Changed (9 page)

“
Knock, knock,” dad said, lightly rapping his knuckles against my closed bedroom door. “Can I come in?”

“
Sure,” I replied unenthusiastically as I flipped another page of my magazine.

Dad opened the door and leaned his head in. “Everything okay?”

I glanced at him. “Yeah, why wouldn’t it be?”

“
Eh, let’s just say I’ve noticed there’s been a lot of tension around the house between you and your mother. I don’t understand what’s going on and neither one of you are willing to talk to me about it, but whatever it is, it’s really got your mom torn up.”

I rolled my eyes. “I’m sure.”

“
Look.” He opened the door more and took a step into my room. “I’m being serious here, Tessa. I’ve never seen your mother this upset about something before. Now, I don’t know what you’ve done or what she’s done, but you two really need to work this out.”

I flipped another page of the magazine I’d been reading with more force than necessary, causing the thin paper to tear. “Oh, yeah? Well maybe you should talk to her about it then.”

“
Don’t get an attitude with me. And I
have
talked to her about this, but I’m getting nowhere, which is why I decided to say something to you, too.” He sighed and ran his fingers through his chestnut hair. “I’m not going to argue with you… you seem to be doing enough of that with your mother right now.” He turned and left the room, closing my bedroom door behind him.

I let out a sigh and flung my head back against my pillow. My life just kept spiraling out of control. Footsteps outside my bedroom window startled me, but only because they were unfamiliar. They were light and catlike—most definitely not Jace’s.

I sat up in bed and stared out the darkened window, trying to see past the glare of my bedroom light. Shimmering white-blond hair and electric blue eyes met my gaze as Shelby stepped to my window and stared back at me. My heart lurched to my throat at the sight of her. She wiggled her fingers and sent me an impatient look. How did she know where I lived?

I stood and started toward the window slowly, wondering what she’d do if I just left her out there and pretended I hadn’t seen her at all. The thought was appealing, but my curiosity as to what she wanted pushed me forward and I opened my window.

“
What are you doing here?” I asked, not bothering to tame any of my hatred for her.

“
Why do you look so surprised to see me, Tessa? Did you honestly think I wouldn’t scope out where you lived the last time I was here?” She scoffed. “You’re more naive than I’d thought.”

“
What do you want, Shelby?” It was surreal how intimidating she could still seem even when she was looking up at me from the ground.

“
Either for you to let me in or for you to come out here,” she insisted.

“
Move out of the way.” I sighed as I popped the screen out.

She flipped her long blond hair over her shoulder as she stepped out of my way. I carefully climbed out the window and wondered what the hell it was that she wanted. Then I wondered why Jace had never texted me to tell me that she was in town, after all it had been hours since I’d thought I’d passed her car on my way home.

“
Come over this way. My parents just went to bed,” I said, walking to the side of the house. There was no way I was taking her to the edge of the woods, not only was that Jace’s and my spot, but I didn’t trust her enough to be alone in the middle of the woods with her.

I paused when we got to the side of the house and turned to face her. My eyes drank in every inch of her—from her petite, curvy frame to her red painted toenails—and I wondered what it was about her that made her seem so intimidating. Then I realized it wasn’t necessarily the way that she looked, but the gleam in her eyes. They held a menacing factor to them. Always.

“
I just had to come see for myself how well you were holding up.” Shelby sneered. “I guess I may have underestimated you a tiny bit.”

I straightened my back and kept my eyes fixated on hers. “Why do you say that?”

She folded her arms across her chest and leaned against the side of the house. “Because, I figured after Jace had bitten you without giving you a choice you’d turn into a complete basket case. Heck, I even assumed him biting you would be enough betrayal for you to stay away from him. I can see now that I was wrong. Either you’re too weak to deal with this on your own or Jace just hasn’t told you the entire truth yet.”

My heart pounded in my ears, but I did my best to conceal how much her words were shaking me. “What entire truth? What are you talking about?”

My words made Shelby’s smile grow. “Answer me this first—did you know that Jace came back to Winburg after he bit you?”

“
No,” I said, hating to admit that he’d never told me.

She toyed with a string of her hair and focused her icy eyes directly on mine. “Well, he did, to let his parents know what he’d done… but he also stopped by my house and we had a long conversation about you.”

I swallowed hard. “And? So what, he stopped by your house to tell you that he’d gone through with it. That means nothing.”

Dimly I remembered Jace’s conversation with his Uncle Everett I’d overheard and how he had said that he’d be returning in a month. Obviously that’s what he’d gone back for, to tell them he’d gone through with it.

“
You’re so simple minded. Have you not learned anything about Pack Law?” Spite flashed in her blue eyes. When I didn’t respond her eyes shimmered with an animalistic gleam that sent a shiver along my spine. “Oh, this should be fun.”

My stomach tightened. I didn’t know what to say and I hated the fact that Jace had treated me like a child by not telling me anything of Pack Law or the Wolf Moon yet.

“
I can smell the fear on you right now… your little heart is beating inside your chest like a tiny, frightened rabbit. If you only knew what’s really in store for you now… and this little grudge between us, don’t think that it’s over just because Jace went through with his little plan to change you. It has only just begun. He may have turned you, but it still doesn’t mean he’s yours, yet,” Shelby said with a wicked smile before shouldering past me.

I watched her walk away so completely full of herself it was sickening and wondered what Shelby knew that I didn’t. I’d have to get Jace to tell me about Pack Law… and soon.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

I’m in the woods alone, walking through the thick, uncorrupted foliage. It’s dark out, but I don’t mind because I’m busy searching for someone. There’s someone I’m supposed to meet here.

I wonder along until I come to a large clearing. It’s there that I notice him and realize I’m in the right place. Jace is waiting for me, standing beside a wide-trunked tree with his arms casually folded across his chest. A smile breaks out on my face as I dart across the clearing toward him. The closer I get, the more I realize the emotion on his face is not one of happiness, but one of worry.

Just before I reach him, Shelby steps from behind the tree he’s leaning against. My feet falter as I wonder why she’s here. Her lips form into a smirk as her icy-blue eyes penetrate me. I shift my gaze to Jace, questioning her presence with my eyes, but he’s quick to look away.

Shelby’s body shivers as bones begin to ripple beneath her skin. Fear makes my heart plummet to my stomach as I realize that she’s changing. An eerily bright full moon shines down on me from between two parting clouds, and the first spasm of warmth slides beneath my skin.

In mere seconds both Shelby and I have completely changed while Jace remains human. Before I’m able to catch my breath Shelby lunges at me, baring her teeth. I attempt to dodge her, but I am not swift enough. Her teeth clamp onto the side of my neck and I fall to the ground. I push and nip, but to no avail—Shelby is stronger. My eyes lock with Jace’s as I feel my life slowly drain from my open wounds.

He does nothing besides stare.

I woke from my nightmare completely out of breath and sweaty. The conversation with Shelby had really gotten to me. Running my fingers through my hair, I let out a long sigh while I scolded myself mentally for feeling so threatened by her.

Knowing I wouldn’t be able to fall back asleep, I climbed out of bed and forced myself to take a shower.

* * *

School seemed better today, more tolerable. It had only been two days since the full moon, but already I’d noticed a difference in my senses as the moon slowly began to wane. I couldn’t wait until the new moon—the moment when I’d finally feel normal again. Until then, I’d just have to keep pretending.

“
What’s been going on?” Rachel asked on our way to English class. “I seriously feel like we haven’t talked in forever.”

I shrugged and smiled. “Not a whole lot.”

“
Okay,” she said, flashing me a skeptical look. “What are you doing after school today?”

“
I think I work. Don’t you?”

“
No, I worked yesterday just like you were supposed to. What happened to you, by the way?”

“
I just wasn’t feeling all that great,” I said as we rounded the corner into Mrs. Graham’s classroom.

I noticed Gina was already sitting at her desk when we walked in. A wide smile came to her face when she saw us.

“
It’s a Thursday night, maybe you’ll get out a little early and the three of us could hang. I think we’re long overdue for a girls’ night out,” Rachel said, slipping into her desk.

“
Woo, a girls night sounds fun!” Gina chimed in.

Werewolf or not, a girls’ night sounded like exactly what I needed. There were only two problems with the timing: One, I had to work. And two, Shelby was in town, which meant I needed to spend as much time with Jace as possible.

“
As much as I would love to, I think maybe next week would be better for me,” I said.

Rachel crinkled up her nose. “What, why?”

“
Because Shelby’s in town, again.” I rolled my eyes. Rachel’s scoff of disgust was like music to my ears. It was nice to be able to have her understand even a small part of what I felt about something. Our shared disgust for Shelby made our strained friendship seem normal again somehow.

“
Why is
she
back in town?”

“
Wait, who is Shelby?” Gina wondered.

“
Tessa’s boyfriend’s seriously sexy ex,” Rachel answered for me.

Gina’s face scrunched up in sympathy for me. “Oh, no.”

“
Yeah, so this weekend might not be such a great idea. I might have to spend the entire weekend fighting to keep Shelby away from Jace.”

“
That girl has got some serious issues!” Rachel insisted just as the final bell rang.

“
You have no idea,” I said, opening my notebook to a clean page.

* * *

The rest of my morning flowed smoothly; it wasn’t until chemistry when everything turned for the worst, as usual. Sam was still his overly annoying self, but today he seemed amped up a little more. Also, Darcy Miller was shooting him death rays with her eyes. If I had to guess, I’d say they’d broken up over the weekend and it was not on her terms.

Sam still did the usual—wiggling to bang his desk against the back of mine, scraping the bottoms of his shoes against the metal bar beneath my desk, and flicking my hair occasionally with the tip of his pencil.

It was like he was on overdrive today. Not only was he pestering me, but he was flat-out ignoring Darcy, and blatantly flirting with Tiffany Watson, who sat at the desk beside me. The worst part was Tiffany was eating up every minute of his attention. I found it hard to believe that there was a time when I’d thought his way of flirting was cute. Now, he just seemed like an ass.

There was only two and a half more weeks left in the semester, and I was hoping either I wouldn’t have any more classes with Sam or else I wouldn’t be in school anymore period. That was another thing I’d have to talk to Jace about. How was I supposed to finish school as his Alpha Queen?

My future suddenly seemed so uncertain.

* * *

“
No, Allison! You have to line them up like this or else you’ll get an air bubble and ketchup will go all over the place. Trust me; I’ve learned this one the hard way,” I said quickly, showing Allison how to refill a ketchup bottle without making a mess.

She shook her head. “Who knew there was a special way to refill a ketchup bottle!”

I glanced at the clock for the millionth time since my shift had began—6:57 p.m. Jace should have been here by now, and the simple fact that he wasn’t made me think all kinds of what ifs involving him and Shelby. As my mind filled with thunderous clouds of anger, the bell above the door rang and in sauntered Shelby with Jace trailing closely behind.

I watched as Shelby walked to the nearest table, putting way too much sway into her walk, and my blood began to boil. Taking in a deep breath, I attempted to collect myself at least a tiny bit before walking to their table. My eyes zeroed in on Shelby, taking in the seductive glint in her eyes, the straightness to her back that made her large chest poke out farther, and the sexy little smile her lips were twisted into as she talked.

By the time I made it to their table, I’d already decided that it was time for her to go home. If Jace didn’t say something to her tonight, then I would.