Wolf Bonded (Wolfish 1)

“Yeah, little animal carvings. Supposed to protect you from evil or something. Like I said, I was only half-listening.” My mom laughs.

Great, I think as I roll my eyes. I have a tiny pretend wolf statue to protect me from all the real wolves. That should work out well. I stuff the trinket back into the pouch and pull the cord tightly to close it.

Despite myself, I keep the totem close.

After everything that’s happened, this isn’t the sort of gift that I’m about to refuse.

I take two more days off from school just to rest and eat and get my energy back.

I would have taken even more time if I didn’t think it would send half the local population into a frenzy. In a town of three hundred, it’s not hard to do.

Sometimes it seems like the only people who haven’t been texting my phone nonstop are Rory, Marlowe, and Kaleb.

At least they understand that I need time.

And they should. They’re also the only ones who understand why.

I know that at some point I’m going to need to talk

to them about what happened. When I do, I want to be ready to hear their answers. No more surprises. No more lies.

Finally, by Thursday, I’m ready to go back to school again. I’m sure that I’ll have tons of missed work to make up, and I haven’t even thought about all the work that still needs to be done for the Civilizations project.

On my way out the door, my mom picks my phone up from the kitchen table and starts handing it to me, only to stop and gawk at the count of unread messages on the screen.

“Holy cow,” she says as the screen illuminates for a second look. “A hundred and forty-four missed text messages? Are you running for class president or something?”

She laughs at her own joke.

“Hardly,” I snicker. “Some people just can’t take a hint.”

“If that comment was meant for Romulus’ boys, I think you should give them a chance.”

It’s my turn to snort. “No. Thank god. Those are mostly from Tom at school.”

I shudder inwardly, then shoot a sideways glance at my mom as I register what she just said. “What do you mean, ‘give them a chance’?”

She avoids looking directly at me by busying herself at the already-clean kitchen sink. “Oh, nothing. Just from what I’ve heard, at least one of them saved you down at that river.”

I shrug and pretend not to care. “And I’m supposed to throw myself at him in thanks?”

“No, but I’m just saying it wouldn’t hurt to, you know, let someone in a little bit.” She must sense I’m about to say something, because she quickly adds, “Besides, they looked so sad the last time they were here.”

That catches me off guard. It’s the first I’ve heard of it.

“Sad?”

I’d like to hear more, but just then the landline calls and from the shift in my mom’s tone, it’s work, and it’s going to take a while.

Great. Now I’m going to spend the entire day wondering what she meant.

This isn’t the case, however. I barely make it to the end of the dirt path driveway before I see Rory’s Jeep pull up, with Marlowe and Kaleb in tow. It’s like they could sense that I was just leaving the house.

Either that, or they’re spying on me. At least this means I might not have to wait long for some answers.

“How about a ride to school?” Kaleb calls from the open back.

I march right up to the car and put my hand on the side of the open window.