Chapter two
“So!” Mr. Landsin exclaimed, slamming a dusty old book down on his desk, and peering at us over his tiny glasses. The smell wafted back and reached my nose, stirring the air around me despite the fact that I was three rows back and behind aisles of smelly teenagers.
“What can you tell me about the last chapter we read? Anyone? No? What a shame.” The teacher shook his head with an evil grin.
I smelled sweat bead on the foreheads of kids that cared, heard grunts of disinterest from those who cared less, and silence from the rest. Except one.
“Jeez! Who cares that we don’t like this book? Doesn’t anyone try and pay attention? Bunch of…” her voice trailed off under the glares of her peers and she inhaled deeply.
I turned to see a girl beside me with brown hair tinted red that hung down her back in a simple braid, neat except the few stray strands that fluttered around her face. It was almost as long as mine. Her face was small, with a strong yet feminine jaw line and a small pointed nose. She was pretty for a human. And she was practically reading my mind with her comment. I felt a strange compulsion to talk to her.
“Honestly?” I whispered, leaning in and hoping it was loud enough for her ears to catch. “No amount of beating will get this bunch to care.”
She turned and smiled, and it was beautiful. She reminded me of my kind, but I couldn’t forget that she wasn’t. “No,” she whispered back. Her eyes were a little too large, like everyone in my pack’s eyes were, and a brilliant green flecked with blue.
“That’s great!” Mr. Landsin said cheerfully, coming around to sit on the front of his desk. “No one has any idea what’s going on?”
A guy with bad acne and crooked teeth turned to glare at the girl beside me. “Why don’t you speak up, Miss know-it-all?”
She shrunk back in her seat a little. “Well…I…um, see I don’t like talking in front of…people.” She shrugged, gaining a little confidence back and said, “Besides, I don’t count for the whole class.”
Mr. Landsin cleared his throat to get the attention back on himself. He reminded me of Zena that way. “Miss Pentra is right. She does not count for the entire class. Therefore, how about we reread it, hm? No complaints, it’s your own fault. Teach you all a lesson.” Mr. Landsin smiled cruelly. I curled my fingers in anger, wishing they were claws.
Mr. Landsin began reading and slowly, the annoying sound of his voice faded, and I was able to tune out the rest of class. I focused on thinking about the odd girl beside me. Why did she make me so curious? I felt I wanted to know her, which was wrong on my part. I mean, I was allowed to have human friends, but they never lasted. They never related well to werewolf kind and avoided us without knowing our secret. I didn’t want to imagine the outcome if they did know my secret. My pack’s secret. Would it be like in the books and movies, the human freaking out? Or would it be different, depending on the person? I turned just the slightest bit and peeked at her through the curtain of my hair.
Her green eyes were staring right at me.
I jumped, something out of my character, and looked back down at my journal.
I wasn’t sure of total human rules—etiquette—even though I’d lived among them all my life, outside of my home. Would this strange, pretty, human girl be my friend? Would I know how to act around her? How did I ask to be her friend? Was it hard? In my pack, we were all connected, no matter how much we despised each other. The social rules in a pack were so much easier to understand. Boundaries were clear and everyone was sure of their place. So how did this other world of rules, a world that still claimed me, work?
I continued to rant and contemplate in my head the rest of class. Getting more and more frustrated every second. By the time I had decided to just blow it off, thinking that I’d said all of ten words to the girl, the bell rang.
It took ten seconds for the room to clear. Lunch time. The only one who stayed was the girl. She was shoving a book into her bag, but it wouldn’t fit. She kept shoving until it wrinkled horribly and settled at the top. She sighed in frustration, unknitting her brow, and turned to look at me.
“So…who do you eat with?” she asked looking nervous, but not like she was going anywhere.
Mr. Landsin grunted at us, “Go to lunch.”
My pack, I thought shooting a murderous glare at Mr. Landsin’s turned head. I had the urge to tell her the truth, but what good would it do for her to kill me?
“My, um, cousin and friend who moved here with me.” I said, and seeing her about to ask, I added: “Our families travel together. Some weird pact our parents made when they were young.” I laughed to hide discomfort. I sure hoped I was doing this right.
She nodded as we headed into the herd of swarming teenagers all plowing their way to the lunch, running like they were starved. “So your not alone.” She said as if it didn’t surprise her. “I figured. So your okay? You have someone to eat with?”
What was she getting at? Did she wanted me to eat with her? She almost sounded…concerned. How odd. Why should this human girl be worried about my welfare?
“Nah, not at all. I’m always with someone.” I said, thinking of the unity of a pack, but also how quickly it could fall apart. I shook my head.
“Oh, sorry.” She sighed.
I raised an eyebrow, “Sorry?”
“Well…I just know you’ve been here…what? A few weeks? I guess it’s kinda late, but I just didn’t want you to eat alone. I can’t imagine being knew at this place.” She threw a disgusted look at the people around us. “This place sucks. I hate it. I mean, I have my friends, but…” she looked forward with sadness. “I want to—“ she shook her head “I want something new.”
I nodded in agreement and considered her view point. What would it be like to be a human that didn’t feel…human? As werewolf kind, we had slang for the three types of breeds. Humans were pure-breds, werewolves were full-breds, and half-human/half-werewolves were half-breds. She didn’t seem to fit the human mold, but that was just my first impression. I looked at this pure-bred girl and suddenly felt pity for her.
“Yeah, I don’t much like this place either. But since I just moved, I just got new so…” I shrugged and smiled, trying to make her feel better. She returned the smile, though her eyes were more blue now, and something was off about them.
We walked in silence to the cafeteria where I saw Zena and Antony waiting for me, casually leaning against the far wall beside the restrooms. They both appraised me, then turned warily to the girl walking so close to me. I smiled at them and nonchalantly shook my head no.
“Um, so I guess you wanna…” the girl mumbled, not looking at me, but around, like she was looking for someone to approach us.
I took a chance. “Actually, I’d like to sit with you.” I bit my lip, praying to the sky that I wasn’t making any mistakes.
The girl glowed. “Really? Cool!” she clapped then froze to look at me apologetically. “Uhhhh, yeah. Let’s go sit.”
I laughed and followed her outside, feeling the stares of Zena and Antony burning holes into my back. She led me to an unoccupied bench and sat. My stomach growled. I realized I was hungry, but one sniff of that cafeteria food and my stomach took off running without leaving a note.
She looked at me like she just realized something. “Do you wanna get food? We left without getting anything.”
I almost laughed. How do you keep reading my mind? Eat this school crap? Nooooo, thank you. Stuff’s worse than tofu turkey. “Ew, no way! Save me the stomach ache please. That food shouldn’t be served to any animal—person” I said, blushing at the end because of my slip up.
“Oh, good.’’ She sighed in relief. “Their food does not add class to the place.”
I knew Zena and Antony would be waiting for me to come and explain. If not, they would come for me. So without sitting yet, I popped my knuckles and said, “Um, since I’m sitting with you, I’d better let my cousin and friend know. I’ll be right back.”
She looked a little skeptical. I wondered why. I’d made myself clear that I wanted to be there, but needed to leave. Hadn’t I? I shrugged and walked back inside the building.
Zena and Antony were no longer in sight, and a quick scan of the cafeteria didn’t reveal them. I decided to go by the restrooms where I’d last seen them and pick up their scent, hopefully not covered with human scent yet. As I was walking I caught a whiff of canine behind me.
“Not so fast,” a voice trying to be deep said. A hand clamped down on my shoulder. I turned to see Antony glaring at me. He was only two inches taller than my 5’5 with dark brown hair and eyes. He was buff, with battle scars and bruises like everyone in the pack had from fights.
“Yeah, why you ditchin’ us for a pure-bred?” Zena demanded, coming up beside me so I was blocked by them in the front and left and blocked by the wall in the back and right.
Crap. Well, it was none of their business.
A few freshman sitting at a table close to us watched for a minute, then looked away when I scowled at them.
“You two have each other. Don’t need me. And since your such wonderful company, I really regret my decision to make a new friend.” I said bitterly, turning my scowl to them. Anger pulsed through me. My natural instinct for control making my blood boil under my skin. For a second I was afraid I might change, but focused on Marshall’s instructions.
“Just breathe deeply four times until you feel better. If that doesn’t work remove yourself from the situation.” It didn’t work. A tremor rocked my spine. Antony looked surprised.
“Sheesh, Kara. Chill out. Just wondering what’s going on.”
I scooted along the cool wall behind my back until they weren’t blocking me anymore. “I’m sitting with a new friend. That’s all you need to know.”
With that, I sauntered off and headed back out to the bench. The girl—I realized I only knew her last name—was sitting alone on the bench and chewing a fingernail. She looked relieved when I came to sit beside her.
“So who do you usually eat—sit with?” I asked, my anger melting unusually quick.
She frowned, “No one. My friends don’t have this lunch. I mostly wander.”
I smiled, “Hmmm,”
“Where’d you move from, Kara?” she asked, my name falling uncertainly from her lips.
I racked my brain for a clue to her name. Something with an A…. “Um, Oregon. Uh, I hope this isn’t rude but what’s your name?”
She blinked, then burst out laughing. “Rude? No! My name is Ayden.” She held out her hand and beamed at me.
I shook it firmly, remembering the feel of paws, and comparing the difference with mine to hers. Hers was rougher than I would’ve thought.
“Well Ayden, I think this could be the start of a wonderful friendship.”
○ ○ ○ ○
When I got home that afternoon I wasn’t surprised to hear Vincent fighting Marshall—my dad—in my backyard. I ran up to my room, flung my backpack onto the wooden floor, then ran to the kitchen where I found Luna—my mom.
“Hey, mom.” I greeted her as she peeled some potatoes.
She turned, pushing her long sleeves up to her elbows, and smiled. “Hey, honey. Jeez it’s like looking into a mirror you look just like me.”
It was true. I had the same jet black hair that waved down to my waist and same intense ice blue eyes that freaked humans out. Just like how Finn looked exactly like Marshall. Both had short light brown hair and forest green eyes that were almost too kind and mischievous.
“Ow!” Vincent growled from outside. I snorted. Luna and I looked out the window to see Marshall pulling Vincent into a headlock. Both were still human.
“Give up, pup?” Marshall asked, breathless.
Vincent struggled then choked, “Yeah, sure.”
Marshall let him go and waved at us. Luna blew him a kiss and sighed.
“Vincent is getting more aggressive now that he’s older. What is he? Nineteen? Yep. Isaac is increasingly worried.” Luna muttered, too low for them to hear outside.
I snorted, “Him and Antony keep challenging me. I just want to rip both their throats out.”
“Kara!” Luna yelled in mock anger. She winked and we both laughed.
“I heard that!” Vincent yelled.
“Great!” I called back.
My front door creaked open and Finn and Marion—Antony’s mom—walked into the kitchen. Marion studied me for a moment. “My son still bugging you, mija?” she asked in her thick Spanish accent.
“Oh, you know,” I waved a hand dismissively. I didn’t want her to feel guilty.
Marion looked me over again then frowned, pacing while muttering in Spanish under her breath.
“Kara, come outside! I believe I have something to prove to you.” Vincent laughed.
I smiled. I would love nothing more than to go outside.
“Oh, boy,” Luna muttered.
Everyone followed me to the backyard. The air smelled mossy and thick. Oak trees and weeping willows covered the massive amount of land. Night was approaching slowly as the sun started to dip behind the hills and city beyond my house.
Marshall shook his body, flinging his hair around, like a dog and rubbed his hands on his jeans. He looked up at me and smiled, then went to kiss Luna. I looked away and to Vincent.
Vincent shuddered and headed to the cover of the woods at the fringe of my backyard, apparently planning doing this in a different form.
Just then a piercing familiar howl ripped into the air and tore into my body, shaking my frame. It hit home with the deep tones of it.
Marshall cleared his throat. “That’s Isaac. Better hurry. He didn’t sound patient.”
There was the sound of clothes dropping to the ground then he ran past me, a blur of flesh and fur.
The rest of us followed suite. We had always been comfortable with getting naked to transform. It was natural. But I wasn’t liking the way some of the men were eyeing me lately. Especially Isaac. It made me remember that I was fifteen, my birthday in a month, and sixteen was our maturing age.
Everyone was in mid-phase when I stripped my clothing off and laid it in the bushes. I couldn’t see anyone else, but I could hear them close. I was itching to get out of my skin.
Isaac sent another howl carrying through the trees. I wondered what was so important. We hadn’t had much trouble since we moved here.
Please don’t be something that involves humans and knowing our secret. I don’t wanna move again. I took a deep breath and shivered as it began.
I reached for that peaceful warm spot deep inside my stomach and let it spread like hot liquid steel through out my body. I tensed my thighs and curved forward as I willed the hot liquid on. It traveled thickly through my limbs. It stung like venom at first, but that quickly subsided and it turned bitter sweet as it spread. First it traveled up to my racing heart and through my arms, reaching my fingertips with a pop. I groaned as the pain extended into my ever growing claws and gasped. My jaw relaxed in expectation and it felt as if the bones melted to shift into my true self. My mind felt like it filled with the carbonate of the sweetest kind of wine and I tasted something indescribable on my tongue as my mind expanded and opened.
Then it shot straight down through my spine and vibrated excruciatingly to my toes and I shuddered violently as a big beautiful beast tore out of my chest and my skin dissolved; revealing furry broad shoulders, an elegant wolf face, and a thick multicolored fur coat in its place.
I growled a mangling sound that was almost completely wolf as my jaw cracked into a muzzle, completing the transformation.
I whimpered a little as the pain receded then fell forward on all fours and let out a low snort of relief at the freedom and power I felt like this. I widened my eyes that were much more sensitive in this body and hitched my spine to make sure it was strong.
I walked forward a little and stretched my long hind legs and twitched my wide ears that gave us the only obvious distinction from our cousin, canis lupus. I breathed in the hardy scent of my pack close around me in the trees and dug furrows in the dirt as I trotted up to stand beside Finn.
Kara, Finn greeted me, his voice an echo in my mind. As wolves, we had the ability to speak in each others minds, like talking aloud. We had to be close to hear each other and had to try really hard for it to work. It was something we were taught as pups.
Finn, I nodded. My brother was large, now that he was twenty-one, but only very recently had I started exceeding him. I was about half an inch taller than he was now, but he still beat me in the broad department. I was more slender, like a runner, which fit since I was the fastest runner in the pack. Finn had a mostly gray body, with a tinge of red along the spine and paws. He looked more like Luna as a wolf than he did Marshall.
Let’s go you two! Marshall ordered, coming up behind me and snipping my tail. I growled involuntarily at him and pulled back my muzzle. Marshall took the same stance then relaxed a little. All right that’s enough Kara. Isaac’s waiting.
He was right of course, Isaac would not be happy for the delay. Unless we had a real reason, he would probably slash a few cuts into our pelts. It was only his job, being the alpha and all. And it angered me to the core.
Marshall and Luna took off together towards a little clearing we had discovered and dubbed the meeting place, Vincent after them, then Marion, Finn, then me. I tilted my ears outward to catch the sound of other pack members running to meet up. There were thirteen of us in all. Isaac the alpha, Marshall the beta, Jack and Brent—the brothers, Serena—the only unclaimed female in the pack—, Farrah—Zena’s mom—, Zena, Marion, Antony, Vincent, Luna, Finn, and me. Not too big, just the right size.
I embraced the feel of the wind as it blew passed me and the unfamiliar smell of oak trees in this state. It overtook me with its heady scent.
My hind legs pushed me two yards each leap, my fore legs tearing through the air with speed. My claws tore up clods of dirt and grass as I easily pushed myself ahead of the others. Marshall snorted at me approvingly as I passed, Vincent snarled. The scent of the rest of the pack grew closer as I sprinted through the woods. I reached Isaac, Jack, Brent, and Serena first, followed by the rest.
Serena—a sandy colored wolf—eyed Brent appreciatively and went to sit a little too close to him. He grinned at her, pulling his brown muzzle back in a tight smile.
Wonder what that’s about? Luna asked me, cocking her head at Serena.
I shrugged, Looks like she may have found a mate.
Isaac growled as we formed an uneven oval around his huge black body that gave him the power that made him alpha of this pack for fifteen years and counting. He used to have his mate, Mariah, but a lone wolf killed her when I was only nine. She had been an unkind Queen anyway.
Not everyone was here. Farrah, Zena, and Antony were missing. Isaac looked very displeased with this.
Where are they?! He snarled then tilted his muzzle to the darkening sky and let out another meaningful howl.
Coming! Came the distant yell then a howl from Farrah. We all waited in silence as we listened to the padding of three more wolves running towards us as fast as they could. A few seconds later the three missing entered the clearing and completed the pack.
Isaac pulled his muzzle back, growled, then stood up completely as we reformed a circle around him.
We marked our territory the second we moved here, no other pack—or lone wolf unless suicidal—would dare violate that without first awaiting Tor’s blessing. Not even a wild wolf pack would cross into a marked territory. But Vincent has alerted me to a scent of three other werewolves near our border. They have yet to cross it, and yet to tell us of their presence. You all know how averse I am to violence unless necessary, and this is one of those times. I feel it may be necessary to seek them out soon, to find why they are here and not telling us so. That time has not arrived, but I will let you know the second it has. Until then, keep your eyes, ears, and snouts alert for any others.
The whole pack barked in agreement.
Who would dare taunt us this way? Who could it be? My unclaimed alpha rights burned in my blood.
Isaac looked at me. Now to address the three brats around here. His tone was kind and teasing, and his violet eyes never left my face while he spoke.
Antony crouched down a little beside Vincent. Antony was about as big as Finn, but his muscles were unused, so also untrained to work for him. Vincent was as broad as Finn, but taller than me by about an inch and a half. Isaac was only three inches taller than me. So we pretty much dominated the way-too-large category. But it was necessary to be huge when you needed to run a pack.
Marion ran up to her son and snapped her teeth at his snout.
Where were you? Why didn’t you come home after school? Were you stalking humans again?! Antony I swear to— She kept yelling, but I stopped understanding. The rest of her rant flew off in Spanish.
Isaac snarled at her to be quiet and ordered Antony, Vincent, and I to sit in front of him. We did as told—me fuming at the power radiating from Isaac’s pelt—and Isaac towered over us as he talked.
You three still fighting? I bet. From what I’ve heard it’s getting worse between Kara and Antony. I’m thinking this will need to be decided soon. I growled. It was involuntary. I just didn’t like the tone of being ordered when it was in my blood to do the ordering. Granted, he wasn’t really ordering me at that moment, but the power was still there. Isaac stared at me for a long time, then dismissed everyone and trotted off to talk to Marshall.
Antony was dragged off by Marion, Brent ran off with Serena, Jack with Farrah, and the rest just mulled around. Vincent grinned and looked at me.
Kara? Shall we pick up where we left off?
Let’s go, I rolled my shoulders and stood three feet from his red frame as he growled at me. He often reminded me, as did a few others in the pack, of a Russian wolf.
Kara, Isaac warned.
That set my veins on fire. I was allowed to fight! He couldn’t stop me. But I slumped down, pretending to be defeated, until Vincent let his guard down. Then I lunged.
Vincent reacted quicker than I expected.
He swung one great paw at my face and the force of it threw me sideways. I jumped up faster than he had been and snapped my teeth inches from his throat. We jumped back, as was the wolf’s natural way, but then lunged for each other immediately. Our yelps and snarls filled the heated air as we circled and repeatedly launched at each other. It was tied even until I managed to tackle him, successfully exposing his soft unyielding belly.
No! He growled, uselessly trying to get back up from under me. We rolled and struggled, Vincent getting my face a few times, then my teeth touched his throat and my paw pinned his stomach, our packs symbol for the end of a fight.
I won.
Gotcha, I thought at him and rolled off.
Isaac glared—surprisingly—at Vincent, even though I’d been the one to disobey. That had been happening a lot lately. I didn’t like the way it made me feel.
Home, now! Marshall ordered at me.
I threw a kick at Vincent then took off for my hidden clothes. I heard soft footfalls of the others behind me.
When I reached my clothes I took a deep breath and tried to calm my raw nerves, so I could be human again. The change back to human was always the most regretful, so therefore took a little bit longer. It was like phasing into wolf, only reversed. Like you put it on rewind. The beautiful wolf that hid under my skin was sucked back in beneath my pores.
On average, it took us about fifteen seconds to almost completely morph into a wolf. That was if it was close to a full moon. Now don’t get all excited, ‘cause we aren’t like Hollywood’s version of bloodthirsty monsters, it’s just that closer to a full moon, is closer to the hunt. Normal wolves howled at the full moon then hunted as a ritual, and so did we. So closer to a full moon, meant closer to a hunt, which meant easier change. It was that simple. For a change far away from a full moon, it took about twenty to twenty-five seconds to almost completely morph.
But back to human? Now that took about twenty to thirty seconds no matter what. Closer to a full moon, we usually stayed wolf the whole night because not being wolf was so painful. Or when we were angry, it took longer. The fury gene was hardwired to the wolf gene, I suppose.
So at that moment, I was pissed, but calming down. It took me I’d guess about…forty-five seconds before I was human enough to put clothes on and walk upright into my kitchen. I sighed sadly as I watched the gorgeous fur recede back under my soft smooth weak skin.
In my kitchen, I waited at the table, tapping my fingers against the table so loud I annoyed myself. I was suddenly aware of the fighting aches I had in my body. Vincent had managed to do some damage. While no one was around, I let out a tiny groan of pain, letting it hold all my frustration and anger, then quieted myself. No on would know I wasn’t as strong as I seemed.
Footsteps thudded across the grass in my backyard, heading to the back door. Luna, Marshall, and Finn walked in first. Zena, Vincent, and Isaac were right behind them.
I was happy to see a puckering line of red on Vincent’s bare shoulder, but he grinned at me too, so I knew he’d messed up my face somehow. Luna left the room briefly then came back to wipe blood off my left cheek. I cringed as she wiped.
“Mom, it’s fine.” I said.
She gritted her teeth but backed off. My face felt sticky and my left cheek throbbed a little.
“I should rip a chunk from your throat for disobeying me like that, Kara.” Isaac said, venom in his voice as he stepped around Zena to glare at me. Somehow, it seemed fake. Like he was just scolding me because it would reflect bad on him as leader if he didn’t. Regardless, it still managed to ignite the fire inside me.
“You shouldn’t blame me for something I can barely control, Isaac.” My voice, on the other hand, dripped real acid.
Let me clarify something. You see, I didn’t really hate Isaac. It wasn’t him I was upset with. He was a fantastic leader and excellent man. I looked up to him, because he was the alpha. I was really angry at myself. I hated not being in control of my emotions. But, usually, I’m very uncontrolled when it comes to my emotions so being angry was pretty useless. Plus, the unclaimed alpha rights in my blood didn’t help the let’s-not-get-our-throat-ripped-out-by-Isaac policy either.
Isaac curled his lip, but backed off. Yeah, run away jerk.
Luna turned to frown at everyone else. “I think it’s best that those who don’t live here, leave.” Her voice was so serious and stern that no one argued. They filed out, including Isaac, with grins on their faces.
Once they were gone, Marshall lashed out at me. “I know perfectly well you didn’t need to yell at Isaac like that Kara! What were you thinking, arguing with him? He can kill you if he has right! You know damn good and well that tonight’s fight with Vincent was completely unnecessary.”
“Oh, really? I don’t remember you ever telling me that fighting with those two pups was ‘unnecessary’ when you trained me to become an alpha!” I screamed, “Your policy was: ‘If they ask, attack. If not, still kill.’! I mean, when, all of the sudden, did you decide that you liked Vincent better?!” My breathing was too fast—faster than normal, anyway—and my hands were sweating as my nails elongated into claws.
Luna looked scared as her husband, an ex-alpha-now-beta, faced off with her fiery-tempered-potential-alpha daughter. Marshall snarled at me and purple flooded his eyes. When we were wolves, the millimeter thick violet ring around our irises spread so our entire iris was purple. It let me know how truly angry he was.
“You cannot tell me I like those two boys. I gave up my damn right as alpha to train you! And you throw it in my face that I would like them more than my own daughter. I think not, Kara. But I do not want to see you tooth to claw with Isaac.” Marshall was calmer now, he stood beside the door, next to Luna.
“Oh, sure, okay. Don’t have to tell me why, Marshall. You don’t think I could win.” The pain in my voice surprised me. It hurt that my own dad didn’t have faith in me, even after he spent the first ten years of my life training me to fight the Fang Challenge and how to be a good leader. But after Mariah’s death, he stopped. Something changed, but he never told anyone—that I was aware of—why. I tried not to think about it.
“Kara…” Marshall looked incredulous. Like he was out of his element fighting me verbally, instead of as a wolf, trying to tear chunks from my pelt.
“Screw you,” I spit, putting every ounce of hate I could muster—it was a lot, let me tell you—into my glare. Oh, all you pure-breds out there think fighting with your parents sucks? Well try it as a werewolf fighting for top rank. It’ll make you run for cover.
Marshall threw his hands up in the air, “Oh, sweet moon! Just leave, Kara. I need to go talk to Isaac.”
“Gladly,” I whispered and sped off with a tight smile at Luna, then straight for my room. I had no clue where Finn had gone to. My fight with Marshall had distracted me so I hadn’t seen him leave.
I stood with my back to my open door, staring ahead out my window across from me. My bed sat in front of me, but I just stood. It wasn’t long before I heard Finn stealthily creeping up behind me, his familiar scent making me positive it was him. He stopped at my doorway and leaned against the frame. I watched his reflection in the window then turned to face him.
I wasn’t sure what my face looked like. From inside I felt sad and angry. But outside, it felt numb. Blank.
Finn looked like he was waiting for me to say something. His expression was impassive, as if he didn’t care. But I knew better. Finn always cared about me. He was anyone’s dream older brother.
“I just love the privacy around here.” I said, my voice cheering me up a bit because it sounded exactly as I had wanted. Strong and sarcastic. I made sure now, letting the numbness wear off, that my face was contorted into a perfect smirk.
Finn chuckled, his face warming as he assessed the mood I was in. He was cautious, protecting himself before he confronted me. It’s one of the things that made him so amazing. He waited to open up to me until I established the mood.
“Should have closed the door then lil’ sis’. Now,” he strode over to my bed and waited till I was seated next to his enormous six-foot-two broad shouldered frame. When I was, looking ridiculously small at five-five, he continued. “What’s this I hear about you eating lunch with a pure-bred today?”
I was so relieved he hadn’t asked me about the alpha crap going on I actually smiled. For real.
“Well, you see, I met this girl named Ayden in my English class. She’s really nice and there’s something about her that’s not so…human. It’s really weird and bugged me the entire lunch. I had to sit with her. It was a compulsion. I don’t know why.” I said.
No one else would I have admitted this to. Only Finn.
He sighed as he thought about it. “Okay…so…say this ‘Ayden’ becomes your friend. You two hang out. Have great fun. But then she realizes you’re a little different and decides to stop talking to you….” His brown eyes, with the pupil slightly too tall and skinny, like that of a cats eyes almost, with the millimeter thick violet ring around his iris, the eyes of every werewolf, suddenly became sympathetic.
“I know, I know. Don’t look at me like that. But I have a feeling she’s just different, Finn.”
Finn continued to give me sympathetic eyes. And what he was saying sunk in.
Oh, God! How stupid was I to think I could be friends with this human girl? No matter how ‘different’ she seemed. I didn’t even know her. She was likely to ignore me from now on. This sudden realization depressed me even more.
“Well…maybe she is…” he said doubtfully, “But let’s not get to hopeful, all right sweetie? I don’t want to have to kick human girl ass. But I would, ya know. For you.” Finn winked and smiled wide at me. Just like Marshall would have, if we ever talked again, I’d like to see my dad smile like that. Finn looked me up and down, making sure I wouldn’t bolt, then wrapped me in his warm brotherly embrace.
“Yeah, I know you would, Finn. The thing is? I’d have ‘em cowering under a table before you even arrived.”
We both cracked up laughing, and I released the tension in my chest as I held on to my brother.
The relationships are very well done, and I like how each character interacts to Kara in their own way (Issac, her father, her brother). It really feels like you’ve been working hard on this story, and that you have great plans for it. I’ll keep reading whatever you post, so when you write something new, send me a PM! Thanks for the great read 
