Howl (Howl #1)

by Jody Morse

  Luke, please . . . I don’t want to argue about this right now. I’m allowed to speak to my other possible mate if I need to, Samara replied. Nothing is guaranteed that you and I will be together. If I choose the Vyka, I will be with him.

  Luke sighed. I’m sorry. I just really thought that we . . . connected tonight on our date.

  We did, Samara replied sympathetically. It’s more confusing than me being more attracted to one of you or more in love with one of you. He’s been my best friend for years. Plus my brother’s a Vyka.

  There was a long pause. Samara closed her eyes again and began to count sheep in her head. She used to count bunnies, but there was no way she could imagine those cute little rabbits without being reminded that she had almost attacked one in the forest that day.

  Just as she was about to fall asleep, she heard Luke’s voice again. Samara?

  Hmm? she muttered softly.

  If he’s your best friend, you should choose him. Choose the Vyka. I don’t want you to lose your best friend forever.

  Chapter 18

  When Samara’s alarm clock went off the next morning, she climbed out of bed and walked over to her closet. She pulled on a pair of medium wash boot cut jeans and a navy blue hooded sweatshirt. Samara didn’t care how she looked today; she was probably going to end up falling asleep in most of her classes anyway.

  What Luke had said to her before she fell asleep last night kept running through her head and had kept her up most of the night. She hadn’t really thought about it beforehand, but he was right. If she chose to be an Ima, she would lose Declan’s friendship forever.

  On the other hand, if she chose the Vyka, she would lose Luke forever.

  Samara decided that no matter what decision she made, this wasn’t going to be easy. She was either going to lose a best friend and her brother, or the guy who she was falling really hard for and her cousin. Samara wished that someone could just make the decision for her because this was going to be too hard.

  For the first time in a long time, Samara wasn’t that hungry but she went into the kitchen to grab something to eat anyway. As she was digging through the refrigerator, her mom came into the room, her eyes puffy again.

  “Where were you last night?” Mrs. McKinley demanded.

  “Umm, in my bedroom?”

  “No, you weren’t. I checked your room around twelve o’clock, and you weren’t there,” Mrs. McKinley replied, putting her hands on her hips. “That boy you went off with, without my permission no less, promised me that he was going to have you back home by nine o’clock. What were you out doing so late on a school night?”

  “Oh, I – umm,” Samara stuttered. She couldn’t tell her mom that she had met up with a werewolf pack because that would just sound crazy. If she didn’t come up with some type of excuse, her mom wasn’t going to let her see Luke again. “I saw Seth go out his bedroom window, so I decided to follow him.”

  Mrs. McKinley tilted her head to the left, as though she was trying to decide if she believed Samara. “I looked in Seth’s room, and he was gone, too. Where did he go?”

  Samara shrugged. “I followed him, and he went to this house. But, I couldn’t really follow him any further than that. I don’t know whose house it was or anything,” she lied.

  “Well, at least now we’ll know whose house he might be staying at when he runs away for days at a time,” Mrs. McKinley replied, glancing at the cheeseburger that Samara was putting on a paper plate to put in the microwave. “A leftover cheeseburger for breakfast? Really? It’s seven o’clock in the morning, Samara.”

  “I didn’t see anything else that looked good,” Samara replied. It was the truth. The fridge was filled with more fruits and vegetables than anything else. Nothing appealed to her anymore unless it included meat. She used to eat lettuce, tomato, and cheese sandwiches, but now she wouldn’t eat them unless they came with some sort of deli meat.

  “Samara . . . I don’t mean to sound like I’m accusing you of anything, but I just have to ask this. Are you pregnant?” Mrs. McKinley asked. “You know that you can tell me, and I’ll do my best to support you in whatever you decide to do.”

  Samara raised her eyebrows. “No, of course I’m not pregnant! Why would you even ask that?”

  “Well, your eating habits have just changed so much,” Mrs. McKinley replied, shaking her head. “I can’t understand why my daughter, who has fought with me ever since she was a little girl over eating meat, is suddenly eating cheeseburgers for breakfast. Not even bacon and eggs like normal Americans.”

  “I eat bacon, too,” Samara said, taking a huge bite of the cheeseburger and gulping it down. “The burger was the easiest thing to make. Don’t worry, though. I’m not pregnant. I’m not even having sex.” Samara felt relieved that she could finally tell her the truth about something . . . for once.

  *

  “Well?” Emma asked impatiently.

  Samara slammed her locker door shut. “Well, what?”

  “You never told me what happened on your date with Luke! Was it amazing?”

  “Yeah, it really was,” Samara replied, thinking back to their date. It had been a lot of fun. He had even let her pick the movie.

  “Is that it?” Emma asked, a surprised look on her face. “No interesting details? Come on, you have to give your BFF something to go on.”

  Samara shrugged. “We kissed? And it was great.”

  “You just kissed? When are you going to sleep with him? God, you’ve been seeing him for, like, a month or something already.”

  Samara shook her head. “I’m not ready for that yet. I don’t think he is either. At least, he hasn’t brought it up yet, so I assume that it hasn’t been on his mind. We’re taking things slow.”

  “Luke Davenport not ready for sex?” Emma scoffed. “Please! He’s had more sex partners than most of the other guys on the football team.”

  Samara frowned. She had never considered the possibility that Luke had slept with other people. For some reason, she’d assumed that the fact that they were mates would have kept him from being interested in anyone else. Maybe he hadn’t known that she was his mate all along, but Samara wanted to believe that it had to do with why her own love life had been so boring until now. She liked to think that everything happened for a reason. In this case, that would mean that she hadn’t met anyone because she was going to have a mate soon, whether it be Luke or Declan.

  Samara was probably wrong, though. Things probably didn’t really happen for a reason like that. Luke probably had been with tons of other girls like Emma was saying.

  “Oh, Samara, I’m sorry,” Emma said, putting on an apologetic act. “I probably just made you feel like he’s not even really interested in you since he doesn’t want to have sex with you. I’m such a moron.”

  “It’s okay,” Samara replied. “I’m going to go find Luke. I’ll see you in homeroom.”

  Samara walked down the hallway that led to Luke’s locker. As she expected, he was standing in front of it fishing for his books. I have a question for you, Samara said.

  What? Luke asked.

  Turn around and look at me.

  Luke turned around slowly. He looked at her, his emerald green eyes piercing through hers.

  Why don’t you want to have sex with me? Samara asked. I hear that you’ve had sex with a bunch of other girls, so why not me?

  Luke smiled. I think that it would be an exaggeration to say that I’ve had sex with a bunch of other girls. It really wasn’t that many. And they were all before I met you, by the way.

  Who cares why he won’t have sex with you, Samara? Declan asked.

  Oh, my God. Butt out of my conversation! Samara screamed at him in her head. And for your information, I care!

  When Declan didn’t say anything else, Samara turned her attention back to Luke. So? Why?

  You’re my mate, Samara. At least, you could be my mate if you choose to be. You’re different to me than any other girl. You’re more important. I don’t
want us to just have sex. If it happens, it should be at the right time . . . which isn’t now. I want it to be perfect. I don’t want it to ruin anything for us.

  Samara studied his face to see if he could be lying. Nothing about his expression told her that he wasn’t telling the truth. She couldn’t come up with a valid reason to believe that it was just an excuse. Samara also knew that she couldn’t hold the past against him, either. What he had done before he had met her or even before they had become involved was his business.

  Smiling, Samara pecked him on the cheek, turned, and began walking to her first period class.

  When she sat down in the back of the classroom, Ethan turned and smiled at her. “Hey, remember a while back when you were doing a lab and you told someone the handle on the sink burnt you?”

  Samara nodded at the memory. She had almost forgotten that had happened.

  “It’s because it’s sterling silver. That’s why. I only remembered because it happened to me a few minutes ago,” Ethan said. “It hurt like a bitch.”

  “Oh, glad I’m not the only one then,” Samara replied, just as Ms. Shay walked into the classroom. Emma came in behind her and walked to the back of the classroom, the heels of her booties clacking against the tiled floor.

  “Jason asked me to go out with him tonight!” Emma whispered cheerfully. “He said it’s a really important date for us, so he wants me to wear something really nice.”

  Samara opened her mouth and closed it. She wasn’t going to say anything to Emma, but she couldn’t help but wonder why Jason wanted anything to do with her. Emma was a human, so she probably wasn’t his mate. And if she wasn’t his mate, why would he want to be in a relationship with her? None of it made any sense.

  A thought that Samara hadn’t considered before crossed her mind. Maybe he was using Emma to get to Samara. Samara wasn’t sure how he would be able to pull this off without letting Emma know that they were both werewolves, but it seemed like something Jason would do.

  “That’s great, I’m so happy for you,” Samara lied.

  *

  As she was walking home from school, Samara noticed a movement in the bushes. Ever since she had become a werewolf, it felt like her senses had become heightened. She felt like she had supersonic vision and an extremely sensitive sense of smell now. So, it was no surprise to her when she heard the deep low growl from behind her.

  The wolf stepped out from behind the bushes and stared at her with its deep blue eyes, baring its teeth with its ears pinned back.

  She could tell from its large size that it wasn’t just an ordinary gray wolf. It was a werewolf. Samara didn’t know what to do. If she ran, she would probably just make the werewolf even more angry and determined to attack. Besides, could she really outrun a werewolf? Judging from the times when she had run in wolf form, she knew that she had been pretty fast – and she was only just a pup.

  The wolf took a step closer to her, its growls escalating as it continued to show her its teeth. She was pretty sure that Jason had told her that the only way a werewolf could die while they were in human form was with sterling silver, so she probably shouldn’t worry too much about dying right now. She hoped.

  As Samara looked around for a way to escape, she heard another growl from behind her.

  Whirling around, she stared into the face of another wolf. This time it was a familiar wolf, though. It was her wolf.

  Dun da da da, I’ve come to the rescue, Luke said excitedly.

  Okay, Superwolf, just be careful, Samara commanded. He just . . . came up to me and started growling. I don’t even know who it is. He hasn’t said anything, so I have no idea what he wants. I assume it’s a he, at least.

  Luke took a step toward the wolf and let out a ferocious growl. Samara knew that she was more physically attracted to Luke because he was her mate, but there was no denying that he looked more intimidating than the other wolf, which now looked timid in comparison.

  Samara watched as the two of them growled back and forth at each other before the other wolf eventually walked away. She could tell from the way the wolf kept looking back at them over his shoulder that he was reluctant to leave.

  Who was that? Samara asked, beginning to feel less panicked.

  That was Rocco Porter. He’s the Alpha of the Shomecossee pack.

  Samara thought the name sounded familiar, but she didn’t think he went to their school. She glanced around the corner to make sure he was really gone. He seems like a small Alpha. What does he want? she asked.

  He wants you to be a Shomecossee, Luke replied. I told him that I would relay the message.

  Well, you would think he would be a little nicer to me then.

  Luke hesitated. No. That’s just Rocco. He’s not the nicest person you’ll ever meet.

  How come I didn’t hear what he had to say? I can always hear when a wolf is trying to communicate with me when I’m a human.

  I think he blocked you out, which is really strange since he wanted to talk to you. Alphas can decide who talks to them, even in wolf form.

  Samara frowned. Colby hadn’t mentioned that to her. She had a feeling that there was another reason why she couldn’t hear what Rocco was saying, but she wasn’t sure what it was.

  Sitting down on the sidewalk beside Luke, Samara ran her hands over his fur. It was incredibly soft and silky. Thank you for saving me.

  Luke nuzzled his head against her chest. I could get used to this.

  Samara scratched behind his ears and laughed. “Me, too.”

  She was afraid that she was getting used to it already. Too used to it.

  Chapter 19

  ****

  Samara was in a deep sleep when she heard a loud clanking sound in the middle of the night. She sat up in bed, glancing around her room, and listened.

  The sound continued. It was coming from outside in the backyard. Realizing that someone was throwing rocks at her window, Samara peered out of it.

  Declan was standing in her backyard. He was naked from the waist up, so Samara assumed that he had been in wolf form before he came here.

  Stop throwing rocks at my window! Samara snapped at him, deciding that that it was safer to communicate with him this way right now if she didn’t want him to hear her. You’re going to wake my parents up, you idiot.

  Sorry, Declan apologized. Can you come outside to talk?

  Give me a few minutes, Samara replied with a groan.

  Samara pulled on her robe and opened the window. Once she had jumped out of it, she led Declan down the path to Starlight Lake. “What was so important that you had to come and wake me up? Why couldn’t you just talk to me in my head?”

  “I heard that a Shomecossee asked you to join their pack,” Declan blurted out, cracking his knuckles. Samara knew that was what Declan always did whenever he was nervous. “You’re not going to do it, are you? You’re not going to join their pack?”

  Samara shook her head. “No, my decision is big enough as it is. I’m either going to be an Ima or a Vyka. Definitely not a Shomecossee, though. And to be honest, their Alpha didn’t seem too nice when he asked me to be on their pack. I thought he was going to attack me.”

  “Well, rumor has it that he was,” Declan replied. “At least that’s what Kyle told Josh that Luke told him. Luke just didn’t want to tell you because he didn’t want to freak you out. Rocco either wants you to be on his pack or he doesn’t want you to be alive at all.”

  “Just like Jason,” Samara muttered.

  “Hey, Jason’s a great guy,” Declan said defensively. “He’d be great to you.”

  Samara hadn’t realized that Declan cared so much about his Alpha. She supposed that was probably really common, though. Having an Alpha would be like having another father figure. Samara knew that Declan constantly had to work to please his own father, so it would make sense that he would want Jason’s approval, even if he had to go out of his way to please and defend him when he didn’t even really deserve it.

  Colby did des
erve respect, though.

  Samara wondered why Colby had been so afraid that she was going to change the way she felt about him after she knew who he was. Could it be because the other wolves on his pack didn’t have the same type of bonds that wolves on other packs did? Maybe one of the people on their pack didn’t want to listen to him when they first found out that he was Alpha because he was so, well . . . dorky. It would make a lot of sense.

  “So, is that all you wanted?” Samara asked when Declan didn’t say anything else.

  Declan shook his head. “No, I wanted to convince you that you should be a Vyka.”

  Samara sighed. “Give me five reasons, Declan. Make them good ones, too.”

  “Reason number one, you were destined to be a Vyka,” Declan began.

  “That’s not a good enough reason,” Samara interrupted. “But I guess I’ll let it slide. Next reason?”

  “Reason number two. Your brother is a Vyka. Do you know how hard it’s going to be for the two of you to live in the same house and be on opposing packs? You’re not going to be able to speak to each other, and, well, you’re going to develop such hatred towards each other that it’s going to take a lot of restraint for you to not kill each other.”

  Samara opened her mouth to speak, but nothing came out. She hadn’t thought about what it would be like to live with Seth if she chose to be an Ima. It had been difficult enough to live with him the past few weeks without really speaking to him while he was angry. She hadn’t imagined what would happen if she and her brother hated each other simply because they were on difficult packs. As unfair as it seemed, it was something that she was really going to have to take into consideration.

  The truth was that she had missed Seth lately. The conversation she had with him the other night was the most they had talked in months. It sort of gave her hope that eventually she could have her old brother back, and she didn’t want to ruin that possibility.

  Sighing, Samara said, “Go on.”