Howl (Howl #1) (15 page)

Samara thought back to all of the times she had thought about Luke since the night of their first date. It had to have been, at the very least, several times throughout the day. He
was probably beginning to think that she was obsessed with him.

She heard Luke chuckle.
No, not obsessed. I understand how co
nfusing your life is right now.

So, are you saying that you understand because you’re a werewolf, too?
Samara asked. She already knew the answer, but for some reason, she wanted to hear him confirm that she was right and that they weren’t just communi
cating for some other reason. Samara
also figured that it would make her feel less crazy.

I’m not supposed to tell you this, but yes,
Luke said slowly.
Just don’t tell anyone, okay?

Okay, but why aren’t you supposed to tell me?
Samara asked, confused.

Luke hesitated.
You’ll find out
why eventually. Don’t worry.

Don’t worry? Don’t worry? That’s all you can tell me at a time like this? I just found out that you can hear my thoughts
and – wait
. If you’ve been able to hea
r my thoughts this whole
time, why haven’t I heard any of yours?
Samara questioned. She thought it seemed unfair for him to be able to hear her when she hadn’t been able to hear him. Werewolf culture seemed like it might be male-dominated, though, since there weren’t that many females
and there was always an Alpha male. She wondered if male wolves could hear their mates, bu
t females couldn’t hear theirs.

Luke laughed.
I assure you, it’s not because I’m a male.
Stop thinking that all werewolves are sexist.
It’s because I’ve been blocking
you from hearing my thoughts.

How can I do that?
Samara asked. There were definitely going to be times when she wouldn’t want Lu
ke having access to her mind.

It’s really simple. All you have to do is think about the fact that you do not want me to hear what you’re thinking, and I won’t
.

Will you still be able to talk to me l
ike you are now if I do that?

Yes,
Luke replied.
We will always be able communicate with each other when we need to do.
I just won’t be able to hear what you’re thinking i
f you don’t want me to hear it.

Samara somehow found that reassuring. Just knowing that she would
be able to talk to him or ask him a question
whenever she wanted
to
made her feel
slightly relieved.
She wouldn’t ever have to worry about losing him. It was going to be like having a built-in cell phone to communicat
e with each other at all times, which was really convenient because Samara had a habit
of losing her cell phone often.

Laying back down, Samara closed her eyes. Just as she was about to drift off, she thought,
Luke?

Yeah?

Are you my mate?

Yes.
Luke paused.
I think so.

*

When Samara woke up the next morning, she was surpris
ed that she hadn’t changed into her
wolf
form
overnight.
It sort of disappointed her, but it was probably for the best
. She felt so much more energized with
a full eight hours of sleep.

Samara climbed out of bed and shrugged into a dark blue denim skirt and light pink sweater. She normally didn’t dress up for school (especially in winter), but she felt like she had to today.
Everything felt different now that she knew she had a mate.

She wondered what it really meant to
be mated to someone
. It must mean that they were soul mates. Luke and Samara hadn’t chosen each other, so it must have been predetermined by destiny. What did it mean they were supposed to do, though? Were they supposed to get
married and have werewolf babies? And if they did ever have babies, would they be born as humans or as
. . .
dogs? Samara decided that it didn’t really matter right now. She
wasn’t even sixteen years old yet. There
was no way she wanted to be like one of those teen moms on MTV, but wasn’t the whole point of
mating
to reproduce?

Samara decided that she was going to have to find out more about mates from her Alpha. She was
starting
to get sick of
referring to
him as her Alpha. It wo
uld be nice to be able to put a
name to him. It would be even nicer to be ab
le to put a human face to him because it was driving
her
nuts not knowing who he was.

As she went into the living room, she heard a loud groaning. She looked around to see if her brother or father had made the noise, but neither of them
was
in sight. Samara peered into the open crack of her brother’s b
edroom door. He wasn’t there.

Sorry, it was me,
Luke said.
I hate waking up early. Good morning, though. I enjoyed
our conversation last night.

Samara smiled to herself.
Me
,
too.
That was the truth. If she had been mad at Luke before, she wasn’t now. All of her anger had faded, and she was beginning to develop an even bigger crush on him t
han she thought she had before.

Once she was out the front door, Samara began walking to school
. She felt her stomach growl.

Every day that she was a werewolf, Samara’s hunger seemed to grow even more
.
If she didn’t eat a lot and often, she began to feel sick. Samara had grabbed a sausage patty before she left the house, but she knew that there was no way she was going to be able to make it until lunchtime
with
the way her stomach felt right now.

Turning the corner, she
went into Williams’ General.

“Samara!” Edda said, smiling brightly when she saw her. “You want the usual? A cinnamon bagel
and –”

“Actually,” Samara interrupted
, checking her wallet to see if she had enough money.
“I’ll have a bagel with Canadian bacon instead. In fact
, make that double the bacon.”

Edda raised her brows
, but didn’t say anything about the sudden change in her order.
“Did you hear the news? They found that girl,
” Edda said, as she gathered Samara’s
food.

“Yeah, I heard.”

“I told ya. She musta just wanted to run away from home. Her parents are lucky
that
she
even came back. My son, Eddie
, never came home.”

Samara gave her a sympathetic look. “I’m sorry about that, Edda. I’m glad that they found Lilly, though.
Her family must feel so relieved.
”
When Edda handed her the food, Samara said, “I’ll see you around.”

As she opened the door to the store, she nearly collided with a girl with messy chestnut brown hair. Taking a closer look, Samar
a realized that it was Lilly.

Trying to close her mouth, which was hanging wide open, Samara just stood in the doorwa
y. She wanted to say something
,
but she didn’t want to sound like a total weirdo.

“Don’t talk to me, Samara,” Lilly snapped
at her
. “There’s nothing you could say to me that I don’t already know. I’m not goin
g to change my mind, no matter what anyone says.”

“W-what?” Samara stuttered
, knowing her face had question marks written all over it
. “I don’t
even
know what you’re talk
ing about.”

“Yeah, right.” Lilly tossed her hair and stared at Samara
with
her glassy green eyes. “I know what you’re thinking. I don’t need to hear it. I’m capable of making my own decisions. This hasn’t
been easy for me, you know.”

Before Samara could ask her what she was talking about again, Lilly had already walked past her and was stan
ding in front of the counter.

“There she is!” Edda exclaimed. “You’ve been all over the news! I gotta tell ya, you’re becomin’ a real local celebrity. I’d like to offer ya anything ya want, on the house.”

*

When Samara got to school, she went straight to the cafeteria. Although the aroma of maple-flavored sausage and scrambled eggs filled her nostrils, she actually wasn’t hungry for once.
The bagel with Canadian bagel that she had scarfed down would
hold her over until lunchtime.

Josh was sitting in the back corner of the cafeteria. There were two trays sitting on the table next to him, but the seats were empty
. Samara plopped down in one.

“Josh, I have to ask you something. I bumped into Lilly at the general store when I was getting breakfast, and she said something really weird to me. Do you have any
idea what she’s talking about?”

Josh glanced
up at her. “What did she say?”

“She said she didn’t want to hear whatever I had to say and that she’s capable of making her own decisions. She also said that things haven’t been easy for her.
Josh, I haven’t talked to Lilly since that night at Emma’s party
.
You know, the night she almost got attacked by the wolf.
”

Josh stared at her for a moment and looked like he was about
to
say something before he shrugged. “It’s probably nothing. I wouldn’t worry about it.” He lifted the small carton of milk from his tray, tilted his head back, and poured it
s contents
down his throat. When he was d
one, he let out a loud belch.

Samara wrinkled her nose. “Well, I am worried about it. She just went through a very traumatic event, and now she’s acting like I’m trying to give her some type of advice, even though I’ve never said more than a few words to her.
”

“I don’t know
what’s going on with her
. If it makes you feel any better, I’ll try asking her abo
ut it and see if she tells me.”

“Yes, please do that,” Samara replied. She stood up and began walking away from t
he table. “And Josh? Thanks.”

She stepped back into the hallway, just as the first bell rang. As Samara began walking in the direction of her biolo
gy class, she heard shouting.

Peering around the corner,
Samara
watched as her brother shoved another guy against the wall. She immediately recognized him as Miles Gilbert, one of the popular bad boys in school who all of the girls lusted over. Samara had never seen her brother talk to Miles before, so she had no idea what they could have been arguing
over.

Two of Miles’ friends walked over to Seth, prepared to defend their friend, when Miles shook his head. “Nah, bros. Let’s let this go. It’s not worth getting into trouble over.” His friends hesitantly waited for Miles to walk away. When he did,
t
he
y
turn
ed and gave Seth
death glare
s
.

As bystanders continued to stare, Seth brushed off his shirt. Samara couldn’t help but notice that he didn’t seem to think that there was anything wr
ong with what he had just done.

“Seth, what are you thinking?!” Samara screamed at her brother as the hal
lway began to clear out. “You
might get suspended for this, and you’re
not going to graduate next year if you miss much more
school than you already have.”

Seth grunted at her, rubbing his bloodshot eyes. “Butt out, Sam.
Let me fight my own fights. This has nothing to do with you.
”

“No, I will not butt out!” Samara yelled at him. “
You need help. Your temper isn’t
just affecting us at home anymore. Now, you’re getting in trouble at school, too. Mom and Dad want y
ou to get counseling.”

A teacher stepped out
of
one of the classrooms behind them.
“Is everything
okay out here?” he questioned.

“Everything’s fine,” Seth replied and, giving Samara one final look, walked away.
             
 

Chapter 13

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