by Holly Hook
"You have a point," I say. I know what it's like to deal with disapproval, so I feel like I need to get in Remo's corner. The poor guy's been alone for who knows how long, his human life taken away. He deserves to go to the dance with Leonora, who might also be a help.
"And didn't we agree to stick together?" Remo asks.
Cayden swallows and pushes out the words. "We did. But still patrol around town. May and Everly will need you. What good is being alpha if no one will listen?"
Remo frowns as Everly glares at him. "Then I'll patrol."
We head inside. I feel bad for Remo, who slumps his shoulders in submission. But the sense of connection returns between all four of us. Things are working again. And it took my near-death to bring us back together.
But Cayden remains tense as the two of us split from the others and walk into Mrs. Connors's room.
Matthew's not here yet, and he doesn't appear even when the warning bell rings. But Olivia's at her table next to mine, and Cayden rushes to his table the moment we step through the threshold. He still sits on the other side of the room.
Noah sits beside me. I mutter a hello to him as Mrs. Connors sweeps into the room.
And just as the final bell rings, Matthew ducks into the room and searches the front row for a seat, any seat. He won't dare make eye contact with me or anyone else. Olivia watches him as distaste comes over her features. Her eyes narrow and she gets out her Economics book, thumbing through it.
Matt is having a terrible day.
And I'm glad to see it.
Noah pokes me. "They must have fought," he whispers, full of hope.
"Maybe," I say with a smile.
But Olivia still doesn't wear her silver pendant. Her "gift from Noah."
The tension in the room stays high throughout the lesson. Mrs. Connors plays a half hour video about the stock market as Matthew hunches as low as he can, trying to hide. Being one of the biggest guys in school, the task is hard for him.
I ball my fists over and over. Even in the semi-dark and without trying, Matthew's bringing up the reaction in me. The tug manifests inside a few times, faint but undeniable. The monster in me wants no one to mess with it. So far, it won't forgive.
But I hold back with a deep breath each time, drawing a stare from Noah.
The bell rings and Matthew shoots out of his chair and walks to the door, not bothering to look cool.
"Did you see that?" one girl, Melissa, asks.
"Maybe he needed the bathroom," Mrs. Connors says, trying to make us all understand.
I snort.
"What's so funny?" Noah asks.
I wish I could tell him. "Nothing. Just imagining Matthew holding his butt on the way to the bathroom."
"Serves him right," Noah says.
Then Cayden shocks me by brushing past me and into the hall. "I'll see you later, Brie," he whispers. "I have to go myself."
He smells metallic.
Nervous.
"Was the cafeteria food bad yesterday?" Noah asks.
Olivia pushes past me next. She still smells of heavy makeup, maybe even more so. Her purse rams into me as she passes.
"Olivia! Watch where you're going." I wait for the beast within to pull at me, but it stays calm. All I feel is the usual annoyance at her.
She faces me, whirling on her cast and crutch. Eyeing Noah for a second, she turns her aggression on me. "Well, sorry."
"Did you know Matt wet his pants yesterday?" I blurt.
Olivia raises an eyebrow. "I heard someone threw a rock at his BMW."
"And I heard he wet his pants and drove off," I say. "He had a friend with him at the time who saw it. You don't want to get into his car with the pee smell. Or dance with a guy who can't hold his bladder."
"Why do you care?" Olivia asks.
My superior hearing picks up a real question. Why do I, after the way she's treated me all these years, care who she goes out with?
"Because there are plenty of guys in the school who don't wet their pants. Or want to rape girls. You're better than those shallow chicks you hang out with." I don't even feel jealous of her anymore.
Olivia pales.
"And," I say. "He knows you have a broken leg."
"Matt would try to use a girl who can't run," Noah says. "You know it. We don't want you to get hurt. You used to hang out with us all the time. We creatives have to stick together."
Olivia locks eyes with him for a few seconds.
"And how's that bite healing?" I ask, heart racing. I won't put Noah in danger.
Olivia makes a face for a second. "Fine," she says, staring at the lockers. "The bite marks are still there and scabbed, but my mom says the bone is coming together great. Well, she thinks. Someone lost my medical records in the hospital two weeks ago. She says I'm lucky I didn't get an infection."
I gulp as my heart leaps into my throat.
For the first time, Olivia's talking to me as if I'm not scum.
And she looks at Noah as a dam crumbles in her eyes. But before he can speak, she turns away.
Chapter Seventeen
"Developing story," Noah says as he sits at the lunch table, pulling me with him. "Olivia talked to us today, and she definitely does not want to go out with Matthew."
"We already established the last part," I say.
I eye the Lowe table. Cayden sits beside his siblings. I need to talk to him and tell him Olivia admitted to her injury being a bite. She confirmed the worst, and she still hasn't put on the pendant that can save her humanity.
Olivia sits at her usual table. Tiffany and Alesha huddle with her, and today Bonnie has joined them as well. I listen to them.
"You can't go if Matt doesn't bring the car."
"Ditch him. Now. Sounds like someone's mad at Matt."
"Unless you want to wave through broken glass?"
Olivia sighs, but I don't miss the relief. "I'll tell him I'm not going out with him. I'll do it right now. But one condition. You have no say in who I choose."
The girls go silent.
I grab the table as sweat sneaks in between my fingers.
If she wants to go out with Noah why won't she just put on the silver necklace to tell him? It would be perfect. She wouldn't have to ask Noah in front of her crappy friends and risk their reaction. Olivia could just say it's from a secret admirer.
"What do you think they're saying?" Noah asks.
On the other side of the room, Cayden watches the girls. He's listening, too. Our gazes meet for a moment before he goes back to his food, trying not to look suspicious.
Olivia gets up.
Matt, Ted, and the two other guys—probably the ones who walked up the trail, trying to corner me—watch as she marches over to their table. Matt glances at me, catches me watching, and goes back to his food.
"Hey, Olivia," Matt says, tense.
Noah leans forward, watching. "You are seeing live footage," he says, sounding like a newscaster.
"Shh," I say before I realize it.
"I..." Matt says. "The car won't be ready for the dance. Sorry. The auto glass shop can't get to it until Monday. They're full. So we can't go."
"Dude, you said they'd get to it Fri--"
Matt slugs Ted on the arm to shut him up.
"They called me this morning. A guy was sick, so they won't fix it until Monday. And my dad's pissed and won't let me borrow the Hummer."
"I was coming here to say the same," Olivia says. "The dance is off. I'm going with...I'm going with someone else."
"Put on the pendant, already," I mouth. Noah will question why Olivia's wearing something that belongs to me, but he'll love that I did this for him.
And that brings a warm feeling inside.
Matthew rises. "Someone else? What are you? A slut?"
Olivia pales. "You're saying that?"
"That looks ugly," Noah says.
"You slut," Matthew says. He can't dream of a girl rejecting him. "Get out of my face."
"Gladly."
> Then Matthew turns his glare at me.
Before I melt his with my own, I see death in his eyes. He suspects I've had something to do with this new development. I'm ruining his life.
Matt looks down at his own tray, but not before Noah nudges me. "That guy might be an idiot, but he's sharp. He knows we're plotting against him."
"We'll be fine," I say. "He's just a guy."
"He's a two hundred pound guy who could break me over his knee."
"Matt won't bother you."
"And how do you know?" Noah's fear is back.
"Cayden?"
"I think Cayden only shoves Matt around for people without Y chromosomes."
"I'll put in a word," I say. "Witness protection program. Noah, don't worry."
"There she goes," Noah says.
Olivia grabs her tray and marches out of the lunchroom. Noah gets up, too. Hope fills his eyes again. He wants to get her alone and ask her about going out a second time. One failed attempt won't stop him.
He marches after her.
And Matthew watches.
I can't let Noah go alone. I don't trust Matt around other guys, either, though he'd have a different punishment ready for them. Noah would be lucky to get out with just a black eye.
Noah exits the cafeteria.
And, as if sensing what's going on, Cayden has left. While watching Olivia, he's slipped out of the cafeteria, leaving Everly and Remo. Both look at me, questioning. Remo shrugs.
By the time Noah and I get into the hallway, Olivia's gone. I smell her food and her makeup, which leave a trail down the hall towards not the picnic tables, but the art wing. The click of her crutch echoes off the lockers and around the corner.
"Where did she go?" Noah asks.
"Hiding," I say. "If I were her, I wouldn't sit at the picnic tables where Matt could go. So maybe she's heading to the one place Matt never goes."
"Smart," Noah says. "I told you she wasn't stupid."
"I never said I didn't believe you. Let's find her. Then you can ask her again, now that Matt's out of the way. And she'll want someone with her if Matt's mad."
"Good point."
We walk towards the art hallway. The clicking of Olivia's crutch stops. I sniff the air, searching for any trace of Savage Wolf. Cayden says the infected can give off a faint scent of one right before turning, and if the full moon is in just a few days, Olivia could, right?
"How do you know she's down here?" Noah asks once we reach the mouth of the art hallway. The metal gate is half-drawn over the archway, discouraging students from wandering the halls during lunch.
"I heard her crutch."
"I told you her broken leg is legit," Noah says. "She wouldn't have used it when no one's looking if she was keeping up a charade."
My stomach heaves. "I know it's not fake, okay? Come on. Stand up and act confident even if you don't feel confident. And tell her to put on the pendant you gave her."
Noah's jaw falls open. "The what? But I didn't--"
I tap my bare neck. "I might have put in a word to her mother. Secret admirer gave her a present."
"But Brie, that was your family heirloom!"
"Just do it," I say. "Tell her to wear it all the time if she rejects Matt. It's good luck. And it'll tell Matthew she's not interested. And you wish her a good recovery."
Noah forces a smile.
He smells of adrenaline now.
"Do it," I order.
A chair shuffles at the end of the art hall. Noah and I step through the half-open gate.
Food and makeup fill the air. The two scents combine, almost masking another.
When I smell a third, I freeze.
The wilds.
Cayden.
He's come down here right before we have and I didn't notice until now.
"Brie?" Noah whispers.
I break into a quiet run, my shoes making little noise on the linoleum. Noah follows. Slowing, I near the door of the final room in the art hall, the Ceramics room, and stop near the display of painted statues, patterned bowls, and stained glass. The door's closed, but the two people inside speak loud enough for Noah to hear. My best friend stops beside me, hand cupped around his ear.
"Are you sure Matthew won't bother me?"
"He won't," Cayden says from inside. "Once he sees us, he'll back off. I promise. You've heard what I did to him that one time."
"But aren't you working at the dance?"
"Just at the start," Cayden says. "After that, I'm free."
"And Brie?"
"We don't get along anymore."
I realize, with horror, what Cayden's doing.
He's asking Olivia to the dance.
And he isn't telling me or anyone else about his plan.
"I've noticed," Olivia says. "You guys don't even hold hands in the halls anymore."
"Yeah, I think I'm done," Cayden says. "She doesn't know yet, but I'm done. Things are too complicated and she's always getting in trouble. And did you get the pendant I gave you?"
My heart shrivels.
Have I done this?
By turning and by going against the social order, have I driven Cayden away? He's just faking this to get close to Olivia, right? To protect Noah, too?
But he could have just told me.
I'm an actress. I know how to play a part.
"You're not trying to pull one on me?" Olivia asks.
A chair shuffles. "No. I'm not."
And lips meet.
Noah grabs my arm, but I don't need his convincing to make me turn away and follow him down the hall. Neither of us look at each other as we step through the gate and jog back to the cafeteria.
Chapter Eighteen
I don't see Cayden again until the beginning of Money Management, the last class of the day. He sits away from me as if he already realizes I know.
I pause as I enter, backpack in hand. Dropping it, I ask him, "So, how were Olivia's lips?"
Cayden pales. I don't care. Rage fills me as another growl rises in my throat. We stare at each other as his hazel eyes widen.
"You followed me?"
"I sure did," I said, gritting my teeth.
"Let me take care of this," Cayden says. "It's the only way. I have to stop--" he eyes a few other people sitting in the room, one of who's a guy scrolling through his phone. "I have to stop you-know-what however I can."
His words are final. Cayden turns away and looks out the window.
"What is wrong with you? You were just going to let me see the truth at the dance?"
"I didn't know how to tell you."
He's still unreadable. Cayden gets his book out, shutting me away. His smell fills the room, the dominant scent, but right now, I feel like he's across the country.
"This had better be an act," I say, sitting in my own seat and trying not to let the storm of emotion take over. The whole story might not have come to light yet. I take a breath. Cayden could be completely faking out Olivia, even with the kiss. It's not as if he hasn't fake-kissed her before. It happened when he rehearsed for Beauty and the Beast. Cayden doesn't even like Olivia. He could be pushing me away to make it all look real to her. Olivia has to wear the pendant at the dance and at least for the whole full moon night. It'll buy at least a month, or longer if he strings her along.
Cayden doesn't think Noah has a chance of getting her to do what we want.
And that I don't deserve to know of his real plan.
I hold back from punching my desk and raking my fingernails down the surface.
Cayden should have told me.
What if he is pushing me away?
He didn't have to kiss her. Or did he?
I watch him. He stares down at his worksheets, shoulders hunched. The air's thick. Cayden grimaces. As he scribbles an answer on his late homework, the pencil he holds trembles and then snaps. Everyone in the room looks at him.
And he doesn't react.
He's tormented.
I have to talk to him right after class.
But I almost don't make it. My stomach turns so much that I almost excuse myself to the bathroom to throw up. By the time the bell rings, I must smell just as much as anger and fear as Cayden. If Everly or Remo were to pass by the room, they'd expect a murder.
But when the bell rings, Cayden walks up instead of the other way around. He grabs my arm as the rest of the class clears out.
"Brie," he says. "I know I'm the alpha, but let me take care of this one thing by myself. Let me make sure nothing happens at the dance. Give me the room to do what I need to do. And look angry."
I check the classroom. Empty desks. People flow outside, chattering and excited to get out of school. "I am angry." I level my stare at Cayden.
He swallows. A storm rages in his eyes, somewhere deep that even I can't reach. "This is how it has to be. And it might have to stay this way."
My jaw falls open. "Stay this way?"
Cayden glances at my desk. "Yes. I don't love Olivia, but if I break up with her after she puts on the pendant, she'll take it off and turn."
"Cayden!"
"What else would she do?" His eyes plead. He trembles as he holds my arms. "I won't let her hurt anyone. If she turns and I'm not there, she will kill and infect others. And soon we'll get driven out of Breck. Or worse. This must be the reason the Savages infected her. I will put that pendant around her neck myself. She won't be able to resist."
I think of how Olivia threw herself at Cayden before. He's right. She won't. And "But there might be other infected people," I say, lowering my voice. "Are you going to go out with them, too?"
"Olivia might be the most dangerous. She's too involved with everyone else."
"But I had a plan. Don't do this, Cayden. Let Noah put that pendant around her neck. There's some hope. We'll stand beside him and make sure it happens. We. We're supposed to be a pack, and I know I haven't done the best job of it either."
"Don't beat yourself up," Cayden says, soft. "You're still learning. And you're getting better. I shouldn't have treated you like that. I'm just--there's a lot going on and I don't know what I'm doing, either." He leans in for a kiss.
