by Jody Morse
Mrs. McKinley nodded hesitantly. “Okay, we’ll go. But I want you to let your Aunt Rae know if anything goes wrong while we’re gone. She’ll need to get in touch with us if something bad happens.”
“I will. I promise,” Samara agreed. She just hoped that she wasn’t lying.
Chapter 4
It was only early November, but the Jackson family’s house was lit up like a Christmas tree on Sunday night. As Samara climbed out of Luke’s car, she noted that the house had been decorated with even more Christmas lights of varying colors. There was a huge Christmas wreath attached to the front door, and decals of angels were pressed against the windows. The house was much decorative than the last time Samara had been there.
She followed Luke straight to the backyard, where they found the rest of the pack and Colby’s mom, Linda, roasting hot dogs and hamburgers around a campfire. Since they were all werewolves, they craved meat like it was going out of style—including Samara, who had been a vegetarian before she had been changed.
As Samara sat down on one of the cushioned lawn chairs, she noticed that all of the guys were donning t-shirts. She raised an eyebrow at them as she hugged her pea coat closer to her. “Aren’t you guys cold at all?”
Luke laughed. “You won’t need a coat soon either once your body adjusts to the change,” he reminded her. “I don’t know why it hasn’t yet.”
“It’s because she’s a girl,” Linda spoke up. Her blonde curly hair, which looked just like Colby’s but longer, was up in a high ponytail. Colby’s mom had a certain charm about her—but Samara couldn’t decide if it was her friendly twinkling turquoise eyes, which were identical to her son’s, or if it was just that she was so motherly and down to earth.
“It took me longer to adjust to my new body temperature when I became a wolf,” Linda explained, handing Samara a hamburger on a bun. “I think it has something to do with the hormones in our bodies. You should start feeling comfortable . . . in all of your forms . . . very soon.”
Samara nodded, as she bit into the hamburger on her plate. “I guess that makes sense.”
“So, did Luke tell you why we’re all here tonight?” Colby asked, eyeing her from across the fire.
Samara shook her head. Luke hadn’t told her the reason they’d come here, just that the pack needed to talk to her. She had been under the assumption that he didn’t know the reason they were here either.
“We need to figure out what to do about Jason,” Colby explained.
“Well, I don’t think we should try to outsmart him again,” Samara started to say, but Colby interrupted her. She appreciated that although Colby was no longer Alpha, he still stepped in to help her when she needed him to because she was still getting the hang of everything.
“There’s no way we can try to outsmart him right now,” he said slowly. “Jason’s gone.”
“What do you mean he’s gone?” Samara asked incredulously. “Like, gone for good?”
“He skipped town,” Chris spoke up, his mouth full of hot dog and ketchup. He gulped it all down in one swallow, and added, “We don’t know where he went, but it doesn’t look like he’s coming back here anytime soon.”
“How do we know that for sure?” Luke asked. “He could come back. He should come back. He could get in a lot of trouble for truancy if he doesn’t.”
Steve laughed from across the fire, his dark dreadlocks bouncing against his mocha-colored skin. “Dude, no. You think Jason cares about school? He’s not gonna show his face around here for a while. I heard from Henry.”
“Henry?” Samara raised her eyebrows.
“Henry’s my cousin,” Steve explained. “He broke away from the Ima pack to start his own pack in Massachusetts. It’s a long ass story, but Jason’s older brother, James, is a part of his pack.” His brown eyes were filled with worry from across the fire. “Henry told me that Jason’s headed up that way. James thinks Jason went away so he has more time to plot against us before we attack him.”
As the fire crackled, Luke reached over and grabbed Samara’s hand. He gave it a small squeeze. I won’t let Jason do anything to hurt you, he told her privately.
Samara glanced over at him and smiled before breaking the silence that had taken over the group. “So, what are you saying exactly? That we need to go to Massachusetts if we want to catch Jason off guard?”
“Precisely,” Colby replied, meeting her eyes. “How soon can we leave?”
*
Samara stuffed a lacy tank top inside her duffle bag and went over her mental checklist to make sure that she had everything they were going to need while they were in Massachusetts. They were planning to leave first thing in the morning, shortly after her parents left for their cruise. It was perfect that things had worked out this way; since her parents were going away that week, she didn’t need to tell them where she was going. Samara knew that if they found out, they’d do everything they could to try to stop her.
Kyle had told Rae that they were going to Massachusetts to find Jason. Samara’s aunt hadn’t been happy about it, mostly because she was afraid that they would get into some type of trouble while they were gone, but she promised that she wouldn’t tell Samara’s parents when they called to check up on her. She would tell them that Samara was at ski club or with Luke or in the shower, and to call her cell phone if they wanted to speak to her.
“And this just in, there has been another death reported in Grandview. The victim has been identified as a sixteen year old boy,” a newscaster said on the television. “His body was found off of Route 90 near Summit Park. His name will not be released until his family has been notified. It is suspected that he may have been attacked by a wild animal.”
Samara sighed, knowing that the report was about Ethan. At least his family would be notified now.
She didn’t have time to worry about what had happened to Ethan. She felt sorry for his family, but at least they would have some sort of closure, knowing what had happened to him. It could’ve been the other way around if she hadn’t stepped in; her own parents could be finding out about Seth’s death or maybe even her own depending on how things played out.
She had to focus all of her attention on finding Jason . . . and killing him. She only hoped that Jason would be the last wolf she’d have to kill for a long while.
The loud sound of her cell phone ringing interrupted her thoughts. Rising to her feet, she grabbed it from her nightstand. It was Emma.
“Emma? Is everything okay?” Samara asked into the phone.
“If you can even use the term okay to describe my new, crazy messed up life, then yes, I guess so,” Emma replied sarcastically.
“I know what you mean,” Samara muttered. She’d had a feeling that her best friend was going to be a little more dramatic over changing into a wolf than she had been when she first turned since, well, Emma was a drama queen over practically everything.
“I found my pack already,” Emma said quietly.
“Jason came to see you?” Samara glanced out the window nervously. What if Henry was wrong and Jason really wasn’t in Massachusetts at all? What if he was here—as close as the woods behind her house—waiting to attack her and the rest of the Ima when they were least expecting it? The idea sent goose bumps down her spine.
“No, thank God,” Emma replied. “Actually, as it turns out, I’m not a Vyka. Jason’s not the one who bit me.”
“He’s not?” Samara asked, genuinely surprised. If Jason wasn’t the one who had bit her best friend, who had?
“No, I’m not. I’m a Shomecossee.” Emma cracked her gum loudly into the phone. “Troy’s the one who bit me.”
“Why would Troy do that?” Samara asked, surprised that Emma’s ex-boyfriend would do that to her.
“I don’t know! That’s the thing,” Emma replied. “He wouldn’t tell me. He said he had to talk to you.”
“Why would he want to talk to me?” Samara asked.
“I don’t know. But I just want to get this over with
, so let’s go talk to him now. I’ll be there for you in ten minutes. Is that okay?”
Samara glanced at the time. It was eight o’clock. Her parents wouldn’t question her if she went out with Emma, as long as she didn’t stay out too late. “Okay, I’ll be outside waiting for you.”
Once she was outside, Samara thought, Luke? Did you hear all that?
Huh? Luke asked groggily. Sorry, I was taking a nap.
Oh, I’m sorry for waking you up. Emma’s picking me up, and we’re going to see Troy. He’s the one who turned her into a wolf . . . and he said he has to talk to me.
What? Why? Luke sounded fully alert now.
I don’t know, Samara replied. I’m sure we’ll be fine, but if things start to get weird or anything, I’ll let you know, okay?
Luke hesitated. I have a bad feeling about this. I’m going to round up the pack, just so we can all be there if something does go wrong. Please be careful, he urged.
Samara smiled at how protective he was being of her. I will be.
At that moment, Emma’s car slid into the driveway, her headlights flashing brightly across Samara’s face.
Samara raced over to the car and swung the door open. When she sat down, she glanced over at Emma. “So, tell me, is Troy your mate?”
Emma’s eyes widened as she pulled out of the driveway. “I have a mate?”
“Yes,” Samara replied with a chuckle. She realized that there was still a lot that she had to catch her best friend up on.
“That’s, like, so old school!” Emma’s face twisted into a disgusted expression. “Is it like an arranged marriage?”
“No, it’s nothing like that,” Samara reassured her. “It’s more like having a soul mate.”
“Oh, well that doesn’t sound so bad,” Emma said slowly, her face softening and then lighting up at the idea. “I want a mate! How would I know if I have one?”
“You’d be able to hear each other’s thoughts. Luke and I can communicate with each other mentally. And when Declan was my mate—”
“Wait, hold up!” Emma turned to her, taking her eyes off the road for a second. “Declan is your mate?”
“Well, he could have been my mate,” Samara replied, realizing that she had somehow forgotten to mention everything about Declan, too, when she’d slept over at her house the other night. She blocked Luke out so he couldn’t access her thoughts so that he wouldn’t know what she was saying, as she continued. “If I chose to be a Vyka, Declan would have been my mate, but I chose to be an Ima, so Luke is my mate, instead.”
“Wow, so you chose Luke, then,” Emma said aloud, tossing her blonde hair over her shoulders.
“Well, sort of,” Samara replied. “I did choose to be an Ima, but it wasn’t completely because of Luke. I mean, I had stronger feelings for him, I think, but . . . Jason is the main reason why I chose not to be a Vyka.”
“Well, either way, I think that was probably a good choice,” Emma continued. She wrinkled her nose. “Can you imagine having Declan as your mate? It would be like having your brother as your mate or something.”
“I guess,” Samara said with a shrug. Thinking about Declan—and how she hadn’t chosen him—made her feel sort of guilty. She could just picture his face on the night of the dance; he had seemed really hurt by her decision. She tried not to think about how things would be different if Jason hadn’t been the Alpha of the Vyka, but she knew there was no use in thinking that because he was the Alpha.
Besides, Samara already had a mate. She was perfectly content with Luke. It’s not like she missed Declan because she wanted to be with him. She probably just missed his friendship; that was all.
“Well, here we are,” Emma said, as she pulled into a narrow driveway.
“This is Troy’s house?” Samara asked, glancing at the two-story house that stood in front of them. The porch light shone brightly through the dark night, casting a glow over the house.
Emma swung her car door open and climbed out. “Yeah, it’s his house. He said his parents aren’t home, so we can just go inside. Come on.”
Samara gulped before reluctantly getting out of the car. She wasn’t sure why, but for some reason, she was beginning to feel nervous about this.
We’re at Troy’s house, Samara told Luke, allowing him into her thoughts again, as she followed Emma up to the front door. We’re going inside now.
Okay, we’re about a block away from you, Luke replied. Be careful. As soon as I sense that something is wrong, we’ll be there. And don’t be too nervous.
One of the cool (but sometimes annoying) things about having a mate was that they were always in tune with your emotions. So, if something did happen with Troy tonight, Luke would know right away because he’d be able to sense her fear, just like he was obviously aware of the fact that she was nervous right now.
Knowing that Luke and the rest of her pack were nearby made Samara feel slightly reassured, though; if she and Emma needed their help, they would be there in minutes.
When Emma opened the front door and led the way inside, Samara glanced around. There were no lights turned on inside the house. They were walking into complete and total blackness.
Had Troy lured them here on purpose? Was he planning some sort of attack? Maybe turning Emma had been part of his plan to lure Samara here so that Rocco, his cousin and the Alpha of the Shomecossee, could force her to be on their pack. Rocco had threatened to kill her when she was least expecting it if she didn’t agree to be a Shomecossee. Maybe this was the opportunity he’d been waiting for.
“Emma, are you sure he’s really home?” Samara whispered, grabbing her best friend’s elbow so that they wouldn’t lose each other in the darkness, but also because she was afraid . . . really afraid.
“I’m sure he is,” Emma hissed back at her. “Troy?” she called, her voice echoing up the stairs.
There wasn’t a response right away. Convinced that this was all some sort of set-up, Samara was about ready to back out of the house and leave, but then she looked upstairs.
A dark figure loomed above them, his white teeth glowing, even through the darkness. “There you are.”
Chapter 5
“I wasn’t expecting you to grace me with your presence so early. I would have gotten a little more dressed up if I had known,” Troy said bitterly, as he descended the stairs.
Samara took a step backwards as he stood with crossed arms on the hardwood floor, a foot away from her and Emma. “Why did you do this to Emma?” She could feel the anger build up inside of her, as she stared into the eyes of the guy who had just destroyed her best friend’s life. It had been one thing for Colby to bite Samara—she was going to become a werewolf when she turned sixteen anyway—but Emma hadn’t asked for this; it wasn’t in her destiny.
“It was an accident,” Troy replied unconvincingly. “She got in my way. But now that I think back on it, maybe it was more intentional than I realized. She has something I need.”
“What are you talking about?” Emma asked. Samara turned to look at her; even through the darkness, she could see the confusion on her best friend’s face.
“The ring,” Troy spat angrily. “I want the ring.”
Samara realized that he was talking about the blue sapphire ring that Jason had given Emma. Samara had suggested that Emma give it back to him, but her best friend had been stubborn and insisted on keeping it. It figured that her stubbornness over a gift that her now ex-boyfriend had given her would get them into this mess.
Emma protectively gripped the finger that she wore her ring on. “It’s not yours to have. Jason gave it to me.”
“Ah, yes, Jason.” Troy laughed bitterly. “What you don’t know is that Jason stole that ring from me, so to speak.”
“I thought you didn’t even know Jason,” Emma shot back at him, defensively. “At least, that’s what you told me.”
“Would you have gone out with me if I told you I knew him very well?” Troy shook his head, his hazel eyes glaring at her. “This
ring belongs to me. It has a very important value to me. And he took it from me . . . to give to you!” His voice roared, echoing through the quiet house.
Samara could hear Emma beginning to sniffle when a thought occurred to her. “We’ll make you a deal. You can have the ring—”
“No, he can’t, Sam!” Emma yelled at her. “It’s my ring, not yours. You can’t just give it away like that!”
“Emma, just listen to the offer I’m going to make him and then decide, okay?” Samara said softly. She turned back to Troy. “If you let Emma become an Ima, she’ll give you the ring.”
Troy glanced from Samara to Emma and back at Samara again. He nodded. “Consider it done.”
Emma began to protest, but Samara turned to her and said, in the calmest voice she could muster, “Don’t worry about the stupid ring. Just let him have it. If you become an Ima, we don’t have to stop talking. We can still be best friends!”
“But . . .” Emma trailed off, as she considered the offer carefully. Samara felt her cheeks reddening in annoyance. Could her best friend seriously be thinking about giving up on their friendship for a dumb ring that her ex-boyfriend had given her?
Troy inched a little closer to them. “Well? Are you going to be an Ima or a Shomecossee?”
“I . . . I, um,” Emma hesitated.
Samara rolled her eyes and sighed. “Think about the decision you’re making Emma. It’s going to affect the rest of your life . . . which could be forever, since we’re immortals now.”
“But what if Jason finds out I gave it to Troy? He’ll never forgive me,” Emma whined, and the realization that her best friend must still have feelings for the guy she was planning to kill made her stomach sink.
“Emma, just give me the ring,” Troy pleaded. “I don’t want you on my pack. You’re not valuable to us. You’re just a dumb blonde. The ring’s more important than you.”
Even through the darkness, Samara could see the tears that streamed down Emma’s cheeks. She knew that Emma hated being called a dumb blonde, and being told that she wasn’t valuable to the guy who she had been crushing on so hard over the past few weeks had to hurt.
