by Amy Richie
“What do you think, Willow?” She surprised me by asking me a direct question.
“Umm … ” My eyes darted to Rueben for some sort of hint to what they were talking about.
“The uniforms?” she prompted, but it didn’t help.
“I … uh … yeah.” I nodded weakly. Was that an appropriate response?
“Coach was saying that the cheerleading skirts are too short and wants the school board to get new ones,” Rueben filled in the missing pieces.
“And that’s bad, right?” I looked back to Carlie for confirmation.
“The uniforms have been this way since the dawn of time.” My thoughts skittered back to the first day I had met Jed and he said the lockers were from when Pebbles was little. I smirked at the memory. “Ok, maybe not that long.” Carlie was gracious enough to smile at her own dramatic words.
“But close enough,” Rueben added.
“What do you think?” She and Rueben both turned expectant gazes to me.
Was this really what we were going to talk about? The length of the cheerleading skirts was not what I considered important - at all. “They’re fine. Waste of money to buy all new,” I muttered around my fancy pink and yellow striped straw. Cute, I thought with a small huff.
“They’re fine,” Rueben commented in a low voice.
I knew he wasn’t talking about the skirts anymore, but I played dumb anyways. “Yeah,” I shrugged. “The girls are going to wear worse things to school anyways, so what’s the point, right?”
Carlie leaned down to take a long sip from her dark pink drink. “Guess so,” she smiled tightly.
I looked down into my own glass at the thick brown liquid. “What is this?” I demanded suddenly
“Chocolate shake?” I heard the question in Rueben’s voice. “That’s what you wanted.”
“Yeah, of course it is.” Not quite, but it would do for now. I chanced a quick peek behind us and was slightly appeased to see Tyson and Colby both watching me instead of the girls that were obviously trying to get their attention.
I let my mind wander briefly to Gage. Where was he tonight? What was he doing? He was always so secretive, coming and going all the time. What secrets did the old wolf in him have? My heart rejected the idea of him being old, but my mind knew he was. The things he had seen and done in his lifetime … I shook my head as my mood turned sad. The boys would sense it, then Gage would know my thoughts.
“You all right?” It surprised me that Tyson was suddenly next to our table.
“Yeah,” I blurted automatically. “Just tired.”
“We should go then.”
I scrambled quickly to hold onto the offered escape. “Good idea.” I jumped up, nearly tipping over my still half-full shake. “Ready?” I looked eagerly to where Rueben still sat.
He was instantly on his feet. “Sure.” He smiled widely.
Chapter Twenty-Three
The Hunt
I felt obligated to ride with Carlie when she drove the other girls home and then back to her house. She offered to take me home, too, but I refused. I was aching to run free, my body shaking with the need. “I’ll walk from here,” I told her with a shaky smile.
“You want me to go with?”
“No!” She jumped at my sudden forcefulness, but still managed a smile to make any guy melt. “I’ll be fine.”
“Will the boys meet you?” She glanced around me in an excited way.
“Um … ” I crinkled my nose. Carlie was a strange breed of human girl. “We need to talk about them,” I called even while I was backing away from her.
“Yeah?” She grinned wider. “When?”
“Not tonight,” I chuckled. “I have to go.” She nodded but seemed no closer to going inside her house where she belonged.
“See you at school tomorrow?”
I nodded slowly. “Yeah, I’ll be there.” I turned to go, but hesitated. “Carlie?” I didn’t look at her but I knew she was still standing there. “Thanks.” I took off at a run, waiting until I was out of sight before morphing to all fours.
I was alone in the night, the others were probably waiting for me at the cabin, but it wouldn’t take them long to figure out where I was. Exhilaration pumped through my veins and I flung my nose into the air a few times. I had never before howled at the night sky as I had seen Bella’s boys do, but I felt a sudden urge deep in my chest that I couldn’t deny. With a deep breath, I let out a long, loud howl upwards. The effect was amazing.
I leapt into the air; for once in my life I was completely content being a wolf. Maybe being at the Lounge with the “normal” teens had been a good lesson for me. I wasn’t normal, and that was a good thing.
An answering call pierced the air. Gage! Before I could call again, more howls sounded. I cringed at the racket they were making but I couldn’t squash the happiness I felt when I heard them. I tore off through the woods, gaining speed as the trees thinned into a long empty field. The boys met me there and fell into formation behind me with Gage close to my side.
“What took you guys so long?” I teased. There was a loud growl behind me, followed by a chorus of short yelps and barks. I threw my head up with a laugh but refrained from any more howling.
My feet felt lighter than ever as we nearly flew across the field and back into the woods on the other side. I stayed in front, although the boys could have easily outrun me. We were all happy now, but the lesson learned with Carlie would not be so easily forgotten.
I slowed down only when the trees began to thin again and we were close to another town. A large animal moved a few miles to our right and we effortlessly changed paths to hunt it down. Mine were the first teeth in the deer but the boys helped bring it down. They sat back and waited for me to eat my fill and then finished themselves.
Full and content, I lay down and enjoyed the feel of the boys cleaning my muzzle and paws. It wasn’t anything like letting Bella’s boys, this was a feeling of deep contentment. I was almost sad when they were done.
“Did you enjoy your time at the Lounge?” Gage asked.
I was surprised to see him back in human form. Reluctantly, I joined him before answering. “Not really,” I admitted with a smile.
“It didn’t have anything to do with Lindsey and Aubrey, did it?” Tyson asked nervously.
“Yeah.” I laughed, embarrassed at my possessive feelings now that we were far from the girl’s clutches.
“You don’t have anything to worry about, Willow,” Colby assured me loudly. “We only have eyes for one girl.” He winked.
I rolled my eyes but flushed with pleasure. “Yeah, right,” I grumbled, “Lindsey and Aubrey are … ”
“Annoying,” came a chorused response before I could finish complementing them.
“Kind of,” I agreed with a happy nod.
“The only thing they talked about was who we were taking to prom,” Tyson complained.
“That’s months away.”
“Prom?” I almost laughed again, but it fell short. Would I be going to prom?
“Most definitely,” Steven exclaimed. Was that actual excitement I saw shining in his eyes?
I grinned stupidly back, drunk on these feelings that I had never fully felt before. Was this what it was like to be a leader? What would happen when I left? Would I ever feel like this again?
“Where are you going?” Jed asked, worry creeping into his eyes and voice.
“No where,” I said a little too fast.
“Wherever you go,” Rueben warned, “we’ll just follow.”
“Don’t think you’ll get rid of us,” Rodney teased.
Rodney sat closest to me, his side crushed into my own side in an effort to be closer, but it didn’t bother me. In fact, I was comforted by his closeness. He kept a tight hold of my hand as if he was afraid I would run away.
Gage’s grey eyes twinkled in the bright moonlight. When they caught mine, he smiled softly - lovingly. My heart felt like it could quite possibly explode. He sat farthest
away, but I felt closer to him than any of the others.
“I don’t want to be rid of you,” I teased back, squeezing his hand reassuringly.
“I think I’ll go with Carlie to prom,” Rueben voiced his thoughts. “If you don’t mind,” he looked to me for permission.
“She would like that,” I smiled.
“What about you?” Jed asked. All the boys looked at me with expectation shining in their grins.
“Me?” My nose crinkled slightly. “I haven’t really thought about it. I probably won’t go.”
“You have to go,” Tyson insisted.
“Right of passage,” Jed added.
“What is a prom?” Gage asked with a small smile.
“It’s a … dance.” I blushed at his intense stare. I knew who I wanted to go with, but I was sure Gage would never agree to go to some stupid high school dance.
“I … don’t really know how to dance,” he admitted, “but if it’s important to you, of course I’ll go.”
“You will?” my voice lifted in hope.
“Yeah,” he looked slightly uncomfortable, “rights of passage and all.”
Jed laughed loudly. “Thata boy!” He thumped him heartily on the back.
“We’ll teach you to dance,” Rueben offered.
“That should be … enlightening.”
I joined in their laughter at Gage’s expense, but he smiled good-naturedly.
We lay there in silence for a long time, each lost in the silence and our own thoughts. I leaned further back against a tree that was offering me support. Is this what Bella felt like with her pack? It was hard to imagine, but she must feel the same. Bella hadn’t always been with her boys, though, she had taken the pack from someone else. The only other leader my boys had known was Noreen and I couldn’t be sure how much she influenced them.
“Noreen was a good leader,” Rueben said suddenly.
“What?” I was startled out of my quiet revere.
“Noreen,” he reminded me of my wandering thoughts, “she would have been a great leader.”
“If she’d had the chance,” Steven added.
“Maybe,” I agreed with a half-scowl.
“She was careless,” Rodney said.
“She grew complacent, thought she was invincible,” Jed joined in the conversation that I hadn’t meant to start.
“But she wasn’t.”
“Andros got to her.”
“No he didn’t,” I denied with a shake of my head. My heart tensed up at the thought of who really killed Noreen.
“We know that Mikhaul killed her, but he was acting on orders from Andros.”
“How do you know any of that?” I demanded from Rueben.
“You told us,” he reminded me.
“I told you that … he killed her; but he doesn’t work for or with Andros. Mik … He doesn’t like vamps any more than the rest of us.” Was I actually defending Mikhaul’s name?
“You can say his name, Willow,” Gage called lazily.
I rolled my eyes at him, Gage never worried properly about anything. “Fine. Mikhaul killed Noreen, not Andros.”
“Andros ordered it, I’m sure of it,” Rueben insisted. “And one day he’ll pay.”
My eyes narrowed to thin slits and I turned to look at Gage, who didn’t appear the least bit troubled. “How much do you actually know about Andros?”
“We know enough,” Rodney fired.
“What do you know?” I persisted.
“We know he is a vampire,” Jed replied and grinned. I involuntarily grinned back. Jed always had that effect on me.
“And that he’s the leader,” Tyson added.
“He’s not the leader,” Gage corrected before I could. “There are no leaders.”
“He’s just one of the stronger ones,” I told them.
“He took over the ancient city,” Rueben took over the conversation and everyone else fell silent. “He took it from the wolves of long ago. They thought they were safe inside the city, but they weren’t.”
“It’s said,” I continued. “that an ancient race of elves owed the wolves a favor.”
“For saving one of their daughters,” Gage added the part that I didn’t know.
“So they created a charm around a village. A powerful charm that keeps the village hidden from anything other than the wolves.”
“The village became known as the ancient city.”
“But Andros found it?” Obviously the boys didn’t know everything.
“I don’t know how he did, but yeah, Andros found the city and took it over.”
“There weren’t enough wolves there to keep it safe. They never thought they would be in any danger since it was charmed.”
“And now,” I concluded, “he stays there with his guards.”
“Noreen wanted to take it back,” Steven stated.
“Yes.”
“Why would the council not want her to?” I turned to Gage for the answer. “Why wouldn’t the wolves all want to come together and take back what was rightfully ours?”
“Those kind of thoughts are dangerous, Willow,” he only half teased. “The wolves can’t work together. It goes against who we are. One city to contain many packs?” He shook his head with a smile. “It was never going to work anyway. Let Andros have it.”
My smile froze in its place. How could Gage say such a thing? I had been raised by Bella, who made it a point to always stay out of any sort of conflict, and even she didn’t want Andros to have the ancient city. What kind of wolf was he?
Chapter Twenty-Four
Gossip Mill
The moon was too bright in my room that night; sleep was completely out of the question. I rolled over on to my back and stared at the shadowed ceiling. “Let Andros have it,” Gage’s words echoed again in my over-full head. “Dangerous thoughts … ”
He was right, Gage was right about the thoughts being dangerous. They were what got Noreen killed. Well, not exactly, I amended in the darkness. Mikhaul’s hatred killed her, but she was marked since she spoke out against Andros. He wouldn’t have let her live much longer anyway.
I turned my head to see the clock. The red numbers glared unkindly at me, flashing 1:26. I squeezed my eyes shut as tightly as I could, I needed sleep. Unfortunately it was no use, they popped right back open.
I slid my legs out from under the covers and put my feet on the ground. Without bothering to put my jeans back on, I made my way to the huge window seat and climbed onto the cushion. I pulled my knees up to my chest and sighed deeply.
The night was calm, as it should be at 1:30 in the morning. I half expected to see Gage. He had an uncanny ability to know just when I needed someone to talk to, but he wasn’t out there anywhere. It was probably a good thing, seeing as how the thing most on my mind was him.
Gage worked with the council, so of course his thoughts about the Ancient City were different than most. Had he pledged allegiance to a vampire? The thought made goose bumps rise on my arms. I shivered despite the warmth of the cabin.
Andros.
What kind of a monster was Andros? I didn’t know very much about him. How had he been able to find the City anyway? It was supposed to have a powerful charm spell around it. He had to have done something terrible to make the elves tell him. My lip snarled up. It was only too easy to imagine him doing terrible things.
Maybe Gage just was loyal to the council. My shoulders drooped with my next thought. The council was three males. Gage couldn’t be loyal to a male wolf, it wasn’t possible.
The council was just a group of loners that were misguided by Andros. A strange urge to see the council and get them away from Andros overtook me. It was a crazy thought, but my heart went out to the lost males in the ancient city. As much as I hated Andros being there, it was worse thinking of the council.
The sound of the front door slamming shut made me jump off the window seat. Had someone just come in? I tiptoed to my door and pressed my ear against the w
ood. No sounds came from the other room though.
I turned automatically to the window. There, sitting outside, was the huge black wolf I had wanted to see earlier. My lips curled up a little but it wasn’t a full smile. Gage lay down on the ground under my window and rested his massive head on his front paws.
I slowly went back to my bed and crawled under the covers. Had he just heard all my thoughts? I punched my pillow into a more comfortable ball and flopped down. Probably, I thought with a groan.
Gage wasn’t there when I got up the next morning. The cabin seemed bigger without him there and I felt smaller. I popped two pieces of bread into the toaster, knowing I wouldn’t have enough time for much else even if I was hungry. The toast wasn’t very good but I managed to choke down most of one piece before Rueben pulled up.
“Hey,” I greeted him happily as I slid into the passenger side.
“Hey,” he smiled widely.
“You’re in a good mood,” Rodney remarked from the back.
“And why shouldn’t I be?” I laughed.
“Gage came over early this morning,” Rueben yawned.
“What did he want?” I tried not to frown.
“Him and Jed went somewhere,” Rodney answered.
“Where?”
Rueben shrugged. “I don’t know.”
“Maybe they went to hunt.”
“Yeah,” I mumbled. Rodney was probably right, of course. Just because Jed and Gage went on a morning run wasn’t a reason for me to pout.
“Gage will take care of him,” Rueben comforted me.
I smiled and turned my head to look out the window. We were just pulling into the school parking lot. My eyes automatically sought out Colby and Tyson, who were standing in a crowd with Lindsey and Aubrey. They were laughing along with everyone else. I didn’t see Steven anywhere, but that wasn’t unusual.
“Park close to the front,” I pleaded. If I was lucky maybe I could get into the school without Lindsey and Aubrey noticing.
