The Transformed Box Set: Books 1, 2, 3, 3.5

by Stacy Claflin

  "Are werewolves like vampires? Do you live forever?"

  He shook his head. "We tend to live longer than humans. We're very strong and intelligent, but we don't have immortality."

  "How long do you usually live?"

  "Typically to 115 or 120. Whenever you see the news feature someone who's made it to a birthday past a hundred, it's probably a werewolf."

  "You're so young. Why are you in leadership already?"

  "My family line has always been the head of a pack. I was raised by my father and my grandfather to be a leader since I started transforming when I was ten. I wouldn't normally have my own pack already, but with so many new werewolves appearing, there was no other choice. Those of us from the active lines are forced into leadership because the new ones from the dormant lines are clueless. They didn't think werewolves existed until they turned into one. Luckily we can smell each other out to get them help before they cause any damage. That's why we meet way out in the woods."

  "You don't have any control over yourselves when you're in wolf form?"

  "No, we literally turn into a wolf. We lose all sense of our humanity until we turn back into our human form."

  "But you can remember what you did as a wolf after you turn back?"

  He nodded his head. "Yes, that's how Inna knew that she was the one who had hurt your friend. She's a pacifist like me, not wanting to hurt anyone."

  "How did you know the cure?"

  "I was taught by my father and grandfather. All of our knowledge gets passed down from generation to generation. I assume it works the same way with your kind."

  "Yes. So how do werewolves sense a vampire? You saw me in the tree during that meeting at the party, but nobody sensed me last night, yet when I walked into your meeting a couple days ago everyone clearly wanted me to leave."

  "One way we can recognize you is the lack of heartbeat. Like you, we rely on our senses to stay aware of our surroundings and we easily pick up on someone not having a heartbeat."

  "That explains the classroom, and how I remained hidden last night, but how did you see me in the tree at the party?"

  "I almost didn't. That's why I was staring into the tree. Something didn't look right and I thought someone was in there."

  "That's interesting. Well, let's talk about it more later. I need to find out if Tanner has healed yet."

  "If you'd like, you can go visit him now. You still have most of the hour, so you'd be able to check on him and make it back in time for your next class."

  "Couldn't you get in trouble for letting me go off campus during school hours?"

  "I could, but I want to give you another reason to see that you can trust me."

  "Okay. Thanks." I grabbed my bag and headed out the door towards my locker. When I closed my locker, I nearly fell over. "Tanner! What are you doing here? You should be resting!"

  He grinned. "Your little cure worked. I'm as good as new."

  "The bite is completely gone?"

  "Like I said, good as new. Want to see?" He grinned.

  "I'll take your word for it. I'm so glad you're better! I was so worried about you."

  Tanner looked annoyed.

  "What's going on?"

  "Trouble headed our way, five o'clock."

  I looked to my right and saw Cliff walking our way. He was by my side in an instant and wrapped his arm around my shoulders.

  "You should have seen your girlfriend, she saved my life again," Tanner said smugly.

  "Really? Is she still my girlfriend?" Cliff looked at me.

  "I don't know what you heard," I said. "But, I had to save his life because he'd followed me into a dangerous situation and got himself hurt."

  "Someone had to make sure she was safe," he said, smiling. "I have to admit that I didn't think she was walking into a pack of werewolves on the full moon, though."

  "Werewolves? Nobody said anything about that." Cliff raised his eyebrows at me, looking deeply concerned. "What happened?"

  "Yeah, werewolves," Tanner said. "I need to be careful around this one. I keep getting myself killed or nearly killed when I'm around her," Tanner said.

  That felt like a stab to my heart. My face must have shown it.

  No, don't feel bad! I didn't mean for that to make you feel that way, Tanner thought.

  It was true though, you'd have been a lot better off if you'd have never met me.

  Not a chance! No way, don't think like that. You're the best thing that's happened to me!

  You were killed because of me, and now you were nearly killed again.

  "Am I missing something?" Cliff asked, his voice on edge. "It would appear that you're having a conversation, yet I can't hear a thing."

  "No, you're not missing anything," Tanner said. "I need to get to class. Thanks for saving my life, Alexis." He winked at me as he walked off.

  Cliff gave me a very serious look. "We need to talk."

  My stomach dropped to my knees. I felt like I'd been sent to the principal's office. I didn't want to show how I felt, so I stood tall. "Yes, Cliff. We do need to talk."

  "I don't want anyone overhearing us. Let's go talk in my car."

  I nodded. I hated that he was mad at me, but I couldn't blame him, based on what he'd probably heard. We walked in silence to his gorgeous imported car. He clicked the alarm off and I opened the passenger side door. I saw a bouquet of roses sitting on the seat.

  "What…?"

  He walked over, wrapped his arms around me, and looked at me with his kind, chocolate eyes. "I love you, Alexis. I don't know what happened last night, but I'm sorry that you didn't feel like you could tell me where you were going. I'm also sorry about the other night, when you came over and I reacted so harshly when I woke up. Then I took too long to get downstairs to meet you and you'd already left."

  "I, I don't know what to say."

  He brushed my face. "I hope you can forgive me. Let's sit down and talk, I think that we both have a lot to say."

  I nodded, breathless.

  He picked up the flowers so that I could sit down and then handed them to me before sitting in the driver's seat.

  "Do you want to start?" he asked.

  "I'd like to hear what you have to say first, if that's okay."

  He reached for my free hand and held it in both of his. I started to feel calm and relaxed. "Of course, my love. After you surprised me at home, my cell phone rang while I was getting dressed. It was my father and he was upset."

  "Oh. Is everything okay?"

  "My mother is very worried about keeping our line on the throne. I was explaining to him how close you and I have been growing and how eager you are to learn about royalty and taking on the throne. I think that I was able to set his mind at ease. That's why I was on the phone so long. I had to set his mind at ease."

  "Why's she so worried? I told her that you're my destiny. Yet she's planning war against my family."

  "She's high strung, my mother. She probably won't stop worrying until we're married. She's scared; she'll never express her fear for what it is. She's probably making sure she has her bases covered if what she wants doesn't happen."

  "Don't you think planning a war is bit extreme?" I demanded.

  "It's not like she's been very secretive about it. She told your parents that if you and I don't marry there will be war."

  "So now you're taking her side!"

  "No, I'm not." He put his hand on mine, calming me down. "I'm only pointing out the obvious. She's already made her intentions clear to your parents. Your parents can definitely handle themselves and they'll deal with her if and when they need to."

  "You didn't hear her talking to that kid at school. She's seriously planning!"

  "Like I said, I think she's covering her bases so that she feels like she has some control."

  "You don't think that her planning a war against me is a big deal?" I exclaimed.

  He looked into my eyes. "I know you don't know her, but that's just how she is. I truly don't believe she's g
oing to follow through."

  "Oh. My. Gosh."

  "You don't believe me?" he asked. "Trust me. If I thought you were in danger, I would be the first one to get in her face."

  "No, it's not that. Cliff, I think she's working with the werewolves."

  "What?" he exclaimed. "Why do you think that?"

  "The kid she was talking to is named Wes and one of the werewolves in the pack is named Wes."

  "It's got to be a coincidence. Why would she be working with werewolves? That doesn't make any sense!"

  "Tell me, how many kids do you know named Wes? It's not exactly a popular name."

  He furrowed his eyebrows. "I'll look into it. Do you trust me?"

  I sighed. "I'm sorry that I didn't try to hear your side the other night. I waited for a long time with the desserts in your kitchen, but I was tired because Clara had woken me early."

  "I know you were mad at me, that's why you were avoiding me after that. I don't blame you, especially after the way I reacted when I woke up. Please, please know that I would never intentionally treat you that way. You have my deepest apologies."

  I nearly melted when I looked into his eyes. "Of course I forgive you."

  "I need you to trust me enough to tell me what's going on. I wish you would've told me what you were doing last night. Speaking of which, would you mind sharing what happened last night? I trust that it wasn't as bad as it sounded. Your parents said…." His eyes were practically begging me to tell him I hadn't slept with Tanner. "Remember, no secrets."

  "No secrets. I guarantee you it isn't what it appears. I was actually mad at the both of you and I was avoiding you both. I didn't know there were werewolves in town, but I knew that something was up and I went to check it out on my own. Tanner followed me. Long story short, he was bitten and I had to get the cure. I couldn't take him to his house, so I took him to the house of some common vampires. They helped me take care of him until I could get what I needed."

  "How did you get the werewolf blood?"

  "I asked a werewolf for it and was given a couple vials."

  "A werewolf just handed over their blood to save the life of a vampire? There has to be more to it. You can't trust a werewolf. They must have tainted the blood with something."

  "They needed my help and it was a peace offering."

  "What could they possibly need your help with? Werewolves have no use for vampires, except to see us all dead."

  "How do you know that? Have you actually ever met one? They've been in hiding a lot longer than you've been alive, and you've spent most of your life in the castle. I'm sure they avoid the castle like the plague."

  He sighed. "You're right. I've never met one, but I know the stories. That's why I'm the one teaching you about our history."

  "Well, this pack would rather live in peace with vampires. They have a coven giving them trouble, and they want me to help get those vampires off their backs."

  "Clearly they're having issues with common vampires. Royalty never uses the word coven. Did you promise to help them?"

  "No. I told him I can't guarantee anything."

  "I assume that you let Tanner drink your blood since you didn't ask either myself or Clara to give him our royal blood."

  "I didn't think you would want to help him. Besides, I was right there and he needed it. He looked terrible, I couldn't let him suffer or die."

  "I know, I know. You still have feelings for him."

  "But, you also know that I choose you! He knows that, too."

  "I don't think that he fully respects that decision."

  I shrugged my shoulders. "All that matters is that I made my decision. I'm not going to change my mind, Cliff."

  "Did you really spend the night with him?"

  "I stayed in the same house. I needed to keep an eye on him and be there in case he needed more of my blood. Nothing inappropriate happened."

  "I want to get to the point where you actually trust me, Alexis. I wish more than anything that you had brought him to my house. I would rather have given him my blood than to have him drink yours. I wouldn't have liked giving him my blood, but it would have been a lot better than thinking about him drinking yours. I would have helped him because it mattered to you."

  I felt like a heel. "Oh…I didn't know. I'm sorry that I thought you wouldn't help."

  He gave me a weak smile. "I know it'll take time, Alexis."

  "I'm sorry, Cliff. You're right, I should've trusted you."

  FOURTEEN

  "This is so unlike you, Alexis! I can't believe you'd be so irresponsible. Are you rebelling for some reason?" My dad was a mess, going from angry to almost in tears to disappointment in a matter of seconds. "Or is this some kind of post-traumatic stress disorder? What is it? Tell me what's going on!"

  "I can't believe that Tanner would take advantage of you like that," my mom wailed. "How could this have happened?"

  "They must be very confused from their ordeal," my dad said. "That's the only explanation for this. You may have been able to talk us out of sending you to therapy before, but now you're definitely going. We'll even pay for Tanner to go, because I doubt that Karin can afford it."

  I took a deep breath. "I told you what happened. It isn't any kind of rebellion or stress disorder. Tanner was having some problems and we were at someone's house talking with them about it. We lost track of time and I forgot to call you. I called Clara for her advice and that's when I realized what time it was." That was as close to the truth as I could get without trying to explain vampires and werewolves to them. I was trying to avoid seeing a therapist, not trying to find myself locked up in a padded room.

  "If that's the case, then why didn't you call us?"

  "Clara was right here, so she told you. Or at least she should have told what happened. Whatever she said obviously gave you the completely wrong idea. We slept at someone's house; we didn't have…you know. I swear! I can't believe we're even having this conversation! I'm with Cliff and I'm staying with him—and we're not doing it either, for your information."

  "Alexis, you're not an adult yet. You need to tell us where you're going and what you're doing," my mom said.

  "Okay. I'm sorry. Can you give me another chance before you send me to a shrink?"

  My parents looked at each other.

  "Please?"

  "We'll think about," my dad said. "But you guys have to prove to us that you're done being irresponsible."

  "Sure, no problem."

  "You're still grounded," my mom said. "Don't think that you're getting out of that."

  "How long is that going to last?"

  "We'll decide later," my dad said. "You might be able to get off early on good behavior."

  I smiled. "Can I keep studying with Cliff?"

  "You two can study here in the living room or at the kitchen table only."

  "Okay. I can live with that."

  "That's good because you don't have any other options. At least not for now."

  "You're also not allowed to spend time with Tanner while you're grounded."

  "What? You can't control whether or not I spend time with him. I see him at school and what about when we get together with his family? They're practically our family now."

  "Then we won't get together with them for a little while. That's what's best for the two of you."

  I crossed my arms. "You can't stop me from seeing him at school. That's impossible."

  They looked at each other for a minute before my mom spoke up. "They probably can't get into too much trouble at school. There will be so many other people around."

  "I really think they need a break from each other. It will do them both some good."

  My mom nodded. "I know you've never needed to be grounded before, Alexis, and we do feel bad after everything that you've been through, but that this is what's best for you."

  "You don't have any idea what I've been through!"

  "Of course we don't," my dad said. "We can't even imagine the horrors that you've be
en through."

  "So you're still going to ground me for trying to help out the person that was abducted with me? The son of your new BFF?"

  My mom's mouth dropped open.

  My dad asked, "Well, what do you think would be a good punishment?"

  "Jack!" my mom exclaimed.

  "I'm not saying that we'll necessarily go along with it, but let's see what she has to say. She's always been so level-headed and has never given us any real trouble before this school year. She has a 17-year track record of being responsible. Let's give her a chance."

  My mom sighed. "Okay. What do you think would help you to go back to being responsible, Alexis?"

  "Just trust me. Know that I'm not going to do anything stupid. I have a level head and I can make responsible decisions, even if you don't necessarily understand them at the time. You don't know what it's like to be a…teenager these days. Give me a chance and I'll start letting you guys know where I'm at more often. If I don't, then ground me."

  "Alexis, we've already given you many chances like that. Last night was a show of just how irresponsible you are. It would have been so easy for you to stop and take three seconds to text us. But you didn't."

  Right, I could've stopped while I was being chased by werewolves to send them a text. I sighed.

  "It's something that you had a habit of doing even before you were abducted. Now it's getting even worse and we need to do something about it. I think that grounding you will show you how serious we are. We'll wait on the therapy, but I think we're going to stick with the grounding. Do you agree, Janet?"

  My mom nodded yes.

  "Why did you even ask my opinion, then?"

  "I thought that you might come up with an alternative punishment. At this point, simply trusting you isn't an option."

  "Am I still forbidden from seeing Tanner? Do I still have to study with Cliff within eyesight and earshot of you two, and not even outside?"

  "We'll talk with Karin and see what she thinks about Tanner. As far as Cliff is concerned, I don't even see why you two would want to study outside. It's so cold, and Christmas is almost here. They're saying it might even snow before then."