The Full Moon, Amber Riel [speed reading book TXT] 📗

which was pulled back and almost black eyes as well and was wearing glasses.

“So, Lee, how have you two been?” Kat asked the boy.

“Pretty good,” he answered with a smile. “It’s been a long time no see.”

“That’s for sure. Do you guys still talk to Millie and her pack?”

“No. We’re not allowed. Our parents would kill us. I think that they’re pretty cool. Millie could try to get along with everyone though, but then again her parents were killed ten years ago. Ever since then, she hasn’t trusted a human.” Lee remembered how kind Millie was until after she had lost her parents. They were friends until that day had come.

“Really?” Kat remembered when Millie’s parents had died, but she didn’t realize that was why she hated the humans.

“Yea.”

Kat looked at her watch. “Oh. I better go, I’ve got a date.”

“Okay. See ya, Kat.”

Kat started leaving. “See ya, Lee. Bye, Ann.”

Lee’s sister waved. “Bye, Kat.”

Kat left.

 

 

Later in the woods by the river, Champ was waiting for Kat to show up. When she arrived, she walked over to him. “I’m here.”

Champ smiled. “I see that.”

“I enjoy being here with you.”

“Same here. You know how much trouble we can get into if my other pack members find out?”

“Yea.”

“I’d be banished and you’d.... Get killed.”

“I know.”

“Before I forget.” He handed her the rose. “This is for you.”

“Thank you.” After he gave her the rose, it died in her hand. The rose started crumbling and the white petals grew darker. “It just died.”

“Maybe it knows what will happen to you if the others find out. Don’t worry,” he said, lifting up her chin with his claw to look her in the eyes, and pushed her closer to his chest with the other claw behind her, “I won’t let that happen to you.”

She looked at him with sadness in her eyes. “I know.”

“Keep the rose, but don’t let it bother you. I love you too much to let that happen.”

“I know.” She hugged him and put her head against his chest. “I love you too.”

Champ smiled. “Would you like to dance?”

Kat looked at him, kind of confused. “With what music?”

“I’ll hum.”

She smiled at his reply. “Sure.”

Champ took her left hand, which was holding the rose, with his right hand. Kat’s right hand rested on his left shoulder. His left hand was on her back. He hummed while leading her in the dance.

 

 

The next day at the cottage, Lacy and Champ were in the computer room, looking for information about the book and Doctor O’Nail. They came across something that Millie wasn’t going to like. Lacy looked at Champ. “Should you tell Millie or should I?”

“I think we both should.”

“Good idea.”

In the dining room, Millie, Kyle, and Shawn were at the dining room table. Shawn had a bowl of oatmeal. Millie was holding her head up because she was kind of tired. Kyle was rubbing her back. Shawn finished his bowl of oatmeal. “Man, is there anything to do?” he asked.

“No.” Millie sat back in the chair, kind of making it hard for Kyle to move his hand.

He finally got his hand from in between Millie and the chair.

“Shawn, you can go to the bookstore, you know and work.”

“That’s not fun.” He looked at the empty bowl. “Man, I’m still hungry.”

Wagner walked in, holding an injured bird. The bird looked like it was still a baby. It was a black bird with an injured wing. “Millie, can I keep him? I’ll take care of him.”

Shawn looked at the bird and licked his lips. In his mind, he didn’t just see a bird, he seen a cooked, juicy, tender bird all ready to eat, kind of like in a cartoon.

Millie stood up and walked over to Wagner. When it came to small animals like birds and rabbits, Millie had a soft heart for them. She didn’t even have a problem with younger human children, who were around Wagner’s age or younger, while she hated the older humans. She had a heart, but it was hidden under all of that anger that she had. “Well, we don’t have any way to take care of him.” She wished they could help him, but they could barely afford to take care of themselves.

Shawn started drooling at the sight of the little bird. “Man, that bird looks so good,” he told Kyle.

Kyle looked at Shawn. “Shawn, you know the first rule in the code.... Lycans must not attack small, defenseless animals. If they do, then they must go three days without meat.”

“I don’t care. I’m hungry.”

“Here.” Millie was still talking to Wagner. “You can take care of him until he gets better, then you’ll have to let him out in the wild where he belongs, because we don’t have the money for the poor bird to take care of him. Okay, Wagner?”

Wagner looked up at Millie. “Okay.”

“Go make a bed for him, okay.”

“Okay.”

Millie turned to face Shawn and Kyle as Wagner left the room. Millie realized that Shawn was drooling because of the bird. She walked past him and smacked the back of his head.

“OW!” Shawn rubbed the back of his head.

“That bird’s not food, Shawn. You eat him, I eat you.”

Kyle scratched the back of his head. “Well, that’s not the code, but don’t eat him, Shawn.”

Millie sat back down next to Kyle. Lacy and Champ walked into the room. “Do you want to go first?” Lacy asked Champ.

“Okay. Millie, me and Lacy were doing some research and well it seems that we have to work with Kat.”

“Yea. Apparently, cat shape-shifters are immune to everything in that book and well.... In order to stop Doctor O’Nail....”

“We have to work with a cat shape-shifter.... And Kat’s the only one we know.... So....” Champ finished Lacy’s sentence.

“No.” Millie couldn’t believe what she just heard. “There’s got to be another way.”
Champ and Lacy looked at each other then to the ground. They didn’t have anything to tell her.

“There’s got to be something else.”

Lacy was still looking at the ground. “There’s no other way.” She looked up at Millie. “We have to work with her.”

Millie was about to explode that was how ticked off she was.

“We have to deal with it, Millie.”

“Yea, and I’ll talk to Kat okay,” Champ said, agreeing with Lacy, and thought about how this might change everything about him and Kat dating. How the others might actually wind up approving his love for Kat and her love for him. It might make them change what they think about her and they might take away that rule in the code.“Fine.” Millie was trying to calm down. “But if she says one thing, she’s dead.” She warned them what was going to happen if Kat started trouble with any of them, especially her.

“Fine.” Millie was trying to calm down. “But if she says one thing, she’s dead.” She warned them what was going to happen if Kat started trouble with any of them, especially her.

Lycan Code

Wagner was in his room, making a bed for the bird. He actually couldn’t do much for the little guy, but he wanted to help. He didn’t like to see anyone or anything in pain and suffering. He might have been only eight in his human years, but he knew what pain and death were. Someone knocked on the door. “COME IN!” he yelled.

Lacy walked in with his laundry. She put the clothes where they needed to go. She kind of did the chores around the house because she was kind of like the caretaker of the pack. She would ask the others to help but they wouldn’t listen.

“Lacy, do you know what wild birds eat?” Wagner asked.

Lacy had to think. She didn’t really know much about birds. “Well, they eat.... Worms. I think that they might eat bird food like seeds. Some eat fish. It all depends on what kind of bird.” She started to leave the room, then turned to face him. “Why?”

Wagner pointed to the bird. He wanted to take care of the poor, little bird. Lacy walked over to Wagner and the bird. She examined it. She felt bad as she noticed his broken wing.

“Um.... I don’t know anything about birds so I don’t really know. You know I think Champ might know something about birds. Why don’t you ask him?”

“Okay.”

Lacy smiled. “You know,” she said, putting her arm around him, “I think that if you help him that you’ll be a pretty good vet. He’ll get better. Okay, Wagner?”

Lacy made Wagner feel better. He smiled at her because he was glad that she was encouraging him. “Okay, Lacy.”

“Now, I have to go put everyone else’s laundry up,” she whispered, keeping her smile. She left the room. When she walked down the hallway, she felt her shoe rip open. She looked down to see that her foot had transformed into a paw. “CRAP!!!” she exclaimed loud enough for the whole house to hear.

Champ, Kyle, and Stina all walked out of their rooms.

“What’s going on?” Kyle asked.

“My paw,” she said, bending down to take off her shoes, “ripped my shoe.”

“Is that all?” asked Champ.

“Yea.”

“Don’t do that.” Stina was mad. “I was trying to make a rat do the hula. Then you scared him away.” Stina went back to her room.

Kyle and Champ looked at each other as if to ask, 'What is she talking about?'

Kyle turned to Lacy. “I need your help.”

“Okay. With what?” Lacy asked.

“Okay. I can’t think of what to do to get Millie’s mind out of the clouds. First, she was tense. Now, she’s turbulent.”

Lacy thought about what Kyle had said. It didn’t make any sense to her. “Marked by a violent disturbance?”

“To me, she seems to be furious.... To me.” Champ had to say that. “I mean she’s a person that’s not hard to get mad easily.”

“That’s true,” Lacy agreed. “I think that Kat made her explode.”

“Kat will purposely make someone mad and that’s why you have to know how to play her game.” Kyle kind of smiled.

Lacy and Kyle started talking about Kat and how they didn’t like her. Champ didn’t say anything because he didn’t want the wrong thing to come out. “Well, I’m going to go into town. I’ve got to talk to Kat about working with us before I forget.” Champ had to get out of there. He couldn’t stand that he had to listen to them talk about Kat like that. He wished that he could tell them so bad about what was going on, but he couldn’t. He left them.

“See ya, Champ.” Lacy turned to Kyle. “Now, I think that you should get her a book. You know she loves to read.”

“That’s true. Millie loves reading, but one problem.”

“What’s that?”

“She has almost every book in the world.”

Lacy bit her lip. “Good point.” She didn’t know what to tell him. “How did I turn into the problem solver?”
Kyle smiled and shrugged.

“Just ask her what book she doesn’t have.”

“Okay.” Kyle left.

Lacy went to put up the rest of the clothes that she was holding.

 

 

At the bookstore, Millie was sitting at the counter, while Shawn was listening to his CD player and dancing again. Lee walked into the store and went over to Millie. “What do you want, Lee?” she asked, rudely.

“I’m here to buy a book.”

Millie looked up at him.