Chapter 5
There was something hot and wet pressed to my forehead and I wanted desperately to take it off but I couldn’t move my arm. It was like I was disconnected from my body. I was just floating here in empty space, distantly feeling what my body was feeling. When I found myself here, I wondered if I was dead but I pushed the thought away. I was not dead. I think I would know if that were to happen. There was a numb but burning pain in my shoulder that was starting to travel up my neck, making my heart beat faster and faster. That’s how I knew I wasn’t dead. Dead people don’t have beating hearts.
I try to open my eyes but all I get out of them is a little flutter. I want to wake up. I don’t want to be stuck in my mind anymore.
The pain starts to slowly go away and my heart slows down, but not by much. I feel something tickle my arm, and then hot breath at my ear. I feel myself flinch even though I didn’t intend to. What am I, possessed?
“Tess, you can wake up now.”
The voice is far away and sort of metallic but I know its Adams’.
I try to turn my head but I don’t get very far. A cold hand presses against my face and it kinda shocks some feeling back into my muscles. I turn my head again and this time, my eyes obey.
I blink a couple times and Adam blurs into view. He’s sitting next to me; the cold hand was his. I look at my surroundings and realize I’m lying on a big leather couch in a room with a very high ceiling. Tall Victorian windows loom on the other side.
“Can you hear me?” Adam asks, his forehead scrunched in concern.
I nod and blink a couple more times to get the spots to disappear. I don’t think I can talk quite yet. My throat feels all thick and it hurts to breathe in. I stretch, making my shoulder flare. I wince.
He takes a washrag away from my forehead and places his hands on either side of me so he’s practically leaning over me. “Careful. That’s a pretty bad bite. It should heal in the next couple hours. I gotta warn you though: it’ll scar,” he says softly, his blue eyes light and caring.
Bite?
“Wha…ahem, what happened?” I croak, my voice sounding literally like claws dragging on wood. There’s a balcony above us and I see a light turn on behind it.
Adam bites his lip, deep in thought. “You remember who I am right? Tell me what you remember.”
I stare at him in question. “Of course I do. You’re Adam. I’ve know you since third grade.”
He nods quickly. “Okay, what’s the last thing you remember?”
I think back, trying to sort all these random memories flying through my head. And just like that, they all piece together to form the memory of what happened in the clearing.
I try to sit up but he won’t let me. “Tell me,” he demands, almost looking scary. I realize he smells like the woods and he’s got dirt smudged on his hands and face.
I look up at him. “I was taking a walk and I found you talking with the others in a clearing and then…Mercedes turned into a wolf and… attacked me,” my hand automatically moves to my left shoulder, where I feel rough bandages and tape.
Adam closes his eyes. “I’m sorry I couldn’t get to you sooner. Mercedes is much faster than me.”
“You…?” I didn’t finish the question, only because I didn’t’ really need an answer. He was the flash of brown fur I saw out of my peripherals before I blacked out.
He nods. “I had to check to make sure you didn’t have amnesia like some people get after being bitten. I carried you here and cleaned the bite.”
I look around the room, now seeing a crystal chandelier and a huge flat screen TV. This is a big room. “Where is here?”
Adam glances up. “This is Hunters’ house. Don’t worry; he’s gone. He took Mercedes out to cool down.”
Well, that’s a relief. I’m lying on his couch though. I wonder if he knows.
Someone leans their hands on the back of he couch and I look up to see Deon, with Copper hair right behind him.
“Hey. You feelin’ all right?” he asks. He’s not wearing his hoodie which is a huge shock to me. He’s just wearing a gray t-shirt that does wonders for his biceps. He’s kinda cute. I’m just now realizing that.
“I’ve been better,” I grumble, and then I turn to Adam. “Am I gonna be a werewolf now?”
Adam and Deon exchange glances, obviously trying to figure out what to say. Copper hair looks at the both of them then sighs.
“Mercedes bit you when she was in wolf form, so yes. You will turn into a werewolf at the next full moon. Now boys, you can go now. I think Tess will want to clean up alone.”
She looked nice. She had a child like face framed with curly copper hair, and had deep gray eyes and faint dimples. I forgot her name though.
I did feel dirty. Like I just rolled around in the dirt for a couple hours then took a bath with a muddy dog. “That sounds good.”
Adam stood up. “I’ll help you up.”
I sat up on my own and flung my feet off the edge of the couch. My Uggs were gone but I was still wearing my purple fuzzy socks. How embarrassing.
I must’ve swayed or something because Adam lightly grabbed my shoulders and steadied me. He helped me stand up and the dizziness that I’d had lying down went away.
“You can use my bathroom. I’ll lead the way,” Copper hair says, and she takes my arm and leads me to the stairs, which I doubt I’ll be able to make on my own.
“Wait,” Adam says, and he walks over to me in two strides. “I’m really sorry this happened to you.”
I smile half-heartedly, “I’m not freaking out yet. Give me 10 minutes.”
He smiles and kisses my forehead, but pulls away quickly after. That was too short to be clarified as a kiss in my opinion. “Hurry back. And don’t hurt her, Victoria, or I’ll come after you with a chainsaw and a silver knife in your sleep,” he threatens, but his tell that he’s half joking. He must really trust copper hair.
She rolls her eyes. “You’ll be the first to know. Come on.”
She leads me up the stairs and halfway down the balcony, then turns into a huge room with sunlight pouring in through the tall windows. (It’s daylight already? Crap).The walls are a shocking hot pink and there’s a huge, white four-poster bed sitting in the center. All the furniture is white except for the giant, fuzzy black rug covering the ancient wood floor.
“This is your room? I didn’t realize you lived here,” I say, staring at all of it. There’s a crystal chandelier hanging from the ceiling, exactly like the one downstairs.
She shuts the bedroom door. “Yeah, I live here in this room. Adam and Deon are the only ones who don’t live here.” She comes to my side, her copper curls bouncing. “I’m Victoria by the way. Victoria Winters. And, you’re Tess. Adam told me about you.”
“Oh,” I say, at a loss for words.
She shrugs then goes to her dresser and pulls out some clothes. She tosses them to me, which I surprisingly catch. “Bathrooms through there. There’s soap under the sink you can use. Take as long as you need,” she points to the double black doors I thought was her closet when we came in.
I place my hand on the doorknob, ready to go in, when I turn to her. “Thanks.”
She smiles. “No problem. After all, you’re part of the pack now.”
Part of the pack. That’s gonna take some time getting used to.
I open the door and stop in awe. There’s a shiny claw foot tub in the back, surrounded by pink curtained windows. There’s another chandelier and the sink was set in marble that was at least 5 feet long. The mirror is in an elaborate white frame and a stand on the right holds pink, black, and white towels. The rugs on the floor were black and fuzzy.
I close the door behind me and set the clothes she gave me on the counter. The girl in the mirror didn’t look like me, but she was me. My shoulder was covered in red tinged bandages and my once white camisole was now stained with angry red stains, probably blood. I’m also covered in dirt and my hair was damp and tangled. I sigh and open the cabinets, which hold a variety of bottles holding pink liquid. I take the ones that said shampoo and body wash and head to the claw foot tub. I just gotta figure out how to wash around the bandages. I don’t want to see what was under them.
***
When I’m done, I throw my towel in the hamper and put on the skinny jeans and gray sweater Victoria gave me. I’m surprised they fit me; she’s at least 7 inches shorter and much smaller than me. I’m not sure whether or not to put my fuzzy socks back on but I remembered Victoria being barefoot so I wrap them in my clothes.
I comb my grapefruit smelling wet hair back with my fingers, staring at my reflection. I didn’t look that different, I mean maybe a little tanner and my usually gray eyes looked more blue than normal. And I’d discovered I had muscles now that I didn’t have before. Like, toned, rock hard muscles. Now that’s an odd feeling.
Somehow, I managed to not get the bandage wet. In some distant part of my mind I’m freaking out about it but I didn’t let that affect my appearance. The door creaks when I open it and Victoria comes through her bedroom door at the same time.
“Oh good, you’re done,” she sees my clothes in my hands, “You can put those in the hamper. I’ll wash them and give them back to you later.” She takes them and puts them in the hamper herself before I can even do anything. “Hunter and Mercedes are back.”
I stop in my tracks. I don’t want to face Mercedes.
Victoria seems to sense my feelings. Either that or she can read my mind. “Mercedes is in her room sleeping. She won’t be coming out for awhile.”
“Oh, okay,” I’d still have to face Hunter.
We go downstairs where Hunter and Deon or playing a video game. Adam is sitting in the leather armchair, watching intently, and there was an abandoned control on the coffee table I guessed was Ankers’.
Hunter glances at me and he pauses the game. “Does it hurt?”
“Not anymore,” I say, assuming he’s talking about the bite.
He nods. “Hungry?”
I consider this and realize my stomach was growling. The last time I ate was at lunch yesterday. “Not really,” I lie.
He stands up to his full height, which has to be over 6 foot. He’s wearing the same dark jeans and fitted white tee from last night. He was barefoot too. “There’s no such thing as not really.”
He pads into the kitchen, expecting me to follow. I do rather reluctantly. The kitchen was all rustic cherry wood and top of the line stainless steel appliances. I wonder what he does for a living to be able to afford all this.
He opens the fridge and pulls out an apple and a protein bar. He puts protein bars in the fridge? He also pulls out a can of beer.
He sees me looking at the can of beer and he snaps it open. “The beer is for me. Those are for you,” he points to the apple and protein bar and nods at me. He takes a swig and leaves the kitchen. He turns back to me when he realizes I’m not following. “You coming or not? We got things to discuss.”
I follow him into the living room as he shuts off the flat screen. I sit next to Adam who almost protectively curls his arm around me. I feel out of place.
“Crank!” Hunter yells up the stairs. I hear a distant and annoyed answer. “Get down here!” Hunter yells again and resumes his place next to Deon who throws me a half smile. I least I got them here. I don’t know what I would do if I was alone.
“Should I get Mercedes?” Victoria sits on the matching loveseat across from me and Adam.
Hunter glances at me again. “No. We can do this without her.”
Anker, or Crank, stomps down the stairs, his hair a wild black and blue mess. He’s wearing the same clothes too but they’re wrinkled and slept on. “This better be good,” he grumbles, and mutters something under his breath I can’t hear. He collapses next to Victoria.
Hunter looks at me first. “Your first full moon is tonight.”
Bluntly put.
“What?” I gasp. I am so not ready for this now. Why am I such an idiot? I should’ve never gotten myself into this.
Hunter shrugs. “Sorry about the bad timing, but that’s not my fault. We’ll help you get through it and then you’ll be part of the pack. In case Adam didn’t tell you, the pack is called The Drifters.”
“I know that.”
“Okay, well, I gotta explain what we do. We work for a man named Orion, who is, well he was a reaper but he got fired-”Victoria stares down at her lap, looking guilty. “He’s a sort of detective now who investigates deaths that weren’t supposed to happen, commonly known as murders, homicides, the like. We’re his agents. You’ll be one too since you’re joining the pack. Understand?”
It’s like he’s implying I have no choice but to join the pack. But what else can I do? “Yeah, I think so. Do you work with the CFSS?”
“Sometimes. Depends on if they’re feeling helpful or not.”
‘So…you don’t have to shift every full moon?” I ask, thinking of the original myth of the werewolf. Well, it’s obviously not a myth anymore.
“Not every full moon. The first one you experience as a werewolf you have to, but after that, the most you’ll feel is a little wolfy,” Adam answers for Hunter, who nods in agreement.
“Wolfy,” I smile, internally laughing at the word.
“The first shift is always the scariest but you’ll have us there to help you. We’ll shift with you so you can get used to the signals and such because we can’t talk in wolf form,” Victoria says reassuringly.
Anker sits up. “I call it wolf intuition.”
I start to feel the beginnings of terror travel up my spine. This is real. I’m gonna turn in to a werewolf. “I’m not sure if I can do this.”
Adams arm tightens around me in a sideways hug. “It’ll be alright. I’ll be with you,” he says quietly in my ear.
“Well, it’s too late now, honey. Sorry to break it to ya but you’re gonna be a werewolf no matter what you do. There’s no cure,” Hunters’ voice was a little too cold for my liking.
“Hunter, don’t scare her even more than she is now,” Anker says, staring at me. Surprising words, coming from him. Everyone else must’ve thought so too because they all turned to look at him.
“Is it just me, or did Crank just say something kind?” Deon asks.
“I think Crank just said something kind,” Adam looked shocked.
Anker isn’t fazed. “I can totally sympathize. When I got bit, I thought it was the most exciting thing that ever happened to me until a few hours before the first shift. Then I flipped and locked myself in my brothers’ closet.”
Hunter cocks a brow. “Interesting. I didn’t think you had feelings.”
“Just because I act like an ass all the time doesn’t mean I don’t have feelings. Try me when I’m out cold. I hear I’m pretty kind then,” Anker says sarcastically, a cruel grin on his face.
Hunter ignores him. “Tess, if you have any more questions, just stop me in the hall or ask anyone else here. Ignore Mercedes though. She won’t help you. We need to get back to the case,” He says seriously, his green eyes narrowed and gleaming.
“Oh, great. More work,” Anker complains, back to himself.
I lean back into Adam, suddenly very tired. He tangles his hand through mine. “Let’s hear it,” he says.
“I think the suspect could be a werewolf hunter.”
“There are werewolf hunters?” I ask, actually surprised. I thought since the CFSS existed, we’d all get along in peace.
“Yeah. Lot’s of them. They practically have their own race,” Deon leans back in the big couch and folds his arms across his chest.
“Yeah, pretty much. They have it out for us, and they’re pretty good at owning silver weapons and killing. Say the suspect is one, and he’s trying to get to us by murdering random people he knows we’ll investigate,” Hunter explains with a twinkle in his eye. He could be on to something, even though I have no idea what he’s talking about.
“That’s a good theory. We’ll have to check that out,” Victoria says.
“How do we tell if he’s a werewolf hunter without asking?” Adam asks, asking the question that was forming in my mind.
“They’ll have wolfs bane for sure, and an unusual amount of silver weapons. They’ll be strong and smart, not very good looking, and annoyingly but incredibly cunning. They also blame everyone else for everything,” Hunter stares at the floor, probably thinking about past werewolf hunters he’s faced. Hunter faces the werewolf hunters. Imagine that.
“You practically just described my brother,” I say without thinking. Everyone looks at me, and Adam squints at me.
Hunter is the first to speak, “Who is he?”
“Ben McKay.”
Adam shakes his head. “He’s not a hunter. I would’ve known cause he used to hang with me and Tess a lot when were younger.”
“Yeah, he’s not. He has the personality but not the status,” Deon agrees.
Hunter nods. “Okay. Meanwhile, we have 2 hours to get you ready for your first full moon.”
Adam frowns. I hope he doesn’t blame himself for Mercedes biting me. It was my fault I decided to eavesdrop in the bushes.
Hunter sounds excited, but I feel my heart fill with dread.