Natalia’s P. O. V
“Thank you again for having us.” Timothy said with a graciousness that he’d seemed to develop along with his Alpha persona.
We were on the Oaktail territory, visiting the inhabiting pack. After four packs, his persuasion and sweet-talking skills had started improving. The Alpha of this pack had immediately taken to Timothy and had been all too eager to jump on the revenge bandwagon against the Lightwood pack.
‘Maybe it’s the Thanksgiving spirit.’ Candy offered.
I rolled my eyes. I was just happy that we hadn’t been rejected by any of them yet.
“Don’t mention it, it was a pleasure. Don’t hesitate to let us know if you need us to do anything else.”
Timothy gave a true politician’s smile, “I appreciate it.”
They slapped hands and patted each other’s backs to say goodbye. Timothy even waved as we drove off.
“Careful, you wouldn’t want people to think you’re actually pleasant.” Kaesha snickered.
He glared at her, “Your salty ass just can’t admit that people can actually stand me, unlike someone here.”
She laughed, “They only find you tolerable cause they don’t actually know you.”
“And you think people will like you when you say shit like that?”
She stuck her tongue out at him, getting a laugh out of all of us.
The drive to the airport was short and full of bickering and conversation. Hailey and Timothy had been able to refrain from glaring daggers at each other for most of the trip, and I was optimistic about getting through this last leg without any commotion.
“You really didn’t have to fly us, Ari.” Hailey said, for the third time in the last three days, “I could’ve just driven us here.”
The new documents we’d gotten, courtesy of Super Banking, had come in incredibly handy for transportation and getting things done officially.
“Hailey, how many times do I have to tell you that it’s okay? It’s a holiday, so I thought it’d be nice.”
She sighed, “I know… but I’m sure Tim at least would’ve been able to find his way here from our territory by himself. And he’ll be able to find his way back after our thanksgiving dinner. You can still cancel his last flight and get a refund.”
I gave her a look.
She huffed, “I’m joking…”
“Hailey, we’re going to enjoy a nice, first-class flight back home, and tomorrow we’re all going to get along and go out for a nice dinner. Then the day after that, we’ll have a nice day with him then take him to the airport for his flight back to the territory to prepare it for our pack. One that you will both have a hand in leading, so why not get along?”
“Fine…”
And try they did. They were on their best behaviour for the next three days, save for the screaming match they engaged in the night before Timothy was supposed to leave again. It had ended with some pretty heavy breathing and sounds that I tried my best to ignore, before Hailey ended things and kicked him out of her room. That had apparently been enough to make her refuse to talk to him all day, and stay home while Kaesha and I dropped him off at the airport.
By the time the Thanksgiving holidays were over, Hailey was back to her normal self, but I barely had time to enjoy her company, or anyone else’s for that matter.
‘What possessed me to think I could do all of this at once?’ I grumbled to Candy.
It was halfway into the second week of December, and with exams for both Killdrain and the Syren school bombarding my thoughts during my every waking moment, I’d barely had time to think of anything else. I’d even needed to reschedule some of my exams cause the timing for them clashed. I’d been running around, finishing projects and brushing up on information I needed to pass my college classes, as well as studying for both my Supernatural and regular subjects in the Syren school, cause I apparently still needed to write English essays and math exams to pass this term.
Jenna and Lucy had a field day every time they watched me introduce myself to the teachers of my regular subjects, and fib my way through explanations for my term-long absence from their classes over and over again.
I was now on my way back home from six stretched hours of back-to-back exams and reviews, and Candy was snickering at my complaining.
‘You’ve got this, super student.’
I scowled, stabbing my front door with my key, ‘You know, you could help out more.’
She tutted, ‘Now, that would be cheating.’
‘I don’t think it counts if you’re literally in my head.’ I rolled my eyes, and threw my bag on one of my couches, following the smell of food to my kitchen.
“Welcome back, Ari.” Hailey threw the greeting over her shoulder as she retrieved lasagne from the oven.
She set it down on a cooling rack and moved over to hug me.
“Hey Hailey. How were your exams today?”
She shrugged, “Pretty good, what about you?”
“Long, but okay I guess.” I went to wash and dry my hands so I could help her with the salad ingredients she had on the counter, “What are you doing over here?”
She began handing me the ingredient while I tossed them, “I just had my last exam and I figured I’d come over and make something for you, since you seem like you’ve been really stressed out lately. You didn’t even have leftovers in the fridge, and that never happens.”
She was right, I hadn’t had the presence of mind to take the time out to cook, and the barrenness of my fridge could testify to that.
I smiled at her, “Thank you so much, what would I do without you?”
She grinned, “You’d die of starvation and malnutrition apparently.”
We carried our conversation over to the dining table with our food, complaining about lecturers that pissed us off and subjects we thought were more stressful than necessary.
“Honestly, I’m so glad this semester’s over.” She sighed.
“Lucky you, I won’t be done till the twentieth.”
She gave me a pitying look, “Yikes… but it’s just one more week, it’ll be over before you know it.”
I stabbed a layer of lasagne with my fork and sighed, “A week and a half. And I know, I just can’t wait to get a moment to breathe.”
She perked up with an idea, “Why don’t you pack a bag and come for a sleepover on your last day? It’ll be something to look forward to, and you’ve never actually stayed overnight in my dorm.”
My mind went back to my reaction to being on Killdrain’s grounds before Kaesha had helped me. I knew I had the spelled jacket, and now the bracelet, but the thought of spending the night there had me apprehensive in a way I couldn’t quite place.
“Don’t you have to be back home by then?”
She shook her head, “I managed to convince my mom to let me stay in the dorms over the holidays, with the promise of amazing Christmas gifts for her and Keily.”
“But what about your roommate? Won’t she mind?”
“She’s really nice and understanding, she won’t mind as long as we don’t leave a mess or break any of her stuff. Besides, she’s already on a flight back to Argentina to see her family as we speak.”
Out of excuses, I gave in, “Then I guess we’re having a sleepover in your room.”
As long as I kept my bracelet on and packed my jacket as backup, what was the worst that could happen?
She beamed at the acceptance to her invitation, “Great! I’ll invite Kaesha, Beth, Ada and Annya.”
I cocked my head, “Beth said she’s got a flight for the evening of the twentieth, and why invite them? Are you sure it’s a good idea?”
She nodded, “It’s supposed to be a fun sleepover, with zero serious talk about vengeance or anything Werewolf related. We’re gonna gossip and do each other’s hair and nails and makeup and watch movies and just have fun. The two of them being there will help make sure of that.”
I wanted to balk at the idea of sleeping in an enclosed space with four other people, but these were my friends and I hoped I’d come far enough to have a sleepover with them, “Alright, I’ll pack a bag. It’ll be nice to have an actual sleepover in someone’s room and everything.”
“Yeah, I can’t wait! I never actually had one, Keily made sure to kill most of the friendships I tried to start in school.”
“Sounds just like her. Speaking of which, I hope she hasn’t been bothering you?”
She swallowed the salad in her mouth and shook her head, “No, she’s been keeping to herself and her new posse of friends. She did break up with her boyfriend again, so she’s got too much time on her hands and uses it to try and sneak her laundry into mine. I’m just glad we have completely different majors and minors so she can’t get mom start comparing our grades again.”
“Again?”
We finished the meal off with her narrating about how Keily would approach her mom with feigned concern for Hailey’s grades whenever the smug Seer scored higher in anything, even if it was just by a few marks. It got to the point where her mom doubted if Hailey would even get into Killdrain.
An hour and a half of us talking passed. Abruptly, she switched the topic from places we’d love to visit, “Oh, by the way, I wanted to ask before I forget. There’s gonna be a full moon the night after our sleepover. Do mind if I come here to shift?”
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Hailey had been coming over to shift in my basement for a few months. By now, it was a routine that I was used to, but she always made sure to let me know at least a week in advance.
“Sure, no problem.”
My phone rang, and I looked at the caller ID, “I guess it’s time for Timothy’s update.”
Since the thanksgiving holiday, Timothy had began calling me with progress updates on the construction on our territory three times a week.
She checked her own phone, “Yeah, it’s probably time for me to go. Do you need any help clearing up?”
I shook my head, “I’ll do that after this call. Thank you so much for today, I really needed it.”
She smiled, “Anytime.”
Then she was gone.
I picked the call, “Hello, Timothy.”
“Greetings fair leader.”
I rolled my eyes, putting the call on speaker and moving to my study, where the wooden model he’d given me and my notes were, “Give me the news.”
He launched into his report. The main office building was coming along well, and they were reworking the sewage system to include secret passageways and escape tunnels in the event of an attack. They were having a few issues with the water pipes, but he’d been assured that it wouldn’t cause too much of a delay, and the architect had finished drawing up the plans for the rest of the buildings.
After the call was over, I dragged myself through cleaning up, then a shower and brushing my teeth, before falling onto my bed and straight into sleep.
The next week and a half was another blur of stress and frustration, to the point that I saw some pimples on my face the one time I paused long enough to notice my reflection in the mirror.
By the time I was sitting in my last exam, Hailey had already picked my stuff up for the sleepover and I was really looking forward to it. Maybe Kaesha would even have something to help with my face’s sudden outbreak.
“Pens up!” Ms. Sargsyan ordered, “Pass your papers to the front and leave. Happy holidays.”
I felt the tension evaporate from my body, like I’d handed off all my pent-up energy along with my paper. I shouldered my bag and followed Beth and Annya out of the hall in a conversation.
“I hope you have a lovely Christmas with your family.” Annya said, hugging Beth.
I opted to offer her a smile, “Yeah, I’m sure they’ll be so happy to see you.”
Beth could barely contain her grin, “Yeah, me too. I can’t wait to see them, this is the longest I’ve been away from home.” She checked the time on her phone and gave Annya another hug, “I should get going now. It’s a shame I can’t say bye to the others, and I’m sorry I can’t make it to your sleepover, Ava.”
I waved her apology off, “It’s fine. Have a Merry Christmas at home, Beth.”
“I will!” She called as she hurried off into the sparse crowd.
With Beth gone, Annya turned to me as we continued walking, “It’s great that she’ll get to be with her family this Christmas.”
I nodded, “Yeah. What about you though? Won’t your family miss you during the holidays?”
She shrugged, throwing the longer end of her scarf over her shoulder, “My family isn’t particularly sentimental about the holidays, or anything really. Plus, the break isn’t that long and they live too far for the visit to be worth it. You?”
My dad’s a piece of shit and my mom could be dead.
“All the family I need lives in this city.”
She regarded me evenly, like she was watching for something, then returned her focus to our walking path, “I guess everyone’s got their family dynamics.”
I just nodded.
A lull of silence fell over us as we finished the walk to the girls’ dorms.
The dormitories of Killdrain were more like apartments. There were several boys’, girls’ and co-ed dormitory buildings, but Hailey’s mom had insisted on keeping her daughters squarely in a girls’ dorm, for chastity’s sake.
In Hailey’s building, each floor had several apartment spaces with either one or two bedrooms, a bathroom, a kitchen and a living area. Some of the apartments had rooms with bunk beds as cheaper options, while others just had single beds. The most expensive were the apartments meant for just one person, with one bedroom and a single bed. That was the type Hailey had wanted, but she’d had to compromise on a two-person, two-bedroom apartment to share with someone. Not that she minded much, as long as she wasn’t stuck living with Keily anymore. And she was even in the same building as Kaesha.
Upon entering the dorm, Annya took a detour to her room to get her stuff, while I headed straight to Hailey’s place. An excited Hailey opened the door before I even knocked.
“Hey,” She greeted me with a hug, “how was your exam?”
I followed her inside and dropped onto the deep green couch in her living room, next to Kaesha who was sipping her tea, “It was good. I’m so relieved to finally be done. Hi Kaesha, you’re already here.”
She nodded, setting her mug on the coffee table and leaning back on the couch, “Yeah, had to keep our dear Hailey company.”
Hailey laughed, perching on the armrest next to me, “You’re already here pretty often anyway.”
“Yeah, but most of the time, you’re at my place.”
Hailey stuck her tongue out, “You love having me over.”
“Yes, you and your cookies.” Kaesha said, then raised her mug to take another sip.
Hailey’s response was interrupted by a knock. She went over to welcome Ada and Annya, who came bearing takeout and pizza, signalling the beginning of the sleepover.
We complained about the previous exams and semester while we ate. Ada spoke about how she wanted to make a new hairstyle for the holiday, so Kaesha offered to help her undo her current one. With that we washed our hands and got into the hair aspect of the night.
Kaesha helped Ada undo her cornrows, while Hailey quizzed Annya on the secrets to her perfect hair as Annya brushed mine. I’d made sure to refresh the dye around my roots, so I let myself enjoy the gentle movements of her hands.
With Ada’s hairstyle newly undone, her hair was out in a thick cloud around her head, so she and Kaesha decided to teach us how to braid and twist on both our hair and theirs. We all ended up taking turns styling each other’s hair with the new knowledge.
Once Ada mentioned having an acrylic nail kit, we moved over to doing our nails. While the conversation while doing our hair had been centred around school and our ambitions, we spoke about romance while doing our nails.
“Hailey,” Ada started, “you invited us over, so you start us off. Are you dating anyone?”
Hailey’s brow twitched in a frown for a split second, “Nope. I hate the term ‘it’s complicated’, so no, I’m not dating anyone.”
“What do you mean?”
This time, Hailey’s scowl lingered for a few seconds, before she shook it off, “He says he cares, but not enough to actually be with me. He even went as far as leaving the state to avoid being around me…”
“I’m sorry, Hailey.” Ada offered, “He doesn’t know what he’s missing. The guy for you won’t leave you confused.”
She sighed, “Yeah, you’re right…”
An uncomfortable silence hung in the air, before Kaesha redirected our focus, “So, when did you start dating Nathaniel, Annya?”
Annya chuckled, “He and I go way back, but we didn’t have the capacity to love each other till recently.”
Her statement had most of us furrowing our brows and looking to her for an explanation.
“Your parents wouldn’t let you date?”
“Yeah… plus we just had really different priorities. What about you, Kaesha?”
Kaesha shrugged, “There’s this guy I’ve been on a few dates with, but it’s mostly casual on my end. Ada, you?”
Ada huffed, “My mum was so strict about dating when I was home. Even if I were seeing someone, I’m sure she’d disapprove. But I haven’t really found anyone that’s caught my interest enough for me to bother anyway. What I want to hear about is Ava’s love life.”
I blew on the nails on my left hand, “Nothing to report here, sorry to disappoint.”
“Eh… that’s not entirely true though,” Hailey interjected, “Trevor and Greg were so in love with her when they first met.”
“The brothers from the party?”
Hailey nodded, “And guys just seem to fall in love with her at first sight.”
Kaesha laughed, “You noticed it too? She and I even ended up betting on it just after we met. I watched our waiter get trip over himself for her.”
Ada looked up from her nails, “Now that you mention it, I think Jamie and James both have a crush on her too.”
Annya cocked her head, studying me, “Interesting…”
My face warmed.
“I was basically invisible before getting here.” I informed them.
“Then the girls in your hometown must be drop dead gorgeous.” Ada snorted.
I do wish they’d drop dead…
It wasn’t long before we were done and our nails had dried. With hair and nails checked off Hailey’s list, we moved on to movies. We started with The Notebook, then ditched it for Titanic and continued with Legally Blonde, Clueless, and half of Pitch Perfect, before most of us began to doze off.
I didn’t even know what time I’d fallen asleep, but because of how late we’d slept, it was already past nine a.m. when I woke up.
Everyone else was still in their slumber, with Ada and Kaesha sharing Kaesha’s mattrass that we’d dragged over from her room sometime in the night, Annya in the sleeping bag she’d brought with her, and Hailey in her bed where she’d insisted I sleep too.
My feet met the cold floor as I slipped out of bed and tip toed over to my bag to retrieve my toothbrush and contacts. Passing a window, I noted the probability of snow and found my way to Hailey’s bathroom.
The bathroom door clicked closed behind me as I moved to the sink and squeezed some toothpaste out.
‘Looks like you had fun last night.’
I smiled, ‘Yeah, I really enjoyed spending time with them like this. Maybe I’ll do this more often.’
‘Just don’t get carried away, Nat…’ Candy warned.
I wanted to roll my eyes, but her advice wasn’t entirely unfounded. Save for my calls with Timothy and our visits to the packs, my life was filled mostly by my Syren and college responsibilities. If I wanted to carry out the plans I had for the Lightwood pack in time, I couldn’t afford to lag behind.
‘I won’t.’
I decided to facilitate at least two more visits this break. Raising my toothbrush to my mouth, my eyes met my reflection in the mirror and I forced a scream down into a shuddering gasp.
The woman gaping back at me had the same incredulous look on her face, with familiar luminescent amber eyes and the same nose, but that was just about where the constants ended. Her lips were fuller, her eyebrows were thicker and darker, her skin was more dewy, devoid of the blemishes I’d grown accustom to over the last week and a half, and her hair was definitely not brown.
Her hair fell in waves, starting with the deepest black I’d ever seen on someone’s head that lasted for just about two or three inches, before plunging into a deep, deoxygenated-blood-like red colour, highlighted with orange and yellow in a way that made it look like it was on fire, and finishing off with sharp, blue-tinged white tips.
My hand went up to touch the mirror, and she did the same. With my hand in front of me, my eyes were drawn to the new marks on it and I swallowed another gasp.
Sitting squarely on the back of my hand was a crest with more detail than I’d seen on Aubrey’s or even Jenna’s. The border of the crest was intricate and winding, coloured with a gold that almost seemed to shimmer as I moved my hand. Inside the crest were two planet like circles that overlapped like a Venn diagram. The details inside overlapping parts intermingled with each other, becoming almost indistinguishable from one another.
My attention was drawn to the markings on the wrist of my other hand. The mark encircled my wrist in sprawling, winding lines that seemed to originate from a ring of fire drawn on the inside of my wrist. The whole thing was just over an inch thick all around, before fading at the edges.
I tore my eyes away to look down at myself. My dimensions were certainly more than I’d gone to bed with, and I was sure I’d been shorter last night. As I turned my head to look at my hair again, I caught sight of what looked like flakes of frost on the side of my neck, with one snowflake in the centre, larger and more detailed.
“What is happening…?”
My voice didn’t even sound the same. Sure, it could still be recognised as mine, but it sounded richer somehow.
‘You’ve Uncovered.’ Candy’s disbelief was clear, her statement sounding more like a question.
‘This can’t be possible. I’m a Werewolf, you’re right here!’
‘Yeah, in your head. We haven’t shifted, so you’re probably not a Werewolf physically.’
I shook my head, my hair flowing in a way that seemed almost unreal, ‘Then I wouldn’t have my physical capabilities, or that time you spoke with me when we were pissed at Keily wouldn’t have happened. You’re here somewhere. Besides, why did I Uncover today? It’s not my birthday, I’ve been sixteen for months.’
I could almost hear the shrug in her voice, ‘I mean, better late than never.’
The sounds of movement from outside the bathroom shoved the confusion and bewilderment aside, rousing panic in its place.
I was a Syren.
I was Uncovered.
And my concealment kit was at home, stashed somewhere in my closet, because of course I hadn’t expected any of this to happen. As the footsteps approached, the fear of exposure weighed on my chest and made it hard to breathe.
What was I going to do?