by Jayme Morse
Deciding that Josh couldn’t go through with this if it meant that he could never talk to his family again, Samara stood up.
No, don’t say anything, Luke hissed at her through mind-speak. Let Josh fight his own battles. We need to worry about our own.
Samara crouched back down. I know you’re right. This is just so hard to watch. She knew that it was probably even harder for her to witness because of Seth. If Josh’s parents cared about him as much as Samara’s mom cared about her brother, this was going to be extremely painful for her.
“You idiot! This isn’t going to work! The blood moon has already passed,” Jason yelled, interrupting Samara’s thoughts. He laughed demonically at his twin brother.
“Nope . . . you’re wrong,” Josh replied. Samara crossed her fingers behind her back, hoping that the old book of legends was right, that this would really work. “There are two blood moons.” Before he had even finished his sentence, a red cloud of smoke danced around him, as his body sunk down and he morphed into a wolf.
It didn’t work? Samara asked Luke through mind-speak.
I’m not sure, but it doesn’t look like it, Luke replied.
The red cloud of smoke was quickly replaced by a purplish color as it transitioned to blue – the same shade of blue that always circled Samara’s pack when they changed from human to wolf.
It had worked. Josh was an Ima.
Now, it was time.
Chapter 22
****
Samara quickly changed from her human form to her wolf form. For some reason, the blue smoke that circled around her created a bigger gust of wind than it normally did, reminding her that she was Alpha. No matter what the outcome of tonight was, Samara was responsible for it. If she really didn’t want anyone to get hurt, she could stop things right now.
Samara didn’t want to stop this, though. They had to follow through with their plan. Jason deserved to die. She owed it to Lilly.
Glancing around, she checked to make sure that each of her pack members had also changed to their wolf forms. Luke stood closest to her, his normally broad shoulders stiffened.
Kyle and Colby walked over to her, tiptoeing over the leaves that they crunched over, barely making a sound. Chris and Steve had both changed into their wolf forms, too. They all stood there, ready to fight and waiting for Samara’s command.
Samara glanced through the trees at Jason. As they had all speculated, he wasn’t even paying attention to them. Jason appeared to be in complete shock over what Josh had just done.
Samara glanced back at the pack and nodded. It’s time.
All of the wolves on the Ima youth pack formed a semi-circle and walked towards Jason. Samara wasn’t positive, but she thought that she noticed a look of fear pass through his nearly black eyes. It quickly passed, however, and Jason was enveloped by a red cloud of smoke.
Once he was in wolf form, he glared at them. I’m not going to let you get away with this. Do you think you can take any member of my pack that you want at your own will?
Guess what? Samara asked. Josh doesn’t want to be on your pack anymore. He doesn’t belong with you. He belongs with us now. He’s an Ima.
Jason took a step towards Samara and let out a low growl. Samara felt a growl escape her own throat. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed that Luke was baring his teeth at Jason.
I should have done this sooner, Jason said as he took a step towards Samara. I knew that as soon as you initiated, you were going to start trouble. I knew it from the beginning.
The only trouble I see here is you, Samara shot back. She felt a feeling of nervousness wash over her body as she took a step towards Jason. Samara knew what she had to do, though – and she only had one shot to kill him while he was still unsuspecting of the Ima’s intentions. If she didn’t do it soon enough, he would figure out what she was trying to do and kill her first.
Samara felt a wave of nervousness wash over her body as she took a step towards Jason. Samara knew what she had to do, though – and she only had one shot to kill him while he was still unsuspecting of the Ima’s intentions.
Pushing her shoulders back so Jason wouldn’t know that Samara was really feeling unconfident, she tried to hold it together. She thought about all of the things that she had done, and she felt the anger flash through her body. As she stared into Jason’s nearly black eyes, Samara couldn’t help but feel her body trembling. She tried to control it, knowing that it would make her look weak – and she didn’t want to be the Ima’s weakest link. She couldn’t be; she was Alpha, she had to be strong.
Samara wondered how long it was going to take for Jason to call the other members of his pack, how long it would take for them to get here and start using black fighting to rip the Ima to shreds. Samara quickly shook the thought away. She couldn’t think like that. She had to trust that their pack was strong enough to defeat Jason and, if necessary, the entire Vyka pack. Deep down, Samara knew that it was going to be a close fight, and it was all going to come down to her next move.
This was it. She had to act fast enough. It was now or maybe never.
Samara lunged at Jason, sinking her teeth into his furry shoulder. She felt Jason’s teeth cut through her own skin, shooting a rush of pain through her body. It felt like he had injected her skin with a painful venom.
Samara drew back and licked the wound. If there was venom, should she try to suck it out? That’s what you were supposed to do with snake venom, but what type of venom was this? Deciding that it didn’t matter right now because she had a mission to accomplish, Samara turned her attention back to Jason – just in time to see Jason’s body turning to a ghostly transparent shade before he disappeared.
What the hell! Samara screamed, looking around the woods for Jason. He was nowhere to be seen, though. She turned back to her pack members, trying to keep the anger that had built up inside her under control. How could he just disappear like that?
Black magic, Colby replied. It allows you to disappear. Only the strongest of wolves can pull it off, though.
Well, where is he? Is he just hidden? Can he hear me right now? Samara asked, frustrated. Jason had just been within her reach. She could have killed him, but she hadn’t acted fast enough.
Josh shook his head, one of his ears flopping onto his forehead. He’s done this before. He’s not invisible right now. It’s sort of like time travel, in a way. He imagined that he wanted to be in a certain place, within a nearby range, and he lands there.
Well, we need to get a move on then. We have to find him. Where do you think he would be? Samara asked, turning to Josh.
Josh shook his head. I – I don’t know. Somewhere closer to Starlight Lake, though, I think.
Come on then, Samara instructed her pack. Let’s go!
Samara ran through the woods until she reached the Grandview High School football field.
She kept on running.
Samara? Steve hissed from behind her. Should we really be cutting through school property? There’s a dance going on. We’re going to draw attention to ourselves.
I don’t care! Samara screamed over her shoulder, as her four legs carried her as fast as they could. This is the fastest way to Starlight Lake.
As the pack approached the high school, Samara heard a loud scream. Samara halted enough to take in the screaming sound, which echoed through the empty teacher’s parking lot.
Samara froze. She knew that scream.
It belonged to Emma.
Chapter 23
****
Samara stopped running and scanned the parking lot for her best friend. Most of the cars that had been parked in the lot for the dance had already left, but Samara didn’t see Emma. She walked towards a large pickup truck and froze.
Emma was kneeling on the ground beside the truck, clutching her wrist in her hand. There was blood dripping down her arm.
Emma glanced up; her eyes widened in fear as she noticed Samara standing next to her. Samara opened her mouth to say something, bu
t Emma looked even more frightening. Glancing down at her white paws, Samara hesitated. If she revealed who she was, could she trust Emma to keep it a secret? Doing the one thing that she thought she would never do, Samara changed from her wolf form to her human form.
She watched as Emma’s eyes lit up as the blue cloud of smoke surrounded her, blowing a gust of wind with it that whirled Samara’s chocolate brown hair in the air.
“Samara?” Emma whispered after Samara had changed. “I must be dreaming.”
“No, Emma,” Samara replied, laughing. She walked over to her and pinched her wrist. “You’re very much awake.”
Emma stared back at Samara as though she were an alien. “What . . . what are you?”
“We’ll talk about it later,” Samara replied. “Right now, I need to know what happened to your wrist.”
If you want to catch up with Jason, we need to hurry up, Luke urged through mind-speak. Who knows where he is by now or what he’s planning in retaliation.
Samara glanced at Luke, who had come over to stand by her side. Emma’s eyes widened again, obviously in fear.
Obviously, we know what part of his retaliation was. He did this to Emma, she told him privately, not wanting to speak out loud in front of Emma.
We still need to hurry if we’re going to catch up to him and kill him, Luke insisted.
Samara ran her hands through Luke’s gray fur and pressed her forehead against his furry head. “I know we need to hurry. We have to help Emma first, though.”
The look in Luke’s golden eyes, which had a hint of green in the moonlight, told her that he understood.
Emma cleared her throat. “What – what are you doing? That wolf is going to attack you.”
“No, he’s not,” Samara replied. “It’s Luke. Emma . . . I’m going to explain all of this to you later, I promise, but what I need to know right now is . . . what happened? Did a wolf bite you?”
Emma nodded hesitantly, blinking back tears. “How – how did you know that?” she whispered.
“I was bitten by a wolf, too, remember?” Samara asked. “You don’t need to worry about the wound. It will heal up on its own by tomorrow. Just wash it and put a bandage on it. What I need to know right now is . . . who bit you?” When Emma stared back at her speechless, Samara pressed. “Was it a white wolf like me? A gray wolf like Luke? A black wolf?”
Samara had made a point of placing emphasis on a black wolf because she had a strong feeling that it was Jason who had bitten Emma out of spite . . . to seek revenge. Since Samara had taken away his brother – or, more importantly, a member of his pack, lowering the Vyka’s overall number of members – he had claimed her best friend as his own. The thought made Samara feel sick to her stomach; it just made her want to act out her revenge on Jason even more than she already did. She wouldn’t let him get away with this. At least for Samara, being a werewolf was a part of her destiny; it would have happened whether Colby had bit her or not. Samara doubted that Emma was destined for this life, though. And she didn’t think that any werewolf, no matter who it was, should be forced to be a Vyka.
“I – I don’t know who bit me,” Emma replied hesitantly. By the tone of her voice, Samara could tell that she was trying to piece together everything that had just happened. “It was dark . . . and they just came at me. I know it had darker fur than . . . yours,” she said, pausing, as though she were trying to register what she had just seen – that Samara was a wolf. “But I covered my face with my hands to protect myself so I didn’t see it, and I just don’t know what color it was exactly.” Emma’s eyes glistened in the moonlight and tears began sliding down her cheeks. “Are you sure I’m going to be okay? The wolf didn’t have rabies or something?”
“I promise you, everything is going to be fine,” Samara replied sympathetically, remembering how scared she had been after she had been bitten by Colby. She wished that she could tell Emma the truth – that she wasn’t sure if everything was going to be okay and that, after night, there was a good chance that they would be forced into being enemies. “Look, here’s what I want you to do. Go home, lock your doors and windows, and put a bandage on that. I’ll be over as soon as I possibly can to explain everything to you, but I have something that I really need to take care of first.”
Emma nodded. “Okay . . . okay. I’ll do that.”
Samara gave her best friend a tight hug before morphing back into a wolf. As she began running again with Luke, Colby, and Kyle – the only pack members who had stuck around to wait for her while she consoled Emma – she glanced over her shoulder at her best friend.
Emma’s face was full of astonishment; she looked like she had just seen a ghost.
Samara wished that she could tell Emma that ghosts probably existed, too.
Chapter 24
****
Did you catch up to Jason? Samara asked through mind-speak, directing the question at Steve and Chris, but allowing the entire pack to hear what she was saying to them.
Chris was the first to respond. We didn’t exactly catch up with him, but we followed his scent to Route 90. It smells strong . . . so we think he’s probably still there right now.
Okay. Guys, we’re heading to Route 90, Samara told everyone, turning in the opposite direction. It seems like that’s where Jason is right now. We need to hurry if we want to catch up to him.
As Samara ran in the direction of Route 90, her nostrils filled up with the scent of another pack. She hadn’t been around enough werewolves yet to know which scent belonged to which pack, but she recognized the scent of the Vyka almost immediately. The scent was overwhelming. The other wolves in the pack must be close by, probably catching up to them right now.
Jason had probably called his other pack members to come protect him and to fight the Ima and kill them before they could kill Jason or any of the other Vyka.
Samara really hoped that she wouldn’t come face-to-face with her brother tonight. The last thing she needed was to fight her own flesh and blood, even if it no longer felt like they were family. Family or not, how would Samara explain to her own parents that she had killed her own brother? Or even that someone else, someone she was friends with, had killed him? She hoped that, for both of their sakes, Seth would stay out of this tonight.
Samara doubted that he would, though. Seth was loyal to Jason, so he was sure to do whatever Jason wanted him to do.
Feeling the anger build up inside of her even more, Samara tried to run faster. Werewolves could run quicker than humans, but they didn’t have the supernatural speed that everyone seemed to think. If a werewolf had to run a race with a cheetah, the cheetah would undoubtedly win.
Once they reached the highway, Samara glanced behind her. Luke was following closest behind her. Colby and Kyle weren’t too far behind.
Samara knew that she couldn’t stop too long to make sure that her pack members were with her. She had to find Jason.
At that moment, she turned around and watched as a gray wolf approached their pack, a wolf who she knew wasn’t an Ima. Upon closer look, she realized that it was Ethan Miller, one of the Vyka, and he was quickly catching up to them.
Run! Samara yelled at her pack members. She didn’t want herself or any of the Ima to have to kill anyone else if it wasn’t necessary, even though she was sure that’s what Jason had planned for his pack to do. She just wanted this whole fight to be over with, for Jason to die, and, hopefully, for the Ima to make peace with the Vyka . . . though she wasn’t sure if the last thing could ever happen.
Samara glanced over her shoulder, just in time to watch what was happening. Ethan was approaching Luke. Just as Ethan sunk his teeth into Luke’s leg, provoking him to yelp, Samara noticed the white fur darting towards them.
Seth.
Samara was sure that her brother had been sent to do Jason’s dirty work, to help backup Ethan during this attack. As she watched as the fight ensued, though, she gasped.
Seth lunged at Ethan. His paws must have dug deep into Ethan�
��s skin, scraping him, because he cried out in pain, forgetting about his assault on Luke just enough to allow him time to skirt away to safety.
Samara watched as Ethan pinned her brother to the ground. She couldn’t see from where she was standing, but Samara was positive that Ethan was going for his throat; he was trying to kill her brother.
Even though Samara was sure that she was breaking all sorts of pack codes of honor, she moved quicker than she ever had before, flinging the force of her body on top of Ethan. She quickly realized that no one was lying when they said that she was strong and powerful; the force of her attack caused Ethan to be thrown several feet from Seth’s body.
Samara met her brother’s golden eyes. She could see that somewhere, deep inside, her brother was still there. He had saved Luke for her . . . and he knew that she had just saved his life in return.
As Samara turned around to continue running towards the highway, a paw scraped against her back and a body slammed into her. Ethan had recovered, and he was hovering over her, attempting to pin her down to the ground.
When she looked into his dark brown eyes, she knew that his mission was clear. He was going to kill her.
Chapter 25
****
Samara used all the strength in her body to stand up, knocking Ethan to the ground. She sank her teeth into his neck, her mouth filling with the metallic taste of his blood.
Out of the corner of her eye, Samara saw that Luke had come to her aide. He used the strength of his body to nudge Ethan away from her. Don’t interfere, Samara snapped at him. I’m handling it.
Luke asked her a question, but she wasn’t paying attention. His voice sounded like nothing more than a muffled noise inside her mind. Samara was seeing red; the only thing that she cared about right now was killing Ethan. No one messed with her brother – or her mate.
