by Anita Oh
She didn’t notice when I didn’t follow her, walking toward a tall bearded man and giving orders. The bigwigs and scientists were gathered in the middle of the viewing room, hands tied behind their backs and gagged. The lackeys were gone. Their bodies had vanished along with the lights of their energy; I could feel that somehow. There was a group of people sitting on the floor near the wall, wearing white robes similar to mine. They all looked like refugees, skeletal and dazed, with eyes too big for their faces.
“Lucy?” said a small voice.
My heart leapt in my chest as I turned toward it.
“Hannah?” I whispered.
She was so thin, I barely recognized her. Her hair hung down limp and greasy instead of bouncing into curls, and her normally rosy cheeks were ashen. But she was alive. I’d tried so hard to keep my emotions pushed down through all this, to ignore the horror of it all, but at the sight of her, I couldn’t stop the tears from flowing down my cheeks.
“You’re alive,” I said. I didn’t know how or why but she was there and alive. Any explanations could wait.
“You’re floating!” she said, keeping a wary distance.
I didn’t blame her. The last time she’d seen me, I’d been pretty mad at her, and my father had been torturing her for information. A lot of trust needed to be rebuilt between us, but she was alive, so we had time to do it.
“A lot’s happened since you’ve been gone,” I told her. “I have magic, and they’ve started serving vegan options in the dining hall. It may take you a while to catch up.”
She smiled tentatively. I really wanted to know what had happened to her, where she’d been taken and why she was there, but she looked so fragile that I didn’t want to break her.
Alpha Wilde approached us, and Hannah flinched away.
“I’m glad you’re okay,” I told her as she retreated back to the group of captives.
“Maybe I’ll see you at school,” she said, then she sat down, melding into the group of gray, terrified people so much that I could barely tell her apart from the rest of them.
“It’s time for you to go,” said Alpha Wilde. “I don’t want my children being mixed up in your kind of trouble. Now that you’ve deserted the pack, it’s better if you stay away from them. Now, follow James, and he will show you out.”
She started to turn away from me, but I stopped her. Or rather, my power stopped her. The blue light lashed out at her and froze her in place. Her eyes glowed red, and I knew she was furious at my nerve, and also surprised by my strength. Not afraid of it, just surprised.
“I didn’t want to leave the pack,” I said. “I still don’t. Let me rejoin. Please.”
For a moment, she didn’t answer me, and my heart filled with hope. If she’d only say yes, everything could go back to normal.
I pulled back my power, wanting to seem humble and non-threatening.
“You made the decision to leave,” she said. “Once a bond is broken, it can’t simply be repaired. You’ve brought nothing but trouble and danger to this pack since the day you started at that school, but because my children and their friends had already forged a connection with you, I had no choice but to accept you. Now, I do have a choice, and I choose to keep my people safe. Stay away from them, Lucy O’Connor. Stay away, or you’ll regret it.”
And this time when she turned away, she didn’t look back.
Chapter 18
I arrived back at school in the dead of night. Everything was quiet, serene. Everything but me. The power was still roiling inside of me, twisting and writhing, looking for somewhere to settle. But more than that, Alpha Wilde’s words kept replaying in my head. Stay away.
I walked aimlessly across the grounds. I didn’t want to go back to my room, not when Katie would never be returning. I’d found one roommate and lost another. Even though her soul had been set free, it was still gone. She was still gone.
My father had done so many awful things. I hoped he’d be sufficiently punished.
Where are you? I know you’re back.
I stumbled on the path, filled with relief at the sound of Tennyson’s voice in my head. I’d worried. I hadn’t been able to feel him, so I hadn’t been sure. I knew our bond was different from the pack bond, entirely separate, but it had felt as if everything had been taken. I should’ve known he’d still be there, that not even the darkest magic could take him from me.
Still, I couldn’t respond to him. I had to stay away.
You idiot. I can see you glowing from here.
A moment later, something hit me. Before I could react, something else hit me from the other side. Althea and Nikolai. That was why my power hadn’t responded to them: they hadn’t been a threat. They wrapped their arms around me, laughing.
“Why would you do something like that? We could’ve found another way.”
Tennyson had obviously explained everything to them. Nikolai called me some very bad words. Sam and Tennyson were standing a little way down the path, watching us. Sam had a small smile on his face, but Tennyson looked almost as bad as the captives from the facility. His face was gray, and his eyes looked haunted.
“There was no other way,” I said. “It was complicated.”
“Your brothers are safe,” said Tennyson. “And your mother. They’ve been taken to a secure location.”
“Thank you,” I told him, my heart swelling in gratitude.
Althea tucked her arm through mine and started to lead me toward the Golden House. It struck me how much she was like her mother. They looked so much alike, and they had the same bearing and regal manner. I wondered how Althea had turned out so nice.
I stopped walking, and her arm dropped away.
“I can’t,” I said. “I can’t go with you. We’re not pack anymore. You should stay away from me so you don’t get involved in any of this anymore.”
It hurt me to say it, like the echo of a wound. I could feel all the places they’d been ripped away from me.
“You’ve been talking to Mother,” said Tennyson.
I didn’t have to confirm it for him to know it was true.
“Well, that’s just stupid,” said Nikolai. “Your evil father has been taken into custody, so we’re not under any more threat from you. You should just rejoin the pack.”
He said it so easily, as if it was just a matter of my wanting to.
“I asked, but she said no.” I stared down at the ground, not wanting to see their faces when they realized that I’d never be part of their pack again, that they had no obligation to be near me.
“She doesn’t speak for us,” said Tennyson. “She may be the alpha, but I promised you once that you’d always have a place in my pack, and I have no intention of breaking that promise. As far as I’m concerned, nothing has changed.”
Nikolai nodded emphatically.
“Exactly,” said Althea. “Plus, once she knows that you and Sam are together, she’ll change her mind. There’s quite strict etiquette about that sort of thing. Plus, she won’t want to risk you joining another pack and taking him with you. Don’t worry, I’ll convince her.”
Sam still didn’t speak. He didn’t seem angry or hurt, but he didn’t join in with the others saying they wanted me to stay in the pack, either. It was so much more difficult now that I couldn’t sense him.
“We should do something about all that blue light,” said Tennyson. “You can’t stay like that.”
He had a point. I couldn’t exactly show up to class all glowy. The power seemed more stable now, especially compared to the last time I’d had to channel it into something, when I’d become a werewolf. I wasn’t sure if it was because I accepted it now or because last time I’d been forming my bond with Tennyson as well, but there was no sense of urgency about it. I probably could’ve stayed in that in-between state indefinitely, in that point before I settled into my new form, whatever that was to be.
“Are you scared?” Althea asked as we gathered around the base of the golden tree, where I’d channeled my p
ower the last time.
I shook my head. “Whatever I become, I’ll have you guys to help me deal with it.”
“Not if you turn into a withered old hag with boils all over your face,” said Nikolai. “Then I’m outie.”
I placed my hands on the tree and let my power flood into it. The tree felt warm, even though it was a cool night. It welcomed my power, accepted it gratefully.
“Oooh,” said Althea.
I glanced up and noticed tiny blue flowers blooming all over the tree.
I thought that would be it. I’d funnel my excess power into the tree and it would be stored there, but as the last of it drained away, I heard something heavy thud onto the ground at my feet. My hands fell away from the tree trunk, and I glanced down.
It was a long, thin sword, faintly glowing blue. There was a brilliant blue stone embedded into the hilt.
“Pretty,” said Nikolai. “And you’re no more of a hag than usual, so, bonus!”
Althea stared down at the sword. “It seems you have work to do yet.”
I wasn’t sure what she meant, but we had time to figure it out. Even if I couldn’t feel them through the pack bond anymore, that didn’t have to mean anything. It was just a technicality. We were pack in all the ways that counted.
Althea and Nikolai headed inside, but Tennyson lingered for a moment, giving me a long look. I wanted to stay by his side, for him to erase all the hurt and misery of the past few days – but I couldn’t ask that of him. What I wanted from him was too much.
Don’t ever do that again, he said as he turned toward the house. Don’t ever leave without intending to return.
And then I was alone with Sam.
I’d put this off for too long. I should’ve done it the moment I realized there was no chemistry between us. I’d wanted to make our relationship work so badly that I thought I could force it, but that just wasn’t possible. It wasn’t fair to him, and it wasn’t fair to me. I’d thought I was doing the right thing, but really, I’d just been a coward.
“Sam, I…”
He shook his head. “Come sit,” he said. “You look as if you’re about to fall over.”
We sat on the garden bench looking up at my tree. The tiny blue flowers seemed to sparkle in the moonlight.
“I’m glad you’re okay,” he said. “I wonder what you are now.”
I shrugged. “It will probably take a little while to figure out. It’s different than last time.”
“I’ve been worried about you,” he said. He took my hand in his, so warm and big. “Even before you left, that last day you were acting strange. I wanted to tell you then, but it didn’t seem like the right time.”
I glanced at him curiously, and he gave me a small, pained smile.
“I love you,” he said, squeezing my hand. “I love you more than anything, but this isn’t working. I don’t know if there’s something wrong with me, but there’s just something missing.”
I nodded, relieved that he’d been the one to say it. “I know.”
“You’ve noticed it too?” He let out a long breath. “I really thought there was something wrong with me. You’re the only girl I could ever love, and even then, I still couldn’t…”
Something occurred to me, and not for the first time. He always said the same phrase. He always said “the only girl.”
“If you felt like that about someone,” I said, “someone who wasn’t a girl, that still wouldn’t mean there’s something wrong with you, you know.”
He nodded. “I know,” he said. “But I’ve never felt like that about anyone.”
I bumped shoulders with him. “Well, that’s still okay. Maybe that’s just normal for you.”
Something inside me let go. There had been a secret worry that I’d never admitted, not even to myself. He and Tennyson were awfully close, and there had been times I’d suspected Sam’s feelings were more than brotherly. But if Sam didn’t want Tennyson, then it was okay.
“I suppose I should give you your heart back, then,” I said, smiling at him to show I was okay with everything.
He shook his head. “I still want you to have it. Keep it safe for me. And even if we’re not together, we should still say we are,” Sam said. “To the alpha, I mean. We can’t lose you from the pack.”
I leaned against him, resting my head on his shoulder.
“Let’s worry about that later,” I said.
“Still friends?” he asked me.
“Always,” I told him.
Friends with Sam was so much better. Friends with Sam was right.
Because it had become obvious to me that there was only one boy I could ever love. It wasn’t the soul bond that had caused my feelings for Tennyson, because even when it was blocked, those feelings were still there. I couldn’t blame the bond or use it an excuse for how I felt anymore.
There was only one boy I loved. And that boy was Tennyson Wilde.
END BOOK 6
Werewolf High #7 will be out late 2017
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ALSO BY ANITA OH
Werewolf High #1: The Truth Spell
A Very Werey Christmas: A Werewolf High Short
Werewolf High #2: The Tiny Curse
Werewolf High #3: The Body Swap
Werewolf High #4: The Soul Bond
Werewolf High #5: The Love Potion
Werewolf High #6: The Time Loop
Acknowledgments
Thank you to Kathryn for sharing your wealth of knowledge.
Thanks to Carol Davis for editing.
Deranged Doctor Designs, my cover is awesome.
Hannah, Liam and Morgan, thank you for letting me steal your names.
Sandy and Laurie, thank you for all your help, support and advice.
Thank you to everyone who has continued to read and support this series. You guys are the best!
About the Author
Anita lives in Melbourne, where she is a full-time servant to her two dogs. When the dogs give her a break, she writes books. Anita likes books about kick-ass girls and hot boys who fall in love while defeating evil.
Anita's favourite things include: cake, coffee and karaoke. Her special skills are sleeping and marathoning TV shows.
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www.anitaoh.com
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