Wolf Sirens: Forbidden: Discover The Legend Read online

  Desperately crazy as it was and I knew it made no sense, I would have done anything to be near him, to touch his golden brown hair that he tucked behind his ears, to hug him in his cardigan and blue-striped shirt, to smell him and feel his warmth like the sunlight over my skin - and tomorrow I would get my wish. He was in the team now. I couldn’t break it off with Reid, doing the right thing had its drawbacks. If I broke up with Reid I would partly sever my line to Sky and the pack. But soon I wouldn’t have to wish to see Sky. I would know like clockwork when I would see him and feel his presence. My heart fluttered and my checks pricked with blood just thinking of it.

  I should have feared for my life because I was told angry young wolves were volatile and I knew Sam had attacked Cresida for doing exactly what it was I dreamt. I wanted it to happen to me. Unlike Cresida, I would have become one of them in a heartbeat, no matter the pain. They had made me have a thirst for life, woken me up from a daylight slumber to a more wonderful dream. I wanted to be tied to their world forever. I wanted to sacrifice my life, this dead existence, and awake alive as an immortal animal, regardless of everything, my family even Reid, perhaps even regardless of my feelings for Sky, even regardless of eternal life. I wanted what Cres had, though she despised what she was, so much so that she waited for her time to end, while protecting the humans from them. Yet Giny was safe and they seemed to keep me safe from harm - and if they were to eat me maybe I didn’t care either, as long as it was quick.

  Cresida was now my protector so this suicidal desire of my mine was only a slim possibility, and from what Reid had told me, she had a sixth sense for it, for protecting humans, which was only getting stronger. She was made to kill wolves and now that she was wolf herself, her senses were sharper, and she was a double threat to their kind. Nothing was stopping her from taking them out but empathy, which was overridden by her desire to protect the innocent, as I understood it, the way she had protected me from Lily. She guarded my fellow fish from the dolphins’ teeth.

  I looked up at the nearest sycamore that overhung the fence and I knew Cresida could be watching us through the leaves and maybe it was she who stirred the birds and made them flee their nests. If Reid thought she watched us as I had come to suspect, then he did not fear her.

  I often wondered why she hadn’t joined them, cut her losses and fallen in with them. Did she hate Sam so much? Did she hate what she had become? They were surely the only ones who understood her? I underestimated the undercurrent, which made her. I had not yet felt its force, upon myself.

  Reid had explained it to me before the funeral. The desire for hunters was strong; they wanted to kill werewolves and were destined for no other path once they had been triggered by the scent of one of their enemy. It was an impulse that was inborn. The instinct needed training and honing in. Cresida needed less of this because she was bitten and instantly transformed into a killing machine. Whether she liked it or not there was no cure - destiny chose you. Sam’s jagged bite was the kiss of death for her; she had the skill but not the desire - not as it had been. Reid was right, she was compromised, no longer an agent for the hunter. She had unwittingly mixed business with pleasure and become what she hated most. Cresida was suffering a slow death.

  Reid threw an arm around me, his plate was empty, and I chewed the remaining two thirds of my drying bread. Contemplating the newly acquired information in the secrecy of my mind, Reid looked at me. “Staring into space?” he questioned.

  Hardly. I smiled reassuringly at him.

  I didn’t know then that I was the one who was supposed to put her out of her misery.

  15.The Nature of the Beast

  I had however, been transformed into a lusting girl. My heart was pulsing like a butterfly - an effect induced by the scent of the wolves, of earthy musk and honey.Though it was risking my life in more ways than one, I did not want to consider the worst part: that my feelings betrayed his best friend and his girl friend, Sam - let alone the implications for my life. And the bitter truth was he barely noticed I existed. This was not mutual and I was going mad, he was so far out of my league, preoccupied and I felt disdain in his glances. I couldn’t imagine him with me, a human - an unattractive human girl. One thing gave me hope though: the fact that he had loved another human girl before, Cresida, before he knew what she was. So maybe it wasn’t so crazy to want to believe he could love me. I buried my head in the pillow, embarrassed for my own obsession that had crept up on me like the tide, and I was in it up to my neck.

  No matter how much I tried to prepare myself, when he walked into practice my breathing became laboured as I struggled to maintain composure. I wondered if becoming a wolf would put me back in control of my body. I began to sweat. He was more beautiful than my mind could imagine in the dark of my room when Reid left me at night.

  I flushed bright red. What was happening to me? I steadied my breathing and urged myself to control my body. This practice session was going to be torture in more ways than one. What was this feeling? I asked myself again and again; the sensation. I pined for him. I desired him in every moment of every day and melted into a blubbering heap, inside, in his presence. Every spare moment was dissolved in thoughts of him. I became more and more distant and indifferent to Reid. My feelings, or lack of them, were the polar opposite of my emotions for Sky.

  One evening I pushed Reid away from me. He looked alarmed.

  “I just need some personal space,” I said quietly, not wanting to make an issue of it. He obeyed my subtle request but stayed near. He enquired if I had doubts about him and I denied I had, though I misconstrued his meaning. He asked about practice and if I had spoken to Sky. I used the opportunity to complain about Sky’s indifference and standoffishness with me. I implied I was disgruntled with him somehow.

  “He’s the ‘suffer in silence’ type, huh?”

  “He’s my best mate, I don’t know.” Reid only listened and offered no real excuse other than that Sky thought it was too dangerous for me to be in the pack, near them, after Cresida. Reid disagreed, of course, and Sam was adamant I was to stay, so he couldn’t do anything about it. The fact that Sky wanted to protect me warmed my heart; the fact that he didn’t want me around wounded it. My passionate feelings for him could only be displayed as dislike and then disdain. I hoped his reaction to me was the same. I wished I did to him what he did to me.

  My shoulders ached, I had a bruise on one of them where Giny had kicked me accidentally during a hold and my lower back ached. Even my feet hurt and my ankles must have been swollen.

  “Practice was brutal,” I moaned to Reid when we got home. He met me up in my room. It wasn’t necessary to sneak about anymore but I let it continue that way because I knew Sophie would be able to tell I didn’t feel as strongly as he felt for me. I knew we couldn’t last much longer. I didn’t want to have to explain why to anyone. It would have been embarrassing to admit and I would have needed to lie. My unreciprocated crush on Sky mortified me.

  “You’re trying to keep up with the supernatural, I’m talking to Sam, and this isn’t fair on you,” Reid worried aloud.

  For all his brawn, he could be so tender. I lay on my bed and he sat at my side and pulled off my shoes and rubbed my feet around in circles massaging the soles. Suddenly he was gone, disappearing into the cupboard with a bump, before my door cracked open. My mother asked me what was wrong.

  “Oh, my legs hurt from practice with the girls.” I made a mental note not to be quite so complacent, “I’m going over to Sam’s tonight if that’s okay?” I asked calmly as I lay on the bed, though I’d never had to ask for permission. I needed to tell her where I was, to avoid further intrusion. She didn’t pry further that way. Something I really appreciated at times.

  “Alright,” she said, upbeat.“I’m going out tonight as well. I won’t worry about dinner then?”

  “No,there’s no need to,Sam’s got plenty.”I thought of all the piles of pizza they all went through, with a smile. “Where are you going?” I asked,
suddenly interested. We were still new in town and my mother had never been a night owl. Did this mean her depression was over?

  “With some ladies from work, to a bar or something? Why?” she said equally inquisitive. I suppose maybe I’d never asked her things like this before.

  “No reason,” I said as I lay my head back against the bed.

  “Okay, then I’ll see you later tonight?”She paused. “Should I shut this?” She gestured holding the door.

  “Yes,” I agreed casually, without missing a beat. Her question made me wonder if she’d cottoned on to my visitor. I imagined her lurking outside, ear to the wall. But I didn’t care and out of the cupboard peeked my boyfriend who just happened to have sonar ears and stealth speed. Even if she heard us, she’d never catch him.

  After her car sped off Reid wasted no time. He kissed my lips, warm and wet, as we made out in my room.

  “Do you think I should meet her?”

  “Who?” I said lazily.

  “Your mum?”

  “Oh, why?” I did my best to sound bored.

  “Well I’m your boyfriend right?”

  “Right,” I teased.

  “So shouldn’t I meet her?” he asked seriously. “I don’t see why Reid? Isn’t it dangerous to involve her?”

  “What do you mean?” Offence coated his voice.

  “I don’t see the point?” Sophie knew I dated him, I guessed. She would have heard it in town; the Penny Market was gossip central, second only to the town Pharmacy.

  “You don’t see the point in your mother knowing what your boyfriend looks like – or even that you have one? It might make all this sneaking around easier.”

  “No, it wouldn’t Reid, it might make it more difficult, I don’t need the hassle.” I stretched.

  “Oh, okay.” His voice was sarcastic.

  “Is something wrong?” I screwed my nose up.

  “I just thought…we were serious?” He shrugged.

  I wanted to say we weren’t but I would have confused the situation further and I knew breaking up with him wasn’t something I necessarily wanted. I’m sure he heard my heart thud as I panicked a little.

  “Should I go?” He sat up disgruntled.

  “No, please don’t go…I love you.” What was I saying?

  He slid onto the mattress and ran his hands up my legs, firmly, and we made love on the bed. I never thought my first time would be with a beast halfman, half wolf. Afterward I felt numb and Sky was still the foremost in my mind. I wanted his hands grabbing my body, not Reid’s. I let him have sex with me out of guilt. I was infatuated with his best friend. I burned for him; maybe I imagined it was him? Reid didn’t seem to notice.

  “Reid?”

  “Yeah.”

  “I was just wondering?”

  “Yeah.”

  “-If you can have children, if werewolves breed?”

  “Why, you want one?” He smiled teasingly.

  I ignored him.

  “So you have to be created only, you’re not able to procreate?” I had wanted to know everything.

  “No, sterile, I guess.” He shrugged.

  “But you look so youthful?”

  “So what? We should have useful sperm?” He sat up on his elbow.

  “Youthful, I said youthful, not useful.” I laughed. He giggled too, embarrassed.

  “Maybe I have my after-sex ears on.” We laughed as if letting out the tension.

  More seriously he replied as an afterthought, “No, we have to create…if we want one– a family. Like Sam’s done.” He chomped his teeth together as though biting the air.

  “Not with your…” I laughed looking at the area in question trying to peek under the blanket, which he modestly pulled down.

  “No, only with our…” he pointed to his teeth and smiled. He bit me softly, kissing the skin over my shoulder and chest.

  “Stop! It tickles.” I moved away. I sat up and drank some water from the bedside, feeling a familiar tug of guilt, but I pushed it aside.

  “So, Sam created a pack with you and Bianca and Sky.” I hoped he didn’t notice me stumble over his name.

  “Yeah, sort of, but Sam didn’t create me.”

  “Who did – Sky?” I guessed.

  “No, Lily actually.”

  I looked over in disbelief and then surprise.

  “Why didn’t you tell me?” I sounded as shocked as I felt as the blood drained from my face. Surely there was a connection between wolves and whoever made them immortal, especially if they knew them. I had severed it. I was stunned for a moment. I felt a pang, because perhaps she loved him? I knew instantly that was why she hated me. I put my hand over my throat. Perhaps this was the reason I felt so bad being with him, that I had sensed it.

  “It’s okay, I didn’t feel obligated to her like Sky did to Sam.”

  “Reid, I didn’t know.” I searched his face for the traces of pain losing a loved one left. “Did you love her?” I had already decided not to believe him if he denied it.

  “Lily didn’t have the same talents as Sam.”

  “Talents – what do you mean?” I exclaimed. He had mentioned this previously but I had been full of other more pressing curiosities at the time to notice the importance.

  “Well, it seems to us that Sam has a talent for… persuasiveness. It probably explains why she has stayed Alpha for so long, her whole life…as a wolf.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “She’s able to very subtly get people to agree with her, especially if part of them wants to.” He shrugged.

  “Like super charisma or something?” I was intrigued.

  “Yes, but stronger and if they are…gullible, she does it with ease, like a hypnotist, on anyone she wants.”

  I took in the information. “She hasn’t tried it on me has she?” I asked suddenly fearful. I hadn’t realized her power over people to be so strong.

  “She knows free will is best, so we tried that first. Then when she tried a little to test it out on you, she knew you were very strong willed and wouldn’t follow easily.”

  “Why? Is that unusual?”

  “No, just rare.” He could see I was thirsty for more. “Sky and I stopped her. There’s the weak, the medium and the strong willed - I guess, and most people are…weak to medium and you’re up there in the strong category.” He gestured, apologetically.

  “What are you?” I questioned, curiosity enthralling me.

  “Umm…medium-strong, probably.”

  “You just made up your own category,” I accused.

  “I made them all up. It’s not that simple, anyway, I was just dummying it down for you. It depends on many things, like if you want to believe her or not, for instance…do you understand?” he said concerned. “Don’t become complacent or drunk around her because she will have you do anything she wants, basically,” Reid warned.

  I wondered why he hadn’t told me before. “Can you tell? Do you know when she’s doing it?” I worried.

  “No, she usually does it when she’s one-on-one. So no one can tell you, she infiltrates your subconscious.” I felt the warning he was trying to convey as his eyes pleaded. “Only if you’re clever or wise to it, only if you want to resist –but it all comes naturally to you,” he added happily, shrugging. Reid had tried to let me in on this secret but then I had been too naïve to understand his subtle warning.

  “Why?”

  He smiled. “It just does – you’re already awake, you’re special, more than you know.”

  He was being sweet. “Thanks.” I wasn’t sure what he meant by ‘awake’.

  Now I was wise to it I made a note to be careful of this trait. “Do you have talents also?” I wondered about the others, about Sky. Were they all under her influence? Or did they assert their own?

  “No, I don’t know actually. They can take ages to develop or just be so subtle you may not notice for some time. It can just be like – something you were good at in life, can just become more powerful or effecti
ve in this life.” He gestured to himself.“I wonder all the time what mine is, if I’ll ever have it.” He looked at me, assessing my reaction as he began to dress, finding his jeans.

  “Do you know when she’s using it on you?” I enquired.

  He breathed in. “You get to know it.” I wondered what she had done to him - or if he even knew.

  I looked into his eyes “Does Sky have a gift?”

  “What makes you think that?” He smiled.

  “I don’t know,” I said thoughtfully – whilst remembering to ask about the others as much as I asked about Sky. I tried not to flush.

  He pulled on his jeans and was looking about for his shirt.

  “We don’t know the extent of it but he seems to be oddly good with the ladies.” He smiled wide and I knew from his bursting snicker that he was just teasing me. I hoped then that he hadn’t cottoned on to how much I was taken with Sky and I checked his tone to see if there was a hint of disdain. I hoped to hide my interest in him behind a façade, of wanting to know more about Reid, by understanding his best friend. Reid slid off the bed.

  He was standing shirtless but otherwise clothed in front of me then. I saw the beginnings of a five o’clock shadow across his jaw. He was magnificent in his own right and I was stupid to have eyes for any other. He knew better than to be insecure. “What?” he said noticing the lack of amusement in my gaze.

  He bent down on his knee and crouched lower to look into my eyes.

  I whispered, frowning. “How do you know Sam does it, hypnotizes … if you don’t know when she has done it to you?” I worried.