Love, Bitterly Sweet

Prologue

Hello again! This is the spin-off of Finding the Wolf Within, but it’s definitely a stand-alone story so no worries if this is your first time reading my stuff.

Dedicated to legerdemain for the beautiful cover and for being an amazing sister!

Comment/vote/fan if you like!

© 2012 thecalmsea

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Prologue

“Lily Amber DeForest! Get down here right now!”

Uh oh. I guess my mom found out about my latest prank. I may have changed the sugar containers in the school cafeteria so that they looked like salt ones. But hey, at least it wasn’t the other way around. I was trying to sweeten everyone’s gross cafeteria meals before we left for the summer. I think of it kind of as a last parting gift, a farewell to my junior year of high school. It isn’t the best prank I’ve ever done, but then again, I only decided to do a practical joke this morning on my way to school. My last minute decision didn’t exactly leave me with a lot of options. Although it did probably affect the most people since every meal is chock full of salt, which is exactly why I pack my lunch most days.

That’s my gift – I can temporarily change the appearance of things, even myself. I have better control over organic things, which means that the sugar can look like salt for as long as twenty-four hours while its containers would only last for four or five. I keep saying that I would make an awesome bank robber, since I wouldn’t need to cover my face with a stupid stocking or mask. And the police wouldn’t link the robberies together since I could go from being a short, fat, bald guy to a tall, willowy supermodel. Or, better yet, I could just change all of my one-dollar bills into larger denominations. But I’m not into breaking the law. Pranks are more my thing, especially ever since I changed into my wolf and discovered my ability. I pretty much made my parents age ten years in the year and a half since I turned wolf, which is definitely saying a lot considering I have two older brothers.

My mom though, still has the coolest ability. Because, really – who can beat the ability to copy other gifts? And since in all packs, about five percent of its members tend to have an ability, over the years, my mom has acquired twenty-four from our pack and another two from a different pack. She’s the deadliest weapon out there.

And she’s about to kick my butt.

I sigh as I make my way downstairs. There’s no point in prolonging the inevitable. I know I’m now going to be spending at least the first week of summer vacation grounded. Not that it really matters since it’s not like I go out a lot on a regular basis. The only thing that would suck is if my mom tells me that Dylan can’t come over. He’s my cousin and my best friend and there’s no way I would survive an entire week without him.

My mom’s hands are on her hips and her mouth is set in a frown when I finally make it to the kitchen. Not a good sign.

“Lily – I know it’s hard to resist, but you really have to stop with the pranks. You confused the heck out of the cafeteria workers, who, I’m told, spent over an hour trying to figure out how they made such a big mistake. You’re lucky they weren’t more suspicious. If someone finds out about your gift…”

“I know, mom. I know.”

And I do. The one thing that my parents both made sure to stress to me, over and over again, after I found out about my ability, was that no one could find out. My brothers know, and my aunt and uncle, and Dylan, but that’s it. Not even Dylan’s older sister Abby knows.

It’s dangerous, you see. It’s not just a silly warning that parents tell their kids to prevent them from doing stupid things. We have proof about how dangerous it is. My pack got into a huge battle with another pack almost thirty years ago because the Alpha found out about my mom’s ability and wanted her for himself. She ended up killing him when she was only sixteen, a year younger than I am now. Like I said, her abilities make her scary.