“I like the new highlights,” she said, and I could feel her smile against my cheek.

“Thanks, another souvenir.”

When I began to pull back, Elle held me in place. Her face was so close to mine that I could see the fleck of gold swimming in her green eyes.

“Uh, Elle?”

Her eyes dropped to my lips, and she licked hers in response. “You do feel different,” she breathed. Then she did something that caught me by surprise. She leaned in and brought her lips to mine. She kissed me slowly, her lips nipping playfully at mine. It took me a second to realize this was not a friendly, best friend kiss—if there were such a thing. This was an intimate kiss.

I gently pushed her away, turning my back to gather my thoughts. Lesbians and gays did not freak me out. I believed every single person had the right to love and desire whomever he or she wanted, but Elle was my friend. I just did not feel those types of feelings for her. In the five and half months that’d I’d known her, she had never even hinted that she thought of me like that.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered behind me.

“It’s okay,” I said just as softly.

“It’s not. I don’t know what came over me. It’s just … I had the sudden feeling to make you feel better, and for some reason a kiss came to mind. I know you’re strictly dickly, and I wasn’t—”

“It’s okay, really.” I turned around. “I mean, yeah it was strange, but don’t beat yourself up about it.” I smiled at her, hoping to ease the awkwardness. “I never got to have the “lesbian experience so many college girls get, so thanks for that.”

She laughed shakily. “You’re welcome? Jeez, that was weird.” Her eyes met mine before she looked away. “I can feel my wolf trembling beneath my skin.”

My forehead wrinkled. “What do you mean?”

She shook her head noncommittally. “You know how when a really powerful werewolf is near us, we tingle all over?” When I nodded, she continued, “It’s like that, but ten times stronger. Like my wolf side is in the presence of a god or something.”

“Ugh.”

“Is this what Adam’s talking about?”

“I don’t know, he didn’t mention anything about that.”

“Man,” she said with a shiver. “You’re kind of a badass now, aren’t you?”

I wasn’t sure if I should smile or frown. The part of me from earlier was still elated with the new development, but I had seen what it cost me, and that made me want to scream in frustration. And now Elle was acting all funky around me.

“So, where are we going?” she said, not noticing my internal battle.

“We?”

“Yes, we,” she said. “I’m not letting you go on alone.”

“You can’t leave the pack, they need you.”

She scoffed, sitting on the bed again. “For what, cooking? Chelsea can take over my kitchen duty until we get back.”

“I don’t think she’ll be thrilled about that,” I said. “She hasn’t spoken more than a handful of words since she moved in with us. I know she blames me for what happened.”

“Screw her,” Elle said. She grabbed the ends of her red hair and inspected it for split ends. “There are worse things than becoming a werewolf.”

I snorted. “Yeah? Like what?”

“She could be dead.”

I nodded. “Touché.”

I continued packing, Elle leaving me to my thoughts. One of Adam’s big t-shirts rested on the floor by my dresser. I picked it up and brought it to my nose, inhaling his scent. My eyes watered, but I refused to cry anymore. He had a choice, and if he chose to watch me walk away, there wasn’t anything I could do about it. I would not grovel at his feet and beg him to understand the new me. I tossed his shirt into my bag and grabbed a few photographs off my dresser—one of my parents and I when I graduated high school, and another of Adam and I, taken just a week ago. He stood behind me, his arms wrapped around my waist while I leaned against his chest. The sun highlighted our smiling faces. I silently yearned to be that blissfully happy again, but hadn’t I told Adam the past was in the past? As much as I wanted him, I would never be the Anna he wanted.

“You guys will work it out,” Elle said.

I didn’t turn around, but her words gave me what I needed most—hope. “Thanks.”

“That man is crazy about you, seriously. I doubt he’ll even get through one night before he’s pounding on whatever hotel we’re staying in. You two will be back to devouring each other by tonight.”

I looked at her over my shoulder, smiling through the pain. “Let’s hope you’re right.”

“I usually am.”

Screaming and a loud bang sounded, and both Elle and I jumped and looked at each other.

“What the hell was that?”

“I don’t know,” I said, “but it can’t be good.”

Chapter Twenty-Three

It indeed was not good. Adam and Anthony were fighting on the front lawn. A fist swung through the air, a grunt following. I couldn’t be sure whose arm it was. They were on the ground beating the crap out of each other.

“Stop,” I said, and the authority in my voice surprised even me. The surrounding wolves stopped whooping and hollering and stood still, their heads bowed. Adam and Anthony stopped pummeling each other, staggering to their feet. Anthony swiped a drip of blood from his fattening lip.

“What’s going on?”

“What do you mean?” Adam said, his tone snarky. “You’re the one who told me he hired the vampires. Just apprehending a traitor.”

I tried to ignore Adam’s attitude, but it stung. “By beating the shit out of him?”

“He tried to run,” Adam said with a shrug.

“Bullshit,” Anthony said. His eyes finally found my face, and I got the same look from him as I did everyone else—shock.

“So you willingly came here to turn yourself in?”

“No,” Anthony said. “I didn’t hire the vampires.”

“So where were you?” I asked. “The vampires took me, and Adam said you hadn’t been back here. Running only makes you look guiltier.”

Anthony spit blood onto the ground, and Adam grinned. No matter how old they were, they still acted like children around each other. I had to give props—as much as I didn’t want to—to Maggie and Donald for raising these two.

“I wasn’t running,” Anthony said. “I was tracking … you. The vampires landed a blow to my head, knocking me out for a few moments. When I woke back up, they were gone and so were you. I followed their scent for a while and then I lost it.”

Adam snorted beside his brother, shaking his head. “You expect us to believe that you were trying to help someone other than yourself?”

I don’t know why, but I walked down the porch and over to Anthony. I held out my hands, gesturing towards his, ignoring the furious look crossing Adam’s face. Anthony placed his hands in mine, and I closed my eyes. The vision happened immediately, flashing behind my closed eyelids. I saw the vampires emerging from the forest, Veronica slamming her fist into my face and knocking me out. She hoisted me over her shoulder and disappeared with me through the trees. The other two vampires continued to fight Anthony and, after about ten minutes, one landed a blow to his face so hard, his head snapped back. The vampires fled, leaving Anthony’s still body in the road. Sometime later, Anthony’s human side emerged. He sat up, running a hand over his head with a groan. He looked around, his eyes wild.

“Anna?” he called. When he didn’t get a response, he shifted back into his wolf and began sniffing the ground—disappearing through the woods in the same direction the vampires had gone.

I dropped Anthony’s hands and turned, walking back up to the porch.

“Well?” Adam said.

“He’s telling the truth,” I said.

“Bullshit,” Adam snarled. “He knows about your visions. He could have easily acted all that out, knowing you would see it and believe he’s innocent.”

As if someone could fool me, the voice inside my head said.

“You’re right,” I said. “He could have acted out his actions, but he can’t fake his emotions. I felt the truth in them.”

“Uh, what happened to you?” Anthony said.

“None of your fucking business,” Adam snarled. “She’s mine. Do you hear me? Whatever game you’re playing, back the fuck off.”

Okay, I’d have to admit, hearing him still think of me as his resurrected the butterflies in my stomach. His attitude left a lot to be desired, though.

Wade stepped through the crowd, avoiding my eyes at all cost. Add another person close to me that treated me differently.

“I’ll take care of this.”

My eyes were on Adam, but he wouldn’t look at me. Instead, he glared at his brother. As I turned to head back into the house, I noticed Maggie and Donald standing away from the crowd staring at me and talking quietly. Maggie leaned in to her husband, saying something, and he in turn did the same.

“Anna?”

I looked down to find Sage standing at the end of the porch. She looked up at me, but kept her eyes focused on my forehead so as to not make eye contact with me.

“Hi, Sage,” I said as friendly as I could. It was difficult keeping my cool, though. Adam’s little outburst left me itching in my skin.

“It’s true then, the myth?”

“You know about the story?”

She nodded, her inky black hair trembling around her face. Today, she wore low-slung jeans, another leather bustier, and a beaded belt.

“It’s been passed down for generations in my family,” she replied. “Of course, we all assumed it was just a story. It’s a great honor to be chosen.”

I huffed. “So far, it seems like a big pain in the ass.”