Marked (Howl #5)

by Jody Morse

  Steve snorted. “I don’t know what’s going on down there,” he said, pointing his chin at Colby’s pants, “but I, for one, know how to use a razor. You should try it sometime. The ladies love it.” Steve waggled his eyebrows.

  Samara rolled her eyes, shaking the image out of her mind. “Okay, anyway, we’re not using the scissors. At least, I don’t think we will be. So, onto the next thing you brought.”

  Colby reached back inside his bag. When he held the next item in the air, Samara recognized what it was right away.

  “A sword? What would we do with a sword?”

  Colby shrugged. “I thought maybe we could do a knight in shining armor sort of thing. Whoever is Alpha could ‘knight’ the others into the pack.”

  “Colby, that’s the lamest thing I’ve ever heard,” a voice said from behind them. Samara whirled around to see Seth staring back at them. “We’re not playing Dungeons and Dragons, here.”

  “I know, but it could be cool,” Colby insisted. “We could do a really cool ceremony and maybe dress up when someone initiates.” He glanced around to see if anyone liked the idea. His face fell when he saw that everyone seemed to agree with Seth.

  “Onto the next thing,” Samara said, crossing her arms over her chest. They didn’t have all night to get this done; if they were going to form their new pack tonight, they had to decide on an initiation ritual and a name . . . and soon. It was getting late, and they all had school the next morning. Even though she felt nocturnal, her body still needed a full eight hours of sleep.

  As Colby pulled something out of the bag, Samara heard the sound of air being released—as though something were being deflated. She was about to question what it was when Colby held the thing up and smiled at her sheepishly.

  “Is that what I think it is?” Kyana questioned, raising her eyebrows at him in disbelief.

  Colby nodded. “Yeah, it’s a whoopie cushion.”

  Emma burst into giggles. “A whoopie cushion, Colby Jack? What the hell are we going to do with a whoopie cushion?”

  “Emma,” Samara started to scold her best friend for calling Colby by his nickname, but she couldn’t control herself; she, too, burst into giggles. “Seriously, Colbs? What are we going to do with a whoopie cushion?”

  Colby shrugged and patted his curly blonde mop of hair. “I don’t know. I just thought we might figure out something to do with it.”

  “Did you bring anything else?” Seth pressed, a hopeful tone in his voice.

  Colby nodded. “Yeah, I did bring two more things.” He pulled a bottle out of the bag, followed by a wine goblet. “I thought maybe we could do the blood brothers thing, but drink it instead.”

  “Do I look like a vampire to you?” Steve shook his head in disgust. “There’s no way in hell I’m drinking anyone’s blood.” He glanced around the group. “No offense, guys, but that’s just not my thang.”

  “It’s not my thing, either,” Emma said, cringing at the idea. “Listen to me, Colby. No. Blood. Brothers. Got it?”

  Colby nodded and glanced down at his shoes. It was dark out, so Samara couldn’t tell for certain, but she was pretty sure that red splotches were blossoming on his cheeks.

  “Actually,” Samara began, “I think you might be onto something, Colby.”

  Emma turned to her. “We’re doing blood brothers? Please tell me you’re joking.”

  Samara rolled her eyes. “No, we’re not doing blood brothers, Emma. We’re all going to drink out of the same wine glass.” Coming up with another idea, she added, “We’re also going to put wolfsbane in the wine.”

  “So, we’re going to drink wolfsbane?” Seth asked, intrigued by the idea. “Did Grandpa Joe say it was safe to drink wolfsbane?”

  Samara nodded, recalling what her grandfather had written in his letter. “Yes, except . . . if we want to use it, we need to boil it first. So, I guess we could boil it before we add it to the wine?”

  “Yeah, that sounds cool,” Seth agreed. “Does anyone have a pot we can boil it in?”

  “Actually,” Colby replied, pulling his keys out of his pocket, “I have a pot in my car. I’ll go get it.”

  As he scampered off in the direction of his car, Kyana said, “Who just drives around with kitchenware in their car?”

  Chris wrapped his arms around her waist in a tight embrace and nuzzled his chin against her neck. “That’s Colby Jack for you.” He tilted Kyana’s chin and kissed her on the lips.

  Samara smiled, realizing that even though there had been a lot of tension between them over the past few weeks, they obviously hadn’t lost any of their chemistry. It still made her wonder why her chemistry with Luke wasn’t that strong.

  Luke. He’d been quiet ever since before everyone had gotten there, and Samara realized that he was going to tell her what was bothering him—or, at least, she thought he was going to—before everyone had arrived.

  Samara glanced over at him now. He was sitting on one of the logs on the ground, a distant look on his face.

  When Samara met his emerald green eyes, she could tell that he wasn’t happy, but she had no idea why. What’s wrong, Luke?

  Nothing. Luke glanced away from her, his eyes changing to a ruddy color in the light of the fire. It almost made him look sort of angry.

  Are you sure? Samara questioned.

  Luke glanced over at her and gave her a small nod—a small, unconvincing nod. Samara wanted to question him further, but at that moment, Colby came running through the woods, the pot that they were going to boil the wolfsbane in tucked under his arm.

  “Fill the pot up with water from the lake,” Samara instructed him once he returned.

  Colby nodded and strolled over to the lake. Steve and Chris followed after him.

  “Hey, Sam,” Seth said, quietly. “Have you talked to Declan?”

  Samara shook her head. “No, I haven’t. I texted him, but he never responded to me. Why?”

  Seth shrugged. “I told him to meet us here. You know, if he wanted to join the new pack. But he’s not here yet.”

  “I guess it means that he doesn’t want to join,” Samara replied. She wasn’t sure how to feel about that; on the one hand, she felt a mixture of sadness and disappointment. Declan had been her best friend, and by not wanting to join her pack, it felt like he was doing more than not wanting to be a member—it felt like he was rejecting her, too.

  On the other hand, Samara also felt a sense of relief. As much as she missed her best friend, she also couldn’t help but feel like if, by some chance, he did decide to join their pack, it was only going to make her life all the more complicated. It was going to be difficult for her to watch Luke and Declan try to get along. She had a feeling that, no matter what happened, their feelings for each other were always going to be the same; they’d never truly accept one another. It was somewhat of a relief to do without the inner-pack drama.

  “Guess not,” Seth agreed. “Oh, well. He’ll probably find another pack in the area that will accept him as one of their own. He’s a young pup, still, so he can easily be molded into whatever another Alpha wants him to be. And he is strong.”

  “Yeah, I guess.” Samara hoped that if Declan did find another pack, it wouldn’t be the Shomecossee. The last thing she wanted was her former best friend teaming up with Rocco, the Alpha whose bad side she had gotten on without even trying to.

  Colby came back over with the pot of water. He handed it to Josh, who set it over the fire.

  After a few minutes, Samara could hear the water in the pot start bubbling as it began to boil. She turned to Kyana. “Can I have your wolfsbane necklace?”

  Kyana nodded and pulled the necklace over her neck.

  Samara removed the purple flowers from the string and tossed them into the bubbling water. She smiled, pleased as the mostly clear lake water became purple-tinted from the wolfsbane flowers. “Perfect.”

  Josh removed the pot from the fire and set it on one of the rocks to cool. As they allowed the boiling water to cool
down, Samara turned to her pack members. “I’ve found a pack name I would really like to use. I think it fits us well, but if you don’t like it, you’re all welcome to suggest new ideas.” She paused. “I was thinking that maybe we could call ourselves the Starlight Lake Wolves. It’s near where we hang out, and I think it’s really fitting.”

  There was a long hesitation before Colby finally spoke up. “That name is cute, Sam, but . . . that’s all it is—cute. It’s a little too fluffy, if you know what I’m saying.”

  “Fluffy?” Samara questioned, staring at him for further explanation.

  “It makes us look kinda lame,” Colby explained. “Most packs just have a one word name. When a pack name is too cute, we all think of that pack as lame. Like the Midnight Wolves. No one takes them seriously because their pack name is just too fluffy.”

  “And I sure as hell ain’t no fluffy wolf,” Steve commented. “We need a cooler pack name . . . one that won’t make other packs laugh at us.”

  “I think I have an idea,” Josh spoke up. “What about the Tala pack? Tala is a Native American word for wolf. And it’s never been used by any other packs.”

  Samara frowned. “I still like the Starlight Lake Wolves.” She sighed. “I guess Tala is a pretty cool name, too, though.” She glanced at her pack members. “What do you all think?”

  “Actually,” Chris spoke up, “I really like it.”

  “I do, too,” Kyana murmured.

  “Me, too,” Emma chimed in. “It sounds really pretty. And even though our pack will no longer be named after me,” she said, referencing the fact that the word Ima came from the name Emma in ancient history, “it should at least have a pretty name.”

  “Okay,” Samara said. “Let’s take a vote. All in favor of the Starlight Lake Wolves.” As she expected, no one raised their hands except for her. “All in favor of Tala.” Everyone’s hands shot up in the air.

  “I guess it’s settled then,” Seth said. “Tala it is.” He picked up the pot of wolfsbane and took the wine goblet from Colby.

  Once the goblet was half-full of the wolfsbane mixture, Samara poured some wine from the bottle into the goblet, too. She turned to her pack members. “Who wants to go first?”

  “Shouldn’t one of our Alphas go first?” Josh questioned.

  Samara glanced over at Colby. “Is that how it usually works?”

  Colby shook his head. “No, it doesn’t matter who goes first, since we’re forming a new pack.” He hesitated. “I don’t want to scare either of you, Sam or Seth, but there’s a chance that neither of you will end up being Alpha once we all go through this initiation. The Alpha could be someone else. It’s impossible to predict who it will be, though.”

  “I understand,” Samara replied with a nod.

  “Me, too,” Seth mumbled.

  When Seth met her eyes, Samara could tell he felt nervous. It made her wish that they could choose who the Alpha of the pack would be. If it were up to her, she would have chosen him. He deserved this; he hadn’t really had the opportunity to be Alpha of the Vyka, even though it was what destiny had chosen for him.

  Hopefully, destiny had chosen it for a reason. With any luck, Seth would still be Alpha by the end of the night.

  “Okay, then,” Samara said. “I guess we’re ready to get started then.”

  “Wait, hold on,” Colby said, pulling something else out of the bag that he’d brought with him. “We need to record what we do so that future Tala members will know how to initiate. It needs to be done the same way every time.”

  “Okay.” Samara waited until he pulled out a piece of stationery and a ballpoint pen.

  Colby started to write on the piece of paper. “Official Tala pack initiation ritual,” he said aloud, as he scrolled the letters across the stationary. “During the night of the initiation ritual, each pre-existing member of the pack, along with the individual—or individuals—who are being initiated will boil wolfsbane in a pot of water from Starlight Lake in a pot over a blazing fire. That mixture should then be combined with red wine in the Tala’s wine goblet. It must be the same wine goblet that is passed down from generation to generation.”

  “What happens if the goblet ever breaks?” Kyle questioned. Samara hadn’t even noticed that he and Silas were sitting cross-legged on the ground next to the log Luke was seated on.

  “In the event that the wine goblet should break, it must be replaced with a new goblet, which will then continue to be passed down,” Colby added. “The pack will form a circle and the werewolves who are initiating into the pack will form a circle. Each of the pack members will drink from the goblet in random order. Once each member has finished drinking from the goblet, the initiation ritual will be complete.”

  As Colby scribbled the last of the words on the paper, Samara couldn’t help but feel sort of giddy. They were setting the precedent for the new pack that they were forming. Future generations of werewolves would eventually have to follow these guidelines in order to become a member of the Tala pack.

  “Okay, now we all need to sign it,” Colby said, passing the stationary and the pen to Emma.

  “It’s like I’m autographing this piece of paper!” Emma chirped, excitedly.

  Colby rolled his eyes. “Yeah, except no one knows who you are.”

  Emma sighed. “You’re such a Debbie Downer, Colby Jack. Eventually, people are going to know who I am because I’m going to go on to do some crazy, awesome wolf things.”

  “Is that so?” Colby asked with an eyebrow raise.

  “Yes, just you wait and see,” Emma said, as she handed the stationary to Josh to sign.

  By the time the stationary got back to Samara, she was the only one who hadn’t signed it already. As she dotted the ‘i’ in her last name, she heard the sound of shoes hitting against the dirt path behind her.

  A wide smile spread across Emma’s face. Wondering what her best friend was smiling at, Samara glanced over her shoulder.

  Declan was standing there behind her, a shadow covering his mouth, hiding his expression. He met Samara’s eyes. “Am I too late?”

  Chapter 6

  Declan stood in front of Samara, waiting expectantly for an answer, as she struggled to find the right words to say. If she was going to let him know that it didn’t matter how late he was because there would never be a right time for him to join the new pack, now would be the time for him to say something.

  But Samara couldn’t do that. She couldn’t bring herself to say anything that could potentially hurt him. So instead, she said, “No of course you’re not too late.” She held up the stationery that she held in her hand. “You’re going to need to sign this if you’re going to be a part of the new pack.”

  As Declan moved forward to take the paper from her, Samara tried to decide how she felt about him being here. On the one hand, she wondered if it was the right thing because this was bound to lead to the inner-pack drama she so desperately wanted to avoid, but . . . how could she really be mad or disappointed? Her best friend was here, ready and willing to join her pack, even after everything that had happened between them because he thought it was what she wanted.

  And if she told him that she didn’t want him to be a part of the Tala, there was a chance that he would end up on another pack—a pack that might not be the right fit for him, a pack that could be potentially dangerous. Samara wasn’t about to be the reason for Declan getting involved with the wrong werewolves, so they were all just going to have to adjust to the changes that were going to take place once they were all a part of the same pack. That’s all there was to it.

  And deep down, maybe she sort of did want him to be a Tala. Maybe it actually made her happy, relieved even, to know that she didn’t have to be his enemy again. That obviously worked out for her the first time; it probably wouldn’t make her happy if they had to go through that again.

  I’m afraid for Declan to be on our pack, Luke’s voice filled her mind. That’s what I was acting weird about. I don’t like it. I can
’t help it. I’m sorry.

  Samara glanced over at him. His eyes were lowered to the ground, and she knew that admitting what he just had to her through mind-speak was embarrassing for him. Declan was a sore spot for him.

  Why are you afraid?

  Luke shrugged, still not meeting her gaze. I’m just worried. I hate the idea of sharing you. I know you’re my mate, not his, but it still feels weird for a guy who you cared about so much at one point to be a part of our pack, which is essentially our family.

  Don’t worry, Luke. This isn’t going to change anything between you and me. It’s always going to be just the two of us, Samara replied, before turning to the rest of the pack, who were all staring at her expectantly. Even though Seth was the Alpha of the Vyka, they all seemed to expect her to take the lead instead of him.

  “Okay, so, let’s all get into the circle and drink from the wine goblet,” Samara instructed. As Declan signed his name on the stationary, he stepped into place beside her. Luke stood next to her, on the other side. Samara expected Luke to reach over to her, to touch her, but he kept his hands at his sides. She had a feeling that he was upset that Declan was standing so close to her.

  “I want to go first!” Emma said, yanking the goblet out of Colby’s hands, just as he was lowering it to his lips to drink from it. “There is no way in hell I’m drinking after any of you dirty mutts—except for maybe Samara.”

  Colby frowned. “I’m not dirty or a mutt!”

  Emma rolled her eyes as she took a tiny sip from the goblet and handed it back to him. “Here you go. It’s all yours to drink from.”

  “Thanks.” Colby voice was lowered, but Samara could have sworn she heard him say, “It’s not like we haven’t swapped saliva already.”

  Samara smiled. Emma still hadn’t admitted to her that she’d kissed Colby—or that she’d gone on a date with him to the movie theater the same night Samara and Luke had been there. Based on something Dante, one of the ghosts who hung out in the pack’s house had said, Samara was also pretty sure that Emma and Colby had been making out—or possible even more—at home, but even if they had been, neither of them was kissing and telling.