Chapter 10

Thursday 28thAugust 2014

It's only a few days left until I leave for my new home away from home, and pretty much every day I wake up it's the first thing on my mind. And that's enough to start off my day in a foul mood.

I don't know what the hell is going on with me. One minute I'm in a perfectly normal frame of mind and then the next I'm angry enough to commit murder. Figuratively speaking, of course.

It's baffling. Especially when Saraiyu notices and begins having heated discussions with Mom. I don't bother trying to eavesdrop; if it was something I needed to know, they would tell me when they saw fit to.

Filled with pent-up energy by early evening, I decide it's time to retire for the night. Claiming to have a migraine and wanting to go to bed early, I get away with retreating to my room without so much as a batted eyelash.

Except for Skylah, but I ignore her. Her death glares are becoming a regular occurrence. Obviously our moment of reconciliation before I went to the cabins is long forgotten.

I pace the length of my room for a while, trying not to think about anything but ending up even more stressed than before.

Just as I'm starting to get super wound up, I hear my phone buzz with a text.

Frowning, – who the hell would be texting me? – I go to investigate.

Unknown: Up for a little night-time stroll through the woods? – L

I re-read the text from an unknown number as least fifty times before a slow grin spreads across my face, along with a nervous feeling in my stomach.

There was only one 'L' I knew who would say something like that: Luca. I haven't seen him since Cloud dropped me off three days ago, and there was so much left unanswered that I barely know what to think.

I save the number quickly and dither over what to reply with, then settle with being direct.

Serenity: Depends… how did you get my number?

It didn't take long for a reply.

Luca: Cloud gave it to me

I roll my eyes. Of course Cloud would give it to him, having absolutely no clue about what happened. He'd already given it to Mai and Reina. There was no such thing as privacy in this town.

My phone buzzes again, making me jump.

Luca: So am I standing out front for nothing or are you coming?

My breath catches in my throat. Is he being serious? I rush to the full size window and peer out the curtain towards the street. Sure enough, there's Luca, hot as ever, leaning against my front fence with his eyes on his phone.

Holy crap.

Serenity: Be right out

I send the quick reply and hurry to make sure I look suitable for a super-secret escape to hang out with Luca Hale, the guy I had had a hot make-out session with and resident bad boy. Well, one of the many bad boys in this town, anyway.

Nervous butterflies explode in my stomach. Since the return from the cabins I had only had Mai's text messages to keep me from imploding with frustration at being cooped up at home.

So here's my opportunity to escape and I'm grabbing onto it like it was my last chance at freedom. Even if I'm not sure if I regret what happened between me and Luca.

Using my secret sneak-out passage, I meet up with him.

"Hey," I say softly as I join him, praying to god Mom wouldn't decide to check my room.

"Hey," he replies, looking up from his phone. I'm amused to see Farmville on the screen before he shoves it into his pocket and straightens up.

"So where are we off to?" I ask as he sets off down the street at a leisurely pace. Even without him walking quickly, I still have to put in an effort to keep up: he has seriously long legs.

"We're having a sort of back to school party at the waterfall, and seeing as you seem to be our newest member, you're invited by default. I got sent to collect you."

I'm relieved that this isn't going to be an evening with just the two of us; I probably wouldn't be able to control myself if we got intimate. He hasn't even mentioned anything about that night and I have no way of knowing if he even remembers it.

"Sounds like maybe I should have thought to bring a bikini." I'm trying a little bit too hard to be funny, but it pays off when I see Luca's smirk.

"As much as that sight would make me happy, it's not that kind of party," he says.

I smirk right back at him. I'd worn a bikini almost the entire time we'd been at the lake, but hearing him say that is definitely a big ego boost. I brush it off quickly before I can over-analyze it.

"I thought the trip to the lake was the back to school party?" I point out.

"Well, technically it was. This is just something a bit more traditional. And doesn't involve quite so much alcohol." He looks at me sideways and my face bursts into flames.

"Yeah, that wasn't one of my finest moments…" I try to sound as though I'm only talking about my alcohol intake, but really I'm still worried that he thinks of me as easy because of what happened.

It was definitely a mistake, as much as I might try to convince myself otherwise.

"I don't know, I think you were doing pretty well. It's really too bad Mai had to walk in when she did," Luca says slyly, that ever-present smirk ready to totally engulf his face.

I gape at him, totally unbelieving of what he just said. Thankfully I'm saved from having to think of something to say in response because we'd just reached the clearing.

"Serenity! You made it." Mai bounces up to me, smiling brightly as she envelops me in a hug. "Sorry there wasn't much warning, everyone's been heaps busy getting ready to go back to school. And we have another two new members here tonight."

We all look over to the huge bonfire in the center of the clearing. Everyone else is standing or sitting around it and it takes me a moment to notice who the newest additions are.

One is a boy about the same height as Mai, but looks much younger. The other is a girl about the same age, with the same bronze hair as Kailya.

"That's Caius Hart, Reina's younger brother. Aside from the hair, there's not much about them that would suggest they're siblings; they have totally different personalities. The girl is Acacia Steele, she's Kailya's younger sister," Mai tells me quietly as we walk towards them.

'Hey Cai, this is Serenity Oaken, the girl we were telling you about," Reina tells him when she notices me there.

He looks at me with what seems like a little awe, and it's kind of unnerving that he seems to be about Sky's age and yet he's taller than me. I have no idea what prompted his reaction, but I make myself smile. "Hey," I say, unsure whether I'm supposed to shake his hand or something.

"And this is Accy," Mai says, smiling at the younger girl. Acacia blushes shyly and hides behind her hair.

"Okay, I think that's enough awkwardness for tonight," Luca announces, clapping his hands together.

All eyes are drawn to him then as that strange change comes over him. The very air around him seems to change, becoming thicker and strangely enough I get a whiff of that heady cocktail that makes up his personal scent. My mind flashes back to the first night I'd met everyone, when I'd been wrapped in Luca's jacket.

"For a few of you, this is the first time out here with us before we start school for the year, so I'll keep it brief," Luca says, looking around at every one carefully.

I feel shivers go up my spine when his eyes meet mine. They're glowing emerald green, and I remember vaguely that same night less than two weeks ago when I'd seen those same eyes in the darkness, watching me.

"Some of us have been privileged enough to have been taught from a young age what our heritage means to us, and how best we can maintain our traditions for the next generation," he continues, "but some of us did not have that opportunity, either because they had no one left to teach them, or because their parents were too scared." Luca seems to look straight at me as he says this.

As weird as this is becoming – a total mood shift from how things had been at the cabins – I'm riveted. Maybe I'd finally get some answers as to why I used to feel so different to everyone at my old school, and why Mom is so tense around me these days.

Luca went on, "Sometimes it can be easier to explain things carefully, and wait for the right time, but I've always thought that being direct is best when it comes to getting to the point."

That's easy enough for him to say when I still have no idea what's going on. I feel a hand on my arm and look up into Cloud's eyes. "You may want to step back here with me," he says, gently pulling me to the back of the group. I'm now standing beside Mai and Caius.

"What's going on?" I ask, too confused to even consider being worried about their odd behavior.

"Just try not to freak out," Cloud says quietly, his hand still lightly wrapped around my arm.

I'm just about to open my mouth to ask another question when a terrible crunching sound, like a hundred bones being broken and then clicked back together, echoes through the clearing.

It's such a sickening sound, and I have no idea which direction it's coming from until I see Luca crouched on the ground, convulsing as the skin over his now-bare back ripples and grew.

"What the fuck?" I squeak, stepping back. The words are barely out of my mouth when a freaking wolf seems to appear where Luca had been. I'm speechless, and Cloud's hand on my arm is the only thing stopping me from running screaming.

The wolf is huge, covered in black fur with glowing emerald green eyes. Those eyes … is that Luca?

No way, this could not be possible. I'm frozen, uncomprehending.

"So cool," Caius breathes beside me, his eyes alight with joy. How is he not freaking out right now like I am? Acacia's eyes are huge, but it's in awe, not from fright.

Suddenly Cloud's face is in front of mine, and his fingers under my chin force me to look up at him. "Serenity, breathe," he tells me firmly.

I comply slowly, not really liking the forced eye-contact, but glad to have something to focus on.

Then came more and more of that sickening bone crunching, and I dread to think what I would find standing behind Cloud if he allowed me to look away.

"It's okay, Serenity," Mai says from beside me. "This is something that we'll be able to do soon enough, too."

What?

Nothing is making any sense. Never in my life have I heard anything about being able to turn into a wolf. Then, bits and pieces of Mom and Saraiyu's conversation last week come back to me.

"If you hadn't moved – and I was against that from the beginning – she would have grown up knowing everything, just like the others."

That's what Saraiyu had said, and this must have been what she was talking about. That meant Mom knew this whole time, and never told me. I'm furious then, and the sudden swell of anger inside my chest scares me.

"I'm okay," I whisper, pulling back slightly. Cloud stares at me for a moment longer before nodding and stepping aside, dropping his hand from my arm.

I can feel him and Mai still close to my side, but all I can see is a pack of wolves staring back at me.