Wolfsbane (Howl #3)

by Jody Morse

  “I must admit that I do,” she agreed. As they turned a corner, they found Emma and Kyana strolling towards them. Samara wondered what was going on. The attitude was written all over Emma’s face and within her body language; her arms were crossed, and she looked like she was ready to roll her eyes as she approached them.

  Kyana, on the other hand, appeared nervous and remained a few steps behind Emma.

  “I’m so sorry! Please don’t be mad at me. I know I was supposed to keep her at the house, and I told Emma that she couldn’t come because she wouldn’t be ready if there was a fight, but she insisted on us coming anyway. The most I could do was come along with her, so she didn’t get lost or something,” Kyana said before running over to Chris, who scooped her up into his arms, planting a kiss on her forehead and smoothing back her silky black hair.

  For once, Josh didn’t even give him an angry look for their public display of affection. Samara wondered if he was beginning to accept the way things turned out.

  “I’m angry with all of you right now. I hate being left out of things like this, Samara,” Emma complained. “If you don’t think I’m ready to fight or something, then just tell me. But don’t leave me in the dark, or else I’ll worry about you. All of you guys,” she said, turning to them. “You’re my new family now. And I’m going to be a part of your pack, so you need to make me feel like it, okay?”

  Samara nodded. “I will from now on, I promise. I’m sorry if I made you feel left out.” She didn’t even have to tell her pack to apologize; the apologies started flowing all on their own.

  “I’m sorry, too,” Chris said, hugging Kyana close to him. “You’re cool, Emma.”

  “Yeah, I don’t mind having you as a new little sis,” Steve said with a grin.

  “I’ll always tell you the truth, Emma,” Luke said. “Scout’s honor.”

  “Sorry, Emma,” Josh said sheepishly. “I’ll make it up to you. The next time you ask me to cheat on a test, I’ll say yes instead of no.”

  Emma grinned. “Sweet!”

  Kyle took a step forward and told her. “I’ll give you some real dating tips if you forgive me—guaranteed to help you land a guy in a week.”

  “Puh-lease,” Emma replied with an eye roll. “I so don’t need your dating tips. I’ll be fine on my own.” She giggled. “I do accept your apology, though.”

  Everyone turned to Colby, expecting him to apologize next since he was the only one who hadn’t said anything yet.

  “Holy shit!” Colby grumbled. The expression on his face was unreadable, though his face had turned a vibrant shade of tomato red. “You have got to be kidding me.”

  Everyone just gaped at him, surprised by his random outburst. Steve was the first to speak up. “Colby Jack? Did you just swear? He’s such a potty mouth!” he joked.

  “The kid never curses,” Chris muttered. “This has to be big.”

  Colby, I know you don’t like Emma, but you can at least apologize to her, Samara told him through mind-speak, as she glared at him. Just be mature about this for once. Be the bigger person.

  No, it’s not what it looks like Sam, Colby replied. He turned to Emma. “I’m sorry, but you’re going to have to forgive me, whether you like it or not.”

  “Oh, and why is that?” Emma asked, standing taller and tossing her hair over her shoulder. She placed her hands on her hips, waiting to see what his answer would be.

  “Because you’re my mate,” Colby whispered. Then, louder, to the rest of the pack, he said, “Emma’s my mate.”

  “What? Ew! No way!” Emma gaped at him. “There is no way in hell you could be my . . . I got paired with . . .” She trailed off, glancing at him. Her face softened a little.

  Samara laughed.

  “Think one thing about me, and I’ll tell you what you said,” Colby insisted. “I swear I’m not lying about this.”

  “Fine,” Emma replied, closing her eyes. When she opened them, Colby grinned.

  “You thought about how I must have had a haircut or something because I’m looking mighty fine today,” Colby said in a sing-song voice.

  “Oh, my God,” Emma said out loud. “Total exaggeration on your part, but you are my mate!”

  Howl Book 4: Black Magic is now available!

  An excerpt from a new young adult paranormal romance series by Jody Morse and Jayme Morse:

  Surface (Siren’s Lullaby, Book 1)

  Awakened from a dreamless sleep, I sat up in bed and looked around. The soft pink satin sheets clung to my skin, which was drenched in sweat from the heat of the mid-August night.

  Something was wrong; I didn’t know what, but I could feel it.

  Glancing across the room, I saw that the twin-sized bed next to me was empty, the daffodil yellow sheets illuminated by the light of the full moon.

  Scarlett was gone.

  I flung myself out of bed and ran out of our shared bedroom, peeking into our mother’s room across the hall. She lay sprawled out across her queen-sized bed, our Jack Russell Terrier, Mickey, curled up at her side. Scarlett hadn’t left our room to climb into our mother’s bed after another bad dream.

  I poked my head into the bathroom, living room, and kitchen. I even checked Scarlett’s favorite hiding place, which was inside the hamper. My sister wasn’t anywhere to be found.

  That could only mean one thing: Scarlett must be outside. Again.

  I ran to the back sliding glass door and opened it quietly so that my mother wouldn’t wake up. I knew she hadn’t been sleeping much lately, often getting up in the middle of the night to brew a cup of coffee that we both knew she wouldn’t drink. I would feel bad about waking her up when, chances were, Scarlett was just trying to do something to draw attention to herself.

  She seemed to be doing that a lot lately, ever since our father had died. Last week, she had pretended she had broken her wrist after she fell off her bicycle.

  Once I was outside, I scanned our sandy backyard for my sister.

  That’s when I heard a voice.

  The melody drifted through the air, filling my ears. I had never heard my sister sing before, but I now discovered that her voice sounded as sweet as a songbird’s.

  I followed her voice to the dock she was perched on. Her back was to me as she sang, overlooking the bay. Her red hair, a beautiful coppery auburn color that I had been jealous of ever since we were little, cascaded around her shoulders in waves, catching the moon’s reflection.

  “Scarlett! What are you doing out here?” I hissed at her. I glanced down at my bare legs; goose bumps had risen on my sun-kissed skin. The hem of my nightgown fell just above my knees. There was no way I could be cold in the humidity of the Georgia summer night. It had to be that nagging feeling that something wasn’t right creeping up on me again.

  The song broke into silence, and Scarlett turned to look at me. Her bright green eyes were crazed, her expression aloof.

  “What are you doing out here, Scarlett?” I repeated. “Mom’s going to be worried if she wakes up and we’re both gone. Come inside with me!”

  My sister turned away from me, gazing back at the water.

  The singing began again, but this time, it sounded like it was further away. The song was sinfully sweet, and I found myself fascinated by it, as I wondered where or who it was coming from. I watched fearfully as Scarlett leapt, head-first, off of the dock in front of me. Without thinking twice, I ran to the edge of the dock and peered into the water.

  All I could see were thousands of bubbles rising to surface of the water that my sister had just disappeared into.

  “Scarlett!” I screamed, unsure of what to do. I looked around quickly and, then, deciding there wasn’t another soul around that could hear me, I plunged myself into the bay after her.

  Salt water stung at my eyes as I searched the black, murky water for my sister.

  I recoiled, panicked, as my hand grasped at something slimy, but I calmed myself, realizing it was just a fish.

  Swimming further under
the water, my arm brushed up against something warm.

  Scarlett’s arms reached out to me, flailing as if she were trying to swim up to the surface, but it seemed as though she were frozen in place. I gripped one of her arms with both of my hands and tried to pull her closer to me to swim us both to safety.

  She wouldn’t budge.

  My chest ached. Hungry for air, I quickly kicked up to the surface. I took a deep, ragged gasp of breath before plummeting myself back into the depths of the water.

  At the right of my sister, I saw a bright glowing explosion of blue shining light. The force of it jolted me away from her. I scrambled to reach her again. Scarlett stared up at me, with a scared, helpless look in her eyes. I kicked hard, pushing myself through the water, closer to her.

  Just as our fingers interlocked, I felt something grab me around the waist, prying me away from my sister.

  I fought hard against the strong arms that were trying to pull me closer to the shore, but it was no use. The person was stronger than me.

  As I was pulled from the water, I watched as Scarlett became farther and farther away from me. I could see her drifting deeper into the bay.

  As soon as I felt the fresh air hit against my face, I took a few deep breaths, accidentally swallowing a mouthful of salt water.

  My head bobbed in the water. Without turning to look at the person who was still tugging me to shore, I screamed, “Let me go! We need to save my sister!”

  My head was throbbing, and I couldn’t see clearly.

  “Ain’t nobody under that water but you,” the elderly man said, beaming his blue-tinted flashlight across the water, as if to prove it to me. “I saw you come up for a minute and that’s when I decided to come help you. It looked like you were struggling. I was just down there looking for you.” The man paused. “You shouldn’t go off swimming in this bay at night, anyways. The sharks’ll get you.”

  My chest hurt, but I started screaming, “Help!” If he didn’t believe me, I needed to find someone else who would.

  I heard footsteps running across the dock and voices coming closer to where we stood on the shore, but I didn’t turn to see who they belonged to. Everything had turned into a big blur.

  The melody that I had heard earlier turned into a sorrowful tune; it was the last thing I heard before everything went black.

  About the Authors

  Jody Morse and Jayme Morse are sisters that reside in the Poconos. They write young adult paranormal romance and suspense novels. To connect with the authors, please visit:

  http://www.jodymorse.com/

  http://www.jaymemorse.com/