Darkest Powers Bonus Pack 2 (6 page)

Five

It seemed simple enough. We were on the run. We’d met some guy who seemed way too interested in Chloe and me, and then he’d followed us into the forest. Obviously it was time to hit the road. Or so I thought.

We took Dad into the living room. Lauren came along. We hadn’t invited her, but she seemed to have a sixth sense for whenever something important was happening. Simon and Tori figured if the four of us were talking, it must be a family meeting, so they joined in.

I let Chloe tell the story. When she finished, Dad looked at me, and I could tell he was thinking it over. I could also tell that
what
he was thinking over wasn’t whether we should leave—it was how to tell us that we weren’t.

“Chloe’s right, Dad,” I said. “There was definitely something weird about this guy.”

“Because he hit on Chloe?” Lauren said. “I’m sure you didn’t like that, Derek, but—”

“
I’m
the one who said it seemed strange,” Chloe said.

Lauren sighed. “There’s nothing strange about a boy hitting on you, Chloe. You’re a very pretty girl. It’s your lack of self-confidence that makes you
think
it seems—”

“My self-confidence is fine,” Chloe cut in. I swore I heard a soft growl in her voice. “I’m saying guys don’t do that, especially college-age guys. I’m not a fifteen-year-old who can pass for eighteen.”

“She’s right,” Tori said. “It’s got nothing to do with being pretty. It’s all about the vibe. The only older guys who are going to hit on Chloe are pervs.”

“But you said this boy was seventeen,” Lauren said. “That’s not really
older
.”

Chloe sighed. “I’m not arguing about whether or not a seventeen-year-old would ever hit on me. I’m saying that it felt wrong. He walked up and asked me where I got my fries and I told him, quickly and politely, discouraging conversation. Then he asked me another question. Same thing—I gave the shortest possible answer, but he just kept talking. There were girls all around us, checking him out, but he insisted on bugging me.” She looked from my dad to her aunt. “He singled me out. I know he did.”

“And he did the same with me,” I said. “He made a point of getting me to stay when Chloe and Simon left. He started by asking stupid questions. Then, out of nowhere, he starts baiting me, making cracks about Chloe.”

Lauren shook her head. “He’s new to town, talking about football with a young man who looks as if he’d play it. Those aren’t ‘stupid questions,’ Derek. As for baiting you, I suspect you brought it on by being rude to him. And I think this proves, as I’ve said before, that you and Chloe aren’t doing a very good job of keeping your relationship a secret. You know that’s important—”

“
This
is important,” I said. “Strangers, in our town. Singling us out. Stalking us.”

“Don’t interrupt me, Derek.”

“You both have a point,” Dad said. “I think Derek and Chloe unintentionally tipped this boy off about their relationship. I’m not concerned about it, but I do believe it explains the situation. He had his eye on Chloe, and when Derek showed up, the boy challenged him. Derek isn’t accustomed to that, so he misinterpreted, as did Chloe.”

“And following us into the woods?” I said.

“He’s interested in Chloe and he wanted to see where she lived. When you two didn’t head back to the house right away, he got tired of waiting and left.”

I looked at him. Then I got up and turned to leave.

Dad sighed. “Hold on, Derek. Could everyone please give us a moment alone?”

I dropped back into my chair. When the others were gone, Dad sat across from me.

“I know you don’t agree with me,” he said.

“You think I’m paranoid.”

“No. I think staying in one place is making you very uncomfortable, and I think your discomfort is making Chloe uncomfortable.”

My head shot up. “If you’re implying we made this up—”

“No, I’m not. But I think your eagerness to move on is coloring your interpretations of the situation. I know staying here is hard on you. I know it’s also hard having to publicly pretend you aren’t involved with Chloe. When Lauren suggested that, it seemed reasonable, but now I see that it’s putting extra pressure on you. I also know the situation with Lauren, while improved, is not ideal.”

I snorted.

He leaned forward. “I’m sorry about that, Derek. She’s come to understand that you’re not a danger, but . . .”

“Just because she believes I’m not going to rip out her throat while she sleeps doesn’t mean she wants me dating her niece.”

“I don’t think that’s—”

“It is, Dad, and we both know it.”

“Perhaps, but we also both know that her influence over Chloe isn’t what it used to be. There’s no danger of Lauren turning Chloe against you. You understand that, right?”

I muttered something like agreement.

“You don’t worry about Lauren,” Dad said. “Don’t worry about the rest, either. Now that I understand how much all of this is bothering you, I’m going to start making plans to move. We’ll find a new place to stay and you’ll be allowed to openly date Chloe. In the meantime, we’ll just keep a closer watch on things.”

Three days passed with no sign of Carter, his “grandfather” or anyone else. I checked the woods twice a day. I patrolled the property four times a day. Once I even had Chloe walk alone to the mall, with me following from inside the forest. Still nothing. As much as I hated to admit it, Dad seemed to be right. An ordinary jerk had hit on Chloe and I’d overreacted.

On the fourth evening after the food court incident, I was in the study, doing homework at the desk. Chloe was reading a textbook while curled up on the recliner. Simon lay on the throw rug, supposedly studying, but when he started to snore, I looked over to see him on his back, textbook open on his chest. Chloe caught my gaze and laughed softly. Neither of us suggested kicking him out, though. If Simon wasn’t with us, it was a sure bet that Lauren would say “homework is not a social activity,” and shoo Chloe and me off to separate rooms.

It didn’t matter that we were actually studying. Or that Simon and I had always studied together and I actually found it harder to concentrate when I was alone. Or that she’d never walked in and caught us doing anything else. To Lauren, it would be just another example of Chloe and me spending too much time together.

Simon only dozed for a few minutes before he woke, stretching and blinking at the big front window.

“Almost dark,” he said to Chloe. “You still taking him for his house-breaking lesson tonight?”

I flicked an eraser at him. He ducked it and threw me a grin.

While I was getting my Changes under control, we’d decided I should try once a week. Simon was joking about house-breaking, but that’s kind of what it was like—take me outside regularly, where I’d attempt to perform a bodily function, and hopefully train my body to do it on command. So far, I felt like a month-old puppy, struggling to control my bladder before it was ready. Sometimes I did Change, but it seemed more luck than purpose.

I could say we’d skip it tonight. Only I didn’t want to skip it—as frustrated as I was with my slow progress, it
was
progress. Besides, if I said no, it would sound like I was still paranoid about someone finding us.

“You up to it?” I asked Chloe.

She stretched and nodded. “I could use the fresh air. I think that put my brain to sleep.”

She pointed at the text as if it was a piece of rotten meat.

“Physics?” I said. “You must need a more advanced text.”

“No, it’s just boring.”

I picked the book up and double-checked the title, to make sure I hadn’t misidentified the subject.

“Boring?” I said. “How can physics be . . .?”

I looked up to see she’d already left the room. Simon pointed at the text, grinned and faked a yawn.

“Hold on,” I said, striding after her. “Physics is
not
boring. Maybe you just need me to explain it better. Chloe? Chloe!”

We were in the woods. In our spot. Sitting on our fallen tree, Chloe straddling my lap as we kissed, my hands on her hips, hers around my neck, the heat of her keeping away the evening chill, the smell of her making my head swim.

When she broke the kiss, I tried to chase it, lips brushing hers, but she pulled back and straightened.

“Relaxed enough to try Changing?” she murmured.

“Almost. Not quite.”

“Good,” she said and leaned in to kiss me again.

Six

Once Chloe decided that any more “relaxing time” was going to make me too tired to Change, we moved to the thicket we usually used. As I undressed, Chloe sat with her back to me, talking and making sure I stayed relaxed and distracted until I got into position on all fours. Then she leaned back, arms braced behind her, and I kept one hand over hers, that touch reassuring me as I began.

The worst part about trying to Change is knowing that if I succeed, I’m going to reach that point, mid-transformation, where I’ll feel like I’m going to die. Where the pain is so incredible that I almost wouldn’t mind if I did. That will pass and once I’m done, I’ll say “it’s worth it.” But when it’s actually happening, I wonder why the hell I’d ever intentionally
try
to do this.

At least I wasn’t throwing up anymore. I remember the first time I started to Change, when Chloe was with me behind Lyle House, and I was puking in the bushes, racked by the pain of the Change. She’d stayed with me. She’d reassured me. She’d looked after me. And that, I think, is when things started to change. That’s when I saw more than a damsel-in-distress I could use to get my brother out of Lyle House.

I’d seen signs of it before, but I’d told myself I was wrong. That night, though, when she stayed with me, although she hadn’t known I was a werewolf—hadn’t even known werewolves existed—that’s when I looked at her and saw real strength. And I saw the first person, other than Simon, I could ever imagine as a friend.

Thinking back to that first night seemed to relax me and make me focus on the process. That did the trick. I Changed. I didn’t get to skip the “I’m going to die” moment. But it seemed to pass a little faster, and almost before I knew it, I was lying on the grass, in wolf form, panting.

That’s when Chloe turned around. She crawled over to sit beside me and gave my shoulder muscles a light massage while I recuperated. When I was ready, I pushed to my feet and nudged her.

“So what’s it to be tonight?” she asked. “Tag? Hide and seek? Fetch?”

I gave a soft growl at the last one and she laughed.

“Someday, I’m going to teach you to fetch,” she said. “I really am.”

Another growl and I bumped her legs. She laid her hand on my head, and I leaned against her, eyes closing as I rested there a moment. I’ve Changed forms with others around, but even with Simon, it’s never this comfortable.

I can sense that bit of tension Simon tries to hide when I Change. Dad, too. They know a werewolf can’t always be trusted in wolf form. Chloe was told that, but she never believed it, even the first time, when I’d told her to get out of the way if I finished the transformation. I know now that there’s no reason to worry—I feel like myself, no matter what form I’m in. She’s the only one who really gets that and treats me the same.

“Are you still tired? Or are you ready to play?”

I stepped away from her.

“Play, I take it. Tag? Or hide and seek?”

I dipped my muzzle twice.

She laughed. “Hide and seek it is, then. Who goes first?”

In answer, I raced off. She started counting.

I tore around a bit before finding a spot. I could say I was trying to confuse her by making lots of noise and racing in circles, but really, I was just enjoying myself. There’s a restlessness that builds up between Changes. Our usual games of chase help, but this is what I really need—just to run. Even after I heard Chloe coming after me, I kept running. Then, as she drew close, I dove behind a bush and hunkered down.

She found me easily, sighing, “You don’t even try to hide, do you?”

I growled and bumped her legs.

“Yes, yes, I’m going. Why do you insist on taking turns when all you want to do is the seeking part?”

I gave another growl and retreated behind the bush to count. She was right. I really preferred hunting, not surprisingly. I gave her lots of time, too, so she could find the best spot and make it a real challenge.

As I waited, I stretched out in a patch of moonlight and closed my eyes. If I were in human form, I’d have been smiling. It felt so damned good lying in the grass, the night breeze ruffling my fur, Chloe’s scent wafting around me, her laugh still echoing in my ears. Life wasn’t perfect, but Dad was back and Simon was safe and I was Changing and Chloe was with me and that was all good.

So I lay there, feeling pleased with myself, until I realized I’d given her more than enough time to hide. The last time I did that, I’d found her asleep in a thicket. Not wanting to wake her, I’d curled up with her. Except when I woke up, somehow I wasn’t in wolf form anymore, which meant I was naked . . . and it was morning, and Simon and Dad were out in the forest, yelling for us.

I’d had to streak back to my clothing, while Chloe headed them off and kept them distracted until I got back, dressed.

We’d still caught serious shit for that one. Dad had insisted on taking Chloe’s place for my next two Change attempts, which was probably the biggest punishment he could have come up with, even if he didn’t mean it as one. Without Chloe there, I didn’t Change, which made me cranky and irritable and restless, until Chloe convinced Dad that his punishment was doing more harm than good. Dad had agreed, but said if we ever spent the night in the woods again, I was going to have to
learn
to Change without Chloe around.

So I didn’t goof around this time. I followed her trail as best I could, winding through the forest after it. She’d tried to trick me—climbing a tree and jumping down at the end of a branch—but that only stalled me for a minute or two, then I found where she’d carried on. I kept going, nose to the ground until . . .

Another scent drifted past. Cologne.

I stopped, fur bristling, a growl bubbling up. Then I swallowed it and gave my head a sharp shake.

I was imagining things. I had to be. Or picking up an old scent.

I sniffed the air. No. I wasn’t imagining anything. Carter’s cologne was thick on the breeze. And it was coming from the same direction as Chloe’s trail.