And I’m not the only one.
With the eclipse coming up soon, the boys are having an increasingly hard time not discussing it in front of me. On my way back from the water fountain, I overhear Rory tell Kaleb and Marlowe that another pack was spotted passing through on their way to celebrate the eclipse—but they change the conversation as soon as they realize I’m back within earshot.
What they can’t hide, however, is how all three of them seem a bit nervous about that piece of information.
Luckily for me, Romulus doesn’t seem as shy about discussing it in front of me later.
Maybe it’s because as far as he’s concerned, I’m just a tiny blip in the grand scheme of things. Maybe it’s because he wants to scare me off. Either way, I’m not about to complain about getting a glimpse, for once, into this secret part of the Grays’ lives.
It isn’t until after school, when we are all sitting around in the mansion’s living room, that Romulus tells the boys it wasn’t the full pack, but merely a vanguard, that he spotted. I sit up in my seat, ears pricked as if I’m a wolf myself.
“Good,” Marlowe says, perking up a bit too. “That’s good to hear.”
I want to know more about it, but Romulus doesn’t really get into any of the details. I’d be disappointed if that tiny bit of news wasn’t already more than I’ve been given in months.
Especially when I can’t help but notice the effect it has on the boys. It’s more than just relief, it’s excitement.
It grows, along with their whispered conversation whenever I leave the room, until I can’t wait any longer. I make it all of forty-five minutes.
“So …” I start as soon as Romulus steps outside to take a phone call. I stab a straw in the glass of chocolate milk in front of me on the counter in the most non-aggressive way I can muster. “What’s this so-called ‘vanguard’ doing in North Port? The eclipse is still a couple of months away.” I glance up at them. “Isn’t it?”
“Who knows,” Rory says, casually. But he seems a bit too casual, as if he’s trying to brush off my question. As usual. “You should probably head home soon though.” He shares a secret look with his brothers. “Now that they’re here, we need to prepare things and make sure it’s all safe for you.”
“Safe for me? Like what, the ceremony? I was starting to think I won’t be allowed to come to that.”
I feel my pace quicken, only for my excitement to be forced to a screeching halt.
“Safe, in general,” Marlowe says. “It’s been a while since we’ve had wolves from other packs on our land. We normally don’t allow it, and well … last time it didn’t go so well.”
I remember that encounter well, and Marlowe isn’t exaggerating.
It ended with a wolf-girl that nearly bit my arm into two pieces.
I get the feeling that things have been a bit tense between the packs in the alliance ever since. The boys haven’t really wanted to talk about it with me—as they never do with this subject—but it’s pretty obvious that incident stirred up some ill feelings between Romulus’ pack and the others.
“We just need to make sure that the other packs are familiar with the situation we have here,” Rory adds. “Before we add in any more factors.”
“And by situation, I assume you mean me?” I’d feel bad if I wasn’t already too frustrated.
Romulus announces he’s returned by making a small huffing sound that answers my question.
He’s not happy with the situation at all, I can tell. That’s not news, though. He seems really uncomfortable with the whole idea of me being anywhere near the ritual, and even more uncomfortable with the idea of informing the other packs about me in an attempt to make sure I don’t get nearly eaten again.
Funny to think that it wasn’t too long ago that he was the one I needed to be most worried about. I didn’t know it at the time, but there was a night he almost killed me just to keep their secret safe.
The boys stand up as they ready to usher me out the door and Marlowe offers to walk me home.
He tries to make it sound like he is just doing it to get a few more moments of time with me, but I know him well enough now to know that he’s doing it to protect me. The last time they left me wandering alone through the woods on a full moon I ended up getting kidnapped.
Just as we reach the front door to leave, however, there’s a loud knock from the other side. Immediately, Romulus, Rory, and Kaleb are all standing beside us—moving with that supernatural speed that allows them to move so quickly they almost appear to teleport.
So much for getting me out of here before the other shifters arrive.
They’re already here.
Romulus gently pushes Marlowe aside and stands in front of us to answer the door. I peek over his shoulder as the wooden slab opens to reveal two people standing on the doorstep.
The first is a tall and lanky looking man with dark eyes and disheveled hair. He has the hairiest arms I think I’ve ever seen—so hairy that even if I didn’t know wolf shifters existed, I might have gotten suspicious.