Time Mends (12 page)

Instead of acknowledging the submission, I
quickly jerked away from him in possibly the single most ungraceful
move in human history. Putting as much distance as I could between
us without actually leaving the room, I collapsed back onto the
floor, staring resolutely at the ceiling. I noticed Jase and Talley
had grown Charlie Chaplin silent. There wasn’t even the groan of a
floorboard or squeak of the mat to indicated they were even still
in the room.

“
I’ll be working at the
range,” Charlie repeated into the quiet stillness. I closed my eyes
and finally remembered how to take those deep breaths. “And before
you go all Mother Hen on me, Talley, remember I’ll be behind bullet
proof glass the whole time.”

“
But you’ll still be
passing out guns to rednecks.” Even I could hear the resignation in
my voice. I wasn’t going to use my Pack Leader status to tell him
he couldn’t take the job. “You can do better than this, Charlie.”
Of course, that didn’t mean I was going to express my not-so-humble
opinion. “There has to be a virtual smorgasbord of jobs that don’t
involve half-drunk morons and firearms.”

“
Probably,” was the only
answer he seemed wiling to give until Jase ventured into the
conversation.

“
Will you be able to get
us in?”

“
Yep.”

“
Despite the ‘no one under
21’ rule?”

“
Yes.”

“
After hours?”

“
Not going to be a
problem.”

“
What are we going to do
about guns for the girls?”

Wait. What? I didn’t want a gun, and the
idea of Talley with something she could accidentally shoot her
pinkie toe off with was possibly the worst idea ever.

“
Jake Sills has a little
Smith & Wesson he’s going to sell me for Talley, and I thought
we could pick up a compact Glock for Scout.”

I rose up onto my elbows. Jase and Talley
were both sitting against the wall. I could tell by the crooked
little line between Talley’s eyes that her thoughts mirrored my
own. “Why would Talley and I need guns? We don’t have to lug
riffles out into the woods to pull off some overnight hunting trip
story. Mom and Dad already know where we’ll be on full moon
nights.”

“
You know the whole
werewolves can be killed by a silver bullet thing?” Charlie
asked.

“
Yeah…”

“
The bullets don’t have to
be silver.”

It took a second for me to catch on. “You
want to teach us how to kill people?”

Charlie actually looked at me, although we
were both careful to avoid direct eye contact. The lines of his
face were hard, making him look severe and old. He reminded me of
Alex’s brother Liam. Charlie was wearing the exact same
embittered-at-the-world-and-Scout-in-particular scowl. “I want to
teach you to protect yourself.”

“
I have a black belt in
three different disciplines. I know how to protect
myself.”

“
Do you think the other
Packs are going to play fair? That they’re going to come in all
noble and request a tournament with an impartial ref?” I flinched
at the harshness of his tone. “This isn’t some sort of game, Scout.
These people are power hungry and determined. Once they find out a
about us, they’re going to just keep coming, over and over again
unless we give them a reason to stop.”

“
But guns—”

“
You promised,” Jase
interrupted. “You promised you would protect her.”

“
At least learn how to use
one, just in case.”

I nodded weakly, knowing it made sense to be
prepared, just in case there was ever a need, but I hated it. If
countless hours of reading comic books and watching super-hero
movies taught me anything, it’s that good guys don’t use guns. And
we were the good guys, weren’t we?

After the night following my first Change, I
didn’t dream. Well, that’s technically a lie. I did have this one
reoccurring nightmare where I knew something terrible was going to
happen and I couldn’t stop it, but it always faded quickly when I
woke up, leaving just a general impression of impending doom. But
the dreams that mattered, the ones with a 3-D Alex in Dolby digital
surround sound, were noticeably absent. That’s why I was surprised
when I found myself wandering the infamous stretch of beach.

“
I was so scared you had
left me forever,” I said, wrapping my arms around him. In the real,
waking world I would have never been brave enough to admit my fears
and dependency, but this was my perfect dream world. I knew Alex’s
response even before he said it.

“
Not yet. We still have
work to do.”

Or, then again, maybe I didn’t.

“
You’re leaving
me?”

Alex’s hand lazily stroked down my spine.
“Not yet. Not until you’re ready.”

“
I’ll never be
ready.”

His lips pressed against my temple. “Of
course you will. You have to be.”

“
Why? Because it’s my
destiny?”

“
No. Because they’re
counting on you.”

And suddenly we were surrounded. There had
to be hundreds of them. They were everywhere - looking down from
the cliff, scattered along the opposite shore, sitting in clusters
around our feet. A few full-grown wolves and coyotes were scattered
in the mix, but most of them were still pups. Nicole pressed
herself against my leg.

“
Who are they?” I felt as
if I was being watched by a thousand pairs of eyes. “What do they
want from me?”

“
They’re the forgotten.
They need you to remember.”

The forgotten? Who needed me to remember?
Seriously?

“
That could be the most
cheese-tastic thing I’ve heard in my entire life,” I
said.

One of Alex’s dimples peeked through. “It
sounded good in my head.”

I couldn’t help but smile in return. “So,
for real this time, who are…” I went to gesture to the masses, but
they had already disappeared. “Where did they go?”

“
To find them you’ll have
to go back to the beginning.”

“
The beginning,” I intoned
flatly. “The beginning of what?”

“
Everything has a
beginning, Scout.”

I narrowed my eyes. “Are you being enigmatic
and obtuse on purpose?”

“
Not everyone can be as
literate and witty as you,” he said with another flash of dimples.
“Anyway, this is supposed to be one of those really important
coming-of-age experiences. How will you grow as a person if I just
give you the answers?”

“
Easy. I’ll employ the
Jase Method. You tell me the answers, and I’ll memorize them long
enough to pass the test.” That was an unpleasant thought. “Is there
a test?”

“
Tests. Pop quizzes.
Trials by fire…” He kissed my temple where I’m pretty sure a blood
vessel throbbed. “Don’t worry, though. You’ve always been good at
tests.”

“
That was high school.
This is the real world.” The place where failing meant losing your
best friend to the Shifter slave trade or getting “severely
punished” by a man you once considered family. “I’m not so sure
those skills translate well.”

Alex looked over his shoulder before leaning
in and lowering his voice. “Want to know a secret?” I nodded,
intrigued. “The real world is just like high school. The only
difference is no one has the excuse of being a teenager when they
act like idiots.”

“
And you know this how?
Because you’re so old and worldly?”

“
The world is a lot easier
to figure out when you don’t live in it anymore.”

At that, the world changed. The sky clouded
over; the scent of rain filled the air. The wind tossed around
strands of my hair, slapping them against my face.

I clung to Alex, knowing our time was
running out. I held onto him with all my might, as if I could drag
him back with me.

“
Not yet,” I begged. When
would I dream of him again? What if I didn’t? “There is still too
much to talk about. I’m a Shifter and no one knows why. I think
Toby wants to kill me, especially since I accidentally stole half
his Pack.”

“
Shhh… It’s going to be
okay,” he soothed, capturing some of my hair and securing it behind
my ear. “You’ll get answers when you discover the
beginning.”

“
Talley is going to get
kidnapped by a Pack of Shifters straight out of Deliverance. Am I
going to find the solution to that in this mysterious beginning of
yours?”

Alex’s tone was more than a little
patronizing. “It’s not just my beginning; it’s our beginning. Mine.
Yours. Liam, Jase, Charlie, and even Talley. It’s all of our
beginning.” A flash of lightning struck somewhere behind me. “And
the Talley problem can be easily solved. All she needs is a
mate.”

“
A mate?”

“
Ask Jase about
it.”

A raindrop landed on my hand. Another
splattered on my thigh.

“
I love you, Scout. For
me, it was always you. Forever and always.”

I reached for him, but he was gone. The lake
faded until there was nothing but the occasional drop of rain
against my hand.

Drip.

Drip.

Drip.

The fact that I realized the water was
dripping on me in the real world relatively quickly while only half
awake made me feel somewhat better about being stupid enough to
think it was raining in my bedroom.

“
Sorry!” Talley said as I
bolted up in bed, looking for the indoor storm cloud. “I didn’t
mean to wake you up.” More droplets splattered against me as she
bounced off the bed, slinging her wet hair over one
shoulder.

I wiped my hand on the sheets and pushed
back the mess that was my hair with the other. I swore I could
still smell Alex mingled in the strands.

“
For the love of all
things sacred, what time is it, and why are you awake?”

Talley began twisting her hair into a
complicated, princess-worthy braided knot thing. “It’s the butt
crack of eight, and Jase and I have to go in to work early.”

Yet another reason summer jobs are evil.
Everyone should be allowed to sleep until noon.

“
Is the munchkin
up?”

“
Yeah, she’s insisting on
making Jase and me cinnamon toast and honeyed milk for
breakfast.”

Of course she was, because on top of every
other anti-Scout thing about my little sister, she was a morning
person.

“
Does that mean I have to
get up too?”

“
She did mention something
about redecorating the living room while your mom is at
work.”

I slung my legs over the side of the bed,
not at all thrilled about the challenging day ahead of me. Of
course, sitting on the side of the bed is as far as I got for a
while. There is no such thing as a good reason to move quickly in
the mornings.

“
Where do Shifters come
from?”

Talley jumped a little at the sound of my
voice as if she’d forgotten I was there. “Well, when a daddy
Shifter and a mommy love each other very much, they share a special
kiss. Nine months later, a baby Shifter is born.”

I lifted two fingers since British hand
gestures didn’t offend her as much as their American counterparts
for God only knows what reason. “I meant, what is the Shifter and
Seer origin story? Does it involve Hellhounds? Cold ones? Do we get
our crazy powers from the white moon?”

“
Alex never told you this
story?”

“
No. Apparently that would
be ‘cheating’,” I said, using air quotes.

“
You’ll like this one,”
she said, sitting down beside me. “It’s a love story.”

Uh-oh. “Does it involve a human and wolf
making half and half babies, because I seriously might yak.”

Talley pouted. “When you say it like that,
it sounds gross.”

“
That’s only because it is
gross.”

“
No, listen.” She turned
to look me in the eye. “It is a good story, and it’s not
gross.”

“
Promise?”

“
Promise.” She made an X
over her chest with one finger to seal the deal. “Do you promise to
behave and listen?”

“
Maybe.”

She wasn’t enthusiastic about my
semi-compliance, but she continued on. “Back when the land was new
there was a beautiful woman with skin like snow and hair that shone
like the glow of the moon.”

“
Oh yeah. She sounds
totally hot.”

“
Scout, keep the sarcasm
to yourself.” She leveled me with her Mom look. “As I was saying,
the beautiful woman —”

“
Didn’t she have a
name?”

“
I’m sure she did, but it
was lost to history.” Talley rubbed her forehead. “You know, this
is why Mom quit reading to us when we were four.”

“
I thought it was because
Jase colored in all the books.”

Some more forehead rubbing and a deep sigh.
“Are you going to let me finish before I leave for work?”

I nodded as I zipped and then locked my
lips.

“
So, the beautiful,
forgotten named woman walked through the forest every night, and
every night she was kept company by a wolf sent by God to protect
her from the evils of the night.” I bit my tongue to keep from
commenting. “Over time, the wolf began to love the woman and longed
to be with her.” There was a chance my tongue was bleeding. “And
the woman had grown to love her nightly companion.” Yep. I could
definitely taste blood. “And so the wolf, who had the ear of God,
asked to become human. God granted the wolf’s wish with the
provision that one night of the month, on the full moon, he had to
return to his true form.”