Authors: Suzanne Cox
Marked (The Pack) (38 page)
“She knew this would happen one day, didn’t she?” I stared out the front window, but knew Louise glanced at me.
“She had a good idea that it would.”
We drove in silence for a few minutes. “So, what now?” I asked.
I saw Louise’s knuckles whiten on the steering wheel.
“You have to leave the boy alone. It has to end here, Alexis, for both of you.”
“That’s not fair.”
“No, it’s not fair. But trying to have a relationship with him will only get one or both of you killed. I don’t know any other way to put it. Neither pack will allow it.”
“But why? Are you telling me no two werewolves from opposite packs ever fall in love?”
“No, I’m not saying that. It happens and occasionally it works out. But those who do that give up their packs and live alone.”
“Maybe Eric and I will do that. Take off and leave our packs behind, just the two of us.”
“Now you’re talking like a teenager.”
“The last time I looked, I was a teenager.”
“Well you have to grow up, and fast. There’s too much at stake. Eric’s pack isn’t going to let go of him. I’m afraid Lycernians won’t be willing to let you go with him to live some kind of romantic ideal life.”
“Why do they care what we do?”
Louise glanced at me again and sighed. “Because you’re special and so is Eric. You wouldn’t be coming to this school if you weren’t. But Eric is… his father, Brodin, is head of the Fenryrian council and very powerful.
“Brodin, as in Brodin who’s going to start an army of werewolves with the mutated virus?”
“Yes.”
Suddenly I was exhausted, weak.
“Brodin has plans for Eric, Alexis, and, I promise, they don’t include you.”
I stared out the window, my resolve to find a way to be with Eric beginning to blur like the scenery. So what if I was special if I didn’t end up with Eric. Could I be special enough that the Fenryrians would be glad for us to be together even if I didn’t share all their beliefs?
Louise stopped at a red light. To my right, on the cross street, I spotted a red sports car. Eric was behind the wheel. I glanced at Louise, but she hadn’t seen him. Her eyes were on the traffic light in front of us. He turned my way, our eyes met and I saw the sadness there.
I’ll see you again
. I concentrated on the sentence so hard, trying to send the message to him. Then, across the way, Eric gave a slow smile. I felt a tiny bit of hope somewhere deep inside of me. We weren’t finished, not yet.
About the author
Suzanne Cox lives in south Mississippi where she works full time as a family nurse practitioner. When not working she writes books in various genres including young adult, series romance and medical suspense. She and her husband share their house with two spoiled miniature pinschers and a variety of cats. Look for book one of her Atlantis series, Breathe, available July of 2012 and the book two of the pack series in winter of 2012.
Connect with Suzanne at the following places:
http://suzannecoxbooks.blogspot.com/
on twitter @suz_anne_cox