Bonded to the Pack (Born to be Were) (31 page)

    
A loud grating noise, out of place in the cemetery where only the dead dwelled,
caught her attention. Without thinking, she looked into the cemetery, seeing
clearly the withered, transparent forms that lingered amongst the tombstones
and monuments that marked their burial places. “Mistake, Hope, move quicker,”
she whispered.  Twigs snapped and leaves crunched. She forced herself to look
once again through the Gothic-style fence, praying it was only a spirit who had
learned to manipulate their surroundings, but instead of an apparition, she saw
a dark shadowy form creep out from behind a large crypt, moving swiftly in her
direction. The shape was imposing, tall, dark, solid, and it was moving faster
than any spirit she had ever seen.  With a startled cry she turned and ran, her
feet barely touching the ground as she sailed past the rest of the cemetery
grounds, leaving its haunting reminders of the dead behind her.

    
Once past the cemetery she chanced a glance behind, finding the dark form still
followed. Her feet found purchase on the old, cracked cement and she ran as
fast as she could go, but even with her increased speed, it grew closer. She
heard a voice in her head commanding her to stop and gasped loudly, unsure
exactly what she was dealing with. Ghost, demon, or human.  She was determined
to out-run whatever it was that chased her, so she ignored the commands and
continued on her course.

    
The wind picked up suddenly, rustling the massive oak trees she passed and
showering the ground with their leaves, making it difficult to keep her
footing. She slipped more than once, but miraculously managed to stay upright
and avoid serious injury.  As she turned onto the street that led to her house
she felt as if she might pass out from exhaustion, but then the wind ceased as
suddenly as it had started, and the presence seemed to back off, which allowed
her to slow her pace. As she walked up the pathway to her house, she took
another quick look behind, but to her surprise found nothing out of the
ordinary. The night was calm, no unusual noises or shadows lurked anywhere near
the path she had just come from, and everything seemed peaceful. 

    
“Weird,” she whispered, wrapping her arms around her midsection, wondering if
her imagination was playing tricks on her. It was, after all, dark outside, and
she had passed the cemetery, which always made her nervous given the fact she
could see and hear the residents there. There was also the fact she was already
on edge because of the weird feelings she had earlier at the football game, so
it stood to reason that she might have over-reacted to something that was not actually
supernatural at all.

    
She was laughing at herself for such foolishness when the familiar sound of
Hunter’s porch swing creaking in the calm night air alerted her she was not
alone.  Quickly she changed course and began to walk in his direction, wondering
if he had seen anything amiss. He watched without comment as she moved across
the porch then settled next to him on the swing, his dark green eyes moving
over her with seeming disinterest.       

    
“Did you see anything odd just now?” she asked, placing her bag on the ground
before turning to face him.

    
“Just you running like a mad-woman,” he replied with a shrug. “Why are you here
anyway, Jake couldn’t talk you into going out tonight?” 

    
“He tried, but I told him that I had to work on my project. How come you’re not
out with Kara?”

    
“I had something else I needed to do.” He didn’t want to admit that he had been
at home all night listening to his cell phone ring repeatedly, letting his
voice-mail deal with Kara’s repeated rants of displeasure, so he lied.

    
“Oh,” she murmured, leaning forward to adjust her legs under herself, just as
he leaned closer to grab his cell phone so she would not see the number of
missed calls from Kara on the screen. Heads bumped, hands reached out for
support, and they found themselves in a precarious position that left their
limbs intertwined, and their lips only centimeters apart.

    
“Sorry,” he whispered huskily, wanting to kiss her more than anything, he had
ever wanted in his life. It was foolish, stupid, and could lead to nowhere, but
he was feeling reckless in light of the crappy evening he’d been having so far.

  
“It's all right,” she whispered, a soft sigh escaping her as his lips brushed
hers, softly at first, tentatively, until with a groan he pulled her against
him to savor that which he had longed for most of his teenage life. Hope became
lost in his embrace, her feelings jumbled about the kiss they were sharing. On
one hand, it felt nice to have him kiss her, but on the other, there were so
many complications that kiss could bring to their strained relationship! Before
Hope could over analyze it a shrill scream filled the air, and she pulled
back.  Her eyes instantly moved to the source of the sound, finding Kara
standing on the top step of the porch, her face filled with fury, her fists
clenched at her sides as she stared at them with unconcealed rage.

 “Now
I know why he did not want to go out with me tonight!  What is it with you,
Hope Lancaster, isn’t one guy enough for you?” She turned to face Hunter and
began screaming louder. “And you! I thought you cared for me, how could you do
this to me? You told me over and over you didn't have feelings for her, yet
here you are making out with her after ditching me for the night.” Hunter did
not acknowledge her; he just continued to look at Hope with puzzlement and her
face darkened. “Do you really think I am going to let you ignore me?” She
appeared at his side, slapping him across the face, but her hand moved through
his cheek instead of stopping against the flesh there, leaving her gasping in
surprise. “What the hell?”  She tried again, only to meet the same end. “What
is happening?” she screeched, holding up her hand to examine it.

    
Hope saw the house through her palm and knew the night had taken a turn none of
them would ever forget. She looked to Hunter, torn by the decision she had to
make.  Ignore Kara and pretend her spirit wasn’t there, or tell him and face
losing him forever. It would have been so easy to take the first option, but
she had to ask herself did she want him that way?  Even if she decided yes,
could she live with herself after such a deception? The answer was a resounding
no, so she forced herself to begin the conversation she knew would end any
chance of their ever being together. “We need to talk,” she said solemnly.

    
“Yeah, I get it, you and me, we are not a good idea,” he said interrupting her
attempts to explain why she had pulled away. “You’re probably right. I don’t
know if I can ever forget or live with what you can do, so it’s a good idea to
end this now, don’t you think?”

    
She was hurt by his casual dismissal of their encounter, but knew dealing with
Kara was far more important. “We have bigger problems than us right now.” She
looked to Kara, who was still staring at her hand in disbelief and felt her
heart ache at the thought of how her next words were going to affect him.

    
He began to pace, walking directly through Kara’s ghostly form, which had the
spirit screaming in outrage and glaring at Hope as if she were somehow
responsible. 

    
“You should go home.  I can’t deal with this, not now and maybe not ever,” he
said running his hand through his hair in frustration. Kissing her had felt so
right at the time, but now that he was able to focus on all the reasons they
were at odds in the first place, he knew it had been a bad idea.

    
“I really can’t leave right now,” she told him, looking at Kara
sympathetically. They might not have been friends or even liked one another,
but she would have never wished for anything bad to happen to her. 

    
“Go and find your boyfriend, Hope, he’s perfect for you, good-looking, popular,
and completely clueless about what you can do. I can’t be that guy.” He grabbed
the door handle and began to pull it open, but Hope placed her hand on the
frame and held it closed.

    
“It isn’t my boyfriend who is here is with us right now.” She glanced behind
him to Kara who was crying loudly, gazing at Hunter with agonized eyes. “When
was the last time you talked to Kara?”

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