Purity (2 page)

She trotted daintily to her left and led them both on another merry chase, using everything he had taught her to keep out of their grasp. When she finally tired, Ryan was too weak himself to make much of an effort. She sat abruptly, watching him approach with what he knew was the wolf equivalent of a self-satisfied smirk.

He snapped half-heartedly at her jaw before lying next to her, breathing heavily and enjoying how peaceful she made him feel. When she relaxed, they all did. She batted him with a paw, a distinctly human expression on her face, and relaxed, sinking to the ground on her belly.

She had won. For the first time, she had beaten them both. Usually, one manoeuvred her into the other who then managed to take her down with ease. Not this time. She was almost ready.

Byron was the last to join them, panting hard from the exertion. He licked his niece’s muzzle affectionately. Ryan looked away, seized by painful memories of his own stolen daughters.

He had to admit to being proud of this baby werewolf. More than that, he was awestruck at being around a wolf he suspected of being an omega, a rarity amongst them. It didn’t seem possible that the wolves he had once fought against would have the only omega in existence, but he couldn’t deny how at ease he was around her.

Ever since the first time he had changed forms, he had been consumed with a rage deep in his blood, the madness that buried itself deep inside each and every werewolf. The constant simmering of anger had never been fully appeased until this child had come into his life. Though a waif of a girl, she was turning out to be one of the most important things that had ever happened to him.

He enjoyed helping her learn. His own change had been abrupt and dramatic, full of fear and loneliness and anger. It had taken him a long time to control his urges. The little she-wolf was surrounded by those who could lead her on the right path and teach her self-control and discipline.

She had managed to control herself quickly once shown the way, despite her unexpectedly violent change. He envied her agility and the sharp intelligence of her wolf. The instinct was deeply bred in her, and she welcomed it with open arms.

She had something he had never seen before: Becoming a wolf wasn’t a part of her, something to be discarded as soon as she was back on two legs. She
was
wolf, true wolf on two legs or four, and he knew she could be a great ally when the time came to fight. If he was right about the omega power, she could be the key to helping him bring his daughters home. She could be the balance the werewolves badly needed. All parts of the plan were fitting into place perfectly.

Almost all.

If only the boy would come home.

Perdita

Dublin

A knock at my bedroom door startled me enough to run a line right through Nathan’s eyes. “Hold on,” I called out, covering the drawing.

Gran glanced down at the lock as I opened the door. “I was wondering if you wanted to come downstairs for lunch. You’ve been working hard all morning.”

“I don’t know if—”

“I could use the company,” she added, knotting her fingers together as if in prayer.

I wasn’t hungry. Eating had become something on a list of things to do everyday, but I knew I had been neglecting her. “Fine. I’ll be down in a sec.”

She hesitated before jerking her chin into a nod and scurrying down the stairs. I tore up the last picture I had drawn, stuffed the scraps of paper into an overloaded bin, and followed her downstairs.

She flitted about the kitchen like a nervous bird, and I wanted to tell her to relax, but my throat kept drying up.

“Any news?” she asked with a plastered-on smile.

I shrugged. I spent most of my time either at the hospital or at home. I didn’t have much to talk about.

“How’s the drawing going?”

Pushing food around my plate, I tried to cover a sigh. “Okay.”

“Phone calls,” she blurted after a couple of moments of tense silence, and I realised she had been making a serious effort to draw me out. “Phone calls. I knew there was something I meant to… Joey called to remind you about your work experience interview this afternoon. And Tammie called a number of times.” She cleared her throat. “Again.”

“Thanks.”

“Maybe you should talk to Tammie. She’s called so many times now that—”

“She doesn’t really deserve it.”

“I know, but she’s tried to be there for you since, well, since—”

I held up a hand to silence her. “I get it. I’ll talk to her next time she calls, okay?”

She smiled gratefully, and the ache in my chest eased slightly.

“But if Joey calls again, tell him I’m not a child, and he’s not my father.”

Her smile grew warm. “I think he’s excited that you’re getting back to yourself. They’ve missed seeing you lately.”

“I’m grounded, remember?”

Her face fell. “I know that, but—”

“But nothing. Grounded means grounded. I only agreed to the work experience because Dad seemed to like the idea.”

My school had sent letters describing in great detail what would happen if any of my group of friends experienced any more suspicious absences in the next school term. When Dad said I was grounded until I moved out, I totally believed him. Work experience at the local public library would be my only opportunity to go outside alone once he came home from the hospital.

“Well, I’m sure he’ll calm down eventually,” Gran said brightly, ever the optimist. “Once he gets home, everything will start getting back to normal. He’ll soon see he’s overreacting about Nathan and Amelia.”

I stood abruptly. “Nathan’s gone, so it doesn’t even matter what Dad’s rules are anymore. I don’t care about that anyway. I have to get back to work.”

“It’s your summer holidays, Perdy.”

“Yeah, well, I need to work on my portfolio. Pad it so I’ve something to show at the end of the school year. I need the practice anyway. I’ve a lot of catching up to do.”

She got to her feet. “You’ll be happier once your dad’s home.” She sounded as if she were trying to convince herself.

Dad wasn’t any better, still freakishly weak from a werewolf bite that everyone thought had come from a wild dog. All I got from him lately was anger, and when he came home, there would be nowhere to hide from the tension and awkwardness that had swallowed our lives.

As if she knew what I was thinking, Gran patted my arm. “You’re not still blaming yourself, are you, love?”

I shook my head. “Of course not. I just have stuff to do.”

I ignored the lost expression on her face and returned to my room. I sketched for a little while, doing my best not to think too much about the subject matter. It was strange how blocked I had been under the influence of the curse. Once that had been broken, the emotion flooded out of me through the media of pencil and paint. I drew and painted, and my wrists ached every day, but I still kept going.

I couldn’t stop.

The paintings were so dark that they sometimes scared me, but they were my best work ever. It had taken heartbreak and pain to draw out what I had always fully intended to express in every shadow. It was exhilarating.

Except for the reminders.
He
was in every painting, one way or another. Whether a shadow or a figure, a wolf or a pair of eyes, his presence was unmistakable.

Scrunching up a page, I decided to drop the drawing and get ready for my interview. My cousin Joey had been the one to come up with the idea in the first place, and he had put my name down without asking me. Dad’s reaction had sealed the deal. I didn’t have much interest in the library, but seeing as my presence seemed to depress my father, and he appeared momentarily happy at the idea of me doing work experience there, I figured it would help if I stayed out of his way as much as possible.

I practiced smiling in the mirror. Joey had made a point of telling me I looked so miserable that it made him physically sick, and I had decided that wasn’t the Perdy I wanted to be anymore. If I didn’t think about Nathan, I would be fine.

Perfect.

I strolled to the library after listening to my grandmother’s overly enthusiastic wishes of good luck. We all already knew that I’d be getting the work experience slot. Nobody else wanted it.

The breeze was cool enough to lift goose bumps on my skin, but the day was nice enough. Still, I found myself constantly looking over my shoulder. Nathan might have been gone and the werewolves fighting their battles elsewhere, but I never felt safe anymore. Not for a second. Breaking the curse didn’t change how I saw the world. It didn’t make me forget the dangers out there.

No. No thinking. Perfect smiling happy face only.

As soon as I stepped into the musty library, I realised why nobody wanted to work there. The place was pretty disgusting, all dust and weird damp old book smells. Every surface looked as though it needed a good scrub.

A sudden hacking cough tore through the silence and made me stumble. I frantically glanced around to see who was there and almost died with terror when an ancient old lady appeared to rise up from behind the counter like a decrepit bride of Dracula. Her face was a perfect example of crankiness, and my heart sank. I automatically gave her my best smile, but maybe I was a little too eager because she looked slightly repulsed.

“Um, I-I’m here to interview for the work experience p-placement,” I stuttered.

She looked away and coughed into a handkerchief. “You’re late.”

“Um, I don’t think—”

“You’ll arrive at eight forty-five every single morning. No excuses. You will stay until six and lock up. During the day, you will clean and organise. You will not eat in the library. You will not use a mobile phone in the library. You will have one hour for lunch. Not a minute more.” She peered at me. “You may call me Mrs. Reed, and you
will
work hard.”

“I… okay. That’s… I mean, that’s fine. Okay.”

She made a huffing sound. “Monday morning. Eight forty-five. Bring a packed lunch.” She turned and began sorting through a pile of books on the counter, completely dismissing me.

“I… see you then.” I walked out feeling as though I’d just been in a dream, or maybe a nightmare. Mrs. Reed wasn’t quite what I had been expecting.

I called Joey. “So, Mrs. Reed… she’s weird, right?” I said before he could say hello.

There was a pause, and then he laughed. “You’ll get used to her. She’s just set in her ways.”

“I feel like you’ve gotten me into something here.”

“Oh, come on. What else do you have to do? Mope around missing your boyfriend?”

“Joey!” I couldn’t believe he would say something like that.

“Perdy. Are we supposed to pretend this year hasn’t happened at all?”

I stopped walking and stared at the phone. What was with him lately? “No,” I said after a moment. “I don’t expect anyone to forget, but that doesn’t mean we have to discuss it in detail.”

“Or at all, eh? Look, I’m not asking for details, but it’d be nice to get back to normal.”

I made a sound of frustration. “Everyone keeps saying that. What’s normal, anyway?”

“
Normal
is you being a part of the real world again.”

I could hear the irritation in his voice, and I swallowed hard before saying, “I
am
a part of the real world. Now more than ever. You all got what you wanted, remember?”

“You say that, but you’re the one who acts as though you want to pretend Nathan doesn’t exist anymore. I’ve never wanted that.”

“It’s hard, okay? Besides, he’s not here. He might as well not exist. I want to move on because nothing’s ever going to go back to the way it was.”

“See, this is what I don’t understand. The two of you have been like… Romeo and Juliet level of obsession. It was weird, but whatever. It worked for you two, apparently. And then it’s over. Just like that. No fallout. No fight. No reason. And then he just disappears? It makes no sense to me.”

I opened and closed my mouth a couple of times as a dozen different sentences I couldn’t say sprang to mind. “I have to go.”

I hung up on him before he could dig any deeper. I could see what was freaking him out. I knew there weren’t enough answers for him. He would always be curious. That was the way Joey lived his life: constant nosiness and an inability to leave anything alone once there was some question he couldn’t immediately answer.