by Jody Morse
I didn’t do anything! Emma exclaimed, growling at him angrily.
You’re right, Gary, Samara said, pushing her shoulders back and tilting her chin up high to make herself seem more confident than she really felt at the moment. Maybe I shouldn’t have done this. Maybe I should have just let well enough alone. You would have been dead by now, but obviously that’s what you would have rather seen happen. But don’t you blame Emma for this for a second. I didn’t even tell her I was going to turn you. I only just told her a few days ago.
Gary turned to Emma. Is that true?
Yes, Emma replied.
I told you Samara was never a good friend to you, Emma. I told you all these years that I wanted you to stop hanging out with her because she was bringing you down, but you wouldn’t listen. And now look at where I am. I’m a wolf with nowhere to go. I can’t go home without worrying about killing your mother. And sleeping outside instead of in my warm cozy bed is starting to have its drawbacks. Maybe you didn’t tell Samara to do this, but I blame you for it. I want nothing to do with you from this point on, and if your mom ever asks what happened to me, you can tell her it was your fault that she’ll never see my face again.
Emma whimpered, and Samara knew it was because Gary’s words stung. Even Samara could feel the sting.
Gary looked like he wanted to say something more, but instead, he shook his head and sauntered off in the opposite direction. Once he had disappeared into the woods, Emma changed back to her human form, the purple smoke clouding Samara’s vision.
Samara followed suit. Once she was back in her human form again, she said, “I’m sorry, Em. I had no idea everything was going to turn out this way. If I could take it all back, I would.”
Emma shrugged, not meeting her eyes. “It’s fine, don’t worry about it. You couldn’t have known what was going to happen. You were only trying to help.”
“I was, but that doesn’t make it suck any less.” Samara sighed. “Should we go back to the house now?”
Emma nodded. “Yeah.”
Once they were back in the car, Samara pulled off her jacket. “I am burning up. I think I have that whole Alpha fever thing or whatever it is going on again.”
“You can turn on the air conditioner if you want,” Emma suggested.
“Good idea.” Samara leaned over and adjusted the notches on the car. Once the air conditioner was blowing cold air against her, she pulled her hair up into a bun on top of her head. This heat was unbearable, even with the air conditioner on full blast.
Emma glanced over at her, and her eyes widened. “Umm, Sam. Did you and Luke mark already?”
Samara laughed, surprised by the question. “Does it look like we’ve gotten married to you yet? The wedding’s not going to be until March, remember?”
“I know you haven’t gotten married, but you have to see this.” Emma pulled two compact mirrors out of her glove compartment. She gave Samara one of the compacts and held the other compact up behind her neck.
Samara glanced at the reflection of the back of her neck in the mirror and she gasped at what she saw.
“It looks like you’ve marked,” Emma said quietly, reading Samara’s mind.
The tattoo that had imprinted on the back of her neck was of a swan, its long neck crooked and its large wing floating high in the air above it as it swam gracefully. Samara wasn’t sure why, but she had a sudden feeling of dread.
*
“I’ve never seen anything like this before,” Colby commented as he stared at her neck once they got back to the house. “Most Alphas have tattoos that are bigger and more elaborate than the rest of the pack, yes, but they don’t get a tattoo that isn’t even the same color. It doesn’t make any sense.”
Samara glanced at the tattoo in the mirror again. “Emma was wondering if I marked with Luke already.”
Colby shook his head. “No, it’s definitely not that. It’s not possible to mark if you haven’t gone through your wedding ceremony.”
“I don’t get why,” Samara said. “How does your body know you’re getting married?”
“It just happens when we say our vows,” Colby shrugged. “That’s what causes you to get the tattoo.”
“Oh.” Samara hadn’t even thought about her wedding vows yet. She and Luke had agreed that they were going to write their own, since their marriage was going to be so much different from the vows that people would typically say, but she didn’t even know where to begin.
“I guess I’m gonna have to do some research about this tattoo of yours,” Colby said, pointing his chin at the swan tattoo. “We need to figure out why you got this tattoo out of nowhere.” He paused. “Were you doing anything special when you noticed that you got it?”
Samara hesitated. “Well, no, but . . . I’m not exactly sure when I did get it. I’ve been wearing my hair down and I haven’t looked at the back of my neck in the mirror lately. It might have been there all along, and I wouldn’t have noticed it—considering I wasn’t even the one who spotted it tonight.”
“True.” Colby paused, tapping his lip as he considered what the tattoo could mean. “Have you done anything lately? You know, anything that might be considered betrayal of our pack?”
“No,” Samara replied quickly, and as soon as she said it, she realized that she’d said it too quickly. “Why would you ask that?”
“I do remember this one case of an Alpha who got a tattoo that was supposed to let the rest of the pack know that he was a traitor. I forget what he did exactly.” Colby shrugged. “I can’t figure out how this tattoo could mean something like that, though. Swans are beautiful and they’re supposed to be really graceful, right? Whatever it means, it can’t be that negative.”
“Yeah, I guess you’re right. It’s probably not a bad thing.” Glancing in the mirror at the tattoo one last time, Samara allowed herself to relax a little. The tattoo probably didn’t indicate that she was betraying her pack; she just wished that she knew what it did mean. “And it is prettier than my other tattoo.”
“Hey, our pack tattoos are really cool. I love the shade of purple. I like how it’s a really royal shade of purple. It’s way cooler than the blue.” Colby glanced down at his own tattoo proudly.
Samara laughed. “The color of the tattoo isn’t that bad. It’s just the size of mine that bothers me. I thought the last tattoo I had was too big . . . and this one is way bigger.”
“Well, remember what a big tattoo means. The bigger it is, the more powerful you are as an Alpha—and hopefully, the more powerful we will be as a pack,” Colby replied with a grin.
Samara frowned. “Everyone always says we’re going to be so powerful. I’m a girl Alpha and my tattoo is bigger than other Alphas, but Colby . . . I don’t feel powerful yet, and I don’t get it.”
Colby laughed. “You’re joking, right?”
“Uh, no, I’m not joking.”
Colby’s face softened some. “Sam, do you know how long it took for our ancestors to become the powerful werewolves and Alphas that they once were? Do you know how long it took Joe McKinley?”
Samara shook her head. No one had ever told her how long it had taken, but she had always just assumed that Grandpa Joe’s powers had been instant. She knew that there had been things that had helped speed the process along some, but at the end of the day, she thought it all came down to his own natural abilities.
“It took years,” Colby explained. “Our powers are going to take a long time to develop. It’s going to take a lot of time, energy, and practice, but eventually, in years from now, we’re all going to be powerful. At least, that’s what Joe McKinley thought. And I trust what he thought because he seemed to be right about everything else. Even if you died tomorrow, you’re going to go down in history as the first female Alpha ever to have lived. That’s something to be proud of.”
“I know it is,” Samara replied quietly. She glanced down at her hands, feeling guilty about the fact that she had assumed that their powers were just going to happen
automatically. It made her feel somewhat better to know that years of practice were going to make a difference.
Chapter 11
Samara could feel Luke’s anger—and his fear—as he paced back and forth across the tiled floor in the kitchen. It almost made her feel angry and afraid, too, even though she hadn’t felt either of those emotions before she’d told Luke about what had happened with Rocco.
“I don’t like this,” Luke said aloud. “I don’t like this one bit. Did Rocco say what he wanted to talk to you about tonight?”
Samara shook her head. “No, he didn’t say exactly, just that it had to do with his ‘vision’ for his pack, but . . .” She trailed off when Luke met her eyes. Her breath caught in the back of her throat. Just meeting his eyes was enough to make her stop mid-sentence now; that’s how physically attracted she was to him lately.
“But, what?” Luke pressed.
Darting her eyes away from his, Samara tried to regroup her thoughts. After a moment, she explained, “I’m just thinking he’s not going to try anything. It doesn’t seem like he’s going to, at least. It seems like he just wants to talk to me . . . to us.”
Luke nodded, running a hand over his short brown hair. “How many of us are you taking with you? I mean, I’m going . . . I’m not letting you go there alone, so obviously I’ll be there. But who else is coming?”
“Well, I thought Colby might want to come,” Samara started to say, but Colby said from behind her, “No, I think I’m just going to hang out here tonight.”
Samara raised her eyebrows. “Why? I figured you would want to come with us.”
Colby shook his head. “I would have gone with you under ordinary circumstances, but Emma is really upset about seeing her stepdad with you earlier. I just thought that she would want someone to stay here and hang out with her. Actually, I know she wants someone to. She was sulking.” Lowering his voice so Emma wouldn’t hear him talking from her bedroom, he added, “I was thinking about going to pick up some Ben and Jerry’s for her. Chunky Munky is her favorite food when she’s depressed.”
Samara smiled; as much as she wanted Colby to face Rocco with them, it was cute that he cared so much about her best friend. Even though Colby sometimes seemed like an unusual match for Emma, Samara couldn’t have chosen someone better for Emma herself.
“Okay. You don’t have to go. Maybe Chris and Steve will want to come then,” Samara said.
“No, they told me to tell you that they don’t want to go. The last time they saw Rocco, he pissed them off so much they wanted to kill him. It’s better off for everyone if they stay here.”
“I guess I could bring my brother,” Samara said.
“Actually, he’s hanging out with a girl tonight,” Colby said.
Samara’s eyes widened. “He is? And by the way, how do you know everything about what everyone’s doing? I’m Alpha. Shouldn’t I know this stuff before you?”
Colby shrugged. “What can I say? When I get bored, I text message people and ask them what they’re doing a lot. And yeah, Seth thinks he’s met his mate.”
“Oh.” Samara was kind of shocked. Seth hadn’t mentioned meeting a girl who he thought was his mate the other night when she saw him . . . and yet he expected her to talk to him about her personal issues? It made her feel like he was being a hypocrite, but she didn’t have much time to think about it right then. She had to figure out who else would accompany her and Luke when she went to talk to Rocco. “What about Kyle?”
“He and Silas are having a date night tonight. Dinner, the movies, and possibly bowling, too,” Colby replied. “I’m not sure if they’re going to be home in time to leave with you.”
“And I doubt Kyana will want to go if Chris is staying here,” Samara said. “So, that leaves us with Josh.”
“I’m pretty sure he’s free,” Colby said with a nod.
Samara took a deep breath. She hoped she was right; the last thing she needed was to be wrong and for Rocco and the Shomecossee to be planning an attack against them. They would surely outnumber her and the two pack members who she was bringing with her.
“I think you’re forgetting someone,” a voice said from behind her.
Samara glanced over her shoulder to find Declan standing in the doorway that connected the kitchen to the dining room.
“I’m going with you,” he said.
“You really don’t have to,” Samara started to protest, but Declan shook his head.
“Nonsense. I want to go. I want to be there for my pack.” His lips stopped moving, but Samara heard his voice still. And I want to be there for you. I’m not about to let anything happen to you. I know Luke is going to be there, and I know he’ll try to do his best to protect you, but I’ll be damned if they all gang up on you and he can’t do anything to stop it. If you get hurt, I have to be there to know that I at least tried to do something.
Meeting his brown eyes, Samara took a deep breath. “Okay . . . okay. You can come.” From the corner of her eye, Samara could feel Luke’s green eyes flit over at her, questioningly, accusingly.
She could feel the anger build up inside of him, the hurt as it ran through his veins. Some of the pain seemed to transfer over to her own veins; she felt hurt and angry, and it made her feel horrible to know that she was part of the reason he felt so hurt and angry.
But it didn’t matter. Even though Luke hated that Declan would be going with them, Samara couldn’t tell Declan that he couldn’t go. As much as it would annoy Luke for Declan to tag along, the fact of the matter was that it would kill Declan even more.
*
An hour later, Samara stood waiting, in wolf form, on Old Mill Road with her pack members: Luke wasn’t speaking to her; Declan was only speaking to her through mind-speak; Josh was trying to make conversation with all of them, but it was only making things more awkward for everyone.
When a werewolf who she immediately recognized as Rocco, judging from his confident stature, approached them, Samara felt relieved. At least now Luke and Declan could focus their energy on Rocco instead of being mad at each other, for whatever reason.
McKinley, Rocco said with a nod as he came to stand a few feet away from her. He sat on the ground, curling his tail beneath him.
Rocco, Samara replied, meeting his eyes.
Samara, this is Matt North, Rocco said, motioning to the gray wolf who stood next to him. And this is Beau Stone and Dan Stickle. Rocco turned to a wolf with a grayish brown coat that looked different from the others. And I’m pretty sure you’ve already met my mate, Paige, at the mall.
Paige eyed Samara with a look of distaste. Yes, we’ve already been acquainted.
Samara didn’t bother to say anything to her, but she turned to the other guys in the pack. It’s nice to meet you all. She glanced over at Rocco. I’m pretty sure you already know the guys in my pack. Now, get talking. I want to know what your so-called ‘vision’ has to do with me and the Tala.
Darren Jackson came to see me, Rocco said.
And? Samara questioned. Even though she knew she sounded calm, she was actually beginning to worry. What if this was some sort of trap? Samara glanced over her shoulder into the woods, but she didn’t see a sign of anyone nearby.
And he wants to know where to find you, Rocco replied. I mean, imagine coming home and finding that your mate and son are missing. It’s gotta be terrible for him to go through.
Luke scoffed and made a small whining sound. Give me a break. If he cared about either of them, he wouldn’t have kept so many secrets from them in the first place.
I thought the same thing, Rocco agreed. We all know Darren Jackson is up to no good, but . . . the thing is, I can help him out.
How do you figure? Samara questioned, trying to hide the nervousness from her voice. As confident as she felt about being able to defeat Rocco if she needed to, she also knew that he was a sneaky werewolf. She wouldn’t put anything past him.
Easy. I know where you’ve all been hiding. I know where your house is
. I followed you there one day after school, and it all made perfect sense to me. If I wanted to help Darren Jackson, all I would need to do is tell him the address and he’d be there quicker than 1-2-3.
Samara’s breath caught in the back of her throat. She had never considered the fact that someone might actually know where they’d been staying. Even though she knew that they were all going to need to face Colby’s dad eventually, she had been hoping that it wouldn’t be for a while. They needed time to prepare, to figure out what they were going to do about him. They knew that he was conjuring dark spirits, and they had to figure out a way to make sure the Trusted Ones, the spirits who had protected Samara from the dark spirits the last time she’d had to face a Vyka, would be able to help them this time around, too.
There was also the fact that Samara not only felt safer, but she also felt more powerful, somehow, knowing that Darren had no clue where they were. It was like they had one over on him.
The power that they held over him would soon be gone, though. They were going to have to fight Darren now; Rocco was probably planning to tell Darren tonight where they were.
If Darren is serious about killing me, or any of us for that matter, why doesn’t he just show up at our houses? Josh questioned. He knows where most of us live.
Easy. He doesn’t want to leave behind a trail of evidence, Rocco replied. He also knows that for most of the pack, there’s the risk of turning their patients against him if they should ever find out he was involved with the death of their children. He’s gotta act like a good guy to them. His plan is to make it seem like you disappear in the middle of the night once he gets his hands on you, which can be done more easily from the house you’re living in. Plus, he wants to know where his wife is.
What do you want from us? Declan said, asking the question that Samara was sure was swirling through all of their minds.
Rocco laughed. I can think of a few things, but namely, I want to know what you were going to trade Troy for the talisman when you thought he had it. Whatever it was must have been something big if you thought it was comparable in value to Joe McKinley’s legendary talisman.