I pushed myself up from the floor, weirdly reminded of the clinic gone awry, only to find Lacey crouched over me this time. It was dark, except for a pale light filtering through our window. That illuminated Lacey’s worried expression as she said, probably for the third or fourth time, “B, are you okay?”
I croaked out a “yes,” then, after a minute, “Jeez, Cee. Did you have to remember at me that loud?”
She let out a long breath, sitting back on her heels. The hospital gown fluttered out around her. Somehow it reminded me of Ilsa’s long white dresses, and I shivered, but the resemblance ended when Lacey got up and offered a hand to pull me to my feet. I went along, feeling like I was missing something really important.
It hit me when she turned me toward the window.
“Wait a minute,” I said hoarsely. “I’m… We’re…”
Lacey pointed at the view with one hand, holding me up with the other. We were both in need of the support, but between the two of us we managed just fine. “I know,” she whispered. “Would you look at that?”
I went on staring, dumbstruck. Lacey, wearing a slow-blooming smile, did the same. And we were standing together like that when my brother and doctor burst into the room.
I guess Lacey had hit the call button for help, because they both looked like they’d armed themselves for bear—or, well, werewolf. Dr. FitzP was carrying a whole mess of medical equipment, most of which he dropped the instant he saw us. Grey just came to a stop and gaped. “B, what’s—”
I gave him a wave and a weary little smile. He stumbled forward, studying us in abject shock: his werewolf sister and his almost-werewolf girlfriend, backlit by the full moon.
I imagine we made one hell of a picture.
“How?” Grey kept asking, as he took me by the arms. Lacey actually giggled. “I knew Lacey might come through, but you… How?”
Lacey smiled. Smirked, really. I barely resisted the urge to elbow her. Instead, I said, “There’s something I still need to try.”
“What?”
I tugged my shirt off and held it out to my brother. “Hold this for me?”
Still looking bemused, he did.
Taking off my clothes didn’t make me pause anymore, even in front of that audience. Neither did reaching for my other form. I’d done it enough times on purpose that it didn’t feel like I was out of control anymore. I just focused on my wolf shape—and remembered, thanks to Lacey, exactly what I should look like. I can do this, I thought.
And I did.
Even though I’d braced myself for the usual pain, I fell into form so fast that it was only a momentary twinge.
I was so startled that I just stood there, crouched on all fours and blinking uselessly, probably giving the canine version of looking like I’d been smacked upside the head with a board. Through my altered senses, the world became real again: Grey and Dr. FitzP above me, Cee with one hand covering her mouth, and the pile of my clothes that, of course, Grey had dropped. The smells and sounds of everything around me magnified a thousandfold. I crept forward, feeling like I was moving through a dream. This could not be possible. It was so easy. How was it all so easy?
I nudged my brother’s dangling hand, then huffed out what would have been an amazed laugh, if I hadn’t been in wolf form. Then, with nothing more than a thought and a careful stretch upward, I was human again. The transformation still ached, still felt disconcerting and strange, but the pain soon faded. The moon didn’t fight me at all.
“Hey there,” I said again, my voice sliding into a giggle. Mostly it was about Grey’s expression. He was the one looking like he’d been smacked by a board this time. Then he flung his arms around me and swung me around until I was so dizzy I told him, “Put me down or I’ll puke all over your shoes.”
I think I was actually laughing when I said it.
Dr. FitzP, exhausted but elated, fell into a chair and shut his eyes, like an enormous burden had finally fallen away. Grey, meanwhile, guided me to a stop, so overcome he was crying, and pulled a blanket tight around my shoulders. Then he turned to Lacey. “And you? Are you—”
“Couldn’t do that if I tried,” she said, her hands up, before she sank into a chair, too. “Still me over here.”
“Thank God,” he breathed. I knew how he felt. Lacey looked as wiped out as Dr. FitzP did, but she was entirely intact. And so was I, against all odds. This was real.
Grey clasped my hands, searching for any hint of the wolf still in me. I tilted my head, in what I was sure was an awfully canine expression, but I grinned as widely as my tired muscles would allow. For once, I didn’t even care if the smile was too big. “It’s really me,” I told him.
“But how?”
“I guess…I got a perspective check,” I said, with a crooked smile at Lacey. “It helped me understand something the Elder said. Something about choosing our true forms…”
I turned, staring up defiantly at the moon—me as a girl, me as myself, with a smile of pure, wolfish satisfaction on my face.
“And I choose both,” I said.
*
Lacey was discharged the next morning, but not without additional fanfare. Cee’s father greeted her with hugs, tears and a pile of birthday presents that he couldn’t wait until she got home to show her. Cee grinned sheepishly at me from across the room, sitting in a pile of wrapping paper and bows. I left her to it.
I still couldn’t quite believe she’d forgiven me for this whole mess, but I guess that’s just Cee for you.
In the meantime, Dr. Fitzpatrick helped me walk out to Grey’s truck, although I needed the assistance a whole lot less than I used to.
“It would be good if we could keep in touch,” he said. “I’ll be following up with Lacey, too. I want to be sure I understand the effects of all this so I can refine it. Maybe I could still help out a few of your friends.”
“Once you get your clinic in order, at any rate,” Grey said dryly. He was juggling his keys from one hand to the other, and looking with skepticism at the truck bed. Cee’s difficult ride to the hospital had left a few stubborn stains. “Sorry about that.”
“Never mind. Sometimes medical advancements incur a little expense.”
“Just you wait,” I told Grey. “Our insurance premiums are going to go through the roof.”
“What insurance?” he said, rolling his eyes skyward. Then he turned to Dr. FitzP. “I should have said this before, but…thank you. For what you did all along to keep B safe, even if I was being an idiot about it. And for what you did for Lacey.”
Dr. FitzP brushed that off. “Well. Where that last formula is concerned…I really can’t take all the credit.”
“How did you come up with it, then?” I asked.
A very strange smile crossed my doctor’s face. He reached inside his wrinkled white coat, pulling something from an inside pocket. “Myths and old wives’ tales. Legendary remedies. The right dose in the right place. And a few ideas that weren’t, I admit, my own.”
He tugged loose a notebook and handed it to me. I was so shocked I nearly fell over.
“Where did you get—” I began, but Dr. FitzP had already left. Grey rounded the truck, asking what he’d given me. I flipped to the last page and read what it said before holding it up to show my brother.
It was Grey’s own notebook of notes and theories about me, the one he’d been compiling over the years, with all his descriptions of the research he’d done, medicines he’d tried and adjustments he’d made. On the very last page was a combination he hadn’t given me yet. And there was a note in someone else’s handwriting.
Someone who’d found this notebook after I’d torn a page out to write an apology to my brother, and then handed over the rest of it to read.
I think Grey’s on to something with this research. I hope you find it useful.
—Raoul
Chapter Thirty-Two
I finally found him at Cee’s birthday party, of all places.
Of course she wouldn’t l
et anything as insignificant as a werewolf attack get in the way of a good party. She just threw a belated bash at her house, and made it as extravagant as possible, to make up for the chaos of the few weeks all at once. The music was loud, the guests were dancing themselves silly, and Cee couldn’t stop smiling. We could all see the scar on her neck, thanks to the expensive party dress that bared it—and a few other things—to the world, but she didn’t seem to care.
She’d invited Grey, too, and he actually showed up, which made her happier than anything, anyway. I could only shake my head as I watched them together, because my brother has many excellent qualities, but his dancing ability is not one of them. Still, at least someone got something good out of this mess.
And although a few people were giving me a wide berth, Lin stood firmly by my side, helping me snark my way through the proceedings. I might not have been as much of a party animal as a different kind of animal altogether, but that helped.
“Are you coming back to school?” she asked at one point, while handing me a Coke. For once I didn’t sprain a finger trying to pop the tab. “I mean, I know it got messy there at the end.”
“I don’t know. The administration’s probably not my biggest fans right now. But we’ll see.”
She leaned in conspiratorially. “Couldn’t you just, you know, convince them to let you back in?”
I began wondering if I should have explained as much to Lin as I had. That girl was getting ideas. Still, her smirk was hard to resist. “Oh, my,” I drawled. “Using my ill-gotten powers in the name of getting an education. What other horrible deeds will we come up with next?”
“I don’t know. Convincing the local chocolatiers to give us free truffles for life?”
“I’ll keep you posted,” I said. Then I saw a flash of movement at the window. It looked strangely like a heat ripple in the cold air. “Hold that thought.”
With the aid of a whole lot of elbowing through the crowd—true to form, Madison glared at me—I made my way toward the porch.
Outside, despite the muffled party music, it was mostly quiet. The sky was clear, leaving the winter stars to glitter overhead. Water lapped along the shore in lazy waves, the wind rustled through the trees…and a bird piped in sudden alarm as it escaped to the skies. Some things, I guessed, never changed.
I continued crossing the yard, and at last reached the strip of sand at its edge. Jutting into the water was a private dock that, in this weather, should have been empty. A single silhouette, though, stood at its edge. I knew in my bones it would be him, but my breath still caught and my voice refused to work properly. So I did the next best thing. Maybe it was better.
Raoul, I said silently, making him turn from the shimmering lake to face me. I ran forward and threw my arms around him as fast as I possibly could.
We stood out there together in the dark for what felt like ages, just sharing warmth. Then, in a tangle of thoughts and whispers, we started trading stories about what each of us had missed.
“I had to run,” he said, after I explained what I’d been through. He looked so amazed at my story, it took him a while to begin. “I didn’t want to leave you alone, but with the police coming, and whatever was happening back home…” His voice caught on the word “home,” like he didn’t entirely believe it was home anymore.
I held him tighter. “What did you find?”
“Brandon’s gone. I tried to follow his trail, but he was all over the place. I lost it before long.”
I shuddered. “And what about Pan and Ayu? And Ilsa?”
“Well hidden, too, but Ayu came back long enough to leave a message.”
“Which was?”
The hint of a smile crossed his face. “She says, and I quote, to kick his ass.”
I felt a complicated flash of emotions: relief, loss, frustration, resignation. I still couldn’t help but wonder why Brandon had to be my problem. But it was a feeble complaint, really, and it soon faded. I already knew I had to face him down. And I’d made my promises.
I took a deep breath.
“I hope they’re going to be all right,” I murmured, thinking of Pan and Ayu again. “The withdrawal alone…”
“They’ll get through it. They’ll be better for it.” He studied me closely. “You are, after all. You’ve…changed.”
I blushed. “Yeah, well. I had help. From Lacey, especially. And from you.”
He looked thoughtful. “You had to find the strength from both halves of yourself, I think. The pack wouldn’t have been enough.” He paused. “I wouldn’t have been enough.”
I shook my head. “If that’s true, then you need someone like me, too. Someone to keep you anchored. You’re not all wolf, either.”
“Sometimes, I’ve forgotten that,” he admitted. “But when I’m with you…I can actually believe it.”
“We can help each other, then.”
Of course, he said, switching to thoughts alone. The closeness of it made me shiver. And we’ll figure out what to do about Brandon.
Grey’s not going to like that. He thinks I’m finally done with all this.
Raoul smirked. Oh, I think he might be sufficiently preoccupied for a while.
I followed his gaze back to the house. Through one window I could see what Raoul meant, because Grey, out on the edge of the dance floor, was tipping Cee’s chin up for a kiss. I burst out laughing.
Maybe it was true. Maybe, with me being well at last, Grey could get on with his life. And I had my responsibilities—maybe even including school, if Lin had her way—but at least this time it was my call.
I turned back to Raoul. “We’ve got things to do, then. But would it hurt if we…occupied ourselves for a little while, too?”
His answering grin was as bright as the crescent moon above us. And considering how quickly he moved in to kiss me, I’m pretty sure he didn’t think it was going to hurt anything at all.
About the Author
Genevieve Griffin is a writer and tech geek living in the woodsy outskirts of the Seattle area, in a home full of books, gadgets, and creepy dolls. Find her online at genevievegriffin.tumblr.com.
Table of Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Chapter Thirty
Chapter Thirty-One
Chapter Thirty-Two
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