Heather

I woke up on Saturday totally ready for the weekend. The sirens had gone off all night again, and I couldn’t be the only one a little on edge. My only hope was that I’d have a day blissfully free of people gawking at me or blowing my mind with crazy werewolf history or the "physics" behind magic.

A little R and R would go a long way to soothe my mental state.

I listened for people moving about the dorm, but the sweet sound of silence greeted me. The clock said it was eleven. Thank God for sleeping in. The only thing I needed to know was what to do with my day.

I peeked into Serena’s room, but she wasn’t there. I hoped she hadn’t gone somewhere too fun without me. What did people do on the weekend here anyway?

I threw on some clothes and grabbed a pair of cotton jersey gloves before heading down to the cafeteria. Adrian and Xander sat at the pristine replacement of our usual table. A few guys in all black were scattered around the room, but other than that it was nearly empty, my lucky day.

Xander reclined with his feet on the table. "How’s it going?"

"Okay." I ate a bite of my omelet. At least the food was good. It would seriously suck if I had to eat the typical nasty school food by the truckload. "What are you guys up to?"

"Just hanging out," Adrian said. "Thinking about catching a movie."

I waited for a "want to come" but got an uncomfortable silence instead. Adrian squirmed as I stared him down. Why were they being distant all of a sudden?

Xander grabbed my hand. "We’d take you if we could. But we can’t."

"Oh, that’s okay. I’m sure you guys want time to do guy stuff or something. I’m sure Serena is around somewhere."

The guys shared a look.

"You guys are totally acting weird. What’s going on?"

"Don’t be upset," Adrian said. "Serena and Leslie went shopping."

That totally blew. I’d been dying to get off campus. The fence had been majorly creeping in on me the past few days. Maybe I’d just take my car and go for a drive. Grab some pizza and read a book.

Xander cleared his throat. "Look. You can’t leave."

"What!" Now I was pissed.

Adrian raised an eyebrow. "You can’t leave campus."

That irked me. Why was I just now hearing about this so what I’m a what, I’m a prisoner?" These boys were driving me nuts. "I really wish everyone would stop beating around the bush and just tell me what the hell I need to know."

A scuffle came from under the table. Xander groaned as Adrian’s foot made contact.

"You’re not in control yet," Adrian said. "Until you get a handle on your wolf, you can’t leave campus."

That was bullshit. "I’d never hurt anyone."

"Think about the past few days," Xander said. "You’ve been all over the place. We don’t know what could happen, and if you were honest with yourself, you’d know it’s true."

His words stung more than they should have. Even if they were a little right. I had a bit of an adjustment problem. It should be completely understandable, but I shouldn’t be punished for it.

I pushed back from the table. "Got it. Thank you for telling me." They called to me, but I didn’t stop. I had to find Mr. Langdon.

As I got closer to his cabin, I heard people yelling. I moved up the porch steps as quietly as I could. I leaned my ear close to the door.

"—completely out of control," Mr. Langdon said. "If he’s—"

"We need proof," Sebastian said, his German accent thick with frustration. "Real proof! We cannot go to the rest of the Seven with your word."

"We’re being attacked every night. The guys can’t keep this up indefinitely. We have to find out what Rupert’s planned before he destroys us," Presley said, his voice a low growl. "I’ll read him—"

"Not going to happen. If we don’t have proof, bringing him in will rip us apart. We’re already divided, nearly evenly." Donovan’s Irish lilt came through the door. "We cannot afford to be wrong. If ya—"

I took a step closer to the door. The board squeaked.

"Wait. We have a visitor." The door swung open to reveal Mr. Langdon’s angry glare. "Is there something I can help you with?"

Yes. I want you to continue talking so I can finish eavesdropping. But I couldn’t say that. "Uuuh... I want to go to the movies with Xander and Adrian."

"You’ve got superb timing, my dear. Talk to her, Presley." Sebastian clapped Mr. Langdon on the back as he walked out the door with Donovan. "I think you need to calm down a bit before we continue this."

Well that didn’t go as planned. "I’ll be with the guys. I won’t hurt anyone."

Mr. Langdon stepped into his tiny kitchen. "Would you like a cup of tea?" he asked, but he didn’t wait for my answer. His movements were jerky as he opened a cupboard and filled a dented metal kettle.

I took a seat in his breakfast nook. I didn’t think of Mr. Langdon as a tea type. More like coffee or beer. He slammed the kettle onto the stove and switched the gas on.

No wonder the damned thing was dented.

He set a mug and tea bag in front of me. When the kettle whistled, he joined me at the table and poured the water.

I cleared my throat. "So I was right about Mr. Hoel? He’s planning something big, right?"

"You’re more trouble than I thought." I opened my mouth to ask another question but he shook his head. "You’ve got more than enough on your plate with everything else going on. I’m handling this." He took a sip of his tea. "Or trying to," he said under his breath.

I crossed my arms. "I can handle it."

"I’m sure you could, pup."

I’d have to figure out more about Mr. Hoel when Serena got back from her shopping exposition. Which brought me back to why I was there to see Mr. Langdon in the first place. "Why can’t I leave campus?"

"Because you won’t be ready to be around humans until you’ve embraced your wolf."

"I’d never—"

He held up a hand. "Don’t make promises that you might not be able to keep. It’s going to be a hard transition—"

"It is hard. Nothing ’going to be’ about it."

His mouth curved into a smile. "It is hard. I know you don’t want to hear it, but this will—"

"Take time," I finished for him. I was exhausted from how many times I’d heard that lately. "I could just take my car and hit the road."

He lifted an eyebrow.

Right. Probably a bad idea. Especially now that I’d brought it up. "How long till I can do normal stuff?"

"That’s entirely up to you. It could be tomorrow. It could be a year from now. I’d love to give you a firm date, but I can’t."

Fan-freaking-tastic. "Is there anything I can do to change your mind? I’m only asking for a couple of hours off campus. And I’d be with Adrian and Xander. They wouldn’t let—"

"No."

"This is totally unfair." I rolled my eyes at my own cliché. I should be ashamed of myself. I sounded like a petulant teen.

His smile deepened, showing his teeth. "Every werewolf has gone through the same restrictions. That’s why they come to this school."

That made me feel mildly better. "How long does it usually take? Give me a ballpark here."

He shrugged. "You’re at one with your wolf when you’re at one with your wolf."

Great. That wasn’t vague at all. "A girl could get mighty bored on campus 24-7. I can’t be held responsible for what I might do."

He chuckled. "There’s plenty of studying for you to catch up on."

I gave him an even stare. I finally had friends to go out and do stuff with, and I wasn’t about to waste my time twiddling my thumbs around campus.

"Here’s the deal. You do some learning and try to adjust to the wolf today, and if you’ve improved at all, we’ll see what we can do about tomorrow."

"A surprise?"

He nodded.

"An off-campus surprise?"

"Not sure. We’ll have to see." Mr. Langdon went to the small wooden bookcase and pulled a thin hardback from the middle shelf. "Read this. I’ll be back in a bit and we’ll talk about whatever you have questions about. Okay?"

I glanced down at the cover. A Werewolf’s Bible stared back at me. "I’ve got one of these."

"Oh, so you’ve read it?" He said it in a higher pitch than his normal voice. The guy knew perfectly well I hadn’t read it.

"No, but—"

"Read." He strode to the door. "I’ll be back in an hour."

I was stubborn only for a little bit. I sipped my tea slowly. Mr. Langdon was insane for drinking hot tea when it was a million degrees outside.

I braced myself for the visions that would come. When the first wave of them was over, I began to read. I hadn’t finished the first Chapter before the door slammed open.

"What are you doing here?" Brent stomped over to me, his eyes a bright shade of amber. He was pissed and looking like a crazy-man.