Chapter 2 Shawn

Wow! She is so beautiful. I wonder who she is. Maybe I will have a class with her. Is that guy her brother or boyfriend? They sure did get out of here fast. And he drives a Mustang. I wish I had a Mustang instead of that stupid Daewoo. Hopefully I will see her again. I sat on the hood of my car and waited for my friends to finish registering for classes.

“Shawn, are you daydreaming again?” Tiffany asked.

“No, I was just thinking.”

“About what?”

“Well, it seems kinda weird to me. I mean you and KP are cousins, right? He’s going with Sasha and you’re with Wheeler, two sets of cousins going out with each other. I mean how does that happen or even work.” I said, not wanting to say I fell in love at first sight.

“The stuff you think about man.” Kevin said as he approached our conversation.

“Hey KP. It was just a random thought. I don’t really know where I was going with it.”

“So Cous’ are you done registering?”

“Yep. “

“What should we do with the rest of our day?” Tiffany wondered.

“We could go to the Taylor’s later. They’re having an end of summer party. And we were invited.” I responded.

“Until then we could hang at the park and enjoy the day,” Kevin added.

“Sounds good to me,” Tiffany replied.

We headed to the park to relax. I wasn’t sure I should mention the girl from earlier so I kept silent. I was very curious about her.

When we got to the park, we ran into the Cavenaugh’s. My family and theirs had been friends since the eighteen hundreds. We were legacies here at Harvard. We grew up together knowing that we would always be friends and go to all the same schools. Our families had been through everything together. Hell, if our families hadn’t always been such great friends, they probably would not have survived the Great Depression with wealth intact. Not many can say that.

My family, the Hendersons, is lycan. The Cavenaughs are human. It was an unlikely friendship at first. It came about because my great-great-great-great grandfather, Solomon Henderson, saved Micah Cavenaugh. Micah was being chased by a black bear in Green Mountain. Solomon had to shift into his wolf to save him and Micah saw the whole thing. Micah promised to keep his secret. That’s how our families became friends. Micah didn’t even tell his family about what Solomon was. So, the Cavenaughs only know that my four times great grandfather saved their four times great grandfather. And our families have helped each other out ever since.

“Hey guys, what’s up?” Mark asked as he came into view.

“Not much,” I said.

“You guys going to Tony’s party tonight?” Mike inquired.

“Yeah,” Kevin replied. “Are you guys going?”

“We’ll be there later. Sissie wants to go to dinner with Jason’s cousins, so we’ll be late.” Mike sounded disappointed about having to be late.

It figures that Sissie would want to have dinner with Jason’s family. She is obsessed with him. I can’t see why. He is such a creep. He doesn’t treat girls the way they should be treated. They’re just objects to him. If I were a fighting man, I would beat some manners into him. But to my father’s dismay, I’m more of a lover.

In case I failed to mention, I’m Shawn Henderson, the only son of Alpha Jacob Henderson of the Hyacintho Lunar Pack based near Mount Greylock outside of Boston, Massachusetts. I have two little sisters, Layla- the punk and Artemus - the princess. They are away at a lycan boarding school in Alaska, right now. I’m a freshman at Harvard, family tradition. Although technically this is my second year. I was part of the school districts pilot program last year, where high school seniors could take college courses for high school credit.

About a year ago, a vampire family moved here. I haven’t met them yet, but I am kind of looking forward to it. I know I’m supposed to hate vampires, but I don’t have room in my life for blind hate. I like to get to know someone before I decide whether I hate them or not. Besides, it’s rude to judge a book by its cover. Not all lycans are good, I know that. So, how can we say all vampires are bad? I heard some of them don’t feed on humans. Take this family that moved here: I hear they own blood banks all across the country. And I did say family, not coven. I have heard about vampire families. They are different from covens. The families are a lot like a pack. They stick together and have each other’s backs. Covens are a group of three or more vampires who band together for the benefit of the individual and not the group. But unlike lycans, not all of them are born into it. But like lycans, they have mates. Not quite the same as lycans. Seventy-five percent of the time, vampires kill their fated mates. That’s because most of the time, their mate is still human. It’s also easier for them to choose a mate and ignore the mate bond. But enough about the vampires.

The Hyacintho Lunar pack came from the old world. My ancestors were some of the lucky ones to be “rescued” by Sari. Like vampires, packs have claimed lands. Lycans can visit other packs, either for business or to find their mate. Each year a different pack holds a gala for those lycans who have come of age. These galas were originally started so that less fortunate packs had a chance to find mates. The only criteria being you needed to find your mate. These days though, it is hard to find a pack that is not thriving; that is, if they are following the laws the council has set forth. It is the duty of an alpha to provide for their pack. Every pack has multiple businesses in the human communities. Alphas provide jobs to the members of their packs and aid to those who can no longer work. For most packs, every member is valuable. Some packs still go to war over territory, but for the most part, the last fifty years or so have been pretty peaceful. A few packs have merged and share their lands and resources with each other. These were packs where the son, and only heir, of one alpha was fated to the daughter, and only heir, of the other alpha. And when this happens and the packs are close enough to each other, they merge as is our tradition.

I have heard many rumors lately, but if there was any truth to them, the council would have dealt with those issues. But I still hear the rumors; the whispers that the council isn’t doing anything. So, when I finally meet this vampire family, I will see what they know; I hear they have an in with the council.