“No parent does,” I said.
“But since he is coming, I’ll talk to him about making some more serum for Nash.”
Brandon had told me a few days ago that he would ask his dad for more serum, but hearing him say it again—when his father was coming into town—made it really hit home. Maybe we really could help Nash after all. “You would do that for him? You are amazing.” I was so pleased that Brandon saw the urgency in the situation and wanted to help Nash again. “It’s so generous of you. He doesn’t have anyone helping him out.”
“Except you,” he said.
“I don’t feel like I’m much help. Besides, you’d be the one really helping him. And your father.”
“I understand what he’s going through. He really wants a chance to be normal again. I know he wants it as badly as I do, if not more.”
“You don’t want it as much as Nash does?” I pressed him.
This time he shrugged his shoulders. “Being able to communicate with wolves has its advantages.”
I was excited that he finally admitted to me a part of what he liked about being a lycan.
“But there are just as many downsides,” he said. “I don’t know if it’s worth it.”
“Well, regardless, you’ll always be my alpha male.”
Nash found me taking my study hall in the library as I was trying to catch up on some of my homework. Studying and my lessons were taking a backseat to all the chaos that was going on around me. Luckily I managed to stay focused in class and keep up with my lessons as much as I could so I hadn’t fallen too far behind. I knew my grades needed to remain high as these last two years of school were so important for my entrance into college.
He sat down beside me with some books in tow: Witches and Werewolves and Supernatural Creatures and Their Heritage.
“That’s not your usual reading,” I commented. “I’d expect you to be reading Sports Illustrated.”
“I’m trying to find some way to fix this. The next full moon is only a few weeks away,” he whispered, setting the books down on the table.
He was dreading his impending transformation. I could see it in his eyes. They were intense and focused on finding answers.
“Is Brandon trying to get some answers, too?” he asked.
“Yes, he’s trying,” I said.
“My parents are getting suspicious. My dad says I eat like an elephant, and my mom says I’m eating her out of house and home.”
I nodded. “That is happening to Brandon, too.”
“And I’m starting to run faster at practice and hit farther than I have before.”
“Wow,” I said, “you must like that.”
“I do. I want to be great. But is hitting home runs worth what I have to go through once a month? The coach thinks I’m juicing,” he said. “I could get kicked off the team. Yes, I want to be fast and strong, but not like this. Besides, I can’t be a major league player and not be able to play during a full moon because I’m hiding in the woods like a dog.”
Nash was tense, and he brushed his hand through his hair anxiously. I felt for him and really wanted to see his pain and stress go away.
He opened one of the books. “I’m hoping there is something in here that can help. I’ve searched the internet, but nothing has helped me figure this out. I ran and ran to purge my body of this strength and energy, but I didn’t even get tired. I just wound up feeling more energized.”
“Have you gone to a doctor?” I asked.
“Are you crazy? They’d lock me up. I don’t want to be in a funny farm. I’d rather hide in the woods.”
I shook my head, almost in despair.
“What is Brandon doing—besides saving kids? I bet he likes this, doesn’t he?”
“Why would you say such a thing?”
“C’mon, you can tell me. It’s obvious. He can be a hero.”
“He’s not like that at all.”
“Aww…he likes this stuff. I can see it. Charming the wolves and getting all this attention. No one knew who he was a few weeks ago—except for you.”
“How can you be so callous?” I asked. “If anyone would understand, I’d think it would be you. This has been hell for him, too.”
He nodded his head. “You’re right. My moods are so erratic. You have to take what I say with a grain of salt. I don’t always feel like myself, you know?”
“I know—this is really frustrating for you both.”
“So has Brandon found anything worth trying?” he asked.
I wanted to tell him so badly about Brandon’s father and the possible cure, but I couldn’t. It was privileged information, and it wasn’t my news to tell. I could only assure Nash that I was here to help and anything that I could do, I would.
“Nothing that’s certain yet. If we do find something that works—you’ll be the first to know.”
“The full moon is coming. Less than three weeks away. I can’t go through this again, Celeste.”
I sat in the library with him as he checked through the books for ideas. Once again I was distracted from my homework, busy dealing with the effects of being friends with the new generation of Legend’s Run’s werewolves.
* * *
A few days passed and I was looking forward to Dr. Maddox’s arrival on Friday, hoping he could help Brandon. Since Dr. Maddox was going to be coming to town on a late flight, Brandon invited me over to his house for dinner and to wait for his father. Brandon’s grandparents were dining out with another couple, so we’d have the place to ourselves.
Brandon and I had a cozy meal together in the kitchen.
“It’s like our own home,” I said, checking on cookies I’d placed in the oven. He drew me in and pulled some cookie dough off my fingers. Then he ate the cookie dough.
“Yum,” he said. He leaned into me and kissed me. I hugged him and patted him with an oven mitt I had on one hand.
“It would be cool to have our own place someday,” he said suddenly.
“You think so?” I asked.
“Yes,” he said.
I was so touched that Brandon was thinking about the future—our future.
“Ivy and Abby were talking about college and how we all should go to the same university,” I said.
“I hadn’t thought about that.”
“College?”
“Ivy and Abby,” he said. “But that’s flattering that they’d like to include me.”
“I think you are growing on them. Finding Abby’s dog. Saving a little boy’s life. What’s not to like about you?”
“The fact that I’m a werewolf,” he said. Suddenly his mood changed.
“But we’re trying to fix that.”
“I know. On one hand, I want to take the serum and get it over with—see if it really works. On the other hand, I dread it. If it doesn’t work—”
“We don’t have to think of that now. Let’s plan on it working.”
He laid his hand on top of mine. “I still feel guilty about not taking it last full moon. My dad made this cure for me, and I didn’t take it. I’m sure he’s really upset.”
“I’m sure once you explain, he’ll understand. He’s coming here tonight to help. And besides, he’s your father. You must miss him. It will be great for you to have him here with you.”
“I do. He’s a great guy—a great dad. I just know how he looked at me the last time he was here. With fear in his eyes. He’s afraid of me—his only son.”
“He’s not afraid anymore,” I said. “He is coming back.”
“I’m not so sure. It’s not natural to have a son who is a werewolf.”
“Well, we are working on that, aren’t we?”
“Yes, but mostly he is. And I’m the one who resisted his help.”
“But there is another full moon coming soon. Don’t beat yourself up. You can take it then.”
“You are really something,” he said. “Most girls I’ve met are only interested in shopping and partying. You are so understanding. Most girls w
ould run from a werewolf, not date one.”
“Well, how can I resist one as cute as you?” I asked coyly.
“I’ve been dying to do this all day.” He sat at the table and pulled me onto his lap and we kissed.
Then we cleared our dishes and put them in the dishwasher.
I imagined for a moment that this was our home. Brandon and me living in the country. A house with character and dogs barking in the backyard, a flower garden, and a wooded area behind the house like Brandon had now. And what if he couldn’t change back to normal and he was this way always? Wouldn’t it be good for those times when it was a full moon to live in an out-of-the-way spot with a lot of land and a small forest behind the house to run alongside wolves without neighbors knowing? It might be possible to live our lives that way, if we had to. And if we had to, I was up for the challenge.
The doorbell rang, yanking me out of my fantasy and back into reality.
Brandon headed into the front room, and I followed. He opened the door, and Dr. Maddox stood there with a warm smile on his face. He embraced his son.
“Great to see you, Brandon,” he said, patting him on the back as they hugged.
“You, too, Dad,” Brandon replied.
“Hi, Celeste,” Brandon’s father said to me.
“Hi, Dr. Maddox,” I said.
“Wow, something smells delicious,” he remarked.
“Celeste just baked chocolate-chip cookies,” Brandon said. “Would you like some?”
“I bet you are hungry from traveling,” I said. “We have leftovers from dinner, too. We could heat them up for you.”
“No, thank you—but those cookies—that will be great.”
I went into the kitchen while the two Maddox men reunited.
I came back into the family room with a full plate of cookies and handed Dr. Maddox a small plate and a napkin.
“Thank you,” he said, settling in on the sofa. He took a cookie and bit into it. He grinned, delighted. “These are delicious,” he said between chewing. “You are quite the cook.”
“It’s just from a package,” I admitted.
“Well, I’m still very impressed,” he said.
Brandon scooted over, and I sat next to him on the love seat.
“So how have you been?” Brandon’s father asked. “You sure look good.”
“I feel okay,” Brandon said.
“Celeste seems to be taking good care of you,” he remarked.
“She is,” Brandon said.
“But how is everything else? Do you still have the lycan symptoms under a full moon?”
“If you mean ‘turning into a werewolf’ are lycan symptoms?” Brandon joked. “Then, yes.”
Dr. Maddox didn’t laugh.
“How are you feeling on a daily basis?”
“Hungry. I’m always hungry. I can see in the dark, and I feel compelled to sleep outside, even though I don’t.”
“So your daily symptoms are getting stronger?”
“I guess you could say that.”
“He can communicate with wolves,” I added proudly.
“Really?” Dr. Maddox asked.
“Yes,” I said. “And other canines. He’s very powerful. He saved a boy at the zoo the other day.”
“Interesting,” Dr. Maddox said. He put down his empty plate and pulled out his phone. He made a few notes on it. “What happened exactly, Brandon?”
“I don’t know…I just heard a scream, and then I sensed something—wolves in the distance being threatened. I didn’t have much time to think. Before I knew it, I was in an enclosure at the zoo staring at a pack of wolves. There was a boy lying on the grassy embankment—he was hurt and unconscious. I wasn’t sure about his injuries, but I didn’t want the wolves to attack him—nor did I want the boy to be afraid if he woke up. I let the wolves know that they weren’t threatened.”
“How did you do that?” he asked incredulously.
“Uh…I guess telepathically.”
“So it is still happening,” his father went on.
“I didn’t take the serum. I told you.”
“I know. But I thought your symptoms might wane. The restless nights and the like. But I didn’t realize you had other abilities, like communicating with wolves. How do you do that?”
“I don’t know. I can’t explain it. I just make eye contact with them, like I would a human. Only I can sense how they feel and what they are thinking. And somehow they know what I’m thinking, too.”
“And they listen,” I chimed in. “He’s the alpha male in the pack,” I told Dr. Maddox proudly.
“This is so interesting. I can’t believe it. If you weren’t telling me—if you weren’t my son, I wouldn’t believe it.”
“I wish it were all a prank,” Brandon said.
“I think we’ll have to run some tests. I have to see this and document it.”
This made me think of Dr. Meadows and her request, which had alarmed me. She wanted to film Brandon’s transformation. But Dr. Maddox was a scientist and Brandon’s father. He didn’t want to exploit his son for his own gain.
“I was hoping you would have taken the serum and have been back to normal. But since you haven’t, I think we need to talk.”
“Yes?” Brandon asked.
“I want to know why you haven’t taken it,” Dr. Maddox said, sitting up. “I thought you would have on the last full moon. That’s why I’m here. I wanted to know why and make sure you were okay.”
“We think there is another werewolf,” Brandon confessed. “In fact, we know there is one.”
“You have to be kidding,” his father said.
“I’m not,” Brandon replied.
“Who is this person?” his father wondered.
“Another guy at school. Nash, Celeste’s old boyfriend.”
“You seem to have quite a history with werewolves,” his father remarked.
We all half chuckled, relieving some of the tension.
“So I wanted to wait,” Brandon said. “To make sure he didn’t harm Celeste.”
“But don’t you think you can be yourself and handle these situations?” Brandon’s father asked.
“Of course…but it does help to be strong,” Brandon replied. “And with my communication abilities, I thought I stood a better chance at controlling Nash’s werewolf behavior.”
“At some point, you have to be yourself and do what is best for you,” Dr. Maddox said firmly.
“Maybe this is me,” Brandon responded sullenly. “I can’t be cured and then have Celeste in harm’s way with another werewolf.”
“Well, maybe you can,” he tried to assure Brandon.
“Yes,” he said. “I guess I could. I just was thinking I’d be stronger if I…Look, he was also bitten. I saw it happen. I tried to stop it, but I only got there in time for us to stop the wolf before Nash was killed.”
“Brandon saved his life,” I interjected proudly. “Just like he saved the boy at the zoo. And he saved me when I was lost in the woods. Brandon has been like a superhero in this town.”
Brandon’s father tapped him on the knee. “You are terrific,” he said. “All the problems you are going through, and you have the wherewithal to use your condition to help others. I am truly proud of you.”
Brandon’s cheeks flushed red. I know he wouldn’t admit that getting props from his father meant a lot to him, but he couldn’t hide his proud expression.
“And there’s something else, Dad,” Brandon said. “Now Nash is looking to be cured as well. I want to know, can we give him some of the serum?”
“I made that serum for you. I want you to be normal. Then we can go about seeking cures for your friends. What you have is only enough for one dose. And that dose is for you to take. And if you take the serum, you can prove its effectiveness. Then I can go and make another dose. But for now—I can’t give out medication to a minor without considering many legal issues. You understand that, right?”
“I understand. But can’t you
make more?” Brandon asked.
“I did the best I could in the short time I had to create a possible antidote. It’s made from wolf DNA and human DNA. There was no one to test it on, I’m afraid. Just a few mice.”
“Werewolf mice?” Brandon asked with a laugh.
“Creepy,” I said, imagining their appearance.
“I injected five lab mice with wolf DNA and saliva from a rabid wolf. I used intense reflected light to simulate moonlight and manipulated the magnetic field around their cage to re-create the full moon’s gravitational effects on the earth. Within a few minutes, the mice began to grow canine fur. Their muscles also grew stronger and they were much faster than normal. A few days later, I injected the serum, which contained particles of moondust I got from a scientist at NASA. Nothing happened. But when I injected it after their hair was turned under the moonlight, the antidote worked on four of them. They turned back into normal mice.”
“But what about the fifth one?” Brandon asked.
“He still continued to grow canine fur.”
“That’s what I’m afraid of,” Brandon said.
“It was only one in five. The odds are in your favor. It isn’t likely that you’ll stay a werewolf full-time.”
“Isn’t likely?” Brandon asked, rising. “One in five? What if I’m the fifth one?”
“What choice do we have?” his father asked, rising, too. “Do you want to remain in this condition forever? Eating like an animal during the day, talking to wolves, and then under a full moon turning into one? At least I am giving you a chance to be cured. It’s better than what we are facing now.”
Brandon turned to me. He knew what he had to do—for himself and for Nash.
“You are my son,” Dr. Maddox said in a comforting voice. “I want you to be able to live a normal life.”
Brandon was tormented by his condition and by the decisions he had to make. He didn’t want to argue with his father, but he also didn’t want to feel compelled to take it knowing there were risks. I could sense that he was thinking about that one little mouse that didn’t return to normal.
“What would you do?” Brandon finally asked him.
“I’d take the serum,” his father said adamantly. “As soon as the sun sets and the full moon rises.” He hugged Brandon tightly.