Chapter Three

The relaxed, fun atmosphere immediately dropped away, and the guys jumped up and headed into the open door behind Ray.

Dad reached into his back pocket and pulled out the car keys, handing them over to me whilst shooting a concerned looked over my shoulder to Ray. "Boss, I don't mean to question you or anything but... is it safe for Maddie out there right now? What is going on?"

"Perfectly safe, Robbie." Ray assured him. "I just want everyone home as a precaution. Madison?" He looked at me expectantly, and I nodded, pulling my cell phone from my pocket and dialling Henry's number.

He didn't answer. "Voice mail." I said, and Ray sighed. "He said he was meeting the guys, and they usually hang out at Pete's over in Naples. I can drive over there. It's only about thirty minutes away." I added, seeing my Dad's expression. Ray nodded, and headed back into the house.

Dad turned to look at me again, his hand resting on my arm. "I don't know what is going on... probably something to do with the situation in New York. But just be careful, okay? Get Henry and go straight to the Barton's. Sierra is home with Cady. I'll meet you there later, cub." He rubbed my arm before following Ray inside.

I tried Henry's cell again as I was heading round front to the driveway, where Dad's car was parked. He still didn't answer, and I cursed, throwing my phone on the passenger seat next to me. I started up the engine, turning the heat up full to clear the layer of frost that had settled on the windshield. Dad had clearly been here all day. As I waited, I picked my cell back up.

"Hey Maddie! What's up?" Carter answered on the second ring.

"Hi Carter. Sorry to bother you, but are you with Henry?" I asked.

Carter was a mutual friend; we had all gone to elementary and middle school together, our town being so small that there was only one of each. Everyone in town knew each other, until we went to high school. The high school was in the next town over, Naples, and kids from all over the county went there. We drifted apart then. Carter was on the basketball team though, so he was often at the many parties that the guys had.

"Sorry, I didn't go to the party tonight. Is everything okay?"

"Oh... yeah. It's fine. Do you know the address? I just need to pick him up because... erm... his sister is sick."

"Oh shit! Is she okay?"

I shook my head, cursing myself. Couldn't I have come up with a less concerning excuse? "Yeah she's fine, his Mom and Dad just want him home. So... the address?" I prompted.

"I don't know the actual street address, but I could come with and direct you there?" He phrased it like a question, but followed it with, "besides, you shouldn't be driving to Naples on your own on a night like this. Do you wanna swing by and pick me up?"

"That's really not necessary..."

"I insist."

I paused, considering. Ray didn't say I had to go alone. I know it was pack business, but I didn't even know what was going on right now. All I had been asked to do was to take Henry home, and it wouldn't be so terrible to have company for the journey. Before I could talk myself out of it, I found myself saying, "Sure. I am just leaving now, I'll be at yours in ten."

*

It took longer than expected to complete the journey from the Manor to Carter's house. Mainly because I nearly skidded out on the dirt road, and then I was too scared to go anywhere near the speed limit. So, when I pulled up at the end of Carter's driveway, my fingers clutched so tightly to the steering wheel that my knuckles had turned white, I let out a breath I didn't know I'd been holding at seeing him standing there.

He looked up as I approached, and he pulled one gloved hand from the pocket of his parka to wave at me. He was wearing Dr Martens, which were an altogether far better choice of footwear for November than my old sneakers. He had a black beanie on pulled down over his ears, but a couple of his brown curls were poking out, where the hat had squashed them down flat to his head.

He strode towards the passenger side door and pulled it open, pulling the hat off his head and shaking his hair out as he climbed in. Then he turned to me with a smirk. "Hey. Weather is crazy tonight, huh?"

I laughed, trying to cover the nervousness in my voice. I really didn't want to be driving all the way to Naples tonight, but I tried to sound confident. "Yeah. You ready?"

It didn't work. "You want me to drive?" He offered.

I felt my cheeks flush with embarrassment at being caught out. I hated people thinking I was afraid of anything. In eighth grade, we had a visit from the local wildlife centre; they brought in a bunch of bugs for us to study for science class. Only, a couple escaped and I cried and hid in the girls bathroom for hours. It seems silly now, considering I am a werewolf and I run in the forest, with god knows what. But, hey, I was nine. All of the other kids never let me forget that though; they mocked me for the rest of the year. Carter had tried to be sweet about it. He even threatened to fight James Emery, the school bully, if he brought it up again, and sent one of the girls to coax me out of the bathroom.

The threat didn't work. Carter was always well-liked, but James was the popular one. And he was bigger. James didn't mention it for the rest of the day, but the next day it was like open season for insults and mockery. After that, the reputation stuck of Scaredy Cat Stone. I made a decision, when we went to high school, that I was not going to be known as a scaredy cat any more. I was just Madison Stone. High school was a new start, and I could be whoever I wanted to be. So I guess I just became more of a loner, who didn't speak to many people any more and fawned over a guy who probably would never like me back. Great character growth, Mads.

Henry heard a rumour that Carter did actually fight James. I didn't believe him, because the jokes carried on but... come to think of it, Carter had stuck with me for the rest of that day at school. Then, when he had been late the next day, some sort of appointment I think, James had snuck a toy cockroach into my lunch box. I freaked out, and Carter had looked so angry. After that he hadn't been back at school for the rest of the week, and James had had a black eye.

I shook my head. No way would Carter have punched James Emery. James was way bigger, and Carter used to be so small and quiet. But...

"I mean, I have my truck, and it's more suited to this weather than your Dad's car." Carter continued on. "Plus, I'm not a great passenger anyway." I raised an eyebrow at him and he continued in explanation, "car sick."

I nodded. I knew it wasn't true. I had taken my drivers test late, so was still using the school bus last year. Carter passed his as soon as he turned sixteen, and yet he still rode to school with Henry and some of the other basketball guys. He was always a passenger then. This was just Carter trying to offer me a way out, without drawing attention to the fact that I was scared to drive in the snow.

I nodded again as I unbuckled my seat belt. "Yeah... I mean, I guess that makes more sense. Safer." He smiled at that and climbed back out of the car, and I followed him to his truck which was parked on the driveway, locking my Dad's car behind me.

"Besides," He said, once we were both in the truck and strapped in. "I am really bad at directions. We probably would have ended up at the top of Pleasant Mountain or something."

I laughed at that, and looked at him with my eyebrows raised. "So then why did you offer to come along and direct me?"

He shrugged. "I was bored." He chuckled, "plus, a lady shouldn't be out driving on her own in weather like this, especially not all the way to Naples. I couldn't pass up an opportunity to be a knight in shining armour." He winked at me then, playfully, and I blushed.

Carter had gotten really cute since middle school. I mean, he was never bad looking, but he was tall and gangly, and he had braces. His parents didn't have a lot of money then, before his Dad got some big promotion, so he got a lot of his brothers hand-me-downs that didn't fit him properly, owing to the growth spurt he had in sixth grade. His hair was the same though; a chocolate brown with natural curls. He had grown out his fringe longer now, and it fell into his eyes so he was always having to flick it out. And being on the basketball team had definitely helped him to bulk up.

"My hero." I rolled my eyes, but couldn't help a smirk from pulling at my lips.

"I know, I know. I am just a regular Peter Kavinsky right here." He looked at me and smirked.

Another raised eyebrow. Apparently, Carter made me do that a lot. "Do not tell me that you watched To All The Boys."

He laughed. "Well, you obviously watched it, because you got the reference. And yes, I have watched it. My sister has been watching it on repeat... not my choice of movie at all."

"Mhmm." I laughed. I glanced out the window then and noticed that we were already on the main road that connected the towns of Denmark and Naples. It was definitely the right idea letting Carter drive; he was a much more confident driver than me. Although, in my defence, this was my first winter since learning to drive, so I didn't have a lot of experience with the snow. Given the choice, I would just change forms and run everywhere. Ray and Dad don't allow that though. Apparently it is 'too risky.'

"So where have you been, anyway? We barely talk any more." Carter's voice broke through the comfortable silence that had fallen between us, save for the low thrum of the stereo. "Are you still into soccer?"

I laughed at that. In freshman year, I decided that in order to reinvent myself, I was going to join the soccer team. I actually did try out, and made the team. But then I had my first change... and the aggression that came along with it. It was kind of like a supernatural PMS, but all the time. I quit the team when I was threatened with suspension for headbutting someone on the pitch. It was messy.

"No. That didn't work out." He glanced over at me briefly, as if waiting for me to expand. I didn't, but I carried on with, "I did try out for the cheerleading squad though. I thought it would be good for my college application." He looked over again, and I waited for the laugh to follow, like with Henry. Carter just pulled a face as if to say 'huh', but I didn't see any judgement. "I didn't get selected."

"Yeah? Well, their loss. You would have made a great cheerleader." I smiled at that.

I really had forgotten how easy it was to talk to Carter. We had drifted apart when I had my first change. It wasn't intentional; Henry, Carter and I used to hang out all the time as kids. Henry was the first to leave the group, when he went to high school. But when I had my first change, everything about me as a person changed, and it was something I couldn't share with Carter. He was human, and whilst it wasn't against the law to share what we are with a human, there were rules. You had to be sure that person could handle it, and could be trusted. If they couldn't? Well, then they had to be taken care of. I never asked what 'taken care of' specifically meant, but I figured it wasn't good, and it definitely was not something I wanted to risk happening to Carter.

Instead? Well, instead, I secluded myself. I didn't make any new friends at high school, I stopped hanging out with Carter, and spent all my spare time either studying, or with the pack. I lived for those nights when Henry and I would go running together, when we could be truly ourselves and free from worrying about everything else in our lives. Henry didn't seem to feel the same sort of burden. He could easily separate his human life from the pack, and he didn't see any reason for them to cross. I guess it was easier for guys. So he joined the basketball team, became popular and attended parties almost every weekend. And mostly forgot about me.

"Thanks Carter. Henry didn't seem to think I would have made a very good cheerleader. Apparently I am too nice." I rolled my eyes.

"Well, you are nice." Carter agreed, "But you are also awesome, and I think you could do anything you set your mind to. Besides, I remember you being mad talented at gymnastics when we were little. I bet Sophia, Rosalie and the rest of the plastics were just threatened by you."

I burst out laughing. "Okay, seriously, you need to stop watching chick flicks with your little sister and get out more."

We continued the rest of the drive with a flow of comfortable conversation between us. Carter was so easy to be around that time just passed by, and before long he was slowing in front of a large white house on a quiet street. Quiet in the sense that there was not many other houses on the street... which was just as well since the music come from the largest house was deafening.

People had spilled out of the front door and into the yard, holding beer cans and plastic red cups. There was a bench under one of the windows, and a couple sat making out. I rolled my eyes; it was the middle of winter and they were outside drinking and making out. Is this really what constitutes as fun for humans?

Carter caught my expression and laughed. "You don't go to many parties, do you? That is practically PG 13. There will be far worse inside. Ready?"

I groaned. "Ray seriously owes me." I mumbled quietly.

"Ray?" Carter questioned.

Shit. What excuse had I given him again? "Oh... he's Henry's... Uncle. He was the one who asked me to come pick him up." Carter nodded, accepting my explanation before opening his door and climbing out of the truck. I followed suit.

Carter headed over the lawn and to the front door, which was standing open. I could see before even stepping through that the house was way more packed than it looked from outside. I paused in the hallway, all of the noise making me feel a little disorientated. The music, the sounds of a game of beer pong taking place in some other room, girls giggling flirtatiously and boys cheering, no doubt because someone had just done a keg stand.

The worst thing was the smell. That was one of the reasons that I didn't really hang out with people so much since I got my enhanced senses. At school it was different; I could keep a distance from people. In this house though? People were crammed in everywhere. The stench of alcohol, mixed with sweat, and lingering aftershave and perfume was nauseating.

I took a deep breath in through my mouth. Carter turned then, a concerned look on his face. "Maddie, you okay?" He asked.

I forced a smile. "Yeah. Just getting a headache... it's warm in here, right?" He smiled softly and nodded.

"Yeah... just follow me. We'll find Henry and get out of here, okay?"

He started making his way through the crowd, being stopped occasionally by claps on the back and calls of 'Yo Johnson, you made it!'

After the fifth time of being stopped, Carter put his hand on my back, pulling me up beside him as we stepped into the kitchen, which was somehow even more crowded that the rest of the house. Thankfully though, I finally saw Henry. He was leaning against the kitchen counter, a red cup in hand, and one of those big smiles on his face that almost reached his eyes. And beside him? Beside him was a petite, gorgeous blonde. Sophia.

My heart sank. I thought he had said he and Sophia were finished... but it didn't look that way right now. I didn't have time to dwell on it though, because at that moment he glanced over and noticed me, and his eyebrows knotted together in confusion. Then he noticed Carter next to me, his hand still on the small of my back, and his confusion only grew.

"Hey," Carter said, leaning down to my ear to be heard over the music, "There's Barton over there."

I nodded, and headed across the kitchen in his direction. He had stepped away from Sophia and was walking towards us.

"Maddie?" He said when he reached us. He said my name like a question, and then looked at Carter, "and Johnson..."

"Hey man!" Carter smiled, and held his hand up for a high five. "How's it going?"

Henry high fived him and then looked back at me, waiting for an explanation. "Your erm... Uncle... erm Uncle Ray sent me. Cady is sick." I looked into his eyes, hoping he would realise the lie. "And erm... you have to go home to help." Henry was still looking confused. "Carter drove me here... in his truck..."

He nodded, understanding that I couldn't explain further in front of Carter. "I'll go say goodbye to everyone and meet you outside." Then he turned and walked away.

*

Fifteen minutes later, I was leaning against Carter's truck, my arms pulled around me to protect from the cold, waiting for the guys to join me.

Carter had been stopped again on his way out. He really was quite popular; he had tried to get away, but the basketball guys wouldn't take no for an answer. I had excused myself and made my way outside.

Henry emerged from the house first. He spotted me and headed over to the truck, a worried look on his face. "What's going on, Madison?" He asked, in a hushed tone, even though no one was around to overhear us.

I shrugged. "I genuinely don't know. Ray got a call, and then he called a pack meeting and sent me to pick you up."

"And you thought it was a good idea to bring Carter Johnson along, on pack business?"

I glared at him. "I am not a confident driver, Henry. What difference does it make anyway? We are only taking you home. It's not like we are going to get attacked by some lone wolf on the drive and have to explain what we are to him. You are overreacting."

He practically growled with irritation at that. What was his problem? Was it really that big of a deal that I had brought Carter along? No... he was talking to Sophia when we turned up. He is probably just pissed that I interrupted them. He must want her back.

That stung more than I wanted to admit, but I didn't have time to think about it, because Carter headed over to the truck at that moment. He pressed the button on his keys to unlock the car and Henry opened the back door and climbed in.

The drive back home was not nearly as comfortable as the earlier one had been.