by Holly Hook
"The necklace itself, no," he says. "But Noah being around her, yes. After the full moon, if she takes it off at any point, she turns."
"I..." For a moment, the bugs go silent as if appreciating my horror. "I didn't know that."
Cayden gulps. "I forgot about the Spooktacular Dance. It will be hard for us to watch the dance. Noble Wolves can hold back their transformations better than Savage Wolves, but even we will have to turn that night."
“I can't do that in front of Noah.”
“None of us can. Or in front of any humans." He stresses the last line.
“So making sure Olivia keeps that pendant on forever is the only way we can keep everyone safe at the dance. Otherwise, the Savage Wolves have found a way to get back into town.”
Chapter Six
Cayden and I will need to get close to Olivia. I have to face someone who's done nothing but snub me for the past several years. Somehow, I have to break the hold the shallow girls have put on her back in the seventh grade.
I tell Aunt May this once I get to Sterling Grocery and find her wrapping up. Leonora stands there, ready to start her shift with me, so I wait until she's in the bathroom to tell Aunt May the deal.
“I'm aware of the danger Olivia might pose,” Aunt May says with sadness. “I don't want to harm the girl or drive her out, either."
"Cayden does."
"He's upset about things."
“Wyatt,” I say. “And his parents.”
“True,” Aunt May says. “Anger is a bad trait for a werewolf to have. Some say that's how the Savage Wolves started, way back in a time everyone's forgotten. It may be how our kind split into two different types.”
“Can a Noble Wolf become Savage?” I check the aisles. Empty.
“I don't know,” Aunt May says. “Perhaps it's just a legend to make sure Nobles stay in line. Your father used to tell it to me.”
“Why do Savage Wolves keep trying to come here to Breck?” I ask. “It's been going on for generations if my mother hunted them, and her father before her, and so on.”
Aunt May shakes her head. "I don't know. Our parents didn't speak of it much."
Leonora opens the storage room door and returns. “Hey, Brie,” she says. “Ready to start the fun shift?”
“Sure,” I say. I need to leave before Leonora traps me with talk about organic food versus GMO, or about what her family's doing at their off-grid place or about the new solar panels they've installed. I need to find Olivia and convince her the pendant is from The One. Sending a glance at Aunt May, I plead with her to give me the day off.
And she nods. “Leonora, I've decided to only keep one of you on for today. Business doesn't justify having two of you work, so I'm sending Brie home.”
Leonora's expression builds into shocked happiness as Aunt May speaks, but the smile drops off her face as she finishes. “Sure,” she says.
“I know you can help our customers,” Aunt May says. “Brie has a lot of homework. I'm sure you don't envy that.”
Facing Olivia is much worse than staying at the store. Cayden's waiting outside for me, so I'm glad explaining things to Aunt May has brought our desired results. Leonora heads behind the counter as Aunt May mouths, “Good luck.”
I had out and nod to Cayden. “Olivia's place,” I say.
Cayden and I break into a run, staying just below suspicious levels. Even in human form, my speed has almost doubled, and I could give all the track kids a hard time. Cayden matches my pace. The Bertrams' place is across town, on the newer, wealthier side where Matthew lives. The house sits behind a gate with a button out front and is just a degree or two below mansion status. New windows surrounded with brick patterns watch the road. Lion statues guard the front porch, and a Hummer sits in the driveway. It's the vehicle Olivia's mother drives. I see no others at the residence.
I half-expect to find Matthew's BMW sitting next to the front gate of her property, or even in the driveway, but it's not present. Maybe the two went out on their first date.
Cayden looks at me. “Maybe I should talk to her? Say the pendant is from me?” He frowns as he speaks. "We both saw how she threw herself at me. That might convince her to keep it on."
“You're saying this to your girlfriend,” I say. "And Olivia won't believe it since we were holding hands in the hall today."
“Technically, the term is 'mate.'” Cayden says. “But if you prefer girlfriend, that's what we'll do. And I don't like Olivia. She's too malleable to outside forces, if that's the word you're looking for.”
“Ironic,” I say.
“She's weak,” Cayden says. “That's the word.”
I've never thought of Olivia as weak, always landing the lead roles in every play and dazzling the audience.
“If you go up there, she'll suspect you're playing a joke on her.” Olivia may cave to peer pressure and act like a brat, but she isn't stupid. Before hanging with the wrong crowd, she pulled straight A's and B's. Though she's let her grades slip to average in recent years, her brain has gone nowhere, has it?
“I guess you're right,” Cayden says, pulling me away from the gate. “We're back to Square One, then.”
“What about Matthew?” I ask.
“The jerk I pushed?”
“I can tell Olivia how he tried to bother me. Just how he treats girls. She didn't seem too excited about dating him. I might help tip the scales away from him if I talk to her. At least she'll keep wondering about her admirer and keep the pendant on."
“We don't have mind control powers,” Cayden says. “Sorry. It really might be better to wait and see and stop her from going to the dance."
“There might be something I can work with,” I tell him, walking over and ringing the buzzer. I lean near a speaker mounted inside the side of the gate.
“State your business,” a man demands.
“My name's Brie Sterling. I'm here to talk to Olivia.”
The man vanishes, and the speaker stays quiet. I assume he's talking to Olivia. I tense, expecting a no. But time's ticking and we can't accept one.
At last, the speaker beeps and the guy comes back. Her father, maybe? "She says she's busy right now and can't see anyone."
"I wanted to congratulate her on getting through the play," I say. "And I wanted to warn her about something." Pushing out the first sentence is torture.
The man sighs as the radio crackles. "I'll ask her again, but if she doesn't want to see anyone, she doesn't want to see anyone." He's annoyed, but at me or Olivia or both of us, I can't tell.
"Maybe we need to catch her before school tomorrow," Cayden says.
"She won't want to see the two of us together," I say. "You've seen the looks she's given us."
"I think she's calmed down these past two weeks," Cayden says. "Olivia will get over it."
"She says she can see you for a few minutes," the man says. "But you have to make it quick."
The gate clicks and one of the iron doors swings open.
"I'll go alone," I say.
Cayden opens his mouth to protest, but closes it. He's the alpha, and a part of him wants to assert that. A powerful look dominates his eyes as if he wants to challenge me. Do werewolves change when they become alpha? I'm getting already that even Noble Wolves aren't perfect, just like regular people aren't perfect. Can power corrupt their heads?
But I'll wonder about that later. I step onto the Bertrams' property. I've been here before a few times, back in the sixth grade when Olivia threw a pool party for me, Ellie, Sarah, and a few girls who made props for the eighth grade play. But the place doesn't seem as well-kept. Some shrubs have crazy shoots when before, the Bertrams kept them in perfect squares, diamonds, and even stars. The fountain in front of the house no longer spews water. Instead, it's a pond with bugs jumping around on it. Algae covers half the fountain that used to be so clear you could make out the marble pattern on the bottom. The place carries a musty smell, different from the Savage Wolves, but a sad scent.
Olivia opens
the front door before I get there. First, she lifts her eyebrow like she can't believe I'm stepping up to her house. She smells like her usual self: copious amounts of makeup. That's the first scent that reaches me. Then, without trying, I pick up a salty scent. Appropriate.
"Brie?" Olivia asks, keeping her hand on the door.
"Hey," I say, waving and trying to keep friendly. "Thanks for taking the lead back a few weeks ago. I'm glad you could make it work."
Olivia looks around the yard as if she expects a prank from the whole theater crowd. I follow her gaze without meaning to and find that Cayden's stayed out of sight. I'm on my own for this.
Olivia still hates me and now I'm on her turf. I squint, trying to see if she's wearing the pendant.
But since lunch, she's taken it off.
Bad. It means she's going out with Matt.
I stop on the steps of the porch, standing between the stone lions. "You were much better at playing Belle than me," I say, hating myself more with each word. But I think of what could happen at the Spooktacular Dance—things I don't even wish on Matthew. The only way I'll reach Olivia is to nudge the conversation in the right direction and stoke her ego. "Noah said you did well."
"He's kind of klutzy," she blurts. Then Olivia turns her gaze to the door—anything but me—and shifts back into the darkness of her house. I smell the plaster of her cast. And the bottom right leg of her jeans bulges, betraying that she's still wearing it.
"I danced with him, too. He wasn't that bad," I say. "Noah's a nice guy. He's worried about you. That made me wonder if you wanted to hang out with us sometime. You know, we miss having you around. We had fun back in junior high. Remember that?" If I can get her to open, I can convince her to save her humanity.
Olivia's eyes soften, but only for less than a second. Does a trace of her old self still exist? But then her gaze hardens, and she sneers at me. "We were immature brats back in junior high," she says. "We have nothing in common anymore."
I expect a sneer and I'm ready to defend my position. "We all like theater. You used to like our stupid sense of humor. Don't you want to hang out with people you don't feel you have to impress?"
"Who do you think I'm trying to impress?"
"Those girls you sit with at lunch?" I ask. "They want you to date a loser like Matthew just because he has a new car?" They—and he—must be the reason she took off the one thing that can save her.
"Were you spying on us?" She narrows her eyes with hatred.
"I heard them talking in the hall today. No spying needed. They gossip about everyone. Trust me. Matthew's landing on the sex offender registry someday. There are other guys out there who are much better even if they don't have fancy cars. Do you know what he tried to do a few weeks ago before school? He threatened to--"
"So you're trying to get me to ask Noah out," Olivia said. "He's not brave enough to do it himself." As she speaks, she thrusts her hand into her pocket. Without my meaning to, she's just connected the pendant to him.
I listen. That's the faint sound of metal on metal.
A silver chain?
Has Olivia kept it even after caving to her so-called friends? The noise doesn't match the jingle of keys or change. I expect her to take it out and throw it. Slam the door in my face.
But she doesn't. The noise isn't meant for me. She has no clue I can hear it.
"Are you the one who talked to my mother last night?" she asks.
"Talked to your mother?" I put on a confused face.
"Quit acting," Olivia says. "You're trying to set me up for something, aren't you?"
"We don't want to see you hang with the wrong crowd," I say. "Matthew's bad news. He doesn't even like us theater people--"
"I'm not like the rest of you," Olivia shouts. "You know nothing about me. Get off my property before I call the cops!"
She slams the door, leaving her rage in its wake.
I stare at the door for what feels like minutes when it reality only a few seconds pass.
"Typical," I grumble.
But she didn't throw the silver chain. Olivia might still have it.
She's still going out with Matthew. Olivia will take stupid selfies in his BMW and go with him to the dance. He's the type who would get her super drunk afterwards and go to town.
And she might turn into a Savage Wolf and infect or kill him.
For Noah's sake, I don't want either to happen.
"Brie," Cayden whispers from the gate. Though he's forty or fifty feet back, I can hear him. "Come on. We don't want the police involved."
I join him outside the gate which closes the moment I step onto the sidewalk. "What a brat," I grumble.
Cayden wraps his arm around me. I can lean into him and he'll never fall. "I heard the whole thing. We'll find another way," he says. "One way, or another."
"She still has the pendant, but she's refusing to wear it now. Matthew and her stupid friends must have told her to take it off. We can't let her go to the dance."
"I know. It might be up to the pack to kidnap her. But, if it turns out she's okay, then the best we get are criminal charges. We can't hold someone against their will."
"And then we leave Breck," I say.
Cayden looks at me, dead serious. "And none of us can go to prison. Humans will realize so-called monsters are among them. Even centuries ago, they fought us with bows and pitchforks. Today, it would be a thousand times worse. Regular people wouldn't tell the difference between Noble Wolves and Savage Wolves."
I let out a breath. Cayden speaks through grit teeth. He speeds his gait, scuffing his feet on the pavement for the first time I've seen. He walks like an angry animal.
And how can I blame him? He's spent his life in isolation and in hiding. I'm feeling the strain of this new life, too.
"Cayden, calm down."
He breathes out. "I'm trying."
"I know you're under pressure."
"To say the least."
"There must be a way to not have to kill or drive Olivia out."
"Deal with it, Brie. We'll do this the old-fashioned way. We tried, but we can't fix that girl's problems." Cayden pulls away and stalks ahead.
"Cayden, I know you're mad about Wyatt," I say, keeping my voice low since we walk past a row of large houses. "Olivia has done nothing but be a brat. And how can we do this the old-fashioned way when she's riding to the dance in a BMW with a hand up her skirt? Humans will see her transform."
"I'll figure it out."
"Let me help. I know Olivia and Noah better than you."
Cayden whirls. "It's clear she won't let you help her. And we'll stop her before she hurts someone. That's final."
I ball my fists. "You're not acting like yourself."
"Things are different now."
"You know, if you act like this, you'll drive everyone away all over again. Is that what you want?"
Cayden's eyes soften and he drops his shoulders. "No. But I have all this decision-making to do now. I'm sorry, Brie, but the tradition exists for a reason. Even your aunt will tell you that. I consider you and everyone else my equals, but right now...right now I have to be in charge."
His words sweep over me, powerful. It's the alpha's influence. I should listen.
But I won't. The rebellious streak refuses to die, no matter how many angry looks Cayden or any other alpha gives me.
"Fine," I say. "I'll stand aside, let Olivia turn, and then she can infect twenty more people which will force us to leave our home. And she can get more people killed."
I regret my words the second they leave my mouth.
A growl rises from Cayden's throat. His eyes flash with anger. I've never seen him like this before.
One threatens to emerge from mine. We stare each other down.
Am I challenging him?
"I've got to get out of here," he says at last, bounding down the road. He cuts across a yard, darts uphill, and vanishes into the tree line.
Chapter Seven
I linger on the
street, among quiet, large houses of people who work long hours to keep their properties. Cayden's scent vanishes from the air.
With him gone, I can't even say I'm sorry.
I let my anger stop that. Now I understand why werewolf culture is violent.
And maybe why I've seen no Wolves older than middle age.
And most of all why my father and Aunt May wanted to get out.
No sign of Cayden comes back as I walk and eye the tree line. I hate to trespass across yards to find him, but the more I wait, the more I realize I'm either going to chase him or go to his house. This is our territory and I shouldn't fear going into the woods, but Cayden's changes alarm me.
So I leave him alone as he wanted and head to his house, which is on my street. Even walking at a fast pace, the roads loop in a way so I take around fifteen minutes to get to the Lowe cabin. Why am I coming here? Everly will just tell me that my job is to shut up and do what the alpha says. But Remo might be more open. It's not as if I've talked to the guy a lot. For being such a big guy, he's quiet.
Everly opens the door as I walk down the long driveway and through the weed-choked lawn that hasn't seen a lawnmower in years. She sits on the barrel beside the door of the large cabin and waits for me to reach her.
"Where's Cayden?" she asks.
"He's having a hard time dealing with the Wyatt thing," I say. "I think he needed some alone time. And there's something else. Every time I suggest a way to stop Olivia from hurting people, he gets angry." I know why he's acting this way. But the way he growled at me reminds me of how he made that dog submit in Sterling Grocery.
A part of him wanted me to submit and go along with the plan, and my new nature should tell me to go along, but I won't. Even now, I feel different from the rest of the pack.
Everly swallows. Her gaze isn't as cold as I expect. "I know you're new to this, Brie. It sometimes takes time to adjust. Remo didn't want to listen to our father when he first turned."
