A/N: Lookie who's updating! This chapter gets real exciting, lemme tell ya :) Next chapter will be a bit shorter, but heehee this story is getting deep!! Enjoy and pretty please do not steal because that's not nice and I will have to take serious action. Thank you very much :)
-SKatInk
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Sigrid
I made it home fine on Saturday morning. Luckily Uncle Zion was out so I didn’t have to worry about covering my wolfish scent. The day proceeded as usual, with a few white lies about Raylor’s poor broken heart. I caught up on homework and by Monday morning, I was well-rested. I made my way to school and parked, sitting in my car.
Nowadays, I had no choice in my wolf’s response to Theo’s close proximity. We’d be a mile away from school and she’s start pouncing around, her tongue lolling. She was so whipped and I had to grit my teeth every time I smelled his cinnamon aroma. It was enough to drive me insane, but I had to get a grip. Soon, I’d be a whisp of a scent in Merriweather and I wanted to leave as little damage as possible.
My heart pounded like a drum when the familiar scent of my mate washed over me. He was probably at the far end of the school commons where he would normally hang out in the mornings, but somehow my wolf had gotten extremely talented at finding him with very little tracks.
I sighed and disembarked my red car. The wind was biting and I noticed the leaves were changing hues drastically in the forest next to the school. Once inside the school, I skittered past the commons with blood rushing in my ears and scampered to my locker.
Deep breaths, I reminded myself. You missed ‘em.
“Sigrid!”
I mentally groaned. My wolf, however, was on her feet.
I turned and faced Raylor. Her smile shone in contrast to her dark skin, her grinning eyes emitting flecks of honey. “Hey, Raylor,” I said.
“Some of us are doing homework together after school. We’d like you to join us,” she proposed hopefully.
“I have vol--”
“I know Chandra. I called her and she said you could take a day off because ‘for heaven’s sake, the girl is always here!’” She chuckled at her poor imitation. “So you’re free!”
I emitted a dreary chuckle. How perfectly lovely. “Oh. Um. I guess?”
“Great,” she said, taking hold of my arm and using her other to shut my locker. “Also, Theo wants you to formally meet someone.”
I felt bile rise up in my throat as I stumbled to keep up with Raylor. She yanked me into the commons--the back of the commons--and I felt several pairs of eyes turn to me. My face blossomed with red, hot petals. My fingers shook and would’ve ran up my body until began stroking my earlobes, but when my eyes landed on that black-haired vision, my nerves went still and smooth.
His green eyes were focused solely on me and I saw his lips part, as if he were to say something. He didn’t, though, and I swore I saw him shaking to restrain himself.
I ripped my eyes away when Raylor let go of my arm and Tobias spoke. I shrank a thousand sizes when he spoke, ashamed to be in his presence, on his territory, as his acquaintance. Who was I, a mere rogue, compared to him, the future Alpha?
“Sigrid,” he said cheerfully, though I could pinpoint a condescending undertone to his voice. “Hello.”
“Hi,” I said, barely above a squeak. I brushed my hair behind my ear and my eyes fell across the rest of the werewolves I didn’t know.
“I want you to meet a few of our pack members. This is Kyler,” Tobias said, gesturing to a tall, boy with skin the color of a cappuccino. “This is Sasha,” he continued, pointing to a very skinny girl with blonde hair and high cheekbones. She glared at me and I saw her canines pointing out from her mouth. I shrank back. Tobias ensued to show me off like a prize toy to the rest of the pack--or at least, that’s what it felt like. There was a short boy named Drace and of course Alix was there, waving at me like a maniac, sporting a dragon nose piercing.
“There are some more of us in other grades, but this is our little group,” she said. I was grateful she spoke to me and not Tobias or Theo or that menacing Sasha.
I looked at my red-headed friend. “Okay. Nice to meet you.” I could muster that, couldn’t I? It wasn’t necessarily true, but manners are always a bargaining chip in one’s favor.
“These are the peeps that will be hanging out with you today after school,” she said, wrapping a loose strand of hair around her bun. “Thought you ought to know their names.”
“Oh. Thanks.”
“I mean, not that you know half of them already or anything, but, y’know, it’s always good--”
“Alix, you’re babbling,” Raylor interjected, giggling.
Alix’s made a face. “Yeah well--well . . .” She pouted.
“So will you be joining us?”
My attention was latched onto Theo and his voice then and my wolf completely blew logic out of the water. I didn’t care that I would be leaving soon or that any relationship was doomed--I wanted to be around my mate and not even the cosmos could mess with that. “Yeah,” I said and was confident in my reply. I would be near Theo just to be near him.
The tension in the air seemed to settle and dissipate then, knowing that the weirdo outcast wasn’t completely nutso and would reject such a powerful future Alpha. I wasn’t accepting his request, I was tagging along merely for my mate.
My wolf howled then, delirious with my answer and rolling around in the golden glow of my indulgence in my mate. There was a lower, throatier howl linking with hers and my eyes widened to the size of softballs. It was happening again! Someone else was in my mind!
It was then I realized Theo looked as baffled as I did and his green eyes were the size of cereal bowls.
Something dormant in my mind--probably reason to be completely honest--shot up out of the depths and shook me out my reverie. “I’ll--I’ll see you later, then,” I stammered and I darted out of the commons as fast as I could move my legs.
However, I could not avoid werewolves because silly me, I forgot I sat next to one in French, along with being with two others in third period chem, not to mention three other classes had werewolves in them. Sasha was in choir with me and I hardly sang above a whisper, knowing her malevolent glower was sizzling through my skin.
As I was gathering my things to leave, I felt a slender hand attach itself to my shoulder.
“Hi, Sigrid,” a slippy voice said above me. “I didn’t get the chance to formally introduce myself this morning. I’m Sasha, Theo’s girlfriend.” She smiled a wide smile, one that showed all of her long teeth, including her sharpened canines. “And I’m very close to him.”
But I’m his mate, I thought. And my wolf took charge again, barreling down all inhibitions, ready to annihilate this chick. “I’m Sigrid, Theo’s mate. Nice to meet you.” I held out my hand, but it was more of a ‘take-my-hand-because-I’m-right’ gesture.
She recoiled, furrowing her blonde brow. Obviously there were some communication issues between Theo and his girlfriend. Excuse me while I laugh. “He didn’t tell you?” I continued. “Oh. Sorry. He should tell you soon, if you two are really so close.” My wolf was speaking through me, all that sass and ba-BAM was coming from her and her possessive side. No one went near my mate. Especially this slippery thing in a skirt.
She ‘hmph’-ed and marched off, her skirt bouncing angrily. If I could’ve, I would’ve high-fived my wolf. I should let her take charge more often.
But a minute later, as I made my own way to the commons, I shook with apprehension. I had no idea what lay ahead for me. Homework, right? This wasn’t like a trap to capture the rogue? Not a game? Would they be gone and leave me by my lonesome? No, of course not. Theo would never agree to that.
Right?
My blood chilled and my wolf was pacing by the time I arrived at the commons. My fingers on my left hand were massaging my earlobe with anxiety while my right arm struggled to keep books against my chest. When I walked into the commons where the pack normally chilled, a sigh escaped my chest at the sight of my mate.
But unfortunately, he was conversing with that lying, butter-slicked, sharp-toothed, sneaky Sasha, who smirked past Theo’s head when she spotted me enter.
Time to show her who’s boss, my wolf growled and I couldn’t disagree. My blood was boiling. The effect Theo had on me was no longer just mental, it was totally physical and it takes so much to reject every fiber and pore of one’s body that I decided not to.
I breezed over to Theo and Sasha, aware that Raylor and Alix were watching me. I saw Theo’s head snap up when I approached and a sneer covered Sasha’s face, disfiguring her perfect complexion. He stood to his feet jerkily, clumsily shoving the edge of the table into Sasha’s middle, making her gurgle with pain. His chair nearly fell over and when he finally composed himself, he stared at me.
“Hey,” he said warmly.
There was a screech as Sasha shoved the table away from herself and Theo’s hand whipped out to catch it before it collided with my thigh.
“Hi,” I said when he looked at me again.
Very suave, mywolfcritiquedsmoothly.
Clicks echoed in the hallway as Sasha stormed off into a hallway, her blonde hair flipping like pissed ribbons behind her.
“Are we ready to go? Everyone’s here,” Raylor said.
Theo and I broke off our gaze to look around. Yep, everyone from this morning was present. Minus one very angry, cosmeticized member. After some muttering and agreement, we all headed off to the computer lab that also doubled as a library. The walls were white brick and had a dark blue stripe crossing all of the walls. Up a couple of steps and we loped our backpacks off our shoulders and crashed our books onto the wooden tables.
“I’m going to the vending machine,” Kyler announced. “Anyone coming with?” He left and several other pack members left as well, leaving me with Alix.
I turned to her as she was rubbing her nose dragon delicately. “Does that hurt?” I blurt before I could stop myself.
“A little.”
“How do you sneeze?”
“Very, very carefully.”
I watched her as she flipped her hair upside down and somehow configured it into a perfect messy bun, a concept that was foreign to me. “We have a vending machine?”
Her hazel-green eyes hit mine. “Yup. But it’s in the teacher’s lounge. However, teenage werewolves tend to be a bit more convincing than humans, if you know what I mean.” She smiled sneakily and her canines slipped out.
Some of the wolf posse filtered back into the room as I leaned back in my chair, opening up my chemistry book. Normally I would’ve expected everyone to kind of keep away from the newbie and separate into the oh-so cliché boys-on-this-side-and-girls-on-the-other because let’s face it, it’s just awkward, but no, Theo plopped himself right in front of me and Kyler was beside him. Tobias and Raylor pushed a table against ours and sat themselves down. Raylor was beside me, with her mate beside her. Drace was on the other side of Theo, and if Sasha had decided to reappear, she’d be beside Drace. However, to my pleasure, she had yet to show her face again.
Theo passed me a water bottle bashfully. “I didn’t know what to get you.”
“Oh. Thank you,” I said, taking the water bottle and turning it over in my hands. I felt my cheeks heat up and I looked away from him. Alix poked me in the side playfully, wiggling her eyebrows. Blood rose to my face exponentially as a result.
“So,” Tobias began, leaning back in his chair. “Shall we start?”
There was a chorus of yeahs before everyone detached their butts from the wooden chairs and headed over to computers.
“Wha--what?” My head swiveled around to Raylor as she herself got up.
“Honey, do you really think teenagers are going to do homework right after school?” she said, cocking her eyebrow.
“Um . . .”
“Well for the moment, we are working on something more important. Come on.” She tugged me out of my chair and while we walked, she talked. “Lately, scouts have been finding a strange scent on our land. Not a lot of it, but it’s untraceable. Shortly following, there’s an unclaimed pup that shows up with no scent of the parents.
“On another upsetting note, members of the Knight pack up north have started to go missing. And we’re picking up a trend. South of us is the Highland pack, who live in the mountains. They reported another strange smell, along with numerous deaths--and they’re a small pack, so it’s definitely not a small deal.”
Raylor sat me down in a computer chair and turned on the computer while she continued. “Tobias and Theo were made aware of the situation about a month ago during Alpha-Beta training, and y’know, hunters have always been a problem, but here’s the mysterious thing. Kyler, pull up a map of the US.” Kyler did so right next to us and when he did on Google, Raylor started to point.
“Pennsylvania, Vermont, Iowa, West Virginia, Missisippi, Texas, Washington--they’ve all reported unexpected deaths of Lunas and Betas and other important connections, like expert scouts and Beta’s mates and key roles in the werewolf community, such as a werewolf mayor voting for werewolf rights without the public knowing, or werewolf teachers, or even more importantly, secret members of the IWA. Do you know what the IWA is?” When I shook my head, she continued.
“It’s the International Werewolf Association. They are human so they go into big-ranking positions to protect werewolves. Teddy Roosevelt? Preservation and such? It wasn’t just bison that were being killed exponentially. It wasn’t just songbirds and small mammals that were losing their homes. Roosevelt was not a werewolf, but he knew a lot of them, and in turn, he worked to help them.”
She took a breath. “Anyways, back to the point. We have our own records of werewolf packs across the US and they each update when members were killed--not naturally, but like, unexpectedly. Tobias and Theo were tracing them up to ten years ago and it’s all the same.
“In every state, for a short period of time--I’m talking three months here--werewolves would die at sudden rates. In California, a pack of five hundred was suddenly at four fifty--the Luna, Beta, and important advisors were dead. In Oregon, the same thing happened. It’s always Betas, Lunas, or even Alphas. Never passerby members. These hunters are out to not only destroy packs, but destabilize them before they completely lose it and the pack rebels against each other. That doesn’t normally happen, but without order and major authoritative figures, bad things happen.”
My head was swimming and my vision was foggy. Zion. She was talking about Marshall Kingston and Uncle Zion.
“Granted, we had to do a lot of filtering, because hunters are common, but we picked up a pattern,” Tobias said from his monitor as Raylor sat down, turning on her own computer. He leaned forward, his elbows on his knees. “Every three months--somewhere in the US--major killings happen in one area. We traced it by date, and right now the killer’s attacking the Knight Pack and the Highland Pack.” He took a breath and studied the floor. “We’re afraid we’re next.”
As silent as we were, my blood was racing. All those places they had listed I had inhabited for a short period of time--namely, three months. They were tracking my uncle.
Your uncle is killing Lunas! Betas! Alphas! That’s as wrong as shaved cats! my wolf barked angrily.
I started to tremble. They would track it to here, to him. As much as I hated what he did, I couldn’t hate him. And an IWA? I mean, it made sense, but the overload of information was making my database fry and spark.
WHAT IF HE KILLS OUR MATE? My wolf screeched and I winced. At that, my head started to pound dangerously. If Theo died, I would slip into an uncontrollable depression. I would mentally die. I started to shake with panic. Uncle Zion couldn’t kill any of the Sunshade pack--especially not my mate!
“Tobias--Tob--c’mere--Alpha Benjamin from the Knight Pack just posted another death from this morning,” Drace said, his voice wobbly.
Tobias jumped up from his chair and leaned over Drace’s shoulder to look at the screen.
“Won’t the government find the website?” I asked Raylor under my breath. “Hunters?”
“Secret database, sweetie,” she replied, as if she hadn’t just told me she knew about my uncle. “We have connections in the government.”
“Ten thirty this morning,” Tobias said. “’Ran over unconsciousness Hex, then shot with silver bullet.’” He ran his hand over his short hair. “Why don’t they just shoot him? Or Hex him with death?”
Because they needed his pack link to be subdued, like he had fallen asleep on duty, I thought, almost reciting my uncle’s words when I had asked the same questions. “If he’d been shot,” I said quietly, but I felt like I was shouting through a bullhorn, “he’d have time to warn the others through the pack link. Unconsciousness is like he accidentally fell asleep. The link is fried and unreachable. That way the hunters can reach more werewolves in a shorter period of time and still keep the element of surprise.”
Tobias pierced me with his cold eyes. “You seem to know a lot about this stuff.”
“It’s only logical,” I said, trying not to shiver. “Think of the situation from the hunter’s point of view. It’s like detectives thinking through the criminal’s brain.”
I could almost feel Theo radiating with pride for his mate. For me. And that factor elevated my confidence.
“Here’s another one, Tobias. At three forty-five yesterday, a body was found in the woods. Werewolf. She and her mate were scouting when an unfamiliar scent took them to a clearing surrounded by Hexes. The Hexes were still there when they were found--they’re estimating they were killed earlier that morning, from the freshness of the death--and the death was by delirium. Another Hex to temporarily terminate the pack link.” Drace swiveled to face his future Alpha. “We have to keep an eye out for Hexes.”
“But if we go near them, we could die.”
“I know that, Tobias. We need someone who knows what they’re looking for. And who’s immune.”
My head snapped back in shock. I knew the Hexes were designed to harm and kill werewolves, but hadn’t there been an immune werewolf before? It wasn’t hard to be immune--I didn’t even think about it! Was I the first one? Was it like a blood thing? Purebloods versus bittens? Did it affect me differently because I’d been scratched? Or was it like some ultimate placebo that affected me physically? I shook my head. I couldn’t be the only one!
“Where do you propose we get someone like that? The only people like that are hunters.”
“I know! What else do you want to do? We can’t hide at King’s Hill--we’ll be sitting ducks. And we can’t continuously send out scouts--they could die.” Drave pulled at his skater-boy hair. “The hunters have finally perfected how to kill us,” he muttered.
“No, they haven’t,” Tobias retorted with resilience. “We have something they can’t overpower. We have the trump card.”
“Not everyone has a ring, Tobias,” Theo piped up. “And it’s only usable by the Alpha and his blood.”
“God, I know. I just--don’t know what else to do.” Raylor left her seat and put her palm on Tobias’s back, which immediately put a calming effect on him. He sighed and the tension in his shoulders relaxed as he rubbed his head vigorously.
I wanted to help. I wanted to offer my services of being immune to Hexes--for goodness’ sake, my entire room was coated with them! But revealing I was immune would shatter their semi-trust with me and might completely blow their brains out of the water.
“Can I have a word?” Theo breathed in my ear, sending snakes of shivers to slither up and down my entire body.
My eyes flicked up to his electric green ones and I think I nodded because the next moment I was trailing him out of the library and down the hall, our feet shuffling down the tiled floor. We passed the janitor who gave us a friendly wave, but Theo kept on going. We turned past the music room and started towards the oldest parts of the school. My heart pounded in apprehension. Where was he taking me?
Privacy, my wolf pointed out. And come on. You really think your goofball mate would hurt you? He nearly caused an earthquake when you walked into the commons. And his face was pink. Have some faith. Seriously.
She was right. But I couldn’t help myself as Theo used a piece of wire from his pocket to unlock the woodshop room--completely on the opposite side of the school from the library. If I wanted, I would be able to hear the conversations in the library, but that was because my behemoth ears could penetrate walls.
Theo turned on the lights and then leaned against the table, looking very seducing. I pressed my lips together and swallowed hard.
“Look,” he started, looking at me. I fisted my hands. “Because I’m your mate, I know your smell and I know when something is amiss.” My stomach twisted. His voice was cautious, but his eyes were judgmental. This was not going anywhere good. “I’m the only one who knows you smell like hunters, but I’m sure Tobias will pick up on it soon, seeing as he’s the Alpha’s on. I’m surprised Alpha Roan hasn’t picked up on it yet.”
That was what this was about? My smell? It would lead straight to Uncle Zion! I swear, my uncle will be the death of me!
I kept my cool, however, and came across as nonchalant. “I don’t know what you mean.” I don’t smell like hunters I have no idea what on earth you’re talking about what do you mean by this?
He inhaled deeply through his nose and I shivered. “Sigrid, you’re lying. I can hear it. I’m more in tune with your body than anyone else. You heart skips when you lie. Your breath shortens. You also smell like a hunter now. Most werewolves would just smell the pomegranates, but I smell what’s underneath it.” Theo straightened up to his full height and crossed his arms. His eyes kept me from being frightened, however condemnatory they might’ve been.
What was I supposed to say now? I couldn’t breathe a word of my uncle’s sucky career choice, and I most certainly couldn’t tell him I was immune to Hexes! I was still reeling from that revelation myself. “You did say hunters are a problem. And I was the one to f-find Grace. Maybe it’s just the black wolf smell.” I felt like an ant under his gaze and I was sure he knew it.
“Wolves don’t smell like hunters, Sigrid.”
Unless they’re Marshall Kingston, I thought. My wolf was cowering in the intimidating presence of her mate. She knew we were in for it and there was nothing we could do to stop our downfall.
He wrapped his spindly fingers around my upper arms. My skin chilled at his touch. I could feel his skin twitching against mine, threatening to thrust me against the wall and completely forget about this whole ordeal. But for once, his hormones got a hold of themselves.
“I need you to tell me everything you know about hunters, Sigrid,” he demanded. “I know you’re hiding things from us, but this is a matter of life and death for my pack.”
“Not my pack,” I retorted before I stop myself. And once I had started, I couldn’t control myself. This was my wolf defending me, putting up her defenses and warding people off. She was bringing out my fangs for me and I could feel them poking against my lips. “I don’t have pack loyalties to be held accountable for.”
“The Sunshade is your pack, Sigrid. You’re my mate and I’m the future Beta. If anything, I need your loyalty,” he shot back.
“I can reject you,” I snarled.
His grip tightened on my arms. “I wouldn’t let you.”
“You wouldn’t--have a--choice!” I spat as I struggled against his ironclad grasp. “Let me go!”
“Not until you tell me what you know,” he ordered as he drew me closer to his body. He was trembling and I swallowed, fearful. A cold sweat broke out on my forehead. I couldn’t lie to him, so I’d cleverly hide the truth.
“I have my own loyalties, Theo. And none of them are to you.”
He muttered a few curses before his own canines slipped out, long and hazardous. “I need your help, Sigrid. These are my friends, my family. I can protect them if you’ll help me.”
His voice broke my heart into a thousand pieces, like a china vase shattered on the floor. His eyes were full of desperation. He’d never manhandle me unless he had absolutely no other choice. I opened my mouth. “I can’t tell you,” I said softly.
He let go of me and I took a few safe steps back. He ran his hands through his thick, black hair and scrunched his face together in frustration. “Why NOT.”
I shied away from him and he didn’t recognize my wariness. “I have to protect the people I love, too, Theo,” I replied gently.
“So you know where I’m coming from, great,” he spewed. “Sigrid, I can’t access your brain. I can’t--I don’t know what you know but even the slightest hint of what’s going on--you seemed to know what you were talking about in the library and though I’d love to spend the rest of my life with you, I want to trust you first. Maybe you were just thinking about it from a hunter’s perspective, I don’t know. But no one else would’ve thought of it like that. No one knows Hexes like you appear to.
“Raylor told me about the day at her house when your phone zapped her. That doesn’t happen unless there’s a Hex. And she said you took it with no problem. I won’t tell Tobias anything, I just need you to help us protect our pack.”
You’ll tell him, though, I thought. I could almost feel his heart skittering nervously in my palm. “You’re lying, Theo,” I said, stronger than before.
“Of course I’m lying! I don’t know what to tell you to open up! Tobias said you’re hiding something and right now, I believe it. I believe it more than I believe in the sun, Sigrid!”
“I--I can’t help you, Theo! I won’t!” I fisted my hands at my sides and glared up at him. No, he would not make me betray my family. Though all the years of moving, they had become closer to me than my own skin. I may not like Uncle Zion’s job, but I don’t want him dead!
He let out a cry of frustration before he shook his head and his face elongated, his green eyes darkening, releasing his wolf. His fingernails shrunk and his bones began to snap. My heart thudded in my chest, clogging my throat, and I spun on my heel and ran out of the woodshop room. I’d maybe have a couple seconds before he would complete his transformation, and then I was dead meat.
I sprinted towards the back doors of the school and mentally cursed when the baseball team was right outside. I couldn’t display a wolf in front of them. Talk about a shock. I continued past the guidance offices and turned right towards the junior lockers. I heard angry, fast clicks behind me and I nearly tumbled over when Theo’s snout caught up with my feet.
I sped up, my heart beating frantically. My feet moved faster and my wolf took over as I dashed towards the front door. I didn’t know what Theo would do, but he was pissed. Not to mention I was angry at him for trying to force me to tell him life-or-death secrets. I wouldn’t betray my family! Not for anything, and not for my mate!
After I passed an open classroom door, I crowed in pain as my own bones started snapping. My feet broke and realigned themselves as my skull was reshaping itself. My spin shot horizontal and I almost shrieked, but then I fell on all fours, abandoning my shredded clothes, clacking across the slippery tile floors. I shot a risky glance back and Theo’s dark wolf was a mere meter behind me.
Time to run, my wolf commanded, and I accelerated towards the glass front doors. My brain was screaming NO NOABORT ABORT but I knew my own strength. And I knew what would hinder Theo.
I barreled through a glass door and it sounded like the glass was screaming as it streamed towards the ground. I shook my coat furiously, ridding myself of any glass pieces. I looked back at the front doors and saw Theo vigorously shaking his head and morphing back to pick glass pieces out of his face. Serves him right.
I looked away before something else of him morphed and left me scarred. I stampeded my way around the school and towards the forest.
Look at this sucky situation, I thought miserably.
I bounded through the forest, grateful for the shady cover. I was as silent as the wind, my paws barely skimming over the dearth. I flew over rocks as my ears twitched, waiting for wolves to show themselves to arrest me. None did and I pounced through the woods, shooting like a bullet past open areas.
It was imperative I get home as fast as I possibly could, and I was forced to race through backyards with werewolf speed. I doubted anyone saw me solidly, but I still pressed on like an Olympic runner. I was panting by the time I arrived at my house and I went around to the back, to the deck. Under one of the flower vases we had an extra key, and I intended to use it.
With a deep breath, I willed my body to change back. I forced my paws to elongate, for the marrow to stretch. I scrunched my eyes as my spine straightened and as my legs repositioned themselves as knees and shins and femurs, connected to a pelvis. My ribcage reshaped itself and I moaned with my human mouth as my nose shortened on my face and as all the fur shrank under my skin. My hair unfurled on my back and I reached under the maroon vase for the key.
Just as my fingers brushed the cool metal, I heard a scream come from inside the house. I swiveled my head, my hair sheathing my chest as my eyes met with two blue ones--wide as eggplants--behind glasses.
“Cassidy,” I said as she dropped the container of Nutella and rushed up the stairs. “Cassidy!” I yelled, stark naked in the backyard, unlocking the back door and jumping inside. I heard her bedroom door lock and I bounded up the stairs, grabbing my bathrobe and pulling it over myself.
“Cassidy!” I shouted through her door. Luckily, my parents were out. If they’d been, I’m sure I’d have been dead meat already. “Cass, open the door!”
She didn’t respond, but I could hear her heartbeat skyrocketing with alarm and astonishment.
This was about to get real messy.
…………