Howls of Chaos. Gabrielle Boyd

when women check out Carlos, but it makes me fighting mad when they come up and try to throw themselves on him like he is single or something.

      “You guys hear all that?” asked Feraston with a big smile on her face.

      “Yeah, I hear all that mumbo jumbo,” I said, grabbing Carlos’s hand and holding it in public. This definitely caught some of the women’s attention. They just continued to stare. It would have been nice if I could have read their minds, but I’m not that kind of werewolf.

      “Fernandez, over here,” we heard a male voice yell. We all turned around, and there was Sheriff Collinbelle. “How you folks doing this evening?” he asked.

      “Wow! He is fine. Isn’t he the . . . ,” said Feraston in a low voice.

      “The sheriff,” replied Carlos. We all walked over to where the sheriff was standing. He was standing around with a group of people and some of them were eating. He introduced us to the people he was with and some of the other locals. Two particular individuals that I met that night were Mayor Grant Woodbaum and President Boris Wealthie, the President of Chaosville Community College and a native of Chaosville. President Wealthie is also Caprilla’s grandfather.

      Both of these men were in their mid-sixties and held high social statuses within this area. Mayor Woodbaum was a short, stocky man with a head full of gray hair. President Wealthie, on the other hand, was a tall, average man. He looked good for his age and seemed like he took great care of himself.

      Sheriff Collinbelle also introduced us to his wife, Barbara, who was a plain Jane with strawberry-blonde hair. I figured she was his high school sweetheart.

      Feraston was sort of upset when she noticed he was married. That still did not keep her from looking at him and keeping a conversation with him. When Feraston sees something she likes, she usually gets it. Even if she has to turn it into a werewolf, she will get it eventually.

      We were having a good time at the fish fry when I found Mallory, Kanyha, and Hilary. Then the three of us ran into Mason and Caprilla, who were acting like love birds. I introduced my new friends to Carlos and Feraston.

      Hilary seemed to be in a bad mood that night though. She and Garner had broken up but Mallory said they do that often and they always end up back together.

      Garner was there with some chick from school. When Hilary saw the two together, she burst into tears and ran behind a building. Mallory and I followed to comfort her. After calming her down, we went back over to where everyone else was. I kissed Carlos and then left him there with the sheriff and his new buddies.

      Feraston seemed to take a liking to Kanyha, so Mallory and I left the two bisexual, wild girls together along with Mason and Caprilla. I don’t know why Feraston decided to hang out with Kanyha. She had just been checking the sheriff out a few minutes ago. Feraston is so hard to explain; she will pretty much screw anything. She knows better than to try and bang Carlos because he is mine and she knows that I don’t play that game. Plus, she and Carlos can’t really stand each other, even though they manage to get along because we are a pack. Carlos also knows not to cheat on me because he is afraid I might leave him again. Even though he got Taquah knocked up when we split for a while, he loves me, I love him, and when we lived in the big pack, I was always his favorite.

      Anyway, Hilary was so upset; it was like Garner had totally messed up her emotions on purpose. Hilary seems to have a lot of personal problems that she will not acknowledge, such as low self-esteem and constantly worrying about low-down, no good Garner. She doesn’t think she can do any better, and when you try to tell her she can, she will bring up her whole weight issue, which has nothing to do with it. She is so timid and tends to let people run over her and sometimes make a fool out of her, such as Garner. She is naïve, desperate, and sometimes pathetic. It really bothers me that she sells herself so short. She is a beautiful and smart girl who just needs a little psychological help.

      Behind the building, she continued to cry and talk about how she gave up so much for Garner, how she turned down other schools just to move to Chaosville with him, and how he used to be so sweet. Mallory seemed like she did not know what to say. She just sat there and looked like a clueless bunny rabbit about to be attacked by a bobcat.

      I stepped in and tried to give Hilary some 199-year-old advice. She listened, but I still don’t think it sunk in very well.

      Before the night was over, she was yelling in Garner’s face, about to get into a fight with the chick he was with. Come to find out, she was named Dusty Knix and was the rude chick who had made that Pocahontas comment during my first day of class.

      Dusty is a pretty girl with bright green eyes and a despicable attitude. She is about five feet three inches in height, with a skinny-yet-thick-in-the-right-places build. She also has long dark hair and looks like she goes to the tanning bed more than she should.

      Actually she and Garner would have made a great couple due to the fact that they are both mean and very egotistical; both would sleep with just about anyone. I don’t know which one was worse, Dusty or Garner. The two are a perfect match.

      Whenever Hilary saw the two together throughout the night, she went ballistic. She ran up to Garner and began to hit him and curse at him. Mallory and I just stood there because we could not believe Hilary would go off like that.

      All of a sudden, Dusty stepped up to Hilary while she was hitting Garner and pushed her to the ground. Hilary quickly got up, and the two girls began to scrap. The two were hitting and pulling each other’s hair just like a regular catfight, and I must say that Hilary was actually winning.

      Mallory and I tried to pull Hilary away from Dusty, but she kept running back toward Dusty. People were standing around watching the two girls scuffle including Garner, who thought it was exciting for girls to fight over him. I felt a warm hand on my shoulder, and heard a voice say, “Stay back.” It was Carlos. It is not good for werewolves to get involved in mortal disputes. There is a good possibility that we may turn.

      Mason and a few other guys broke up the catfight. That’s when the smell of fresh blood hit the air. Dusty had a bloody nose and Hilary had scratches everywhere. Both girls were upset and were still arguing and trying to fight while people were holding them back.

      Garner was still standing there like he was a big shot even after the girls had finished fighting over him. I glared at him and so did a few other people who knew what was going on. Hilary and Dusty were escorted off Main Street due to their uncalled for behavior. The only reason they weren’t arrested was because Sheriff Collinbelle is Hilary’s uncle.

      After all of the commotion that broke out, Carlos and I thought it would be best to leave the fish fry. I grabbed my phone out of my purse and texted Feraston that we were leaving. She texted me back telling me where she was, and we went and picked her up in Carlos’s truck.

      Carlos and I saw Hilary walking, and we offered to take her back to her dorm. “Please get me out of here,” she said. She quickly climbed in the King Ranch F150 and continued to cry.

      Along the way, we talked about the whole Garner situation. Carlos gave her some good advice, as did Feraston and I, but Carlos has been around for several centuries so his was probably better than ours. Hilary was also complaining about the scratches on her face and arms where Dusty had scratched her up. I offered to bring her back to our house to clean her up so her nosy roommate wouldn’t ask so many questions about what had happened.

      We had finally driven out of town and were out in the county. While driving along the countryside roads, we were chitchatting about the night and how we had had a crazy time.

      All of a sudden, a strange man who was covered in blood ran out in front of our vehicle.