Howl (Howl #1) (28 page)

Glancing up, Samara realized that it was Declan. “Oh, I’m so sorry!”
she said. “Here
,
let me help.”

As she crouched down on the ground to help him pick up
the books, she heard him say,
Look, you really don’t need to help me.

What are you talking about? I’m the one who made them fall in the first place. Of course I’m going to help
, Samara replied.

I know what decision you made, Sam. I’ve heard you thinking about it a lot lately. You decided to be an Ima.

Declan, I’m sorry. It’s not an easy decision for me to make. Please don’t be mad at me.

I can’t help it
, Declan yelled back
.
I am mad at you. I’m hurt that you could choose to never talk to me again. And I know the
only reason is because of Luke
.

As Declan stood to his feet, Samara noticed Luke
standing behind him.
Dude, you don’t know what you’re talking about. I told Samara that she should choose to be a Vyka because I didn’t want to come between
the friendship
that
you and her had with each other.

Declan looked over at her.
Is that true, Samara? Did he tell you to be a Vyka?

Samara nodded. She felt Declan glare at her before turning and walking away fr
om them.

She turned to Luke.
I’m
really
confused. I thought wolves could only talk to each other when they were in wolf form. I thought I could only hear you because you’re my mate
.

You’re right
, Luke replied.
The way me and Declan communicated with each other
just now, it was through you. I let you hear my thoughts and since he can hear your thoughts, he can also hear my thoughts. Just like the way I can hear his thoughts. Any time I let you hear what I’m thinking, he can hear it too
.

Samara sighed.
This is all so complicated
.

That’s an understatement
, Luke agreed.
By the way, I wanted to inform you…Colby wants you to meet with the pack tonight.
Seven o’clock by Starlight Lake.

“
Sounds good,
”
Samara replied out loud.
             
 

*

When Samara got home from school, Seth was
sitting in the living room
waiting f
or her. “Sam, we need to talk.”

Samara groaned. It felt like everyone had to talk
to her lately. “About what?”

“Your decision,” Seth replied. “I haven’t told Jason that you’ve decided to become an Ima yet. There’s still time for you to change your min
d and join our pack instead.”

Samara remembered that Colby wanted her to pretend to be a Vyka. There was no way she would be able to do that if Seth ratted her out. “Okay, I’ll think about it,” she lied. “I’m not maki
ng any promises yet, though.”

“Great! I really hope you take this seriously,” Seth replied. “Becoming a Vyka is really the best thing you c
ould do if you want to live.”

Samara chose to ignore the harshness of her brother’s statement because, deep down, she knew that it was the truth.
Sighing, she
went to her room. Sitting down on the bed, she blocked Declan from her thoughts. She really didn’t want to pretend that she was going to be a Vyka, but
s
he
also
knew that it was the most helpful thing t
hat she could do for her pack.

Plus, there also was the issue of her dying. If Jason and the Vyka didn’t try to kill her
first
, the Seku or the Shomecossee might
beat them to it
. Finding out what was making the Vyka so much stronger than the other werewolf pac
ks was really the best thing Samara could do to save herself and her pack.

*

When seven o’clock rolled around, Samara went outside and walked towards the lake. She wasn’t sure if her pack wanted to meet with her in wolf form or in human form, so she decided that it was best
for her to bring her clothes.

She found all of them next to the lake, sitting around a fire in huma
n form roasting marshmallows.

“What’s with werewolves and fires?” Samara as
ked as she approached them.

Chris shrugged. “It’s just what we do. I’m pretty sure it has to do wi
th ancient werewolf history.”

“It does,” Colby said, standing up to get Samara a stick to put her marshmallows on. “The werewolf initiation ceremony must be done during a fire.
The individual ceremonies are different for each pack, though.”

Samara blocked Declan from her thoughts again. “Well, why don’t we do my initiation ceremo
ny right now? I’m ready.”

Colby shook his head. “We can’t. Not if you’re going to do the thin
g we talked about. Will you?”

Samara nodded. “I decided that I’ll go through with it. Why can’t we do the init
iation ceremony until after?”

“After
the initiation ceremony, you’ll officially be one
of us,” Colby began. “You’ll get your tattoo and the color that the smoke will turn when you change. You’ll also develop our scent, which means that even if you don’t change in front of the Vyka, they’ll
know that you’re one of us –
”

“Which they can’t know if I’m pretending that I want to be one of them,”
Samara finished his sentence.

“Exactly.”

“Wait, what do you mean if you’re pretending to be one of them?” Luke asked from his seat across from her. Samara couldn’t help but notice how much his skin glowed and his green eyes sparkle
d from the light of the fire.

“I’m going to pretend that I’m going to become a Vyka so that I can find out how they’re getting so much stronger than the
other
wolf
packs,” Samara replied.

“No,” Luke said, standing up and balling his fists. “You can’t do that. It’s too dangerous. I won’t allow it.”

“Calm down, lover boy,” Steve chimed in. “Samara will be fine, and it’s
really going to help us out.”

“Yeah, Luke,” Samara spoke up. “Please don’t worry. We’re going to plan it out really well beforehand. And I’m going to try my best to m
ake it as quick as possible.”

“I don’t know,” Luke replied, sitting back down. “I have a bad, bad feeling about this. I really wis
h you wouldn’t.”

“Well, she’s going to, Luke. So, knock it off,” Colby snapped. This was the first time that Samara had ever seen Colby act this way towards Luke.
Actually, that was the first time Samara had seen Colby act that way towards
anyone.
Normally,
he was always really calm and laid back, letting people walk all over him – and he
always got along well with Luke
. She must not have seen him
interact with
the rest of the pack
e
nough to really know, though.

Luke scowled. He stared a
t Samara from across the fire.
I don’t like it
.

I know you don’t, but
. . .
the good thing is that if I get hurt or anything, I can just call out to you. You can hear my thoughts, so it’s like you’ll be
there
with me.

I guess
,
Luke replied reluctantly.

“Okay, Samara. Here’s what you’re going to do. Tomorrow night, you’re going to go tell the Vyka that you think you want to be one of them, but that you need to spend some time with them first before you’ll know for
sure,” Colby instructed her.

“That’s fine,” Samara replied. “The only thing I’m worried about is what happens when they want me to do initiat
ion. How do I get out of it?”

“Just tell them that you’re not ready yet,” Colby replied. “It shouldn’t make them too suspicious since Jason knows you have s
uch a huge decision to make.”

Samara nodded. “What should I be looking for? I mean, what do you th
ink is making them stronger?”

“We all have our own
ideas about it,” Kyle spoke up for the first time that night
. “I think that they’re taking some crazy good vitamin supplement. Colby thinks that t
hey’re using black fighting.”

“B
lack fighting?” Samara asked.

“It’s when you use black magic for fighting purposes,” Kyle replied. “It makes you so strong that you eventually get to the point where you can kill other
wolves without even fighting.”

“I’m not sure if you’ve heard this yet,” Colby said, “but a lot of people seem to think that Joe
McKinley did black fighting
.”

“Wow, why
would they think my grandfather did that?”

“Because he was so strong and powerful. It’s so unusual for even the best Alphas to get as powerful as he was. Some do believe that his power was genetic, but many think that black fighting had something
to do with it,” Colby replied.

“Wow.” Samara had always just assumed that her grandfather had been naturally powerful. If he had become so powerful through black magic, though, it would make her feel less respect towards him. In fact, just hearing that black magic could have helped her grandpa gain so much strength made her feel a little bit better about her decision to bec
ome an Ima instead of a Vyka.

“So, are we all set then?” Colby asked. “You know w
hat you need to do tomorrow?”

Samara nodded. “Yup, I’m ready.”
As ready as I can
possibly
be
, she t
hought to herself.
 

Chapter 21

****

The next night, Samara walked, in wolf form, to the area where she knew the Vyka usually hung out. She hoped that they would be out tonight. More than anything, she
wanted to get this over with.

When she reached the grassy circle, they all looked up at her from the circle they were sitting in. Her brother, whose fur was
the same shade of white as
hers, stood out to her the most. Sa
mara hoped that he wouldn’t be able to tell
she was lying
about why she was there
.

She
also
hoped that Declan wouldn’t know she was lying.

Samara had blocked Declan from her thoughts before she left. It was difficult to keep her best friend out of her mind, when really she just wanted to tell him everything. But she couldn’t. She would never be able to tell him anythi
ng again.

What brings you here?
Jason a
sked.

I’m thinking about becoming a Vyka
,
Samara replied, trying to keep the t
one of her voice under control.

What
’s brought you to this decision?
Jason pressed.

Samara thought she was going to have to fish her head for a reason, b
ut one came to her right away.
I don’t want to lose my best friend. I don’t want to have to live in a
constant
war with my brother. I think that being a Vyka is probably the best thing for me.

I’m glad that you’re coming to your senses,
Jason replied.

Samara scanned the area for Declan. She could tell it was him right away: he looked bigger and more handsome t
o her than the other wolves.

Are you happy?
Samara asked, making a mental exchange between only the two of them. If Luke was listening, she hoped that he knew that the only reason she was asking was to make the whole si
tuation seem more realistic.

Ecstatic
,
Declan replied
sarcastically
before getting
up and walking away. Samara immediately felt a twinge of guilt. She hated when Declan was mad at her, even if it wasn’t really a situation th
at she had any control over.

So, when do you think you’ll be ready to go through initiation?
Jason asked.

Samara shru
gged her broad wolf shoulders.
I don’t know yet. I’m not one hundred percent sure that being a Vyka is what I want
. I
t’s just what I think I want
.

Jason growled loudly at her.
You need to make up your mind. Is this what you want or isn’t it?