by Jody Morse
“Well, if you do, I’ll be here to hold your hair back,” Samara offered. “The sooner you do this, the sooner you’ll get it over with.”
Emma nodded, turning her attention back to the dagger she was holding in her hand. She ran it over her skin carefully. When she found the perfect spot, she turned the dagger so that its sharp edge was brushing against her skin, and pushed down.
Blood oozed out of the wound she’d created, and Emma’s face twisted in disgust. “Ew, ew, ew,” she groaned. “This is so disgusting!” She turned her head in the other direction and scrunched her eyes shut.
Samara pressed forward and brushed her own wound, which was still oozing blood from when she’d cut herself before, against Emma’s skin. She turned to the rest of her pack. “Let’s do this quickly, guys.” She knew that if her pack members didn’t move fast enough, it was only going to make Emma even more grossed out about the whole ordeal.
All of the guys, Kyana, and Rain quickly rubbed their blood into Emma’s wound. The blue smoky cloud swirled around her best friend’s body, blowing her long, blonde hair into the wind, as her body changed to its wolf form. It was the first time Samara had seen Emma turn into her wolf form; her fur was the same shade of gray a lot of the wolves had, but it looked silkier and shinier than the rest, for some reason.
“Okay, now, turn back, Emma,” Samara told her.
Emma met her gaze with her eyes, their icy blue color taking on a hazy appearance, before she slumped to the ground, lifelessly.
Samara tried to scream, but nothing came out.
Chapter 25
“What’s going on? What happened to her?” Samara asked, turning to Colby, as Luke raced over to Emma. He knelt on the ground beside her and grabbed her wrist to feel for a pulse.
Staring at Emma’s body on the ground, Colby said evenly, “I don’t think anything happened to her. Sometimes, when people are freaked out about what they have to do during initiation, they pass out. Add in the factor of not having complete control over phasing yet, and she was probably just overwhelmed.”
Samara recalled how difficult it had been for her to phase to her human form at will when she’d first become a werewolf; it was nearly impossible. It made sense how that, along with being grossed out by all of the blood, would cause Emma to pass out.
“I think Colby’s right,” Luke said, glancing over his shoulder at Samara. “She’s fine. She’s still breathing.”
Samara breathed a sigh of relief. “Thank goodness. What should we do with her right now, though?”
“Let’s take her back to my house,” Colby suggested. “We can keep an eye on her there to make sure that she wakes up and her condition doesn’t worsen. And if it does, I’m sure my mom will know what to do.”
Deciding that his idea was probably for the best, Samara agreed. “Yeah, let’s go, everyone.”
“Wait, not everyone,” Chris interrupted. “Rain, I think you should go home.”
Rain’s icy blue eyes filled with a look of hurt. “Why can’t I go?”
“I just need some time to myself,” Chris said gently. “I think . . . I think it’s best for you to just go for now. I’ll call you tomorrow, okay?”
“Rain, you don’t have to listen to him,” Samara intercepted. “You’re more than welcome to come to Colby’s house with us if you want to.”
“No,” Rain replied, shaking her head. She blinked, and Samara had a feeling that she was blinking back tears. “That’s . . . It’s okay. I’ll just go home.” She gave Chris one last pain-filled look before turning on her heels and running into the woods.
Samara glared at Chris. “What’s your problem? I thought you wanted Rain to be on our pack so you could see her more often and here you are, sending her home. That’s not the best way to treat your mate, you know.”
Chris cleared his throat. “That’s the thing. Rain’s not my mate.”
“What do you mean?” Samara asked. “Isn’t it a little soon yet for either of you to know?” She knew that Luke had known that she was his mate right away, but she hadn’t known he was hers. In fact, she hadn’t figure it out for sure until he’d flat-out told her he was her mate . . . or one of his potential mates, at the time.
In any case, Samara wondered if maybe Chris was just assuming that Rain wasn’t his mate yet because he hadn’t been able to listen in on her thoughts yet. Maybe it was still too early for him to know for sure.
“No, it’s not too soon,” Kyana spoke up. “I know how Chris knows Rain’s not his mate. It’s because . . . I am.”
Samara glanced over at Josh, whose mouth fell open in surprise. “Y-you mean you’re not . . .” He trailed off, shooting an angry look over in Chris’s direction.
Kyana nodded solemnly, giving him a sympathetic look. “I’m so sorry, Josh. I had no idea this was going to happen, but a few minutes after I turned . . . I just felt drawn to Chris. And I could hear his voice in my head. I know he’s drawn to me, too.”
A bright shade of red blossomed on Josh’s cheeks. “I think I need to go for a walk,” he said, walking away from them and off into the woods in the same direction Rain had gone in.
“Well, isn’t this just perfect,” Kyle commented. “We need to go rough up a big bad wolf, and half the pack is already leaving.”
Samara sighed. “There’s not much we can do about it right now. Besides, Josh will have to come back since he lives at Colby’s now, anyway. We aren’t going to go see Troy until the whole pack is together.” She paused and then added, “And in a better frame of mind.”
*
Once they arrived at the Jackson’s house, Luke and Steve laid Emma on one of the white leather sofas. Just as they all sat down, prepared to wait for her to wake up, Linda Jackson strolled into the house. When she saw her son, she chirped, “Colby! You’re home from Alaska.”
“Yeah, we got home earlier today,” Colby replied. “You weren’t home when we got in, though. Where have you been all day, Mom?”
“Oh, Rae and I spent the whole day shopping,” his mom replied, pulling a Louis Vuitton bag out of one of her shopping bags and holding it up for Samara and Kyana to see. “What do you girls think?”
“It’s really cute,” Samara replied, forcing herself to smile. She wasn’t really into shopping; she never understood the point of spending lots of money on designer brands if she could find something similar for much less money. Emma was a huge shopaholic, though, so she almost wished that her best friend was conscious enough to compliment Colby’s mom on her purchase.
“That’s very nice, Mrs. Jackson,” Kyana replied politely.
“Call me Linda,” Colby’s mom said. “You must be Kyana. Colby’s told me that you’re going to be living here with us for the time being.”
Kyana nodded, her silky black hair falling over her shoulders. “Thank you so much for your generosity, ma’am.”
Linda turned to Colby. “Would you mind doing me a favor?”
“Sure, Mom. What do you need?” Colby asked, rising to his feet.
“Your father left last night to go to Colorado on business, but I haven’t been able to get ahold of him. I’ve been calling him all day without any response. Can you run up and check in his study to make sure he didn’t leave his cell phone behind? He has such a bad habit of doing that.” His mom pulled her curly blonde hair into a ponytail on top of her head and pushed up her sleeves. “I’ve got to get dinner started.”
“Sure thing,” Colby replied, heading up to the study.
“Men, they can be so forgetful sometimes,” Linda told Samara and Kyana with a wink before heading into the kitchen.
Samara glanced over at Kyana, who was already entangled in Chris, her head rested against his shoulder and her arm wrapped around his waist.
Samara felt surprised that Kyana and Chris were so close to each other already. She knew that werewolves were instantly drawn to their mates, but it felt like Kyana hadn’t even given herself a grace period in between Josh and Chris; it was like she h
ad immediately thrown herself at Chris as soon as she knew that they were the ones who were really destined to be together.
Then again, who was Samara to judge? She’d had two mates at once for a while, and hadn’t even been sure at one point who she really wanted to be with.
Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Luke’s eyes flit over at her, and she knew right away that he had heard her thoughts. Shit. Now he knew that she had actually considered being with Declan at one point.
Double shit, she thought, as she blocked him out of her mind. He had probably heard that thought, too.
When Colby’s mom came back into the living room, she glanced over at Emma lying on the couch and raised her eyebrows in question. “Is she sleeping?”
“Something like that,” Steve replied. “She passed out during initiation. It was kinda crazy.”
Linda nodded knowingly. “I had the same thing happen to me when I initiated.”
“Really?” Samara’s eyes widened with relief. It made her feel better knowing that this had happened to someone who she’d known before . . . and that Colby’s mom had survived after it had happened. It made her feel like maybe Emma really was going to be okay.
“Well, has Colby told you much about how I became a werewolf?” Linda asked.
Samara shook her head. “No, he hasn’t said a word about it. Weren’t you born this way?” Colby’s mom seemed so . . . cultured. She had always pictured her as the type of werewolf who instantly turned once she hit the ripe age of sixteen, like all of the other wolves who had it in their genes did.
Colby’s mom shook her head, sitting down on the sofa. “No, I wasn’t born a werewolf. I did come from a long line of werewolves, though. Both of my parents and all three of my sisters are werewolves. When I was eighteen, we finally figured out that I wasn’t going to make the change. For whatever reason, the gene skipped me. So, I did what any girl who wanted to become a werewolf would do; I had one of the guys from my sister’s pack bite me. I initiated that very night . . . and I passed out.”
“Why?” Samara asked. “Were you grossed out like Emma was?”
“I was grossed out by the initiation I had to go through, yes,” Linda admitted. “But I was also a diabetic when I was a human. I think my blood sugar levels dropped when I lost a lot of blood. I don’t think my body had enough time to adjust to the metabolic changes that occur when we’re wolves when I first initiated.” She shrugged her narrow shoulders. “In any case, whatever caused it . . . I was fine, obviously. And becoming a werewolf obviously cured my diabetes, too.” His mom paused. “Anyway, the point is, I’m sure she will be fine, too. What’s her name?”
“Emma.”
Colby’s mom’s turquoise blue eyes lit up with a look of recognition. Samara got the feeling that Colby had told his mom about Emma and how annoying she was since his new thing seemed to be talking about her to anyone who wanted to listen lately, but Samara didn’t get a chance to ask to her. Linda rose to her feet and went back into the kitchen to check on whatever she was cooking.
When Colby came back into the living room, his dad’s cell phone in hand, Samara noticed that his normally fair-skinned face had taken on an even paler look than usual. He looked like he’d seen a ghost.
“Colby, what’s wrong?” Steve asked, noticing his solemn demeanor right away.
Colby sat down on the floor next to Samara, pulling his knees to his chest. “I-I found . . .” He stuttered, biting his lip nervously.
“What’s wrong, Colby? Spit it out,” Luke said softly, crouching down on the floor next to him. As Colby’s lifelong best friend, Samara knew that he was definitely the person who would be able to get it out of him if anyone could.
Without saying a word, Colby tossed the cell phone into Luke’s lap. It was already open to the text message display screen. Luke glanced down and read what it said. Once he was finished, he opened his mouth, as if to speak, and then closed it.
“Well, what is it?” Samara asked impatiently. She wasn’t sure why she hadn’t heard his thoughts, but she figured it was probably because she had blocked him from accessing her own mind.
“I . . . I don’t feel comfortable sharing this out loud,” Luke replied, his voice nervous. “Someone else can say it if they want . . . if Colby wants.”
Colby, who was beginning to rock back and forth now, nodded. “Y-yes, I want to share. He deserves for everyone to find out what he’s done.” His voice sounded shaky, and Samara wondered what they could possibly be talking about that seemed to be freaking both of them out so much.
“Give me the phone,” Samara told Luke, grabbing the phone from him. When she opened the text message, she felt her own heart stop beating. The text message said JASON at the top. Colby’s dad had written:
Son, I’ve got you the plane tickets to Alaska. You have to be at JFK Airport at 7. Don’t be late or you’ll miss your flight. I’ve convinced them that there are no flights out of Alaska so it should buy you some time. I’d love to see you kill them . . . all of them. I’ll get there as soon as I can. Linda thinks I’m going on a business trip to Colorado, so no problems there.
Samara scrolled down, to find the text message that Jason had written back in response:
OK, Dad. See u soon. I’ll try my best to kill them, but this could be tricky. They’re getting smart. I’ll be glad once u are there to help me.
Unable to say the words out loud, Samara passed the phone to Chris, who was sitting next to her, and he and Kyana both read the text messages before hesitantly passing the phone to Kyle, who passed it to Steve.
“Why does everybody look like they’ve seen a ghost? My cooking can’t smell that bad,” Linda said, strolling back into the room with a smile on her face.
“Do we tell her?” Steve whispered, glancing down at the phone in his hands.
Colby nodded without hesitation. “Yes, we’re not keeping this a secret from her.”
When Steve passed the phone to Linda, Samara studied her face closely for her reaction. It turned from curious at first to a shade paler than Colby’s before she dropped the cell phone onto the floor and fled from the room.
Kyle ran after her to comfort her, since Colby was still on the floor shaking.
“So, Jason is Colby’s half-brother then,” Luke was the first to state the obvious.
“Which would mean Josh is, too,” Samara added. “If your dad’s an Ima, why is Jason a Vyka? It doesn’t make sense.”
“It happens that way sometimes,” Colby shrugged, his voice still shaky. “You should know that better than anyone.”
“I guess you’re right,” Samara agreed, trying to ignore the edge to his tone. “But how did he keep this a secret from you—and apparently your mom—for all these years?”
Colby shrugged. “Lots of hiding and sneaking around, I guess. And I never read his text messages before. I probably should have, though.”
“He must be a damn good liar,” Steve chimed in.
“He had me fooled.” Colby sighed.
Samara cleared her throat. “It’s not your fault, you know, Colby. No one should have to check their dad’s cell phone to find out that their father has a secret family.”
“Yeah,” Chris agreed. “This is the type of thing you only see in Lifetime movies, not in real life.”
Everyone was quiet for a moment, allowing what they had just learned sink in. Finally, Steve spoke up. “If Jason knows, I wonder if Josh knows. Why would one of them know, but not the other?”
“Well, you can ask him right now,” Colby said, motioning to the window. “I see him coming up the driveway.”
When the front door opened and was closed loudly behind him, Josh paused at the doorway. He was about to scamper off into another direction, when Samara said, “Josh? Can you come in here, please?”
“Why?” Josh’s voice squeaked at a high pitch as he peered into the room. “So that I can see the love of my life with . . . him?” He pointed his chin at Chris, who had his arm wrapped around Ky
ana’s shoulders. It looked like she had fallen asleep; Samara couldn’t blame her. She wished that she could be asleep right now, too, with all of the craziness that was unfolding right before her eyes.
“No, so that we can tell you something,” Samara replied quietly. “It’s pretty important.”
“What is it?” Josh asked. By the tone of his voice, she could tell that he didn’t believe it was all that important.
“Let’s try to not to let things come between us right now because there’s harder news you need to accept. We just found out you’re Colby’s half-brother, dude,” Chris said.
“What?” Josh asked, a surprised tone in his voice.
“It’s true,” Colby said, gulping. “And here’s the worst part. My dad’s the one who tipped Jason off that we were in Alaska. He’s been working with them . . . against us.”
The idea that Darren Jackson had done such a thing made Samara feel sick to her stomach, but . . . it wasn’t all that surprising to her, either. It made sense now why Colby’s father gave her the creeps. Her natural instincts about him had been right; he wasn’t just a guy who acted creepy but was really innocent—he actually had ulterior motives in mind.
Samara realized that the reason he probably stared at her so much was because she was at the top of Jason’s hit list. Colby’s dad was probably trying to determine what her weaknesses were so that he could use them against her, and that scared her a little.
When she’d first been turned into a werewolf, she was weak and vulnerable. Darren Jackson had to have noticed that quality in her. In fact, anyone who had been around her over the past few months would have recognized it within her.
Well, not anymore. It was time for Samara to start being strong; she needed to start acting like the Alpha she was destined to be.
Chapter 26
They all spent that night at Colby’s house, agreeing to pay Troy a visit early the next morning. Emma had woken up briefly—just long enough to grab a ham sandwich and go back to sleep. She said that although she felt okay, she was unusually tired and just needed to sleep it off.
