Oath Breaker

by Shelley Wilson

  ‘Zak never left you, not really. He had to move out so he could discover who he was, but he understood that you needed protecting, so he assigned some friends to check in on you every now and then. I was one of those friends.’

  ‘What do you mean by he had to move out? Was it because of our dad? He should have taken me with him when he went.’

  ‘You were far too young, Mia. Where he was going, it was too dangerous for you.’

  ‘I don’t understand. What could be so dangerous that he couldn’t take his kid sister along? Where did he go?’

  Terry tightened his hold around me and leant his head back against the wall. I spotted Elizabeth and Adam move closer to the bed as they listened to Terry’s story.

  ‘He needed to find Joel, the pack leader. He was sixteen and the time had come to commit to his family.’

  ‘Pack leader? I don’t understand. Did he go after Joel for hurting our mother? If Zak’s a hunter too then surely he could have told me.’

  Terry shook his head slowly. ‘Your brother isn’t a hunter, Mia. He’s a werewolf. Just like your mum.’

  My world spun away from me. I was aware that strong, warm arms were holding me, and I could hear the soothing tones of Elizabeth’s voice in the background, but the noise in my head was terrifying.

  ‘Are you absolutely sure?’ Elizabeth asked Terry, her hand placed protectively on my shoulder.

  ‘Of course I’m sure. We’ve been friends for ten years. I should know if my best friend is a werewolf.’

  I pushed myself upright and felt instantly chilled as I untangled myself from Terry’s arms. Elizabeth’s hand remained on my shoulder, her way of telling Terry that I was her best friend and no-one was going to mess with either of us.

  ‘How?’ It was all I could ask.

  My brain couldn’t comprehend the magnitude of Terry’s revelation and the number of questions that bubbled up inside me.

  Terry gazed down into my eyes and I noticed a kindness there. He didn’t want to hurt me or frighten me. Apart from Elizabeth and Adam, he was the only one who had been honest with me from the start.

  ‘How is my brother a werewolf?’

  ‘It’s hereditary,’ he said, studying my reaction. ‘Your mother was a werewolf, as was her father and his mother, and so on.’

  I stored this genealogical insight for later and turned to Elizabeth.

  ‘You told me that a person has to have the sight to become a hunter. I saw a werewolf kill my father and that’s why Sebastian brought me here. I’m a hunter.’

  Elizabeth nodded. ‘It’s true…or so I was told.’

  We both looked at Terry for confirmation.

  ‘In every pack, a cub is born, which unleashes the hunter to protect and serve…’

  I jumped off the bed, holding my hand out to silence Terry, and began pacing the floor. ‘Don’t start quoting Dr Neale to me. I’ve read his dreary little book and nowhere in there does it say anything about siblings hunting each other.’

  ‘Whoa! Who said anything about hunting each other?’

  I stared at Terry with my mouth hanging wide open and the best ‘duh’ expression I could muster spread across my face.

  ‘I’m a hunter. Zak’s a werewolf. You do the math!’

  ‘Mia, there’s a reason you can see werewolves and it’s not because you sparked the hunter gene. You come from a family of werewolves.’

  Elizabeth gasped and took an involuntary step away from me.

  ‘What is it?’ I asked her.

  She dropped onto the bed, her face as pale as the moon. Although she was looking at me, she was talking to Terry. ‘When will she turn?’

  ‘Turn? What are you talking about? Lizzie, who will turn?’

  All eyes settled on me and I froze.

  ‘I’m not a werewolf,’ I said, but the tremor in my voice betrayed my doubt.

  ‘It’s okay, we’ll work it out between us.’ Elizabeth was at my side before I slid down the wall of Adam’s room and curled up into a foetal position.

  I MANAGED TO escape the overly protective embrace of my best friend and disappear into Adam’s small bathroom. I could hear the voices of my friends waft under the door as they analysed my family history, future options and moon cycles.

  Staring at my face in the mirror, I tried to picture how I would look as a wolf. My hair was dark brown like Zak’s and curled over my shoulders. Did that mean I’d look like one of those Scottish long-haired cows? I groaned and pulled at my top lip—was that a fang?

  There was a soft tap at the bathroom door and Elizabeth’s gentle voice pulled me back from studying my fingernails—had they grown in the last hour?

  ‘I’m fine, Lizzie,’ I whispered, although if I was brutally honest, I didn’t think I’d ever be fine again.

  I opened the door and swept my gaze across the room. Terry was sitting up on the bed, the shape of his strong muscles visible beneath his borrowed shirt. He gave a short nod of his head as I caught his eye. Adam stood close by watching me with a crooked smile, and Elizabeth was eager to grasp my hand and squeeze my fingers. They looked just the same as they always did. No horror, fear or judgement in their eyes, just love and friendship.

  ‘How are you not freaking out about this?’ I asked Elizabeth and Adam.

  Adam wrapped his arms around his torso. ‘I have a confession,’ he said. ‘I’ve been around werewolves all my life, Mia. I knew Miss Ross when she worked at the academy down in Cornwall, and it was on her recommendation that I got the job here.’

  ‘How didn’t I know about that?’

  Elizabeth shrugged her delicate shoulders. ‘Sorry, Mia. I only just found out myself, but I should have told you.’

  ‘It sounds like your teacher was getting all the players in place before you arrived,’ Terry said.

  ‘What do you mean?’

  Elizabeth pulled me across the room and sat us both down on the bed next to Terry.

  ‘Don’t you find it all a bit odd?’ she asked. ‘Miss Ross brought Adam here just before you arrived.’

  ‘Yes, and it was Miss Ross who suggested Elizabeth as a roommate for you,’ Adam added.

  ‘But Miss Ross couldn’t know I was coming here. Nobody knew until the last minute. My dad was killed and within hours Sebastian turned up. It all happened so fast.’

  ‘Mia, I wasn’t the first of my pack to be captured and tortured. I’m just one in a long line.’

  ‘You’re the first to escape,’ added Adam with a soft laugh.

  Terry grinned. ‘I am indeed. Despite the drugs, knives and questions, I never gave in. I never told them what they wanted to know.’

  A chill crept along my spine as I listened to his words and imagined the horrors he had endured.

  ‘What did they want to know?’

  ‘Your uncle was only interested in our pack. He wanted Zak above everything else.’

  ‘Is that why they captured you? To get to Zak?’

  ‘I was careless. After our meeting at the service station I followed you here. I watched from the treeline to see if you’d been taken to the laboratory too, but when I saw you training with all your hunter friends, I knew I had to tell your brother.’

  ‘What did he say?’

  ‘I never made it. I got too close to the school and didn’t see the attack coming. I was taken to the lab and stayed there until you found me.’

  ‘So, if you didn’t report back to Zak, does he even know that I’m here? Does he think I’m the enemy?’

  Terry shook his head. ‘I’m not the only one keeping an eye out for you, Mia. Don’t worry.’

  I thought about all the times I’d imagined someone was watching me and shivered. It was creepy rather than comforting.

  ‘What if Miss Ross knew what was going to happen?’ Elizabeth asked.

  I swallowed the bile that rose up like a tsunami threatening to roar from deep within my throat.

  ‘You think she was behind the attack on my dad?’

  Adam knelt in front
of me. ‘No, she couldn’t have been. I’ve known her my entire life and she would never cause you any harm.’

  ‘Me? Wouldn’t cause me any harm? Why just me?’

  ‘Adam?’ Elizabeth’s brow creased as she watched her boyfriend splutter for the right words. ‘What aren’t you telling us?’

  ‘Miss Ross…and your mother, they were best friends from a young age.’

  Both Elizabeth and I sucked in a deep breath.

  Adam continued. ‘Just before your mum died, she asked Miss Ross to keep an eye on you. To bring you here if you were ever in any danger. Miss Ross recruited me to look out for you too.’

  I noticed the hurt flicker across Elizabeth’s face at Adam’s revelation and felt relieved that I wasn’t the only one he’d kept in the dark.

  ‘That doesn’t explain how she knew about my dad’s murder before it even happened.’

  ‘Maybe she has contacts with the werewolves.’

  We all turned to Terry looking for confirmation.

  He threw his hands in the air. ‘Maybe. I don’t know who Zak is in touch with outside the pack. We’re brothers, not a married couple.’

  I stood up and began pacing the small floor space.

  ‘It’s like she wants you to know the truth.’ Terry said. ‘Bringing in her own team.’ He nodded towards Adam who was trying to placate Elizabeth. ‘And ensuring you had a friend here to support you.’

  I thought about it for a moment, and it started to make sense. Of all the hundreds of students in the school, why put me with Elizabeth? She was light and full of energy and passion. I was dark, moody and broken. We were at the furthest ends of the friendship spectrum, and yet I couldn’t imagine my life without Elizabeth in it. She’d helped me to see the spark of a life that flickered deep inside my gut. Miss Ross had made that happen.

  ‘But why does Miss Ross want me to know the truth?’

  Elizabeth shrugged her shoulders. ‘Maybe it’s a way of repaying a debt or some strange bond between hunter and werewolf—her and your mum.’

  I chuckled at Elizabeth’s observation. ‘A bit like us, you mean?’

  She smiled and her bright blue eyes sparkled.

  ‘No matter how hairy you get, I’ll always be your roomie.’

  ‘Hey!’ I thumped her on the arm as she darted away from me laughing. She hid behind Adam, who circled his arms behind him in a mock attempt to protect her. He was clearly forgiven.

  Terry stood up from the bed, towering above all of us. I didn’t remember him being so tall last night.

  ‘As much fun as it is to debate the inner workings of the minds of Hood Academy’s teaching staff, I need to get back to my pack and let them know I’m alive.’

  He made for the patio doors and the rest of us rushed to block his path.

  ‘The entire student body is roaming the campus at the moment. If you step outside, you’ll be seen and reported. Or worse, recaught.’

  Adam nodded in agreement. ‘Mate, you look like an escaped werewolf and some of these girls are itching for a fight.’

  My thoughts turned to Felicity and what she would do if she discovered that Terry was hiding in the gardener’s bedroom.

  ‘Adam’s right,’ I said. ‘Let me go meet my friend, Cody. He might be able to help me locate your pack and get word to them. Once that’s done, we’ll break you out when it gets dark.’ I pulled out my phone and sent Cody a quick message.

  Terry cocked his head to the side and considered me for a moment.

  ‘What?’

  ‘How do you know Cody?’

  ‘Never mind how I know Cody, how do you know him?’

  ‘He’s my brother!’

  The silence was so overwhelming, even the insects in the garden behind us held their breath.

  ‘How is that possible?’

  ‘Well, he’s a foster brother. His folks took me in years ago along with a few other kids and we’ve stuck together ever since.’

  ‘So you’re one of the loud brothers he told me about.’

  Terry nodded his head and gave me a goofy grin.

  ‘Does he know you’re a werewolf?’

  ‘He found out a long time ago and he’s…cool about it.’

  I nodded, stunned by this admission. Cody knew his brother was a werewolf. Maybe that explained his initial reaction when I mentioned Hood Academy at our first meeting. He was concerned for his family, not the town. I turned towards the door but Terry stopped me, tugging at my sleeve until I was facing him, a sly smile twitching at the corner of his mouth.

  ‘Why did you blush when I mentioned Cody’s name?’

  I knew he was teasing me, but I couldn’t stop the additional burn as it shot up my neck and coloured my cheeks. I stuck my middle finger up at him and flung the patio door open.

  ‘I’ll see you all later.’

  I could hear them all laughing as I stomped off across the grass.

  THE SUN WAS high in the sky as I reached the overhang, and a cool breeze ruffled the luscious green patchwork of leaves overhead. Cody wasn’t there when I arrived but I knew he wouldn’t be long.

  I pulled my mum’s Manila file from my bag and flipped through the pages of notes inside. I was still shocked at the discovery she had been a werewolf. One of the sheets in her file detailed the infection she had contracted from a werewolf bite. Was that how Joel hurt her? Had the pack leader bitten her?

  Someone had scrawled a page of notes detailing the injection dose and dates of administration. Beneath this, in Sebastian’s neat handwriting, were some footnotes, added like a journal entry.

  Unfortunately, I was unable to stabilise the serum for prototype 0102. It appears the dosage was lethal to the subject. Several modifications were made, and it is my belief that prototype 0118 may be working. The werewolf gene is diminished slightly.

  I digested the words as a growing sensation of dread pooled in my gut. On the surface, the idea was a good one. It meant that no human being would have to go through the pain of turning every full moon. But the idea that Sebastian tested his serum on my mum knotted my insides. The thought of Terry chained to the steel trolley in the cold, dark basement steamrolled through my brain. Had Sebastian chained my mum to the same gurney?

  I pulled the other file from my bag, and the tattered label with Joel Mills written on it gleamed in the sunlight. Near the back of the folder was a colour photograph of a young couple. They were smiling and had their arms circling each other. It was a happy image, full of joy and love.

  ‘Why do you have that?’

  I jumped at the sound of Cody’s voice close behind me and dropped the picture back into the file.

  ‘You scared me.’ I held a palm up to my chest as if trying to stuff my heart back into my ribcage.

  ‘That photo…it’s of my parents.’

  I blinked up at the wide-eyed boy who stood over me, his blonde hair dulled by the halo of sunlight that burnt behind him.

  So the file was right. Joel Mills was Cody’s father. I wasn’t sure how to break the news that his dad might have killed my mum, but as I looked up at his sorrowful eyes, I knew I couldn’t hurt him like that.

  He dropped down to sit beside me and held his hand out for the file. I gave it to him without a sound. From what I’d read on the opening page, Joel and Pauline Mills were not killed in a car accident as Cody believed. I could relate to the shock of discovering the lies, having found out that my own mum hadn’t died in an accident. I needed Cody to know the truth, however hard it might be.

  ‘If it helps, they lied to me about how my mum died too.’

  His blue eyes found mine and my heart almost broke at the pain I saw there.

  ‘I thought…’ He shook his head, his chest heaving as he struggled with the emotions churning inside of him.

  ‘I know.’ It was all I could say. I understood his pain only too well.

  I reached out and took his warm hand. I had so much to ask him, but I didn’t know where to begin.

  ‘You were right about t
he academy,’ I said softly.

  His head hung low as he hunched over the photo of his parents, his blonde hair gleaming in the sunshine. At the sound of my voice, he lifted his gaze to meet mine.

  ‘They are doing experiments on people…werewolves,’ I added. ‘We rescued someone last night and we’re keeping him safe until nightfall.’

  Cody just watched me, not making a sound or rushing me to fill in the blanks for him.

  I took a deep breath and blurted out the rest. ‘It’s your brother, Terry.’

  I don’t know what I’d been expecting him to do on hearing the news but sitting in silence and watching the coming and goings in the valley below wasn’t it.

  ‘Did you hear me?’ I asked, my voice rising slightly. ‘Your brother was being tortured in the basement of my school and I saved him.’

  Nothing.

  I collected the files and thought about snatching the photo of Joel and Pauline from Cody’s hand but decided against it. Stuffing everything into my bag, I got to my feet and dusted off my jeans. Cody still hadn’t moved or reacted to my news.

  Giving him one last look, I uttered an exasperated sigh before storming off into the trees.

  I’d almost made it back to the academy when I heard his heavy footsteps running behind me.

  ‘Mia, stop!’

  I whirled around to face him, clenching my fists as I watched him approach. I had risked a lot to save his brother and he was being ungrateful and infuriating.

  ‘I’m sorry,’ he said as he stopped in front of me. ‘It was such a shock seeing that photo and finding out that the academy had something to do with my parents’ death. I wasn’t thinking straight. What you’ve done, for Terry, and me... My family mean the world to me.’

  ‘I know they do,’ I said. ‘So do mine.’

  He moved a step closer and took hold of my hands.

  ‘I haven’t been totally honest with you, Mia.’

  I held my breath; this was the moment he either told me that he knew his dad had hurt my mum or that he was fully aware of Terry’s full-moon activities.