Wolfsbane (Howl #3) (3 page)

Her mom gasped. “When . . .
when did you get that?” Her voice was shaky, and Samara knew it was because her mom didn’t approve of tattoos.

“It wasn’t by choice. It happened when I turned into a werewolf,” Samara explained. “We all have tattoos. It helps other werewolves identify what pack we’re on. See how my tattoo is blue? It’s because my pack’s color is blue.” She decided not to explain
that
her tattoo
was bigger than everyone else’s
because she was Alpha; this was probably more than enough information for her parents to take in right now.

Mrs. McKinley opened her mouth to say something, but she quickly closed it. Hesitantly, she asked, “W
hy isn’t
your brother a werewolf? If this is something that’s in your genes?”

Samara searched for the right words to say. She was relieved that she could finally tell her parents the truth about Seth, but it would also mean that they would know that she had kept yet another secret from them. “Seth
is
a werewolf. We’re in different packs. That’s why he moved out.”

“What?” Mr. McKinley eyes flashed with a look that Samara couldn’t identify. Anger or pain, maybe . . .
“How is
that possible,
that the two of you could be in opposing packs? You’re family.”

Her mom
had a dumbfounded look on her face.
Ignoring that her husband had spoken, she asked
“Why haven’t I met any of the people—werewolves,
I mean,
on this pack?”

“You know some of them already,”
Samara shr
ugged at her mom. “Kyle’s on my pack and his friend, Josh. You’ve also met Luke before. He’s on my pack. Actually, he’s my mate.”

“Your mate?” her dad
asked. “What does
that
mean?” Samara thought her dad had warmed up to Luke, but by the look on his face, she wasn’t so sure if he had, after all.

“It doesn’t mean much. Just that we’re meant to be together. I like to think of it as being soul mates, personally,” Samara replied quietly.

“Well, I think that’s nice,” her mom said, a
trace of a
smile on her face. “Luke is such a gentleman! If you must have a mate, I’m glad that it’s not one of those boys who
get
into trouble all the time.”

Samara grinned at her mom
before turning to
her dad. “Seth and I are
on different packs because I chose to be an Ima. He’s a Vyka, like Grandpa Joe was.”

“Why would you choose to be on a different pack from your brother?” Mrs. McKinley asked incredulously, and the tone in her v
oice reminded Samara of when Samara
had announced that she was going to learn how to ski. At the time, her mother had asked, “
Wouldn’t you rather learn how
to snowboard like your brother?”

“It’s a long story, but the Alpha of the Vyka and I don’t get along,” Samara replied, looking down at the floor. She wasn’t sure how much she was allowed to tell her parents about the werewolf world. She knew that most of her pack members talked openly about everything with their parents, but most of their parents were werewolves, too. Since Samara’s parents weren’t
werewolves, did it make things different for them? She wasn’t about to say anything else until she found out for sure.

“When did Seth become a werewolf?”
her dad asked, his forehead wrinkled in confusion.

Samara shrugged. “I don’t know when exactly. People start changing when they’re six
teen, so around then, I guess. I think h
e found his pack around the time he moved out.”

Her mom
narrowed her eyes. “Seth moving out has to do with him finding his pack?”

“Not exactly,” Samara replied, looking away from her mother. “He moved out because we’re supposed to be enemies now that we’re on opposing packs.” She paused, thinking
about the events of that night—when
her brother had gone against his own pack member, Ethan, to save Luke. “I don’t know if we really are enemies, though.”

When she looked back up, her mom was w
ringing her hands nervously. “I . . .
we were going to tell you today that we’re going on that cruise to the Bahamas. You know, the one that Kyle told us Rae and Billy are going on in a few weeks. We couldn’t get on the same cruise, but there was vacancy on an earlier one.” Mrs. McKinley’s forehead wrinkled, as she turned to Samara’s dad. “Maybe we shou
ld just reschedule
with all of this going on
.
I don’t want to leave Samara home alone in the middle of this.
”

Mr. McKinley turned to Samara. “What do you think
, kiddo
? Can you hold down the fort here
for a week
, or should we reschedule our cruise?”

As Samara opened her mouth to respond, her mother interrupted. “I already spoke to Rae. She said Samara can stay at their house for the week. I told you that already.”

“That’s right,” Mr. McKinley muttered under his breath. “There’s just been so much going on since last n
ight that I forgot about that.”

“Quite understandable,” Mrs. McKinley commented. “I think we should just cancel it. It would have been nice for us to get away, especially before we bring the puppy home
and we get wrapped up in potty training
, but . . . I think it’s best for Samara
—and Seth—if we just stay put.”

“You’re bringing home the puppy?” Samara asked. She had nearly forgotten than her mom had been planning on getting a Yorkshire Terrier. Her mom had decided to get a new dog shortly after Seth had left. Samara was pretty sure it was because her mom was lonely, which made her feel bad to admit that it really wasn’t the right time to get a new puppy. Not when a puppy
might smell
so delicious
to her while
she was in wolf form.

Samara did have
a lot of
control over her actions when she was in wolf form, but there were certain things she just couldn’t change
. . .
like the fact that the scent of animals triggered a hunger within her, or that she was drawn to Luke (or that s
he would have been drawn to Declan
before their bond had been broken when she’d decided to become an Ima).

Mrs. McKinley nodded from across the room. “Yes, we were supposed to bring her home in two weeks once we got back from the cruise. I suppose we can pick her up ear
lier now that we’re not going.”

“Mom, it’s okay. You can go on the cruise,” Samara insisted. She felt bad that her mom was even questioning whether they should go on this vacation because of her. With all of the stress that her mother
and father
had been under
recently
because
of Seth, it would just make Samara feel bad if they
wouldn’t be able to go.

“Are you sure?” Her mom studied her face.

“I’m fine,” Samara replied. “I’ve been dealing with this on my own for a while
now, and everything’s been okay . . .
for the most part.” She wasn’t about to mention that she’d witnessed Lilly’s death and
that she
knew who had killed her . . . or that she
, herself,
had killed Ethan.

Samara had already decided that she wasn’t going to bea
t herself up over killing Ethan,
or allow herself to grieve over his death. When she’d killed him, she hadn’t had a choice
in the matter
; he was going to kill her brother if she hadn’t gotten to him first. Still, she hated keeping it a secret from her parents
; it was too much for her to handle on her own
.

“I don’t see why we can’t go,” Mr. McKinley spoke up. “It’s probably good for us to get away.”

“I agree with Dad,” Samara chimed in. “Don’t let this ruin your vacation. Go. Have fun. I’ll feel horrible if you stay here
and miss out on it
.”

Mrs. McKinley nodded hesitantly. “Okay, we’ll go. But I want you to let your Aunt Rae know if
anything
goes wrong while we’re gone. She’ll need to get in touch with us if something bad happens.”

“I will. I promise,” Samara agreed. She just hoped that she wasn’t lying.

Chapter 4

It was only early November,
but the Jackson family’s
house wa
s lit up like a Christmas tree on Sunday night.
As
Samara climbed out of Luke’s car, she noted that the house had been decorated with even more Christmas
lights
of varying colors. There was a huge Christmas wreath attached to the front door, and decals of angels were pressed against the windows. The house was much decorative than the last time Samara had been there.

She followed Luke straight to the backyard, where they found the rest of the pack and Colby’s mom, Linda, roasting hot dogs and hamburgers around a campfire. Since they were all werewolves, they craved meat
like it was going out of style—including
Samara, who had been a vegetarian before she had been changed.

As Samara sat down on one of the cushioned lawn chairs, she noticed that all of the guys were donning t-shirts. She raised an eyebrow at them as she hugged her
pea coat
closer to her. “Aren’t you guys cold at all?”

Luke laughed. “You won’t need a coat soon either once your body adjusts to the change,” he reminded her. “I don’t know why it hasn’t yet.”

“It’s because she’s a girl,” Linda spoke up. Her blonde curly hair, which looked just like Colby’s but longer, was up in a high ponytail. Colby’s mom had a certain charm about her—but Samara couldn’t decide if it was her
friendly
twinkling turquoise eyes, which were identical to her son’s, or if it was just that she was so motherly and down to earth.

“It took me longer to adjust to my new body temperature when I became a wolf,” Linda explained, handing Samara a hamburger on a bun. “I think it has something to do with the hormones in our bodies. You s
hould start feeling comfortable . . . in all of your forms . . .
very soon.”

Samara nodded, as she bit into the hamburger on her plate. “I guess that makes sense.”

“So, did Luke tell you
why we’re
all here tonight
?” Colby asked, eyeing her from across the fire.

Samara shook her head. Luke hadn’t told her the reason they’d
come
here
,
just that the pack needed to talk to her. She had been under the assumption that he didn’t
know the reason they were here
either.

“We need to figure out what to do about Jason,” Colby explained.

“Well, I don’t think we should try to outsmart him again,” Samara started to sa
y, but Colby interrupted her. She appreciated tha
t although Colby was no longer A
lpha, he still stepped in to help her when she needed
him to because she was still getting the hang of everything.

“There’s no way we can try to outsmart him right now,” he said slowly. “Jason’s gone.”

“What do you mean he’s
gone
?” Samara asked incredulously.
“Like, gone for good?”

“He skipped town,” Chris
spoke up, his mouth full of hot dog and ketchup. He gulped
it all down in one swallow, a
nd added, “We don’t know where he went, but it doesn’t look like he’s coming back
here
anytime soon.”

“How do we know that for sure?” Luke asked. “He could come back. He
should
come back. He could get in a lot of trouble for truancy if he doesn’t.”

Steve laughed from across the fire, his dark dreadlocks bouncing against his mocha-colored skin. “D
ude, no. You think Jason cares about school? He’
s not gonna show his face around here for a while. I heard from Henry.”

“Henry?” Samara raised her eyebrows.

“Henry’s my cousin,” Steve explained. “He broke away from the Ima pack to start his own pack in Massachusetts. It’s a long ass story, but Jason’s older brother, James, is a part of his pack.”
His brown eyes were filled with worry from across the fire. “Henry told me that Jason’s headed up that way. James thinks Jason went away so he has more time to plot a
gainst us before we attack him.”

As the fire crackled, Luke reached over and grabbed Samara’s hand. He gave it a small squeeze.
I won’t let Jason do anything to hurt you
, he told her privately.

Samara
glanced over at him and
smiled before breaking the silence that had taken over the group. “So, what are you saying exactly? That we need to go to Massachusetts if we want to catch Jason
off guard?”

“Precisely,” Colby replied, meeting he
r eyes. “How soon can we leave?”

*

Samara stuffed a lacy tank top inside her duffle bag and went over her mental checklist to make sure that she had everyth
ing they were going to need while
they were in Massachusetts. They were planning to leave first thing in the morning, shortly after
her parents
left for their
cruise. It was
perfect that things had worked out this way; since her parents were going away that week, she didn’t need to tell them where she was going. Samara knew that if they found out, they’d do everything they could to try to stop her.

Kyle had told Rae that they were going to Massachusetts to find Jason. Samara’s aunt hadn’t been happy about it, mostly because she was afraid that they would get into some type of trouble whil
e they were gone, but she promised that she wouldn’t
tell Samara’s parents when they called to check up on her. She would tell them that Samara was at ski club or with Luke or in the shower, and to call her cell phone if they wanted to speak to her.

“And this just in, there has been another death reported in Grandview. The victim has been identified as a sixteen year old boy,” a newscaster said on the television. “His body was found off of Route 90 near Summit Park. His name will not be released until his family has been notified.
It is suspected that he may have been attacked by a wild animal.
”

Samara sighed, knowing that the report was about Ethan. At least hi
s family would be notified now.

She didn’t have time to worry about what had happened to Ethan. She felt sorry for his family, but at least they would
have some sort of closure, knowing
what
had
happened to him. It could’ve been the other way aro
und if she hadn’t stepped in;
her own parents could be
finding out about Seth’s death or maybe even her own depending on how things played out.

She had to focus all of her attention on finding Jason . . . and killing him. She only hoped that Jason would be the last wolf she’d
have to kill for a long while.

The loud sound of her cell phone ringing interrupted her thoughts. Rising to her feet, she grabbed it from her nightstand. It was Emma.

“Emma? Is everything okay?” Samara asked into the phone.

“If you can even use the term okay to describe my new, crazy messed up life, then yes, I guess so,” Emma replied sarcastically.

“I know what you mean,” Samara muttered. She’d had a feeling that her best friend was going to be a little more dramatic over changing into a wolf than she had been when she first turned since, well, Emma was a drama q
ueen over practically everything.

“
I found my pack already,” Emma said quietly.

“Jason
came to see you?” Samara glanced
out the window nervously. What if Henry was
wrong
and Jason really wasn’t in Massachusetts at all? What if he was here—as close as the woods behind her house—waiting to attack her and the rest of the Ima when they were least expecting it? The idea s
ent goose bumps down her spine.

“No, thank God,” Emma replied. “Actually, as it turns out, I’m not a Vyka.
Jason’s not the one who bit me.
”

“He’s
not?” Samara asked, genuinely surprised. If Jason wasn’t the one wh
o had bit her best friend,
who had?

“No, I’m not. I’m a Shomecossee.” Emma cracked her gum loudly into the phone. “Troy’s the one who bit me.”

“Why would Troy do that?” Samara asked, surprised that Emma’s ex-boyfriend would do that to
her.

“
I don’t know! That’s
the thing,” Emma replied. “He wouldn’t tell me. He said he had to talk to you.”

“Why would he want to talk to me?” Samara asked.

“I don’t know. But I just want to get this over with, so let’s go talk to him now. I’ll be there for you in ten minutes. Is that okay?”

Samara glanced at the time. It was eight o’clock. Her parents wouldn’t question her if she went out
with Emma
, as long as she didn’t stay out too late. “Okay, I’ll be outside waiting for you.”

Once she was outside, Samara thought,
Luke? Did you hear all that?

Huh?
Luke asked groggily.
Sorry, I
was taking a nap.

Oh, I’m sorry
for waking you up
. Emma’s picking me up, and we’re going to see Troy. He’s the
one who turned her into a wolf . . .
and he said he has to talk to me.

What? Why?
Luke sounded fully alert now.

I don’t know
, Samara replied.
I’m sure we’ll be fine, but if things start to get weird or anything, I’ll let you know, okay?

Luke hesitated.
I have a bad feeling about this. I’m going to round up the pack, just so we can all be there if something does go wrong. Please be careful,
he urged.

Samara smiled at how protective he was being of her.
I will be.

At that moment, Emma’s car slid into the driveway, her headlights flashing
brightly across
Samara’s face.

Samara raced over to the car and swung the door open. When she sat down, she glanced over at Emma. “So, tell me, is Troy your mate?”

Emma’s eyes widened as she pulled out of t
he driveway. “I have a mate?”

“Yes,” Samara replied with a chuckle. She realized that there was still a lot that she had to catch he
r best friend up on.

“That’s
, like,
so
old school!” Emma’s face twisted into a disgusted expression. “Is
it like an arranged marriage?”

“No, it’s nothing like that,” Samara reassured her. “It’s m
ore like having a soul mate.”

“Oh, well that doesn’t s
ound so bad,” Emma said slowly, her face softening and then lighting up at the idea.
“I want a mate! H
ow would I know if I have one?”

“You’d be able to hear
each
other’s thoughts. Luke and I can communicate with each other mentally
. And when Declan was my mate—”

“Wait, hold up!” Emma turned to her, taking her eyes off the road for a second. “Declan is your mate?”

“Well, he
could
have been my mate,” Samara replied, realizing that she had somehow forgotten to mention everything about Declan, too, when she’d slept over at her house the other night. She
blocked Luke out so he couldn’t access her thoughts
so that he wouldn’t
know what she was saying, as she continued. “If I chose to be a Vyka, Declan would have been my mate, but I chose to be an Ima
, so Luke is my mate, instead.”

“Wow, so you chose Luke, then,” Emma said aloud, tossing her bl
onde hair over her shoulders.

“Well, sort of,” Samara replied. “I did choose to be an Ima, but it wasn’t completely because of Luke. I mean, I had stronger feelings for him
, I think
, but . . . Jason is
the main reason
w
hy I chose not to be a Vyka.”

“Well, either way, I think that was probably a good choice,” Emma continued.
She wrinkled her nose.
“Can you imagine having Declan as your mate? It would be like having your brother as your mate or something.”

“I guess,” Samara said with a shrug. Thinking about Declan—and how she hadn’t chosen him—made her feel sort of guilty. She could just picture his face on the night of the dance; he had seemed really hurt by her decision. She tried not to think about how things would be different if Jason hadn’t been the Alpha of the Vyka, but she knew there was no use in thinking that because he
was
the Alpha.

Besides, Samara already had a mate. She was perfectly content with Luke. It’s not like she missed Declan because she wanted to be with him. She probably just misse
d his friendship; that was all.