I stared up at the top of the hole. When did a group of fanatical hunters set up their torture shop around here? Why didn’t anyone warn me they were in town? It seemed impossible for a group this dangerous was in the area and the alpha didn’t know it. My stomach tightened. Had he warned everyone and my aunt chose not to tell me?
No.I shook my head from side to side, trying to toss away the dark thoughts. My aunt may blame my dad for getting my uncle killed and she may place that blame on me since Dad wasn’t here, but she wouldn’t put me in danger like that. And none of this mattered right now. What did was I had to get out of here before those crazy humans came by to check on their traps. My breath and heart raced as my mind thought of what they might do with me if they found me here. I stumbled back as my head grew light. Suddenly mom’s voice, or what I remember her voice to sound like, surfaced and echoed in my mind. ‘It’s okay to be scared, Robin, but never let that fear turn to panic. Panicking makes you stop thinking and start reacting. In a dangerous situation, reacting is the worst thing you can do. Keep your head and think. Thinking means you can find a solution.’I nodded as if she was next to me, taking deep breaths through my nose. My head cleared as both my heart and breathing slowed. Okay. Think Robin. Think.As much as I hated to do it, I would have to call for help. God, Aunt Lauren wouldn’t let me forget this in a long time. I took my phone out of my pocket, grimacing when I saw the cracked screen. With a sigh, I went into my contacts and called my aunt. “Lauren Nelson speaking.”“Aunt Lauren, I need your help. I’ve—” “Robin,” my aunt said with a sigh. “I don’t have time to talk to you. Declan’s ride never showed up, so he’s late for practice.”“Aunt Lauren, this is serious. I’m in a hunter’s trap. I need you to call the alpha and get some people here to help me out before the hunters come.”Silence answered her.“Aunt Lauren,” Robin said, feeling the panic try to return. Still nothing.I pulled the phone away from my ear to see she’d hung up. “No, no, no!” If any time was a time for my aunt to listen to me, now was the time. I called my aunt back and put the phone to my ear.“Robin, I told you I don’t have time. Stop insisting. It’s childish,” her aunt said when she picked up the phone.“Aunt Lauren, this is life or death,” I shouted into the phone but when I heard no reply I pulled the phone away and saw she’d hung up again and judging by the time of the call, she hadn’t even waited for me to speak.“No!” I yelled at the phone, feeling like maybe she was trying to get me killed after all. Again, I shook my head and called her back again, and this time she didn’t even pick up. I called her again, and again until it became obvious she blocked me. “Seriously?” I cried, panic seeping further into me. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. Who else could I call? My contacts list was very short — Aunt Lauren and the school number. I paced the tiny space of the hole’s bottom. The world seemed to shrink and grow dark when I realized there was no one. I had no friends, no mentors, no nothing! I was totally alone.If I called the emergency number and told them I fell, it would go against pack law. So all I had was myself. I wasn’t the strongest of my kind. Alright, yeah, I was one of the weakest… But I was still stronger than a human, so it wasn’t out of the realm of possibility that I might get out of here on my own. “You got this, Robin,” I told myself, cracking my knuckles and shaking out my limbs. Summoning all the strength I had, I knelt and jumped with my arms out, reached above my head. I didn’t reach the lip of the hole, but I dug my fingers into the dirt of the wall. The tips of my fingers flared in pain as I scratched the hard earth all the way back to the bottom. With a hiss, I looked at my scratched up finger tips. I shook out my hands, feeling the tingle as they healed.“You can do this,” I told myself again, and once more tried to leap to grab on the edge. Again, I scraped my way back down to the bottom. “Come on!” With a small growl, I jumped again, and again, and each time I slid back down.So… yeah… that wouldn’t work. I needed another idea. With another deep breath, I looked around the walls of the hole. There were a few roots exposed. Some of them were pretty thick and they might support my weight, thus allowing me to climb out of here. With one more, “you can do this,” I jumped and grabbed onto a thick root. An excited laugh escaped me, as it didn’t break with my weight. I awkwardly hung there for a moment until I pulled up my feet to brace on the wall. Sweat peppered my brow as I climbed up the wall, using the root as a rope. One step, then another, I reached the end of the root that disappeared into the earth. Again, I rested my head against the wall of the hole, taking a moment to catch my breath. I did my best to ignore how my palms burned. Friction burns were a small price to pay for my life.Needing to keep moving, I looked around me for another root. There was another one above and to the right of me. It was going to be tricky, but if I could keep my footing, I should be able to get to it. Carefully, I inched my way until I was right under it. A gasp ripped through me as I slipped a little, sending a wave of hot pain through my left hand. I couldn’t hang here forever. With a growl and gritted teeth, I dug my fingers into the dirt to pull myself a little higher. Once I had a good grip, I then dug my foot into the wall, digging out a foothold for me to step into. When I had it, I stepped up and grabbed the root with my left hand. “Thank god,” I breathed and climbed up the root like I had the previous one. I continued this slow process until I was near the edge of the hole. It was so close I could reach up and touch the grass. I started digging for another handhold when the sound of moving earth alerted me that the root I was holding onto snapped. My eyes widened as I fell. I reached out, scrambling to keep myself from falling all the way back down. Pain ripped through my arm and I hit the bottom again. My breath whooshed out of me. Somehow, this fall had hurt more than the first one. I tried to prop myself up, but pain flared into my left arm. My stomach dropped when I looked at it. From wrist to elbow was a deep gash. I could see a couple of inches of bone near my wrist. Blood gushed from the wound, seeping into the muddy floor. It looked bad, but for a werewolf, this was nothing. I’d heal before I’d lost too much blood. It’d just slow me down for half an hour or so. Of course, I didn’t have a half hour or so…Above me, I heard a sound that sent ice through my veins. Brush and branches snapping as something trampled through the forest. With that much noise, it could only be one thing — The hunters. A moment later, their voices carried through the breeze confirmed it. I was out of time and couldn’t wait for my arm to heal naturally. I needed to shift into my wolf. With any luck, my claws would help me get out of this hole faster. Gritting my teeth and closing my eyes, I willed my wolf to the surface. Pain sparked over me as I shifted.I could tell Shaun had all kinds of questions, but he didn’t ask a single one of them. Instead, he held on to my hand as he drove through the town. He parked the car in a small park on top of a large hill. From nearly every angle of the park, we got a spectacular view of the town. “So what’s this abut the pack bonds,” Shaun asked as we took a seat at a picnic table. “I can see them now.” Taking in the view, I took a moment before answering. “I didn’t before, but last night after I shifted, I could see them.” For a moment, I thought about telling him about the poor state that they were in, but I waited and gauge his reaction. His brow furrowed, and he mussed his hair as he thought. “I’ve never heard of anything like that. Are you sure the vampire didn’t do something to you?”I leveled him with a ‘really?’ glare. “What could he have done? Vampires have no power over our abilities. Despite they can use their vampiric persuasion on us, they can’t force us to shift or not to shift. It’s
Why would the alpha hate me so much if he didn’t even know who I was? I didn’t have a clue, and I didn’t think I’d get one tonight. The alpha was too busy demanding Shaun go with him to join the full moon run. I expected the alpha wouldn’t know who I was or perhaps give me a second thought if he did. I was the bottom rung of the pack hierarchy, but his emotions were intense; like he had a reason to hate me. “Understood, Dad,” Shaun said, then turned to me. “Hope you have a good run tonight and stay close to pack.”His dad looked confused, but I got what he meant. Stay away from vampires. “Right, of course,” I told him with a nod.“Let’s go,” his dad demanded and got back into the carShaun mouthed one last ‘bye’ before joining his father. I watched the car drive off, the question of why still bouncing around in my head. “You need to be careful around him,” Alec said, making me jump.I turned to find him standing right next to me. “What are you doing here? The alpha was just here. He
“Don’t do something you’ll regret,” Alec told Shaun as he took a step towards him.“You don’t scare me, vampire,” Shaun said in a growl and took another step. Violence sparked off both of them. This was going to end badly. I jumped in between them, holding my hands out to my sides to keep them from getting closer to each other. “Hey, hey, hey,” I said, pressing my hand into each of their chests. “We’re not doing this. Not tonight. I can’t deal with this tonight. Okay?” They both glared at each other, but each took a step back. “Alec, can I take a rain check on that coffee?” I asked once the level of violence radiating off them decreased. Alec looked away from Shaun to me. “Of course, but you have my number if you need it. Don’t forget who you are,” he said before disappearing or, at least, it looked like he disappeared. Shaun growled again. “Why do you have his number?” His anger made me wince as it grated across my skin. “Can you stop?” I asked him and realized my tone was angry
“A vampire,” my aunt exclaimed, then looked at me and I caught a sense of betrayal. “You’re consorting with them… I… I got to tell the alpha!”“I… I got to tell the alpha,” Aunt Lauren said, her eyes wide. She turned to rush into the house, but only took a step before stopping. In a blink of an eye, Alec was in front of her. She gasped, jerking back, but when she met his eyes, my aunt relaxed and didn’t move. Aunt Lauren only just stared back at him.“What did—” I started, but he held up his hand.“You didn’t see a vampire here tonight,” Alec told my aunt. “Robin came home like she does every day. Now, go inside and spend your evening as you do.” Aunt Lauren nodded and walked into the house. I watched her until the front door closed. My stomach twisted into knots. “What did you do?”“I persuaded her to forget,” he said, walking over to stand next to me. “Neither of us wants the alpha knowing about our meetings.”“I see, and that’s it. You did nothing else?”Alec gave me a flat, almost
As soon as I walked into the school, I could feel it. Stress and tension. It filled the halls and made it hard for me to breathe. If I didn’t know the full moon was tomorrow, I would’ve known just from that alone. With the full moon so close, our wolves were at unease and eager to be let loose and feel the moonlight on their skin. The fact there wasn’t yet any moon light to feel didn’t seem to matter to them. So naturally, everyone was cranky and on edge. With a slow breath, I started walking to my locker. As I waded into the crowd, the emotions washed over me. They grated on my skin like a cheese grater and pushed down on me like a ton of weights. After a moment, I slumped forward, wincing at every aggravated comment as it sent a wave of tearing emotions into me. Okay. So this wasn’t so cool. How was I going to get through the day like this? I forced myself to take a deep breath and stand up when I reached my locker. There had to be a way I could put up some walls or something. I
I leaned against the wall where my headboard would go if I had one, half watching a series on my laptop and half bored. At least the rain stopped, I thought as I glanced out my window. Just as another episode started, my phone lit up with a text. Weird. No one texts me. When I grabbed it, a smile broke out across my face. Shaun. How did he even get my number? Though, if I was honest, I didn’t care. He was asking me to meet up with him for lunch. I texted him back asking where to meet him and then tried to decide what to wear. I wanted to look good, yet did not seem like I was trying to look good. Once I was getting near the twenty-minute mark, I decided to dress in a muted rose t-shirt with jeans and black converse. I also brought my black hoodie in case the temperature dropped with all this humidity. Once I was ready, I read his reply, then re-read it. He wanted me to bring the pieces of the book with me. Why should I bring the book with me? Guess I’d have to wait and find out. Wit