by Rachel Hera
Evelyn let go of my hand, covering her face with both of them as she leaned her head back on the sofa.
“If Cole is a fox shape-shifter… then are you guys wolf shape-shifters?” she asked, dropping her hands and scrutinizing me.
Kaya’s mouth dropped open a little bit, and Dante’s fingers stopped moving on his keyboard. Noah didn’t show an outward reaction as he entered the room and set the tray of mugs filled with tea on the table. He’d brought sugar and milk along, too. Carlos laughed loudly, making Evelyn jump.
“No,” Carlos shook his head. He reached out and grabbed his tea, setting it on a coaster before putting just a single teaspoon of sugar. “God, no.”
“She put two and two together really quickly,” Kaya said to Jason.
“Then –” she stopped herself, shaking her head. “I don’t believe it. You guys can’t be–”
“Werewolves?” I offered. I grabbed the tensor bandage as Noah pulled it out of his pocket and passed it to me. I shifted from beside Evelyn to the floor in front of her, picking up her injured foot and beginning to wrap it. My fingers trembled, but no one seemed to notice.
“God, that makes way too much sense,” she rubbed her temple with her right hand. “Mostly the last hour. The wolves that saved me were Jason, Dante and Kaya, right? Jason, you ran after Cole.”
“I did,” Jason wrung his hands together, not questioning how she’d known. Evelyn was smart –I’d known it from the beginning. “I didn’t get him, though. That’s what foxes do. They slip out from beneath you. I can’t believe that little shi–”
“Nothing happened,” she said firmly, though her eyes watered up again. She broke her eye contact and made herself busy preparing her tea, reaching around me as I pinned the tensor bandage in place. One scoop of sugar. Two. Three. A bit of milk. She stirred it quickly, “And I have you guys to thank for that.”
“Blake would kill us if we let anything happen to you,” Dante reassured her.
“Well, no need for that,” she murmured. She looked us over, her eyes narrowing slightly in thought. “Werewolves. Then… Carlos is –”
“Our Pack Alpha,” I nodded, smiling a little.
“And the eyes… they come with the werewolf gig?” She picked up her mug and took a sip.
“More or less. You get the odd blue pair of eyes,” Noah answered.
“Like dogs.”
Carlos sputtered a laugh. “Exactly like dogs.”
Evelyn smiled at Carlos, already so far from the wary looks she’d given him when she first arrived. Carefully, she set her mug down and then leaned back, resting against my arm. Looking up at me, she frowned.
“What is it?” I asked.
“You’re still sick, aren’t you?” she said. “You’re still hot.”
“That’s not something that comes and goes with sickness,” I joked.
“I meant your body temperature,” she scowled at me.
“Well, Blake was poisoned earlier,” Kaya said.
“Kaya,” Carlos warned, setting his own tea down.
“Oh. So we’re not telling her everything,” she gave a small, unapologetic shrug. “Whoops.”
“Poisoned?” Evelyn repeated.
“It’s fine. I’m healing fast,” I told her. “Which you already know.”
She blushed profusely, “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“We do,” Jason muttered.
“So the poison,” she said loudly, steering the conversation back on track.
“It was wolfsbane. But we got back in time. Carlos is skilled in the art of healing,” I told her.
“My skills are limited,” Carlos rebutted. “Kaya’s father, Michael, is our Pack doctor.”
“So you, what, gave him an antidote?” she asked.
“Acupuncture,” I corrected. “With silver tipped needles.”
“Doesn’t silver poison you?”
“It’s a misconception from the past. Though, maybe in large doses –like a bullet into the heart or, you know, the head. Small doses actually benefit a werewolf. The chemicals react alongside our bodies to fight off the imposing poison and allow us to heal.”
Opening up to Evelyn was like a dream come true. Since I met her, it was all I wanted. I wanted to spend hours talking to her, but half the things that came to mind came from a life I, up until now, couldn’t even let her peek into. Was this Carlos’s blessing? Or was he planning something?
Evelyn stifled a yawn with her hand, “So my book on werewolf history has it all wrong.”
“Let’s just say you can ask us any question, and we’ll clear things up,” Carlos said.
“If werewolves and shape-shifters exist, what else exists? Vampires?”
“Unfortunately,” I muttered.
“Demons? Witches? Necromancers?”
“Yes, yes, and yes,” Jason stretched out, lifting his foot up onto the coffee table. Underneath the hem of his sweat pants, dried mud streaked his skin. I thought about pointing it out, then changed my mind. He’d find it later.
“This is a lot to process,” Evelyn said, reaching out and pulling one of her hairs off my shirt.
“You’re handling it pretty well,” Carlos commented.
“Yeah, but I’m going to go home and scream into my pillow,” she joked. “I feel like I’m dreaming. But I hope that I’m not.”
“I could pinch you,” Kaya offered.
“Ah, no. I think I’m fine, really.”
“I’ll answer all of your questions,” I promised her. “But what’s important right now is what action we’re going to take. Carlos –”
“We’ll discuss it later, Blake,” Carlos interjected. It was the first time he’d put a halt to the conversation. “But it’s getting late, and I’m sure Evelyn’s long past her curfew.”
“What time is it?” she sat straight up.
“Nearly one o’clock,” Dante said. “You guys took your time in the shower.”
“Carlos is right. I need to go,” Evelyn got to her feet. “For obvious reasons, I’d like a ride home… if it’s not a bother.”
“You’re too nice for your own good,” Kaya said. “Demand it –then stand your ground.”
“I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t told that often,” she waited for me to get to my feet. “My phone is probably full of messages from my mom and Maddie. Where’s my bag?”
“By the door,” Kaya said. “It’s how we stopped in the right place, you know. Lightning struck and we spotted it in the ditch.”
“Thanks for picking it up,” Evelyn said. Then she turned to Carlos and Noah, “Thank you for… everything. I… I promise I won’t tell your secret to anyone.”
“We’re just glad you’re okay,” Carlos told her. “Blake will drive you home in my jeep. From what Jason’s told me, the truck is covered in mud, inside and out.”
“Sorry,” she apologized. “That’s my fault. But speaking of mud inside and out… My shoes?”
“Still in the bathroom. I’ll get them,” I said.
“You can borrow my flip-flops,” Kaya offered, getting to her feet and heading to the front foyer closet.
“I’d appreciate it,” Evelyn said as I went to fetch her shoes.
“Should Blake really drive alone?” Jason’s voice drifted through the house.
“He’s fine,” was Carlos’s answer.
“Who knows,” Dante muttered. “He might try and get lucky twice.”
Chapter 29: Evelyn
“I don’t know where my phone is,” I told Blake as we got into the black jeep. It’d stopped raining, which I was thankful for. “It must have fallen out somewhere.”
“I’ll ask Dante to look for it in the ditch tomorrow morning,” Blake promised. “It’s dark, and it’s probably soaked. He might have to put it in rice for a few days.”
“Just my luck, eh?” I sighed, pulling the seatbelt down and clicking it in place. “Thanks for driving me home.”
“You’re welcome,” he said, starting the
vehicle and beginning to pull out of the driveway.
I was exhausted. Not just physically, but mentally, too. Maybe spiritually. Would I bother getting out of bed tomorrow? Would it be worth it? Cole would be at the school. He’d probably show his face deliberately, taunt me. Haunt me.
We didn’t speak as he drove, though I knew I should thank him. For letting me use him as a form of escapism. Maybe joke that we could do it again sometime. Though part of me worried if his Pack would hunt me now, after revealing their secret –maybe that was a question I should have asked. Did they hunt humans?
I shuddered. Blake turned up the heat.
Soon we were pulling into my drive, and I still hadn’t said or asked any of the things I wanted to. What if this really was a dream? What if it all started the day I’d hit my head on the railing of the stairwell, and I’d wake up from a coma tomorrow morning, forgetting everything. It happened in movies, right?
“Well, here we are,” he turned to me, his hand resting on the back of my seat.
“I really do need to thank you, Blake,” I fidgeted with the seat belt, not wanting to take it off and get out of the jeep just yet. “It doesn’t even matter if you have any kind of feelings for me, but I needed your warmth and security. So… thank you.”
“You don’t even know, do you?” his brows furrowed together.
“Know what?” I asked.
“I love you,” he told me. “I loved you from the moment I saw you.”
“Oh,” I stammered. Loved me? For the past month and a half I was wondering how he could just like me.
“Oh,” he repeated with a laugh. “The joys of being a werewolf.”
“Well… thank you,” I undid my seatbelt, growing uncomfortable. I, unlike him, was uncertain of my feelings. Or, maybe, just unwilling to admit them.
He looked at me for a long moment before saying, “You should get inside. Your mom’s probably worried.”
“All the more reason not to go in,” I muttered. “I’m worried about what the consequences will be.”
“I’ll cross my fingers that you get away scot free. Maybe she’ll think you were in bed sleeping.”
“Doubtful. But thanks anyway.”
My hand rested on the door handle, but my feelings for Blake must have been stronger than I thought, because I couldn’t help but quickly lean over to kiss him. His lips curved into a small smile beneath mine.
“See you tomorrow?” I asked as I opened the door.
“I’ll work up the strength to get to school,” he promised.
“Don’t force yourself for me,” I scowled.
“Do you want to see me or not?” he asked.
Sheepishly, I admitted, “I do.”
“Then don’t worry about me. Besides. I can’t punch Cole’s face into the back of his skull from home.”
“Touché,” I laughed. “Goodnight, Blake.”
He smiled. “Goodnight.”
I closed the door, reaching the gate before running to the driver’s door, pulling it open and kissing him again. He twisted to meet me at an awkward angle, restricted by the seatbelt. But it was probably for the better that he wasn’t comfortable or else the kiss would have gone on forever. He pulled away to undo his seatbelt, but before he could unbuckle it, I kissed his cheek and dashed back to the gate, only to be greeted by Shadow.
The dog followed me as I hurried up the walkway to the front steps, and it was only as I was reaching the porch that I heard the jeep door close. I unlocked the front door and hurried inside, feeling only slightly guilty as I ignored Shadow.
Whatever good mood I’d been in came crashing down as I turned to kick off my shoes and was met, instead, with my mother’s flat hand across my face.
“Mom!” Sophie exclaimed from the steps where she sat.
“Where on earth have you been?” My mother’s voice grew shrill.
“Maddie’s –” my mother caught me off with another slap.
“Don’t you dare lie to me. Maddie called because you left your phone in her mother’s van. She said you’d left ages ago! Now answer my question: where have you been?”
“What does it matter?” I let my voice rise to meet hers. “I’m home now, aren’t I?”
Her hand rose once again, but I grabbed it and pulled it down to her side.
“I’m seventeen –so what if I’m home at midnight instead of straight after work?”
“Is it a boy?” she asked. “I won’t get angry –”
“Get angry? You’re mad before I can even begin to explain!” I countered. “Just… leave me alone.”
I dropped my muddy shoes into the mess by the shoe rack. Kaya’s flip-flops I brought upstairs. I’d put them in a plastic bag and give them to Blake or Jason tomorrow.
“You’re grounded,” my mother shouted after me.
“From what? School and work?” I scoffed at her as I passed my sister on the stairs. “It’s not like you let me do much of anything else as it is!”
“I’m telling your father,” she warned. “You can’t talk to me like that.”
“Watch me,” I said, finishing the short trek up the stairs. I headed into my room, closing my door behind me a little harder than I needed to. I didn’t like arguing with my mother, but I don’t know a single person that likes to be pounced on the moment they enter the door, least of all with a slap to the face.
Just when my night had been starting to look up.
* * *
Blake picked me up in the morning in the jeep, just as I was heading out to catch the bus. In the nick of time, really, since I’d spent my morning worrying about whether Cole would be on the bus or not. Jason sat in the front, so I slid into the back.
“Morning,” Blake told me, turning around in his seat. He frowned, “Your cheek is–”
“Let’s just say my mother wasn’t too happy with my being late yesterday,” I said, pulling my mirror out of my bag –a different one than yesterday, since it still had to dry out.
“Sorry,” Blake said, reaching out to touch it lightly.
“Don’t be,” I replied. “Is it that visible? You know what? Never mind. I’ll ask someone without super sight. More importantly, how are you feeling?”
“After seeing your face this morning, unstoppable,” he grinned, turning back and putting the jeep in drive.
“He’s still a little warmer than usual,” Jason said with a sigh.
“And you call me a pain in the ass,” I laughed.
“Sadly, this is Blake at his best.”
“If he’s in this good of a mood, are you guys taking action against the foxes today?” I asked. “They still exist, right? I didn’t wake up from a dream after all?”
“Unfortunately,” Blake muttered, his good mood dissipating instantly. “We’ve been told to hold back. But it makes us look weak. The foxes are going to think they can walk all over us.”
“So you can’t shove Cole’s head up his ass?” I was more than a little disappointed.
“Not at this time. Eventually,” he promised, reaching his hand back without looking. I took it in mine, squeezing it gently.
“So you guys are, what, officially a couple?” Jason asked.
I shrugged, “For now.”
“That’s not a very mate-ish thing to say,” he chuckled.
Blake only replied with, “Well, I think with her obsession with werewolves, she won’t be sending me away any time soon.”
I nodded, but didn’t say anything. Mate –that I should have realized earlier. It was in any romanticized version of werewolf novels I’d ever read. So did that mean that what I felt for him had to be love because I was his mate? The stubborn part of me wanted to say no –that was a decision I’d make on my own. But the part of me that held his hand whispered that it might be the case after all. It was probably the same part of me that thought of Blake when I was in danger the night before.
And suddenly I had fewer reasons for opposing whatever this could turn into. I could hardly remember the reason
s I’d given Harry the night before –a happy moment at work that seemed like weeks ago already. The thing was, since last night, Blake had more pros than cons. His gentleness was just one of them. I had fallen asleep remembering the way his hands had trailed across my skin, the water from the showerhead spraying over the both of us.
“I guess only time can tell,” I said quietly.
“Back to the foxes, though,” Blake said. “I hate that they got so close to you. I want to start teaching you how to defend yourself. Jason and Dante –even Noah and Carlos –have agreed to help.”
“Like, martial arts?” I asked.
“I think you’ll be a natural.”
“Then I get to beat Cole to a pulp all on my own?” I could live with learning some martial arts.
“Then you can protect yourself if none of us are around. You were pretty lucky. We’d just helped Maddie and her mother when she told us that you’d started walking home,” Jason said. “It was Kaya who spotted the bag. We almost went right past you.”
“Oh, I have her flip-flops,” I pulled them out of my bag. Today I was wearing flats, since my runners were more or less unwearable. I might get Blake to drive me to the store during our spare so I could buy a new cheap pair.
“You can leave them on the backseat. She’ll get them back eventually,” Blake said.
“I’ll wash her clothes soon, and get those back to her, too.”
“I’d warn you to use unscented detergent, but I’ve never been overpowered by anything but your core scent,” he said.
“Core scent?”
“Basically because you’re his mate, you make his head spin by your smell alone,” Jason cut in. “Or that’s how he and Carlos say it works.”
“So is that a werewolf thing? Why doesn’t your scent drive me crazy?”
“Are you trying to tell me my scent doesn’t do a thing for you?”
It calmed me, but I wasn’t about to tell him that. “Not a thing.”