by Jordan Deen
order.
Trevor stepped forward and offered his hand, but Brandon stepped between us causing Trevor to pull back. “Sorry … I’m Trevor.”
“Why did I react to him like that?” I demanded, my skin still tingling.
Brandon looked at Matt, seriously displeased with what had just transpired. “Most of us have years to prepare for this.” He hesitated. “I guess we will give you a crash course.” Brandon reclaimed his spot on the couch and motioned for me to join him. Matt and Trevor made themselves busy in the kitchen. “When you are still young, learning your skills, most connections you make with a member of our pack will be that way. I promise it will get easier.” I shook my head staring at my hand. “OK, remember the day you met me? Remember when I took your hand in mine? That happened because we are meant for each other. Our life, or what will be our life, flashes in our minds. That’s the reason you’ve had the dreams, of us, of things to come. You have seen the world, as it should be, as it will be for us. It only happens when you meet your mate and it starts the countdown to the time that you will fully transform.” His body tensed like he didn’t want to tell me that.
“Transform?” It didn’t sound pleasant and with the way his body reacted, I doubted that it was.
“Yes, to be with me you have to transform.” He hesitated and looked everywhere but at me. “When you meet an enemy, you will be overwhelmed by a horrible smell that will almost incapacitate you. You will start to feel the changes more and more when an enemy is near. The smell will be worse surrounding more formidable enemies.”
“What if I’ve already had that happen?” My voice cracked, I couldn’t say his name.
“Yes, Alex.” He reached over and rubbed my hand trying to soothe me. “Our enemies, they thought if they sent him …” Brandon squeezed my hand before he continued. “They thought that you would fall in love with him and they could claim you before your change. They thought they hid you well … they never thought that I’d find you . . . that your family would come for you.”
“This …” I rubbed my forehead.
“I told you, most have years to prepare. We are giving you everything in such a short length of time.”
“I don’t understand … my family? Why would they do that? I mean, why would someone want to claim me?” My words came quicker than my thoughts.
“Because you are the only Werewolf that can destroy their pack once and for all.”
WEREWOLF?
I rubbed my finger under the deep-set wells of my eyes. I stared at the stranger in the bathroom mirror. My parents … are not my parents? The haphazard grouping in the living room were closer to my own family than the ones I’d lived with for the past seventeen years. It’s too much to understand or even contemplate.
Enough make believe. “Can I go home now?” There’s no way I’m a werewolf or that I’m supposed to kill Alex.
Trevor and Matt both stood from the couch when I entered the room; both their eyes wide, staring at Brandon who kept his calm and remained seated at the table looking over some papers. “I can’t let you go back into danger.” His voice was calm and authoritative.
“But …” I started to object, but Lily had already linked her fingers into mine.
“You can’t leave us now, we just got you back!” Even this little girl understood more of what was going on than I did. I’m sure she understood why they didn’t want me to go home, but my parents were all I had.
“I have to go home. I have to go back to my parents.”
“They aren’t your parents.” Matt said.
“Those people stole you from your real family.” Trevor added.
“What do you mean by ‘stole’?” I looked harshly at Brandon.
Brandon stood from his resting place and walked over to Trevor jamming him in the shoulder as he went by. “Honey, you just need to trust me.” He reached out but I backed away seeking security against the front door. “Don’t be silly. If you go home, they will hurt you.” Brandon clenched his fists and then released them. “I can’t let them do that.”
“I want to go home.” I practically screamed in Brandon’s face. He had to be lying, or this was by far the strangest dream I’ve ever had.
“YOU CAN’T. YOU ARE A THREAT TO THEM!” Brandon raised both of his fists and screamed louder than I did. The back of my head hit the door as my back pressed harder against it, terrified at what he would do to me and he confirmed my nightmares were real. I couldn’t stop staring at the pulsing veins in his arms.
“I’m so sorry.” Brandon unclenched both of his hands as he took several deep breaths and stepped back from me. He raised his palms to me showing me his crescent.
“Babe, we don’t have much time. I’m afraid if you go home now, they’ll know that you are already changing. If they see this on your hand …” he pointed to our shared mark, “you’ll be in danger. I can’t …” Brandon swallowed hard. “I can’t stand to lose you now. I’m already transformed, so my senses …” He paused searching my face for approval and then stepped closer. “Your visions will get more intense, more longing, the further into your transformation you get. Once you are transformed … you won’t be able to stand being away from me.” He ran his hand down my arm and pressed my hand into his. “It will be like someone is taking away the air you breathe; you will become more exhausted and fatigued the longer we are apart.”
I stayed trapped in his eyes for several moments; my trance broken when a dish crashed in the kitchen. “Damn. . .” Trevor poked his head out from the kitchen. “Lily, can you help me?” Lily let out a sigh and headed to the kitchen, never taking her eyes off us.
I looked away from him trying to calm my thoughts. I barely knew him, knew these people, but for some reason, I wanted to believe him. I felt I had to. But I couldn’t. “You’re wrong. My parents would never hurt me. My aunt would never hurt me.” And the more important issue, “I’m not a …” I looked at my slight reflection in the window. “werewolf.” Brandon took a step back and grinned.
“I didn’t want to believe it at first either. But that’s what we are, WHO we are.”
“Brandon, can you come here a minute?” Lily stood at the door with blood on her hands.
“Shit. What happened?” Brandon walked a few steps closer to the kitchen.
“Matt cut himself on a dish.” Lily shrugged her shoulders. The smell of iron and metallic flecks in the blood dripping from her hands filled my senses. The sound of the floorboard creaking under her tiny feet flooded my ears. Brandon’s weight caused forceful pounding on my eardrums. I heard shallow breathing and a slight heartbeat in the other room and a dog barking somewhere outside in the distance. The hair on the back of my neck stood as a car pulled up outside and footsteps were heard on the sidewalk. I came unglued when the doorbell rang sending thundering ringing through my ears, vibrating my brain.
“I HAVE TO LEAVE!” I screamed over all the amplified sounds and flung open the door, rushing past a petite older blonde. Trevor, Matt and Lily rushed after me to the sidewalk and watched me running down the sidewalk. Lily covered her mouth with her small hands. Blood dripped onto the sidewalk from Matt’s rag covered hand. I couldn’t go back. The sound of birds flying overhead inundated my senses as the wings fluttered up and down. My mind told me to hurry and my feet thudded hard up and down against the concrete sending pains through my body as the heavy hitting echoed through my ears.
It took forever for me to finally get through my front door. The sizzling and popping coming from the kitchen made my head throb. I covered both my ears and felt my fingertips pressing too hard into the side of my head. I didn’t bother going into the kitchen; I rushed to my bedroom and slammed the door, instantly regretting that decision since it felt as if my eardrums would explode. By the time I kicked off my shoes and tossed myself into the bed my whole body was shaking and I couldn’t control any of my thoughts. The popcorn dots over my bed looked as though they were swirling in hazy, unrelenting dances. They were growing closer to the bed as my
eyes blinked trying to stop their insanity or my own.
I concentrated on my breathing: breathe in 1…2…3… breathe out 1…2…3…
“Hey honey, I thought I heard you come in. Ready for dinner?”
My stomach was twisted and contorted into a double knot; there was no way I would be eating anything. “No.” I barely choked out not wanting to even listen to my own voice. Silently I begged her to go away.
“Are you ok?” Mom crossed the room to stand next to my bed. She gently rubbed her hand down my forearm.
My response: “I’m…” Head pounding, heart convulsing, lungs straining, body heaving … I threw up all over her, the bed, the floor, and myself. Everywhere.
“Oh no! Jack! JACK!” My mother screamed causing my body to cringe.
“Mom … no …” I tried to silence her as she grabbed towels out of my bathroom and started to wipe my face and mouth with them. When she touched my face, my nostrils started to flair and the hair on my arms stood up. Oh no. I didn’t think it was possible that my heart could push blood out any faster, but it did. It sent blood and adrenaline to every part of my body. My arms and legs all tensed as she leaned in again to take another swipe at my face.
“What happened?” Dad entered the room and looked at the floor and then at my mother. “Sara, back away …” He held up both his hands and braced himself in the doorway;
