More than Secrets

Dead Meat

RYAN'S P. O. V.

"Can I come up?" I call up to the tree house. I know Dani and her friend's are up there.

"Yeah!" Dani replies.

I make my way up the ladder, a little worried if this thing will still be able to hold my weight since I haven't been up here in over ten years now.

It creaks and groans and I just know it's not gonna hold us all. I just hope Dani's friends don't get offended when I ask them to leave now.

"Hey, can I talk to you privately?" I ask Dani as soon as I get the door to the tree house open.

"Sure," she replies, then gives Lee and Brie a tight hug each. They wave their goodbyes and leave, "I'll see you tomorrow for training!" she calls down to them.

I shake my head at her. "Training?"

"Yeah, I wanna get in shape," she replies with a shrug. "So, what did you wanna talk to me about?"

I sigh. "Mom and dad told me that you found out about being adopted?"

She looks down at her hands. "Yeah."

"I'm so sorry Dani. I was only a kid, but I definitely do remember that lady coming that night," I shudder at the memories. "Goodness her screams were... terrifying."

She giggles at that. "Yeah, childbirth is no joke. Is Monique getting broody?" she asks with a playful expression.

Monique is my girlfriend and we've been together since we started college, but we definitely won't be getting married or starting a family anytime soon. We're actually both studying to be doctors at the moment.

"No, we both want to hold off on the kids... at least for another five or six years maybe," I reply honestly. I'm not ready to be a dad yet.

She nods.

"Look, Dani, I don't know anything about what you're going through... I can't relate, but I'll always be your big brother, no matter what... and I'll always love you."

We hug each other tightly for a long while before climbing down the ladder and going back inside.

Mom and dad wanted to take Dani out for her birthday, but she's asked that we order in instead.

It might take a bit of time for her to come around, but her smiles and laughter through dinner are assurance enough that my baby sister is gonna be alright.

DANI'S P. O. V.

"Tyler, baby, you gotta speed up... You slowing me down, cuts into my defense training time," I say to him while running backwards, I turn around just in time to dodge a tree, but the quickness of the movement makes me lose my balance and I slide, sideways down (quite a steep) embankment. Twigs, dirt and mud now covers every inch of me.

I look up and this "mate" of mine is hunched over, laughing his ass off at the top of the embankment, not even bothering to ask me if I'm okay or not. Jerk!

Mmm... my mate is so sexy when he laughs, Juno purrs in my head.

"Our" mate is very sexy all the time, I correct her. He is also a major jerk sometimes, I add to myself.

I really did not need my Thursday morning to start out like this.

This is the third morning since my birthday on Monday, that I've gotten up at the freakin' c***k of dawn to train with Red Moon Pack before school.

I want to kick myself for asking Lee and Brie to teach me to fight... I should have been more specific in my request because, apparently, if you wanted to learn how to "fight" like a warrior, you had to "train" like a warrior too... Yay, lucky me.

Not!

This s**t is torture. It's basically boot camp on steroids because everyone is a werewolf, therefore we're all supposed to have more strength and stamina to endure two hours of pure hell on earth... every... single... morning.

Turns out, not every werewolf can endure said boot camp on steroids.

For example: yesterday, I nearly shed real tears during the squats because my thighs felt like they were literally on fire.

I'd thanked God that I hadn't eaten anything or else my breakfast would have been all over poor Lee (she was my sparring partner yesterday).

I try to grip onto a vine to pull myself back up the embankment while Tyler just stands there laughing at me, utterly useless.

The vine snaps and I slide back down onto my bottom, causing more giggles from the peanut gallery up there. I scowl at him then turn and look around for an audience. "Mate of the year ladybirds and gentle bears," I call out to the forest.

Though, we're all alone... at least no one else can bear witness to this embarrassing moment.

Tyler scoffs. "Yes. For what kind of mate would I be if I didn't laugh at you, huh?" he smiles and winks at me. The little devil.

I'm about to use some very colorful language on him when his eyes suddenly cloud over. When they come back to his emerald green orbs again, I see fear swimming in them.

"We're under attack, and the Eastern border has been breeched. F*ck," he curses. "Dani, stay low and hidden and try to mask your scent," he looks around surveying any potential threats. "I love you."

Just like that, Tyler shifts into his wolf, the big black wolf, just like in my dream, and bolts off in the direction of the Eastern border.

I stand still for a second, more shocked at having just seen my boyfriend shift into a wolf right before my eyes, than the eminent threat.

Dani, snap out of it! Juno growls, bringing me out of my state of shock.

I remember what Tyler told me to do now and glance to either side of the embankment, looking for a place to hide. I notice that on the right side is a sort of shallow burrow in the mud that's covered by some moss.

If I can press myself hard enough against the burrow, I will be hidden from anyone running along the trail above. Hopefully.

I get low and squeeze my body down into the burrow as far as I can, and cover up any exposed skin with the moss.

I'm terrified. I don't know what I'll do if a rogue finds me. I'm completely defenseless. I planned to complete my first shift on the weekend with some help from Tyler, Lee and Brie, so I have absolutely no clue how to become my wolf.

You just have to let go, Juno says calmly, and let me take over. Give me control and I'll do the rest.

Okay, I reply. My heart is pounding so hard it could cause an earthquake, and then I hear it... the sound of a battle coming closer to my hiding spot...

I'm dead meat.