Sable POV
"You're not going anywhere tonight."
I stared at my mother blocking my bedroom doorway like a prison guard. Anna Reed, respected doctor, pharmaceutical executive, and apparently my personal warden.
"It's just a party, Mom."
"No."
"Jamie's party. You know Jamie, we've been friends since….."
"I said no, Sable."
I threw my hands up in protest. "I'm twenty-two years old! I'm in college! Normal people my age go to parties!"
"You're not going." Her voice had that final, sharp edge that meant the conversation was over. "You'll stay home tonight, drink your tea, and go to bed early."
"Why? What's so special about tonight?"
She didn't answer, she never answered, she just stood there in that white doctor's coat she wore like armor, her expression like it was carved from stone.
"This is insane, you can't keep me locked up like some..."
"My house, my rules Sable." She stepped into my room and picked up the mug from my nightstand. Chamomile tea. The same thing she'd been making me drink before bed since I was a kid. "Drink this and get some rest."
"I don't want tea, I want a life."
"Sable." Her voice dropped low, almost pleading. "Please, just tonight. Stay home, for me."
The desperation in her tone almost worked, almost. But I'd spent twenty-two years watching her control every aspect of my existence, and I was done.
"Fine." I took the mug. "Happy?"
She watched me like a hawk. "Drink it."
I raised it to my lips, took the smallest sip possible, and set it back down. "There, can I have some privacy now?"
Anna hesitated in the doorway. "Get some sleep, and Sable? Don't open your window, Don't leave this room. No matter what."
"What would happen if I did?"
She didn't answer, just closed the door.
I waited until I heard her footsteps retreat down the hallway, then dumped the tea into the plant on my windowsill. Whatever was in Mom's special bedtime brew, I wasn't drinking it tonight.
My phone buzzed. Jamie: Where are you?? this party is INSANE
Me: Mom's being psycho, I'm trying to sneak out.
Jamie: Do it! mark chen is here and he keeps asking about you.
I looked at my closed door, then at my window.
Screw it.
I changed into jeans and a black top, stuffed pillows under my covers in case Mom checked on me, and eased my window open. The night air hit my face, cool and sharp. The moon looked huge and bright overhead, so full it looked swollen.
Something about it made my skin prickle but I shook it off and climbed out.
*********
The party was in full swing by the time I arrived. Music pounded from inside Jamie's house, bass vibrating the windows. People were everywhere, red cups in hand, laughing too loud.
Jamie spotted me immediately and came running. "Oh my god, you made it! I thought your mom had you chained up!"
"Basically." I grinned. "But I'm here now."
"Yes you are!" She shoved a red cup into my hand. "Drink up. You have some serious catching up to do."
I took a sip. Vodka and something fruity that barely masked the burn. "What is this?"
"Jungle juice, don't ask what's in it, just drink it." Jamie looped her arm through mine and pulled me toward the house. "Come on, Mark's been asking about you for like an hour."
"Mark Chen?"
"Yes, Mark Chen. Hot Mark Chen. Smart Mark Chen. Has-been-into-you-since-sophomore-year Mark Chen." She pushed me through the front door into a wall of heat and noise. "Do not blow this."
The living room was packed. Bodies everywhere, moving to music I could feel in my chest. The air smelled like cheap beer and expensive cologne, someone had set up colored lights that strobed across the ceiling.
Mark appeared almost immediately, cutting through the crowd with two fresh cups. "Sable! You came!"
"I came." Why was I suddenly nervous? I drank more of the jungle juice. Dutch courage.
"I was starting to think you'd bail." He handed me a new cup even though I hadn't finished the first. "Your mom still has that crazy curfew?"
"Let's not talk about my mom." I drained the first cup and started on the second. The alcohol was hitting faster than usual, everything felt warm and loose. "Let's just have fun."
Mark smiled. "I can work with that."
We danced, or I think we danced. The room was spinning in a pleasant way, Mark's hands were on my waist, and the music was so loud I couldn't think. Jamie appeared with more drinks. I drank those too.
"Slow down, Sable!" Jamie laughed, but she was handing me another cup anyway.
"I'm celebrating freedom!" I announced to no one in particular.
Time got weird after that, one minute I was laughing with Mark, the next I was in the kitchen with a group of people I barely knew, doing shots. Then I was outside on the deck, staring up at that massive moon, feeling like it was staring back.
My skin felt strange, too tight, too hot like something was trying to push out from underneath.
"You okay?" Mark touched my shoulder and I flinched.
"I'm fine, I just needed air."
"You're really drunk."
"I'm perfect." I tried to smile but my face felt numb. "Perfectly perfect."
My phone buzzed in my pocket. I ignored it but it buzzed again, and again.
"Someone really wants to talk to you," Mark said.
I pulled out my phone, squinting at the screen. Six missed calls and twelve text from Mom
Mom: Where are you?
Mom: Sable, answer me right now.
Mom: This isn't a game, come home.
Mom: I'm coming to find you.
Mom: Please baby, you're not safe.
I laughed and shoved the phone back in my pocket. "My mom thinks I'm going to die if I stay out past nine."
"Helicopter parent?"
"You have no idea." I drank more, the cup was empty. When did that happen?
The world tilted sideways, I grabbed the deck railing to steady myself.
"Whoa." Mark caught my arm. "Maybe you should sit down."
"I should dance more." But my legs weren't working right, everything was spinning faster now. The music was too loud, the lights too bright, that moon too close.
Something was wrong, this wasn't just drunk, it felt like something else.
"Jamie!" Mark called out. "I think Sable needs water!"
I tried to tell him I was fine, but the words came out slurred and thick.
Through the haze, I heard the sound of engines, multiple heavy vehicles, moving fast, car doors opening.
Footsteps, way too many footsteps.
"Mark?" I grabbed his shirt. "Do you hear..."
Strong hands clamped around my arms from behind, they were obviously not Mark's hands. Bigger and rougher.
"Hey!" Mark stepped forward. "What are you….."
Someone shoved Mark back and I heard the sound of his body hitting the deck railing hard or so it seemed.
"This her?" A man's voice said, deep and cold.
"Power signature matches, It's definitely her."
What?
I tried to pull away but my body wouldn't cooperate. Multiple people were holding me now, dragging me toward the side of the house. I wanted to scream but my throat wouldn't work.
Through the spinning, tilting chaos, I saw them. Men in dark clothing moving through Jamie's backyard like they owned it.
A black vehicle idled in the driveway. It looked massive and expensive.
"Wait…." I managed to slur, my heart slamming violently against my ribcage but my body making no attempt to help matters. "What's….."
Something pricked my neck, sharp and quick.
The last thing I heard before the darkness swallowed me whole was a man's voice, cold and commanding.
"Get her in the vehicle. The Alpha wants her secured before moonrise."
Then nothing.