I had practically ditched Emma when we showed up to the house, I knew enough people to do that and I really didn’t want to be bothered about finding a girlfriend anymore. I mean what was the big deal anyway? I was 18, there was no use in settling for a relationship, right?

Some people pulled me aside that I knew and we began to chat but I couldn’t stop the thought of finding a girlfriend from keeping me side tracked. It bothered me because I really didn’t want one, it had been years since I had one, and ever since then I had promised myself I would never feel that pain again. 

I had almost forgotten how to be in a relationship.

Then my friend waved something in front of me that caught my eye and I smiled, he spoke, “Wanna share?”

I nodded, following him to a nearby couch as he lit the blunt and puffed, inhaling and coughing out before handing it to me. I inhaled, letting the smoke fill my lungs and holding it, making my chest itch as I coughed it out, laughing as I handed it back to him. 

He spoke, nodding over to the dance floor, “That girl over there is hot.”

I glanced, seeing exactly who he was talking about. She had long midnight black hair and electric blue eyes, she almost reminded me of Miss Riley, but she was a little younger. Did she even go to high school? He was right about her though, she was pretty hot, but her resemblance to Miss Riley had caught me off guard and forced me to think about her. 

Then her eyes met mine and she smiled seductively, and suddenly I felt compelled to walk over to her. Her angular jaw and her full lips, the way she had smiled at me… 

It was an easy read, and I was accepting the invite. 

I stood, handing the blunt back over to my friend and speaking, “I’m gonna go talk to her.”

He nodded me off and I turned, heading toward the mystery girl that was waiting for me. I smiled my best and spoke, “Hey.”

She smiled back, which gave me the answer I needed, “Hey.”

Her voice was muffled by the music but I continued, “What’s your name?”

She looked up at me, turning and continuing to sway to the music, “Michelle Jenner.”

I smiled, “Kate Brooks.”

She shrugged, smiling up at me, “I know who you are.” Interesting, she already knew who I was, I smirked again, joining her while we bounced to the music. Then she leaned in, whispering in my ear, “Wanna find some place secluded?”

I smirked, knowing what was going to come of this, so I agreed, “Definitely.”

She grabbed my hand, leading me out of the house and into the backyard. We passed a fire and some couples making out and finally we were alone, and she turned me, looking at me the same way they always did when they wanted something from me. I spoke, “You don’t go to school do you?”

She shook her head, “I graduated a couple of years ago.”

I tilted my head, “So why are you at a high school party, may I ask?”

She winked, and something changed about her, those eyes… they were… glowing? She smirked, “I came with one of my friends.”

I nodded ignoring her glowing eyes as I realized I didn’t have to squint to see them in the dark, “So why me?”

She leaned in and whispered into my ear, “You’re important Kate, you’re the reason I came to this party with my friend.”

It almost sounded creepy hearing her hiss that sentence into my ear. I was important? Yea, right. I shook my head, not understanding quite fully why she had said that. I questioned curiously, “Who’s your friend?”

She smiled shyly and then that’s when I saw them, her teeth…  they were sharp and long. She spoke, “Collin Quinn.”

Oh shit… she was watching me like the rest of them! I knew it, there was something off about them, the way her teeth glared in the moonlight along with her electric eyes. I started to back away from her but I fell backward, putting my hand up for protection. 

Just like my dream.

She bent down, “We need you Kate, more than you know.”

Then her grip on me tightened and she pulled me into her, and I felt a sharp pain in my right wrist. I went to scream but her hand covered my mouth, muffling it as my arm began to burn with pain. My head began to grow fuzzy as the rest of my body became weak, and I felt my eyes closing slowly. I tried to speak but nothing came out, and soon enough the last thing I was seeing was Michelle smiling devilishly down at me as I passed out. 

~ ~ ~ ~

I awoke with startling manner, taking in my surroundings and suddenly realizing I had no idea where I was. I felt soar in my arm and when I pulled it up to my view I remembered why.

There was a bite mark, it was black and blue and swollen, making it look a lot worse than it actually was. My head was hurting and I don’t remember drinking, I blinked, realizing I could see everything in the room in clear detail, even though it was dark. 

Then I realized there was someone else here, I could smell them…

I saw her then, sitting in a chair on the fore wall of the room, and she stood, “How do you feel?”

I growled a response, “What the fuck are you?”

I studied the bite, then looking back at her, seeing her already standing at the foot of the bed. Her eyes glowing through the dark room, “You’ll understand if you come with me.”

I didn’t want to move, I didn’t want to go anywhere with her. I had no idea what she was going to do with me, I didn’t even know this girl! I spoke, “No, I’m not going anywhere with you.”

She  growled, and that’s when I realized this girl wasn’t human. She  grabbed my hand viciously, “You’re coming with me, now get up.”

Then something in me changed, and I stood without even realizing I was doing it. What was happening? Was I really going with her?

But I couldn’t help it, I wanted to, I felt as if I needed to… 

I spoke, “What’s going on?”

She looked at me, leading me out of the room and into the yard of the house, “I’m the Alpha female, you obey my commands no matter what.”

Alpha Female? What the fuck was that? 

We made our way out into the woods where we were secluded, and I began growing nervous when she turned to me. She spoke, “Calm down, I’m not gonna hurt you.”

How did she know I was nervous? She wasn’t even looking at me when she said that. She spoke, “Now I know this is going to be hard for you to understand but… you’ll learn as you watch.”

Then she growled loudly, her eyes turning electric blue as I have already seen, and she threw her hand up, exposing long claws. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing, my heart hammered in my chest, but when I attempted to be terrified, something in me shifted. 

I looked down at my hands, they had claws to, I backed away from her, feeling a weird shift inside my body. I growled, “What’s happening?”

She smirked, “You’re shifting, from fear.”

I growled, looking down at my legs, my body had grown, my muscles were protruding, stretching out my jeans and I felt my teeth growing. What was happening to me? Was I dreaming again? This couldn’t be real…

I spoke, hearing a loud growl exit my throat, “What… I don’t understand.”

“You’re a werewolf Kate.”

I shook my head, trying to make this weird thing go away and never come back, but it stayed there. Was I going to look like this forever? I spoke, “This isn’t real… things like this don’t exist.”

She shrugged, “It’s very much real Kate, it’s a shame this is the first time you’ve been introduced to this.”

I looked at her, what did she mean by that? Was I supposed to already know about these creatures that lived among us? I felt my heart hammering faster now in my chest, from fear and confusion, “What do you mean?”

She backed away from me, holding up her hands, “I’m not the one to answer that, that’s a question for your parents.”

I crouched down at the mention of them, feeling protective and confused, “Don’t bring them into this.”

“They have to be, you have to talk to them before I can talk to you. That’s the only way you’ll understand Kate.”

I wanted to cry, what the hell was she talking about? Talk to my parents? What did they know that I didn’t? 

I spoke, “Help me.”

She walked towards me, “Just calm down, everything’s going to be ok. Think about happy things, think about being human.”

So I did, I thought about my parents, Emma, even Miss Riley. I felt my heart calming down a bit and when I looked at my hands the claws were gone, my muscles were normal again.

I was back to normal.

Michelle spoke, “Anytime you get angry, sad, afraid… your werewolf instincts will kick in and you will begin to shift. You have to control it, you have to keep it a secret. Talk to your parent’s, and when you’re left with confusion, come to me.”

I stood in the morning forest dew, not understanding how I would find her, “How will I find you?”

She smiled, showing her sharp canine teeth and her glowing eyes, “I’m your Alpha, you’ll always be able to find me.”

Then she took off into the forest with amazing speed, I almost didn’t even see her. I felt my knees grow weak form everything I had just witnessed and felt, what the fuck just happened? Werewolves? Are you kidding me? 

Were they the ones who were killing the innocent people in town? What did they want with me? And why was I so “important” to them? 

And why did I have to talk to my parents?

I stood, feeling fatigue and afraid of what was happening inside of me, but when I looked around the forest, I felt as if I knew exactly where I was. I followed my trail back to the house and realized I knew exactly where I needed to head to get back to Emma’s house.

So I started walking into town. 

The sidewalk padded silently under my feet, every sense in my body was intensified, I could see everything. The smells that were entering my nose overwhelmed me, I smelt the gasoline of the cars, the oak trees, the people that passed me. I could hear every little thing, I heard a lawnmower starting three blocks from where I was, I heard car horns and people talking a good distance away from me.

And the sight was even better. 

Soon enough I was walking up to Emma’s realizing my keys were in her house on the kitchen cabinet, so I knocked on her door. I waited a could of seconds, realizing her car was here, so she had to be to. Then I heard her footsteps from inside the house, and I heard her walking slowly down the stairs, and up to the front door where I was. 

This was amazing.

She opened it and looked at me like she had seen a ghost, “Well look who decided to finally show back up.”

I rolled my eyes, I could smell her, she smelled nice, she must’ve just showered, and she was cooking something in the kitchen. “Look Emma, I had a long night, I just came to get my keys.”

She crossed her arms, “Where did you go last night? I couldn’t find you anywhere.”

“I went out with a girl,” I tugged on my sleeve, afraid to expose the bite that was still there.

“Oh,” she let me in and then I smelt the aroma of her house, I had never smelt this before. She was cooking something in her oven, it smelt like casserole, “What was her name?”

“Michelle.”

“She was older?”

I nodded, “Couple of years.”

She propped herself up on the kitchen island and smiled, “You like the older women.”

I smirked, there was the old Emma I liked talking to, “Not this one.”

She tilted her head, “Why not?”

I laughed to myself, “She bruised me.”

It was ironic, and I wasn’t the one to talk in riddles, but I had to. I wasn’t lying, I didn’t really like this girl, I had no idea what the fuck I was capable of and she just expected me to fend for myself? Like she trusted I would know what to do when I started going ape shit?

I grabbed my keys, turning to Emma, “I’m going home to call my parents, see you at school Monday?”

She winked, “Don’t forget we have a weekly homeroom.”

I laughed to myself, “How could I? I have the hottest teacher on the face of the planet.”

She studied me, and I felt something different about her stare, “You look different.”

I winked, attempting to play it off, “That’s just cause I’m up early.”

Then I walked out of her house, getting into my car and driving it out of her driveway. I picked up my phone, dialing my mom’s number, hoping she wouldn’t be to busy to answer because apparently I needed to talk to her about something.

Something I had no idea what it was. 

It went to her voicemail and I rolled my eyes as her recorded voice came on, “Hi, sorry I couldn’t answer your call but if you leave your name and number, I’ll get back to you as soon as possible.”

I spoke, “Mom, it’s Kate, we need to talk, so hopefully you call me back today. Inform dad for me to, and make sure it’s in person.”

I hung up, heading to my house that was going to be empty, I didn’t understand why my parent’s were always to busy to ever drop by or call. Mom usually left me her weekly schedule but I never really looked at it. 

Until today.

I picked it up, realizing she was in a meeting in Los Angeles today, she should be done around 9:00, and it was only 8:13.

I walked up to my room, falling onto my bed and realizing my arm no longer hurt from the stupid bite. I then took off my jacket, and coming to the realization that there was no trace of a bite on my arm any longer. 

I gasped, running my hand over my wrist, the baby smooth skin feeling as if it had never been broken. So what, we healed faster to?

What else did I not know?

I ended up falling asleep, dreaming about nothing spectacular, but it didn’t last long when I felt my phone vibrating against my head. I opened my eyes, feeling a little groggy as I slid it open to answer the incoming phone call, hearing my mom’s voice, “Sweetie? You called, and me and dad are on our way home. We should be home around 6:00 tonight, we knew this day would come eventually, we just didn’t know how to tell you.”

My heart stopped in my chest, so they were hiding something from me, something that Michelle knew and I didn’t? I spoke, “Ok mom, you and dad have a safe trip back.”

She sighed, “We love you Kate.”

I blinked curiously at that and sighed, “Love you.”

Then I hung up, and suddenly I realized my parent’s hadn’t been completely honest with me through my life. But what were they hiding from me? What didn’t I know?

And how did someone like Michelle, someone I barely knew, know that this was going on?