CALL OF THE MOON

Chapter 8

We almost ran into Sam and Jacob as we came out of the forest, because we weren't paying attention. They seemed to be hanging out at the edge of the forest, like they were waiting for us to return.

“Whoa,” said Corey, and put his hands on Sam’s shoulders as he was about to bump into him.

Relieved, they turned to us.

“So, how did everything go?” Asked Jacob, and I smiled wide.

Sam looked at his brother, and Corey nodded to him. It was almost like they were having an unspoken conversation.

“It’s done,” Sam announced, and Corey and Jacob nodded.

I looked at them as if they were crazy. What is done? I wondered.

“Welcome to the family, little sister,” said Sam, and he hugged me.

Oh, that is what they meant, I thought as the embrace ended.

“It is rare to find someone that is not of the bloodline surviving a bite from one of our kind, and you, my dear, must be a great descendant of Queen Mia, from somewhere down her bloodline. You, my girl, have a sturdy soul.”

Jacob and Sam turned and Bill had wheeled himself up to us. I smiled and then my thoughts turned to my dad. I sighed heavily.

“What is it?” Asked Bill, concerned.

“My dad, what am I supposed to tell him? He would have me committed if I told him I could turn into a wolf!” I cried. He sighed and took me by the hand. Bill patted it.

“Sammy, I am sorry I have to tell you, but you might want to keep this from Bob. He is simple-minded. It’s been the best thing, to keep our family secret, a secret. To protect our loved ones,” Bill explained seriously, and I sighed again.

It was not going to be easy to keep this from my father, and I wasn’t one to keep or hide things from my parents. Corey looked at me and touched my shoulder.

“I know this is all going to take some time getting used to, but this is how we keep everyone safe,” Corey said, and I looked up at him.

“Protect them from whom?” I asked, and Sam cleared his throat.

“The pale ones.”

“Pale ones?” I asked as the thought of Collin, and his friend popped into my head.

“Like Collin?”

I couldn’t stop the words from coming out of my mouth, and they all looked at me.

“You know what the pale ones are?” asked Jacob in alarm.

“Well, no, what are they?” I asked thoughtfully, and Sam sighed.

“They are vampires, Sammy,” stated Jacob, and I looked at Jacob in disbelief.

Not only werewolves existed, but now vampires exist too. I hoped that this was all a bad dream that I would wake up from very soon, because nothing made sense any longer. What was next, what else was this dream going to make real?

Eventually, I realized that this wasn’t a dream, this was all real. I wouldn’t be able to feel all the things that I have been feeling, and I wouldn’t be able to feel textures of things I have touched if this were all a dream. Suddenly, Kim flashed through my mind and I shuddered with horror. Corey looked at me and could tell I was thinking about something awful.

“What is it?” He asked me.

“Kim,” I choked out, and I then searched his eyes.

“Did you go check on the others, down at the beach that night?” I asked seriously, and he immediately turned white as he looked at his brothers.

They hung their heads, and I knew that meant that they didn’t. Anger began to build.

“What!” I exclaimed, and Bill looked at his sons.

We all heard a car pull into the driveway and looked up. It was my dad’s ems cruiser. Angrily, I turned and looked at all of them. I then turned and stalked over to my dad as he got out of his car and looked at my face.

“Sammy? What’s wrong?” He asked as I reached him, and I swallowed hard.

“Dad, have you heard anything about the beach party? I mean, were there any incidents that night I..”

I trailed off as I saw his face turn white and there was pain in his eyes. I swallowed hard again.

“Kim?” My voice cracked as he hung his head and put his hand on my shoulder.

“I’m sorry sweetheart, I really am. They found her on the beach, face down. It wasn’t a pretty site,” my dad explained uncomfortably, and I swayed as I processed what he had just said.

“What?” I stammered.

He sighed, and my body shook uncontrollably.

“Come on, honey, sit down,” he said, concerned, but I knew I had to get away from everyone at that moment. I felt as though I wanted to blame all of them, and I shook my head.

“Dad, I need a bit to calm down,” I said.

Before anyone could say a word, I turned and ran towards the forest before he could say another word.

“Sammy!” I heard my dad call for me, but I didn’t stop.

I ran past everyone as they all stared at me. However, I didn’t care what they thought. I just wanted to get away from them all, I thought, as I made it into the thicket of the woods. Aggressively, I ripped my clothes off and pulled my sneakers off in a hurry. I laid my clothes and sneakers in a pile by a tree and took off running. Likewise, I burst out of my skin and began running on all fours, as I blocked out all voices that I could hear. Even when I heard Corey call for me, I didn’t turn around.

Frantically, I ran through the forest to my favorite cliffs that overlooked the beach. When I reached my destination, I sat on my hind legs and looked up at the moon. The moon was high and full that night, illuminating the water lapping at the edges of the sandy beach. There was a pull coming from the high, luminous circle that hung in the sky, and it seemed to call to me.

It felt my pain and cried to me to call out its name. I went with the call, letting a howl rip from my snout, a painful howl. Uncontrollably, I let another one go, and it felt like I was screaming. After the last howl I let rip, I laid down and put my head on my front paws. Angrily, I thought about Collin.

Why did he have to take my friend from me? I growled.

I was definitely going to make sure that he rots in a prison cell for the rest of his life. My ears suddenly twitched as a rustling sound came from the bushes behind me. Curiously, I raised my head and looked at the bushes. Another rustling sound. I rose up and faced the bushes, looking at them with my head tilted. There was a stench in the air that burned my nose and smelled horrible. The fur on my back all the way to my tail stood on end, and a snarl came out from my throat along with a low growl.

“Poor puppy, where are the rest of the mutts?” asked a smooth, velvet voice.

A pale figure emerged from the bushes and I recognized him. It was Collin’s friend Brian, and I snarled louder.

“You’re a little vicious one, aren’t you?” He cooed.

I laid my ears back and snarled even louder. He laughed and then his face got serious.

“You should save all that energy, pup, because when I bite you, you are going to need it,” he snarled at me as he crouched down and was getting ready to spring at me.

I held my stance and prepared for him to lunge at me. Suddenly, there were two low growls that came from the trees, and I looked into the forest. Brian seemed to laugh.

“Oh, a pack of three, that’s all you lame mutts have? I expected at least an actual fight, and so many more, with rumors about how big your clan actually is. But you only have three mutts. This, I must tell the others,” he stated with a smile.

I noticed as the two wolves slowly crept out of the woods, fur raised and snarling at Brian. Noticeably, one wolf had a silver streak from her nose to her tail and I thought of Izzy.

“Izzy?”

“Yeah, how d'you guess?” I laughed in my head at her joke.

My ears perked up when I heard three more growls behind me. Brian still laughed his menacing laugh.

“Now that’s better, I can wipe out the whole lot,” Brian snarled, and I turned back to him as he snarled confidently.

A large black wolf stood on my right side, and a russet wolf that was a bit bigger than the rest stood to my left, also known as my wolf friend. Sam, the black one, and Corey, the one to my left. Izzy was black with her silver streak down her back. Carly, she was beautiful in her own way. Honey-colored fur with white paw socks and the end of her tail had looked like it had been dipped in white too. Jacob was brindle, with a splash of white on his face. He was cute.

We surrounded Brian, growling and snarling, snapping our teeth at him. Brian smiled and looked like he was going to make a break for it by jumping into the trees. Before he could spring upward, everyone pounced on him, tearing him to pieces. Within a matter of seconds, Brian was nothing but piles of shredded clothes and rotting flesh. Jacob made a gagging and retching sound and shook his head.

“Bleck, nasty bloodsuckers,” he growled as he hung his tongue out of his mouth.

The taste in my mouth was horrible. I stuck my tongue out and shook my head as if to shake the taste off my tongue, and I gagged. Suddenly, I heard a low grumble come from Sam, which made me look at him, and he glared at me.

‘Sammy, you can’t just run off like you did, any time you feel like it. Not when you are this new to phasing. Get your emotions under control, before you get yourself killed.’ He growled angrily.

I laid my ears back and resisted his Alpha control. I growled at him, and he gave me an angry stare.

‘Don’t growl at me!’ He snarled.

Again, I felt the control and I resisted against it. I looked at him and growled again, this time a little louder and firmer. He then raised himself tall and growled deeper at me. There was that control again, but this time, every fiber in my being fought against it.

‘Sammy!’ Corey was the next one to growl at me.

Now every fiber in my being broke both of their control over me. I snarled at him, baring my teeth. Cautiously, he took a step back, along with his brother. At that moment, I ran from them and went to go find my clothes where I had left them.

How dare they try to control me! I thought angrily. I will not bow down to anyone, and they can no longer make me. Easily, I phased back to my human form and got dressed, and I slipped my sneakers on as I walked out of the forest. I was disgusted. A few minutes later, I heard Corey’s voice.

“Sammy, please wait up!” He called as he jogged out of the forest.

He didn’t stop until he had pulled me into his arms and held me tightly against his chest.

“I’m sorry,” he said.

I was still angry. I pushed away from him and glared at him.

“That thing turned her into one of them! I wish that asshole had killed her, because now we have to, and I am not too happy about killing one of my closest friends,” I stated, and he put his hands up defensively.

“Look Sammy, I’m sorry. You were the most important thing to us once we realized you had been bitten,” he said, and I glared at the ground. I needed to calm down.

It wasn’t really his fault. I was just angry. He then smiled at me and I looked at him in question.

“What’s so funny?”

“Well, not to change the subject, but you are very advanced at this wolf stuff.”

I raised an eyebrow.

What was he talking about now? I had enough of all of this for one day, and I didn't want to even know what else from a child's fantasy book was true. However, curiosity got the best of me.

“What do you mean?” I asked, a little annoyed with myself.

“You phased from form to form with no training. It took me three months to learn how to phase as fast as you did,” he explained.

Oh, maybe this part wouldn't be so bad, I thought as I listened.

“Really?” I asked, and he nodded.

“Yeah, how did you do it?” Corey asked curiously, and I shrugged.

“I don’t know. I just did what you told me to do. Then it came pretty naturally.”

“Not to toot your horn, but the way you reacted to the bloodsucker back there, you’re a natural,” he said cheerfully, and I smirked.

Maybe being a wolf and knowing about this stuff wouldn't be as hard as I thought it was going to be. However, I still didn't like it.

“Must be all those years when we were kids, growing up with you boys. Maybe I picked up on it?” I suggested, and he smiled at me as pulled me into a hug.

“Maybe,” he whispered, and I let him take me into his arms.

I didn’t want to be angry anymore. We would do what we needed to do to figure out this complete mess. Corey pulled back, bent his head down, and kissed me.

“I am one lucky guy!” he said, and I looked up at him.

“Why?” I asked. He chuckled.

“Because I got the pick of the litter.”

I looked at him and busted out laughing. Here come the dog jokes! I thought as I shook my head.

“Asshole,” I said as I pushed him.

He laughed and hugged me tight. We heard the rest of the pack emerge from the forest, and we looked at them. Sam walked up first, and he was looking at me with anger and confusion in his eyes. Izzy, Carly, and Jacob also had confusion in their eyes. I wondered why Sam was so angry. Big deal, I snarled and growled at him. Get over it.

“How did you do that?” Sam asked suspiciously.

Corey looked at him and backed away from me. He crossed his arms over his chest.

“Do what bro?” He asked Sam.

“Not you, Sammy. How did you disobey an Alpha’s order?” Corey chuckled and Sam shot a look his way.

“Same way, she can phase naturally, and she knew what to do around that bloodsucker. I’d say she is a natural, and she isn’t really of our bloodline. I believe she may be something else,” he explained, and I looked at Corey.

What did he mean, I was something else? I thought. I would ask him when we were alone and not around the whole pack. Sam looked at me and sighed. He seemed to believe Corey’s theory.

“Sammy, I’m sorry,” Sam said apologetically.

I nodded to him, and he sighed.

“What is it?” Asked Izzy as she touched Sam’s cheek gently.

He looked at her, put his arm around her, and then turned and faced the whole pack.

“We are going to start building in numbers. The pale ones are building in numbers, so our bloodlines will build as well. We will see the new pups turn. They will not advance like Sammy here, so we are going to train them, and let them know they are going to be okay,” stated Sam.

We all looked at each other and nodded in agreement.

“So let’s go back and try to enjoy the rest of the evening,” suggested Carly, and Jacob put his arm around her.

She kissed him on the cheek and he blushed. They were perfect for each other, and I was happy for them. We all walked back to the house and went inside.