Relentless (10 page)

It was funny, now that I remembered it, that Roland had agreed to spend so much time with his cousins, especially Francis who was four years older than us. Roland and Francis had never gotten along and as far as I knew, they still didn’t. Francis didn’t like me and he never hid his feelings, which angered Roland. In fact, they had a huge fight – and I mean a bloody brawl – right before they started to hang out. We were at the farm when Francis came by and asked if I had a home to go to instead of always being underfoot. I would have told him where to go if Roland hadn’t punched him first. Next thing I knew, the two of them were tearing through Brendan’s cornfield, making a God awful racket like two wild dogs trying to kill each other. Then Peter’s father Maxwell showed up and roared at them until they slunk out of the damaged corn like scolded puppies.

My mouth fell open.
No!

Do you smell that my friends?

It’s no wonder you were attacked with nothing but a pair of pups to protect you.

A large furry body jumping to catch me…

“It can’t be.” My hand clutched the seatbelt that suddenly threatened to choke me.

Roland glanced over at me. “Sara?”

I would know, right? All the days, the hundreds – no thousands – of hours together, I would have seen some sign. It wasn’t like I was ignorant of the real world. Sure I’d never seen a werewolf in person until tonight, but a person would never be able to hide the obvious drawbacks of lycanthropy from people close to them. That’s why most werewolves are reclusive. Like vampires, they can’t touch silver, and it would be pretty hard to explain how you got second degree burns from a silver fork. And werewolves are predators, they have to hunt. They can’t live among humans unless they transform and hunt live animals at least once a month…

My hand flew up to cover my mouth. “Stop the car.”

“What’s wrong?” Roland asked in alarm.

“Stop the car!”

Peter leaned forward. “Dude, I think she’s going to hurl. Pull over.”

Roland let off the gas and eased the car over onto the shoulder in front of a dark field. As soon as the car stopped moving, I opened the door and ran to the fence where I bent over trying to suck air into my lungs. Behind me, I heard car doors open and leaves crunch as my friends came after me.

My best friends, the werewolves.

Roland spoke hesitantly. “Are you okay?”

The worry in his voice penetrated the ache in my chest. I took a deep breath but I couldn’t face them. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Tell you what?”

“I was in shock back there but my head is clear now.” I gripped the top fence rail and the rough wood dug into my palms. It was solid, more real than anything else tonight and I clung to it. The desperate words I had heard as I woke up came back to me.
I couldn’t reach her.
“It was you on the fire escape, wasn’t it Roland?”

Silence.

“Sara, I—“ Roland began weakly.

“Shit,” Peter muttered.

A breeze soughed through the trees and ruffled my hair, close by a small animal rooted through the underbrush. It was so dark and quiet here, and so calm compared to the city. I took a deep tremulous breath of the country air as I tried to think of what to say.

“Please don’t be afraid,” Roland said in a rush. “We would never hurt you.”

I turned to face them. “I know that, I’m not afraid of you. I’m upset because I had to wait for a vampire to attack me to find out the truth. And even then you tried to cover it up.”

I felt like a hypocrite as soon as the accusation spilled from my lips. I was yelling at my friends for keeping a secret from me when that’s exactly what I had been doing as long as I’d known them. My not-so-righteous indignation drained out of me and I sagged against the fence, cold and tired.

Roland walked toward me slowly. “I’m sorry,” he said softly, his voice heavy with regret. “We had to hide it from you. We were bound by our laws.”

“And when my dad lays down a law, no one disobeys,” Peter added earnestly. “We wanted to tell you but humans are not allowed to know about us.”

“Your father?”

Peter grimaced. “He’s the pack leader.”

Of course. Who else but Peter’s imposing father, Maxwell, would be alpha? “So both of your families, all your cousins, you’re all werewolves?”

“Yes,” Peter replied.

My breath came out in a whoosh.

“I know you’re upset but please hear us out before you hate us,” Roland implored.

“I could never hate you guys.” My voice cracked. “It’s just a lot to take in after…”

Roland reached for me but I put up a hand to keep him from trying to hug me again. Instead I took his warm hand in mine to let him know my feelings for him hadn’t changed. He was still the same Roland I knew an hour ago, nothing would change that.

“Guys, my dad is waiting for us and I bet he’s not alone. We should probably go.”

“Pete’s right.” Roland squeezed my hand. “You up for this?”

I nodded and we walked back to the car. The mood during the rest of the drive was subdued. Roland and Peter kept shifting restlessly like they wanted to talk but couldn’t. I had a ton of questions for them but it looked like I wasn’t going to get any answers until we saw Maxwell.

For the first time in my life, I was nervous about visiting the farm and I felt a stab of apprehension as we turned onto a narrow lane and I saw the large white farmhouse looming ahead. Every window was lit up and I saw Maxwell’s Jeep parked next to Brendan’s big Chevy pickup.

I rubbed my forehead as Roland pulled up behind the pickup and shut off the engine. He reached across the console to lay a hand on my arm. “You okay?”

“Yeah, it’s just been a long night. Guess we should get this over with.”

Peter leaned forward. “It’s not that bad… depending on how you look at it. I mean you just faced a couple of vampires. Can’t be as bad as that, right?”

“Pete, you’re not helping,” Roland said sharply.

A shadow appeared in one of the windows and I knew they were waiting for us to come in. I took a deep breath and reached for the door handle. Peter was right. I’d just survived a vampire attack. A pack of werewolves should be a piece of cake.

I followed Peter as he opened the front door and entered the house. The first person I saw in the archway to the living room was Maxwell. Tall and sinewy with a hardened face, graying reddish brown hair and beard, he watched us with a shuttered expression as we filed inside. As many years as I’d known Maxwell, I had never gotten used to his austere ways. Not that he had ever been mean to me. But he was the only person I’d ever met who could intimidate the heck out of me. Of course, knowing that he was the alpha of a werewolf pack put things in a bit more perspective. It took a tough person to fill that role.

Standing next to Maxwell was his younger brother Brendan. The two men were matched in height and had similar features but Brendan was stockier with receding hair and a rounder face that gave him a less severe appearance than his brother. The serious, contemplative look he gave us made me nervous and I almost turned and ran back out the door. I didn’t know if I could cope with another confrontation tonight.

Maxwell opened his mouth to speak but a woman’s voice cut him off. Roland’s mother, Judith, was tall and slender but still inches shorter than her son. They had the same dark brown hair and blue eyes, though at forty-five Judith’s hair was speckled with grey. I’d never met Roland’s father because he died when Roland was a baby but I always figured my friend had inherited his father’s size. He sure as hell didn’t get it from his mother.

“Not now, Max,” Judith said in a voice that brooked no argument. “Give the girl a few minutes.” She took my arm and led me to the stairs, calling over her shoulder, “Roland, go put the kettle on.”

I wasn’t used to having someone coddle and fuss over me, but it felt kind of nice to let Judith take charge. She bustled me up the stairs to the bathroom and told me to shower while she went to get me some fresh clothes.

After Judith closed the door behind her, I looked at myself in the mirror and gasped at the disheveled girl staring back with tangled hair, tearstained cheeks and a dirty ripped shirt that was spotted with dried blood. It was like looking at a stranger.

I tilted my head to the side to see the four small claw marks on the left side of my throat. My fingers went to my throat to touch the marks and a shudder passed through me as I remembered Eli’s hands on me. My stomach turned over suddenly and I retched violently in the toilet as hot tears streamed down my face.

I would have curled up in a ball right there on the floor if Judith hadn’t knocked softly on the door and roused me. “Are you alright, sweetheart?”

“Yes,” I called weakly. I flushed the toilet and grabbed some tissue to blow my nose. “I’m just getting in the shower.” I tore off my dirty clothes and left them in a pile on the floor then slipped under a blissfully hot stream of water. I stood there for a good five minutes letting the water cascade over me, soothing my aches and pains. It did little for the hurt inside me but that one would need some time. The water washed away a few more tears before I finally turned it off and stepped out.

A clean pair of jeans and a soft red sweater had been left on the vanity along with a steaming cup of tea that smelled like chamomile and peppermint. I sipped the tea gratefully while I dried myself and got dressed. Brendan’s daughter Lydia was away at college and I knew these must be some of her things because I had to roll up the legs and sleeves.

I toweled-dried my hair and combed out the tangles before I headed downstairs with the empty cup in my hand. At the bottom of the stairs, I heard Maxwell’s raised voice coming from the kitchen. “… can’t believe you took her to a club in Portland with everything going on,” he said harshly. “And how could you be so careless? Where was your training?”

“But you said yourself this week that they had moved on,” Roland protested.

“And we’ve been to the Attic loads of times. No one’s ever messed with us,” Peter chimed in. “We figured –”

“Of course no one messed with you!” Maxwell sounded even angrier if that was possible. “So you two idiots not only endangered Sara, you exposed us to a human.”

“But Dad she –”

“I won’t tell anyone about you.”

All conversation stopped when I walked into the kitchen. Judith sat at the table with Maxwell and Brendan and Roland leaned against the refrigerator. Peter stood by the back door looking liked he wanted a quick escape from his father’s wrath. I walked over to the sink, rinsed out the cup and laid it in the dish rack. Then I steeled myself and turned to face the room, aware that every pair of eyes in the room was watching me.

Judith pushed out the chair next to her. “Sara, why don’t you sit and we’ll talk. You must be pretty confused right now.”

“I’d rather stand if that’s okay.” I was amazed at how steady my voice sounded.

Maxwell cleared his throat but Judith laid a hand on his arm. She nodded at me and gave me an understanding smile. “We know you’ve been through a lot tonight so take all the time you need.”

I didn’t need time, I needed answers. Surprisingly, the first question on my lips was not the one I’d intended to ask. “Why did you let us become friends? Weren’t you afraid that I’d find out what you were, spending so much time here?”

It was Maxwell who answered. “There were some in the pack who thought it a bad idea, but if we are to live among humans we can’t shut ourselves off from people. And we have ways of concealing what we are.”

Apparently. Until tonight, I hadn’t the slightest clue that my friends were anything but human. I wondered about the people who’d been against my friendship with Roland and Peter and I knew I could name at least one of them. Francis had never hidden his dislike for me. Now I knew why.

“I know you guys go hunting once a month but Roland and Peter have only been doing that for a few years. Why didn’t they go when they were younger?”

Maxwell’s eyebrows shot up and he sent a scorching look at Roland and Peter. Peter raised his hands in defense. “We didn’t tell her anything, I swear.”

“It wasn’t them. I know werewolves have to hunt or… bad things can happen.” I glanced around at the faces showing various degrees of surprise.

“See, I told you. She
knows
things,” Peter piped in.

“How do you know this?” Maxwell asked.

“I –” How much could I tell them without giving away secrets I was not ready to share? I thought about what I was going to say before I continued. “I’ve seen things and I talk to people online.” At Maxwell’s look of disapproval, I said, “It’s mostly message boards but I do chat with some people. I’ve been doing it for a long time. I’m not sure if you guys know this but there are a lot of people, humans, who know about the real world. We just don’t go around telling everyone about it. Who would believe us, right?”

Maxwell’s scowl softened. “You said you’ve seen things. What kind of things?”

Oh you know: vampires, trolls, elementals.
“Um… imps.”

“Imps?” Judith repeated.

Her startled expression was so funny that I almost laughed for the first time since the attack. “Our building is infested with them.”