CHAPTER THREE

"A second girl wolf? You've gotta be kidding me."

Zora sat at an unfamiliar kitchen table in an unfamiliar home, surrounded by a bunch of semi-familiar boys. While the kitchen itself was cozy – something sweet-smelling was baking in the oven, and a long-haired woman sang quietly to herself as she washed dishes – the overall atmosphere was tense. Dozens of brown eyes stared down at her, as if she were some newly discovered alien creature, and the intensity of their gazes made her uncomfortable. She shifted in her seat, remembering that she'd unwillingly gone commando, and felt heat blooming in her cheeks.

"You two bums could have at least brought me a pair of shorts," Zora grumbled unhappily, glaring at Jared and Paul. She started to cross her arms, but then decided to keep them at her sides, her hands tugging at the hem of her shirt instead.

"It was all I had on me." Jared offered a half smile. "Besides, everyone here has seen each other naked. You get used to it eventually."

His statement did nothing but further inflame her face. "What am I doing here anyway? Who even lives here?" she asked hotly.

"I do," the long-haired woman said, turning around to reveal a beautiful, mauled face. She smiled kindly at Zora, who noticed that the scarred corner of her lips strained to turn upward. "I'm Emily, matriarch of these forever-hungry boys, and soon-to-be married to their Alpha."

The Alpha. Zora gave an unabashed snort. How ridiculous all of this sounded. What were the odds that a pack of werewolves would reside in La Push, and that she would just so happen to be one of them?

Guess I'm just one lucky son of a bitch.

"What's so funny?" Another boy said. He had a shy aura about him with a name that sounded something like "ember."

"What's funny…is that the legends are completely true," she said. "All these years of sitting around a bonfire listening to what I thought were traditional stories...only to have them be my reality."

"It's a hell of an adjustment," a deep voice responded.

Zora looked to the doorway where a large figure stood. He was tall—taller than most of the boys in the room—with a steely expression and a rigid stance. She could feel the authority, the power and strength radiating off of him, and a primal instinct in her made her want to shrink back.

She knew instantly he was the Alpha.

He moved towards Emily in two quick, long strides, wrapped an arm around her waist, and lifted her off the ground, all while placing gentle kisses along the length of her scar. Zora felt as if she had just walked in on an extremely private moment and averted her eyes in embarrassment. She fixed her gaze on the other boys, who were all too busy rummaging through the refrigerator to notice. They all joined her at the table, tearing through cold leftovers ravenously.

"Do you guys not eat or something?" she questioned, wearing a grimace of mild disgust as she watched one boy produce a clean chicken bone from his mouth.

"We do," a younger boy said between bites. "It's just the wolf metabolism thing that makes us super hungry all of the time."

"Any other wolf tips I should know about?"

"Quite a few," the alpha interjected, taking the seat across from her. "But first, I want to know who you are."

"I could ask you the same question."

"Call me Sam. I'm the Al—"

"Alpha. I know that already," she interrupted, not noticing the shocked looks passed between the boys.

Sam didn't seem to be bothered, however. "So, who are you?" he repeated.

Zora cleared her throat, her stomach churning as she remained underneath everyone's curious stares. She wasn't one to like all of the attention focused on her. "My name is Zora Medina. Yesterday, I was a regular human, but then a few hours ago, I turned into…a different version of myself."

Her confusion and the undercurrent of fear in her voice softened Sam's tough expression. He knew, better than anyone, what she was going through. "We weren't really expecting any new wolves to join our ranks, especially another girl. So you gave us quite the surprise."

"Why...how is all of this even possible?" she muttered. "I don't understand."

All of the boys tensed at her question, as if the answer was one they dreaded hearing. She found it strange and unsettling.

"We can transform, or phase, into wolves for a specific reason," Sam answered, his stern exterior returning. "And it began with our ancestors. Do you remember the story of the 'Cold Ones'?"

"A little." She recalled vague memories of her grandmother describing tales of wolves - her ancestors - fighting against the blood-sucking undead. They stories always spooked her. "Vampires, right?"

Sam nodded. "In the legends, the protectors of our tribe fought off many threats, the main one being vampires. Hence, the transformation from human to wolf."

"But I thought...I thought that was just folklore."

"Not quite."

Zora frowned, suddenly aware of the rapid thrumming in her chest.

"My great-grandfather, Levi Uley, was part of the last pack of wolves. Decades ago, they discovered a coven of cold, pale-skinned creatures hunting on Quileute land. Though the pack's original intentions were to destroy, these creatures were different. More civilized than the others the earlier wolves had killed. And they had golden eyes."

Zora hadn't realized she was sitting on the edge of her seat until Paul snickered at her. She casually slid back, folding her arms across her chest. "What's the significance of the golden eyes?"

"They claimed their eyes were not red – not filled with blood – because they didn't consume the blood of humans, but the blood of animals. After some deliberation, chief and alpha Ephraim Black decided he would make a deal with the coven. He and his pack wouldn't kill them and would allow them to reside near the area as long as they agreed to never feed on a human."

Zora was stricken into silence, her mind a confusing mess of thoughts as she tried processing all she'd just been told. She couldn't wrap her head around the truth - vampires couldn't exist. It was fiction. It was impossible. It was...terrifying. And though she could deny and deny and deny, something inside of her, some sort of deeply embedded knowledge told her that this was her new reality.

"So…vampires are real?"

Sam nodded, and she shuddered involuntarily.

"And you've all turned – and me, I guess – because there are currently vampires in La Push?"

"They're not allowed to live on or near the Rez," Paul said. "And it's not just any vampires. It's the same bloodsuckers that the old wolves made a treaty with."

"But why are they back?"

Sam shook his head. "Who knows? Maybe all of the people they used to know, people who'd recognize them, are dead. Either way, their return is a serious issue." He grew silent, momentarily glancing at Emily.

Zora watched as he stared at her scar, his expression a mixture of love and regret.

"There wasn't a need for more protectors until they came back. It was a couple of years ago, before the rest of the guys were old enough to shift. I was the only one of age, so I turned. I was the first and had no idea what was happening, but luckily, Quil's grandpa, Old Quil, was still around. He and Billy Black had grown up with grandfathers who'd phased, so they knew what to do."

"It was only a matter of time until we joined him," the boy named Quil said.

"I thought the pack was complete, then we got a few young ones"—Sam looked at two gangly boys, both wearing bashful smiles—"and Seth and Leah. However, I wasn't anticipating you."

Zora wasn't one to withhold from speaking her mind, but this time, she was unsure of what to say. Vampires and werewolves were real. And the stories she once believed were myths were undoubtedly true. And she happened to be a direct descendant of one of the early protectors. If she were prone to fainting, she would have fallen out of her chair a long time ago. Instead, she was anchored to her seat, her arms and legs feeling heavy, now bearing the inevitable weight of the pack's secrets.

"I know it's a lot to take in, but you've got a support system now. Not only do we protect others, we protect each other, too."

Her mind was reeling, second guessing her abilities, herself. Was she even powerful enough to fight off a vampire? Probably not. Did she want to be some mythical protector? Definitely not. But when she remembered the way the La Push boys flocked together in and out of school, it seemed that their willingness was unwavering, as if they didn't have a choice.

And now, neither did she.

"I think I just need to go home and sleep…for forty-eight hours," she said.

Some of the boys chuckled, but Sam didn't share their humor.

"Are you sure about that? You need to be calm before you can be around others."

He was standing beside Emily, an arm once wrapped loosely around her waist now tightened as he spoke to Zora. His protectiveness spoke volumes, and she realized then that he was the reason for the scar on Emily's face, her neck, hidden underneath the fabric of her shirt as it traveled down her shoulder. She'd been thinking that it was the vampires she should fear, only to see that she was just as dangerous.

She met his dark eyes, and she could see the remorse she would soon learn plagued him every day.

"We wouldn't want any accidents to happen."


(Revised 1/3/2021)