Marked (The Pack) (32 page)

She walked over to the table, the last rays of the sun glinting on her red hair, and sat down. Folding her hands together, she closed her eyes. I looked at Myles, but neither of us spoke. For five minutes we sat in silence with only the laughter and shouts from the younger children floating across the air. Finally, Brynna stood and returned to her chair next to us.

“Tomorrow at one in the morning they’ll sound the Gjallerhorn over in the field through the woods, the one near the swamp. As the werewolves come, they’ll hold them and inject them with the anti-viral followed by the memory block. When they return to human form they’ll clothe them and take them home. Or at least as near to their home as they can get them. Then it’ll be done.”

Myles nodded while I looked from one to the other. “On what planet is any of that supposed to make sense?”

“This one.”

I glared at Brynna. “You know I don’t know what any of that means. It’s not fair. Gjalle… who? Memory block? Come on, you can’t tell me that stuff and not explain it.”

Brynna sighed. “Oh, alright. The Gjallerhorn is from ancient times, far back in our history. Different packs have them. It’s a huge horn and they’ve been passed down for generations through pack members. Only a few exist. They’re used to call meetings and gatherings. The werewolves instinctively respond when they hear it.”

“Even the viral ones.”

“Yes, them too.”

“But won’t they know it’s some kind of trap?”

“No, they won’t know. Besides, many if not all of them don’t want what’s been done to them. Remember, they didn’t ask to be made werewolves. It was forced on them. We’re giving them their normal life back. They weren’t meant to be werewolves.”

“But what if they want to be?”

“We can’t allow it. They kill innocent people. They’re not in control and don’t learn how to be a werewolf.”

“I see the point. So they hear the horn and automatically come.”

“It’s ingrained into us as werewolves to respond. The Lycernians, like you, will hear the horn and want to come, but you will have to resist the urge. Viral werewolves haven’t learned to resist any urges, so they’ll come.”

“What’s the memory block?”

“It’s a drug that keeps them from remembering anything about ever being a werewolf or about getting captured and injected. They wake up at home in clothes that aren’t theirs yet they never really figure out what happened. Then life goes on as normal.”

I sat quietly for a moment. “What if Fenryrians come?”

“Oh, they will.” Myles joined in.

“And they’ll get the anti-viral.”

“Yep, but it won’t change them. They’ll stay in wolf form. They’ll either leave or there will be a fight.”

“So, all the viral werewolves will be in wolf form and then all the Lycernians will be in human form?

“No, we’ll have some people in wolf form to help capture and hold those who need to be injected. Others in human form will give the injections.”

Closing my eyes for a moment I tried to picture the scene in my head, but it was beyond what I could imagine, even with all I’d seen this summer.

The door to the kitchen opened. A woman came onto the deck and called to her child who came running from the yard.

“Guess that’s it then.” Myles got up and went inside while Brynna went to get Bailey. I stayed in my chair for a few minutes then went to help Louise begin the clean up. I had imagined I’d be bored to tears here this summer. Now I was beginning to wonder if Chicago would be boring when I returned home.

Chapter Thirty-Two

The day of the calling for the virus had been hot and uneventful until late that evening when a thundering noise sent Louise and I racing onto the front porch. Eric was in the front drive astride a huge motorcycle, smiling. For a few seconds I couldn’t catch my breath.

“I came to see if you wanted to go for ride on my motorcycle,” he shouted across the yard, then swung a leg over the bike and took off his helmet. He removed the straps from a second one he’d attached behind the seat and waved it at me.

“I brought one for you.” He placed it on the seat and started across the yard to the porch.

I glanced at Louise who groaned. “Please Aunt Louise, can I go?”

“You know how dangerous it could be for you to be out. It’ll be dark soon.” She hissed quietly as Eric came up the steps.

“Hi, Ms. Miller, I promise to be safe if you’ll let Alexis go.”

I ground my teeth waiting. I felt Louise’s hand firm on my back.

“It’ll be dark soon, Eric. I’m just afraid people in cars might not see you and you might get hit,” Louise lied convincingly.

“I understand. We’ll ride to town and get ice cream, then come straight back. How’s that?”

“To the ice cream shop?”

“Yes ma’am and we’ll come right back.”

I tried to make my eyes as pleading as I possibly could.

Louise nodded and I had to struggle to keep from jumping up and down. She caught my wrist as Eric bounded down the steps.

“To the ice cream shop and directly back here. You’ll be safe there, but no detours.”

I nodded and raced down the steps. Eric handed me the helmet. I jammed it on my head and adjusted the buckle then swung on the motorcycle behind him. He gunned the engine which had to have rattled the windows of the house, then took off. I flung my arms around him as my body flew backwards with the momentum of bike. The trees passed in a blur while beneath my hands I could feel the beat of Eric’s heart. Once we’d turned onto the main road that led to town, he briefly covered my hands with one of his. I buried my face in his back and inhaled the scent of him, special, different from any I’d ever known. I wanted to ride forever, but we were at the ice cream shop in what seemed like seconds. We sat there for a moment after he brought the bike to a stop and killed the engine.

“It was too short.” I whispered over his shoulder.

“I know.”

I slid off so he could get his leg over and stand beside me. He put his helmet on the seat then took mine and placed it there too. With one hand on each side of my head, he ran his fingers through the roots of my hair.

“Helmet hair,” he said with a wink.

“Oh, no. Do I have to wear it again?”

“Well, legally no, but I bet your aunt wouldn’t like it if you didn’t have one.”

“I know she’s so peculiar and strict.” I said following him inside.

“Nah, she’s just worried about you, that’s all.”

He glanced back at me as he stopped in front of the counter. “Split a banana split?”

I laughed. “That’s good.”

Behind the counter John winked at me as he scooped up the ice cream then poured on toppings. I grabbed two plastic spoons and followed Eric to a booth at the back. Sitting facing each other, our knees bumping beneath the table, we spooned ice cream in silence. Then Eric reached across with a napkin and wiped at something on my chin.

“Chocolate sauce,” he stated then added in a rush, “I’ll miss you when you go home.”

My heart twisted. I’d been thinking the same thing. “I’ll miss you too. I wish it could be different somehow.”

“Yeah, but I guess your aunt will be leaving soon.”

“I guess so. She’s not going to live here.”

He tapped his spoon on the edge of the cup. “I’ve been thinking that I could come to visit in Chicago maybe in a month or two. Do you think that would be okay?” Beneath the table he sandwiched my legs between his and squeezed them together.

“I think that would be much more than okay.” I knew I sounded breathless because I was having a hard time breathing, but I couldn’t seem to care that much about how I sounded.

“Good. I’ve already saved some money. I mentioned it to my dad the other day.”

“What did he say?”

“I think he was kind of expecting it. You don’t think your mom or stepdad will mind?”

“No, I’m sure they’ll be fine with it. Your parents are okay with the fact that you aren’t going to date Channing? You said before your parents and hers really wanted you two to date.”

He looked away, seeming to study the trees outside the window of our booth. Finally he shook his head. “They’ll have to accept it.”

“Does that mean they’re going to hate me?”

“No, they’ll just need some time to get used to the idea.”

“But your dad agreed for you to come and visit me.”

“I told him I was. He doesn’t have to agree or disagree.”

I didn’t like the idea that Eric’s parents were against our being together and that they wanted him to be with Channing. If they only knew what she was, they wouldn’t think that. But after tonight she’d be just another girl and I’d be the freak.

“Don’t let it bother you. It’ll work out.”

I nodded but didn’t answer.

He shoved the mostly eaten ice cream from between us and took my hands in his. “Sticky stuff.” He took my index finger and licked at the sticky spot, making me shiver. “Let’s get out of here.”

Before either of us could move, the bell over the door jangled. I looked up to see Channing, Jana and Celina enter and step to the counter. Channing’s eyes found me almost immediately. When Eric turned to see what had caught my attention, Channing saw him and her face became thunderous. Celina and Jana spotted us but seemed oblivious. Jana waved and Celina even smiled. The memory block must have worked on her because she didn’t seem to remember the other night.

“Don’t worry about them. We can get up and leave.”

I followed Eric as he stood. He caught my hand holding it tightly as we walked toward the front. Behind the counter John scooped ice cream for Jana, but I could see the tension in him. The muscles in his arm bulged much larger than would have been necessary to collect a scoop of Rocky Road. Eric waved at the three but didn’t speak as we hurried to the motorcycle.

“Don’t let her get to you,” he said. “She may have liked me and our parents may have wanted to see us together, but I never agreed to it or went along with it in any way. She’s spoiled and thinks she’s supposed to get everything she wants.”

I climbed on the bike behind him. He couldn’t imagine what all had transpired this summer that had little or nothing to do with him and everything to do with me and the other three girls. We roared away and I looked behind me to see John stiffly scooping ice cream and Channing watching us until we disappeared from sight. I crushed myself behind Eric. He reached down to run his hand along my leg. Then he twisted the gas on the handlebar and we raced past Louise’s drive.

“Where are you going?” I shouted.

“Just down past the cemetery, then we’ll turn back. We won’t go far. I promise.”

“It’ll be dark soon.” I felt a knot in the pit of my stomach and realized suddenly that I sounded like Louise. I knew now why she’d been so overbearing when I first came. I’d had no idea what was around me and what I was part of.

“We’ll get back before dark.”

The sun had already dipped below the trees and the light was waning when he stopped at the cemetery.

“This place is hundreds of years old, you know,” he said, half twisting to see me.

“Yeah, my mom talked about it the first day I came here.” A day that seemed a million years ago. I searched among the headstones nervously. Long shadows fell beneath the live oaks. Was that something moving? No, wait, no it wasn’t or was it? I couldn’t be sure. A car passed with its lights on and I knew I was in trouble.

“We have to go back now. My aunt won’t like it.”

He turned to look at the car going down the road. “You’re right. It’s later than I realized. I promise I’ll take all the flak. I’ll tell her you were ready to come home, but I kept going.”

“Let’s just go. Maybe she won’t say anything.”

The deafening noise of the engine began about the same time I spotted the headlights. The car appeared to be gray, but it was hard to tell in the near dark with the lights in my eyes.

“Go!” I shouted at Eric. He gassed the motorcycle not paying any attention to the car and we squealed onto the road. The lights approaching us seemed to be coming faster and faster. The car was nearly on us. My body was tense while in front of me Eric was relaxed. I knew what was coming, even though it hadn’t happened yet. With that thought, the car veered toward us. Eric jerked the motorcycle.

“Oh no, Alexis!” He shouted.

To me, the car seemed to come in slow motion, the corner taking out the front wheel of the motorcycle. Eric flew through the air and bounced against the windshield of the car disappearing on the other side. I flipped head over heels in the air and crashed to the ground. The motorcycle, still in the air above me, began its descent. I jerked and rolled just before the handlebar drove into the ground inches from my head. Then, there was silence.

But they were coming, I knew it. I rolled to my feet, faster than I thought possible. I saw them, starting down the embankment where I’d landed. They started running, then leapt in unison and transformed. They all three hit me at once. I clasped my arms around the neck of one, twisted, heard a cry and flung the wolf away and immediately grabbed another. Teeth closed on my leg and I kicked it hard, then harder. The wolf flew through the air. I struggled with the third wolf as I saw one of the others get to its feet. It leapt and I steeled myself for the attack.