The screams echoed in my ear, chilling me to the bone. All I could think of was getting to Amber, and *killing* whoever was hurting her. Fuelled by determination I turned around and hurtled back the way I'd come.
Everything was passing by me in a blur, but one patch of woods looked just like another one. Not again. I was damn sick of this place and would be happy if I never had to come here again.
All I knew was I was running, and I needed to find my friend. Amber wasn't a coward. She wasn't as dense as she seemed, sometimes. But she wasn't a fighter, I knew that.
But I was. And *no one* hurt my best friend and lived to tell. I stopped, trying to get my bearings. I was slightly impressed to notice that I wasn't the slightest bit out of breath.
I spotted a silvery blonde head standing out amongst the trees. "Blaine!"
He turned around, looking at me. He was just stood there, hands in his pockets, as if the piercing shrieks had no effect on him at all. What the hell was *with* this guy.
"Can you not *hear* that?" I shouted at him. "That's Amber! Why aren't you doing something?"
He just smiled at me strangely. "Amber can handle herself." He laughed, as if at a private joke. I stared at him in utter disbelief. What was going *on*?
Movement in my peripheral vision caught my attention. A glow of something yellow that didn't fit in amongst the dull browns and greens of the tightly packed trees.
Eyes. From a werewolf. The minute it knew I had seen it, it took off. Before I knew what I was doing I was chasing after it.
"Seraphin!" Blaine shouted after me, but I ignored him. Screw him. This wolf held the answers. It was a Pack member. I didn't know how I knew that, I just knew.
And I also knew, that if I caught it, it would all be over. He - or she - was the one responsible for what had happened. I vaguely noticed that the screams had stopped.
But I wasn't focusing on that. My mind was fixed on getting to that 'wolf. Something strange was happening to me.
I was shifting.
My muscles were flowing, changing, my hands were thumping down on the ground as paws, my legs were changing, my body compressing. A snarl came out of my animal throat as I hurled myself forward.
The other 'wolf had stopped and was staring at me. If it had been human, I would have said it's expression was one of utter disbelief.
I launched myself at it, claws spring out, lashing into it's back, teeth digging into the flash. It howled in rage and pain, but it wasn't fighting me.
Then I realised why.
It was afraid of me. More than afraid. *Terrified.* It clearly realised that I was dominant, and they weren't. I had done something I shouldn't have been able to. I had shifted and it wasn't a full moon. Hell, it wasn't even dark yet.
My paws slipped on the mass of blood pouring out the wounds I'd made on the 'wolf. I moved back, watching as it became human again. I wasn't all that surprised when I saw who it was.
I shifted back to my own human form. I just looked at her, my arms folded across my chest. I stood there with an aura of dignity and power surrounding me.
My lips curved in a grim smile. The 'wolf didn't smile at all.
"Sorry, Isabella. Game over."
* * *
Isabella just glared at me. There was an ugly gash in her leg, pumping blood. I couldn't have really cared if she bled to death. Looking around I could see three more bodies.
The volunteers who'd offered to help us find clues as to who the murderer might be. Well, it looked as if the mystery had been solved. Isabella could clearly see the bodies too.
"I - "
"Yeah, yeah, yeah, you would have gotten away with it too, if it hadn't been for us meddling kids," I snorted. I know it was petty, but it seemed kind of appropriate.
These bodies hadn't been mauled like the other ones had. They had all been shot in the heads. "What'd you kill them with, silver bullets?"
Isabella glared at me. She opened her mouth to speak, then stopped. She was looking at me, her expression somewhere between awe and fear.
I didn't understand it myself. There was a sense of - something - hovering in the air. Power. Once I had identified it I could feel it running along my skin, raising the fine hairs on my arms and the back of my neck.
Wherever it was coming from, Isabella was *scared*. I vaguely noticed that the gash in her leg had healed. She hadn't gotten to her feet. She was keeping her distance from me.
Then I realised why. The Power was coming from *me*. I didn't know I could do that. Then I realised what it was. I had shifted and it wasn't a full moon. I wasn't a shapeshifter, I was a werewolf. Were animals supposedly could only shift during the full moon, and yet...
Isabella glared. "You are alpha. You are dominant."
I was almost disappointed. I had been ready for a fight. I had wanted to kick her ass for what she had put me through, making me think that I was the one who had been doing this.
It was all coming clear now. Isabella had been angry and jealous when Blaine had pulled me out the woods and changed me. She must have seen I had power and needed to do something about it.
She had been the pack alpha, and didn't want competition from someone like me, someone younger than she was as well. And prettier. So she had started slaughtering people.
She would know new 'wolves were confused, not sure about what happened while they were shifting, and that they would be easily rattled. The other council members would also suspect them.
I had been the easiest target. But unfortunately for Isabella, I had been stronger than she had suspected, and I had caught her.
A glow of triumph was starting to wash through me. I couldn't help being smug. Isabella was slowly getting to her feet. "I can't believe I didn't figure this out earlier," she snorted. "I didn't know you were this stupid."
Isabella laughed shortly, the sound ragged and harsh. "You think you're so smart, don't you? Think you've got it all figured out." She sneered at me, clearly not liking the fact that I outranked her.
I matched her sneer. "So enlighten me then."
"I didn't do this," Isabella snapped at me. "Why would I murder my own pack? Unlike some people, I have honour, decency. I respect all Pack members, even the ones I don't like." She threw another glare at me.
I snorted. "How touching. Then explain why you were in wolf form near the bodies."
Isabella's eyes rolled. "I was hunting. I can show you the carcass if you like. I heard screams, came to investigate and you started chasing me."
I frowned, wondering whether to believe her or not. I liked my scenario better than her explanation. I frowned. "If you didn't shoot them, then who did?"
The click of a gun sounded behind me. Isabella and I turned around to find ourselves facing Blaine and Amber. Amber was holding a shot gun, and pointing it at us. "Silver bullets really do kill your kind, you know," Amber said.
Blaine gave me a stunning smile. "To answer your question in reference to who shot them, we did."
* * *
I stared at Blaine, in utter disbelief. I had *known* there was something not quite right about him, but I had never imagined anything like this. I stared at Amber, smirking as smugly as Blaine.
"You guys are in on this together?" I asked.
Amber shrugged. "Sure. Only werewolf I know who *isn't* stupid."
Under other circumstances, I would have hit her, but considering she had a gun, loaded with silver bullets, I didn't move, just glared helplessly. "You were my friend, I trusted you," I snapped.
Amber just shrugged again. "You were just a by product to get me into a little bit of extra pocket money."
My eyebrows raised and I looked over at Blaine. "What?"
Then I finally got it. This whole thing had been one big set up. The camping trip, luring me out into the woods where Blaine could come and get me, biting me and changing me.
"Why?" I asked finally, not sure what else to say.
Blaine reached out to touch me lightly, running his fingers through my long dark locks. "You're my lupa - mate."
My eyes rolled and I shook my head. Anita Blake, eat your heart out. This was starting to sound extremely pathetic.
"Why her?" Isabella asked, slightly disgusted. "So you want a lupa, big deal." Her arms folded across her ample chest. "You have to be alpha to have a lupa. You're only just beta."
Blaine glared at her. "I *should* be alpha!" he hissed. The power that came streaming out from him sent all my fine hairs standing on end. That was *scary*.
Glancing around, I tried to see if there was some way I could possibly escape. I could just knock Amber and Blaine down and run. But in the time it took for me to shift, they could shoot me.
"I was stronger, smarter and twice as powerful as that asshole of an alpha of yours."
Isabella was looking at him, realisation dawning on her face. "You killed him," she whispered. "You killed my Ralph."
Blaine just smiled cruelly. "Yeah. Didn't take a lot of effort. Jerk. I could have taken over." He scowled again. "But *you* were in the way, and people were still loyal to you."
Everything was starting to fall into place now. Thinking about this whole thing it was almost...petty. Male ego attacks. "You needed to destroy all the competition." And that was where Amber must have come in.
He must have needed someone to supply the bullets and stuff, or visual spells to make it look like the killings of a new wolf. He must have seen me with her and decided he wanted me.
Blaine had stopped pacing up and down now. He turned to Amber. "Now, take care of her."
Amber raised the gun at Isabella. I didn't know why I cared about stopping this. I didn't like Isabella. But she was part of my Pack. I guess this was what Pack loyalty meant.
"Don't do it," I said.
Blaine hissed at me. He tried to fling his Power at me. I held my grounds, letting it wash over me like a cool wind. He stared at me, surprised. It was my turn to smirk.
"I'm paying you a lot of money to take care of problems," Blaine snapped at Amber. "*Do* it."
Amber was holding the gun up, hesitating. Looking from me to Blaine. Her eyes were confused.
"You're better than this," I shouted at her. I had known Amber since we were about three. We had always been bets friend, and I knew my best friend would never voluntarily kill people. "He's controlling you!"
Blaine lunged forward, hurling himself at me, knocking me off balance. Pinning me to the ground with one hand...An animal light shone in his green eyes.
I tried to throw him off, gathering all the Power I had, kneeing him in the groin. He was trying to knock me out with his Power, but not doing much of a job.
I spat at him. He lifted a hand, but before he could hit me, a loud shot rang out, and he collapsed on top of me. Amber was looking at him, confused.
I pushed the body off me and stood up slowly. Isabella and a couple of the other Pack members had come out of the mansion and were looking at me in awe.
"What?" I asked.
Isabella smiled faintly. "You're the new Pack leader."
I wasn't sure if I was thrilled or not. This had been one of the weirdest days of my life.
* * *
Epilogue
The police had been called and Amber had been taken away for some sort of psychiatric evaluation. I still couldn't believe than Blaine had been the psycho all along.
I had trusted him, almost been falling in love with him. Love was a bitch. Isabella told me I needed to pick an Alpha male now. I wasn't exactly sure what I was going to do about that one.
I'd had enough of alphas, lupas, and werewolf business now. But I was the new Pack leader, so I couldn't really turn by back on them.
I knew they'd help me deal with my new powers. They'd teach me how to manage the Pack.
And to think, I'd always thought this town was dull. Next time I wanted something interesting to happen, I'd be more careful when I wished.
THE END.
Everything was passing by me in a blur, but one patch of woods looked just like another one. Not again. I was damn sick of this place and would be happy if I never had to come here again.
All I knew was I was running, and I needed to find my friend. Amber wasn't a coward. She wasn't as dense as she seemed, sometimes. But she wasn't a fighter, I knew that.
But I was. And *no one* hurt my best friend and lived to tell. I stopped, trying to get my bearings. I was slightly impressed to notice that I wasn't the slightest bit out of breath.
I spotted a silvery blonde head standing out amongst the trees. "Blaine!"
He turned around, looking at me. He was just stood there, hands in his pockets, as if the piercing shrieks had no effect on him at all. What the hell was *with* this guy.
"Can you not *hear* that?" I shouted at him. "That's Amber! Why aren't you doing something?"
He just smiled at me strangely. "Amber can handle herself." He laughed, as if at a private joke. I stared at him in utter disbelief. What was going *on*?
Movement in my peripheral vision caught my attention. A glow of something yellow that didn't fit in amongst the dull browns and greens of the tightly packed trees.
Eyes. From a werewolf. The minute it knew I had seen it, it took off. Before I knew what I was doing I was chasing after it.
"Seraphin!" Blaine shouted after me, but I ignored him. Screw him. This wolf held the answers. It was a Pack member. I didn't know how I knew that, I just knew.
And I also knew, that if I caught it, it would all be over. He - or she - was the one responsible for what had happened. I vaguely noticed that the screams had stopped.
But I wasn't focusing on that. My mind was fixed on getting to that 'wolf. Something strange was happening to me.
I was shifting.
My muscles were flowing, changing, my hands were thumping down on the ground as paws, my legs were changing, my body compressing. A snarl came out of my animal throat as I hurled myself forward.
The other 'wolf had stopped and was staring at me. If it had been human, I would have said it's expression was one of utter disbelief.
I launched myself at it, claws spring out, lashing into it's back, teeth digging into the flash. It howled in rage and pain, but it wasn't fighting me.
Then I realised why.
It was afraid of me. More than afraid. *Terrified.* It clearly realised that I was dominant, and they weren't. I had done something I shouldn't have been able to. I had shifted and it wasn't a full moon. Hell, it wasn't even dark yet.
My paws slipped on the mass of blood pouring out the wounds I'd made on the 'wolf. I moved back, watching as it became human again. I wasn't all that surprised when I saw who it was.
I shifted back to my own human form. I just looked at her, my arms folded across my chest. I stood there with an aura of dignity and power surrounding me.
My lips curved in a grim smile. The 'wolf didn't smile at all.
"Sorry, Isabella. Game over."
* * *
Isabella just glared at me. There was an ugly gash in her leg, pumping blood. I couldn't have really cared if she bled to death. Looking around I could see three more bodies.
The volunteers who'd offered to help us find clues as to who the murderer might be. Well, it looked as if the mystery had been solved. Isabella could clearly see the bodies too.
"I - "
"Yeah, yeah, yeah, you would have gotten away with it too, if it hadn't been for us meddling kids," I snorted. I know it was petty, but it seemed kind of appropriate.
These bodies hadn't been mauled like the other ones had. They had all been shot in the heads. "What'd you kill them with, silver bullets?"
Isabella glared at me. She opened her mouth to speak, then stopped. She was looking at me, her expression somewhere between awe and fear.
I didn't understand it myself. There was a sense of - something - hovering in the air. Power. Once I had identified it I could feel it running along my skin, raising the fine hairs on my arms and the back of my neck.
Wherever it was coming from, Isabella was *scared*. I vaguely noticed that the gash in her leg had healed. She hadn't gotten to her feet. She was keeping her distance from me.
Then I realised why. The Power was coming from *me*. I didn't know I could do that. Then I realised what it was. I had shifted and it wasn't a full moon. I wasn't a shapeshifter, I was a werewolf. Were animals supposedly could only shift during the full moon, and yet...
Isabella glared. "You are alpha. You are dominant."
I was almost disappointed. I had been ready for a fight. I had wanted to kick her ass for what she had put me through, making me think that I was the one who had been doing this.
It was all coming clear now. Isabella had been angry and jealous when Blaine had pulled me out the woods and changed me. She must have seen I had power and needed to do something about it.
She had been the pack alpha, and didn't want competition from someone like me, someone younger than she was as well. And prettier. So she had started slaughtering people.
She would know new 'wolves were confused, not sure about what happened while they were shifting, and that they would be easily rattled. The other council members would also suspect them.
I had been the easiest target. But unfortunately for Isabella, I had been stronger than she had suspected, and I had caught her.
A glow of triumph was starting to wash through me. I couldn't help being smug. Isabella was slowly getting to her feet. "I can't believe I didn't figure this out earlier," she snorted. "I didn't know you were this stupid."
Isabella laughed shortly, the sound ragged and harsh. "You think you're so smart, don't you? Think you've got it all figured out." She sneered at me, clearly not liking the fact that I outranked her.
I matched her sneer. "So enlighten me then."
"I didn't do this," Isabella snapped at me. "Why would I murder my own pack? Unlike some people, I have honour, decency. I respect all Pack members, even the ones I don't like." She threw another glare at me.
I snorted. "How touching. Then explain why you were in wolf form near the bodies."
Isabella's eyes rolled. "I was hunting. I can show you the carcass if you like. I heard screams, came to investigate and you started chasing me."
I frowned, wondering whether to believe her or not. I liked my scenario better than her explanation. I frowned. "If you didn't shoot them, then who did?"
The click of a gun sounded behind me. Isabella and I turned around to find ourselves facing Blaine and Amber. Amber was holding a shot gun, and pointing it at us. "Silver bullets really do kill your kind, you know," Amber said.
Blaine gave me a stunning smile. "To answer your question in reference to who shot them, we did."
* * *
I stared at Blaine, in utter disbelief. I had *known* there was something not quite right about him, but I had never imagined anything like this. I stared at Amber, smirking as smugly as Blaine.
"You guys are in on this together?" I asked.
Amber shrugged. "Sure. Only werewolf I know who *isn't* stupid."
Under other circumstances, I would have hit her, but considering she had a gun, loaded with silver bullets, I didn't move, just glared helplessly. "You were my friend, I trusted you," I snapped.
Amber just shrugged again. "You were just a by product to get me into a little bit of extra pocket money."
My eyebrows raised and I looked over at Blaine. "What?"
Then I finally got it. This whole thing had been one big set up. The camping trip, luring me out into the woods where Blaine could come and get me, biting me and changing me.
"Why?" I asked finally, not sure what else to say.
Blaine reached out to touch me lightly, running his fingers through my long dark locks. "You're my lupa - mate."
My eyes rolled and I shook my head. Anita Blake, eat your heart out. This was starting to sound extremely pathetic.
"Why her?" Isabella asked, slightly disgusted. "So you want a lupa, big deal." Her arms folded across her ample chest. "You have to be alpha to have a lupa. You're only just beta."
Blaine glared at her. "I *should* be alpha!" he hissed. The power that came streaming out from him sent all my fine hairs standing on end. That was *scary*.
Glancing around, I tried to see if there was some way I could possibly escape. I could just knock Amber and Blaine down and run. But in the time it took for me to shift, they could shoot me.
"I was stronger, smarter and twice as powerful as that asshole of an alpha of yours."
Isabella was looking at him, realisation dawning on her face. "You killed him," she whispered. "You killed my Ralph."
Blaine just smiled cruelly. "Yeah. Didn't take a lot of effort. Jerk. I could have taken over." He scowled again. "But *you* were in the way, and people were still loyal to you."
Everything was starting to fall into place now. Thinking about this whole thing it was almost...petty. Male ego attacks. "You needed to destroy all the competition." And that was where Amber must have come in.
He must have needed someone to supply the bullets and stuff, or visual spells to make it look like the killings of a new wolf. He must have seen me with her and decided he wanted me.
Blaine had stopped pacing up and down now. He turned to Amber. "Now, take care of her."
Amber raised the gun at Isabella. I didn't know why I cared about stopping this. I didn't like Isabella. But she was part of my Pack. I guess this was what Pack loyalty meant.
"Don't do it," I said.
Blaine hissed at me. He tried to fling his Power at me. I held my grounds, letting it wash over me like a cool wind. He stared at me, surprised. It was my turn to smirk.
"I'm paying you a lot of money to take care of problems," Blaine snapped at Amber. "*Do* it."
Amber was holding the gun up, hesitating. Looking from me to Blaine. Her eyes were confused.
"You're better than this," I shouted at her. I had known Amber since we were about three. We had always been bets friend, and I knew my best friend would never voluntarily kill people. "He's controlling you!"
Blaine lunged forward, hurling himself at me, knocking me off balance. Pinning me to the ground with one hand...An animal light shone in his green eyes.
I tried to throw him off, gathering all the Power I had, kneeing him in the groin. He was trying to knock me out with his Power, but not doing much of a job.
I spat at him. He lifted a hand, but before he could hit me, a loud shot rang out, and he collapsed on top of me. Amber was looking at him, confused.
I pushed the body off me and stood up slowly. Isabella and a couple of the other Pack members had come out of the mansion and were looking at me in awe.
"What?" I asked.
Isabella smiled faintly. "You're the new Pack leader."
I wasn't sure if I was thrilled or not. This had been one of the weirdest days of my life.
* * *
Epilogue
The police had been called and Amber had been taken away for some sort of psychiatric evaluation. I still couldn't believe than Blaine had been the psycho all along.
I had trusted him, almost been falling in love with him. Love was a bitch. Isabella told me I needed to pick an Alpha male now. I wasn't exactly sure what I was going to do about that one.
I'd had enough of alphas, lupas, and werewolf business now. But I was the new Pack leader, so I couldn't really turn by back on them.
I knew they'd help me deal with my new powers. They'd teach me how to manage the Pack.
And to think, I'd always thought this town was dull. Next time I wanted something interesting to happen, I'd be more careful when I wished.
THE END.
