Free Waken (The Woods of Everod Book 1) by Angela Fristoe

shifted closer, pressing the length of his body alongside mine. I smiled up at him and he grinned in return. Even if Bryce didn’t catch the hint, Tristan had.
    “I didn’t think you’d be coming tonight, Tristan,” Bryce said.
    “Well, I figured the company was just too tempting to resist.”
    They both glanced at me and my face burned.
    “Let me introduce you to a few more people,” Tristan said, rising up. I stood up and followed him around the circle of people. We sat down between Kyle and Seth.
    “You already know Kyle. This is his girlfriend, Samara.”
    “I’m so glad you could make it tonight. I’ve been hearing so much about the new bloods in town. Is your brother here, yet?” She had one of those soft voices that you strain to hear, but can’t resist listening to.
    “No, but he’s bound to show up soon, especially if he knows there’s food.”
    Justin’s arrival seemed like perfect timing. He walked up to the group, carrying a bag of hot dog buns and a case of soda. The four of us laughed at his obliviousness to the moment.
    The arrival of the hotdogs buns started the roasting and the night air filled with a clash of voices competing to be heard over each other. I relaxed in the comfort of Tristan sitting beside me. At some point, we met in the middle and I found myself resting against him. Not in his arms, but comfortably linked together by the pressure of gravity.
    “Ketchup?” he asked as he handed me a napkin wrapped hotdog.
    I nodded and he reached for the bottle sitting on top of the cooler across from us. The movement pulled his sleeve up, exposing the underside of his wrist. A wolf, an exact replica of my necklace, was inked on his skin.
    “You have a tattoo?”
    “What?” He glanced at me sharply before looking at his wrist. “Oh, yeah.”
    “You’re parents let you get a tat?” Justin asked from the other side of him. “Damn, my mom would kill me if I even thought of doing something like that.”
    My mom would kill me regardless. I must have made a sound because Justin leaned around Tristan and gave me an apologetic look.
    “So what’s the story with it?” he asked Tristan.
    “It’s no big deal,” Tristan said.
    “Oh, come on, Tristan.” Rachel’s voice came from behind us. I twisted on the log to see her. Yeah, I was definitely back to walking. “Tell them about your tattoo.”
    For a moment, only the cracking of the fire broke the stillness of the night. Every pair of eyes was flickering back and forth between Rachel and Tristan.
    “Go ahead, Tristan,” Samara said. “I’ll explain it to the Council.”
    This was the second mention of the Council. Before, I’d thought Tristan was talking about Rachel wanting to be on student council, now I wasn’t so sure. Maybe it was some kind of secret club or something.
    “It represents the rise of the wolf.” He watched me expectantly as if I should know the story.
    “What do you mean?” I glanced around at the others, the light of the flames flickering across their faces. Other than Justin and me, everyone looked completely satisfied by his short explanation. Rachel, who had sat next to Bryce, was smirking with an eerie look of satisfaction.
    Tristan looked at Samara, who leaned forward out of Kyle’s hold. Her eyes locked onto me. “Werewolf mythology is fairly common around the world. Centuries ago, myth was all it was, then that changed. The Wolf was a man who became beast and ever since others of his kind, wolf shifters, have been searching for a way to dispel the beast. The rise of the wolf is a promise of what is to come, passed from generation to generation. It is about the freedom from the untamable wolf confined within.”
    Samara’s face lit up as she spoke. Her voice was so pure and gentle, hypnotic, really, lulling me into belief with words that flowed as if they’d been told a thousand times.
    “So he was a werewolf?” Justin asked.
    “More than a werewolf. He was Lycan. Werewolves are simply a