Note: I don't own anything in Shiver. This is just a fan rendition... The project was to write the first two chapters of the "sequel", and you had to explain what had happened in the first book while keeping with the original storyline. And I got a 100 on it BTW. ;) So here ya go, my own sequel to Shiver, "Frigid".


Chapter One l Grace

23 F

It had been two weeks since Sam had come back to me. Still I kept glancing at him, memorizing the lines of his face and his floppy mop of black hair because half the time I just couldn't believe that he was really alive. That he was human. After years of watching him and the rest of his pack running as wolves in the woods, and after finally having a chance with him earlier this winter, plus everything that had happened between us, his adoptive father Beck, and the other wolves, it was still like a dream.

"What are you thinking about?" he asked after catching me one morning, leaning on the counter and wrapping a lock of my hair around his finger. Behind him, a cracked window let in a frigid breeze that ruffled his own hair and raised goosebumps along my bare arms. But Sam loved it. It reminded him that he would never change again; would never have to run through the woods behind my house as a wolf.

"I'm actually thinking about going to see Isabel," I replied.

Isabel was still trying to pretend that seeing Sam alive didn't bother her, even when her brother Jack Culpepper was dead. We just couldn't figure out how he had died and Sam survived the injection of meningitis we had given them, and sometimes I felt really horrible about it.

"It's not your fault, you know," Sam murmured, as if he had read my thoughts. His golden eyes held my own trapped, like he was trying to make me see the truth with just a look. "Some people are stronger than others, and Jack just couldn't fight any longer."

"But I made it," I argued, "and so did you. We got sick, and we survived the fever that burned out the wolf in us. Why couldn't he?"

Sam shrugged and lowered his gaze to the counter.

"Maybe he just wasn't meant for life as one of us," he answered slowly.

We fell silent, and I let my mind wander back over the past month, remebering everything that had happened to me since Sam's arrival. Recalled all the things he had taught me about himself and the pack, about how they changed into wolves every winter and back into their human forms every summer. It had been amazing to listen to Sam's stories; all about Beck, the pack leader, and Ulrik, the crazy German who was always pulling pranks. Even Shelby, the girl who had always been more wolf than human.

But as the weather grew colder Sam had to fight harder to stay human, and suddenly he had to deal with tension in the pack. Jack had been the newest member, and had a hard time adjusting. He was a loose cannon. Untrustworthy.

At the same time I was dealing with my own problems, trying to keep my friendships from falling apart while my parents kept themselves buried in their work. I never saw them anymore.

Yet, as it always does, life continued to move on, so while the temperature kept on dropping steadily I found myself wishing that there was some way to keep Sam with me, no matter what the season.

Little did I know that my wish was about to come true.

Chapter Two l Sam

35 F

The weather was freezing. Frigid air nipped at my skin each time I went outside, puckering it into a constellation of goosebumps. But it stayed, and didn't rip from me with the agony of changing into the wolf. Of giving myself to the animal. Now I could hold Grace in the middle of a snowstorm if I wanted, and not have to worry about losing my humanity.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" I asked Grace for about the tenth time since we had left the house. She gripped the edges of her seat tightly, her body tensing up as we curved around each turn. I had a feeling that she was still traumatized from the crash, and from having to watch me go through the change. I could still remember the look of horror on her face as winter air seeped through the broken windshield, trickling over my body like poison and causing my battered body to convulse with searing pain.

All because of a deer.

"I have to go, Sam," Grace replied, pulling me from my thoughts. "I still feel like there's something we can do for her."

"It's not your fault," I argued gently, glancing at her face as I twined my fingers through hers.

"I know, but we still have to try something," she answered. "Isabel's hurting right now."

I gave in with a sigh, slumping back in my seat as the light turned green. After a few minutes, I decided to try another tactic.

"Have you seen Olivia lately?" I questioned.

Grace shook her head slowly, her gaze riveted on the trees flashing by out the window.

"Maybe she'll come around this summer," I continued hopefully.

"You're trying do distract me, Sam Roth," she accused, swinging around to glare at me. But the expression was playful, so I grinned widely in response, causing her to break out in cute, girlish giggles.

It took several more minutes before we finally pulled into the driveway of Isabel's giant house, and as soon as the engine cut off Grace was out of the Jeep, trotting to the porch and waiting impatiently for me to catch up.

"Hey," Isabel greeted, pushing a stray lock of perfectly straight blond hair behind her ear as she gave us a welcome smile. "Come on in."

"Where are you parents at?" Grace asked as we filed into the great foyer and stored our warm coats in the closet.

"They're off on some extended buisness trip," she replied with a roll of her eyes. "I've got the house to myself for at least two months."

"Wow," I commented, both to her words and the sight that met us as we strolled into the living room.

People lounged around the cavernous room, talking and hanging out and soaking up the warmth as heaters whirred at full blast.

"Welcome to werewolf central," Isabel told us, sweeping her arm out to encompass the whole room. Several people looked up at her words, and many of them I recognized. And one in particular.

"Beck!" I cried, my face lighting up with a grin as I moved forward to greet my adoptive father. The older man rose from his perch on the arm of a couch and pulled me into a bone-crunching hug.

"Hey kiddo," he replied, pushing me back to arms-length and studying my face. His own expression was a mix of happiness and sorrow. "Didn't think I'd see you again any time soon."

While Grace and Isabel chatted with some of the others, I pulled Beck aside.

"I'm sorry about the way I acted about the new wolves," I explained to him, holding up my hand when he tried to speak. "It was wrong, and I should've heard you out. I know you were only trying to help out the pack by turning those kids."

"I should've told you before," he countered, ducking his head as he spoke. "You had every right to be mad at me."

We sat in silence for a while, our gazes inexorably drawn to the warm gathering before us. I watched Grace as she and Isabel chatted with one of the newest wolves, her face brightening with a sweet smile. And deep in my heart I knew that moments like this, just being with my mixed-up family of humans and wolves, were going to make up the rest of my very much human life.