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“Are you a—Are you one of them?” I whisper, but he can hear me from across the room because his hearing is better.
“Yes, I am a werewolf. I’m a doctor. I won’t hurt you; I just want to make sure you’re okay. It’s my job and my duty,” he says.
My eyes drift to Skyler’s without me meaning to, as if to check that David is telling the truth. Skyler gives me a little nod and a small smile to let me know everything is okay. I slowly nod my head, giving the doctor permission to look at my wounds, even though I’m not sure what to do. What else can I do if this is the only way I can leave and they say they won’t hurt me? I can’t just fight my way out. Instead, I have to believe and hope that what they say is true: that I’m safe here.
David looks at the back of my head and tells me to be careful and not lie on it until it heals. He tells me to be careful with my eyesight and to call him if I get dizzy. He gives me his number, but I don’t think I’ll ever call him. If my concussion gets worse, I’d rather go to the hospital and see real doctors and nurses than a werewolf doctor who could turn into a wolf and kill me at any time.
Still, I nod and act like I agree with everything he says. I really hope that if I do what he says, he’ll let me go. Skyler comes up to me after David finally leaves.
“I’m glad you’re okay. I was worried about you last night. That vampire really got you good,” he says as he walks over to me. I do get tense when he’s close to me, but I’m proud to say that I stay calm the whole time. Skyler was my friend. Is he still my buddy? I have no idea what being a werewolf means for our friendship, and I don’t even want to think about what it means for my relationship with Jaxon.
I’m really confused right now. My life was normal just yesterday. My life is so complicated now that there are supernatural beings in it, like the ones I read about in books. I’ve read about a lot of heroines who beat monsters and supernatural beings in their lives, but when it happens to me, I don’t know what to think.
“Doc cleared you, so would you like me to take you home now?” Skyler says.
“Where’s my phone? I’ll just call an Uber. My mom is probably freaking out,” I say as calmly as I can. But I’m getting more and more worried about how my mother will react. It’s the middle of the afternoon, and I’ve been out all night. I don’t even know what she’ll think happened to me, but I have to get home right now.
Skyler says firmly, almost like a soldier following orders, “Sorry, Calla. The orders were for me to drive you home.” Skyler had a strangely serious look on his face. I’ve always seen him in a silly mood, not like he is now. “And besides, your phone is dead, so that wouldn’t work.”
I don’t have any other choices right now, so I ask the only question I can. “Will you keep me safe?”
“Of course. Calla, you’re my best friend. Just because you know what I am, it doesn’t change that. At least, not for me,” he says, making me feel a little guilty. The guilt makes me mad. I shouldn’t be the one who’s mad! He is the one who told me a lie about what kind of animal he is! If we were “best friends,” how could he keep such a big secret from me?
“Fine. It’s not like I have a choice,” I said the last part quietly, but I’m pretty sure he heard me because he frowned a little.
There was a tense silence for the first five minutes of the car ride. Skyler led me to a black Range Rover, a car I had never seen before, after we got out of the mansion. The hospital room I was in was just a room in a HUGE mansion. I know that wasn’t his car, but I didn’t ask whose it was. We had to drive through the forest to get back to my house. There was only one path that was clear for cars to drive on. I guess the werewolves like to be alone.
Skyler broke the silence after five minutes of silence. He asked, “Do you know what mates are?” He kept looking at my face to see how I would respond to what he said, maybe to see if I would lie to him.
“No,” I said honestly. “I did hear Jaxon call me a mate earlier, but I didn’t know what that meant.”
Skyler’s laughter echoed through the quiet car, and it almost made me forget that he was a werewolf who could hurt me. Almost. “Calla, you’re Jaxon’s mate. You don’t even know how much power you have over him and everyone else!” he yells. It’s hard to understand why he’s so excited. How do I have any power over werewolves?
“I don’t get it,” I say, my eyebrows scrunched and my eyes darting around in confusion.
“I probably shouldn’t be the one to tell you this, but I’ve never been good at keeping secrets. Every werewolf has a mate, or soul mate,” he says. I nod, hoping he’ll finish explaining. He keeps going and smiles. “You and Jaxon are meant to be together. You were meant to fall in love and live happily ever after and all that.”
My heart stops beating for a second, and my eyes almost pop out of their sockets. In my head, all the dots start to connect. This would explain why I care so much about him. It would explain why a simple smile from him makes my day and why I get butterflies every time we touch. Why do I feel nervous every time he looks at me?
“That’s not all,” Skyler says, and I don’t think I could handle any more life-changing news. I found out that werewolves and vampires are real and that my friends are supernatural in the last 12 hours. Now I know that Jaxon is my soulmate. What’s next?
“To keep order, werewolves live in packs. There has to be a leader, an Alpha. Any ideas who Jaxon is?”
As I try to make sense of this new information, my heart starts to race. “Are you saying that Jaxon is the leader, the Alpha, of your pack?” I ask, hoping that Skyler is just kidding.
With a smile, he says, “That’s exactly what I’m telling you.” “Don’t worry so much, Calla. Jaxon is the Alpha, which means he is the strongest, fastest, and most protective male in the pack. That means you are the safest person in the world because he protects you. He would never let anything happen to you.”
“How do I know he won’t hurt me? You just said he’s the fastest and strongest!” I yell at Skyler, forgetting that I shouldn’t be yelling at a werewolf.
Skyler suddenly becomes serious, and I can tell that what he’s about to say is very important. “You’re his Queen, his Luna. He can’t live without you, and neither can the whole pack. He would never hurt you. Think about all the times you were together. Did he ever give you any sign that he wanted to hurt you? In any way?”
I didn’t say anything and just listened to Skyler. It’s true that Jaxon never tried to hurt me; in fact, he was always too careful with me. He growled when people got too close to me, hugged me for a long time, and always asked how I was doing. My fear of him is going away a little, but I’m still not sure I can trust him.
“Calla, you need to put your human beliefs aside and accept him for who he is. We’re just like you, only we’re werewolves.”
“Right,” I said with a laugh. “Except for your sharp claws, pointy teeth, super strength, super speed, and super hearing—”
Skyler hit my arm softly to stop me. I thought he was funny.
“Stop talking. We’re animals, but we’re also people.”
The rest of the ride is quiet and relaxing. I’m still not sure how I feel about the whole thing, but I’m starting to think about it more and more as time goes on. I remember something I should have asked a long time ago as we got closer to my neighborhood.
“Skyler?”
“Hmm?” he hummed as he drove.
“Who attacked me last night? Why? Should I be scared that he’ll come back to kill me and my family?”
Skyler turned his head to look me in the eyes. “That vampire will never touch you again. He’s in the pack prison, and he’ll stay there until we decide he’s no longer useful,” he growls.
Skyler finishes his sentence just as he turns onto my street. As he pulls into my driveway, I suddenly remember that I have a lot more questions to ask.
“Wait! Why did the vampire come after me? He knew I knew Jaxon! How did he know? And did he know I would be there? I—” My mom yanked open the passenger door, cutting off my many questions. She looked angry.
“Get. Inside. Now.” My mother tells me. I quickly follow her to the front door with wide eyes. Right now, I don’t care about being afraid of the vampire anymore. Instead, I’m afraid of my angry mother. This is the angriest I’ve ever seen her, and I know she’s right to be angry this time, unlike the last fight we had.
She gives Skyler an evil motherly look, slams the door, and then turns all of her attention to me.
“Where the HELL were you, Calla Dalton? You were out all night and never called me! Then you show up in the middle of the afternoon with your friend looking like you’ve been beaten up! What happened?”
I can hear the worry in her voice even though she’s screaming. She is looking for cuts and bruises on my pale skin by moving her eyes over my body.
“Mom, it looks worse than it is,” I say. I can’t tell her the truth, so I’ll have to use selective truth-telling and small lies to get her to not ground me for life. “I went to a club with Felix, Elise, and Skyler last night. It was really crowded, and someone bumped into me and I fell. I was so tired that I fell asleep at their house.” I say the lie so smoothly that I’m surprised it sounds so real.
“Calla, why didn’t you call me? I was so worried!” She yells and then hugs me so hard that my bones hurt. I didn’t see her crying until I felt her salty tears on my shoulder. I hug her right away, and I feel better right away. We both needed to feel better.
After a few moments of hugging, I let go of her and said sorry again. “Sorry, Mom. I didn’t mean to make you worry. I wasn’t sure if you were mad at me or not.”
She screams, “I don’t care how mad you think I am at you!” and the sudden change in her mood shocks me. “You’re my daughter! Of course I want to know where you’re going and when I shouldn’t expect you home. Oh, Calla.”
She hugs me again, and I just stand there and listen to her. I can’t talk because my face is pressed against her shoulder.
“I owe you an apology. I shouldn’t have yelled at you like that. You’ve never been late to babysit Maisie, and I was worried about you when you didn’t answer. When I saw you were with Jaxon, my anger only grew.”
“I’m sorry, Mom. I got too excited and—”