It’s Braydon! Don’t make eye contact, don’t make eye contact.
“Hey, Nellie!”
Pretend you can’t notice. Just keep walking.
“So, do you think I’ll be able to get Holly to go out with me if I use my amazing charm?” he asks, blocking my way.
“No offense to Holly, but why do you want to go out with her?”
“Because she’s hot. And you’re not so hot. If you were then I’d probably be asking you out right now. And you still haven’t answered my question.”
“I don’t care, just don’t do anything to hurt her. She’s been through more than you know,” I say and make it end there. I hate Braydon. He’s a pig. But deep inside I’m laughing a little, thinking about the look on his face when Holly says, “No.”
Out of the corner of my eye I see Braydon head back to his posse. Trey, John, Marcus, Stephen, and Braydon make up their little pack. That’s exactly what they are. A pack. One by one Trey has managed to get all the star athletes to become a part of his little group. I actually like Trey. He’s not arrogant and he doesn’t disrespect girls. But he’s too old. He’s a senior this year and I’m a freshman. If you ask me, that’s just gross. Braydon’s a sophomore. He’s the new member of the ‘pack.’ Around November Trey lured him in.
At lunch, Holly sits down next time and squeals, clapping her hands together.
“What is it?” I ask.
“Braydon just asked me out!” she squeals. I look at her with wide eyes and I think my jaw dropped. I’m not surprised he asked her out, I’m surprised she said yes. Ever since the seventh grade, both of us had decided that Braydon was a jerk. Apparently I’m the only one who strongly feels that way.
Holly turns around to look at Braydon across the cafeteria. He winks and she blows a kiss in his direction. He smiles sweetly (too sweetly) and goes back to talking about the pack’s meeting in the woods tonight ‘cause it’s a full moon. Wait, did I just hear that? All the way across the cafeteria?
I look back at the table and see if I can listen more closely. I try to tune out all the complaints of chemistry and algebra and focus. Trey’s voice comes in as if he was sitting right next to me.
“John, you got to find the new werewolf. I know he’s around here somewhere. I can smell him.”
Now Braydon’s talking. “Well, if you guys pointed your snout that way, you would know that the one we’re looking for is a ‘she’.”
The pack looks at Braydon incredulously. All of them turn to look at the table Holly and I are sitting at. I still can’t believe what I just heard but I know who they’re talking about. It’s Holly. They’re going to bite Holly! That’s why Braydon asked her out! Oh no, I have to protect her. I’ll have to be with her all the time. I can’t let them do this.
“Hey, Holly, do you want to hang out together tonight, just you and me?” I quickly say and loud enough for them to hear.
“Sure. We haven’t done that in a long time,” she shrugs.
“How about my house?” I say, a bit more quietly.
“Whatever,” she says, taking a bite out of her chicken.
As I glance back at the table, I see a change in all their eyes. I can’t tell what it is but it’s freaky. Thankfully, the bell rings and Holly and I are able to get out of there.

At the end of the day, Holly and Braydon are already making out at her locker. What the heck? I turn away, sickened by the sight. It’s worse though once Holly starts moaning. Ugh, just keep packing up textbooks. I shut my locker and I almost pee my pants.
“Braydon! Holy crap, could you make it a little more obvious that you’re standing there next time!”
“You can’t stand it can you?” he asks with that stupid grin that has ‘I know everything’ written all over it.
“Can’t stand what?”
“Holly and me. It bugs you that I chose her over you. Admit it, you’ve had a huge crush on me for years,” Braydon takes a step closer, forcing me to stand against the lockers.
Although a tiny part of this is true I won’t give him the satisfaction. I tilt my chin up and quickly let my eyes wander to Holly’s locker. She’s gone. I wish she wasn’t. She could whip him into shape.
“No. It doesn’t. What bugs me is that you think you’re all that and a bag of chips when nobody is!”
Braydon leans in even closer and my heart starts pounding. Not because I like him, because he’s scaring me. His lips centimeters away from mine he whispers, “If you could see what I’m capable of, you’d understand.”
He pulls away and his golden eyes with silver specks seem to scan me. Then he nods (smiling of course) and walks down the hall. Before he exits the building, he turns around and calls, “Midnight at Chester House!”
Ten minutes later, I’m still standing there, trying to figure out what happened.
Around four o’ clock, Holly arrives at my house. We go over homework and afterward talk about boys and stupid girls and terrible teachers. We go to bed around eleven. I completely forget about Chester House.

Exactly at midnight, something in my head tells me to wake up. I feel like I’m a robot as I crawl out of bed and miraculously not wake up Holly. The full moon shines through the window, casting a shadow over my books, movies, and the door. My body seems to act on instinct as I walk down the stairs and walk down the road. There are no cars so I am alone. But I’m not afraid. Somehow, I know the way to the Chester House even though I’ve never been there before. I follow a strangely strong scent of Braydon’s cologne mixed with another smell I can’t put my finger on. As I continue my way I wonder if Braydon sprayed a trail through the woods so I wouldn’t get lost or something.
The Chester House is in the middle of a clearing, dead vines crawling up the walls, the fence, the door, the columns. The house is more like a mansion, made out of brick and four stories tall. A black iron fence blocks the way. I walk toward it and somehow I know it’s open and push it. A cobblestone walkway leads up to the vine covered double door. I knock once and it flies open.
Before me is a room that has a grand staircase leading up to five rooms and then there’s another staircase. On the base floor there is only three rooms. All of these rooms appear to be empty and then I catch a whiff of the cologne again. It’s stronger so he must’ve been here more recently. I walk up the staircase and follow the scent all the way to the top floor. The top floor looks like a huge attic and there’s no windows so there’s leaves and other debris from the weather. In the middle of the attic is a small fire and Trey, John, Stephen, and Braydon. All of them keep looking at the fire. Trey motions with his hand for something to come to him. Someone picks me up from behind and then I feel something clamp down on my neck. Then I go blank.

I wake up to voices in my head.
“She’s waking up.”
“Who’s going to tell her?”
“Trey, you’re the alpha, you tell her.”
“Guys, pay attention.”
I sit up and say, “Can you guys please be quiet? I’m still trying to figure out why I came here in the first place.”
As I rub the spot on my neck that’s throbbing, I look around and see that no one is even here. It must’ve all been a dream. Well now I feel really stupid. I come here and it’s really all a joke. I stand up to leave when I hear a growl. I turn around and see five huge wolves stalking toward me. All five of them surround me. One’s black with emerald green eyes and purple slashes. He’s the biggest. Another is a soft grey with pure white eyes. They’re blinding to look at. He doesn’t have pupils or any other shade in his eyes. The third is white with crimson red eyes that have specks of brown in them. The fourth is also grey but his eyes are yellow and have a deep blue center. The fifth is what surprises me the most. He is tortoiseshell with black tipped ears and golden eyes with silver specks. Only they don't have arrogance in them. They look pure savage. These guys are werewolves!
I think I’m about to go into shock until something overcomes me. Adrenaline shoots through my nerves all the way down my limbs as the black one launches at me. I fall on all fours and feel my nose start to reach out further and with my eyes I see a black wet tip and white fur and whiskers grow out of my nose. I look down and see my hands grow pudgier and my fingers closer together and my nails turn into claws. White fur also grows out. For some reason, I can still see in color even though dogs really see in black and white. Also, I’m not scared that I changed. A sense of power surges through me and I let out the deepest growl I can manage. The growl echoes through the house and I see the black wolf crouch down and whimper. I realize I stand taller than the others. Suddenly all of them crouch down and I look over at Braydon. He looks shocked.
I hear voices in my head but I can’t tell who’s saying them.
“How is this possible?”
“The bite must not have effected her.”
“Then that means she was born a werewolf, right?”
“No, that’s impossible.”
“She must’ve been bitten before.”
“Then that means before any of us. Which makes her…”
This voice I recognize, “The true alpha.”