Raised by Wolves

Chapter 33

CHAPTER 33

THE SUN WAKES me early. I’m wet with dew and shivering under the blanket that I took from the cabin. I roll over in the grass. Holo’s already awake and staring at the clouds.

“I think we should call the pups Thing One and Thing Two,” he says dreamily.

I grin, remembering those sweet babies and their proud mama. There’s nothing more adorable than wolf pups—they’re all fluff and fang and feet. “Sticking with the Dr. Seuss names?”

“It’s tradition,” Holo insists.

Sam I Am was the first wolf we named. He was ornery and lovable. He died a long time ago, though.

Holo turns to me, and his eyes are suddenly dark with worry. “Do you think they’ll make it?”

A lot of wolf pups die before their first birthday. But I nod. “Beast is a good mom. She’ll protect them, the way she protected Bim and Ben.”

I’m more worried about the adult wolves, because they’re the ones that people in Kokanee Creek talk about shooting. They don’t have mothers looking out for them.

Of course, neither do Holo and I.

“I didn’t see Ernie,” he says softly.

Ernie is Beast’s mate—the pack’s big, silver alpha male. “You know how he likes to be alone a lot,” I say. “And maybe he was just tired from minding the pups.”

“You think?”

I don’t know. “I hope.”

“Excuse me, but what the hell are you two doing sleeping in my yard?”

Startled, I sit up. The chief’s standing over us, looking confused and more than a little annoyed.

“Um,” Holo says, blinking.

It’s a reasonable question. Too bad I can’t really answer it. I wanted to sleep under the stars again, but why did I lead us back here? Why didn’t we just stay in the woods?

Because we don’t belong there now.

I rub my eyes. Take in the carefully mown grass, the pretty tended flower garden, the neat little space that the chief and Lacey have carved out of the woods.

But I don’t belong here, either.

The chief gives us a headshake and a resigned-sounding sigh. “Next time you want to camp out, I’ll put up the tent, okay?”

Holo lifts his face and sniffs. “Is Lacey cooking bacon?” he asks eagerly.

“Yes. Now come inside and get ready for school.”

I slowly get to my feet. I’m cold and stiff. “We’re suspended, remember?”

“No, you’re not. Mrs. Simon and I had a long conversation, and she agreed to let you come back. You just have to remember what you promised: No growling, no biting, and no fighting.”

“We didn’t actually promise that,” I tell him.

“You will now. Go on, get up and get dressed.” He reaches down and swipes the blanket away from Holo’s legs.

I scan the trees as my brother and I trudge into the house. The wolves are long gone. I don’t know when we’ll see them again.

“Eat,” the chief says, gesturing to the giant breakfast Lacey made us before she left for the diner.

Holo devours his food at wolf speed, but I just push my eggs from one side of the plate to the other. Now that Beast has pups, it’s more important than ever that she keeps the pack far away from civilization.

From us.

The realization makes me feel like crying.

“Eat,” the chief says again.

I glare at him and shove my plate away.

Holo takes a huge bite of toast. “Kai’s growling at you in her mind,” he tells the chief.

“I don’t care, as long as I can’t hear it,” the chief says. Then he frowns. Because now a sound a lot like a growl is coming from outside the house.

I follow the chief as he goes to open the front door. My brother stays put and helps himself to my breakfast.

“Shoot,” the chief says, sounding surprised. “What are you doing here?”

Waylon Meloy is on the porch, leaning easily against the railing, one leg crossed over the other. Behind him I can see two helmets dangling from the handlebars of his motorcycle. “Good morning,” he says, with a sly half smile.

The chief braces himself in the doorway like he’s trying to keep me inside. “Let’s try that again. Why are you on my porch when it’s not even seven a.m.?”

Waylon peers over the chief’s outstretched arms to catch my eye. He winks. Why does he always do that? Then he gives the chief a little bow that seems polite and mocking at the same time. “Well, sir, I heard Kai’s suspension got revoked, and I thought she should return to school in style. So I’m here to give her a ride.” He gestures to the extra helmet. It’s purple with gold stars. “I’ll go very, very slowly. Ten miles under the speed limit at least.”

The chief scoffs. “You can go whatever speed you want. You’re not taking Kai.”

“Doesn’t Kai have a say in it?” Waylon asks reasonably.

The chief starts to close the door. “No, she does not.”

Waylon sticks his foot out to block it and cranes his neck to see me again. “Hey, Kai,” he calls. “I thought you might like to try riding on a motorcycle, but this cop here says you can’t.”

I manage to smile at him—maybe because he’s at a safe distance. “So I heard.”

“It’s definitely not against the law, so I’m not sure what his problem is.”

The chief tries to move so he can block my view of Waylon. But Waylon ducks down low so he can peer at me through the chief’s legs. “Do you know what his problem is?”

I can’t help laughing, even though I can tell by the chief’s body language that Waylon’s kind of pissing him off. “I’m not really sure,” I say. “Maybe keeping a couple of wolf kids is a hassle or something.”

“Waylon Meloy,” the chief says, ignoring my comment. “Please get the hell off my property before I find some reason to object more officially to your presence.”

“I’ve never been arrested for trespassing before,” Waylon says. “Could be exciting.”

“It won’t be,” the chief says.

“Okay, fine, Chief Greene,” Waylon says, sighing dramatically. He calls over his shoulder to me as he walks away. “See you in class, Kai!”

“Bye,” I say, but so quietly that he doesn’t hear me.

The chief shuts the door. “I should’ve let you stay suspended,” he grumbles.

“Great,” I say. “Call the principal back.”

Even if it means seeing Waylon again, I don’t want to go back to Kokanee Creek High. I don’t like those people and they don’t like me.

But the chief shakes his head. “You’re going to school. And you’re going to smile and be nice. And you’re going to make friends.”

“That’s impossible,” I say. “They think we’re freaks. And they’re totally right.”

“I don’t know why you’d say that, Kai.”

“Because it’s true. I don’t know how to talk to them without growling, and Holo stares too much, and we’re nothing like them. They’d die without their phones , let alone without gross plastic food being handed to them three times a day. Holo and I might as well be from a different planet.”

“Isn’t there anyone you like there?” The chief’s eyes look suspiciously twinkly all of a sudden.

I bristle with annoyance. I can’t even admit to myself that I might like Waylon, so I’m hardly about to say it to the police chief of Kokanee Creek.

“No.”

The chief rests a big hand on my shoulder. “Well, that’s too bad for Waylon Meloy, isn’t it? Because I think he’s making it pretty obvious that he likes you.”

“He’s just being nice to the new freak.”

“You’re not a freak, Kai,” the chief says.

I shrug his hand off. “I can’t be a real wolf, and I don’t know how to be a real girl,” I say bitterly. “So yeah, actually I am.”