by Jody Morse
“Like me,” Luke said softly. “I want you the most.”
Samara looked up at him and smiled. Somehow, she knew that Luke was right. He really did want her the most. Declan might have been her best friend for all of these years, but he probably didn’t really want her to be his mate. If Samara knew Declan as well as she thought she did, he probably wouldn’t be ready for a mate for a long time – he was too immature.
“So, um, are you sure that you want to be an Ima?” Luke asked. “I don’t want you to feel like I’m trying to guilt you into it.”
Samara nodded. For the moment, she forgot about her destiny, her brother, and even Declan. It might have been selfish, but all she could worry about was what would make herself happy – and more than anything, she knew that she was meant to be an Ima. At heart, she was already an Ima. She might try to convince herself otherwise because she loved her brother and Declan, but she would never be a Vyka.
*
When Samara went back inside, her mom was sitting on the sofa waiting for her.
“Samara, we need to talk,” Mrs. McKinley said.
Samara groaned. “What, Mom?”
“I thought that we said that you weren’t allowed to date.”
Samara looked down at the ground. “I’m not dating.” She felt like she was sort of telling the truth; she and Luke had only gone on one date, and they definitely hadn’t made anything official yet. Up until today, neither of them had even known if she was going to choose him and the Ima or Declan and the Vyka.
“Samara, no boy in his right mind comes over to a girl’s house at nine o’clock in the morning. Only a boy who is in love would even think of waking up that early for someone. Something has to be going on between you.”
Samara narrowed her eyes. “Declan comes over in the morning sometimes and you’ve never said anything about him.”
“Well, yeah, because he’s Declan. That boy has liked you for years and he still hasn’t gotten the courage to tell you,” her mom replied, letting out a hearty laugh.
Samara stared at her mom incredulously. Even she thought Declan liked her? Deciding to avoid bringing Declan into this conversation, she said, “I mean, yeah, Luke’s cute and all. I do like him . . . but we’re really not dating.”
Mrs. McKinley studied her face. Finally, she gave in and sighed. “Well, you’re right. He is a cute boy. He also does seem much nicer than some of the boys who you could be interested in. I’d understand if in a week or so, you beg me to allow you to go on a date with him.”
Samara raised her eyebrows. “Would you let me?”
“We’d have to get to know him a little better,” Mrs. McKinley replied. “I’d want you to invite him over for dinner so that your father and I can learn more about him. Then, we might agree to let you go out with him.”
“That sounds fair,” Samara said. “Can we do that on Wednesday?”
Mrs. McKinley laughed. “Sure. I knew you liked him!”
Samara grinned. Mothers really did know everything. Maybe . . . “Mom, while we’re being honest with each other . . . can I ask you a question?” Samara asked.
Mrs. McKinley nodded. “Of course you can.”
“Can you tell me about Grandpa Joe?”
Her mom’s forehead scrunched and wrinkles formed under her eyes. “That’s a very random question, Samara. What makes you ask?”
Samara shrugged. “It’s just that he died when I was so young. I never really got to know him, but I’ve been wondering about him a lot lately.”
Mrs. McKinley sighed. “Well, as you already know, he wasn’t around that much. I only met him a few times myself. He wasn’t even there on me and your father’s wedding day.”
“Why wasn’t he around?” Samara asked.
“His job required him to do a lot of traveling,” Mrs. McKinley shrugged. “I don’t know what he did exactly. Something to do with vacation rentals, I think. Anyway, what other questions do you have?”
“Where was he from?” Samara asked, remembering that Colby had told her that she was an arctic wolf because of her Alaskan origins, which no one in her family had ever mentioned before.
“He was born in Alaska, but his parents moved him here when he was just a baby, so he didn’t grow up there. Your great-grandfather was actually an Eskimo of the Inuit tribe. That’s where you get your dark hair from.”
Samara glanced at her mom’s hair, which had been midnight black for as long as she could remember. “I thought that was from you.”
“Oh, no, honey,” Mrs. McKinley said, laughing. “I’ve been dying my hair for years. My natural hair color is a lighter shade of brown.”
“Dad doesn’t have dark hair,” Samara pointed out.
“That’s because most of his features came from your grandma.”
“How did she die again?” Samara asked. For some reason, she had never wondered much about her grandmother’s death. She supposed that it was probably because she had never really had her as a grandmother in a first place, so for that reason, she had never really missed her.
Mrs. McKinley looked down at the ground. “Her death was very tragic, Samara. If I tell you about it, please don’t talk about it in front of your father. It upsets him very much.”
“Okay,” Samara agreed. She knew that talking about her grandmother had always upset her father, which was another one of the reasons she had never really mentioned her. Even now, Samara knew better than to ask her dad these types of questions.
“Your grandmother was murdered in their home. The murderer was actually someone who your grandfather knew. I’m pretty sure it was someone who he did a bad business deal with or something. They came into the house and killed her while your father hid in his bedroom with your Aunt Rae and Uncle Rich throughout the whole ordeal. The murderer was never caught. Rumor had it that he fled town and moved up North, but no one really knows.”
“Wow,” Samara managed to say in a tiny voice. She found herself wondering if what everything her mom had just told her was true, though. Had her grandma really been killed by a shady business partner, or had it been a werewolf? Samara found herself doubting that Grandpa Joe even sold vacation rentals, though that was probably the excuse he used for his absences. She assumed that he had to have had some sort of job, but vacation real estate sounded like a career that was too time consuming for someone who was out busy saving the werewolf world.
“Yeah, like I said, it’s pretty tragic,” Mrs. McKinley replied. Getting up off the couch, she headed into the kitchen. “I’m going to make lunch. Hungry?”
Samara started to shake her head because the whole story had made her feel nauseous, but she nodded instead. Even the most disturbing of stories wouldn’t make her inner wolf feel less hungry.
*
After a mostly uneventful weekend (for once), Samara walked into her biology class on Monday morning. When she saw Emma sitting at their lab table, she did a double take. She hadn’t been expecting her to come to school for the next few days because of what had happened with Jason.
“So, I see that you’re over it,” Samara said, putting her tote bag on the floor next to their table.
Emma looked up at her and shook her head. Her makeup was perfectly applied, her hair fell over her shoulders in long waves, and her outfit looked trendy and chic. She definitely didn’t look like someone who had just had her heart broken by one of the most popular guys in school. “No, I don’t have to be over it,” she replied slowly, before grinning, “Because he gave me back the ring!”
Emma waved her hand in front of Samara, the blue sapphire sparkling in the light.
“Emma, are you sure this is what you want?” Samara asked. “I promise, I’m not jealous or upset that you’re with Jason. Well, actually, that’s a lie. I am upset, but only because I saw how much he hurt you the other night. How do you know he’s not going to take the ring back and break up with you again?”
Emma shook her head, this time more forcefully. “No. That’s not going to happen. Ja
son is in love with me. He told me last night, and he said that he’ll never do anything like this to me ever again. It just made him really jealous to talk about my relationship with Brian.”
“He’s the one who brought it up! Not you.”
Emma shrugged, tossing her hair over her shoulder. “Look, it’s fine, okay? Just be happy for me. You’re my best friend. I need you to be happy for me.”
“Fine,” Samara said through gritted teeth. She knew that if she didn’t calm down a little bit, she was going to want to turn into a wolf because Emma’s naivety was making her angry. She didn’t understand how she could be so naïve about Jason.
“And please don’t tell anyone else about what happened, okay?” Emma asked. “I don’t want Ashley and Bri finding out about this.”
“I won’t,” Samara replied. She wasn’t sure if she should be happy because Emma still told her things that she didn’t want her other friends to know about, or if she should be upset that she was more concerned about being popular than admitting to herself that Jason was an asshole.
Samara didn’t say anything to Emma for the rest of the class period. When the bell rang, she ran out of the classroom as fast as she could.
As she turned the corner, she collided with someone in the hallway. Books went flying all over the floor.
Glancing up, Samara realized that it was Declan. “Oh, I’m so sorry!” she said. “Here, let me help.”
As she crouched down on the ground to help him pick up the books, she heard him say, Look, you really don’t need to help me.
What are you talking about? I’m the one who made them fall in the first place. Of course I’m going to help, Samara replied.
I know what decision you made, Sam. I’ve heard you thinking about it a lot lately. You decided to be an Ima.
Declan, I’m sorry. It’s not an easy decision for me to make. Please don’t be mad at me.
I can’t help it, Declan yelled back. I am mad at you. I’m hurt that you could choose to never talk to me again. And I know the only reason is because of Luke.
As Declan stood to his feet, Samara noticed Luke standing behind him. Dude, you don’t know what you’re talking about. I told Samara that she should choose to be a Vyka because I didn’t want to come between the friendship that you and her had with each other.
Declan looked over at her. Is that true, Samara? Did he tell you to be a Vyka?
Samara nodded. She felt Declan glare at her before turning and walking away from them.
She turned to Luke. I’m really confused. I thought wolves could only talk to each other when they were in wolf form. I thought I could only hear you because you’re my mate.
You’re right, Luke replied. The way me and Declan communicated with each other just now, it was through you. I let you hear my thoughts and since he can hear your thoughts, he can also hear my thoughts. Just like the way I can hear his thoughts. Any time I let you hear what I’m thinking, he can hear it too.
Samara sighed. This is all so complicated.
That’s an understatement, Luke agreed. By the way, I wanted to inform you…Colby wants you to meet with the pack tonight. Seven o’clock by Starlight Lake.
“Sounds good,” Samara replied out loud.
*
When Samara got home from school, Seth was sitting in the living room waiting for her. “Sam, we need to talk.”
Samara groaned. It felt like everyone had to talk to her lately. “About what?”
“Your decision,” Seth replied. “I haven’t told Jason that you’ve decided to become an Ima yet. There’s still time for you to change your mind and join our pack instead.”
Samara remembered that Colby wanted her to pretend to be a Vyka. There was no way she would be able to do that if Seth ratted her out. “Okay, I’ll think about it,” she lied. “I’m not making any promises yet, though.”
“Great! I really hope you take this seriously,” Seth replied. “Becoming a Vyka is really the best thing you could do if you want to live.”
Samara chose to ignore the harshness of her brother’s statement because, deep down, she knew that it was the truth. Sighing, she went to her room. Sitting down on the bed, she blocked Declan from her thoughts. She really didn’t want to pretend that she was going to be a Vyka, but she also knew that it was the most helpful thing that she could do for her pack.
Plus, there also was the issue of her dying. If Jason and the Vyka didn’t try to kill her first, the Seku or the Shomecossee might beat them to it. Finding out what was making the Vyka so much stronger than the other werewolf packs was really the best thing Samara could do to save herself and her pack.
*
When seven o’clock rolled around, Samara went outside and walked towards the lake. She wasn’t sure if her pack wanted to meet with her in wolf form or in human form, so she decided that it was best for her to bring her clothes.
She found all of them next to the lake, sitting around a fire in human form roasting marshmallows.
“What’s with werewolves and fires?” Samara asked as she approached them.
Chris shrugged. “It’s just what we do. I’m pretty sure it has to do with ancient werewolf history.”
“It does,” Colby said, standing up to get Samara a stick to put her marshmallows on. “The werewolf initiation ceremony must be done during a fire. The individual ceremonies are different for each pack, though.”
Samara blocked Declan from her thoughts again. “Well, why don’t we do my initiation ceremony right now? I’m ready.”
Colby shook his head. “We can’t. Not if you’re going to do the thing we talked about. Will you?”
Samara nodded. “I decided that I’ll go through with it. Why can’t we do the initiation ceremony until after?”
“After the initiation ceremony, you’ll officially be one of us,” Colby began. “You’ll get your tattoo and the color that the smoke will turn when you change. You’ll also develop our scent, which means that even if you don’t change in front of the Vyka, they’ll know that you’re one of us –”
“Which they can’t know if I’m pretending that I want to be one of them,” Samara finished his sentence.
“Exactly.”
“Wait, what do you mean if you’re pretending to be one of them?” Luke asked from his seat across from her. Samara couldn’t help but notice how much his skin glowed and his green eyes sparkled from the light of the fire.
“I’m going to pretend that I’m going to become a Vyka so that I can find out how they’re getting so much stronger than the other wolf packs,” Samara replied.
“No,” Luke said, standing up and balling his fists. “You can’t do that. It’s too dangerous. I won’t allow it.”
“Calm down, lover boy,” Steve chimed in. “Samara will be fine, and it’s really going to help us out.”
“Yeah, Luke,” Samara spoke up. “Please don’t worry. We’re going to plan it out really well beforehand. And I’m going to try my best to make it as quick as possible.”
“I don’t know,” Luke replied, sitting back down. “I have a bad, bad feeling about this. I really wish you wouldn’t.”
“Well, she’s going to, Luke. So, knock it off,” Colby snapped. This was the first time that Samara had ever seen Colby act this way towards Luke. Actually, that was the first time Samara had seen Colby act that way towards anyone. Normally, he was always really calm and laid back, letting people walk all over him – and he always got along well with Luke. She must not have seen him interact with the rest of the pack enough to really know, though.
Luke scowled. He stared at Samara from across the fire. I don’t like it.
I know you don’t, but . . . the good thing is that if I get hurt or anything, I can just call out to you. You can hear my thoughts, so it’s like you’ll be there with me.
I guess, Luke replied reluctantly.
“Okay, Samara. Here’s what you’re going to do. Tomorrow night, you’re going to go tell the Vyka that you think you want t
o be one of them, but that you need to spend some time with them first before you’ll know for sure,” Colby instructed her.
“That’s fine,” Samara replied. “The only thing I’m worried about is what happens when they want me to do initiation. How do I get out of it?”
“Just tell them that you’re not ready yet,” Colby replied. “It shouldn’t make them too suspicious since Jason knows you have such a huge decision to make.”
Samara nodded. “What should I be looking for? I mean, what do you think is making them stronger?”
“We all have our own ideas about it,” Kyle spoke up for the first time that night. “I think that they’re taking some crazy good vitamin supplement. Colby thinks that they’re using black fighting.”
“Black fighting?” Samara asked.
“It’s when you use black magic for fighting purposes,” Kyle replied. “It makes you so strong that you eventually get to the point where you can kill other wolves without even fighting.”
“I’m not sure if you’ve heard this yet,” Colby said, “but a lot of people seem to think that Joe McKinley did black fighting.”
“Wow, why would they think my grandfather did that?”
“Because he was so strong and powerful. It’s so unusual for even the best Alphas to get as powerful as he was. Some do believe that his power was genetic, but many think that black fighting had something to do with it,” Colby replied.
“Wow.” Samara had always just assumed that her grandfather had been naturally powerful. If he had become so powerful through black magic, though, it would make her feel less respect towards him. In fact, just hearing that black magic could have helped her grandpa gain so much strength made her feel a little bit better about her decision to become an Ima instead of a Vyka.
“So, are we all set then?” Colby asked. “You know what you need to do tomorrow?”
Samara nodded. “Yup, I’m ready.” As ready as I can possibly be, she thought to herself.
