Out of darkness comes a deeper than darkness. It resolves into Wilhelm's form.
'Alpha,' he says in greeting.
I duck into my parents' dark bedroom, out of the corridor's light. 'What are you doing here?' I whisper furiously. 'This is my house!'
Wilhelm looks around, his red eyes—a bloodier shade than Mason's or that of any other werewolf's I know for that matter—study his location. 'It would seem so,' he simply responds.
If every vampire was this frustrating, I can see why werewolves would want to murder them; because I want to wring Wilhelm's neck. 'My parents are home!' I groan. 'We are celebrating mom's promotion.'
'That's a good thing—I think,' Wilhelm responds, whispering too.
'Are you dumber today? How should I explain your presence to my parents in their bedroom?'
Wilhelm starts to speak, at the same time that my brother, Toby, heads towards us. 'Can you just leave?' I whisper quickly. 'Lauren is looking for you, and I really don't want her to track you here.
'Oh, and you can also make yourself useful and find me a Dr Simone,' I spit.
Wilhelm blinks, which is uncharacteristic of a vampire. 'Dr Simone?'
I merely fling an hastily constructed telepathic explanation towards him as Toby reaches the door. My brother trudges in a few steps and looks around. He is scared of the dark, seeming to want to bolt, but notices me in the dark room.
'C—laire?' He calls in relief.
Wilhelm is gone. I rush to Toby. 'I am here,' I say, leading him out of the room. Had I simply just imagined Wilhelm licking his lips when Toby's tiny fingers touched the edge of the door, before I cast my eyes from the vanishing vampire to look at my brother?
Anger and dread well up together in my head. I lead Toby back to the dining room where mom and dad are still eating their lasagna. Having helped Toby into his chair, I go around to mine.
Dad raises his scarlet glass of wine, proposing a toast, 'To werewolves!' He says.
Mom and I, having reached for our glasses, simply stall at his bizarre words. I am still but my heart is roaring in my ears. Dad can't know, can he?
'Sorry. Slip of tongue or something. I don't know why I said that,' dad apologizes, genuinely consternated; but he continues, only slower, 'I wanted to say, "To my wife, mother of my children and joy of my life. Congratulations on your promotion, honey." '
'Thank you,' mom laughs and we sip from our glasses. Belatedly, Toby raises his cup of fruit juice to his lips, imitating us.
As I take a long drag from my glass, I stare over its rim at my parents, from one to the other as they chat happily at dinner, a mix of intercontinental dishes ordered from a restaurant. Something is going on. I stab my sushi with a fork and inspect it. Definitely fishy.
The night grows but I can't sleep. My head is abuzz. It's a few days from the full moon when I need to go running through the woods with my pack. I should be looking forward to that, the euphoria, the high that the run brings. But I am just worried that something is subtly off.
Dad is asleep in mom's embrace, his waist encircled by one of her legs. Apparently, sleep can't keep her from being possessive.
Am I keeping watch over my home for the possible event of Wilhelm's return? If he does, what am I going to do? My infrared vision is especially trained on Toby's room. His body heat is like a mountain of magma between his sheets. I wonder if I'll be able to detect Wilhelm's presence easily, the cold-blooded corpse that he is. Maybe I have a better chance searching for the appearance of another mind than for a vampire's heat signature.
My encounter with Wilhelm in my parents' room comes to me, playing ceaselessly in my head. He called me Alpha. Bugger.
Unable to sleep, my mind wanders. Literally. Phil is working late at the factory miles from town. Seamus and Sebastian are having fun at a party. Sebastian is flirting with dark-skinned Ayisha inside the pool. She is pretty in a bikini, and he is in the mood. Seamus, at the bar, mixes two drinks but adds roofies to one. He is going to drug one of the girls.
Bent on wrecking their night, I keep my telepathy on the boys. Seamus makes his way around the pool, raising a glass to Sebastian as he walks inside the house. Sebastian waves back. The music is deafening inside, and I'm grateful that I am not there physically for my ears to pick up the sounds directly.
Seamus meets Kat, offers her the drink as they chitchat. She declines, for she has a minimalist view to taking alcohol. It is good that she takes only one glass of it at any party, since Seamus' gin and tonic will prove a glass too many for any girl. Except she is a werewolf like Alicia and me.
Notwithstanding, I'm a little impressed that Seamus doesn't force the issue. He expertly extricates himself from talking with Kat. Wading through the bodies, he looks around under flashes of the disco ball for another girl who catches his fancy.
Enter Joana, the girl who told me I wasn't all that pretty. With alcohol-induced confidence, she walks up to Seamus, puts her arm across his shoulders and shouts haltingly, 'What's. Up. Love?'
Initially surprised, Seamus glares at her like she is a pest. I can feel Joana's head: it's feather-light with all the inhibitions gone. She has had a cup too many already; Seamus' spiked glass will be a knockout to next week.
When Seamus' thought patterns change, I sit up from bed in alarm. He stirs Joana away from where eyes can catch their scent, making sure that it doesn't seem like they are really together. Joana isn't Seamus type of girl, barely round-chested and boyish-looking and all that, though her hair could rival Rapunzel's.
Seamus has decided not to approach any more of the pretty girls who are the cynosure of eyes at the party, but to go with Joana, one of the invisible, insecure ones. Yet, he can't wait to have his way with Joana, for there is an advantage to this choice.
A virgin is on the menu tonight.