by Reed, Zoe
Julian tapped his chin thoughtfully. “A human could be useful. An unexpected ally if you will. But it’s risky. If she doesn’t take well to this…” He crossed his arms again and studied first me, and then Luna with his intense brown eyes. “Well, let’s hope for the best.” I should’ve been happy he was giving the okay, but now I felt like I was going to puke. “Try to go about this as gently as you can,” Julian reminded me.
“Okay, um, thank you.” I left the room, followed by Luna. I almost couldn’t believe how easily I’d been given consent. It was suddenly more nerve-wracking than I could have ever imagined. An anxious sweat moistened the palms of my hands, and I almost felt lightheaded. This was the moment that could change my life, and it was happening too fast.
“She’s got to see we aren’t dangerous first,” I said thoughtfully to myself, and then studiously looked at my sister. “Can you help me out?”
Luna was quiet for a moment, like she was trying to remind me that she wasn’t crazy about this idea. Then she nodded. “I’ll wait outside for you guys.”
I smiled my thanks. I figured that since Luna was the smallest of us, it would be the least shocking for Kyla to see her in wolf form first. As I made my way to the living room, I started to grow even more nervous. I wanted to be able to be honest with Kyla, but what if she freaked? I couldn’t bear thinking about the consequences. My hands got increasingly cold and clammy even without thinking about it, and the seemingly endless pit in my stomach grew.
Kyla was still sitting on the couch when I reached the living room. I sat down next to her and sighed, mustering up the nerve to say something. “Okay, I promise I’ll explain everything. But first, you trust me, and you know I would never do anything to hurt you, right?” Kyla nodded, the corner of her mouth turned down in worry at what I was about to say. “I want you to know that I trust you, and what I’m about to show you, you can’t tell anyone. Ever. I am literally about to trust you with my life, Kyla. I need you to tell me you can handle it.”
I sat there in what seemed like minutes of silence as Kyla stared at her hands in her lap and thought about it. It was killing me, but at least I could be sure she was grasping the severity of the situation. When she was ready she looked me in the eyes and smiled. “Give it your best shot.”
I couldn’t help but scoff in shock at her response, but I wasn’t about to try and talk her out of it. So I stood up and nodded my head toward the front door. “Come on, and uh, brace yourself.”
I led the way out the door, followed closely by Kyla. We wandered around the side of the house to where Luna was waiting for us.
“Is that a wolf?” Kyla stopped walking the second she saw the large canine laying beside the house, and the pit in my stomach started deepening again.
“It’s okay.” I gently grabbed her hand and slowly urged her toward Luna, who had gotten up to sit on her haunches. When we stood within an arm’s length of the wolf I dropped Kyla’s hand and lifted my own to rub the top of its head.
“But it’s huge,” was all Kyla managed to say about the wolf, which easily reached the height of her chin.
I waited patiently for a couple minutes while Kyla studied the wolf over, watching me rub its head. Finally she mustered the courage to hold her hand out palm up, which the wolf gently nudged with its wet nose, letting her know that it was okay for her to touch it. She giggled and wiped the palm of her hand off on her jeans. I was amused at how dog-like the interaction was between her and my sister. Getting more comfortable, seeing that the wolf wasn’t menacing, a small smile spread on Kyla’s face and she carefully ran her fingers through the long white fur on the side of the wolf’s neck.
“Kyla,” I started nervously, my eyes darting from Kyla to the wolf. “Um, well, you already know Luna.”
Kyla’s forehead creased in confusion as she struggled to figure out what Luna had to do with this. I watched her eyes meet Luna’s, and then her jaw dropped in recognition. She pointed to the huge white figure still looming in front of us. “Th-the wolf?” she stuttered in disbelief.
“Yeah um, Luna’s a werewolf. My whole family sort of are.” I watched her face twist in an expression I had never seen before. The mixture of what looked like fear and doubt caused my stomach to lurch in fear that the worst was about to happen.
After a couple minutes of mind numbing silence while Kyla wrapped her head around it, the disconcerting expression disappeared and she looked to me. “So you?”
“Turn into a wolf,” I confirmed cautiously, nodding my head.
She nodded in what seemed like understanding. Another long minute of silence as she mindlessly continued to run her hands through Luna’s fur. “Was it really a wolf in the orange fields?”
“The first night you got here, that was me.” I laughed nervously at the confession.
Kyla smiled and punched me in the arm. “You scared the crap out of me that night!”
I stammered and looked from Kyla to Luna, searching for a response, but I was shocked at the sudden playfulness Kyla had achieved. “You’re not freaked?”
Her smile disappeared as she regained her thoughtful expression. “Well, I sort of already thought. But I didn’t think,” she stopped, still in disbelief and waited for me to nod in encouragement. “It’s kind of like when I found out you’re gay. It shouldn’t really change anything right?”
Luna chuckled a wolfish laugh and I couldn’t help but giggle myself, but a moment later my expression grew somber. “Kyla, this actually isn’t like that. This is a dangerous secret. You’re not as safe because of this, and because of what you saw at the school.”
“Jonathan?” she asked understandingly, to which I nodded. “Yeah, your lip is busted.” I wasn’t sure if Kyla had brought it up to avoid more talk about how dangerous this was, but I wouldn’t be surprised considering that it was a lot to take in. “I can clean it for you, if you want.”
I grinned, and when again the action stretched and burned at the cut in my lip, I nodded gratefully. Then I thanked Luna and turned to lead Kyla into the house.
Once we reached the kitchen I grabbed a dishtowel and sat on the table across from the sink. Kyla wetted the towel under the faucet and looked to where I was sitting, trying to figure out the best way to go about tending my wounds. Then she made her way to stand in front of me as I sat at the edge of the table, me nearly straddling her so she could get close enough to clean my lip.
“No cuts on your hands right?” I asked before she touched my lip, not bothering to go through the hassle of ‘looking for dirt’.
“No, why?” Kyla asked, looking down at her hands curiously.
I shook my head, and not wanting to scare her about touching me, simply said, “Nothing.”
“So, Jonathan?” Kyla prodded, and she gently began to wipe blood from around the cut. I held out my hand so she could wipe the excess blood off the back of it and then let the girl continue on my lip.
“Mhm. He’s a werewolf too.” I stopped, and when Kyla didn’t look surprised continued, “He’s here with his dad and this other guy, all werewolves, and they’ve been kidnapping other werewolves, like my family, and then turning normal people like you into werewolves. Except not really people like you because all the people they’re turning are criminals.” Kyla made an alarmed face but didn’t say anything, so I finished my short explanation. “And until today we hadn’t been able to find them anywhere. Which is why, and I apologize, I got so frustrated after he got away.”
Turning back to the sink to rinse and wet the towel again Kyla nodded. “Apology accepted.” She returned to her place in front of me and cleaned the last bit of blood from the wound. “Is that what I’ve been seeing outside my house?”
I nodded. “Jonathan’s been keeping an eye on you.” Kyla’s eyebrows scrunched in confusion, so before she could ask I explained. “I’ve always been a bit of a lone wolf,” the corners of her lips turned up in an amused smile at the literal sense of the term. “When I started hanging out with you, he wa
nted to see what was so special.”
The moment I said the word ‘special’ Kyla’s eyes met mine for a brief second before she looked away. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say there was even the tiniest hint of a blush reddening her cheeks. She didn’t say anything though, just nodded, and a silence grew between us as she finished and set the towel on the table.
Still without speaking or moving she thoroughly studied my face, green eyes running over every inch, stopping the longest at my mouth. I knew she was probably studying me for any resemblance of a wolf in my human face, but the proximity and the way she stared caused my stomach to flutter and my heartbeat to pick up. There was something I liked about the way Kyla looked at me, and the smell of her sweet breath filled my senses, making me feel almost too weak to sit up any longer.
“That jerk,” she lifted a hand and lightly caressed my bottom lip with her thumb, “He ruined a perfectly good lip.”
That’s when the itching started in the tips of my fingers, so I joked to get my mind off the way she was looking at me. The way she was touching me. “Hey, it’s not ruined.” I made a pouting face and then puckered my lips playfully. “Still perfectly good for kissing.”
“Maybe when you don’t have a nasty cut on your face.” Kyla laughed and pushed my face in the opposite direction, teasingly declining the invitation. Hey, she didn’t say never.
“Uh-hum.” My dad cleared his throat from the doorway of the kitchen, Julian standing at his side.
Startled, Kyla stepped back from me, and I jumped off the table and greeted my father embarrassedly. “Hi, um, she was cleaning my lip. Jonathan, you know, sucker punch,” was all I could sputter out as I gently tapped my closed fist against my chin in a skittish re-enactment.
I saw a small smile crack Julian’s eternally hard cased expression, and felt a little eased knowing he found amusement in my embarrassment. “Is this Kyla?” he asked stepping past my father into the kitchen to shake her hand.
“Yes sir.” I nodded as Kyla reached out and took Julian’s hand, but it was clear on her face that the dynamic of his obvious authority confused her. “Kyla this is Julian. He’s here to make sure that everything goes smoothly, with finding Jonathan and stuff.”
Julian let go of her hand and sat down at the table. “Camille tells me she thinks you have a class with Jonathan Symons?”
Kyla timidly folded her hands in front of her, unsure of herself under that intense gaze. “Yeah, I have chemistry with him, he’s my lab partner,” she told him, promptly adding a ‘sir’ at the end of her sentence as I had done.
“Chemistry,” Julian repeated to himself, and motioned for her and me to sit. “How is he at chemistry?”
We both took a seat while Kyla thought of her response. “He doesn’t come to class a whole lot. But it seems like he’s sort of a genius.”
I sat there silently as Julian questioned Kyla and gained an idea of her usefulness. I looked to my father, who remained standing in the doorway and smiled at me fondly when I glanced at him. I knew him well enough that I could see the relief on his face, which certainly matched the relief I felt. As Julian explained what not to do, such as going out alone at night, I studied Kyla’s expressions. She appeared to be taking everything extremely well, and I didn’t know whether that should make me happy I’d be keeping my friend or frightened that she was okay with being in danger.
“And it’s to my understanding that Jonathan made a threat against your humanity.” Julian finished his sentence, making me wince at what I was hoping was something Kyla wouldn’t need to know.
Kyla looked at me questioningly. “Humanity?”
“He threatened to Change you,” Julian answered, spelling it out for Kyla, whose face went white with fear after the few moments it took her to figure it out. He started talking again, more so to himself than us as he tried to work out the situation. “While you being a werewolf would be safer for all of us, you are human. As a friend you need to be protected when you can’t be here. I don’t have the resources to have your house guarded. Camille, on your non-patrol nights you’ll stay with Kyla at her house, and keep her safe.” I nodded and Julian looked at Kyla. “Now Kyla, you get closer than any of us to him on a regular basis. I need you to do what you can to find out anything you can. Hint at subtle questions, and find out what his strengths and weaknesses are. Search his backpack for clues if you have to. Right now we don’t have much to go on, so we’ll take what we can get.”
Kyla nodded soberly as she soaked up all the new information she was being given. I felt slightly guilty that this was hardly half of it. There was so much more to my world that she had no idea about. I also couldn’t help but feel pleased that because of this I would get to spend more time with her. Julian left the kitchen and my father lingered in the doorway in deep thought for a few seconds before turning and following him.
Then I turned to Kyla, who sighed heavily. “It’s a lot to take in, I know,” I told her sympathetically.
Kyla leaned forward and rested her head in the palm of her hand. “Yeah it is. How’d I go in the matter of an hour from being a normal girl to Kyla: werewolf hunter?”
“Well, Slayer,” I laughed; still amazed she was taking it so well. “How does it feel living life on the edge?”
Leaning back in the chair she raised her arms and stretched. “I guess it’s alright. And it won’t be too bad, right? You’ll be with me a lot, so that’s good.” She looked me over, again studying my face and busted lip longer than usual. “How long until the cut’s healed?”
“Probably a couple days,” I told her honestly.
Kyla grabbed my arm and leaned in closer to get a good look at the scar as she rubbed it gently with her fingers. “And the one on your arm? How long did this one take?”
I looked at the faded scar. “About four or five days.” I held my arm steady as she ran her fingers along the scar, making sure for herself it wasn’t an illusion.
“Looking back on it now, anyone else probably would’ve needed stitches.” Kyla sat back and studied me again. “How does it work?”
“Which part?” I asked, suddenly growing shy from being so thoroughly examined.
“All of it.” Kyla didn’t stop watching me. It was like she expected me to Change right before her eyes.
“Well there are some things that make sense, and some that don’t. The fast healing for example, I don’t know where that comes from. And Changing, well when you’re born with werewolf parents like me, the genes don’t kick in until you hit puberty, but when you’re bitten, it’s immediate, no matter what age you are.” I went silent, not knowing what else Kyla wanted explained.
“How does Changing work? Does it take a long time, or is it fast?” she asked enthusiastically. “And what does it feel like?”
“It’s fast I guess, and I don’t know how you control it. You just do, but emotions can set it off. If I get too angry and lose control, I’ll Change. If I get scared, it’s defensive and I’ll Change. If I get too worked up, and don’t do anything about it, I’ll need to Change.” I said the last part before I could stop myself, but managed to speak quietly in hopes Kyla didn’t hear and notice I was blushing. She smirked, clearly amused, but didn’t make any comments so I continued. “When you first start to Change, it’s agonizing. I would have rather broken every bone in my body than done it, but you can’t stop it. You can put it off for a while, but it will always happen no matter what, and it still hurts after your body adjusts to it, but not as much. You kind of get used to it, like getting a lot of tattoos from what I’ve heard.”
“What about a full moon?” she asked, leaning forward with interest.
I couldn’t help but laugh. Of course she’d ask. “We don’t have to Change on a full moon, but the urge is stronger on those nights. So most of us do.”
Kyla nodded, she seemed to understand as best she could, but no one could understand fully without going through it. “Who’s Julian? He seems important.”
“You c
ould say he’s pretty important,” I told her with a nod. “There’s a group of wolves called the Pack. They’re kind of like the government. If you’re not a member of the Pack you’re considered a mutt, like Jonathan.” I touched the cut on my lip bitterly. “Julian is a part of the Pack. The Alpha, who’s like the president, can’t be here so Julian is here to speak and act for him.”
“What about you guys? Are you mutts?” Kyla asked, clearly disgusted that my family could be compared to Jonathan.
“Well no, not really. My dad used to be like the Vice President, and Michael and Sky still do work for the Alpha. So even though we don’t associate with them on a regular basis, I guess we’re still part of the family. It’s confusing.” I laughed at the fact that even I didn’t have a clue exactly what to call myself. “I have no idea, but this is the reason my dad left. So that none of us would be in danger because of situations like this. It’s a dangerous world though, I guess there’s no escaping it.”
Kyla chewed the inside of her lip as she seemed to consider for the first time the gravity of what she’d gotten herself in to. “Oh crap!” I jumped at the exclamation, worried that now she was starting to react the way she should. “You made me ditch fifth and sixth period. I’ve got to get home and answer the phone call before my parents do.” She stood up and headed for the door, waving at me to hurry up.
Chuckling, I ran to get the keys from Niko and met Kyla at the car. She jumped in and speedily buckled her seatbelt. “My car is still at the school so you can take me there.”
I nodded and turned up the radio. It felt good to have someone besides my family know the real me. Out of the corner of my eye I watched Kyla bask in the breeze that flowed through the open window. The way I was driving it didn’t take long for us to get to the school, and I followed her directions to where she’d parked her car and dropped her off.
“Hey, I don’t have patrol tonight so I’ll come over a little later,” I told her out the window.
