Oh. That was probably Jase.
Of course.
And it explained the animosity between Jase and Alex. According to all of my extensive research, coyotes and wolves arenʼt exactly BFFs.
So, my brother had a habit of turning into an animal once a month. I already knew some people had a tendency to do that. It hadnʼt changed my opinion of Alex that much. If I was being completely honest with myself (which I wasnʼt totally fond of doing), Alexʼs werewolf status made him sorta sexy.
But being a were-coyote did not make Jase and Charlie sexy. It made them foreign, different from the boys I thought I knew. It was as if I had been betrayed in some deep, irreconcilable way.
How could they keep a secret like that from me?
I was getting angry, as was my usual emotional response to being hurt and confused. I donʼt know what I might have done if I had been left to my own devices, but it wouldnʼt have ended well. I imagine it would have involved me screaming some wild accusations at my brother in the wee hours of the morning. In fact, I was on my way to do just that when my phone vibrated.
Chapter 10
I stared blankly at the bedside table. Who would be calling at 2:47 AM?
I checked the caller ID, but didnʼt recognize the number. Panic started to bubble up inside me. Someone knew that I knew. They had been keeping tabs on my computer and realized I finally figured it out. Now I was going to be eliminated for knowing. Or, maybe I would be carted off to some juvenile delinquent facility for computer hacking. I would have to share a cell with one of those scary metalhead chicks with all the piercings and tattoos.
I nearly jumped out of my skin when the phone in my hand beeped. I flipped it open to find a text message that read, “Itʼs snowing.”
Weird.
I went to the window, cupping my hands around my face to peer into the darkness. The night was pitch black, but I could see a few tiny flakes blowing underneath a utility light.
I could also see the boy who stood underneath it, looking up at me.
Thankfully, I took the time to throw on a coat and boots before racing into the wintery night air. Of course, if I had known I was going to be hiking through the woods, I might have taken the extra thirty seconds to make sure they were actually mine.
Alex had yet to say a word, his only greeting a heart melting smile. When he took my hand and began leading me down a well-worn path that wound through the forest, I let him. Since Iʼm not a complete idiot, I understood that sneaking off into the woods in the middle of the night with a known werewolf was not the best idea I ever had. Somehow, though, I couldnʼt be bothered to care. It probably had something to do with those hormones my mother was always warning me about.
“Where are we going?” I asked, breaking the silence.
He stopped walking and looked around, staring in the direction of my house for a long time before declaring, “Hereʼs good.”
“Here” was a patch of forest that looked identical to every other patch of forest we had walked past. At least there was a giant log I could set on. My feet ached from trekking up and down hills in Jaseʼs boots.
“So” I said, plopping down on a sturdy looking brach, “to what do I owe this visit? Was no one in Montana up for a snowy midnight stroll?”
Alex sat on the trunk opposite me, close enough that our knees brushed against one another. “Donʼt know. I never made it that far.”
“You couldnʼt make it to Montana in a month? What was your mode of transportation?
Horse and buggy?”
“Burrow, actually. Damn thing wouldnʼt go any further than Effingham.” I waited for that sentence to make sense. “Ham? Is that the name of an actual place, or do I need to access my urban dictionary app?”
Alex laughed. “Not fʼing ham. Effingham. One word. Itʼs a town in Illinois whose singular claim to fame is a 198 foot tall cross.”
“So, you got bored with your ginormous cross and thought, ʻHey, I bet Scout will be awake.
Maybe we could go for a walk?ʼ”
“Close. I finally convinced Liam into giving me what I wanted for Christmas.”
“What was that?”
“To come home,” he said. “We just got into town a couple of hours ago. I had some business to take care of on this side of town, but then I saw your light on and got distracted.” He was staring at his feet again. I noticed he was still wearing the same pair of Adidas shoes, despite the fact that their little swim in the creek left them a bit worse for the wear.
“You had business to attend to at three in the morning?”
“I canʼt really talk about it.”
“Because itʼs werewolf business?”
“Yes, itʼs werewolf business.”
We sat in silence for a few moments. Once again, I questioned the logic of being alone in a darkened forest with a werewolf. Amazingly, I still wasnʼt afraid. It was Alex Cole, for Peteʼs sake. The boy couldnʼt go more than five minutes without flashing a million watt smile or cracking up over some stupid thing I said. He wasnʼt going to hurt me.
Probably.
“I donʼt suppose your werewolf business has anything to do with my brother being a were-coyote, does it?”
That certainly got his attention.
“He told you?”
“So, Jase really is a were-coyote?” The look on his face was the only confirmation I needed. “Is that why you guys canʼt get along? Are werewolves and were-coyotes mortal enemies or something?”
My assessment seemed to amuse Alex. “I think ʻShape Shifterʼ or ʻShifterʼ is the politically correct term,” he said. “Iʼm not sure ʻwere-coyoteʼ is even a word.” My eyes narrowed. “You know what I mean.”
“Itʼs true that my kind has a little trouble getting along with our cousin species, but thatʼs only part of the problem. When the local pack found out we were here, they sent a few delegates over to talk to us. A treaty was agreed upon, allowing us to stay. If we failed to keep up our end of the bargain the Hagan Pack has the right to challenge us.”
“What did the treaty entail?”
“Liam and I must stay within a predetermined boundary during the full moon. Also, weʼre to have no contact with those under Pack protection, especially you.” I was under Pack protection? Okay, so I guess I already knew that from my super spy mission, but still. What made me so special? Why was I being singled out?
“What delegates?”
“The Pack Leader, Jase, and Charlie.” Alex ripped off a piece of decaying bark and began turning it into sawdust with his thumb. “You already knew your boyfriend is a Shifter too, right?”