Twisted (Editing)

Chapter 16

(Imani's POV again)

I ran the shower with scalding hot water. It hurt every time a drip of water his the bite mark, but I didn't care. You can't think about anything else but the heat when you're in boiling hot water.

I stepped out and wrapped myself in a clean towel that I found in his bathroom cabinets. I unlocked the door and opened it slowly. My clothes sat on the bed. Not the ones I wore the night before, but clothes from my house sat on the bed in a box. I dug through the box until I found a pair of leggings and an oversized sweatshirt. I pushed my braids back and out of my face. The door opened slowly. The same server girl from yesterday appeared. "Juvenis--breakfast is ready."

"Must I go?"

"The Luna recommends you eat well while your body prepares for its first shifting."

I followed her to the kitchen. His mother, father, sister, and grandparents sat at the kitchen table. "Goodmorning," His mother smiled at me happily, as chipper as ever. I always thought she was too friendly. I guess I was right. "Eat something," she handed me a plate stacked high with eggs, bacon, and pancakes.

I picked at the eggs. Millions of thoughts filled my head. Where were my parents? How many people knew what happened? Was escape still possible? "What's wrong?" His mother asked me, concern lacing her features.

"Nothing--I'm just not hungry."

His grandfather turned to Jonah. "Don't tell me you're still beating around the bush. Mark her and give her some peace."

"I'm not hungry."

He ignored me. "Back in my day, you marked your mate as soon as you met them. All these niceties complicating the process for no reason."

"He already did." I pulled my hoodie back until the mark was visible. "See? Now stop talking about it." I let my hands fall into my lap.

"Oh," he said softly.

Jonah's mom put a hand on my shoulder, squeezing lightly. "Don't worry. I was squeamish for two days after my marking."

His grandfather slapped him on the back. "Finally, it took you long enough. Welcome to manhood." I covered it back up quickly and picked up the plate. Lara watched me.

"Where are you going?"

"Upstairs." Jonah caught my wrist as I gathered my fork and knife. I shook out of his grasp.

"Could you relax?"

I curled my lip. "No." I went up the stairs and sat at his desk. It gave me time to think anyway. My original plan was easy to see right through, so I needed a new one. But if my parents and I were going to be monitored as we talked, there was no way to exchanged information without being caught. I just had to find out how far I could pull the chain.

I spent the next night in the guest room, or my room, but I would never call it that, staring at the ceiling, tossing and turning and not sleeping much. In the morning when I was led into the living room I almost cried. My mother sat on the couch, clutching onto my father. I stared at her for two seconds before rushing into her arms. I felt the wetness from her eyes on my shoulder. "I'm so sorry," she whispered again and again. "I should've said something, I should've protected you."

"It's not your fault. No one could've anticipated something like this."

She stepped back to get a look at me. "So they've been feeding you I see." My dad wrapped his arms around me. I breathed in his scent and felt like a little girl again.

"Did they hurt you." He said, smoothing down my hair.

"No, I'm fine."

"Have you shifted?" My mom questioned.

"No, but my teeth have dropped."

"Tell me everything that's happened," my mom said, leading me to the couch. Where to begin? I breathed in and launched into the events since we'd been separated. I included the antidotes, his family, the dinner.

"Did he mark you?" Looking into their eyes I could tell this question was on their minds for a long time.

My gaze fell to the ground.

"He did didn't he?"

My father's eyes blazed with anger. "I'm going to kill him."

"I asked him to. I needed to be able to think clearly." They fell quiet, staring at me dumbfounded.

"You wanted him to bite you?"

"No, but I didn't want to go feral. That's what I was told happens to werewolves who fight it. Did they lie."

My mom crossed her legs, looking extremely uncomfortable. "No. I thought maybe we would've been able to find a way to save you in time." She glanced at the pack soldier standing by the door, eyes trained on us.

"Oh the programming on the T.V has been awful these last few days. You've missed it all. There's a girl that's been reported missing. It's going to cause a big commotion." Her eyes pleaded with me to understand. Realization dawned on me. She was trying to pass me information without getting caught.

"It's been terrible really, but it's going to get a lot of news attention." I glanced at the guard. He looked incredibly bored. "There might even be a search for her."

They were going to report me as missing and draw media attention to the town. Okay.

"They're calling is a cult abduction," my dad said, joining in. And they were going to call Evansville a cult. "I hope she fights and survives until she's found."

"And I heard she's sick. She needs to find a way to get her medication if she's going to survive." Medication couldn't be anything other than Wolfsbane.

"Poor girl. Where would she be able to get that type of medication?"

"A pharmacist would have to give it to her. It's a prescription medication and hard to obtain."

"Pharmacist?" I didn't know what they meant by that.

"That's it. Your visit is over." The pack soldier approached us. "It's been half an hour."

"The damn bitch!" My dad said, slamming his fist on the coffee table. Even though he seemed angry, his eyes were still on me. Pharmacist, bitch. Were those two things related? A witch maybe?

"Andrew, stop it," she touched his hand gently. "We need to go. We were in the wrong." My mom hugged me one last time. I felt the crinkle of paper being pushed into the waistband of my leggings. We parted. The pack soldier patted them down and me too. His hands missed the note because he couldn't touch me there. I didn't let out the breath I was holding until I left the room and got back into my own. I took the note out of my leggings and read it quickly. My mom's writing was scrawled sloppily.

"Melinda Yates is a witch working with Midnight Moon Pack who owes us a favor. Get rid of this after you read it."

-Love you Mother and your Father

So my parents would ring the alarm bell and make Evansville sound like a cult. It wouldn't be too hard--a small isolated community with strange practices? The media would eat that up like wildfire. And while the message gained steam, I had to find Melinda Yates, get a supply of Wolfsbane and find a safe place to store it. Eventually, the police would come, or a Swat Team, and in the confusion, I would slip out. I flushed the note down the toilet. If my own plan had been simple, my parents' plan was the equivalent to Einstein's theory of relativity--brilliant.

Let's see you try to keep me here now Jonah.