Chapter Five

I didn't get much sleep for the rest of that night. Dad and Ray had talked for a little while longer, but the sound of my blood pounding in my ears drowned out anything else they had to say.

Dad was already gone the next morning when I emerged from my room, too. Was that a good thing? Should I tell him that I overheard? Probably not. If he knew, then he would do whatever it took to make sure that I did not even overhear anything else, let alone try and help.

Around noon, Henry text me, asking if my Dad had told me anything else. I considered for a moment before texting back. If I told Henry, he would straight away go to his Dad and demand answers. But from what I heard, it seemed like Ray hadn't even given the other guys that information. He came here, in the middle of the night, to speak to my Dad alone. It felt wrong not to share this with Henry, but...

I couldn't risk him flying off the handle. If my Dad and Ray thought that they could speak privately here, then that was my advantage. I could find out things that they wouldn't normally tell me. I would tell Henry later, when I had more information, but right now, there was no need to worry him.

So I responded to tell him that, no, my Dad had not told me anything else. It wasn't really a lie. My Dad hadn't told me anything. However I dressed it up though, I felt guilty for hiding it.

Thankfully, Henry didn't ask any more after that. In fact, he didn't speak to me at all.

I thought we had had some kind of moment last night, sat in the parked car. He had seemed to be flirting. That look in his eyes when he asked me what I thought of him, and that gorgeous smirk, replaced by just a quick hint of disappointment when I didn't give him the answer he wanted.

I rolled my eyes to myself. There I was again, reading too much into things. If Henry was interested in me, he would have made it known before now. He had practically admitted that he wanted Sophia back. He had just been slightly drunk, and was messing around. This was Henry for crying out loud; he was a serial flirt and it never meant anything to him.

I sighed and then pulled myself up from the sofa, glancing out of the window to the drive way. Dad had taken the car and, since I was forbidden to change and go for a run without supervision, I was stuck indoors. After heading to the kitchen and grabbing snacks, I curled back up on the sofa and loaded up Netflix.

*

When I woke up a couple of hours later, night had started to fall, leaving the den in shadows. It took me a moment to realise that I was laying on the sofa; the TV had faded out, going into standby mode since I hadn't used the remote in a while.

I rubbed my eyes with my palms to clear away the last remnants of sleep before checking my phone. A couple of spam emails, Facebook notifications, and four texts. One was from Dad, telling me he wouldn't be home for a while, and to order pizza and then lock the doors. The second text was more unexpected though, because it was from Carter.

'Hey :)'

'Have u done history h/wrk for 2moz?'

'Lost my notes – wondered if I cud borrow urs?'

I smiled to myself and text back quickly: Sorry, was napping! Want to call over? About to order pizza.

Carter's reply came almost instantly, as if he had been waiting by his phone for my response: On way

Within fifteen minutes, there was a knock at the door, and I opened it to see Carter on the doorstep. He was wearing the same coat and beanie that he had been wearing last night, and he shot me a sheepish grin. "I have a confession to make..." I raised my eyebrows and waited for him to continue. "I actually finished the history assignment last week. I just wanted an excuse to come over."

I felt my cheeks heat at that. "You don't need to make up excuses. We're friends."

"You gonna invite me in then, friend?" He asked, smirking. I smirked back and stepped aside to let him in.

"Hope you like pepperoni, cause that's what I've ordered." I said, as I led him into the kitchen. I grabbed two cans of coke from the fridge and handed one to him, before heading back down the hall to the den. Carter followed behind me, and I could smell his aftershave. It was slightly overpowering, to a werewolf nose, but it smelt nice. Masculine. I couldn't say I didn't enjoy it.

Once back in the den, I took a seat on the end of the sofa and curled my legs under me. Carter paused to remove his hat and coat, laying them on the floor by his feet, before perching on the other end. For the first time since I answered the door, he actually looked uncomfortable.

He caught me looking and chuckled lightly. "I just realised that I completely ambushed you. Coming here under false pretences... do you mind? I just... I enjoyed hanging out with you last night, and I thought that if I just asked to come over, that you would say no."

I could hear his heart rate rise a little as he admitted that, and his cheeks spotted pink with embarrassment. "I wouldn't have said no." I argued, and he laughed.

"Maddie, you have barely spoken to me in almost three years..."

It was my turn to feel embarrassed now, and my cheeks heated as I said, "That's n-not..." I stopped, and pulled a face, before giggling slightly. "Okay it is true. But, in my defence, I don't really talk to anyone."

"You talk to Henry."

"That's... different. You know our families are super close."

He nodded, relaxing back into his seat. "Yeah, I know. I guess I just missed you. Both of you really, but Henry... well he has his own thing going on, doesn't he?" He laughed. "All those cheerleaders to keep him busy. Anyway, how have you been?"

We talked until the pizza guy knocked on the door, and then we ate pizza and talked some more. At one point, Carter noticed the Nintendo Switch on the TV cabinet, and demanded that we play Mario Kart, so that he could prove how good he was at it. To be honest, he actually was pretty good; definitely much better competition than my Dad. It was a close fight, but by the time my Dad got home, I was in the lead by two races.

I hadn't heard the car pull up, too engrossed in the game, and Carter's laugh drowned out most other noise. Honestly? I didn't notice my Dad at all until he stepped directly into my line of sight in the den, and I jumped. He raised his eyebrow at me, surprised that he had managed to sneak up on me. I was surprised too; I couldn't remember the last time that had happened. Usually, my senses were so alert all the time.

"Hey Dad." I smiled, lowering the controller as the race finished. I won... again. "You remember Carter?"

He smiled and nodded at Carter. "I do. You are bigger than I remember though."

Carter chuckled at that and stood up, offering his hand to my Dad to shake. "Yeah, I get that a lot. How are you doing, Mr Stone?"

"Not so bad, not so bad." He glanced at his wrist then, before adding. "Well, it's getting late so I think you should be heading off now, Carter."

I glanced at the clock on the mantelpiece. It was only 8pm... and Dad doesn't even wear a watch. He was just trying to politely tell Carter to get out, and Carter was already pulling his coat and beanie back on. I felt a small pang of disappointment at the thought of him leaving, which was quickly replaced by annoyance as I looked at my Dad. Was he seriously upset that I had had a boy over to eat pizza and play video games with?

I studied my Dad's face for a moment but he remained impassive. Not that I ever really had boys over, but it just did not seem like Dad to get annoyed by that. I remembered then about the conversation I had overheard last night. Carter being here had actually made me relax enough to forget about it... Was Dad going to tell me about what Ray had said? Does he already know that I know, and is just waiting to yell at me for eavesdropping?

Yeah, it was probably the latter.

"I will just see Carter to the door." I said, wanting to avoid the lecture for as long as possible. I lead Carter back down the hall to the back door in the kitchen. Then I turned to him, stood closely behind me, before opening the door. He was standing so close that I could feel his breath on my face, and I took a quick step back. "Oh sorry." I said awkwardly. "So erm, thanks for hanging out with me."

Carter flashed a smile that pulled at the corner of his mouth. "I enjoyed it. You know, I actually had a huge crush on you in middle school."

I was suddenly glad that I had stepped back, as I felt my cheeks flush. "Wh-what?" I asked, the embarrassment causing a light layer of sweat to form on my forehead. "Why?"

His eyebrows raised so high that they were lost behind his fringe. "What do you mean, why?" He questioned. "Who wouldn't?"

"Henry." The name came out of before I could stop myself, and I gasped, my hands flying up to cover my mouth.

"Well... he's an idiot. Anyway, thanks for the pizza. I'll see you tomorrow?" He asked, and I nodded, before he opened the door and left.

I leaned back against the door as soon as it closed behind him, running my hands through my hair. Fuck. Carter played on the same team as Henry, hung out with the same people, drank at the same parties. There was no way Henry would not find out exactly how I felt about him now.

Would that be such a bad thing though? I had been mooning over Henry for as long as I could remember, never daring to tell him myself. The other night, at headquarters, it had seemed like there had been a moment between us. And then again after the party... At least, if he found out, I would know where I stood.

Man, who was I kidding? I know already where I stand with Henry, and it is usually a couple of steps behind him, barely even his friend most of the time. He was never going to see me the way I wanted him to. I needed to speak to Carter, and make sure he did not say anything about it.

I headed back into the den, planning to get my phone and text Carter. Dad was still standing there though, a look somewhere between nervousness and seriousness on his face. It was definitely not a face I was used to seeing on my Dad; even though he had raised me alone, he had always been pretty chill. I guess I hadn't given him much cause for concern. I hadn't been grounded since I was twelve, and I stole a candy bar from the corner store. He couldn't seriously be mad about Carter being over, could he?

"We need to have a chat, cub." Dad said, taking a seat on the armchair. I gulped and perched on the edge of the sofa. "I didn't know you were hanging out with Carter again?"

"Well, he came with me to pick Henry up last night, and then just asked if he could come over. Nothing happened... we were just hanging out."

Dad glanced at me quizzically. "Okay..." He rubbed his hands on his jeans before continuing. "Look Mads, we are in a bit of a situation." He sighed. He wouldn't meet my eye, instead staring at the TV, which was still showing the pause screen of Mario Kart. His nervousness was making me feel more anxious; what exactly did he think he had walked in on with Carter? Oh god, was he going to try and give me 'the talk'? He had tried this once, when I was fifteen and a boy had asked me to the school dance. It was one of the worst moments of my life.

"The call that Ray got last night was from the Alpha of the pack in Canada." Okay, that was not what I expected. "There is some trouble over the border, and they need some help to get it under control. A couple of representatives are coming down to speak to Ray, explain what is going on and discuss how we can work together. While they are here, the curfew will continue." I opened my mouth to argue but Dad continued on, either not noticing or just pretending not to. "Madison, we do not know these people. Canada and the States have never had much to do with each other. Ray has some history with a couple of the older guys, but beyond that? Let's just say, they do things differently, and we don't know if we can trust them. But, they have reached out and Ray won't refuse them."

"Why... I mean, have they said what's going on?" I asked. I had to know if he knew that I had overheard them. "Or what they want us to do?"

He paused, considering. "Not us, cub. You and Henry are not of age yet. But I don't know what what's going." He looked away as he said it. He always did that when he lied; like the time he didn't want to admit that he was going on a date, as if I would be upset with him. Henry had heard his Mom and Dad talking about it though, so I found out, but whenever I tried to get Dad to admit it, he would look away. As if, looking into his daughters eyes was some sort of truth serum. "They will be here tomorrow, though, so we will know more then." I nodded, trying to swallow the feeling of panic that washed over me. If Dad had to fight these wolves and something happened to him... He interrupted the thought though by moving to sit beside me on the sofa and patting my knee. "So, you and Carter are friends again now?"

I blinked up at him, confused by the sudden change of conversation. "We never really stopped being friends, we just... drifted apart." I shrugged. "Are you upset that he was here?"

He laughed at that; a real laugh, that seemed so out of place considering the seriousness of the conversation that we were just having. Then he glanced over at me, his eyes twinkling with amusement. "What year is this? 1930? I am not upset that my daughter is hanging out with a boy. Just... be careful." He winked and I blushed.

"Oh my god, Dad!" I snapped, before launching the cushion I had been hugging at his head.

*

With everything happening with the pack right now, being at school felt so unbelievably normal that it was strange. I felt more out of place than ever. I did my best to avoid Henry; I still hadn't told him about the conversation I had overheard. It still felt like the right thing to do, until I had more information. It was pointless worrying him.

I still felt so guilty, though. Throughout our entire lives, the only secret I had ever kept from Henry was the biggie... the fact that I am hopelessly in love with him. So I avoided him. Not that it was difficult. Henry was a senior, and had his own friends. Whilst he wouldn't ignore me if we passed in the halls, it wasn't like he ever intentionally sought me out. For the first time ever, I was actually grateful for the fact that we had different lives, because I wasn't sure if I could look into his eyes and lie to him, if he asked me again if I had heard anything else. And he would never forgive me, if he ever found out that I lied.

Carter was a different story entirely. We had most classes together. I sat in the furthest corner at the back of the room, as far away from everyone, and as close to the window, as I could get. It helped with my concentration, the fresh air carrying away a lot of scents of teenage bodies crammed together in one room. Carter sat somewhere in the middle; not too close to the front to appear too eager, but he was popular, and popular kids did not sit at the back of the class. That was for the loners.

When I walked into History that day though? The desk beside me, which was usually occupied by some guy who's name I actually didn't even know, was filled by the tall, muscular frame of Carter Johnson.

He smirked at me as I walked in and headed over to my desk. I shook my head in a laugh.

"What are you doing?" I asked, as I slid into my seat, setting my text books out on the table in front of me.

"Nothing... Brad asked me to switch seats with him." He shrugged, smirking. Of course Carter would know the guys name, when I had sat next to him for almost an entire semester and didn't know it. I tried not to flush at that.

I rolled my eyes, "Brad, who doesn't talk to anyone, and barely listens to the class, asked you to switch your second row seat, for his back row seat?" I asked.

Carter shrugged, "Hey, I didn't ask questions. Dude just said he couldn't stand sitting next to this weirdo in the corner and would I switch with him. I was just taking one for the team."

I feigned insult, then shook my head and giggled, turning my attention to the front of the class as the teacher walked into the room.

We didn't have the next class together, but Carter did catch up with me at lunch. I was heading out of the main doors, going on my usual walk around the grounds. I enjoyed going to school, but for a werewolf to be cooped up indoors for so long with so many people was...difficult. So, even in the thick of winter, I still had to get out for some air.

I didn't even manage to push the door open before he was beside me, that smirk on his face again, and his beanie pulled down over his ears.

"Hey," He smiled. "Fancy seeing you here."

I mock glared at him. "Strange isn't it? Almost like you followed me here."

"I am insulted by that accusation, Madison." He said, putting a hand to his chest in a dramatic showing of just how 'insulted' he was. "I happen to also enjoy risking frost bite every lunch time, so I figured, if we were going to walk around for an hour until our toes turn black and fall off, we might as well do it together."

"Now, how could a girl refuse an offer like that?" I laughed, and stepped passed him as he held open the door for me. It swung shut behind him with a bang, before he came up beside me and we fell into step together.

We walked in a comfortable silence for a while, and before long we were by the football pitch, walking the perimeter. On the far side, there was a small area of woodland, and I instinctively headed towards it. Carter didn't comment, he just followed my lead. It wasn't until the football pitch and the bleachers were out of sight, and we were under cover of the trees, that he spoke.

"So, I gotta ask." He said. "Why do you like coming out here every day? It is seriously freezing out."

I giggled. "I just enjoy being outside. You can head back if you want to."

"I didn't say that. I enjoy being with you. But I am curious though."

I glanced up at him. What would he do if I told him everything? Would he freak out? Would he think I was just making fun of him? It was just a fleeting thought though. I couldn't tell him what I was... it wasn't worth the risk. "I just have... anxiety. It helps to have a break from people, you know? Clear my head for the afternoon."

He nodded, "Yeah, I get that. I hope you don't mind me joining you?" He phrased it as a question, his voice calm, but I swore I heard his pulse quicken. Had I said something wrong?

"No, not at all." I assured him, smiling softly. "I like your company." I added, bumping him with my shoulder. He let out a low breath then, and a shy smile spread across his lips.

It was true. I really did enjoy his company. We spent the rest of lunch break wandering around the small woodland area, sometimes talking, sometimes just walking silently. But I couldn't remember ever feeling so at home with someone that wasn't in the pack since I had my first change. Because, when I had my first change and became a werewolf, everything about me, the girl, changed. And the life I had dreamed of... being a cheerleader with a boyfriend who was on the basketball team... it wasn't meant for me, not any more.

Walking with Carter for that hour though, it made me forget that I was a werewolf, and that there was man eating rogues just over the Canadian border. Right now, I was just Maddie. And, honestly? I couldn't have been happier.