Protected

Replacement

Lucas got back the next morning. Riley went to school to get extra tutoring for her Spanish class, and Farkle and I were hanging out with Lucas, Zay, and Josh in Lucas's kitchen. 

I was nestled in the crook of Lucas's arm, and Farkle looked more relaxed with the wolf pack than I had expected. They talked, and they were friends. 

Suddenly, all three of them, Lucas, Zay, and Josh, stiffened at exactly the same  time. 

"In the pantry, Maya now, no time, go!" Lucas whispered all of a sudden.

I knew better then to ask why. I jumped up and lodged myself in the pantry, peering through the slits to see what was going on.

Zay talked quietly to Farkle, telling him to play along with whatever happened no matter what. Josh disappeared, then reappeared with a bottle of strong men's cologne in his hand.

"Good thinking," Lucas said quietly.

I heard the front door open and close, and heavy footsteps. 

At once, the worrisome manner seemed to evaporate. They elbowed each other and laughed and talked loudly all at once.

Josh grabbed the bottle of perfume and threw it at the ground. It shattered, and I wrinkled my nose as the stench filled the room. The glittery green glass skittered across the floor, some sliding under the pantry door and resting at my feet.

A man, seven feet tall, ducked under the door frame.

The Alpha.

I didn't know how, but I just knew. He was tan and bare-cheated, his back and chest covered in grisly scars and tattoos. He had a mop of curly black hair, and his muscles bulged as he moved. A younger guy, younger then Lucas, only about ten or eleven, ducked into the room. The anger and arrogance in his eyes made him look much older. This was August, the Alpha's son. He was wearing a shirt, but even in his young age, the muscles were obviously there. He had hair like his father's, but it was brown-red.

The talking stopped immediately.

"Hello, Corey," Zay said.

"It's Matthews, to you. I don't go by my first name," he growled.

My breath caught in my throat. Matthews? But Riley's last name was Matthews. I thought it was a coincidence, but I started to notice the similarities that I didn't want to see. Around the eyes, I saw Riley. I grimaced and closed my eyes, but I quickly opened them again.

I shifted my weight again, and I stepped on a piece of glass. I whimpered, but cut myself off. Too late. August narrowed him eyes in my direction. I scrunched my hands into balls and waited to be discovered. But August seemed to get distracted again when his father started talking.

"Who's this?" Matthews asked, looking at Farkle.

"A friend of ours," Lucas said.

I was almost positive they could hear my heartbeat, with the crazy thumping it was doing, but if they did, no one showed that they heard. 

"How good a friend?" He asked, still in that unsettling growl.

"Very good," Josh assured him.

"Oh." Matthews said simply.

They he struck.

He lashed out, sinking his teeth into Farkle's neck. Farkle didn't have time to be shocked, his head simply lolled to one side pathetically. 

Matthew wiped him mouth with his arm.

"He'll have to do," he murmered. Then he and August were gone, and I heard the front door slam.

I burst out of the closet and ran to Farkle.

"Is he alive?" I shrieked.

"Yeah. For now," Zay said grimly.

"What happened? What does he mean, for now?" I screamed at Lucas. Lucas looked shocked.

"The neck," Lucas muttered, "he bit his neck. He turned him. He needed a replacement for Charlie."

I felt relieved. Farkle wasn't dead. He was going to be a werewolf. Lucas read my expression.

"Don't look so relieved," Lucas said, "They don't always survive the transformation."