Torn

by Shelli Bowers

  “You know you don’t have a chance, she belongs to Devin.”

  “Doesn’t look like it to me. She’s done a good job of staying away from him so far.” Stephen said a little smug.

  “When he finds out, it’s all going to be over. You’re wasting your time.”

  “I don’t call it a waste of time. Alex is a very attractive girl, and if I can have a little fun with her before Devin gets to her……….well so be it. That is if he can get her away from me.”

  “You better shut up or I’m going to shut you up,” Mike threatened

  Stephen immediately went on the defense and a low growl vibrated out of him. “You dare threaten me? Who’s the alpha here Mike? You know better. I’m faster, stronger, and smarter. You might try showing some respect.” Stephen said backing Mike against the lockers. I don’t think Devin would appreciate you initiating a pack war all on your own. Would he? Now I’ve got things to do, so leave me alone.”

  Mike knew not to mess with Stephen. He was the alpha of the other pack and it would case major problems between the two packs. Stephen turned and walked away, as did Mike.

  I’ve got to get to Devin and tell him. Mike thought

  19

  STEPHEN

  I’ve got to get her out of here before Mike has a chance to tell Devin. That is if I want my date with her today, and I definitely do. Stephen thought. The final bell rang and I sprang up and bolted for the door. I have to find Alex before he does. I was waiting at her locker when she came up. I couldn’t help but smile at her. She’s so beautiful.

  “Hey” she said as she smiled back.

  “You ready to blow this joint?”

  “Yeah, let me throw my books in my locker then we can go.”

  I was scanning the faces in the hall for any sign of trouble. So far so good.

  “Hey Alex” Camille said. “Have you seen Mike? Oh hey Stephen. I’ve been looking everywhere for him. He was supposed to meet me outside of last period.”

  I know where he is, Stephen thought , he’s spilling the beans to Devin about Alex.

  “I haven’t seen him, have you?” Alex asked me

  “Not since lunch.” Technically it wasn’t a lie

  “I’ll find him,” Camille said, “Have fun!”

  I extended my arm for her to take. “Shall we?”

  “Lets!” she replied

  20

  DEVIN

  “Devin, I have to talk to you now!” Mike said. He was out of breath like he’d been running.

  “I’m not going to have this conversation with you again,” Devin answered.

  “Oh, but I think you’ll want to hear this.”

  “What?”

  “I know who she is.”

  “Who?”

  “Alex!”

  “Can’t be.”

  “It is. Shut up and let me explain.” Mike said

  She told us a very interesting story about her great grandfather today at lunch. She knows the legends of the Wolf. Her grandfather was a descendent of the Calusa tribe. He used to take her into the swamps and tell her the stories.”

  Devin just stared at him in deep thought. “Who’s we?” He finally asked Mike.

  “Oh, this is where you’re going to be pissed. Me and Camille and her date for tonight. You’ll never guess who!”

  “STEPHEN!” Devin growled. Luckily there were no students left in close vicinity.

  “Yeah!”

  “Dang it, why didn’t I listen to you? I was so sure that she couldn’t resist.” Devin explained

  “Well, like I said, things are changing.”

  “Where is she?” Devin asked

  “Don’t know. She has a date with Stephen but I didn’t hear where they were going. I can ask Camille if you want me to.”

  “I can’t show up on her date.” Devin said

  “No you can’t but Chad and Collin could”, Mike answered with a sly smile on his face.

  “They could spy for me. Go find out where they are going.”

  “I’m on it.”

  21

  STEPHEN

  “Hey beautiful,” Mike said as he approached Camille.

  “Where were you?” Camille asked with a pout on her face.

  “I’m sorry I made you wait, Devin stopped me before I could get to you.”

  “You have to make it up to me.” A sly grin played on her face as she said it.

  “What do you have in mind?” Mike asked moving closer to her.

  “You could start by giving me a kiss.” Camille said

  “Mike bent down and lightly pressed his lips to hers.

  “That better?” Mike asked

  “A little,” Camille smiled back at him.

  “You hungry?” Mike asked

  “Yeah, starved”

  “Do you want to go get something?”

  “I’d love to.”

  “Do you want to see if we can catch up with Alex and Stephen?” Mike asked

  “No, I wouldn’t. I’d rather have you all to myself. Besides they’re going to that crappy pizza place out on 29 and I don’t like it.”

  “Oh, ok” mike said. “Where do you want to go?”

  “Let’s go down to the food court at the mall.” Camille answered. “That way we have variety.”

  “Sounds great.” I said taking Camille by the hand.

  Mike glanced at Devin, who was hiding around the corner, to see if he heard the conversation. Devin gave Mike a nod to let him know he got it. They wolves have enhanced hearing, so Devin could have heard the conversation from the other side of the school if he concentrated on it.

  22

  DEVIN

  “Chad, Collin!” Devin shouted out.

  “Hey man, what’s up?” Collin asked

  “Where’s Brian?” Devin asked

  “He has some kind of science club meeting today.”

  “Oh, I need a favor.” Devin said

  “Name it,” Chad said

  “I need you to go spy on Alex and Stephen for me.”

  “Why?” Collin asked

  “I’ll explain later,” Devin said, “Will you do it?”

  “Yeah, where are they?” Chad asked

  “Some pizza place on 29. I know you can find it. Just look for Stephens car. And listen, don’t start any trouble. Just watch and listen. You understand?”

  “Yeah, we get it. NO FUN!” Collin said

  “Don’t even talk to them, okay.” Devin said

  “Alright. We’re on it.”

  “Call me when they leave.” Devin said

  23

  ALEX

  “Do you want to ride with me?” Stephen asked

  “Yeah, that would be nice. Can you take me home afterwards?”

  “Sure, no problem but what are you going to do with your car?”

  “I’ll text my brother and let him know it’s here and that he can take it home after football practice.”

  “Oh, I didn’t know you had a brother. What’s his name?”

  “Scott, he’s a junior.” I said

  “I guess that’s why I don’t know him.”

  I sent Scott a text to let him know that the car was here and that the key was under the floor mat. I was glad that he was in practice already, because he would be giving me the third degree about where I was going and who I was with.

  After I thought about it I sent him another text to let him know. Otherwise the whole football team will be looking for me.

  It was a short drive to the pizza place. On the way over, Stephen gave me the 411 on his family. Mom stays at home, dad is a CEO at a bank. Two younger brothers. All grandparents are still alive.

  Joey’s is a small place, nice and cozy. There was an empty booth in the back corner so took it. We ordered our pizza and soda’s and was waiting on it to arrive when Chad and Collin walked in.

  “What are they doing here?” Stephen growled

  “Who?” I asked as I turned to see. Collin and Chad gave a small nod of acknowle
dgement and took a seat on the other side of the restaurant. I couldn’t help but look and see if Devin was with them, but he was no where in sight. I guess it’s better that’s he’s not here if I’m on a date with Stephen. I turned my attention back to Stephen.

  “You all don’t get along to well, do you?” I asked him

  “Not really.”

  “What’s the problem?”

  “You know where we all live?”

  “Yeah, out by the Indian reservation.” Stephen nodded in acknowledgement.

  “It basically boils down to politics.”

  “Huh?”

  “Well you know most of the residents out there have been part of the tribe.” I nodded

  “There were some disagreements over town policies and such. Some of the members decided to separate from the main group. That was about 100 years ago. The disagreement was between my grandfather and Devin’s grandfather. So I guess it’s just a grudge that’s been passed down the line.” Stephen shrugged his shoulders

  “Doesn’t seem like you guys should still be holding a grudge about something that happened that long ago.” I said.

  “Yeah, well our dad’s don’t get along with each other either so it makes it a little hard to be best buds with Devin. Especially since I can’t stand him either.”

  “Yeah, I guess it would. I don’t really have a problem with any of them.” I said just for the record.

  “Why would you? You just met them.” Stephen replied

  “It sort of puts me in the middle. You know my best friend is dating Mike.”

  “Yeah I guess it does put you in the middle. I promise to behave myself and not drag you into our feud.” Stephen promised this knowing that she was smack dab in the middle of it. Everything was revolving around her right now.

  We talked and ate and had a very nice time. Stephen is rather charming and I could see myself dating him. It’s just that little voice in my head that keeps asking “what about Devin”. And I keep telling myself that Devin doesn’t know I’m on the planet. Stephen took me home and asked for my number so he could call later, and I gave it to him. I knew I would have a million questions to answer tonight. First there would be Camille who I already knew had called 3 times. Then Scott. Then of course mom and dad would want to know about this guy. This dating thing was all new to me but I liked it. I would have to get used to all the questions.

  24

  DEVIN

  “They left the restaurant, we followed them. Stephen took her home. No kissing involved.” Collin explained to Devin.

  “Ok, thanks guys. I’ll talk to you later.” I felt relieved as I hung up the phone, though I didn’t know why. I still didn’t think she was the one, but I couldn’t take any chances on it. Mike is right, things have been changing and I shouldn’t have been so arrogant to think that she would come and fall at my feet. I really have to talk to dad about all this. Maybe he can help me understand what’s going on. Sometimes the elders will call a spirit circle to seek answers. It’s not done that much anymore, but I think this is a special circumstance. The decedents are getting more scarce all the time. I can’t help but wonder what the fate of our tribe will be. Will we go back to being normal humans? Will the wolf gene last for a couple of generations after that? After all, there are still decedents alive in the tribe, my mom for one, and my grandmother. They were all the chosen mates. All good questions, with no answers.

  Dad won’t be home for a couple hours yet. Maybe I should go by her house and check on her. No, no I can’t do that. But I could go by and just have a peek, see what she doing. Maybe I can learn something about her. Yeah, that’s what I’m going to do. I call Chad back and find out where she lives. I change over to wolf form and set out through the woods. I can get there a lot faster this way, plus it’s less conspicuous than a teenage boy standing in woods outside your house. I have to cross a couple of roads, but I do it without being seen. I finally slip into the woods that I know borders the neighborhood that she lives in. The problem is now is I have a street address and a house color, but I’m in the back of the houses. I stare up and down trying to decide how to find her. I could use my enhanced hearing to try and pick her out. The problem with that is that I’ve never paid her enough attention to even know her if I hear her. But I have to see if I can find her. I ease through the woods along the back yards listening. A lot of the houses are empty. People not home from work yet. Then there’s an elderly couple. As I ease on past that house, I see her coming out the back to sit by the pool. She’s on the phone. This is good maybe she will be talking to her friend, Camille. She’ll spill her secrets to her. She’ll tell her all about her date with Stephen. I almost feel guilty about spying on her but I have to. I slide in close enough to hear her and still be out of sight.

  “Hey Camille it’s me,” Alex said

  “Yeah, I just got in”

  This is great, she’s going to telling her about her date with Stephen. Devin thought. At least this way I can find out if she really likes him. If she really likes him, then she can’t be my mate.

  “No, I didn’t kiss him” she giggled

  “ I know he’s cute”

  I couldn’t hear what Camille was saying to her, but I could get the jest of the conversation. I looked at her, really looked at her. She is beautiful. I never noticed before. Of course she does look different today. I remember the boys talking about that at lunch today. Did she do that for Stephen? I wondered. It’s not the clothes or the make up though. She has a natural beauty. You can see the kindness radiating off her. Her spirit was bright, happy, and full of love. I can’t believe I never looked at her before.

  “No, it’s Devin” she said, and that snapped me out of my trance. I’ve missed part of the conversation, while I was off in la la land.

  “I kept thinking about him”

  This is good, I thought

  “No, the dreams are only getting worse” Alex said

  Could it be the dream about me? I thought

  “He doesn’t know I exist, much less anything else” she said

  Well, I’m going to have to change that. I thought

  “Yeah, I told him that I would go out with him tomorrow night to the movies”

  A shutter rolled over my body at this news. The bush I was hiding behind was shaking. I needed to calm down before I attracted her attention.

  “Hey Camille, let me call you back” Alex said as she was looking into the woods.

  She got up and headed in my direction. If I take off now she will see me for sure, but maybe I can be real still and hide. She moved closer. I could smell her sweet scent. I was lost in it when I met her eyes. That’s when I felt it. I didn’t know what it was, but it was marvelous. I tingled all over my body and it felt like I was floating away. This has to be her. Dad tried to explain it, but he was no where close to how I felt now. I started to move to her, but realized I was in wolf form. I searched her eyes for any fear. What I found was more like fascination. She just stood there staring at me. I knew I had to get out of there. I didn’t want to make any sudden moves that would startle her, so I eased down on my belly and started making my way back through the bushes. Just as I was about to disappear, I heard her cry out.

  “Wait! Don’t go.” She said, but I slipped out of sight and ran for home. It was the most exhilarating run I have ever had. There was the freedom that always comes with it, but this time there was more. I can’t wait till I get home and talk to dad.

  When I got home I told everything to dad. He was very happy for me. I told him about Stephen too. He didn’t like that part. He said if there was only one descendent of age right now, it could become a competition between me and Stephen, He had never heard of it before, but there hasn’t always been two packs. He said it’s obvious that she is meant for me, but because of the changes over time that Stephen could possibly steal her away from me. I asked him if Stephen kisses her if they would be in thrall. He didn’t know the answer to that either. He told me he would consult the el
ders and then maybe talk to the other pack. In the mean time I’m suppose to be wooing her my way. Dad didn’t know what would happen if there was only one girl. He didn’t know if the power would spread to both packs or if one would loose that power. So tomorrow I would have to put the charm on her. Funny thing was that I didn’t know how. I never dated before. The Alpha always waited on his mate. I’d have to call Mike and find out how this all works.

  25

  ALEX

  Scott got home first, and he wasn’t happy with me at all.

  “Do you know how worried I’ve been about you? Scott said as he paced the kitchen. “This has been the worst day. Do you know how many boys I had to threaten today?”

  I just sat there and let him blow off steam. I knew that was the best way.

  “Why do you have to pick now to go all girly on me. Geez couldn’t you wait till you got to college. I don’t know if I can survive all this.” He grumbled. “He better not have touched you.” Scott asked more than said.

  “No, he didn’t touch me,” I snapped. “What’s it any of your business anyway? I have to listen to girls talk about you all the time. So just get over it.”

  “They might talk about me, but I guarantee they don’t talk like boys do.” Scott said.

  “You’re probably right,” I sighed. “But you’re going to have to deal with it.”

  “I’ll try” he said, “But if anybody gives you any trouble let me know and I will deal with them.”

  “I can handle myself.” I said. “I haven’t been taking all those kickboxing classes for nothing.” I told him.