Time Mends (2 page)

“
To live is to
change.

“
You can’t stop change no
more than you stop the earth from trudging around the sun, but you
can influence its direction. Tonight, I beg you to commit yourself
to making positive changes. Be better people than you have been.
Rid yourselves of bigotries, prejudices, and pettiness. Go out in
the world and do something important. Try new things and learn from
your mistakes.”

Talley’s blue eyes locked onto mine.
Something hidden in their depths caused pinpricks of anxiety to
race up my spine. “It’s not always going to be easy, and you will,
without a doubt, screw up over and over again; but the next morning
you’ll wake up a new, changed person, and you’ll try again. Be
strong. Be brave. And, please, be good.”

She broke the intense eye contact and
flashed one of her brightest, most genuine smiles at the masses.
Her thanks was swallowed up by the sound of three thousand people
shuffling to their feet and applauding. I didn’t bother trying to
stand - everyone would be sitting back down by the time I made it
up - but Talley managed to re-capture my gaze all the same.

***

I was not the assumed Valedictorian of my
class. It’s not like I’m some super-smart genius girl who aced her
SATs and made As without trying. I had to work hard and study my
butt off to even attempt to keep up with the other Honor’s
students. In all honesty, Talley would have probably been named
Valedictorian even if I had been able to finish out the school
year.

The only reason I prepared a speech is
because Talley and I started working on them our tenth grade year
during her “power of positive thoughts” phase. We wrote them, but
never showed them to one another, saving the “surprise” for
graduation day. Mine was saved on my password-protected computer
profile under the name “Screw Sunscreen.” A normal person would
have never found it, but Talley is far from normal. She’s a Seer,
and more specifically, a Soul Seer. With a touch she can reach into
your brain and See your memories, thoughts, dreams, or the location
of your secret graduation speech.

It looked like it was time to have a little
talk about boundaries.

I managed to miss the cue to stand up while
I was pondering when exactly she hacked into my computer because
suddenly I was the only senior still in my seat. I grabbed onto the
despised walker and pulled. Nothing happened. Another tug. Still
nothing. My arms were like spaghetti, all pale and floppy and weak.
Tears of frustration threatened to spill out, humiliating me
further. And then two sets of hands were easing me to my feet. Jase
let go as soon I was upright, possibly due to the glare I shot his
way, but John Davis kept one hand on my elbow as he moved around to
my side. He moved the walker out of the way with his spare hand
before wrapping the other arm around my waist.

“
Just lean on me,
Graduation Buddy,” he whispered with a goofy smile. “We’ll make it
just fine.”

Again tears threatened, but this time out of
gratitude and affection. For the first time, I realized I may never
see John again. True, Timber is a small town, but it’s still big
enough you could go your whole life without seeing everyone who
lives here. And who knew if we would both end up back home after
college? Maybe we would run into each other at Wal-Mart over the
holidays, but maybe not. John may not have been my favorite person,
but he was a friend, someone who had been a constant part of my
Monday through Friday life for the past thirteen years. Still, I
was shocked to realize I would miss him.

The entire class made its way to the stage
in pairs. John supported most of my weight the entire trek and
practically lifted me onto each step as my turn neared, but it was
better than clomping around with the walker. I swore I would only
think kind thoughts about him for at least the next month.

“
Jase Stewart Donovan,”
Principal Dexter’s voice bellowed from the speakers.

My brother’s presence on stage was met with
more than a few wolf whistles and cat calls. He handled it with all
the charm and irreverence one came to expect from the star
basketball player with celebrity-like status in our small
community. He stopped in the middle of the stage and gave a deep,
theater-worthy bow before tossing a few winks and kisses to his
adoring fans. The school superintendent - who was known
affectionately as “Dad” in the Donovan household - sighed deeply,
Senator Harper scowled, and Principal Dexter barely suppressed a
smile.

Once they finally managed to shoo Jase off
the stage, it was my turn.

“
Harper Lee
Donovan.”

I wasn’t expecting what happened next. My
first step was met with a deafening roar that almost literally
knocked me off my unsteady feet. I looked out at the crowd,
startled.

They were all once again on their feet.
Three thousand pairs of eyes glued me to the spot. Three thousand
sets of hands slammed together. There was yelling and whistling and
cheering. It was all too much. The room tilted. Out of the corner
of my eye I saw my father rush towards me, but I knew he wouldn’t
make it in time. The last thing I saw before collapsing was a pair
of familiar grey eyes watching from the upper bleachers.

“
You weren’t gone long,”
Alex said as I made my way up the lake’s shore. The sun was dipping
behind the trees, sending streaks of light to dance across the top
of the water.

“
Are you getting bored
with me?” I greeted him with a quick kiss. “I know I’m nowhere near
as exciting as skipping rocks or making dandelion
necklaces.”

A quick kiss wasn’t enough for Alex. His
lips followed a familiar trail along my jawline, over my cheeks,
and back to my lips. “Yep, you’re pretty dull to be around,” he
breathed against my skin. “I would tell you to go away and never
come back, but I would hate to hurt your feelings.”

He kissed me as if it had been years since
we last saw each other, which was hardly the case. Since my rather
dramatic collapse at graduation I was kept sedated a majority of
the time. My infection was worse, causing my temperature to
sky-rocket. On top of that, I developed a migraine of spectacular
proportions. My bedroom was kept completely dark because even the
dimmest of lights burned my eyes. I wore earplugs to dull the roar
of the fan used to keep me cool. My family was even eating out
every meal since the smell of food cooking caused me to vomit.

Life in the real world sucked. Here was
better. Here nothing hurt, and Alex waited for me.

“
I love you,” I said,
pulling him even tighter against me.

“
I love you, too.” I heard
his breath, shallow and fast, and felt his heart pound in his
chest.

As countless hours of doing some mildly
illegal things online proved, I didn’t really know Alex Cole. I
didn’t know where he was born or where he grew up. I didn’t know
who his parents were or what he did before showing up at Lake
County High at the beginning of our Senior year. Heck, I didn’t
even know if his real name was Alex or Christopher. It bothered me.
A lot. Not because I felt lied to or manipulated, but because I
would never know. It’s why I clung to my sleeping hours, to these
dreams. I may never know who Alex was before, but I knew who he was
here with me.

He was mine.

We walked along the edge of the lake for a
long time, although the scenery never changed. One minute we would
be walking under the cliff where we had our one and only real date
ever, and the next it would be looming just ahead of us. Soon the
sky grew dark and the moon began to show its face.

“
It’s a full moon
tonight.” I was surprised I hadn’t already known. Last winter I
discovered the existence of Shifters, boys who transformed into
wolves or coyotes during the full moon. Alex was the first Shifter
I knew about, but he wasn’t the only one. Through a bit of amateur
sleuthing, I found out my step-brother Jase came from a family of
Shifters. Since my boyfriend, brother, and Charlie, Jase’s cousin
and one of my best friends, all Changed during the full moon, I
made it a habit to keep up with the phases.

I turned to Alex, to ask if he would still
be forced into his Change, and found the wolf instead.

I knelt down and buried my hands in his soft
fur. “I really wish you would stop doing that. It’s not…” The
thought was cut off by a violent convulsion slamming through my
body.

“
Scout!” Alex, once again
a boy, caught me in his arms. “Scout, talk to me!”

“
Hurts.” The word came out
as a whimper.

“
Scout, you have to wake
up.”

I tried to answer, but the muscles in my
throat jerked, making speech impossible.

“
You have to wake up and
get outside as fast as you can, okay? Get outside and away from the
house. Go into the woods. And whatever you do, don’t let them see
your fear. Ever. You have to be strong. Got it?”

He wasn’t making sense. Even if he was,
there wasn’t anything I could do. Control was gone and replaced
with intense pain.

“
Come on, Scout. It’s time
to Change. You need wake up now.” The tremors stopped as abruptly
as they started. I lay limp in his arms, afraid to move. “Scout,
wake up! Now!”

***

My eyes flew open as all my waking world
symptoms came back with a vengeance. It was as if I could smell
every hidden scent, from the wood of the furniture to the dye in
every article of clothing hanging in the closet. My own breathing
sounded deafeningly loud to my ears. My stomach churned, and my
skin blazed like fire.

The muscle spams were just the cherry on the
top of the sundae.

There was no way to get to my walker, so I
rolled myself out of the bed, landing on the floor with a bone
crushing thud. I crawled to my desk where I managed to pull myself
up to a semi-erect position, and then headed out of my room, down
the stairs, and to the back door. Every step was pure agony, the
inability to do so being the only thing to keep me from screaming
out. I was near delirious by the time I collapsed in the back yard.
And then the real pain began.

I could hear the bones as they snapped, feel
every fiber of muscle that pulled apart. Skin stretched so tight I
was certain it was going to rip open. My fingers dug into the
ground until I no longer had fingers to grip with. Finally, I
reached my pain threshold and passed out.

***

Something was nudging my side. No, not
something. Someone. I could smell him. It was a good smell. Dirt
and woods and sweat and fur and something else. Something unique.
Something indescribable. I liked that smell. A lot.

There was another smell. It was even closer
than nice smell, right in front of my nose. It was the smell of
blood and death. The smell of food.

My stomach clenched at the realization.
Food. I needed food. I had never been so hungry in my entire
life.

It was in my mouth before my eyes even
opened. My teeth tore through flesh and muscle. It was still warm
and this made me happy. Fresh meat was best. I ate until there was
nothing left, and then mourned the fact it was gone.

I needed to find something else to eat. I
wasn’t picky. The rabbit was good, but a squirrel or opossum would
do. As long as it was food, I didn’t care.

I stuck my nose to the ground and sniffed
around, trying to pick up on a trail. I thought I found one, only
to realize it was the same rabbit I just devoured. It ran along the
edge of the woods until it’s trail crossed with another.

The scent was unmistakable. The good smell
had swiped the rabbit.

The good smell.

I forgot in the haze of hunger and food, and
now he was gone. I cocked my head and listened to the night, hoping
to catch a rustling of leaves or movement of a bush, anything that
would lead me to where he was.

“
Identify
yourself.”

I spun around, looking for the woman with
the smooth, demanding voice, but no one was there.

“
You are trespassing on
Hagan Pack territory. Please, identify yourself.”

Hagan Pack territory? My
home. My land.
My
territory.

A growl rumbled in my chest, the sound of it
briefly shocking me back to my senses. What the Hades was going on?
What happened to me? I looked down at my hands that were no longer
hands and felt panic creep into my bones.

“
Scout?”

The voice was coming from inside my head,
and it knew my name. That couldn’t be good.

I shook my ginormous canine head and
screamed, “Leave me alone!” with all my mental might, which was not
considerable at the moment. A twig snapped to my left, sending me
over the edge. The panic completely consumed me, and I ran.

Direction and time were inconsequential. The
only thought in my head was to flee. Occasionally, the reality of
the situation threatened to push through my altered consciousness,
but I refused to let it. Instead, I ran as far and as hard as I
could. The undergrowth whipped past me, briars catching in my fur.
My paws ached and my muscles burned, but I kept running. I had to
escape, to get far away.

If I was in better possession of my
facilities, it may have occurred to me that I had no idea where I
was going or where my foe was. I might have considered using my
super-sensitive wolf senses to alert me to my surroundings.
Unfortunately, the only thing I was thinking about was running,
which is why I found myself standing at the edge of a particularly
deep and fast-moving creek, contemplating my next move, when the
scent of the others reached me.