by JK Cooper
After the door closed, Sadie grabbed Shelby’s arm. “I was right. Totally hot.”
“Shut up.”
“Sooo, how’d it go?”
“Um, how did what go?”
Sadie rolled her eyes. “The meeting with Elias, airhead.”
“What? How’d you know about that? Are you spying on me?”
“So it’s true what they say about blondes.”
“Hey, I only have blonde streaks!” Shelby said.
“I know, that’s why I had hopes you’d figure it out. Must’ve been wrong.”
“Okay, no need to get witchy.”
Sadie huffed. “Witches never really had much over us, actually. We’ve been allies on a few things in the past, though.”
“Us?”
Sadie looked hard into Shelby’s eyes. “Us. I know what you are. You don’t have to pretend with me.”
Shelby saw Sadie’s eyes fleck with gold, almost iridescent in the late evening. She stepped back, astonished but knew she shouldn’t have been.
“Okay, you’re a . . .” Could Shelby be wrong? Was this a trick to somehow get her to say something she shouldn’t?
“Werewolf? Yup. Mom and Dad, too. Little nerd brother isn’t . . . yet. He’s a year from puberty. Solid waste, he’ll make an annoying wolf. Now that we have that out of the way, finally, tell me how it went with Elias.”
“You’re . . . part of his pack?”
“Maybe there’s hope for you yet, dark roots and all.”
“Right. It went well, I think.”
“Oh my gosh, I’m going to have to drag every condemned thing out of you, aren’t I?”
“Condemned thing?” Oh, right. Damned thing. “They said I can join the pack,” Shelby said, cutting to the chase anyway. “Elias and Gennesaret are extremely nice. Different than what I expected.”
“Yay!” Sadie said, doing her little clap dance, the same one she had done at gymnastics tryouts. “And did you meet Kale, or did he skip to go hang out with that she-wench? You should see what’s on Instagram right now.”
“Yeah, he was there.” Shelby tried to say this casually, but by the look on Sadie’s face, she’d failed.
“Oh. My. Goodness. You fell for him that fast? Geez, talk about predictable. Did you have to wipe the drool away from your maw?”
“He asked me to homecoming.”
“Holy feces, what?” Sadie exclaimed, eyes as wide as her mouth.
“I said yes.”
“What?” Sadie paced. “Oh, coitus me! Wow, you just dive right in, don’t you?”
“Sadie—”
“No, no, don’t apologize. This is perfect! Perfect! The whorey trinity won’t know what hit them! I so cussing love you!”
“Is saying ‘cussing’ using technical descriptions? Kinda sounds like cheating.”
Sadie shrugged. “Lazy sometimes.”
“What are you doing?”
Sadie had her phone out, the white light from the screen illuminating her face eerily. “Tweeting.”
A small ball of dread germinated in Shelby’s stomach. “Sadie, what are you tweeting?”
“See for yourself. You can follow me @RedHairBites.”
Shelby blinked a few times. “Seriously?”
“I know, clever, right?”
Shelby whipped out her phone and opened her Twitter app. After finding Sadie’s handle, she followed her and saw her tweet.
KC chooses new girl over CG for homecoming, ditches banshee.
“So now I’ll be even more of a target. Great.”
“Relax, you can always just kill Chelsea,” Sadie said casually.
Shelby really wasn’t sure if Sadie was serious.
“Have you . . . ever . . .”
“A person? Nah. But how much different can it be than a deer or boar?”
“You’re a sociopath,” Shelby said with a laugh.
“And you’re totally infatuated,” Sadie said, putting a hand on her hip as she shifted her weight. “I warned you about Kale.”
“You just said he was hot.”
“Yeah, well, so is your dad, so . . .”
“Oh my gosh, can we not talk about my dad like that?” Shelby said. “And it’s not infatuation with Kale, it’s so much more.”
“Don’t get all butt-hurt. And you’re obviously an insane chick. Totally coo-coo. I don’t mind, don’t worry.”
“No, I’m not. Well, I might be, but when we touched . . . I mean, it’s like the whole world just disappeared, ya know? Like it was just me and him, somewhere else, far away with none of the crap of life, none of the worries, or—”
“When you touched?” Sadie interrupted.
“Shook hands.”
“Hold on, you got that twitterpated from shaking his hand? Are you that girl who believes she’s living a romance novel in real life? That’s a real disease, you know.”
“Like Cotard’s syndrome?”
“Huh?”
“Zombie disease.”
“You are the strangest chick I know, Shelby, but I still love you.”
“I’m serious,” Shelby said, “it’s a real thing where people really think they’re dead and—”
“Blah blah blah,” Sadie said with a mock yawn. “Back to touching Kale.”
“It was just a handshake.”
“Bull feces, but go on.”
“It just felt . . . electric. Almost like I was shocked and a part of me woke up, a part I didn’t know was sleeping.”
Sadie was silent. Even in the low evening light Shelby could see the wonder on her friend’s face.
“Sadie.”
“Holy feculence,” the red-headed girl finally said. “Are you bonded to Kale?”
“What the heck does that mean?”
“You know what I mean.”
“No, Sadie, I don’t. I’m still new to this werewolf thing, actually. I only manifested last year.”
“When you were seventeen?”
“Sixteen.”
“Whoa,” Sadie put the heel of her left hand to her forehead. “I told you. Strange chick.”
“So, bonded?”
Sadie took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Right. Did you kiss him?”
“What? No, of course not.”
“Well, you never bloody know, diving right in like you do. It takes a kiss to meld the bond. Some people say it takes more, but I don’t think so.”
“You said bloody,” Shelby said.
“It’s a cuss word in England, not here. But . . . my dad’s British, so maybe it is. I’ll have to think about that one.”
“You watched too much Sleeping Beauty as a kid,” Shelby said. “My dad made me watch Saving Private Ryan to cure me of that fairy-tale garbage. Don’t start telling me about true love’s first kiss, or I might throw up.”
“Were you not the one who just went on about finally waking up, the world going away, just you and him, all gross-like?”
It was true. That evil alien poet that had taken over her sensible self. “Alright, alright.”
“When the world disappeared, were you both in a little snow globe together with a condemned music box tinkling in the background?”
“I said alright, geez. So, a kiss?”
“Believe me, you’ll know if you’re bonded when you kiss him. Or so say the legends. Probably better to just go and get it over with. When are you seeing him again?”
“I don’t know. Soon I hope.”
“Didn’t Sean ask you to go hang out tomorrow?”
Shelby bit her lip. “Oh yeah, forgot about that. News travels fast.”
“Small town.”
“Everyone and everything. I heard. You going?”
“Of course. You should just bring Kale,” Sadie said, lowering her chin to her chest.
“Yeah, because that wouldn’t be weird. ‘Why, yes, Shelby, when I invited you I really meant for you to bring another guy along.’”
Sadie blinked slowly, moving her head side to side, as if consi
dering. “Sean’s cool, he won’t care. Have you seen his calves?”
“Um, yeah, actually, I did notice them.”
Sadie licked her lips. “Juicy, right?”
“So, this bonded thing. Are you just messing with me? Is it some kinky thing?”
“I mean, I guess it could be if you wanted it to be.” Sadie smiled, glaring at Shelby conspiratorially. “Do you?”
“And you were telling me off for not giving straight answers.”
“I wonder if a werewolf can be bonded to a human,” Sadie said, glancing to the front door. “Think your dad is still awake?”
“You’re really screwed up.”
Sadie smiled as her phone toned. “Hey! Look at that! Seventeen retweets and twenty favorites from my Twitter post. You’re a rock star already! Oh, and I got twelve new followers. Yes!”
“You’re socially murdering me before school even starts,” Shelby said.
“Just embrace it. Better to steer into it, Shel.”
“Only my dad calls me Shel.” She paused. “It’s fine, I guess.”
“Okay, Shel, so the way you described what you’re feeling for Kale could be just a serious case of romance-novelitis or—”
“You made that up—”
“Or, it could be that you and Kale could become bonded. That’s way different than simply falling in love. When you’re bonded with someone, they say you don’t have much of a choice. Your wolf doesn’t, anyway. Your human side has to choose it still, but if it doesn’t your wolf will forever be . . . less.”
“Does this happen to all werewolves?”
“Heck no, aren’t you listening? It’s very rare and only ever happens between Alphas and Omegas.” Sadie paused, squinting at Shelby. “You’re not . . .”
“Elias and Gennesaret said I might be an Omega.”
Sadie nodded and blinked hard once. “That’s amazing, actually. Really. I’ve never met an Omega. I’m not sure anyone in our pack has. Maybe Dakota or Chenoa but they’re really old. Will you be my bestie?”
“Promise to stop tweeting about me?”
“Nope.”
“You’re so mean.”
“I know. So, besties?”
“Can we call it something that doesn’t rhyme with testes?”
Sadie’s smile slowly grew until it erupted into a laugh that filled the night. “I love you!”
“Shel,” Grant called from a window upstairs.
“I’m pretty tired,” Shelby said. “Super long day. Thanks for coming over and for earlier today in the locker room. It’s good to have a friend.”
As Sadie opened the door to her Z3, Shelby said, “Hey, wait. Can’t you usually smell another werewolf?”
“Duh,” Sadie said, resting her arms on the BMW’s open car door. The window was down.
“But, I couldn’t smell your scent at gymnastics.”
“You really are new to this stuff,” Sadie said. “I’m a Venatrix.”
“Yeah, that cleared everything up. Thanks.”
“Don’t get snippy with a redhead, Shelby Brooks. A Venatrix is a secret agent werewolf. Used as spies among other packs in ancient times, or something like that.”
“Ancient times?” Shelby asked.
“Yeah, I’m not the one for this stuff,” Sadie said, as she lowered herself into the seat and started her car. She pressed a button and the convertible top started lowering. “Kale’s mom is the resident expert on folklore. You’re an Omega. I’m a Venatrix. It basically means my crap don’t stink.”
Sadie turned on to the narrow winding road and pulled up next to Shelby. “Don’t forget to invite Kale. And more importantly,” Sadie yelled as she drove away, “to kiss him!”
Shelby felt butterflies in her stomach.
Late into the night, Kale lay in bed, wide awake, with his arm propping up his head. Thoughts that refused to be quieted raced through his mind. His heart throbbed as if he had just finished football practice though he was calmer than he had been in . . . well, a very long time. An understanding resided in him now, something Shelby had caused to open within him, and his life had a new focus—or rather, a focus finally.
“Kale?” Elias leaned his head through Kale’s opened door. “You still awake?”
“Yeah.”
Elias came in and sat at the foot of Kale’s bed. Kale didn’t feel his dad sit on the edge of the bed, the memory foam mattress living up to its advertising. Kale sat up against the light wood of the bed’s headboard. The color reminded him of drift wood found on the beaches of the Gulf Coast.
“So, Shelby, huh?” his dad said.
Were they really going to have a bonding moment talking about girls? Kale shrugged.
“She took my breath away.” The words seemed to just come out. Did he really just say that? To his dad?
“I noticed. I think we all did.”
“Yeah, her dad didn’t seem to look too kindly on that.”
“And your reaction to him was dangerous.”
Kale exhaled through tight lips. “I know. I feel bad about that. Really, I don’t know what happened. I’ll apologize again when I see him next.”
“Grant’s fine. But, those feelings you had . . . you’re definitely not a mere boy anymore.”
“Seriously, Dad, I don’t want to have that talk.”
Elias smiled. “It’s not that kind of talk, trust me. But your wolf, when it wants something, it can be very persuasive.”
Kale suddenly felt very tired. Or annoyed.
“The normal bodily urges we have toward others we find attractive,” Elias went on, “are much harder for us to control when our wolves start adding their own desires.”
“We are having that talk, then.”
“All I’m saying, Kale, is keep in control. If Shelby is an Omega, it will be increasingly hard for you to stay grounded around her.”
Kale sat up. “Why?”
“Because, Kale, you are an Alpha. Not yet, but you will be. It runs in your blood. And an Alpha is attracted to an Omega more strongly than mere human emotions can conjure.”
Kale pondered this. “Dad, I felt something tonight, but I don’t think it’s simply thinking that Shelby is hot.”
Elias gave his son an appraising look.
“Well,” Kale continued, “she is hot. I admit it. But I don’t think what I felt was just emotion between an Alpha and an Omega, like you’re saying. I mean, I felt it before I even saw her, like as soon as I walked in the house. And not just tonight, I felt it earlier today at school after football practice. Shelby must have been near. It was the strongest sensation, and I can’t explain it.”
Elias put a hand on Kale’s shoulder. “They’re called hormones, son.”
“No, Dad, that’s not it.”
“You just told me Shelby is hot. Twice.”
“No . . . I mean yes, she is. But the feeling I had, twice, was before I ever saw her. It only comes when I’m around her. Near her. You know what I mean? It’s like that with you and mom, right?”
“Sure, Kale. But I’m not going to have that talk with you, remember?” Elias smiled slyly.
Kale realized his father did not know exactly what he was talking about. Was that possible? Kale searched his dad’s face. He didn’t. Kale could tell by the look in his eyes. The feeling he had around Shelby could not be normal, not simply attraction or even deep love.
“Never mind,” he said.
“Listen, Kale, I have to go out for a bit.”
“Now? It’s almost midnight.”
“There’s something that requires my attention. It shouldn’t be long.”
“Alpha stuff?” Kale asked.
“Pack business, yes.”
“Should I come?”
“No, not this time. Mom will remain here as well. I just wanted to let you know.”
There was some concern in his father’s eyes, well-hidden but still there.
“Something’s wrong, isn’t it? Tell me. Maybe I can help.”
“It�
��s nothing you need to be concerned with. Trust me. All will be well.”
“It’s not problems with another pack, is it? I’m strong. I can help.”
“No, it’s not that. And I know you’re strong. Physically, I’m not sure I know your equal. But strength, Kale, is not always the right tool. We’re just going to be observing a few things. We’ll be back before morning.
“Oh, and we’d like to introduce Shelby to the rest of the pack in a few days. Think she’ll be up for it?”
“I’ll ask,” Kale said. “Should be cool.”
Elias stood to leave.
“Dad,” Kale said. “Be careful.”
“Always am.”
“Who are you taking?”
“Ackerman and James Southeby. A few others. We’ll be fine.”
Kale heard the small bit of nerves in his dad’s voice, cloaked by his usual confidence.
Hill and his team of six hunters walked among the people in downtown Lansborough, dressed in khakis and casual shirts. He tapped the rim of his glasses, and the micro-camera began transmitting the scene before him to Sherman’s team offsite.
Of course, the nightlife of downtown Lansborough meant small herds of inebriated people migrating from one bar to the other. Live music blared from one establishment, the Open Barrel, as a bouncer tossed a man to the street. Another man, making threats to the bouncer, tried to help his drunken friend up but ended up losing his balance and joined him on the pavement. The two men laughed, eventually pulled themselves up, and stumbled into Hart’s Tavern across the street.
Some of the night owls combed the streets, window shopping as they passed each closed store. The soft sound of cars swooshing by on the freeway about a quarter mile east melded with the din of occasional laughs and the muted scuffle of footsteps by others walking the same street.
Hill felt attracted to the quiet, small-town feel. If only it weren’t infected with Lycans.
Their target walked about fifty yards ahead of them. Sherman had sent them to recon the town, to check on Nicholas’s intel. Nicholas, as it turned out, had been telling the truth. That intel had cost Sherman his entire team in Odessa, but each hunter knew that sacrifice could be asked of them in the fulfillment of God’s work.
The man they followed, James Southeby, if Hill’s intel was correct, was an engineer at a local civil engineering company. In fact, Southeby’s wife and son were all taken by the curse.
