Wolf Among Us

09 Pack

Rolling their eyes, Avery headed for the library while Melissa went to do her thing. The usual Friday bunkers were sprawled out between the tables and the stacks, playing peek-a-boo with the librarian.

Avery founded herself a nook far away from the other students and sat down cross-legged on the floor. Until she managed to get a name from Holden tonight, Avery had to wait before she would give the vampires another thought.

Until then, she liked to be prepared. She had her stash of wolfsbane, works on both werewolves and shifters, but she hardly carried around much vervain. The teen drama might have popularized it among the fangirls, Avery stiffened in thought of that show, but the herb was real, tying back all the way to those godly Romans.

She searched online, hoping the world was as crazy as she was, and found a wiccan store about an hour away. "Guess what I'm doing this fine afternoon?" she muttered as she got the directions.

A sudden thought struck her as she remembered Sawyer's text. She couldn't let the stalker shifter see her going into an occult store. They'd just jump to the wrong conclusion.

She pulled out her phone and shot Sawyer another text. I need to shake him off for the rest of the day. Help?

Relying on another werewolf was the last idea she ever could have had, but somehow Avery believed him when he said he wanted to help her. She didn't know how far she could take this, what his limits were or if she would ever fully trust him, but she was surprised how easy it was to have him in the same boat with her.

He didn't question her reluctance to turn, or why vampires wanted her. It seemed to her.... Avery smiled, the thought of him slowly becoming unbelievable. But it actually looked like Sawyer was trying to look out for her, whatever the trouble she attracted.

And then the day went by, that easy Friday lull seeping into everyone. When Avery stood on the grass field, her trainers scuffing around in the dirt and hand on her hip, she watched as Coach directed a few boys into pushing the soccer goal posts across the field.

"Another showdown today?" one of Dayton's friends asked, laughing and wiggling his eyebrows between Avery and Laurel.

Avery glared hard, feeling her hand ball into a fist. "Sure. Me and you," she snarled, smirking when his eyes widened.

"Careful there," a silky voice said. Laurel walked over with a cool, carefree smile, the sun glinting of her eyes. Behind her, Adam and Reece slowly followed. "This one doesn't fight fair."

Avery wanted to snap back, she felt the urge rise up in her. But surprisingly, Laurel's tone wasn't spiteful and waspish. She hardly looked at Avery with that usual distain. Even Melissa blanched at Laurel somehow coming to Avery's side.

"Well, well, looks like the civil war is over," said Coach as he strode over. He received a few groans for his pop culture reference. "Good, because you two are picking teams."

There it was, Avery quietly groaned. The sudden ice-cold vibe coming off Laurel at Coach's words. They gave each other a look, eyes running down the other and wondering the same thing.

Fine. Avery walked over to one side and rolled her shoulders. Let's play dirty, she thought, and called out Reece's name.

He suppressed a smirk as he walked over to her, his eyes laughing at the rising fury in Laurel's face. "You really wanna go for round two?" he whispered, as Laurel regained her smirk and called out Dayton's name.

Avery glowered. "Well," she gritted her teeth together, "I've never been pegged for the smart type."

Now while Jackson was an ice-hockey town, the football field was still the best kept lawn in the entire place. Every single, bright green blade had its place. It's smell, the texture, the color. But by the end of that class, tuffs of grass laid strewn about, fresh piles of dirt smattered all over the place and across their faces. And she hadn't been paying attention, but someone tried to hose them down, turning the field into a muddy war zone.