Rise (42 page)
Authors: Andrea Cremer
“He’s an alpha male and the most popular boy at your school. At least by all accounts I’m privy to.” Her tone became wistful. “I’m sure he’s accustomed to certain attentions from girls. When your time arrives, you must be ready to please him.”
I swallowed sour bile before I could speak again.
“Mom, I’m an alpha too, remember?” I said. “Ren needs me to be a pack leader.
Wants
me to be a warrior, not the captain of the cheerleading squad.”
“Renier needs you to act like a mate. Just because you’re a warrior doesn’t mean you can’t be enticing.” The sharpness of her tone cut me.
“Cal’s right, Mom.” My brother’s voice piped in. “Ren doesn’t want a cheerleader. He’s already dated them all for the last four years. He’s probably bored as hell. At least big sis will keep him on his toes.”
I turned to see Ansel leaning against the door frame. His eyes swept over the room.
“Whoa, Hurricane Naomi strikes, leaving no survivors.”
“Ansel,” my mother snapped, hands on her hips. “Please give your sister and me some privacy.”
“Sorry, Mom.” Ansel continued to grin. “But Barrett and Sasha are downstairs waiting for you to go with them on night patrol.”
Her eyelids fluttered in surprise. “Is it that late already?”
Ansel shrugged. When she turned away, he winked at me. I covered my mouth to hide my smile.
She sighed. “Calla, I’m serious about this. I put some new clothes in your closet and I expect you to start wearing them.”
I opened my mouth to object, but she cut me off.
“New clothes starting tomorrow or I’ll get rid of all your T-shirts and ripped jeans. End of discussion.”
She rose and swept from the room, her skirt swirling around her calves as she moved. When I heard her steps on the staircase, I groaned and flipped over on the bed. The mound of T-shirts offered a convenient place to bury my head. I was tempted to shift into wolf form and rip the bed apart. But that would get me grounded for sure. Plus I liked my bed, and at the moment it was one of the few things that my mother wasn’t threatening to toss out.
The mattress creaked. I propped myself up on my elbows and looked at Ansel. He perched on the corner of the bed.
“Another heartwarming mother-daughter bonding session?”
“You know it.” I rolled onto my back.
“Are you okay?” he asked.
“Yeah.” I put my hands on my temples, attempting to massage the new throbbing pain away.
“So—” Ansel began. I turned to look at him. My brother’s teasing smile had vanished.
“So what?”
“About Ren…” His voice thickened.
“Spit it out, An.”
“Do you like him? I mean for real?” he blurted.
I collapsed back onto the bed. My arms covered my eyes, blotting out the light.
“Not you too.”
He crawled toward me.
“It’s just,” he said. “If you don’t want to be with him, you shouldn’t be.”
Beneath my arms my eyes snapped open. For a moment I couldn’t breathe.
“We could run away. I’d stay with you,” Ansel finished in a voice almost too low to hear.
I sat bolt upright.
“Ansel,” I whispered. “Don’t ever say anything like that. You don’t know what… Just drop it, okay?”
He fiddled with the coverlet. “I want you to be happy. You seemed so mad at Mom.”
“I am mad at Mom, but that’s Mom, not Ren.” I wound my fingers through the long waves that spilled over my shoulders and thought about shaving my head.
“So you’re okay with it? With being Ren’s mate?”
“Yeah. I’m okay with it.” I reached out, ruffling his sand brown hair. “Besides, you’ll be in the new pack. So will Bryn, Mason, and Fey. With you guys at my back, we’ll keep Ren in line.”
“No doubt.” He grinned.
“And don’t breathe a word about running away to anyone. An, that’s way out of line. When did you become such a free thinker anyway?” My eyes narrowed.
He bared sharpened canines at me. “I’m
your
brother, right?”
“So your traitorous nature is my fault?” I smacked him on the chest.
“Everything I need to know I learned from Cal.”
He stood up and began jumping on the bed. I bounced close to the edge and then rolled off, landing easily on the balls of my feet. I grabbed the edge of the coverlet and gave it a sharp jerk. Ansel fell laughing onto his back and bounced once on the mattress before he lay still.
“I’m serious, Ansel. Not a word.”
“Don’t worry, sis. I’m not stupid. I would never betray the Keepers,” he said. “Unless you asked me to… alpha.”
I tried to smile. “Thanks.”
• • •
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Rise
came into being during a difficult and tumultuous chapter of my life. Without the dauntless support of friends and colleagues, the writing of this book would have been at best a struggle. The joy of working with Penguin Young Readers Group supplies incredible encouragement for each stage of producing a novel. I’d like to give particular thanks to Don Weisberg and Jen Loja for their unwavering enthusiasm and kindness. The energy and mad talent of the sales, marketing, publicity, and school and library teams make me want to grab pom-poms and cheer them on outside their offices. Thanks especially to Shanta, Emily R., Erin, Elyse, Emilie B., Lisa, Jessica, Kristina, Molly, Courtney, Anna, Scottie, Jackie, and Felicia. A big shout-out, too, to all the sales reps who work so hard to get the Nightshade series into readers’ hands.
The beautiful jackets on all of the US editions are thanks to Linda and Theresa, and the stunning interior design is thanks to Amy and Semadar. The lovely Puffin team, Eileen, Jen B., and Dana, created the gorgeous paperbacks. Thank you to everyone for the advice and encouragement about moving to New York!
My home within a home at PYRG is Philomel. Michael Green keeps me smiling and offers consolation when my sports teams are (often) in the gutter. I would wax hyperbolic for several pages about my amazing editor, Jill Santopolo, but being the talented editor she is, she would rightly have me cut all that purple prose. Thanks to Julia and Kiffin for all of their help along the way, and to Cindy, Rob, Ana and Karen, whose copyedits kept my characters honest and my writing free of double entendres.
My family continues to support my dream of a writing life and keep me steady through life’s storms. Thanks to my brother, Garth, for always cheering me on. Thanks to my mom and dad for understanding their small-town-raised daughter’s longing for the big city. Every day I’m grateful for my friends in the writing world: David Levithan, Eliot Schrefer, Stephanie Perkins, and Kiersten White make my heart smile. Beth Revis, Marie Lu, and Jessica Spotswood are the Breathless Godmothers of this book, and they know more about big talent than anyone else. My dear friend and colleague Casey Jarrin has made all the difference as I transition from the academic to a creative profession. She is a star.
This book is dedicated to the trio of agents at InkWell Management who’ve transformed my novels from spark of idea to published reality. Charlie saved Calla and the pack from a slushy death. If I find the TARDIS, Charlie will be my first phone call. Lyndsey enabled global excursions for the witches and wolves, and I hope someday we’ll have an international adventure together. Richard is the bravest person I know: he dives in underwater caves—also, I adore him. I often wonder how I got so lucky to be backed by this marvelous team. Thank you for all that you do. Know that I would storm a castle for you guys.
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