Read Arianna's Tale: The Beginning Page 7

  Chapter 5

  I kept having that dream with the wolves wandering around, but every once in a while, it would shift and I’d be standing in the woods with them walking around me. Only once, while we were walking in the woods, several of them ran off and I heard a bloodcurdling scream that sounded gravelly and not really human; still, I ran off towards the sound. I hate to admit what I saw then, but… they had attacked a troll doll, well, a slightly larger than human-sized troll doll that appeared to be alive and was bleeding black goo.

  Needless to say, I was starting to feel a little crazy, especially with how often I kept seeing the animals running in the tree lines, because they were always there no matter where I was traveling or who I was with.

  Everywhere we went over the next three days, we saw Alex. It didn’t matter if I was with Austin, with Jason, or with both of them; it also didn’t matter where we went, Alex was always there. The only thing that changed was who was with him.

  It was Jason’s birthday when Dad pulled me aside in the kitchen and I heard Austin and Jason playing a video game in the living room.

  “Good news, bad news… which first?” Dad asked like he always did when he knew he had to say something we didn’t want to hear.

  “Bad,” I replied like I always had. I’d rather hear the bad first and then get the good. He sighed before he took a deep breath.

  “The trial is going to have to be public…” he revealed and my heart thudded painfully in my chest, “I’ve done everything I can, called in every favor I could… but it’s too big.”

  “Why does it have to go to trial?” my voice came out in a whispered breath as I held back tears.

  “Well, that’s the good news,” Dad continued and I looked at him through blurred eyes, “He might not wake up… but if he does, the D.A. is willing to offer him a plea bargain to keep it out of court. Five years, no probation.”

  “Five years…?” I whispered even quieter and he smiled distantly as he nodded.

  “Ten years is the maximum sentence in this state, and there’s only one person that’s ever been sentenced to the full ten years. It’s a good deal, I promise you,” Dad swore, reaching his hand toward me before he pulled it back. He was afraid to touch me, afraid I’d break? I wrapped my arms around him and he held me tightly. “I’m so sorry you’re having to go through this,” he sighed across my ear, “Is there anything I can do to help?”

  I shook my head, letting my tears collect on his shirt. Dad was Dad, whether I was adopted or not; this was the man that had raised me, that had been involved in my life, even if he was frequently absent.

  “Don’t tell them,” I murmured into his shirt before I stepped away from him and rubbed my arm over my eyes, “Please don’t tell them.”

  “Hadn’t planned on it,” Dad assured as I sniffled and wiped at my eyes, “Are you all right?”

  “Yeah… I’m just… going to go outside for a little while,” I told him and he smiled as he stepped out of my way so I could walk out the door into the backyard.

  Our backyard wasn’t huge, and it was lined by trees like every other part of this weird town. Despite the trees, the sun rained down warmth on the soft grass and my bare feet loved every second of it.

  I walked out to the middle of the yard, and fell onto the grass on my back, staring up at the blue sky. Summer was not my favorite time of year, it got too hot and bright outside for me, but it was still early, and we lived further north now, and it felt like spring.

  I felt someone watching me, again, and propped myself up on my elbows, looking at the house, but no one was at any of the windows or doors. I turned slowly toward the woods and felt like I was staring whoever was watching me down, but I couldn’t see anyone. It wasn’t the first time this had happened in the past three days, and still, I realized I should be scared—someone was watching me but I couldn’t see them, but I never could conjure up the emotion… for some odd reason, I always felt safer.

  Still, I stood up, dusted the grass off of me, and walked to the back door, pausing only long enough to glance at the woods again before I slipped inside. Dad was gone back to work, but I still heard Austin and Jason in the living room playing video games.

  I took another minute to compose myself. My hands were still shaking as I clenched and unclenched them from fists repeatedly at my sides until they stopped. When I was certain I appeared okay, I went into the living room and joined in on the games until it was time to leave.

  True to their word, they threw a huge party for Jason’s birthday, but unlike the bonfire, this one was out in a field with lights somehow strung up in the trees marking the path from the main road, around the edge of the field, and around the old barn that they’d turned into a dance floor and huge buffet.

  I spent most of the evening outside on a small bench I’d found, staring up at the stars and thinking, or trying not to think, really. The seat beside me remained mostly occupied by Alex, despite the fact that I hardly spoke until he started asking random questions.

  “What is your favorite color?”

  “Purple, or blue… why?” I retorted and he shrugged.

  “Trying to get to know you better. Favorite animal?”

  “I don’t know, really… I like wild cats… and wolves… beautiful, but dangerous creatures that have to be viewed from afar.”

  He chuckled, “Interesting choices. Favorite sport?”

  “Oh… archery,” I mumbled softly.

  “Very interesting choice. Favorite season?”

  “Spring.”

  “Not summer?”

  “Too hot… I like spring best….”

  “Favorite food?”

  “Um… spaghetti.”

  “What I have to do to get you to go on a date with me?”

  I darted my eyes to him to find him smiling softly. “Alex… I…” I faltered, turning him down didn’t seem like the wisest idea, thankfully I thought of another alternative, “You have to tell me in detail what exactly is going on here… no tricks, either… you know what I’m talking about.”

  He laughed a real laugh and it was one of the sweetest sounds I’d ever heard. “You are impossible, Arianna. If those words had come from Rayne, you would not have given him such an unachievable task.” His laugh trailed off into a sigh, “What do I have to do…? What have I done to make you dislike me?”

  “I don’t dislike you… I don’t trust the things going on around here…” I murmured, staring down at my lap.

  “But if Rayne had asked you out… would you have given him the same answer?” He continued, but I shrugged my shoulders, staring out at the tree line. My eyes widened briefly, I saw it again, the thing running through the trees, but as I watched, it stopped across from me. I caught a glance of nearly white fur before it was gone. When I jumped off of the bench to run after it, Alex merely grabbed my wrist and though it stretched his arm out, and mine as well, he managed to stop me in my tracks.

  “Don’t, Arianna,” his voice was calm and firm and left no room for question, but I jerked my arm free and spun to face him.

  “This is why I won’t trust anyone here,” I hissed, lifting my hand to point towards the woods. “There was something out there; something that moves faster than any animal that should be living around here… And you knew it was there and stopped me from going to see what it was.” He stared silently up into my eyes, his aqua eyes nearly entrancing me, but I refused to let him get to me. “Tell me, or leave me alone.”

  “If those are my only two options… then I bid you adieu. But you will not be allowed out into the forest, whether I’m here or not,” he finalized. His hand slid into mine and he kissed my fingertips as he stood up before he turned and walked back into the barn.

  I stared after him for a long moment before looking back out at the tree line. I couldn’t help it, my curiosity was definitely getting the best of me. I only waited a few minutes before walking towards the forest.

  “Hey, Anna,” Jack greeted and I jumped
mid-air as he burst out laughing. I hadn’t even made it halfway across the field before he’d seemed to materialize beside me. “I’m sorry,” he chuckled, “I didn’t mean to scare you. What are you doing out here all by yourself anyway?”

  I sighed and turned towards the cars that were parked in front of the barn. “I’m going home,” I grumbled, but he reached out and grabbed my wrist lightly.

  “Wait a second! Why are you leaving? It’s your brother’s birthday party,” he worriedly questioned and he was right, it was Jason’s birthday party. That was about the only thing that made me hesitate. But Austin and I had driven separately on purpose.

  “Because I want to. You all keep secrets from me, I don’t see why I have to tell you why I want to leave,” I countered coldly, jerking my arm out of his hand and continuing off towards the cars.

  “Anna, please!” Jack pleaded, his voice on the edge of panic as I glanced back at him, “Please, it’s your brother’s birthday party. He would be so upset if you left early!”

  He was right, it would absolutely devastate Jason when he found out I had left. Part of me thought it would serve them right, having to explain to my brother why I had left, but the rational part of me knew they wouldn’t tell him the truth.

  “Leave me alone,” I growled, spinning around and heading toward the barn.

  “Arianna,” a voice beckoned from the shadows of the barn and I froze, one hand darting up to my neck. “Please don’t be angry.”

  There’s no way… Alex hasn’t let me see him at all… Definitely not alone.

  Rayne walked out of the shadows and my breath caught in my throat as I looked at his hazel eyes, barely covered by that white blonde hair of his.

  “Won’t you come inside with me?” he asked, holding his hand out to me. I saw his eyes flicker as I took his hand and he gently squeezed my hand as he led me into the barn. Everyone was clustered around the table in the back where Jason’s gifts had been piled. I swear, he’d never had such an extravagant party in all of his thirteen years. Despite the crowd, I found his eyes and he grinned back at me. Things had been a lot better around the house since Mark had been found, but I still couldn’t really get Jason to go off on his own and make friends. Just like then, he looked at me and the spot next to him, but I looked at the sea of people like a sea, un-crossable. I was also extremely aware of the fact that Rayne had laced his fingers through mine and that the people from his group were staring at us.

  “Come on,” Rayne quietly beckoned, pulling me closer to him as he maneuvered us through the crowd and up to the front. When Jason realized that Rayne was with me, his blue-green eyes darkened.

  “Are you having fun, Jay?” I questioned, releasing Rayne’s hand and hugging Jason which made him smile again.

  “Yeah! This is the coolest party!” he exclaimed and hugged me back, lowering his voice to a whisper, “What are you doing with him?”

  “He was just bringing me inside to watch you open presents,” I fibbed, but the look Jason gave me when he pulled away made it obvious that he didn’t really believe me.

  “Alex doesn’t like you being around him,” he countered and I laughed softly.

  “Alex doesn’t control me, Jay… and Alex knows he’s with me,” I stated with certainty, despite the fact that I hadn’t seen Alex again, I knew he knew.

  “Of course he doesn’t control you,” Jason balked, wide-eyed, “I didn’t mean that… I don’t want you going out with somebody….”

  “Oh… he won’t allow that,” I muttered and shrugged my shoulders, “Don’t worry about that part.”

  “But you said…”

  “He doesn’t control me. Now open your presents,” I insisted and he smiled faintly before turning back to the stack of gifts while I took a step backwards, out of the way.

  Rayne’s hand slid back into mine. I knew it was his without looking which startled me even more than the fact that he was holding my hand in the middle of all these people. But he was standing behind me enough that no one could actually see his hand in mine. I glanced back at him out of the corner of my eye and gasped almost silently. White-blonde hair that looks a lot like that white-blonde furred animal… he appeared out of nowhere when I haven’t seen him since the bonfire… and Jack has completely disappeared. What is going on?

  Rayne’s hazel eyes searched my face and scrunched in concern as I saw them flicker again. “Look how much fun Jason’s having,” he remarked and I did look back at Jason to find him opening another present in the giant pile while Austin removed the trash from the area and Amy kept a list of who had given him which presents. Jason really was having a lot of fun, and I laughed softly, feeling Rayne’s hand briefly tighten on mine.

  When the presents were all open, the food nearly gone, and all the guests started to leave, I watched Alex speaking to Caiden and Tobias who ended up getting my car keys from me and loading all of Jason’s presents into my car. Alex didn’t speak to me, he didn’t even really look at me, he just nodded his head once toward Rayne before Rayne escorted my brothers and me out of the barn.

  They assured us they would take care of cleaning everything up, and after a brief argument with Jason over how there wasn’t any room for him in my car, he climbed in with Austin, and we all headed toward the house.

  I saw the animal in the tree line keeping pace with my car again. It was pale blonde and almost glowed in the moonlight, but just as quickly as I saw it, it disappeared. I pulled off on the side of the road, picking up my cell phone with shaking hands and dialing the one local number I had besides Dad’s. My eyes darted up towards the tree line when I heard a ringtone blaring into the night air, but just as soon as it started, it was silent, and I realized the call I had made was going to voicemail too soon.

  “Hey Jack,” I recited into the phone, trying to stop the quaver of my voice, “It’s Anna… I was just calling to apologize for earlier… I shouldn’t have taken my frustration out on you, you didn’t do anything wrong… Anyway… I’m really sorry. I hope you didn’t disappear because of me. I’ll talk to you later.” I hung up the call and put my phone back in my cup holder, staring out the window for a long minute before I finally started for home again.

  I pulled into the garage and Jason ran back out of the house, his blue-green eyes just the tiniest bit worried until he spotted me.

  “Couldn’t wait for your presents?” I laughed, but he ran over and hugged me tightly when I was out of my car, “I’m fine, Jay. Why are you so worried?”

  “I don’t know,” he whispered, and my eyes did briefly close as I reveled in the familiar comfort of his embrace, but then I remembered what a bad idea that was, that I had to stop encouraging him, and quickly backed away.

  “Help me get your things inside,” I directed and we unloaded all of the presents up to his room.

  Over the next few days, I made a habit of carrying a lounge chair into the back yard, and setting it up in the grass facing the trees. I sat down, and tried to read a book, but I kept looking up at the tree line, expecting to see that animal again.

  Jack called me back the day after the party while I was sitting outside. He sounded really… happy? And assured me that he had run off to tend to a family emergency, but everything was okay, and asked if I had enjoyed the party.

  “Yeah… I really did. Seeing Rayne again was pretty cool. He seems nice… is there any chance you have his phone number?” I hesitantly asked, listening to the silence on the other end for a long minute.

  “Yeah, sure. I’ll text it to you,” he finally stated, the happiness drained from his voice and I felt a knot of guilt in my stomach as I bit my lip and sat up in the chair, swinging my feet to the side as they landed in soft grass. “Anyway, I just wanted to call you back, let you know it wasn’t your fault, and you didn’t need to apologize.”

  “Come over,” I blurted in a whisper, listening to a long stretch of silence again.

  “…What…?” he whispered in shocked confusion.

  “
Come over,” I repeated and he laughed softly.

  “I’ll be over in a minute,” he decided, saying goodbye before we both hung up.

  I looked up at the tree line when I heard the faintest growl, still not scared, but then my phone chimed and I looked down to find a text message from Jack with only a ten digit number. I clicked on the number, and chose the option of a text message.

  Hi, Rayne. Hopefully this is the right number… This is Anna. I just wanted to say thanks for everything at the party last night.

  I clicked send and held my breath. I had convinced myself I would hear a text message chime from the woods, or at least the vibrating of a phone, but I didn’t. I was just settling back into my chair when Jack walked around the side of the house and over to me.

  “I came over,” he announced and I bolted upright in my seat again, looking at the house and then at him curiously. That brief panic was in his eyes again, like it had been the night of the bonfire. “Nobody answered the door, so I took a guess you were back here,” he chuckled, “If you hadn’t been, you probably would have thought I was a stalker or something walking around your house… maybe not my best idea ever.”

  He was crouched on the ground beside me and I inspected his pale blonde hair and emerald eyes curiously while he watched me.

  “How did you even know where I live?” I finally asked and he laughed again.

  “I know where your dad lives because I’ve been over before,” he answered with a grin. He wasn’t lying so completely that I could call him out on it, and I stood up instead.

  “I’ll go get you a chair,” I offered, but he only laughed and fell to sit cross-legged on the grass, “Or you can sit on the ground….”

  “So Alex wanted me to ask you when your birthday is,” Jack remarked after I had sat back down on my lounge chair facing him.

  “August 19th,” I answered with a lifted eyebrow as he frowned.

  “That’s right after school starts! That sucks! Seriously… school starts Monday the 17th, so your birthday is on a Wednesday this year?” he reasoned while I looked at him in confusion and barely nodded, “That just isn’t right….”

  “Why?” I pressed and he jerked his head back to face me and smiled.

  “Alex wanted to throw you a birthday party at the house. But not only is that after school starts, but it’s a school night… so should we do the weekend before or the weekend after?” Jack continued while I watched him curiously.

  “The house?” I wondered, watching that brief panic in his eyes again, “And probably the weekend before since we’ll have homework the weekend after.”

  “Weekend before works,” he agreed, but I kept watching him and he laughed, “Our parents travel a lot on business, so we stay over at Alex’s house a lot and it just became the house, I guess.”

  “His parents travel?” I wondered and Jack barely shook his head.

  “They actually moved to Germany when Alex turned 18 and graduated,” Jack explained but I looked at him with even more confusion, “You didn’t know Alex had graduated… did you?”

  “I had no idea,” I mumbled thoughtfully. So Alex was the same age as Austin? Weird…. “How old are you?”

  “Seventeen,” Jack answered with a shrug, “But my birthday’s in July, so… I just graduated, too.”

  School was starting to sound better and better. No Austin, no Alex … “How old is Rayne?” I suddenly questioned and Jack chewed on his lip for a second.

  “Well… he’s eighteen, but... he’ll be a senior this year,” Jack hesitantly replied, “Speaking of, did you get my text?” I nodded and he smiled faintly. “He’ll be glad to hear from you; he thinks you’re cool.”

  “Oh?” I managed, pulling out my phone and clicking the screen on long enough to see that I didn’t have any new messages, “I already sent him a text… just to say thanks for last night, but he hasn’t replied yet.”

  “I think he was heading into some not-so-great-reception-territory today. I’m sure he’ll answer as soon as he can, don’t worry about it,” Jack assured, but his eyes were distant again and I bit on my lip.

  “So… something really funny happened when I called you last night,” I started, watching his eyes flicker to me from the tree line, “I stopped on the side of the road… I don’t really like to mess with my phone while I’m driving… and when I called you, like right after I hit send, there was music out in the woods, and then it just stopped. It was so weird!” Oh that brief panic, he really needed to work on keeping that out of his eyes… But then he just lifted an eyebrow and laughed.

  “That’s really strange… I wonder what it was,” he answered with a chuckle, “So why did you want me to come over?”

  I just stared blankly at him. Why did I want him to come over? I just kind of blurted out the invitation… but why…? I guess I stared too long, because he laughed and I refocused my attention on him, startled.

  “Do you want me to stay?” he questioned calmly and I chewed on my lip but barely nodded my head, “Then I’ll stay. What are you doing outside anyway?”

  I lamely held up the book I was ‘reading’ and shrugged my shoulders while his eyes scanned the title The Winter Woods and he looked at me curiously.

  “What is it about?” he wondered and I chewed on my lip more, suddenly embarrassed.

  “It’s just supernatural stuff… werewolves, vampires, shapeshifters…” I murmured, watching the amusement in his eyes, “I know, I know… it’s stupid… I just think they’re cool stories….”

  “Do you believe in that stuff?” he asked, restraining laughter as I sighed and stared down at the book in my lap and shrugged my shoulders.

  “I don’t know… maybe…” I mumbled, only briefly looking up at him, “Why would it matter if I did or didn’t?”

  “Just don’t come across that many people that believe in that kind of stuff is all,” Jack chuckled softly, “I’m not making fun of you, I promise. I think that stuff is probably all relatively true.” The smile he gave me relaxed every tension I had and I smiled faintly back at him.

  “I thought I heard a growl in my trees earlier,” I laughed, watching the panic slide through his eyes.

  “All the way over here? This close to a house? Maybe it was a hungry rabbit or something and you heard its stomach growling,” Jack reasoned with a laugh as he fell back to lie on the grass and stared up at the sky, “Or if you really think it was something dangerous, I can go check.” He moved enough so his emerald eyes were looking over at me and he was serious, so serious that my heart skipped.

  “What sense does that make? If I thought it was dangerous, I wouldn’t want you to get hurt,” I uttered and his eyes sparkled as he laughed.

  “Do you want me to check or not?” he pressed and I shook my head.

  “It’s probably just a hungry little animal, like you said,” I decided, even though I didn’t fully believe it and he laughed again as he jumped to his feet and I looked at him wide-eyed. He had been lying on the ground, and in one move, was up on his feet. That flash of panic crossed his eyes before he shrugged his shoulders.

  “I’m pretty athletic… I forget you haven’t been around much,” he remarked before he walked off toward the tree line, exactly where I had heard the growl earlier despite my not telling him that’s where it had come from.

  “Hey, Jack…” I started and he called a ‘hmm?’ over his shoulder to me, “How did… I mean…” I sighed and he paused to look at me, “Every time I’ve seen any of you since that first day I met you… Alex has been there… so… I guess… I mean….”

  “How did I get over here by myself without my chaperone?” Jack chuckled as he walked into the tree line and I tensed my shoulders, “You didn’t invite Alex… you invited me.”

  “And he let you come over alone?” I wondered, watching him stop mostly out of view.

  “Like I said, you didn’t invite him, you invited me. Alex isn’t going to be rude and show up uninvited at your home,” Jack announced, turning
around and starting back towards me, “Nothing dangerous out here.”

  He walked back towards me, all lean muscle, and his eyes settled on me as a smile slid onto his lips.

  “So nothing dangerous you say?” I reiterated his words as I forced my attention to his eyes, “That’s good since you just went walking out into the woods unarmed.”

  “Anna…” Jack began as he stopped in front of me, but he smiled and shook his head. I kept watching him as he crouched down right beside me on the ground, his eyes searching mine were curious. “Do you want to go see a movie?” he quietly asked and I heard the hesitation in his voice.

  “Like a date…?” I whispered barely audibly, not even entirely sure how he heard me as he smiled a tentative smile and barely nodded his head. My heart skipped and I glanced back at the house. My first date… that hadn’t been stolen from me yet. But if I tell Jason where I’m going and who I’m going with… “I…” I stammered, looking back at Jack, “I… it’s Jason…” I faltered, seeing the pain in his eyes, “I can only imagine what he’d do if I actually went out on a date….” That hurt in his eyes made my heart skip and I chewed on my lip, glancing at the house again, “We could go inside and watch something if you wanted….” Hurt was almost instantly replaced with hope, excitement, “I can’t promise Jason won’t join us inside though….”

  “Okay,” Jack chuckled softly, standing up and holding his hand out to me. I took it and he gently pulled me to my feet, “I don’t have a problem with the littlest Gray.”

  When we got inside, I let Jason know what was going on, and he instantly shut off his video game in his room and ran downstairs. I made us a big bowl of popcorn, despite Jack’s initial shock, we watched a scary movie, and I ended up seated between the two of them.

  Does it count as a date when you’ve got a guy that clearly likes you sitting on one side of you and your little brother sitting on the other side?

  I decided after a while that it wasn’t actually a ‘date’ because Jack didn’t try to hold my hand or anything, and he seemed a little startled when I laughed at the gory parts of the movie.

  “Okay… I don’t get it?” he remarked after the movie ended, while Jason was putting stuff away and I walked Jack to the front door since he said he had to get home.

  “It’s just so fake,” I laughed, biting my lip when I found him staring at me, “I mean… stuff like that doesn’t really happen, and even if it did, people aren’t actually that stupid, and even if they were, blood doesn’t look like that.” He was still staring at me and my gaze fell to the ground as I twisted the hem of my shirt through my fingers.

  “So do you think I could take you on a real date any time soon?” Jack quietly asked and I looked at him out of the corner of my eye.

  “J… Jack… you… you know I like Rayne…” I stuttered, seeing the hurt enter his eyes, “A… and I like you… too… but….”

  “It’s okay, I’ll ask again later,” he decided with a distant laugh as his hand slid under my chin and he gently lifted my face back to him and softly kissed my cheek. “But you have to understand something, Anna,” he continued in a whisper beside my ear, “Alex won’t let you be with Rayne… he doesn’t have that same problem with me.”

  “Wh… what?” I stammered but he smiled softly and shook his head.

  “I’ll see you later. Is it okay to text you?” he queried and I barely nodded my head before he slipped out of the door and walked off down the driveway.

  “What happened to Rayne?” Jason wondered when he walked up beside me and I flinched. “Now you like Jack?”

  I looked over at him and shrugged my shoulders. “Jack is a friend… that asked me out on a date… and I don’t know how I feel about that….”

  “You can’t,” Jason insisted, lightly grabbing my arms and spinning me to face him as I looked at him wide-eyed, “You can’t date some other guy when you won’t even give me a chance.”

  “Jason… you’re my brother…” I reiterated my argument, but something hardened in his eyes, “Jason… I’m serious… you’re my brother, and that’s how I’m always going to see you.”

  “No,” he muttered, shaking his head, but he let go of my arms, “I’ll get you to change your mind….” His smile was distant as he walked back upstairs and I inhaled a shaky breath before I walked out into the backyard and sat back on my chair. I suddenly remembered I had put my phone on silent while we were watching the movie, and pulled it out of my pocket only to spot a text from Rayne as my heart skipped and a smile slipped onto my face.

  Sorry my reply is so delayed. I didn’t have any service where I was today. Can I see you, Anna?

  My heart was thudding so loudly that I could hardly hear the crickets beginning to chirp as night was falling.

  Yes. When?

  My thumb hesitated over ‘send’ for a second before I just clicked it and bit on my lip.

  Now if you’ll let me. He replied almost instantly and I found myself nodding before I sent another text that just said ‘yes.’

  A moment later he walked into view from the side of the house and my heart skipped as I looked up at him.

  “Hi,” he chuckled while I stood up and fought to keep myself from running to him. Why do I like him so much when I don’t know anything about him?

  “Where were you?” It came out as a whisper, but even seeing him couldn’t stop the confusion in my eyes and he knew it.

  “Let it go,” he pleaded, “Please, let it go.” His hazel eyes flickered as he watched me, but my eyes scrunched in thought.

  “Where did you come from last night? Where did Jack really go last night?” I pressed while he walked closer.

  “I’m begging you to let it go,” he quietly reiterated, “He will never let you go if you don’t drop it….”

  He. He means Alex… But…

  “I can’t, Rayne,” I whispered as his hands slid down my arms and into my hands, “I can’t let it go… Not when I know something is going on….”

  “Please, Arianna,” he begged, “You don’t understand what will happen if you don’t let it go… I don’t want that for you, so please.”

  I bit my lip and stared down at the ground. I couldn’t make a promise I knew I wouldn’t keep, but I decided to let it go for the time being.

  “Wait… how are you here? Alex doesn’t want you around me,” I suddenly blurted, looking up at him and finding mischief on his face.

  “He probably doesn’t know I’m here then, does he?” Rayne chuckled, looking around the back yard, “But he knew Jack was here earlier….”

  “And so do you… how?” I wondered, his eyes darting back to me as he barely shook his head, “Do you know how annoying all of this is?” He nodded his head the tiniest bit. “Why did you want to come over?”

  “I wanted to see you…” he whispered softly, “I just… I like you, Anna… And I’m sorry for that… because Alex isn’t going to let anything happen between us….”

  “Why does he control you?” I queried but he smiled a distant smile at me, “How are you here without him knowing? He seems to know everything about you guys….”

  “There are always ways around surveillance. But I can only be off the radar for so long before he starts to wonder what’s going on…” he quietly added, “So I can’t stay for too very long….” His hazel eyes stared at me for a long moment before he smiled and nodded his head toward the house. “It’s starting to get dark, you should get inside.”

  “Will I see you again?” I wondered and he chuckled and nodded, “Alone…?”

  “I’ll let you know when I can manage it,” he assured, his eyes scanning across my face, “Go inside, Anna.” I only nodded and he followed me to the back door, waiting until I locked it before he walked out of view.

  And like I said earlier, my days settled into a kind of routine… I took the chair out back, I ‘read’ my book, I texted Jack and Rayne, and eventually Lissa, Sage, Michaela, Tobias, and Caiden, and always felt those eyes on me i
n the trees. The funny part was that I would get up and walk toward the tree line every once in a while only to have my phone ring with someone calling to talk. It never failed that if I tried to go into the woods, my phone would ring, or someone would show up at the door (that happened in later weeks), but I never could get to the woods. Austin started working that week, and when he wasn’t working, he was hanging out with Amy. Jason, on the other hand, wouldn’t leave the house unless I was with him, and even when we were home, he tried to spend all of his time with me….

  I explored the town a lot, with Jason of course, and started laughing when Alex still appeared everywhere I went. I even tested it once, which confused the heck out of Jason, by going to the mall, turning around and running to the grocery store, and then going back to the mall, and Alex was at each stop, but I spotted amusement mixed with annoyance in his eyes when I had gotten back to the mall and found him again.

  Over the next two months there were five random bonfires that I had to beg Austin to go to, even though he clearly wanted to go spend time with Amy. At the bonfires, I was able to find some friends for Jason, and actually got him to hang out with them while we were there, at least, but I couldn’t get him to hang out with them outside of the bonfires.

  It got to be July, and I had really honed down my ideas of what was going on to being directly involved with Alex’s group. Actually, there were others, less directly involved, and I found myself really curious about all of that, but of course no one would tell me anything. I could count the number of times I got to see Rayne alone on one hand, and every time, he was begging me not to ask questions.

  I think it all kind of fell apart at Jack’s birthday party in July. They used the same barn where we’d had Jason’s birthday party, but instead of the white lights in the trees, there were black lights everywhere that gave a strange glow to everything. There was an apparently local rock band set up inside the barn, and quite honestly, I probably spent more time watching them than I should have. The lead singer was absolutely gorgeous! He had shoulder length black hair that swept across his face concealing his right eye, but those eyes… I had never really found guys wearing makeup attractive, but he had on the slightest bit of eyeliner, that just made his icy blue eyes glimmer, and his voice! I was much more of a fan of classical music, and older music from like the 80’s and 90’s, but never really rock music.

  When they took a break and a mix CD just started playing through the sound system, the lead singer jumped off of the front of the stage, hands tucked into the pockets of his gray skinny jeans. I was too busy trying to make out what his black band shirt actually said to realize he was walking over to me.

  “It says ‘Amaranth,’” his melodic voice entered my ears as I darted my eyes up to find him standing right in front of me before he pulled a chair over, spun it around, and sat down in it backwards, “It’s one of my favorite bands.”

  “Oh?” I replied curiously, finally able to make out the strangely shaped letters just before he crossed his arms over the back of the chair and rested his chin on his arms.

  “You’re Anna Gray, aren’t you?” he queried and I barely nodded my head as a smile slipped onto his lips and I realized he had two piercings on either side of his bottom lip, “I’m surprised you’re sitting here all by yourself, Anna Gray.”

  “So am I,” I admitted and he laughed, “You guys are really amazing….”

  He quirked a grin at me before his gaze shifted behind me. “Hey birthday boy,” he chuckled, not bothering to move, but I turned in my chair to catch the brief anger in Jack’s eyes aimed toward the singer before he smiled at me.

  “Hey, Anna, are you having fun?” Jack questioned and I instantly nodded my head, “Ty isn’t bothering you, is he?”

  Ty… it doesn’t suit him… “No, he’s not bothering me,” I replied quickly which sent that flash of anger through Jack’s eyes again, “I’ve never really liked rock music… they’re good.”

  Ty laughed and I spun back to face him. “We’re goth rock,” he commented with a grin, “Little slower beat, little more smooth vocals… Why do you hang out with these guys?”

  He asked it so suddenly I just stared at him, dumbfounded for a long minute. “I… I don’t know… they were the first people I met when I moved here….”

  “You should come out with me and the band after the party,” Ty offered but Jack was suddenly leaning on the back of my chair, I felt heat radiating off of him like the heat in Alex’s hand at that first bonfire.

  “She’s not going anywhere with you, Ty,” Jack hissed protectively but I turned in my chair and looked at him in confusion.

  “You can’t tell me what to do,” I muttered and his face fell.

  “I didn’t mean it like that… I just… Please, Anna, don’t go anywhere with him alone,” Jack pleaded, the heat gone from behind me as I took a deep breath and stood up.

  “I’m going outside,” I decided, glancing back at Ty, “It was nice to meet you.” He barely nodded his head before I walked out of the barn, leaving the two to have their little power struggle or whatever was going on.

  I was thankful for the breeze that swept through the warm July night as I stepped out into the yard and found my way back to the bench I had sat on at Jason’s party. With a sigh, I fell to sit on it again, spotting the white-blonde fur in the trees only a second later because of the black lights that made it glow.

  With a deep breath, I stood up and started for the tree line, not the least bit surprised when a hand latched onto my wrist. I was just mildly surprised when I looked back to find Alex holding me still, his teal gaze shifting up my aqua and black knee-length dress and up to my eyes.

  “You look very pretty tonight, Arianna,” Alex remarked softly, balancing two glasses in his other hand until I sighed and fell back onto the bench and he handed me one of the glasses. “Please stay away from the band… they’re not exactly known for their… good behavior….”

  I sipped the punch from the glass and looked at him closely. There was something about him that I couldn’t place, that I just didn’t really trust or like… and I had no really good reason for it. It wasn’t like I got a bad feeling from him… in fact, I hadn’t had another bad feeling since the night Mark had been caught.

  “When people tell me not to do things… I have a tendency to do the opposite. Especially when those people have been so clearly hiding things from me for the past two months and I don’t really trust them,” I reasoned and Alex sighed, shaking his head.

  “What is it now?” he queried, staring into my eyes, “I thought you were enjoying talking to Jack and everyone… I thought you were letting go of those strange worries you were having.”

  “What’s out in the woods?” I demanded, “What are you trying to keep from me?”

  “Do you like this town enough to spend the rest of your life here, Arianna?” Alex asked and I felt my breath catch in my throat as I quickly shook my head, “Then you need to quit asking so many questions.”

  “Then you need to go back to leaving me alone,” I stated coldly, turning my attention to my hands in my lap when I felt anger spark through him.

  “You still won’t be allowed into the woods,” Alex growled as he stood up and walked back to the barn.

  “Who said I wanted to go to the woods? I’ll go back to watch the band… and Ty…” I mumbled, twisting the hem of my dress in my fingers as I slowly stood up and started walking back towards the barn.

  “Anna,” his voice and my feet froze as I spun back to face him, my hand falling onto the back of the bench.

  “Rayne,” I whispered in a breath, “Rayne, where were you?” There were tears stinging my eyes as he walked over to me, his hazel eyes flickered and scanned across me as his fingers slid down my hair to rest on my shoulders.

  “I was checking some of the lights in the trees,” he answered without the tiniest hint of a lie as his thumbs softly slid over my cheeks and wiped away my tears, “Don’t cry, Anna….”


  “I know what I saw,” I whispered beneath my breath, and his smile grew distant as he shook his head.

  “Let it go, Anna… Do you want to go back inside and watch the band?” he offered but I looked at him in confusion.

  “Your other friends want me to stay away from the band, why would you take me near it?” I wondered in absolute confusion.

  “Ty isn’t going to mess with you when I’m here… he and I have an understanding. If you want to be friends with him, that’s your decision, but he isn’t always sincere… and he is a player, it isn’t a rumor, it’s a fact that he’s proud of… so be careful with him, all right?” Rayne cautioned with a gentle smile, “So did you want to go back inside?”

  “Anna!” Jason called and I jolted away from Rayne, totally unaware before that moment that we were practically pressed against each other and he was close enough to kiss me. “Jack’s opening his presents, you two should come inside.”

  I realized Rayne was still there and looked at him in shocked confusion as he grinned and took hold of my hand, pulling me along with him back to the barn.

  “I have permission to spend time with you tonight,” he whispered with a laugh, “I’m supposed to keep you away from Ty… but like I said, that’s your decision.”

  His eyes flickered again when he smiled at me and pulled me inside the barn with Jason on my other side.

  “Jay…” I sighed, pulling Rayne to a stop to face my brother, “Go hang out with your friends.” I saw the anger and jealousy flash across his eyes but he inhaled a deep breath and walked off just before I spotted Ty watching me from his seat on the edge of the stage.

  “So I’m going to reiterate my warning that Ty is a player and proud of it, because he has clearly taken an interest in you,” Rayne whispered beside my ear as I barely nodded my head and pulled my attention away from the lead singer.

  “I keep picking the wrong guys to like… huh?” I laughed quietly and Rayne’s hand tightened on mine as he led me over to the crowd around Jack’s present table.

  When all the guests started leaving, Rayne said he had to help clean up, and I darted to the door to catch Jack before he could slip off.

  “Hey, Anna, thanks for coming,” he laughingly remarked, his eyes practically glowing in the night as he looked at me. He seemed antsy, jumpy even, and like he was about to just take off running in circles.

  “Happy Birthday, Jack,” I stated, pulling an envelope out of my purse and handing it to him as my heart pounded in my chest. He looked mildly confused before he took the envelope.

  “You didn’t have to get me anything, Anna,” he reasoned while he opened the envelope and pulled out two tickets to some really big deal percussion group that passed through the city once every few years. His eyes widened and darted back up to me in absolute shock. “I have been wanting to see these guys for like ten years and never have enough money to go,” he commented and I smiled softly, “How did you know?” I shrugged my shoulders and laughed, refusing to give away my source. “These are really good seats, Anna…” he was still in awe, but suddenly hugged me, “This is amazing! Thank you so much!” I barely hugged him back before he stepped backwards, “You’re going with me, right?”

  “If you want me to,” I answered and he grinned as he hugged me again and twirled me around in a circle.

  “Oh, I do, I really, really do!” he blurted, setting my feet back on the ground, “Can I call you tomorrow? Figure out the details? Since this is for the weekend and all….”

  “Of course,” I conceded, the antsy was back as he almost bounced on his feet.

  “Thank you, Anna, really,” he finalized, softly kissing my cheek before he ran off towards the cars.

  “You just have the whole lot of them wrapped around your little finger, don’t you?” Ty’s melodic voice commented from just behind me and I spun around to face him, “Be careful with them, Anna Gray. We wouldn’t want you getting your pretty little self into anything you can’t get out of, now would we?” I just stared at him as he walked off to load the band equipment into a van outside.

  I talked Jason into riding home with Austin, because I was still thinking about things when I went to leave. I sat in my car at the barn until I was practically the last guest there, then finally started towards home.

  It happened, again. I saw the animal running in the tree line again. I pulled off of the road, and sat in silence with the car turned off and the doors locked.

  After a few long, deep breaths, I looked out into the woods and caught a flash of blonde fur and emerald eyes. I sucked in a breath through my teeth and rolled down the passenger window to get a better view.

  “Jack!” I called, my voice practically echoing in the quiet night, “I know that’s you, Jack.”

  I sighed and rested my head on the steering wheel. “I’m going crazy… this place is driving me crazy…” I murmured to myself, “Of course humans can’t turn into animals, that’s crazy… absolutely crazy… I should check myself into an asylum.”

  “Anna,” Jack beckoned and I jumped, banging my knees on the steering wheel. I didn’t even realize I’d left the window down, and he was standing outside of it, staring inside at me. “Alex wants to talk to you… He’s already called Austin to say you’ll be home later… May I get in?”

  “Won’t you travel faster on foot?” I blurted before biting my lip as my face flushed red and he quirked a half-hearted smile.

  “I wish you would’ve left it alone, Anna… May I ride with you and show you the way?” he asked again and I only nodded, shoving my few things into the back seat. He climbed, barefoot, into the car and directed me over to Romulus Trail.

  “Why now? I knew earlier when I saw Rayne… why not then?” I whispered as I was directed into a gigantic house’s driveway.

  Jack didn’t answer, but his emerald eyes grew darker and more distant. He was opening my door for me before I’d gotten the car completely shut off.

  “Welcome to my house, Arianna,” Alex greeted as I was getting out of the car, “Please come inside; I need to speak with you.”

  “I’m good out here,” I rebutted. In spite of all my curiosity, my nerves were screaming and I had the urge to jump in the car and drive away. Something was definitely wrong here.

  “I want you to tell me what you think is going on,” Alex recited calmly.

  “Shapeshifters… or… something like that…” I murmured, it sounded even crazier when I said it to someone else, “You guys are the animals I keep seeing in the woods.” I gasped as something suddenly occurred to me, “You’re the reason Mark’s in the hospital! That’s how you found out what had happened to me…. You communicate telepathically or something….”

  He just stared at me for a long moment, silent, his aqua eyes swirling with silver again, but this time I was certain I was seeing them do it.

  “Jack,” he beckoned and my gray eyes darted worriedly to Jack who was taking off his shirt as he stared back at me. “We’re not shapeshifters…” Alex continued and as I watched in the faint shimmer that surrounded Jack accompanied by a strange crunching noise, Jack disappeared and a beautifully dangerous looking blonde-furred emerald-eyed wolf stared up at me, his pants in shreds on the ground. “We’re werewolves.” I sank to the cement, the wolf’s eyes now on level with my own.

  “You’re really Jack,” I whispered and the wolf bowed its head close enough that I could reach out and pet it, which I did with a distant fascination.

  “We’re full-blooded werewolves… which means we can change at will and we change into full wolves,” Alex continued, “Though as you’ve commented on, we’re faster than regular wolves. There is a link between the entire pack so that we don’t have to communicate aloud.”

  “Can you always hear each other? No matter what?” I wondered, still scratching the top of wolf-Jack’s head.

  “No,” Alex answered, but the tone in his voice had my eyes darting up to him, “No… it’s possible to shut off the connection… but we try to sa
ve it for personal reasons… and not to block off each other when something’s going on that effects all of us….”

  “You’re mad about something,” I realized and he chuckled distantly.

  “Rayne blocked us out to talk to you earlier… Even though that goes against our pack laws… I will have to punish him…” he responded with that same edge of anger to his voice.

  “Why didn’t they want me to find out…?” My voice grew quieter with the realization that Rayne and Jack both had seemed mildly panicky when they knew I knew.

  “I can’t let you leave here ever,” Alex replied with a shrug, “I can’t risk the safety of my pack because an outsider found out about us and might possibly fail to keep our secret.”

  “You can’t keep me here,” I exhaled in a breath, “You can’t make me stay here if I don’t want to stay.”

  “I can, and I will,” he retorted shortly, his aqua eyes intently staring into mine, “You wouldn’t listen when we warned you; now you must accept the consequences of your actions.”

  “I would never tell anyone!” I exclaimed, pulling my knees up to my chest and wrapping both of my arms around them, “Why would I ever tell anyone?”

  “The information could slip, or you might run into someone who’s capable of removing it from you,” Alex stated simply, shrugging his shoulders, “It’s a risk I will not take.”

  “I need to get home… or Dad will worry…” I faltered, but wolf-Jack nuzzled my shoulder and I looked down to see the pain in his emerald eyes.

  “I called your father and told him we were having an after party here at my house and everyone was staying here tonight. I can’t let you go home in the emotional state you’re currently in, or your siblings will start to ask questions just as you did,” Alex reasoned shortly, “Come inside, Arianna.”

  I slowly shook my head which I let fall to rest on my knees. This is not happening. I don’t even like this town! With all its secrets and people always in each other’s business. Wolf-Jack nudged my shoulder gently but I only shook my head again, tears welling up in my eyes. Why does everything get stolen from me…?

  “I’m going inside, Arianna. Let yourself in when you’re ready, but you won’t be allowed to leave,” Alex dismissed as I listened for him to walk away, but heard nothing until I heard the front door close.

  Wolf-Jack laid down beside me, resting his blonde muzzle on his front paws, his emerald eyes staring worriedly up at me. I just cried, there was no point in fighting it anymore, I broke down and tears streamed from my eyes.

  If I could just get in my car… I considered between sobs if I could get in it… how could a wolf stop me? And I saw his pants rip, he doesn’t have any clothes, so it’s not like he’s going to chase after me stark naked.

  I started mapping it out in my head. I couldn’t just try to jump in the car because wolf-Jack would be in my way before I could get the door open. But if I acted like I was heading towards the house and he followed, or led would be even better, then I could turn around and jump in. I knew I couldn’t just get up and start for the house, nobody would believe I’d gotten over being so upset that quickly.

  I cried for a while, until it became sniffles, something believable and then I let one hand fall to rest on wolf-Jack’s head.

  “I want to go inside,” I managed to say even though my voice sounded hoarse. He stood up on all fours and my hand stayed on his head as I pushed off of the ground with my other hand. I only made half a movement towards the house before wolf-Jack started off towards it and I spun on my heels, the door mere inches from me, and started to pull it open only to have it slammed shut again.

  “Sorry, but inside,” Caiden announced from behind me, his hands pressed to the door over my shoulders, “You’re not allowed to leave tonight, Anna… I’m sorry….”

  He didn’t move as I turned back to face him, his dirty blonde hair just barely starting to cover those dark brown eyes that watched me intently.

  “Keys,” Tobias beckoned beside me, holding his hand out, palm up. He had his dark brown hair pulled into a ponytail and his honey brown eyes stared at me.

  “Where did you two even come from…?” I whispered in a breath, my hand clutching my keys. Neither of them moved, though.

  “Please give me your keys,” Tobias reiterated, “I promise you’ll get them back as soon as Alex says you can leave.” When I didn’t move for them, he sighed, “I’ll keep them myself; no one else will touch them. I promise.”

  I slowly shook my head, realizing then that I was pretty much pressed up against my car with nowhere to go. I made a slight movement, as if to duck under Caiden’s arm, but he matched me by shifting his arm to block me again.

  “Give Tobias your keys and I’ll take you inside,” Caiden reasoned while I shook my head again. “Look, Arianna… I’m really sorry you got sucked into all of this, but we have to do what’s best for our pack… and what’s best for our pack right now is keeping you here tonight, until you can calm down. No one’s going to hurt you. The girls are inside with one of the biggest bedrooms taken over, waiting for you to come in so they can have a slumber party or something… We won’t even see you once you get inside with them.”

  “Where’s Rayne?” I mumbled and his eyes briefly closed as he sighed.

  “Rayne’s not allowed to see you right now… He’s fine… he’s just on lockdown for a little while for breaking pack rules…” Caiden reluctantly answered before his deep brown eyes flickered over to meet mine again. “Alex isn’t going to let Rayne be with you… you know that, right…? I don’t want to see you get hurt….”

  “Why won’t he let me be with Rayne?” I quietly inquired but with a smirk he shook his head.

  “That’s not my place to say… you could’ve picked anyone else and he wouldn’t have minded, except for Rayne,” Caiden replied, “Now… please, give your keys to Tobias and let’s go inside. I’m really not going to ask again….”

  I realized something with awe. Caiden’s gaze on me was soft, despite the threats he was alluding to, and he could’ve just grabbed me, but he was close without hurting me. I had an idea, but I couldn’t figure out how to enact it with both of them there.

  I slid my hand up to rest on Caiden’s neck and leaned beside his ear, away from Tobias and still keeping my other hand clutching my keys against my side.

  “So if I picked you, he wouldn’t mind?” I said it in a breath and could feel him tense, but he suddenly shifted and picked me up, cradling me in his arms.

  “We’re going inside now,” Caiden decided and Tobias merely nodded his head, reaching into my car and locking it before he slammed the door closed and darted ahead to open the front door.

  The inside of Alex’s house was a mansion. The front entryway had a beautiful marble floor and natural stone walls and just beyond that were two staircases that curved up to meet in the middle at the second floor. Wrought-iron handrails trailed up the marble stairs, but I didn’t get to look around much longer as Caiden set my feet down and Jack, back in his human form and clothed, came sliding across the floor to stop in front of me. His emerald eyes met mine for a brief second before falling to my hand at my side.

  “That was a dirty trick,” he uttered, pulling my arm up with one of his hands and with the other hand, uncurling my fingers from my keys which he tossed over to Tobias, “And I’m talking about what you did to Caiden, not what you did to me.” He looked up into my eyes again to find them shocked. “Pack connection, Anna. We heard what you said to him.”

  “They actually kept me from caving in to you,” Caiden remarked, leaning over my shoulder to whisper into my ear, “Go upstairs. The girls are waiting on you.”

  I wanted to turn around and run. I even glanced at the etched glass door, but with Caiden behind me, Jack in front of me, and Tobias just a little to my side, there was no way I was going to be able to get out of this.

  I sighed deeply, before taking a deep breath and looking again at the winding staircase and then bac
k down at Jack. “I like you better as a wolf,” I murmured, slipping past him and up the staircase on the left. I felt their eyes watching me to be sure I made it to the second floor, which, before I could get there, was suddenly occupied by Elisabeth, Samantha, Michaela, and Sage. I wondered distantly where Amy was, but decided she was probably off with her brother, being the ruthless dictators of this pack they had.

  “Amy wanted us to tell you, that the guys will be watching the house and your car all night, so trying to get out is really pointless,” Samantha dismissed nonchalantly as I glanced back downstairs to find the three talking to each other.

  “So what… Alex talks to the guys and Amy talks to all of you? Do they ever switch it up?” I pondered and Elisabeth laughed faintly as she took my wrist and dragged me into the room on the right end of the hall.

  “Alex is the leader. Alex, and whoever he takes as a mate; Amy is his sister, but she doesn’t really hold the pack leader position, she’s just still respected. If she’d been born a boy, she’d be pack leader,” Elisabeth explained while I gawked at the room.

  It was huge, and could’ve been an entire apartment. But instead there was a humongous round bed against the far wall perpendicular to the wall of French doors that led onto a small balcony. There was a half-circle sofa that had 8 partitions in it but could easily fit double that many people. Across from the sofa was a big-screen t.v. that was at least 50 inches if not more. A door led off to the bathroom I was led into, where there was a set of silk black pajamas laid out on the double sink marble vanity for me, along with a fluffy bathrobe and slippers behind the door, and fluffy towels beside the two-person, multiple-head stone shower. Of course, there was also the option of the oversized jetted bathtub.

  “Get washed off and we’ll watch a movie. We’ve got popcorn and pizza coming up for snacks, and there’s a mini-bar over on the other wall, so help yourself when you get out,” Elisabeth continued her explanation while I ran my fingers over the little bottles lined on the vanity.

  “Lissa… are there just the ten of you…?” I whispered, pausing to look up into the antique-framed mirror to see her in the doorway and she shook her head.

  “No. In this town alone, and you’ve gotten that it’s a small town, there are about two-hundred of us, including the adults. We’re kind of… the elite group… parents want their children to mate with us so that they have stronger bloodlines…. Alex is in charge of all two-hundred of us, though… And there are about ten more in our group, they’re just not home right now,” she answered and I barely nodded my head, “I like you, Anna; I think you’re cool. I know this isn’t ideal for you, but if Alex is going to make you stay here, he’ll make sure you’re comfortable and well taken care of.”

  “But…” I hesitated, it was still bugging me, but when she looked at me expectantly in the mirror I looked back down at the bottles and shook my head. “Nevermind… I don’t want to be asking the entire pack questions, especially knowing you’re two-hundred strong.”

  “Oh… the nearly constant connection is really just with the elite group. The whole pack has to be called on for everyone to hear. We pretty much live together, and do everything together, so we’ve got a lot stronger bond,” she admitted with a shrug, “Is it something important? Amy says I can block off and talk to you, since you’re stuck here and all.” To emphasize that point, she stepped into the bathroom and closed the door which made a strange popping noise. “We all have really good hearing, even as humans though, so like, the bathroom doors are pressurized and the room is soundproof. It’s the only safe place in the house.”

  “Why won’t Alex let me be with Rayne… but he’d let me be with any of the others…?” I mumbled, glancing in the mirror only long enough to see the flicker in her eyes.

  “Rayne… wasn’t born here… he isn’t really part of our pack,” she started, tilting her head to the side, “There’s a lot of stuff, I really can’t tell you… but he’s the only survivor of his pack. He was the younger brother of the pack leader, so he’s strong; his whole pack was really strong… His bloodline and his powers really surpass our elite group, but he came here and went through the process of joining our pack. Alex just doesn’t really trust him, and… You’re different, Arianna… Alex would let you be with someone else, because your being with someone else wouldn’t threaten his position… your being with Rayne would… and Alex knows he wouldn’t be able to take you from Rayne, he has no right to… but he retains the right to take you from anyone else.”

  “What do you mean, I’m different…?” I whispered, finally turning around to face her as she laughed faintly and shrugged.

  “We can sense you, which is weird… that’s why we’ve been trailing you since you got here… and that day, when you did that thing, that feeling… we all felt it, which again, is really weird. I mean… I hate to be rude, but what are you?” she blurted and I blinked in surprise as I stared at her, “Anyway… get cleaned up and we’ll fix your hair and do your nails and talk boys, and all that fun stuff we girls get to do.” She smiled at me and waited for me to nod before she slipped out of the bathroom and closed the door again.

  I peeled off my dress and opted for the shower. As inviting as the bathtub looked, I didn’t want to get that relaxed in this house. There was a stone bench in the shower, and I found myself sitting down on it, enjoying the steam that lofted about the room.

  I snapped awake with a jolt, jumping up and washing off in the lukewarm water before I shut off the shower and wrapped up in the fluffy towels. I had no idea how long I’d slept, just that I’d fallen asleep in the shower. I ran the other fluffy towel across my dark brown hair, getting it as dry as I could without a hairdryer, and climbed into the pajamas, slippers, and bathrobe. As I stepped out of the bathroom, four sets of eyes shifted over to me.

  “Well, there you are,” Elisabeth chimed with a grin, “We were starting to think you’d gone down the drain or something.”

  “No,” I quietly stated, shaking my head and falling onto the far edge of the sofa that they were scattered across, “I fell asleep in the shower, though….” They giggled, all four of them, and my gray eyes darted to them in confusion.

  “I think we’ve all done that at some point in time,” Sage admitted as her chestnut brown eyes looked at me, “It’s like the most relaxing shower ever.”

  “Food is on its way up; hope you’re hungry,” Michaela chimed in with a smile just before there was a knock on the door, which opened a moment later as Jack and Caiden brought in pizzas and popcorn and Tobias followed with a box of cupcakes and some ice cream.

  “You look comfortable,” Jack remarked as he set the pizzas on the large table in front of us and looked over at me, “You’re fitting right in.”

  “I won’t… try to leave anymore, not tonight,” I revealed and his lips quirked into a half-smile, “But… I want to be allowed to see Rayne.” The smile disappeared and his eyes closed as he sighed.

  “Alex says if you behave, you can see him in the morning,” Jack replied, shaking his head as his emerald eyes opened to stare into my gray ones, “You can’t be with Rayne; I know you’ve been told that.”

  “I know what I’ve been told,” I murmured, shifting my gaze away from him and looking over at Elisabeth beside me, “Why don’t they stay for food and a movie? I promise I’m not going to try to leave….”

  “You wouldn’t be able to with all of us in this room,” Samantha included with a laugh.

  They fell to sit on the sofa: Jack beside me, Caiden beside him, and Tobias between Elisabeth and Samantha. Sage started a movie in the oversized t.v. and everyone else dove into the food, except Jack, who was lounging comfortably on the sofa, watching me, his arms draped behind him.

  “Are you not going to eat?” he queried and I slowly shook my head, watching while one arm cautiously moved around my shoulders and pulled me over to him. “Stop worrying about it,” he whispered across my ear, “Alex is a good guy, really. You’re not going to have s
ome miserable life here, and things like this here, tonight, where you have to stay here, aren’t going to happen very often; though you are welcome to join in on the fun evenings like this. It’s a two way street. You’re burdened with the knowledge of the pack, but you’ll also benefit from it.”

  I leaned my head against his shoulder and stared over at the movie, not even fully aware of which girl was getting chased around by which horror movie villain.

  After the movie, the girls chased the guys out of the room and pulled out all kinds of nail polishes and hair stuff. I found out, over the next few hours, while my nails got painted a deep purple and my hair got put up into rollers, which girl liked which guy. Though, I didn’t really know who the Kyle was that Michaela liked, or the Archer that Elisabeth liked; I did know Sage liked Caiden and Samantha liked Tobias. I ended up braiding Elisabeth’s long blonde hair, and it looked like some sort of Renaissance style when I was finished. A game of Truth-or-Dare followed, with them swearing that they were closing off the link to the guys before I’d even consider agreeing to play.

  “Why would we tell you who we liked if they could still hear us??” Michaela blurted with a laugh, “Could you imagine what they’d do if they knew??”

  “I’d hate to imagine,” I admitted with a smile. We’d finished the pizzas, and the popcorn, and most of the ice cream by then with a few cupcakes remaining.

  Dares consisted of the girls sneaking around the house to spy on the guys, but the one time I picked a dare, it was just to go sit on the top step and kiss whoever showed up first, on the lips, despite my protest. They didn’t want to risk having me wander around the house in case someone thought I was trying to escape. So I stepped out of the room, cracking the door, and walked over to sit on the top stair in just my black silk pajamas, my bare feet in awe of the soft carpet.

  I was inspecting my purple nail polish on my toes when Alex came up the left side of the staircase and Caiden came up the right side. They reached the step below me at the same time and I looked up and between them in confusion, biting my bottom lip and looking back at the cracked door.

  “Is everything okay?” Caiden questioned, kneeling down in front of me which put him barely closer to me so I laughed to myself before turning back to him.

  I leaned over and quickly and lightly kissed him on his surprisingly soft lips before I heard the giggling from the doorway and darted back to it and inside. Elisabeth slammed the door closed as I fell onto the sofa, burying my face in the cushions to hide my blushing.

  “For a second there, I didn’t know what you were going to do!” Sage giggled and I looked at her with a hint of relief. I knew she liked Caiden, so I didn’t know how she was going to react to my kissing him.

  “You should’ve seen him!” Michaela added and I rolled into a sitting position while they clustered back around.

  “He was all dazed and confused when you disappeared,” Elisabeth reported with a grin, “Like, he closed his eyes when you kissed him and then you were gone.”

  “That was so mean!” I blurted, biting my lip, “And they both showed up at the exact same time… And I know he’s your pack leader, but I really didn’t want to kiss Alex ‘cause I’m still upset with him.”

  Things continued like that until all of the food was gone and we were practically falling asleep, which we did a little later as I took one end of the sofa, Elisabeth took the other, and the others crashed on the huge bed.

  Nobody woke me up the next morning, and when I finally woke up on my own it was after noon and a pair of jeans and a tank top were laid out on the sofa for me. I also realized all of the food mess was gone and the room looked nearly spotless.

  I took a few minutes to assess the room before I moved any, realizing that there was no one in the room with me. I sat up really slowly, wondering how much it would take to alert them to the fact that I wasn’t asleep anymore. I became more acutely aware by the moment that I was having a feeling, and it wasn’t a good one.

  I got dressed into the outfit left for me, placed my folded up pajamas on the floor, and headed towards the door with my bad feeling only managing to get worse.

  I pulled the door open and stopped. The house was silent. I could’ve followed my feelings and gotten immediately to the bottom of it, but instead, I yelled.

  “Alex!” I hollered and it echoed around the house, “Alex Moore! I need to see you!” I stood patiently in the door; I didn’t honestly expect him to run up there. It wouldn’t look good if the pack leader just ran off at the whim of a human woman whenever she called, I wasn’t stupid. I walked over and sat down on the top step, resting my chin on my hands and my elbows on my knees.

  He gracefully, but painstakingly slowly, made his way up the stairs about ten minutes later and stopped a few steps below me so that his head was barely above mine.

  “What if I had been in trouble?” I queried with a lifted eyebrow and his lips curled into a smirk.

  “I would’ve known if you were in trouble. What is it you want? You should come downstairs,” he remarked, stepping closer when I stood up.

  “It’s morning, you promised. I’m not waiting either. I want to see Rayne,” I insisted and he lifted his own single eyebrow, “And I want you to stay away from my brothers. I don’t want them trapped here, too.”

  “You don’t get to order me around,” Alex countered dryly, turning to walk downstairs, but I grabbed his wrist and he spun back to face me with fury in his eyes, but the fury instantly dissipated. “Why?”

  “I want to see Rayne and go home… before Jason actually does steal a car and drive over here to check on me,” I answered quietly and Alex’s hand slid up to brush across my cheek, pulling my gaze up to his.

  “What are you?” he whispered and I shrugged.

  “I’ve just always had feelings… and if I focus on them… I can figure out who is causing the feeling, and if I focus more, I can figure out why they’re causing it. The closer I am to someone, the easier it is… That being said… I know Rayne has been physically punished… but I still want to see him…” I explained, pausing as Alex’s aqua eyes sparkled with silver, “I could’ve followed the feeling from Rayne and found him… I was trying to be respectful.”

  “You can do that?” Alex wondered in awe and I nodded as he tilted his head to one side, his fingers brushing my hair behind my ear and sliding down my neck before he let his hand fall back to his side. “Please, show me. Lead me to Rayne and I’ll allow you to see him.”

  “About last night…” I started bashfully as I slipped past him and down the stairs, barely hearing him follow behind me.

  “The dare?” he chuckled and my face flushed red as I was intensely thankful he couldn’t see my face, “Lissa told me all about your night and how much fun you all had. No real details, aside from the fact that what happened on the stairs was a dare. I was slightly disappointed to learn had I only reached you a moment sooner, I would have been rewarded with that kiss.” He chuckled in the silence that followed, “Did you enjoy yourself? Despite your anger with me, of course.”

  “It was fun,” I dismissed with a sigh, “I am still angry with you… I’m… glad… Caiden decided to make that last movement….” I wound us through the house and out the back doors, glancing in wonder at the large swimming pool only to find Samantha emerging from under the water.

  “I see Sleeping Beauty is up,” she laughed, grinning up at me as she climbed up the ladder in her black bikini.

  “Samantha,” Alex warned and I spared her another glance before I headed around the pool house and skidded to a brief halt.

  “Um… Alex…” I faltered, staring at the massive iron gate in front of me that had not only a padlock, but a keypad and eye scanner. I looked back at Alex inquisitively and found an amused smirk on his lips.

  “Yes?”

  “He’s that way,” I lifted my hand to point to the gate, the gate that wasn’t attached to anything and didn’t actually seem to go anywhere, but I knew I had to go t
hrough it to get to Rayne.

  “Why not go around?” Alex questioned and I shook my head, continuing to point at the gate.

  “Through the gate,” I insisted, “It has to be through the gate….”

  “That’s quite amazing,” he chuckled, walking over to type on the keypad while the eye scanner flashed across his eye and he lifted his other hand to point at the padlock which fell away. The gate creaked open effortlessly and completely on its own as Alex motioned with his head for me to go on.

  There was a briefly blinding light and then we were inside a castle. It was the only way I could think of to describe the dark gray stone walls with cut out openings for windows, and only the few larger ones filled with panes of stained glass depicting wolves.

  I wound through the corridors, heading away from the windows to discover with awe actual flame wall sconces, torches, like you would imagine finding in a castle. I looked around in awe, but didn’t stop until I reached an iron door with its own keypad and eye scanner.

  Alex stopped beside me with amazement written across his face for a brief second before he forced it away and turned to me curiously.

  “Rayne is on the other side of that door,” I stated with absolute certainty, “Now, where the heck am I? How did that gate work? Is this a castle or something? Cause it looks like a castle….”

  “You didn’t even consider going around the gate… or pause at the nearly maze-like quality of our castle… which is indeed a castle. I’m amazed and intrigued further by you, Arianna Gray,” he announced before he typed in the code and allowed his eye to be scanned and the door clicked open, “Please remember that his punishment was required, he broke pack law.”

  I only nodded and Alex motioned with his hand for me to go inside, which I did. The room was faintly lit by the same torches on the walls, but they seemed to be nearing the end of their lives and cast strange shadows across the stone surroundings. Despite being the middle of summer, in an ancient castle, there was a distinct chill in the air. But none of that was what made my feet hesitate. Rayne’s clothes were in tatters on the floor, I recognized them from Jack’s party. I also recognized those knowing hazel eyes, despite the pale almost white fur that surrounded them. He was the most beautiful wolf I’d ever seen, but there was a large metal collar around his neck, chained to the floor, and he was covered in healing cuts.

  “I didn’t expect wolf-Rayne,” I admitted almost silently, my voice echoing in the small room and I swear his canine mouth fell into a lopsided grin.

  “He didn’t expect to see you at all,” Alex commented from the doorway, “Ever again, he says.” I glanced back to find him leaning on the doorframe, staring inside as I knelt down in front of wolf-Rayne and lightly ran my hand across his head where there were no cuts.

  “I didn’t expect to see you either,” I whispered, staring into his eyes. His eyes fell to the floor briefly before he lifted himself up just enough to press his cold, wet, nose to my cheek.

  “Rayne,” Alex scolded and I realized when I found myself blushing that he had meant it as a kiss, “I won’t tell her lies, Rayne.”

  “What did he say?” I murmured, resting my forehead against his soft furry one.

  “He doesn’t care what I say, he’ll find some way to be with you, if that’s what you want,” Alex recounted with disdain, “I won’t allow it and you’re part of my pack so you can’t disobey me.”

  “It’s okay, Rayne,” I sighed, wrapping my arms around his furry neck, “I’m just glad you’re okay….”

  “He wants to know why you’re here, despite the fact that I’ve already told him,” Alex added with a growl in his voice.

  “Alex didn’t want me to go home last night… I had a sleepover with the girls,” I explained with a shrug, while he wrapped his large wolf head around my neck, “It’s okay, I’m okay. But I have to get home before Jason steals a car and comes looking for me and gets pulled into all of this too… I don’t want this for him.”

  “No, Rayne,” Alex really did growl that time, “I’m not just going to let her go, it’s too dangerous; for us and for her.”

  “I hope I get to see you again, Rayne,” I whispered beneath my breath and heard a snarl from behind me, “Please don’t make him any angrier… I really want to see you again….”

  “He says he will see you, no matter the consequences,” Alex revealed as I suddenly found his hand on my arm, tugging me back to my feet and towards the door, “I suppose once you choose someone to date, I might consider letting you two be friends, if you can handle being just friends.”

  “I’ll handle it,” I stated with certainty, glancing back at Rayne one last time before Alex closed the door again. “What’s with all the iron?” I murmured thoughtfully, realizing that the collar and chain on Rayne had also been iron, like the door and the gate.

  “Your observation skills are truly impeccable,” Alex answered without answering me as he led me back to the house. He paused inside at the front door where a bag stood waiting with my clothes inside of it. “Which means you should realize, that you owe me a date.” I spun to face him with absolute confusion on my face before I very slowly remembered.

  “But you haven’t told me all the details at all… like the iron… you’re still not telling me a lot,” I retorted, his aqua eyes still swirled with silver, “And why… why do you sometimes have silver in your eyes…?”

  “I’m doing something out of the ordinary, magically speaking…. Right now, I’m checking with my elite members that are out of town to see if they are able to get back sooner, rather than later. I could tell you everything about our pack, and have a revolt on my hands should you ever intentionally, or accidentally, let our secrets slip,” he explained, tilting his head to one side, “As a leader, the rational choice is to gather my elite pack members and let them cast votes as to whether or not I should tell you our secrets. You will have to wait until they’re able to return for this to take place.”

  “Oh… how… long will that be…?” I whispered and he stared at me a moment longer before the silver disappeared from his eyes and he glanced further into the house.

  “Sybil is the furthest away and the most encumbered with her venture… she will not be able to return for a week. The others will be home by this weekend,” he stated with a smirk on his lips, “You would be wise to meet them as they arrive, so that they may get to know you on an individual basis. To do that, however, you would need to stay here. I can arrange a private room for you, if you wish.”

  “I want to go home,” I murmured, staring down at the marble beneath my feet, “Can’t you just call me when someone gets here and I’ll drive over?”

  “There are ten of them; what if once you get home, another arrives? It would be smarter to stay here. Malcolm will not arrive until morning, so consider it tonight and tell me your decision later,” he announced just as Tobias walked up from behind him, tossing my keys in the air and catching them as he went.

  “Never left my sight,” Tobias proudly reported when he reached us and handed me my keys, “We’d love to have you stay, Anna.”

  “I doubt I’ll change my mind… but I’ll call later,” I promised, leaning over and picking up the bag of my things.

  “Don’t call,” Alex sighed, staring into my eyes again, “Go outside, alone, and whoever is watching you will deliver your message.”

  “Watching me…?” I pondered in shock and he quirked his lips into a smirk again. Suddenly, all those days of sitting in the back yard feeling like someone was watching me made complete sense, and made me feel less insane.

  “We’ve been watching you since you got here. As I said earlier, I’m only more intrigued by you now. Please be safe on your trip home,” he finalized, leaning over before I could object and lightly kissing my cheek.

  I didn’t realize until I was in the car and backing out of the driveway, that he had kissed my other cheek, not the one that wolf-Rayne had pressed his nose to like a kiss. It was nearly four o’clock w
hen I pulled up into the garage only to find Jason jumping guiltily away from the key rack near the door.

  “Couldn’t wait for me to get home, could you?” I laughed, but that hurt entered his eyes before he was suddenly hugging me tightly to him.

  “I’ve tried… Gods, Arianna, I have tried so hard to accept what you want, but I can’t!” Jason blurted and I felt a thump in my chest as I made up my mind.

  “Come inside while I make dinner,” I beckoned, slipping away from him and heading into the house.

  Jason followed me around the house as I prepped dinner for everyone and a snack for myself, and watched a little t.v. while the chicken cooked.

  “Jason,” I started and he looked up at me from his seat next to me on the sofa, “You’re my brother… I’m never going to see you as anything else… please, please, go off and be thirteen.”

  “After school starts, maybe,” he grumbled, staring at the t.v. instead of me, “It’s too hard to find friends around here my own age right now… with summer and all….”

  “Please try,” I requested again and he shrugged, “You haven’t been anywhere without me… I love you, Jay, I do; which is why I want you to go off on your own….” I paused, knowing he would hate me for it. “Besides… Alex invited me to stay at his house for a week. All of them stay at his house during the summer like camp or something almost… and they want me to stay, too… if Dad okays it, I’m going to go back tonight.”

  “What?!” Jason blurted, spinning on the sofa to face me, “That’s not fair! I want to go with you!”

  “Absolutely not,” I insisted, “You weren’t invited and that’s rude, Jay. They like you, I’m sure you can come over some, but you’re not going to be staying over there all the time. You need to go hang out with your new friends, without me.”

  “I don’t want other friends!” he proclaimed before jumping off the sofa and storming upstairs to slam his bedroom door behind him.

  With a sigh I headed out the back door and over near the tree line. It didn’t take long, although I was a little surprised when Caiden emerged from the forest in his human form instead of his wolf form.

  “You’ve already made up your mind?” he queried and I nodded slowly, a flush creeping up my neck as I found myself staring at the ground between our feet.

  “If it’s all right with my dad, I’ll stay at Alex’s,” I answered, darting just my eyes up to him when he chuckled.

  “Did you want Alex to ask him, or did you want to ask him?” Caiden questioned and I shrugged, “Alex is more than happy to ask, if that’s what you want.”

  “That’s fine… my dad likes all of you guys anyway,” I mumbled, suddenly looking up into his eyes, “Just don’t even think about letting Jason come to stay… visit, sometimes, maybe….”

  “I see…” Caiden laughed softly, “Our little brothers and sisters really like him at the bonfires… they text him some too, but he never will go hang out with them….”

  “Are they…” I hesitated and glanced around, “You know… too?”

  “Yes,” he stated simply and I shook my head, “I really don’t think Jason would catch on like you did. I think he’d be fine. Think about it. They hang out with some other kids, too, so he’d meet a lot of people.”

  “I just don’t want him stuck here…” I murmured to myself, shaking my head distractedly, “And you’d better get out of here before he sees you here….”

  “You seemed surprised to see me in my human form,” he added, taking a step closer to me and I forced myself to stay still.

  “I was… I know you guys can’t make clothes appear… I didn’t suspect you were keeping watch in human form…” I considered thoughtfully.

  “When we know we’re on guard duty, we carry a bag with our clothes in it with us. Change back out of sight and we have clothes to put on,” he explained, reaching out to lightly take hold of my wrist, “Last night, don’t think I’ll let it go that easily.”

  “It was a dare,” I countered and he shrugged his shoulders, “I don’t… I mean… somebody else likes you… and I’m not going to… to interfere….”

  “I don’t like Sage like that,” he retorted nonchalantly, but I looked at him in shock, “I noticed years ago… it’s pretty obvious to me… Or were you talking about someone else? Cause out of the four girls you hung out with, Sage is the only one I know of; but you didn’t say you don’t like me.”

  “I like Rayne… and I know that’s pointless…” I uttered beneath my breath, but Caiden’s eyes darted up, over my head before he lightly kissed my forehead and disappeared off into the forest line. Only a moment after he was gone, I went inside and met up with Jason in the kitchen. He had just gotten there, and I was heading to check on dinner.

  “Are you really going to go stay at Alex’s?” Jason whispered and I nodded, turning the chicken and setting it to bake a little longer.

  “If Dad says it’s okay,” I dismissed, turning to find Jason leaning on the counter, but his blue-green eyes had been staring at the floor until they darted up to my face.

  “I don’t want you to go… but I guess… I guess I understand… I just thought you might change your mind…” he quietly revealed, pain in his eyes, “I was certain you were changing your mind… and then all of a sudden, you stopped….”

  “I’m sorry, Jay…” I whispered, staring into his saddened eyes as he forced himself to shrug and stand up, “Will you set the table? Austin and Dad should be home soon.”

  He only nodded and gathered the things to set up the table while I checked on everything, leaving the pots on the stove at a simmer.

  “So, I hear that group of kids likes you so much they’ve invited you to stay the week with them,” Dad carelessly commented at dinner as we all sat around the table. It was one of the few nights that we actually made sure to all be home, and I’d have to make sure to swing by for it next week.

  “They did,” I remarked and Austin shot me a curious look out of the corner of his eye, “Is it all right if I do?”

  “Oh, absolutely,” Dad conceded with a grin, “I like those kids and it’ll be good for you to get out of the house on your own for a bit. Are you heading back over there tonight?”

  “I had planned on it,” I admitted. By that time, Austin had stopped eating and was staring at me in blatant shock but I ignored him.

  It wasn’t too much longer before we finished and Dad had to head back to work which meant that Austin started interrogating me.

  “What are you doing? You stayed there last night, now you’re going to go for a whole week?” Austin interrogated while Jason washed the dishes.

  “Austin… Think about it… I’m going,” I retorted quietly. I didn’t give him any more time to argue as I darted upstairs and packed a small bag that I loaded into my car. I told my brothers bye and headed down the road.

  Caiden was standing on the sidewalk just out of view of the house and I slammed on the brakes as he hopped into the passenger seat.

  “Where were we…?” he chuckled as I started up the car again, “You like Rayne… you realize that’s stupid… we all realize you like him… Don’t you like Jack or anyone else?”

  “I guess… kind of… why does it matter?” I wondered, glancing at him while we were at a stop sign.

  “Because Alex won’t let you be with Rayne… so we’re wondering who else has a chance with you,” Caiden remarked as I barely shook my head.

  “I like all of you in different ways…” I murmured, sighing, “Yes, I like Jack… but he’s like Alex’s right hand… and that makes me uncomfortable… even if he is really hot… and sweet… and funny….”

  “Got it…” Caiden grumbled and I looked at him again, “They say you were kind of flirting with Ty at Jack’s party last night.”

  “I don’t flirt…” I mumbled as his hand fell to rest on top of mine which for whatever reason I kept on my gearshift despite it being an automatic.

  “You do, it’s just cute and sweet when you
do it,” he stated and my heart skipped as I felt my cheeks flush red, “So can I take you out? Alex says it’s okay….”

  “I couldn’t do that…” I faltered and he sighed.

  “I don’t like Sage like that… she’s more like a sister… think about it, please,” he requested and all I could do was nod as we pulled up at Alex’s house. He got out and carried my suitcase inside before I could get out of the car completely. I had no idea where he’d taken it, but headed toward the front door anyway.

  The front door was pulled open by a guy that I didn’t know. He was tall and lean and I instantly knew he wasn’t human. He had his fiery red hair pulled back into a ponytail that hung to his chest and inspected me with curiously careful blue eyes.

  “You must be Arianna,” he greeted insightfully, “I’m sorry… Anna…Tobias told me you prefer Anna.”

  “It doesn’t really matter,” I replied in confusion, wracking my brain to try to remember who it was Alex had said was supposed to arrive in the morning. “I mean, either is fine. I didn’t think anyone was getting back tonight….”

  “Oh, I’m sorry,” he chuckled lightly and stepped out of the doorway to let me inside, “I’m Farren. I wasn’t planning to get back so soon, but my plans for tomorrow fell through so I came back.”

  “Oh… well… do you know where Caiden went with my stuff?” I asked and he shook his head, “Could you ask him…?” His blue eyes briefly widened as he realized just what I meant.

  “How did you figure that out? Alex said you’d only been told what you had already figured out…” he pondered aloud, shaking his head in awe, “Caiden said he put you in the upstairs guest room…. Up these stairs… down the left hall… third door on the left.”

  “Thank you,” I thanked, but he was looking at me then as though seeing me for the first time, “What?”

  He laughed and shook his head again. “Alex wants to see you,” he finally answered, but that wasn’t what he’d been thinking. “Would you like me to take you to him?”

  I nodded and started to follow him. “Are there four more guys and five girls coming, or is the elite group unbalanced…?” I inquired aloud and Farren looked over his shoulder at me.

  “Unbalanced,” he stated, “Only four more girls. It’s not really ideal for you, though….”

  “Wha… Why?” I stammered and he chuckled but shook his head, stopping and pushing a door open that led into a large library where Alex was sitting in front of the unlit fireplace, reading.

  “Because all of my male pack members are developing crushes on you,” Alex interjected knowingly, setting his book down on the table beside him to look up at me, “They’re enamored with you, even Farren and he’s only just met you.”

  “Are you serious…?” I whispered, crossing the room to sit in the chair across from him as he chuckled and nodded.

  “Very serious; you have this strange pull about you…” Alex stated, his aqua eyes staring at me, “I’m glad you’ve decided to stay here, but Caiden mentioned your wanting to get Jason more involved with kids his own age.” I nodded. “You’re trying to get his attention away from you… but Caiden also mentioned not getting him involved with our pack, and it’s too late for that, Arianna… the kids he’s been hanging out with at the bonfires, those are pack members… I seriously doubt your little brother would get as deeply involved with us as you have, and they hang out with a lot of mortals.”

  “I don’t want them getting stuck here… but Austin is already so involved with Amy… and those are the only friends Jason has…” I faltered, slowly shaking my head, “I don’t want them trapped here, too.”

  “We have precautions in place to keep mortals from discovering our secrets… you either aren’t entirely mortal, or are one of the exceptions, because you shot straight through all of them…” he muttered with a hint of annoyance in his voice.

  “Alex… what else is out there…?” My voice was barely audible and I wasn’t entirely sure he had heard me. The fact remained it was something that worried me and frightened me.

  “Our biggest enemies are vampires,” he revealed nonchalantly, but a chill a mix of excitement and fright ran down my spine, “The dayhunters cause us the most trouble, though… they appear completely human and can even tolerate the sun….”

  “Vampires… are real…?” I whispered and he must have caught the hint of joy in my voice because his aqua eyes turned deadly serious as he met my gaze. I had always had a bit of a fascination with vampires. The stories about them captivated me, for no truly apparent reason. The fact that more stories were spreading in the recent past only fueled my interest and despite the fact that I knew their dangerous side, I couldn’t help be in awe of them.

  “The stories out there about them, the ones that romanticize them, they hired humans to write, some of them they wrote themselves,” Alex started again, but his voice was cold, “Those stories are completely fictional… they’re monsters. Those stories were a way to make humans less wary of them and more susceptible to their charms.” I was still thinking about his revelation that struck me as so amazing when he reached over and grabbed my hand. “You won’t find vampires anywhere near this town. They know this is werewolf territory and they don’t come here.”

  “So you’re saying they’re all bad… and they never come here…?” I reiterated and he nodded slowly, “Wouldn’t they probably say that you’re all bad?”

  “Don’t, Arianna,” Alex scolded and I shrugged, “I can only hope your feelings alert you to their presence before they get an opportunity to hurt you, should you ever run into any of them. Not that you should really be able to run that risk… since I won’t let you out of the town without escorts….”

  “You said it would be possible for me to accidentally let some people know what I know about all of you…” I began curiously and he nodded again, “Can you explain that to me…?”

  “If a vampire drank your blood, it would have access to your thoughts,” he reasoned quietly, “You wouldn’t be able to stop it… well, the average human wouldn’t be able to stop it… You might… Either way, that is only one of many ways you might reveal our secrets. I’m more concerned now since you have such a fascination with those blood-sucking monsters.”

  “I’ve always thought they were cool… dangerous, but cool,” I admitted dreamily, but the heat on my hand jerked me back to reality, and I stared down at Alex’s hold on me. “Why can you do that? That heat thing…? Can all of you do that?”

  “It’s a werewolf thing,” he evasively answered, sighing and shaking his head, “We’re having a barbeque tonight, people will be in the pool, too. Feel free to join them.”

  “Okay… Can I go to my room then?” I queried and he nodded as the door opened again.

  “Farren offered to take you,” Alex announced, turning his attention back to his book while I stood up and walked back to the door to find Farren’s blue eyes inspecting me.

  “Come on,” he motioned with his head for me to follow him and I did as he closed the door behind me. “You’re prettier in person than you are through their minds… even though they do see you through rose-colored glasses for the most part.” I looked up at him in confusion and he laughed as he walked between me and the railing up the stairs and we made a left, further into the house than I had really been. “So why did you have to decide to like the one pack member that Alex won’t let you date?”

  “Because I’m destined to never go on a real date?” I laughed but he looked at me curiously, “My big brother didn’t let me date… Now that I think he finally would… well… like you said, I picked the one guy Alex doesn’t want me around….”

  “But you like Jack and Caiden too, don’t you?” Farren queried, stopping at a door with his hand resting on the doorknob behind him while he turned to face me. I tilted my head to one side as I looked into his eyes, spotting a ring of silver around his pupils.

  “Why would you say that?” I wondered and he smirked.

  “Bec
ause you told Caiden you like all of them, which was an exaggeration because you don’t like Alex… I haven’t seen you around Tobias enough… but it’s clear you like Caiden and Jack…” he considered thoughtfully, “But you still haven’t met all of us… maybe someone else will catch your attention.”

  “Who? You?” I teased but he only shrugged his shoulders, “I don’t even know you, Farren.”

  “Yet,” he corrected with a grin as he pushed the door open behind him and stepped out of the way, “This is your room while you’re here. Do with it as you please.”

  I walked inside to find an elaborate bedroom with a large sleigh bed which my suitcase was sitting atop. I spotted two other doors in the room and started towards them before I realized Farren was still standing in the doorway. I looked back at him curiously and he grinned at me.

  “How did you figure out the telepathic stuff?” he asked and I shrugged my shoulders, my gaze falling to the floor, “I won’t tell if you don’t want me to, I’m just curious.”

  “You’re very calm,” I murmured, glancing up at him again, “I didn’t expect you to be calm… the others are all… tense? I don’t know… it’s like they’re on edge….”

  “I’m older than they are,” Farren chuckled faintly as I pulled my attention back to him, “We’re raised to be on alert at all times, some of us just learn to make our subconscious the alert part instead of our conscious. We all have our own temperaments, though… it’s not like we’re alike… I would’ve thought you knew that by now….”

  “I do,” I countered with a smile, “But Rayne was still the only one of you that I had met that didn’t have that constant tension about him… I guess I had kind of decided it was something caused by being in this pack… but you’re calm, too….”

  “You’re evasive,” he laughed softly, “So do you not trust me, or do you just not want to say how you figured out the telepathic stuff?”

  “Could be either really, couldn’t it?” I coyly countered as I dug through my suitcase and pulled out my black bikini.

  “Do you believe what Alex said about everyone liking you?” he wondered and I shrugged but barely nodded my head when I glanced at him again, “Do you have something you can wear over that?” My face flushed but I nodded again and he smiled softly. “I’d wear it, if I were you, or at least take it to the pool with you.” He leaned inside the room a little further and pointed to each of the doors while he spoke, “Closet, bathroom. If you need anything, just let someone know, okay?”

  I only nodded and waited to hear the door click closed before I dug through my suitcase again and pulled out a silver sun dress.

  I didn’t make it all the way downstairs after I’d changed before I ran into Jack who had a coy grin on his lips. When he slipped his arm through mine, I tried to remember everything I had said that day and gasped as my hand darted up to cover my mouth when I recalled my conversation with Caiden in the car.

  “You heard that, too?!” I blurted, only glancing at him to find his emerald eyes sparkling as he nodded, “I thought he’d tuned out, or whatever you call it… So everyone heard it…?”

  He chuckled, and lightly pulled me to a stop just inside the back doors. “I’d suggest taking off the cute little dress before stepping out that door, though. Somebody might be thinking about throwing you in the pool as soon as you get outside.”

  I glanced up to find his pupils ringed with silver and tilted my head to the side curiously. “You’re blocking them out right now?” I queried and he grinned and nodded, “I like the silver in your eyes… it’s pretty….”

  “I will kiss you,” he countered coyly, leaning just a little bit closer to me with his one arm still linked through mine and the other pressed against the doorframe, “This serves as your only warning.”

  He lightly kissed my forehead before slipping out the door and after careful consideration I took off my sun dress and folded it up with my towel to drape over my arm. I had to take a deep breath before I could get my feet to step out the back door and onto the patio where almost all of the commotion stopped and a split second later Tobias jerked my things off my arm while Caiden lifted me off the ground.

  Even though I’d expected it, and nearly convinced myself of who would do it, I still screamed and clung to his neck. That seemed to throw him off for all of a second before he just jumped in the deep end with me still in his arms. He also kept me under for an extra moment after all of the bubbles cleared before tugging me up towards the surface.

  I swam over to the edge and pushed myself up to sit on the cement side, my feet still hanging in the water, water which I was scrubbing out of my eyes before I ran my hands over the top of my head to push back my hair.

  “Gee, thanks,” I murmured as Caiden jumped up to sit beside me, laughing while he shook his hair out of his face.

  “Alex said I could,” Caiden chimed gleefully while I rolled my eyes.

  “I said I wouldn’t punish you for it,” Alex interjected and my gaze shifted to find him tending the grill across the patio, “I didn’t say that you could do it. That’s your own suffering now.”

  “Suffering?” Caiden pondered while I climbed the rest of the way up onto the patio. As I walked behind him, I leaned over just enough to shove him back into the pool then went off in search of my towel which Tobias had thankfully set out on one of the deck chairs. Everyone had burst out laughing when I pushed Caiden and they were still laughing when he climbed back onto the side of the pool again.

  “You get what you deserve,” Farren chuckled from the chair beside mine, “I believe that is kind of what Alexander meant by suffering.”

  “I didn’t expect her to exact revenge quite so quickly,” Alex laughed while I wrapped up in my towel and plopped down in the chair.

  “It’s not like I can pick him up and throw him in whenever I want…” I murmured more so to myself, but Farren looked over at me from his book and I noticed the silver around his pupils which faded out into that striking blue of his eyes.

  “You get others to do your dirty work for you,” he commented simply and I stared back at him in shock, “I’d throw him in if you asked.”

  “You don’t even know me…” I whispered and he smiled, an actual, sweet smile, something that was a bit of a rarity amongst those wolves.

  “I’ve seen you plenty through their eyes before I met you today. And I’m quick to make decisions about people,” he calmly replied and I tilted my head to the side curiously, “I’m always right about my decisions. And you, Arianna, I would trust with my life.”

  My eyes widened, but I couldn’t help the small smile that slipped onto my lips before I realized how quiet it was and that the silver was gone from his eyes.

  “Really, Farren?” Elisabeth questioned and I realized just how serious all of them looked, but Farren was still staring at me when he nodded his head.

  “Really, Elisabeth,” he confirmed and I realized something big was going on that I wasn’t being made fully aware of, “Let’s not get all serious, here, it’s a barbeque, we should be having fun.” Those words broke the strange silence and everyone started joking around again. I wanted to ask, but something told me I wouldn’t get a straight answer, at least not a truthful one. “I want to explain to you… but I can’t,” he remarked softly, the silver once more in his eyes, “I want to… but Alex forbade it….”

  “I didn’t honestly expect you could,” I whispered, staring at him for a long moment before my gaze shifted over his head towards the large iron gate, despite the fact that I couldn’t see it. I looked back at Farren to find the silver still in his eyes. “Is it really okay for you to tune them out for such a long time…?”

  “I’m not saying anything that effects them; they could do the same if they chose to do it, most of them just don’t choose to do it,” he answered with a shrug.

  “Hmm…” I murmured, lying back in the chair and staring up at the slowly darkening sky. I must have spaced out thinking, because the next thing I
knew, Alex was sitting on my chair next to my arm, his fingers lightly running across my cheek. I started and darted my gaze to him in shock.

  “I wish I knew what you were thinking,” he calmly recited as I realized his blue eyes were intensely inspecting my face.

  “Can you turn humans into werewolves…?” I questioned, but his gaze didn’t change any and I sighed, rethinking my words, “If I marry into your pack… would I remain human?” He still didn’t budge and I sighed again, “What about children? Would my children be born human or werewolf? Do werewolf women give birth to humans or wolves? You said you were full-blooded and that’s why you turn into full wolves… which implies there are other kinds of werewolves… can pregnant werewolf women transform while they’re pregnant?” He laughed then, it was pretty obvious it just slipped out and he hadn’t meant to, but he laughed.

  “That’s what you’ve been thinking about?” he queried and I shrugged, “I’ll indulge you a little… because that entertains me… Werewolf women give birth to human children if they were in their human form when the child was conceived and to wolf children if they were in wolf form when the child was conceived.”

  “Are you just waiting on the others so you can spend time with me?” I demanded, making his eyes flicker, “I’m not going to change my mind… but the more I’ve thought about it, the more I think that’s what you’re doing…. If you can all communicate telepathically, the others should already know all about me and shouldn’t really need to meet me….”

  “Did Farren put this idea in your head?” Alex pressed and I stared at him with a confused look on my face before shrugging, “Food is ready… come eat.”

  He’d grilled a bit of everything, but I picked out some chicken and grilled corn and then found an empty seat at an empty table on the patio. I was only mildly surprised that they left me alone. It was rather nice to know that even though I was stuck in this town, that they wouldn’t be constantly harassing me; when I wanted space, they gave me space and I appreciated that.

  But halfway through my meal a tremor ran across my spine and I dropped my corn back on my plate, taking several deep breaths while I closed my eyes. When I opened my eyes again, they were all in front of me; well, except for Rayne who I knew was still in the castle, and Sage who I guessed was on guard-duty since I hadn’t seen her for hours. I looked at each of them, thinking long and hard before I stared into Alex’s strange aqua eyes.

  “I need a favor,” I started, taking a deep breath again. Asking Alex for anything really went against my better judgement.

  “Anything, my dear,” he acknowledged and I felt the little knot tighten in my stomach.

  “Could you please go rescue Jason from the fight he’s getting himself into… talk to him… take him home to Austin…? He likes you…” I requested thoughtfully, “He respects you… I’d go myself, but it kind of defeats the purpose….”

  His eyes flashed almost solid silver before he closed them and let out a faint sigh. “I will be back shortly,” he decided and dashed off towards the house.

  “Is Jason acting out or something?” Jack queried, falling into the chair beside me as I barely nodded.

  “Or something…” I murmured, staring down at my corn, “Alex won’t bring him here… right?”

  “No. He respects your wish to keep Jason out of things,” he reasoned simply while everyone else kind of wandered away, back to their own tables, “But Jason isn’t making it easy… the fight he picked… he picked it with pack members… Fifteen-year-olds… Caiden’s brother’s group, who are a handful to begin with….”

  “Rai’s just going through a rebellious stage,” Caiden interjected from his table and I giggled, “What? It’s my fault because I don’t spend enough time with him….”

  “So spend more time with him,” I suggested nonchalantly, finally picking my corn back up to finish it, but I flinched, “Alex wouldn’t hurt Jason… would he…?”

  “No more than necessary to keep him safe,” Jack replied with a shrug, “He’s very careful with humans… well… humans that aren’t you… he’s not as careful with you because he forgets….”

  “That’s not very reassuring…” I mumbled but Jack slid his hand across the table to lightly hold my wrist, “When is he going to let Rayne out…?” Jack’s hand twitched on my arm before he sighed. “I don’t expect to see him… it’s just not fair that he has to stay in that castle all the time….”

  “Rayne will be released tomorrow at sunset when he’s completed his sentence,” Jack stated, darting his emerald eyes up to mine, “He’s aware of his sentence… we’re all aware of the sentences if we break pack rules… so Alex isn’t being harsh on him or anything.”

  “That’s good to know…” I sighed, pushing my plate across the table to lay my head on the cool glass top. “I wish your other elite members would hurry up and return so I can stop thinking all of these things knowing I won’t get any answers….”

  “He’ll answer all of your questions once he gets their permission, so you might as well keep asking them. I’m getting back in the pool, would you care to join me?” he questioned and I started to shake my head.

  “I just ate… that isn’t safe, right…?” I queried but he chuckled and shrugged.

  “We never wait… that’s some old wives tale, I think… but I’ll be with you, I won’t let anything happen to you,” he assured and I hesitated a moment longer before unwrapping from my towel, draping it over the back of the chair and walking down the steps into the cool water of the shallow end.

  The moon was high in the sky when Alex finally returned to the house and found me drifting around the pool on a float, staring up at the star-speckled sky. Most everyone else had gone inside a while earlier, except for Farren and Jack. Jack was on his own float, but Farren remained in his chair out of the pool. I couldn’t decide if they were keeping me company, or keeping watch on me.

  I wasn’t completely surprised when Jack dragged my float to the shallow end and up on the steps while he climbed out and Alex stepped onto the first step, sitting on the side of the pool. Jack and Farren disappeared inside before I could blink and I found myself sighing.

  “I wish you wouldn’t do that…” I mumbled, climbing off of the float to sit on the top step on the other side of the handrail, “You could ask them out loud to leave… I get the feeling you mentally ordered them to go….”

  “I did… if it makes you feel better, I will try to ask them aloud,” he responded and I looked back at him to find his aqua gaze focused on the water. “Your little brother picked a fight with members of my pack… which is not a good idea to begin with… but he won’t be able to again… I made sure every last member of my pack is aware of who he is and no matter if he tries to start fights, they are not to engage in them… they can befriend him… but no fighting…. I’m not sure I was the best choice, because he’s mad at me…. He thinks I’m the reason you’ve turned your back on him….”

  “I’m sorry, I didn’t even consider that,” I admitted, my own gaze shifting to the sparkling waters, “Is he all right now…?”

  “I took him to the park; we sat on the swings and talked. I told him if he needed to blame someone, I’d take the blame; but that you’re safe with us and I won’t let anyone hurt you… I told him he needed to quit being so selfish,” he paused as he laughed, “He didn’t like that… I also told him he was being childish, and he hated that… but that he needed to consider your feelings and let you do what you needed to do. You wouldn’t stop caring about him, no matter what, but you needed your space right now. I hope I didn’t step out of line with that….”

  “No, you didn’t,” I acknowledged, “I’ll always love Jason, which is why I don’t want him involved in your pack problems.”

  “Well, I got him home, and Austin and I had a short talk about him, and here I am,” he sighed and I looked back at him, “I find myself wishing you hadn’t gotten yourself pulled into this… but it can’t be helped now….”

/>   “I thought you wanted me stuck to you,” I faintly laughed and caught the slight smile that tugged at one corner of his lips, “Thank you, Alex… thank you for getting Jason home safely and for asking your pack to help keep him out of trouble….”

  “I told you I’d take care of you,” he dismissed nonchalantly, “You’re part of our pack now… unofficially, as of yet, but still… I’ll take care of you.”

  “Were they with me for company, or as guards…?” I cautiously questioned and Alex laughed, his eyes lightening as I watched him.

  “Jack was to keep watch of you… but he volunteered, because he enjoys your company… Farren chose to stay completely of his own accord. I told you, my pack likes you,” he reasoned, but I tilted my head to one side and kept a close eye for the flickers I expected when I spoke.

  “Except Samantha,” I stated and his eyes did indeed flicker to almost black they grew so dark, “Samantha doesn’t like me… why?” The ring of silver formed around his pupils, the first I had seen such a thing on him. From what I could gather, he kept himself rather open to his elite group.

  “You took her spot,” he finally revealed, seeming to think through his words before he spoke them. “She had the attention of all of the male pack members… she was the popular one… she was the one they fought over… She’s a bit unique… So you came here, drew our attention with how different you are, and have taken all of her admirers and friends away… even the other girls like you… She’ll get over it, eventually… and she won’t do anything stupid… I’ve made it very clear to her that if she bothers you, she’ll be punished….”

  “Oh….” It was the only word I could think of in my jumbled mind; I felt a bit bad, even though I hadn’t tried to take her spot in the pack at all.

  “It’s late, Arianna… perhaps you should go to bed?” Alex calmly suggested and I shrugged as I stood up. He was suddenly standing beside me with my towel open and my dress draped over his arm and I looked at him with narrowed eyes.

  “Exactly how fast can you guys move in human form? Are you faster in wolf form? I know you’re extremely fast as wolves… and you’ve freaked me out more than once as humans…” I murmured, but his gaze was unmoving and the silver was gone from his eyes so I chalked it up to more unanswered questions and sighed, wrapping up in my towel and taking my dress from him. “Is the room I’m staying in… mine while I’m here, or will I be monitored even while I’m in it?”

  “It is yours unless you give the outdoor guard reason to have you monitored,” he stated and I sighed before I went into the house and up to my new room. After a quick shower, I climbed into pajamas and bed. It took a while of staring up at the ceiling to get used to the utter silence of the house before I finally fell asleep.