Kent dismissed most of the officers, but he and Detective Treviano stayed, along with Mack, Jetta, and Caeco. At first, the girl alternated tearful hugs with her friend and mother between big mouthfuls of food. After the second plate had disappeared along with two glasses of milk, she was able to talk.
“I woke up outside… in the forest… moving on all fours,” she began. “I couldn’t figure out what had happened, but then I remembered the bite on my leg and that project we did for AP Social Studies. Remember, Marika?”
“The one about the white werewolf?” Marika asked. “We had to do a project on the disruptions to society that the supernatural revelation caused. We did ours on Stacia Reynolds, you know… the White Werewolf who is also a model?”
Mack choked on the bite of lamb he was trying, earning himself a glare from Caeco and a smirk from his sister. Manfully, he swallowed it down, nodding even as his eyes watered. “Yeah, we know her, right, Caeco?” he said.
“You know her?” Marika asked, exchanging a glance with her friend.
“These two work for Chris Gordon and Tatiana Demidova,” Chief Kent explained.
“Shut up!” Kristin said, eyes wide.
“Kristin!” her mother admonished automatically.
“Sorry, but you know what I mean,” she said. “You know them and her?”
“Yeah, we do,” Jetta said.
“So you would know her boyfriend… the Warlock?” Marika asked, starstruck.
“Declan was Mack’s roommate at the college they go to,” Caeco said, frowning a little.
“Which you will likely receive an invitation to,” Mack said to Kristin.
“What?” the girl asked astonished.
Her mother was frowning but Mack moved smoothly on. “You’re a werewolf now. No going back. Not everyone survives the virus, but you did. However, you’re going to have to learn to control yourself and the Change. It takes other wolves to do that. Dellwood is the Alpha at the school. He’ll treat you right.”
“Wait. You’re mistaken. Kristin is going to attend university in Iceland,” her mother said.
“Mack, you’re going too quick,” Caeco said. “Let’s leave that off for now. Kristin, what we really need to talk about is what happened in Robinson Woods. Do you remember anything about that?”
The excited look on Kristin’s face disappeared, immediately replaced by fear. Then her eyes turned yellow.
“Nope, nope, none of that,” Jetta said, sitting down next to the girl and wrapping an arm around her. “You are safe in your house with well-armed people here to protect you. Just take a big sniff of familiar scents and relax,” she said, then turned to Caeco. “Who’s going too fast now?”
The girl breathed deep breaths in through her nose and then settled back, although she suddenly sniffed Jetta’s hoodie. “Who is that?” she asked.
“My boyfriend, Matthew. He’s a werewolf too. Part of the pack at Arcane. So listen: We do need to ask you about the scary stuff in the forest, but you need to remember that you’re safe, Marika here is safe, your mom is safe, everything is good.” She held the girl’s eyes with her own, nodding at her until Kristin nodded back.
After a moment or two, she calmed down and looked at Chief Kent, then Marika. Grabbing her friend’s hand, she held on tightly, then began to speak.
“I heard ‘Rika, then smelled her perfume,” she said. Instantly her friend squealed and yanked on their linked hands.
“Ow, Kristin—you’re hurting me!” Marika exclaimed, pulling away.
“Oh, I didn’t mean to!” Kristin said, worry on her face as she let go.
“You’re much, much stronger now,” Jetta said. “Stronger than Mack or the chief—probably stronger than both together. Learning to control that strength is just one of your new challenges.”
Marika rubbed her hand and then reoffered it to her friend.
Tears appeared in Kristin’s eyes, which she quickly brushed away. She took a breath and continued her story, staring at her friend. “You were singing a song, and it made me excited to hear your voice, so I followed. You were almost out of the forest, onto Shore Road, and then I was sad when you were gone. But I figured you were going to the bakery, so I waited. When you came back, I followed. I saw the boys and heard what they said. It made me really, really angry. I wanted to bite them. But I wanted to follow you, ‘Rika, more. I was happy when you ran out of the woods because I knew you were safe, but then I wanted to go find the boys. But as I was headed their way, I heard yelling and some kind of a roar, only not an animal but more like a person trying to roar. By the time I got there, Lucas and Ren were dead, but I heard James running away and someone was chasing him. So I chased too.”
“Did you see him, Kristin?” Chief Kent asked, leaning close.
“No, he veered off, away from James, toward Stonegate, when James got close to Shore Road. I was going to follow him, but I followed James instead. He was in one of my classes last year and he’s not a bad kid.”
“Damn it,” Kent said. “Sorry; I was hoping you could identify him.”
“Well, I didn’t see him—but I did smell him. He was wearing an old animal fur, but I could smell his scent underneath that and all the… blood. If I smelled him again, I’m sure I’d know him,” she said, then frowned. “That sounded weird, didn’t it?”
“Nope, not where we come from,” Jetta said. “Hear it all the time.”
“Yeah, just wait till you learn to use it. You’ll even know when people are lying to you,” Mack said.
“What is Stonegate?” Caeco asked.
“It’s a road. Also the name of the development around that road,” Kent said.
“Kristin, you’ve been through a very stressful experience, but you’ve handled it unbelievably well,” Caeco said. “Once you’re rested and full of your mom’s cooking, do you
