“She did more than that. She transferred schools, changed her number and everything.”
“Oh, geez.”
“Yeah, he was crushed and never really got over it. I think he was worried you would do the same thing to Levi.”
“Oh… So I understand him not wanting to be with another human, but why not date a Pteron? Wouldn’t that solve the problem?”
“Uh, we’re not exactly encouraged to date our own. Plus, there aren’t too many girls.”
“Why aren’t you supposed to date each other?”
She peeked over hesitantly. “Well, dating would be fine, but we aren’t supposed to get serious and Owen wants serious. But anyway, it’s about keeping some variation in the gene pool. It’s supposed to keep us stronger. The Pteron gene is 100% dominant so as long as one partner is a Pteron, your kids will be.”
“Oh. Great.” I wasn’t sure what to make of the genetics talk, but I appreciated Hailey being open with me.
“So why doesn’t he just date other shifters then?”
Hailey laughed dryly. “That’s seen as the worse affront possible.”
“Wait, so you are encouraged to date humans but not other shifters?”
“Yeah. It’s considered dating down. Humans are like a blank slate, whereas other supernaturals are considered tainted. Don’t ask.”
“Okay…” I decided not to press further and tried to steer us back to a safer topic. “So where are we going exactly?” I looked down at my tank and short jean skirt, glad that Hailey was dressed similarly. I wasn’t quite sure what to wear to a shifter party.
“It’s at a warehouse on Tchoupitoulas street.”
“Say that again.”
Hailey laughed. “Chop-a-too-lus.” She exaggerated the phonetic syllables of the word. “Try saying that five times fast.”
I smiled. “No thanks. I’ve never been to a warehouse party before, but then again I’ve never been to a party with shifters either, so I guess the location is the less important part.”
“It should be fun. These things are usually pretty entertaining.”
“Who’s throwing this party anyway?”
Hailey parked. “Just a couple of Weres I know.”
“Weres? Wait, like werewolves?”
“Yeah. And just follow my lead.” Hailey got out of the car, slamming her door behind her. I hopped out and we walked up towards a large abandoned building. I didn’t say anything, but the whole thing had me a little nervous.
Hailey led us to a doorway and I stopped short when I noticed two large guys standing on either side like bouncers.
“Code,” one boomed while simultaneously checking us out. The other guy didn’t even acknowledge us.
“Howling wolf,” Hailey said evenly. If I wasn’t so nervous the password would have made me laugh.
“Head on up.”
“Come on.” She grabbed my hand and we moved inside and into an industrial elevator. Pulling the grate down, she gave me an encouraging grin. “Let’s do this.”
I could feel the beat of the music as Hailey pulled up the grate when the elevator reached the top floor. We took a short flight of stairs to the roof. We could now hear, as well as feel, the loud dance music as we stepped out. Strands of lights illuminated the roof, giving it a warm feel I wasn’t expecting. After a quick glance at each other, we moved into the crowd of dancers.
We danced with each other for a while, laughing as a few guys made a ridiculous attempt at break dancing.
“All right, I need a rest,” Hailey said after several songs, walking away from the crowd. I followed; glad I had decided to come with her. There was something fun about going to a party where you knew no one. So much less pressure and work.
“Hailey?” A couple of guys headed toward us.
“Hey, Jason.” Hailey smiled at a guy around our age with light brown hair.
“I didn’t expect to see you here.” He stuffed his hands into the pockets of his jeans.
“Yeah, there wasn’t much else going on,” she said nonchalantly. “This is my friend, Allie.”
“Hey, Allie, nice to meet you.” Jason reached out his hand, but it was quickly pushed away by his friend.
“Hi Allie, I’m C.J. Welcome to our party. I don’t think I’ve ever seen you around before.” With spiky black hair, a sports coat and a pair of Chuck Taylors, C.J. was like a walking contradiction. I had a feeling he thought it was part of his charm.
“She’s from New York,” Hailey interrupted.
“Ah, trading up are you?” C.J. asked. I wasn’t sure what he was asking, so I looked over at Hailey for help and she nodded.
“Yeah, I needed a change.”
“I get it. You wanted to check out some new stomping grounds, or I guess skies.” He gave me a flirtatious smile and it hit me; he thought I was a Pteron. I smiled back at him, pretty happy about his assumption. It wasn’t a bad thing if guys thought you were super-strong and able to fly.
“Want to dance?” C.J. asked, gesturing to the swelling crowd.
“Umm, I think I’m going to get a drink,” I replied, trying not to hurt the guy’s ego, but I wasn’t interested.
“All right, let’s get some drinks then.” He reached to grab my arm and I stepped away. If he had been a regular guy I would have made my feelings clear, but the knowledge that he was actually a werewolf made me rein in my temper.
“Great. Hailey, you want to come?”
Half expecting Hailey to pull a Jess and ditch me for the guy she was talking to, I was pleasantly surprised by her response. “Definitely, we do everything together.”
Trying to make sure he understood Hailey’s implication, C.J. just stared after us as we slipped away arm in arm.
“Nice one.” I laughed.
“Yeah, he seemed like a clinger.”
“So, can they really not tell?” I asked, hoping she got what I was actually asking.
“Nope. You can only sense a Pteron when we shift.”
“Oh. I guess I was thinking there was a scent or something.”
“A scent? Nope, I mean what would a crow smell like?”
I shrugged. “I don’t know, a bird?”
Hailey laughed.
After grabbing some drinks, we decided to dance again, and I groaned inwardly when C.J. and Jason caught up with us. I didn’t push to lose them again because Hailey seemed to like Jason enough, but I wasn’t so gentle removing C.J.’s hands from my waist the second time.
“Feisty one, huh?” he whispered in my ear and I cringed.
Ready with a comeback, I was startled as two arms wrapped around my body possessively.
“Put your damn paws on her again and you’ll be short one,” Levi growled from just above my shoulder.
“Oh, hi Levi. I didn’t realize you hadn’t had this one yet. What do you care anyway, don’t you usually go for the humans?”
Levi’s arms released me and he pushed me behind him, placing me right between Jared and Owen.
“Humans are superior to you lowlifes,” Levi spat.
“You have the nerve to come to my party and insult me?”
“I can insult you anywhere I want, dog.”
I glanced over at Hailey, noticing that her eyes had gone all black again. Jared and Owen’s had as well, and I could only assume Levi’s had done the same. Before I could dwell on it too long, I watched with shock as the air seemed to buzz and C.J. shifted into a giant wolf. Unlike the transformation of the Pterons, C.J. became a wolf completely; there was nothing human about him.
Levi’s wings flapped out behind him, as did Jared and Owen’s. The sheer size of the wings, and the black eyes made for a menacing sight.
“Stay with Allie and don’t move,” Levi yelled at Hailey. She nodded, leading us back to lean against a wall. I followed her lead shakily.
Several other girls and guys transformed into wolves, and I had to steady myself against the wall from the craziness of it all.
A snarl emanated from the wolf that w
as C.J. Levi strode up to the wolf, picked him up by the scruff of his neck and tossed him. “Anyone else going to dare to disrespect me?” Levi screamed, hands balled into fists. “You do not touch our women. Do you understand?”
No one said anything.
“Let’s go!” Levi pulled me to his side and away from Hailey. With his arms around my waist, he jumped off the building.
Releasing me as soon as we reached the ground, Levi spun on Hailey angrily. “What the hell were you thinking? A Were party? What, you slumming it now? And you thought it was acceptable to take Allie with you? Are you dense?”
I expected Owen to tell Levi to back off, but instead he looked at Hailey with the same steely gaze. The fury coming from all three of the guys was terrifying, and it wasn’t even directed at me.
Hailey didn’t falter. “We were having fun until you showed up.”
“And what would you have done if that punk tried to push things further with Allie?”
“I would have protected her. I can take care of myself and her.”
“What, now that you have your full strength you think you’re invincible?” Levi seethed.
“Get real, Hailey. You might be stronger than a Were but there is nothing you could have done against a whole party of those guys.” Jared entered the lecture.
I knew it was time to jump in. “Stop it! Stop yelling at her. I decided to come with her, so it’s my fault too.”
“It’s not your fault, but I do wish you had bothered to tell me where you were going.” Levi wrung his hands, looking like he wasn’t sure how much he should say to me.
“Since when do I have to check in with you every time I go out?”
“Since you decided to spend time with Weres. You have no idea how dangerous they can be.”
“Not as dangerous as you.”
“The difference is I’m not going to hurt you. They would.”
I wanted to keep arguing but I sensed he was right. C.J. hadn’t actually hurt me, but even with his strange style, I knew he was a lot stronger than me, and I wouldn’t last long trying to fight him.
“Can we just go home?” I pleaded. Hailey now looked completely defeated and I wanted the night to end.
“Of course, I’ll take you home,” Levi said immediately.
“Flying?”
“I have my car.”
“Is that okay, Hailey?”
“It’s fine.” She waved me on.
As Levi snaked his arm around my waist and led me away, I heard Owen continuing to lecture his sister. “You can’t talk to him like that! You have to respect him. Mom and Dad would kill you if they heard you talking that way.”
My hunch that Levi was something important to the Pterons was fast becoming impossible to deny, and I was completely prepared to broach the topic with him when he pulled me into a near bone-crunching hug.
“Are you all right? I didn’t think to ask before.”
“I’m fine. I have a lot of questions, but I’m fine.”
“Can the questions wait?” he asked.
“For tonight, but you can’t put them off forever.”
“Are you sure about that?”
“Completely.”
Levi opened the passenger door for me and I slipped inside. He closed my door before walking around to get in.
I turned to him as he pulled away from the curb. “Okay, can I at least ask one question?”
He nodded. “I don’t have a choice, do I?”
“How’d you know where we were?”
“Why, are you worried I’m following you now?”
“Not exactly, I just need to know.” He wasn’t completely off. As the shock of the transformations wore off, I realized that there was no reason for Levi to have known where we were.
“It’s nothing that dramatic. Hailey left the email about the party open on her computer. Her mom found it and called Owen to get her.”
“Oh…” I said.
“So no more questions for tonight then?”
“Could I ask one more?”
He glanced over at me as we sat at a red light. He held my hand in my lap. “You’re a hard girl to say no to.”
“Who are you, Levi? What is it that you’re not telling me?”
He turned away but didn’t drop my hand. “No more questions. It’s late and I need to get you home.”
I could tell by the way that he watched the road with unwavering attention that he wasn’t going to answer my question. I also realized that his unwillingness to answer was just as telling as any explanation he would have given.
Chapter Thirteen
Despite the fact that I was dating a guy with wings and superhuman powers, things eventually settled down into a routine. Between work all day and spending my nights with Levi and Hailey, the time went by far too quickly. The one thing we never talked about was the Were party. Everyone else acted like it never happened. Hailey seemed to be getting along with the guys again, and I was afraid to ruin things by bringing it up.
I talked to Jess a few times, but not nearly as much as we usually would. It’s not that it was that awkward, but it felt like we were in different worlds for the first time ever. I hoped she didn’t secretly blame me for what happened with Jared. We had one ridiculous game of phone tag that lasted two weeks. I was relieved when we finally broke it.
She must have been holding her phone because she picked up on the first ring. “Hey, we finally made contact.”
“Does that win for longest game of phone tag ever?” I laughed.
“Maybe. But how are you? Are things going well with Levi?”
“Yeah, they really are. I’ve discovered there’s a lot more to him than I thought.” I smiled to myself realizing just how true that statement was.
“I told you so.”
“Yeah, well, I have no idea where it’s going to go, but it’s fun.”
“Sure. You can’t have changed that much, Allie, but I don’t have time to argue, I actually have to run.” I could tell she had put me on speakerphone and was moving around her room.
“Any place interesting?”
“Emmett’s coming over. We’re giving it another try.” I could almost hear her smiling through the phone.
“That’s awesome, good for you. I always thought you guys were great together.”
She laughed. “I know, you had a harder time with us breaking up than I did.”
“I’m really happy for you, Jess.”
“Thanks! And he’s going to Fordham so we’ll be able to see each other all the time even when school starts. He says we’ll have to make next year a re-do of the senior year we never had together.”
“Ha ha, good plan.”
“All right, so I’m glad we talked, call me when you get back in town.” She rushed to end the call.
“Definitely. Tell Emmett I said hi.”
“Same to Levi.”
“Okay, bye.”
I sighed with relief as soon as I hung up. It sounded like Jess was doing okay. Something still felt weird with us, but I hoped when I saw her again things would get back to normal.
***
One of the perks of staying at the hotel was that we got to use the pool. I learned pretty early on that a pool was a hot commodity with such intense heat in New Orleans. Hailey and I spent a lot of time laying out on my days off.
“Can you believe it’s August?” Hailey asked as we lounged by the pool.
“Not at all. This summer has flown by.”
“Are you ready?” She didn’t say what for, but I knew she meant college.
“I guess so, but I’m nervous too. I just want it to be great. You know? Your freshman year of college is supposed to be incredible and I’m scared it’s just going to be some major letdown. What if I mess up my classes, or Toby doesn’t leave me alone, or I have horrible girls on my floor?” Once I started, the worries just spilled out.
“So I’m not the only one? I can’t tell you how good it is to hear you have the same fears. Well, as
ide from the Toby part.” She laughed.
I smiled lightly and thought about the one worry I had left out—Levi. Things with him were heating up and I wasn’t sure I wanted to say goodbye at the end of the summer. Trying to quell thoughts of a long distance relationship, I reminded myself that he probably had no interest in one, and besides who wanted to start college in a relationship?
“If it makes you feel any better, he doesn’t want you to leave either,” Hailey said as she lathered on some more sunscreen. Her pale skin burned easily, and she was ultra-careful in the sun.
“How’d you know I was thinking about him?”
“You always get that the same look when he’s on your mind.”
“What look?”
“The love-struck one.” She saw my face and backtracked. “Okay, well the far off one.”
“Do you really think he cares that I’m leaving?”
“Umm yeah. He even—” She stopped herself.
“What? He even what?”
“I really don’t want to get myself in any more trouble. Levi is already annoyed at me.”
“Please, you have to tell me. I won’t tell.”
“Fine,” she said dramatically but I sensed she wanted to say it anyway. “I heard him talking to my brother about whether he could handle something long-distance.”
“He what?” That was the last thing I expected to hear, and I didn’t know how I felt about it. On the one hand, it terrified me that there could be something real between us, but on the other hand, the same thought thrilled me. This was not what I needed.
“I’m sure he wasn’t really serious about it. We’ve known from the start whatever this is between us is just for fun.”
“Whatever you say.” Hailey smiled but dropped it. I loved how she always knew where to draw the line.
***
I woke up to a knock on the door at 10:30 that night. I’d fallen asleep on the couch watching a dumb reality TV show. Hailey had some sort of family obligation and Levi had a meeting with his dad, so I had settled in front of the TV after taking advantage of time to myself to finalize my class schedule.
“Who is it?” I called, expecting Levi or Hailey to answer.
“It’s me, honey.”
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