Change of Plans - C.L. Blackwell Page 0,2

those tight yoga pants weren’t helping.

“Knock it off,” Brody snarled as soon as she her door clicked closed and smacked the side of my head, “She deserves better than you and we both know if there was anyway to stop this, I would.”

I ignored that fact that he had just hit me and glared at him over my sandwich, which was gross. Pickles and cheese were not a good combo. “Yeah, yeah, I know, I’ll never be good enough for your precious Allie.” That’s all I've heard him tell me over the past couple of months leading up to Allie’s birthday. I’ve known since my seventeenth birthday that we were paired together and this was the exact reason I didn’t want to tell him. After he learned about what he was it didn’t take long to connect me lusting after his sister with the bond. Doesn’t matter if I’m stronger, he was still going to go protective brother on me.

“Well, it would help if you started warming her up to the idea of what her life is about to become instead of shielding her from everything. You can't protect her forever. It’s only going to get worse as time goes on. Her sense of smell is already growing. You should have seen her face when she caught a whiff of my sandwich,” I couldn't help the irritation that crept into my voice. It wasn't fair to keep Allie in the dark, she should know by now, but it wasn't my place to tell her.

I guess I could go ahead and tell her, but that would mean my beta hating me, which wouldn't be so much of a downfall. Brody might not like everything that goes on in our world, but no matter what he will always stick by my side. Even knowing that, I probably wouldn't tell her because I might keep my beta, but I would still lose my best friend. Brody is the only person who I can truly trust. After he walked in on my father giving me another one of his talks about how I’m not good enough and never will be, he’s always been there for me. He never brought up that day again, just stood by my side no matter what. If it weren't for Brody, I probably couldn’t handle all the stress that my father has put me under, but that’s just him: loyal, smart and well -put together. Then there’s me, impulsive and reckless. I guess we cancel each other out. That’s why we work so well together which is great because how else would we control a pack of hotheaded werewolves?

Chapter Three

Like a Moth to a Flame

Allie

I resisted slamming the door behind me and crawled back into my bed. My speaker was blaring out The Black Keys to drown out what sounded like arguing downstairs. Caleb and Brody acted like an old married couple, bickering all the time.

Spread out on my bed were all the new pictures that I had just gotten printed. Photography was probably the only constant in my life other than Matt, my best friend. When my mom, dad and brother left, I only had two things that actually kept me going. Mom was the reason I started taking pictures and the only reason I continued to do it was the connection to her. Our house was drowning in photos my mom had taken, and although they brought back painful memories, Brody and I had a silent agreement to keep them hanging on the walls.

Mom had given me my first camera. I remember that day perfectly, it was one of my last good memories of her. I remember her saying, “Life goes by too fast not to capture it, take pictures of everything, happy and sad, and you will always remember those moments that had an impact.” That’s when I was ten; she died eight months later. Nearly six years and thousands of photos later, I still remember those words. For weeks after her death, I would sit and stare at the camera she gave me, wondering what to do with it. My pain was too fresh to do anything that reminded her of me at that point.

My camera, a vintage 30mm Canon Demi EE17, was worn from years of use, my fingerprints were forever dented in it. Most people thought it was a pain going and getting the film printed, but I thought it was worth it. The camera gave off a filter that you couldn't get