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  I searched his face for betrayal, but I saw no trace of it. He just stood and begged with his devil eyes. He would never be humble, that I knew for sure, and he would never openly beg, but something in his eyes moved me and I trembled. Even though I wanted to drive him away, I knew he was right. I had to give him an equal chance. I lowered my head and turned my back to him. Finally I swayed my tail demonstratively. “All right then, but Clarissa is the one who decides whom she will choose. If you try to weasel in any way, you're out.” I knew without even looking that he was grinning. “It's a deal. I won't bother you anymore. I'll turn myself into a human and start hunting Clarissa tomorrow.”

  I sighed. Why did the idea of Adam hunting Clarissa make me feel uncomfortable? There was nothing that I could do now so I started to run. After grunting at Adam once more, Joshua and Daniel followed me.

  We ran home as fast as we could and when we were close enough to see our house we stopped and stood on the grass heaving breathlessly. I didn't know whether I had made the right decision, especially when my head was full of complaints from Joshua and Daniel and I could hardly imagine how the other members of our pack would react. I breathed exhaustedly awhile, before I turned myself back to my human form and returned to face my pack at home.

  I didn't know how to explain this to them, but I knew that there would be trouble for sure. Adam would never settle for behaving like a decent human being nor would he respect the rules we had made. He would weasel and lie and do whatever it took to have Clarissa to himself. And without any of us even noticing he would, eventually, win her heart. I wasn't sure if that was the best for Clarissa, so I had no choice but tighten Clarissa's guard. My pack couldn't do that without the help of the new strange males, but under these circumstances, I believed that they would be pleased to help us.

  CHAPTER 2

  The house was quiet as we came back. David had left for work and had probably taken Clarissa to school. I knew that Joshua had something on his mind for Clarissa after her school day. Some sort of surprise where all the young males were involved. So I was quite sure Adam would not get close to Clarissa during the day. It was so silent that I wasn't expecting anyone to be there and was surprised to see Tiamhaidh standing at the door and waiting for us. Just as if I had asked, he raised his brows and laughed.

  “Gavin took Marie to school. I thought you would like to talk to me.”

  Relief rumbled over me and all the tension on my shoulders disappeared. No need to explain anything. Tiamhaidh would support me in all my decisions, even if he didn't like them.

  “What about Mathanan and Ciall?” I asked.

  “Matt is in the kitchen, planning the dinner, and Ciall, well, I don't have a clue. My best guess is that he's working out at your gym,” Tiamhaidh looked at me searchingly.

  I smiled widely. My gym meant exactly five training machines and a very small room, but still there seemed to be at least one person from our pack there all the time. I wanted to build it for my own emergency exercise, for there didn't seem to be enough hours in the day and once in a while I really needed to disappear for an hour or two.

  I didn't actually need that extra training but my brain seemed to need some hard training at times, and I thought the other shape shifters felt the same. The best thing for us would have been to hunt daily as wolves, but I didn't want to risk our cover by bumping into some over-eager berry picker, or even worse, deer hunters. So we had decided to stay in our human forms as long as we could. The newcomers, the strange males, actually didn't have a choice as we had forbidden them their right to shift shapes for now, so it seemed reasonable that we walked with two feet as well.

  “I'll take a shower and meet you in the living room, okay?” I said to Tiamhaidh, who was slumping at my door post.

  He nodded lightly and left to rob some food from Mathanan. I went to my bedroom and dropped my sweaty clothes in a heap on the floor. Luckily I had my own bathroom in my bedroom, with both a shower and a bath. At this point, I had no strength to drag myself to our big bathroom, at least not when I knew that Tiamhaidh would intrude my privacy and come there to talk with me.

  Nudity was not a problem for shape shifters, as we all knew that our human bodies were just shells that we had created. If we wanted our bodies to be slimmer or more muscular or anything else, we could just shape them again, so I didn't mind Tiam or any other male from our pack being in the bathroom with me. This time, however, I was so exhausted that I wanted to steal a moment for myself before I had to tell the others what I had promised to Adam.

  I let the cold water cleanse my body while it responded to its touch by trembling with pleasure. There was no doubt that the shower was on my number one list when it came to the conveniences of the modern day. I pressed my head against the wall and enjoyed the feeling of the water running down my back. I stood still and just took pleasure in it.

  When the water had finished washing my sweaty body, I heard a light knocking on the door. For a moment I stood still and wished I could pretend I hadn't heard anything. I knew, however, that whoever was there would come in anyway, so I turned the water off and looked at the shower elegiacally for a while before I answered.

  “Come in!” I yelled and groped for the towel.

  “Sofia,” Ciall said, hesitating.

  “Come on in. I'll be ready in a moment,” I said and sighed. So much for my peaceful moment.

  When I came out of the bathroom, wrapped in my soft lounger, I found Ciall sitting on my bed and looking very uncomfortable.

  “He's back for good, isn't he?” Ciall asked with pain on his face.

  “Yes. He is back. But he must follow the same rules as the others and I think that will be extremely hard for him. He knows he's not welcome here, and the other males are weeks ahead of him in courting Clarissa. I'm not so sure that Clarissa will even choose him.”

  Ciall looked at me grimly. “I am.”

  “You can't worry about that in advance, so please, at least try to focus on protecting Clarissa for now,” I sat next to him and stroked his hair gently.

  Ciall swiped my hand away, impatiently. “I can't. I'm sorry, but I just can't.”

  “There is some kind of weird power in Adam that radiates from him, and there is no way that Clarissa can be immune to that. She has no chance. Even I find it difficult to resist his powers, though I'm a male. He's a born leader and Clarissa knows that,” Ciall grunted quietly.

  “At least try, will you?” I asked and smiled.

  Ciall didn't answer. He stared at the floor and when I touched his thoughts, I became worried.

  “You know, you cannot attack Adam?”

  “Why not?” He said in a murderous tone.

  I looked at him with horror.

  Ciall smiled lamely and touched my hand. “I know that, but I can't just sit and watch Adam destroy everything that she is.”

  “Well, you have to. None of us knows that Adam will destroy Clarissa. Do you really think for a second that I would let him come near my child if I thought he would destroy her?” I stared at him angrily.

  “Maybe he's even stronger than you are,” Ciall snapped, trying deliberately to hurt me.

  “I can't believe my ears! You really think I have no powers against Adam? I wouldn't want him anywhere near Clarissa! Do you think that I don't feel his magnetic powers? That it's easy for me to be around him? That in my mind, I don't have to fight against his powers?” I snapped and stood up. “It's a storm inside my head, believe me!”

  I looked strictly into his eyes and he tried to avoid mine. I couldn't let him. Finally he looked straight at my burning eyes of anger.

  “I, however, don't think we can just exile him. If you don't remember, that is exactly what we did, and yet he managed to escape and return here. Our best weapon against him is fairness. If we treat him fair and equal as the others, even the eldest can't claim we didn't give him a chance to fight for Clarissa.”

  “Still,” Ciall began.

  “No, Ciall. I'm sorry,
but this is how we have to deal with it,” I said, and everything in me told him I wouldn't accept any complaints from him.

  Ciall was quiet. I knew he understood my decision. He just couldn't approve it. I also knew that after he thought about it, he would understand that this was the only decision I could've made. The fear of losing Clarissa was all he could think of now and he couldn't think clearly, so I decided to distract his mind.

  “By the way, do you know what Mathanan has on his mind? Tiamhaidh said something about a dinner?”

  “He's just testing some new recipes. There the world has lost a magnificent cook,” Ciall mumbled and jumped off the bed, irritated.

  Suddenly I was alone and I raked my hair, frustrated. There were a few needles from the woods in my hair and I looked at them with wonder. Even though this day had started miserably, for a long time I had had a moment where I could shift my shape and that made me feel wonderful. Even Ciall's tantrum couldn't spoil my day and I smiled wildly to myself. Could there be anything that felt better than shifting?

  Dinner was great. David was in a good mood and he believed as well that fifteen strong shape shifter males were too much for Adam. Clarissa didn't know how to handle the news, but at least from now on she could sleep at night in peace. Joshua tried not to sulk, but I noticed how irritated he was. He had been the strongest candidate for Clarissa and Adam's return would rock the boat totally.

  Joshua had taken Clarissa bowling today and the other males had joined them. Joshua believed that he was a sure winner, so he didn't mind the others going out with him and Clarissa. Igor and Alexei obviously had something on their minds. They looked too fishy, but I couldn't believe that they would dare to challenge Adam openly. As a matter of fact, I wasn't even sure the two of them together could win against Adam.

  Darel and Jonas seemed pleased. Adam was back for sure, but Joshua seemed so unsure of himself that they had better chances of fighting for Clarissa than ever. I just wished Clarissa would choose soon so we could finally get some peace and time with our family, without any outsiders around.

  I closed my eyes for a while and let my senses feel the voices around me. David's shallow voice was arguing kindly with Mathanan. Marie's bright laughter surrounded Tiamhaidh, who was trying to remain calm while Marie teased him. I touched his mind gently, but stopped it quickly when I noticed his uneasy state stirred as much by Marie's whispering as her swift fingers under the table. Altogether I felt what an accommodative atmosphere we had in our home, and I wished fervently that Adam would not spoil it. But I had this terrible feeling that a few days with Adam would change Clarissa's mind and how she felt for the other males. I knew I had to force Clarissa to practice how to protect her mind harder than ever; otherwise Adam would sweep her off her feet, sooner than she could realize it.

  CHAPTER 3

  Clarissa

  Adam leaned against the wall outside Clarissa's classroom. His dark gray beanie covered his black hair, showing just the top of his hair. His dark gray skinny jeans were stuffed into his black converses and on top of his dark purple hoodie he had thrown on a black leather jacket. Though he had done everything to mingle amongst the high school youngsters, there was no way he could ever look like a regular boy.

  The young, dangerously hot guy, drew without an effort all attention from the passing girls. When the bell rang and Clarissa stepped out to the hall, the first thing she saw was a bunch of drooling girls, surrounding Adam in the corner. Adam, however, didn't seem to care and didn't look bothered at all. Actually he even seemed to enjoy it. Clarissa's green eyes met Adam's black ones and she coughed. When nothing seemed to happen, she cleared her way towards Adam and stopped quite close to him. A slow, sexy smile spread on his face.

  “What are you doing here?” Clarissa snapped.

  “Just came to see the place,” Adam shrugged.

  “What place? What do you mean? This is a high school. There are no places.”

  “Whatever. By the way, I'll start tomorrow.”

  “Start what?” Clarissa asked, feeling quite stupid.

  “Class.” Adam grinned like a beast and grabbed her long tresses with his hand.

  Clarissa stared at Adam in shock. This could not be happening! No way Adam could start here! This was her territory.

  “Shut your mouth, sweetie. I wonder why no one else from your mutt pack figured this out before me.”

  A dark and mysterious shadow flickered on Adam's face and Clarissa wanted to step back. Her legs, however, seemed glued to the ground and she just stood there like some stupid lamb about to be sacrificed when Adam brushed her temple, making her tremble quietly. She was so scared and yet while she stared at him as if paralyzed, she felt something other than fear growing slowly inside of her.

  “What could possibly be a better place to spend time with you than your school?” Adam mentioned eerily. “I've already signed up for all your courses and you can be assured that my school grades will be excellent. I've had plenty of time to study before you.”

  “You wouldn't dare,” Clarissa sighed and noticed the panic crawling into her voice.

  “I would, believe me. Well, gotta go now. I'm meeting the principal in ten minutes and letting him fix the rest. Oh, say hi to Sofia,” Adam released Clarissa casually and headed to the teacher's room.

  Clarissa stared at his receding back with a fury that burned her guts. Adam was like a pot of honey that pulled all the bees around it and he didn't even care. Behind him walked a crowd of giggling girls who hung on to his clothes and would've given him anything if he had noticed them. But he didn't.

  “Impossible man!” Clarissa yelled and stamped her foot with anger.

  “I wouldn't mind if a man like that were impossible as long as I could be alone with him for at least two minutes,” Stella, her best friend sighed. “In a very narrow closet, if possible.”

  “Well that will happen,” Clarissa mumbled. “He will enter our class tomorrow.”

  “Wow,” Stella sighed dreamily.

  “Exactly. Wow,” Clarissa's other friends, Caitlin, Emilie and Brianna sighed in unison.

  “Stop! Stop it right now. What is wrong with you? He is just a boy,” Clarissa exclaimed.

  “Na-ah, he is totally not anything just and he is not a boy,” said Brianna, enchanted.

  “Totally not! I mean really OH MY GOD!” Emilie weeped.

  “I can't take this anymore! He is a boy! An arrogant, selfish B-O-Y,” Clarissa said desperately.

  “He can be whatever he likes,” said Brianna and looked hungrily after Adam.

  “You can't be serious! You're not saying that you want to join those drooling idiots, are you? What is wrong with you?”

  Her friends didn't bother to answer. They just rolled their eyes and sighed exaggeratedly, charmed. Clarissa snarled angrily and walked away from them and Adam. She wanted to go as far as she could and she didn't even notice Joshua coming out until he joined her, concerned.

  “What happened?”

  Clarissa stared at him with eyes that saw nothing. Joshua touched her mind lightly and suddenly she started to sob. She knew she couldn't resist Adam forever. Adam was like a drug to her. Just being near him confused her mind. She wanted to give in to him. Press herself into his arms and feel his warm lips in hers. She wanted Adam so bad. But Adam would never settle for being only with her, and she could never stand to see Adam with someone else.

  Adam loved danger and excitement and she could never satisfy him. She would always have to doubt him, always, so there was no way she could surrender to him. Not even if it killed her. Her only protection was to pretend that he was indifferent to her. She would never join his harem. Not even if Adam begged and crawled in front of her, and that would never happen. She would be single or choose somebody else, but in her heart she wanted nothing but Adam.

  Adam intrigued her too, she couldn't deny that. Not anymore. She seemed to know where Adam was, always, and her heart screamed after him. How crazy was that? Adam was a huge, da
rk guy with a body like a dream and to be honest, if one said he was gorgeous, it would not be true. He was more. Totally more! He was like a girl's worst nightmare and the dream that you didn't want to wake up from. Someone you wanted to touch and taste. A devil with wings. Oh, she was so stupid and in so much deeper than she had thought! What an annoying man!

  Clarissa sniffed in despair and Joshua pulled her to his arms. They stood at the stairs in front of the school for a moment that seemed to last forever. When the bell rang, Clarissa realized where she was. She wiped her wet face, embarrassed, and pushed herself away from Joshua.

  This was so wrong. Joshua was always there when she needed, and she had no right to cuddle him and let him believe there was something between them. Joshua was unbelievable. Any girl would've wanted him. He was a dream, but Clarissa couldn't help but compare Joshua to Adam. Why did she have to be so stupid? She was dreaming about Adam when she had so many perfect guys to choose from. All she had to do was pick one, but she couldn't do it. Why? What was wrong with her? Why she couldn't be like Marie, who loved Tiamhaidh with all she had? Marie was sick and might die sooner than anyone believed, but still she knew what she wanted. And why couldn't she. Tiamhaidh was so hot.

  Oh, my God! Why am I thinking like this? She thought. She had Joshua right here and still she felt nothing. Well, almost nothing. She didn't feel the same kind of fire and heat she had with Adam and she definitely didn't feel her heart sparkling or her belly tightening when Joshua was near her. Her stupid soul seemed to only notice Adam. What an imbecile she was! Every cell in her body cried for Adam and still here she was, crying in another man's arms for Adam. Why even bother? She sniffed. She should just rush after Adam and offer herself to him. Why fight, when in the end Adam would win? Clarissa screamed in her mind.