Howl (Howl #1) (17 page)

As Samara reluctan
tly followed E through the wooded
forest, she knew that she was doing the right thing. If she didn’t talk to the Alpha of the other p
ack, she would never know what
he wanted. Plus, she had to know what her own Alpha had meant when he said she was in high demand with the other packs. Maybe this other Alpha would tell her the reason.
Even if he didn’t, it s
eemed like it was worth a shot.

E led her up a rocky pathway before stopping in
front of
a grassy circle. Glancing around, Samara realized that
this wasn’t going to be a private meeting with
E’s
Alpha
. There were three
wolves
there
total, all gathered around
a glowing fire that casted a light over all of them.

Her eyes immediately fell on the wolf sitting in the middle of the pack, who she was sure was the Alpha. He wasn’t a gray wolf. His fluffy fur was a shade of midnight black, which made his golden eyes even more mesmerizing. Samara thought that his fur looked prettier than the
shaggy
gray
hair of the other wolves in his
pack, but somet
hing about him intimidated her.

Samara. Come, sit,
the Alpha said. Samara wasn’t sure how she knew that the voice be
longed to him, but it was familiar
. Hesitantly, she walked closer to the pack and plopped down the furthest away she could get from their circle
without seeming like she was being rude
.

What do you want to talk to me about?
Samara asked nervously.

Your existence,
the Alpha replied. He stood up and took a few steps closer to her.
As you’re already aware, you are a werewolf. What you do not know is that the way in which you have become a werewol
f is unnatural.

Unnatural?
Samara asked, laughing. There was nothing natural about
being
a werewolf. In her mind, all of their existences were unnatural.

The Alpha
nodded,
his face an unreadable dark silhouette.
Werewolves normally have vetina in their blood. Vetina refers to your bloodline. In a way, y
ou can think of it as being ou
r last name. It’s where we come fro
m. It’s who our ancestors were.

The vetina of your current pack is Ima. They all originated from the
Imachanta family
’s pack
. Back then, the Imachanta
were
all
closely related. The wolves in your pack aren’t that close in blood, but they do share one thin
g in common: the Ima blood type
. I don’t know the spe
cifics, but these days, none of the Ima are related by blood, unless if a sibling or a cousin is on the same pack, which is the usual case.

Anyway, t
he bloodline of this pack is Vy
ka. We all originated from the
pack of the
Vykasuta family
. What you might not know is that you are not from the Ima l
ine. You are from the Vyka line.

Samara blinked.
Are you saying that I’m not
on the right pack?

Let me finish!
the Alpha snapped at her, growling loudly.
You do not speak until I
am done speaking, are we clear?

Samara nodded, feeling the panic rise in her throat. She hoped that this didn’t turn into an argument. If she had to attack, she wouldn’t be
prepared – especially
when she considered the two
other wolves who would probably want to defend their Alpha.
Plus, Alphas were stronger and more powerful than other werewolves, surely strong enough to beat a pup in a fight.

Many years ago, there was a werewolf on this
pack. He was one of the most powerful
werewolves in the area. Not only could he easily kill any animal or human who got in his way, but he was also an amazing manipulator. He was able to get into human minds and convince them to do things for h
is own benefit, which was a
useful
tool
for the Vyka pack.

This particular werewolf won the highest number of battles in werewolf history. He took down one of
the
most powerful and dangerous Alpha’s, who had been plotting to take over
all of the
werewolf packs
throughout the entire country,
until he was the only Alpha in the world. The Alpha had taken over half the packs in the country before the wo
lf from our pack stopped him.

The wolf later died. As you may or may not know, werewolves can only be kil
led
if they are shot with a sterling silver bullet while they’re in their human
form
.
This means that many of us live hundreds or even thousands of years, unless we
are found out or
get into an attack. It is possible to kill another werewolf during an attack. Anyway, this particular wolf was not killed during an attack by another wolf and did not come in contact with any type of silver, so his death was what you would call unusual. Some of the elderly wolves in the pack thought that he had a rare birth defect, but we’ll n
ever really know because there wa
s no one who practice
d
medicine for werewolves
back then
. Either way, we believe that the wolf died because he was so strong and his strength was just too much for him t
o handle. Are you following me?

For the first time since he had been telling his story, Samara met the black wolf’s golden eyes, which were illuminated by the blazing flames of the fire. She nodded her head.

That wolf’s name was Joe McKinley.
 

Chapter 14

****

Samara froze as the mention of her grandfather’s name.
Are you trying to tell me that m
y Grandpa Joe was a werewolf?

That is exactly what I am telling you,
the Alpha replied.

Samara thought about it for a moment.
She wanted to believe that the Alpha was lying, but how else would he know her grandpa’s name? Besides, it would explain a lot about how she had become a werewolf herself. Samara remembered that when
her mom had first caught her outside without her clothes, she had mentioned that Grandpa Joe used to sleepwalk
, too
. Maybe that wasn’t true at all, though. Maybe sleepwalking was the same excuse that he had used with his kids when he went out at night
as she had used with her mom and was planning to use with anyone else if they ever caught her outside in the middle of the night without her clothes
.

Samara wondered if her dad knew the truth about her grandfather
.
Did it mean that he could be a werewolf himself? Just the idea that one of her own parents might also be a wolf or may have known that she was going to become a wolf made her feel angry inside. It made her glad that she was
already
in werewo
lf form when she had found out.

And my grandpa was a part of this pack?
Samara asked hesitantly, trying to figure out why the Alpha had even told her the story.

The Alpha nodded his head, one of his
silky black ears
flopping down.

If my grandpa was a part of this pack, doesn’t that mean that I should
also be a part of this pack?

Ah, you’re catching on rather quickly,
the Alpha replied, a note of amusement in his voic
e. He stood up and began pacing in the center of the circle
that the wolves were sitting in
, separating his pack from Samara
. Wh
en the Alpha was closer to her, he said:
That is exactly what it means. You were meant to be a member of our pack, which is why your existence is unnatural. You were supposed to naturally change into a werewolf sometime between your sixteenth and seventeenth birthday, the
same way the rest of us have.

Other werewolves in the area decided that they had other intentions for you, though. An Alpha from another pack bit you, which means that you are now a member of his pack. Do you
know why he did this, Samara?

Samara thought for a moment
before slowly shaking her head
. Her Alpha hadn’t to
l
d her why she was in demand, and
she really wasn’t sure why he wanted her on his pack.
She assumed that it must have something to do with the story that this Alpha, the
Vyka Alpha, had just told her.

He did it because he knows that you have some of the most powerful blood in
our
region,
the black wolf replied.
He wanted you on his pack for his own selfish purposes. Without you, he cannot defeat the other packs in this area. It’s not that he wants you
to be on his pack . . .
he just wants your power so that his pack can become one of the
most powerful.

Samara thought about what the black wolf was telling her. She was really becoming fond of her Alpha. In an odd way, he was becoming one of her closest friends throughout all of this, especially now that she no longer had Emma
as someone who she could rely on
. Even if they were still friends, she couldn’t tell her
what was going on.
Emma would never understand
that she was a werewolf
. Sure, h
er Alpha had been
keeping secrets from her
,
but he had said that he was going to
tell her eventually.

Was the black wolf right, though? Was her Alpha really that selfish? Did he only want her to be on
his pack because he was greedy?

It may have been greedy for her Alpha to bite her, but Samara had a feeling that he wasn’t a greedy person – err, werewolf.
She knew she didn’t know him well yet, but he seemed far from greedy. If he was greedy, he would already be trying to make her use the power that she did have
to offer his pack
instead of giving her time to accept the changes in her life right now
before he told her everything.

Samara decided that she was going to give her Alpha a chance to explain everything before deciding if the black wolf could be right, but at this point, sh
e was pretty sure he was wrong.

Meeting t
he black wolf’s gaze, she asked:
What do you want from me?

I want you to be on this pack. I cannot force you to be on this pack, so it is a decision that you will need to make on your own. I can tell you one thing, though. If Joe McKinley was still alive, he would be really disappointed to find out that his own granddaughter chose to b
e one of his
pack’s rivals.
Choosing to become an Ima would be dishonoring your family.

Samara’s heart panged at the mention of her grandfather not being alive.
I need to think about it,
she replied.
That’s the most that I can give you
right now. I’m very confused.

The black wolf nodded.
Just know that if you do c
hoose to be an Ima, you will be our first target. Our mission will be to take you down because you are far too powerful to keep in this a
rea unless you are one of us.
 

*

When Samara reached her backyard, she swiftly changed back into a human. She felt relieved that she was finally able to control her own inner wolf. Being found in the yard naked right now was the last thing she needed; her emotions were
vulnerable enough as it was.

Ima or Vyka? Which pack did she want to b
elong to?

Ima. You want to be an Ima.

She
nearly jumped when she heard
Luke’s voice inside her head.
How do you know what I want?
Samara snapped back at him.

You want to be an Ima because you want me
, Luke replied.

Samara hadn’t even cons
idered what would happen to her and Luke
if she chose to be a Vyka.
You can’t have a m
ate from another pack, can you?

No, you can’t
, Luke answered.
Your mate is al
ways someone on your own pack.

So, what if I choose to be a Vy
ka then? I won’t have a mate?

She heard Luke sigh loudly.
No, you will
still have a mate
. It will just
be someone from the Vyka pack.