Blue Violet - By Abigail Owen Page 0,29

take turns watching the Jenner and Pierce properties through the night. Even Griffin agreed that the danger the Vyusher presented was too great to ignore.

“Sure,” she replied, patting him on the shoulder as she walked by. “I’m still fairly wide-eyed and bushy-tailed.” With that she headed upstairs to change and then took off to man her post. She kept her inner-most thoughts hidden from Griffin as she left. Somehow watching the byplay between Brian and Juliette tonight had brought to mind what wasn’t happening, what she wanted to happen but knew was impossible, between her and Alex. And what really sucked was now she got to spend hours watching over him. So close, yet not close enough. It was going to be a long night.

Chapter 16

Another six weeks passed without incident. No sightings of the wolves. No more suspicious looks from Adelaide or Lila. But there was Alex, or more specifically, Alex’s disappearance from her life. The first few days after hanging at the pizza place, he texted to say he couldn’t run with her the next morning. Then one night, the text said that he wouldn’t be able to run with her for a while, and nothing since then. Ellie had seen him when he dropped his siblings off for school, and when he picked them up afterward. But he’d only given her a nod and a half smile. He didn’t get out and talk to her. And he didn’t show up in the library on their study nights again.

Part of Ellie worried, hoping that he was okay. Another part was insecure, wondering what she’d done to scare him off. And another part was just pissed that he’d drop her like that, without any explanation. She had a strong suspicion he was avoiding her, and she wondered why. But then the next moment, she’d convince herself that she was being completely self-centered. Sure, she felt a connection with him, but obviously that feeling was one-sided. What Alex probably saw when he looked at her was a normal high school girl… too young… too inexperienced… and not of his kind.

Ellie’d pretty much convinced Griffin that the Jenners and Pierces weren’t a danger to them. But both she and Griffin were still concerned that revealing themselves to the Jenners and Pierces might put them all in a great deal of danger. Especially given the wolf sighting not too long ago.

April had given way to an unseasonably warm May. The snow was mostly gone, at least for the moment. Ellie was standing outside in the parking lot, enjoying the lovely weather and chatting with Adelaide, Lila, and Nate. She waved to Brian and Juliette as they arrived, and hid a self-satisfied smile.

“You’re pretty proud of yourself, aren’t you?” Adelaide teased, following her line of sight.

Ellie grinned. “I just hope they remember me at their wedding.”

Adelaide chuckled. She also thought that Brian and Juliette made a good couple, but her reasons for feeling so were slightly different, and she kept them to herself.

The couple had been inseparable since that movie night. They’d also become particularly good friends of Ellie’s, often coming over to her house to study on nights when she wasn’t at the library with Adelaide, Lila, and Nate. Sometimes they’d join the little library group, and even Griffin liked them. He’d finally warmed up to the idea of making friends… Or, at least he’d grudgingly accepted the concept.

Ellie glanced up and froze, the blood draining from her face. Across the street, in the shadows of a grove of trees, stood a giant black wolf, seemingly watching the school. As Ellie watched, the wolf slowly backed up into the shadows and disappeared.

“Ellie?” Adelaide laid a concerned hand on her sleeve. “Are you okay? You look like you’re about to pass out.”

Ellie pulled herself out of her shocked state with difficulty. She slowly focused on Adelaide’s worried face, and then shook her head a little, trying to clear it. “Umm… yeah.” She pinned what she hoped was a cheerful look on her face, hoping the color was coming back into her blanched cheeks. A loud trill shook her senses.

Saved by the bell, she thought with wry amusement. The irony of the situation was not lost on her.

“Griffin,” Ellie called for her brother mentally as she followed her friends into the school.

“Yeah?”

She mentally showed him what she had just seen. Somehow, she also managed to communicate her panic. “It’s him. The black wolf.”

“I know,” was his grim response. “I’m on it. You go to