Unleashed

by Nancy Holder

  “Hey, girl,” said a familiar voice.

  From the inky darkness, dark blue eyes blazed at her.

  Justin.

  Before she realized what was happening, he stepped directly into her path. He was wearing a dark suit with a white shirt unbuttoned at the neck. It set off the chiseled angles of his face and accentuated the deep blue sapphire of his eyes.

  “I’m looking for Cordelia,” he said. “Her father called her a bunch of times. Have you seen her?”

  She should move away. She knew it. But it seemed all she could do was stand stock-still, as if she were waiting for him to come to her.

  And then he did.

  She saw his lips, close up. They were parted; they looked warm and moist.

  Without warning, he kissed her.

  And she kissed him back. As if Trick didn’t exist …

  As if Lucy didn’t exist.

  He pressed his body closer to hers and all thought fled.

  He picked her up in his arms and carried her into the brush, the way he had come, kissing her all the while. And she kissed him back.

  She kissed him back.

  “Did I scare you just now?” he asked, his lips against hers. “Oh, Kat, Kat, I can’t not do this.…”

  And those words made her heart beat faster with new fear. This was wrong. It was a bad dream. But he bent down and kissed her and she poured her soul into kissing him back. And before she knew how it happened, she was lying on the forest floor and he was on top of her, his body pinning hers down, and his kisses had become harder, more intense, and she knew what he wanted, because she wanted it too.

  I don’t want to want it. I don’t want this. I want Trick.

  “Justin, stop,” she managed to gasp.

  And then a shadow darkened her vision. “What do you think you’re doing?” a voice thundered.

  15

  Katelyn looked up and saw Cordelia standing over the two of them, her features twisted in fury. Katelyn had never seen her so angry.

  “You have a girlfriend!” Cordelia shouted at Justin, who was already on his feet, his arms out, as if to plead his innocence. Then she turned her wrath on Katelyn. “And you know it!”

  “Cordelia, please, something’s happening to me,” Katelyn said in a rush as she sat up. Her words felt slurry, but her senses were on high alert. “Please, help me!”

  “You called Bobby to tell me to meet you here,” Cordelia said, flinging the words at Justin. “Why? So you could cheat on Lucy with a witness?”

  “Your dad sent me,” Justin said. “He needs you home. We’ve been calling you, but you didn’t answer your phone.”

  Without a word, Cordelia whirled on her heel and stomped away.

  “Cor, wait,” Justin called, running after her.

  Katelyn pushed herself to her feet to go after the two of them. Tingling, numb, ashamed, and confused, she lurched forward. Her right foot came down on a sharp twig; it pierced her instep like a knife and she gasped and stumbled, falling sideways and catching herself with a branch. Leaves scattered.

  “Cordelia,” she called. The branch snapped and she fell on her butt. She pulled the twig out of her foot and wrapped her hands around her instep to ease the pain, then shut her eyes against the images of Justin and her that strobed in her mind.

  She adjusted her purse, got to her feet, and took an experimental step forward. It hurt, but she limped out of the forest, back into the pasture, grimacing as her foot throbbed.

  Heavy metal horror music swelled and soared around her as she neared the barn, scanning the crowd of kids for Cordelia. She’d seen her angry before, but never so enraged. What would Cordelia do? Would she lose her temper and say something, do something?

  Katelyn had to get to her; she had to explain.

  She spotted Dondi sitting on a picnic table and limped over to her.

  “Have you seen Cordelia and her cousin?” Katelyn yelled over the music.

  “Yeah. They went to the parking lot,” Dondi shouted back. “What happened to you?”

  But Katelyn didn’t answer; she just gave her a wave of thanks and kept going. Past the barn, down the walkway. Her foot throbbed and her mind raced. She felt like she was careening out of control, like all her emotions were colliding together.

  How could she be kissing Trick one minute and then Justin the next? What was happening to her?

  She hurried toward the path that led to the parking lot. A single taillight winked in the blackness—a motorcycle’s—and she made out two figures riding tandem as it pulled out onto the main road. Justin and Cordelia.

  The night swallowed them up, and Katelyn stood shell-shocked, with no idea what to do next. Go home? Go back to the party? Go to Cordelia’s and try to talk it out? She clenched her hands, feeling sick and scared and frustrated. There was no way she was going back to the party now. Performing her own zombie walk, she crossed the parking lot and made her way to her car. She was about to climb in behind the wheel when she noticed a small glowing rectangle lying on the ground by the front tire. She threw her purse into the car and went to pick it up.

  It was Cordelia’s cell phone. Katelyn pressed the home button.

  No service.

  She got in her car and turned on the engine. Her feet were sore and icy. She looked down at the phone again, trying to decide what to do. Cordelia was always careful to have her phone with her. Though if she’d gone home to have it out with Justin in front of her dad, what would she need her phone for?

  The realization of the situation hit Katelyn with all its force then. What if Cordelia decides she has to tell her father about me now? What if she’s so mad she tells him on purpose to get rid of me?

  Katelyn could only hope that maybe when Cordelia got home, she would call either her own phone or Katelyn’s. She got her cell out of her purse and set the two side by side on the passenger seat. Then she backed out of her spot, took one last look at the illuminated barn, and drove out of the parking lot.

  She couldn’t figure out why Cordelia had been as pissed as she was. Lucy wasn’t her sister or best friend. Tearing off her crown of gold leaves, she bit her lip to keep from crying as she doggedly retraced the route they had taken to get there. After about ten minutes, she realized that she wasn’t sure how to go from the Sokolovs’ property to her grandfather’s cabin without going to Cordelia’s house first. So maybe she was meant to go to Cordelia now and try to talk to her.

  Except Justin will be there.

  Despite everything, just thinking of him enflamed her again. She kept going, trying to decide what to do when she got closer to Cordelia’s, crossing her fingers that Cordelia would have called her from the Fenners’ landline by then—or already had, and had left a message. She wouldn’t be able to tell until she had cell phone coverage.

  As she drove, she began to recognize landmarks and little by little was able to calm down. Just when she was sure she knew where she was, a call came in on her phone. Trick. Sucking in her breath, she answered.

  “Katelyn. Where are you?” he asked, worry threading his voice.

  “I’m okay. I’m—I left,” she said, her voice cracking.

  “Where are you?”

  “In my car, driving,” she said. She wanted to tell him everything but couldn’t.

  “I didn’t mean to come on so strong,” he said.

  Her cheeks burned. She’d been the one who’d kicked it up.

  “Your shoes are here,” he continued.

  “Can you bring them to school?” It was all she could say before her voice gave out.

  “So you’re not coming back?”

  She let her silence be her answer.

  “Is Cordelia with you?”

  She hesitated. “She’s on a motorcycle ahead of me,” she said carefully.

  There was a pause. “Her cousin’s motorcycle?”

  “Trick, let’s talk later. Please.”

  Another pause. “Are you going home alone in the dark?”

  “We’ll talk
later,” she repeated. “I’m driving. I have to go.”

  “Not loving that,” he said. “But I …”

  She sucked in her breath. Cordelia’s house was ahead, and it was all lit up.

  “Gotta go,” she repeated, and hung up.

  She drove up the crest of the hill in front of Cordelia’s house. But when she got to the top, she saw that the side of the road was lined with trucks and cars, which was strange. There hadn’t been anyone there when they’d left. Were the Fenners having a party?

  She pulled over to the side of the road the first chance she got, squeezed both phones into her purse, and opened the door. She got out and hobbled toward the drive, where she noticed that Justin’s motorcycle was parked in the grass among other cars and trucks.

  About halfway down, Katelyn spotted Cordelia’s truck and considered what to do. Maybe she could put the phone on the hood or, better yet, drop it beside Justin’s motorcycle so it would seem as if Cordelia had had it with her when she’d left Trick’s, and dropped it when she got home.

  Or maybe she should just leave.

  Uncertain, she took a few tentative steps toward Justin’s motorcycle. Then she spotted two guys at the top of the drive—one older, one younger, unaware of her, it seemed—unintentionally blocking the path of her retreat. One was wearing a suit, and the other had on a dark long-sleeved shirt and jeans. She ducked between cars, clenching her teeth at the pain that shot through her foot.

  These people could be werewolves. Her heart skipped beats. Maybe one of them is the werewolf who attacked me.

  “He must be planning to announce the succession,” said the older man. He had honey wheat–colored hair and a white-flecked beard. “Why else would he call everyone so last minute?” He glared at the younger man. “You should have worn a suit.”

  “Are you kidding, Dad? Cordelia would just laugh at me.”

  Katelyn felt dizzy. These men seemed so normal. But they weren’t even human. She had to get out of there. Now—before she was discovered.

  The older man exhaled in frustration. “It’s not Cordelia I’m thinking of, Steve. Lee’s given you cause to hope.” His teeth gleamed in the moonlight as he smiled. “That gal is our ticket to pack royalty.”

  “Only if the alpha picks her to lead,” the younger man—Steve—replied. “And, like, no offense, but Cordelia isn’t my type.”

  “Don’t be an idiot!” Steve’s father hit him on the side of the head. “You don’t have the luxury of types.”

  Even from her vantage point, Katelyn heard the force of the blow and winced, hard. What would happen if they found her there?

  “Dad,” Steve protested. “Being mated to the alpha would suck.”

  “Are you insane? Our lives would be set.”

  “Unless someone decided to challenge me for her,” Steve retorted.

  “You young people are so pampered,” his father said, sighing. “In my day, we fought for every position in the hierarchy we achieved.”

  “But don’t you think that’s kind of barbaric?” Steve asked.

  His father hit him again, harder.

  “Stop that,” his father said. “Stop it or next hunt I’ll take skin.”

  Katelyn shivered; the implication was clear. She was afraid she was going to be sick to her stomach. She would give anything to be back in her car, or at the party. It had been insanity to follow them here.

  Steve straightened. Without another word, the two began walking along the side of the drive opposite Justin’s motorcycle. Katelyn’s stomach flipped as she crouched as low as she could and hurried farther down the drive, holding on to a dark blue truck for balance at one point, praying she didn’t set off anyone’s car alarm. Then she noticed the stand of trees beside the house and considered just making a run for it. She was so frightened she wondered if she’d be able to move at all. She thought of Haley and Becky, mauled to death, and pursed her lips to hold her fear in.

  “Daniel. Steve,” said a third voice. It was a woman’s. “What on earth is going on? Everyone’s here. I had to park practically a mile away.”

  “Too bad it’s not a full moon,” the man—Daniel—replied. “We wouldn’t have needed cars.”

  Her fear making her awkward, Katelyn continued to creep forward until she was only a couple of feet from a thickly limbed pine tree located about midway along the exterior wall of the house. She hazarded a glance in the direction of the newcomers. The woman had on a short ruffled dress and heels, and more people were coming down the walk. There was no way she could go back up the drive.

  Taking a deep breath, she made for the shield of the pine, careful not to shake the branches as she maneuvered her way behind it.

  “Well, Steve, what do you think?” the woman said conversationally. “Time to declare for Cordelia?”

  “She’d be a fool not to leap at the chance,” Daniel said, his voice considerably lighter. “Look at him. He took down a deer all by himself last moon.” He cleared his throat. “You don’t have any theories about what’s going on, do you, Myrna?”

  “Hi, people, hi,” interrupted a cheery voice Katelyn knew well. It was Jesse.

  With trembling hands, Katelyn parted the branches so she could get a good look at him. He was dressed in a suit with his hair carefully combed, and he greeted the trio each with a kiss on the cheek, which they returned.

  “Happy Halloween,” Jesse said.

  “Same to you, Jesse,” the woman answered.

  “Mr. Gaudin is here. You can’t call him Dominic. Don’t kiss him,” Jesse informed them.

  Katelyn sucked in her breath. Dominic? As in Dom? Cordelia’s crush? The rival pack leader?

  “What?” Daniel sounded as shocked as Katelyn was.

  Steve looked as if he wanted to throw up. “He won’t challenge me over Cordelia, will he, Dad?”

  “The Gaudins are savages. Invaders,” the woman—Myrna—said. Her voice had risen to a shrill pitch. “I’m leaving.”

  Savages? Katelyn was about to burst apart in a frenzy of panic. She felt like a caged bird with cats slinking around her, about to spring.

  “Our alpha summoned us,” Daniel reminded her. “You need to be here. And Steve, calm down. Dominic Gaudin has as much chance of marrying Cordelia as Jesse.”

  “I don’t want to marry Cordelia. I want to marry Lucy,” Jesse said very seriously.

  “Jesse?” Katelyn heard Lucy before she saw her. Lucy, whose boyfriend she wanted. She was dressed in a frilly white blouse and a black velvet skirt. Her hair was pulled back in a complicated braid, and a black feather perched on the side of her head. “Oh, hello,” Lucy said nervously as she saw the rest of the group. “Dominic Gaudin’s here.”

  Katelyn stared at Lucy, and an unreasoning hatred toward the other girl broke over her like a wave. She bit her lip, trying to control the anger that raged through her. What’s wrong with me? she wondered. Justin is her boyfriend, not mine. If anybody should be angry, it should be her. Katelyn wanted to take a deep breath but she was terrified of making even the tiniest sound.

  “We just heard,” Steve said.

  “Why is he here?” Myrna asked in a hushed voice. “What do they want?”

  “To see every one of us dead,” Daniel muttered.

  “He came under a white flag. So let’s be pleasant, shall we?” Lucy was smiling, but she looked worried. Then she turned and led the way around to the back of the house. Everyone followed her except for Jesse.

  “Is someone hiding?” he asked excitedly. He started walking toward where Katelyn was crouched behind the tree. “Here I come, trick or treat!”

  Chills rushed down Katelyn’s spine. Her scalp prickled and her face went numb. Moving as quietly as she could, she limped over to the next tree. It took her toward the back of the house—farther away from escape—but Jesse kept coming, and more waves of fear rippled through her. She crept along, trying not to make any noise, moving from tree to tree, terrified of discovery. Then she reached the side of the house, near t
he back door. She tucked herself close to the building, beneath one of the boxes with purple flowers. The smell of pine wafted over her and she sniffed the planter. It was the flowers that smelled like Christmas trees.

  “Jesse!” Lucy called. “C’mon, baby!”

  “Smell my feet!” Jesse bellowed. “Give me something good to eat!”

  He was getting closer. Fighting to keep control, Katelyn continued along behind the trees, focusing only on staying hidden and being as quiet as she could manage. Her lungs were bursting. Other voices grew louder, and there were many of them. She had worked her way around to the back of the house, where everyone was congregating.

  “Jesse James Fenner!” Lucy shouted. “You come here now!”

  “Don’t yell, don’t yell,” Jesse said.

  Abandoning his game, Jesse trotted away. And Katelyn exhaled, leaning against a tree trunk. Tears slid down her cheeks as her knees began to give way.

  A howl pierced the chatter and she jerked hard. A second howl answered it. A third, fourth, fifth. Human voices raised in a mournful, fierce chorus, like Jack Bronson and his Inner Wolf executives. Trembling, Katelyn covered her ears and ordered herself not to scream. She was more afraid than she’d been in the forest, when the wolf had attacked her. Were these the howls she had heard night after night—the cries of a werewolf pack?

  Then the howls abruptly stopped, almost as if someone had signaled for it.

  Katelyn gingerly moved a branch, then another, so that she could peer through the pine needles to see. There were probably twenty people—werewolves—seated on haphazardly arranged folding chairs. Some were formally dressed in suits and sophisticated black dresses. Others wore jeans.

  One of them is the one. Coldness settled in the pit of her stomach, a fury that couldn’t be denied. If it was a werewolf, she reminded herself, trying to regain some semblance of control. She looked, working to memorize the faces so she’d know them if she saw them again.