UNEDITED VERSION
Fern
Chapter One
New Town
“It’s strange how fast life changes. Just when you think you have it all figured out, a council man hands you six werewolves to take care of. The boys and I were doing better now that we had left Grover behind, but I wasn’t sure how this new town would work out. I was only sure that I wanted Gage to come back, but he didn’t want to.”
Indiana was hot in August, hotter than any place I had ever lived. It was flat too, not a single hill dotted the horizon. There was nothing to break up the monotony of field and flat grass. “I don’t think I have ever seen this much corn,” Carlie complained beside me.
“If it gets much hotter, we’ll have popcorn,” Jed tried to tease, but no one laughed. “Then we can rent a movie…”
“It is just too hot to laugh at your poor attempt at humor, Jed,” Carlie informed him.
“You have to admit, though, these are kind of cool, huh?” He wriggled his eyebrows and held up his small battery powered fan.
It was a tiny little fan that you held in your hands. It was only big enough to dry the sweat on your face, not really keep you cool. We thought they were cute at first, a real laugh, but now they were essential.
“I think mine is starting to short out though,” Tyson held his up in his large hands so we could all see that the blades were just barely spinning.
“Sucks for you,”Colby laughed.
“It’s going to suck for you when I take yours,” he growled back.
I rolled my eyes and moved out of their way. “I don’t know how they have the energy to fight,” I told Carlie.
“I know. If they morph, then they have to deal with all that fur.”
“Hope they have a heat stroke.”
She grinned at me, but had to jump out of the way quickly when a mass of grey and brown fur flew by us. We were lucky and found an old farmhouse to rent within weeks of leaving Grover. I hated to think of the boys being confined by a town. I rolled my eyes and slouched lower in my seat.
It had been surprisingly easy to decide on the small farming community of Judson, Indiana as our new home. It was small enough for us to go virtually unnoticed and the large farmhouse situated perfectly on the outskirts of town seemed to be designed just for us.
I had worried about how we were going to pay for it at first. Carlie offered us the use of what was in her savings account, which would pay for two months, after that we could decide what to do. It turned out that I had nothing to worry about, though. Tyson thrust a large duffle bag stuffed with
crumpled up bills into my arms.
“Where did you get this?” I asked, my heart thundering somewhere between my chest and my throat.
Jed shrugged, his face turning red. “Just… been saving it.”
“We can’t use this,” I pushed the bag back at him.
His fingers closed firmly over mine. “Yes we can. I don’t think your credit card is going to work now.”
He was right, of course, and in the end, it didn’t matter how many times I objected. There was no other way and we both knew it. The old man who showed us the house didn’t question a thing after we gave him cash for the first three months rent. He didn’t care where we got it or that we were two teens renting a house alone. I thought it was best for Jed and I to go alone and talk to the landlord, the sight of all of us might have changed his mind about taking our money.
The only regret I had about leaving Grover was Gage. He wouldn’t know where we were now; in case he ever wanted to come back. I had only voiced those concerns out loud to Carlie and she assured me that he would be able to find us if he really wanted to. Even though I knew she was right, it didn’t make me feel much better.
Maybe it was because I knew he didn’t want to.
I tried not to think of the last time we talked. I had practically threw myself at him and he still walked away. “He went to warn his brother,” Carlie had said. She was right again, of course, but still…
I sighed again and turned to watch the two boys snapping at each other. It was easier if I focused on them instead of things I couldn’t change. Gage.
“My money is on Tyson,” Carlie mumbled.
“You’re on,” I murmured back.
Suddenly, a low yelp sounded in the air and I groaned in defeat. Colby came limping back to lay at my feet. Tyson sauntered over on two legs and snatched up his brothers fan. “Way to go Tyson,” Carlie cheered.
He turned and grinned a wide boyish smile as us. “Willow, I’m hurt that you would bet against me.” He brought one hand up dramatically to cover his heart.
“Oh please,” I scoffed, “you never win against Colby.”
“That’s not true.” He tilted the fan in my direction. “I just did.”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” I rolled my eyes again as a chorus of laughter erupted.
“Good thing we didn’t bet real money,” Carlie commented lazily.
I rose stiffly from my chair, flexing my sore muscles from sitting too long. “Ow,” I groaned, rubbing the back of my neck.
“What’s wrong?”There was an instant flutter of motion and I was surrounded by too many warm bodies.
“Fine.” I pushed against the nearest chest and swatted away an arm. “It’s too hot out here, I’m going inside.”
“We’ll go with you,” Rodney automatically offered.
“I don’t think so.”Steven’s face fell almost comically. “You guys should go for a run.”
“Down by the river?” Steven’s eyes lit back up.
“Yeah, ok. Just don’t let anyone see you.”
They were morphed before I even got the last word out and bounding happily away. The river was almost too close to other people, but how could I deny them that small pleasure of cooling off? They’d done well so far keeping out of trouble.
My heart swelled with pride all over again. My boys were naturals; so much better than Bella’s. Not for the first time that day, I wondered where they were. Did Bella know where we were even now? Was Ivy with her?
“I know that look,” Carlie called out.
“What look?” I tried to smooth my forehead out but only managed to crinkle it more. “There’s no look.”
“You’re worried about something.” Her look could only be completed by a wagging finger. “Who is it this time? Bella? Gage? Ivy?”
“There’s no look,” I muttered, letting the door swing shut behind me as I stomped into the kitchen. For being a human, Carlie was unusually perceptive.
I pulled the cupboard open with more force than necessary, causing the hinge to creak, but luckily the door stayed on. Jed had pulled one off last week and after all the yelling, I was pretty sure I would never live down a copycat crime.
I let out a deep breath before pulling down a clear glass mug. I needed some orange juice and deep breaths. So what if I was worried about Bella… or Ivy… or even Gage.
After Bella tried to take my pack in Grover, I was constantly on the lookout for a repeat performance. Bella could find us just as easily as Gage. I would be crazy not to worry.
And Ivy was my sister. She was out there somewhere and I had no way of knowing if she was ok or not. She was probably still with Bella, but she would be of age soon. Now that the plan to take over the Ancient City was ruined, I didn’t know what Bella would do to Ivy. There was nothing wrong with being worried about my sister.
And Gage…
“Ugh,” I pinched the bridge of my nose and when that didn’t do anything, I laid my head on the counter.
“Gage,” I whispered into the countertop. I couldn’t get him out of my head. I had thought a new town would help, but if anything- it was worse.
The back door slammed shut, signaling that Carlie had followed me. “You know what you need?” she asked brightly.
“A bullet to the head?” I didn’t bother looking up. Carlie was too happy; I couldn’t stand it.
“No,” she let the word draw out into several syllables.
“Orange juice?”
“Here.” She pushed the now full glass across the counter until it bumped into my elbow.
I sighed but it was probably useless to ignore her. I sat up slowly, dragging my forehead against the marble. “You know,” I took a sip of orange juice, “you didn’t have to follow me.”
She didn’t even blink. “Do you know what you need?” she asked again.
“Haven’t we already had this conversation?”
She pulled a folded piece of paper from her back pocket. “A distraction.”
“What?” My eyebrows shot down low. “What is that?”
“I got a letter from my dad.”
“Oh.” Carlie’s dad was one of the knights of Andros- a secret werewolf hunting club. Talking about him always made me uncomfortable. “You didn’t tell him where we are, did you?”
“Of course not.”She smoothed the paper out in her hands. “He’s still writing to the P.O. Box I set up over in Golli.”
I chewed nervously on a piece of loose skin on my bottom lip. Not the best thing I ever agreed to- that P.O. Box. “What did he say?”
“Dear Carlie,”she wiggled her eyebrows dramatically.
“Things in Grover are painfully the same as ever, I hope wherever you are- you live close to an ocean of at least a beach so you can escape this heat. Someone made an offer on the house, so I might be moving soon myself. Maybe now I’ll be able to get that Lake house I’ve always wanted. I miss
having you around.
Love, Dad.
P.S. There were two men here yesterday asking about Willow. They
didn’t say it out loud, but I’m pretty sure they were werewolves. Be careful,
Carlie.”
My eyes widened at the postscript and now seemed frozen that way. “Two werewolves were looking for me?” I gasped.
Carlie was already shaking her head, though. “Dad thinks all strangers are werewolves. It’s probably nothing.”
She had read the letter to me, though. It must be something. “Yeah,” I mumbled, “probably nothing.”
“Anyways…”
“What if it was Gage?” I burst out hopefully.
“Maybe,” she shrugged. Just not as excited as I wanted her to be.
“Your dad never saw Gage, right?” I continued eagerly.
“I don’t know.”
“I mean… he might not know what he looks like.”
“I still don’t think they were wolves,” she folded her letter slowly back into a square and put it in her back pocket, “but either way- there were two men, not one.”
My heart slammed back into its proper place. It wasn’t Gage, of course it wasn’t Gage. It had to be someone else. After the disappointment began to wear off, a new worry was quick to take its place. Who was looking for me? Who would even know to look? Or care?
Bella.
No matter how nonchalant Carlie pretended to be, we both knew what this meant. Bella was looking for us. I wasn’t any more ready to fight her than I had been in Grover. I chewed nervously on my thumbnail. Maybe they wouldn’t be able to follow us from Grover.
Maybe…
“Boys are back,”Carlie warned in a low voice.
The banging of the door drowned out most of her warning. “Hey,” Jed was at the front- studying me with narrowed eyes.
“Hey what?” I pushed my hair behind my ears, avoiding eye contact and blushing furiously.
“We just… um…heard… or…”
“Or what?” This time I did look up at him, daring him to say it.
“Nothing,” he backpedaled. Jed- and all the boys- knew I hated when they “heard” what I was feeling. Mostly I dealt with it as graciously as I could, but sometimes my emotions took over. It was humiliating for the boys to know my feelings- all the time.
“It’s not like we can help it,” Rueben started.
“I’m fine,” I snapped, sliding off the stool I had been sitting on so quickly that I almost fell backwards.
“Are you sure?”Rueben’s bushy eyebrows shot up high on his forehead.
“I’m just hot.”I flicked my shirt several times, trying in vain to dry some of the sweat that made the material stick to my skin. “Indiana is hot.”
Chapter Two
Return of the Council
It was hard to fall asleep that night. My mind was too full to shut down and my heart was too heavy to ignore. When would I stop hoping and waiting for Gage to come back to us?
It had taken a long time to try and convince the boys that I was fine and in the end, we passed around Carlie’s letter from her dad. The boys insisted on keeping watch that night. There were only two wolves looking, which meant they were only scouts and they wouldn’t actually approach us, but I understood their need to do something, so I easily let it go.
Deciding that I had stared at the ceiling long enough, I rolled over to one side. The blue glare from the numbers on the clock made my eyes hurt, but not any easier to close. 1:24. At least I didn’t have to get up for school.
The local high school didn’t start for a few more weeks. The boys flat out refused to go and Carlie said she would only go if I did. I made another face at the clock, then rolled onto my other side.
Maybe going to school wasn’t such a bad idea. I had been trying to decide since coming to Judson if I would go back for my senior year. Carlie had said I needed a distraction. The letter had failed miserably, but she did have a point. All I did these days was obsessively worry about Gage coming back, about Bella coming back, and not knowing where Ivy was.
A distraction was exactly what I needed.
“High school?” I whispered to the shadows dancing on my walls. I wasn’t sure if I could take anymore high school.
Carlie’s here, though. The shadows argued with me.
“I know, but…”
A piercing howl cut off any more crazy conversation I was planning on having with the wall. All sound stopped as I listened for another howl. I didn’t have to wait long; Then I was bolting out of bed. The blankets were wrapped around my legs so I was forced to go head first, but I sprang up off the floor in a flash and was out the door in the same second.
Inside, I already knew it wasn’t one of the boys, but seeing them all in the living room made my already overworked heart jump even more. Without words, the six boys positioned themselves in a tight circle with me in the middle. Carlie wasn’t downstairs. How nice it must be to be able to sleep through this.
We all stood silently in our tight little circle, straining to hear any little noise. Another howl sounded. It wasn’t any closer, but that wasn’t much comfort.
As one, we shuffled to the window nearest us. Our sight wasn’t as bad as humans, but with our human eyes, it was impossible to see very far into the darkness. Especially not through a pane of glass.
“Let’s go outside so we can see better,” I breathed; conscious of waking Carlie up and the fact that the other wolf was close enough to hear us.
Once at the door, I pushed ahead to pull it open. Jed fell obediently behind me without a sound. The air outside was still sticky with heat. It hadn’t cooled down much even with the setting of the sun. I barely noticed the weather, though, all my senses were trained outward, trying to find out our intruder.
I heard the air whoosh into my lungs and back out again in a loud gasp that seemed to fill the air around us. There was no one out there, no one in sight, at least. “I don’t see anyone,” Rueben whispered.
“Rueben, Jed-you two take a turn around the house. Stay close and don’t go anywhere alone.”they nodded once and trotted the few steps down to the ground. Jed turned back to me, his eyes questioning. I shook my head- no, don’t turn to a wolf. That was Gage’s first rule; stay on two legs until we knew what was going on for sure.
Jed acknowledged me with a glance and the two boys were off into the night. The other four boys fanned themselves behind me. Even on two legs, Jed and Rueben were back quickly.
“There’s no one,”Rueben informed me.
“Maybe they left?” Rodney ventured.
“I don’t think so,” I whispered. My eyes narrowed into thin slits, making the world darker and more focused. I carefully scanned the large yard in front of our house and moved my eyes to include the small cluster of trees just beyond that.
There was no movement that I could see- no sounds that I could hear- but I knew he was out there. A feeling like ice crept up my spine and traveled down my legs. I waited- tense- watching for the wolf to make himself known.
Maybe seeing me was enough. He could go back to Bella now and tell her that we had been found. Then what? Bella would probably gather her pack and any stragglers she found along the way and come here for us. Were we strong enough to not get slaughtered? It might be too late now anyways.
“Maybe you were right,” I turned to Rodney, “I don’t hear anything.”
“That’s because we’re really quiet,” a man spoke from way too close.
There was instantaneous movement then. Jed and Rueben were back on the porch and we all turned to face the two strange men. The boys positioned themselves close behind me with Jed and Rueben closest to my sides.
“Who are you? What are you doing here?” I demanded, trying to sound braver than I felt.
“You must be Willow,” one man stepped forward to offer a half hopeful smile.
“Who are you?” I asked again.
He stood straight and stiff just a few feet away from me. In the shadows of the night, his hair looked black and hung just past his chin. I couldn’t tell what color his eyes were, but they were intense and never left my face.
It was hard to tear my eyes from him long enough to glance at the second man who stood just behind him. He was shorter than his dark haired friend, and built thicker. His hair was buzzed close to his scalp. Neither man was smiling.
“You know Gage,”the dark-haired man claimed my attention.
The name on his lips made my breath catch, but I did my best not to show it. “Gage isn’t here.”
I ignored the low growl behind me. So far, these two men, although not friendly, weren’t being hostile. Hopefully things would stay like that.
“I know he isn’t.”His eyes dropped briefly.
“So?” I cocked one eyebrow in question.
“We’re from the council.” My tongue stuck to the roof of my mouth so I wasn’t able to form any words. One of these men was Gage’s brother. I already knew it was the dark haired man. “I’m Darren,” he said when I was silent, “and this is Curtis.”
“Corey,” he corrected gruffly.
A flicker of a smile touched Darren’s lips and then he was quickly serious again. “You remember Blake?”
How could I forget Blake? The crazy council man who had sided up with Bella to take down Andros. And the man who had named me leader of my pack. No, I didn’t forget Blake. I nodded my head slowly. “Did you two join Bella’s
pack, too?”
“Bella?”
“No,” Corey answered at the same time, “we have no pack.”
“Who’s Bella?”Darren asked, ignoring Corey completely.
“Bella is…” How did I describe Bella? My evil mother who wanted to take over the Ancient City?
“Fern,” Rueben supplied.
“Fern” I agreed.“Bella is Fern.”
Corey and Darren exchanged a look that I didn’t understand. “We would never join Fern,” he finally said.
It didn’t make sense, though. Why were they here if they weren’t spying for Bella? They had searched us out; it wasn’t like they just accidentally found us. Why were they here? Instead of asking though, I found myself saying something I never expected to say.
“Do you want to come in?”
“Yeah,” they both nodded in unison.
They couldn’t be all that bad, I reasoned with myself. Darren was Gage’s brother. I couldn’t understand why they were here and Gage wasn’t, but they hadn’t tried to hurt us yet and they weren’t here for Bella.
In an effort to sit as close to me as possible, the boys ended up sitting very close to one another and pressed against the chair I was on. I pulled my legs up under me to give them more space while Corey and Darren sat on the old brown couch across from us.
An uncomfortable silence erupted all around us. Both sides stared at the other, not saying anything. I had a hundred questions to ask, but how did I know I could trust these two? They worked for Andros. What kind of wolf would work for a vamp? A twisted one- with tainted blood. Suddenly, I only wanted them to leave.
“Why isn’t Gage with you?” Jed broke the silence first.
“He couldn’t come here,” Darren did the talking for their duo.
Couldn’t or wouldn’t? “Have you two ever had a female?” I blurted out. I don’t even know what made me ask. There was just something unnatural about these two.
“We did,” Darren nodded. “We were in a pack together before Andros took over the City.”
“Andros killed your female and the rest of your pack?”
“And you still joined him?” At least Steven was as disgusted as I was.
“Where else would we have gone?”
Fight, you could have fought him and avenged the rest of your pack. It probably wasn’t the time to get into all of that though, not before we even knew what they wanted.
“Gage told you about us?”
Darren turned his ancient eyes back to me. It was still hard to tell what color they were-just dark and bottomless. “He did. He told us many things about you, Willow.”
I blushed and ducked my head, picking at the loose thread on the chair under me. “And the pack?”
“He told us they are strong.”
“The strongest he has seen since his own,” Corey added.
I felt the pride of the pack mingle with my own until a small smile creased my lips. “He taught us to be strong.”
“You were strong before you met my brother. He only taught you to control that strength.”
My eyebrows furrowed at his words. He talked even worse than Gage. “Is that why you came,”I asked impatiently, “to tell us how great Gage thought we were?”
“No.” He shared another look with Corey.
I bit down on the inside of my lip. Here it was, their real reason for finding us. I hoped it wasn’t to ask to join our pack or anything. I could barely deal with the six I had to take care of now, no way did I want to add two more to the mix. I was already rehearsing ways to let them down easily when Darren spoke again.
“We’ve come to ask for your help.”
“My help with what?”
“We need you to go to the Ancient City with us and free a prisoner.”
If my eyes were narrowed before, they popped open wide at his unexpected request. “What?”
“Come to the Ancient City with us,” he repeated. It sounded just as crazy the second time.
“Why… I…,” I snapped my lips shut on my stuttering. “We are not going to the Ancient City. No way.”
“There’s a prisoner there.”
“I don’t care.”
“He’s been thrown in jail for a crime he didn’t commit.”
“That’s not my problem.”
“He’ll be put to death if we don’t get him out of there.”
“Look, I’m sorry, but there is no way we’re going to the Ancient City to rescue your friend. I’m in no hurry to see Andros.” How could these two have actually thought I would just come with them? Did they think I was so careless?
“Things are different in the City,” Darren pleaded.
“We’re not going and that’s final.” I folded my arms across my chest. “I’m sorry you wasted your time.”
“It’s Gage,”Corey finally spoke.
“What?” My arms fell slowly until they were back as my sides, but Corey wouldn’t repeat himself. “What did he say?” I asked Darren.
There was a slight hesitation and then, “They’ve taken Gage as a prisoner.”
Fern
Chapter One
New Town
“It’s strange how fast life changes. Just when you think you have it all figured out, a council man hands you six werewolves to take care of. The boys and I were doing better now that we had left Grover behind, but I wasn’t sure how this new town would work out. I was only sure that I wanted Gage to come back, but he didn’t want to.”
Indiana was hot in August, hotter than any place I had ever lived. It was flat too, not a single hill dotted the horizon. There was nothing to break up the monotony of field and flat grass. “I don’t think I have ever seen this much corn,” Carlie complained beside me.
“If it gets much hotter, we’ll have popcorn,” Jed tried to tease, but no one laughed. “Then we can rent a movie…”
“It is just too hot to laugh at your poor attempt at humor, Jed,” Carlie informed him.
“You have to admit, though, these are kind of cool, huh?” He wriggled his eyebrows and held up his small battery powered fan.
It was a tiny little fan that you held in your hands. It was only big enough to dry the sweat on your face, not really keep you cool. We thought they were cute at first, a real laugh, but now they were essential.
“I think mine is starting to short out though,” Tyson held his up in his large hands so we could all see that the blades were just barely spinning.
“Sucks for you,”Colby laughed.
“It’s going to suck for you when I take yours,” he growled back.
I rolled my eyes and moved out of their way. “I don’t know how they have the energy to fight,” I told Carlie.
“I know. If they morph, then they have to deal with all that fur.”
“Hope they have a heat stroke.”
She grinned at me, but had to jump out of the way quickly when a mass of grey and brown fur flew by us. We were lucky and found an old farmhouse to rent within weeks of leaving Grover. I hated to think of the boys being confined by a town. I rolled my eyes and slouched lower in my seat.
It had been surprisingly easy to decide on the small farming community of Judson, Indiana as our new home. It was small enough for us to go virtually unnoticed and the large farmhouse situated perfectly on the outskirts of town seemed to be designed just for us.
I had worried about how we were going to pay for it at first. Carlie offered us the use of what was in her savings account, which would pay for two months, after that we could decide what to do. It turned out that I had nothing to worry about, though. Tyson thrust a large duffle bag stuffed with
crumpled up bills into my arms.
“Where did you get this?” I asked, my heart thundering somewhere between my chest and my throat.
Jed shrugged, his face turning red. “Just… been saving it.”
“We can’t use this,” I pushed the bag back at him.
His fingers closed firmly over mine. “Yes we can. I don’t think your credit card is going to work now.”
He was right, of course, and in the end, it didn’t matter how many times I objected. There was no other way and we both knew it. The old man who showed us the house didn’t question a thing after we gave him cash for the first three months rent. He didn’t care where we got it or that we were two teens renting a house alone. I thought it was best for Jed and I to go alone and talk to the landlord, the sight of all of us might have changed his mind about taking our money.
The only regret I had about leaving Grover was Gage. He wouldn’t know where we were now; in case he ever wanted to come back. I had only voiced those concerns out loud to Carlie and she assured me that he would be able to find us if he really wanted to. Even though I knew she was right, it didn’t make me feel much better.
Maybe it was because I knew he didn’t want to.
I tried not to think of the last time we talked. I had practically threw myself at him and he still walked away. “He went to warn his brother,” Carlie had said. She was right again, of course, but still…
I sighed again and turned to watch the two boys snapping at each other. It was easier if I focused on them instead of things I couldn’t change. Gage.
“My money is on Tyson,” Carlie mumbled.
“You’re on,” I murmured back.
Suddenly, a low yelp sounded in the air and I groaned in defeat. Colby came limping back to lay at my feet. Tyson sauntered over on two legs and snatched up his brothers fan. “Way to go Tyson,” Carlie cheered.
He turned and grinned a wide boyish smile as us. “Willow, I’m hurt that you would bet against me.” He brought one hand up dramatically to cover his heart.
“Oh please,” I scoffed, “you never win against Colby.”
“That’s not true.” He tilted the fan in my direction. “I just did.”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” I rolled my eyes again as a chorus of laughter erupted.
“Good thing we didn’t bet real money,” Carlie commented lazily.
I rose stiffly from my chair, flexing my sore muscles from sitting too long. “Ow,” I groaned, rubbing the back of my neck.
“What’s wrong?”There was an instant flutter of motion and I was surrounded by too many warm bodies.
“Fine.” I pushed against the nearest chest and swatted away an arm. “It’s too hot out here, I’m going inside.”
“We’ll go with you,” Rodney automatically offered.
“I don’t think so.”Steven’s face fell almost comically. “You guys should go for a run.”
“Down by the river?” Steven’s eyes lit back up.
“Yeah, ok. Just don’t let anyone see you.”
They were morphed before I even got the last word out and bounding happily away. The river was almost too close to other people, but how could I deny them that small pleasure of cooling off? They’d done well so far keeping out of trouble.
My heart swelled with pride all over again. My boys were naturals; so much better than Bella’s. Not for the first time that day, I wondered where they were. Did Bella know where we were even now? Was Ivy with her?
“I know that look,” Carlie called out.
“What look?” I tried to smooth my forehead out but only managed to crinkle it more. “There’s no look.”
“You’re worried about something.” Her look could only be completed by a wagging finger. “Who is it this time? Bella? Gage? Ivy?”
“There’s no look,” I muttered, letting the door swing shut behind me as I stomped into the kitchen. For being a human, Carlie was unusually perceptive.
I pulled the cupboard open with more force than necessary, causing the hinge to creak, but luckily the door stayed on. Jed had pulled one off last week and after all the yelling, I was pretty sure I would never live down a copycat crime.
I let out a deep breath before pulling down a clear glass mug. I needed some orange juice and deep breaths. So what if I was worried about Bella… or Ivy… or even Gage.
After Bella tried to take my pack in Grover, I was constantly on the lookout for a repeat performance. Bella could find us just as easily as Gage. I would be crazy not to worry.
And Ivy was my sister. She was out there somewhere and I had no way of knowing if she was ok or not. She was probably still with Bella, but she would be of age soon. Now that the plan to take over the Ancient City was ruined, I didn’t know what Bella would do to Ivy. There was nothing wrong with being worried about my sister.
And Gage…
“Ugh,” I pinched the bridge of my nose and when that didn’t do anything, I laid my head on the counter.
“Gage,” I whispered into the countertop. I couldn’t get him out of my head. I had thought a new town would help, but if anything- it was worse.
The back door slammed shut, signaling that Carlie had followed me. “You know what you need?” she asked brightly.
“A bullet to the head?” I didn’t bother looking up. Carlie was too happy; I couldn’t stand it.
“No,” she let the word draw out into several syllables.
“Orange juice?”
“Here.” She pushed the now full glass across the counter until it bumped into my elbow.
I sighed but it was probably useless to ignore her. I sat up slowly, dragging my forehead against the marble. “You know,” I took a sip of orange juice, “you didn’t have to follow me.”
She didn’t even blink. “Do you know what you need?” she asked again.
“Haven’t we already had this conversation?”
She pulled a folded piece of paper from her back pocket. “A distraction.”
“What?” My eyebrows shot down low. “What is that?”
“I got a letter from my dad.”
“Oh.” Carlie’s dad was one of the knights of Andros- a secret werewolf hunting club. Talking about him always made me uncomfortable. “You didn’t tell him where we are, did you?”
“Of course not.”She smoothed the paper out in her hands. “He’s still writing to the P.O. Box I set up over in Golli.”
I chewed nervously on a piece of loose skin on my bottom lip. Not the best thing I ever agreed to- that P.O. Box. “What did he say?”
“Dear Carlie,”she wiggled her eyebrows dramatically.
“Things in Grover are painfully the same as ever, I hope wherever you are- you live close to an ocean of at least a beach so you can escape this heat. Someone made an offer on the house, so I might be moving soon myself. Maybe now I’ll be able to get that Lake house I’ve always wanted. I miss
having you around.
Love, Dad.
P.S. There were two men here yesterday asking about Willow. They
didn’t say it out loud, but I’m pretty sure they were werewolves. Be careful,
Carlie.”
My eyes widened at the postscript and now seemed frozen that way. “Two werewolves were looking for me?” I gasped.
Carlie was already shaking her head, though. “Dad thinks all strangers are werewolves. It’s probably nothing.”
She had read the letter to me, though. It must be something. “Yeah,” I mumbled, “probably nothing.”
“Anyways…”
“What if it was Gage?” I burst out hopefully.
“Maybe,” she shrugged. Just not as excited as I wanted her to be.
“Your dad never saw Gage, right?” I continued eagerly.
“I don’t know.”
“I mean… he might not know what he looks like.”
“I still don’t think they were wolves,” she folded her letter slowly back into a square and put it in her back pocket, “but either way- there were two men, not one.”
My heart slammed back into its proper place. It wasn’t Gage, of course it wasn’t Gage. It had to be someone else. After the disappointment began to wear off, a new worry was quick to take its place. Who was looking for me? Who would even know to look? Or care?
Bella.
No matter how nonchalant Carlie pretended to be, we both knew what this meant. Bella was looking for us. I wasn’t any more ready to fight her than I had been in Grover. I chewed nervously on my thumbnail. Maybe they wouldn’t be able to follow us from Grover.
Maybe…
“Boys are back,”Carlie warned in a low voice.
The banging of the door drowned out most of her warning. “Hey,” Jed was at the front- studying me with narrowed eyes.
“Hey what?” I pushed my hair behind my ears, avoiding eye contact and blushing furiously.
“We just… um…heard… or…”
“Or what?” This time I did look up at him, daring him to say it.
“Nothing,” he backpedaled. Jed- and all the boys- knew I hated when they “heard” what I was feeling. Mostly I dealt with it as graciously as I could, but sometimes my emotions took over. It was humiliating for the boys to know my feelings- all the time.
“It’s not like we can help it,” Rueben started.
“I’m fine,” I snapped, sliding off the stool I had been sitting on so quickly that I almost fell backwards.
“Are you sure?”Rueben’s bushy eyebrows shot up high on his forehead.
“I’m just hot.”I flicked my shirt several times, trying in vain to dry some of the sweat that made the material stick to my skin. “Indiana is hot.”
Chapter Two
Return of the Council
It was hard to fall asleep that night. My mind was too full to shut down and my heart was too heavy to ignore. When would I stop hoping and waiting for Gage to come back to us?
It had taken a long time to try and convince the boys that I was fine and in the end, we passed around Carlie’s letter from her dad. The boys insisted on keeping watch that night. There were only two wolves looking, which meant they were only scouts and they wouldn’t actually approach us, but I understood their need to do something, so I easily let it go.
Deciding that I had stared at the ceiling long enough, I rolled over to one side. The blue glare from the numbers on the clock made my eyes hurt, but not any easier to close. 1:24. At least I didn’t have to get up for school.
The local high school didn’t start for a few more weeks. The boys flat out refused to go and Carlie said she would only go if I did. I made another face at the clock, then rolled onto my other side.
Maybe going to school wasn’t such a bad idea. I had been trying to decide since coming to Judson if I would go back for my senior year. Carlie had said I needed a distraction. The letter had failed miserably, but she did have a point. All I did these days was obsessively worry about Gage coming back, about Bella coming back, and not knowing where Ivy was.
A distraction was exactly what I needed.
“High school?” I whispered to the shadows dancing on my walls. I wasn’t sure if I could take anymore high school.
Carlie’s here, though. The shadows argued with me.
“I know, but…”
A piercing howl cut off any more crazy conversation I was planning on having with the wall. All sound stopped as I listened for another howl. I didn’t have to wait long; Then I was bolting out of bed. The blankets were wrapped around my legs so I was forced to go head first, but I sprang up off the floor in a flash and was out the door in the same second.
Inside, I already knew it wasn’t one of the boys, but seeing them all in the living room made my already overworked heart jump even more. Without words, the six boys positioned themselves in a tight circle with me in the middle. Carlie wasn’t downstairs. How nice it must be to be able to sleep through this.
We all stood silently in our tight little circle, straining to hear any little noise. Another howl sounded. It wasn’t any closer, but that wasn’t much comfort.
As one, we shuffled to the window nearest us. Our sight wasn’t as bad as humans, but with our human eyes, it was impossible to see very far into the darkness. Especially not through a pane of glass.
“Let’s go outside so we can see better,” I breathed; conscious of waking Carlie up and the fact that the other wolf was close enough to hear us.
Once at the door, I pushed ahead to pull it open. Jed fell obediently behind me without a sound. The air outside was still sticky with heat. It hadn’t cooled down much even with the setting of the sun. I barely noticed the weather, though, all my senses were trained outward, trying to find out our intruder.
I heard the air whoosh into my lungs and back out again in a loud gasp that seemed to fill the air around us. There was no one out there, no one in sight, at least. “I don’t see anyone,” Rueben whispered.
“Rueben, Jed-you two take a turn around the house. Stay close and don’t go anywhere alone.”they nodded once and trotted the few steps down to the ground. Jed turned back to me, his eyes questioning. I shook my head- no, don’t turn to a wolf. That was Gage’s first rule; stay on two legs until we knew what was going on for sure.
Jed acknowledged me with a glance and the two boys were off into the night. The other four boys fanned themselves behind me. Even on two legs, Jed and Rueben were back quickly.
“There’s no one,”Rueben informed me.
“Maybe they left?” Rodney ventured.
“I don’t think so,” I whispered. My eyes narrowed into thin slits, making the world darker and more focused. I carefully scanned the large yard in front of our house and moved my eyes to include the small cluster of trees just beyond that.
There was no movement that I could see- no sounds that I could hear- but I knew he was out there. A feeling like ice crept up my spine and traveled down my legs. I waited- tense- watching for the wolf to make himself known.
Maybe seeing me was enough. He could go back to Bella now and tell her that we had been found. Then what? Bella would probably gather her pack and any stragglers she found along the way and come here for us. Were we strong enough to not get slaughtered? It might be too late now anyways.
“Maybe you were right,” I turned to Rodney, “I don’t hear anything.”
“That’s because we’re really quiet,” a man spoke from way too close.
There was instantaneous movement then. Jed and Rueben were back on the porch and we all turned to face the two strange men. The boys positioned themselves close behind me with Jed and Rueben closest to my sides.
“Who are you? What are you doing here?” I demanded, trying to sound braver than I felt.
“You must be Willow,” one man stepped forward to offer a half hopeful smile.
“Who are you?” I asked again.
He stood straight and stiff just a few feet away from me. In the shadows of the night, his hair looked black and hung just past his chin. I couldn’t tell what color his eyes were, but they were intense and never left my face.
It was hard to tear my eyes from him long enough to glance at the second man who stood just behind him. He was shorter than his dark haired friend, and built thicker. His hair was buzzed close to his scalp. Neither man was smiling.
“You know Gage,”the dark-haired man claimed my attention.
The name on his lips made my breath catch, but I did my best not to show it. “Gage isn’t here.”
I ignored the low growl behind me. So far, these two men, although not friendly, weren’t being hostile. Hopefully things would stay like that.
“I know he isn’t.”His eyes dropped briefly.
“So?” I cocked one eyebrow in question.
“We’re from the council.” My tongue stuck to the roof of my mouth so I wasn’t able to form any words. One of these men was Gage’s brother. I already knew it was the dark haired man. “I’m Darren,” he said when I was silent, “and this is Curtis.”
“Corey,” he corrected gruffly.
A flicker of a smile touched Darren’s lips and then he was quickly serious again. “You remember Blake?”
How could I forget Blake? The crazy council man who had sided up with Bella to take down Andros. And the man who had named me leader of my pack. No, I didn’t forget Blake. I nodded my head slowly. “Did you two join Bella’s
pack, too?”
“Bella?”
“No,” Corey answered at the same time, “we have no pack.”
“Who’s Bella?”Darren asked, ignoring Corey completely.
“Bella is…” How did I describe Bella? My evil mother who wanted to take over the Ancient City?
“Fern,” Rueben supplied.
“Fern” I agreed.“Bella is Fern.”
Corey and Darren exchanged a look that I didn’t understand. “We would never join Fern,” he finally said.
It didn’t make sense, though. Why were they here if they weren’t spying for Bella? They had searched us out; it wasn’t like they just accidentally found us. Why were they here? Instead of asking though, I found myself saying something I never expected to say.
“Do you want to come in?”
“Yeah,” they both nodded in unison.
They couldn’t be all that bad, I reasoned with myself. Darren was Gage’s brother. I couldn’t understand why they were here and Gage wasn’t, but they hadn’t tried to hurt us yet and they weren’t here for Bella.
In an effort to sit as close to me as possible, the boys ended up sitting very close to one another and pressed against the chair I was on. I pulled my legs up under me to give them more space while Corey and Darren sat on the old brown couch across from us.
An uncomfortable silence erupted all around us. Both sides stared at the other, not saying anything. I had a hundred questions to ask, but how did I know I could trust these two? They worked for Andros. What kind of wolf would work for a vamp? A twisted one- with tainted blood. Suddenly, I only wanted them to leave.
“Why isn’t Gage with you?” Jed broke the silence first.
“He couldn’t come here,” Darren did the talking for their duo.
Couldn’t or wouldn’t? “Have you two ever had a female?” I blurted out. I don’t even know what made me ask. There was just something unnatural about these two.
“We did,” Darren nodded. “We were in a pack together before Andros took over the City.”
“Andros killed your female and the rest of your pack?”
“And you still joined him?” At least Steven was as disgusted as I was.
“Where else would we have gone?”
Fight, you could have fought him and avenged the rest of your pack. It probably wasn’t the time to get into all of that though, not before we even knew what they wanted.
“Gage told you about us?”
Darren turned his ancient eyes back to me. It was still hard to tell what color they were-just dark and bottomless. “He did. He told us many things about you, Willow.”
I blushed and ducked my head, picking at the loose thread on the chair under me. “And the pack?”
“He told us they are strong.”
“The strongest he has seen since his own,” Corey added.
I felt the pride of the pack mingle with my own until a small smile creased my lips. “He taught us to be strong.”
“You were strong before you met my brother. He only taught you to control that strength.”
My eyebrows furrowed at his words. He talked even worse than Gage. “Is that why you came,”I asked impatiently, “to tell us how great Gage thought we were?”
“No.” He shared another look with Corey.
I bit down on the inside of my lip. Here it was, their real reason for finding us. I hoped it wasn’t to ask to join our pack or anything. I could barely deal with the six I had to take care of now, no way did I want to add two more to the mix. I was already rehearsing ways to let them down easily when Darren spoke again.
“We’ve come to ask for your help.”
“My help with what?”
“We need you to go to the Ancient City with us and free a prisoner.”
If my eyes were narrowed before, they popped open wide at his unexpected request. “What?”
“Come to the Ancient City with us,” he repeated. It sounded just as crazy the second time.
“Why… I…,” I snapped my lips shut on my stuttering. “We are not going to the Ancient City. No way.”
“There’s a prisoner there.”
“I don’t care.”
“He’s been thrown in jail for a crime he didn’t commit.”
“That’s not my problem.”
“He’ll be put to death if we don’t get him out of there.”
“Look, I’m sorry, but there is no way we’re going to the Ancient City to rescue your friend. I’m in no hurry to see Andros.” How could these two have actually thought I would just come with them? Did they think I was so careless?
“Things are different in the City,” Darren pleaded.
“We’re not going and that’s final.” I folded my arms across my chest. “I’m sorry you wasted your time.”
“It’s Gage,”Corey finally spoke.
“What?” My arms fell slowly until they were back as my sides, but Corey wouldn’t repeat himself. “What did he say?” I asked Darren.
There was a slight hesitation and then, “They’ve taken Gage as a prisoner.”
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