Zev walked down the hall, slowly making his way to the living room. He really didn’t want to go anywhere tonight, especially not this early. But he didn’t exactly have a choice. At least he’d go out with Luke and Conner for a little bit first. That meant he could get his mind off of what was going to come after – for a while at least.
Tonight was the last moon before the start of the school year – the Sturgeon Moon. Of course, the actual moon wasn’t going to be any different; they’d all go out to the woods to change, just like they’d been doing since Zev moved back to the city with his dad. No, the part that would be different happened before. At least his dad wasn’t home yet – he was going to be working right up until the last possible minute. Zev was actually kind of glad about that; he really didn’t want to have to talk to his dad beforehand.
His dad knew about what happened on the last moon before school started – they’d been doing it to him every year since he’d turned twelve. He and his dad had moved back when Zev was in second grade. And for the first few years, everything had been fine. It wasn’t until he got older that there’d started to be a problem.
When they were younger, all of the kids had at least a little difficulty controlling it. Zev remembered slumber parties where almost everyone changed in their sleep – at least somewhat. But as they got older, everyone started to grow out of it. But Zev hadn’t. It turned out, he was just as bad at controlling it at eighteen as he was at eight. And by the time he was in junior high, people had started to notice.
In seventh grade, some of the adults in the area had started wondering just how in control Zev really was. They’d started by speculating that he just couldn’t control when or how he changed. And as he got older and still didn’t improve, they moved to wondering if he was in control even after he did. Zev wasn’t really sure where those rumors had come from, but they were persistent. He suspected it had to do with his mom.
Zev’s mom had left him and his dad right after Zev turned five. Two years later, they’d ended up moving back to his dad’s hometown. Zev’s dad hadn’t really had a great explanation for what had happened when Zev was younger, even though he’d asked numerous times. But as he got older, he’d managed to figure out the reason: his mom was apparently tired of dealing with all of the werewolf stuff around her. Zev’s mom was human, which meant that Zev himself was technically only half werewolf.
Zev hadn’t realized it when he was a kid. He knew his mom never changed, but he’d never really thought about it. His dad was the only werewolf in the city he and Zev’s mom had moved to. So when Zev was born, he didn’t really have any other families to compare to. But once she left, Zev’s dad had moved them back to the city he’d grown up in. And that’s when Zev finally realized just how unusual it was that only one of his parents actually changed.
In the back of his mind, Zev had always kind of wondered if that’s why the adults had treated him different as he got older. And he secretly suspected it could be part of why he was the only one in the whole neighborhood who had problems controlling it as much as he did; Zev’s dad didn’t have any problems, so it wasn’t like it was a family thing. He would have thought that being half human would mean he’d change less than everyone else. After all, humans didn’t change at all. He would have hoped he’d be more like that. But humans also didn’t control it either. Apparently, that was the trait he’d inherited. So that was great.
His dad hadn’t always known that some of the adults actually tested Zev’s ability to control it. Zev had managed to hide that from everyone for a couple years. But when he was fifteen, his dad had asked him why he was leaving early that night. And when he found out, he’d gone immediately to Luke’s dad, demanding that this end. Luke’s dad was in charge around here, so Zev had been sure that they’d stop once he told them to. And they did – sort of. They’d postponed it for a month and then tested him anyway. Only this time, it had taken twice as long. Then, after the full moon, they’d grabbed him and dragged him back to Rollin’s house. They’d tested him for almost half the day. Zev had come away with the distinct impression that they’d spent longer testing him because of the fact that he’d complained to Luke’s dad.
After that, Zev just kind of let them do it. He happened to be best friends with the guy who was almost definitely going to take over next. He’d only have to wait until Luke was eighteen – then he could be officially next in line. Of course, he wouldn’t be in charge that day – no one in their right mind would let an eighteen-year-old be in charge like that. It would mean that he’d be on the council, and that they’d start preparing him for the role. And that would almost definitely mean the testing would stop.
The only person who really seemed to be wanting to challenge Luke at the moment was Rollin. Zev didn’t particularly like Rollin. Partially, it was because he’d been insisting that Luke, Zev, and Conner didn’t focus enough on their neighborhood. Zev felt it was kind of hard to focus on a group where at least half of the adults kept heavily implying that he didn’t belong – or that there was something wrong with him. The other big problem Zev had with Rollin was the fact that his dad was the one in charge of testing Zev every year. Zev wasn’t sure what Rollin’s thoughts on all that were, but he didn’t really think it mattered. If his dad was the one doing it, Zev didn’t see why Rollin would be the one to make it stop. So Zev didn’t particularly want Rollin to be in charge; Even if Zev hadn’t minded Rollin, he still wouldn’t want him in any kind of decision-making role.
Still, Rollin couldn’t officially challenge Luke until both of them were eighteen. Rollin was a year older, so they had to wait until January for Luke to be old enough. And until then, Zev would have to go and let them test whether or not he still changed so fast, and if he was actually in control when he did. But he had a few hours before he had to deal with all that. And with any luck, this would be the last time he had to do it.
He left the house, making his way towards Luke’s car. Luke and Conner stopped talking as soon as he got within earshot. Zev figured they’d been talking about him.
“What’s up?” Zev asked, sliding into the passenger seat. Conner had already taken the back seat before Zev had even left the house.
“Not much.” Luke said. “Where to?”
“I don’t care – you can pick.” Zev shrugged. He was trying to act like everything was fine, but Luke was kind of looking at him a little too hard.
“You choose.” Luke told him.
It was a tradition the three of them had started when Luke and Conner first found out what they did to Zev on these nights – they let Zev pick where they ate, what they did. Zev knew they did it to try to make him feel better. It was nice, and it did sort of help – it reminded him that he did have at least a few friends around here.
Zev remembered the night Luke and Conner had finally figured out what he had to do. They’d both seemed horrified. But that was part of why Zev hadn’t ever mentioned it to them. There was nothing they could do, and he really didn’t like them acting weird about it. Zev just wanted to go and get it over with; he didn’t want them to make it into a big deal. He wanted to ignore it until it happened and then forget as soon as it was over.
“Waffles, I guess.” Zev said. Luke nodded and pulled out onto the road.
After they made it to the restaurant and ordered, Conner spoke up.
“Are you ready for tonight?” he asked.
He tried to say it like it was no big deal, but Zev knew better. He wasn’t asking about the moon; he was asking if Zev would be ok with what happened before.
“I guess.” Zev replied, trying to match Conner’s casualness. But he really wished Conner hadn’t brought it up at all.
“Do you think they’ll try anything?” Conner asked.
Zev knew what he was asking about, but he didn’t respond. What was he supposed to say anyway?
“I really hope not.” Luke said. He had kind of a weird tone, and when Zev looked up from the table, he saw that Luke had set his jaw. Zev wasn’t quite sure what he was thinking, and he didn’t bother to ask.
“You guys ready for school?” he asked instead.
“Yeah, I think so.” Conner nodded, slowly. “Still wish I knew who my roommate was.”
Zev grinned. He knew he was going to be rooming with Luke – he’d known that officially for just over a month now. But somehow, Conner’s roommate was still a mystery. Conner’s older brother worked at the university, and he’d said there was a last-minute change. And no matter what Conner did, he couldn’t get his brother to tell him who his roommate was; he just kept saying that they were working on it and to be patient. But it was pretty clear that he was stalling.
After lunch, Luke asked if he and Conner wanted to go back to his house. But of course, Zev didn’t have time. Zev knew he was really asking Conner and pretending that Zev had the choice. But he was so convincing, Zev almost considered it. Instead, Luke dropped Zev off at Rollin’s house. Zev walked slowly up to the front door; he really wasn’t looking forward to this.
“Right on time.” Jerod said.
This Universe serves as an introduction into the world of 𝓨𝓸𝓾 𝓦𝓮𝓻𝓮 𝓦𝓱𝓪𝓽 𝓨𝓸𝓾 𝓔𝓪𝓽 (ᴠᴀᴍᴘɪʀᴇꜱ), 𝓑𝓪𝓭 𝓜𝓸𝓸𝓷 𝓡𝓲𝓼𝓲𝓷𝓰 (ᴡᴇʀᴇᴡᴏʟᴠᴇꜱ), and 𝓝𝓸𝓫𝓸𝓭𝔂 𝓛𝓲𝓴𝓮𝓼 𝓜𝓮𝓰𝓪𝓷 𝓜𝓬𝓖𝓸𝔀𝓮𝓷 (ɢᴇɴɪᴇꜱ). While each series can be read on their own, with no knowledge of the others, the three story lines do occupy the same universe. 𝙔𝙤𝙪 𝙒𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙒𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙔𝙤𝙪 𝙀𝙖𝙩 and 𝘽𝙖𝙙 𝙈𝙤𝙤𝙣 𝙍𝙞𝙨𝙞𝙣𝙜 feature the same characters in the same timeline. The 𝙔𝙤𝙪 𝙒𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙒𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙔𝙤𝙪 𝙀𝙖𝙩 series takes place while the gang is in high school, and 𝘽𝙖𝙙 𝙈𝙤𝙤𝙣 𝙍𝙞𝙨𝙞𝙣𝙜 picks up when they go away to college. Even still, if vampires aren’t really your thing, you don’t need to read the 𝙔𝙤𝙪 𝙒𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙒𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙔𝙤𝙪 𝙀𝙖𝙩 series in order to understand what’s happening in 𝘽𝙖𝙙 𝙈𝙤𝙤𝙣 𝙍𝙞𝙨𝙞𝙣𝙜. (Meaning, you can consider 𝘽𝙖𝙙 𝙈𝙤𝙤𝙣 𝙍𝙞𝙨𝙞𝙣𝙜 a sequel, or 𝙔𝙤𝙪 𝙒𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙒𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙔𝙤𝙪 𝙀𝙖𝙩 a prequel.) Likewise, 𝙉𝙤𝙗𝙤𝙙𝙮 𝙇𝙞𝙠𝙚𝙨 𝙈𝙚𝙜𝙖𝙣 𝙈𝙘𝙂𝙤𝙬𝙚𝙣 takes place in the same high school, although the characters are in a different year than those in the other two series. https://sprochaska51.wixsite.com/bookstore/ebooks Leer más sobre 𝔾𝕖𝕟𝕚𝕖𝕤, 𝕎𝕖𝕣𝕖𝕨𝕠𝕝𝕧𝕖𝕤 & 𝕍𝕒𝕞𝕡𝕚𝕣𝕖𝕤, 𝕆𝕙, 𝕄𝕪!.
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