“If you don’t want me to.”
“I dreamed all night,” he said. “It was horrible. But the worst of it was that when I woke up, I was in the woods behind the baseball field.”
He looked to me for my reaction. When I wasn’t totally shocked, he was surprised.
“What?” he asked.
“Oh . . . nothing. Go on.”
“I don’t know what’s happened.”
I didn’t have the heart to tell my first crush—my first boyfriend—that last night I’d seen him turn into a werewolf.
“How did I get there—and why?” he asked. “And if I was there—I must have seen who trashed the storage shed—but I don’t remember who I saw.”
“It’s okay—” I said, even though I knew it wasn’t. If Brandon had a cure, then maybe it could be used for Nash as well. I’d just need time to find out.
“What happened to your arm?” he asked. “Did Brandon . . . ?”
No, it was you, I wanted to say. I wanted to tell him that he was the one who’d attacked me. But with the bell ringing and other students hanging around, now wasn’t the time to confess what I’d witnessed and experienced the night before.
“Nash doesn’t remember anything,” I told Brandon as soon as I was able to catch him between classes. “The baseball storage shed was trashed and he doesn’t think he did it. But I do.”
“Why do you think so?”
“Because he said he woke up in the woods behind the school. He told me not to tell anyone—but I figured you’d understand. I’m really worried about him, Brandon. He doesn’t know about last night. Or why he woke up in the woods. He doesn’t even know that he chased me in Willow Park. I couldn’t bear to tell him he did—or what he became. The dance is tonight,” I said, my heart racing. “He doesn’t know he’s going to turn.”
“Who is he going with?” Brandon asked.
“I don’t know. Maybe Heidi Rosen? I know I’m going with you.”
“I don’t think he’ll be going with anyone,” he said. “He’s going to turn, and then he’s going to inhabit the woods all night.”
“You think?”
“I know,” he said. “But I’m not. I’m going to be just like every other guy there—taking his girlfriend to the dance.”
“So we don’t need to do anything about Nash?”
“There’s nothing to do,” he said reassuringly. “At least not tonight. Let’s cure me first. Then we’ll be able to cure Nash.”
EIGHTEEN
moonlight dance
Brandon planned to take his antidote at sunset, and we agreed to meet at the dance. I was so excited to dance with him through the night. This was to be our first time together in public. Our relationship wouldn’t be a secret any longer.
When I walked in, I heard a whistle coming from one of the trees.
It was hard to see with the glare of the school lights. I peered closer and saw steely gray eyes shining through the brush.
“Brandon?” I asked, running over to him. “What are you doing out here?”
When I saw that he was only wearing jeans, I knew he either hadn’t taken the antidote or that it had turned him into a werewolf permanently.
“Are you okay?” I asked.
“I can’t go with you,” he said. “I tried to—I planned on taking it. But I was afraid of being a werewolf all the time—and not being one at all. I’m so confused. Then when I changed, I realized it was too late. Now I can’t let you walk in there with a werewolf.”
I held him with all my might.
“All I wanted was one dance,” he said. “Just to be close to you and see your dress and watch you—just to walk into school holding your hand, like any other boyfriend would do.”
“Boyfriend?” I asked.
“Yes.”
“So you are my boyfriend. For real?”
“Of course!”
We embraced, and I didn’t ever want to let go.
“I can’t walk in there looking like this,” he lamented. “I have long hair and a goatee—things I didn’t have an hour ago. And I don’t have clothes.”
“It is dark inside, isn’t it?” I asked.
“Yes . . . but . . . I just wanted one dance, that was all.”
“Then you’ll have your dance,” I declared. “Can you wait here?”
“Uh . . . sure.”
I did my best to hurry back up the front steps in my heels. I rushed down the hallways passing formally dressed couples.
“Hi, Celeste,” several couples said.
The speech and drama room was open, as Mrs. Feldman, the teacher, was in the gym chaperoning the dance. I made my way to the back of the room and grabbed a men’s black overcoat and wing-tip dress shoes and hurried back out with them.
I got a few curious stares from students as I passed by and rushed out the front door to Brandon.
“Here,” I said. “You can wear these.”
He examined the clothes. “They don’t look too bad, actually.”
“Yes, we are lucky the drama department has a good budget.”
Brandon held my shoulder for support as he put the shoes on. I helped him adjust the jacket and wiped off any lint I saw.
“If you don’t smile too big or grin widely, they won’t see your fangs.”
“What about my hair?” he asked. “How can I explain that it grew six inches in a day?”
“Hm . . .” I thought. “Wait.”
I dug into my purse and pulled out a tiny ponytail holder. I combed his wild hair with my fingers and twisted his luxuriously thick mane and wrapped the holder around it. I tucked the ponytail neatly into the back of his jacket.
Now we were able to attend the dance like any normal couple at Legend’s Run.
We entered the Moonlight Dance. We walked through an arch of black and white balloons into the dimly lit gymnasium.
Most students were surprised to see Brandon and me together. Whispers and murmurs followed us as we continued to walk into the room.
Ivy and Abby were already dancing with their boyfriends. When they spotted us, they stopped and came over to greet us while their beaus went for refreshments.
“You look beautiful,” Ivy said.
“So do you guys,” I said.
“Hi, Brandon,” Ivy said. “Your eyes look different in this light.”
Brandon smiled back and greeted Ivy and Abby.
“Celeste is right, you girls look beautiful,” he said.
Ivy and Abby blushed and giggled.
“So how long have you been here?” I asked.
“Not long,” Ivy said.
“The DJ is great. You’ll have to get out there,” Abby told us.
“We plan to,” Brandon said eagerly. “I was hoping to wait until a slow song,” he said into my ear.
We hung out for a few minutes until the DJ played a slow tune, and Brandon led me onto the dance floor.
He pulled me close, and I wrapped my arms around his neck. I wasn’t looking anywhere else or thinking about anything else. I was dancing with my romantic werewolf, and no one had any idea.
When we finished, Brandon gazed down at me like he’d done when we were hidden under the staircase, tucked away in his guesthouse, or nestled together in the woods. I felt as if he was going to kiss me—this time in front of the whole school. Then Brandon leaned into me and drew me closer and planted his lips on mine with the intensity of a thousand leading men. I was lost in his lips for what seemed like forever.
When we broke apart, I felt hundreds of staring eyeballs fixated on us. Ivy, Abby, Jake, Dylan, and every student gawked at us. Even the staff and chaperones were staring. Brandon was unaffected and just grabbed my hand and proudly led me off the dance floor.
When we joined my group, there were a few howls from the guys and gaping faces from my girlfriends.
Brandon smiled while I blushed.
The guys went to grab us girls a few drinks when I noticed Heidi Rosen walking in with one of the athletes—not
Nash.
If Nash wasn’t with Heidi and he wasn’t here, where was he? I was hoping he was concealed in the woods like Brandon said he’d be. I was worried about Nash. He was probably somewhere in the woods hiding. However, until sunrise it was for the best. Once Brandon took the cure and we found it worked, then maybe Nash could as well.
The guys returned with our punch, and Brandon seemed preoccupied. “Thank you,” he said to me as he handed me my drink. “I got my one dance.”
“I don’t want you to leave,” I pleaded. But I didn’t know how much longer it would be until someone noticed his paranormal characteristics. His hair was already becoming a little frazzled from dancing, and his goatee and facial hair could be seen when the flashing strobe light hit him at the right angle.
“I know, me too.” As my clique sipped punch and gossiped, Brandon drew me aside and gave me a long goodnight kiss. Then he slipped out the side door without anyone the wiser.
“Where’s Brandon?” Ivy asked.
“Uh . . . he wasn’t feeling well.”
“I can’t believe Nash didn’t come,” Abby said. “Maybe he’s sick, too.”
There was a commotion coming from the gymnasium’s entrance, and a startling howl came from that direction.
“What was that?” Ivy exclaimed.
Some students screamed while others stepped aside.
“There’s a wolf in here!”
Then the lights came on. Everyone scrambled for the sides of the gym. But there wasn’t a wolf in sight. Instead, Nash entered the gymnasium.
He was fully illuminated by the gym lights. His hair was wildly long, and he had sideburns and blond facial hair. His normally athletic body was even more ripped. He was wearing dress pants and nothing else. Nash was growling.
Several girls screamed at the sight of him.
“He looks like a werewolf!” one girl exclaimed.
“A gorgeous one!”
“Why does he look like that?” someone asked.
“He has wolf fangs!” another said.
“This has to be a joke!” Ivy said.
“He’s pranking us again,” Abby declared.
When Dylan headed for him, I called out, “Be careful, Dylan. He’s not pranking.”
“You mean to tell me—” Ivy started.
When Dylan reached Nash, he stared at his friend. Suddenly Dylan retreated and came back to our huddled group.
Nash headed straight for me.
“But what’s he doing?” Ivy asked.
“He wants Celeste,” someone said.
Nash grabbed me by the arm.
“Get off of her!” Abby said, trying to break me free. But Nash’s grip was too tight for the ponytailed athlete. He pulled me to the dance floor. Everyone was shocked.
“You’re hurting me!” I said.
Then Nash locked his blue-gray eyes on mine, and I was under a spell. He was magnificent, even more muscular than he normally was. His shoulder-length, untamed, beach-colored hair was beautiful.
He took me into his arms and held me so close I could feel his heart beating against mine.
“What’s wrong with him?” I heard others whisper.
The music had stopped, but that didn’t curtail Nash from beginning to dance with me as if it were still playing. He grinned, and his wolf fangs shone brightly.
I wasn’t sure what he was going to do next. If he bit me, I suspected I would become a werewolf, too. He had his sights set on me, and I didn’t know what to do. All I knew was that I was becoming frightened of him, and it seemed as if everyone else in the gymnasium was, too.
I didn’t want to anger Nash any further for fear he might strike out at me—or someone else.
“Jake—do something,” Ivy said.
“What can I do?” I heard him say. “He’s just dancing with her.”
“C’mon, Dylan!” Abby yelled. “She doesn’t want to dance with him!”
“She seems okay,” he said.
“Then I’ll get her,” I heard Abby say.
Just then Brandon entered the gymnasium. He was still wearing the outfit I’d given him. Only this time, the gym was fully illuminated. Brandon’s hair was long and tousled, and his face was lined with hair. Fangs broke through the separation in his lips. Because the lights were on, everyone could see his lycan condition.
There were gasps and whispers and a few screams.
“What’s going on?” Dylan asked.
“Call nine-one-one!” someone hollered.
“He’s a—” Jake said.
Brandon stared straight at us, and his gray eyes bore through the gym right at Nash.
Nash perked up, as if he sensed a competitor on his turf. He turned us around so I was the one standing in front of him. Nash held on to me so tightly, there was no way for me to escape.
Brandon grew wildly angry, and he was primed for a fight. The moment was surreal, as if I were in a movie. Brandon charged the dance floor and with all his lycan strength pulled Nash away from me.
I fell to the ground, and Nash was thrown back off the dance floor but landed on his bare feet.
Ivy and Abby raced over and helped me up, quickly guiding me off the dance floor.
Nash jumped back into the middle of the gym floor and squared off with Brandon, as if at any moment one was going to charge the other.
Just then two security officers stormed into the gym. As the two werewolves were primed to lunge at each other, the officers headed toward them.
Nash let out a fierce howl that startled all the girls, causing screams and panic. Just before the officers reached him, he took off for the opposite gymnasium doors while Brandon headed to comfort me.
Nash busted open the fire exit door and ran off into the night, setting off the alarm.
Everyone covered their ears as the chaperones and security guards scrambled to find Brandon and Nash and to disable the alarm.
While the commotion was going on, Brandon grasped my hand and led me to the front entrance of the gym and outside into the darkness.
When we reached the edge of the woods and were safely out of view, Brandon took me in his arms. “Are you okay?” he asked.
I was still shaken. The night had ended so strangely. My teeth were even chattering from nerves. Brandon held me like a little bird that had broken a wing.
“It’s over now,” he said.
“Is it?” I asked. “Now everyone knows. About Nash—and you.” Brandon took off the jacket and placed it around me. I wasn’t cold, but I was freaking out. His caring nature was the only thing that was going to calm me down.
He removed his shoes and T-shirt. He stood in front of me like the handsome werewolf I’d seen before.
“You are always saving me—and everyone,” I said. “Who is going to save you?”
A smile overcame him, and he beamed like the moon above us.
“The one girl standing in front of me,” he said. He drew me in his arms and I fell into his embrace. “By finishing our dances together underneath the moonlight.”
NINETEEN
magic of the moonlight
The following day, the town was abuzz with the Moonlight Dance fiasco. Apparently once the alarm was disabled, the dance continued, but not without much gossiping about the astonishing event. Ivy and Abby texted and called me after the dance, and I assured them I was okay and agreed we’d meet at the coffee shop in the afternoon.
Nash spotted me outside my house as I was heading over to catch up with my girlfriends.
Back in his human form, he looked disheveled and tired. Normally the handsome jock was pretty immaculate and clean in his preppy threads and gelled hair. But I found him at the end of my driveway in a T-shirt and jeans and with scratches on his arms and face.
“I don’t know what happened last night,” he said, almost shaking. “Everyone is looking at me strangely and calling me Wolf Boy. What’s happening to me?”
I hadn’t seen Nash this scared since he was attacked by the wolf in the park.<
br />
“I can’t tell you now,” I said. I was afraid to add more pain to him in his already anxious state.
“They are saying I’m a wolfman. Just like we teased Brandon. But I don’t know why. Why me?” His torment was palpable.
“Where did you get those scratches?” I asked.
“I don’t know,” he said as truthfully as I’d ever heard him. “I need your help. You are the only one I feel safe with. You are the only one who really knows me—and can tell me what happened last night.”
I patted him on the arm, hoping to comfort him. “Do you remember being at the dance at all?” I asked.
“I only remember getting ready. It got dark and I felt ill. Then I woke up outside my house. I guess I passed out from partying?” He looked to me for an answer, but even though he didn’t remember, I knew he sensed he wasn’t out partying.
“Please, Celeste. You have to help me. I’m not a bad guy. I need to know what is going on with me,” he pleaded. “I’m afraid I might hurt someone.”
That was a game changer. It was one thing to see my friend struggle with not knowing what was going on, but if he wasn’t remembering what was happening, how could he control what he was doing? He was a far different werewolf than Brandon was, and that meant I had to keep not only the town safe but Nash as well.
There was only one solution to help Nash. He had to remember. Then he could decide what to do with his condition. And there was only one way for him to remember.
“You will have to meet me at Willow Park tonight,” I instructed. “By the lake. You must promise. Just before sunset.”
“Okay,” he said. “I really appreciate this, Celeste.”
He leaned in for a hug, and I gave him a warm one.
“It’s the only way for you to remember,” I said as he got back into his Beemer.
“Remember what?” he asked as he shut the door.
Ivy and Abby were already waiting for me at the coffee shop by the time I arrived.
“What is going on?” Ivy asked.
“Nash is a werewolf!” Abby said. “And so is Brandon.”
“No they aren’t. They both were pranking us!” Ivy said. “Why do you fall for everything?”
“Because it’s true. I saw it with my own two eyes. And so did the whole school!”