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“Hey,” he greeted. “What are you guys doing here?”
“I need you and your team’s help. I need the Nightstalkers,” I declared. “Don’t worry, it’s not about homework.”
Cole must’ve sensed the urgency in my voice. His smile vanished when he asked, “Is this about Rainer?”
“There’s a pack of werewolves planning on attacking the school on prom night,” I said simply. “Rainer, not surprisingly, is the lead.”
Cole’s face turned pale. Without another word, he led Aera and I into the lounge where the other Nightstalkers mingled with their knives and arrows. Cole held up a hand to keep us in place as he gathered all the boys into a close group.
After explaining the news to them, the cold glares from the people who used to be my enemies seared through me.
“I’m sorry, what? You want us to help yourwerewolfcousin who thinks there will be a massacre during prom?” Jian, the fair-skinned leader with a man bun, said, tossing his knife in the air and catching it again. “Why would I believe that? He’s one of the bad ones,” he added as he and ten others spread apart to gather around me.
Cole gave me a quick glance, as if he was sorry that Keith’s discovery of our secret identities had already been revealed with the rest of his teammates without my knowledge. Although, at this point, I didn’t even care anymore.
“He’s one of thegoodones,” Cole came to my defense. “Jian, you trust me. You kept me in your gang even after finding out about me. And even if you don’t trust me enough to trust him, are you willing to risk innocent lives?” When the stony faces of the hunters didn’t change, he added, “You can always kill him after prom, if what he’s saying doesn’t come true. It’s not like he’ll stop being a werewolf.”
“Cole, you’ve proven yourself trustworthy. Sadly, being trustworthy is not a particular characteristic that runs in the family. And in case you haven’t noticed yet, your cousin is glaring at me as if he wants to kill me.” Jian caught me doing something I didn’t even realize I had been doing since I entered his territory.
After shoving his knife into his boot, he crossed his inked arms, showing off the snake around them, deadly and poised to kill. Despite his intimidating appearance, I found him to be more relaxed than anything. Maybe it was the way he talked; it showed no true sign of urgency despite the bad news I brought to his team.
“That’s just how he normally looks,” Cole explained. I appreciated him trying, really. My cousin—born impatient and rude—was now but a selfless and kindhearted soft boy who called my scowling face normal to save my ass.
Jian frowned. “You.” He pointed at me. “Aren’t you the deranged werewolf who accused our Keith of killing that werewolf chick?”
“No,” I recoiled with disgust. “That was Rainer de Luca.”
“Then who the hell are you?” Jian sized me up.
“That’s Kryssy’s ex-boyfriend with his new girlfriend,” the fat guy next to Jian whispered something into his ear, as if I couldn’t hear them. “He’s popular.”
“Ah, so a playboyandthe second-best deranged werewolf?” Jian asked out loud. “I don’t think he’s that popular. I don’t even know him. And even if he is, popularity is not a metric of his trustworthiness.”
“My name is Gray, and this is Aera. Now cut the hostility,” I growled. “I’m on your side.”
Jian cocked his head to the side, not convinced. “Prove it,” he hissed.
“Enough, Ji,” Keith cut in, coming to my rescue. “What’s done is done.”
“Is it?” I asked.
“Yes, it is, and it was just a huge misunderstanding. It’s true that I was there when your friend, Willa, died,” Keith said, “but I didn’t even know she was a werewolf. I was helping her look for her missing necklace.”
I crossed my arms, slowly piecing it together, bit by bit.
“Then someone from behind us shot her. It was a woman. Before you ask, I only saw half of her face, so I have no idea who it was.” Keith’s voice was steady, his pulse almost as smooth as an accomplished liar. It was impossible for me to tell which part of what he said was the falsehood, but his heartbeat gave away that at least something was less than one hundred percent accurate. “But I can assure you, she’s one hell of a hunter.” His eyes wandered through all of us, falling on Aera, and lingered for a little too long, diverting me from my previous thought.
I bit down hard, draping an arm around Aera’s shoulders and shooting Keith a seething look, one I didn’t bother to hide. “We have a bigger problem,” I said through clenched teeth, pushing down my irritation.
“Bigger than your hair?” Jian snickered.
I felt Cole beside me rolling his eyes as he sighed. I turned to him, whispering under my breath, quiet enough for only werewolves to hear, “I don’t like him.”
Cole chuckled. “That’s the notorious Jian Yu for you. He’s not the best company, I admit.”
I turned back to the group.
They all stared at me.
