by Holly Hook
"I figured." Relieved, I take my phone, knowing I'm in the clear. It's not as if the police have my DNA on file. I have no record. "You have a tendency to sneak up on people."
"Let's get to class," Cayden says, grinning. "I'll try to get a scent on Olivia. It's possible she'll smell like a Savage Wolf before she turns, but we won't have much warning."
"And I'll check for the pendant," I say.
Hand in hand, Cayden and I head to class and duck into Mrs. Connors's room right as the final bell rings. Most people already sit and Olivia has taken her usual chair next to Cayden. My gaze goes right to her neck.
She's accepted her secret admirer gift.
She has a thin metal chain on, but the pendant itself is buried under her shirt, as if she's unsure she wants to display it. Hope rises in me as I sit next to Noah. My pendant's a rare one of pure silver. Capable of holding back a werewolf's nature, provided they've never turned before. And since Olivia might not have recognized it—she hasn't hung around me in years—she won't realize it's not new.
Maybe she won't turn...so long as she keeps it on.
* * * * *
The Lowes and I meet right outside the school for lunch. People occupy the picnic tables, so it's hard to find a spot to look at the medical records. What we're doing is illegal, and the last thing we need is to have a teacher or even another student catch us and report us to the police. The cops would connect us to the theft in no time, and might even blame me for the previous break-in to the records room.
So Cayden waves us into the woods.
The four of us head into the trees, using the entrance hidden in the clump of vines. Right away, the forest opens, and the sun pours through the canopy that remains above. The October air's crisp and cool, and we walk about a hundred feet from the school grounds and sit on a pair of boulders that must have rolled down from the mountains a thousand years ago, perhaps on an avalanche.
Unzipping my backpack, I fish out the manila folder. "Here's the truth," I say. "If it's a bite, we...we make sure Olivia keeps that silver pendant on I told you about. If she doesn't turn at all, that's the best we can hope for."
Cayden twitches his lips like he wants to say something, but he remains silent and nods.
"Let's see it," Everly says.
I open the folder. An ultrasound image of a heart sits on top, and I fish it out. Red circles surround two arteries that look thick and whitish.
"Olivia has a bad heart?" I ask.
"Wait," Remo says, turning over another paper. "Oscar Bertram."
I about choke. "Oscar?"
Cayden and I look at each other. My cheeks betray me once again, filling with the heat of humiliation.
I broke into Mountain Range's medical records and stole the wrong folder.
Chapter Five
"That was the only 'O' folder in the Bertram section," I insist as we continue to sit on our boulders.
Remo gets up and paces around us, hand on his chin. The guy towers overhead as the sun shines off his sandy blond hair. "You said the security guards were talking about a break-in that happened before you got in there and tripped the alarms?"
"Yeah," I say. I haven't spoken with Remo a lot, but his blue eyes are deep and thoughtful. His gaze doesn't match his huge body. He smells like other Noble Wolves--woodsy and fresh—but if it weren't for that, I wouldn't guess he was one.
"Then maybe whoever broke into the medical records the week before you did took Olivia's chart," he says. Then he pauses and stares at each of us.
"The Baltic Wolves?" Everly fills in. "Or another pack of Savage Wolves?"
"Mountain Range is outside our territory," Cayden says. "It's possible."
"And this is evidence the Savage Wolves are trying to establish a new presence in this town," Remo says. "Maybe they're hoping for revenge against us by infecting new people, making a new pack, and causing us continued problems."
"So the savages want to make trouble from a distance," I say.
"Precisely," Remo says. "Another tick of evidence in favor of our theory is that you smelled them on a guy in the ER who says he had a dog bite."
"It could have been the smell of the log he was sitting on. The guy said he was drinking in the woods," I say. "I only picked it up for a second or two."
"Possible," Remo says. But the tone of his voice tells me he doesn't think my idea is likely. And I don't think it is, either.
Silence falls over us. What am I saying? The Baltic Wolves will want revenge. Cayden and I killed their leader. The air thickens until I get up from the boulder and join Remo in pacing around. "But good news. Olivia's wearing the silver pendant."
"Might," Everly says. "But others aren't, and we don't know how many people have suffered bites."
"I'll ask Leonora," I say. "I work at the store this afternoon, and she always has the police radio on for entertainment. In the meantime, I'll trail Olivia and make sure she keeps wearing the pendant."
The task is easier said than done. I find her at the Shallow Table in the cafeteria when we go back inside, five minutes before lunch ends, and she still has the necklace tucked into her shirt. It is the same one, right? Lots of necklaces have silver chains that look like mine. But it's not as if I can go up to her and ask. As I enter the room, Noah waves and I sit, as much as I want to march over to Olivia and see the truth. But Tiffany and Alesha sit with her and the discussion today is how Olivia should date Matthew because he has a BMW his father bought him for his birthday.
"Hey," I say to Noah.
"Glad you're sitting with us more," he says.
"We've missed you," Ellie adds.
But I listen to the conversation across the room.
"Did you see the car? It's amazing. Imagine cruising around in that. The selfies." Alesha.
"Matthew's hot," Tiffany adds. "And his house--"
"I don't know if he'll be interested." Olivia.
"Come on. He's such a dream guy. Every girl in school wants him. And the BMW!"
Shallow.
Noah pats me on the back. "You feeling okay? And where were you for most of lunch?"
I put my hand over my mouth. "My stomach's rolling. I spent most of lunch in the bathroom."
"With Cayden?" Noah asks with a grin.
"Not in the bathroom!" I wish he'd stay quiet so I can listen. I don't like where the Shallow Table conversation is going.
"Ooh," Ellie says, grinning. "Tell us everything."
"If we did anything, it wouldn't be among toilets and bad graffiti," I tell her. "I'd choose something with a little more class." Maybe I can split my awareness and listen.
"Are you sure?" Sarah asks. "Some of that graffiti can be artistic."
"It's still a bathroom."
From four tables away and with my friends talking, it's hard to zero in on Olivia, even with my enhanced hearing. Cayden, meanwhile, sits alone just two tables from her. We've positioned ourselves on opposite sides. Sitting away from his family isn't like him, but we have a job to do.
"Matthew," Olivia says. "He's just got an attitude and his sense of humor doesn't do it for me."
Alesha: "But the car! At least get into it and take selfies with him!"
"And why don't you go to the Spooktacular Dance with him?" Tiffany asks. "You should ask him. I would, but I'm already going with Ted."
"That only gives me until Saturday to ask him," Olivia says. "Isn't it Sunday?"
"Ask him already." Tiffany.
My gaze shifts to Matthew sitting on the opposite side of the room as the Lowe table. He laughs with his buds. They're telling such lame dirty jokes I can't blame Olivia for not wanting to date the guy. All this time, I thought the two would go together like liver and onions, but my new hearing has opened the human world, too. Olivia shouldn't be able to hear Matthew from tables away, but I have to admit she has intelligence.
"I don't know if Matthew would even go to the Spooktacular Dance," Olivia says. "If he does, it'll be to look down girls' dresses."
&n
bsp; "So what?" Alesha asks. "It's a small price to pay."
"Ask him," Tiffany orders. "Right now. March over there and tell him you want to go to the dance with him. He might drive you there in his BMW."
"Why are you staring at Olivia?" Noah asks.
"Her friends," I blurt. "They're trying to get her to go to the dance this weekend with Matthew. I overheard them in the hall." Could Olivia want to ask someone else instead? The enthusiasm for Matthew is coming off her in waves. Not.
"She what? Matthew's a future sex offender." Noah's jaw drops.
"I know," I say, hating I had to deliver the news to my still-hopeful friend. "It's all about his new car. But I don't think she wants to date that guy."
"You're not bashing her?" Noah asks, jaw dropping another level. Soon it'll hit the floor.
"No. I'm not. I know. Stranger things have happened."
Sarah and Ellie stare at me as if I've lost my mind. But my thoughts spin. Why did Olivia drift away from us back in junior high, anyway? She used to hang out with us and laugh at our stupid jokes. Then her parents divorced and things went downhill from there. Maybe some traces of the old Olivia still exist and it took Noah to see them.
Noah stands. "She can't go with Matthew. He'll cop a feel the first chance he gets."
"I agree," I say. Matthew will ask where Olivia got her necklace. If he learns it's from a secret admirer, he's the type of guy who'd want her to take it off. And maybe even throw it away.
Noah gulps. "I'd ask her myself, but Tiffany and Alesha are over there. They're so toxic they leak radioactive waste. And Brie? Are you approving of me asking her out?" He's confused.
"Maybe that's not a good idea," I say. Then I remember Cayden's words. If Olivia turns, Noah could be in danger on the off chance she thinks the pendant's from him and the two date. And now Noah just might get the guts to ask Olivia to the dance. The only thing I could have done worse is tell Dr. Bertram that Noah wanted her to have the necklace.
And Sunday is the full moon.
And the dance goes until after dark, right?
"But it's Matthew," Noah says. "I've seen him. He's disgusting. The guy even bothered you the day Cayden pushed him." Putting his chin on his open palm, he watches the Shallow Table. "She let me kiss her in the play and write my name on her cast."
The bell rings, signaling time to get to class. We all rise from the table as Noah continues to stare at the Shallow Table. The girls there gather their purses and toss their trays. Olivia glances at Matthew for a moment, and then her gaze drifts to Noah.
Uh, oh.
When Tiffany pulls on her arm, Olivia obeys and follows her out of the cafeteria doors. The two lower their conversation to whispers as they head to their next classes. Even I can't hear them as they pass.
Noah watches her go, and as he stares at Matthew, he clenches his fists.
* * * * *
"Sunday night is when Olivia might turn, right?" I ask Cayden as we enter the woods. Since we didn't patrol the day before, we need to do so today. I've gotten to know the woods much better in the past couple of weeks, including all the game trails that smell of deer and raccoons. One of them leads to the back of Sterling Grocery where we're headed this Tuesday afternoon. "When the moon rises?"
"Yes," he says. "If she's not wearing the pendant. And I heard her conversation with those horrible girls."
"Noah wants to ask her to the dance," I say. "And I'm afraid he's going to."
"If she keeps the pendant on, he's safe," Cayden says, eyeing the trees ahead. He waves me around a group of boulders and down another trail. "The bigger danger will be if Matthew takes her to the dance, and she might not keep it on for him."
I gulp. "So we think alike. But you said the necklace might put Noah in danger."
Cayden frowns. The faint scent of metallic adrenaline fills the air. He's still angry. At me? At himself? Every time we talk of danger, his shoulders rise and his fists clench. Pain flashes in his eyes. He might never get over Wyatt. His brother's death is poison pumping through his veins.
"The necklace itself, no," he says. "But Noah being around her, yes. After the full moon, if she takes it off at any point, she turns."
"I..." For a moment, the bugs go silent as if appreciating my horror. "I didn't know that."
Cayden gulps. "I forgot about the Spooktacular Dance. It will be hard for us to watch the dance. Noble Wolves can hold back their transformations better than Savage Wolves, but even we will have to turn that night."
“I can't do that in front of Noah.”
“None of us can. Or in front of any humans." He stresses the last line.
“So making sure Olivia keeps that pendant on forever is the only way we can keep everyone safe at the dance. Otherwise, the Savage Wolves have found a way to get back into town.”
Chapter Six
Cayden and I will need to get close to Olivia. I have to face someone who's done nothing but snub me for the past several years. Somehow, I have to break the hold the shallow girls have put on her back in the seventh grade.
I tell Aunt May this once I get to Sterling Grocery and find her wrapping up. Leonora stands there, ready to start her shift with me, so I wait until she's in the bathroom to tell Aunt May the deal.
“I'm aware of the danger Olivia might pose,” Aunt May says with sadness. “I don't want to harm the girl or drive her out, either."
"Cayden does."
"He's upset about things."
“Wyatt,” I say. “And his parents.”
“True,” Aunt May says. “Anger is a bad trait for a werewolf to have. Some say that's how the Savage Wolves started, way back in a time everyone's forgotten. It may be how our kind split into two different types.”
“Can a Noble Wolf become Savage?” I check the aisles. Empty.
“I don't know,” Aunt May says. “Perhaps it's just a legend to make sure Nobles stay in line. Your father used to tell it to me.”
“Why do Savage Wolves keep trying to come here to Breck?” I ask. “It's been going on for generations if my mother hunted them, and her father before her, and so on.”
Aunt May shakes her head. "I don't know. Our parents didn't speak of it much."
Leonora opens the storage room door and returns. “Hey, Brie,” she says. “Ready to start the fun shift?”
“Sure,” I say. I need to leave before Leonora traps me with talk about organic food versus GMO, or about what her family's doing at their off-grid place or about the new solar panels they've installed. I need to find Olivia and convince her the pendant is from The One. Sending a glance at Aunt May, I plead with her to give me the day off.
And she nods. “Leonora, I've decided to only keep one of you on for today. Business doesn't justify having two of you work, so I'm sending Brie home.”
Leonora's expression builds into shocked happiness as Aunt May speaks, but the smile drops off her face as she finishes. “Sure,” she says.
“I know you can help our customers,” Aunt May says. “Brie has a lot of homework. I'm sure you don't envy that.”
Facing Olivia is much worse than staying at the store. Cayden's waiting outside for me, so I'm glad explaining things to Aunt May has brought our desired results. Leonora heads behind the counter as Aunt May mouths, “Good luck.”
I had out and nod to Cayden. “Olivia's place,” I say.
Cayden and I break into a run, staying just below suspicious levels. Even in human form, my speed has almost doubled, and I could give all the track kids a hard time. Cayden matches my pace. The Bertrams' place is across town, on the newer, wealthier side where Matthew lives. The house sits behind a gate with a button out front and is just a degree or two below mansion status. New windows surrounded with brick patterns watch the road. Lion statues guard the front porch, and a Hummer sits in the driveway. It's the vehicle Olivia's mother drives. I see no others at the residence.
I half-expect to find Matthew's BMW sitting next to the front gate of her property, or even in the drivewa
y, but it's not present. Maybe the two went out on their first date.
Cayden looks at me. “Maybe I should talk to her? Say the pendant is from me?” He frowns as he speaks. "We both saw how she threw herself at me. That might convince her to keep it on."
“You're saying this to your girlfriend,” I say. "And Olivia won't believe it since we were holding hands in the hall today."
“Technically, the term is 'mate.'” Cayden says. “But if you prefer girlfriend, that's what we'll do. And I don't like Olivia. She's too malleable to outside forces, if that's the word you're looking for.”
“Ironic,” I say.
“She's weak,” Cayden says. “That's the word.”
I've never thought of Olivia as weak, always landing the lead roles in every play and dazzling the audience.
“If you go up there, she'll suspect you're playing a joke on her.” Olivia may cave to peer pressure and act like a brat, but she isn't stupid. Before hanging with the wrong crowd, she pulled straight A's and B's. Though she's let her grades slip to average in recent years, her brain has gone nowhere, has it?
“I guess you're right,” Cayden says, pulling me away from the gate. “We're back to Square One, then.”
“What about Matthew?” I ask.
“The jerk I pushed?”
“I can tell Olivia how he tried to bother me. Just how he treats girls. She didn't seem too excited about dating him. I might help tip the scales away from him if I talk to her. At least she'll keep wondering about her admirer and keep the pendant on."
“We don't have mind control powers,” Cayden says. “Sorry. It really might be better to wait and see and stop her from going to the dance."
“There might be something I can work with,” I tell him, walking over and ringing the buzzer. I lean near a speaker mounted inside the side of the gate.
“State your business,” a man demands.
“My name's Brie Sterling. I'm here to talk to Olivia.”
The man vanishes, and the speaker stays quiet. I assume he's talking to Olivia. I tense, expecting a no. But time's ticking and we can't accept one.