Wolven

9. the unmistakable scent of blood

"So... are you going to tell us what's going on?" Nova demanded from behind me.

The water was a lot colder the second time I got in. Jade's lips were still fresh on mine, but the stares of my friends was not encouraging. My jaw clenched in an effort to control how unbelievable pissed off I was at everyone in the water with me.

"I like her," I said to their reflections. "I think she's a good person."

"But she's not your girlfriend," Jag mused, his eyes narrowed in thoughts.

"No," I murmured. "Not yet. This is our first date. Was. Was our first date. Before you assholes."

"Hey, man, don't blame us," Flint snorted, sinking deeper into the water. "Opal said she caught you two walking along the woods and that we should go crash your date. She's got her head on right, at least."

"How does me seeing a girl mean I don't have my head on right?" I demanded. I saw Rowan and Nova exchange a glance.

"She's not a wolf, Clay," Rowan murmured. I looked over at him, trying not to frown. "It would be great and fine if she were a wolf we could bring into the ring, but she isn't. She wouldn't fit in as a human. You have to think of the pack."

"I am thinking of the pack," I snapped at him. "How many packmates have we lost in the past two years? Five? Six?"

"Seven," Nova said definitively, her limbs hidden in the old shirt she was wearing over her swimsuit. She looked like a paper bag stuck on the rock with a head sticking out, and her expression was just as inanimate. "Seven dead. One way or another."

In the water, the guppies swam back and forth between my legs. Any time I moved too quickly, they vanished in a rush to somewhere unseen, only daring to return once the coast seemed to be clear. But the coast was never clear. How easy would it be to chase one of those empty-headed guppies right down my throat?

"I could turn her," I said. The silence that followed was more than just a lack of words. It was complete shock. "Our ring is already so small, and we could use all the fresh blood we can get."

"Are you joking?" Jag asked, leaning forward. I shook my head, bringing my gaze up to meet his. "You're not joking. Clay. That's dangerous. That's so dangerous. You could endanger the whole pack if you do that. Just telling her we're wolves could put the entire pack in danger."

"Again," Nova emphasized.

"What would make you want to do that, Clay?" Rowan asked. His response wasn't nearly as incredulous as Jag's; it was more curiosity than anything. "Why does it have to be her? There are other options."

"Who?" Coal spoke up. All eyes turned to him, sitting over Rowans shoulder with his feet in the water. "If Clay wanted someone, don't you think he would have chosen them already? If Clay wants to bring in a new name to the pack, why should we stop him?"

More silence. And then,

"We wouldn't be the ones to stop him," Nova muttered. "I don't think that your parents would be all that fond of Clay turning a human."

"Clay, you're our Alpha," Flint said, thrusting his knuckles against my shoulder. There was a smile on his face. "We'll follow you to the end, we will." He pursed his lips. "But while we're still living under our parent's laws, we don't have a whole lot of control over that stuff. There are still rules we have to follow."

"Rules or not," Coal spoke up again. "We already have our council members. We're almost all eighteen now. And..." he hesitated, looking around the pool. "We may not be as many as we used to be, but we're still enough to make our own pack." Not a single person in the pool looked entirely convinced of this. "It's only a matter of time. I think if Clay is ready to pick a mate, it should be someone he cares about." He gave a shrug, his gaze fixed on the trees overhead. "And it's pretty clear he cares about Jade."