Hunted

by DJ DeSmyter

  “You’ve healed nicely.” He paused and his deep breath told me he had something important to say.

  I waited for him to continue speaking, but silence filled the shed. Glancing up, I found him staring at the cage door. He reached into his pocket and withdrew a key.

  “Ready to leave?” he asked.

  I watched in wonder and excitement as he unlocked the door and pulled it open. I sensed no trace of cruelty from him and when he gave me a reassuring nod, I knew he understood I wasn’t a rogue wolf. Swiftly, I jumped through the doorway and headed for the door of the shed. John hurried past me and opened it.

  “There you go.”

  Without hesitation, I tore through the snow and made my way into the woods. The fresh air filled my lungs and my senses began working overtime taking in everything that had been kept from me: the cold air, blue sky, and the scents all around. Instead of being weighed down by fear, my body tingled with freedom. But like the snow on my fur, every positive feeling that filled my body melted away as a realization came over me.

  I had no idea where my family was.

  I stopped running and allowed images of Mom, Dad, James and Summer to fill my mind. Were they even alive? Everything from the night the hunter attacked was a blur. All I could remember was the sound of gunshots and all of us scrambling to shift and escape.

  Circling back to face the shed, I found it was still opened. With nowhere to go and no one else to turn to, I made my way back.

  “You don’t know where they are, do you?” John asked when he turned around and found me sitting in the snow looking up at him.

  I lowered my gaze to the white ground.

  He whirled around with his hands on his head. “I knew something like this would happen sooner or later,” he muttered to himself. Turning back around, he stared at me with a heavy, thoughtful gaze. “You’ll have to change back first,” he finally said. “And I’ll have to get you some clothes. I can’t have you meeting my daughter naked.”

  10. Lily

  This is stupid, I thought angrily. When am I ever going to use this? I glared at my math homework and pretended to set it on fire. There I was again, imagining I had superpowers. I was such a dork sometimes. Deciding not to waste any more of my brainpower, I scribbled answers that looked believable. At least I didn’t copy the answers from the back of the book.

  The sound of the front door opening surprised me seeing as it was only four in the afternoon. Even on the weekends, Dad worked late, so I wasn’t expecting him until much later.

  “What are you doing home?” I asked as I made my way to the front. “Do you have to go— ” I stopped, letting the word ‘back’ die. Next to Dad stood a young man.

  Dad nervously glanced at me. “Uh, this is Alex. Alex, this is my daughter, Lily.”

  Alex lifted his gaze from the floor long enough to flash me a nervous smile.

  “H— hi,” I stuttered. “It’s nice to meet you.” I made no attempt to hide my confusion

  Alex didn’t respond.

  Dad cleared his throat. “Well,” he said, sounding relieved. Did he think the situation wasn’t awkward? If he did, he couldn’t have been more wrong. It was extremely awkward. After all, I had no idea how Dad even knew Alex or why he was in our home.

  Dad went to work removing his coat and shoes. Alex remained by the door, looking around intently and taking in everything around us. I took advantage of the silence to study him.

  His hair, perfectly messy and light brown, was short with bangs that hung loosely over his forehead, shadowing his eyes. I assumed he worked out given his lean, but clearly fit physique. To top it all off, he had a fair complexion that was free of acne. He could have easily passed for a model— or an angel. I would have been betraying the whole female population if I didn’t think he was handsome.

  As if he felt my eyes on him, Alex turned his attention to me. His eyes were a beautiful and vibrant shade of green. I felt bad for staring, but there was no way I was going to stop. When we made eye contact, something sparked inside me, an unexplainable connection.

  It was safe to say I was no traitor— I thought he was beautiful.

  11. Alex

  Meeting John’s daughter was bound to be awkward and as I walked up the front steps of their house, I felt like running away to seek the comfort of the woods.

  After he introduced us and I raised my eyes to her, a wave of comfort washed over me. I couldn’t explain it, but something about her calmed my nerves and captivated me. To keep from staring I kept my eyes focused on the interior of the house.

  The walls were painted a warm tan color that contrasted nicely with the white molding. A few framed photos hung on the walls and I noticed they all consisted of two people: Lily and John. I wonder where her mom is, I thought.

  I could feel her eyes on me, but I tried to ignore them and continued looking around. A rapid thumping filled my ears and I realized it was her heart. In the end, I gave in and met her gaze. Little did she know my heart was racing, too.

  12. Lily

  “Uh, Dad?” I said as he dug around in the linen closet for some sheets. “Are you forgetting something?”

  “What?”

  “Oh, I don’t know, maybe an explanation as to why there’s a stranger sitting in the family room?”

  Dad triumphantly pulled out a bundle of cotton sheets.

  “Alex is a friend of a friend who needs a place to stay for a while,” he explained. He failed to make eye contact with me and it was obviously deliberate.

  “Who’s the friend?” Dad was once again being vague and I was not in the mood for vague answers. As cute as I thought Alex was, I still wanted to know why he was there.

  “Just a friend from work.”

  “Which friend?” I pressed.

  A mess of words came out of Dad’s mouth, leaving me even more confused and frustrated.

  I sighed. Maybe Alex is going through something extremely personal, I thought.

  “He’s not a druggie, is he?” I whispered.

  Dad started laughing. “No, Lils, he’s not. He appears to be a perfectly good kid.”

  I eyed him. “What do you mean ‘appears’?” I asked, complete with air quotes.

  “Well, I’m not exactly— what do you call it? BFFs with him or anything.”

  Now I was the one laughing. “Please don’t use that word ever again.”

  “What, am I not cool enough?”

  I playfully punched his arm. “Nope.”

  Dad started walking down the hall to the guest room. “Lily, are you, uh, concerned about having a boy in the house?”

  The question took me by surprise. The thought of Alex being a threat had never crossed my mind and now that it had, it didn’t sit well with me. Despite our short and very awkward introduction, though, nothing about him seemed threatening.

  “No,” I finally answered.

  “Good.” Dad’s reply was muffled by the whoosh of the sheets as he flung them in the air to unfold them.

  “How come we’ve never had any guests before?” I asked him as I tucked one end of the sheet under the mattress.

  He shrugged. “I don’t know.” He sounded distracted.

  I ran my hand over the sheet to smooth it out. “What about family? Did you and Mom ever have any relatives stay over?”

  He didn’t answer right away.

  “Dad?”

  He shook his head as if to clear it of any thoughts that were weighing him down. “No.”

  “Okay,” I said softly. I was hoping for a ‘yes’ for once to finally indicate that I did have an extended family out there somewhere. I guess I truly was alone.

  “Would you mind finishing up while I go talk to Alex?” Dad said, already halfway out the door.

  “Nope. Not at all.” Singing quietly to myself, I finished making the bed. Then I retrieved some towels and set them on the dresser that stood by the door. I tried to think of anything else Alex would need, but couldn’t come up with anything. I assumed Dad want
ed to speak to Alex alone, so I went to my room and got ready for bed.

  After slipping into my fleece pajamas, I realized Alex needed a toothbrush. Quickly, I headed towards the bathroom, but before reaching it I crashed into Alex.

  “I’m so sorry! Geesh, I’m such a klutz. It’s a good thing I don’t drive.” I backed away from him and smiled apologetically.

  Alex merely nodded. He hadn’t said one word since I met him.

  “Don’t you talk?” I asked.

  He shrugged and grinned sheepishly. It was adorable.

  “I was just coming to find you a toothbrush.” Smiling, I stepped around him and into the bathroom. He watched me search the drawers and cabinets for an extra.

  “Ah, here we go. I hope you don’t mind that it’s purple.”

  He shook his head.

  “Okay,” I handed it to him and circled back around. A few feet were all that separated us. I hadn’t noticed earlier, but he was tall. Being an inch over five feet, I came up to his shoulders “Well, let me know if you need anything else, okay?” I turned to leave.

  “Goodnight,” he unexpectedly said. His voice stopped me in my tracks. It was so soft, so gentle, yet he sounded a little hoarse, almost as if his voice was out of practice. He was staring at me as if I was the most interesting person he’d ever met. A rush of emotion swelled inside me, taking me by surprise. Who knew a single word could affect me as much as his did.

  “Goodnight.” Forcing myself to tear my eyes away from his and head back to my room was a struggle. But I did it.

  13. Alex

  “Alex,” John started, “Lily doesn’t know about—” He stopped and glanced up at the ceiling before continuing. “About, uh, what you are and my knowledge of, well, what you are.”

  I understood what he was getting at and with a single nod I assured him that everything pertaining to werewolves would remain a secret. He then proceeded to tell me Lily was under the impression I knew one of his coworkers and I needed a place to stay. I didn’t know how long it would take me to find my family, but I was sure I would be with the Atwaters long enough for the next full moon. In that case, I hoped John would have an excuse to give Lily to explain my absence.

  “Thank you,” John said as he got to his feet. “Now that that’s taken care of, are you hungry? Thirsty?”

  I shook my head.

  “Well, I am!” He laughed and started walking, presumably, to the kitchen. “Your room is upstairs at the end of the hallway. Goodnight.”

  “Thanks,” I managed to mumble before he disappeared. It would take a while until words felt comfortable on my tongue again. My time in the cage was short, but my silence took a bigger toll on me than I would have thought. It was like I was recovering from an illness of sorts that had rendered my throat sore and my voice useless

  Hearing a hushed and musical sound, I moved to the bottom of the stairs and listened intently. Lily was singing. Grinning, I made my way upstairs. As I stepped into the hallway, the sweet scent of strawberries filled my nose only to be strengthened when Lily ran into me. She apologized and took a step back.

  I knew I was staring, but I wanted to memorize her every feature. Her heart was racing again and so was mine. I had never felt this way about anyone before. It was new and exciting. I held onto every word she said and even managed to wish her a good night.

  But I had to suppress my growing feelings. For one thing, Lily and I were nothing more than acquaintances. Secondly, I was a werewolf, a creature I had just sworn to her father she would never know about and he would most likely never allow us to date. He seemed intent on keeping her world and mine separate. In contrast, my parents would have no objection to me dating a human girl. They would just be happy I found someone I liked.

  I lingered in the hallway even after she left. Her presence was intoxicating and I could still feel her warmth and the air still smelled of strawberries. Soon, all traces of her faded and I wandered to the end of the hall. Leaning against the doorframe with my arms folded, I examined my new room.

  It was spacious and the window overlooking the front yard made the room seem even bigger. Covered in dark blue sheets, a twin-sized bed was pushed against the center wall with a small nightstand next to it. I walked over to the dresser that sat by the door and ran my hand over the cold wood. Opening one of the drawers, I was reminded I had no clothes to fill it with. The hoodie and the jeans I was wearing were courtesy of John, so I would have to give them back. I went over to the bed and stretched across it, closing my eyes. Despite being locked up for a couple of days and sleeping the time away, I felt tired and couldn’t wait to fall into a dream. Especially if Lily was who I dreamt about.

  14. Lily

  I couldn’t go to sleep. Not with Alex just down the hall. So instead of letting dreams dance around in my head, I sat in bed trying to read. Alex proved to be more interesting and I finally closed the book and let him invade my thoughts. I knew nothing about him and yet, he was all I could think about and all that I wanted to think about. I couldn’t believe I was becoming one of those girls, the kind who obsessed over boys.

  I wasn’t used to having a crush on someone; none of the guys at school had interested me. It probably didn’t help that most of them were jerks who preferred girls who wore short skirts no matter what the temperature was like outside and who liked to party. There were some pretty decent and intelligent guys at school, but they were all taken. Given his gorgeousness, Alex would fit right in with the popular kids, which meant, he probably would never date me. He seemed friendly, though, which automatically set him apart from the popular crowd.

  And we did seem to connect, I pointed out to myself. I couldn’t deny that I felt something between us when our eyes first met.

  I wondered if he felt it too.

  Q

  The next morning, I woke to Dad gently nudging me.

  “Lily?” He softly said. “Alex and I are going to the mall to buy him some clothes. Would you like to go with us?”

  I sat up and rubbed my eyes. “Doesn’t he have any?” I sounded like a dying toad.

  “No, he doesn’t. He didn’t bring anything.”

  “Oh, okay.” With a yawn, I sunk back into my bed.

  “So, I take it you don’t want to join us?”

  I opened my eyes and furrowed my brows. “Is that what you asked me?”

  My incoherent state amused him. “Yes, Lils, it was.”

  “Oh, well, sure, I’ll go. Can you wait long enough for me to shower and eat?”

  “Yeah in fact, I’ll fix your breakfast.”

  “Awesome,” I said as I slid out of bed.

  Dad left the room and I quickly picked out an outfit and headed to the bathroom. If there were competitions to see who could shower the fastest, I’m pretty sure I would’ve won a gold medal. Before heading downstairs, I took a minute to check how I looked. I wasn’t a vain person, but I wanted to look good for Alex.

  “Have a nice shower?” Dad asked as I walked into the kitchen.

  “Yeah, thanks.” I turned and saw Alex sitting at the table reading the paper. I sat across from him and he looked over the top of the paper and smiled at me.

  “Good morning,” he softly said.

  “You too,” I said with a smile so big my cheeks hurt. It was a good kind of pain, though.

  Dad strolled over and set a plate of scrambled eggs and toast in front of me. “Here you go, Lils.” He handed me a fork.

  “Thanks, Dad. I’ll eat fast.”

  “Take your time. The mall’s not goin’ anywhere,” he answered.

  Alex watched me while I ate. Normally, I didn’t like people staring at me as it made me uncomfortable, but under his eyes, I felt the opposite. In fact, I kind of liked the attention.

  “So, Alex, what school do you go to?” I asked before taking a bite of toast.

  Dad interrupted. “He’ll actually be going to Victor Hills High.”

  I was pleasantly surprised. “Really? That’s cool. I could use some co
mpany.”

  Alex eyed me curiously and when he spoke, he spoke slowly, articulating each word.

  “Do you not have any friends?” He sounded sad.

  I shook my head. “Not really. I mean, I talk to some of the kids in my art class, but I don’t really click with any of them.”

  Dad didn’t say anything and busied himself with cleaning up the kitchen. He probably should’ve tried to convince me that I did have friends, but he knew better than to sugarcoat my social life. Or lack of one.

  “Well, I’ll be there,” Alex said, sounding unsure, like he was nervous as to how I would react.

  Despite hardly knowing each other, his words filled me with a ridiculous amount of happiness. All I could do was sit and stare at him in wonder and gratitude. He had changed my world with a single sentence.

  “Thanks,” I said.

  Alex glanced up, smiling. His smile could illuminate the entire world, I thought.

  Oblivious to our growing friendship, Dad broke the silence. “Almost done, Lils?”

  I blinked furiously and snapped out of my daze. “Uh, yeah. Almost. Sorry.”

  Q

  “What about this?” Alex asked, emerging from the dressing room. He was wearing a pair of dark-washed jeans and a blue Western-style plaid shirt. The jeans and the shirt couldn’t have fit him more perfectly and they wouldn’t have looked nearly as good on anyone else.

  “Looks good,” Dad said. He had never been one to truly think about what he wore.

  Alex peered down at the clothes and then looked at me as if my opinion mattered the most.

  “You look great. You should get it.” I gave him an assuring nod.

  He shot Dad a questioning glance.

  “Don’t worry about it, Alex. If you like it, then go ahead and get it.”