A Girl and Her Wolf (Howl, #7) (11 page)

“Yeah. I guess it’s just that I’m a little nervous to admit how I feel,” she admitted. “It’s not like we know each other that well, you know? We’ve only recently started talking a little in a class we have together.”

“Uh huh,” Colby replied with a nod. He wanted her to just blurt it out already. “Well, I think you should just tell him.”

“Really?” She glanced over at him, her eyes sparkling in the candle light. “I’m afraid he won’t like me. We’re so . . .
different
.”

“Different can be a good thing sometimes,” Colby pointed out. “Opposites attract, you know.”

“I guess. I don’t know.” She sighed loudly. “Crushes are so complicated sometimes.”

“They don’t need to be,” Colby replied. “They’re only complicated when you make them complicated. And honestly, Emma? Any guy would be lucky to have you.”

“Aww, that’s so sweet,” she replied with a smile. “And it really means a lot to me, coming from you.”

His heart started to beat a little faster. “Really?”

“Definitely. This guy I’m crushing on . . . You know him better than anyone else,” Emma said quietly, leaning in closer to him.

“I do believe I know him well,” Colby murmured with confidence. “I know him enough to know that he feels the same way as you.”

She stared at him, astonished. “Really?”

“Yeah. I know this is all so new and we don’t really know each other that well, but I feel the same way about you, Emma,” Colby said quietly, just as he went in for the kiss, pressing his lips against hers.

Emma blinked, breaking away from him. “Wait,
what
?” She laughed uncomfortably. “You think my crush is on
you
?”

Colby stared back at her blankly. “Well, isn’t it? You keep saying that you’re just starting to get to know this person. You have a class with him, and you don’t run in the same social circles. That description fits me exactly.” He could feel the embarrassment rise to his cheeks.

“I’m sorry if I lead you on, Colby, but . . . I wasn’t talking about you,” Emma admitted. “I was talking about Luke Davenport. I thought you might have some insight, considering he’s your best friend and all. He’s new here, and we seem so different.”

Suddenly, everything made sense. That was why she’d gotten so close to him over the past week. She was trying to use him to get close to Luke.

Colby didn’t just feel embarrassed anymore. He felt angry now, too. “He is my best friend,” he muttered.

“Do you think he likes me?” Emma asked, sounding hopeful.

“Luke is dating someone right now,” Colby replied. “He’s dating a
few
people, actually. Because that’s how Luke is. He gets around a lot,” he lied. Sure, Luke had been with a few human girls since he’d moved to Grandview, but he wasn’t that much of a man whore—or at least, not to Colby’s knowledge.

He didn’t want Emma to date his best friend, though. He had to find a way to make sure that she wouldn’t like him, so telling her false information seemed like the easiest way. He would explain it all to Luke later, though. They’d been best friends for years, so he’d understand, of course. And he also wouldn’t try to go out with her, either. They had an unspoken rule between them; neither could steal the other’s lady of interest.

“Well, that sucks,” Emma said loudly. “Oh, well. I’m sure I can find someone else at the party tonight to crush on.”

Colby forced a smile, hugging the comforter close to him again. He needed to find a way to get his clothes on without Emma realizing that he wasn’t wearing anything besides his boxers. That was the only thing that would be more embarrassing than that awkward kiss.

“Oh, well. Do you want to go back downstairs with me?” she asked, rising to her feet. She blew out the candles and turned on the light.

“Actually, I think I’ll just hang out in here for a little bit if that’s okay,” Colby told her.

She frowned and then her eyes drifted to his pile of clothes in the corner. She eyed him curiously. “Are you wearing anything?” she questioned, narrowing her eyebrows at him.

“Yeah, I am,” he replied.

“I think you’re lying. You’re not wearing anything,” Emma replied. She eyed him curiously. “You didn’t think I was going to have sex with you tonight,
did you
?”

“No, no. Of course not,” Colby tried to reassure her, even though he knew that it didn’t seem too convincing. Of
course
that’s how it looked to her. “I heard that you were trying to find a romantic guy. And that you wished one would just be waiting for you in your bed.” Without even thinking about what he was doing, he pulled down the comforter. “See, I’m even wearing your favorite outfit.”

Emma burst into laughter. “Who wears SpongeBob boxers? What are you, like, ten?”

He stared at her with a dumbfounded look on his face. “You don’t really love yellow boxers on a guy, do you?” And suddenly, it all fell into place.

“Well . . .
I guess it’s better than tighty whities,” she replied with a shrug. “It’s sort of immature, though.”

He felt angry again, but not at Emma this time. He climbed out of bed and began to pull on his clothes. “I’m sorry about all this,” he said.

Before he got the chance to put his pants on, though, he heard the sound of a click. Was that a . . . cell phone camera?

He turned to face Emma, who had pulled out her cell phone and snapped a photo of him. “What are you doing?” he questioned.

“Oh, you know. Just taking a picture for blackmailing purposes,” Emma replied.

“Blackmail?”

She turned to face him, her face twisted into a serious expression and her hands on her hips defensively. “If you
ever
try to tell anyone that you slept with me, I can personally guarantee you that this picture of you in those SpongeBob boxers will make its way all around school—on every cell phone, every locker. So you better think twice before you start untrue rumors. I promise you that no one will believe that I would have sex with someone of your social rank and, more importantly, someone who wears
SpongeBob
boxers,” she said before turning away from him and heading out into the hallway.

Wow. So much for that friendship. And so much for her seeming way cooler—and way nicer—than he’d ever thought she was. It had only been so she could get close to his best friend.

Colby really hated her at that moment.

Once he was dressed and went out of the room, he found Chris and Steve standing at the foot of the stairs with smirks on their faces.

“So, did Emma like your SpongeBob boxers?” Steve asked with a laugh.

Colby glared at him. “No, and I don’t appreciate you guys setting me up like that. It wasn’t funny.”

“You’re right, it wasn’t. It was hilarious,” Chris replied. “Emma’s already told a bunch of people what a loser you are. Why would you think she liked you?”

Colby grimaced, feeling his stomach clench. He couldn’t wait until next week, when school ended for the year. Hopefully, everyone would forget about this night really soon, and if they didn’t, he wouldn’t have to face them anymore for a few months. “I’m ready to get out of here.” He descended the steps, ignoring the stares he got from people as he crossed the front entryway and went outside.

“Colby Jack, wait!” Steve called after him. “You’re not mad at us, are you?”

He glanced over his shoulder at him. “Of course I’m mad at you. That was a really screwed up thing for you to do.”

“Will you forgive us, though?” Chris questioned.

Colby sighed. “Yeah, eventually. I can’t stay mad at you guys forever. It would only hurt the pack. You guys should consider yourself fortunate, though. Other Alphas would be far meaner to you than I ever will be. But I would never sink to your level.”

*

Now, as he closed the diary, Colby chuckled to himself. That was the day his hatred for Emma had first began, even though he’d always still secretly crushed on her. She seemed to make fun of him even more after that day, which he later discovered was because she, too, had a secret crush on him but was too afraid to admit it to herself. They didn’t really stop hating each other until after they were mated.

It would be one hell of a story for their future grandkids.

Chapter 16: Emma

The next day, Davenport seemed sl
ightly more energetic than he had lately. It was a bright, sunny day outside, so Colby and Emma took him to the park.

Emma sat down on one of the swings and began to swing back and forth with Daven in
her lap. Colby reached out his arms and pretended to pick him up every time the swing moved forward, which, to his surprise, made Daven giggle.

“So, I saw my stepdad last night,” Emma told him quietly. “And the day before.”

“You did?” Colby asked with raised eyebrows. “Where?”

“Two days ago, I came across him in the woods. Then, yesterday, we met up at my mom’s house,” she explained. “We asked my mom if she wanted to become a werewolf.”

“I see,” he mumbled.

She glanced over at him. “You’re not mad, right? I know that we don’t usually ask people if they want to become wolves and that it’s usually something we save for life or death situations only, but . . . this
is
my mom.”

“I understand why you’d want her to become a wolf,” Colby agreed. “And given the fact that your stepdad’s a werewolf, too, I can’t imagine anyone telling you that you can’t do it. But . . . did she agree to it already? I thought she considered us to be ‘monsters’.”

“She does—or she did, at least,” Emma admitted. With a sigh, she added, “But she actually didn’t agree to it yet. She’s mad at my stepdad for leaving, and who can blame her? I would be mad at you, too.”

“I would never leave you,” Colby reassured her.

Even if I’m pregnant and you’re not ready for kids?
Emma wondered to herself, careful to make sure that he couldn’t hear her thoughts.

“And if your mom does agree to become a wolf, I think it’s great,” Colby went on. “I know how hard it is to lose a parent.”

She swallowed hard, feeling the sadness that swarmed through his body. The level of pain that he felt these days when talking about his father was nothing in comparison to the way he’d felt right after he found out Darren had betrayed him and his mother, and when Darren died. But the pain was still there, hidden beneath the surface.

Emma hoped that, one day, Colby would be able to move past it. She knew that it wouldn’t be for a long time, though. His father would always be a part of him.

An awkward silence settled beneath them for a few minutes. Finally, Colby sat down on the swing next to her and pulled his cell phone out of his pocket. He laughed. “Steve and Chris tried to pick up a jelly fish thinking it couldn’t hurt them, and they both got stung pretty bad. “See?” He waved the picture of their red, blistered skin in front of her face.

She laughed. “They would do something that dumb.”

Colby began tapping away on his cell phone in response to them, just as Davenport sneezed loudly.

“Bless you,” Emma t
old Davenport. Her eyes widened when she saw the smoke that spilled from his lips. She turned to her mate. “
Please
tell me you saw that just now.”

“Actually, I didn’t,” Colby admitted, not even bothering to glance up at her because he was so glued to hi
s phone. “What happened?”

“
He just sneezed. And there was smoke.
Again
,” she replied, annoyed that he’d somehow missed it
again
, even though his back hadn’t been turned to them this time.

“Oh, come on, Em. Smoke?” Colby stared back at her in disbelief.

Emma huffed and, clutching the baby against her chest, rose to her feet. She began to walk across the grassy field, off in the direction of their house.

Colby followed after her, and she could feel his confusion run through her own veins. She wasn’t sure what was so confusing
, though. She was annoyed that he didn’t believe her.

Would he believe her when it came to
their
pup’s health?

She was about halfway across the field when she noticed a gray wolf walking towards them. Even though wolves all looked the same, she somehow knew, even from over a hundred feet away, who it was.

Troy.

Emma bit down on her lower lip nervously.
She hadn’t come face to face with the guy who’d turned her in
years
. She wasn’t sure how they managed to live in the same area without bumping into each other at the grocery store or even in the woods while they were in their wolf forms, but somehow, they’d never crossed paths.

And even though Emma was incredibly grateful for the fact that she was a wolf now that everything in her life was as close to perfect as she could imagine, there was still a part of her that would always
hold a grudge against Troy. He had
no
right to change her into a wolf against her will. Even worse was that he’d done it for quite possibly the stupidest reason ever. It was all over Joe McKinley’s stupid legendary talisman, which had caused them so many problems over the years.

Emma was glad that Joe was in charge of the talisman now. It meant that he was the only one anyone else could try to take it away from and, truthfully, any wolf who tried was just a
moron with a death wish.

Troy took a few steps forward and glanced around to make sure that no one was watching. When he saw that no one was, he morphed into his
human form. The silvery blue cloud of smoke danced around him.

“I see you got a new pack color,” Colby noted, as he stood
protectively next to Emma.

“We merged with a few others packs from Delaware and New Jersey. We go b
y the Ariel now,” Troy replied with a cocky grin.

“Like the Little Mermaid?” Emma asked with an unimpressed smirk, to which Colby chuckled.

Troy scowled at him. “Laugh all you want, but my pack would rip yours to shreds. It happens to be a family name.” He met Emma’s gaze and smirked. “I see that you’re just as opinionated as ever. How have you been since the change?”

“Fine, but no thanks to you,” she snapped at him. She could see Colby tense up
beside her; he was probably waiting for her to say something that would spark a fight between them and Troy, but that wasn’t her intention at all. She just didn’t see a reason why she had to be nice to him when he had intentionally and knowingly ruined her human life.

“So, uh, is Rocco still Alpha?” Colby questioned quietly, trying to make polite conversation.

Troy laughed. “No, he’s not, actually. As it turns out, my cousin is a lot weaker than anyone ever knew. When we formed our new pack, fate actually decided that I was the one who was most worthy of becoming Alpha.”

“Oh, god,” Emma muttered under her breath. Colby glanced over at her sharply.

You need to at least
try
to be nice
, he told her through mind-speak.
The last thing we need to do is get into a fight with the Ariel while the rest of our pack members are away from home. They must outnumber us by a lot.

I
know you’re right
, Emma replied with a sigh.
But I can’t help it.
She turned back to Troy and forced herself to say, “Congratulations on your new position. Even though your cousin lost his title, I’m sure he’s very proud of you.”

Troy shrugged. “I guess. So, who’s the little one?” he asked, motioning to Davenport. “Did the two of you have a pup already?”

Emma laughed. “No, actually, this is Davenport. He’s Samara and Luke’s baby, but she’s raising him with Declan,” she explained, even though she wasn’t sure why she was rambling. It’s not like it was any of Troy’s business, but even if it was, chances were that Troy already knew.

Since Davenport came from the McKinley line, he was already a legend in the werewolf world.

The look that filled Troy’s eyes seemed to reflect that. “Wow . . . I didn’t realize that he was so big already. Is he growing quicker than babies his age normally grow?”

Emma shrugged. “He was born on the muscular side. It happens.”

“That’s going to be one strong kid one day,” Troy murmured for a moment before glancing back up at her and Colby. “I should probably get going. I need to get to work, or I’m going to be late. It was nice seeing you two.”

“It was nice to see you, too,” Colby said politely.

“Bye,” Emma mumbled. She wasn’t going to tell him it’d been nice to see him when it really hadn’t been.

Once Troy began to walk away from them and they started back in the direction of their house, Colby
spoke to her through mind-speak.
I wish you would try to be a little nicer to him sometimes, Em. He
was
always cooperative with us, for the most part.

Emma shot a glare in his direction.
If you count turning me into a werewolf and then holding me as a hostage of his pack until Samara agreed to give him the talisman, then sure. He was real
cooperative.

I know,
Colby sighed, putting his arm around her as they walked back home in silence.