Wolfsbane (Werewolves of Boston #1) - S.J. Himes
Chapter 1
“Did you see the pack alert?” his mother called across the house, and Rael Morrow sighed. Of course, she heard him. “Don’t sass me! Did you check your phone?”
Scylla Morrow was a werewolf, and as her son he had many of the same gifts. They didn’t need to text each other room to room like humans, they just needed to talk. The walls of their tiny house in Southie were paper thin. Though, Scylla yelled regardless. She liked to be emphatic.
Rael sat up in bed, the covers falling away, and dug about for his phone. It vibrated, and he found it under his pillow. Opening it, he stared in dismay at the pack alert.
All pack members are to attend the moonrise meeting on Friday. NO exceptions. –ALPHA MERCER
He groaned, falling back onto the bed, and stared at the ceiling. His hopes of avoiding the pack for another moon had evaporated. If he didn’t show, Alpha Mercer would send his betas to drag him by his ear to the meeting, kicking and screaming. He was eighteen and had yet to turn. Hardly surprising, considering his father had been human. He had the enhanced senses, the speed, healing, strength and resiliency, but he couldn’t transform. Full-blooded children of the moon transformed either at puberty or, if they were alphas, even younger. Most alphas transformed for the first time by the age of ten.
Rael went through puberty, the eyes of the pack on him, and... nothing. Years passed, and while he smelled like a werewolf, and in all ways was a werewolf in human form, he never found another form. Not the full transformation from man to wolf, or even the monstrous, bipedal lycanthrope form reserved for the strongest of their kind.
He couldn’t even grow out his fur. The closest he got was being able to grow out his fangs and claws, though it took effort. His eyes glowed blue under the sway of the moon, and when his emotions ran high. There were a few perks, though, that full-blooded werewolves didn’t have, but none of it really made up for the fact that his position in the pack was endangered by his parentage.
“Rael!”
“Yes, I got the message!” He shouted back, though his mom could hear him just fine, even on the opposite side of the house.
“Don’t yell!” she shouted back at him, and he snorted, tossing his phone on the nightstand. Saying he got the message wasn’t enough, as he heard her coming his way.
The bedroom door opened, and his mother leaned on the doorjamb. She sighed, rubbing her face with one hand. Two hundred years old, and she didn’t look a day over forty. She had long, brown hair that hung down past her shoulders, bright blue eyes, and a hint of fangs in her smile. Tiny lines around her eyes were the only hint of age she carried. Most wolves who could bear pups had them younger, but Scylla Morrow never did anything the expected way. Hence her half-human son and the fact that they lived inside city limits instead of just working there. Most wolf packs worked in Boston and lived outside the city limits, leaving the denser, more populated areas to the mundane humans and the practitioners. But his mom had been a nurse at Boston General for longer than he’d been alive, so living in the city made sense.
“Just because Alpha Mercer is ordering everyone to attend doesn’t mean he’s going to single you out,” Scylla said, though Rael heard the doubt.
“First full moon after my eighteenth birthday, Mom.” Rael sat up and swung his feet to the floor, looking down at his bare toes. If he focused really hard and had the benefit of the full moon, he might be able to grow some claws. As it was, they were just regular human toes. His mom said nothing, though they were both thinking the same thing. “I’m not a kid anymore. Alpha Mercer doesn’t want anyone in the pack who isn’t a wolf.”
Scylla growled and came to sit beside him on the bed, arm around his shoulders. “Alpha Mercer is an asshole and a bigot. Over half his pack has human bloodlines, including his oh-so-perfect mate, Abigail. You’re young and strong and healthy, and smart as hell. You’re going to college next semester, pre-med! You’re going to be a doctor. Anyone who doesn’t want you just because you can’t shift is losing out on so much.”
He smiled, but it had a bitter twinge to it. “Everyone