^Gif of Katie Massey, played by Erika Bierman.
Things were slowly starting to look up for the Blue Heart pack. We were active again, we had a bigger pack and we were stronger than ever. Lea and Sharon had fully mastered their druid powers. Katie had never come to a pack meeting but Tommy assured me that all was fine. Kye was being quite mature about the whole thing. Will and I were even beginning to be good friends. Hours of tutoring and talking about werewolf stuff sort of bonded us so the pack was happy.
But then a few things changed dramatically.
***
Jace Collins has always been a sweet kid. He's twelve, almost thirteen - the right age for him to become a werewolf. His family joined our pack several years ago when they moved away from the big city.
Jace has shown signs of the evolution over the past few weeks but nothing serious. Until Aimee ran inside from the backyard crying, four weeks after Tommy's problem at the hospital. Alyssa ran after her with Josh whilst Will and I stayed in the living room. The next person to run inside was Jace, pale and stricken-faced.
I narrowed my eyes, "Everything okay, Jace?"
He jumped at the sound of my voice and gulped, "L-luna..."
I stood up and took a step toward him, gently, "Are you alright?"
He flinched away at my hand on his shoulder. He looked down to his hand and then back up to me , whispering, "I just hit Aimee..."
Jace hit Aimee?
"D-did you mean to? Hit her, I mean?" I stumbled for words.
Jace took a few deep breaths, not answering me but then he did, "It just... it happened so fast. One moment, she was slapping me playfully on the arm for making her laugh, the next moment my fist is rammed into her stomach..."
So she slapped him and he reacted without thought...
Temper management.
"Jace," I said quietly, "Go talk to Will. I'm going to check on Aimee, okay?"
Jace nodded slowly, still ashen.
I turned for the stairs and bounded up them. The parents in the living room didn't have a clue of what's been going on. Lea and Kye were probably still in the backyard and Sharon, Molly and Katie hadn't turned up for the barbeque suggested by Uncle Aaron.
I entered Aimee's room, "Guys?"
Alyssa and Josh quickly vacated the room. Aimee was crying on her bed. I sat down beside her, "Are you okay?"
"He... he hit me," she pointed her gaze up at me, "Jace hit me. My best friend!"
I offered her a rare smile of mine, "If I had a dollar for everytime Kota and Tommy had hit me whilst they were morphing, I'd be on a Forbes list."
Aimee winced, "So it's gonna happen more than once?"
"Sadly," I shrugged.
There was silence.
"You really think he's morphing?" Aimee cocked her head.
I nodded, "But let's put it into perspective; once he morphs, you'll see if the two of you really are mates."
Aimee nodded slowly but then, "How did you know I liked him?"
I let out a small laugh, "I'm the Luna. I know the emotions everyone in the pack has for each other."
Aimee cut me a sly smile, "Even how Will feels for you?"
My smile fell. I shrugged uncomfortably, "An Alpha has more power than a Luna so no..."
"It's so obvious," Aimee shook her head slowly.
Her head bent down before I could ask what she meant and she lifted her shirt up slightly. She examined her ribcage. She already had a bruise coming in the size of Jace's fist.
She sighed, "If this won't be the first time, I might have to invest in some body armour."
***
According to Kota, Katie Massey wasn't at school for the entirety of that week. Kota had been 90% sure that Tommy would know where she was but Tommy wouldn't speak to Kota if Katie was brought up.
So, I decided to pay a little trip to the Massey household.
Her family lived in a townhouse on Old Folk Road because they owned the French restaurant below it. I just had to go straight into the store on Wednesday afternoon. Introducing myself was awkward since we knew who each other were, we just hadn't met each other. I found her at the door near the stairs. I nodded my head at her, "Katie, right?"
She nodded slowly, "Yeah. America?"
"That's right," I shifted the weight of my feet, "Look, um... could we talk?"
She pressed her lips together and then, slowly, nodded.
She led me upstairs into the house and then into her living room. She sat on the floor and patted the space in front of her, "Sit. Talk."
I sat uncomfortably on the floor, "Um... you know Thomas James, right?"
Hesitantly, she nodded, "Everyone knows Tommy."
I continued, "Cool... he's my brother and, uh, just I heard a lot about you."
"Really?" she cocked an eyebrow, stiffening.
Not really.
"No," I shook my head, "But your name has been brought up from time to time. I just need to ask you something..."
"Go ahead," she murmured, curious.
So many questions... which to ask?
"Who bit you?" I raised an eyebrow, quietly, "You're a druid, right? So... who bit you?"
Katie's lips pressed firmly together, "He didn't say?"
"Who?"
Katie crossed her arms, "Surprising considering how close you are..."
"Who, Katie?" I sighed. Please, please, don't be Will.
Katie flashed her eyes to me, "At the start of the year, the twins were fighting over me. I felt... amazed by it because I was in eighth and they were in ninth. But I didn't want to lose the pride I felt with that. So, I sorta... led them both on. When they found out, rather than get mad at me, they got mad at each other."
I whispered, "What happened, Katie?"
She looked down at her legs in front of her. She explained it in a whisper, "They got into a physical fight at lunch a few month ago. It was in the forest, so a teacher couldn't see. I felt so... smug. But then... they turned into wolves. They hadn't known I was watching. She looked up at me with wide eyes, "For weeks, I thought I was crazy. Hallucinating guys as wolves. Then, one day at lunch, exactly four weeks ago, Tommy asked me to go to the woods with him. He saw me. He wanted to show me that he wouldn't hurt me."
Her tear-rimmed eyes stared at me, "But he did. He gave me the bite on my stomach. I-I ignored him... But it healed incredibly fast. And a week later..." she sniffed, bringing her knees to her chest, "I watched a tree grow three meters taller in just a minute."
Katie suddenly burst down into tears. I had an urge to put my arms around her and tell her it would be okay. I had another urge to go home and banish Tommy from the pack.
He broke a werewolf law. Tommy would pay.
A thought occurred to me, "Katie...? Do you dance?"
She sniffed and rubbed her nose, "Not since I was five."
He didn't...
I tilted my head at her, "When was the last time you spoke to Tommy?"
Katie glowered, "Not since a few days after he bit me. We were sitting in a tree and he was claiming to not have been in the right state of mind that day."
That's when Kota showed me the two of them...
"Katie, would you like to come with me and talk to someone that can punish Tommy?"
She raised an eyebrow, sniffing again, "Who can do that?"
I smiled gently, "Alpha Will Elijah Gallagher."
"He sounds old," she whispered.
I chuckled, "He's young. Very young. Young enough to be my mate."
She contemplated this before nodding, "I'll come."
***
Molly opened the door and smiled brightly at me, "America."
"Hey Molly," I greeted, "Your brother home?"
She nodded, "Come in. Oh, hi Katie!"
Katie murmured, "Sorry, but I'm with America... No time to talk."
She threw a cautious glance at Katie but said to me, "He's in his room. You know where it is."
"Thanks, Molly," I said and led Katie up the large staircase to Will's room.
Knocking on the door, "Will? I brought a guest."
"You're a guest as well, though," he joked as he opened his bedroom door with a dazzling grin at me. His smile fell on Katie and it dropped, "Hi?"
Katie smiled awkwardly.
"Will, this is Katie Massey. And there's a problem you need to fix."
"Come on in," Will murmured.
Once we were all seated he raised an eyebrow, "Tell me what you know."
"Katie was bitten by Tommy," I informed.
Will blinked once. Twice. Then he narrowed his eyes, "Tommy? That kid wouldn't hurt a fly."
"Yeah, well he hurt me," Katie shrugged, "And now I'm tied to this story."
Will pressed his lips and eyes closed in thought. Then he asked, "Does that mean Tommy broke a law?"
"Yeah," I whispered, my heart slowly breaking.
Will growled faintly beneath his breath, "Katie... how did Tommy bite you?"
"He was trying to convince me that he wouldn't hurt me. But he turned into a wolf and bit me anyway."
Will ran a hand through his hair, "I know what to do... but I don't want to do it."
"Will, you're the Alpha. You can do whatever you need," I assured him.
Will's eyes ran between Katie and I.
He stared out of the window for a long moment. The moon was rising. Tomorrow was the full moon.
"Can we get a pack meeting tonight?" Will asked me, "Without Tommy even knowing about it?"
"It would be difficult but we could do it," I nodded, "We'd have to organise it at someone else's, not mine. And Tommy would have to be preoccupied."
Will nodded, "Perfect. We'll have it here, then. The house is big enough."
"I'll send a mass group text."
I glanced to Katie, "Are you gonna come to this pack meeting?"
She smiled faintly, "I didn't even know about the others so why not?"
***
Song: N/A (Can't even be bothered after this chapter....)
Express your emotions here: *hate me if you want* -->
xx Sharky.