Андреа Кремер - Nightshade

Why can’t it always be like this? Just us. Nothing else to shatter this stillness.

“And after that? What about the union?” His question made my chest ache.

“I don’t know.” I didn’t feel like I knew anything anymore.

I steeled myself as I walked into Organic Chemistry, angry, frustrated, wanting desperately to control some aspect of my life. My new and terrifying knowledge about the Guardians and Keepers changed every feeling I’d ever held about my place in the world. Knowing what had happened to Ren’s mother, how we’d all been lied to, I couldn’t bear the thought of hours alone with him before the union. How can I hide the truth from him? I didn’t think I’d be strong enough.

“Review session today,” Ren said, indicating the notes that lay before him. “Ms. Foris is feeling benevolent, or else she doesn’t want to lose any more lab equipment to your fury.”

He grinned at me and I wondered if I’d be able to go through with my plan after all. Then I remembered his teeth digging into my neck.

“Ren, I have to change our date tomorrow night.”

“How so?”

I laced my fingers together so he wouldn’t see them tremble. “I can’t have dinner and go early to the ball with you. There won’t be enough time.”

He turned to face me, eyes wary. “What do you mean there won’t be enough time? Our time is whatever we want it to be.”

“Bryn is really excited about helping me get ready. It’s a girly-girl thing that she’s pretty invested in. My mom too—you know how she gets.” I produced a weary sigh. “I just think it’s going to cut too much into the time we could be at the dance with the others.”

“You want to just go to the union with the rest of the pack?” His fingers curled around his notebook, slowly tearing the paper.

It took all my will not to cringe as I spoke, flailing for a legitimate excuse. “Can I just meet you there? You live all the way on the other side of the mountain, so it’s out of your way to come pick me up, and I’m supposed to work at the library with Shay after school anyway.”

Ren’s lips drew back. “You’re meeting him right before the union? Instead of going to dinner with me?”

I made my tone as plaintive as I could. “I’m sorry, but Logan said I have to keep the boy happy and he was pretty devastated when I turned down his invitation to go to the ball. I thought if I agreed to spend time with him beforehand, it would keep the peace a little better.”

He paled, eyes flashing as though a cold, silver fire had been ignited within them.

“He asked you to be his date for Blood Moon?” Each word was so low I could barely hear what he said.

I realized my incredible miscalculation a moment too late. My bones seemed to hollow and then fill with ice. Ren had pushed away from our lab station and was at the front of the room before I could open my mouth to answer. I heard the crash and shrieks from students around the class as I turned.

The stool that Shay had been perched on rolled away from his lab station. Ren leaned into Shay, pinning him against the tabletop. I couldn’t hear his words, but I saw the alpha’s lips moving rapidly as he bent over Shay. His two human lab partners were huddled in the corner of their station, crouched low to the ground as if trying to avoid attracting Ren’s attention. But they stared at Shay with wide eyes, seeing his strength, sensing the dangerous animal that lurked beneath his skin. They knew. If I didn’t do something immediately, they wouldn’t be the only ones.

Ms. Foris stood by her desk, paralyzed by terror. Her hand covered her mouth, eyes bulging, as her chemistry lab devolved into a battle arena. A few human students bolted from the room. The Keepers exchanged worried glances, leaning across their tables and whispering to one another.

I ran toward the station. My breath faltered when I saw how close Ren was to losing control. His wolf form, dark gray, hovered like an aura all around him. His sharpened canines flashed as he gripped Shay’s shoulders, holding him down. Shay’s fingers dug into Ren’s upper arms; he didn’t look afraid, only outraged. The shadow of his wolf self slid over the table, stretching the length of his body. I held my breath, hoping Ren was blinded by rage enough not to notice. It was only a matter of seconds before they would both be wolves tearing at each other’s throats.

“Ren, no!” I lunged forward, wrapping my arms around his chest. It took all my strength to pry him from Shay.

Shay leapt to his feet, his fists clenched. His lips curled back and I saw the glint of his sharpening canines. I sucked in a quick breath, desperately shaking my head at him. If he lost control and shifted into his wolf form, we were done for.

“Do not move,” I hissed. “You have to calm down.” His muscles twitched and his neck bulged, but he remained in place. I watched him struggle to hold back his fury.

I turned Ren in my arms, keeping his body locked against mine. His heart beat at a tremendous pace, and a steady, menacing growl rumbled in his throat.

“Please, Ren. Logan, you have to remember Logan.” I pulled him tighter against me, pressing my cheek against the hard muscles of his chest.

Ren snarled once before going still. I felt his breath ease, his heartbeat slow.

“Let go, Lily.” It was only the sound of my nickname that convinced me his fury had ebbed.

I released my locked arms from his body. My muscles shrieked in painful protest; I’d gripped the alpha so fiercely that every fiber ached as they slowly unwound.

Ren looked down at me, his dark eyes resigned. The slightest tug lifted one corner of his lips into a smile. Without looking at Shay again, he walked swiftly from the classroom.

I drew a long, shuddering breath.

“What a nice guy,” Shay said.

Suddenly I was furious with him. This was all his fault. My world had made sense until I’d saved his life. Now everything was falling apart.

The slap made a sharp cracking sound. His eyes widened; his fingers touched the bright red print of my hand that had appeared on his cheek. Without speaking, I turned and followed the path of Ren’s flight from our class.

I found no sign of him in the halls, nor was he in the commons or cafeteria. It appeared that he’d abandoned school. Shaken and sorrowful, I wandered to my locker with the faint hope that he might reappear to join our pack for lunch. When I reached my destination, I found a folded note shoved between the vents of the steel door. I bit my lip as I opened it. It was clear how angry he had still been from the hard press of the pen against the page; he’d nearly torn the paper as he wrote.

Calla. I won’t be around today or tomorrow. I’ll see you at the union.

I dropped into a cross-legged position and leaned against the cool steel, remaining there until the bell rang. I dragged myself to the cafeteria without bothering to collect my lunch from my locker.

Lunch had gone on without disruption for about ten minutes when Ansel frowned and glanced around the table.

“Hey, where’s Ren? And Shay?”

My mood had been so dark I hadn’t noticed that both boys were missing. The rest of the pack shifted in their seats, suddenly uneasy, as they also took in the absence of their alpha and our regular human companion. I looked around the cafeteria. Shay wasn’t among the humans. The Keepers had bunched into a tight circle, heads bowed and close to one another, though I didn’t see Logan in their midst. The young Keepers had been acting strangely since Logan and Efron went to investigate Haldis. The acrid scent of their anxiety filled my nostrils whenever I passed them in the halls or my classes.

Not finding Shay anywhere in the room, I glanced at Ren’s packmates, expecting that he would have called Dax to fill him in on the incident in chemistry.