Fire And Steel (The Merryweather Chronicles Book 2) by Lesley Woodral

attached to it. And were those nostrils? There was no name for the sound that tore loose from Jock's throat when he realized what he was looking at. Scream wasn't right, didn't halfway describe the madness that escaped his bloodied lips.
          A rough chuckle pulled his gaze from what remained of Bryan's face to find that the wolf was no longer alone. It had moved further into the camper, only a few steps from him now, and another wolf had joined it. Both looked at him with eyes glazed with hunger and a monstrous hilarity, before falling upon him and silencing his terror forever.
                 
     

CHAPTER 5
          "So, have you and Claire done it yet?" Albert asked suddenly, looking up from the CD in his hand. The two of them were in VINYL GODS, Matheson's solitary music store, killing time before they each headed home from school.
          Brandon was so taken aback by the question that he could only look at the smaller boy, the Pink Floyd album forgotten in his hand. Albert looked at him for a moment, then he seemed to replay what he just said in his mind and his face went scarlet from his hairline to his neck. He blurted. "Not that!" The words tumbled in a rush. "I meant kissed!" The boy turned an even brighter shade of red. "I don't have any experience with girls and I just wondered?"
          Brandon shook his head and smiled, saying. "Sure, we've kissed." He laughed softly. Sometimes Albert seemed younger than his sixteen years, like a little kid. That was probably why he got picked on so much. And also why Brandon felt protective of him. Sort of like an older brother to the smaller boy. Brandon said. "I really like Claire, Albert. When you really like somebody, it's enough just being around them. If we ever do more than kiss, I want it to be special. Not something we had to sneak around to do in the back seat of a car or under the bleachers."
          Albert was still blushing like crazy, but he ducked his head in a nod and said. "Sorry if I made you mad, Bran. Seriously, Claire's awesome! Just about the coolest girl in school!"
          Brandon laughed again. "I'm gonna tell her you said that, Albert. That'll make her smile."
          If Albert blushed any harder, his face was going to catch fire. Desperate to change the subject, he pretended to just notice the record in Brandon's hand. "Sweet! DARK SIDE OF THE MOON!"
          The two boys had the shop to themselves, except for the girl working the counter. She looked to be only a few years older than themselves, very pretty, with hair too black to be anything but dyed. Of course, the light purple highlights gave that away. She sat with her feet up on the counter, watching a little flat screen TV bolted to the wall, every so often casting surreptitious glances in their direction.
          Brandon didn't hold her watchfulness against her. It was a music store and they were teenage boys. It didn't take a stretch of the imagination to think that shoplifting wasn't far from their young minds. The store was something of a rarity in Brandon’s opinion, not just selling music, but also comics and other geek specific odds and ends. Brandon put the record down and asked Albert. "So, are you going to the costume ball on Halloween?"
          Albert shrugged and picked up an old Blues CD. He said. "I haven't decided yet. Not sure what I'd even dress up as if I did go. Are you and Claire dressing up?"
          "Sure." Brandon picked out an IN THIS MOMENT and a JOHNNY CASH CD and went to the counter. The girl took the CDs, ringing them up, and glanced at Albert before smiling at Brandon.
          "Find everything okay?" Her voice was husky and appealing and older than her face. Up close, he had to reevaluate his earlier estimate of her age. She was older than he thought. Maybe early twenties? But still very fetching.
          "Sure." Brandon said, his gaze drawn to the tattoos on the girl's arms. He couldn't make out all of