Free The Waking (The Upturned Hourglass) by T.K. Burckhardt Page B

how he felt about her for years.
    Suddenly, in a burst of rage and adrenaline, Valie bounded up from the floor and was down the hall in an instant, wrenching the doorknob only to discover it was locked. She threw herself against the door, but nothing happened. She proceeded to kick and pound the door until her feet and fists were numbed with pain, and her knuckles were bloody and swollen.
    Valie could feel the last shred of compassion for Alden shrivel up in the flame of her pain, as she wordlessly pounded the door. She wanted to scream, but a sob escaped her lips instead. With one last brutal kick to the door—which shook the whole apartment and left her leg throbbing, she grabbed her sweatshirt and ran out of the door, down the three flights of stairs and back onto the cold streets of Anders.
     
    Meanwhile, outside, Jack walked up to Terrence as he watched Valie’s nonexistent movements. Jack hadn’t planned on wasting his time on the Mark any more than necessary, but she had piqued his interest when she skipped out on school. He couldn’t seem to get her off his mind. He needed to get closer, understand her draw.
    “How goes it?” he inquired of Terrence.
    Terrence growled and shot Jack a frustrated glance. He was bored; stalking a simple, human girl was a waste of his talents.
    “Right,” Jack chuckled under his breath. Terrence could be so touchy. Terrence and Eliza had never truly accepted Jack’s presence in their pack. If the older Lycan wasn’t toying with Jack, he was snapping at him. “Would you care for a break? Noah still needs some practice.”
    The brute studied Jack for a moment, considering the offer. Terrence had interesting features, even for a werewolf. He was tall, around six-foot, muscularly built. His long, black-brown hair was in wild disarray around his sharp facial features. He had multiple piercings along one of his ears and a small stud above his right eyebrow. His eyes, though, were like shining, black pools. If he hadn’t had the white surrounding the inky color, he would have looked almost demonic.
    “Alright,” he growled. “Eliza says she’s getting fed up in this town anyway. It’s Halloween, a good night to have a little fun.” The man smirked, putting Jack on edge. The boy didn’t really want to know what fun the man intended to have. “The Mark went inside about five minutes ago. Apparently, school wasn’t very interesting today—speaking of which, don’t you have class, Jackie?”
    Jack scoffed, “They let me out for good behavior.”
    Amused and laughing roughly, Terrence strode away, too silent for his size. Seconds later Noah and Shane arrived to meet Jack in the abandoned lot across the street from Valie’s apartment.
    “So what’s your plan, Jack? I couldn’t understand you on the phone,” Noah asked quietly. Shane, meanwhile, looked like she was itching to be less polite about the situation.
    “You’ll see,” Jack replied with a devilish smile. “You just have to stay here and keep an eye out. Signal me if any of our pack or anyone else suspicious comes along.”
    “Anyone else ?” Shane demanded. “Why are we suspicious of our own pack?”
    But before she could extract an explanation, Valie came running out of the apartment building with tears streaming down her face. The three werewolves ducked out of sight and watched in surprise as the crying girl ran down the street. Without answering Shane’s questions, Jack took off after Valie.
    “I’m going to hurt him one of these days,” Shane threatened to Noah. “I’m really going to hurt him.”
    “We should follow him.”
    “He’s going to get us caught and I don’t want to be around when that happens. What will Isaac say? Does he even think about Isaac anymore? You know, our pack leader. ” Shane crossed her arms and stubbornly stared in the direction in which the two had run.
    “I think something’s happened, Shane. Valie looked upset.”
    “I don’t care. And it’s not like Jack