Thump.
Thump.
ON A SUNDAY IN THE FALL, we gathered as we always did. It was tradition.
Jessie was in the kitchen with Mom, standing over the sink, peeling potatoes. Dominique leaned against the counter beside her, reaching out to touch the new scar on Jessie’s shoulder as if she couldn’t believe it was real.
Mom stood at the stove, telling Joe to take the cutlery to the table outside. He told her just because he wasn’t an Alpha anymore that didn’t mean she could tell him what to do. She smacked him upside the head. He immediately started gathering the cutlery.
The window above the sink was open. Just outside, Chris and Tanner were setting the table in the backyard. They were bickering, but when they thought no one was looking, they smiled quietly at each other.
Bambi sat at the table, Joshua in her lap, trying to shove everything he could reach into his mouth. Rico cheered him on, even though Bambi was glaring at him.
Robbie and Kelly stood in front of the grill, pretending they knew what they were doing. Robbie pushed his glasses back on his nose and looked relieved when Gordo and Mark shoved between them, telling him in no uncertain terms that he wasn’t allowed to be around fire at any point.
Joe sat on the back porch with Gavin, listening to him talk about how he’d learned how to take apart the engine of a motorcycle and put it back together all on his own.
“Where’s Ox?” I asked.
Mom nodded toward the front of the house. “Why don’t you go get him? It’s almost time.” Then she leaned over Jessie toward the open window. “Gordo! Make sure you don’t let Robbie touch the lighter fluid. I like his eyebrows as they are.”
Robbie threw up his hands in defeat.
I walked through the house to the front door. It was wide open. The leaves on the trees were gold and red, autumn in full swing. The air had a bite to it. Soon we would be in the grips of winter again. The moon was fat and full, hanging suspended in a deep blue sky. Tonight we’d run as a pack.
I found Ox standing in front of the blue house, hands clasped behind him. He turned his head slightly as I approached, a small smile on his face.
“Hey,” I said.
“Hey.”
“Dinner’s almost ready.”
He nodded but didn’t reply. I stood shoulder to shoulder with him, the bonds between us plucking like a string. It felt warm and sweet.
Birds sang in the trees.
A herd of deer moved off in the distance. I wanted to chase them. Hunt them. There’d be time for that later.
Ox said, “I was thinking.”
“About?”
He shrugged. “Everything. And nothing, I suppose.”
I sighed. “Werewolf Jesus like always, then.”
He chuckled. “Something like that. Can I tell you what I’m thinking about?”
“Yeah, man. Of course.”
He said, “I’m thinking about this life of ours.”
“What about it?”
“It’s beautiful. It stings. It’s astonishing. It hurts. And I often wonder what the point of it all is. Do you know what I decided?”
I shook my head slowly.