Charity Moon (11 page)

After breakfast, Levi stood and took my hand, “Come walk with me?” I nodded helplessly in response. He held my hand as we walked through the long hallway. It felt nice, but confusing. Just when I thought he didn’t like me he would do something that made me question.

I ran my hand along the wall, amazed at how strange the texture felt. It was made out of something I wasn’t familiar with, a cross between concrete and brick perhaps. The hall was drafty and I wrapped my arms around myself as we reached the end and stepped up an incline. Levi pushed a little, red button I could barely see on the left wall and a door slid to the side, making a whoosh sound. I looked on in amazement as we stepped out into the forest. I turned in time to see the door slide back. However, it wasn’t a door at all, but the face of a tree. Cool! I felt like I was in an episode of
The Twilight Zone
.

“Levi, do you mind if I ask you a question?” I asked once my amazement dissipated.

“Let me guess, you’re curious as to why I’m the alpha male while my father’s still alive.”

I nodded.

“Well, one becomes an alpha through blood lines. The alpha gene passes down through the males. An alpha rises every third generation, giving each alpha enough time to lead his pack without too much time, if that makes any sense. When the eldest son of the third generation of alpha turns eighteen, he comes into his birthright and takes over, and then the older alpha retires, so to speak. Do you understand so far?”

“I think so. So, is your grandfather here too then?”

“No, he died when I was eight.”

“So, who’s led your pack until now?”

“Wesley’s grandfather.”

“I don’t understand.”

“A pack always has to be led by an alpha. If the alpha dies and the third generation isn’t ready, or even born yet, then that pack has to submit under the leadership of another pack’s alpha. When my grandfather died, the pack left this place and went to the east pack, led by Wesley’s grandfather. He became our alpha until my eighteenth birthday. Then my pack and I came back here.”

“Is that why you and Wesley are enemies now?”

“I don’t like the word enemies, rivals would be more like it. We used to be friends growing up. We understood each other. Being raised as the only alpha male can be lonely, with everyone constantly watching every move you make, making sure you’re safe and protected at all times. We would sneak off to have fun, but of course we always got caught, and of course Wesley always blamed me. Even then he felt threatened by me, going the extra mile to get me in trouble, though it usually backfired. Everyone knew he had a mean streak, even his father. His resentment toward me built, and that’s what we’re seeing now.

“You see, a pack can only have one alpha, and he became alpha on his eighteenth birthday, same as me. I wish we could’ve stayed friends, but the rivalry is too strong. This rivalry between the east and west side has been raging for almost a century. You’ve felt it in your society as well, but what you don’t know is it stems from the rivalry between our two packs.”

“And here I wanted the rivalry to end, but I’ve only succeeded in making it worse.”

  “It’s not your fault. Packs should never live so close together—mostly because of our competitive nature. We came here over a century ago before this land was inhabited. Our plan was to build our facility up in the mountains so we could be away from other packs and therefore be free to hunt on the full moon without any interference. And afterward, we planned to build the town and name it Drake Mountain. However, the Windsors came in, saw the beauty of this place, and staked their claim as well. We refused to leave—they refused to leave, as a result a fight began that lasted for weeks, after which time we declared a truce and split the land in two. We took the west and they took the east, hence the rivalry was born.”

“Wow, I didn’t know that. It’s sad really. I’ve always heard the rivalry was between two families who lived on opposite sides of the town.”

“Yeah, that’s us; The Drakes and the Windsors. It took us a year to agree upon a name for the town, and of course we had to split that too.”

My breath suddenly caught. “Windrake Mountain, that’s you guys?”

“Pretty cool, huh? But about this rivalry, I think it says something that six of us transferred over and we’re still alive, don’t you?”

“Were you scared?”

“No. Everyone was easier to win over than I thought, except maybe the jocks, and of course you.”

“What about ten years ago when you transferred to the east side schools?”

“I didn’t. All pack children are home schooled until high school age. Think about it, we can’t have a child mouthing off. I can just hear it, ‘My dad’s a werewolf and he’ll rip your dad’s head off’. Little ones have difficulty keeping secrets, and we don’t take chances when lives are at stake. By age 14 the maturity level is safe enough for them to enter the school system. Remind me to show you the C Wing where our classrooms are held. They’re impressive, and we have great teachers.”

“Hmm, I guess that makes a lot of sense. Do all pack members live here?”

“No. Pack members are free to live wherever they choose and pursue whatever career they want. The majority of the pack stay together, mainly because they’ve been raised to believe in our way of life. But if a member wants his freedom, he’s free to leave. Women, more than men, leave. Because the women never shift into werewolves, only the men shift, so men are more likely to stay close. It’s important to say that even if a member leaves, they always remain in close contact with the pack and are willing to be available if trouble comes.”

“Wow, that’s very interesting. So there are werewolves living among us in town then?”

“Oh yes, you’d be surprised. Some only live in town on a part-time basis, while others live there permanently.”

“So, if you got pulled over by a policeman who turned out to be an east pack werewolf, would you be in trouble?”

“Not really, I mean there could be trouble I guess. It depends on what orders the alpha gives them, but we’re usually civil to one another outside of pack business. And remember, we were part of the same pack for the last ten years. It’s only been since Wesley’s taken over that the rivalry’s been rekindled. His birthday was several months before mine, so it became very hard to live under his rule. My pack was counting the days, literally, until my birthday so we could leave them and come back here. Most of us are still friends deep in our hearts though, or at least I’d like to believe that. Actually, it’s kind of funny, but the human members of this town are having a harder time with the rivalry than the packs are, at least until recently.”

“You mean until I came along.”

“Charity, if this wasn’t about you then Wesley would find something else to quarrel about. Can’t you see that?”

“I guess. So, how old is a boy when he first starts shifting?”

“Well, most boys are eighteen before they shift for the first time. Every male is born with the inner knowledge of what he is, so by the time he shifts for the first time, he’s already grown into that knowledge. He pretty much knows what’s happening. However, he can’t control when he shifts for the first year or so. It takes that long to gain control over it.”

“You just turned eighteen. Can you control it?”

“Since I’m an alpha I started shifting about six months early. As a result, I have a good sense of control, but sometimes I still have a hard time, especially when I’m angry, like last night with Wesley, and the same with him.”

“That must’ve been why your eyes shifted briefly that day at school when we argued.”

“You caught that, did you?”

“It was kind of hard to miss.”

“I’m sorry about that. I was pretty angry and a couple of times I really had to have a lot of self-control. Sometimes it’s easier than other times.”

“So, what would’ve happened if you had shifted right there in front of me?”

“You would’ve wet your pants.” He laughed.

“You’re definitely right about that.” Then we both laughed. “Um, you said some pack members choose to live outside of this facility. Could you ever do that as the alpha?”

“Probably not. I mean, I could, but it would be hard to lead from somewhere else. I do have a house in town though. It’s been in my family for many years. I pretended to move back there when I transferred to W. W. High. I stay there sometimes, you know, in order to keep up appearances.”

“Wow, this is so much to process.”

“I know it is, and I apologize.” At that moment his phone beeped, alerting him to a new text message. He checked it and sighed. “I’m sorry, Charity, but I have something to take care of. I probably should be getting you and Ashley home anyway. I don’t want to do this, but I’m going to have to ask you to wear blindfolds when we take you out of here. I know it’s weird, but we have to be extremely careful. I hope you understand.”

“Yes, of course.”

Stacy’s car was parked at the same place, off the side of the road, just where we left it the night before. Ashley and I said our goodbyes and headed home, discussing the ridiculousness of the situation all the way back.

“Did you get to see the Recreation Wing?” Ashley asked.

“What—they have a Recreation Wing? What’s in it?”

“You wouldn’t believe it. One room has sofas and the biggest, flat screen TV I’ve ever seen along the back wall for watching movies. Another room is a game room with pool tables, arcade games, and TVs set up for Wii games. They also have an awesome workout room. You’ll have to get Levi to show it to you next time. Josh says a lot of the pack are big gamers. They especially like Xbox.”

“Unbelievable. Who knew werewolves had it so good? And here I thought they were scary.”

“Oh no—they’re still scary,” she said right before we burst into laughter.

Monday morning I stepped out into a beautiful, cloudless day, filling my lungs with the crisp air and humming the tune “It’s a beautiful day in the neighborhood”. “Hey, baby, did you miss me?” I asked my little, red Civic as I patted her on the hood. She didn’t answer. I got in and drove with renewed excitement to school, no longer dreading it. No, I didn’t dread it at all. I was counting the minutes.

Levi was waiting for me in the parking lot. My breath caught the moment I spotted him leaning against his blue Mustang. Taking in the full sight of him, his wavy, brown hair blowing in the slight breeze; his dark jeans, white t-shirt and cool shades brought the word ‘eye candy’ immediately to mind. If he were
really
eye candy he’d be a Godiva chocolate truffle, drizzled in caramel, with whipped cream, topped with a green M&M. Then multiply that times ten.

His face beamed when I approached. And, to be honest, I’m sure mine did as well.

He walked me silently to my first class, and I almost thought he was going to hold my hand, but I was disappointed that he never did.

Later, I couldn’t slow my feet as I walked with eager speed down the hallway heading toward the cafeteria. As I rounded the corner I overheard Bunny, one of the meanest girls in school, bullying a small girl named Missy. She and her friends had Missy backed against the lockers, taunting her. Missy’s a sweet, quiet girl with straight, dark blonde hair and glasses. I was about to walk right past until Missy began to cry. That did it! I was angry! No one’s ever had the gall to stand up against Bunny, but I was ready for the challenge. Actually, I felt giddy at the idea. I stepped in between them and pointed my finger in Bunny’s face. “Don’t be stupid! A person who bullies is spitting in the face of God, since He made us all to be different. I wouldn’t want to spit in God’s face if I were you.”

“Oh yeah, and what’s He gonna do to me?” she challenged, cocking her head at me and smirking.

“Well, He sent me, so let’s find out. You know what really ticks me off? Is that bullying means that you think you’re better than someone else, but that big, nasty zit on your nose says otherwise. How ‘bout I get that for you.”

I raised my fist, as though to hit her, when she stepped backwards, her mouth agape in disbelief, then, squaring her jaw, said, “As much as I’d like to continue this, I have to get to class.” She swung her hair and walked away, her chin tilted high.

I couldn’t help catching sight of her feet shuffling faster than normal.
I laughed, turning to face Missy.