Any inkling of hope I had comes crashing down in that moment. I will never get to see my mom again. I feel bitterness slice through me and I know just who to blame. “It’s all your fault,” I say before I even realize I am talking.
Hurt flashes across her face before she regains control and says, “I realize you probably hate m–”
“HATE YOU?” I scream, noticing her flinch at my sudden outburst. “I could kill you for what you did to me! You ruined my life!”
“I’m sorry Sam,” she says as tears start forming in the corners of her eyes.
I stare at her incredulously. I can’t believe she is trying to make me feel bad. She ruined my life, not the other way around. “Stop that,” I say. “You don’t get to cry. You’re not the one whose life got ripped from them. You are the one who did this to me. If anyone gets to cry, it should be me. You don’t see me crying, do you? No, you don’t. So just stop.”
She sniffs and wipes away the tears. “You have no right to talk to me like that,” she says.
“I have every right to talk to you like that!” I yell back. I notice that she is getting frustrated because she stands up and starts to pace. “Look,” I say, “you are the one who made me this way. Don’t like it? Well tough, ‘cause you can’t go back now.” The look on her face tells me that I have completely stunned her.
“I never said that I don’t like it,” she says.
“You never had to,” I reply.
“Listen to us,” she says. “We sound like an old married couple.” She starts giggling.
I know the look on my face tells her I think she is nuts because all of a sudden she stops. “Are you really laughing about this?” I ask.
“Well if you think about it,” Kristen says, “it is kind of funny.”
As I start thinking about it, I realize it is kind of funny, and I start chuckling. “Yeah,” I say, “I guess it is.” Suddenly, I hear laughing. “Where is that coming from?” I ask.
She gives me a puzzled look. “Where is what coming from Sam?” she asks.
“Don’t you hear that?” I ask.
“Sam, what in the world are you talking about?” she inquires.
“I hear laughing,” I say. “I think it’s coming from outside.” I can hear the laughing coming closer to the house and I walk towards a window to try to see who it is.
“I hear it now,” she says. “It’s nothing to worry about Sam. It’s just the pack getting back from hunting.”
Looking out the window, I see a rather small group of people of varying ages. Some are definitely teenagers while others could be in their late 40s to their early 50s. Curious, I turn to Kristen and ask, “How many of you guys are there?”
Unsure of what I mean, she asks, “The pack or the general population?”
“In your pack,” I clarify. “I only saw about eight or nine people out there.”
“Well,” she says, “counting me and Peter, there are eleven of us. Counting you, that makes twelve.”
“Twelve?” I ask incredulously. “Are other packs as small as yours?”
Kristen looks at me with sad eyes and says, “Yes. I already told you that we are a dying breed. That is why I am trying to change as many people as I can. With another alpha, we just might have a chance at saving this pack.”
“What makes you think I am going to change anybody into this?” I ask.
Before she can answer, the group of people comes stomping in through the front door. They all stop laughing as soon as they see me. One young man who seems to be about my age looks at Kristen and asks, “Who the heck is this?”
“My name,” I say, not giving her a chance to respond, “is Sam Strider.”
The boy looks at me and says, “I wasn’t talking to you. I was talking to Kristen. So Kristen, who is this?”
“This,” Kristen says, “is the newest member of the pack. As he said before, his name is Sam. Sam, this is Robert. Robert Kingsley. He is my second in command.”
Robert glances at me and frowns. “Why didn’t you tell us that you were changing somebody?” he asks.
“Because,” she says, “it wasn’t planned. It just happened. Besides, this one’s special.”
“And what makes him so special?” he asks.
Cutting into the conversation, I say, “Because she thinks I’m an alpha.”
“Is that so?” he asks laughing. He turns to Kristen and asks, “And what makes you think that?”
“Because,” she responds, “in all my life, I have never seen a new shape shifter control his change the way Sam does. The only thing that could explain it is that he is an alpha.”
A girl who looks about fourteen or fifteen steps forward and says, “I don’t understand Kristen. You’ve never done something like this before.”
“I know AJ,” she responds. “I know I screwed up, but there is just something about him. I don’t know what it is, but I feel like we need him.”
An older man who looks to be about 50 steps forward and says, “This is more than just a screw up Kristen. You should know better than this. Your father raised you to be a responsible alpha.”
Hurt flashes across her face as she says, “Yeah, and you know where following the rules got my dad? Dead. And all he left behind was a dwindling species. Something needs to change Tim. Besides, I should have had a mate two years ago. You know I can’t mate with anybody besides another alpha.”
“Why are you guys talking like I’m not standing right in front of you?” I ask.
Kristen turns to me and says, “Sorry, Sam. How about we start with introducing everybody?”
“That would be nice,” I reply.
“Well,” she says, “You already met Peter and Robert. Next is AJ Reed.”
The younger girl from before steps forward and says, “It’s nice to meet you, Sam.” She sticks out her hand for me to shake.
I grasp her hand and reply, “It’s nice to meet you too AJ.”
Kristen gestures to a young man and says, “And this is her twin Toby. AJ and Toby are the youngest members of the pack.” Toby gives a little wave but doesn’t say anything. Kristen continues on by saying, “Next is Tim and Angie Gibson and their son James. All three of them were part of this pack when my father was still alive.”
Tim steps forward and says, “I must have sounded so rude earlier, and I apologize for that. However, it is nice to see a new face as part of the pack. We haven’t had any new faces since AJ and Toby were turned.”
“Wait a second,” I say as I turn towards AJ and Toby. “You two were turned? When? How long have you been shape shifters?”
“Yes, and almost three years ago. We were eleven at the time,” responds AJ.
“Why were you two turned at such a young age?” I inquire.
“Because,” she says sadly, “we were dying. Both Toby and I were diagnosed with leukemia. Our parents were spending all their money on treatments. Eventually, we had to be hospitalized. Mom and Dad visited us every day, except one day they didn’t show. The doctors told us our parents had stopped paying the hospital bills and that social services had been contacted. That’s when Kristen found us.”
“I knew that changing them could save their lives,” says Kristen. “They were dying, their parents had abandoned them, and they had nowhere else to go. I knew I couldn’t leave them all alone, so I packed their bags and brought them with me. After telling them what would happen if they decided to go through with it, they both agreed that living life as a shape shifter was better than no life at all.”
“So the change heals people who are dying?” I ask.
“It’s not an exact science,” says Kristen, “but basically, yes. Not everyone survives the change itself. It can be rather taxing on the body.”
“Yeah, no kidding,” I say, remembering the pain I felt just three days ago.
“Continuing on,” Kristen says as she gestures to another girl, “this is Amelia Butler. She is my oldest and most trusted friend. If you can trust anyone, it’s her.”
Amelia steps forward with her hand out and says, “It’s nice to meet you Sam, and you can call me Amy.”
“It’s nice to meet you too, Amy,” I respond as I shake her hand firmly. I turn to Kristen and wait for her to continue introducing others.
As if catching onto my cue, she says, “Next is Daniel. Daniel Crow.”
A young man nods his head and says, “Nice to meet you man.”
“Nice to meet you too,” I responds. I turn to Kristen and look at her expectantly.
“Last but not least,” Kristen says, “is my little brother Adam.”
“That must be you,” I say to the last person in the group to be identified. “I can definitely see the resemblance.” I notice that he is rather tall, standing at least six foot two inches.
“I can’t believe you,” says Robert, seemingly out of nowhere. “I can’t believe you would do something like this to us.” As soon as he finishes his sentence, he storms out of the house and into the woods.