Harlan had moved in even closer and was now nose to nose with Jake. His body was filled with rage over what Jake had done to his brother and he was ready to tear the boy apart at the slightest provocation. He could feel his muscles boiling and the hair on his skin just itching to come to the surface.

Jake seemed to be at a loss for words. Perhaps he sensed there was something dangerous about Harlan at that moment, or perhaps it was because his “friends” had both backed away, leaving Jake to fend for himself. Or maybe he’d expected Principal Terashita to arrive on the scene before it had gotten this far, or maybe, just maybe, he’d never meant for his little prank to get so out of hand. Then, of course, there was the law to contend with. He’d just admitted to poisoning Harlan’s drink; the only question that remained was whether the charge against him would be mischief, assault, or murder.

“What did you put in the drink?” Harlan yelled. “Was it a drug?”

“No.”

“Then what?”

A fair-sized crowd had gathered by now, but still no Principal Terashita.

“Just some chemicals I found in the photography club’s darkroom.” Most of Jake’s tough-guy attitude was gone. He was still trying to play the part, but failing miserably.

“What kind of chemicals?”

“I dunno. The stuff they use to develop black-and-white pictures.”

“Developers? You mean like silver nitrate?”

“I dunno,” Jake said again. “The bottle said silver something-or-other on it. What’s the big deal?”

Harlan had heard enough. He was going to tear Jake MacKinnon apart for what he had done to Noble, and if he changed during the fight and revealed the pack’s secret, then so be it. They were going to be exposed by Maria Abruzzo in the next few days anyway, so what difference would it make? At least this way he’d be able to give Jake MacKinnon exactly what he deserved.

Harlan raised his fist and pulled his arm back to strike a blow—

—when someone grabbed his arm, preventing him from throwing a punch.

Harlan glanced over his shoulder, fully expecting to see Principal Terashita standing there, but the principal was nowhere in sight. Instead, Argus was there, gripping his little brother’s arm, stopping the fight before it began, and more than likely saving Jake MacKinnon’s life.

“Let me do it!” Harlan said. “Just one punch, that’s all it’ll take.”

Argus shook his head slowly. “No. I can’t let you.”

“But I’ll be careful,” Harlan said. “I won’t cut him, and I won’t break the skin.” Werewolf lore was very specific on one point: any human who was wounded by a werewolf and survived would end up becoming a werewolf himself.

“That’s not it,” Argus said. “I don’t want you hurting Jake because this is Noble’s fight.”