“What on earth
is your grandfather doing?”
Coming back to earth, I watched him
grip Perdita’s arm while she twisted to get away.
I had no idea what was going on—as
usual—but I had a feeling I needed to distract Ruth. Words, though,
wouldn’t rise to my lips. Once again, I was ineffective when
needed, the story of my life.
Perdita ran off, shouting something, and
my grandfather followed her with a creepy smile on his face. Ruth
frowned at me, but before she could speak, the screaming started.
For a second, I froze.
“ Perdy,” Ruth choked
out.
“ I… I’ll check on her,” I
stuttered, then saw the shock and confusion on the faces of the
people around me. Some of them ran outside in the directions of the
screams, and I followed. Blood spread in a pool on the ground, and
Perdita screamed at my grandfather.
My mouth watered.
Horrified, I held my breath, but I was
still affected. I could almost taste the tang of blood on my
tongue. I knew Perdita would never forgive me because her father
lay on the ground, so badly injured from a werewolf attack that he
couldn’t get back up. She caught my eye. She was so angry, and I
did nothing because I could have sworn she saw the guilt in my
eyes.
Everything happened in a mad rush after
that. People ran around, their voices confused and frightened as
they discussed wild dogs. The ambulance and police showed up.
Nathan’s pupils dilated rapidly as his wolf fought for control.
Byron finally sent him indoors. I couldn’t handle much more of the
chaos and tension.
Everything that was happening was my
fault. The werewolves had come for me in the first place. Also, I
had wished ill will on Perdita. My wish had come through in ways I
had never wanted.
“ Opa! What’s happening?” I
asked, relief flooding through me at the sight of him striding
toward me. He would fix everything.
“ Not now.” He literally
pushed me aside.
I searched the house for Nathan, but I
found him in a rage, and his anger terrified me enough to send me
running away from him. I sobbed as I curled up on the sofa, but
Jeremy ignored me, his stance tense as he waited for everyone to
leave. Even Nathan didn’t say a word when he finally came
downstairs. And then we all gathered together, the entire family. I
watched their faces and saw the hate, distrust and betrayal. I was
so confused. Opa made it sound as if he’d wanted the female wolf,
who had stalked Perdita for months, to attack her dad, but that
couldn’t be true. No matter what had happened, I couldn’t believe
my Opa would ever want another person to be hurt for any reason. So
why did he order Nathan to stay away from Perdita?
I knew I couldn’t face her. She would
see the guilt in my eyes and sense the things I had done to wrong
her. I had wished her pain. I had wanted to taste the blood. Some
instinct deep inside me had longed for it. What was I turning
into?
I hated myself.
Nathan ran off, and I was sent out of
the room as if I were a child. I hung around outside the room and
listened in on Opa’s conversation, but I wished I hadn’t. His
explanations only made everything worse.
“ None of this makes sense,”
Byron said. “Why would you allow them to attack us if you knew they
would come? Why wouldn’t you warn us? Ensure that we kept people
away from the house?”
“ They need to think we’re
distracted by today. That we’re easy to get to,” Opa replied
earnestly.
“ And at least we know
they’re around now,” Jeremy added.
“ If you thought she’d come for
him, then why allow him to be here at all? Why did anyone have to
get hurt? Have you any idea how much more complicated this
makes life here for us? All eyes are on us. We can’t make a move.”
Byron sounded furious.
“ We won’t be sticking around
after this,” Opa said. I gasped. I didn’t want to move. Not again.
Opa must have heard me because he rushed from the room to confront
me.
“ What are you doing?” he
shouted.
“ I… nothing.
is your grandfather doing?”
Coming back to earth, I watched him
grip Perdita’s arm while she twisted to get away.
I had no idea what was going on—as
usual—but I had a feeling I needed to distract Ruth. Words, though,
wouldn’t rise to my lips. Once again, I was ineffective when
needed, the story of my life.
Perdita ran off, shouting something, and
my grandfather followed her with a creepy smile on his face. Ruth
frowned at me, but before she could speak, the screaming started.
For a second, I froze.
“ Perdy,” Ruth choked
out.
“ I… I’ll check on her,” I
stuttered, then saw the shock and confusion on the faces of the
people around me. Some of them ran outside in the directions of the
screams, and I followed. Blood spread in a pool on the ground, and
Perdita screamed at my grandfather.
My mouth watered.
Horrified, I held my breath, but I was
still affected. I could almost taste the tang of blood on my
tongue. I knew Perdita would never forgive me because her father
lay on the ground, so badly injured from a werewolf attack that he
couldn’t get back up. She caught my eye. She was so angry, and I
did nothing because I could have sworn she saw the guilt in my
eyes.
Everything happened in a mad rush after
that. People ran around, their voices confused and frightened as
they discussed wild dogs. The ambulance and police showed up.
Nathan’s pupils dilated rapidly as his wolf fought for control.
Byron finally sent him indoors. I couldn’t handle much more of the
chaos and tension.
Everything that was happening was my
fault. The werewolves had come for me in the first place. Also, I
had wished ill will on Perdita. My wish had come through in ways I
had never wanted.
“ Opa! What’s happening?” I
asked, relief flooding through me at the sight of him striding
toward me. He would fix everything.
“ Not now.” He literally
pushed me aside.
I searched the house for Nathan, but I
found him in a rage, and his anger terrified me enough to send me
running away from him. I sobbed as I curled up on the sofa, but
Jeremy ignored me, his stance tense as he waited for everyone to
leave. Even Nathan didn’t say a word when he finally came
downstairs. And then we all gathered together, the entire family. I
watched their faces and saw the hate, distrust and betrayal. I was
so confused. Opa made it sound as if he’d wanted the female wolf,
who had stalked Perdita for months, to attack her dad, but that
couldn’t be true. No matter what had happened, I couldn’t believe
my Opa would ever want another person to be hurt for any reason. So
why did he order Nathan to stay away from Perdita?
I knew I couldn’t face her. She would
see the guilt in my eyes and sense the things I had done to wrong
her. I had wished her pain. I had wanted to taste the blood. Some
instinct deep inside me had longed for it. What was I turning
into?
I hated myself.
Nathan ran off, and I was sent out of
the room as if I were a child. I hung around outside the room and
listened in on Opa’s conversation, but I wished I hadn’t. His
explanations only made everything worse.
“ None of this makes sense,”
Byron said. “Why would you allow them to attack us if you knew they
would come? Why wouldn’t you warn us? Ensure that we kept people
away from the house?”
“ They need to think we’re
distracted by today. That we’re easy to get to,” Opa replied
earnestly.
“ And at least we know
they’re around now,” Jeremy added.
“ If you thought she’d come for
him, then why allow him to be here at all? Why did anyone have to
get hurt? Have you any idea how much more complicated this
makes life here for us? All eyes are on us. We can’t make a move.”
Byron sounded furious.
“ We won’t be sticking around
after this,” Opa said. I gasped. I didn’t want to move. Not again.
Opa must have heard me because he rushed from the room to confront
me.
“ What are you doing?” he
shouted.
“ I… nothing.
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