by Heather Karn
Chapter 6
If this had been a scene in a Hollywood movie, right then I would have been drinking from a bottle of water and spit it out all over him. But it wasn’t a movie. This was my life, and for several long seconds, I sat, unable to move, staring at him with my mouth hanging open.
“How do you know that?” I asked him, my voice trembling like the rest of my body.
“You smell like one of us.”
“What do you mean I smell?”
“You smell like a weregal.”
“I can’t be one of you. I’m not.”
The confidence in his voice never faltered as he questioned me. “Who are your parents?”
“You wouldn’t know them.”
“You’re positive that your parents were human?”
I opened my mouth to tell him my parents were human when the argument died on my lips. Mom was human for sure, but he wasn’t asking about Gerry, the man who raised and cared for me. No, he was asking about the man whose DNA I shared. The man I’d never met and who I knew nothing about.
“My dad left before I was born. At least that’s what Mom said. I don’t know who he is.”
Kev tugged on his lip, thinking. Meanwhile, my thoughts were coming so fast they were becoming a tangled rat’s nest. There were so many questions and doubts flying around that I didn’t know which thought to think first or what to ask or say. His calm demeanor was about to get him slapped because he’d just thrown a wrench into my life, and I was a mess from it. If I was this frantic for answers to questions that I didn’t know to ask, then he needed to be spitting out information a lot faster than he was.
Taking a deep breath to begin yelling at him to start talking, I inhaled the smells around me, including his minty scent. Like a wave crashing into the ocean, it spilled through my body, calming me as it went. Though I was still frantic, I didn’t want to beat on him anymore.
“Could you ask your mom about your father?”
“She died.”
“Oh.”
I’d startled him with my answer. His face colored with a small blush, and though his eyes were as black as night, I could see they were full of shame for the misunderstanding.
“I didn’t know that. I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay. You didn’t know.”
Kev leaned forward and began to tug gently on his lower lip again as he thought. “That’s why your eyes are so sad. Even when you smile, the happiness doesn’t quite reach your eyes.”
“It was two months ago, but it still feels like yesterday.”
“I’m sorry for your loss. It’s never easy for anyone to lose a parent, but it’s especially hard on cubs. I didn’t mean to upset you more.”
“It’s not your fault.”
Kev wiped his hands up and down his face with a groan. Some late migrating birds flew in the trees around us, catching his attention. “So, since your parents are deceased or unknown, we have no one to ask about your lineage. There are a few other ways to convince you, and I think the easiest one would be through smell.”
There was no way I was going to tell him that there were two people in my life who might know about my real dad. Instead, I stared at him with what I hoped was a “you have got to be kidding me” stare. It took him a few seconds to turn to me and notice it.
“What?”
“Sorry, not going to happen.”
He was delusional if he thought that telling me I smelled like a weregal would be enough to convince me that I was one. After all, even I couldn’t smell my own scent. When I left him sitting here, that would be the last time I saw him. My heart skipped a beat with sudden fear at that thought, but I ignored it, choosing the side of common sense over my feelings.
His loud, exasperated sigh frightened away several birds from a nearby tree and gave me a mini heart attack. “You don’t even know what I’m going to say. All I wanted was to explain our scent and what we smell like.”
“Fine. What do weregals smell like?”
Kev twisted on the bench so that he was facing me. “Our scents are constant and never changing. They’re unique, and each person has their own. Only weregals can smell this scent. Humans can’t. See, your unique scent is cinnamon.” He leaned close to me, his nose brushing against my hair, and took a long breath and held it. His own scent encircled me, stalling my breath as my rational side fought with this new reality that was being presented. When Kev leaned away from me, it wasn’t far enough. Mint still swirled in the air. “That’s the closest thing I know of to describe it.”
“Cinnamon?”
“Yes. Now, to prove my point, what’s my unique smell?”
I jumped at his suggestion that I sniff him. “You want me to smell you?”
He nodded, a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth while his black eyes dared me to refuse, but I wasn’t going to bite and humor him.
“Not happening.”
“Joey-”
“Nope. I’m not smelling you. Not a chance.”
The truth was I didn’t need to smell him like he’d done to me. His scent surrounded me, and I’d know it anywhere. It haunted me and called to me at the same time. I couldn’t get it out of my head. It was like a song on repeat. And if only weregals could smell it, that meant only one thing.
My hands covered my mouth and nose, as words began spilling from me unfiltered. Kev’s eyes never left me, but his lips turned down in a frown. “This is not happening. This is so not happening. My mom was human. My father was human. Gram would have told me if he wasn’t, wouldn’t she? Why would she keep that from me? Gram wouldn’t. She’d tell me. So no, my father was human too.” I turned to Kev, who’d been listening to the verbal conversation I was having with myself. “I’m sorry, but you’re wrong.”
“I’m not wrong. You just don’t want to admit it.”
Truth be told, he was right, and I knew it, but I was deliberately refusing to believe him. For all I knew my real father was a weregal, and no one had told me for that very reason. It explained a lot about me, like my freaky sense of smell.
The world as I knew it had already begun to unravel when I’d first learned of weregals. Then it had flipped when I’d met Kev. Now it was falling apart. Either Kev was mistaken, or my whole life was a lie.
He must have seen my decision to run away in my eyes the moment I decided to because he placed his large hand on my shoulder to stop me from standing. It was a gentle touch, but firm, and it left my heart racing.
“Joey, if you’re honest with yourself you’ll see I’m right. However, if you can’t be honest with yourself, at least talk to – who was it? Gram? Talk to her. Ask her. Then tell me I’m wrong.”
I wanted to tell him he was wrong right at that moment, but the words were stuck in my throat.
He took his hand away and set his elbows on his knees. His eyes never left his clasped hands as I stood. I’d spent far too long out here in the woods as it was. I needed to get back in case Gram decided to come home early and check on me. I couldn’t begin to guess at what circle of Hell I’d be in if she came home and I was gone, only to reappear healthy as a horse. Well physically. Not mentally.
“Goodbye, Kev,” I told him in a soft, gentle voice. I’d hurt him, and for some reason that bothered me, as did the fact that he would no longer look at me. Even the sweetness of his unique scent couldn’t stop my aching heart. Yeah, it was time to go before I changed my mind and stayed.
As my feet took me away from the bench, I thought I heard a soft, “Bye.”
I replayed in my head what Kev had said about aging and how it had brought out the revelation that I was a weregal. He’d thought I’d known, and was just as shocked that I didn’t as I was about what he’d said. The remainder of the walk home was spent trying to figure out how I’d missed the signs in my life that I was a werecat, and from my conversation with Kev that might have pointed something out. I came up empty on both accounts. Unless my ability to smell was taken into account.
When I got to t
he top of the hill of our driveway, I was relieved to see Gram’s car was still gone. What I didn’t expect to see, and what made my stomach drop, was Aunt Gwen’s blue Chevy truck parked in front of the garage.
Uh oh. Busted.
I turned the knob on the front door and let myself in with only a moment’s hesitation. Aunt Gwen waited for me in the doorway to the kitchen, arms folded over her chest and wearing a fiery expression that had my courage running for the door. Even her eyes held none of their usual laughter. I was done for.
“Young lady,” she began, her voice low, “Where have you been? And stop lying. I stood up for you this morning with Gram, and I come home on my lunch break to check on you, and you’re nowhere to be found. What’s up?”
“Please don’t yell at me,” I begged, wringing my hands in front of me. I’d rarely given Mom a reason to yell, and I didn’t want to start being yelled at now. Especially after learning my entire family had been lying to me for years. As I was still adjusting to this news, and I wanted to bring it up to Gram, not my aunt, I wasn’t going to mention the lies.
Sure, I had a double standard going on since I was lying to them about the party, but that was hardly comparable. Lying about who my dad was, or rather what he was, felt like a much bigger betrayal than my piddly lie.
“I’m not going to yell at you, Joey. Just tell me what’s going on. Gram and I are worried sick about you.”
“I’m fine, Aunt Gwen.”
Aunt Gwen’s snort as she crossed the room to sit in her chair brought a half smile to my face. “Young lady, I’m a grown woman. I know what ‘fine’ means. Now, be honest with me.”
Hugging myself, I stomped my foot like an impatient toddler. “Really, there’s nothing going on. Okay, I lied today about being sick, and I’m sorry. I needed a break from life, that’s all. It won’t happen again.”
“Are you being bullied at school?” Her gray eyes bored into me, demanding that I tell her the truth. There wasn’t anything there to tell, though.
“School’s fine. Honest.”
Leaning forward in her chair, she continued to watch my face like she could spot a lie the moment I said it. “I heard Michael Kastone gave you trouble the other day. Why didn’t you tell Gram or me?”
Tired of standing for my interrogation, and seeing where it was headed, I flopped on the couch, pretending I was at a therapist’s office, which was where everyone wanted me to be. After learning about my bloodline, seeing a therapist was beginning to sound enticing.
“As Chrissa stated that day to me, Michael’s an idiot. He doesn’t know when to shut up. That’s all. You just gotta put him in his place and move on, and that’s what I did.”
“So then we’re back at the beginning. What’s going on?”
If Aunt Gwen were a dog, this subject would be her favorite chew toy, and she wasn’t letting go. It looked like I had to give her something else to chew on, something I could actually tell her about because telling her I’d met a weregal and he’d told me I was one too would have the opposite effect than what I was going for. Now it was time to pull a rabbit out of a hat and hope she went for it.
“Fine. My problem is that I’ve been an emotional mess lately. I’m missing Mom and Dad a lot more, and I don’t have any way to release the emotion. Normal people cry, but I can’t. I need to run or ride my bike, something with physical activity so that I can burn off the emotion. Since I can’t ride my bike to school, I haven’t had any way to drain my emotions. They’ve just stayed bottled up, and I didn’t trust myself not to beat Michael if he spoke to me today. So I went on a walk to let it all out. I’m sorry I lied. I did it so Gram wouldn’t worry and so I wouldn’t have to go to a shrink.”
Aunt Gwen surprised me by chuckling to herself, and as I glanced over at her, she leaned back in her chair, shaking her head. “You know how Gram feels about therapists. She wants you happy, but won’t force you to talk your problems through with anyone you don’t want to. Meg always told us you expressed emotions differently than everyone else. I suppose we didn’t understand what she meant until now.”
“So you aren’t mad at me?”
“No, I’m not mad. I’m a bit disappointed, but not mad. Will you stop lying and tell us the truth? We can’t help or understand if you keep lying.”
I nodded to her, unable to tell her aloud that I would stop lying since I was still lying about Kev and the party. I’d never been so deceitful in my life, and it was riding on my conscience.
“Good. From now on, please be honest with us. I’ll talk to Gram. If you need to run, or bike, or just take time to yourself, tell us and we’ll stop arguing with you.” She stood from her chair and stretched her arms with a tired groan. “Now, I need to get back to work, or I’ll be late. Will you be okay, or do you want me to let them know I won’t be back in?”
I shook my head as I stood up as well. “No, it’s okay. I’ll be fine.”
After she had left, I went to my room, shut the door and flopped on my bed. So this was it, this was my life, one lie after another. Gram lied to me. Aunt Gwen lied to me. By not telling me the truth Mom lied to me. If Gerry knew the truth, then he lied too. The only person not lying to me was a man I barely knew who I was supposed to fear, but I didn’t.
Groaning, I rolled onto my stomach. Though his scent was nowhere near me, I needed to smell it. It would calm me and protect me from these overpowering emotions of anger and sorrow. Anger because of the lies, and sorrow that Mom wasn’t here with me to help me through this and tell me the truth about my father. Until today I hadn’t wanted to know a single thing about him. Now all I wanted to know was if he was human.
With all the lies there was one thing I knew for sure: I needed chocolate.
“Are you okay? You weren’t here yesterday, so I figured you really were sick.” Chrissa waited for me in the front row of our Biology class where we decided we’d begin sitting next to each other. Her brow was furrowed as she studied my face for any lingering signs of illness. She wouldn’t find any, but since I was playing sick, I couldn’t tell her that I was fine.
“I’m fine. I wasn’t feeling well. Probably stress,” I said, sliding into the chair beside her. “What’d I miss?”
“Not much actually. Here are my notes.” She handed over a sheet of paper that was only half filled out. I quickly scanned through the information, noting that all of it had been in the chapter we’d been assigned to read. Of course, I was probably the only person who’d actually read the assigned reading.
“Thanks,” I said, handing it back.
“No problem. Hey, do you want to go to a movie Friday night? I know you need to ask your grandma and whatever, but if she says yes, want to come?”
I didn’t even need to think about it. Hanging with someone besides Aunt Gwen and Gram was becoming a necessity. I loved them both, but they weren’t teenage girls anymore and our ideas of a girl’s night out were on two different ends of the fun spectrum.
“I’m so in,” I told Chrissa as our teacher came into the room and started class.
“Good,” she replied, leaning over to me. “I hope you like horror movies.”
Was it too late to change my mind? Something in my reaction, like my mouth hanging open, must have been funny because Chrissa started laughing uncontrollably, which caught everyone’s attention, including the teacher’s. I couldn’t stop from smiling, but unlike her, I at least had the sense not to start laughing too, so I shook my head and opened my book to the page listed on the board.
Once Chrissa got her laughter under control, the teacher started class again. He’d tried to make announcements about upcoming quizzes and homework, but no one could hear him over the loud ruckus to my left. He’d had to threaten her with after school detention the rest of the week before she stopped instantly. There was no way she’d miss our girl’s night.
As he took attendance, my mind wandered to when or if I’d see Kev again. I wasn’t sure after the way I’d left him yesterday that he’d hang ar
ound any longer. My stomach was in knots that he might leave without saying goodbye, but if he did, it would be my own stupid fault.
Late last night I’d accepted that what Kev had told me may be true. What normal human being could smell like I did? I’d wanted to talk to Gram about it, but I’d chickened out. Instead, I’d gone to bed early to avoid them both.
I needed Kev to explain more about weregals and what to expect in my near future. If I was a weregal, that meant I was going to change, and I knew nothing about that. My eyes weren’t black either, and Kev might know if that was normal. Who knew, maybe being half weregal meant that I wouldn’t change at all. One could hope.
Laughter from the class drowned out my thoughts and brought me back to reality. The teacher was standing right in front of my desk looking down at me with a stern expression on his wrinkly face.
“Ms. McClane, did you hear me?”
“Umm, no. Sorry, I wasn’t paying attention.”
“We noticed. Now, can you answer the question that I have written up on the board?”
After giving the answer, I made sure to keep my attention focused on the class and not my thoughts. Chrissa kept eyeing me. Of course, she knew something was wrong, but I couldn’t tell her. I had to keep my word to Kev. Maybe when I talked to Kev next I could ask him if it was okay to share this with someone. I was going to go crazy keeping all these secrets to myself. School was a far cry from important to me anymore. Life was so much bigger, and I was the only one who knew it.
By the time school ended I was tired, irritable, and ready to go for a long walk. Part of my bad mood was worrying over whether or not I’d be able to meet up with Kev.
I’d ridden my bike to school, which hadn’t made Gram happy. Although she hadn’t argued with me about it, she’d complained to herself in the kitchen loud enough that her voice carried into my bedroom. Gram’s willful rebellion of Aunt Gwen’s treaty with me brought a smile to my face. She was taking the terms of our agreement that I could walk or ride when I needed to better than I’d thought she would.
The ride along the trail to my road was uneventful but disappointing. There wasn’t any scent of mint in the air, but I was riding the trail on the wrong side of the road.
Stashing my bike a few turns up the trail I began the walk to the bench by the river where I’d left Kev. I was sure he would find me if he were close. If he wasn’t, well, then I didn’t know what I was going to do. It was a nice day for a walk anyhow.
My brain was on autopilot as I strode down the trail. I’d walked this ground so many times lately that I was beginning to have it memorized. Since I knew my way, I was alert for his scent, ready for Kev to pop out like he usually did. When I hadn’t smelled his scent by the time I reached our bench, my hope of meeting him faded.
Trying not to give up all of my hope, I sat down on the bench to wait. Maybe if he were near he’d know I was here, and he’d come by. It couldn’t hurt to sit and listen to the river for a little while, could it? I had enough I could think about, or try not thinking about.
After several minutes of sitting on the bench, a steady breeze picked up in the trees. Without thinking much of it, I lifted my nose to the wind. It was a habit I’d picked up after moving to West Virginia because there were so many new smells that I wanted to get to know. No longer filtering for just Kev’s scent, I let my sense of smell free.
With the wind blowing around me, I gathered the usual smells of the woods and river: the dying leaves, the moist earth, the dead wood. After I was done sorting through all of those smells, I moved on to the unfamiliar scents around me.
The first I caught was of an animal. Somehow I knew, like I always did, that this was a porcupine. Its scent was inviting, like butter pecan ice cream, but not strong enough to keep my attention. There were a few new deer that I’d never smelled before somewhere across the river.
As the breeze died, I caught a new smell. Though the scent itself was unfamiliar, the hint of something sour and bitter was too familiar. It was the same distinct smell that I’d picked up from Milly and Tom Hildebrant. The fact that the base smell was new didn’t make me feel any comfort. This was someone else.
Sniffing again, I found the scent to be stronger and purer. There was one single way that happened. Whoever was out there was getting closer, and if I was right, which I usually was when it came to smells, they were already too close. I’d blocked this smell by looking for a minty scent on the breeze and had discounted all other smells. Now that was coming back to bite me.
The feeling of someone’s eyes on me from the trees behind my back had me squirming, and it wasn’t Kev. Fear rose in my chest, and my stomach had a flock of nervous butterflies on standby. Every second that I sat left me more vulnerable and increased my panic.
Unable to remain sitting any longer, I stood and glanced into the trees. Peering through the woods was useless since I couldn’t see anything in the fading light. I’d spent too much time waiting, and now the fall sun was setting.
It was time to go. Now. Or I’d be walking back in the dark, and no doubt the person who owned the disgusting scent would be following me. It wasn’t just disgusting; it was terrifying.
Where Kev’s scent calmed me, this scent was ready to send me into a full out panic. It was like being trapped inside a haunted house by yourself with the doors locked and the windows boarded and every wooden floorboard screeched and the wind howled. Now I was scaring myself.
Speed walking in the direction I’d come, I kept my face forward and eyes on the ground, making sure I didn’t face plant in the growing darkness. Though the sour scent faded behind me, it never disappeared as it should have. I was being followed.
“You aren’t leaving because of me, are you?”
A scream ripped through the air as I pivoted and sent my fist flying at his face. Kev easily deflected it and stepped back before I could follow through with my other fist. The blood-curdling scream cut off, and I realized that it had come from me. We stared at each other for several tense seconds as Kev kept his hands up to protect his face, in case I attacked again.
How had I not smelled him coming? I groaned inwardly at my stupid decision to yet again filter everything else out, which left myself wide open.
“You scared me.” My voice quavered as I stared into his concerned black eyes.
“I thought you knew I was here, and you were angry with me for coming, and that’s why you were leaving.”
Shaking my head, I lowered my hands and unclenched my fists as I took another sniff of the air. Kev’s scent overpowered most of the smells around us. Focusing past it, I caught the sour stench on the air. Whoever was out there had backed away, but was still watching me, watching us.
“I didn’t know you were there. Listen, can we get out of here? Please?”
His eyes narrowed as he scanned my face, but he didn’t question me. Instead, he fell in beside me as I turned and continued up the trail. His long legs couldn’t keep up with the pace I set, which was more of a run than a walk.
“Slow down. What’s wrong?” Kev settled his hand on my shoulder in a firm grip, slowing my jog to a walk as we made our way up a steep incline. Walking was the last thing I wanted to do, but I couldn’t fight the hold he had on me. He was too strong. I’d never win.
“I was being watched, Kev. I know I was.”
Wide-eyed, he glanced between me and the trail behind us. “Are you sure? I didn’t hear anyone.”
“I smelled him. His scent was on the breeze.”
His eyes swung back to me and held mine. His nostrils flared as he stared at me. “I didn’t smell anything. Where was he?”
“I don’t know. I couldn’t see him. Can we keep going? I don’t smell him now, but he was right behind us when you stopped me.”
“Joey, if you can smell him then you can tell me where he is.”
“No, I can’t. I just knew he was there from his smell.”
“Listen, we need to go back.”
“No. Abs
olutely not.” Just the idea of going back there made my hands shake. I shoved them in my jacket pockets so Kev wouldn’t see them tremble.
His impatience with me escaped in a long sigh. “Joey, don’t you trust me to protect you?”
“Yes.”
“Then we need to go back. If he’s still there, we can locate him and find out why he was watching you.”
I thought about it for a millisecond. That was all I needed. Fear beat out curiosity. After all, curiosity killed the cat.
“I can’t. I’m going home. You can come with me or go back there yourself. It’s up to you.” I was moving again before he gave me an answer. This time, I settled for speed walking instead of jogging.
Kev remained quiet the rest of the walk to my bike. Several times he glanced over his shoulder to the forest behind us, but he stayed with me. Even with his presence, I found myself jumping at every little thing that moved. With the wind blowing leaves around and branches snapping in the trees overhead, my nerves were wearing thin. I couldn’t wait to be back home where I could lock a door and grab Gram’s gun if I needed it.
As we reached a sharp curve in the trail, Kev strode ahead of me to pull my bike out of the underbrush where I’d hidden it in. “I’ll stay close to you until you get home. You won’t see me, but I’ll be there.”
He handed the bike over, and as he did, he placed one of his large hands over mine and gave a gentle squeeze. My heart leaped at the touch, but I ignored it. Now was not the time to delve into my body’s reactions.
As I straddled the bike, Kev stepped aside and shifted to his tiger form. Though I was getting used to seeing a human turn into a large cat, I doubted that it would stop being a weird concept to me anytime soon.
The sun was setting as I biked to the main road, my tires kicking up loose gravel as I gained speed. Kev had been right when he’d told me I wouldn’t see him. In fact, I couldn’t hear him either. My panic at being alone while some creeper lurked in the woods would have overpowered me except that Kev’s scent hung around me in the air. The racing of my heart slowed until it was beating from the physical exertion, not fear.
After stowing my bike behind the house, I searched the surrounding trees and tall grass for any sign of danger, or of Kev. Stepping out of the grass, he nodded his tiger head and hid back in the grass where my eyes couldn’t see him. Stepping inside, I had a nagging feeling he’d be standing guard for a while.
Before today that might have bothered me. Now it gave me a tad bit of comfort. Checking on Gram’s rifle next to her bed helped ease the rest of my worries. I was almost back to my normal self when Aunt Gwen arrived home from work and explained that Gram was visiting a friend who was in town for a few days and would be home in an hour or two.
It was after dinner before Gram’s little junker pulled into the driveway. Like usual, I could smell the exhaust before I heard the car. I’d never mentioned it to Gram or Aunt Gwen, and I was okay with that.
I was working on homework at the kitchen table when she came in to check on me. Her ecstatic smile and bright eyes when I asked her if I could see a movie with Chrissa on Friday night were answer enough. If I was hanging out with my new friend and doing girlie activities, then I was getting a green light. It wasn’t enough for me to risk telling her about the Halloween party. She couldn’t say no if she didn’t know about it.
Lying in bed that night a wave of panic hit me as I recalled the sour scent on the breeze. It became hard to breathe as my heart raced and every part of my body shook. The sweet scent of mint blew through the house as Aunt Gwen came inside from grabbing her lunch box out of her truck. My guardian was still outside watching over me. With that thought lingering in my head as I breathed in another deep breath, I buried my face in my pillow and drifted off to a dreamless sleep.
“So we’re still on for tomorrow night, right?” Chrissa asked as I finished loading my homework into my backpack. She leaned against her locker, foot tapping away against the ceramic tiled floor.
“Of course. I even asked Gram, and she said I could go. Not that I ever thought she wouldn’t let me go. She wants me to have a social life with good friends who will help keep me out of trouble.”
Her eyes gleamed, and the smile she flashed was pure mischief. “I wonder where you’ll meet such a person.”
“I wonder that too. It can’t be you. You’ve become a bad influence on me.”
“Hey,” she screeched in mock offense while swatting at me as we cleared the exit.
“What? You’re encouraging me to lie to Gram.”
“Speaking of, I don’t see her car. She let you ride your bike two days in a row? Wow, what’d you do to pull that off?”
I laughed as we got closer to the parking lot where my bike was chained to the bike rack.
“I asked, begged and pleaded.”
“It’s a bit chilly,” Chrissa said, pulling her jacket closer around her middle without zipping it. “You want a ride home instead of riding your bike?”
Shaking my head, I dug in my pocket for the key to the lock. “No, it’s okay. I’ll warm up fast.
“Okay, suit yourself. Have a nice ride. I’ll see you tomorrow if you don’t freeze into a Popsicle.”
“Yeah, see ya.”
After unlocking my bike, I stored the lock away in my backpack and rode down the driveway and headed out of town to the trail that would take me home.
