4

“I'm not climbing. I'm tired, and I want to eat.” Toya is less harsh in her refusal because she knows Eve has a temper, and, for some weird reason, she always picks on Toya the most. Maybe because of the five of us, Toya is the next strongest compared to my sister, and that threatens her. Toya is tough, boyish, and athletic. Even without her wolf, she is strong, energetic, and pretty fearless. Without tribrid breeding, she will make a great femme guard one day. A real warrior who wants to follow in her mom’s footsteps and train to be in the elite guard. Maybe even the sub-pack.

I think Toya will turn soon. All the signs of her wolf restlessly peeking have been showing of late. I think her awakening ceremony might be on the next full moon.

“You’re all pathetic. Losers and scaredy cats. I’ll go myself. I am not going back until I see what I came here to see. You can all go running back home like sad, weak-ass, pathetic wannabe wolves…. Scared of a hill…you make me laugh.”

Eve stands firm, hostility oozing and growing, and I can tell she's working herself up into a temper tantrum. Pissed at us for not doing what she wants. My sister has always had a major control freak streak and hates it when people don’t do as she says.

“Maybe it's best if you go and we wait here for you, then we can all go home together when you’re done…. We won’t leave. We’ll wait.” I intervene to try to smooth over the growing argument. Trying to appease her mood while still standing up for my friends without making it worse.

“What? Are you mad?” Simon snaps, wondering why I would even suggest such a thing, but it's logical to me. “She can’t go by herself…she should come home with us. Right now!”

“Eve is turned…. she has her gifts, her power…. her skills. She can run, climb, and move in ways we can’t. She also can’t get hurt or die. She wolves and heals. We can’t do that, and we both know she isn’t going to back down and leave. She’s too stubborn to change her mind. ….. So it’s best if she goes herself and we wait for her. Nothing can happen. The worst outcome is us going back without her and getting caught that way. It's better to wait and follow the plan of being home by dinner.”

I’m not worried about my sister. I’m worried about us.

She is too strong and too protected for anything to happen, but I am concerned about the fallout should we go back and get questioned about her. None of us can lie. We’re all terrible at it, and Maisie would cave so fast. Only Eve would have the ability to undergo an interrogation and lie smoothly and flawlessly. We’re not like her.

“You all suck…losers… I should have known you would all bail. Weak and scared….. sad.” Eve sighs loudly and dramatically, but she knows my idea is the best for all of us. We would slow her down or get hurt if she could even convince the other three to try at all. If we stand here arguing, we’ll be here all night.

“I’m ashamed to be related to you.” She points a venomous glare at me that pierces my heart, but I stay quiet. Hiding the hurt she inflicted with her words and staying completely blank in my expression.

I know she wants a reaction. I’m used to this. She lashes out at me when she's emotionally frustrated.

“Fine….” She finally exhales in annoyance, seeing no change in my decision. “I want to explore if I get inside, so you better not go anywhere, even if I take ages. Look after my clothing.”

Eve doesn’t wait to think it over but starts stripping off immediately.

Simon shakes his head at her because now he knows she’s wolving up and she's in stubborn mode. This has a bad idea all over it, and I want nothing more than to have never agreed to come at all. Anytime I listen to her and give in, something stupid always happens.

“This is dumb.” He hisses under his breath, more afraid of getting caught than of my sister's safety, and I watch with a heavy heart and a sense of dread.

I know nothing can happen to her. But I can't shake the sense of foreboding that even without getting caught, she's going to get us all into trouble somehow and in some way because she always does.

That’s what Eve excels at.

“It's fine…. It's a better idea than us going with her. I don’t want to die today. My Mama would kill me.” Toya gets comfy again and watches as my sister transforms into a giant, black, foreboding wolf. As black as the darkest hour of the night, as though not even an ounce of light could penetrate. With glowing blood-red eyes, somehow more striking when set in darkness. Always impressive, no matter how many times we see it.

For such a small, frail girl, her wolf form is almost as huge as my dad's. Large, terrifying, and fierce looking, with the added demonic hint of rage those red eyes bring. As a wolf, you would never know she was just a little girl.

“Besides…” Toya breaks in again, this time with less conviction in her tone. “What could possibly go wrong?”