she explained. "We're people, Elena. Just like the two of you. We just have this disease. It's almost impossible to catch accidentally." Then she looked at Seth. "How far did you get?"
"To how some converts don't shift back," he admitted.
I cared about none of that. "How did she get it?" I snapped.
Before Ashley could answer, another girl stepped into the open doorway. It was Olivia. "I think I know."
"When did you get here?" Ashley asked.
Olivia pointed back toward the stairs. "I knocked. No one answered, then I heard her. I just got off the bus, and I came right over because Gabby wasn't at school, and since she was sick yesterday, I was going to tell her about the play results." She took a trembling breath. "She got the Cat. Sam got Alice, and when I told her congrats, I mentioned that all the practice this weekend must've worked." Her eyes flicked over to me. "She said Gabby wasn't with her this weekend."
Ashley spun on her, a sound coming out that I didn't know a human throat could make. "Where was she?"
Olivia visibly swallowed, taking a step back. "I don't know. I didn't even think about it until just now. I mean, we told her. Roman and I. We told her what we are. It was an accident, and it came up when she was laughing about her mom being chased by the neighbors and wondering who she'd pick. He said there's no picking. That the alpha and betas share - and then Gabby made us explain."
"When!" Ashley demanded.
"Like, weeks and weeks ago! Right before I spent the night. Like, I dunno, two days before that?"
It felt like my skin had gone numb, like my mind refused to accept anything else but the millions of thoughts tumbling through it so fast I couldn't quite catch any of them. "You're..."
"A wolf," Ashley finished, answering my feeble question. "Yeah, Elena, we all are. Roman, too. That's why their families got leases. They're both natural-born."
"I still don't know what that really means!"
Olivia held up her fingers at Ashley, as if begging for the chance to answer. "It means we were born like this. We've never known anything else. Gabby wanted to see, so Roman promised he'd come over one night, to prove it. That's when Lane rolled him and chased him home. Gabby was so mad. She said..." The girl looked over at Ashley. "She said she wanted to be one too."
"Who turned her?" Ashley demanded.
"I don't know for sure, but Xander said Roman paid him fifty bucks to cover for him this weekend. He said Roman was taking Gabby to a cabin in the middle of nowhere. I just thought they were gonna - " Her mouth snapped shut and her eyes jumped to me.
"Fuck," Seth finished for her.
Olivia nodded. "I'm not sure, though. I mean, that's just what I heard!"
"You're a good kid," Ashley assured her. "Go call your mom and tell her the alpha needs you tonight. You're gonna help me take care of everyone, ok? We're going to need to make dinner and stuff."
Her head jiggled quickly. "And Henry has the front gates closed. I thought I could round up the kids and tell the neighbors, so everyone's extra safe with the cars."
"Why?" I asked.
Olivia looked at me. "Because she's gonna run, Ms. Castillo. When she shifts, that's what they all do. They run, and they run as fast as they can, and I don't want my best friend to get hit by a car."
"Can't we lock her inside?" I asked.
"No," Seth told me. "We want her tired. We need her to wear herself out until she's too exhausted to even stand." Then he looked at Olivia. "And I need you to make sure Elena doesn't follow. I don't care how, but you will not let her out of this house when Gabby runs. Am I clear?"
She immediately dropped her eyes to the ground. "Yes, Beta."
"Then," I told them, "I have something to do first." And I stormed back into the hall.
"Elena," Seth asked, "where are you going?"
"To talk to this boy's parents and let them know exactly what he's done."
"Go," Seth told Ashley. "Stay with her. We'll take care of Gabby. Just don't let Kim get out of hand."
Ashley huffed. "I think I got this."
CHAPTER 46
I pulled on a pair of sneakers I'd left by the front door and stormed out. It wasn't my best look, but I really didn't care. So what if I had on my