Sera pretends to be an ordinary, human girl to hide from the evil shifters that hunt her. Secretly working to take down the bad guys, she becomes entangled in the lives of two men who are strangely obsessed with her. Her mysterious next door neighbor, Bryan, keeps climbing through her bedroom window to hang out, and Crew, the captain of the football team, pursues her relentlessly. Confused by her growing feelings for both of them, Sera doesn't suspect the real reason Bryan never leaves her side or why Crew won't take no for an answer, but she will find out when she learns why she’s being hunted.
View More"I see you've trained your guard dog," Crew said when we met, his eyes on Bryan walking down the street. He turned his attention to me."He's my friend and a good guy, Crew, which are two things I can't say about you.""Did you forget that we had a study date?" he asked, ignoring my comment."Until you called my name, yes." I had no motivation to spare his feelings."Hmmm. I may have to better impress upon you the honor of being asked to study with me. I'm pretty important," he said."I think I perfectly comprehend the torture—I mean, honor—of hanging out with you." "This is why I like you. You're a challenge." His eyes had a predatory gleam."Boy, do I hate being right all the time," I mumbled to myself.A group of girls walking from the church to the school passed us. "Don't do it! He's a jerk! Just walk away!" one of the girls called out to me."One of your conquests?" I asked. "She seems unsatisfied."Crew chuckled, then reached for my hand. I backed away and gave him a look."J
Crew quickly caught up to me in the hallway. “Whoa there, kitten. How about retracting those claws?”“Do you ever talk like a normal person?” “I wouldn’t know.”“Ugh, for the love of—” I groaned. “Come on now,” he said. “I’m just having fun.”“Right. Well, I’m not,” I countered, pushing through the crowd. “Then let me make it up to you.”“You know, as you pointed out earlier, I’m off crutches now, so you don’t have to walk me to my next class.” I gave him a pointed look. We were coming up on my classroom.“Sera.” He stepped in front of me, pulling his signature move, blocking my way, and putting his arms out to control my movement. He leaned in, took a step, and pushed me backward with his body until my back was against the floor-to-ceiling window of my classroom. “I am not trying to upset you, and I appreciate the hard-to-get thing.” He leaned in closer so his face was an inch away from mine, and just like the first day of school, I no longer had control of my mind. My thought
I returned the crutches to the nurse’s office at the beginning of the fourth week of school. The morning I walked into Calculus without them, something happened. “Look at you,” Crew said as I sat at my desk. “Walking all by yourself. Must feel good.”“Sure,” I said indifferently. It did feel good, but I wasn’t going to give him fuel for conversation.“And now you don’t have the crutches as an excuse not to hang out with me.”I winced. I had been dreading this moment. I thought Crew would lose interest by this point, but I was wrong. I had used the crutches as the reason I couldn’t go out with him whenever he asked over the past few weeks. It may have been the reason I kept the crutches longer than I needed them. “That means we’re hanging out soon,” Crew continued. He looked pensive for a moment. “Maybe today. Yeah. Today. Why delay the inevitable?”He swiveled in his seat to face me. I didn’t say anything. I didn’t know what to say. He reached over and pulled my desk and chair towar
“You’re both new here?” Ella asked, looking back and forth between Bryan and me. Alarm bells were ringing in my head like sirens.“Yeah,” Bryan answered. “So you didn’t already know each other?” Ella asked, her light brown eyes darting between us in confusion. “It seems like you two go way back.”“Uh,” I started, hoping I didn’t sound as rattled as I felt. “No. We met yesterday when Bryan saw me inelegantly sprain my ankle. The Good Samaritan in him felt obligated to help. Of course, that requires he shadow me, so, here we are,” I offered in explanation.“You’re such a gallant giant, Bryan,” Ashley joked while Preeti nearly swooned.“Well, I couldn’t just leave her there on the floor,” he joked back.“That’s why you call him a boy scout,” Ella said. “Yeah,” I mumbled.“Now we’re on the same page,” Ella continued. “Bryan is a giant, gallant boy scout because he steps up when he sees a girl get injured. We should get him a merit badge. I’m sure there’s something for rescuing a damsel
“I guess that’s settled,” Ashley said, her green eyes going back and forth between Bryan and me. “Is it?” I asked hopefully. Maybe desperately.“Yeah. You’re a novelty. End of story.” She continued to study us, the pale, freckled skin of her forehead scrunching together. I sighed in relief, and Ashley glanced at Ella and Preeti.“I think we’ve made Sera uncomfortable enough for today,” she added when she realized her friends were having difficulty switching gears. “Let’s change the subject. Tell us about yourself, Sera.”Ella and Preeti focused on me, eager to get information.“There’s not much to know,” I said, grateful for the change in conversation. “I like to jog.”“Oh, and you’re on crutches,” Preeti said. “I’m sorry you can’t jog right now because of your injury.” “Thank you. I’ll survive.” I smiled. “What about all of you?”“Ashley does ballet,” Ella said, pointing to Ashley. “That’s where the long limbs and excellent posture come from. Unlike me, who stomps around ungracefu
“Oh my gosh,” Preeti gasped. She had been staring at Bryan but turned to me, her full lips making an “O” and her big eyes comically wide. “Are you the girl everyone’s talking about?”“Uh—” I looked back and forth between Preeti and Ella, taking in their eager expressions. “I think this has been blown out of proportion.”Ella’s head fell back, and her mouth dropped open. Then she laughed and looked at me. “I didn’t think we’d find out who the mystery girl was, much less eat lunch with her.”“There’s really nothing to this,” I said. Please let that be true, or let them get over this fast. I hoped their reactions didn’t represent the whole school. Though, it seemed like the rest of the school was doing all the messaging and spreading of the gossip. It looked like Ella had scrolled through a lot of commentary. I cursed. It was not good to be the topic of discussion for an entire school. Especially one this big. That’s how you get on the bad guys’ radar.“Oh, there’s a lot to this,” Ashley
True to his word, as soon as the bell rang to signal the end of third period, Bryan walked into the room. He let students clear out, then stopped in front of my desk and picked up my books. “Is this one of those better things you have to do?” Ashley asked after she looked him up and down. Bryan raised his eyebrows at me.“Bryan, this is Ashley,” I said, then picked up my crutches. “Ashley Abrams,” she said with a wave and a smile. “Bryan Farris.” He gave her a nod hello.“Bryan is my next door neighbor and a boy scout,” I continued, giving Ashley a look. “I thought I’d sprain my ankle so he could get his merit badge for charity.”“That was thoughtful of you,” Ashley laughed. “Helping out a boy scout.”“I’m not a boy scout. She’s making fun of me,” Bryan explained. He gave me a look, then turned back to Ashley. “I’m actually helping Sera so I can get out of class early.”“You two are a pair of comedians,” Ashley said. She stood up without losing her perfect posture. I don’t think a
“For the love of—” I started. “Save the pissing contest for the locker room, boys,” I said, attempting to de-escalate the situation. “Give me my books, and I’ll manage myself.”“No, I got this,” Crew said, hiding my books behind his back.“Sera, do you want him to carry your books?” Bryan asked me, softening his demeanor.“What I want is to avoid making a scene,” I said, looking back and forth between the two of them. I couldn’t help but notice the students in the background watching us. It must have looked ridiculous to see me, a short, almost emaciated girl, between two tall, buff guys, trying to keep them from fighting each other. “So tell your guard dog to go, and we can get back to living our lives,” Crew said.I knew enough about Crew to know fighting would just make him more aggressive. Best to let him win. I faced Bryan. “I’m so sorry, Bryan,” I said. “He’s not going to let up. It’s easier to just go limp and let it happen. Will you still meet me after third hour?”“Of cours
The next morning as I was getting ready, I noticed I needed a haircut. I purposely kept my hair long, so I only had to spend money to get it cut once or twice a year, but it was in bad shape. I had lost some weight too. Apparently, I couldn’t be bothered to eat during my hibernation over the summer. My pants nearly fell off after I zipped them up, and my shirt hung loosely off my shoulders. I looked like a kid in her big sister’s hand-me-downs. I punched a new hole in my belt and cinched it around my waist.I carefully put on my shoes, wincing at the pain in my ankle, and heard what sounded like pebbles hitting my window. When I looked out, I saw Bryan in his room holding a giant bag of Skittles, eating a few then throwing one, eating a few then throwing one. This was my chance to fix the horrible first impression I had made, so I needed to make sure I seemed normal. I opened the window and a Skittle pelted me on the chin.“Eat up,” he called over to me. Balancing on my good foot, I
I’m never surprised when I spot a bad guy. They always show up eventually. Seeing the man who died saving my life when I was a child? Well, that made me look twice. Literally.I was on my way to second period at my new school, Sonoran Sunset High, when I noticed him from the corner of my eye. I did a double take, and my eyes locked onto him in disbelief. It felt like I was dreaming. My head turned to follow him in slow motion as I was transported into my very first memory—my boarding school being attacked, everyone inside killed, and the building burned to the ground. I only made it out alive because a teacher, Mr. Finn, shoved me out the door and told me to run while he stayed to fight. I assumed he was killed along with everyone else. Seeing him alive in the very hallway I was walking down was more than a shock. It took me a moment to snap out of my stupor. I needed answers about what had happened that day, about the monsters that attacked the school, where he had been all these...
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