The news of more shifter deaths had everyone tense. This time it was a small family pack outside of Boston and none of the twelve remained. It was sad, sure we didn't know them and for something of this scale to occur it was tragic no matter the species. This one also didn't get to stay out of the news so the whole country new about it and no matter the channel you turned on, someone was doing a report of repeated facts and a slideshow of images of the town they were from as well as the blocked off crime scene.
Of course Nathan called us in again, but I didn't see the point. It wasn't fixing anything. It wasn't preventing deaths from occurring. All we seemed to be doing was keeping our heads down and praying nothing happened to us.
"So what is happening exactly? All of us gathered here like this, are we safer in larger numbers or just putting a bigger target on our backs?" I ask, surprised at the murmur of voices that followed actually agreeing with me. "It's been close to four weeks now and-"
Dad groaned a couple of seats up and Mum patted his knee to try and calm him down.
"And the killer has yet to be identified or stopped." Nathan answered, looking over the crowd in front of him.
"Obviously." I interrupt.
"We are pack. We are safer together. If a threat arises we will be ready."
"How? I mean, have I missed the in case of emergency newsletter that was sent out? If an attack happens here, what are we to do?"
He isn't happy I'm asking these questions, but what worries me is he doesn't seem to have an answer for them.
"I have placed a protection spell over this region. Any supernaturals that come in not of pack will be alerted to me. Aiden with some of Nathan's chosen will investigate as was the case with our new arrivals." Brianna steps up, her words seeming to reassure everyone as they all nod and happily whisper about how great it was to have magic on our side.
"And if they attack?" I ask. "A few shifters are going to take down someone or something that has killed how many of us now?"
"I will be there too. This pack and those granted its protection have nothing to fear." She smiles rather sweetly at me and I wonder what kind of magic she possesses.
Everyone is happy. Our might leaders have a powerful witch watching over us. We are safe. We have nothing to fear. The meeting is over.
"Stop drawing attention to yourself like that!" Dad whispers as everyone starts to head home. Of course we get the privilege of staying that little bit longer so Dad and Nathan can do whatever it is they do while Mum helps Kate clean up.
My brothers are nowhere to be seen either and since it's only eight o'clock I have a couple of hours to kill before meeting up with him. If I go that it is. Seeing Gwen I keep an eye on her as I'm determined to work out why she is giving me the silent treatment.
"I had to ask. I can't believe you didn't." I tell Dad.
"I don't have to. I trust our alpha's and all that has been put in place. You'd understand that too if you weren't..." He paused, frowning slightly as he seems to regret that.
"What Dad? If I wasn't what?"
"Nevermind." He mumbles, and heads up onto the deck where Nathan was waiting.
"Hey." I stop by Gwen and she smiles before hugging me.
"I'm sorry!"
"For what?" I can't be bothered with another argument right now. "Don't even worry about it.'
"I figured the less I saw you the better with everyone and everything going on around here." She sighed. "Plus Dad lost his shit when I got home from the pub and you know my Dad."
"That's never stopped you before."
"Yeah, but I think after being away for so long and now I've been a wolf for a while, it makes it harder to disobey him. I'm all messed up inside. You're so lucky you don't have all these odd animal urges going on."
"There is only one animal urge i'm struggling with at the moment." I laugh as he appears with Brianna. She smiles at us and they keep going. "Gods help me."
"They were arguing this morning. I went for a run and heard them down by the pool house." Gwen whispers so I can barely hear her.
"About?"
"Not sure, but I think she might actually be close to finding the killer!" She grabs my hands and looks terrified as she leans in close still whispering. "Don't tell anyone that I said that."
"Of course I won't."
We go up to her bedroom and hide out there. Ten o'clock is fast approaching and my parents haven't left yet. I don't want to get Gwen into trouble again so skip on asking her for a lift or telling her what I was doing and going over to her window, I look down at the pool. Sure enough I just catch Brianna going into the pool house and as the lights turn on I'm tempted to go down to see her.
And say what?
How would you try to fix me?
Are you really on our side?
Would you mind if I made a move on your guard dog?
The blue light that shines out of her window gets my attention again and a golden halo starts to form around the her quarters.
"She does that every night. Some kind of meditation, checking the spell thing. Mum told me about it a couple of days ago." Gwen tells me coming to stand at my side. "The blue will go purple next."
"How long does it last for?"
"Sometime after midnight. I always fall asleep before she's done. Why?"
"Just curious. Aren't you interested in this magic stuff?" I ask.
"No. It makes me anxious." She sighs.
I check the time and it's ten to ten. I'm going to be late and with that thought I knew I was going to go.
"I gotta go, but I'll talk to you later okay?" I give her a hug and find Mum in the kitchen. She doesn't ask any questions when I tell her I'm leaving and as I get out the front I realise I should have already booked an uber. Though I'm not sure I'll need it as I scan the darkness for him.
"Going somewhere?" Aiden asks from the shadows, coming onto the driveway as if on cue.
"Home." I lie.
"Sure I can't persuade you to come with me for a drink?" He takes a key out of his pocket and with a tiny beep, the suv near us lights up. "My shout."
"One drink." He smiles and opens my door, closing it behind me.
We don't talk on the way there. I try and think of something to say, while he's a very focused driver. Hoping I'm being subtle, I keep turned his way just a little bit and watch him as best I can. His face doesn't really change much; eyes constantly on the road, two hands on the steering wheel. I catch blink a few times, he licks his lips once. Otherwise he seems relaxed in the way he sits back in the car seat with his shoulders down rather than tense and up around his ears like I feel I am. It's barely a twenty minute drive yet it feels like it takes an eternity and as we stop in the carpark I release a breath I didn't realise I had been holding.
"Done checking me out?" He teases as he cuts the engine.
"What?" Surely he didn't notice.
"I don't think you stopped staring at me the whole way here."
"I get nervous driving with strangers."
"Oh really? Is that a habit of yours?" In this case, I could easily make it one.
"Only when it's their shout." I smile and get out, not waiting for him as I head inside. Good thing he is right behind me.
I'm surprised to find Charlie's has been decorated with a load of festive crap. Tinsel, baubles and garlands of fake branches cover practically every surface and the bartenders are even wearing santa hats. We find a table in the back and drinks arrive before we get a chance to order which might not have been strange on a quiet night - which this wasn't or if Charlie was behind the bar - which he wasn't.
"So, any plans for Christmas?" It seems like a natural topic considering it was as if all the offcuts from Santa's workshop ended up around us and it was only a few weeks away. I could have asked him about the weather but cold, cold and more cold wasn't a great conversation starter.
"Well so long as the pack isn't attacked on the day, I plan on doing a whole lot of nothing." He takes a long gulp of the beer and I do the same. "You?"
"Family stuff I guess. Don't you have an annoying mother demanding you be home for it?"
"I wish. She dumped me with my grandparents a week or so after I was born and we never saw her again. They died a few years ago now and that's pretty much the only family I have."
"Oh. Sorry." What else do you say to that?
"You didn't do anything wrong, don't be sorry. They gave me a good life, well as best they could anyway." He shrugs.
"What about your pack?"
"I don't have one. They were human." He watches me now, casually sitting back in his chair as if that was the most normal thing for him to tell me.
"But you're a shifter?" You had to be of full wolf blood to be a shifter - it was part of why I was such a mystery.
"Yeah so imagine how fun that was at my first change." He has another drink.
At sixteen our bodies go through the first change. It's painful, terrifying and if not managed properly, can lead to some big problems such as a big, strong, out of control teenager with massive aggression issues until the beast and human find their balance. The few cases of wolves turning without the support of pack never ended well as they usually ended up being put down.
"What happened?" Now I'm intrigued because clearly that didn't happen to him.
"I lost control. Grandparents thought I was just acting out. At first I didn't even remember changing until I woke up naked in a park covered in blood."
"You killed?"
"Just some unlucky neighbourhood cats." He shrugs. "Human me became stronger and fasted. And I was like a bomb. The tiniest thing would set me off. I got expelled from school. Started getting into fights. It wasn't a good time."
"Is that how the coven helped you? By getting you through this stage?"
"No. Charlie did, but he pointed me in their direction later when I started to look for my parents."
A couple of things occur to me then. The first being that here we are just chilling in a bar like old friends with one of us at least chatting about their past. The second was that he was being rather open about that past. Was this the plan? Soften me up with his story, work around to the coven and how amazing they all are then boom, I've signed a deal with Ursula and find myself without a voice, naked on a beach?
"Why are you telling me this?"
He pauses, looking slightly confused for a second. "Ah, I dunno."
"Look, I don't want Brianna's help. Or the coven. I'm glad they were able to help you, but I'm fine the way I am. I am happy with who I am." I get up to go yet he grabs my wrist and tugs slightly.
"Good. I'm glad, that's why I wanted to talk to you. Please sit back down."
"It is?" I obediently sit.
"The coven can know things about you. When Charlie got them to help find my parents, it wasn't what I was expecting. I don't think it's something you need or want them to put you through."
What did that mean?
"Is this your attempt at reverse psychology?" I realise he is still holding my hand and pull it free.
"No, that came out wrong. I just, finding your true self isn't as happily ever after as you may think. Brianna has good intentions, they're witches of the light. They can't be horrible even if they tried." He starts trying to explain, yet nothing sounds legit anymore.
"Is that why you sneak off while she's meditating or whatever?"
"No, I'm just more of a night person." Oh look, we have something in common. "You can't deny there is something between us. Wolf or not, you have to be able to sense it. Bri just thinks I'm curious about you because of the no shifting thing and that's why she offered to help to try and see what its's about."
"What?"
A part of me is relieved it's not just me imagining this whole freak attraction thing, but the rest is trying to make sense of what he just said. He's been talking to Brianna about me? What has he been saying and what has that got to do with finding out if she can fix me?
"Wolves go with wolves right?"
"Yeah, but what-"
"If you're wolf and I'm a wolf?" He looks at me expectantly.
"The witch is playing matchmaker?" Aiden nods. "Not where I was expecting any of this to go."
Then another thought occurs. "But you just said you didn't want me to take her up on her offer. So if I'm a wolf and you're a wolf, it wouldn't actually change anything between us?"
Is this another round of reverse psychology or is he trying to let me down easy?
"Yes." He says simply.
Well, ouch.
"It's funny you think you would have any impact on my decision. It may be hard for the pea size wolf brain of yours to understand, but I like who I am. I already told you I wasn't going to take her up on the offer before your whole little talk so I'm not sure what you're feeling, but I'm really not feeling the same." I stand and pull my shirt up to reveal a patch of silvered skin on my stomach that dips below waist. "You know others have tried to change me before. They thought a bite from a werewolf would work like you see in the movies, but it nearly killed me instead. I decided then none of you mutts were worth a second more of my time so I'm not sure why you felt we needed to talk about something I'd never do. In fact, I think I would rather die than ever be one of you."
His mouth drops slightly and as I leave, he doesn't follow. Not right away at least. I hope that's put him in his place. He has his sob story, well I have plenty of my own and whatever he had hoped to achieve tonight, I wonder if he got it.
I stop by the doors as a large group come in, using them as a shield so I don't look back to where we had sat because if i am being honest, his rejection did hurt. More focused on getting out than anything else, I don't realise what I'm standing under until one very touchy feely drunk pulls me away from my escape and into his arms.
"You stand undering tha mistletoe!" He slurs and before I can properly get my balance back, wet slobbery lips smack up against my own. It lasts for the briefest of seconds before he is gone and a large black back takes his place.
So he's not interested, but happy to protect my honour? And they say chivalry is dead.
I don't wait around anymore, shoving through the slowest moving group in history and escape into the cold night air. I can see the light of a cab down the street and start to make a run for it, but of course I'm not alone.
"Sam, wait!" Yeah, no.
As usual luck is never on my side and I do stop, but not because of Aiden. Three men suddenly block my path and the way they move tells me they're not human. I may be great at pointing out the obvious, but the looks on their faces say they're not happy either. It all becomes clearer as Wet Lips appears and wiping his mouth with the back of his hand the smear of red is clear under the street light.
"Where you runnin off to?" He sneers, only now he's looking behind me.
"Let her go and I'll take it easy on you." Aiden declares.
"I saw her first dog." My beau shouts back, right before he bares a set of rather long, sharp fangs.
"You're a vampire?" Well, shit. This just keeps getting better and better.
Also how the hell did Aiden expect to take four of them on, on his own?
"You like that princess?" One of the other asks, daring to hiss at us too. "Come to me. I promise I'll be gentle and-"
Hating him or not, I step back reaching for Aiden only he isn't there. In the second it takes me to look behind and then back at the vampires, he's shut the vampire up by snapping his neck. I need to go back inside. I should get help. Instead of cover my mouth and try not to scream as the other three lunge at him. Aiden seems to be prepared for it, bracing himself he punches on before kicking another. The one who kissed me comes next and with speed that I can barely see Aiden goes through all of them until they're just limp on the ground.
"What the hell?" I whisper before running over to him. In my mind it's to make sure he's okay, but I have no idea what I just saw or what else I should do."Are you-"
As cool and calm as ever, he doesn't hide his own fangs as he takes my hand and half drags, half carries me over to his car.
"We need to go before they wake up." He opens my door and I stumble inside.
I just.
What was.
He had fangs?
"I didn't kill them if that's what worrying you. They will wake up and they will probably be really pissed off and we don't want to be around for that." I think I'm nodding. "Are you alright?"
I think I am. "You? But they? And."
Maybe I'm not. I can't seem to make real words or sentences.
"We really need to talk." He tells me now and looking at him, I think he's right.
"Yeah, we do."