Assassin's Honor

The Three Oaks pack was located in the woods of North Carolina, on the historic Three Oaks Plantation. The old brick plantation house stood like an old southern belle with stately white columns across the front, which supported the second story veranda. The red brick was classically accented with white trim and black shutters at the tall windows. At each end of the great house two chimneys pointed toward the sky. The ancient and iconic three oaks on the front lawn had been reduced to two oaks in a hurricane several decades ago, when the third oak had blown over. On the inside, the entire structure had been remodeled into a modern and comfortable pack house. Although most of the pack lived in private homes scattered across the five-hundred-acre estate and in the town beyond, there were plenty of extra bedrooms in the mansion, a conference room, the Alpha’s office, a huge kitchen and a formal dining room that could seat fifty. The only permanent residents of the great house were t

After another two days, Gabriel crossed over the state line between New York and Vermont. The pull was so strong now, it was making him dizzy. He passed the small city of Rutberg and followed the old highway until he arrived in an unlikely small town called Pete’s Peak. He drove slowly from one end to the other, but there wasn't much to see. There was a gas station attached to a mini mart, a garage with a tow truck that looked like "Mater" from Cars, and a snack bar with picnic tables arranged outside. To the south of the village there was a public High School that served several of the surrounding communities, and beyond the school, a slate quarry. To the north of town, the only thing resembling accommodation was a dilapidated collection of little cabins surrounding an old farmhouse and a faded sign that read "Cora’s Cottages". A "vacancy" shingle hung precariously by one hook underneath.Gabriel parked his truck on the gravel drive beside the sign and headed toward the farmhouse

Gabriel drummed his fingers on his desk impatiently. She was in the school. When he'd interviewed with the school board on Friday he'd detected her scent, faint but familiar in the hallways. It had been fairly easy to get the substitute position, as teachers seemed to be in short supply. He had never been a teacher, but he had a glowing (but fake) resume to impress the school board. His employment was conditional on passing background checks, but he wasn't worried about that. His background was squeaky clean, and there were no official records of the work that he really did for a living. A few phone calls and a few favors called in, and he had plenty of references to verify his imaginary career as a high school English teacher.By the time Gabriel entered the classroom for his first class behind the principal, the classroom had been awash in the sweet scent of lilacs and violets. The floral scent was absolutely intoxicating, and he wanted to immediately abandon this pretext of

Honerera held her ribs and grimaced. Tanner had kicked her last night, and she wasn't sure if they were broken or merely bruised. It hurt to take a deep breath, and it was unbearable to carry her backpack on her right shoulder. She moved slowly and gingerly through the school on the way to her locker. She had taken some ibuprofen, but it barely touched the pain. She was late and was still putting her books away when Aaron came with his entourage. He slammed her locker shut and caught her hand in the metal door. She glared at the floor as she pried her crushed fingers loose. "Hey fatty, get out of my way. You're blocking my locker." He pushed her aside roughly. "Stupid trailer trash bitch." Seeing that teasing Honerera was the theme of the day, and the girl hadn't run off as quickly as usual, Mark joined in the game. "Yeah, I heard her mom was a crack whore. Sold her off to her uncle for a fix and ran away." Honerera had heard all these insults before, the story th

For a while now, Honorera had suspected that someone was watching her in her dreams. And now she felt like someone was watching her during her waking hours. She couldn’t exactly explain it, she just had that eerie feeling that eyes were following her, and it was starting to irritate her. She scrubbed the dishes with more force than necessary, trying to expel some of her agitation. She hadn't slept well in weeks, because every time she drifted off, she was having some version of the same dream. A sweet, feminine voice was calling her to come into the forest. "You'll find it there..." the voice promised. Find what? Honorera prowled the forest in her dream, looking for she-didn't-know what. Sometimes she forgot that she was looking for anything. Then she got that disturbing feeling that she was being watched. She scanned the trees, but she couldn't see into the darkness. She didn't know whether to be curious or afraid. Was someone else looking for something mysterious in the