by Abby Tyson
"Let go," she said, jerking her head from his hand and turning her back to him. She wiped her face again, too embarrassed to bear his scrutiny.
"You're not supposed to be here," he said.
His anger was easier to tolerate than his kindness. "You don't have the right to make that decision for me," Savi snapped, whirling around on him. "You should have waited."
"We don't have time for this. Ren hung back while I left to scope out the barn. We have to go get him. Now's a good time for us to move in." He reached for her hand, but she yanked it away.
"I'm not leaving. I have to help Hettie, even if you won't."
And whether she wants it or not.
A bird in a nearby tree flew noisily from its resting place. Before she'd taken a breath, Marley was between her and the sound, his back pressed against her. His arms hung stiffly backwards toward her, extending his self-made shield. Savi was about to mock him, when she noticed her hand gripping his solid bicep through his thin camo shirt. His head turned just enough for her to see his profile, to see him noticing her hand on him at the same time.
All thought was shoved aside, her brain consumed with mapping all of the points where Marley's body touched hers. Her clothes chafed against her suddenly hyper-sensitive skin. Heat pulsed from under her hand, spreading up her arm and into her cheeks, cascading like a hot waterfall over her thumping heart and puddling low in her stomach.
Marley turned to face her. Even though he stayed close, Savi clutched her arms, shivering from the absence of his heat.
"You can't stay here," he said, his voice gruff.
Savi tried to call up the anger she'd drawn strength from before, but staring up into Marley's eyes, the only emotions bubbling up were those she'd rather hide. "Need I remind you that I saved myself -- and you, and your brother -- last night?"
Her words came out far too timid, so she tried again. She lowered her gaze but couldn't move past the soft dimple just above his lips. "Maybe you haven't noticed, but I'm not that weak little six-year-old kid you met on the playground anymore."
His bottom lip tucked into his mouth, his teeth scraping against it as it rolled back out. She would have missed it if she weren't watching his mouth so closely. Seeing it sent an entirely different kind of shiver running through her.
"I've noticed," he whispered.
It took a moment for Savi to realize words had come out of his mouth, as entranced as she was by its movements. But then she heard what he'd said, and the only meaning she could glean was an offensive one. The anger she'd been scouring for earlier sprung up of its own accord.
I'm glad I didn't meet him when I was skinny, she thought, then I wouldn't have known what a superficial jerk he is.
She hoped her glare was as visible to him as his infuriating smirk was to her. "Nice," she said. Before he could reply Marcia's voice rang through the clearing.
"Savannah!"
Startled, Savi stepped back and stumbled on some invisible debris on the forest floor. Marley caught her before she fell. As he steadied her, he grabbed her arm, whispering, "Run."
"No!" Savi whispered back, tugging her arm free.
"But --"
"I didn't get to tell you." Savi spoke fast, taking slow steps back toward the clearing. "I'm pretending to be an Alter to get the silver wolf."
His eyes widened with horror. "But we --"
"Savannah? Are you there?" Marcia called.
"Coming!" Savi shouted over her shoulder. Turning back to Marley, she said, "I met some people in the woods who will help get Hettie and Colby and the silver wolf."
"Wait, we have a plan too, and --"
"It's too late. Just watch for the open door. That's the signal." Without waiting for him to respond, Savi ran out of the woods.
"I'm right here," Savi called to Marcia as she ran.
"Where were you?" asked Marcia when Savi was close enough.
"Just walking in the woods a bit, thinking." Savi stopped running when she saw that Marcia was wearing her long white robe. "What did you need my help with?"
"Come on in," Marcia said, holding the door open and peering outside at where Savi had come from. The howls and barks from behind her were ear-splitting after the silence of the forest. "We're just about to start."
Savi walked in, but froze after a few steps when she saw two people standing on the rug beside the silver wolf's covered cage. Even in featureless white hospital gowns, Savi recognized them instantly.
"Tara?" Savi asked, not believing her eyes.
"What are you doing here?" Tara sobbed. She was being held by one-handed Gabe, while a pale-faced Eric stood beside her, his arms pinned behind him by the other Gabe. "Are you part of this freak show?"
"You know these two, Savannah?" asked Marcia as she walked over to Top and whispered something in his ear. He nodded and handed her the gun, then tapped Baxter on the shoulder. They both jogged out of the door Savi had just come through.
Still recovering from her sobfest in the clearing, plus her close encounter with Marley, Savi just stood there gaping at them, her mind not accepting this collision of the real world with werewolf world.
"We went to school together," she said finally.
"Perfect," said Marcia. She moved to stand beside the silver wolf's cage, keeping the gun aimed at Tara and Eric. "Come stand by me, Savannah."
"Let us go! Please!" Tara screamed. The wolves around them joined in with yips and howls.
"There's nothing to be scared of, babe," Eric said, now with a little more color. "This is all just some elaborate trick of hers."
"No, it's --"
Savi was cut off by Marcia. "Enough chit chat. We have a planet to save." She motioned for Savi to stand beside her.
"What do you want me to do?" asked Savi.
"Just be silent for now," she said. She closed her eyes, but then opened them again with a chuckle when she remembered she was holding the gun. "I guess I'll have to do it differently tonight."
Holding out her arms in supplication, but keeping her eyes on the two captives, she began her ritual. "Known to us by many names but loved by us as Earth Mother, thank you for the gift of life, and for all the creatures you feed."
When Marcia nodded at Eric, two-handed Gabe shoved him to the silver wolf's cage. Eric had reverted to his default chiseled smirk, looking from the gun, to the wolf, then to Savi.
"This is all bullshit," he laughed. "Sneaking up on us next to the lake, making us walk around in circles, werewolves -- there's probably been a camera on us the whole time. You must have had a lot of time on your hands this year, Hermie."
One of the many rumors that had circulated around the high school had been that Savi was a hermaphrodite. The rumor itself had disappeared pretty quickly, but Hermie, the nickname some genius came up with, had followed her for the rest of the school year. Hearing Eric say it now conjured up a slideshow of memories, starting with the party and ending with graduation, when someone had taped a "FUGLY" sign on the back of her graduation gown. Luckily it had been written in pencil and was illegible to her mother, who was seated far from the stage.
Tara and Eric were suddenly no longer two innocent victims. They were criminals -- cruel, diabolical liars who had humiliated her at every turn.
As Marcia removed the blanket from the silver wolf's cage, both Tara and Eric were visibly awestruck by its radiance, but that didn't last long. Gabe forced Eric to the ground, and his smug grin wavered. Marcia opened the small window in front of him and began untying the strap that held the silver wolf back.
He looked up at Savi, the hint of fear in his eyes filling her with a power she'd never known before. He would pay for what he did. They both would.
Someone tapped her arm. Marcia was holding the strap out to her. Savi looked at it, confused, then back to Marcia. Maintaining her solemn expression, Marcia nodded once. Savi took the strap, still unclear what was expected of her.
Marcia bowed her head to the silver wolf and began the second half of the chant.
"To you who give us everything, Earth Mother..."
Savi's mind was reeling, but everything around her was in slow motion. Was Marcia going to make her do it?
Am I going to change Eric Striker into a werewolf?
A moment ago she had been exhilarated by the thought of Eric and Tara having to endure the altering, convinced that the pain they'd experience was only a fraction of what they'd put her through. But now?
Marcia had stopped talking and was looking expectantly at Savi. Eric, his arm stretched across the cage, returned Savi's stare, challenge and superiority in his eyes. She'd seen that look the night he'd been on top of her, when Savi had realized her dream come true was turning into a nightmare.
She tugged up on the strap.
The silver wolf sniffed him. Eric laughed and started to speak when it lunged forward and clamped onto his arm. Eric cried out in pain. Savi couldn't tear her eyes away from the wolf's mouth on his arm.
"Stop!" Tara screamed.
"Get him off me!" Eric shouted.
"Go ahead, Savannah," Marcia said.
But Savi was paralyzed. Eric's cries escalated, and still she didn't move.
Marcia grabbed the strap out of Savi's hand and jerked it up. The wolf let go and Eric fell to the ground, screaming as his body spasmed.
"The first is always the hardest," Marcia whispered to Savi, putting the strap back in her trembling hands.
"Eric!" Tara screamed as Gabe threw him into a cage. She turned a hateful gaze on Savi. "What did you do to him?"
I can change them back tomorrow, Savi thought. Eric's screams mingled with the howls of the other wolves. I'll get them out just like Hettie and Colby, and the silver wolf will bite them too.
Tara protested and struggled against Gabe, but she was no match for him, even with just one hand, so she settled for glaring at Savi.
"I think this has gone far enough," Tara snapped. Although Savi was inclined to agree, she couldn't help but derive some pleasure from seeing Tara kneel helplessly beside the cage, mascara running down her cheeks.
If I'm putting on a show, I might as well make it a good one.
"It's for the greater good, Tara." She hoped she didn't sound too forced.
"Are you serious? Werewolves? You're even more of a freak than I thought." Tara sounded like her old self. That would make this a lot easier.
"Known to us by many names but loved by us as Earth Mother..."
"You're insane!" Tara shouted over Marcia's chanting. "What did you do to Eric? Why is he screaming like that?"
Gabe grabbed her arm and pushed it into the cage. She started sobbing anew.
Marcia continued, "To you who give us everything, Earth Mother, Moon Mother..."
"Why are you doing this?" Tara cried.
Just then, the door to Marcia's apartment burst open.
"Savi! No! Don't do it!"
George came hobbling into the room on crutches.
"You're not welcome here, Glenn," Marcia said, not looking at him. "You betrayed us."
Glenn. His name is Glenn.
"Out of my way," he said, trying to get around two-handed Gabe. "I don't know what she said to make you part of this madness, Savi, but I can't let you do this to yourself."
"It's okay," Savi said, trying to give him a knowing look without Marcia or Gabe seeing.
"It is not okay," he cried, still shoving at Gabe. "I lied to you. I haven't just watched the Alters, I was an Alter. I've been where you are. I've altered people. Now it's just a tug of the leash, but it wasn't always such a clean and easy task. People have died in agony because of my actions, and I won't let you live with that on your conscience."
"Your mind is poisoned," Marcia said, glancing at her son but keeping the gun aimed at a squirming and terrified Tara. "You spent too much time among non-believers." She turned to Savi. "Go ahead."
"No!" Glenn cried. "Savi, your father was a werewolf."
Savi was about to say, "I know," and most likely blow her cover, but Glenn's next statement froze her words in her throat.
"And I altered him."
Chapter Twenty-Four
"You?"
Savi caught the disgust in her voice too late. He winced, but didn't answer. "George?" she demanded.
He glanced at Marcia. "My real name is Glenn, and... Marcia is my mother." He sneered at the word. "She founded this chapter of the Alters with my father when I was ten, shortly after Dad was altered."
Finally ceasing his struggle against Gabe, Glenn said, "They filled my head with all the same nonsense that yours is filled with now, and I convinced..." He looked to the ceiling. "God forgive me, I convinced Monty to be altered. I told him he'd be a superhero, and that I'd do it in a heartbeat, but my mom wouldn't let me. He was too young, but we didn't know it."
Tears streamed silently down his face, and he gave a humorless laugh. "We actually thought he was what we'd been looking for, because he was our first painless shifter. But that didn't matter in the end."
Unable to show her true feelings without undermining her plan, Savi did her best to keep her face neutral.
"He forgave me, Savi," Glenn sobbed. "Even though I'd devastated his life, he forgave me, and I hope you will too. He made me promise to watch over you, and never to tell you what he was, but I will not stand by and let you commit the same atrocity that I did. Drop the leash, Savi. Just drop it and step away."
"Pull the strap," Marcia whispered, watching her intently.
Looking into Tara's tear-filled eyes, Savi thought, I can change them back tomorrow. I'm not killing them. I'll save them too.
She jerked on the strap.
"No!" Tara and Glenn screamed together. Glenn lunged forward, but Gabe blocked his way, slipping behind him and dragging him back toward Marcia's door.
"You're a murderer! You're a murderer!" he screamed. He was looking at Marcia, but a sharp pain pierced Savi's heart each time he said it.
A tap on her wrist reminded Savi of the task at hand, and she pulled back on the leash, harder than she needed to. The silver wolf let go of Tara's bloody arm and snarled once at Savi before sitting back down.
Tara screamed as one-handed Gabe dragged her into an empty cage. Savi felt sick.
What have I done?
Marcia took Savi by the shoulders, her eyes wet. Even though Savi loathed everything this woman stood for, she couldn't help but pity the mother who had fallen in love with her son under a ceiling fan.
"You did great, honey," she said, giving Savi a big hug. Then she turned to one-handed Gabe. "Can you check and see if Baxter and Top are back yet?"
Before he'd reached the door, it opened. Baxter yelled something at Gabe, who dashed out through the tack room door. Baxter ran toward them, sand flying behind him with each manic stride, shouting something. It wasn't until he was more than halfway across the ring that they could hear his words over the din.
"Fire! Two of the cabins are on fire!"
Marcia's eyes widened in fear, then narrowed in anger. "Glenn," she said.
Baxter paused long enough to say, "Top's grabbing the extinguishers from the lab, but we're gonna need buckets too." Then he began running toward Marcia's apartment.
Marcia motioned for Savi to follow her and chased after Baxter. "Which cabins?" she shouted at his back.
He held up one hand with all five fingers outstretched, then a second later added the thumb of his other hand before disappearing through Marcia's door.
"Nissa!" Marcia cried.
Savi's heart jumped in her throat. Marcia was about to follow Baxter through the door when she abruptly stopped and turned back to the ring. They were the only ones in it, other than the barking werewolves. In the apartment, Baxter was already running out of the door by the dinner table carrying a fire extinguisher, while another one sat on the floor by the hatch where Top was emerging. Savi caught the scent of smoke drifting into the apartment.
"Can you double check the new saviors?" Marcia asked her. "New policy, as of last night," she added
, giving Savi a quick but pointed look.
"Sure," Savi said. "I'll be right out."
Marcia nodded and closed the door behind her.
Even though she knew what to expect, Savi was still shocked to see a light brown wolf wearing a white hospital gown in the cage where a human Eric Striker had last been. Tara was actually still changing, which was almost more than Savi could handle. Her body was black wolf, but her face still retained most of her human features, including her eyes, which locked onto Savi as a savage cry of pain escaped her elongating lips. Savi threw the blanket back over her cage, and after holding her head for a moment to try and suppress the monstrosity she had just witnessed, headed for Marcia's door.
After a few strides Savi skidded to a stop. Now was her chance. She was alone in the ring. She ran a few steps toward the door that led outside, but stopped herself again.
Nissa was trapped in a burning building. Savi had only seen her once, and now that she thought about it, Nissa had helped Baxter try to convince Savi to come to this house of horrors. But she was just a kid. She couldn't help how crazy her family was.
But tonight was the only chance of getting the silver werewolf. The lives of Ebony, Warren, Hettie, Colby, and now Tara and Eric, rested on her shoulders. But could Savi live with herself if she ran off into the night and didn't at least try to help rescue Nissa?
I can do both, she realized. She started running back toward the side door.
To her surprise it opened before she got there. She stumbled in the sand as Marley ran in. Ren was right behind him, but remained by the door, holding it open just enough to keep watch.
"Marley?" Savi asked stupidly, watching him fly past her.
Running to the silver wolf, he dropped to his knees in front of the cage. The wolf stood, rocking its body from side to side but otherwise calm as it watched him unlock the door.
She ran up beside him as he fearlessly reached into the cage to unhook the strap from the top of the wolf's muzzle.
"Savi," Ren shouted from the door, waving her toward him, "come on."
Ignoring him, she said, "We have to go help them. Two of the cabins are on fire."