Fateful Signs (Ballad of the Seer, Book Three)

Chapter 19 - Discovery

Still disappointed in himself for leaving Mrs. Bishop and Ms. Birch to deal with the guardians alone, Jack laid across the foot of his bed; he tossed a baseball up in the air, catching it as it fell. Even though they both insisted he go, he should have refused. That's what Lily would have done if it were him or his family in trouble. He felt like he had let her down, at his first chance to actually do something that would help someone other than himself.

His phone, laying on the bed beside him, buzzed. He picked it up to see why. He had a new email. He sat up, his eyes widening at seeing the name. It was something from MoonChild46. In all of his misery and self-loathing, he forgot that they were supposed to have a video chat this evening. After all this time trading emails, they were finally going to see each other in person. All he knew about MoonChild46 was that their name was Sawyer, which didn't help to discern whether it was a guy or a girl. He wasn't even sure if that was their first name. Maybe they went by their last name, like that guy on the basketball team: Sanders.

Momentarily forgetting his depression over his lack of action, Jack swiped across the screen, to read the email. Sawyer had sent him a link, with the message, I have to postpone our chat, but I thought you'd find this interesting.

Tapping on the link, a newspaper article popped up. It was from a Connecticut newspaper, dated ninety-six years ago. It was about a series of animal attacks in and around Ashland. Eleven people had been killed by some unknown animal. Though, witnesses reported seeing a large man-sized creature, described with wolf-like features. One man said he saw the thing. The paper quoted him: "It had glowing yellow eyes and a bushy tail that swished around behind it. Like a dog, or a wolf maybe. But it stood on its hind legs, and it looked like a man. That's what I thought it was until it dropped down to all fours and ran off. And it wasn't alone. There were two of them."

Jack reread the quote, barely able to comprehend that last sentence. There were two of them. How was that possible? His curse only affected one person at a time. Right? Again, he had to ask, "How the hell is that possible?"

It took him a long time to fully grasp what that meant. Either his father was wrong about the way their curse worked, or there was another family of werewolves living in or near Ashland. Of course, that didn't mean they still lived there. The article was from nearly a hundred years ago. Which would explain why he had never seen another. Although, there were several months where he had turned with no memory of what he did or where he went.

Jack was so distracted by this new information that he didn't hear his bedroom door open. He didn't register the shift in the bed as someone crept up behind him. It wasn't until a pair of arms snaked around his neck that he even knew there was anyone else in the room. He started, dropping his phone.

Dianna laughed in his ear. "That's gotta be a first." She sounded pleased that she could sneak up on him. She pulled his collar aside and kissed his neck. He closed his eyes, enjoying the feeling of her lips on his skin. It had been so long.

After that kiss yesterday, he had wondered if it would happen again. He was glad that she hadn't written him off completely after he had been such a shitty boyfriend. And he felt guilty for thinking she would cheat on him. He would do anything he could to make up for it. Even if she didn't know his thoughts, she deserved to be wooed again after how he had pushed her away.

Dianna moved around to sit on his lap, locking her arms around his neck. When her lips met his, he tasted the tart cherry flavor of her lipgloss. His hands grasped at her, pulling her closer. He allowed her to remove his shirt.

He immediately pressed his lips back to hers as soon as the shirt was discarded. She caught his bottom lip between her teeth, giving it a tug, before releasing it. The first time she did that he was surprised, but now he loved it. It was very Dianna.