by Morse, Jody
Was she cold-hearted enough to want to kill her boyfriend’s cousin, though? I wasn’t really sure.
Chapter 24
Later that afternoon, I walked home from school alone. I felt sort of disappointed. Gage hadn’t been in gym class today. Apparently, he was sick again.
I removed the spare key from its spot underneath the flower pot and let myself in through the front door. I found Akar sitting on the sofa, holding his cell phone to his ear.
“Yeah, I hear you, but that’s the way it happened. I can’t change the way the cookie crumbles,” he replied, glancing up at me as I entered the room. His eyes met mine for half a second and then he stared down at the carpeted floor. “No, I didn’t think that I would lose my spot as Alpha, but I did. I’m just not really sure what to do now.”
I moved into the kitchen and grabbed a few slices of cheese from the fridge, trying to make it seem like I wasn’t listening in on the conversation he was having. I had no idea who he was talking to, but I wondered who it could be. Why did they have any interest in him losing his spot as Alpha? It’s not like his father was still alive, and I doubted that it was Kyana.
“I don’t want to kill him,” Akar said into the phone. “There’s got to be another way.”
I took a bite of my cheese, even more curious about who he was talking to. Why would they encourage him to kill Johnny? It must have been someone who didn’t have good intentions.
For most werewolves, death wasn’t something that we took lightly. Most of us would kill at some point in our lifetime, but we usually tried to look at that as a last resort. It was what you did when there were no other options to remove someone who was abusing their power as Alpha, or to protect yourself or your pack. It wasn’t something you did just because you weren’t happy with fate’s decision to reassign your pack a new Alpha.
The thoughts I had about Akar being just like his father resurfaced. Sure, he was saying that he didn’t want to kill Johnny, but was there a chance that he only said that because he knew that I was in the other room? What if he was actually considering killing Johnny?
I knew that it probably sounded ridiculous, given the fact that I’d known Akar my whole life and I’d only just met our new pack members, but I found myself wondering if I should give Johnny some sort of warning. What if there was something I could do to stop Akar? I couldn’t just sit back and let him kill him.
“No, no. I understand what you’re saying. It might be the easiest way,” Akar said, agreeing with whoever he was talking to. “I just need some time to think about everything, I guess. Maybe in a couple of weeks, I’ll be able to figure out what needs to be done. Thank you for listening to me. I’ll be in touch.”
Akar walked into the kitchen and grabbed a carton of milk out of the fridge. He poured some into a glass and, then, without even casting a look in my direction, he headed into his bedroom.
Moments later, his TV blared. I wondered if he had turned it up so loud to mask his conversation with someone else—or even the same person—so that I wouldn’t overhear him again.
Why hadn’t I gone shopping with Amanda after school like she’d wanted? If I had, then I wouldn’t have had to walk in on his conversation. But I had, so now I needed to find a way to either deal with what I’d learned or take action into my own hands.
*
The rest of the week passed quickly. When I was getting my books out of my locker on Thursday afternoon, I spotted Gage out of the corner of my eye. I’d spotted him in the courtyard a few times, but he hadn’t shown up to gym class at all.
“Hey.” He flashed me a wide grin as he approached me. “I haven’t heard from you in a while.”
“Yeah, you’ve been missing in action all week,” I teased. “How come you haven’t been in class?”
He shrugged. “I just haven’t felt like going there, I guess.” When he saw the look of disappointment that crossed my face, he reassured me, “It’s not because of you, trust me. It’s just that Mrs. Lyle sort of hates me.”
“Why does she hate you?” I questioned. I knew that my friends weren’t a fan of Gage, but I still couldn’t understand why anyone wouldn’t like him. He was so sweet…so perfect, in his own way.
“It’s a long story. She seems to think I sexually harassed her last year outside of school. I just made a comment about how short her skirt was. I mean, she’s a teacher, so she shouldn’t be showing that much thigh out in public, right?”
“I guess not,” I replied hesitantly. Even though most of the girls in school wore short skirts, I’d always preferred a longer length, personally. I knew I had the legs for whatever skirt I wanted to wear, but I always felt so exposed.
“Anyway, I know we haven’t talked for a week, but I just wanted to make sure that we’re still on for our date tomorrow night,” Gage said.
“Yeah, of course we are,” I began, but as soon as the words left my lips, I realized that I couldn’t go out with him tomorrow night. “Oh, wait. Actually, I already made plans for this Friday night.”
He knitted his eyebrows together, narrowed his eyes at me, and I could have sworn his nostrils were flaring. “What do you mean, you have plans tomorrow? You didn’t mention any other plans when we agreed that we would go on our date tomorrow.”
“I know. I’m sorry,” I apologized. “It’s just that something came up.”
“Let me guess. That something has to do with Amanda and her friends,” Gage said, an accusing tone in his voice.
“Well…yeah,” I replied uncomfortably. “Actually, I have an idea. Why don’t you come with us? I could meet you there.” I knew that Amanda wouldn’t like it, but did she even have to know? She was going to be reading her poem in front of a huge crowd and focusing her attention on Ashton the rest of the time, so she would probably be distracted. Kristina and Jenny would both probably be too busy offering their support to pay attention to me, so maybe I could find a way to sneak off with Gage so that none of my friends would catch us together.
Even though I really liked Gage and wanted to see where things went with us, I knew that I still needed to keep what we were doing a secret. If Amanda were to ever find out, I knew that she would be angry. The thing was, I still wasn’t sure why. What if she disliked him for no good reason? I wasn’t sure what her problem with him was, but I really hoped that I could somehow find out without asking her about it.
“Amanda’s going to be at the poetry reading?” Gage asked, his sea-blue eyes lighting up a little.
“Yeah, is that a good thing?” I asked with raised eyebrows. I thought that both of them hated each other, but he seemed sort of excited that she was going to be there.
When he stared back at me, his expression was serious. “Yeah, I was thinking it’s a good thing. I was sort of hoping that, since you and I are seeing each other, I could maybe try to smooth things over with her. I know it would make things easier for you guys.”
I couldn’t suppress the smile that touched my lips. “Really? You would do that for me?”
“Of course I would. You have no idea how much I really like you, Skye,” Gage replied quietly, darting his eyes away from mine.
I could feel my smile grow even wider. “Okay. Well, why don’t you meet us here, then? The poetry reading is being held in the auditorium at seven o’clock tomorrow. Does that sound good?”
“Yeah, it sounds great.” With obvious hesitation, he leaned in towards me and pressed his soft lips lightly against mine.
As my eyes fluttered shut, I shut out the world around us. All of the voices belonging to other students in the hallway faded.
When Gage broke our kiss, he met my eyes and whispered, “I’ll see you around.”
I tried not to jump up and down with excitement as I watched him disappear around the corner. Things between us really seemed to be progressing and, even though it was probably still early to even consider it, I had a feeling that Gage really was my mate. I hadn’t been able to hear his thoughts yet, but wolves didn’t always hear
their mate’s thoughts when they were still human. I might not be able to hear them until he became a wolf…if he ever became a wolf, that was.
It wasn’t like I could just flat-out ask him to become a werewolf for me…could I?
No, I couldn’t. If he didn’t want to become a werewolf, there was a chance that he would expose my whole existence to the public. I couldn’t risk anyone finding out about us. Werewolves went to great lengths to make sure that no one knew we existed; I couldn’t be the one who ruined it for everyone.
I would just need to decide if he should become a wolf on my own. I wasn’t really sure what type of criteria I would use to decide, though. Maybe I would turn him when he told me he loved me? No, that seemed too soon. My mom had always said that humans used the word “love” too carelessly. She’d always said that humans don’t know the meaning of love and that they don’t understand the whole concept of being with one person for the rest of your life the way werewolves did.
I wasn’t sure how I would make the decision to change Gage, but I knew that it was something I needed to take the time to figure out. It wasn’t like I could ask my pack members for advice, either. It was clear that at least two of them didn’t approve of relationships with humans. Then there was Thane…and we all know how he would take it.
Not long after he’d disappeared from sight, Amanda, Jenny, and Kristina headed over to my locker.
“Skye, what was Gage doing over here?” Jenny asked, raising her dark blonde eyebrows in question. “We saw him walking away from you.”
“Oh, he was over here? I didn’t even see him,” I replied, deciding to play dumb. I hoped they hadn’t seen much. I nervously glanced down at the books I held in my arms and pretended to count them. I hated lying. I really hated lying, but…I knew that my friends wouldn’t be happy about me talking to Gage. Not until he made things right with them, at least.
Amanda stared at me evenly. I got the feeling that she was trying to decide whether I was telling the truth before she finally sighed. “I really hope you don’t think I’m being hard on you, Skye. It’s not that I don’t want you to be happy. It’s just that I don’t think Gage is the guy who you should be happy with. He’s not a good person.”
I could feel an angry heat rise to my cheeks. I was sick and tired of hearing that he wasn’t a good person, especially when I knew otherwise.
Even though I was angry, I knew that I had to try to keep my inner wolf under control. I couldn’t accidentally change in front of my friends.
“Anyway, we’re going to the mall tonight. Amanda wants to look for a new outfit to wear in front of Ashton tomorrow night,” Kristina chimed in. “Do you want to come with us?”
“Okay,” I agreed. Turning to Amanda, I asked, “Have you even written the poem you’re going to read tomorrow night?”
“Well, that was the other thing.” Amanda flashed me a smile. “I sort of need you to help me write a poem that’s going to win Ashton’s heart over.”
Chapter 25
By the time I got back home from the mall, I was exhausted, to say the least. Amanda had dragged us to six different stores before deciding that she wanted the very first dress she tried on.
When I walked through the front door, Thane was pacing in the entryway. He glanced up when he saw me, a look of relief taking over his face. “There you are. What took you so long?”
“I was out shopping with my friends,” I replied coolly, even though I couldn’t help but feel like he was trying to intrude on my privacy. “Not that it’s really any of your business where I was.”
“Skye, let’s not even go there right now, okay? I’m watching out for you.” Thane shook his head frustratedly. “Did you forget that we’re supposed to have a pack meeting tonight?”
“Our meeting isn’t until Thurs—” I started to remind him, before stopping short. Crap. Seeing—and kissing—Gage earlier had left such an effect on me that I’d completely lost track of the other plans I had...which was surprising, even to me, considering how important the meeting was. I couldn’t afford to miss any conversations between Akar and Johnny, and I definitely didn’t want to piss Johnny off, in case he wanted to get rid of me the way he got rid of his cousin. If Johnny didn’t try to get rid of me, Charlotte might. I wasn’t sure who I should keep a closer eye on anymore.
“Exactly,” Thane replied anxiously. “And it’s already seven fifty. The rest of our pack is already at Johnny’s house. Don’t you remember what he said? He doesn’t tolerate anyone being late for pack meetings, Skye. You need to learn to be on time.”
“I know,” I said quietly. I already felt guilty about forgetting where I was supposed to be—and now I was worried, too. It made me feel even worse to know that Thane wasn’t at the meeting, either, because he was here waiting for me. “I’m sorry.”
“You shouldn’t be apologizing to me. You should be thanking me. I was about to go find you so that we wouldn’t be late.”
“You could have called me,” I pointed out.
“I didn’t even think about that,” Thane admitted, shoving his hands in his pockets. “All I could think about was how bad it would be if you’re late. I’m going to agree with you. Charlotte doesn’t like you. I don’t know why, but after overhearing your conversation with her the other day, that much is obvious. The last thing you need is for Johnny—our new Alpha—to start hating you, too. If we’re going to survive being in this new pack, you’re going to need to try to get Johnny on your side. Once he comes around, Charlotte will, too.”
“Maybe,” I mumbled. “But I could see Charlotte convincing him not to like me, just because she doesn’t. She seems manipulative like that.”
“You’re probably right,” Thane agreed with a nod. “That’s why you need to work extra hard to get Johnny on your side. Find ways to prove how wrong Charlotte is about you.”
I nodded. “Yeah…I guess I can do that.”
“Good. Now, do you want to go to Johnny’s together?” Thane asked, a hopeful look in his eyes.
“Do you have the address?” I asked.
“Yeah, Akar showed me where it is. It’s only about a three minute walk from here.”
“In wolf speed or human speed?” I laughed. We were much faster when we were on all fours.
“In human time,” Thane replied. “We need to take the main road to get there, too. People would probably think it’s strange if they saw two white wolves running around in New Jersey.” He opened the front door and held it for me. “Come on.”
Careful to lock the door on my way out, I followed close behind Thane and into the warm late summer air. We were halfway down the street when he wrapped his arm around me.
It startled me at first, but I found myself leaning in to him as we walked to Johnny’s.
*
“I said to get here at eight o’clock,” Johnny barked when we stepped through the gate to his backyard. His house, a large, three-story mansion was nestled in between lots of trees. It was actually cozy, and it seemed so...human. The fence was lined with a string of light bulbs and various lantern-shaped lights glowed along the pathway leading to the patio. It seemed so wasteful, and yet, so beautiful. I had to admit it was a much better place to hold our meetings than our house was; it seemed much more private.
Thane glanced down at his watch. “It’s only seven fifty-eight.”
He glared at us. “You were almost late.”
“Almost, but not we’re not.” And thank goodness for that, I thought as I sat down on a chair next to Chance and Hunter.
“It was a close one. You got lucky this time. Next time, if any of you is late, there’s going to be hell to pay,” Johnny said, sitting down in his own chair. “Now, moving on, there are a few things we need to talk about. The first is the rules I’m going to put in place for our pack.”
“Rules? We’re going to have rules?” Chance asked, sounding horrified.
“We don’t do good with rules,” Hunter chimed in.
“Unless we�
�re breaking them,” Chance laughed.
“Tough shit. You’re going to have to get used to it. As you all know, my uncle is the Alpha of the adult Shondi pack, and the best advice he could have ever given my cousin is that every pack must have rules they need to abide to. You see, without rules, there are no limits, and without limits, everyone does whatever the hell they feel like doing. The best way for the Alpha to stay in charge is to make sure that every member of the pack abides by the rules we create,” Johnny explained.
“And what happens, exactly, if we don’t abide by these rules?” Ashton questioned.
Johnny’s features hardened, and his eyes clouded over with a look of darkness. “If you don’t abide by them, then you’ll have two options. You can leave the pack under the agreement that you’ll never join another. You can accept punishment, which I will be the one to determine.” He stared at each of us with an amused look in his hazel eyes. “Or, I can kill you.”
“Maybe you’re being a little harsh, Johnny,” Akar said. “Is it really necessary to kill one of your pack members just because of some silly little rule?”
Johnny turned to him. “For starters, I prefer Alpha. But if you must call me Johnny, it’s Johnny V.” He shook his head disgustedly. “And I don’t think I’m being harsh at all, but that’s not up for you to decide, either way. Just because you were Alpha before me doesn’t mean you know more than I do about what it takes to make a good Alpha. I promise you that, under my control, this pack is going to be much stronger and more powerful than it ever was under your reign.”
Akar’s expression hardened, but he didn’t say anything. Instead, he glanced away from Johnny and stared into the fire that blazed in the center of us.
I worried that Akar would lose his temper. I also worried that Chance and Hunter would break a rule. Nothing about this pack felt safe anymore.
Thane met my eyes, and I knew he was thinking the same thing.