Accused (Hunted book 2)

Chapter 17

It hadn't occurred to me at the time, but Riley had told me that the base was locked up unless it was a full moon and there were werewolves to kill. The space was bustling with activity and there were hunters everywhere, preparing to go out. I had completely forgotten that there would be a full moon that night. It would be our last full moon in Myers Harbour if I couldn't get them to let us stay. And the way they were looking at me, it didn't seem very likely.

Mandy hadn't pulled me inside or told me to leave. Instead, she had disappeared inside and reappeared with a bunch of my classmates.

"What do you want, Charlie?" Sasha sighed.

"I just want to talk," I said.

Bree rolled her eyes at me. "You have literally the worst timing ever."

I tried to lean around them. "Is there someone else I could talk to? This is really important."

"What do you need to talk about?" Riley asked.

"About the blackmail."

They all stared at me.

"Blackmail?" Sasha raised her eyebrows.

I nodded. "Someone told Derek they have proof that werewolves exist and they want to tell the world."

More staring.

"That would be the stupidest thing ever. People would freak out," said Bree.

"Yeah." Mandy nodded. "If we were going to tell anyone, we would have told the rest of town years ago."

I frowned. "So it wasn't you guys?"

They shook their heads. "No."

Ryan walked over then. He hadn't come with the rest of the group. "What's going on?" Then he saw me. He was about to shout something when Bree clamped her hand over his mouth.

"Ryan, do you know anything about going public about werewolves?" Bree asked. She let go of him so that he could answer.

He shook his head. "No. Don't tell me someone's going to. No one would do that unless they wanted society to implode."

I let out a small sigh of relief.

Ryan glared at me. "You might want to get a head start. I'm in a bad mood today."

"Aww, still can't get the phone unlocked?" I said mockingly.

Ryan clenched his fists and took a step forward.

Lachlan held him back. "Dude, relax."

"So you didn't threaten to expose us?" I clarified.

"No." They shook their heads again.

My brows knit together. "But it was you guys trying to get us out of town, right?"

"Yes. Your wolf buddy killed someone," Bree said. The others' expressions grew stony upon being reminded of this.

"We're not going to tell anyone," Mandy explained. "But if you don't leave, we will kill you."

And that was it. They stared at me some more but no one else spoke. I backed slowly away.

Ryan was indignant. "We're just going to let her leave?"

"It's okay. We'll get her tonight," Bree consoled him.

I ran off into the trees without looking back. They were going to get me.

~

I decided to meet Derek and the others after the moon rose. I didn't need to sit and wait with them beforehand; it was stressful.

I had barely turned when shots rang out. No one was shooting at me, so they must have been aiming at someone else. I darted through the trees until I found them. Cole and Kahn were unconscious on the ground. They were already in wolf form and had been shot with multiple bullets each.