TWENTY-SEVEN | STRIKE TWO

The moment we leave the gym, I smell it. Sickly sweet, thick, and metallic.

*Blood*. My vision goes red and I have to physically brace myself as the smell of blood fills my nostrils. I have to physically stop as the throb in my head becomes a sledgehammer and my lungs catch fire. My knees give out beneath me and I'm clawing at the ground as pain ricochets through my bones. I make a choking sound, unable to draw breath.

"Red? Hey, what's wrong?" Blue's kneeling beside me, eyes frantic and wide as hey search my face. But he's doused in crimson. The sound of his wildly racing heart fills my ears and my mouth begins to water. Sweet and piney, the smell that comes off of him is almost irresistible. Pain lances through my bottom lip and my mouth suddenly feels too full. "*Scarlett*?"

I swallow hard, hearing my name somehow snaps me out of the trance.

"*This way*." I lisp, my *s*'s coming out too harsh, voice cloyingly sugary and melodic. I'm back on my feet, moving towards the scent of fresh blood in the air. An iron-like smell with pine and ice. Caly.

My pace quickens as we leave the back of the school. The halls are dark, no windows are visible in this part of the building - near the kitchen portion of the cafeteria. Normally, the doors to the kitchen are locked so students can't just wander in, but the double doors are wide open. The scent becomes stronger as we pass through the doorway. I follow the aroma all the way to the doors of the deep freezer and stop in front of the stainless-steel surface.

The latch has been broken off, like someone was trying to lock the thing. I let out a frustrated hiss and jam my hand at the twisted metal.

"Red, what the hell do you think you're doing?" Blue yelps in surprise, trying to stop me as my flesh gets shredded by the jagged edges.

"We need to get it open!" I try to explain around the too-large canines in my mouth. Blue frowns at me and lets out a growl before leaving me to search for something to help me pry the door open.

While he searches, I reach through the mesh and try to fix enough of the mechanism to manually open the door. There's a certain painlessness in my body, aside from the aching in my lungs and throat. I watch as my hand gets torn to bloody ribbons, but feel nothing but pressure. Not to mention an added strength and nimbleness in my body that wasn't there before. The metal acts like tin-foil, and I find I'm just making the situation worse by screwing up the locking mechanism.

"Move over," Blue suddenly comes over with something that looks like an icepick and a mallet. He nudges me out of the way when I don't immediately comply and kneels in front of the door. His body hides whatever it is he does with the two tools, but moments later, the door gives a groan as he pries it open.

The smell becomes overwhelming and I fall to my knees as the intoxicating bouquet of blood tries to rob me of my sanity. The ache in my throat intensifies, and I cover my mouth as the pain shoots through my bones and makes the fangs in my mouth throb. I'm over come with the need to sink my teeth into flesh, to find the source of that intense, rich smell. To feed on blood.

Blue ignores me and runs into the room ahead, sniffing the air, and going over to a stack of oddly placed crates in the center of the room. He begins shifting the boxes and suddenly freezes before cursing. Anger shudders through our bond so intense that the weirdness that took over my body is quickly smothered. I gasp for air as warmth slowly leaks back into my body and get hit by a different smell. In the crates are pounds upon pounds of compost - masking the scent of blood that was so clear only seconds ago.

I'm in a shocked daze as I move to help Blue pull the wooden crates off a mangled form on the floor. The barely recognizable form of a body lays under the mass of crates, slick with shockingly bright-crimson-soaked clothing. But I know instinctively who it is before her scent hits my Wolven nose.

*Thu-thump-thu-thump*... The sound of her heartbeat is slow, unsteady and hesitant. But there. *Alive. Oh God, she's alive.*

"Caly?" I choke on her name as a wave of nausea threatens my empty stomach. Her skin is sliced to ribbons, clothes as well. All her joints are at odd angles and even her beautiful hair is matted and slick with her own blood. I begin to reach for her, but Blue pulls me away and shoves a small metal object into my hands.

"Call Hale!" Blue growls, scooping the broken body that's his sister and running for the front of the school. I'm fumbling with his phone as I struggle to keep up with him, feeling so cold and numb that I don't even know how I manage to find Hale's contact information in Blue's phone. But I do.

"*Zane, where'd you two run off to?*" Hale answers after the third ring, the sound of he music in the background.

"Caly's been hurt. We're heading to the parking lot-" I begin, but Hale's suddenly beside us, eyes glowing jade. The usually calm demeanor of my father flickers for the briefest second into a mask of rage before smoothing out again.

"I'll take her to the infirmary." He tells Blue, gently pulling her body from her brother's arms. At first, Blue snarls at the vampire, but eventually lets him take Caly. In the blink of an eye, literally, Hale and Caly are gone. But Blue and I don't stop running. If anything, our speed increases once Caly's gone.

There's an urgency to follow after Hale that I can't shake. Even though I haven't known Caly long, this attack feels far more personal than it should. But I don't feel. There's nothingness after I smelled all that blood. After we found her like that, I feel like a chunk of me was ripped apart with her.

Caly, sweet, kind, shy Caly never hurt a fly. How could someone I know, a man from my own family just blindly hurt someone so innocent like that? How can this kind of betrayal be possible? Sure, Craven's nuts. Yeah, he's a murder. But, still. There should be some lines that should never be crossed.

The numbness is abruptly overshadowed by loathing. For my Pack and for Craven. A wholly new feeling I've never experienced before. Even after they attacked me, after Mom and I ran, I never once hated my family for anything they had done. Not even after all this time, all our running. The life I'd missed, none of it made me feel any kind of anger towards them. Not until now.

We reach the Azure Pack's territory in minutes, Blue leading the way past the cabins I'd seen when I'd first come and taking us to the very heart of the territory. My body's shaking with exhaustion by the time we reach our destination. The door's wide open and the inner room is crowded with people. Alpha Azure and Luna Sandra are holding each other in the corner of the room, Alpha Azure grim-faced and Luna Sandra sobbing into her hands.

I spot Doc Blythe and Ms. Jin on one side of a cot. Hale on the other, blocking our view of the bloodied body I know to be Caly. I collapse on the second step of the three-step stairs of the porch and stare at the scene before me as the three attending to Caly speak to each other in hushed voices and vials of various liquids are being exchanged.

A wave of nausea fills me when I notice both Hale and Ms. Jin slicing open their palms and rubbing their bloodied hands over the worst of the wounds. There's a sudden rhythmic beeping from a nearby machine as Doc Blyth puts wired patches on Caly. The heartbeat is faint and fluttery. Uneven.

Ms. Jin suddenly looks up and mutters something to Hale. He moves quickly, closing the door before Blue can protest. Blue moves to the door and is about to go inside when five new Wolven arrive. Yuri, Misha, Cole, and Mom are the only four I know. The newest one, a young girl, is dressed in pajamas. She shoots me a dirty look before rushing into the cabin. Light grey eyes flashing with disgust under her disheveled pixie-cut inky hair. She could be a mini-female version of Blue.

Misha follows her in with Cole, but Mom and Yuri stay outside with us as the cabin is filled.

"What's going on?" Yuri huffs, looking between me and Blue. Blue's pacing now, from one end to the other of the porch, looking like a caged animal - angrily running his hands through his hair and muttering to himself.

"What happened?" Mom seems to see the distress in my expression and comes over to my side.

"C-Craven was at the dance. I didn't know. I swear I didn't know-" I chatter, the hollow feeling return as I relive the events for her.

"Mad-Dog Craven?" Mom goes pale, her eyes widening a fraction. *Of course*, that *Craven*! I want to snap at her. *Is there any other Craven you know?!*

"'Mad-Dog'?" Blue stops and looks at us with a funny expression.

"He's certifiable, sure, but I don't know if even he is that-" Mom ignores his question, frowning at me.

"He did it. I know he did." I say firmly, my voice getting stronger with my conviction.

"Who the hell is he?" Yuri asks, frowning.

"My cousin." I spit, feeling that hate rising up inside to color my voice.

"Cousin?" Yuri's expression twists even more. Morphing from surprise to confusion to anger in the matter of seconds.

"When was he at the dance?" Blue asks suddenly, pacing again. His voice is commanding, cold and harsh. Ice trickles down my spine at his abrupt tone.

"That guy I was dancing with when you went to get punch. He-he said something to me that made me think he hurt one of your Pack. When I looked around, only Caly was missing- and I-I-" That part I can't say aloud. How with one breath, something inside me changed. I could suddenly smell her blood. I tracked her. Using a power I still don't fully understand.

"It's alright, Wisty." Mom sooths me, sensing my distress and borderline-implosion. "Not even we guessed they'd go this far-" The door to the cabin opens and Alpha Salvador comes out before closing the door again.

"Marissa, we need to talk." Alpha Salvador tells Mom, face pale and eyes steely.

"Of course, Alpha Azure." Mom says respectfully, but I can see the hesitation to leave me in her eyes. "Wisty, stay here. I'll be right back." She squeezes my hand before following the Alpha away from the cabin, back down the path.

"She's stable." Misha comes out of the cabin next, her hands covered in a bloodied cloth, Cole at her side. She's grimmer and paler than normal, deep circles under her eyes. Yuri visibly blanches and comes over to help his sister down the stairs.

"Can I see her-" Blue asks Cole, not really waiting for a response before trying to open the door. Cole is faster than he looks, though, stronger too. He manages to keep Blue from entering the infirmary.

"She's stable, but they're not letting anyone else in while Hale and Ritska do their thing." He says firmly. "I'm sorry, Z." He adds after a second. Blue growls at his cousin, showing him sharpened canines - eyes practically glowing silver. "Don't make me hurt you, Z." Cole narrows his eyes at his older cousin, and I'm stunned when Blue seems to listen and turns away to start pacing again.

Cole visibly relaxes and pushes his round glasses up his nose tiredly. The kid loosens his tie, looking like a little businessman more than ever. A kid playing dress-up. It would be comical...were we in a more relaxed situation. Cole leans against the wall beside the door, watching Blue pace warily.

"We didn't see this coming." Blue hisses, pacing back and forth in front of the cabin they call the 'infirmary'. His hair's sticking up at odd ends from his constantly running his fingers through it or pulling it. I wince, knowing his words are directed at me.

"No, we didn't." I say back, my voice sounds hoarse. Cole looks between us, frowning, but not saying anything.

"I thought we'd have more time." Blue growls, more to himself than either of us. His bodies morphing in and out of focus with his increased agitation. One second his feet are just bare human feet, the next they're wolf paws, nails scratching the wood as they dig into the planks of the porch. His face looses a definite shape, the bones constantly moving beneath the skin and groaning with the loss of his control.

"Z, maybe you should go burn off some steam?" Cole suggests, a sickly expression on his face. Blue snarls at him, snapping Wolven teeth at his cousin before abruptly turning and fully shifting into a wolf. Cole's eyes burn bright silver, reflective and icy. "**Z**," It's one letter, one syllable, but Blue visibly cowers when Cole says it, his snarling turning into whining before he turns and runs off towards the woods.

The second Blue's out of sight, Cole removes his glasses and grinds the heels of his hands into his eyes, groaning.

"You okay?" I ask, equally concerned and stunned by the power sweet, shy, bookish Cole just exhibited.

"Yeah." He grumbles, looking at me through his fingers, eyes still bright silver - and *slitted*. I stare at them until he sighs and covers them up again. It's only then I notice the spattering of scales on the backs of his hands, slowly fading from his neck.

"You're a hybrid?" I guess, not sure how I could have missed it before. Cole sighs again and blinks a few times before putting his glasses back on.

"Yeah," He admits. "Don't tell Z. Or any of the others."

"They don't know?"

"No, they know. They're just a little protective of the hybrids in the Pack." Cole shrugs and smirks at me. "Guess that's why we all kind of took a shine to you when you first arrived."

"You knew?" I ask incredulously. Not even I could sense Cole was anything but pure Wolven. Even now, I don't smell anything off about him. Just pine and the scent you smell after it's rained.

"Not at first, but I recognized a bit of myself in you when we first met." He shrugs, his face suddenly growing dark. "I'm guessing that's why you're being hunted, huh?"

"Yeah." I say, knowing, somehow, I can trust a fellow hybrid with this. Even then, the cat seems to be out of the proverbial bag anyway. "What's going to happen now?" I ask Cole.

"That's kind of broad question." Cole says warily and glances in the direction Mom and Alpha Azure left. "Before, it wasn't our fight to fight. Uncle Sal didn't want us to get involved with your Pack's drama. But now..." He rolls his shoulders. "He's already sent our best Trackers after your cousin, but they lost him after they left the city." He taps his temple. "There are some of the Pack that think we should close up the borders and kick you and your mom out. Wash our hands of you guys, so to speak." I wince at his harsh words.

"Then, there's some of us that consider the harming of one of our own to be an declaration of war." Cole chuckles dryly. "You don't screw with the Alpha's family," His tone's dark and icy. A thin tendril of dread squeezes my heart at his bitter words. "Not if you want to live." I'm starting to see just how scary this bookish kid can be. "If it were up to us, yeah. We'd hunt them to their last..." He lets out a heavy sigh. "But it's not up to us. Uncle Sal has to make that choice." His voice returns to it's usual, calmness.

"Family is everything to us, Scarlett." Cole says, his voice sounding raw. "The Alpha's gonna have to make some tough choices, choices I'm not sure you're going to like." He warns, looking at me warily. There's no anger or hate in his eyes, just sadness.

"I get it." I nod, thinking to my own family, the ones I left behind. The ones I now hate.

"With all do respect, Scarlett," Cole mutters tiredly, standing. "You don't." With that, Cole shifts into a wolf and runs after Blue. I wince at his harsh words, guilt tightening the vice around my heart.

*Strike two, Scarlett*. I close my eyes tightly, trying to regulate my breathing as the last few hours play on a loop in my head.