Memoirs of a Girl Wolf (34 page)

              Phoenix and I stared at each other. We wanted to talk but not in front of Kristen who hanging up the call, turned to us with a long, scared face and said, “Max is hurt.”

              Phoenix stood and left the room as I stood also and walked over to my friend wrapping my arms around her. “What happened?” I said, trying to sound surprised.

              “It’s that serial attacker. Jumped him or something. He’s in the hospital and the cops want to talk to me. Mickey, I didn’t do anything,” she said, her voice cracked.

              “They probably want to talk to everyone who was camping last night. It’s okay. They know it was a wolf,” I said.

              She nodded, and after calming down she said, “My dad is on his way to get me. I’m sorry I really wanted to stay the night.”

              “Mom’s gonna be gone for a while you can stay whenever,” I said and I really meant it. I was desperate to have someone else in the house with me, especially since Mom had called to tell me the other day that her trip would be extended a couple more weeks, but she swore she was close to finding “it”.

              A few minutes later, Phoenix came back into the room to tell us that a white Honda had pulled up the lane. I followed her to the front door, and we embraced once more before she left.

              Once the door was shut, Phoenix started pacing back and forth. He was visibly upset by the news of another attack.

              “We’ve got a problem. That’s four attacks. What I can’t figure out is who they’re here for. If it was you, they’d have found you by now, but maybe they have. You said you knew this last one?” he said.

              “Reign’s dad is tracking it. He’s really close,” I said without thinking.

              Phoenix came to a stop and turned slowly to face me. My jaw dropped open as I realized my mistake. It was no use making an excuse. He was able to sense my emotions. I wasn’t doing a good job controlling them at the moment with my slip.

              “Reign is a Hunter?” Phoenix snarled.

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              Phoenix’s eyes grew dark as he raised his head and clenched his fists. His breathing quickened and his nostrils flared as he stepped forward, knocking over the arm chair near the door as he advanced toward me.

              Closing my eyes, I tried to remain calm and figure out how to deny my accidental disclosure. Strong winds picked up outside and blew hard rain against the windows and back sliding glass doors of the house. I listened to the storm outside as I thought of the ways to control the one brewing within the room.

              “No,” I said, opening my eyes. Phoenix was inches away from me breathing heavy as he searched my face for an explanation. He barred his teeth as if he was ready to take action and eliminate the supposed threat: my boyfriend or ex. “He isn’t.”

              “You said his father is tracking the wolf,” Phoenix said.

              “His father is, but he’s not.” An image of Reign in an orange cap flashed in my mind and I did my best to ignore it.

              “If his father is one, then he’s one. It’s not a choice. We have to—”

              “What!” I yelled as my eyes filled with warm tears. “What are you going to say? We have to kill them? I’m not going to. I won’t.”

              “No, I wouldn’t put you in danger like that. They could easily take you. You’re still new and now with this other wolf in the woods more than likely also wanting New blood—it’s not safe, Mickey. How long have you known? How long have you been putting your life in danger? Heck not just yours, but mine too!” His voice raised so loud I could no longer hear the roaring winds beat against the house.

              His reprimanding had the effect he sought. I crumbled in shame and remorse. I was irresponsible. I fell in love with the wrong person and in the process had put so many lives in danger, but that love was real and I knew deep down I could trust Reign to harbor my secret and protect me from his father. I could sense his emotions. I could feel the love he had for me. I couldn’t explain why he was in an orange cap and camouflage that morning following a group of men into the woods, but I could believe he loved me.

              Phoenix grabbed hold of my upper arm and led me to the front door. “We have to go.”

              “Go where?” I asked, pulling my arm free and coming to a stop.

              “It’s not safe here. We’re leaving.”

              “No,” I said. I couldn’t leave. Mom was going to be home in a few weeks. My school was here, my home, and Reign. I didn’t want to leave him.

              “They’re going to figure out you’re a wolf. He may already know and just be planning his attack. Mickey, you have to leave.”

              But I wouldn’t budge. I planted myself firmly with my arms crossed and even though I was New like Phoenix called me, I was stronger than him and able to push him away every time he tried to grab hold of me. Finally, after he stumbled backward and lost his balance, falling onto the floor, he stood slowly and said, “Fine, if you won’t listen to me, I’ll find someone who you will listen to.”

              He turned and left through the front door, slamming it behind him. I was left still standing planted in the same spot uncertain of what repercussions my choice was going to have, but I couldn’t leave. Why didn’t he understand that? I firmly believed I was not in as much danger as he cited because I wasn’t the wolf causing problems.

              The black sky cracked and lit up with streaks of blue lightening and then the power went out and I stood in complete darkness.

The next couple weeks went by at a slow pace. I had to deal with the full effects of a breakup, and I did, mostly, by avoiding Reign and my emotions as best I could. I started using Kristen’s locker which was conveniently on the other side of the high school near the auditorium, and Kristen also replaced Reign as my transportation to and from school.

              Because the snow was melting and the temperature warmer, the courtyard opened back up for the season and Reign resumed eating lunch at the cement table outside while I ate with Kristen inside at the back table.

              Fortunately, my rekindled relationship with Kristen provided distraction from my break up. She came over in the afternoons and usually spent the night which was nice because I was starting to miss my family, and Reign, and even Phoenix.

              I hadn’t seen or heard from Phoenix since the night Max was attacked which was worrisome, but I knew he hadn’t been caught because I paid close attention to the house across the water. Every afternoon I saw men gathering around the house in the yard yelling at one another and cleaning their guns, so I knew Orgon was still tracking.

              Phoenix had said he was going to go find someone to convince me to leave, and I figured he meant some of his wolf friends, if he even had any, but I doubted if that would convince me. I still didn’t want to leave my home and live my life on running away from someone. What if I ended up like Viktor? Who couldn’t come home for a reason I was unsure of.

              “He’s looking at you again,” Kristen whispered as we walked down the hallway after school on a Friday afternoon.

              I raised my eyes and saw Reign standing at his locker staring at me. An agonizing emotion of hurt and love shot through me, and all I could do was break eye contact with him and keep walking forward, but then he called my name.

              Kristen and I came to a stop. I looked at my friend who nodded to let me know it was okay if I wanted to talk to him. She kept walking down the rest of the hallway and waited for me at the wide front doors of the building.

              Nervous, I licked my lips and turned to face him. “Hi,” I said, quietly. I wanted to drop my bag and wrap my arms around him. I wanted to hug him and kiss him. I wanted him to tell me he loved me, but that wasn’t reality and I wasn’t disillusioned.

              “Prom’s tonight,” he said.

              “Oh, right,” I nodded. My dress I had ordered arrived a few days before in a cardboard box. I found it waiting for me on the front steps after I returned home from school and, unsure of what to do with it, I had hung it in the back of my closet out of sight.

              “I know we aren’t together, but I bought the tickets weeks ago. We could still go—as friends,” he said.

              I sighed. Shaking my head, I replied, “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

              “Just one dance,” he said, tilting his head to the side and giving me a pleading look.

              “I have to go. My mom’s gonna call and I want to be home in time,” I said, turning on my heel and leaving him standing, staring after me. I’m not at all proud of it, but I came to a stop, flipped my hair and turned back to look at him which nearly caused him to crumble. I only did it because I wanted to see his warm, black eyes for a second longer. I missed him; his eyes; his golden hair; his sweet molasses voice; I missed it all terribly.

              Kristen didn’t stay the afternoon with me because she had plans to go to prom with Jason Sheppard who was on the track team and evidently had a crush on her all year. She had looked him over many times because he was an inch shorter than her. Now that she no longer cared about popularity, she felt more liberation to date who she wanted.

              I stood on the front steps of my house and waved goodbye to her as she drove back down the lane and disappeared around a bend of trees.

              Slowly, I unlocked the front door and went inside. Before opening heavy door all the way, I smelled him. First, I smelled the familiar library book smell and I instantly knew Phoenix was inside waiting for me, but mixed with his scent was a piney one that I didn’t recognize, so I entered the house cautious and rigid.

              Sure enough, Phoenix stood beside the arm chair in the living room. His arm rested on the back of the chair as he stood straight with his eyes following me. In the chair, was an older man with white hair and a white full beard. His pale blue eyes were outlined by wrinkles.

              His legs were propped up on the rectangle coffee table before him. He was looking through a photo album that he must have found underneath the coffee table. I noticed, as I walked in, that he was holding up a photo for Phoenix to look at, but he wasn’t paying attention to anything the man said.

              “This was our first Christmas in the house. Erin did a beautiful job designing it. Don’t you think?” the man said, holding a pollard photo between his forefinger and thumb for Phoenix to take note of.

              Phoenix cleared his throat and nodded in my direction, though, there was no need for him to because the man already knew I was in the room. He stared at me affectionately, placed the photo back into the album, and closed the book then tossed it on top of the coffee table where it landed with a loud thud. He folded his hands and raised an eyebrow as he continued examining me.

              Because I couldn’t stand the silence, but mostly because of what the man had just said and I wanted clarification, I stood straighter ready to confront who sat in front of me and said, “Viktor?”

              “I prefer dad, but I guess I deserve that,” Viktor said, smiling. 

32

              Being a wolf, I imagined he was using his instincts to pick up on how I was feeling at the moment. My emotions ranged from shock to anger. I hadn’t grown up imaging a day I’d meet him. It was never something I longed for. I accepted, at a young age, that I didn’t have a father and I never would, but now here he sat just a few feet from me looking at old family pictures, and reminiscing about holidays, and talking about the house, my house as if it was also his.

              “Why are you here?” I asked, crossing my arms. I moved my eyes from his face to Phoenix’s who I shared just as much anger toward at the moment because it was him who brought Viktor into my living room.

              Viktor sighed. Was he hoping for a hug? He raised his head and looked at Phoenix and then back at me and said, “Phoenix came to me with some disconcerting news. It appears Petoskey is not the family lake town I remember it to be.”

              “I’m not leaving,” I said.

              “You are not safe here,” Phoenix said, stepping forward.

              Viktor raised his hand. Phoenix responded by hunching his shoulders and stepping back behind the chair. “I know you don’t want to. I didn’t either, but I had to for the safety of my family. There comes a day when we have to realize that sometimes we make the choices we do for the ones we love and not for ourselves. If you stay, you risk your own life and your mother’s, Josh’s, Eric’s, your friends.”

              He was quiet as I thought about what he said. I wanted to reject him and Phoenix, but I knew what he said was true, but leaving home, leaving my family, that scared me.

              “I’m not even ready. I still can’t gain consciousness at will. I’m just as unsafe out there as I am here,” I said. The reality of the situation tread on me.

“No more time to worry about that. We have to leave. If you want to be a wolf you either need a pack or you need to get use to moving—Hunters will always be tracking you. You do have a choice though. I have intercepted a call from your mother.”