Twisted (Editing)

Chapter 19

The newswoman pointed to pictures of me on the T.V. "Imani Walker, sixteen, was stolen from her parents in the middle of the day, Friday. Sources say that she's still attending school, but by this time they may have pulled her out." Pictures of me in my school uniform come onto the screen. "We believe that's she's being held hostage by the leaders of Evansville. Evansville is an isolated town that practices like a cult according to escaped members.." Jonah's father turned off the T.V.

"How the hell did they find out?" His wife snatched the remote from is hand and turned it back on. The crying faces of my parents came on.

"We just want our little girl back."

"That's how they found out." She turned it back off. "They were lucky that we let them leave with their lives. Now they want to involve humans?"

Jonah's Father, or Alpha, as he wants me to call him, bared his canines. "If I catch them I'm going to tear their throats out."

I froze. His Luna tapped him on the shoulder and nodded her chin at me. He smiled gravely. "Why don't you go upstairs to your room?"

"I want to finish watching the rest of the report-"

"Go!" He barked. I scuttled backward and climbed the steps. Jonah sat on the edge of my bed, hands clasped so tight his knuckles were turning white.

"I should've never allowed you a meeting with them."

"They didn't tell me anything. I came here willingly to save their lives. I thought they would stay out of danger."

"Of course you don't know anything about what your parents did. When do you ever?" If he was trying to slight me on purpose--it wasn't working. "You can't go to school anymore."

"My education-"

"Will go on. With a tutor, here. You can't leave this side of town and you won't be able to, it'll be gated off. No more parties, no going to the mall, none of that."

"That's not fair." My eyes watered with tears of anger. "You can't keep me shut in here."

"I can't change it."

"Why, Alpha's orders?"

"No, my orders and I'm not going to change my mind." He left my room and slammed the door shut behind him. Trapped.

I wiped the tears from my eyes. I couldn't let that distract me from what actually needed to do. Find Melinda Markus and somehow convince her to give me Wolfsbane. Or steal it.

The tutor came in later that day. She was an old woman, old enough to be my grandma with cat eyed glasses. Even though she looked friendly, she was like a wormy apple. Good on the outside, rotten on the inside. "Sit straight." She smacked the table in front of my with her ruler. "A good Luna you'll make if you can't even pay attention for more than five minutes."

"Well I'm sorry, I'm used to being in a classroom."

"And you still would be if your parents had kept their mouths shut. So tell me, what is the duty of a Luna?"

"I don't know and I don't care. I want to learn what I learn in school, not how to run a pack."

"These are practical life skills. Not fancy numbers that you're never going to use after you graduate."

"I plan to go on to college and become a nurse."

"No, you'll stay here and fulfill your duties as Luna."

"Whatever you say." I put my face back in my hands, determined to zone back out. The ruler slapped down on the table in front of me, jolting me back up.

I turned to her sharply. "Stop that?"

"Or what she challenged?"

I felt my canines drop lower. I saw red "Or I'll rip out your esophagus. It wouldn't hurt to show some respect to your Luna Juvenis." I bared my teeth.

"I thought that you didn't have a backbone. It's good I suppose, that this pack is not entirely doomed once the old Alpha steps down." I looked down at my hand. Claws replaced my nails and scratched the table wood. My vision went back to normal. "You know is tomorrow night is the full moon? Are you ready?"

"For what?"

"To shift. Since you have no control and you've finally just gotten off your shift inhibiting drug--this will be your first."

"What should I expect?"

"Only for all your bones to break and shrink." I must've had a look of horror on my face because she laughed. "It'll be alright really. You'll just be sore afterward. Shifting more regularly will strengthen the bones that change."

"Right," I said, not feeling assured. "What will I look like?"

"You won't know until you shift."

"I can't wait." My words dripped with sarcasm. "I think that's enough for the day and I think I need a new tutor."

"The Alpha Juvenis said-"

"I'm a Juvenis too and I say you're done here." I smiled as she left the room. I hated claiming the title, but an hour with that woman was terrible and I couldn't stand to be in the same room with her anymore.

But what she said about the full moon--was I bound to shift? My thoughts crept back to bones cracking, skin shifting, fur growing. I was repulsed. I didn't want that to happen to me. I got up from my chair and went to the kitchen. I just had to stop thinking about it.