The Better to Bite (Howl #1)(45)

He left me there, and I stared into the woods and knew what it felt like to be hunted.





Chapter Eleven


They gave us candles as we entered the football stadium. Long, white candles. Jenny stood beside me, and I saw her stare down at the candle. Her eyes teared up a bit. “No one should die this young.”

I swallowed the lump that wanted to rise in my throat and followed her through the crowd. Maybe I should have stayed at home. After my little chat with Rafe, I sure hadn’t felt like going to a football game, but…

But I felt like I owed Sissy.

It looked like the entire school had come out for her—the stadium was freaking packed. The candles were for her. The band was playing a tribute to her. This night was about Sissy.

I hadn’t been able to stay away.

When we got to the stands, some kids passed around lighters, and we lit our candles. Then the principal came out on to the field. The band lined up behind him.

Mr. Knoxley looked solemn, and very, very pale under the bright lights. “We lost one of our students this week.” His deep voice filled the speakers. “A freshman at Haven High, Sissy Hamilton was taken from us far too soon.”

His words seemed to echo Jenny’s. I glanced at her and saw her swiping a tear from the corner of her eye.

My candle burned brighter.

“Sissy will not be forgotten,” Mr. Knoxley said, and I realized he was holding a lit candle in his left hand. His right hand curled tightly around the microphone. “Her memory will live on in those who loved her.”

My own eyes were starting to well. I blinked quickly and tried not to remember the smell of death.

Mr. Knoxley lifted his candle higher. “Tonight, we take a moment to remember Sissy. Remember her as she was—young, smart, and beautiful. A gift to all those who knew her.”

The band began to play behind him. A slow, mournful beat that fit the somber mood of the crowd.

A drop of hot wax fell onto my hand. I swallowed but didn’t make a sound.

My candlelight burned so bright.

Sissy Hamilton.

I could hear the sniffles from a few girls behind me. I glanced back and recognized them as freshmen. Girls who’d no doubt been friends with Sissy.

It shouldn’t have happened.

I pulled my gaze away and stared up at the moon. Big, round, nearly full. Just another few days and it would be full.

The band’s song slowly faded into silence. The thick, heavy kind of silence that wrapped around you.

I’m sorry, Sissy. I slowly lowered my candle. Would I ever find someone who was lost before it was too late?

I hadn’t saved Sissy. I hadn’t saved Caitlin.

And I sure hadn’t saved my mother. By the time I’d found mom, it had been too late. She’d been dead, shot four times. One of the bullets had gone straight into her heart.

My tears came then. For Sissy, for Caitlin, and for my mom.

For my mom…a woman who’d taken a wrong turn. Gotten lost. And then…lost her life.

***

The football game started later. Not with the same roar of energy that had marked the first game. The players ran onto the field, but even they seemed tense.

I wondered how many players had known Sissy.

The cheerleaders came out much more slowly, and I realized Valerie was missing.

Jenny caught my glance. “I heard it was her punishment,” she told me, raising her brows as she handed her smoking candle to the pep squad member who was walking around and collecting them all. “Mr. Knoxley gave her detention for a week, and he told her that she couldn’t cheer tonight.”

I bet Valerie was loving me.

I didn’t really care, though. “Maybe next time, she won’t steal someone’s necklace when she gets pissed.” But Rafe’s voice rumbled in my mind. You really think it was Valerie?

If not her, then who else?

Goosebumps rose on my arms. The temperature was sure starting to drop.

I forced my attention back on the field. Brent was playing tonight, leading the team with his green number seven jersey and showing absolutely no signs of any injury. How could no one else think that was weird? “Jenny…” I cleared my throat. “Just what all do you know about Brent?” Do you know if he ever changes into a wolf when he runs through the woods?

Jenny turned her head toward me. She had mascara stains beneath her eyes. I hadn’t bothered with makeup tonight, so I knew I’d been spared the raccoon look.

At my question, her eyes lit up a bit. Jenny seemed eager to have something to talk about, something other than Sissy. “You are so into him,” she murmured.

I shrugged. Right then, I didn’t think I was into him or Rafe.

And maybe I was a liar.

There was a cheer from the students. The first cheer of the night. It took me a moment to realize that we’d scored a touchdown. I clapped, but didn’t jump to my feet. Instead, I leaned closer to Jenny. “What do you know?” I asked her again.

Her hands lifted and made a vague little gesture in the air. “I know he and Rafe were best friends.” She paused, then finished, “Once upon a time.”

Now that was total news to me. I had pretty much thought those guys hated each other since birth.

And speak of the devil, uh, wolf…Rafe raced onto the football field. I couldn’t help it. I stared. Wolf or no, the boy looked good in a uniform. He glanced toward my section of the bleachers, and I could have sworn I felt the heat of his stare touching on my skin.