I knew a deep breath would help, but I seemed to have forgotten the mechanics of it.

I don’t know how long we stayed frozen in that moment, but it was a long time. Sometimes I think there are parts of us still there, forever staring into the emotional maelstrom of one another’s eyes. Charlie ended up being the first one to break the connection. He lifted his chin, exposing his neck to me.

Instead of acknowledging the submission, I quickly jerked away from him in possibly the single most ungraceful move in human history. Putting as much distance as I could between us without actually leaving the room, I collapsed back onto the floor, staring resolutely at the ceiling. I noticed Jase and Talley had grown Charlie Chaplin silent. There wasn’t even the groan of a floorboard or squeak of the mat to indicated they were even still in the room.

“I’ll be working at the range,” Charlie repeated into the quiet stillness. I closed my eyes and finally remembered how to take those deep breaths. “And before you go all Mother Hen on me, Talley, remember I’ll be behind bullet proof glass the whole time.”

“But you’ll still be passing out guns to rednecks.” Even I could hear the resignation in my voice. I wasn’t going to use my Pack Leader status to tell him he couldn’t take the job. “You can do better than this, Charlie.” Of course, that didn’t mean I was going to express my not-so-humble opinion. “There has to be a virtual smorgasbord of jobs that don’t involve half-drunk morons and firearms.”

“Probably,” was the only answer he seemed wiling to give until Jase ventured into the conversation.

“Will you be able to get us in?”

“Yep.”

“Despite the ‘no one under 21’ rule?”

“Yes.”

“After hours?”

“Not going to be a problem.”

“What are we going to do about guns for the girls?”

Wait. What? I didn’t want a gun, and the idea of Talley with something she could accidentally shoot her pinkie toe off with was possibly the worst idea ever.

“Jake Sills has a little Smith & Wesson he’s going to sell me for Talley, and I thought we could pick up a compact Glock for Scout.”

I rose up onto my elbows. Jase and Talley were both sitting against the wall. I could tell by the crooked little line between Talley’s eyes that her thoughts mirrored my own. “Why would Talley and I need guns? We don’t have to lug riffles out into the woods to pull off some overnight hunting trip story. Mom and Dad already know where we’ll be on full moon nights.”

“You know the whole werewolves can be killed by a silver bullet thing?” Charlie asked.

“Yeah…”

“The bullets don’t have to be silver.”

It took a second for me to catch on. “You want to teach us how to kill people?”

Charlie actually looked at me, although we were both careful to avoid direct eye contact. The lines of his face were hard, making him look severe and old. He reminded me of Alex’s brother Liam. Charlie was wearing the exact same embittered-at-the-world-and-Scout-in-particular scowl. “I want to teach you to protect yourself.”

“I have a black belt in three different disciplines. I know how to protect myself.”

“Do you think the other Packs are going to play fair? That they’re going to come in all noble and request a tournament with an impartial ref?” I flinched at the harshness of his tone. “This isn’t some sort of game, Scout. These people are power hungry and determined. Once they find out a about us, they’re going to just keep coming, over and over again unless we give them a reason to stop.”

“But guns—”

“You promised,” Jase interrupted. “You promised you would protect her.”

“At least learn how to use one, just in case.”

I nodded weakly, knowing it made sense to be prepared, just in case there was ever a need, but I hated it. If countless hours of reading comic books and watching super-hero movies taught me anything, it’s that good guys don’t use guns. And we were the good guys, weren’t we?

Chapter 11

After the night following my first Change, I didn’t dream. Well, that’s technically a lie. I did have this one reoccurring nightmare where I knew something terrible was going to happen and I couldn’t stop it, but it always faded quickly when I woke up, leaving just a general impression of impending doom. But the dreams that mattered, the ones with a 3-D Alex in Dolby digital surround sound, were noticeably absent. That’s why I was surprised when I found myself wandering the infamous stretch of beach.

“I was so scared you had left me forever,” I said, wrapping my arms around him. In the real, waking world I would have never been brave enough to admit my fears and dependency, but this was my perfect dream world. I knew Alex’s response even before he said it.

“Not yet. We still have work to do.”

Or, then again, maybe I didn’t.

“You’re leaving me?”

Alex’s hand lazily stroked down my spine. “Not yet. Not until you’re ready.”

“I’ll never be ready.”

His lips pressed against my temple. “Of course you will. You have to be.”

“Why? Because it’s my destiny?”

“No. Because they’re counting on you.”

And suddenly we were surrounded. There had to be hundreds of them. They were everywhere - looking down from the cliff, scattered along the opposite shore, sitting in clusters around our feet. A few full-grown wolves and coyotes were scattered in the mix, but most of them were still pups. Nicole pressed herself against my leg.

“Who are they?” I felt as if I was being watched by a thousand pairs of eyes. “What do they want from me?”

“They’re the forgotten. They need you to remember.”

The forgotten? Who needed me to remember? Seriously?

“That could be the most cheese-tastic thing I’ve heard in my entire life,” I said.

One of Alex’s dimples peeked through. “It sounded good in my head.”

I couldn’t help but smile in return. “So, for real this time, who are…” I went to gesture to the masses, but they had already disappeared. “Where did they go?”

“To find them you’ll have to go back to the beginning.”