Silver (19 page)

I turned and jogged slowly back to the
security guard.

“
Yes, sir?”

He glanced at the others to make sure they
were far enough away not to overhear. He then lowered his voice. “I
couldn’t make it to the meeting tonight, but even so, I’m sure
they’ll give you a listening to.”

I stared at him, my heartbeat quickening.
“You’re a Hunter?”

He nodded. “Had an ex-wife that turned out
to be a werewolf. Orneriest woman you ever saw. Thought it was just
a time of the month thing.” His cheeks reddened. “Turns out it was
a different time of the month thing.”

I frowned. “So you turned Hunter?”
Sadness filled his eyes. “She took my kids away. Said she had to
raise them in a pack. Becoming a Hunter was the only way I could
protect them from the others.”

My heart tightened and I glanced up at the
waning moon. It shone through a thin cloud cover, creating a
rainbowed ring through the gray. I took a deep breath. “I’m sorry.
If I ever meet your kids, I’ll keep an eye on them.”

He nodded and turned. I put a hand on his
shoulder and he stopped. “You knew I was a werewolf the first time
we met?”

He shrugged and avoided my gaze. “Had my
suspicions. But you didn’t seem to be up to anything bad.”

I studied him curiously. “So why all the
talk about werewolves?”

He smiled. “Just testing the waters. You
never know who you can trust out here.”

I nodded and let him go, then had a thought.
“Hey, what’re your kids’ names?”

“
Darryl and Max,” he called
out over his shoulder without turning.

I froze, and then sighed. Of course they
would be members of Chet’s pack. I hurried to catch up to the
others.

I was exhausted by the time we reached the
fenced swap meet. Mouse helped me lever Nikki and Brock over, then
offered his interlaced fingers to me with a questioning glance. At
my look he dropped his eyes. “I just thought. . . .”

It was against my instincts to show
weakness, but we both knew I wouldn’t make it over the fence by
myself. I swallowed my pride and nodded. “Thanks, man.” I stepped
into his hands. He smiled and levered me up to the top. I turned
and dropped to the other side, then stumbled slightly when I hit
the ground.

Brock grabbed my arm to steady me. “You
okay?”

I nodded but could tell by the look in his
eyes that he didn’t believe me. “I’ll take it easy,” I reassured
him. He nodded, unconvinced.

“
I still don’t know what
we’re doing here,” he said; he glanced around uneasily between the
locked stalls. A whoop followed by a cheer sounded in the distance.
His eyebrows rose.

“
Come on.” Nikki laced her
arm through mine and we led the way down the aisle.

We stepped into the lit-up end alley and
waited for Brock and Mouse to pass us. They both stopped and
stared.

“
Whoa,” Mouse said
quietly.

“
Awesome!” Brock crowed. A
group of roller skaters passed us, the puck a blur between them.
Several other students ran by with a football. One student threw it
and two more jumped to hit it out of the air. One managed to swat
it down; it bounced off one of the stalls and fell at Brock's
feet.

“
Throw it,” a student a few
years younger than us said, gesturing toward three students by the
hockey goal.

“
They play both games at
the same time?” Mouse asked me quietly.

I shrugged. “I guess it makes it more of a
challenge.”

Brock threw the ball in a wobbly spiral,
then glanced at Mouse. “Come on, man! This is what we’ve been
waiting for!”

“
We have?” Mouse
questioned; he glanced from me to the mad rush of roller skaters
that almost took out the football players.

Brock nodded enthusiastically. “Yeah, we
just didn’t know it. Let’s go!” He pushed off the wall and ran down
the aisle, leaving Mouse to follow.

“
Like kids in a candy
shop,” Nikki noted with a smile.

I nodded. “Got to let out steam
somewhere.”

“
So, where to for
us?”

“
You’re not heading out
there?” I tipped my head toward the pile of skaters. Brock had
managed to trip up the entire team and they now untangled
themselves with an enthusiasm that made me tired just
watching.

Nikki shook her head. “If you’re not, I’m
not.”

I gave her a smile of gratitude. “What do
you want to do?”

She pointed to one of the low rooftops.
Students lined the sides, throwing wrappers and empty cans at the
skaters and football players below. “How about up there?”

I shrugged. “Sounds good.” We made our way
to the far end. It took some effort to get to the top and by the
time we were settled I had to fight to catch my breath. It felt
good to finally stop moving.

Nikki leaned against me and we watched the
students below. Mouse had the football, but a dozen guys charged at
him. He ducked at the last second and dove right under the legs of
the first guy, then knocked down the rest of them like bowling
pins. The football slid out and was scooped up by someone else.
Three guys, Brock included, stopped and helped everyone up. He and
Mouse laughed despite the bruises and rushed off to catch up with
the group. They barely missed the group of skaters that rushed by
after the puck. One hit the puck just as another tipped his skate
with a hockey stick. They got tangled and the group fell over in a
heap as the puck slid into the goal at the far end.

A long forgotten memory surfaced. I tipped
my head back against the metal roof and closed my eyes.

Dad pulled on a pair of silver and black
roller skates while I tied my yellow and black ones. The bow
wouldn’t hold tight enough, and after he got his on he knelt and
tied mine for me. I sat at the edge of a fountain. Water normally
spilled down from the mouths of the four horses that stood on their
hind legs, but it had been turned off for the night. Coins winked
like twinkling stars in the clear water.

Dad held out a hand.

“
You two be careful!” Mom
cautioned from a bench. She waved the book she was reading at us
for emphasis.

Dad nodded. “Don’t worry, it can’t be that
hard!”

He pulled me up with a yank that sent us
both sprawling on the ground. We laughed and rose shakily to our
feet. Mom stood now, her expression worried and motherly. I smiled
at her. “Don’t worry, Mom,” my eight-year-old self said. “It takes
more than a couple falls to break us.”

She mumbled something that sounded like,
“It’d better,” before she settled back on the bench and pretended
to read her book.

Dad’s knees wobbled a bit, but he soon found
his balance. I fought to keep my ankles straight despite the tight
laces.

Dad frowned. “We’d better get you better
skates.”

I shrugged. “These are fine, I’ve just got
to get the hang of it.”

Dad’s eyes creased at the corners and he
watched my ankles wobble back and forth for a second, then his eyes
lit up. “I have an idea!”

He skated back to the car, dug around in the
trunk for a moment, then brought back a roll of something gray.

“
What are you doing?” Mom
questioned suspiciously.

Dad held up the roll. “Duct tape. It fixes
everything!”

He knelt down and proceeded to wrap the tape
tightly around my roller skates. By the time he was done I didn’t
wobble an inch. “This is great!” my young self shouted. I pushed
off and skated around the fountain.

“
Come on, Jaze. Let’s go!”
Dad said. He took off down the moonlit sidewalk and I followed
close behind.

Chapter 18

“
Jaze, you
okay?”

The memory vanished and I shook my head to
clear it. Nikki looked over at me, her face anxious. I nodded.
“Just thinking.”

“
You looked so sad,” she
said.

I shrugged, fighting back the tightness in
my chest. “Just remembering my first time roller-skating. My Dad
taught me.”

She fell silent and put her forehead against
my shoulder for a minute. When she spoke, her voice was muffled
against my shirt. “I’m so sorry about your Dad, Jaze.”

I ran a hand down her long black hair. “He
was a great guy.”

“
He had to be,” she said.
She looked up at me, her eyes bright.

I nodded. “He was the best dad ever.” I
smiled, remembering. “It wasn’t always easy. Two Alphas in the
house lead to some pretty interesting squabbles, but I always knew
he loved me and he was there any time I needed him.” I took a deep
breath to push the pain away.

Nikki squeezed my arm, then leaned up and
kissed me on the cheek.

“
Hey, Jaze!” Brock shouted
from below.

I growled under my breath which made Nikki
smile. She turned and peered down the aisle. “What’s up,
Brock?”

“
I, uh. . . “ I swear I
could actually hear him blushing. “The, uh, game’s over. It’s
probably time to head outta here.”

Nikki threw me a purse-lipped smile which
meant that she knew the effects she had on him. She leaned back
over. “Okay, we’ll be down in a sec.”

She rose and pulled me to my feet. I
protested. “It’s comfortable here. Let’s just stay.”

She shook her head. “Not if the nasty
werewolves can get us.”

“
Hey!” I said.

She laughed and jumped down, then offered me
a hand. I brushed it away and eased off the roof. “I’m not that
feeble,” I said. I let go and dropped. The impact at the bottom
stole my breath away with jarring pain from my ribs and stomach. I
leaned against the wall in an attempt to look nonchalant.

She leaned beside me. “I know you’re not,”
she said with a look in her eyes that said I wasn’t fooling
her.

After I caught my breath, we followed the
others back over the fence. The walk home felt shorter, and I was
glad to find my strength returning. If only Mason knew what
opportunity he was missing by not attacking me now.

We walked Brock and Mouse home as much for
safety as for the company. It felt nice to be in a pack again, even
if that pack was made up of one skinny werewolf, a Hunter’s
daughter, and an overly-enthusiastic, protective friend.

I walked Nikki to her fence, but stopped her
before she could climb over. She looked at me. “What’s wrong,
Jaze?”

I hesitated, then spoke the thought that had
circled through my mind during the walk. “When was the last time
you went on a date? A real date, not just a hang-out with some
werewolf jock?”

She smiled. “You are a werewolf jock.”

My smile fell and I looked down at the
ground, regretting my words. She put a hand on my shoulder and
waited until I looked at her. “If this is your way of asking me
out,” she said softly, “Then I would be delighted.”

I studied her expression to see if she was
teasing, but she was more serious than I had ever seen her. I
smiled. “Okay, tomorrow at eight o’clock we’ll go on a date, a real
date.”

“
Where are we going?”
I shrugged. “Haven’t figured that part out yet.”

She smiled again and hugged me tight. I
stood there surprised and still until she let go, threw me one last
smile, then climbed over the fence.

I waited until her back door slid shut, then
gingerly lifted myself over my fence and down the other side. I
walked slowly through the yard to the empty house, tapping the
punching bag with my knuckles in passing. Before I could reach my
back door, Nikki’s door slid open again. I looked over, expecting
to see her there, but instead made out Roger’s form in the light
that pooled from their kitchen.

“
Jaze? You there,
son?”

My heart clenched at being called son. It
took me a minute to speak up. “Yes, sir?”

“
The meeting’s set,” he
said. “Tomorrow at six a.m.”

I took a steeling breath. “I’ll be
there.”

I touched the door, but he spoke again. “And
Jaze?”

I turned back at the change in his tone.
“Sir?”

He sighed. “It’s not going to be easy.”

“
I know.” The dread I had
fought away all evening came back with full force. A room full of
Hunters, all of which had probably killed werewolves, would be
waiting to meet with me, one lone, unarmed, already injured
werewolf. Roger nodded and went back inside. I took a last breath
of the humid night air and did the same. The shutting of the
sliding door sounded final, as though it locked away a part of my
life I would never find again. It was the same feeling I had had
when I flicked the cigarette lighter to set our house on fire after
Dad was killed. I wondered what part of my life had been taken away
by Hunters this time.

I went to the Valen's house at five o’clock
the next morning. Nikki met me at the door with circles under her
eyes as though she hadn’t slept well. I knew I looked the same way.
Roger and Meg met us in the living room and we waited almost
patiently for the inevitable.

It was nearly six when Roger pulled a paper
grocery bag out from behind the couch. “They have a few
stipulations for the meeting,” he said apologetically. The
embarrassment in his tone was unmistakable.

I nodded, expecting as much. “Okay, what are
they?”

He withdrew a cloth bag that tightened
around the bottom with drawstrings. “The first is that you be
hooded so that you can’t see where the meeting is held.”

I fought back a smile. It was not like I
would want to go back there anyway. “Okay, and?”

He hesitated and Meg took the bag from him.
“You have to be restrained,” she said, pulling out a pair of
handcuffs.