Silver (18 page)

I shrugged and pushed past his pack mates to
enter the bathroom before him. My instincts screamed for me not to
turn my back on him, and I had to remind myself that we had a
common enemy, he just didn’t know it yet. Whispers rose among his
pack members before the bathroom door even shut. Worry for Nikki,
Brock, and Mouse clouded my intentions, but Nikki was armed even
better than myself, and both Meg and Roger attested to her skill
with a firearm, yet another perk of being raised by werewolf
Hunters.

“
You’re supposed to be
dead,” Chet growled as I turned to face him. He leaned with his
back against the door in an effort to make me feel
trapped.

I leaned against the opposite wall, grateful
to take a little weight off my legs before they collapsed under me.
If he knew how close his statement came to the truth, he might
finish me off instead of talking. “It was a nice try,” I said
casually.

He frowned and pushed off the door, but I
held up a hand. “Hear me out. You owe me that much.”

He blew out his breath angrily, but leaned
against the door again. I took that to be a good sign.

“
There’s more going on here
than you know.”

He bristled and his eyes darkened. “I have
control of my pack, if that’s what you’re implying.”

I shook my head. “That much is obvious. They
definitely jump at your every command.” Before he could get any
angrier, I continued, “You tried to kill me, but I don’t think it
was really you who wanted me dead.”

“
I tried to kill Nikki,”
Chet countered, but his jaw twitched slightly at the statement as
though it was hard to say. “You just happened to get in the
way.”

I clenched my hands to keep from hitting
him. “Why would you try to kill either of us?”

His own hands balled into fists and he shook
with the attempt to control himself. “I found out her parents are
Hunters.”

I nodded. “I knew that, too, but that’s no
justification for trying to kill them.”

Chet’s eyes widened. “They kill werewolves,
and unless you’re okay with your pack members being slaughtered,
you’d fight back, too.”

My heart slowed and I met his eyes without
challenge. “What if I told you it wasn’t the Hunters behind some of
the werewolf deaths.” Chet’s jaw clenched, but he didn’t interrupt.
I pushed on. “Have you stopped to think about the fact that every
Alpha and older wolf in this pack has been killed in the last
couple of years?”

He shook his head. “I’m the only Alpha in
this pack.”

“
Now,” I said
quietly.

I watched him carefully. He studied me as he
thought. I could almost see his mental track as he went through his
parents, then the parents of his pack members, older siblings, and
any relatives with werewolf blood. The color washed from his face
and his glaring anger dissolved into shock. “What are you saying?”
he finally asked in a strangled voice.

“
I’m saying,” I replied
quietly, “Someone is systematically killing off anyone who could
stand in the way of gaining control of the pack.”

He took a step forward and I held up a hand.
“Not me,” I said firmly. “I had my own pack and I had to walk away
just like you’ll be forced to do if you want to save your life.
We’ve got to put a stop to this.”

Chet leaned back against the door, sliding
down until he sat on the bathroom floor. I eased down on the
opposite wall and stifled a sigh as my weary muscles relaxed. Chet
held his head in his hands; his black hair fell to hide his face. I
stayed quiet until he looked up at me. “Why would someone want my
pack?”

“
Not just your pack,” I
replied softly. “He wants every pack. As far as I can tell, he
wants control of all the werewolves.”

His eyes darkened. “Who?”

“
Mason.”

His hands clenched at the name; denial on
his face slowly washed to horror. He shook his head, opened his
mouth as if to argue, then closed it and rose to his feet. I kept
perfectly still, hoping I would have the energy to fight back if it
came to that. But he wasn’t looking at me. It was as if I no longer
existed in the tiny bathroom. A growl escaped Chet’s lips and he
grabbed the hand dryer and ripped it from the wall. He threw it
against the bathroom stall and it bounced to the floor, leaving a
big dent in the metal.

I chuckled.

Chet turned on me with a glare. “You want
some of this?” His eyes flashed with anger.

I shook my head. “No. Actually, I did the
same thing with that a few days ago. I was just wondering what the
janitor’s going to think when he comes in and finds it on the floor
again.”

Chet glared down at the hand dryer for a
moment, and looked at the dent in the stall and the hole in the
wall where a couple of forlorn wires poked out. He looked at me
again and breathed out his frustrations in a half sigh, half
chuckle. “You’re alright, Jaze.”

I let out a relieved laugh. “I tried to tell
you that when we first met, but for some reason you wouldn’t
listen.”

He slumped back to the floor against the
door. The implications of what he had just learned looked heavily
out of his eyes. “How do you know it’s Mason?”

I met his gaze, knowing my own was just as
haunted. “He’s my uncle and he killed my father.”

He stared at me for a minute, then nodded.
“You’re in deep.”

I let out a breath. “I’ve got to stop this.”
I glanced at him. “You’ve got to promise me you won’t try to take
him on alone. I know you feel like you have to protect your pack,
but he’s done all the damage he can do for now until he gets to
you. Going to him would be the last thing you should do.”

He frowned and I could see he didn’t like
being told what to do. It was an Alpha thing. “You’ve got a
plan?”
I nodded. “I’m going to organize the Hunters.”

His mouth fell open at my bluntness, and he
gave a dark chuckle. “You're bold.”

I nodded. “I’m not about to fight nice.”

He gave me an approving look. “I can respect
that.”

Chet pushed to his feet and offered me a
hand. I took it gingerly and he pulled me up. “We got you a little
worse than you’re letting on, didn’t we?”

I nodded and pulled up my shirt. Angry black
streaks ran from the knife wound across my stomach and the one in
my ribs. The wounds themselves had been sewn shut by Nikki’s
parents because they were healing so slowly. Meg would have
preferred to staple them, but I couldn’t take anymore metal in my
body. I had taken the bandages off that morning, worried the
werewolves would see their bulkiness and attack me when I was weak.
A slight trickle of blood ran from the one across my stomach. I
dropped my shirt back down.

Chet shook his head with a whistle. “Man,
remind me never to get on your bad side.”

I laughed wryly. “I was about to say the
same thing about you.”

He grinned and opened the door for me. We
both walked back out to the waiting pack.

Chapter 17

Brock, Mouse, Nikki and I walked to Nikki’s
house after school. There was an unspoken agreement that we would
stick together until things with Mason were resolved. Between the
confrontation with Chet, sitting in hard chairs all day, and the
walk home, I was ready to collapse. A surge of adrenaline ran
through my veins when I saw both of Nikki’s parents waiting for us
on her front porch.

Brock and Mouse waited politely at the edge
of the driveway, Mouse nervously eying the two Hunters as Nikki and
I approached.

“
How are you feeling,
dear?” Meg asked. The worry she felt reflected in her eyes as she
brushed the hair back from my face. Roger gave his daughter a
hug.

“
I’m fine. Things went well
at school today.” I said it casually, but they both knew what it
meant. Their daughter was safe, for now at least. Meg and Roger
exchanged a look of relief.

Roger cleared his throat. “You, uh, might
want to spend the night next door. There might be some disagreeable
people coming to visit, if you know what I mean.”

Nikki’s eyes widened. “You mean the Hunters
are coming tonight?”

Meg sighed. “We’re trying to be subtle,
darling. And yes, they’re coming tonight. We’re hoping to talk them
into meeting with Jaze tomorrow.”

“
Tomorrow!” Nikki looked at
me with a mixture of surprise and fear.

I shrugged. “I’d rather have it over with
sooner than later. We need to stop things quickly.” I was glad I
sounded confident despite the knot in my stomach at the thought of
meeting with a group of werewolf killing Hunters.

The worry in Nikki’s eyes was reflected on
her parents’ faces, but they nodded in agreement. I thanked them
and we headed back to the empty house that was supposed to be my
home. When I walked through the door, I felt only a rush of
bitterness at all that had brought me there. I stifled a sigh and
eased down on the thick carpet in the front room.

Brock flung himself on the couch, and Nikki
took the easy chair. Brock scooted to make room for Mouse, but the
werewolf merely shook his head and settled on the floor with his
back against the couch. He picked up a ball of tape left over from
unpacking boxes and began to toss it in the air.

After a couple of tosses, Brock leaned over
and caught it on the way down. “You’re really a werewolf?”

Mouse shrugged, but his cheeks reddened.

Brock shook his head in astonishment. “All
this time?”

Mouse gave a sheepish grin. “It’s not like I
suddenly became one overnight.”

“
I know,” Brock said, “It’s
just, you know.” He gestured vaguely with the ball.

“
Unexpected?” Nikki filled
in helpfully.

He nodded, then pointed at me. “And you
knew!”

I nodded. “That first day in the
lunchroom.”

“
And you didn’t say
anything?”

I tipped my head at Mouse. “He asked me not
to.”

“
When?” Brock asked. “I
didn’t hear anything.”

“
It wasn’t in so many
words,” I said. Brock shook his head again and fell
silent.

“
So, what do you want to
do?” he asked after a couple more minutes.

I tipped my head to look at Nikki and
smiled. “How about some street hockey?”

She stared at me in surprise. “There’s no
way you can play.”

“
Play?” Brock turned to
Mouse. “What are they talking about?”

“
No idea,” he replied with
a shrug. He looked at me questioningly.

I raised an eyebrow. “You mean you’ve never
been tempted to go out after curfew and see what rebellious kids do
when we’re bored?”

Mouse shook his head. “Hard enough avoiding
the pack during the day, let alone at night.”

I gave him a reassuring smile. “Don’t worry.
Chet and I have an agreement. We’ll be fine.” I glanced outside at
the slowly setting sun. “We just have to find something to do until
nightfall.”

Brock convinced us to play a card game he
called Spat after a lot of persuading. It was fast and required way
more energy than I had, so I eventually sat out and watched Nikki
school them and take all of their cards. By the time they were
done, Brock grudgingly gave Nikki the prized Twinkie they had
played for and I paced the floor, anxious to be out of the house. I
led the way through the back door and paused by the fence.

“
You’re going to rip your
stitches,” Nikki warned. “Mom’ll be upset.”

I grinned at her. “For some reason, that
just doesn’t scare me like it might have a few days ago.” I grabbed
the top of the fence and levered myself over. The stitches
definitely pulled and hurt, but seemed to hold just fine as I
dropped to the weeds and grass beyond.

“
Oh, just wait,” Nikki
warned. “You haven’t seen her angry.”

Brock laughed and jumped over after me with
Mouse close behind. Nikki shook her head and followed.

The toll of the day made me pace myself and
it was well beyond nightfall by the time we made it to the
abandoned mall parking lot.

“
Hold on,” Brock whispered.
He grabbed my arm. “There’s a security guard.”

“
It’s okay,” I said. I made
my way toward Mr. Sathing, glad to see he was back on
duty.

“
He’s a friend of ours,”
Nikki explained as the others followed reluctantly
behind.

“
You’re friends with a
parking lot patrolman?” Brock whispered. “What have you two been up
to?”

Nikki laughed quietly and hurried to catch
up.

“
Go home, it's not safe out
here,” Mr. Sathing called; his voice cracked slightly. He shined
his flashlight at us and the color returned to his cheeks. “Oh,
it’s you two. Haven’t I told you to be careful?”

I nodded and shook his hand. “Yes, sir.
Thank you again for the warning. We’re escorting these two students
so they don’t get into any trouble.”

Mr. Sathing’s brow creased thoughtfully and
he shone the flashlight at Brock and Mouse, studying them up and
down carefully as though storing them in his memory. He finally
nodded and turned back to me. “Good to see you’re being
responsible.”

Nikki flashed me a bewildered smile and I
knew she also wondered how sneaking out after curfew to hang out
with a bunch of other high school students would be considered
responsible, but I shrugged. “Sure thing. You take care of
yourself.”

“
You, too,” he
said.

We had walked about halfway across the
parking lot when he called my name. “Hey, Jaze?”

“
Be right back,” I said to
the others.