Free Black Magic (Howl #4) by Jody Morse, Jayme Morse Page B

continued to follow her grandfather.
    He dove to the bottom of the lake, and she waited for him to come back up to the surface. When he didn’t come back up, she felt herself beginning to panic. Was he stuck under the water? She wondered if werewolves could even stay under for that long without dying.
    Just as she was about to dive in after him to attempt to save him from whatever was below the murky water, she saw his white fur break the water’s surface. Then, meeting her gaze with his fiery red eyes, he said, Know your enemy.

 
     
     
    Chapter 9
     
    The next day after school, Colby drove Samara and Emma over to the new house. Samara still hadn’t spoken to Luke, and she wasn’t planning to say a word to him anytime soon. Just thinking about how he’d acted on their date the night before made her feel angry inside. He could wait for her after class and follow her around like a puppy all he wanted, just like he had today, but she wasn’t going to give in so easily.
    Once they reached the house, Emma climbed out of the car and headed inside.
    Colby turned to Samara. “Have you noticed if she’s been wearing the ring I bought her yet? Every time I look at her, she’s had her hands covered by mittens or shoved inside her hoodie.”
    Samara shook her head. “No, I haven’t noticed, but I haven’t really been looking yet either. I’ll let you know.”
    She reached for the door handle to get out of the car, but Colby said, “Wait, that’s not all I wanted to talk to you about in private. There’s something else.”
    “What?”
    Glancing at the windshield, which had clouded up from their hot breath, he said, “Luke told me what he did last night.”
    “ He did ?” Samara’s eyes widened. She hadn’t expected Luke to tell Colby—or anyone else from the pack—what had happened between them the night before.
    “Yeah, he came over last night. He was all upset. He feels really bad about it, Sam. I think you need to forgive him.”
    She sighed. “Of course you’re going to say that. You’re his best friend. You didn’t see the way he reacted, though.”
    “No, I didn’t, but I can imagine how he reacted. But here’s the thing. He could have reacted a whole lot worse than he actually did.”
    “How do you figure? It was pretty embarrassing.”
    “It’s natural instinct. A lot of werewolves kill humans who so much as look at their mates in the wrong way, Sam,” Colby explained. “It’s not uncommon to become territorial with your mate.”
    Samara sighed. “I just don’t think I deserve for him to freak out on me just for wearing a shirt that I bought to wear for him. It doesn’t seem fair.”
    “As mates, we’re prone to jealousy,” Colby replied, meeting her stare. “That’s just the way it is. At some point you’re going to feel the same way about him. If you can’t handle that, you’re better off just ending your relationship as mates and choosing a companion instead.”
    “You mean, we don’t have to be together?” Samara asked, wide-eyed. “I thought mates didn’t have a choice in the matter.”
    Colby shook his head. “Nope, you don’t have to be together.” He hesitated. “But, usually, we want to be together. Typically, nothing can tear mates apart.”
    He climbed out of the car, leaving Samara sitting there by herself. She stared out the car window in silence.
    Did she really want to give up what she had with Luke? Even though he had embarrassed her and made her feel angrier than she had been at anyone in a long time, the truth of the matter was that she didn’t want to be away from him. She wanted to be with him, even if that meant that she had to deal with his jealousy issues on occasion.
    And Colby was right. She was bound to get jealous again eventually, too . . . and Luke was just going to have to deal with it when she did.
    As she climbed out of the car feeling pleased with herself for forgiving Luke, Samara glanced up to see Chris and Kyana pulling into the