Eyes of the Wolf

30

School finished without much hubbub a few days later. I still had no idea where to go to college, and Chris was determined not to go to college until I did. I disagreed, naturally, but it was one of her less endearing, more pigheaded arguments.

The Saturday after school ended, I sat on the fence of her horse arena, watching her turn in a circle as her little brown and black horse galloped circles around her on the end of a long white lead. His name was Corduroy, which I thought was an odd name for an animal. Apparently horses usually had weird cognomens, but Chris and I compromised by calling him Roy.

I still had three wolf boys across the street from my house. They were usually pretty quiet, but occasionally Niko would come over and talk to me. My dad still didn’t understand why his nose started acting up when Niko came over—it’s not like “werewolf” is the first suspicion you have when your daughter’s boyfriend is indirectly making your tissue supply dwindle. Hard to tell him that he’s allergic to my boyfriend.

We went out a couple of days earlier. I was still kind of mad at him, ‘cause he had nearly gotten us both smeared by a car jaywalking, and laughed it off. We lived. He moved on.

“Maya, you still there?”

I glanced up. Chris was fastening her helmet strap under her chin, Roy’s head about even with her hip. A more laid back animal, I have never seen.

“You’re zoning out on me. Pull up that chair and sit in the middle—we’ll talk.”

I sighed and grabbed the lawn chair next to the gate and dragged it through. Chris and Roy followed me to the center as I set it up, and she smiled before swinging onto the horse’s back. As Roy started walking, she said, “So what’s up?”

“Not much.”

“I don’t believe you. You’ve been zoning again ever since you got here.”

Amazing how fond she was getting of that word.

“You think I should break up with Niko?”

She swiveled in her saddle. “Are you two not getting along anymore?”

“Well…” I didn’t like talking about this sort of thing, and I was regretting bringing it up to her. “I think he still likes me, but I’m kinda…I don’t know.”

Chris did a small figure eight in one of the farther corners. “So you’re losing interest?”

“Kinda.”

“Do you still like him?”

“Yes, but I don’t want to be his girlfriend anymore.”

“Why not?”

“He’s…” I hesitated, wondering how to phrase it without revealing anything that was meant to stay arcane. “He wants us to be more serious than I want to be right now, and the subject’s dropped, but—”

“He wants to have sex?”

The words surprised me. She brought Roy to a halt a few feet away.

“I guess so.”

“And you don’t.”

“Not really, no. And…and he wants to do more crazy things than I do, and…I don’t know.”

“You know.” It wasn’t an urge to continue. She leaned on the heels of her hands on the front of her saddle—it was the kind without the horn on the front.

Yeah, I knew, but I couldn’t tell her any more than that. I wasn’t sure I wanted to be involved with the wolves anymore—my life was in danger and now my house was under the watch of three teenagers, one of them being my boyfriend. I felt almost stalked.

They almost hadn’t let me come here, even. I was sure that one of them was floating around somewhere nearby, but I didn’t know more than that. It was the only way they could possibly have so peacefully conceded to my demand. I just hoped that whoever it was would be considerate enough to stay out of earshot.

“Well, okay,” Chris said simply, taking Roy back to the rail and picking up a trot. I watched them go around me a couple of times. Chris looked a bit too big to be proportional to her horse, but he seemed to be the best fit for her. She loved that little guy, and he always seemed happy around her. And he was an easy keeper—she always said that if she didn’t ride him so often, he would balloon off of the air itself, no hay required. He lived in a large grassy pasture behind her house, so even with her family’s modest budget they could keep him fed.

“Oh, and Brad says he has some more clothes for you, if you want them. Though they might be a little big for you now.” There was a laugh in her voice.

I smiled. “I’ll take them.”

:o3

When Dad came and picked me up, I had a cardboard box in my arms, the whole thing filled with shorts and pants and old T-shirts. Chris didn’t see how I could be comfortable wearing her brother’s old clothes, but I figured that, if they weren’t old boxers or anything, a couple of runs through the washing machine would make them suitable.

When I got home I changed out of my dusty, sweaty clothes—the thing I didn’t like about where I lived was how hot it got in the summer. I threw on a tank top and some pajama shorts and started doing laundry. While I waited, I sat on my chair and took out one of the snakes and watched her weave between my fingers and around my wrist.

“Well, don’t you look nice,” commented Niko from the doorway. I glanced up at him and murmured a hello, getting up and returning the reptile to her cage. Then his words hit me.

“Hey!” I said, turning around and then regretting it. The tank top was slightly see- through, and I hadn’t taken my guards into account when choosing the shirt. Of course, I hadn’t expected them to randomly appear in my house. At least there was something under it, even if it was my bra. I crossed my arms and glared at him. His mouth twitched.

“We have something to talk about.”

“What?” I wanted to go to my room and change now.

He hesitated. That was interesting. “I was thinking…I think that you would be safer if you were a wolf. Like us.”

The words sank in slowly. He wanted me to change? Into a wolf?

“I-I thought they didn’t trust bitten wolves.”

“You’d at least be able to fight back that way.”

“But…” I sat down. “I’d…I…”

“Think about it,” he urged, dropping to a crouch in front of me. “Then you could be one of us. The pack won’t be so stupid about you hanging around, and there won’t really be a problem anymore.”

Information was running on fast forward in my head. Wolves had to be secret. Wolves had to be bitten to be made—nearly killed. Wolves broke off ties to the human world.

And I wanted to break up with him! If I was a wolf…they would expect me to be with him. I didn’t want that. Not anymore.

“Niko, I…” My voice shook.

“Niko!” My dad’s voice rang through the house. He winced. “You’ve family here for you!”

Niko stiffened. I turned to the door in time to see Roger stride in. He took in the scene and growled.

“Don’t listen to him, Maya. You don’t change.”

“It’s not your business, Blaze,” Niko warned. Roger snarled, teeth bared. They were growing pointed.

*Maya, come here.* I looked past Roger to see Adam, looking cautious and wary. The others didn’t seem to hear him. I got up and scampered from between them, and Adam caught my arm. Then my brain kicked in again.

“Wait, not in my house!” I said, turning back and grabbing the back of Roger’s shirt. He spun, snarling, and then staggered forward on top of me as another body struck his. I yelped as we three went down, and I cried out as my back struck the linoleum. My head hit something softer, but it still hurt. I heard growling above me. I opened my eyes and saw Niko and Roger turning and baring their teeth at Adam, who was standing over me and doing the same to them. His left hand was under my head.

“What the hell is going on over there?” The boys all glanced to the wall like they were on point, then moved to help me up. I was upright by the time my dad got to the door.

“I fell,” I explained hastily. He glanced suspiciously at the others in the room.

“Why don’t the three of you head on home?” he suggested, though his tone was dark enough that I doubted that there wouldn’t be consequences if they disobeyed. They moved away from me, and then slowly out of sight. My dad’s eyes followed them all the way to the front door. When it closed, he looked back to me.

“What happened?”

“I fell.”

“Tell me the truth.” There was force behind those words as well. I hesitated, thinking hard.

“There are some in Niko’s family that don’t want him having a girlfriend.” My head was hurting—too much was happening for me to be expected to function well. “They got to pushing and shoving, and they accidentally pushed me over. I’m okay, really.”

He stood still in the doorway for a moment longer, then turned without a word and walked to the living room. I followed him to the chair, not quite sure why. He glanced at me, so I knew he knew I was there, but it was a few seconds before he spoke to me.

“You still breaking up with him?”

“I think so.”

He nodded, then glanced at my shirt before reaching for the remote. “I thought you expected him over when I let him in. I’ll try and warn you next time.”

I know I went a little pinker then. “Thanks, Dad.”

:o3

When I got finished taking care of all the animals and doing the laundry, I checked my phone, surprised to see a missed call from Chris. I called her back.

“Maya? Drake asked me out.”

“What?” I rolled onto my stomach on my bed, propping my elbow up on my pillow and holding Puppy with the other.

“He did! He called—which was weird ‘cause I don’t remember giving him my number, but I guess I did—and then I was like ‘what?’ and he was like ‘hey, look, I know we weren’t getting along earlier’, but then he started saying some stuff about how he’s liked me for awhile, and he wants to go out sometime. Isn’t that crazy?”

“Yeah, that’s pretty crazy, all right.” I was still chuckling a little at how his light tenor became something akin to a base when she quoted him.

“So you think I should say yes?”

“You haven’t already? Do you like him?”

There was quiet on the other line.

“Yeah. Kinda, yeah.” She sounded embarrassed.

“So do it!”

There was more silence before she piped, “Yeah! I think I will. I’ll go ask my parents.”

When we hung up, I shook my head, smiling. Good for her.

I just hoped her luck was better than mine in that department