Asphalt Moon

Chapter 2 – “The Weight”

I didn't sleep that night.

Tío Ray's words kept replaying in my head. If you felt a spark, that's the mate bond. Your wolf is waking up.

I didn't have a wolf. I was just Lena. The girl who fixed bikes and avoided drama.

But the spark was real. I'd felt it. Like touching a live wire.

At 2 AM, I gave up on sleep and walked to the garage. The air was cold. The moon wasn't full yet, but it was close. Big and almost round.

Cade was sitting on the hood of his Harley.

I stopped walking. "What are you doing here?"

"Waiting for you."

"How did you know I'd come?"

He shrugged. "Because you can't sit still when something's wrong."

I sat next to him on the hood. The metal was cold through my jeans.

"You should go home," I said.

"You should stop telling me what to do."

I almost laughed. Almost.

Cade reached over and took my hand. His fingers were warm. Rough.

"Talk to me," he said.

"I don't know what to say."

"Start with what your dad told you."

I took a breath. "He said my mom was a wolf. He used to be one too. He walked away before I was born. Cost him everything."

"And you?"

"He doesn't know. The wolf skips generations sometimes. But Damon touching me… that spark…" I shook my head. "That's apparently a mate bond thing."

Cade was quiet for a long time.

"Do you believe it?" he finally asked.

"I don't want to."

"That's not what I asked."

I looked at him. His brown eyes were steady. No judgment. Just him.

"I felt something," I admitted. "When Damon touched my wrist. Like a jolt. But that doesn't mean I'm a wolf. It doesn't mean I'm his mate."

"No," Cade said. "It doesn't."

He squeezed my hand.

"But if it's true… if you do have a wolf…"

"I'll handle it."

"Alone?"

I shook my head. "No. Not alone."

We sat like that until the sky started to lighten.

The next morning, Nellie found me in the school parking lot.

"You look like death," she said.

"Thanks."

"I mean it. Did you even sleep?"

"Some."

She parked her yellow moped and walked with me toward the building. "Cade texted me. Said something went down at the garage."

"Cade talks too much."

"He says you're in trouble."

I stopped walking. "Nellie, I'm fine."

"You're lying. I know your lying face."

"What lying face?"

"The one where you don't blink." She grabbed my arm. "Lena. Whatever it is, you can tell me. I'm your best friend. I literally have to keep your secrets. It's in the contract."

"There's no contract."

"There's an emotional contract."

I sighed. "Fine. But not here. After school. Garage."

Nellie grinned. "I'll bring snacks."

School was a blur.

I couldn't focus. Every time a teacher talked, I heard Tío Ray's voice. Your wolf is waking up.

At lunch, I sat alone behind the gym. Cade was supposed to meet me, but he didn't show.

That's when Damon appeared.

He walked around the corner like he owned the place. Leather jacket. Dark jeans. Gray eyes that seemed to see right through me.

"You skipped breakfast," he said.

"How do you know that?"

"I know a lot about you, Lena."

I stood up. "That's creepy."

"It's honest." He stopped a few feet away. Didn't get closer. "I'm not here to fight. I just want to talk."

"So talk."

Damon shoved his hands in his pockets. He looked different in daylight. Softer. Almost nervous.

"I've been having dreams about you," he said. "For months. Before I even met you."

"Everyone has weird dreams."

"These aren't weird. They're… real. I see you running through the woods. I see the moon. I hear your heartbeat."

My own heart was pounding. I didn't want it to be.

"That's not my problem," I said.

"It's our problem." He stepped closer. "The mate bond isn't a choice, Lena. It's biology. Magic. Whatever you want to call it. When two wolves are meant to be together, they just know."

"I'm not a wolf."

"You will be."

I wanted to punch him. I wanted to run. I wanted to wake up from whatever nightmare this was.

Instead, I said, "Even if I have a wolf, that doesn't mean I have to be with you."

Damon's face flickered. Pain? Anger? I couldn't tell.

"No," he said quietly. "It doesn't. But the bond will pull us together anyway. The longer you fight it, the harder it gets."

"Then I'll fight hard."

He nodded like he expected that answer.

"We'll see," he said. Then he walked away.

I stood there, shaking, until the bell rang.

After school, I went straight to the garage.

Nellie was already there. She'd brought chips, soda, and a notebook labeled "EVIDENCE."

"Okay," she said. "Start talking."

I told her everything. Tío Ray's confession. The spark with Damon. The mate bond. The wolf that might or might not be waking up inside me.

Nellie listened without interrupting. When I finished, she opened a bag of chips.

"So," she said. "Worst case, you turn into a wolf every full moon and fall in love with a guy you don't like."

"That's not helpful."

"Best case, you're human, Damon is delusional, and you keep dating Cade, who is objectively hotter."

"Nellie."

"What? I have eyes."

I grabbed a chip. "I'm scared."

"I know." She put her hand on mine. "But whatever happens, I'm right here. With snacks."

I almost smiled. "You're ridiculous."

"Ridiculously loyal."

The garage door rattled.

Cade walked in. His face was tight. His knuckles were bruised.

"What happened to you?" I asked.

"Ran into Oscar."

"Damon's guy?"

"Yeah." Cade flexed his hand. "He wanted to deliver a message. The Elder wants to meet you. Tomorrow night. The old Hale ranch."

My stomach dropped. "The Elder?"

"Old guy. Oscar says he has answers about your mom."

Nellie stood up. "It's a trap."

"Obviously," Cade said. "But if we don't go, they'll come here."

I looked at my dad's office. The door was closed. He was inside, pretending not to listen.

"What do you think?" I asked Cade.

He came over and sat across from me. "I think we go. But we bring backup."

"What kind of backup?"

"The Asphalt Wolves. All of them."

Nellie raised her hand. "I'm coming too."

"No," I said.

"I have a moped. I'm fast."

"You have a death wish."

"Same thing."

Cade looked at me. "She's not wrong. We need numbers."

I rubbed my face. My head was pounding.

"Tomorrow night," I said. "We go. We listen. We don't start anything."

Cade nodded. "Agreed."

Nellie saluted. "I'll bring pepper spray."

"That won't work on wolves."

"It works on eyes."

I shook my head. But inside, I was terrified.

The Elder wanted to meet me. Damon said he had answers about my mom. And my wolf,if I had one,was getting harder to ignore.

That night, I couldn't eat.

Tío Ray made enchiladas. I pushed them around my plate.

"You need to eat," he said.

"I'm not hungry."

"You need your strength."

"For what? Turning into a monster?"

Tío Ray put his fork down. "You're not a monster, Lena."

"I might be."

"No." His voice was hard. "The wolf doesn't make you a monster. Choices do. Your mother was a wolf. She was the kindest person I knew."

"Then why did she die?"

He didn't answer.

I pushed my chair back. "I'm going to bed."

"Lena."

I stopped at the doorway.

"Tomorrow night," he said. "Be careful. And don't trust anyone. Not the Elder. Not Damon. Not even Cade's pack."

"Who can I trust?"

"Yourself. That's it."

I walked to my room and closed the door.

The moon was bright through my window. Almost full.

I sat on my bed and stared at my hands. Normal hands. Grease under the nails. Calloused from work.

Not wolf hands.

But when I closed my eyes, I felt it again. The pull. Deep in my chest. Like something was waking up.

Go to the ranch, it whispered. Find the truth.

The next morning, I woke up with dirt under my fingernails.

I didn't remember leaving my bed.

My window was open. Cold air came through.

On my nightstand, there was a single black wolf hair.

I picked it up. My hands were shaking.

I hadn't shifted. I would have remembered. Wouldn't I?

Or maybe the wolf was already here. Already awake.

And I just didn't know it yet.

I put the hair in my pocket and walked to the garage.

Cade was waiting.

"Ready?" he asked.

"No."

"Good. Let's go."