Unleashed (39 page)

She exhaled. “I’m not even sure what I saw. Just talking about it scares me all over again.”

“But, Cordelia,” Katelyn said. “What if it—”

“When were you in my room?” Cordelia interrupted her.

Katelyn licked her lips. “After you saw … us, and you left, I came after you. You dropped your cell phone in the parking lot. I—I was so scared you were going to say something.…”

“Katelyn, oh, my God, of course I wouldn’t have. Justin came to get me because Dom was coming to our house. My father and Justin had been calling me, but of course I didn’t get the calls. So Justin called Bobby, and Bobby found me. That was when I realized my phone was missing.”

“I was going to leave it near Justin’s motorcycle. So it would look like it had fallen out of your purse,” Katelyn said. “Then all those”—she didn’t know what to call Cordelia’s pack mates—“people started showing up, and I had to hide.” Her throat tightened, and she tried to discreetly clear it. “I heard what your father said to Dominic.”

“He’s losing his mind,” Cordelia whispered. “I’m not sure Dom should have said what he did.” She started to cry. “Everything’s horrible. I’m so scared.”

“I’m so sorry about Justin,” Katelyn said in a rush. “I didn’t mean for it to happen. He started kissing me and I just couldn’t stop.”

“No, I’m sorry I freaked,” Cordelia said, sniffling. “We have strict rules in our pack for everything, including loyalty to a mate. Disloyalty is the biggest crime. You can get the death penalty for it.”

“Oh, my God.” Katelyn was horrified. She shut her eyes. This was way more than she was prepared to deal with. She changed the subject.

“When I was in your room, I saw the Switliski book Mr. Henderson mentioned.”

Cordelia didn’t answer right away. “Yeah. Um, I found it in my dad’s library when I came home from Trick’s last night,” she said. “Before the party started. I went in there to ask my dad what was going on. Dom was in our bathroom and the pack was gathering. The name on the spine just jumped out at me. Switliski. So I took it.”

Katelyn didn’t believe it. How would Cordelia have had enough time to do all that between arriving home and being outside where Katelyn saw her with her family? But at the same time, why would Cordelia lie?

“Does your father know you took it?” she asked, fishing for more information.

“I don’t think so. I’ve never seen him like this, Kat. He’s never been this bad.”

“Oh, Cordelia.” Katelyn’s heart broke for her friend again. They were both in such a terrible place.

“I’m sorry, Kat,” she added, her voice wavering. “Sorry you’ve been dragged into all this.”

“I know,” Katelyn said sincerely. “And I’m sorry for you, too.”

“Thank you,” Cordelia murmured. “I’ve never had a friend like you before.”

Katelyn smiled, but it was a sad smile. “Me neither, Cordelia.” Which was the truth. She didn’t think it was possible, but she hung up feeling even worse for Cordelia than for herself.

Since Katelyn had a car now, Trick didn’t need to chauffeur her to school on Monday. And she was relieved beyond the telling that she didn’t have to face him first thing in the morning.

He met her in the parking lot, though, regarding her cautiously as he handed her the shoes she’d left at the party. She took them with a nod and dropped them into her car. She was quiet, guarded. And he didn’t push, but strangely, she almost wished he would.

To her intense relief, Cordelia was there and turning in their final paper when she got to history. They gave each other a tight hug, and after class, they walked toward the gym.

“Are you okay?” Katelyn asked.

Cordelia grimaced. “Things are … tense … at home. How about you?”

“I’m—”

Before Katelyn could answer, someone crashed into her from behind, sending her careering into Cordelia. As Katelyn regained her balance, she saw Mike barreling ahead of her, shoving others out of the way as well. Anger exploded within her. She jumped forward, ready to chase him down and deck him. She was going to grind her heel into his face, but Cordelia grabbed her shoulders and yanked her back before she could take off.

“Let me go.” Katelyn struggled to break out of her friend’s tight grip.

“Even if you do manage to hurt him, the war will never end.”

Katelyn turned to glare at Cordelia, a retort on her lips, but it was choked off when she saw the naked fear in her friend’s eyes.

“What?” she asked.

Cordelia swallowed hard. “Increased aggression … that’s not a good sign.”

Katelyn pressed her trembling hands to her face, feeling her smooth skin, her jaw and cheekbones. “I’m turning, aren’t I?” She felt human to her touch but was sick to her soul. What was happening to her?

“I don’t know, but it would make sense.”

“You
sure
Mike’s not … one? What if he’s just by himself, not in your pack?”

“That’d be nice,” Cordelia replied with a sour smile. “Lone werewolves don’t last long.” Her voice was strained, and Katelyn picked up on it.

“What’s wrong?”

“That would be like a nightmare. I can’t even imagine being without a pack.” Cordelia swallowed hard. “If my father picks someone else to be our new alpha … like Justin … I don’t know what will happen to me.”

That surprised Katelyn. “Justin wouldn’t make you go away, would he?”

“We shouldn’t talk about this here,” Cordelia murmured.

Katelyn took a deep breath. It seemed there was nowhere they
could
talk.

Each passing day, each hour, each minute, Katelyn examined herself for more signs of impending transformation. She dreamed about Justin and Trick and silver and wolves and Kimi. She dreamed about her father and mother and woke up in tears. She asked Cordelia a couple of times to bring her the Switliski book, but she kept “forgetting.”

Katelyn and Trick managed to avoid discussing Halloween—or much of anything, for that matter. He was always there, though, always looking concerned about her. And he was right to be concerned. The dreams continued, stranger, and more violent. As the days ticked by to the full moon, she realized just how much her life was on hold until she knew.

One way or the other.

Her birthday came. Seventeen. It should have felt as if her whole life was before her instead of behind her. When she went downstairs that morning, she was surprised to find her grandfather had made strawberry pancakes in the shape of hearts. He looked proud and a little embarrassed at the same time and it made her smile.

“Thank you,” she said, throwing her arms around his neck.

“Happy birthday, honey.”

She shut her eyes against her tears. She had dreamed of a big, amazing life—performing and traveling the world. When she’d been dragged to Arkansas, she’d felt as if her life was over.

And at seventeen, she was now afraid that it really was.

At school, Trick wished her a happy birthday and said he’d drop her present by sometime over the weekend. The thought of the bust he was sculpting of her mother just made her want to cry more for all she had lost and all that she might be about to lose.

Days before the full moon had become hours; in a blur of fear and frustration, she counted them down as the moment of truth came rushing up at her.

When the sun rose Friday morning, Katelyn cursed it. It was the last sunrise she might see as a normal girl. She tried going back to sleep, but she could hear the sound of her grandfather’s boots on the stairs. She flipped over and put her pillow over her ears. Minutes later, though, the smell of breakfast cooking drove her to her feet.

She quickly padded downstairs and entered the kitchen.

“Morning,” she murmured.

“Morning,” her grandfather said. “Your oatmeal will be done in a moment.” He handed her a cup of coffee.

“What are you having?” she asked, sipping it.

“Scrambled eggs and bacon.”

“That sounds good,” she said, still tired.

He gave her a look. “The eggs?”

She shrugged. “No, the bacon.”

“Are you feeling all right?” he asked her.

“Yeah,” she said, then stopped. Fear skittered through her. Meat smelled good. She had just about asked him for some.

“Well, I suppose that’s progress,” he said with a grin. “By the way, the Subaru’s got a flat, and I don’t trust the spare—not for you. It looks soft. So I called Trick and he’s coming to pick you up.”

Her heart skipped in her chest. “What?”

“I figured it’ll work out fine, since you’re spending the night at Cordelia’s.”

She’d told him a couple of days earlier that Cordelia had invited her for an overnight. It was sort of true. She didn’t know where she was actually going to be, just that Cordelia had promised to take her far away from the pack’s hunting grounds.

She began to panic. “Is he already on his way? Maybe
you
could take me—”

“I reckon he is.” He frowned. “You still got boy problems?”

There was no way she wanted to talk about it. She’d worked hard not to spend too much alone time together with her grandfather so they wouldn’t have to talk about what was going on with her. She didn’t trust herself not to break down around either him or Trick.

When she’d finished pretending to eat, she went back upstairs and slowly got dressed. She looked at herself in the mirror and saw the fear and uncertainty in her eyes. Anyone who looked at her for more than a second wouldn’t be able to help seeing them, too. She vowed not to let Trick or her grandfather really look at her as she left the house.

Trick was quiet on the drive. He didn’t play music. He didn’t talk to her. She squinted against the light of the new day streaming through the windshield. It seemed brighter to her, more garish, and she wished she’d brought sunglasses.

As they neared the school, her hearing went into overdrive. Even inside the Mustang, the voices and engines and radios overwhelmed her. She clenched her hands together and tried to get a grip.

“You okay?” Trick asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Just not feelin’ school today, I guess,” she answered, grinning weakly.

He pulled into the lot and parked, and before he could say anything else, she pushed open the door and climbed out. Without looking back at him, she began to walk. Noise bombarded her. But Trick’s voice was absent from the tumult.