My eyebrows shot up before I could stop the reaction. My heart did a quick double tap against my ribs.
Hearing her say that I already knew what they were definitely troubled me. I’d seen them change from wolf to man. I’d watched movies, and I knew the Hollywood legends. Never once had I thought any of it real. Yet believing in werewolves bothered me a lot less than having her question what I might be.
I relaxed my face before I warily asked, “What do you mean?”
“Our kind doesn’t mingle with humans,” she said. “You, however, seem to be causing a stir. There are two males out there who both insist they have Claimed you.”
She’d circled back to the Claiming stuff again. I sighed.
“Since I don’t understand what you’re talking about, I can’t say what they did other than bite me.” I gestured to my neck. “It hurt, and I didn’t like it.”
She studied me for another moment. “Did you find either of them...attractive?”
Two men bit me on the neck and she wanted to know if they were attractive? I blinked at her, got to my knees, grabbed my backpack, and stood. This place was crazy, and I wanted nothing to do with it. Neither Ms. Lewis nor Mary moved to stop me as I walked toward the door.
“There’s something special about you, Charlene. Don’t you want to find out what that might be?”
I stopped with my hand on the latch.
“How do you know my name?”
“Mary told me. I can communicate with her silently. It’s a bit hard to explain.”
Still facing the door, I considered what she said. She could do things with her head? Things that most people couldn’t? She had my attention. She knew it, too.
“If you’re willing to stay for a bit, I’m willing to try explaining how it works though,” she said.
“I’d be foolish to stay.”
I couldn’t ignore the fact that these beings had the ability to change from a dog to a person at will and that they liked to bite. Did I want to find out more about them? Yes. They were unique, like me. But they’d already hurt me twice.
“What if I promised no one else would bite you without your permission?” she said.
I snorted. “Permission?” Turning, I shook my head at her. “In what universe would I ever give someone permission to bite me?”
“There’s a lot you don’t know, Charlene. You might find yourself willing at some point. Consider staying. Let me introduce you to the people here.”
“People? No disrespect, but I don’t think that’s the right term.” Not for what I witnessed.
She didn’t say anything. I kept my hand on the latch. If I left, where would I go? If I stayed, how long until I died? I closed my eyes, tilted my head back, and silently asked “What next?”
As I stood there waiting, something tickled my senses. Then, I felt the threads of their will drifting in the stillness around me. Animals didn’t have those threads. Only people. And I could control people.
I opened my eyes and found both Ms. Lewis and Mary watching me closely. Ms. Lewis was right; I was special. So special I needed to hide from the world.
“I won’t allow anymore biting.”
“Neither will I. I promise you are safe.”
“No one is ever safe, Ms. Lewis,” I said. I pictured Penny and the gym of people I’d controlled. “I’d like to leave this room now.”
She stood with a smile. “Certainly. Mary, your father has everyone in the yard.”
Mary, who’d quietly watched our exchange, glanced at the window with worry. “How many?” she asked as she stood.
I walked to the window and looked out. A pack of wolves, at least twenty, waited. And they all watched the window. My stomach churned. I automatically searched out the threads of their wills. The thin strands hovered around them. It gave me comfort. I would be safe but not because Ms. Lewis said so.
“Twenty,” I said, moving back to the door. I pulled the latch and let myself out. Ms. Lewis and Mary followed behind me.
The halls were clear of most the cobwebs. I doubted it was due to any cleaning effort but rather their fighting and general presence in the halls.
Recalling the layout, I descended the stairs and kept to the hall to the right. At the main entry door, I hesitated a second before pushing it open.
They remained as they were, waiting in a group. As soon as I stepped onto the porch, a collective, angry growl rumbled from the gathering. I stopped moving forward. Before I could do anything, Ms. Lewis spoke.
“No one will bite you again without my permission,” she said. Complete certainty echoed in her words.
I didn’t turn to look at her. I couldn’t take my eyes from the hackle-raised pack of wolves before me. They certainly looked ready to bite.
“How can you be sure?”
She stepped around me so I could see her.
“I’ve told them they couldn’t,” she said, setting a hand on my shoulder.
Her kind smile did little to reassure me as the growling increased in volume. She looked out at the group.