she saw Declan’s face flash through her mind and, quickly, thought about how she wanted to block Luke from her thoughts. Why was she thinking about Declan again? Did she have feelings for him still? No, that couldn’t be, Samara thought, quickly shaking the thought away. That wasn’t even possible. She had a mate now.
It had to just be that Samara was missing her best friend. She missed Seth, too – even though she didn’t think about her brother nearly as often as Declan. It was probably because it upset her that Declan was intentionally shutting her out, even going to the extent of changing his phone number. Did he hate her now?
Samara thought about how she might never really know the answer.
Glancing out of the corner of her eye, Samara saw a mess of blonde hair in their direction.
“Hey, lovebirds,” Colby said, punching Luke on the shoulder a bit.
“We’re here,” Chris said, coming up from behind him. “I’m gonna go start looking for some ladies, though, until it’s time.”
Samara giggled. “You mean to tell me that the Captain of the basketball team came to Homecoming without a date?”
Chris shrugge
d and grinned at her. “There were so many options. I didn’t know who to bring.”
Samara rolled her eyes.
“Does anyone know if Josh is here yet?” Steve whispered as he approached them.
“I haven’t seen him,” Luke replied. “I’m sure he’ll be here, though.”
“What about Jason?” Colby asked. “I haven’t spotted him yet.”
“Jason’s not about to miss out on Homecoming,” Samara pointed out. “He might be one of us, but he also wants to be popular . . . and no popular boy is going to miss out on this.”
“I’ll just feel better once we see them both,” Kyle said. Samara picked up on the worry in his voice, and she knew that he was just afraid about what was going to happen tonight as she was.
“Just relax, guys,” Samara said, trying to sound like the strong one. If their Alpha wasn’t convinced that this plan was going to work, how could they be supportive of the idea? “I’m sure they’ll both get here soon.”
The guys all agreed and walked away from them. Samara noticed that Chris was already talking to, not just one, but, two girls in the corner of the room. She had to laugh. It felt good to be able to joke with Chris now that he had accepted her as his Alpha.
As an upbeat song came on, Luke untangled himself from her body, and they began dancing next to each other. Glancing at the center of the dance floor, Samara stifled a giggle. “Look!”
Samara said, pointing to Colby. Luke glanced over and smiled. He didn’t even try to hold back his laugh.
Colby was break dancing to a rap song, and surprisingly, for the first time since she had known him, he actually had the attention of an audience of girls. For once, it didn’t look like they were just watching him because they thought he was a nerd or because they wanted to make fun of him; it seemed like they were genuinely entertained and intrigued by his dancing skills.
“Hey, Colby Jack, don’t hurt yourself,” an all too familiar voice shouted. Scanning the crowd, Samara spotted him for the first time. Jason Masterson. He was wearing a black suit with a red undershirt and matching tie. Was he intentionally sporting the Vyka color? It wouldn’t surprise Samara. He was that into himself.