UnMasked

by Yara Gharios

  It’s really sad. My parents would roam the entire Earth looking for me if I was ever taken –well, again. But Paul’s parents gave up after looking for so long. It makes me sympathize with the kid, which is the reason why I let him follow me around.

  “You really think he’s going to wake up?” Paul asks me.

  This question doesn’t bother me as much as he usually does; it actually reassures me to answer it. “Yes, he is,” I tell him confidently. “He’s still conscious, sometimes, he just can’t express it.”

  “How do you know?”

  I point to my head. “Because he talked to me. Three times.”

  His eyes go wide. “Really? What did he say? What does it feel like?”

  Logan only mentioned the coma once. The other times were the first time I heard him when nothing much was exchanged. The second time, he asked if everyone was okay, specifically Zoey, and the last time was when he told me what it feels like to be in a coma.

  “He said it doesn’t hurt but that he’s frustrated that he can’t force himself to snap out of it,” I reply.

  “Well that’s stupid; it’s not something he can control, it’s the poison,” he says in a tone of reminder.

  “I know,” I grumble.

  We spend a few minutes in silence, with Paul tapping his feet against the side of Logan’s bed. It gets annoying really quickly, but I don’t want to snap at him for the fifth time, so I opt for the next best thing: putting him in charge.

  “Could you watch over him for a minute? I want to go check on Zoey, and I’d rather not leave him alone,” I say.

  As I expected, giving Paul a responsibility is something he lives for. “Really? Yeah!”

  I pat his shoulder as a sign of appreciation. “Thanks. I won’t be long.”

  “It’s okay,” he assures me. “Take all the time you need.”

  I actually don’t want to leave Logan, even if it’s with Paul. But I do need to get away from the kid, and he stopped falling for the ‘can you get me something from my room?’ trick the second time I tried it. Plus, I really do want to check on Zoey. Unlike Logan, she has woken up. She’s all banged up and has a cast, and she’s still sleeping frequently, but at least she wakes up about three times a day.

  Her room is right next to Logan’s. Not a big surprise since the compound only has three hospital rooms and one large wing full of beds. Rarely anyone ever uses the rooms, because werewolves don’t normally need a lot of medical attention that requires overnight stays. They’re only used for the children and special occasions, like comas and near-death experiences.

  Sadie and Danny are already by Zoey’s side when I walk in. Both have signs of exhaustion and worry on their faces, but they look a lot better than they did a couple days back. They certainly look a lot better than I do at the moment. As for Zoey, she’s sound asleep.

  “Hey,” I whisper so as not to wake her.

  They look up at the same time. Danny and I exchange awkward glances. We still haven’t truly buried the hatchet yet. But Sadie gives me an encouraging smile.

  “Hi,” she whispers back.

  “Where’s Cade?”

  “In Logan’s office; the scouts are back,” she informs me.

  With their alpha unable to lead them for the time being, the pack has been following Cade’s orders. The general expectations were that Logan’s uncle, Reena’s dad, would act as stand-in alpha until Logan was back on his feet. However, for obvious reasons, he wasn’t in a position to handle any responsibilities right now.

  His only son was not only a criminal, but also a casualty during the battle at Colton’s manor. I hadn’t known that until I saw Reena and both her parents packing their bags with mixed feelings of mourning and bewilderment. Cade was explaining it to me as they loaded their stuff in the trunk of their car.

  “It’s best if we give them a break,” he said. “It’s been a lot for them to take in.”

  No kidding, I thought, feeling some sympathy towards them.

  Reena and I had exchanged glances as she got in the backseat, and she’d stopped for a second. Some sort of understanding passed between us, and she hesitantly waved once goodbye. I waved back, and tried to decide how I felt about them leaving. It was too confusing to keep thinking of.

  “Did they find anything?” I eagerly ask.

  Sadie shakes her head regretfully. “It didn’t seem like it.”

  Cade has been sending scouts to any known location that Colton, or even Cameron, may have used as a hideout. He’s trying to find the other shewolf. So far, everyone he sent has come back without any progress whatsoever. I was excited at first to meet another shewolf, but now I’m starting to doubt whether or not Colton was even telling the truth.

  Reading my expression, Sadie attempts to reassure me. “They’ll find her, Dylan.”

  Suddenly, Zoey stirs, cutting off whatever response I may have started to formulate. As one, Sadie and Danny lean in toward her protectively. They weren’t so close before, but lately, these two have been each other’s support system, especially since Cade is so busy running the pack in Logan’s absence. They both care about Zoey, so they bonded while taking care of her.

  Slowly, because the painkillers dull her movements, Zoey’s eyelids flutter a few times before she fully opens them. The sight of her sister and boyfriend makes her smile weakly.

  “Hi,” she mumbles.

  “Hey baby,” Danny coos, caressing her hair softly. “How are you feeling?”

  She blinks a few more times before she can form a coherent sentence. “Hungry,” she croaks.

  Sadie is up in a flash. “I’ll fix you something to eat.”

  Zoey follows her sister with her eyes as she leaves the room. When Sadie goes past me, that’s when she notices my presence.

  She smiles. “Dylan,” she sighs. “How’s Logan doing?”

  I force myself to do what I usually do during stressful situations and handle it with humor. “Ugh, don’t get me started,” I say. “His lazy ass is doing nothing but sleep all day, although it does give me some rest from hearing him nag all the time.”

  Her chuckle is so weak that it almost breaks my heart. “What about your mind communications?”

  I shrug. “All he’s saying in those is that he’s worried about you. Although I think he once said that he saw a giant flying chicken. He must have been hallucinating.”

  She gives me a rueful smile. “It’s okay to be worried about him,” she assures me. “I’m not going to suddenly get worse just because people around me are sad.”

  “She’s just trying to make you feel better,” Danny steps in.

  “Yeah, what he said, thanks bro,” I automatically reply.

  This makes things awkward again. I haven’t spoken to him directly in weeks.

  “I’m fine, really,” Zoey insists. “I don’t need you guys tiptoeing around every sad topic or pretending to be cheerful for my sake. What really helps me is if you act like yourselves again. And can you please do me a favor and make up already? We all know you two have missed each other, so just hug it out and get it over with.”

  Danny and I look at each other for a few seconds before doing as she said and hugging. Naturally, it’s weird at first, with a lot of awkward patting on the back. But then we both wrap our arms around each other, and I feel the relief go through me again. We pull away two seconds later.

  “We’re good?” he asks me, as if checking that I’m sincere.

  I give him the first real smile in a long time. “Yeah, we’re good. You better learn to hold your liquor from now on, but we’re okay.”

  He chuckles. “Promise.” He looks at me hesitantly. “When you’re up for it, there’s something I need to tell you. About John. It can wait, of course, but… it’s something you’ll want to hear.”

  From the corner of my eye, I see Zoey’s relieved expression. Instantly, I think back to when Logan and I were questioning her about John Brock, and I realize whatever Daniel is talking about must be the same thi
ng she was hiding.

  Pleased that he’s coming forward on his own, I smile and nod. “I’d be willing to listen.”

  And just like that, we’re back to normal. We joke around a bit longer, until Zoey brings up another uncomfortable topic that I do not want to deal with.

  “John told me you’ve got until the end of this month to apply for Berklee,” she says. “Did you send in your application?”

  “Uh,” I hesitate, “no, I’m, uh, not applying anymore.”

  Her eyes widen. “What? Why not? This is what you want!”

  “It was a bad idea to begin with,” I reply. “There’s too big a risk of being exposed.”

  “Dylan, you’ve already been exposed,” she reminds me. “Logan told everyone who helped him rescue you. I think the word’s going to spread pretty quickly. Not everyone is like Colton. Some of the pack’s allies in Boston might even be able to help you, the same way some of them saved you.”

  That’s exactly what I’m worried about. “I need to be focused on Logan,” I use as an excuse.

  That’s when Sadie returns with a tray full of food. “Absolutely not,” she objects in a high tone. “You’re just saying that because you’re scared.”

  “No, I actually am worried about Logan,” I insist.

  She places the tray on Zoey’s bedside table. “Oh, I don’t doubt you are, but you’re still running,” she smugly points out. “Logan’s already made it perfectly clear that he wants you to go. I don’t think that’s going to change just because he can’t speak for himself.”

  “No, but the fact that I was kidnapped might have,” I sarcastically reply.

  “Did you ask him that?” she retorts.

  Sometimes, Sadie’s stubbornness really gets on my nerves. It was diluted when Zoey was still unconscious, but it’s been coming back full force recently.

  “Like you said, he’s in no position to speak for himself,” I snap back.

  She gives me an unconvinced look. “Dylan, you know very well what I’m talking about.”

  I huff in annoyance. “Fine, I’ll go ask him now.”

  As I stomp out of the room, I hear Zoey say to Danny, “Now this is the normal I was hoping for.”

  I roll my eyes and round the corner into Logan’s room, where Paul is still sitting next to the bed like a guard. He sees me almost immediately, and his face lights up in a smile.

  “You’re back,” he cheers. “He’s safe. I watched over him.”

  “Thanks kid, you did good,” I tell him half-heartedly. “Can you give me a minute alone with him?”

  “Oh,” he says nervously. “Um, yeah sure, I’ll be in the waiting room.”

  He closes the door behind him on the way out, which I’m kind of grateful for. I may have telepathic conversations with Logan, but I still appreciate the physical privacy.

  Hey baby, I start, knowing it’s going to take a moment for him to be aware of me. Hope you’re doing alright in there. I just talked to Zoey, she’s worried about you, too. Kind of crazy how the two of you think about everyone else but yourselves.

  I wait a few seconds for a response, but there’s nothing. I’m not worried, though. It takes some effort on his part to communicate with me, and when he speaks, he can only say a few words, so I know he’s most likely waiting for me to get to the point.

  She and Sadie were just trying to convince me to apply to Berklee, I go on. Sadie even implied that it’s what you would have wanted. Now, I know that what led you here must have put to rest any ideas you might have shared with them on the subject, but they wouldn’t listen to me, so I told them I would–

  Go, his voice sounds in my head.

  My eyes go round. What?

  Go, he repeats. Want you… to be happy.

  I am happy, Logan, I insist, but I think it’s safer if I–

  Don’t… play… safe, he says. … regret later… Live.

  He wants me to live? What does he mean by that? He wants me to take a risk? I’m not sure I’m so excited to be doing that. My parents would probably forbid it. Going to them now is perhaps the only way I can put this whole college thing to rest.

  I ask for Paul to wait for me while I go talk to my parents. I walk from the hospital to the pack house in five minutes. My parents have now moved in the room Reena’s parents used to occupy. They’re still unpacking their stuff when I walk in.

  Our family has finally agreed to join Logan’s pack. Obviously, since I’m Logan’s mate, I’m not going to leave him, and with me gone, my family didn’t see any reason to remain a lone pack anymore, so they all moved in as well. It’s kind of a relief to still have them so close when I need them, which is exactly why I want them to say I can’t go to college. Nobody will dare disagree with them.

  “You should go,” is Mom’s shocking answer when I tell them.

  “Dad, can you please talk some sense into Mom?”

  “I agree with your mother,” Dad says.

  “Are you kidding me?” I protest. “You’ve been against college from the start! What changed all of a sudden?”

  “Logan,” Dad replies.

  “He’s in a coma in case you didn’t notice,” I point out nervously. “There’s not much he can do to protect me if I go to college.”

  “He’s going to wake up, darling,” Mom assures me.

  “I don’t think it was ever the plan that he’d protect you personally,” Dad tells me. “He still needs to be an alpha to his pack, and he can’t uproot them all and move back to their old town just for the sake of being close to you.”

  I blink up at him several times, trying to process whether or not this is really happening. “Are you really saying this to me right now?”

  “There are plenty of people in Boston who can keep you safe,” he assures me. “Even we have family there.”

  “Maybe, but… I’ve never met them.”

  He puts his hand on my cheek. “Sweetheart, I’m not forcing you to go anywhere. It’s up to you. All I’m saying is don’t turn it down just because you’re scared of change. It’s part of life. Everyone experiences it.”

  Mom steps between us and hands me something. “Here. I’ve been keeping this close since we’ve changed our minds about it. I knew there would come a day when you will need it.”

  Looking down, I see that it’s an application form for Berklee, and frown. “But I’ve already sent one of those.”

  “Well we did just move,” she points out. “Our address and home number will be different. Fill it out again, just in case you need to change something.”

  With that, she winks at me, and she and Dad go back to unpacking, leaving me to wonder what she was implying.

  I’m a little numb when I leave their room, and I head to the kitchen without even thinking about it. I throw the form on the table and slump down on the chair with a sigh. What do I do now? They said it’s up to me. I could just tell them I changed my mind and don’t want to go anymore. Then I wouldn’t be so afraid anymore.

  And then what? I ask myself. Do I really want to live a pointless existence?

  No. I do not. Maybe I am afraid of change and being away from my family, but I am still too passionate about music to give it up over fear.

  With shaky fingers, I open up the application form on the first page, and start reading the required information. I’m just going to take it one line at a time.

  Name.

  That’s easy enough to fill out. Nothing to be nervous about.

  Michael Dylan Connolly.

  Birthday: June 14, 1996.

  The third line, however, is what makes me stop and remember what Mom said about changing some things.

  Gender.

  I go back and forth from one box to another, trying to decide what to fill out. When I finally make up my mind, I tick the right box, and move on to the next question.

  ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

  As always, I can only start by thanking my family. No matter how cheesy it sounds to say I am blessed to have you, it is nothing bu
t the blatant and honest truth.

  A special ‘thank you’ goes to my dad, for always encouraging me to pursue my passion, and for moving heaven and earth to help me make it happen. I am doubly lucky because a man as strong as you raised me.

  For the multiple hours she spent with me in every morning car ride to school freaking out over our shared love for all things literature, and for posing on the cover, I give a heartfelt ‘thank you’ to my best friend Michelle. Further credit goes to Jad for creating awesome covers for this trilogy!

  Also being an important factor in helping me perfect UnMasked is my all–time favorite writing beta and platonic life partner, Tamar. You do not realize how valuable you are to my very existence.

  My gratitude must go out to a big number of people for their constant support; Nancy, Mira, Rim, Luna, Lea, Sarah, Anita, to name a few. Every time you guys ask about the next update, or the next book, it brings me right back to the zone.

  Finally, I wouldn’t be anywhere without the silent readers of the online community, some of whom are not so silent, but all of which are the main reason I am able to hold a book with my name on it in my hands. No amount of words can express how thankful I am that you believed in me.

  ABOUT YARA GHARIOS

  Lebanese writer Yara Gharios has been making up stories since she could remember. She has graduated as a double-major student in both Translation and English Literature. Under the pen name Sahar Ghayar, she wrote several novels in her free time since she was 11, but didn’t actively pursue publishing them herself. She is now pursuing an MA degree in Leeds.

  After a small publishing house came across one of her stories, written in French intermittently when she was 13 to 15, they signed her for a one-book-deal. She released her first novel at 17 in her home country through traditional publishing. It was only when “Masked SheWolf” garnered some attention at online reading websites that she considered self-publishing.