The following day, I found a note laying on our front stoop.
On the outside of the folded white paper was typed in black, bold letters, Celeste.
I opened the note and read:
Ryder and brood left town. Meet me at dusk at the foot of Morrow Bridge to celebrate.I texted Brandon:
I'm on my way.
The Morrow Bridge was only a few miles from where I lived. My mom had the car, so I took my bike. I headed down my street and out of our community. I walked my bike across the two-lane street and then pushed it between a barrier and overgrown brush to the gravel pit. I raced around the gravel pit to the bike trail. Once on the bike trail, I pedaled north, noticing the Little River that ran alongside me. My surroundings were so beautiful, and I couldn't wait to meet Brandon. I finally raced over a rusty bridge and stopped at the foot of it. I didn't see my boyfriend anywhere.
I waited for a few moments as the sun set and the full moon shone.
Then I heard Sinatra singing, "Fly Me to the Moon."
I quickly picked it up.
"Where are you?" Brandon asked.
"At the foot of the Morrow Bridge. Just like you asked."
He paused. "I didn't ask you to meet me there," he said.
"I don't understand. You put the note in my mailbox."
"I didn't leave you any note," Brandon said. "I'm waiting for you at my house."
I froze. "Then who am I meeting?" I asked, my voice shaking.
Ryder, in werewolf form, stepped out from behind a dilapidated shack a few yards away.
"I was hoping you'd come," he said seductively.
Ryder was hot - no doubt about it. His jagged black hair was fiercely untamed and fell over his defined shoulders. His arms were beefy, and his tattoos stretched out in monstrous forms. His earrings popped out from underneath his long locks like spikes.
I stood, immobilized. I couldn't breathe. It was like the first time I was lost in the woods, looking into the gray eyes of a hungry pack of wolves. I didn't have Brandon, Nash, my friends, or even a festival crowd to hide behind or give me comfort. My pulse skyrocketed, and I knew I'd have to run for my life.
I turned to escape and head back on the bridge, but I stopped in my tracks. Leopold was waiting on the other side. He appeared menacing as well. His stance was bold and threatening.
"Please help me," I said into the phone. "Ryder and his pack are here. I don't feel safe."
"I'm on my way," Brandon said.
I hung up and slid the phone into my pocket.
I spun around and hopped on my bike. I began to head to the right of where Ryder was standing. But when I pedaled to what I thought was woods, I saw rushing water between the trees. I should have known. There was the river.
I looked back at him.
"I need you, Celeste." His voice was smooth, but I sensed he was cold and calculating.
"No you don't," I reassured him.
"Yes I do. I don't want to be alone forever." His wolf fangs glistened as he spoke.
"Who says that will happen to you? Just because you don't have a girlfriend now..."
"But I'm not going to change - I mean, my condition...This is who I am. And what girl in their right mind would fall in love with a werewolf?"
I paused. He knew that I loved Brandon, and now he knew Brandon was a werewolf, too.
"That's why you are the perfect girl for me." He gazed at me with sorrowful eyes. I felt so much intensity coming from him. I felt dizzy.
He pulled me in to him and before I knew it I was on the other end of his lips. He was magnetic and his fingers slid softly through my hair. For a moment, I felt as if I were kissing Brandon. But then I caught a glimpse of his black locks and was shocked back into reality. I realized that this wasn't my boyfriend, and I pushed myself away. I wiped off my lips and spat.
"Why did you do that?" I asked, horrified.
"Because I've been searching for you - " He grinned a wolflike grin.
"Forget it. You'll have to find someone else."
"No, it's you. You are everything I'm looking for. Beautiful, sweet, kind, feisty. Those are all the traits that I want in someone. And I need someone to be with. We all do. Someone like me - and you are that girl."
It was nice to hear those compliments, even from someone as reckless as Ryder. But I wasn't about to get caught up in his seduction again. "I'm nothing like you. You're rude. Pathetic."
"Oh, Celeste, I was just acting. You think I'm really rude? I'm a gentleman."
"A gentleman wouldn't trick a girl into meeting him or into becoming a werewolf."
"I wanted to get to know you. Perhaps I went about it the wrong way. But we are here now, and the moonlight is so beautiful."
"There is nothing beautiful about tonight," I said.
He snarled.
"I'm sure there is a girl for you, Ryder. Someone who will love you. But you can't force someone the way you're trying with me."
"No one will love me the way that I am. I'm a monster - don't you see? So are my friends. What chance do we have? I need someone like you." Ryder was as genuine as I'd ever seen him. Yet I wasn't sure why he was interested in me.
"I don't know what you mean."
"You are so compassionate and understanding. I need a girl like you. Someone who can take care of me - like I take care of her."
"You can't take care of anyone when you scare someone," I said. "Just be yourself. But be a kinder self. You made enemies with Brandon, and you've frightened me and my friends. If you want someone kind, then you have to show up and be kind, too."
His friends crept over and surrounded us.
Ryder came toward me again. He was dangerous and wild. His wolf fangs gleamed near me. There was no escape. I was inches away from being bitten.
I held out my arm to block him. I knew I'd kick him if I had to. But then I thought my words might be more of a deterrent.
"I know how to help you," I said. "And this isn't the way."
"I'm sure you do," he said, not understanding me.
"I have a cure. That's what you really want, Ryder. Not to be with me - but to be yourself. Yourselves, all of you."
"What kind of cure?" Leopold asked.
Hunter's steely gray eyes brightened. "You can get us a cure?"
"She's lying!" Ryder shouted, grabbing my arm and pulling me away from them.
"What if she isn't?" Hunter asked.
"Yes," Leopold said.
"She has to be. If she had a cure, why wouldn't Brandon have taken it?" he asked.
"Because he gave his dose to Nash," I said, "so he could be cured. And it worked for Nash!"
"Who is Nash?" Hunter asked.
"That guy who won the werewolf contest last night at the fest. He used to be a werewolf."
Ryder squeezed my arm tightly.
"You're hurting me!" I shouted.
"Don't - " Leopold said. "She can help us!"
"Yes, let her go!" Hunter insisted.
"I don't care if you are a werewolf," I said. "I'll defend myself if I have to."
"You can't touch me," Ryder growled.
"I can if I have a cure that you never get. I can make sure that you'll be like this forever." Ryder didn't budge.
"I'll give it to you, Leopold," I said. "All you have to do is help free me."
"You better let her go, Ryder." Leopold stepped in close, flashing his fangs at his friend.
"Yes," Hunter added. "I don't want to stay like this forever just so you can have a girlfriend."
All at once a fierce howl came from within the woods behind us. A pack of wolves rushed out and headed straight for us. I covered my face out of fear, then realized they were barking at Ryder and his gang.
Ryder let go of me and growled at the wolves, but they didn't retreat. He stared at them and flashed his fangs, but nothing he did worked to calm them down. They were ready to attack.
I felt a rush of air pass by me, and all of sudden Brandon had pushed Ryder away from me and pulled me out of harm's way. I was so relieved to have Brandon here, I hugged him with all my might.
"Are you okay?" he asked.
I nodded, so grateful my heroic boyfriend was holding me.
The wolves continued to growl at Ryder.
"Call them off," he said.
Brandon got in Ryder's face. "You are a menace as a werewolf and a human. There is no separation between monster and man except those fangs."
Ryder seemed truly hurt by Brandon's comments. I guessed that was what Ryder feared - that he really was unlovable.
"But it's not the way you look now," Brandon went on. "It's the way you act - always."
Ryder's hurt morphed into anger. His gray eyes grew red with rage.
"You don't know anything about me - " Ryder said.
"You know I do," Brandon challenged back.
"I beat you before, and I can do it again - "
"Not this time," Brandon said.
The wolves crept closer and snarled as if they were ready to kill.
"You need your dogs to do your dirty work," Ryder jabbed.
"And you need a hockey stick to fight dirty," he said, referring to the championship game when Ryder had attacked him. "And now a gang of werewolves to get you a date. I'm not worried."
Brandon whistled, and the wolves retreated. He stepped closer to Ryder. "Now what are you going to do?"
Ryder looked to his friends, but they didn't budge. Instead, they backed off and stepped away from us.
"She said something about a cure - " Leopold said.
"Yes," Hunter said.
"Quit whining," Ryder said, "and help me."
"But we want her to help us...." Leopold said.
"Forget that, you jerks, jump them!"
But Ryder wasn't able to command his pack as easily as Brandon was his.
"It was something she said - " Leopold appeared saddened that what I told him might not be true.
"We were hoping...." Hunter added.
"It's true," Brandon said to them.
They both perked up. "Are you kidding? You have something to make us human again? All the time?"
He nodded.
They stepped between Ryder and Brandon.
"Hey - " Ryder said. "What are you doing?"
"Exactly what we should have done before," Leopold said. "Finding a new pack leader."
Hunter held Ryder at bay.
"I have to tell you, there's a chance the cure can backfire," Brandon said sincerely, "and you could end up a werewolf full-time."
"It's a chance I have to take," Leopold said.
"Me, too!" Hunter demanded.
"What do I do?" Leopold asked hurriedly.
The two eager werewolves hovered around Brandon as he grabbed the vial from out of his pocket.
"I only have one vial," Brandon said. "But the dose is strong."
"We'll share?" Leopold asked.
Brandon nodded. Then he uncorked the vial and handed it to Leopold.
I admired my boyfriend, who was so gracious to give his cure over to his enemies for the chance of making them well.
Leopold took a sip and handed the vial back to Brandon.
Nothing happened.
"I'm going to be like this forever?" Leopold asked nervously. He grew so upset he balled up his fists in frustration. I feared he was going to take off into the woods in despair.
"It's okay," I reassured him. "It takes some time."
"Like how long?" he asked worriedly. "What will happen?"
"You just have to be patient," I said.
"You are just fooling me - maybe what you gave me was poison!"
He began to lunge toward Brandon, but Brandon stepped back before Leopold made contact.
"Just relax," I said to Leopold. I went to him, and his gray eyes tensed in surprise that I'd approached him. I took his hand. He suddenly mellowed. "It's okay," I said. "We are here with you. You aren't alone. It takes a few minutes to affect your body. But we won't leave your side."
Leopold softened; I could feel his tense hand relax.
Then the hairs on his chest began to disappear. One by one. And his beard became shorter and then was gone. His fangs receded and his steely gray eyes turned hazel.
"It worked!" he said, laughing with relief. "It worked!"
"Let me have it," Hunter exclaimed. "It's my turn."
Brandon handed him the vial, and he took a sip.
Hunter tried to remain calm. But he kept checking his chest and arms to see if any hair disappeared.
"It takes time," Leopold assured him.
"I know, I know." He breathed in deeply to calm himself. "But it feels like a lifetime."
"This is all your fault," Leopold said to Ryder. "If you hadn't asked us to sneak into that wolf sanctuary, none of this would have happened."
"Don't blame me - " Ryder said. He was standing a few feet away from us, watching what was transpiring with his friends.
"I do blame you," Hunter said. "If this doesn't work, you'll be the one who needs a sanctuary." Hunter snarled at his former friend as the hairs began to fall off his chest and arms and his biceps returned to their normal size. He flashed a toothy smile and high-fived Leopold.
"Thank you," Hunter said to Brandon as he handed back the vial. "I owe my life to you, man." He shook Brandon's hand and hugged him, like they were players on the ice after a game. Leopold did the same as they were taken with delight in their sudden normalcy.
There was only one sip left. I could see in Ryder's eyes how he craved to take it.
But there was also Brandon, who had been waiting so long to be cured himself.
I didn't know what would happen next. I turned to Brandon, hoping he'd take it, but he didn't move. Instead, he stared empathetically at his last foe.
Brandon extended the vial to Ryder.
Ryder paused for a moment. He looked at Brandon, who was handing him an olive branch.
"I can't believe you'd give me your last dose," Ryder said. "After all we've been through - "
Brandon half smiled. "Go on already."
I, too, felt touched by the magnitude of the situation. Everyone was going to have a chance to be cured - everyone but Brandon. At this point, he was going to remain a werewolf.
Ryder appeared relieved by the vial of serum and all that it could offer him. He examined it and looked around at all of us. He held it up to make a toast. "Here's to normality." Then he took the last sip.
Nothing happened.
"It's okay," I said. "You have to wait."
But when two minutes turned into three, then four, then five, we all were saddened.
"It's all right - don't panic," Brandon said. "I can call my dad. He can work on another serum."
Ryder was so furious, he let out a ferocious howl. He hadn't been cured. He took off into the woods as we all stood still, saddened by his fate.
"I know he can be cured, too," Brandon said. "If only he would wait."
Hunter and Leopold walked over the bridge with us.
"You were right," Leopold said. "That angry werewolf is who Ryder has always been, even by daylight. Now he just has longer hair."