Shaping Destiny (10 page)

“The longer we stay here,
the longer you’re in danger. We should listen to him and
go.”

“Max, I can’t just pick up
and leave. Not tomorrow.”

Max stepped out of my way
hesitantly. “Go rest. I’ll talk to you soon.” He kissed me on the
cheek before he exited. Even if we may not agree, his lips still
caused my eyes to close in pleasure.

***

The next day Max caught up
with me and asked me to go to dinner with him the next day. He may
have given me an extra couple days here, but I knew he wanted to
talk about leaving again.

The café was a small log
cabin, a quaint little restaurant. It looked like it could have
been an old home remodeled into a cozy family place. It held only
ten tables, which were half-filled with elderly people.

“Table for two?” the young
waitress asked as she walked toward us.

“
Yes, please. And if you
don’t mind, we would like a private table,” Max replied. The
waitress nodded and escorted us to the farthest table from the
front door. She then took our drink orders and left around the
corner.

“A private table? Sounds
serious,” I stated.

“We can talk more freely
this way.”

“About going to talk to
your employer?” I asked nervously.

Max looked around before
looking back at me. “Let's order our food first. Then we’ll talk.
Our waitress should be back anytime to take our order.”

I couldn’t concentrate on
the words in front of me. Nothing on the menu appealed to
me.

When the waitress came
back I ordered a club sandwich and Max asked for the steak
dinner.

We were alone once more. I
kept my hands folded together on my lap under the table, waiting
for him to start talking. He raised his hand on the table wanting
me to do the same.

“Max, you're making me
nervous. Is this more than just wanting to leave town?”

He let his hand drop. “I
received a call back from my employer.” He looked down, not wanting
to continue. “Umm . . . I need to talk to you about what he said.”
He paused another moment to collect his thoughts. “Now that you’re
becoming a shape shifter, he needs to see you. He hired me to watch
over you until your transformation took place, and now you need to
see him so he can explain more to you.”

“You told me he wanted to
see me before. But what else is bothering you?” I looked up,
waiting for his answer.

“They’re everywhere, Leah.
The boss and his minions are watching every move you make. They
used to follow a rhythm. I would sense them, and then an attack
would follow. Now their smell is around all the time, with no
attack. It’s constant, to the point I don’t know what they’re
thinking. They are getting more and more unpredictable.” Max ran
his hand through his hair.

“I will go talk to this
person who hired you. I want to know what he knows about me and
these people that are after me. The thing is, I need to wait until
Friday night. Jared and I have our performance, and he needs me to
be there.”

“You are willing to chance
your life for one night with Jared just because he wants you
to?”

“Yes. I’m a shape shifter
now, and if I get in trouble, I will take care of it.”

Max looked at me as if I
were a crazy person. “You have only shifted once, and not on your
own. You can’t rely on your wolf when it’s so new to you.” Silence
fell between us.

Maybe I was crazy to wait
around while the boss was getting closer to his final attack. In
the big picture, it didn’t make sense for me to stay, but I had to.
Jared and I were best friends and had been since we were kids. I’d
hurt him so much in the past months, and I hadn’t been around for
him. I was throwing away a lifetime of friendship by being so
distant. If there was just one thing I could still do for him, it
was dance. Dancing brought us closer together once, and somehow
this one dance would keep our friendship strong.

“Please, Max. I know I
sound irrational, but I need to stay until Friday. Then I’ll go
wherever you want.”

Max nodded. “There’s
something else . . . I wish I wasn’t the one to tell you, but he
thought it would be best before you see him.”

There’s more?
I sat back in my seat.

“Gosh, I wish this wasn’t
coming from me.” He fidgeted in his seat. “You need to go home now
and talk to your family. The person that hired me is your father.”
Shock ran through me. I wanted to run. I’d always been so close to
my family, it was unbelievable they would do something like this
behind my back.

“No . . . That’s
impossible . . . Why would my own father not tell me anything about
this? It doesn’t make sense.” I held my arms folded in front of me
and shook my head. I trusted Max and knew he wouldn’t lie to me,
but I didn’t want to consider that my father had known about my
future all this time.

“Your father said we must
leave. It’s no longer safe for us to be here. We can’t keep
fighting and running forever. They’ll just keep trying to get to
you. We need to go to your father and learn how to stop
this.”

I rose from my seat,
pushed in my chair, and started to turn. I had heard enough. An arm
caught me around my waist.

“Where are you
going?”

“For some fresh air.” I
tried to wiggle out of his strong hold.

“I’ll come with you. It’s
not safe anywhere anymore.” I kept my pace for the door. Our
waitress caught Max’s attention, asking if we were leaving. Max
gave a quick false explanation and told her we would be right
back.

The cool air felt good on
my overheated skin. I took a deep breath and reached for my phone
in my front pocket of my jeans. I quickly hit speed dial and had
the phone up to my ear before Max returned next to me.

“Who are you
calling?”

I ignored Max and focused
on the ringing in my ear. The third ring rang when I heard Dad’s
deep voice over the phone.

“Dad, we need to talk.” I
saw Max turn with frustration.

He mumbled some words
under his breath. “You can’t be talking in the open like
this.”

“Leah, where are you right
now?” Dad replied.

“That doesn’t matter. All
I need to know is, well, everything. What do you know about shape
shifting, Dad?” I knew I had a hard edge to my voice that I’d never
used with my father, but anger and confusion consumed
me.

“You need to lower your
voice. We can’t talk about this over the phone. You need to come
home immediately, young lady. We have a lot to talk
about.”

“How could you do this to
me, Dad? What do you know about the attacks?”

“I do things for you
because I love you. Now listen to Max, and come home, dear. I’ll
see you soon.” Without a good-bye, the call ended.
He hung up on me?
I
thought to myself. I looked at my phone in confusion and placed it
in my pocket.

After a second passed, I
turned to reenter the restaurant, but was stopped by Max’s chest. I
looked up to see his glowing green eyes staring down at me with
intent. He didn’t look happy.

“They are all around us. I
can smell them so strong that I can taste them. Please don’t run
off again and make foolish phone calls. They might be able to hear
every word you say. They are so close that if I turn my back for a
second they could grab you. Please, I’m begging you to stay close.
I can’t lose you.” His words were filled with fear.

I needed to stop thinking
everything was going to be wonderful if Max stayed around and
realize that if I didn’t leave and go see my father soon, Max may
be the next man dead. I leaned into his chest, resting my cheek
against him and wrapping my arms around him.

“I’m sorry. We’ll leave to
see my father. But I must do this one last thing for Jared first,
after how I’ve treated him.”

“But . . .”

“Max, I have to do this.
Then I promise I’ll go. Now, let's go sit back down.” I looked up
at his face as he let me go. I could feel the resistance that Max’s
aura projected, but this one thing I couldn’t waver on. Jared had
always been there for me my whole life, and I needed to accomplish
this one last thing for him.

The waitress noticed our
presence as we walked back to our table. It remained silent between
Max and me, and it wasn’t because we had nothing to say. Uneasiness
about what was to come filled our table. The waitress rounded the
corner with two plates of food hot and ready to eat. Although I had
no appetite, I knew we both needed the nourishment.

“What time is the dance?”
Max asked.

“4:00.” I tried to keep my
voice steady and strong. I knew he wanted to leave as soon as
possible, but I wasn’t going to be shaken on my
decision.

“You know the longer we
stay, the more dangerous it is, right?” Max pointed out.

“Of course I
do.”

“Fine, but you’re not
leaving my sight until we leave, and we leave directly from the
dance to my truck. You will have to pack the night before and get
everything loaded. For the next couple days, just stick to your
normal schedule.” Max was strong and serious as he laid out the
plans.

“Why do I even need to
attend my lectures anymore? It’s not like I can hold on to the
schedule I’ve made for myself.”

“I know you’re upset, but
we must remain normal, and not let on that we’ll be leaving.
They’ve been watching you, and know your routine. Anything out of
the ordinary they’ll notice and become suspicions.”

As I sat there pondering
the future, Max went and took care of paying for our meal. He then
grabbed my coat resting on the back of my chair and raised it to
help me in it. He rested his arm around my shoulders and I embraced
his hold.

“
You’re going to be fine.
We’ll get through this together. You’re not alone.” Those short few
sentences were what I needed to hear. Although nothing could make
it all better, Max always being by my side helped me feel
calm.

Knowing my enemies were
waiting for the opportune time to strike again, I watched every
person we passed on the street and every vehicle that drove by. On
our way home my eyes were glued to the side mirror of the truck,
watching every headlight that followed.

Could it be Thursday night
already? Days were flying by, and I no longer felt a part of them.
My roommates asked several times if everything was OK, but like a
zombie my reply was always “Yes, I’m good. Just tired.” It wasn’t a
complete lie, although lying was becoming second nature.

A knock sounded on the
door.

“
I got it,” I
announced.

Max and I made plans for
him to come over and help me pack, or at least assess how much
needed to be done. Packing in front of my roommates wouldn’t be
good.

“
Jared coming for dinner
again?” Melissa asked.

“
No. A friend is coming
over. It’s a school thing.” I swung open the door.

Melissa came closer and
looked Max up and down. “Does Jared know about this friend?” she
asked with one eyebrow raised.

“
Yeah, he knows,” I said
to her, but then looked back at Max. “Come in.” I took Max by the
arm to show him to my room before more questioning. We turned the
corner to see Gretchen chatting on her phone.

“
Sounds like a plan. OK, I
got to go. Leah just came in. Yeah, see you in a bit . . . Bye.”
Gretchen finished. “Hey Leah, you can have the room . . .” She
looked up at Max and smiled flirtatiously, then flashed me a
mischievous grin. “ . . . for whatever. I have to go meet
Tracy.”

“
Thanks. Gretchen, this is
Max. Max, Gretchen. We’re just finishing up a school
thing.”

“
Yup, I believe you.” She
bounded happily over to the door. “I’ll be back in a couple hours.”
She winked at me and left, shutting the door behind her.

“
Sorry about my roommates.
They’re actually not that bad.” I plopped down on my
bed.

Max knelt down in front of
me to hold my hands. “There’s nothing to be sorry about. They’re
great.”

“
So this is it.” I
gestured around the room. “I don’t have a lot of stuff, so it
shouldn’t take too long to pack.”

“
I brought some boxes.
I’ll go grab them and be right back.”

As he left, I pulled down
the knickknacks, clothes, and books. When he returned, we started
loading every box.

“
All my roommates will be
gone tomorrow during the dance performance. It’s a big school
get-together, and most students will be there.”

“
Great, so I will get your
keys from you and finish loading everything we can’t load
tonight.”

“
That’s what I was
thinking too. It would be less noticeable anyway.” The sadness
rolled off my tongue. Tomorrow I would have to leave. Leave my
friends, Jared, school, and go back to the sheltered life. It felt
like I had finally been doing something with my life, meeting new
people and furthering my education. For once I could come and go as
I pleased, with only myself to answer to. I wasn’t ready to say
good-bye, although I wouldn’t really be saying good-bye at all.
Tomorrow we had to leave without being noticed, and I couldn’t tell
anyone. Not even Jared.