by Anita Oh
The Time Loop
Werewolf High #6
Anita Oh
Contents
Copyright
Werewolf High series
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
ALSO BY ANITA OH
Acknowledgments
About the Author
Werewolf High #6: The Time Loop
© Anita Oh 2017
All rights reserved.
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, events and incidents are products of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to persons living or dead, places or events, is purely coincidental.
This book, in whole or in part, may not be reproduced in any form, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, recording or otherwise, without written permission from the author.
To my sisters
Werewolf High series
Book 1: The Truth Spell
A dastardly spell. Mysterious billionaires. An ordinary girl thrust into an extraordinary world.
Lucy O’Connor is more IT girl than “it girl” but even though she’ll never fit in, the scholarship to elite Amaris High is an opportunity she can’t refuse.
The day Lucy arrives at Amaris, she sees her best friend, Sam Spencer. But Sam had died three years ago, on the night that had changed Lucy’s life forever. The more Lucy looks for answers, the worse things get for her, as she makes an enemy of the richest, most popular boy in school, Tennyson Wilde.
When the entire school is hit by a truth spell, it seems like the perfect chance to find out what Sam and Tennyson are hiding, but the closer Lucy gets, the more she realizes that the truth is stranger than she ever imagined.
A Very Werey Christmas: A Werewolf High Short
When Lucy is kidnapped by a creepy old man in a red suit and transformed into a reindeer, it will take a Christmas miracle to sort things out.
Book 2: The Tiny Curse
A powerful enemy. An estranged love. And only one tiny girl to make things right.
Life isn’t going so well for Lucy at elite boarding school, Amaris High. Classes are a struggle. She has no leads on the evil magic user. Sam’s avoiding her, and the entire student population hates her.
But someone hates her more than the rest. Rumors start spreading that lead to Lucy being bullied worse than ever before. Just when she thinks she couldn’t feel smaller, she’s hit with a spell that shrinks her down to only two inches tall.
Forced to rely on Sam, Tennyson and the other Golden to survive, Lucy is determined to get to the bottom of things once and for all. But the more she learns, she finds that being tiny might not be her biggest problem.
Book 3: The Body Swap
A shocking betrayal. An impossible deadline. Everything is about to change.
Lucy's world is turned upside down when she learns that her enemy is the one person she never suspected.
Although she has Sam and the Golden on her side, she no longer knows who to trust. Then, when she's hit with one final spell, she has no choice but to put her faith in the person the she despises the most.
Stuck in Tennyson Wilde's body, Lucy and Tennyson must work together to break the curse or risk becoming each other for real. But in order to fix things, Lucy will face the greatest betrayal of all.
Book 4: The Soul Bond
A new threat. An unexpected ally. And a spark of unwanted power.
Sophomore year isn’t shaping up to be the cake walk that Lucy had hoped. Everyone still hates her. She can’t forgive Sam for his secrets. Her father is back and she can’t forgive him either. There’s been no sign of Hannah, and Lucy can’t help but resent her new roommate because of it.
And Tennyson Wilde is everywhere. In the dining room. In her dorm. In class. Even inside her head. She thinks it’s just a residual effect of being in his body, the fact that she can hear his thoughts, feel his feelings. But the more it happens, the worse it becomes and it seems to be awakening something inside her.
Lucy never wanted powers. She never wanted to be anything but a normal girl, but the longer she stays at Amaris, the more impossible that seems.
Book 5: The Love Potion
A lurking danger. Untamed powers. And a tangled mess of feelings.
Being a werewolf is hard work. Lucy just wants to frolic in the forest chasing butterflies, but real life won’t give her a break. Classes are a drag, classmates even worse. Her dad is trying to kill Tennyson again and being part of a pack has its own problems.
Sam is complicated, Tennyson is a jerk, and her new alpha has no time for her. When a threat on Tennyson’s life goes wildly wrong, Lucy ends up the victim of a love potion, and that’s when things get really messy.
Book 6: The Time Loop
An unbreakable bond. A magical trap. One bad day that never ends.
Lucy is having a bad day. Things are awkward with Sam. She's failing history. One of her roommates is missing and the other is crazy. Her evil dad is at it again, and this time, he's not playing around.
Lucy has a choice: leave the pack or stay trapped in this day forever. What do you do when the only way to save the people you love is to abandon them? Will Lucy fight to stay in the pack or fight to save them?
Chapter 1
It was a special day, a momentous day, and I’d still managed to sleep through my alarm. I could not miss this day. I rushed to get to the meeting place on time, my hair still damp from the shower and my school shirt buttoned up all crooked. Even though it was spring, the morning air was crisp enough to freeze away the last tendrils of sleepiness, and I hurried even faster. I couldn’t miss this. I couldn’t believe I was late.
I was so late that the school grounds were already full of people making their way to and from breakfast, talking and laughing. It was too much bother to dodge around them on the path, so I cut through the gardens to avoid the crowds. Hopefully, he’d still be there. I really could not mess this up.
As I burst through the doors, I saw him and expelled a long sigh of relief. Sam was sitting on the floor of the greenhouse, surrounded by plants and warmth. An elaborate breakfast picnic was spread out before him.
“I am so, so sorry,” I said, rushing toward him.
He smiled up at me. “That’s okay,” he said. “I know you’ve been busy studying for your history test.”
It really wasn’t okay, though. He’d gone to so much effort. All of my favorite foods were there: mini quiches and tiny cakes and fresh strawberries. He must’ve woken up in the middle of the night to get it all prepared, and I’d barely woken up at all.
“Wow,” I said, sitting down opposite him. “This looks amazing!”
“Well, it’s a special day,” he said, handing me a plate. A real plate, not a paper one.
I smiled at him, hoping it looked genuine. “Three months!” I said.
Sam and I had been together for three months, only that kind of felt like a lie. We hadn’t progressed past the awkward kissing stage, and the more awkward those kisses got, the less often we tried. Everything I’d read said that when two werewolves hooked up, they typically liked to touch a lot so they would start to share a scent. I was fairly sure my scent was still all Lucy.
We’d settled into a pretty comfortable routine of hanging out and pretending it wasn’t weird that we weren’t more physical
with each other. He didn’t push for us to move things any faster, and I wasn’t sure whether he was being considerate or if he felt weird about it too, and no way would I ask. Not talking about that kind of thing really worked for us.
He’d been making a big deal for weeks about our three-month anniversary, and I knew it was because he was trying to make things work. There wasn’t any alternative. We couldn’t break up now; it would be super weird and anti-climactic after all the build-up. Plus, we loved each other. Even though I didn’t want to get all up in his business, I had no doubt that I loved him. I loved him so much, and it was fun to hang out together all the time. I couldn’t lose him, not after everything we’d been through.
And, anyway, it was probably just something weird with me. I mean, most people want to get it on with the person they love, right? Sam was really good-looking, too, with his warm brown eyes and easy smile. Most people would go there even without the love. So, if there was something wrong with me, I figured the best thing to do was ignore it and pretend everything was okay. I’d kiss Sam, and when the time came, we’d go further and I’d pretend it was what I wanted, because the alternative was too horrible to think about.
“I got you something,” he said.
As he reached into the picnic basket and pulled out a brightly wrapped present, guilt flooded through me. It hadn’t even occurred to me to buy him something. Were presents even a thing for quarter-year anniversaries? Someone should make a list for that sort of thing so I could be prepared and check things off. Though it would probably read more like a list of reasons why I failed as a girlfriend.
“Um,” I said, taking the present from him. It was small, and that meant it was probably expensive and not some sort of cheap novelty gift.
“I know we didn’t talk about presents, so I didn’t expect you to get me anything,” he said, reading the hesitation on my face. “And don’t think that I went out and spent a lot of money on it. Well, you’ll understand when you open it.”
I nodded and started to open it. My fingers fumbled with it, and I couldn’t quite unpick the tape. I didn’t want to rip the paper, it was so carefully wrapped, but the tape was stuck so fast to it that when I tried to pull it away, the paper tore. I bit my lip and glanced up at Sam, but he hardly seemed to notice that I was having trouble. Finally, I got one end of it open and slid out the package. It was a small black box. My stomach churned. There was definitely some sort of jewelry item inside that box, and jewelry meant a level of emotional commitment that I was unprepared for. Some part of me wanted to drop that box and run, but there was no way I could do that to Sam. He was watching me so eagerly that I forced a smile onto my face.
I opened the lid of the box and stared down at the heart-shaped pendant inside. I knew that the locket hadn’t cost much, but at the same time, it was worth everything.
“Oh, Sam,” I said. “You shouldn’t have.”
I’d grown up seeing that red plastic heart around Sam’s mother’s neck. When I was younger, I’d thought it was the prettiest thing I’d ever seen. She used to turn it over in her fingers and watch Sam’s dad across the dining table, her eyes filled with love. I’d thought they were the perfect parents, the perfect family, and the heart pendant seemed to me to be the symbol of an ideal love.
“There were some boxes of things from the house,” Sam explained. “I’d never been able to bring myself to go through them before, but I did last summer. When I saw that, I thought of you, and I wanted to give it to you right away, but it seemed weird to before we were… you know.” He shrugged, blushing.
Tears filled my eyes, and I blinked them away. Sam was so good, so honest. How had he remembered that I’d loved that necklace? How had he even known? I didn’t remember ever telling him.
I reached across and took his hand. “I’m sorry that I’m the worst girlfriend ever,” I said.
“You’re not the worst,” said Sam. “You’re the only girl I’d ever give my plastic heart to.”
I avoided looking at him as I tied the necklace around my neck. The pack bond made things more complicated. I didn’t want him to sense my feelings and assume I didn’t like the gift or didn’t appreciate it. I just didn’t deserve it. I’d gotten super good at controlling the pack bond over the past few months of being with Sam. In fact, I’d gotten much better at werewolfing all around, because I’d been hanging out with Sam so much, and he had to spend so much time on his control. It made life so much easier not to start growing claws every time I got annoyed, and it’d taken less than a week of Nikolai interrupting us at inopportune moments to learn not to let my feelings reach other pack members. It was easy enough, once I got the hang of it, to just disassociate my personal feelings from the link I had with the pack, and it was extra handy at times like this, when something was too complicated to convey without being misinterpreted.
“I’ll take good care of it,” I told him, closing my fingers around it.
He nodded and then started loading my plate up with mini quiches. We never talked about Sam’s mother, not since we’d discovered that she’d been in cahoots with my evil dad. Sam didn’t seem to want to find out, so even though I was curious, I’d never looked into it. Maybe I should’ve. I suspected I had more in common with her than just this plastic heart, but I didn’t want to hurt Sam, and sometimes it’s better not to know the truth.
"So, everyone seems excited about the dance tonight," he said.
I bit into a mini quiche. "By everyone, do you mean Nikolai or Althea?"
Both Nikolai and Althea had been insane about the dance. I'd assumed that all of the Golden would be too cool for that kind of thing, but I was dead wrong. Nikolai was even on the planning committee, but Althea seemed to have decided it was the perfect chance to make me over. I probably would've given the whole thing a miss, but she'd organized a dress and kept talking about makeup techniques and had bullied Sam into asking me, so it had been easier just to go along with it. And I'd never been to a dance before, so I was kind of curious.
"At least tomorrow, everything will go back to normal," Sam said, pouring me a glass of lemonade. "But it should be fun."
I nodded and ate some more quiches. It was a really awesome picnic. The cakes were also delicious. I’d thought Sam had brought along excessive amounts of food, but before long, we had completely demolished it. I lay back, propped up on my elbows and rubbing my full belly. If I didn’t have that history test first up, I’d have seriously thought about going back to bed for a morning nap.
Where are you?
I’d almost started to nod off when Tennyson’s voice in my head jolted me out of it.
You’re going to be late, he said before I could respond.
I checked the time. Eight-thirty. No, I’m not, I told him. Class doesn’t start for another half-hour.
“Tennyson?” asked Sam. “You’ve got that vagued-out look.”
I nodded. Sam never reacted to my bond with Tennyson, never gave his opinion on it, so I had no idea if he thought it was weird that his girlfriend constantly had another boy in her head.
Morning assembly is about to start.
Since when do you go to morning assembly?
Not even I went most of the time, and I didn’t get the special treatment he did. It was always Assistant Head Noel waffling on about something just to hear himself speak. Any important announcements were emailed out, anyway.
Most of the time, Tennyson and I kept a wall up in our soul bond so that our messages could get through but everything else was blocked. No feelings or sensory impressions or anything else. It was more difficult to maintain than holding back with the pack bond, and completely different. Tennyson and I seemed to bleed into each other sometimes, and we had to maintain a hard line between us so we didn’t become lost. Whenever Tennyson was annoyed or frustrated, though, he wasn’t so vigilant about it. He was frustrated now and wasn’t holding back on letting me know.
It’s an emergency assembly, he said. Didn’t you get the messages they s
ent out about it? Everyone is supposed to be here.
I sighed and finished off the strawberries. “We have to go,” I told Sam. “There’s some special assembly or something.”
We packed up the picnic, but before we left, I caught Sam by the arm. I stood on my tiptoes and kissed him on the cheek.
“Thank you,” I said, toying with the necklace. “This was all super thoughtful.”
He smiled at me and knocked me in the shoulder, then turned to leave.
As I watched him walk through the doorway ahead of me, I resolved to be the kind of girlfriend he deserved.
Chapter 2
Although the greenhouse was set back almost into the forest, it wasn’t far from the main building. We should be able to make it in time. I wasn’t sure what was so urgent about the assembly, but Tennyson wouldn’t be this insistent if it wasn’t something important. I walked so fast that even Sam struggled to keep up with me with his long legs. We were almost to the steps that led up to the main courtyard when I saw someone waiting by the marble fountain. I grabbed Sam’s arm and pulled him behind a bush.
“It’s Katie,” I whispered to him.
I’d managed to avoid my roommate for months. I left before she woke up, studied in the library after classes, then hung out with Sam after dinner and didn’t go back to our room until I was sure she was asleep. She swore she’d had nothing to do with my evil dad’s attack on Tennyson and that she was on my side, but it was safer not to believe her. It wasn’t easy to sleep in the same room as someone I didn’t trust, but after the first time she’d sprung a booby trap by crossing into my side of the room when she was going to the bathroom in the night, I didn’t think she’d try anything. Those poison darts I’d bought from Nikolai wouldn’t have killed her, but they’d sure made her sick for a few days.