Obsessions (3 page)

Chapter 4

“Come on Zoey, get your butt moving. Give me fifty
more pull-ups,” London demanded from the gym floor. Sweat poured off Zoey as
she pulled her chin up to the bar. Her body had become firmer, and her muscles
were becoming bigger. She looked good and people were starting to notice,
including all the guys who were working out around them. Some blatantly stared
at her and others tried to be cool and act like they weren’t looking. Even the
coaches were glancing at her. She was a beautiful girl, but now that her
confidence had improved it was starting to show. She walked like she knew she
could whip someone’s butt, and had the cocky confidence to show it. London
loved it. She was a new Zoey.

When they started, Zoey would hang her head down
staring down at her feet as she walked, but now she walked with her head held
high and made eye contact with everyone. London would take Zoey to the mall on
Saturday when the mall was crammed full of people, and then she would have Zoey
make eye contact with people until they looked away from her. It worked after
about five trips and twenty gallons of ice cream. Finally, she realized that
she didn’t have to look them directly in the eyes, because she could look at
their nose or their forehead instead. It actually freaked people out because
Zoey got so good at it that people started avoiding her when they would see her
coming. That got Zoey’s attention, and it made her confidence level skyrocket.

London also taught Zoey all the self-defense she
knew. They both started attending Krav Maga classes so Zoey could experience
all the things that London had learned. It was good for her to be around others
who had been bullied. Krav Maga taught her to defeat attackers and deal with someone
who had knives and guns. It was raw, fast, and brutal techniques that would
help Zoey if Penny ever attacked her again.

Zoey was focused until the gym door opened and her
eyes landed on the person coming through them. London didn’t have to turn
around to know who it was.

“Well look at the little wolf working out. It won’t
help you, honey. You will still be the littlest Omega of the Malone Pack.
Always relying on big brother to take care of you and protect you because
itty-bitty sister can’t do it herself.” Penny’s friends all snickered at her
remarks.

“Keep your focus, Zo,” London instructed. Zoey
looked away from Penny and continued to pull her body up to the bar. London
could finally see the anger in her face. That was good. She could work with
anger, but fear wasn’t in her vocabulary.

Penny stepped forward toward Zoey when she realized
that she was being ignored. Her hands reached out for Zoey’s feet, but London
grabbed her arm and slung her against the gym wall. London’s hand was around
Penny’s neck as she leaned toward her. Penny looked shocked at how fast she was.

London couldn’t believe how her body was reacting.
She wanted to pound into this woman, and she ached to hit her right in the
mouth and hurt her.

Leaning closer, London whispered in her ear, “Now
you listen, and you listen good.” She could feel Penny’s body come alive under
her hand, almost like she could feel something moving. It was as if something
was alive under her skin. Her eyes widened when Penny’s eyes started to glow a
yellow color.

“You would be wise little human, to remove your hand
before—”

“What’s going on over here?”  London noticed that one
of the coaches was walking toward them.  She hated to let Penny go, but she
didn’t need to lose her scholarship for fighting.

“Nothing, Coach Warden,” London responded, smiling
as she carefully removed her hand from Penny’s neck, and then straightened
Penny’s shirt before stepping away from her.

“Good. What are you doing in here Sanders?”

Penny finally looked over at the coach. “Nothing,
Coach. The girls and I were just walking around trying to get some exercise.”

“Then get to walking and leave the gym.” Smiling, but
showing too much teeth, Penny motioned to her girls and walked out of the gym.

“Grey?”  London looked back over at Coach Warden.
“You watch your back with that one. She’s stronger than you think.”

London nodded before turning her attention back on
Zoey who had stopped working out. She was focused on the door that Penny and her
bitches left out of. The only difference this time was the look in her eyes. She
looked determined and didn’t show any fear. Her hands were down beside her as
she clenched them into fists. Her breathing had increased as her nostrils
flared.

London looked closer at her eyes and they were
glowing. “Your eyes...” Zoey raised her hands toward her face then turned around
so London couldn’t see them. “Zoey?” London whispered as she gently put her
hands on her shoulders trying to turn her around. Zoey shrugged her hands off. “How
do you do that? Are you okay?”

Zoey picked up her bag and ran out of the gym.
London ran after her but Zoey was too fast. She could tell that Zoey was headed
to the dorm so London jogged to catch up with her.

Random thoughts continued to go through London’s
head as she jogged to her room.
Why did the Coach say that Penny was
stronger than I thought? How would he know that? Everything surrounding Penny
and her bitches was odd. Was Zoey right? No…no she couldn’t be. I should have
told her to just show me. When she couldn’t, the lie could be dealt with.

Entering the dorm room, London watched as Zoey
inhaled a piece of pizza that was left over from the night before. Sitting on
the bed, London waited until Zoey looked at her. Finally, after eating a second
piece, Zoey looked up at her.

Her eyes were back to their beautiful blue color. “I
had to leave before my wolf surfaced.”

Rolling her eyes, London got up, went to the mini
refrigerator, and pulled out a bottle of water.

“You don’t believe me? Do you?” She really didn’t
think much about what Zoey had told her. Putting it out of her memory, London
worked on her self-esteem issues instead of the lie about being a werewolf. “I
thought you believed me.” Zoey started pacing again.

“Come on, Zoey. Really? You can stop the,
I’m-a-werewolf tales. You are a little old now for telling fibs.” Before London
knew it, she was flying through the air across the room. She landed with the
futon sofa breaking her fall.

Jumping up, London got mad as the water she had been
drinking hit the ground spilling all over the floor. “What the fuck?”

Then it hit her like a ton of bricks. Zoey had tossed
London across the room. It would have been almost impossible for a man to do
that. London wasn’t little by any means and that was a long way for any human. Looking
back and forth from Zoey to the couch, London’s mouth fell open, and she
focused on Zoey, whose eyes were glowing yellow again.

London couldn’t believe that small Zoey had tossed
her across the room like a sack of potatoes, and her breathing became erratic
as she realized that Zoey was telling the truth or she was on some powerful
steroids.

“Hell. Really? You were telling the truth. You…you
are really a werewolf?”

Zoey nodded then sat back down on the bed.

“Can you turn into a wolf?”  London whispered as she
sat down hard on the couch.

“Yes.”

London couldn’t stop herself. She had to see it to
truly believe that werewolves existed. “Show me.”

Tucking her feet under her, she watched Zoey take
all her clothes off. Then before she could ask how she would do it. Zoey
shifted into a black wolf.

“Ho…ly shit.”  London was up and off the couch in a
few seconds as she stared at Zoey’s wolf. She was beautiful but frightening
too. She had never been this up close and personal with a real wolf before.

The wolf walked closer when London jumped behind the
futon. “St-stay right there. You-you-sit. Just let me get used to this. Don’t
move.” Grabbing the side of the couch needing the support, London got down on
one knee and blew out the breath she had been holding.

“Shit…shit…I thought you were joking. I can’t
believe it, but you’re right there. I’m so sorry. I should have asked you to
show me before. I’m really sorry.” Zoey’s wolf appeared to be smiling. Turning
her head sideways, London shook her head. “Did you just smile at me?” The wolf
nodded her head.

“Can I touch you?” London watched as the wolf lay
down on the floor. Hesitantly, she walked around the couch and sat down. Slowly
she put her hand on the wolf’s fur then ran her hand up and down its back.

“Your fur is so soft. I’ve never been this close to
a wolf before. Your eyes are still blue, Zoey. I just never knew. I thought my
grandmother was crazy. The woman was telling me the truth.”

Zoey suddenly shifted back. “Ugg. A little notice
next time, please?” London said as she removed her hand from Zoey’s naked back.
“Does it hurt when you do that?”

“No it doesn’t now, but when I had my first change,
it hurt like a bitch.”

London smiled.  It was funny how comfortable they
were together. Here they were in their dorm room and one of them had just
turned into a wolf.

“Does everyone in your family turn into wolves and
howl at the moon.” London sat down Indian style on the floor quizzing her best
friend.

“We call it shifting or transforming, but to answer
your question, yes everyone in my family turns into a wolf. We don’t always
howl at the moon either.” London laughed so hard her stomach hurt.

“Wow. This is so strange. I can’t wrap my mind around
it. It’s incredible Zoey, but if we’re going to talk about families then maybe
you should get all your clothes on. You’re kinda freaking me out.”  Zoey and
London both cracked up laughing. “All of this is freaking me out Zo. This is
really hard to believe, I think I need a beer so it can sink in.  Never did I
think you were telling me the truth about being a werewolf.  Okay, let’s go eat
girl and you can tell me more.”

* * * *

Two beers and large spaghetti with meatballs later,
Zoey asked, “Tell me about your grandmother.”

Blowing out a long sigh, London explained how her
grandmother even looked like a witch with long blonde hair. “Well maybe it’s
not blonde now. It’s gray, straight, and long. She wears black a lot, too.”

Zoey laughed at her description.  “Does she have a
pointy hat and a broom she rides around on?”

“When I went to live with her, she dropped a huge
bomb on me. I was angry and mad at the world, but she said that I was a witch
and all of my ancestors had been witches. My parents were just killed and I
moved to a new city, my life was shattered. I called her crazy and refused to
talk about it.” London sighed.

“What if she was right and you are a witch too? Have
you ever seen her do any magic?” Zoey asked.

Taking a drink from her beer, London contemplated
how to describe her grandmother. “You know now that I think about it, she had a
lot of the town people coming to her for advice. She would always take them
into the back room. Money would always be left on the table. I asked her one time
what they wanted and she said a spell to cure something or to fight off the
blues. Again I thought she was just crazy. She always grew herbs and had little
bottles of strange looking stuff in them. One bottle looked like it had
marijuana in it, but I’ve only seen it in movies so I couldn’t be sure. It
looked real though, so who knows?”

“Maybe she is a real witch. You know we have them in
Alpha City. They’re considered advisors to the different packs.”

“Did you say Alpha City? What the hell kind of name
is that?”  London was intrigued now. It was as if she’d fallen down the rabbit
hole. Werewolves and witches really are real. What’s next? Vampires?  “This is
going to call for more beer.” London motioned for the waitress.

Chapter 5

Zoey began to speak, “Alpha City is a special city. 
A long, long time ago my great, great grandfather Jack Malone was the Alpha of
our pack, and he wanted to move them away from the cities to protect them from
humans. He packed them all up and went out across the United States to find
some land that would allow them to run freely without being hunted. At that
time, hunting was a way of life. People had to hunt to get meat to survive, and
sometimes they killed a wolf thinking it was a deer. Although, most of the time
they would just shoot when they heard a noise.

It was very dangerous for the pack, so Grandpa Jack
took the pack across the country to Georgia. They put all their money together
and purchased a lot of land, however, the man who sold him the land had also
sold it to the Banks Tigers, King Bears, Walsh Jaguars, and the Lynn Panthers. Let’s
just say that it gets very interesting when a bunch of wolves, tigers, bears,
jaguars and panthers are running around in the woods together. It was going to
turn into war because the old man sold them all the same land and put all their
names on the deed. By then he’d left town and they couldn’t find him. So, Jack
met with each of the Alpha’s and they came up with a solution.

The individual packs, sloths, and clans would remain
separate, but they would share the city, and their Alpha’s would come together
to form a city council. It’s been that way for hundreds of years and each time
an Alpha dies or steps down, the new Alpha for that group takes over the seat
on the Council. It’s been so successful that now other shifters want to move to
Alpha City and become part of the Council, but they decided when they started
that only the original Alpha family members would be on the Council and in
charge.

You see only a family member can be Alpha and sit on
the council. They did that to avoid war between the shifters that were too
power hungry and greedy. My brother, Ryder Malone, is the Alpha of my pack and
a member of the Council. The other Alpha’s are his best friends. Their fathers
were once the Alpha’s, each stepped down so their sons could rule the next
hundred years. These Alphas are special in many ways. I have known them forever
and they treat me like their little sister too.”

“Unbelievable. It must be hard to be around all
those males?” London replied. Even though, this was the strangest night of her
life, she felt connected in some way to what Zoey was telling her. Shifters
have been on this earth for a long time and nobody knew it. How nobody ever
guessed their secret was beyond her. Surely, with all the movies and books out
about shifters others had to know. It was too unreal to believe, so maybe that
made it easy for them to hide. She wanted Zoey to continue with her story
because she had loads of questions to ask.

“You wouldn’t believe how hard it’s been with that
many brothers watching over me. That’s the reason I don’t know how to fight.
Nobody in Alpha City had the nerve to approach me or be mean to me. I’ve been
smothered all my life. When I was accepted to attend Milton College, I jumped
at the chance to leave, and experience life without an older controlling
brother looking over my shoulder. It was an opportunity I had to take.”

London sat there with her mouth open. She’d had no
clue that werewolves really existed, but to also learn that there were bears,
tigers, jaguars, and panther shifters out in the world too was mindboggling.
How could this really be happening? How could they hide among the humans
without being caught? And they had a city. It was too much for her to grasp.
She needed more beer. Holding her hand up, London motioned for the waitress again.

“Are you okay, London? You look as pale as a ghost.”

“Umm…no…it’s just I never thought this was real
stuff. You’re telling me there is an actual city of shifters and you’re some
type of princess. It’s a lot to take in. Put yourself in my shoes. I mean this
is so crazy, Zoey.”

“Yeah, I understand that. It’s the reason I have no
other friends. People shy away from me. I understand, London, if you want me to
change rooms because this is freaking you out. I just thought you should know
and I…” Zoey picked up her beer taking a deep drink. She grabbed her
pocketbook, took out a hundred dollar bill, and left it on the table. She
started to get up when London came out of the fog.

“Where are you going? What do you mean change rooms?
I thought we were best friends, Zoey. I don’t care that you can, you know,
change, but give me a minute to process all this.” London knew she was a little
harsh on Zoey but this was a lot of information that until yesterday was only
in the movies; now she’d seen it with her own eyes. Everything had changed because
Zoey was a werewolf.

“Lesson number, well, whatever lesson we are on,
stop running from everything that doesn’t go your way, Zoey. You’re my best
friend and that’s not going to change. I don’t know what type of people you had
around you in the past but I’m not them. I’m not leaving our friendship behind
just because…” London leaned closer to Zoey and whispered, “Just because you
can shift into a wolf. I’m your friend, you nerd, and I’m here to stay. If you
are a true friend then you don’t leave the first sign of trouble.”

When Zoey smiled, London couldn’t stop the matching
smile that spread across her face. She had never met anyone like Zoey and she
was thankful for Penny Sanders, only when she threw Zoey’s stuff out of the
dorm room.
This allowed the two girls to get to know each other
and become best friends.

“London, thank you for understanding. I know how
crazy this is. I could have never got to senior year without you. You have been
my best friend and I can’t thank you enough for sticking by me.”

“Oh Zoey, you really are too much. Thick as thieves
that is what we are. Nobody will get between our friendship. Nobody!” London
patted Zoey’s hand. She looked after her best friend and she knew that if this
were reversed, Zoey Malone would be here for her in a second.

London sat there for a few minutes deep in thought
as Zoey drank her beer. She knew something was strange with Penny. She felt
something move under her skin and her eyes glowed. “That’s it.  Penny Sanders
is a werewolf too?” Zoey looked around to see if anyone was listening. Her face
turned serious.

“London you can’t say anything about that. I shouldn’t
have told you about me, but I thought you should know if something ever
happened. I broke about ten laws that keep us safe. Do you understand that
people would hunt us down if they knew we existed? You can never act like you
know what is going on. Penny is a wolf too, but she’s not in my pack. Her
brother wants to be on the council, he can’t, but that doesn’t stop him from
trying to finagle his way in. When I said they were a crazy pack, that is what
I really meant, but you can’t let on that you know, especially around Penny. I
know that she would stir up more trouble for my family. Our laws are what keep
us safe.”

“Don’t worry Zo. I wouldn’t give the spiteful
jealous bitch the satisfaction of having anything on you or me, and I wouldn’t
do anything to get you hurt. Now let’s drink one more beer then go home. All
this information has made me exhausted. Plus you have more to accomplish
tomorrow.” London explained then waved for the waitress to bring one more
round.