My room suddenly felt too small, too dangerous. We both sank down to the floor, kneeling side by side on my rug. Wyn’s eyes were wide open, his forehead creased with anguish. There was no need to use my magic to search for the truth, it shone out from his whole being. Werewolves were real, Wyn was a werewolf. And he was right. He shouldn’t be here. Not because it put me in danger but because he wasn’t safe.
‘I do believe you,’ I said, choking out the words and silently begging the house to keep them safe in my room. ‘I wish I didn’t but I do.’
He pulled up the leg of his pants to show me the long silvery scar.
‘My scar. It was Cole. When a Were shifts, he doesn’t know who he is anymore. Thank God my grandpa got to me before hecould do any real damage. I blocked the whole thing out, forgot what happened, but I remember now.’
‘Your family knew,’ I said, rubbing my hand against the plush carpet fibres and trying to ground myself. My mind was swirling but I could not afford to lose control. ‘But they didn’t tell you.’
‘They knew, they didn’t tell me,’ Wyn confirmed. ‘You really believe me?’
I nodded. ‘Tell me everything.’
He let his head fall back and scowled up at my ceiling, his Adam’s apple bobbing up and down as he swallowed. ‘Short version, according to my mom, this thing, this curse, has been in our family since forever. If Cole had never gone missing, I would never have known. She says she didn’t want to burden me with the secret, she reckons some people don’t cope with it so well, mentally I mean.’
I exhaled something like a laugh and pressed my fingers deeper into the rug.
‘They do say keeping secrets isn’t healthy.’
‘Right?’
His mouth crept up into a crooked smile, just for a second, before incredulity overcame his expression. ‘Growing up, my parents told me Cole had anger issues and I shouldn’t be around him unless someone else was there. That wasn’t hard, he didn’t want to be around me anyways, but I don’t know if the wolf made him angry or he’s angry because they made him a wolf. All I do know is my parents did this to us and we didn’t have any choice in the matter.’
‘Wyn, I’m so sorry,’ I said, aching with sympathy. ‘Did you find out why they sent him to Savannah?’
He nodded but frustration made the muscle in his jaw tick.
‘He was supposed to find out what was happening here thencome right back home. He shouldn’t have been here when he phased.’
‘But he was. He was here during the last full moon.’ The sour feeling in my stomach spread. With one hand I reached for my locket, with the other, I reached for him. Slowly, too slowly, I was able to put the story together and I did not like where the ending was headed. ‘What does your family think is happening here that’s so bad they had to send Cole?’
Wyn rolled off his knees and crossed his legs underneath him. Cast in moonlit greys, the stubble and dark shadows disappeared and the extra years the last few weeks had added washed away. He looked much younger than seventeen.
‘Something bad.’ There was so much fear in his voice. ‘I don’t know what exactly but it’s strong and dark, and a lot of people are in danger. My mom felt it all the way away in Asheville, Cole too. According to them, we’re talking end of the world type of stuff. He was supposed to find out as much as he could then report to my mom so the pack could figure out what to do next. Together.’
All at once, my mouth felt very dry. I stood up, grabbed an empty mug from the nightstand and went to the bathroom, running the tap until it was icy cold. I took a long, cool drink, closing my eyes to avoid the guilty expression of the girl in the mirror, refilled the mug and took it back to Wyn. He drank it back right away, rivulets of water running over his jaw and down his throat.
‘That’s all they know?’ I asked, taking the empty mug back to refill it.
‘That’s all I know. Mom says our intuition is stronger near the full moon but even then we’re not psychic. Weres can sense imbalance in nature and whatever this is, it didn’t just unbalance the scale, it blew it up. The pack is convinced they have to stop it.’
‘The pack?’ I repeated softly, blanching at the thought.
‘My mom, my grandpa on her side. My uncle on my dad’s side, he’s from a Were family too, and there are cousins I haven’t met yet. They’ll be here soon enough. Probably here already. Everyone knew where I was headed.’
I looked down at the rug, the sound of the individual fibres bristling against my ears every time he moved.
‘Wyn,’ I said, fighting against the bitter taste in the back of my throat. ‘What happened to you in Asheville? Why did you have to escape?’
Tears filled his eyes and I wanted to die.
‘Because the pack believes Cole is dead.’
‘No,’ I whispered in complete denial.
‘They demanded another new Were and they got one,’ he went on with bleak determination. ‘Tomorrow night, I’m going to phase. When the full moon rises, I will become a wolf.’
We sat on the floor in silence as his statement settled around us. Wyn nursed the mug of water while I concentrated on breathing in and out without burning the house down. Downstairs, the grandfather clock chimed midnight, officially my birthday. There would be no running from it now.
