Winter's Pack (The Cursed Book 2)

by Lou Grimes

  “Please hurry. It’s already so late.” She conveyed the whirlwind of troubles tumbling around in her mind.

  “Good night, ladies,” Arsen said, before leaving them. Her mother hadn’t picked up on the change in atmosphere. She glanced at her daughter expectantly. It became clear to Louvette that her mother was waiting for her to dish on her date with Arsen like they normally did. Louvette felt terrible when she had to disappoint her mother for the time being.

  “I’m going to get that assignment done. It is due tomorrow,” she said.

  “No girl talk?” her mother questioned, looking forlorn.

  “Not tonight, but I’ll tell you about my date later,” Louvette said, in an effort to make up for disappointing her mother. Though Louvette would have to leave out the best part, Arsen’s fireflies.

  “Okay, goodnight, sweetie,” her mother said, smiling contentedly.

  “Night, Mom,” she murmured before scurrying into her room to check her phone.

  Arsen: The plan is still on.

  Louvette: He will have two entire days over us.

  Arsen: He’s been a couple times since your grandfather died and hasn’t found the phone yet.

  Louvette: If he can’t find it, what makes you think we can?

  Arsen: We have each other and help. Everything will be fine. Just go through tomorrow as normal.

  Louvette: Where are we meeting?

  Arsen: Meet at my house after school.

  Louvette: Okay, goodnight, Firefly.

  Arsen: Good night, Winter.

  Her date with Arsen had been exactly the reprieve she needed to keep from focusing too much on the phone and Hollows. Now, though, Louvette’s stomach twisted about from the anticipation. In less than three days, she might know what happened to her father. She thought sleep wouldn’t come, but she was already so exhausted, thanks to her training, that she succumbed to a slumber in a matter of seconds.

  Chapter 8

  After Arsen had performed his show last night, the desire to practice with her own abilities kept growing inside her. She was going to use her Gift on someone she had never met before.

  Before she went to school that morning, she stopped at a gas station on the way. Several cars were parked in the parking lot. She searched around, waiting for the right person.

  It couldn’t just be anyone. They had to be alone, so they would be less likely to tell someone. The person couldn’t be staring at her, either. If she could find someone with out-of-state license plates, all the better. The test subject couldn’t be a Lupine, either. The final characteristic was someone who wasn’t school age.

  Part of her felt dreadful for having to impose her will on someone else who had done nothing to deserve such an invasion of privacy. Blaise Campbell and his men had deserved her attack on their minds. Most likely, the person she picked wouldn’t unless they were a menace to society, such as a killer. She made a promise to herself that whatever she did wouldn’t be too drastic.

  She didn’t have long to select the best candidate out of those placed before her. Some of the cars had passengers, which ruled them out. One of the people in the parking lot was facing her, so they were no longer an option, either.

  Having considered her choices, she picked the best one. He was a middle-aged man driving a sleek black car that had a company name on the side not local to the area. He was alone, facing the car ahead of him.

  Rolling down her window, Louvette sniffed lightly. Only human scents were in her current location. A faint scent trail from Lupines who had come here was woven through the strong current human scent.

  Deciding the coast was clear, she focused on his mind. She held her breath for a minute, firing each synapse of her brain.

  Nothing happened during the first few attempts Louvette made. She had no idea how to go about obtaining access to someone’s mind. Before, using her Gift had been a matter of survival and her instincts had kicked in. Now that her life was not on the line, she was unsure how to deliberately do it.

  People’s minds had natural barriers protecting them. She had to cross them somehow. Some were defenseless while others had decent security systems. After her security system thought, a new idea spawned in her mind. The mind was a house. The mind had protective barriers like gates and doors. The mental sensation was a physical one. It was most similar to someone opening up a gate. That glass gate was all that stood between Louvette’s mind and the man she was attempting to use her Gift on.

  The moment that glass gate shattered she was delighted because she had succeeded. Louvette had entered his mind, but was only superficial at the moment, so she continued to press. The irony was that Arsen was called to create doors and houses for people and Louvette was called to destroy them.

  She stopped the pressure when a man’s voice started talking in her head. He was listing off his plans to himself and, unknowingly, to Louvette.

  “I have to go to the hotel in Bozeman, dress, go over the powerpoints one last time, and go to the meeting,” his soft voice spoke.

  Not speaking because a foreign voice, especially a girl’s voice, was going to alarm him instead of convincing him she was just a part of his consciousness, she started to press his mind.

  She was going for a small movement to take control. Click off the gas nozzle, she pressed with her mental abilities. This was taking long enough she was worried he would leave before she succeeded.

  However, a gratifying loud clunk happened as the nozzle clicked off. Watching him glance down at his hands out of confusion sent a satisfied smirk to her face. Frowning, he clicked the pump back on. She controlled her emotions, and then decided to do something else because she was afraid he’d realize he hadn’t meant to do that.

  She used her Gift again to enter his mind. This time was a little easier than the last.

  “I guess the nozzle clicked itself off,” he was telling his mind to fit what had happened into a tiny little mental box to explain the unexplained. His reaction was common for coming into contact with something people didn’t understand. Louvette had even tried to do the same when Arsen had cornered her in the hall when she nearly shifted at Whitefish Academy at the beginning of the school year.

  Focusing, she tried to make him return to his car before he was ready to leave.

  He slid into his car after a couple minutes of her pressing his mind.

  She smiled inwardly. At least she would have some experience on how to use her Gift the next time she was forced to, such as this weekend when they had to find the phone.

  The man’s hand grasped the steering wheel as if to go, but then released it out of confusion because he hadn’t intended to do that.

  He got back out of his car, clicked off the gas, and left. He was highly confused from the looks of his scrunched-up brow as he speed-walked to his car.

  After watching him leave, she headed to school having a bit more confidence in herself than before. Arriving had put her a bit on edge because tonight she would be leaving with Arsen and Ian.

  Louvette chortled, recalling her mother’s answer when she had asked that morning to go. She had crept quietly down the stairs to avoid scaring her mother awake. Once she opened the door to her room, she walked to her mother’s side. She gently shook her.

  “Mom, are you awake?” she asked. Her mother answered, groaning.

  “I’m going to stay at Cara’s this weekend since after school we are on break. Is that okay?” she questioned.

  “Yes, you can do anything you want to if you’ll let me go back to sleep,” her mother murmured from under her covers.

  “Sorry to wake you. I love you. I’ll see you on Sunday,” Louvette added before scurrying out of the room, quiet as a mouse.

  Louvette had scooped up her bags lying beside the wall. She had expected asking would be easy and it was. Since Louvette had made friends, her mother had never once told her no when she and her friends planned to go do something. Her mother was happy she was fitting in so well.

  She got out and
walked up the steps to where Arsen and Ian were huddled together. The close proximity might make one think they were doing more than talking.

  “I was always just a cover for you, Arsen,” Louvette teased. He threw her a shaded glare while Ian sniggered.

  “We would make a cute couple,” Ian said, throwing his arm around Arsen.

  “The cutest, I know I’ll be rooting for you,” Louvette agreed.

  “All right, serious time, guys. The plan is to meet at my house after school. Does everyone understand the plan?” Arsen asked.

  “Yes,” Louvette and Ian said in unison.

  “Ian, that means no detention today. No detention for one day,” Arsen said, presenting the picture as clearly as possible to them.

  “That’s going to be tough,” Ian mocked.

  “I know, I might as well be asking the earth to stop turning,” Arsen said.

  “Winter, I know you’ve pretty much stayed out of trouble this whole time, but try to keep it up,” he said softly. Louvette nodded, her throat going dry.

  “Whatever you two do, don’t be late because we have a plane to catch,” he continued.

  “I won’t be,” she said.

  “Me either,” Ian responded.

  The pressure of finding out what happened was building up, more and more. She had no idea how she was going to make it through her classes. Her personal plan was to focus solely on each, so as not to get in trouble with the teachers.

  The bell rang for the first class, causing their trio to become a double for the time being.

  “Do Gifts work on animals?” she asked, recalling the grizzly attack. They were headed to the woods near Eureka and being able to use her Gift on animals might be tremendously useful.

  “No, because we are kin to them,” he explained. “What brought that up?” he continued when Louvette said nothing.

  “Nothing, I just wondered,” she said dismissively, hoping he’d drop it. Arsen cocked his head to the side briefly. He opened his mouth.

  “Hey, guys,” Cara squealed, jumping on Louvette’s back similar to a koala. Louvette stumbled, losing her balance. She grabbed Cara’s legs to keep her from falling.

  “I need you around for my workouts,” Louvette teased, starting to do lunges. Cara’s arms were around her neck, weighing her down. Her muscles stretched themselves to accommodate Cara.

  “That sounds like a great idea,” Cara radiated.

  “Yeah, I’m sure Matt would be ecstatic if you brought Cara,” Arsen said, teasing.

  “Anyways, what are you guys doing after school?” she asked.

  The two of them glanced at each other out of the corner of their eyes. One shared look they believed had gone unnoticed until Cara spoke again.

  “You guys are planning something dirty and I know it,” she said, smiling.

  The silence was so thick a knife could cut it.

  “Don’t look guilty on my account. Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do,” she continued, winking.

  Louvette almost sighed with relief. Cara only suspected something of the naughty nature, and not of the Lupine one. From Arsen’s relieved eyes, he had come to the same conclusion.

  “I’ll leave you two love birds alone,” Cara said.

  “Bye, Cara,” Arsen told her.

  “I’ll see you in class,” Louvette said.

  Cara practically skipped into their first class. The late bell rang.

  “I’ll see you later,” Louvette responded, giving Arsen a quick peck.

  “Be good, Winter,” he said to her as she ran into class.

  The teacher simply gave her a bored glazed eye as she sat in her desk next to Cara. Louvette had often been late to this class, but only by seconds. Her untimely habits were old news.

  Louvette sat up straight as soon as the teacher started speaking, attentively listening. She didn’t need to be called on and not have the answer. There would be no catching her unawares today.

  The first half of her classes passed with no problems. She was thankful when the bell for lunch came around for the mental break from thinking.

  On the way to the lunchroom, Louvette and Cara walked together.

  “Hey, Louvette! Looks like you win an early day again today,” Matt called, passing her as he headed to lunch.

  “Oh, joy,” Louvette replied. She had wondered if she was going to work out, but Matt had answered that question.

  Matt laughed, but took off racing his friends to lunch. They were shoving to get to the lunch line first. Louvette could almost bet money every single one of them was Lupine.

  “Does Arsen know you’re spending so much time with my brother?” Emily Bonesteel’s snide voice came from behind her.

  Matt and Emily being brother and sister was news to her. They were complete opposites. Emile was a vindictive snake and Matt was beating Louvette up because he had to.

  “Ignore her,” Cara said, annoyed.

  Though Louvette would have loved to punch her in her face, she resisted. Arsen’s words came back to her. If she got in trouble now, their flight might be put off temporarily, or worse, indefinitely. She settled for putting her in her place.

  “Isn’t obsessing over me getting old yet?” Louvette asked Emily.

  Emily solely glared at her.

  The impulse to slip into her mind to remove her from Louvette’s life started taking shape like a hurricane. Once the hurricane formed, it was impossible to control.

  If she used her Gift just once, Emily might not be cognizant of Louvette being there. The last thing Louvette needed was to get in a fight at school and spend her evening in detention.

  Before she could stop herself, she dug deep into Emily’s mind.

  Emily’s resistance was a bit more impressive than the guy’s at the gas station. Instead of glass, her mind’s gate had twisted metal barbed wire with spikes jutting out here and there. Louvette pressed her mind into the spikes. It hurt. Once she got past the spikes and the pain from them, there were only a couple of lines of strings. Louvette mentally stepped on the lowest line of barbed wire, passing right through. She would never admit this, but she felt a small amount of respect for Emily that her mind wasn’t soft.

  Louvette always had the element of unpredictability. No one could fortify their mind fast enough after the shock of discovering someone else was in their mind. By the time she was inside, it was already over.

  Upon entering, she heard a thought that stopped her cold.

  “You’re going to get what you deserve. I’ll make sure of it. All I need is one response,” Emily’s mind seethed.

  Louvette’s mind focused on the word response, then lost complete control.

  “Show me what you did, you malicious little monster,” she growled in Emily’s mind in the same way as a vengeful spirit would.

  “Louvette?” she asked in a horrified whisper.

  “Now,” she demanded, digging through her memories until she found the right one.

  Emily was sneaking down an unfamiliar hall. At the end of the hall, there was a set of double doors that were carved intricately. Louvette’s ghostly person followed her down the hall.

  Emily creaked open the door, checking to see if anyone was watching. She slipped inside like a cunning fox. Louvette walked straight through the door into a study room. Books lined the walls, and an enormous desk with a complete attached business center sat in the center of the room. There were several different kinds of art decorating the room as well.

  Emily walked past the whole setup to a large old book placed unopened on a pedestal. The book was titled History of Whitefish. She opened the book, and then pulled out a cheap Tracfone.

  She turned on the phone and started copying numbers on a piece of paper that she snagged off the desk. The names were capitalized letters, most likely acronyms.

  It took her probably no more than thirty minutes before she turned the phone off and returned it to its original location.

  After checking everything that she touched, she snuck back ou
t of the room.

  Louvette’s fury was only mounting as the scene went on. Grey smoke swirled around as the memory changed.

  Emily was sitting in her room on her bed. A new Tracfone sat next to her along with the list. She started marking off numbers, putting question marks behind the ones that remained.

  Once she had marked some off, she typed the first number into the cheap phone.

  Louvette leaned over her shoulder, watching to see what she wrote.

  Emily: The Northline Pack has a secret. Do you want to know what it is?

  Emily repeated this process over and over again until there were no more numbers left. Louvette felt betrayed as she witnessed this. Not that she had believed Emily was very loyal, but she didn’t have to go out of her way to be a terrible person. This made her want to puke.

  “Do you not understand the seriousness of what you’ve done? These people could potentially be life threatening to me, not to mention the pack. People already thought we were starting a war and you only added to their fear,” Louvette snapped. She had come this far; she was going to do damage control on this before anyone else found out.

  “I don’t care. I just want you gone from my life,” Emily’s mind yelled back, attempting to take control of it all.

  “Where is the phone?” Louvette demanded. She pushed as hard as she could. Her will was stronger than Emily’s.

  “In my purse,” Emily said in a subdued tone.

  “You will give me the phone. You won’t tell anyone about me being in your mind. You won’t attempt to contact anyone else about me. You will leave my life alone. If you don’t, I will personally destroy you,” Louvette told Emily.

  She wove all the magic she had into Emily’s mind. Louvette’s magic bound her, locking her down so that she wouldn’t have Louvette killed or abducted.

  “Do you understand me?” she asked.

  “Yes,” Emily hissed, her face paling. If Emily had been a Lupine, she would have been a shoo-in for a snake.