I hadn’t gone too far in my search for food when a heavy arm fell around my shoulders. Despite my newfound determination, I flinched and ducked away. With a surprised expression on his face, Dean held up his hands. “Sorry, didn’t mean to scare you.”Feeling silly, I blew out a breath and stood straight.

God, what did I do to piss you off? I mean really! First, Mom pretty much grounded me for life, and now Ryder. Mortifying didn’t cover that mess. Good lord, if he had come five seconds earlier… my face burned at the thought. I dressed quickly and left the bathroom. Someone knocked on the door and I didn’t need three guesses to know who it was. I waited for the ground to swallow me whole. When it didn’t, I begrudgingly opened the door. I decided to arm myself with sarcasm instead of dying from embarrassment. “So the perv does know how to knock.” “I am not a perv! And I didn’t realize you were in this room.” He almost looked embarrassed as I had been. Good. I crossed my arms and gave him my best glare. “Yeah, if you did you would’ve burst in sooner, right perv?” His mo

Ryder ~~~   I growled, running my hands through my hair as I watched Brook run from me. What happened? I didn’t understand any of it at all - the lying or acting like I was going to hit her. With heavy footsteps, I stomped through the halls and into the pool room where my brother, Andy, Kara, and Beth were waiting. I slumped into one of the lounge chairs next to Dean. “Didn’t find her?” Kara asked. “I did, but lost her again,” I told them. “Weird,” Andy said, looking thoughtful. “She wasn’t like that the first day. Wary, but she never seemed to avoid any of us.” “Actual

My heavy eyelids, little by little, opened. Pain shot through my eyes and bounced around my head. I lifted my left hand, but there was a twinge of pain, and something held it down. I was in bed, like a hospital bed type of bed. My left arm was in a sling. My whole body ached. Great, I passed out. “Brook, you’re awake,” Mom said. Her eyes looked red and puffy. Oh, no. She’d been crying. “Mom, what’s wrong?” “What’s wrong? You get into a fight with Beth, end up with a dislocated shoulder when you already have a concussion, and you ask me what’s wrong?” “Oh.” “Yeah, oh. What were you thinking, Brook? She’s a werewolf. Beth could’ve killed you? And for what? Because she was an idiot?” Mom’s face flushed red, looking torn between bursting into tears and yelling at me some

I groaned as someone shook me. “Come on, Sleeping Beauty. Time to get up,” someone said, sounding way too cheerful. It took me a minute to realize it was Ryder. “What time is it?” I groaned, trying to hide under the pillow, but the jerk stole it from me. “Almost four in the morning, so you better hurry.” I peeled one eye open to glare at him. “Are you kidding me? Four in the morning? Why are you bothering me at four in the morning?” “Kitchen duty remember.” I groaned, covered my head with my hands. “Nu-uh, none of that,” Ryder said, forcing me to roll over onto my back. “Go away,” I complained.