Holiday dropped her hand. "Miranda, can I have a minute alone with Kylie?"

Miranda rolled her eyes. "Why is it that everyone is always sending me away?" She stomped off into her bedroom, but flashed Kylie a smile before shutting the door.

Holiday met Kylie's gaze. "Now, what happened?"

Fredericka just stopped by to remind me that she tried to kill me once by putting a lion in my room and once might not be enough for her.

When Kylie didn't answer, Holiday studied Kylie suspiciously. "My job here is to show everyone that we can all get along without incident."

She sighed. "I agreed to her coming back because ... I know she doesn't have anywhere else to go. I'm afraid she'd be pulled into a gang, but if she's starting trouble, Kylie, I'll show her the gate."

Kylie knew Holiday meant what she said and she appreciated her loyalty to no end. While the temptation to tell the truth bubbled up inside Kylie, her own sense of loyalty bit down. She knew how important it was to Holiday to save every one of her campers from the dark side of the supernatural world. Even Fredericka.

Kylie wasn't sure the she-wolf was worth saving or even if she was salvageable.

But Kylie didn't want to be the one to make that call. Besides, she didn't want Holiday having to solve Kylie's problems. She got a mental image of how she'd managed to toss Fredericka out the door. Maybe, just maybe she was capable of taking care of herself.

Giving the still-scared Socks a good scratch behind his ears, Kylie said, "It's not a big deal. Socks didn't like Fredericka and Fredericka didn't like Socks. No one was hurt." Yet, a little voice echoed inside Kylie, but she ignored it. "I'm sure we can work it out."

When Kylie looked up, she spotted Della standing behind the camp leader in the doorway mouthing the word "Liar."

Holiday looked at Della and then faced Kylie again. "You're sure?"

Kylie nodded. It felt less like a lie.

Holiday gave Kylie a hug and then took off. Miranda came out of her room, and Kylie dropped Socks to the floor and started picking up the mess. Miranda and Della did the same.

"You don't have to help," Kylie said.

"Please," Miranda said, and they continued to straighten chairs. Della lifted the microwave back on the counter. She plugged it back in and when the light came on, she said, "Good as new."

When the room was put back together, they all sat down at the kitchen table. "Okay," Miranda said. "Give us the details and don't leave out the good parts. And by good parts, I mean when little Miss She-wolf got sprayed in the face. Something tells me that that is going to be my favorite

part. Heck, I'll bet you're even glad I turned Socks into a skunk now, right?"

Kylie leaned back in her chair and told them the whole story, including the part about Fredericka telling Derek about Lucas's letters and even the part about Fredericka halfway admitting she'd been the one to put the lion in Kylie's bedroom.

"Why the crap didn't you tell Holiday?" Miranda asked.

When Kylie didn't answer right away, Della piped up. "Because she's too damn nice."

"It's not that," Kylie said. She bit down on her lip. "Okay, maybe that's part of it, but it's Holiday I'm worried about-not Fredericka. Plus, I want to deal with this myself."

"Now, that part of it I can respect." Della crossed her arms over her chest. "Then there's the saying about how you should keep your friends close, and your enemies closer."

Miranda frowned. "Fredericka's meaner than a rattlesnake. Are you sure you can handle her?"

"If she can't, I'm always up for kicking a little werewolf ass," Della said.

Emotion swelled in Kylie's throat and she barely managed to swallow it. "Is Lucas here, too?" Kylie recalled the hurt in Derek's eyes. The emotion in her throat doubled.

"Not yet," Della said. "I heard Fredericka say he was showing up tomorrow."

Kylie blinked, hoping to contain her tears. Then she recalled the dreams and how hard facing Lucas would be.

Miranda leaned in. "Do you think Derek's serious about breaking up?"

"He didn't break up with her," Della corrected in a harsh tone. "They weren't going out."

But he might as well have, Kylie thought, and that's when a couple of tears slipped out. Standing up, she said. "Thanks guys, but I'm ... I just want to-"

"You still feeling pissy?" Della asked.

"Yeah," Kylie answered. Her gaze shifted to the computer showing her grandparents' phone number. She was even too distraught to deal with that right now. Tomorrow. Kylie got to her bedroom, shut the door, and dropped facedown on the blue-and-white bedspread. She had just closed her eyes when she heard Miranda sigh. A sigh Kylie shouldn't have been able to hear through her closed bedroom door.

"Do you think she's werewolf ?" Miranda asked.

Kylie grabbed a pillow and covered her head, but it didn't stop Della's answer from filtering through the foam to reach Kylie's supercharged hearing.

"Probably," Della answered. "But I'm not going to hold it against her. She'll be the nicest werewolf that ever existed."

"Me, either," Miranda said. "Not all weres are bad. Not that I've ever been close to any of them."

Great, Kylie thought. Her friends seemed certain she was doomed to a life of nasty moods and howling at the moon. Kylie tried to imagine what it would be like to morph into a wolf. Then she remembered that Fredericka was going to be waiting with bated wolf breath for a chance to get even with her when-okay, if-she did turn.