Willow (Blood Vine Series) (5 page)

             
A sound from across the stream brought me to attention. I froze. I scanned the bank but I couldn’t see anything that didn’t belong. I had morphed too soon. Someone had seen me. I looked down at my shredded clothes. I looked like I had been attacked. My shirt hung down my shoulders in strips of cloth that barely covered what it should.

             
“When you have more experience with morphing that won’t happen,” a deep voice casually remarked from behind me.

             
I whirled around and my heart nearly stopped at the sight. He was beautiful. At least six feet tall with an olive complexion and jet-black hair. His muscles nearly broke through his white t-shirt, which clung seductively to his hard chest. To human eyes, he didn’t look much older than I was; but I knew at first glance that he was much, much older. And most definitely not human.

             
My arms began to shake. What was he doing here? Where was the pack? I breathed quickly through my nose, it was probably safer not to morph. Maybe he would take pity on me for my youth. “Who are you?” I managed to ask.

             
“Doesn’t really matter.” He flashed a grin that revealed too-white teeth and perfect dimples. I took a step back. “What’s your name?” he purred while still smiling.

             
My lips felt numb. In all the years since my change I had never encountered another wolf outside our own pack. He laughed at my expression, the sound whistling to my ears like a sad melody on the breeze. My tongue darted out to moisten my dry lips.

             
“I already know who you are, Willow Bennett.” His coffee colored eyes darkened.

             
My confusion must have shown on my face, his cocky grin was back. “How do you know my name?” I tilted my chin a fraction. He was on my territory. I could easily morph and call the boys over. “Who are you?” My confidence grew, making my voice stronger.

             
“My name is Blake.”

             
I raised one eyebrow. “Blake?” My lips turned into a straight line. I crossed my arms over my chest - partly in irritation and partly to cover my near nakedness.

             
“Yes.” The grin again. The strong desire to claw it off his handsome face surprised me. As a human, I was shockingly mild tempered. It went with the territory, I guess. It was almost always a disaster to morph uncontrollably.

             
“Well,” I sneered, “Blake.” Breathing heavily, I said, “Guess I’ll see you around.”

             
“Not so fast, Willow Bennett.” In less time than it took me to blink, Blake was inches from my face. Out of instinct I backed away from him, nearly throwing myself in the stream. His hand darted out to catch my wrist to keep me dry.

             
I shook him off angrily. “Ok, I got it.” I glared at him as best I could but I imagined that anyone standing this close to Blake would have a hard time glaring. He chuckled as I fought to control my breathing.

             
“You ok?” he asked with laughter in his voice.

             
“Fantastic.” I ran my hands nervously over my shirt but stopped when I felt my skin.

             
“I am from the council.”

             
I stopped my nervous fidgeting. “The what?”

             
“There is a pack in the immediate area that has come to the attention of the council.” He seemed completely serious but I had no idea what he was talking about.

             
“There is only one pack here.” Ours, I realized with a sinking heart. I didn’t know what a council was but if this man was any indication, they probably meant trouble. But his next words made the hair on the back of my neck rise.

             
“There are two packs, actually. One of them has lost their female.” His eyes never left my face. He was watching for my reaction. I tightened the muscles along my jaw and mouth. Two packs? “The council has decided that you will be their leader, Willow Bennett.”

Chapter Five

Leaving Home

             
My head jerked back in surprise. The numbness that had started in my lips moved to include the rest of my face. He had to be joking, but who was he? Why would he come here and say these things to me?

             
“Are you a loner?” I asked with ice in my voice.

             
His eyes narrowed slightly. “No,” he half shrugged, “but I have no female.”

             
“And you’re from this other pack? How did you know I was here?”

             
“I am not from this other pack,” he said slowly, as if I were two and couldn’t understand things easily. “I’m from the council. I knew you were here because we sent you here.”

             
I was too confused to fit into my human body. Almost against my will I morphed back to my wolf-self. Blake glared at me, but I didn’t care. He wasn’t making any sense and I wasn’t going to listen anymore. I knew he’d have to morph if he hoped to keep up with me. Either way, I wouldn’t have to hear him anymore.

             
I found the pack exactly where I had left them. Most of them were napping and only barely looked up when I joined them again. I dropped to my belly next to Ralph. He rolled his head to look at me and thumped his tail against the ground. I laid my head on his soft side and tried not to think of Blake from the council.

             
It frustrated me that I wasn’t able to relax, even in my wolf form. Ralph sensed my mood and he whined low in his throat. “I’m ok,” I assured him. He nudged my head with his muzzle.

             
Concentrating on my toes first, I was eventually able to relax. I sighed deep in my throat and prepared to sleep away the rest of the afternoon. Maybe I’d just stay a wolf for a few days. It was so much easier. The wolf in me didn’t worry about jocks and making the cheerleading squad. In fact, the wolf in me might have been ok with a pack to lead. As a female the need to have a pack was as strong as the need to breath. But I was also human and I’d always been able to suppress the wolf.

             
My eyes drifted closed as I snuggled deeper into Ralph’s thick fur. Why was he so hairy?
It has
to be hot
, I thought lazily. I wondered when the last time Ralph had been human was.

             
The air around us changed suddenly and drastically when Bella bounded into the clearing. “What are you doing?” she demanded in her most haughty voice, her wolf voice.

             
Ralph whimpered and bolted up. All six of the boys had their bellies on the ground. “We hunted,” I replied.

             
“Morph back.”

             
With only a slight hesitation, I complied. A large, dark wolf came up behind Bella but he shifted to Blake before taking another step. “What is going on?”

             
Bella stood up on two legs and shook her long blonde hair down her back. “You’ve met Blake?”

             
So Blake was a tattletale. I did my best to sneer in his direction. “I have had that pleasure.”

             
“And you ran from him?” Bella raised one thin eyebrow.

             
I shrugged and shook off the accusation. “He could have come with me.” I couldn’t figure out who Blake was. Was he a friend of Bella’s? She must have known him; she was sort of being nice to him.

             
“We’ll go back to the house,” Bella announced with a grin. “We’ll have a nice little chat.” She reached out to pat my hand but fell short and let her arm fall away. She smiled but it was dead and it put a coldness in my chest.

             
Ivy was waiting for us at the house but I was glad to see that Carlie had left. “Nice outfit,” Ivy chuckled.

             
I glared her way, feeling a childish urge to stick my tongue out. I hurried past her and sprinted up the stairs with her catcall whistles following me. It didn’t take me long to throw on a new shirt and pair of jeans. I didn’t even glance at the design, I was just glad that it was whole.

             
I couldn’t really explain why I was so angry. Obviously there had been some sort of mistake. No way could I be a leader of anything, let alone a whole pack. Besides that, there were no other packs around. We would know if there were.

             
“Maybe Bella knew.”

             
I shot that annoying inner voice down. Bella didn’t know, she would have told me.

             
“He said they sent you here.”

             
There is no way. Blake is a loner wolf.

             
“He knows Bella.”

             
Bella knows a lot of wolves.

             
I pulled my brush brutally through my tangled curls but gave up quickly. I didn’t care what I looked like. I took a deep breath and sank to the edge of my bed. I had to get control of myself before going down there. I needed a clear head.

             
Maybe this i
s just a joke,
I thought suddenly. My eyes darted back and forth as I worked out the scenario in my head. Blake was an old boyfriend of Bella. She thought it would be funny to freak me out with this leader crap. The council. I snorted loudly. There was no such thing as a council.

             
The only thing close to someone in charge of the wolves were the vampires in the ancient city. The vampires would never care about a pack without a leader unless they needed to be put down, and a wolf would never work with the vamps. That would just never happen, even if he were a loner.

             
I bit the inside of my lip. If this was a joke and I went down there acting all mad, it would just make Bella’s day. I had to stay calm and hear what they had to say. I’d been around Bella long enough to know when she was just joking. I was pretty sure of at least that much.

             
“Willow!” Bella screamed from downstairs. That must have been my cue that they were done waiting.

             
I shoved my hair behind my ears and slowly made my way to the hall. I slipped into the small bathroom and splashed water on my too red face. I took a deep, calming breath and glared at my reflection. “No tears, no matter what,” I whispered. I grimaced at the sight of my unruly hair. It was somehow worse than usual. In my defense, I had changed to a wolf and run through the forest this afternoon.

             
With my breathing slightly more even and a heavy heart, I went downstairs to hear Blake out.

             
They were both sitting on the same couch when I got to the living room but Bella’s frown was so pronounced it made my steps falter. Blake just looked strangely amused. “Nice shirt,” he commented.

             
Confused, I looked down to see which shirt I had pulled on. It was black with a full moon and the words “Let the beast out”. I crossed my arms over my chest. “Thanks,” I mumbled. I slid into the chair across from them. Is this what it felt like to have parents? Even though Blake looked to be my age, I felt his superiority.

             
“Blake is from the council,” Bella began without preamble.

             
“What’s a council?”

             
“The council is three wolves who live inside the ancient city,” Blake explained calmly.

             
“With the vampires?”

             
He hesitated at my tone. “Yes.”

             
I closed my eyes. “You … you what? You’re the vamp’s lapdog?”

             
Bella growled but Blake seemed unaffected by my accusation. “Andros lets us live there to make decisions for the wolves.”

             
“He lets you live there? Wow, you must be so proud.”

             
“If it wasn’t for us, the wolves might very well be extinct by now. We sacrifice a lot for our kind.”

             
“Three males?” A female would never be so submissive to a bunch of thieving vamps. The ancient city was ours. Andros had no right to take it.

             
“Yes.” The single syllable brought my eyes up to meet Blake’s.

             
“What do you want from me?”

             
“As I tried to tell you before, there is a pack here that needs you to lead them.”

             
“No.”

             
Bella growled again. “Andros wants them all killed. They have raised a few eyebrows with their careless ways.”