Luminous

by Noelle Marie

  In hindsight, she probably should have checked the box’s expiration date.

  “You feeling alright?” Sophie demanded as she eyed the bowl of gruel. She looked seconds away from slapping a hand on Katherine’s forehead in an attempt to take her temperature.

  “Yeah,” she assured, but didn’t bother to elaborate. What could she say? “Your brother’s misguided attempts to protect me have ridden me of my appetite completely? I think I’m losing my inner wolf and with it, my craving for meat?”

  Neither were particularly heartening explanations.

  Sophie and Caleb didn’t look like they believed her, but Katherine couldn’t bring herself to care as she stared sullenly into her bowl of cereal.

  Zane wandered into the kitchen a few moments later, shooting a bemused look at Katherine as he dished himself up a heaping helping of bacon and eggs. “Who pissed in your Cheerios?” he asked.

  Sophie offered him a glare on her behalf, but Katherine just rolled her eyes. “This is oatmeal, actually,” she pointed out, forcing herself to take a bite of the lumpy concoction.

  Zane snorted. “The point still stands,” he muttered as he sat next to her.

  Before he – or anyone else – could pester her more, Caleb stood from his seat at the table, rinsing his empty plate in the sink before heading to the entryway where he began pulling on a pair of tennis shoes.

  “Where are you going?” Katherine asked, jumping at the chance for a distraction.

  Caleb glanced up at her from where he was kneeling and tying his shoes. “I was going to head into town. I need a few things for the pantry and want to get to the farmers’ market before all the best produce is gone.”

  “I need some things too.” Katherine didn’t hesitate to latch onto the opportunity to get out of the house. “I’ll go with you.”

  “Count me in,” Sophie added. “Lord knows my fall wardrobe could use an update.”

  A few minutes later, she and Sophie were rinsing their dishes out in the sink – Katherine couldn’t bring herself to eat more than half of the oatmeal – and pulling on their shoes and coats. It was only late August, and fall wasn’t quite upon them, but it was Canada and certainly felt like it outside.

  They bid Zane good-bye and stepped outside into the cool breeze.

  “What do you need to get in town, Katherine?” Caleb asked as they trudged their way down the dirt road that led to the hearty middle of Haven Falls.

  “Oh, well,” Katherine stumbled on her words, not really needing to pick anything up as she’d claimed, “I just need to replenish some of my, uh... feminine supplies,” she finally managed to spit out.

  Caleb’s ears went red, and Sophie erupted into laughter at the man’s obvious embarrassment. Meanwhile, Katherine fought to contain her own mortified blush. She wasn’t even sure if the excuse was true. She was awful at keeping track of her monthly frenemy and hadn’t checked on her stockpile of tampons in a while. One would think that a full moon coming around roughly once a month would help a werewolf keep better track of her period, but if anything, it seemed to make her even more forgetful.

  Either way, the excuse got Caleb and Sophie off her back.

  When they arrived into town twenty minutes later, they dropped Katherine off at the joint drugstore and apothecary with instructions to meet up with them in the middle of town square, near the farmers’ market, in an hour or so.

  “You can always come find me at The Closet if you get bored,” Sophie reminded her cheerily before they took their leave.

  As much as she loved Sophie, that wasn’t likely to happen. Clothes shopping with the blonde was just short of torture as far as Katherine was concerned.

  She entered the small shop, grabbing one of the straw baskets placed near the door, and wandered aimlessly up and down the aisles for a while. Her feet eventually took her to where the generic tampons were stocked. She figured she might as well get a package of them while she was there. She also picked up a couple bars of handmade soap and was examining the naturally brewed lotions – she was debating between buying the one that smelled like strawberries and the one that smelled like lilacs – when a familiar voice reached her ears, drifting down from the aisle directly in front of hers.

  The voice was feminine, but loud and domineering. It triggered something in her memory, but she couldn’t quite place the owner. Her brow wrinkled in consternation as she listened in and fought to recall who the voice belonged to.

  “Personally, I think he’s just being stubborn,” the owner of the voice drawled. “Something must be done!”

  “I agree,” another feminine voice – this one Katherine didn’t even faintly recognize – answered, “but is this really the answer? I mean, your Briggs says Bastian insists-”

  The mention of Bastian’s name had Katherine stiffening and sparked a much more thorough interest in the conversation. After glancing back and forth down the empty aisle, she carefully leaned her back up against the shelf that separated her from the owners of the voices. She rested her head against it, trying to look inconspicuous as she strained her ears to listen.

  “I don’t care what Bastian insists,” the brash voiced replied. “Our population is dwindling before our very eyes. My son and his mate have been trying to conceive without any success since they claimed each other last spring. Now, I know there’s nothing wrong with my son, but that Wright girl...” she trailed off.

  Something clicked in Katherine’s head at the mention of “that Wright girl”. Surely the woman must be referring to Priscilla. And Priscilla was mated to Rip – Rip Briggs. Plus, the second voice had said something about “your Briggs.” Julius Briggs. The voice must have belonged to the wife – or mate, rather – of the alpha. Katherine had only met the woman once before, at a council meeting nearly a year ago after Rip had assaulted her.

  Unsurprisingly, she hadn’t made the best impression on Katherine.

  “She’s a born wolf,” the owner of the second voice pointed out skeptically. It must have belonged to another member of her pack. “It’s not as if she’s a bitten wolf. Now, they can hardly conceive at all.”

  Katherine blinked. She was a bitten wolf, and she hadn’t known that. The new tidbit of information caused something peculiar to twist in her gut. Which was ridiculous. Because she’d never once even contemplated the idea of having children. She was only seventeen, for God’s sake; why would she? Shaking off the strange feeling, she strained her ears to hear Briggs’s mate’s reply.

  “Yes, but the Wrights have invited bitten wolves to join their pack in the past. They’ve infiltrated their gene pool. Perhaps even just being around them has begun to rub off.”

  “Come now, Vanessa. That seems awfully far-fetched to me,” the other woman disagreed.

  Briggs’s mate – Vanessa, apparently – huffed. “Yes, well, fresh blood certainly can’t hurt, anyway. I say that we merge with the western colony. I’m sure that the Wright girl will understand that removing herself from the picture for the sake of conceiving a child is in everyone’s best interest.”

  Western colony? What were they talking about?

  “I don’t know. If Bastian says that inviting them here and combining the colonies would be a mistake, he’s probably right. Didn’t he tell the council that they were uncivilized? Dangerous, even. More wolf than human, I think, is what Briggs said were his exact words.”

  “Nonsense,” Vanessa dismissed. “They’re the only other colony in Canada. Bastian probably just doesn’t want to upset his mate. After all, as alpha, he’ll probably want offspring soon himself, and she is a bitten wolf. She, too, will have to step aside for the sake of producing an heir or else run the risk of him losing his position of head alpha.

  The voices faded away as their owners traveled towards the front of the store, undoubtedly to pay for whatever items they’d picked up. Katherine couldn’t have followed them if she wanted to. She felt as if her feet were glued to the floor, a lump the size of Mount Everest stuck in her throat.
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br />   Stepping aside so that Bastian could produce “an heir”? What?

  “Why do you look so surprised?”

  Katherine nearly jumped out of her skin at the sound of the voice to her right. It wasn’t Briggs’s mate or her friend who had addressed her, however, but someone she knew more intimately. Or had used to know anyway.

  Melanie Black.

  “One would think you’d be in the know,” the girl continued, “what with being mated to the head alpha and all.” She rolled her eyes. “Or is there trouble in paradise?”

  Katherine forced herself to swallow the lump in her throat. “Melanie,” she greeted.

  The girl snorted.

  Katherine took a moment to take Melanie in. She’d caught glimpses of her once or twice since the other girl had been ostracized from the community, but she’d never had the opportunity to truly examine her as she did now.

  She looked largely the same as Katherine remembered. More gaunt in the cheeks, maybe, but it was impossible to say whether that was due to an inefficient diet or merely a natural side effect of maturing and growing older. Her hair was longer too. It didn’t look like it’d been cut in a long time and easily fell past her shoulders. Choppily cut, black bangs hung over her equally dark eyes.

  As much as her appearance hadn’t really changed, however, her attitude and the stiff way she held herself hardly resembled the girl she used to know.

  Katherine knew she should just walk away – Bastian would probably have a fit if he found out that Melanie had been anywhere near her – but for some reason, she couldn’t bring herself to do so. After all, she’d genuinely liked the girl before... well, before everything that had happened.

  “How are you?” she finally managed to ask, forcing her clumsy tongue and lips to work together and form the question.

  Melanie shot her a disbelieving look over the plastic tub of all-purpose detergent she was examining. “Great,” she deadpanned. “It’s wonderful being pack-less, living in what basically amounts to a shack on the outskirts of town.” She threw the tub into her otherwise empty basket before continue to peruse the shelf, adding a tiny bottle of shampoo and a single stick of deodorant to her haul.

  Katherine’s stomach clenched as something that felt suspiciously like guilt swirled in it. Which was stupid. Because she knew that she had absolutely no logical reason to feel that way. She’d never done anything to Melanie. It was the other girl who’d betrayed her to Cain. And yet...

  “Maybe... maybe I can talk to Bastian?” Katherine suggested hesitantly.

  Melanie jerked her head in surprise, and her eyes immediately zoomed to her. They looked her up and down, apparently assessing whether or not she was telling the truth. Her dark eyes softened after a moment, and Katherine could have sworn she caught a glimpse of the old Melanie.

  “What’s the point?”

  But she quickly transformed back into the bitter shell of a girl who’d replaced her, her eyes hardening once more. “No alpha is going to want to take in a shunned, bitten wolf like me, especially not with everyone freaking out about the population.”

  “But-”

  “Don’t bother,” she cut Katherine off sharply. “Not all of us can win the mate lottery.”

  Their stilted conversation came to a close after that, and an awkward, tension-filled silence descended. Neither girl made an immediate attempt to move away from the other, however, despite the fact that they were no longer actively shopping the aisle.

  Katherine bit her lip. “Is it true?” she asked finally.

  Melanie eyed her. “Is what true?”

  “What they were saying about Haven Falls’ population,” she clarified. “Is... is it really “dwindling”?”

  Melanie shrugged. “It’s hard to say for sure. All I know is that no new babies have been born so far this year, and it’s gotten a lot of people on edge. In case you didn’t notice, our graduating class was by far the largest at the school. Most grades are made up of less than a dozen students, and I’ve heard that the newest batch of kids eligible for school is half that number.”

  Katherine frowned. That sounded like a legitimate problem to her. “And what they said about bitten wolves?” she asked. “Is that true? Can they... can we... really not have kids?”

  Melanie huffed. “It’s not that we can’t, it’s just rare. I think the last time that a bitten female gave birth in Haven Falls was a few decades ago. Long before either of us got here, anyway. But what do they expect? It’s not like there are many of us. Still, it’s just like those stuck-up bimbos to blame us for the town’s population problem. I mean, I’m sure it has absolutely nothing to do with all the inbreeding.”

  Melanie’s last sentence was practically drenched in sarcasm, but Katherine didn’t get it. She furrowed her brow. “Inbreeding?”

  “Well, it’s not like born wolves are mating with their brothers and sisters, but think about it. Haven Falls was established sometime in the mid-1800s. Born wolves have inhabited this town for well over a century. Most of these families have been here since the very beginning. Surely everyone is everyone else’s distant cousin by now.” Melanie snapped her mouth shut, abruptly realizing who it was she was ranting to. “Anyway,” she interjected sharply, “I’ve got to go.”

  The girl turned to leave, but Katherine quickly reached out and grabbed the sleeve of her dingy coat. “Wait!”

  Melanie stiffened, but turned back around to face her.

  Katherine gestured vaguely at her basket. “If you don’t want me to talk to Bastian, at least let me get this for you.”

  Melanie stared. “Knock yourself out,” she said finally, handing Katherine her merchandise.

  Without further ado, the two girls made their way up to the front of the store. Katherine was relieved to see that Vanessa Briggs and her friend were gone. After paying for their items with one of Bastian’s many shiny credit cards, Katherine handed Melanie her basket back.

  “Thanks, I guess,” the girl muttered, glancing at the door.

  “You’re welcome,” Katherine replied, hoping that Melanie recognized the sincerity in her voice.

  It was hard to get a good read on the other girl, though, as she refused to meet her gaze.

  “See you, Katherine,” she finally said, shouldering past her before the brunette could reply.

  “Bye, Melanie,” Katherine mumbled to the empty space beside her, watching as the other girl ducked out of the shop and disappeared from sight.

  Katherine glanced at the clock behind the counter, blinking owlishly when she realized that more time had passed than she’d thought since running into Melanie. In fact, it had already been an hour since Sophie and Caleb had dropped her off.

  She hurried out of the store, forcing her legs into a jog as she headed towards town square. It was only a few blocks from the dual apothecary shop/drugstore, but Katherine found herself uncharacteristically out of breath once she’d arrived. She rested her back against a brick building, trying to catch her breath and shake off the sudden wave of dizziness she felt as she searched the area for a familiar face.

  After a moment, she was able to spot Caleb through her slightly blurred vision. He was standing near a vendor that looked to be selling a variety of fresh berries. She began making her way over to him, but quickly realized that something was wrong. She felt more and more lightheaded with every step she took. She forced herself to stop, shaking her head and blinking hard in an effort to lose the wooziness.

  She opened her eyes to blackness encroaching upon the edges of her vision.

  “Katherine!”

  She heard Caleb address her from across the street, and she watched through her hazy vision as he hurried over to her. “I was starting to worry.” His mouth dipped into a frown the closer he got to her. “Hey, what’s wrong?”

  “I...” Katherine pressed a hand to her forehead.

  Nothing.

  That’s what she wanted to say. That’s what she wanted to be true. But she couldn’t even get her li
ps to begin forming the lie when she felt her knees suddenly buckle beneath her. Caleb’s startled face was the last thing she saw before the black in her peripheral vision finally crept completely in, and all was dark.

  CHAPTER THREE

  When Katherine peeled her eyes open, it was to welcome a distinct pounding in her head, and Markus’s face hovering over her own instead of Caleb’s.

  “Welcome back to the world of the living, princess,” the man quipped, signature smirk firmly in place despite the fact that his words were strained and there was an unprecedented wrinkle of concern etched in his forehead.

  Katherine licked her dry lips and glanced around, taking in her surroundings. She quickly realized that she was no longer in the middle of town square, but rather laying on the couch of their living room, a raggedy afghan thrown over her lap. Markus was kneeling beside her, pressing a washcloth full of ice to the side of her head. Caleb, eyes wide with worry, was looking on from a few feet away.

  “What happened?” she managed to mumble, feebly pushing the hand holding the homemade cold compress away.

  Markus rolled his eyes, but set the ice sack down on the coffee table. “Why don’t you tell us?” he shot back. “I mean, you’re the one who fainted. Honest to God, Scarlett O’Hara, someone fetch the smelling rocks fainted, if Caleb and Sophie are to be believed.” He shook his head in disbelief.

  Oh.

  She did recall that. But more importantly, or more bafflingly at the very least... “You know Scarlett O’Hara?” she asked skeptically.

  Markus released a surprised guffaw of laughter. Caleb, however, could no longer contain himself and darted forward, shooing Markus out of his way. “Nothing about this is funny,” he scolded the other man. “Are you okay?” he asked her, hands spasming nervously at his sides like they wanted nothing more than to somehow fix her. “How’s your head? Oh, I knew you should have eaten more than oatmeal this morning,” he fretted.