by Reed, Zoe
“What are you doing?” I asked, looking around to try and see what the blonde was searching for.
She waved her hand with a flick to dismiss the question, and tiptoed toward the middle of the row of lockers. Without touching the tall locker she’d set her sights on she stared at it, studying it with her face inches away, as if it was different from all the others.
I tried to be as patient as I could but we weren’t supposed to be there, and since I was still sick I was starting to feel exhausted. “Cami, let’s go.”
A whole minute passed by before I couldn’t wait any more, so I started walking toward the exit, finally getting Camille to follow. Before leaving the building we checked the outside to make sure no one was there, and then walked back to the car.
“What was that all about?” I asked curiously, nodding my head back toward the school in case Camille wasn’t sure what I’d meant.
She followed my nod, and the building held her gaze longer than I would have liked. Because of the long pause I was expecting a detailed answer, but instead she shrugged almost too casually. “Nothing.”
I wanted to let out a sarcastic ‘okay’, but didn’t want to let on that her censorship was aggravating me. It’s not Camille’s fault, I told myself. You’re sick and grumpy. “I’m exhausted already,” I said as we each got into the car.
Camille started the engine and pulled onto the street. Her eyes didn’t leave the road as she stared not only through the windshield, but also through the very pavement ahead of us. “You should close your eyes, see if you can get some rest.”
I rolled the window down a bit for fresh air and leaned my head back against the seat. Next thing I knew we’d pulled into the driveway and Camille was walking around to open the door for me. As she followed me to the front door I felt the need to say something. About what, I was uncertain.
When she stopped outside and didn’t follow me in, I turned around confused. “You aren’t staying the night?” Since it wasn’t a school night I had assumed Camille would want to hang out more.
She mirrored my confusion though, and I realized I hadn’t given an invitation. “I can’t, I have stuff I need to do at home. And you’re still a little bit sick, you should get more rest.”
I nodded, a little disappointed, especially since I felt we were ending on weird terms. Camille had been so quiet on the ride back, her mind preoccupied with whatever that locker reminded her of.
“Well, thanks for helping me turn in my paper. I had fun.” Blood rushed to my cheeks again as I imagined how ‘I had fun’ could be misinterpreted. I seemed to be the only one who thought like that though, because Camille didn’t appear to notice.
“Okay, I’ll see you later.” Just like that she turned and walked away.
I trudged inside. Whatever was on her mind was so thought consuming she didn’t make a suggestive joke or even smile goodbye. The normally happy blonde seemed concerned and in a hurry to get home. The light from the bright, almost full moon shined through the window and I chuckled to myself. Maybe she was in a hurry so that she wouldn’t turn into a werewolf. Once I reached my bedroom I plopped facedown onto the bed, fully clothed, and didn’t have the strength to get back up.
I was so tired that it was frustrating when something woke me up about an hour later. Like the other night, whatever it was seemed to stop once I was awake. I knew the feeling in my gut though. The same one as the night I’d heard the growling. So I stood and opened the window beside my bed, pressing my ear against the screen to see if I could hear anything. Maybe the animal came back.
It was eerily quiet.
The second I pulled my ear away I heard a rustling from the line of trees behind the house and which my bedroom window overlooked. It was the patter of something running through fallen leaves. Straight across about a hundred feet and then back again, like whatever was doing it was particularly intent on making a path beneath my window. It was too dark outside for me to see anything, but when I put my ear back to the screen to hear better the running slowed, coming to a stop almost directly in front of my bedroom. I knew whatever it was probably couldn’t jump high enough, but when the footsteps stopped I drew my face back, as if it would come crashing through the window.
Then everything was quiet again.
What should I do? No way I was going back outside to investigate and potentially get eaten. There was a set of double doors in the living room that led to the backyard, and just beyond that were the trees the animal was hiding in. If I grabbed a flashlight maybe I’d be able to see something through the glass without really going outside. With this in mind I trotted swiftly down the stairs, hoping to catch a glimpse before whatever it was could run away.
After grabbing a flashlight from the kitchen I ran to the back door, pushing aside the blinds and shining the light through the glass. I had hoped to catch the animal by surprise, getting it in the beam before it ran away, but as I shone the light it reflected off the glass back at me so that I couldn’t see anything outside. I lowered it, glancing from the tool in my hand to the handle on the sliding doors. Then I took a deep breath, trying to gain some confidence as I reached for the lock, pushing it up and freeing the door.
I waited a few seconds, testing whether or not the animal could tell what I was doing. When nothing came charging at the unlocked door I stepped closer, then pushed it open just enough to get my head through. Before easing my face to the opening I directed the beam around the outside, making sure nothing was in the patch of grass before the trees. The coast was clear. I adjusted the light so it met the bottom of the first row of trees.
There was nothing around the trunks, but even if I couldn’t see anything suspicious, my heart was beating wildly just knowing something was out there. Every second and every foot I investigated with the light I grew more and more tense, waiting for the second I would see something. I had started at the trunks of the first line of orange trees, and with every swipe I moved it up, flashing the light deeper and deeper into the farmland.
By my fifth sweep I was beginning to grow impatient, thinking that I had missed it, and the speed with which I moved the beam grew quicker. I moved the light over a trunk. There was a glimmer as I passed over something. Then rustling, as I must have hit it and the animal had backed up.
At the rustling my heart dropped, and I backtracked with the light to where I’d seen the glimmer. It was nothing but bark now, but I squinted through the darkness, straining to see because the beam was weak enough that I couldn’t see much of anything even with the flashlight on. It only took a few seconds before the glimmer returned. Popped out from behind a trunk, and I almost gasped at seeing the bright glowing orbs that appeared.
Big and yellowish green. Just the way eyes look when they’re reflecting light back at you. And these were wide apart. Set in a head so large there was at least half a foot between the pair. It was too dark to see anything other than those glowing spheres. The spheres that remained unblinking, fixed on my light and me.
Just as with the growling the other night, I froze. I could feel a heavy gaze locked on me, and it chilled me to the bone. I half expected the thing to start snarling again, or to come running from the line of trees toward me. Only, it was dead quiet. Just staring at me.
So I opened my mouth and took a deep breath. I was going to say something. Was going to call to it. To see if maybe it wasn’t the same exact animal as the night before, and maybe this one was friendlier. But the second I took a breath the eyes disappeared, and in the weak beam of my light I caught the tip of a tail. A flash of dark fur and then it was gone.
I nearly dropped the flashlight again as I jumped, stirred to action, and closed the sliding door. After I locked it in place I sprinted up the stairs, immediately reaching for the cell phone on my nightstand. I had to tell Camille about this. Maybe then she wouldn’t think I was even half-crazy. There was something in the dark.
“Dad.” I knocked on the door to my father’s office. I’d just gotten back from going t
o the school with Kyla, and my dad was the first person I wanted to see. Usually when he wasn’t out running, he was in here.
“Hey Cami. How are you?” he asked, looking up from a piece of paper he’d been studying.
Instead of answering his question I sat down in the chair across from him, and my face grew serious. “Something’s up. I was just at the school and I smelled something.” I waited for him to set his papers aside and give me his undivided attention. “A werewolf. Male. His scent was all over a locker, so I’m assuming he’s either a student or passing himself as one. And unless the Pack has added another member, I don’t recognize the scent.”
He leaned back in his chair and tapped his fingers against his chin, absorbing the information. We sat there for nearly three minutes while he thought, until finally he stopped tapping.
“I’ll contact the Alpha, see if he knows anything. Luna!” he called and we waited for her to poke her head through the doorway. “Camille’s become aware of a mutt at your school,” he informed her, and after she dropped an expression of surprise she sat on the arm of the chair I was in. “You’re the most political of your siblings,” he winked at me as if to say ‘no offense’. “I want the two of you to see if you can find him and inform him that this territory has already been claimed. Unless the guy gives you two trouble, try to keep Niko out of it. He tends to be... aggressive.”
Luna and I smiled in unison, knowing all too well how true the statement was. “Well he’s bound to catch my scent by his locker. Hopefully he’ll get the hint,” I told him.
“I’m surprised none of us has noticed him. Either he knows we’re here and he’s been doing a good job of avoiding us, or he’s one lucky pooch,” Luna said, standing up. “Let us know when you hear something from the Pack.”
My dad nodded, and I waited for Luna to leave the room before speaking again. “Hey Dad, can I ask you something?”
He had picked up the phone to make the call, but when he realized I wasn’t finished he set it back on the receiver and nodded. “Yes, of course.”
“How did you know Mom was the one?” I set my hands nervously in my lap, and my dad let a small smile play across his lips. I was close to my dad and had heard him talk about how lucky he’d gotten with my mom plenty of times, but I’d never had to ask his advice. I don’t even think my siblings sought advice on the topic of romance.
“How did I know she was the one?” He leaned forward in his chair and repeated softly, to which I nodded. “Well, I don’t think you can ever know for sure, but I bet that when it happens there won’t be a doubt in your mind. Why do you ask?”
“There’s a girl,” I sighed and answered honestly. “A human girl.”
He made an ah-hah face and leaned back in his chair. “Well, I’d say our kind has come a long way with human affairs, and you know I would just want you to be happy.” He paused and studied me, and then his tone grew even more serious. “I can’t forbid you from a relationship like that, Camille, but I must warn you to be careful. And I know I don’t need to remind you of the consequences, anything could go wrong.”
“I know. Humans are unpredictable,” I repeated understandingly; Sky had told me something similar. “I haven’t known her for long.”
“But you’re already asking about it,” he smiled knowingly, his calm brown eyes watching me comfortingly. “That’s how it starts.” He gave me a mischievous wink and I couldn’t help but grin.
I got up and walked to his chair to hug him and kiss him on the cheek. “Thanks for the talk.” He nodded and smiled lovingly as I made my way to the door.
“When the time comes to make a decision, just make sure you’re listening to your head and not your hormones, okay?” he called after me, but instead of answering I just laughed and shook my head.
When I exited my dad’s office, Luna hopped up from the stairs nearby and began to follow me to the front door. “I’m going for a run if you want to come.”
I nodded and led the way out. A run was perfect for thinking.
On opposite ends of the porch we each stripped our clothing and set it neatly on the deck. The nights were getting colder and the cool air nipped at my bare skin, almost making me shiver. I braced myself, inhaling a deep breath before I focused and let the Change overcome me. The split second of pain ripped through me and I sighed as it faded, stretching my fresh wolf limbs.
A large white wolf trotted over to me, prancing around in circles, eager to run. I bent my front legs forward and massaged my paws into the soil to get my footing as I prepared to pounce on my sister. Then I sprung up, about to push Luna to the ground when she danced out of the way. My front legs buckled when they didn’t land where I had expected them to, and I stumbled. It was enough of a chance for the snow-white wolf to get the upper hand. Luna quickly took advantage of my imbalance as she came up beside me and used her shoulder to push me over.
I swiftly rolled out of the fall and regained my footing to see Luna teasingly prancing around, tongue hanging out in a wolfish grin, already at the start of the grape vines waiting for me. I stood there and cocked my head questioningly at the excited wolf, which then stopped prancing and sat on its haunches, cocking a curious head back. I used that second and took off toward my sister. By the time Luna was back on her feet I was there and tackled her. We rolled through the vines, almost knocking down a few before she got out of the tussle and took off running. My tongue lolled out happily when I caught up, and I ran next to her as we began our routine around the border of the farmland.
With every breath of air I took through my nose I subconsciously searched for the scent of the mutt. My father had grown up with the Alpha, and while his old friend gladly accepted the duties that came with being the law of our kind, my father had split from the Pack to raise his children away from the danger. My family had come across mutts before, but because non-pack wolves couldn’t hold territory, they had either disbanded when they found the territory claimed or had all just been passing through. From what I’d heard, we’d been lucky with werewolves we’d come in contact with. A lot of mutts caused trouble. Freshly bitten and without the guidance of a leader they weren’t in control, and therefore stirred up trouble with local law enforcement.
By having a locker at school though, it was obvious that this mutt wasn’t passing through, and I didn’t like the smell of him. He smelled aggressive and dirty, a combination that screamed up-to-no-good. So the remaining question was what this guy was doing in Tranquility.
Karma is a bitch. What Stephen had said had bothered me since I got home from Las Vegas. Considering how infrequently a mutt wandered into Tranquility, it couldn’t be a coincidence. However, eager as I was to have my questions answered, I didn’t know what this guy looked like or where he was staying. So I returned my focus on the run while keeping my nose open for any sign of him.
Luna led the way as we ran the edges of town, exhausting our limbs of every ounce of pent up energy we had. I eventually relaxed while listening to the rhythmic beat of our paws. Chasing the ever-elusive noise ahead of us, as creatures smaller than us fell quiet the closer we drew near. Reaching a small creek we slowed to a stop and rapidly lapped up water.
Both our heads shot up simultaneously when a distant howling sounded through the quiet night. Luna looked to me and pricked her ears forward, then took one quick drink before we began our run back home. It was our oldest brother Carter, calling us back in. Racing full speed it didn’t take us long at all to get back. When we managed to get our clothes on and made it into the living room the rest of our family was sitting around waiting for us.
“About time,” Sky teased sarcastically as me and Luna sat together on the couch next to her. I passed her a playful scowl before all of us looked to my father.
This was a family meeting, meaning he had talked with the Pack Alpha and had something important to tell us. My mom stood next to him, resting against his chair and lovingly scratching his back.
“You all know there’s a mutt in tow
n,” my dad began, leaning forward and setting his elbows on his knees. “I got off the phone with Eli not long ago, and he informed me of a problem they’ve been dealing with recently. Three mutts traveling together, making their way across the country. Last city they were in was Stonegate, Colorado, and before that Winchester, Nevada. The Pack has been able to connect kidnappings and an increase in mutt number to these three.” He held up three photographs and passed them around the room.
Just as I repeated ‘increase in mutt number’ to myself, Niko spoke up confusedly. “They’re kidnapping people and turning them? Why would they do that?”
“Not quite,” my father answered bitterly. “They’re turning humans, but kidnapping other werewolves. Which makes less sense. They’ve been migrating to small towns, all with one other thing in common: each had been settled by a mutt. The Pack hasn’t been able to reach the mutts they kept in contact with, so they’re assuming that they’ve all reached an unfortunate fate.”
I received the pictures that Carter was handing to me and took a look at each of them. All three were male. Two of them looked related, however one of them was much younger than the other. Father and son was my first guess. While I couldn’t get a good judge of size from the portrait photo, the dad looked like he could be a very large guy. He had a thick, heavyset jaw. His light hair was buzzed so short you had to look closely to see he had any hair at all, and his deep-set eyes were the darkest blue I had ever seen.
I passed the photo to Luna and studied the picture of the son while my dad continued. “Luther and Jonathan Symons, father and son, and Charles Gleeson. Ages fifty-three, twenty-three, and forty-seven. The Pack has only recently become aware of the situation. They’ve tried investigating the towns these three have left behind, but haven’t been able to find anything substantial to tell us what they’re trying to do. And the Pack is too busy containing the new mutt problem to spend too long looking in any one place.”