The Xoe Meyers Trilogy (Xoe Meyers Young Adult Fantasy/Horror Series) (40 page)

P
ayback is a bitch. I was beginning to realize that werewolves don’t like it when non-werewolves kill them. No matter that the werewolf I'd killed was psychotic and trying to kill me. I was even getting blamed for Nick’s death, which was actually my dad’s doing. Nick had also been trying to kill me.

As soon as I reached the Inn’s lawn after my little reflective walk, an older woman, presumably a werewolf walked up and tried to spit on me. She missed, but I didn’t. She hadn't taken into account that my powers were fueled by anger. I managed to knock her out with a single punch. Respect for my elders be damned. I stepped right over her prostrate form without another glance and kept walking.

Everyone else on the lawn stared at me as I made my way towards the front door of the Inn. Some faces held looks of fear or respect, but most only held hatred. Screw it. I wasn't  here to win any popularity contests.

I met Lela in the hall as I was walking back to our room.  “What's with all of the hostility around here?” I asked bluntly.

She just stood there uncomfortably, obviously not wanting to answer my question. Instead she focused on tugging her black sweater down over her jeans, as if it didn't already fit her perfectly.

I raised my eyebrow at her and she stopped fidgeting.

“Basically,” she began, “No one likes you, because you're involved in werewolf affairs, but you aren't a werewolf yourself. No one likes the rest of us, because we'd rather be led by a demon than one of our own.”

“So why am I even here?” I asked. “I was under the impression that this was for the good of all of us.”

Lela had stopped fidgeting. She was all business now. One of the reasons I liked her was that when she had a purpose, she got things done. One of the reasons I didn't like her was that when she didn't have a purpose, she was a crying mess looking for someone to take care of her. 

Luckily, right now she had it together. “It
is
good for all of us. If it works it will offer us all a great deal of protection, but the fact still stands that the only reason we were even allowed to be a pack is that Abel for some reason pushed our paperwork through.” She explained. “When you have the leader of an entire sector pushing for you . . . well you get pushed.”

I was well aware that Abel had been pushing for us, it was the why that I was fuzzy on. As far as I could tell, Abel liked us . . . and I didn’t trust that one little bit. I just wasn't that likeable.

“Why do you think he did it?” I asked, suspicion clear in my voice.

She shrugged. “I'm guessing something to do with your dad. It seems like they have a lot of history.” She smiled a half-smile. “Maybe he's just bored.”

I was a seventeen year old, out of state and completely out of my league, all because of a werewolf's boredom . . . how comforting.

I pulled my phone out of my pocket to check the time. Almost 6:00. High time to get ready and get the evening over with.

I took a deep breath and turned back to Lela. “Ok, tell me about this evening. What do we have to wear and what do we have to do?”

Lela's eyes flicked around the room nervously. “We don't have to
do
much . . . but, we kind of have to dress up. Evening meetings for the whole group are formal. Morning meetings for the Alphas are mostly informal.”

I shook my head and smiled. If wearing formal wear was the worst thing I had to do, I could deal. Why did I have the sneaking suspicion that dressing up was only the tip of the proverbial iceberg?

W
ithin an hour we had all marched back downstairs in our evening finery, which was seeming increasingly impractical  as we tromped towards the meeting place in the middle of the woods.

I had been harangued into purchasing a crimson strapless dress that ended just below my knees in preparation for the occasion. It was nice and simple except for the fact that it was made of silk. The bodice was fitted, kind of corset style, but had no other embellishments to speak of. 

The dress had cost a sizable chunk of the money I was awarded after the Dan incident. If anyone spit on it I would set their hair on fire, even though I'd probably never wear it again anyhow.

Lela was in black again, chic and simple with her hair twisted back in a simple bun. Lucy's deep purple dress had sheer cap sleeves with lots of sparkles that continued down onto the dress. It was
way
more flashy than Lucy's normal attire. Her heels were a shiny silver with more little sparkles set in the straps. Her black hair hung long and sleek, perfectly straight and shiny without any styling whatsoever.

I was the only girl without a coat. I was also the only girl not in heels. I could only be talked into so much. I didn’t give a damn that my sneakers looked horribly out of place. I had four other dresses in garment bags in my closet. The sneakers would be worn with all of them. My hair was a scruffy looking mess like usual. I'd had a brief stint of actually styling it, but that had gotten old fast.

Jason looked rather snazzy beside me in charcoal dress pants and a shirt that was as dark as purple manages to get before it turns black. Someone had gotten Chase into a similar outfit but with black pants and a deep green shirt. They looked like they had been dressed to match.

As my two bodyguards I supposed it was appropriate. Lela had probably coordinated it. Heck, maybe she'd even bought the clothes for them. Jason could be pushed into shopping on occasion, but Chase would rather have his toenails pulled out then spend a day trying on clothes. I had expected Chase to look uncomfortable like me, but he actually wore his fancy attire quite well.

Why did Jason and Chase need to fit in, and why were they even allowed to come to the meeting? My dad had arranged it. My dad wanted me to have bodyguards, and Abel wanted me to have a werewolf pack. Thus, strings were pulled, and we were all on our way to our first werewolf meeting. Allison, despite her protests, was staying in the room.

We had exited the inn to a very surreal scene. Werewolves of all ages were dressed to the nines and making their way towards the woods. No one looked awkward in their heels. They all walked with an eerie, boneless grace. I would have looked awkward.

The only thing to mar their perfect appearance were the lanyards with each individual's information dangling around their necks. I had my lanyard in my hand, rather than around my neck. I wasn't really sure if I wanted everyone to know who I was on sight, plus I hate lanyards.

I noticed a few side-long glances as we converged with the crowd. I did my best to ignore them. Wouldn’t do to get in another fistfight on our very first day amongst the werewolves. Noticing a few of the wolves nearing our group, Jason and Chase took their posts on either side of me. A young couple hesitated, then walked away, but a single man in an all-black suit continued towards us. 

We had to walk directly at him to stay in the flow of wolves entering the woods, and I wasn’t about to swerve aside for him, so within a minute we were face to face.

He was tall, but fell a few inches short of Jason and Chase. I placed him around 5’10”. A polite smile flooded his clean-shaven face. He had a strong jaw and full lips, very GQ . . . or at least what I imagine GQ to be. Slicked back blond hair completed his overly manicured appearance. He looked young to be so well put together. I placed him at around twenty. He held out a hand to me.

I stared at the hand like it was road-kill, but then, not wanting yet another enemy, I placed my hand in his. He lifted my hand to his mouth and kissed it gently. Seriously? I fought to keep my discomfort off my face and failed.

I withdrew my hand, trying to hide my distaste.

Smile never faltering, he introduced himself. “I’m Devin. I presume you’re Alexondra. I’ve heard so much about you.”

What I wanted to say, was hi Devin, I’ve heard absolutely nothing about you. ‘kay, bye, but what came out of my mouth was far more diplomatic. So diplomatic it made my teeth hurt.

“Nice to meet you Devin. Care to walk and talk? I don’t want to get left behind.” I gestured at the majority of the crowd disappearing in the distance.

“Why of course,” he replied, holding out his suit clad arm for me to take.

In my experience that level of politeness meant either someone wanted something, or they were afraid of you. Devin didn't seem afraid, so the question was, what did he want? Ah well. With a shrug I placed my arm through his and began to walk towards the meeting place with the rest of my group trailing behind us. I thought I could almost sense Jason’s discomfort, but maybe I was just projecting.

“You’re warm,” Devin commented. “Is that because of your demon blood?”

I stumbled at his words, but recovered quickly and managed to not fall on my face.

Devin chuckled. “Come now Alexondra. You know what we all are. It’s only fair that we know a bit about you.”

“It’s Xoe,” I corrected, then asked, “You can feel my temperature through your coat?”

“Yes,” he replied as we veered towards the mountains and the larger trees. “We wolves run slightly hotter than humans, but not enough to be easily perceptible. You’re like a little heater.”

I didn't like being called little. Sure I'm slightly scrawny, but I'm also tall. I prefer to think I'm a lot more imposing than I actually am. I almost protested the remark. Yet, I was trying to be polite, and I couldn’t think of a reason not to tell him, so I answered his question instead.

“It has to do with the specific line of demons I come from. We have freakishly fast metabolisms. Though, whether the heat fuels our powers, or is an aftereffect of them, I'm not sure.”

“Interesting,” Devin replied. “So I'm told you can create fire, what else can you do?”

It took a moment for me to register what he had said. He'd managed to gather a lot more intelligence than I would have thought.

“Oh no,” I replied. “That's all you get. A girl has got to maintain a bit of mystery.”

Devin smiled and nodded at my answer, then went on to the next subject without a hitch. “Have you been told what to expect from this meeting?”

I shrugged. “Not really, you werewolves can be a bit cryptic. All I know is that formal wear is a must.”

Devin’s smile returned. “Well you've got the formal wear down . . . except for the shoes, but there are a few more things you should know.”

“And what are those things?” I prompted, getting impatient.

“You’re petitioning to become a pack. There are many among us that will challenge your claims,” he began.

Pssh, tell me something I didn’t know. “Are you one of the challengers?” I asked. Subtlety is not my strong suit.

Devin shrugged gracefully. I’ve never managed the graceful shrug thing.

“I have a more casual interest in the matter,” he answered. “A few of us have placed bets on the outcome.”

I tried to pull my arm away from his, but he held on. “Don’t worry Xoe,” he soothed, “I’m on your side. I see no reason why you shouldn’t become a pack. Plus, very few bet on you succeeding. I stand to win some serious cash.”

“Lovely,” I grumbled in response.

“Now don’t be sore Xoe,” Devin continued. “I was on your side even without the cash. These meetings can be so boring. We need a little excitement.”

We had entered a clearing packed full of werewolves. A big group of them turned to glare at me. The woman who had tried to spit on me was at the front of that group.

“Happy to oblige,” I told Devin, causing him to grin like the proverbial crocodile. I couldn't help the thought that grins like that tended to come back and bite you in the ass.

T
here was a space in the crowd which I assumed was for us. Devin led us over to that area, then finally let go of my arm. I expected him to weave through the crowd to find his group, but instead he went to stand by Abel in the center of the clearing. They were in cahoots. I should have known.

Jason took my arm that had been freed of Devin and led me to sit on a large rock in our part of the clearing. Glancing around, I realized that there were several large rocks that people were beginning to take their seats on. A few people ended up on the ground, but those of us in the front got rocks.

I looked back to see that the majority of the crowd wasn’t even in the clearing at all. They stood amongst the trees. If I wasn’t so against being there myself, I might have felt bad for their exclusion. As it was, I envied them.

I turned my attention back to my group, and realized that my group had diminished to just Chase, Jason, and me. Lela was shooing Max and Lucy back into the trees. I looked at Jason questioningly and he just shrugged apologetically.

Chase leaned in on my other side and whispered, “Only pack alphas in the center clearing.”

“Then why are you and Jason still here?” I asked.

He shrugged. “Lela says.”

I watched as the last few wolves filed themselves away into the woods, like smoke dissipating through the cracks. Their absence left fourteen distinct groups. I had expected more individual packs.

Each group had three to four wolves. From the way they were sitting, I guessed that the Alpha, and sometimes the Alpha’s spouse were seated in front, all with two bodyguard types slightly behind them. I realized that Chase and Jason’s rocks were slightly behind me. I guess Jason didn’t qualify as my “spouse.”

I guesstimated that there were about 50 figures standing in the woods now. That would mean 3-4 extra wolves per pack. I remembered Lela saying that the entire pack didn’t have to attend the meetings each time, but we all had to be there to petition. I wondered how many members of the other packs weren't in attendance.

“Welcome,” Abel boomed, drawing everyone’s attention to him. He had kept the skintight pants, but had changed into a silken dress shirt the exact color of my dress. We were matching. He couldn't have planned it, there was just no way. Unless Lela had told him. The smile he gave me told me that it had most definitely been planned. Gre-eat.

“Let us get right down to business,” Abel went on, drawing his gaze away from me. “Who will be the first to update?”