Amaris reached up and pushed the door open and stepped in. Cautiously she walked into the living room. Amaris’ heart was in her throat. She did not want to find Anna and her parents dead like Lyle had found Grover at Gran’s. The house had been ransacked just as Gran’s had. They even tore the couch cushions apart. Their new family portrait that Anna had surprised her parents with when she got her graduation pictures last fall, had been slashed to ribbons. These men had not just searched but completely destroyed everything. Amaris decided to head into the kitchen. The kitchen table had been flipped and all four chairs had been reduced to firewood. Everything from the refrigerator and every cabinet had been dumped on the floor. There was flour and pasta, ketchup, mustard, milk, and it was impossible to tell what else all over the floor. There were no footprints on the floor. These men were careful, but a couple very large dogs had been in here, for a snack probably, and left their prints

Amaris went with Anna’s family to the police station where they filed a report with the officer on duty. They were advised not to go home tonight to give the investigators time to go out and take a look and document. They were told that there had been a rash of break-ins. Most of them sounding like theirs with the home being broken into and things destroyed, but no one was hurt and nothing taken, just vandalized. Anna’s Mom and Dad opted to goto the drive thru burger place at the edge of town near the highway since it had taken so long and they still needed to find a hotel for the night. It turned out that they had to goto the next town over since the police had been advising everyone that was broken into to goto the hotel for the night the small one in town was full. They rented two adjoining rooms so that they could go back and forth between the two. Anna and Amaris’ room was a “party room” as it had an adjoining door on the other side as well. The place was not very updated, but i

Amaris followed Marco up to the building and around the front over by the office. Anna was sitting on the picnic table out front. When she saw Amaris she leaped up and ran to hug her. Anna’s parents walked out of the office with the office manager behind them. “Ah Amaris. I knew you had not gone too far. You look like you are all in one piece. I think you had quite a fright last night. Thanks Marco. I’m going to take her up to Lyle’s office. She will be safe with us.” Anna’s father patted Marco on the shoulder with his good arm. The two men grabbed each other’s forearms and held on in a show of brotherhood. “Keep an eye on her from now on! “ Marco laughed as he walked back to his old 1980’s faded blue Chevy pick up truck and got in. He pulled the truck up to where they were all standing by the picnic tables and leaned out the window. “I will let Lyle and the council know that you are on your way. I am sure they will have lunch for you all and then start the proceedings.”Marco then w

Once inside the cabin seemed much smaller than it had the first time she was in it. There were so many people milling around that it was like walking through a dense forest. Amaris followed Anna’s parents to their assigned room. They were all staying in the same room. The room contained two sets of bunk beds. Anna grinned as they walked in the door, and ran to the side of the bunk bed and yelled “top” as she clambered up onto the top bunk. Amaris and her parents laughed as Amaris threw her backpack on the floor next to the lower bunk and laid down. She reached up and poked the top bunk mattress in between the slats “But don’t forget I have the best position all night. Anna giggled and rolled to hang over the side and threw her pillow at Amaris. “Anna Bomb!”“I think that’s an Atom bomb.” Everyone looked up to see Adam standing in the doorway with a grin. “I came to check and see that your getting settled in. Lyle is not here yet. He is still out with his team looking for Gran. When I l

Amaris thought she heard Anna wrong. Werewolves?! “What do you mean?” Amaris was about to laugh. She thought that Anna was trying to lighten the mood with a joke, but one look at her face and Amaris knew that she wasn’t. “When there is a full moon, when there is danger, when we are protecting our pack. We turn into wolves. The dogs that you heard howling here and the ones at the hotel were a rival pack. They are the ones that are trying to stop you from coming to power. Since they think that you are the chosen one from the moon goddess that the legends talk about they want you for their own. Their leader most likely wants to make you his mate to form an alliance, so that the two of you will rule together over all the packs.”Amaris just sat and stared. What Anna was saying did not make sense and yet it fit all the weird stuff that had been happening. Anna and her family were werewolves, and that would also make her a werewolf. Amaris suddenly sat down on the lower side of the pile of