Silver (3 page)

I fought back a grimace. “So I’ve been
told.” We stopped at my locker and I twisted the combination
several times. After more than a few failed attempts, I fished the
tiny slip of paper with the combination out of my pocket and tried
it again. It opened with a squeak to reveal pictures of someone’s
girlfriend.

Brock laughed. “Guess they moved on.” He
took one off the door and gave it a critical look. “She’s not bad.”
He put it in his jacket pocket. At my look, he grinned. “You never
know when you might need an imaginary girlfriend to fend off some
ugly chick.”

“
Is that something you do
often?”

“
It never hurts to be
prepared.”

I shook my head, threw my books in, and shut
the door.

It was Brock’s turn to stare. “Not one for
studying?”

I shrugged. “Later.”

“
What are you doing after
school?”

“
We’ve still got a lot of
unpacking to do. My mom’ll be home late, so I’m going to try to get
as much done as I can.”

“
Sounds fun,” Brock said in
an unconvinced tone.

I gave a wry smile. “Oh, it is; believe
me.”

“
Well, beats working at
Mack’s to pay for a car I don’t even get to drive.”

I laughed. “Yeah, that sucks.”

We walked out the front doors into the cool
afternoon air. The parking lot quickly emptied as students and
teachers rushed to leave school. We made our way along the row of
buses to the side road.

I turned toward home, “See ya later.”

“
Hey,” Brock said over his
shoulder. “If you get bored, come by the shop.”

I paused on the sidewalk. “You walking
there?”

He grinned. “No license, remember? Besides,
it’s not that far.”

I thought about it. If Mom’s job search
didn’t go well, she might be out late anyway and I definitely
didn’t have anything else to do. I nodded. “I might stop by.”

“
It’s just up Main past
First Street.”

“
Got it.”

He shoved his hands in his pockets and
continued down the road.

I made my way toward home, but a few streets
later realized that was the last place I wanted to go. Nothing was
more depressing than a house full of boxes. Mom wouldn’t mind if I
unpacked later.

I jogged west through some apartment
buildings and up a road between rundown brick warehouses so I could
meet up with Brock before he reached the shop. Someone yelled and I
stopped short. I strained my ears to hear the voice again.

“
What do you want with me?”
Brock’s words were strained.

I ran through an alley on my left in time to
see Brock back up against a wall with his hands raised. Two boys
and a big animal stood with their backs to me. I recognized two of
Chet’s followers and realized with a jolt of surprise that the
animal with them was a werewolf already phased to wolf form.

“
Chet wants to know about
that Jaze kid. You’ve been hanging around him all day like a
lovesick puppy.”

“
No!” Brock shook his head.
“I don’t know anything, I swear.”

The first boy grinned. “I don’t believe you.
And Chet said to get answers any way we could.” He took a step
forward. The wolf beside him lowered its head. A fierce growl
ripped from its throat.

“
Whoa.” Brock leaned back
against the wall, his eyes wide. “I don’t know what you want, and I
don’t know anything about Jaze except that he just moved here.
That’s all, I swear it!”

“
Oh, you’ll be doing more
than swearing by the time we’re done with you,” the second boy said
with a cruel laugh. He pulled his shirt off.

A voice inside my head screamed for me to
walk away, but I ignored it and entered the alley. “Leave him
alone.”

The boys and wolf looked back at me in
surprise. I made my way toward them with calm, measured steps
despite the adrenaline that pounded through my veins. I met Brock’s
eyes; fear and relief reflected in them. He shook his head as if to
tell me to leave and save myself. I gave him a grim smile. “Looks
like the boys at your school don’t know how to play nice.”

“
Jaze, get outta here,”
Brock said. The wolf turned and snapped at him. He leaned back into
the brick wall.

“
You know,” I said, my tone
fierce with anger I could barely control, “If you have questions,
you could have asked me.”

The two boys exchanged crooked smiles at my
invitation. The one with his shirt off started toward me. “That can
be arranged.” He phased in a blur of skin and fur. His teeth
sharpened and mouth elongated into a pointed muzzle. His shoulders
rolled and ears moved to higher points on his head. His legs and
arms bent and shifted their muscles, forcing him onto all fours.
His pants fell discarded at his feet. A growl rolled from his
throat. I looked into the golden eyes of the gray wolf and saw the
animal hunger in them. He gathered his legs under his body to
leap.

I pulled off my shirt phased into wolf form
in the split second it took for him to leave the ground. His eyes
widened, but it was too late for him to change course. He slammed
into my shoulder. I rolled with the force of the collision while
his own momentum threw him over me and into the trashcans along the
wall.

The other boy had phased to wolf form by the
time I got to my feet. I backed slowly so that I had a wall behind
me and could watch all three wolves. Their coats were varying
shades of gray, male wolves who didn’t wear the black of an Alpha.
The one that had tangled with the garbage cans limped back over to
join his pack mates. I sensed their confusion, a mixture of anger
and surprise at my black Alpha fur. There was no time for them to
regroup with Chet and decide what their next course of action
should be.

Three heads lowered, ears flat and hackles
lifted. I bared my teeth. A low growl rumbled from my chest. I
could see Brock pressed against the wall out of the corner of my
eye. The fear that rolled off him in waves fueled my rage. Fire
flowed through my veins as the three wolves leaped.

I ducked under the first wolf and caught the
shoulder of the next in my jaws. I shook him and threw his body
against the nearest wall. He yelped and fell to a heap on the
ground. The third wolf grabbed my forearm in his mouth and bit
down. His sharp teeth tore through the flesh; pain laced up to my
shoulder. A snarl ripped from my throat and I turned and bit at his
neck. My teeth sought purchase through the thick fur. The scent of
his panic filled my nose. He let go and darted back, breaking my
hold.

The first wolf dove at me again. I jumped to
the side and his teeth missed by inches. Before he could regain his
footing, I used my shoulder to bowl him over. His belly was exposed
and he yelped in fear. I latched onto his unprotected throat. My
ears filled with sound of his blood pounding millimeters from my
teeth. I growled a warning.

He froze. A strained whine escaped him. I
heard his two pack mates’ anxious replies. My jaws ached to close,
to end his life in an effort to release some of the fury and anger
pent up inside me, but I fought against it. I growled again for
good measure, and then let up the pressure. The wolf on the ground
held still for another moment. When he realized I wasn’t going to
attack, he rolled onto his belly and slunk back to his pack mates.
They left the alley without a sound. I noted with grim satisfaction
that two of them limped, and the third held his tail between his
legs.

Movement from the corner of my eye snuffed
out the satisfaction. Brock detached himself from the wall; his
eyes never left me when he leaned down to pick up his backpack. The
fear in his gaze left me hollow.

I turned and made my way back through the
alley. Blood ran down my front leg where the wolf’s teeth had
scored it and I tried not to limp. Normally, I would phase back to
human form in an effort to be less conspicuous in the city, but I
had left my clothes in the alley and couldn’t bring myself to go
back for them. I wondered if a naked human or a huge wolf would
catch more attention. I settled on the rationale that most people
could accept a wolf as a large sled dog. A naked human was not so
easily overlooked.

Regardless of all that had happened, it felt
good to be back in wolf form. I hadn’t phased since the last time
with my dad. Though the full moon next week would make it
inevitable, Dad and I had always escaped a few nights a week for a
run. Being back in wolf form after the past two weeks felt like
stretching muscles that had been too long dormant. I relished the
feeling, and phased to human form only when I realized our back
door wasn’t easy to open with a muzzle and paws.

I pulled on some pants and sat in the
kitchen attempting to bandage my still bleeding arm when the
doorbell rang. I tied off the cloth and slipped on a shirt with
long sleeves before I made my way to the door. My heart slowed when
I opened it to find Brock, my discarded clothes tucked under one
arm.

Trepidation rose in my chest. “What are you
doing here?” I growled.

“
You saved my life, man.
The least I could do is return your clothes.” Brock pushed past me
into the house.

I stared after him in surprise, then shook
my head, shut the door, and followed him to the living room. Boxes
filled most of the sitting areas, and he turned back to me with
raised eyebrows. “You really did just move here, didn’t you?”

“
Saturday. Why?”

He shrugged. “I was wondering on the way
over if it was some story to cover up an underground werewolf
something-or-other.” His eyes lit up. “Did you move here because of
a werewolf thing?”

My eyes narrowed. “It’s none of your
business.”

He held up his hands, a grin on his face.
“Okay, okay. If you don’t want to talk about it, that’s fine.” He
pushed aside a stack of books and sat on the corner of the couch.
At my look, he apologized. “Sorry. I keep feeling like I’m going to
fall over. A long walk after being attacked by werewolves must not
have been good for me.”

I studied him. “It’s not that long of a
walk.”

“
If you have four feet,
maybe. But I had to make it on two,” he said casually as if he
often made references to werewolves.

“
Have you ever seen a
werewolf before?”

He shook his head. “Never, and not for lack
of trying.”

That surprised me. “You
mean, you’ve
tried
to find werewolves?”

“
Oh, yeah.” He sat up, his
expression brightening. “Mouse and I have been trying to find proof
of werewolves for as long as I can remember. It’s a hobby of
ours.”

“
Strange hobby,” I
muttered. I frowned. “But you can’t tell him. No one can
know.”

“
Word’ll spread fast enough
to Chet if I know Max and Darryl.” His tone turned pleading. “Are
you sure I can’t tell Mouse? He’d be thrilled to know we were right
all along.”

I shook my head. “Absolutely not. You’re
lucky to still be alive. No human is supposed to know of the
presence of a werewolf. Chet’s followers would have killed you when
they’d gotten all they could out of you.”

Brock’s eyes widened, then narrowed. “But
you could have let them kill me and didn’t. Don’t you follow
werewolf law?”

I gritted my teeth. “I’m not so fond of it
at the moment.”

“
Is that the reason you
moved out here?”

I shook my head and made my way to the
kitchen to clean up before Mom got home. Blood on the counters was
the last thing she needed to see after a hard day of job hunting.
“I told you I’m not talking about it.”

“
Okay.” He followed me,
then stopped at the sight of the blood. “Whoa. I didn’t think you
got hurt.”

I raised my sleeve to show him the already
soaked bandage before I turned away to find a rag in the
cupboards.

“
I thought werewolves
healed quickly.”

His knowledge concerned me, but I didn’t let
it show. “We do, but it still takes some time.” I found a rag, ran
it under the tap, then began blotting at the counter top.

He fell silent. I looked up to see him
watching me. “Thank you,” he said quietly, his expression
sincere.

“
Don’t mention it.” I
finished the counters and rinsed the rag in the sink. Blood ran
over my hands when I wrung it out. The water turned pink as it
carried away the iron scent. I tossed the rag into the washing
machine by the bathroom.

Brock followed me down the hall. “So what
now?”

“
What do you mean, what
now?”

“
Well, do you wage war on
them or something?”

I shook my head and walked back to the
kitchen. “There’s too many of them. I shouldn’t even be here. The
most I can hope is for them to ignore me from here on out.”

Brock looked disappointed. “Oh.” Then he
perked up again. “But what if they don’t?”

I turned to face him, exasperated. “Why do
you want me to fight them so bad?”

“
Because I finally have
proof that there are werewolves, and now everything's just going to
go back to normal? I don’t think so.” His voice softened, his face
pale. “According to you, Chet’s gang will have to kill me now that
I know what they are.”

The thought turned my stomach. He was right.
I took a seat at the table. Brock hesitated, then did the same.

His eyebrows lifted. “Hey, if they had
bitten me, would I turn into a werewolf, too?”

I shook my head. “No. That’s just a myth.
Werewolves are born, not made.”