HIDDEN (Hidden Trilogy Book 1) (14 page)

“I don’t really want to talk about it.”

“I think you should.  Besides, I want to know.”  He said forcefully. 

“Why?”  I hedged. 

“In case there is somebody out there that I have to go hunt down and kill.”  I laughed until I saw the serious expression on his face. 

“You can’t do that.”  I stated, wide eyed. 

“If they hurt you, then I can at least pay them a visit and repay the kindness.” 

“No, really.  It’s not that big of a deal.”  I tried to reassure. 

“Then tell me what happened.  Everything you remember.”

“Everything?”  I sighed.  “How long are we going to be here?”  I joked. 

“Until you tell me.”  He said relentlessly. 

“Fine.”  I sighed.  I laid back and looked up at the sunny sky.  “You want from the beginning?” 

“Yes.  As far back as you can go.”  He plopped down on his side and propped his head on his hand as he gazed down at me.  I closed my eyes so I wouldn’t have to see his face. 

“As I mentioned before, my birth parents supposedly left me on a church doorstep when I was two.”  I started.  “There was a note stating what my name was, how old I was, and that it was safer for me without them.”

“Any clue as to what that meant?”

“I don’t know.  Neither did the church people.  They figured my mom was in an abusive relationship or something like that and was trying to get me to a safer home.  Even if that meant giving me up.” 

“I’m sorry.  You don’t know anything about them?”

“Nothing.  Only thing I have is the name Clara.  That’s what she, supposedly my mother, signed the note with.  The police never found a record with that name that related back to a two year old.  The church assigned me a last name for my records.”  I didn’t look at him and continued to keep my eyes closed. 

“Go on.”  He urged and I sighed.

“I was passed from foster home to foster home.  No one wanted me or needed another mouth to feed.  I became defensive and fought a lot.  I didn’t know it at the time but it was because there was no one there to simply ask me how my day was going or show kindness of any kind.  I was totally alone.”  I felt Cade shift closer to me but continued my story.  “By the time I hit twelve, I was a terror.  I’d pick fights every other day, throw things at people, never listen to anyone.  A few years later, when I turned 14, I had a run in with Chad.”

“Who the hell is Chad?  What did he do?”  I felt Cade tense beside me and his question was more of a growl than anything. 

“It’s not as bad as you think.  Chad was in the grade above me, moved around in the system just about as much as I did.  I got along with him over the years because we understood each other.  He was my only friend, well, friend being applied in the loosest terms.”  I thought back to our interactions before continuing.  “Soon though, he started hanging out with a local gang.  He skipped school, more than usual, and talked to people in quiet corners.  I confronted him about it since he was the closest thing I had to a friend.  He said he was making bank with this deal he had going on with the gang.  I didn’t ask what it was.  That was something you didn’t do.  Too much information would get you in way over your head.  Anyway, he asked if I wanted in and I said no, I wasn’t interested.”

“Good.”  Cade grunted. 

“I’m not finished.”  I replied.  “I turned to leave and that’s when I noticed three of his gang friends had come up behind us.  They asked what I was doing with Chad.  I was probably a little too defensive, and well, mouthy.  They surrounded me and started taunting me.  One shoved me, another shoved back.  I was a pinball between them while they laughed about it.  I don’t really know how it happened but I just snapped.  I caught one in the balls, another in the throat, and the last a kick to the rib cage.  I wasn’t that big, or strong, so I didn’t really know how I did what I did.  All three were laid out on the ground moaning.  Chad looked on in utter shock.  It wasn’t that they were permanently down, just for a few minutes.  Neither of us could believe what I just did.  Take out three boys twice my size?  That’s when I ran.  I ran for a long time.  When the police finally caught up with me my foster family said they’d had enough.  I was shipped off to Steve and Nicole’s the next day, halfway across the state.”

“You never heard from Chad again?”

“Nope, and never want to.” 

“The other group, the gang, never checked up on you?” 

“Not that I know of.” 

“Where was this?”  He asked, steel edging his voice.

“No, uh huh.  I’m not telling you so you can go hunt down some mystery guy from three years ago that has probably already forgotten the incident.”

“I would be more than happy to remind them all.”  He growled. 

“No.”  I argued firmly.  He grunted in response.  I decided I might as well finish the story.  “It was rough at first with Steve and Nicole, but they had patience with me and taught me to deal with my problems and not internalize them or lash out at others.  I knew I had to turn my life around if I ever wanted to make something of myself.  The only other option was end up like Chad and his so called friends.  So I started focusing on school and using diplomacy more than my fists.  And that’s where I am today.”  I opened my eyes to see him staring down at me lost in thought.  “Enough about me.  Tell me something else I don’t know about your wolfy form.”

“My wolfy form?”  A small grin surfaced on his face.  I nodded, happy to see him in a better mood.  “Well, you already know about the speed and strength.”  He said, referring to this morning’s ride up the mountain. 

“Yeah, so that was how Brody reached me so fast when I almost fell off the trailer last month.” 

“There was no ‘almost’ about it.  You fell.  If Brody hadn’t been there, you would have knocked the wind out of yourself.  Or worst, cracked your head open.” 

“Hey, accidents happen.”

“If you were more careful, they wouldn’t.” 

“Accidents happen to well-prepared people.  Don’t single me out.” 

“Whatever.”  He mumbled. 

“What else don’t I know?”

“Our hearing is exceptional.”

“I knew it!”  I yelled and Cade winced.  “Sorry.  You really shouldn’t sit so close to me.  If you were more careful, you wouldn’t have hurt your poor sensitive ears.”  I teased.

“I didn’t hurt them, you did.  There’s a difference.”

“That’s like me blaming the trailer for not being where I put my foot.  That’s ridiculous.” 

“You’re ridiculous.”

“Am not.”  I argued.  He shook his head.  I finally remembered what we were talking about.  “I knew Bree overheard my conversation that day in the library with Tyler.”

“What conversation with Tyler?  Which day?”  Cade asked as he came to alertness.

“Settle down,” I shook my head. 
Boys, really.
  “This was months ago.  Shortly after we started school.  He was asking if I wanted to go to that first bonfire at his house.”

“The one where you lied to us?”  He raised his eyebrow. 

“Yes.”  I sighed and rolled my eyes. 

“Just making sure we are on the same page.”  He grinned.

“Anyway, I came back to sit by Bree and she knew exactly what Tyler had said.  But I knew she was too far away to have heard under normal circumstances.”  I shook my head before I looked back at him.  “What can you hear right now?”

“Now?”

“Yes.  Right now.”  I watched as he concentrated on his surroundings before he answered me. 

“I can hear a woodpecker half a mile down the trail, a mouse a little farther away scrounging for food.”  He swung his head in the other direction and added, “Cassie and the pack are five miles away, following the scent of an elk.” 

“You can’t know that by your sense of hearing.”

“No,” he grinned.  “Cassie told me what they were doing.  But I can hear them loping through the forest.”

“No way.  Over five miles from here?”

“Yes.” 

“That is so cool.”  I admitted.  He smiled and regarded me. 

“I can hear your heartbeat.” 

“Huh,” was the only response I could muster.  He grinned before lying back down beside me.  “What else you got?”  I asked, curiously. 

“What makes you think there’s more?” 

“Has to be.”  I said, assuredly. 

“Our sense of smell is similar to that of real wolves.” 

“Like how good?” 

“I can smell the beaver swimming in the pond a little over a mile from here.  There’s also a small fox that traveled through this meadow a few days ago.”  He glanced over at me to gauge my reaction. 

“Can you pick out people?  Like identify them in a crowd?” 

“Crowds are harder. Lots of different scents mix together to make it confusing.”  He glanced over at me before adding, “I could track you anywhere though.”

“Uh, does that mean I smell?”  I asked with a small laugh.  He chuckled in return.

“No, well, you don’t smell bad, if that’s what you’re asking.  Your scent is actually really…good.”  He cleared his throat before continuing.  “It’s just that I’ve been around you long enough to memorize your scent.”

“So you could track any one of your pack members too?”

“Yes.  But I would be able to hear their thoughts farther than I would be able to scent them.”

“Wait, can you read each other’s minds?”  I hoped not, that would be awful.

“No, not really.  We only hear the words that are broadcasted.  Not those that are private.”

“I didn’t know there was a difference.”

“There’s a difference.”  He chuckled.  “Trust me.” 

“Does it work the same for members outside of your pack?”

“To an extent.  While we can communicate in wolf form with thoughts, the distance isn’t there as well as being able to track as far as we would with a pack member.  It all comes down to how familiar you are with the wolf.”

“But I’m not wolf.”  I pointed out. 

“No. you’re the exception.”  He sighed.  “I can scent you like a pack member, but I can’t communicate with you like the others.” 

“Hmm,” I said, noncommittally.  We fell silent as we listened to the forest around us.  I was still trying to grasp all the implications of this afternoon.  Wolf shifters were real.  They had super strength and speed.  Their hearing and sense of smell was phenomenal.  And apparently I wasn’t human.  That last thought scared me the most.

“Hey,” Cade said, shifting towards me.  “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.”  I tried to cover my worries.

“Nothing my ass.  I sensed a mood shift.  Call it a wolfy talent.  It wasn’t me with the mood swing, so what’s wrong?”

“I was just thinking about what your parents said about me not being human.”  I paused before adding, “at least fully human.” 

“I know.  It’s all I’ve been thinking about.”  He looked off into the distance and appeared to be thinking hard.

“Do you think they can find some answers?”

“They can do some checking around.  But I don’t know how successful they will be or how long it will take.” 

“I supposed in the grand scheme of things it doesn’t really matter.  I look human.  Have all the sunny personality traits and abilities of a human.”  I shrugged.  “It’s not like I have some ability that makes me different.”

“Except that whole drawing and dreaming thing.”  Cade pointed out. 
Oh yeah.

“Right.”  I sighed.  We were silent for a minute before a stray thought crossed my mind.  Something that had been bugging me for some time.  “What happened to make Tyler and his friends afraid of you guys?”  Cade’s face darkened before he closed his eyes and answered.

“We were in middle school when it probably started.  Our…emotions…run a little closer to the surface than most, so anything can trigger our more aggressive nature.  Tyler and his group used to hang with a different crowd.  They were prone to picking on others.  Bree was one of them.”

“What did they do?”

“They’d bump into her in the halls, close her locker on her, step on her heels in the hallway,” he growled, “things like that.  Now, I know it was just a bid to get attention, but back then, someone was attacking a member of our pack. 
My
pack.  Bree hadn’t learned to shift yet, so she was still mostly human.  She didn’t have our reflexes or agility.  That’s where Hunter, Brody, and I came in.”

“Oh…I can just imagine.”

“We cornered them outside of school.  They thought three against five was in their favor,” he grinned before adding, “of course, they didn’t know what we were.”

“What happened?”

“We tried to talk them down, let them know what they were doing was wrong, mean.  They laughed.  I’m pretty sure Hunter lost it first.  He jumped two of them and started pounding.  Brody and I joined in.  When it was over, the five of them laid in a heap, bloody noses, swelling eyes, the works with us standing over them without a scratch.  We didn’t break any bones.  We knew enough to pull our punches to avoid that.”

“Did you get in trouble?”

“No, they never said anything to anyone, and we never did either.  Bree, of course, forgave them because she has a kinder heart than me.  They left her alone and shifted shortly after that.”