Toby hurried onto the bus with wide eyes. “Oh, man, you missed it.”
“What?” Aiden asked.
“Dylan totally called Conner out. Like the Wild West! Gunfight at noon!” He mimed a pistol in each hand and made shooting motions.
The blood drained from Aiden’s face. “They’re going to fight?”
The other kids on the bus murmured, some of them pulling out phones to text.
“Yeah.” Toby dropped his voice to a growl. “The gravel pit. One hour. I will kick your werewolf ass.”
Aiden stood on shaky legs. “This isn’t funny.”
Toby frowned. “You don’t think Dylan will win?”
“That’s not what I’m worried about.” Aiden pushed past him and hurried off the bus. The flow of students coming out of the building had slowed to a trickle. He couldn’t see Dylan anywhere. He’d probably gone back into the building to cut through to the parking lot.
Aiden stood on the stairs, wondering if he could catch up. His phone rang, and he lifted it to see an unfamiliar number. “Hello?”
“It’s Hanna.” She’d had her phone taken away, so she must be using someone else’s. “Dylan’s going to fight Conner.”
“I know. I heard.” He chewed his bottom lip. “We have to stop him.” Aiden looked back at the bus. It would leave soon. He rocked, taking a half step toward the school, then a half step toward the bus.
Hanna’s voice was soft. “Maybe we shouldn’t.”
“What? Do you want him to get in trouble?” He’d thought Hanna would understand.
Toby leaned out of the bus door and waved at him, urging him to hurry. Aiden clenched his free hand. He could get home and grab his bike, be at the gravel pit before the fight started.
“No. But I want Conner to stop. I want all of them to stop. I’m so tired of being afraid.”
Her words hit him like a punch. How often had he thought the same thing over these past months?
Toby waved more frantically, and with a frustrated sigh, Aiden jogged for the bus.
“Next time I’m not waiting,” the driver grumbled as he shut the door.
Aiden took his seat. “There has to be a better way to solve this. There’s a hall monitor watching Conner all the time now.”
“But what about the others? They pick on me all the time, leave me notes, write on my locker…”
“Talk to your parents. Maybe you can get a hall monitor to follow you around and keep you safe.” The bus pulled away. He’d be home in fifteen or twenty minutes. The gravel pit was five minutes by bike if he pedaled fast.
“I just want this to be over.” She sounded so sad he wanted to reach through the phone and hug her.
“But what if this makes it worse?”
“It won’t. Conner is challenging Dylan’s dominance, and he’s been getting away with it. Dylan needs to put him in his place.”
“So Dylan beats the crap out of him and then everything is fine?” Aiden didn’t believe that. Violence led to more violence.
“Yes. You undermined Conner when you… took me away. Conner needs to get me back and punish you and Dylan. Or Dylan needs to prove he’s the alpha.”
She talked like it was logical, but it sounded so stupid. But then again, things were different in Shadow Valley. Believing in magic was supposed to be stupid, but he lived with the truth of it every day.
“I don’t care. I need to stop him.”
Hanna was quiet for a moment. “Um, about what happened with me and Dylan…”
“It’s okay, Hanna. I’m not mad.” He thought maybe he should be jealous that she wanted his stronger, braver, more handsome friend. A spark of something kindled in his chest, but he didn’t know if it was actual jealousy or if he was trying to force the feeling.
Her voice came out soft and little muffled, like she was pressing her mouth to the phone or partly covering her lips with a hand. “I swear I’m not a slut or a cheater. I’m so sorry.”
“You don’t have to be sorry. It’s okay. We broke up.” If there was a real chance Tiago liked him back, Aiden might have tried kissing him. He’d certainly thought about it plenty of times.
Wait. What if Hanna had liked Dylan more all along? Now that was a terrible thought.
“We only broke up because my parents made me. Why didn’t you fight for me?”
His stomach tightened. “I didn’t want to fight. I wanted you to want me enough to say no to them.”
“Is there anyone you would fight for?” She didn’t sound angry, just hurt.
Dylan. But he didn’t say it out loud because that would sound… gay.
* * *
Aiden didn’t even go in the house. He went straight to the garage for his bike and pedaled as fast as he could for the gravel pit. There was half an hour, maybe a little less before the fight. It was still raining, but it had lessened to a faint drizzle. When he arrived there was no one else at the pit. Aiden paced for what seemed like for forever until Dylan appeared, sliding down the gravel-covered hill on his bike.
“I thought you wouldn’t want to watch,” Dylan said as he dropped his bike on its side.
“I’m not here to watch. I want you to stop. You’re both going to get hurt and you’ll get in trouble. This is stupid.”
“It’s not stupid. Waiting this long to have it out was stupid. I should have taken care of him the first time he came over to our table.” Dylan’s eyes were normal colored, but warm scales slid against the place inside Aiden that sensed magic. “No, I should have done it in the field that night we rescued Hanna. Should’ve ignored you when you told me to stop.”
Aiden thought of the talk they’d had at the pit months ago. “You said you’d listen to me if I told you to not to do something stupid. You swore you would, right here, after that night you burned me.”
Dylan looked away. “This isn’t that bad. It’s just a fight.”
“So you were lying?”
Dylan’s jaw flexed and he clenched a fist. “No. I need to do this. For you, for Hanna. Conner won’t leave any of us alone unless I do this.”
“The hall monitor is following him around now. We could talk to the principal, talk to your parents—”
“Hide behind them for the rest of high school?” he snapped. Now his eyes burned green, two bright sparks in the rainy night. “I know you don’t like fighting, but that’s what Conner understands. Power, dominance.”
Aiden’s stomach twisted. “You’re going to enjoy beating him up, aren’t you?”
“Yes.” Dylan glared, but his expression was a little off, a hint that he was disturbed by his enjoyment.
That was something at least. “You’re going to get in trouble. The police are already watching you. How is this going to look?”
“I don’t care.”
Aiden hated this side of his friend. “Dylan, please. You’re better than this.”
The glow in Dylan’s eyes faded.
“Come to kiss your boyfriend good luck?”
Aiden’s heart jumped and beat double time. He turned to see Conner walking casually down into the pit, the other werewolves following him.
“You should go, Aiden,” Dylan said.
So much for the hope that he might get through to him. Aiden wanted to stay, to keep trying to talk Dylan out of this fight, but now that Conner was here he didn’t think there was any way to make Dylan stop. Energy practically crackled in the air between Dylan and Conner. It was as bad as it had ever been at school. Maybe worse.
“You don’t have to do this,” Aiden said as he backed toward Dylan, not taking his eyes off Conner.
“Yeah, I do.”
Scales and heat now clashed with fur and cool air. Aiden’s chest kept getting tighter, and he moved until he was behind Dylan. Any second they’d start fighting.
“Your boys can go back up the hill,” Dylan said. “They’re not supposed to get involved, remember?”
“And you’re not supposed to use magic.” Conner’s eyes glowed yellow. All of the werewolves’ eyes did.
“I know.”
Despite the words, all Aiden could imagine was Dylan throwing a huge fireball at Conner, how the alpha werewolf would scream. The scar on Aiden’s chest ached, and he sucked in little breaths, trying to get enough air. He couldn’t take it anymore. Aiden turned and ran.
He prayed the werewolves wouldn’t chase him.