by Cheree Alsop
Soon, nearly twenty-five werewolves joined them around the tables. There was still room left for three times that many.
“We’re prepared,” Red told Alex, noticing the direction of his gaze. “We’ve almost filled it up a time or two. It helps to be ready in case the space is needed.”
“I’m sure they appreciate it,” Alex replied. “It’s amazing what you do here.”
“It really is,” Tennison agreed. “I didn’t know there were places like this.”
“They’re all across the country,” Red told them. “We keep in contact, carefully of course so the Extremists don’t find our locations. We help each other when we can.”
“Are the other safe houses this big?” Cassie asked.
Red nodded. “There’s a huge one in New York. Bigger than this, I think. There was another in New Orleans, but the General found them.” Pain touched his voice. He shook his head. “I lost some good friends that day.” He looked at Alex. “You did our race a big favor when you took him out.”
Alex nodded without speaking. He took down his father because the General had killed Kalia pointblank with a pistol to the head. The consequences hadn’t mattered. Only revenge for Kalia’s death had occupied his thoughts at the time. Now he was in the same city where her family lived and her grave was. He hadn’t thought that far when he accepted Red’s invitation to stay for the summer.
Cassie caught his expression and changed the subject. “So what do you need us to do here?”
Red nodded toward the other werewolves. “I have plenty of help. I have a feeling you guys will find enough to occupy your summer.”
“Doing what?” Tennison asked.
Siale jumped in. “I’ll show you. Are you guys full?”
At their nods, she led the way to the kitchen. Everyone washed their own bowls and helped Jassa put away the remaining sauce and noodles.
“Don’t worry,” she reassured them, her thick Jamaican accent making the words musical. “There’s plenty left if any of the youngsters come back tonight with empty stomachs.”
Siale gave Jassa a hug. “Thanks for taking care of Dad while I was at school.”
“He takes care of everyone else; I make sure he eats enough not to waste away. It’s a win-win for us all.” Jassa waved them away. “Now go have some fun. We’ll take care of the rest.”
Siale led the way outside.
“Where are we going?” Cassie asked.
“You’ll see,” Siale replied, her gray eyes sparkling. “I’ll show you what the nightlife is like by the ocean.”
Alex could hear the push of the waves against the sand from blocks away as they walked down the street. Instead of emptying out at night like he was used to with Greyton, night brought more and more people outside. The heat of the day dissipated as the moon rose, and the stars glowing from above shone on teens and adults alike filling the streets with entertainment and fun.
“This is crazy,” Cassie exclaimed. She turned sideways so she could skirt past a group of teenagers kicking a small hacky sack around in a circle. “Everyone’s out on the streets!”
“I can’t believe all the stores are still open,” Tennison replied.
“There’s an ice cream shop,” Cassie pointed out.
“Come on,” Tennison said, holding out his hand. “I know how much you like rocky road.”
Cassie smiled at him. “You know me so well.” She slipped her hand into his.
“Girls and chocolate ice cream.” Tennison winked at Alex. “Don’t stand in their way.”
“Have fun, you two,” Alex told them.
It made him happy to see his sister so enraptured with Tennison. She appeared so much more carefree than she had ever been before the werewolf came into their lives. Tennison definitely made her life better by being a part of it. The tall werewolf opened the door to the ice cream shop across the street and waved Cassie inside with a flourish.
Siale and Alex continued down the sidewalk. It overwhelmed his senses to see so many people crowding the streets. Laughter and shouting filled the air along with the smells of hundreds of people from every walk of life. Vendors sold snow cones, smoothies, and various fried foods from small carts, the clothes from the small shops cluttered the sidewalk in an effort to draw in customers, and all around him, people bartered, joked, and jostled each other.
Teenagers came rushing out of a store with drinks, chips, and hot dogs. “Last one to the beach gets to find the wood,” a boy called over his shoulder. They took off running toward the sound of the waves. Alex watched their progress through the crowd and lost them amid the hustle of city life.
A shoulder slammed into Alex’s. It took all of his self-control to keep from attacking the guy who continued on his way as though nothing had happened. While the others had appeared excited at the buzzing atmosphere of the packed city, Alex’s nerves were on edge. His muscles were so tense they ached, and he had to fight back the impulse to phase in order to protect Siale even though she appeared to be perfectly comfortable in the rowdy crowd. He thought his time in Greyton would have prepared him for such things, but there was so much more going on that his senses were on overload.
“Siale!” a voice called.
Alex turned in time to see a boy close to their age rushing through the crowd toward her with several other teenagers behind him. Alex’s instincts to protect Siale flared. Just before the boy reached Siale, Alex grabbed him by the throat and slammed him onto his back on the ground.
“Alex, no!” Siale cried.
Alex glared down at the boy whose eyes were wide as he looked from Alex to Siale. His hand itched to tighten around the human’s throat, ending the threat.
“Alex, Jerry’s a friend,” Siale pleaded. She dropped to her knees next to him and set a hand on his shoulder. “Alex, please!”
Alex looked at her. There was true fear in Siale’s gaze. He realized it wasn’t fear of the human, it was fear for him. She was afraid Alex was going to kill him.
Alex fought his instincts, caught in an internal battle. He didn’t know what to do. His instincts had screamed danger, and so he had reacted. The wolf had fought to defend Siale, to keep her safe from the mad rush of a boy who might have meant her harm.
The human side of Alex said he had acted rashly. He couldn’t attack people; he was acting like the animal they feared him to be. The teenager had done nothing wrong. He couldn’t just attack strangers on the sidewalk.
The fight or flight instincts thrummed through him, telling him that everywhere he looked there was danger. There were too many humans, too much potential for Siale to get hurt. He couldn’t protect her in such a crowd. But he shouldn’t have to protect her. They were supposed to be safe. He had it all wrong.
Alex felt like he was going crazy. He blinked, unable to come to terms with what was happening.
“Alex, you need to let him up,” Siale said quietly, her voice calm and steady. She set a hand on his arm.
Her touch broke through the confusing haze that filled Alex’s mind. He locked on her gaze.
“You’re okay?” he asked softly.
She nodded. “I’m fine, Alex. Please don’t hurt Jerry.”
Alex realized he was still holding the teenager down. He let go of the boy’s throat and rose. His senses thrummed, charged by the crowd who had gathered to watch them, by the other humans who had come with the boy and were now pulling him to his feet, by the angry red fingermarks on the boy’s throat, and by the way Siale was watching him as if uncertain what his actions would be.
“I’m sorry,” Alex said. He turned and ducked into the crowd.
“Alex!” Siale called.
He ran through the mass of bodies. Everywhere he turned, the crowds were thick with every manner of individual, teenagers, homeless men and women, parents with children, couples, street entertainers, and vendors hawking their wares. He ducked past buildings and between shops. He avoided salesmen on the streets and men and women dancing and singing to crowds who threw them co
ins. Alex couldn’t get away from the panic that filled him. His heart didn’t skip, but it thundered in his ears with the force of a raging storm.
The scent of popcorn, hotdogs, fish, French fries, and cotton candy tangled in his nose along with the unfamiliar seaweed and salt smell of the ocean. His sneakers fell on the asphalt with resounding thuds of desperation. The brush of bodies against his arms, chest, and back filled him with terror. He didn’t want to hurt them, but he couldn’t push down the thought that they wanted to cause him pain, to betray him, to end him.
The thud of his sneakers turned to soft shushes when the asphalt gave way to the sand of the long beach and the ocean Alex had never seen before. His steps faltered. Alex stared past the mass of people laughing and playing along the shoreline to the water beyond.
The fall of moonlight on the ocean danced magically to his wolven eyes. The trickle of light played along the midnight depths as though they were one and the same, light upon darkness and dark upon light. He couldn’t tell where one ended and the other began. It was as if he could walk along the ocean to the point where it met the sky, a mirror that reflected itself in the rise and fall of the never-ending waves.
His troubled soul calmed slightly. Alex turned away from the crowds and began to jog down the beach. The sound and the masses died away as he left the light of the city behind. The beach became darker, welcoming.
His footsteps slowed at the mouth of an empty wooden pier reaching out into the water. The crowd was gone, and with it, the chaos of indecision. Alex walked along the pier, following it to the end. His footfalls sounded lonely; the only answer to their echo was the slow push of the ocean onto the sand below.
Alex reached the end of the pier and sat down, letting his feet dangle. Leaning on the wooden crossbeams, he stared out at the ocean that looked as though it traveled on forever, ebbing and flowing in a soothing, numbing rhythm as steady as his newly repaired heart.
His soul connected with the ocean. He felt like it was a part of him even though he had never seen it before. It called to him like the moon. He took a deep breath and let it out. His tension eased, but the guilt that filled him refused to go away.
He had almost hurt someone Siale cared about. He thought had been protecting her, but away from the pandemonium, he could think clearly. He realized he had acted rashly and almost cost a human his life. Jerry didn’t deserve that; nobody did.
About an hour later, footsteps sounded down the pier. Alex didn’t have to look back to know who was there.
“How did you find me?”
“I could find you anywhere,” Siale replied. She sat down next to him and looked out at the ocean. After a moment of silence, she said, “Did you know that you smell like cedar and clover?”
Alex glanced at her, bemused. “Clover? That’s not very manly.”
Siale smiled. “When I was little, Mom and Dad took me on a trip once to my grandmother’s farm. They had fields upon fields of clover.” Her gaze took on a wistful look. “The sun was so warm and the clover filled the air with a rich scent I had never smelled before.” She looked at him. “I thought it was one of the most wonderful things I had ever smelled, until I met you. Now you’re it.”
Alex watched her, the way her eyes twinkled like the moonlight on the waves as she spoke, how her cheeks flushed with a touch of embarrassment when she smiled.
“I guess that’s a strange thing to say to someone,” she admitted, ducking her head.
Alex shook his head. “Not really.” He was silent for a moment, then said, “You smell like sage with lavender.”
Siale looked at him in surprise. “Is that a good thing?”
Alex nodded, failing to keep back a small smile. “Have you ever crushed sage between your fingers? It’s vibrant and alive, and awakens the senses. Add a hint of lavender to it and it is definitely my favorite scent in the whole world.”
Siale gave a little thoughtful huff. “And here I thought I smelled like vanilla.”
Alex shook his head. “Nothing so normal for you. It would never fit.”
Siale smiled and looked back at the ocean. “So, when are you coming back to hang with my friends?”
Alex stared at her. She kept her gaze on the dark expanse that stretched before them. “Siale, I can’t. There’s no way.”
She glanced at him out of the corner of her eye. “Of course there is.”
Alex shook his head. “Did you see me? I almost killed your friend.”
“But you didn’t,” she pointed out.
Alex let out a breath. “Only because you stopped me,” he admitted. He felt Siale’s silence as much as heard it. He kept talking to fill the void he was afraid would settle between them. “It’s not them, it’s me.” He spoke quietly. “I was filled with panic with all those humans around. I wanted to run or fight, or I don’t know what. I felt like they were dangerous, but I’m the dangerous one.” His voice dropped quieter. “I can’t trust myself anymore.”
Siale touched his arm. He lowered his gaze. “You were betrayed by a human, Alex. It’s understandable.”
Alex shook his head. “It’s not Officer Dune, or Drogan, or the General. It’s nobody but me. I’m broken, Siale, and there’s no way to fix it.”
He rested his head against the wood. The faint scent of pine touched his nose, memories of forest meadows and grass waving in the wind. He wanted to go there, to be as far away from civilization as he could possibly get.
“You can’t run away,” Siale said, her voice just above a whisper. “You’re here, Alex. Be here.”
“What if I can’t?” Alex asked. He turned his head toward the ocean so she wouldn’t see the pain in his gaze. He had become the beast they feared. Perhaps humans were justified to keep werewolves away from their society. Maybe everything he fought for was wrong.
“I told them who you are.”
Alex’s heart slowed. He stared at her. “Do you think that’s a good idea? It might be dangerous for them. I’m not sure—”
Siale stopped him with a kiss. When they parted, Alex’s breath caught in his throat. He blinked, trying to remember what they had been talking about. “What was that for?”
Her eyebrows pulled together as she watched him. “Alex, I need you to trust me. You’ve been betrayed by so many people, but not me, never me. I love you because I see everything that is inside you, the love, and the demons. I know what drives you and why you try so hard to protect everyone else, but you forget about yourself. That’s my job. Let me take care of you. Put your trust in me, all of your trust, and I’ll never let you down. I promise. Can you do that?”
Silence hung between them. Alex blinked back tears, his chest so full of loss, guilt, anger, and heartache that he could barely breathe. He had to do something or he felt like he would jump off the pier into the unknown depths below. He took a shuddering breath and turned to her.
When he nodded, the love and care in her eyes was so great that the tears he had fought to keep at bay broke free and trailed down his cheeks.
Siale leaned against him, holding him, her silky brown hair brushing against his wet cheeks. “I love you, Alex,” she said in a voice that left no doubt about the truth to her words.
Alex held her close. “I love you too, Siale.”
They sat in silence until Alex was able to gather himself. He watched the flow of the ocean until they were just a boy and a girl at the end of a pier, in love with each other and the way the moonlight danced beneath their feet on the waves.
Alex pushed away the guilt and fear that he wouldn’t fit into society, and he placed his trust entirely in the girl at his side. She held his heart, and so he gave her his soul, too. Whatever his fate, he had chosen for her to be the one with him. For some reason he couldn’t fathom, she had chosen him as well. He would trust her, no matter what she asked.
Siale rose to her feet and held out her hand. He took it and stood beside her. The steady rhythm of the waves filled him with peace as he walked with his one to the shore.<
br />
Chapter Fourteen
When they reached the crowded beach, something caught Alex’s eye. He turned in time to see a seven on the sleeve of a black hoodie.
“Did you see...” Alex’s voice died away as two more teenagers passed them, one in a green hoodie and another in a red one, both with sevens on the sleeves. “I must be going crazy.”
“Not really,” Siale said. “Look.”
He followed her finger to the sight of two girls in the crowd wearing matching blue shirts. Each had the seven on the shoulder, and when they turned, the word ‘Werewolf’ was emblazoned across the back like a sports jersey.
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Alex said.
Siale grinned at him. “You have a few supporters. Well, the Demon does, at least.”
“I wore the hoodie Terith made me when I was in the Saa,” Alex said, remembering. “It got destroyed when I phased during one of the fights.”
“It was on the news,” Siale reminded him. “You were wearing it when you saved those girls.”
“So they want to be werewolves?” Alex asked, trying to understand.
“People emulate those they look up to,” Siale replied. “You just happened to do a few things that were hero worthy.”
Alex shook his head. “That’s ridiculous.”
“Is it?” his girlfriend asked, her gaze on the teenagers.
Alex followed Siale through the streets. He saw two more hoodies with the seven on the shoulder. Instead of ‘Werewolf’ on the back, they both said, ‘Demon’.
“This city’s crazy,” Alex whispered.
Siale glanced at him with a warm smile. “It’s not limited to this city, Alex. Werewolf acceptance is growing. You started something when you went to Greyton, and it’s not stopping.”
Alex hesitated at the sight of Siale’s friends hanging out on the edge of the block where he had left them. A few others had joined the group. Cassie and Tennison conversed with the humans as though they fit right in. Alex felt a pang of jealousy when Cassie said something and the girls around her laughed. He shook the feeling away. It was good that his sister felt comfortable with the humans. She deserved to have more friends.
