Indianna looked at the flyer taped to her locker, and a cold feeling filled her. She ripped the flyer off and crumpled it in her hand. She sighed and closed her eyes, her mind going back to that night.
"I'm sorry," she whispered and looked at the crumpled-up picture on the flyer. "I'm sorry, Cassie."
"Hey." Indianna jumped when Greyson appeared next to her, and she sighed, leaning into him.
"It's my fault," she whispered and looked around the school. Missing-person flyers were everywhere for Cassie. "She's dead because she knew me."
"Don't think like that," Greyson scolded and took the flyer out of her hand. "It is not your fault."
"But Rogue only killed her because she knew me-"
"Shut the hell up, sugar," Greyson cut her off and wrapped his arm around Indianna's waist. "It isn't your fault. It's Rogue's. It's all Rogue's fault."
Indianna sighed and chewed her lip. "I just wish she was alive. She didn't deserve to die."
"Many people don't," Greyson shrugged, and the school bell rang, signalling the start of the day.
Indianna jumped and winced when she heard the bell five times stronger than the humans.
"Bloody hell," she said and rubbed her head. "I am not going to be able to get used to this."
"You're going to have to," Greyson said with a small chuckle. "Let's go."
Indianna stepped forward, but Greyson suddenly caught her and pulled her to a halt.
"What?"
"Werewolf speed," Greyson said and slowly started to walk down the corridor. Indianna felt like she was walking extremely slowly, and it was irritating her. "Stop speeding up," Greyson said into her ear.
"But you're walking so damn slow!" Indianna whined, and Greyson laughed.
We're walking at the same pace as everyone else, Greyson told her. You just want to walk at the normal pace of werewolves, which is a lot faster than humans.
This is annoying.
"You'll get used to it," Greyson said, and they walked into their first class.
Indianna's eyes went to a seat at the front, and she frowned. It was Cassie's seat. Indianna had never seen it empty before.
"Look who's alive!" Kal announced, walking into the classroom and grinning at Indianna. "School has been very quiet this past week without you, our shy Luna," he said sarcastically, and Indianna rolled her eyes.
"Kal, quieten down," Greyson snapped, but Kal just shrugged.
"So I take it you are feeling better?" Kal said, taking a seat next to Greyson.
"A lot," Indianna nodded, and she looked up just as Stacy walked into class, chatting happily to one of her friends. Stacy froze when her eyes landed on Indianna and gasped quietly. She looked at Indianna, then to Greyson, then back at Indianna.
"Stacy," Indianna whispered and went to stand up, but Greyson grabbed her wrist.
"Sugar, don't," he said, and Indianna frowned.
"Why?"
"There's something we haven't told you about Stacy," Kal said with an awkward cough, and Indianna looked at them expectantly.
"What?"
"Guys!" Brooke yelled, rushing into the classroom and cutting off Kal, who was just about to explain to Indianna. "Guys, there are two people. You were right, Rogue has a spy."
She stopped at the table and gasped when she saw Indianna.
"Oh my gosh, Indie! I didn't know you were coming back to school! How are you?"
"Good, thanks," Indianna smiled as Harry joined them. "How are you?"
"Fine," Brooke said quickly, dismissing further questions with a wave of her hand. Harry frowned at her and pursed his lips, but didn't say anything.
"Brooklyn, can you explain what you are going on about?" Greyson wondered, and Brooke nodded.
"Yes. Well, you know I took Indie's phone to give to my friend to try and track Rogue's phone? It took Jasper a while. Apparently, it was extremely hard to trace, but he finally did it and traced the texts back to two phones. Both were from this town. One of the signals came from this school. One of the people texting Indie did it at school."
"Shit," Greyson cursed and scratched his stubble. "It isn't Rogue. We would be able to sense him, so he definitely has people working for him. It could be fucking anyone."
"We need to figure out who," Indianna spoke up.
"How?" Brooke wondered.
"I don't know," Greyson groaned and linked his fingers with Indianna's. "We need to narrow it down somehow."
"It's got to be someone who I see on a daily basis. The person couldn't have sent some texts to me without being in the same room as me and knowing what was happening," Indianna said, her anger starting to rise.
She was scared, yes, but she was also angry.
She was angry that Rogue had stalked her, attacked her, killed Cassie, killed her father, and had someone spying on her.
She could no longer afford to be frightened of Rogue. She needed to stand up to him.
"That narrows it down to people in your classes," Kal said, and Indianna glanced around cautiously.
"Any of these people could be working for Rogue," Indianna whispered.
"It doesn't make sense. Why would humans work for Rogue?" Greyson muttered. "I don't know what he could offer them to make them spy for him."
"Who said they were gaining something?" Harry said and shrugged his shoulders. "The mutt is a fucking nutcase. My bet is on him threatening humans to do his dirty work."
"That fits his personality better," Kal said, and Indianna groaned, covering her face with her hands.
"I just want all of this to go away," she whispered.
"Hey, look on the bright side," Kal said cheerfully. "You have your first shift to look forward to. That is so painful and horrible it will distract you from Rogue!"
Indianna turned to stare at Kal with a blank expression.
"Thanks."
"Twat," Greyson muttered and punched Kal in the arm. "Brooklyn, is it possible for the guy you know to narrow down the trace? Find an exact location?"
Brooke sighed and shook her head. "He tried and couldn't."
"Fucking wonderful," Greyson said and let out a long breath. "Look, let's figure this out tonight and try to have one boring, miserable, normal day at school."
"Are you okay, Indie?" Sasha asked, taking a bite of her sandwich.
"Yeah, fine," Indianna said quickly, and Sasha frowned, watching Indianna as she jumped and flinched at any loud noise or sudden movement. Indianna sighed and ran her fingers through her hair.
Her werewolf abilities were currently in overdrive. She could hear literally every word that was said in the canteen and could smell every food that students were eating. The loudness was making her jumpy, and she just wanted to run away, but she had to try and act normal. Her head was starting to ache, and she was feeling extremely hot. Acting normal was becoming very difficult.
"You sure?" Violet wondered, and Indianna nodded.
Brooke turned to Indianna and frowned. "Indie, you don't look right. Shall I get Greyson?"
"I'm fine," Indianna whispered and clenched her hands into fists. "I hope."
"Indie," Brooke said softly. "You've just recovered from the accident. You have to take it easy, and you don't look good right now. You should get Greyson."
Indianna groaned and closed her eyes as a horrible ripping feeling ran through her stomach. She bent forward slightly and gritted her teeth.
"It feels like the pain at the beginning," Indianna whispered, and Brooke frowned.
"I'm calling Greyson."
"No need," Greyson said and placed his hand on Indianna's shoulder. "What's wrong?"
"I don't know," Indianna groaned.
"She's in pain, like she was at the beginning of the process," Brooke said quietly, and Greyson frowned and nodded.
"Sugar, do you want to go home?" he asked.
"I'll be fine," Indianna gasped.
"We're going home," Greyson said and gently pulled Indianna up from her seat. "Bye, Brooklyn."
Sasha, Alice, and Violet all looked at Indianna in worry as Greyson wrapped his arm around her waist and led her out of the canteen.
"She still hasn't recovered properly from the crash," Brooke lied to her friends, continuing with the story that they had made up.
Indianna had been involved in an awful car crash that resulted in her missing school for a week. It explained why she looked ill and was slightly weak.
The girls nodded and went back to their food just as Greyson and Indianna exited the canteen.
"I don't need to leave," Indianna groaned, trying to pull away from Greyson.
"You look like shit," Greyson said. "We're going home."
"No-"
"Shut up."
"Don't tell me to shut up, you ass," Indianna said and weakly hit his shoulder.
Greyson chuckled, and soon they were getting into his car. Indianna rested her head in her hands and closed her eyes. Soon, her headache faded along with the world around her.
"Ah, rise and shine, sugar," Greyson said as Indianna opened her eyes.
She groaned and sat up on the soft bed she was lying on.
"How are you feeling?"
"Like shit," she mumbled and rubbed her head. "My whole body is aching, and my head feels like a banging drum."
"Well, I do have good news," Greyson said, "but also bad news."
"Great."
"Doc examined you when you were asleep," Greyson explained, and Indianna shifted uncomfortably at the thought of that. "There were no needles," Greyson assured her. "It turns out you are now in the last stage of the process."
"How do you know?"
"Look at your hands."
Indianna frowned and looked at Greyson weirdly, but did as he said. She glanced down at her hands and gasped at what she saw.
"What the hell!" she panicked, looking at the claws sticking out of her fingers. "Claws! I have claws sticking out of my hands!"
"Don't panic," Greyson said, chuckling slightly. "This is normal. The last part of the process is when you start to transition into your wolf, but never fully. Your claws grow, though. Your eyes change colour, and hair sometimes grows in random places."
Greyson trailed off and looked at Indianna's shocked face.
"That was the good news."
"Me growing claws and sprouting hair is good how?" Indianna questioned, but Greyson ignored her.
"The bad part of the last stage of the process is that all of the other stages turn into one. The pain you felt at the beginning comes back, and so do your werewolf abilities. At the moment, you are one very unstable pre-werewolf," Greyson said.
"You have got to be kidding me," Indianna groaned and lay back on the bed.
"I have more good news," Greyson said. "This stage doesn't last long."
"Good," Indianna nodded, and Greyson lay down next to her, wrapping his arms around her. Indianna squirmed in his hold, which only made Greyson tighten his grip. She rolled her eyes, but soon her body relaxed, and the sparks she felt at Greyson's touch travelled through her body, slightly dulling the pain.
"I'm going to shift soon," she said in realisation.
"You are."
"I don't want to."
"Tough."
"What happens when I shift?"
"You become a werewolf," Greyson said, and Indianna rolled her eyes.
"No shit."
"You become a full member of this pack. You become Luna."
"Greyson-"
"Don't give me some shit about how you don't want to be Luna," Greyson cut Indianna off, and she elbowed him in the stomach.
"I wasn't going to say that, you dimwit," Indianna mumbled. "It is true, but that wasn't what I was going to say."
"What were you going to say?"
"Will you be there?"
"When?"
"When I shift?"
"I will be right by your side, sugar."
"Promise?"
Greyson nodded and hugged Indianna closer to him. "I promise. I'll always be there whenever you need me."
"I'm going to get sick of you one day," Indianna said with a chuckle, and Greyson scoffed.
"Way to ruin the moment, sugar."
"Actually, I think I'm already sick of you."
"Thanks," Greyson said sarcastically, and Indianna smiled.
"You're welcome."