Werewolf Weekend by B. A. Frade, Stacia Deutsch Page A

still human. “We have to get Riley to your basement! Don’t ask questions. Just help!”
    Sam was so stunned, she was frozen as if paralyzed. Everything she knew to be true about science and biology and human nature had just been thrown out the window. Her brain was slowly processing it all. Too slowly.
    She and Riley were face-to-face.
    Riley, or the werewolf that used to be Riley, was staring at Sam through hungry wolf eyes. She was panting and gnashing her jaw.
    The outfit Riley had spent so much time picking for the moon celebration was in tatters on the ground. Matted fur covered her skin. It wasn’t her fingernails that had scratched me—it was her sharp claws. Her jaw was wet, and her sharp fangs glistened in the moonlight.
    Riley howled at the moon.
    If Sam didn’t move, I knew what was coming next. I’d read the story.
    We stood there for a heartbeat.
    This was all wrong. I couldn’t let the Scaremaster win, but what else could we do?
    â€œI tried to get Riley to the basement,” Cassie said. There was an edge to her tone that seemed to imply this was all my fault. “The cage belongs to her.”
    Yeah, I got that now. There was no time to apologize or talk about how we’d reached this point. I still knew in my heart that we had to change the story, but how? Was it too late?
    The wolf snarled at Sam and moved in closer.
    If Sam got bitten, the Scaremaster’s horrible story would unfold.
    â€œHey, little wolf.” A voice came from behind us. “I have a treat for you.”
    Wait. That wasn’t in the story. For a heartbeat, I turned away from Riley and Sam to see who was there.
    â€œDuke.” It was Sam who breathed his name.
    â€œI heard Cassie calling for me to help,” he said. “Even though she explained, I didn’t expect to find this.” His crutches glinted in the moonlight.
    â€œI knew from his gift to Emma that Duke had read a lot about werewolves,” Cassie said, giving me a sideways glance. “Plus, he’s the only other person in town I know.”
    I remembered he said he’d seen the movie Riley loved. “Fan of the supernatural?” I asked.
    â€œYou know it.” He grinned in the moonlight. “Did I tell you my new house is haunted? I’m a lucky guy.” Duke sounded more confident and assured than I’d ever heard. He didn’t seem surprised to find out that werewolves actually existed or that there was one standing in the local park. “Sorry for not believing you before, Emma. After the orange thing… well, I thought you were just trying to trick me. Now let’s get this puppy to the basement.”
    I was so relieved he was there, even though part of me doubted how a guy with a broken leg could really help.
    In a flash, something really important dawned on me. In the story, there was no one else besides us in the park. Now Duke was here. That meant the story was changing.
    And: Cassie had gone for help, and unlike in the story, she hadn’t disappeared. She had come back!
    Another thing: I realized, there was a
cage
in the basement.
    The Scaremaster had warned me that it wasn’t part of his story, but I didn’t understand what he meant. Now I did.
    Cassie had begun to change the story before I even understood it needed to be changed.
    It was suddenly obvious: The Scaremaster hadn’t written a cage in the original gruesome tale because he knew, if Riley was behind bars, we’d all be safe from her AND she’d be safe from hurting herself or anyone else. The cage was for everyone’s protection. But the Scaremaster didn’t want me to think of it.
    I smacked my forehead. I wished I had figured it all out earlier.
    Little things were happening. But if we were going to survive the night, we still needed more little things.
    â€œBring a weapon?” I asked Duke.
    â€œEmma!” Cassie snapped at me. “No weapons. We don’t want to hurt