Secrets

RORY

“Psst, Rory,” Freya hisses from behind me.

At the front of the class, Mr. Adams is droning on about mitosis. It’s hard enough to focus on biology without my best friend trying to get my attention.

“Rory, do you think Ace and I might be mates?” she whispers.

I press my lips together. Now is not the time, and school is definitely not the place, to be having this conversation.

I turn my head as subtly as I can. “I don’t know.”

There was a moment when she and Ace first laid eyes on each other. An instant attraction, a pull. Maybe they could be mates.

But we didn’t have the time to find out. Everett and the rest of the council arrived immediately after we’d run into each other and things got a little awkward.

Everett told me it would be best if we took Freya home, and her visit ended unceremoniously.

“Rory,” Freya hisses again. “Did it hurt when Everett marked you? Or was it sort of nice?”

I turn in my seat.

“Not now, Freya.”

“Ladies,” Mr. Adams says. “I know your senior year is almost done, but it would be nice if we could get through our last few classes without too many interruptions.”

“Yes, Mr. Adams,” I say, facing the whiteboard.

“As I was saying,” he continues. “Mitosis is…”

“Psst, Rory.” Freya remains persistent. “What about your mating ceremony? What was it like?”

I stare at the whiteboard, vibrating.

“Rory, did you hear me?”

“Yes! It was amazing, okay? I’ll tell you about it later.”

“Don’t make me give you both detention,” Mr. Adams threatens.

“Sorry,” I say, facing the front once more.

Mr. Adams drones on and I slouch down into my chair. Finally, I think Freya has finally gotten the message.

But the second Mr. Adams turns his back to write something on the board…

“Psst, Rory!”

***

Between classes, I hightail it to my locker. I need some space, but Freya is close on my heels.

“What’s Ace like? Is he friendly? Does he like humans or is he one of the other ones?”

I shove my face in my locker, pretending like I haven’t heard her. We spoke about Ace the entire way home. I don’t understand how she has more questions.

“What’s his wolf’s name? If we were dating, would I have to date the wolf as well?”

I slam my locker closed and turn to face Freya.

“That’s enough!” I say. Freya flinches. “You need to be more careful, you can’t just—”

I pause as two kids walk past, talking about their graduation outfits. Once they’re out of earshot, I continue.

“You can’t keep asking questions while we’re at school—someone might hear.”

Freya looks hurt; she hugs her books to her chest.

“I’m sorry, okay, but you’re not getting it.”

“I get it,” she mumbles. “I’m just excited. What if Ace is my mate?”

“That would be amazing. But he wouldn’t appreciate it if you gave away his pack’s secret location, would he?”

“I guess not.”

Her cheeks are flushed, and she won’t look me in the eye. I feel awful. I didn’t want to upset her, but she needs to be more cautious.

We can’t just talk about the wolves, not when we’re surrounded by nosey classmates and a surly teacher.

“We can talk later. I mean, it’s not like we know for sure he’s your mate.”

Freya stops shuffling her feet and looks up at me.

“You know it’s not like you were all that good at hiding it either,” she says.

I’m taken aback. She’s the one who’s been asking questions all morning, now I’m the one who’s bad at keeping secrets.

“I managed to keep it a secret the entire time we’ve been friends.”

“Yeah, but we all knew something was up.”

“Freya, I’m sorry if you think I’m being unfair. But we both promised we’d keep this to ourselves. Why don’t we talk about it later? We can sit on the bleachers and pretend we’re watching football practice.”

“Maybe,” she says, turning away. “Actually, I might just go home.”

“Don’t be like that.”

Even though we have our next class together, Freya walks off down the hallway by herself.

***

Math class is even more boring than biology class. Mrs. Rogers is going over Venn diagrams even though we covered them last year.

I have a feeling she’s just counting down the days until summer vacation. She’s even more checked-out than the students.

As someone who has one foot in the human world and one in the wolf world, I feel like I’m pretty much an expert on overlapping interests.

I think now might be a good opportunity to catch up on some of my pack history.

So as sneakily as I can, I pull out the book Ophelia gave me. I slip it inside the pages of my math textbook and hold it up so Mrs. Rogers can’t see.

Within seconds, I’m completely gripped, studying Everett’s family tree. He comes from a long line of alphas and lunas, who have each built on the traditions of their forefathers and kept the pack strong.

I can’t believe how far back his lineage goes. There’s over a thousand years of alphas, of which Everett is a direct descendant.

A little ball of guilt starts spinning in my stomach.

Ever since I became luna, I haven’t exactly respected the traditions of Everett’s pack.

I’ve wanted to change the way things are done, or at least tweak them to suit me.

~Have I been selfish? Thoughtless?~

Maybe I need to work harder to fit in with the pack.

But then again, I can’t help being myself. Even if I’m still not entirely sure who that is. I’m not a wolf, and I’m not human either, not really. I’m not sure where I fit.

If I’m so clueless about myself, then maybe I should just accept the traditions and customs of Everett’s family—submit to them. Perhaps I’ll find myself through letting go.

The thought of letting go completely scares me, though. It may be the path of least resistance. But it also feels like a sure-fire way to lose myself.

Selene put me and Everett together for a good reason. Maybe it was time for a bit of change.

I just wish I didn’t feel so confused about where I stood in all of this.

“That doesn’t look much like a Venn diagram to me,” Mrs. Rogers says. I dart my eyes up from my book. The teacher is standing behind me, with a full view of Ophelia’s book.

The whole class is staring at me—giggling.

“Oh, it’s…it’s…” I’m panicked and can’t think of a lie fast enough. Before I know what’s happening, Mrs. Rogers snatches the book out of my fingers and examines the open page.

“Alphas through the ages,” she reads. “Wolf shifters? Rory, what is this?”

My eyes dart around the room. Everyone is looking at me. They’re all waiting for an explanation.

But I can’t think of one.

~How am I going to explain this?!~

“It’s a story Rory is working on,” Freya says, jumping in at the last second.

I glance at her, thankful for my quick-witted friend. I give her an apologetic smile and a nod.

Even when we’re fighting, we always have each other’s backs.

“Is that right, Rory?” Mrs. Rogers asks.

“It’s amazing,” Freya continues. “It’s this incredibly well-thought-out fantasy world with werewolves and mates. It’s completely ridiculous. Totally unrealistic. But it’s so creative.”

Mrs. Rogers lifts a brow and appraises me.

“It’s why Rory got into the prestigious writing program at Iowa University.”

“Wow,” Mrs. Rogers says, handing me back the book. “I didn’t know you’d gotten in there, Rory. That’s a great school.”

“Thanks,” I say, feeling my heart rate slowing back to a normal pace. The second I have the book back in my hands, I slam it shut. “I didn’t mean to be rude.”

Mrs. Rogers shrugs. “I can’t blame you. Werewolves sound more interesting than these diagrams.”

She walks back to the front of the class, and everyone’s attention returns to their workbooks.

I glance at Freya and mouth the words: “Thank you.”

***

After school, Freya and I sit on the bleachers in the sun as Eddie and the lacrosse team practice.

“I’m sorry I was a bitch,” I say, taking a bite out of a twinkie.

“I’m sorry I was a big loudmouth,” Freya says, laughing. “From now on, I promise I’ll only bug you with questions when we’re alone. So tell me more about Ace.”

“Ace is great,” I say. “He was one of the first people in the pack to accept me. Even if he didn’t trust me at first and kept creeping around spying on me.”

“Wait, he did what—?”

Our conversation is interrupted by a cry of pain, and we both snap our gazes in the direction of the playing field.

Someone is lying on the ground holding their arm, while the other players crowd around.

“Who’s hurt?” Coach Benji says, jogging out across the field.

“It’s Eddie, Coach! His arm looks broken!”

~Eddie!~

Instantly, I’m on my feet. Eddie and I may have broken up, but I never want to see him hurt.

Before I know what I’m doing, I’m running out onto the field.

“Rory!” Freya calls from behind me, trying to keep up.

“Stay clear, girls,” Coach Benji says as we approach. He’s kneeling next to Eddie, whose face is scrunched up in pain. His arm looks like it’s been twisted up in a blender.

“How bad is it, coach?” one of the other boys asks.

“He’ll be out of the final, that’s for sure. He’s going to need to go to the hospital.” The coach pulls out his cell phone and dials 911.

We all stand around anxiously as Eddie groans in pain.

“Rory,” Freya whispers in my ear. “You could heal him.”

I stare at Eddie, my heart breaking with every tortured breath he takes. He’s holding his mangled arm, wincing in agony.

I can’t bear to look at him and Freya is right…

I ~could~ heal him.

~But how would I do that without everyone seeing?~

~Why do I have this power if I can’t even use it to help my friends?~

~Is it worth the risk to help him?~

I take a step forward.

~Am I really going to do this?~