Anna pulled Sean into a tight hug, which he gladly returned when he'd found her and Reggie. "You look like you're feeling better already, Cuz." She had to raise her voice some for him to hear her.

"I am," Sean confirmed with a nod. "How've you been, Reggie?" he questioned, looking up at the man with his arm around his cousin.

"Pretty good, ya know. Can't complain."

Sean supposed that thing about women picking guys like their dad had to have some validity to it. because his uncle and Reggie Preston did share quite a bit in common. Everything from their laid-back attitudes, and booming laugh, to their dark, smooth complexion, broad stature, and clean-cut features. Though he got the feeling that his uncle wasn't the biggest fan of Reggie. But what man wouldn't be tough on the kid dating his daughter?

After some small talk about when Reggie would be off to California for college, Sean decided it was time to look for one of those coolers of drinks he saw around and voiced as much. Reggie pointed him in the right direction before leaning down to plant a kiss on Anna's temple.

"We'll be around," she'd called, prompting Sean to wave that he'd heard her. He definitely wanted to walk back into town with them later. He didn't think he had another mini-marathon in him.

As he was fishing a hard lemonade out of an open cooler, Sean noticed two unfamiliar faces getting a lot of attention towards the center of the party.

With his long black hair, dark clothing, porcelain skin, and trademark pentacle belt, Kaiden looked like he belonged at some gothic, vampire convention. But his dark brown eyes and warm smile somehow overshadowed his otherwise off-putting style and made him plenty approachable to several of the girls at the party.

Nate's overall look was very similar, but more contemporary punk, with his designer hoodie, skinny jeans, and brand-name boots. But the black did offset his bluish-green eyes, which seemed to look straight through anything he fixed his gaze on, and right now, those sharp eyes were cutting a path right through the crowd to Sean.

Kaiden was effortlessly mingling when he noticed Nate staring off into the crowd. He gave his younger cousin a nudge.

"Love at first sight?" Kaiden wondered with a cocky grin.

Nate's nose wrinkled at the comment. "Pft, I'm so far out of his league," he said, his arrogant tone almost bleeding into sarcasm. "Besides, he looks straight as a razor blade," Nate added before he took another sip of his drink.

But Kaiden knew Nate, and he knew that tone. He was the type of person that always sounded harsher than he really was, especially when he didn't want to admit someone was suitable.

The desire to avoid some of Jesse's friends drove Sean closer to the two strangers. The person who ended the relationship was always the bad guy. It just seemed to be some kind of unspoken rule, and Sean wasn't feeling up to that. He might have also been just the slightest bit curious since the shorter of the two guys was definitely staring at him. That much was made very clear as he approached him.

The stranger was more intimidating up close, but much more attractive, too. His hair was a similar length to Jesse's, only it hung loosely, barely brushing the top of his shoulders. "Hi," Sean said with a smile, only now noticing a few faint red roots, or maybe they were blond... Either way, they were an easy tell that this guy's too-dark hair was artificial. His mom and cousin had ruined him on hair stuff. Sean couldn't not notice details like that now. But the dye-job did suit him and made the guy's pale skin and light eyes seem even brighter. "Are you new to Aspenview? You don't look familiar."

Nate smirked at the comment.

"Oh really? I was just about to say the exact opposite," he lied brazenly. "Didn't we meet last summer? I was up here visiting my grandparents."

Nate took in one deep breath disguised as a gesture of contemplative thought. The scent of feline and sage filled his lungs and Nate continued, "You had a cat, right?" He laid down the false memory so naturally that it could be considered an art form.

Sean's brows furrowed, though a smile still lingered on his lips.

"Yeah," he replied, sounding a bit dumbfounded. "Who're your grandparents?" he wondered aloud, and he should have stopped there, but didn't. "I'm pretty sure I'd remember meeting someone that looked like you." The words had tumbled from Sean's lips and the moment his head had processed them, his face was flaming.

Why did he always do that? Sean had a distinctly frustrating habit of either overthinking things to the point of an anxiety attack or the exact opposite. His mouth would just go before his brain even had the chance to send even the slightest signal to stop. There rarely felt like an in-between.

"Jobe and Irene Gibson."

For Nate, this was going better than expected. He'd assumed full control of the conversation in seconds. He wove in some truth—mostly pertaining to his grandparents and his cousin—they were enough to make the small falsehoods nearly undetectable.

He was a natural liar and he needed to be. No one outside the pack could ever know what he truly was, or there would be consequences even he wouldn't be eager to face.

"Oooh," Sean said, absently struggling with the slick, black cap on his bottle of lemonade. "Yeah, I know who they are... Well, mostly your grandmother. My mom owns the salon she goes to. What's your name?" He was still wracking his brain and coming up short.

"Nate."

There was something so genuine and unthreatening about Sean that Nate almost felt bad about his deceptions. Sean's hazel eyes were warm and kind. They reminded him of Kaiden in their sincerity.

"So, you don't seem like the party type..." Nate mentioned, eyeing the unopened bottle in the other boy's hand.

Sean chuckled at himself, following Nate's gaze. "Oh, I like to hang out, it's just..." Sean paused, then held the bottle out to Nate. "I wasn't originally planning on coming tonight, to be honest."

"Want to hang out someplace a little quieter? I don't really like crowds," Nate said as he took the bottle and looked at all the people mingling around them.

A small thrill of excitement coursed through Sean at the idea of having the handsome boy's full attention to himself. "Yeah, actually." He figured they wouldn't go too far. Just a little ways up the bank.

The music faded into the background along with the light from the fire pits—replaced by the soft sound of the river, the chirp of crickets, and the blue glow of the waning moon. Nate started to drift off the trail towards some large rocks and boulders along the riverbank. He wedged the bottle in a safe space between them and sat himself down on one of the large rocks.

For Nate, this was going better than expected. When their conversation lulled for the first time since it had started, and Sean dared to meet his gaze, Nate's lips connected swiftly with Sean's, claiming them in a heated kiss.

Sean's heart leaped into his throat and his fingers were woven in Nate's smooth locks before he even realized he'd moved them; he didn't even notice the burning in his lungs until he'd broken their kiss to suck in a ragged gasp of air.

Sean had never done anything like this with a stranger before, but he wanted him. But that was okay though, right? He wasn't with Jesse anymore, and Nate was a Gibson, so... maybe they'd been meant to meet.

And there was something so raw and intoxicating about the lust and eagerness in Nate's piercing eyes that made Sean feel powerful. Sexy, even. Jesse had always been so slow and methodical when it came to getting intimate, but this was completely different.

"You're single, right?" Sean whispered. His heart was pounding in his ears and his face felt hot. Sean boldly directed Nate's hands to the top button on the waist of his pants before he pulled him down for another kiss, snaking a hand up Nate's abdomen beneath his jacket and shirt.

Nate smiled into the kiss, pulling back only enough to get out a husky, "Yeah," in response before claiming Sean's lips and shoving his tongue past them. To Nate, Sean's scent was distinct—a blended mix of fragrant herbs and spice with the slightest hint of feline and another aroma that he couldn't place but found incredibly alluring. His hands pulled at Sean's pants. Forgetting to hold back his own inhuman strength in the heat of the moment, he snapped the button clean off, leaving it to be lost somewhere in the litter of leaves below them.

Two large, yellow eyes peeked out from the bushes, scanning the darkened street. The orange tabby left his cover and trotted quickly across and disappeared around the corner of the nearest house.

Trevor knew every inch of the streets better than any human or cat since he'd walked them as both. There was one house he knew particularly well, though, the home he'd grown up in.

In the yard, the 'for sale' sign was still stuck in the front lawn. He remembered watching his father put it up a week before he and his mother had left.

The house had been empty ever since. Sean said he'd heard people spreading rumors that it was haunted. In a way, the rumors were true. The house was indeed haunted, but only by the ghosts of the past and a single orange tabby who found nights such as these perfect to come and sit on the back porch.

Trevor loved and hated coming home. He could see everything just as it used to be—his mother looking out the kitchen window at him while she did dishes. He could hear the TV in the living room where his father sat reading the newspaper. He could see his room, where he and Sean plotted their weekend adventures. But he could also see his mother crying as family and friends tried to console her, and his father sneaking out to the backyard to avoid anyone seeing him break.

While he was reliving the past and wondering if he'd ever see his family again, his pointed ears swiveled to attention and he stood quickly. A strange scent caught on the breeze, and Trevor's hair stood on end instinctively as his attention fixed on the house.

His superior hearing could pick up the faintest sound coming from within what should have been a vacant building. His heart began to race, and for a moment he wondered if the rumors were true. Could his old house really be haunted? No, that couldn't be right.

Trevor's curiosity won out over his fear in the end, and he found a way in through the broken latch on the kitchen window. Once inside he felt more uneasy, his tail flicking from side to side nervously as he skittered through the kitchen.

He could feel something watching him, but every time he stopped to look, all he was met with were shadows, dust, and cobwebs. He'd never felt so unnerved in this house in all of his human or feline life.

As he reached the top of the stairs, that was when he heard it—a low, ominous growl. But this time, it was coming from right behind him. Trevor turned just in time to see the flash of wild eyes and fangs before his shriek echoed through the night.

"SEAN, HELP!!!"