Shaping Destiny (11 page)

Max’s hand stroked my
cheek to wipe a tear away. “It’ll be OK. We’ll talk to your father,
figure out what is going on, face the boss, and finish this. When
all this is over, we can move on with our lives. Look at it this
way: The boss is not going to stop, and we can’t fix anything here.
So we either stay here, running forever, or figure out a way to
stop this. The sooner we learn what we need to do, the sooner this
will all be over.” He paused. “But if you choose to stay, I will
fight for you until my dying breath.”

I smiled. “I would never
ask you to do that. I know what needs to be done, it’s just
hard.”

***

Inside and out, the
student center swarmed people. Balloons, streamers, and posters of
the art categories decorated the entire place. It wasn’t just for
one performance from ballroom; it was a number of different
creative acts set to show what they could do. Many different dance
groups where warming up, vocalists were singing, and the art
students had put together plays.

“
Jared, hey!” I found him
putting his clothes away in his duffel bag. “You look nice.” He
wore a black-and-white tuxedo. I had on a full purple gown that
reached the floor, my hair up in a tight bun.

“
Right back at you.
Beautiful.”

“
I better, considering
these costumes cost a fortune.” I did a turn to elaborate the
fullness of the dress.

“
There are still eight
acts before us, so did you want to run through it a couple more
times?” Jared asked.

“
Sure. Up there?” I
pointed to some empty rooms up on the second level.

“
Perfect.” Jared held my
hand and escorted me to the empty space so we could
practice.

Being alone with Jared
felt uncomfortable. I would have never thought it would be weird to
be with him. With so much unspoken between us, it held a lot of
uncertainties in our relationship. My heart broke when I saw the
same uneasiness in Jared’s eyes.

“
Did you ever imagine us
being in this situation? Where we have to wonder what to say or how
to act around each other?”

I looked down and shook my
head. Then with frustration he walked over and put us in dance
position.

“
Let’s just do what we do
best.” Then he took me into a waltz.

There was so much to say,
but nothing could be said between us. Jared didn’t deserve to be
treated this way. I thought sticking around for him was what I
needed to do, but maybe it would be best to leave. Making him hold
on to a relationship that no longer existed was wrong. Maybe once
friends have dated, they can never go back to being friends. I
would finish out this dance, relishing in the last dance we would
ever do together. Then I would go.

A voice sounded over the
intercom. “Dance groups are next, this order. Ballroom, jazz,
classical, and hip hop. Please line up; the first performance will
be in five minutes.”

“
I guess that’s us,” Jared
said and started exiting the room.

“
Jared, wait.” He stopped,
but didn’t turn around. “I know this doesn’t mean much, but I want
you to know I’m sorry, and I do love you. You’ll always have a
special spot in my heart.”

“
Stop, Leah. Not tonight.”
He left to join the rest of the group.

I showed up beside him as
our team exited onto the floor couple by couple. The music played,
and as we danced, it whisked us away to a place where bad doesn’t
exist. We got lost in the music and our movement. It was the one
place Jared and I could still feel at peace with each other. A
place we could let go of what was weighing us down and just be
friends again. It didn’t last, though. Once the music stopped,
reality flooded back in. When I saw Jared’s content smile turn to a
frown, I knew our last dance was over.

Jared and I parted without
a good-bye. He went to talk to a group of friends sitting in the
bleachers, and I saw Max anxiously waiting by the doors. I
hurriedly gathered up my bag and went to Max.

“
Did you get everything
out OK?”

Max had spent the last
couple hours finishing the packing and loading of my room. “Yup,
it’s empty. We better go before anyone notices.”

“
OK. I’ll go
change.”

***

The night air held a dirty
scent that wrapped fear around my heart.

“
Do you smell that?” I
slowed a bit to inhale deeper, but Max held on to me tight, pulling
me forward. “I’ve smelled it before, but something is different
about it. I can’t remember . . . Do you smell it?”

“
Keep moving, Leah.” Panic
edged his voice. “The boss and his men are here. You smell the
adrenaline of all the people ready to attack what they fear. We
just need to make it to the truck.”

“
They wouldn’t all come
running out in the open like this, would they?”

“
It has never stopped them
before, and with everyone distracted in one building, no one would
hear.”

A gunshot fired, startling
me into Max.

Max’s eyes glowed in
anger. He grabbed me up, holding me as small and close to his body
as he could, and ran. We neared his truck when another gunfire
sounded.

“
Ahhh!” Max stumbled, but
still kept ahold of me. “Get in.” He swung the door open for me and
rushed around the driver’s side while I buckled up.

“
You’re hurt,” I
said.

“
It’s just my ankle. It
will heal. Hold on.”

Glass shattered over our
heads as more gunshots were fired. Max placed a hand over my
head.

“
Stay down!”

We weaved between other
cars and ran through stop signs. The white SUV tailed
behind.

“
Guns? They’re using guns
now?” We were going to die. Being supernatural didn’t mean we were
invincible. One gunshot in the right place would kill us. Horror
captured my heart.

“
Just stay down! We need
to get out of town.”

I would peek up from time
to time, only to be knocked over again by the sharp turns of the
truck. When we started to slow a bit, hope filled me.

“
Did we lose
them?”

Max remained firm.
“Something’s not right. I don’t see them, but they’re still
here.”

I inched up slowly to look
and turned all different directions. “Where are they?” Hysteria
filled my voice.

He placed a hand on my
thigh.

“
Max?” That was when I saw
it. Behind us a semi-truck emerged over the hill. It was
accelerating at incredible speed. “Max! Behind us!”

We were now on a
countryside highway that led out of town. The road would lead us to
a freeway that we would take most of the drive home. Max slammed
his foot on the gas, but the acceleration was short-lived. Another
semi-truck was parked sideways in the middle of the road, blocking
our way. With fences on either side of the road, there was no way
around it. Our slowdown only made the semi behind us crash into the
back of us, sending us sprawling toward the semi in front until we
hit it head-on.

Thankful for the
uncomfortable pressure of the seatbelt, I moved little. For Max, it
was a nightmare come true. As if in slow motion his body slammed
against the window, shattering it open. When we came to a stop, his
lifeless body rolled over the hood until he hit the
ground.

Trying to move slowly to
lessen the pain from the contracted seatbelt, I took off the belt
and climbed out. Max looked as if death had already claimed
him.

“Max!” I yelled his name
and shook his shoulders.

“
Please, Max, wake up!” We
were about twenty miles or so away from civilization, and there
weren't any places or people to help. His slow breathing meant he
was alive, so I sat there holding his hand. I prayed he would wake
up.

I caught a glimpse of
movement, but never looked up. I pleaded with Max to wake up again,
and yet he still was motionless.

“
I told you I’d be back,”
the boss’s booming voice sounded.

He startled me, and a tear
ran down my cheek.
He wore a black
baseball cap, tight, dark blue jeans, and a white T-shirt that had
the writing “It’s always something” on it. A gun casually pointed
down in his right hand. He had the look of determination and
confidence.

“
I am actually surprised
that you and your boy here have escaped me this long. After failing
a few attempts, I came up with this plan. Don’t you think
everything is falling into place nicely?” He raised his gun at me
as I stared him down. To my surprise, he slowly adjusted his aim
until Max was his target.

“
No! Wait!” I hunched over
Max’s body to cover him. “What will killing us prove? What will it
accomplish?”

He looked at me, confused
as he lowered his weapon. “You still don’t get it? You’re a killer.
Killing you is not only for revenge; I am saving hundreds of
lives.”

“
I haven’t killed anyone!”
Frustration claimed my whole being. “You don’t know me, and you
don’t even know if I’m the person you’re looking for. How could you
just guess on someone’s life?”

“
Because last time we met,
my men claimed they saw something strange, in your boy over there.
They were frightened from what they saw. So I’m not really
guessing, am I? You may be the one that has the Hawk name and will
become a shape shifter, but somehow he is connected.” He raised his
gun toward Max again.

“
You’re crazy.” I rested
my head on Max’s chest, listening to his heart. Tears escaped my
eyes as they closed. At any moment one pull of the trigger could
end our existence, but I wasn’t ready to quit yet. I continued
concentrating on Max’s heart and breathing. His smell flowed into
my nose, as I pulled him into my lungs. The fear of losing him
crushed my heart and twisted my stomach. My chest started to burn
and spread to every limb in my body. Confidence flooded me.
Strength coursed through my veins, and for once in my life I know
longer felt weak or fragile. No one, not even the boss had the
right to threaten us, and it was time for me to put him in his
place. Welcoming my transformation into a wolf, I shifted
quickly.

Fear now rested in the
boss’s eyes, and that only lead to my boldness. Gunfire wiped past
my ear as I leaped forward, knocking down the boss and ripping the
gun from his grasp. Another man came running around the
semi.

“
Boss! Are you . . .” He
spotted me and raised his own gun. My reflexes were crisp and my
muscles were strong. Leaping from the ground, I bounced off the
side of the semi and crashed into the other man, missing two more
fired shots.

I crashed to the ground as
a third man fired. My leg throbbed with pain. He walked slowly
toward me, his hands shaking. I stood up on three legs ready to
leap forward and fight this to the end, until a black wolf swiftly
ran past me. Max tore the man’s arm off that held the gun. I
watched in horror as Max finished his life with one clean swipe of
his claws. Swiftly, Max turned back to face me and then looked over
to the boss. The boss, now awake, had witnessed the murder of his
friend. He was scared, but the look in his eyes frightened me even
further.

“
Your kind will always be
murderers!” The boss got up slowly.

Max started toward him,
while I limped in between them.

“
Please, no more killing,”
I pleaded in a roar.

Max stopped in front of
me, and his anger started to soften. The boss left his unconscious
friend behind, found his car, and headed back the way he had
come.

Max ran to his truck,
found some extra clothes, and came back on two legs.

“
Now would be a good time
to use your healing talents.” He touched my leg. “It would be best
to get you to human form so we can wrap this better.” He held up a
blanket and piled some clothes next to me.

I transformed easily and
struggled to get dressed.

“
I need a hospital.” Blood
flowed onto the pavement.

“
I know. But we need to
stop the bleeding first. You dressed?” I could hear the urgency in
Max’s voice.

“
Just about.”

“
Well, ready or not, your
leg needs attention.”

Max let the blanket fall
just as I finished pulling up my shorts. He wasted no time wiping
away the blood.

“
How bad is it?” I groaned
in pain.

“
It could be worse. The
bullet isn’t in your leg, which is good, but you need stitches.”
Max tightly wrapped my leg and swiftly carried me over to his
truck. He suddenly stopped, staring at his truck.

“
I don’t know if it’ll
even start.” He grabbed a pillow, placed it in the truck over the
shattered glass, and then set me down in the passenger’s seat. I
gently closed the door, hoping it wouldn’t break off as Max got
into the driver’s seat.

A shuddering sound came
from the truck as Max turned the key. “Come on. Start!”

“
Where do you think we’re
going anyway? We can’t go forward.”