Black Magic (Howl #4)

by Morse, Jayme

  Focus, Emma. Think about how you want to change back into a human, Samara urged.

  Much to her surprise, her best friend’s paws twisted into hands, and a blue cloud of smoke swirled around her as she changed back into her human form.

  Samara willed herself to turn back into a human, too. Once she was standing on her feet, she heard Emma whine, “It feels so strange to make the change from wolf to human—and human to wolf. It’s actually kind of painful!”

  “You get used to it.” Samara shrugged, scanning the yard for Luke. His voice filled her head. I’m in the house.

  “That thing you did with Colby back at my mom’s house? That was so not cool,” Emma commented, tossing her blonde hair over her shoulders. Pulling a tube of lip gloss out of her pocket and looking in the side view mirror on Luke’s car to apply it, she continued. “I really don’t like being forced to turn into a werewolf against my own will.”

  “I’m sorry, Em. Soon, you’ll be more in control of yourself so you’ll be able to morph whenever you feel like it. I had to do it tonight, though. Your mom never would have believed us if she didn’t see it for herself. I just wish she would have reacted differently,” Samara murmured.

  Emma glanced over at her and shrugged. “Hey, you can’t please everyone, right? I’m freezing out here.” She wrapped her arms around her chest, trying to divert the attention away from what had happened with her mom. “Come on, let’s go inside.”

  Samara knew that her best friend was trying to make it seem like she was unfazed by the way her mother reacted, but she knew that couldn’t be the truth. Emma and her mom had always been the best of friends; it had to hurt that her own mother wanted no part of her because she was a werewolf. It had to make Emma hate Troy for what he had done to her.

  Instead of arguing over it, though, Samara reluctantly followed her in the house. The guys and Kyana were all sitting around the table playing chess.

  “You guys are such geeks,” Emma commented, sitting down in the only empty seat, which happened to be next to Colby. “Chess on a Saturday night? Seriously?”

  “There’s nothing wrong with a good game of chess,” Steve said, running a hand over his braided hair, as he contemplated his next move.

  “Rain’s mom called me tonight while you were gone,” Chris said, glancing up at Samara.

  Her eyes widened. “What did she say?”

  “She wanted to know if I’ve seen Rain. She hasn’t come home since the night of her initiation,” Chris explained. “Apparently, she called home a few times during the first week after she left and told her mom that she was with me, but that was the last anyone’s heard from her. Her mom’s starting to get really worried about her. It’s not like her to leave home for this long without checking in, at the very least.”

  “Oh, no,” Samara murmured. Rain was obviously so upset about not being Chris’s mate that she was avoiding facing her family . . . and probably the other people in her life, too. The whole situation felt eerily familiar. It made Samara think of when Lily ran away because she didn’t want to be a Vyka; it was scary to think that Rain could be going through the same thing.

  “You should try to contact her, Sam. You can do that you know, since you’re Alpha and all,” Colby reminded her.

  “I’ve wanted to give her space. I didn’t want her to think that I was invading her right to privacy. That’s why I called her. But, I think you’re right. I’m going to have to contact her now,” Samara murmured. Closing her eyes, she thought: Rain? I need to speak to you.

  There was a momentary pause before she heard Rain’s raspy voice, clear in her mind. Butt out of my thoughts, Samara. I don’t want to talk to you. Haven’t I made that clear already by not returning your phone calls?

  Rain, I understand that you’re going through a hard time right now. But it’s important for you to come to terms with what’s happening and help us focus on the bigger issue here, which is defeating Jason Masterson and the Vyka.

  I don’t care about defeating Jason. He hasn’t done anything to me, Rain replied, and Samara could just imagine her rolling her eyes. I’m going to block you out of my thoughts now, so please don’t try to contact me again.

  Rain, wait! Please don’t ignore me like this! I can help you. Samara’s own words filled her mind, but as soon as she thought them, she already knew that it was too late.

  Rain had already blocked her out of her mind and out of her life.

  Chapter 6

  “Sam, where are you and Colby going?” Emma whined the next afternoon. Her hands were on her hips and she was glaring at Samara, waiting expectantly for an answer.

  “I already told you. We’re going out. I can’t give you all the details,” Samara replied with a smile. She wasn’t about to tell Emma that she was going to give Colby a makeover. She wanted her best friend to think this was something he had chosen to do on his own, without her help.

  Emma huffed. “Why can’t I come with you?”

  “Because you can’t,” Samara replied for the third time. She felt herself start to get annoyed. “Don’t push me on this, okay? You can hang out with Kyana while we’re gone. Maybe she’ll actually go through with the whole eyebrow threading thing—or maybe she’ll let you wax them for her, if nothing else.”

  Emma sighed. “Fine, I’ll stay here,” she grumbled.

  “Okay, I’m ready to roll,” Colby said, entering the living room. He was wearing an orange and blue plaid shirt with brown corduroy pants—two completely acceptable clothing pieces that would have looked fine by themselves, but simply didn’t complement each other. Samara definitely had her work cut out for her.

  “Okay, come on.” Samara led him out of the house and out into the warm December day. They climbed into Colby’s Mustang.

  Once they were inside, Colby turned to her with a pleading look in his eyes. “Promise me you’re not going to dress me up in pretty boy clothes.”

  Samara grinned. “I’m not going to make any promises I can’t keep.”

  *

  An hour later, they stood in front of the men’s clothing racks in Donald’s, the Grandview Mall’s best department store. Its clothes even put Nordstrom’s and Macy’s to shame.

  Colby nervously patted his blonde curly hair, which was now shorter. Samara had convinced him to get a haircut on their way to the store.

  “Remember to keep Emma blocked out of your thoughts so that she doesn’t know what we’re doing,” she reminded him. “We’re going for the surprise factor. The less she knows, the more shocked she’ll be when she sees you.”

  “Don’t worry. She hasn’t been able to hear my thoughts all day. I never stop hearing hers, though. Do you know how many hours she’s kept me awake because her mind wouldn’t shut off? It’s so annoying!”

  “That’s Emma for you,” Samara laughed. She handed him a few pairs of jeans in the size he’d said he wore.

  Colby frowned. “I prefer skinny jeans. They look really snazzy on me.”

  “Snazzy? You’re such a dork,” Samara laughed. “And no offense, but skinny jeans don’t look really ‘snazzy’ or cool on you. Don’t take it personally, though. They don’t look good on any guy, to be honest. I don’t know who started that trend, but they should only be worn by girls.”

  “Suspenders, then?” Colby asked, glancing up at her with a hopeful look in his eyes before turning to a rack that was filled with them.

  “Especially not suspenders. We’re trying to get away from the farmer’s style.” Samara handed him another pair of jeans to reaffirm her decision. Colby took them from her reluctantly.

  She pulled a few blue, red, and gray polo t-shirts and handed those to him, too.

  Colby wrinkled his nose and glanced over at her. “No pink or purple?”

  She shook her head.

  His face fell. “Not even orange?”

  Samara laughed. “Colbs, the whole point of a makeover is to, well, make yourself over. That’s not going to happen by choosing the same clothes you’r
e already used to wearing. Besides, I’ll let you in on a little secret.”

  Colby’s turquoise blue eyes lit up. “What?”

  “Some girls don’t mind when a guy wears pink, but Emma can’t stand when guys wear feminine colors. And she thinks that guys who wear purple look like Barney.” Samara shrugged. “It’s just her thing. She likes guys who wear masculine colors.”

  “Nuh uh,” Colby said in a sing-song voice, grinning proudly. “She thought about how attractive my hot pink beanie hat looked on me once. She doesn’t know I overheard her thoughts, though.”

  Samara rolled her eyes. She still couldn’t figure out how—or why—her best friend kept her inner feelings about Colby a secret. It had to be because the other kids at school thought he was a loser. It made Samara annoyed because it shouldn’t have mattered to Emma, since he was her mate. But hopefully, her best friend would come around and admit how she felt now once she saw the new and improved Colby.

  “I guess I should go try these on to make sure they fit before I buy them,” Colby said, gesturing to the pile of clothes that he held in his outstretched arms.

  “That would probably be a good idea. Oh, and what’s your favorite college football team?”

  He shrugged his shoulders. “I don’t know . . . I don’t watch college football. But I do like soccer and lacrosse,” he said, enthusiastically. “Do I get to pick out my favorite lacrosse team?”

  “No, sorry. Football, it is,” Samara laughed. Placing a navy blue hooded sweatshirt on his pile of clothing, she glanced down at the team she’d chosen at random and said, “Okay, you’re now officially a Notre Dame fan.”

  Colby looked like he wanted to protest what she’d said, but he shrugged instead before he headed into the dressing room.

  As Samara lingered on the other side of the wall, she glanced over at the junior’s clothing section. She and Luke were planning to go on a date tonight. It was the first time they had gone out without anyone from the pack in quite some time, so she really wanted to buy something new to wear.

  Walking over to the clothing racks, her eyes caught on a sparkly, red see-through shirt. She paired it with the matching solid red camisole, and headed to the dressing rooms to try it on.

  Once she was in front of the mirror, she took a good look at herself. Her shoulders appeared even more sculpted than they had over the past few weeks. When she lifted her shirt off, she also noticed the rippling effect that her now-defined abdominal muscles created; she was definitely on her way to a six pack, even though she hadn’t ever done any type of training to get it.

  Shrugging, she pulled the red camisole, which fell just above her belly button, and the matching see-through shirt over her head and glanced at herself in the mirror. The camisole’s V-neck showed just the right amount of cleavage, and the shirt hugged her curves in all of the right places.

  Luke was going to love it.

  After she changed back into her clothes and put the shirts back on their hangers, she stepped out of the dressing room. Colby was pacing back and forth, a nervous look on his face. It seemed like he had been trying to figure out where she was.

  “Colbs? I’m right here,” Samara said as she approached him.

  “Oh, thank goodness. I was so worried about you!”

  She raised her eyebrows. “I was just trying on clothes. It’s not like I got lost in the mall or something. I mean, that would be kind of weird. I’ve been here a million times.”

  Colby rolled his eyes at her. “No, of course I knew you weren’t lost. I was worried because,” he said, lowering his voice, “I saw Seth and Declan.”

  “What?” Samara nearly shouted at him. “Are you positive?”

  Colby nodded. “Yeah, they came in through that door and exited over there,” he said, pointing to one of the other doors in the store. “When I didn’t see you, I thought something might have happened to you. I thought Jason might have gotten to you.”

  She shook her head. “No, I would have let you know that I needed backup if that happened. I didn’t see them—not Declan and Seth or the rest of the Vyka. Did they see you?”

  “I don’t think so,” Colby replied. “They didn’t look over in my direction or anything like that. I’m really surprised they didn’t smell me, though.”

  “Yeah, me, too,” Samara murmured. “Unless . . .” She cut her sentence short, thinking about how Declan had spotted her and Luke in the forest in Alaska. He had lied to Jason about seeing them, even though it was obvious that doing that could have gotten him into a lot of trouble. Her old best friend had obviously done her a favor, and Seth had risked his pack loyalty to help her out in the past, too.

  Maybe Declan and Seth did smell her and Colby in the mall today, but had chosen to ignore it. Maybe they didn’t want to have a confrontation with them. Maybe they meant them no harm, either.

  Either way, she wasn’t afraid of the two of them. As much as they might have to pretend that they were her enemy, she didn’t believe that either of them were actually capable of doing anything that would cause physical harm to her, just like she wouldn’t to them.

  No matter how loyal they were to their Alpha, neither of them was going to kill her.

  What worried her more than a confrontation with Declan or Seth was where Jason was . . . If two of the Vyka were at the mall, were the rest of them close behind?

  “We should probably get out of here,” Samara said, turning to Colby. “I don’t want to have a run-in with them.”

  “Okay, but there’s something I need to do while we’re here first.”

  Samara glanced over at him curiously. “What?”

  “You’ll see. Come on,” he said, heading over to the store’s jewelry counter. He stopped right in front of the engagement rings and weddings bands, and Samara gaped at him.

  “Colby, I don’t think it’s a good idea for you to propose to Emma already,” Samara said, shaking her head. “You just found out you’re mates. She needs time to adjust to the whole werewolf thing before you guys decide to mark. I think it’s a really, really bad idea right now.”

  “Samara, chill.” Colby rolled his eyes at her. “I’m not a complete moron. I’m not planning to propose to Emma. I’m just going to buy her some jewelry.”

  Samara narrowed her eyebrows at him. “It’s too early for that, too, don’t you think?”

  “I have to,” he replied, leaning in to explain the reason to her. Once she knew why, it made perfect sense.

  Chapter 7

  Emma was lounging on the sofa and flipping through the stations on TV when Samara went inside the house. A smile spread across her best friend’s face when she noticed that she was home. “Yay! You’re finished doing whatever you had to do. Now you can hang out with me.”

  Samara rolled her eyes. “I can’t hang out with you for that long. I have to get ready for my date with Luke soon.”

  “Oh.” Emma’s face fell. “Well, what am I supposed to do all night?”

  Samara shrugged. “Maybe you could hang out with Ashley and Bri?”

  Ashley Everest and Brielle Morris were two of Emma’s best friends from school. They spent most of their time at the mall shopping or gossiping about boys . . . when they weren’t partying at Emma’s house, of course. But now that Emma was no longer living at home, it seemed that her days of throwing parties for most of their high school class were over. Samara wondered if Emma had realized it already.

  “I don’t want to hang out with Ashley or Bri,” Emma admitted. “I don’t want to have to tell them that my mom kicked me out of the house. Besides, I don’t have that much in common with them anymore that we’re so different from them. I don’t think hanging out with them now would feel the same as it used to.”

  Samara nodded in understanding. She had felt the same exact way when she had found out that she was a werewolf. With the exception of hanging out with Declan once, she had completely withdrawn from Emma and her other friends because she felt like no one else would be able to understand wha
t she was going through. And that was before she knew that Declan was a werewolf, too.

  It was sort of ironic that she’d had to cut him out of her life now.

  She tried not to think about not having a friendship with him anymore too much. Thinking about it only made her sad and sort of angry. As much as she missed Declan and wondered what he thought about her these days, or if he thought about her at all, there was no going back to being friends. She’d known that when she had chosen the Ima and, ultimately, being with Luke over him.

  She didn’t regret her decision, though. Not having to be on Jason’s pack was worth sacrificing their friendship over, even though it was hard.

  “Oh, by the way, you may want to lay low,” Samara told Emma. “Does anyone know you’ve been living here?”

  Emma shook her head. “No, just you and the boys. And Kyana. And Rain.”

  “Good, let’s keep it limited to just those people,” Samara replied. “The Vyka are back in town. Well, Seth and Declan are, at least.”

  Emma’s eyes widened, but before she got the chance to say anything, Colby came into the living room. “Emma, I have something for you.” He had changed into one of his new polo t-shirts and the new jeans that they had picked out for him.

  “What?” Emma raised her eyebrows. Glancing over at him, her eyes grew big. She must have noticed the changes that they made because she asked, “Did you do something different with your hair? You don’t look like yourself. At all.”

  “Yeah, I cut it.” He flung the tiny bag from the jewelry counter into her lap. “Open your gift.”

  Giving him a strange look, Emma reached into the bag and pulled out the red velvet box that was tucked beneath the gold tissue paper. “It’s not my birthday.”

  “I know,” Colby replied with an eye roll. “Your birthday is April twelfth.”

  Emma gaped at him. “How do you know when my birthday is? Creeper!”

  Colby shrugged. “Sometimes, we just know things about our mates. I bet if you tried hard enough, you would know my birthday, too.”