In the end, it was Christy who asked Seth out. After another ten days of hoping to see him again, she took a deep breath, crossed the gravel parking lot, and tapped on the open bay door.
Jacob looked up from his work at the bench and grinned. "Hey, Seth, you've got company!" he yelled. He suddenly remembered that he needed some tools from his truck and, wiping his greasy hands on a rag, disappeared out the back door. Leah had inherited his beloved Rabbit, restored to pristine condition over the years, because the truck was just handier for his work.
Seth strode in from the back room and looked surprised to see Christy standing in the door. "Hey, Christy," he mumbled, obviously underwhelmed to see her again.
Christy blushed slightly, but she was determined to follow through. "Hi, Seth. I'm having a surprise birthday party for my dad this weekend, and I wondered…I mean…I'd like for you to be there. I told him about meeting you and Jacob, and he recognized both your names and said he'd like to meet you. Jake and Leah are invited too, if you think they might be interested."
Seth thought about it for a minute before responding. "Are you asking me to be your date?" he finally asked without expression.
Christy straightened. "Yeah, I guess I am," she answered.
Finally, Seth smiled. "In that case, I accept," he replied. "I'm not sure I'll be such good company, but I think it's time I got out of the house." He chuckled. "Sorry, that sounded less than enthusiastic," he apologized. "I'm looking forward to it, Christy. I'll talk to Jake and let you know about them"
When Seth related the conversation to Jake, he grinned. "I guess she got tired of waiting for you to make the first move," he teased. "I told you she was sweet on you."
Seth remained serious. "I don't want to lead her on, Jake. I still miss Paris every single day. If she came back tomorrow, I'd welcome her with open arms."
"I don't think that's gonna happen, buddy, and I hate to see you spend the rest of your life alone. Christy might not be 'the one,' but give her a chance. She seems like a nice girl."
Saturday night, the three Quileute shape shifters arrived at the party early. Christy's father was due home at 8:00, so the guests started arriving at 7. There were only about 20 people, most of them Christy's family, but everyone was drawn to the tall, attractive strangers. Christy had never met Leah, but she liked her immediately.
Mike Youngblood pulled into his garage at exactly eight o'clock. Instead of entering the house through the kitchen, he went out the back door to see what was causing all the commotion in the yard. Christy was the first to notice him and yelled "Surprise!"
He was thrilled to meet Seth, Jacob, and Leah. He arranged to sit among them when the food was served, and he cornered the three of them as the guests began to leave. He was fascinated with their family histories, and he tried in vain to get them to admit to being shape shifters. "I believe the legends are true, and from what I've heard you guys would be among the first to change," he insisted. They were polite but firm in their refusal to rise to the subject.
It turned out that Mike Youngblood had been born in LaPush but had moved away to go to college. He hadn't been back in many years, but he'd kept in touch with family and friends who still lived on the reservation. He was pure Quileute, with a pedigree similar to that of the Clearwaters.
Seth ended up sitting next to Christy, and the two of them seemed to hit it off. They discovered they liked the same kinds of music and even shared some favorite movies. Seth told Christy a little about Paris, but most of the real highlights couldn't be shared, since it involved vampires and wolves. At least it helped her understand why he was so reticent. She decided that she was young enough to be patient for a while, and Seth seemed worth waiting for.
Mike begged them not to leave while he went into the house for coffee, and they readily agreed to wait. They were chatting with Christy when Mike returned, holding a small handgun. Before any of them could react, he took careful aim at Seth and pulled the trigger.
It was a shallow flesh wound to his hand, but it was enough. As Jacob materialized next to Christy and pulled her to safety, there was a shimmer in the air around Seth, followed quickly by some crackling and popping as he transformed into a tall, snarling, sandy colored wolf. Christy found her voice and uttered a loud, piercing scream. If there was any doubt about the wolf's identity, it was assuaged by the fact that his right front leg ended cleanly just above the knee joint.
Jacob quickly stepped between Mike and Seth, and Leah jumped up and ran to her brother. She hissed at Mike, "Are you out of your mind?"
He looked chagrined. "I'm really sorry, Leah, but I'm sure I didn't do any permanent damage. I was trying to prove a point. And apparently I wasn't wrong."
"What if you were wrong? Did it ever occur to you that you could end up in prison?" she snapped at him as she lifted Seth's front paw and inspected the wound. It had already stopped bleeding, though there was sticky blood in his fur. "There are laws against shooting people, Mike!"
He hung his head. "I just had to know. I heard all the legends as a child, and even though I've been away all these years I've heard rumors…stories. Your secret is safe with me," he assured them.
Leah was furious. "You can see why we don't blab about this in public," she fumed. "We exist to protect people like you, and you SHOOT at us?"
Mike's head whipped up. "We?" he repeated. "You mean there's a female member of the pack?"
"Yeah," Leah growled. "I'm a freakin' aberration. One of a kind."
She was interrupted by a whine from Seth and looked pointedly at Christy. "You may have noticed the shredded clothing when your father shot Seth," she fairly spat. "Do you think you could find him something to wear so he can change back?"
Christy scurried into the house and returned with a pair of her father's cutoffs and a long sleeved tee, handing them to Leah and giving Seth a wide berth. She still hadn't spoken, but the color was coming back to her face. She glared at her father and spoke softly. "You're lucky they didn't call the police, Dad."
Her father smiled nervously. "I don't think these kids would want to explain the wolf to Chief Swan," he replied. "I know how secretive the tribe can be."
Leah scowled at him. "I hope you weren't banking on that, Mike. You haven't met our mother yet, have you? Her name is Sue…Sue Swan."
The color faded slowly from Mike's face. "Look, guys. I honestly didn't mean any harm." He looked around for Seth, who was coming around the corner of the house in the borrowed clothes, his left sleeve knotted below the stump. He walked directly to Mike, who was sitting in a lawn chair, and his right fist flashed out, connecting with Mike's chin. His head snapped back into the aluminum chair, leaving a sizeable dent.
Seth flexed his fingers. "I guess it'll be okay," he murmured, "but in the future it might be a good idea to remember that a person with one arm will usually take exception to being shot in that arm." He continued walking down the driveway and broke into a trot when he reached the road.
Leah jerked her head angrily toward Seth. "Come on, Jacob, let's get out of here. Maybe we can catch up with Seth and give him a ride."
Jake nodded but stopped to hug Christy briefly. "I'm sorry it turned out this way. We don't blame you for this." He leaned down and touched the top of her head with his cheek as a fat tear escaped from her eye and rolled down her face.
She looked at her father, her fury barely controlled. "What have you done?" she shouted in his face. "I'll never forgive you for this." She turned and started picking up trash from the tables.
"Pumpkin…" he started, but she whirled and faced him again.
"Don't you DARE call me that!" she barked at him. "In fact, don't call me anything. Just leave me the hell alone." She turned and walked in the house, slamming the door behind her.
Seth was halfway home before Leah and Jake caught up with him. When the car pulled onto the shoulder, he opened the door and climbed in. "I'll call Christy tomorrow," he sighed. "I really feel bad for her. This wasn't her fault, and it must have been quite a shock."
Leah chuckled. "They're lucky all three of us didn't phase. That idiot didn't realize how dangerous it is to be too close." She shuddered, then kissed Jake's shoulder. "Holy quick action, Batman!" she teased him. "Good thing you saw that coming. Poor Christy could have been killed, or at least scarred for life."
Poor Christy turned her pillow over and punched it, trying to get comfortable. She sighed and looked at the clock. It was 3:15 a.m., just three minutes later than the last time she'd looked. She flopped onto her back and gritted her teeth. She'd never been so disappointed in her father, and her eyes filled with tears once again. He was her rock, her best friend, and her only parent.
Her mother had lingered for two years with cancer, and Christy had watched helplessly as she wasted away. That was six years ago, and it had been just the two of them since then. Mike tried to be mother and father to her, and for the most part he succeeded admirably. She felt utterly betrayed by this selfish and thoughtless act. Fresh tears threatened to spill over.
Christy stood up with a sigh and pulled on her chenille robe. She tiptoed to the kitchen, thinking maybe some warm milk would help to calm her. She poured some in a mug and sat at the table while it heated in the microwave. She jumped when the phone in her pocket buzzed, signaling an incoming text message. She opened it quickly when she saw Seth's name on the caller ID. "Call me when you get up – I can't sleep. Hope you're ok."
She texted back "I'm up too. Call if you want." She quickly turned the ringtone to silent and waited, tapping her fingers on the table and wondering what in the world she'd say to him if he called.
The phone vibrated, and she picked it up. She stared at it as it rang again, then flipped it open and breathed into the mouthpiece. "Hello, Seth."
"Hey, Christy. I've been worried about you."
She laughed, a short, harsh sound. "You're worried about me? I've been lying awake all night trying to figure out how to apologize to you. Where can I possibly begin?"
"Don't, Christy. It's practically healed over already. It's pretty hard to hurt me. And it's not your fault. I've been injured a lot worse than that and recovered. Please don't give it any more thought, okay?"
Her voice was barely audible. "Thanks, Seth. That's very generous of you. Can I ask you a question?"
Seth hesitated. "Sure, you can ask me anything. There's no guarantee that I'll answer it, but ask away." She could hear the smile in his voice.
There was a full minute of silence. Seth was just about to speak her name when she asked, "Does it hurt to change like that?"
He answered quickly. "No, not really. It was uncomfortable the first few times, but I'm used to it now. I was wondering how you feel about that, now that you've had a little time to digest it."
Christy pulled her robe tighter around her. "I won't lie to you, Seth. I'm just not sure. It's an awful lot to take in, you know?"
"Yeah, I get that. And thanks for being honest. I'm fine, Christy, so try and get some sleep. We'll talk again tomorrow if that's okay with you."
She eased the warm cup out of the microwave. "Yeah, Seth. I'd like that. And thanks again."