I'm out past curfew... again. I'll probably get caught... again. But I have my camera. And I have a vision. I have to capture it. My aunts got me a Cannon a few years ago for my birthday. They wanted to make sure I was serious about my newfound hobby. They didn't understand that I could be the Peter Parker of the pack. And tonight was clear with a chance of seeing the Super Moon.
I'm meeting Sara for the best shot of my life. This photo will be send to National Geographic and they might possibly take me on. I'll be sending them my whole portfolio and over the years I've acquired a beautiful one. If they do take me, they'll send me to school and I'll finally be free of the pity looks I receive from my pack. Sara doesn't know this, and I'm not quite sure how to tell her.
Sara's scent gets stronger as the wind picks up. I follow the musty smell until I see her wolf standing a few meters from me. Her light brown ear twitches in my direction, acknowledging me without looking. Her other ear is focused on something in the forest behind.
I shift on my feet but wait patiently for her to look for me. I'd rather not anger her wolf. She once snapped at me because I tried to rush her.
She doesn't keep me waiting too long. She pants as she trots towards me, passing. I spin around and get on my knees. I turn on my camera, turning off the flash before it turns on and I look through the lens to focus on the moon. It's large and glows a soft, but fierce yellow.
I try to get Sara in the shot so I back up some, crunching leaves under my knees. I lose the moon this time so I get on my stomach and prop the camera on my knees. I get the moon and Sara in this time. I mess with the lens, making the moon blurry and taking a shot of Sara, and then I make Sara blurry and get a shot of the moon. I try different angles, trying my best to get just a silhouette of her against the moon. I get a few and totally zone out of all my surroundings. It's just me, the camera, her, and the moon.
But she's a wolf, so of course she's tuned in with nature. I don't notice her bazar behaviour until the wolves are already upon us. Immediately, Sara jumps in front of me, baring her teeth and emitting a low growl from her chest.
The black wolves circle us and fear drops in my stomach. I knew I'd get caught, but the patrols shouldn't show their teeth to Sara. Not with her being next in line for the alpha. Dean won't be happy.
The leader of the patrols, a black wolf with a brown spot on his back, shifts back into a human. I look away and Sara growls deeper.
"You two," he says, "c'mon."
The leaves rustle and I look back to the black wolves. Sara looks back at me and stalks towards them. I sigh, getting to my feet and wiping the dirt and leaves from my jeans.
We walk back to the neighborhood, which isn't far from the forest. I check my photos, not even caring about getting disapproving looks from Dean again.
All the black wolves, save for one, leave us. They go out to do more patrols. Maybe they'll actually catch someone that gives a damn.
He leads us past my house which just so happens to be next to the alphas. But we don't stop at his house. We continue on to the house-like building at the front of the neighborhood where Dean spends most of his time: the office.
Sara stays in her wolf skin the whole way and her scent fills the room we enter where Katie stands, printing documents. She looks at us and then the black wolf, making the connection.
"Dean's through here." She leads us to the usual meeting room where we sit at once every few months to talk to the other alphas.
Dean doesn't even look up. His uncles are also there. They both glance at us, shaking their heads when they see Sara.
The black wolf shifts to a human again, finally gaining the attention of the alpha. "Found these two on the edge of the forest."
Dean stands, looking at the both of us. His eyes dash to my camera and he turns to his uncles. "Get Sara something to cover herself with."
His uncle, Warren, leaves the room.
Katie walks to Dean and lays some papers in front of him. He lands his eyes on me. I look away, not wanting him to see the challenge in them.
Warren comes back in with a robe. He drapes it over Sara. Nobody looks at her as she shifts.
"You can go," Dean says to the black wolf. He leaves along with everyone else.
Sara ties off her robe and moves closer to Dean. Sara puts her hands on her hips and looks at Dean. "Don't even think about getting mad."
He laughs, but its sarcastic. "Don't get mad? It's midnight and both of you are past curfew."
"Okay, and?" Sara says.
Dean looks at me and that's all the answer I need. "He's not mad at you, Sara. Its because you were with me. You know, the half breed."
"Anna," Dean says.
"No, Dean, I'm sick of hearing about all that shit."
"Anna—"
"Anna, he didn't mean it like that."
Dean nods.
"Of course you would say that. You think the same thing."
Sara's mouth drops. "You don't really think that."
"But I do. If you didn't think the same way, why did you try to defend me from the patrols? I can handle my own, Sara." I cross my arms, bumping the camera around my neck.
"Anna, its instinct, my wolf acts on its own."
Dean moves forward. "You know all we do is care about you."
"No, all you do is pity me."
"You—"
"No, Sara. I'm done. I know, okay. I'm not as stupid as you all think." I turn my back and walk from the office.
The air is cold when I step outside. Katie turns to greet me, but stops short when I pass her. I hear her call my name.
I jog to my house and throw open the door. It bounces off the wall and shuts itself.
My Aunt Jenna stands. "I didn't know you went out."
I stomp my way to my room and slam the door. I set my camera down carefully and kick off my shoes. I don't bother changing as I climb in my bed and curl up.
My door creeks open. I keep my back to the door as one of my aunts walks in. "Are you okay?" Aunt Jenna asks.
I stay quiet for a moment before rolling over and asking, "Do you pity me?"
She pauses for a moment. "Why on Earth do you ask that? No one pities you." She comes to my bed and sits on the edge.
"Dean does."
"He's the alpha. He cares."
"What about Sara?"
"Don't mistake pity for love, Anna." She pats my leg and stands. "Don't forget they lost their parents too." She crosses the room and opens my door. "Get some sleep now, you have school tomorrow."
I roll on my back and stare at my ceiling. When Sara, Dean, and I were younger, we got moon stickers and put them all on my ceiling. I don't know why we did it. But we didn't know that they were glow in the dark. We spent the next few nights in my room, just feeding the light to the stickers and then turning the lights off until the glow disappeared.
They're still on my ceiling. I like staring at them, especially when the wolves howl at night. It makes me feel apart of them, even though I'll never be. But I've accepted that. And that's why I want to leave this pack when I can. I need National Geographic.
I spring from my bed and open my Mac. I move my camera over and set it on my desk. I sit down and while I wait for my computer to load, I pop my SD card out from my Cannon.
The computer loads. I type in my password and insert the card into the side. I open up the photos and drag them to the desktop. I pick out my favorite ones, clean them up a little on Photoshop and then I drop them in the National Geographic file. The contest hasn't officially begun yet, but it starts sometime next week. I still want to get some more photos of Sara and Dean in the sunlight.
I don't get any sleep. My Aunt Holland knocks on my door before entering. "My god, Anna, have you been up all night?"
I rub my eyes, looking at the clock. "Yeah, I guess so."
"Get ready," she says, shutting the door.
Closing my computer, I push out from my chair and head to my closet. I grab black leggings and a black muscle tee. I throw them both on and grab my red plaid button up, tying it around my waist. I pull on my boots and throw my bag over my shoulder. I grab my camera from my desk and rush from my room.
My aunts greet me in the kitchen. "Do you want any breakfast?" Aunt Jenna asks.
"No thanks," I pull out my phone, checking for any texts. I have one from Sara. "Sara's waiting on me."
"Drive safe," they say.
"Love you." I smile and jog out of the door.
I walk next door to Sara's and let myself in. Nobody locks doors here. It's kind of like an unspoken rule. I actually feel weird when people do lock doors.
Dean is the first Blackwood I see. I hear Sara upstairs and I smell Katie somewhere. She lives on the other side of Dean with her mate, Matthew.
I head into the kitchen where Dean is. He wears his usual white button up and black business pants. His sleeves are always rolled to his elbows. I don't get why he dresses the way he does. He's the alpha, not a CEO. At least he doesn't wear a suit though.
Dean turns around. I feel his eyes on me as I set my bag and camera on the dinning table. "About last night—"
"Let's forget it," I say, smiling. "It's water under the bridge." I look at him.
He nods. "I'm sorry though, okay?"
I nod.
Sara comes down the stairs and into the kitchen. "Are you ready?" she asks.
I nod. "You look cute today." She has on a black skirt with a white V-neck tucked into it. Her boots are like mine, black and ready to stomp on anything. Her blonde hair is straightened and actually touches her shoulders.
"I know." She smiles.
I pick up my camera and bag as she compliments my outfit. I smile and give Dean a nod before leaving the house with Sara. I feel his eyes on us until the door shuts.
We get into Sara's sedan. I plug in my phone, playing Halsey as Sara pulls out of the drive. "Did you sleep last night?"
"No." I laugh. "I'll be sleeping in government though."
Sara laughs. "True. It wasn't because of us, was it?"
"I was editing photos."
"Did they turn out good?"
"Amazing." I look over at her and smile. "Your wolf is very photogenic."
"That's something my wolf and I have in common." She smiles and I laugh.
The rest of the drive we sing to Halsey songs.
The school isn't that far from our neighborhood. We probably get through three songs before Sara is parking her car. I grab my things from the floor, snapping a few unsuspecting photos of Sara.
She locks the car and we walk into school.
The final bell rings when we walk through the doors and Sara and I part until lunch: four hours. For my first three classes I fall into an autopilot.
My fourth class just so happens to be yearbook. Its one of my favorite classes. I get to leave and pull students from class to give them interviews. My partner and I are quite a match too.
I walk into class more alive than I've felt all day. I sit at the usual table my partner and I sit at. I look through my photos for the day as I wait for him to come. The photos I got of Sara are beautiful as usual. I love catching her off guard. I've told her time and time again to let me send photos of her for a modeling company, but all she wants is to be is an advisor for Dean.
"Hey," Benjamin says, sitting down.
"Hey." I turn my camera off.
This class isn't like a usual class. The teacher is more of a supervisor more than anything. She does occasionally tell us things that need doing for the yearbook, but for the most part we do what we want.
"Are you still working on your portfolio for National Geographic?" he asks me, pulling out his own camera.
"Yeah, I got some beautiful photos of the super moon last night. I got some with a wolf too."
"I'll never understand how you get so close to those wolves." He shivers.
I laugh. "It's not even scary. But how's yours coming along?"
"Its going good. I'm going to get some more after the club meeting today. There's this creek that I found."
"Get a picture of a butterfly, those things are hard to get. They'll be impressed." I turn my camera back on and look through the photos of Sara again.
"That's a good idea. You wanna walk around and see if we can spot any on campus?"
"Yeah." I stand and tuck my bag under the table.
We ask for a pass from the teacher. She writes us one and then we go on our way, cameras in hand.
"You should come with me," Ben says. "I mean like, after the club though."
I don't have any plans with Sara. And so far I don't have any homework. My portfolio can grow while I'm out too. Who knows what kind of nature we can encounter?
"Yeah totally, I'll let Sara know."
Ben smiles at me.
The school isn't much to look at. It's a regular type of school: hallways, staircases, benches, all that stuff. The school colors have to be my favorite though: orange and white.
Ben walks in front, spinning around to walk backwards. The wind picks up as he holds his camera to his eye and snaps photos in my direction.
I laugh and fix my hair.
"Even better," Ben says, clicking some more photos.
I hide my face from any more photos and when the wind dies, I move to Ben to see what he captured but he hides his camera from me.
"Oh come on."
"Sorry Anna."
I roll my eyes. "C'mon," I say, with a smile.
I lead Ben to the garden. I can smell the dying flowers and I have a thing for dead flowers. Sara thinks I'm weird for it. But I have a feeling they'll be some butterflies around them.
I hang back as Ben moves to the flowers and starts taking pictures of them. I snap a few of him, just for payback, although he doesn't know.
"Do you think Tristan will come with us?" I ask.
Ben pauses before answering. "Most likely. You know he loves the outdoors just as much as you love the wolves."
I laugh. "That's true." If only he knew Tristan is a wolf.
Sara and I, unfortunately, sit with the other wolves from the pack. It's not too bad really, they get loud sometimes and with the amount of food we eat, we leave a mess.
Tristan catches my eye from a neighboring table. Tristan is a wolf from the east wolf pack. He's not in Dean's pack, but Alexia's. Not many of her wolves are at Stone Creek High, but the occasional eight or nine do get enrolled.
I smile from Tristan's eye roll and look at Sara. "What did Dean pack for us today?"
Sara rolls her eyes, but not in the playful way Tristan did. "Just the usual protein shit. I long for pizza." Her eyes dash to one of the wolves, devouring a pizza slice while retelling a story. "But for you, he packed a little lighter stuff."
I nod, not really wanting her to continue. The last thing I need right now is a reminder of my status.
She opens her bag and starts pulling things out. "I won't need picking up after Photography Club."
"How come?" She unwraps a tuna fish sandwich.
"Ben and I are going to the creek after. Tristan might come too. I haven't spoken to him yet."
At the mention of Tristan's name, Sara looks up. "Tristan, Tristan? Like the one from the east pack?"
"Yeah." I look over her shoulder at him. Sara turns. Tristan waves. She turns back to me.
"Dean won't be happy."
"Well it's a good thing I don't care." I start unwrapping my own sandwich, only this one is chicken breast instead of tuna. I hate tuna.
Sara pulls my arm down when I go for a bite. I look up at her, glaring. "He's the alpha, unless you've forgotten."
"I haven't. I'm just a minor part of the pack." I shrug. "No one will even notice I've been with an East Wolf."
"I will. And you're around Dean a lot. He'll smell him."
"He'll be with Katie, and he'll be distracted."
Sara raises her brows and looks at her food. I don't say anything. Dean won't notice. Besides, by the time I do see him again, I'll have Sara's scent on me, or Ben's. Not some wolf from the east pack. I was counting on it.
Ben drives Tristan and I to the creek after Photography Club. Tristan was going through my wolf photos, commenting on how good they are. He commented a lot on Sara's wolf than any of the others. The others mainly consisted of Dean, but he didn't know that.
I wanted to get Tristan alone at some point so I can ask him if I could take pictures of his wolf. It would be risky to meet up for that, and to even be around an East Wolf while he's in his skin, but I wanted to see what his looked like. They're all different, the wolves are.
Dean's fur has to be one of my favorites I've seen so far.
But half way there I get a call from Sara.
"Hey—"
"Anna you have to come home."
"What's going on?" I look back at Tristan, already knowing that he's hearing everything.
"Dean, they—he's been challenged. Someone's challenged him."
My stomach drops. Someone's going to die tonight.
It could be Dean.