Survival

24. One Step Forward, Two Steps Back

ONE MONTH LATER

Stephanie woke up late. After having dragged herself back into the house in the early hours of the morning, she had fallen into a dead sleep. Her first shift since the incident had reached deep within her and torn the life force out of her. It had been painful and exhilarating, running with a pack, as a unit, for the first time in forever. Around her, she’d been able to feel their presence, their fur brushing against her flanks as they darted through the forest. Surrendering to the basic instinct that turned them on every moon had washed away the remaining anguish Stephanie had over every tragedy that had happened in her life. She had a pack now, and it anchored her in the present.

The knot of worry in her chest had loosened and let go, and she could breathe easy again.

Bright sunshine glowed through her curtains, and the warming spring breeze danced through the cracked window. Down the street, she could hear all of the kids buzzing with energy at the front of the school, catching up even though they’d probably seen each other yesterday.

With her aching, tired muscles, Stephanie would rather just stay in bed and sleep than go to school feeling like the walking dead, but she couldn’t just take a day off whenever she felt bad. After having decided to stay where she was, she’d decided that focusing on school was the next best thing to do. Her parents never would have approved of her falling behind and throwing away her future. Though werewolves were a species on their own, they didn’t just have their own communities with endless money and support. Just like humans, they had to work to get jobs, even if they were on the run too. It was, after all, a world run by people. Everyone had to play by the rules.

Staring up at the ceiling, Stephanie yawned. This was torture. Why couldn’t she just stay in bed?

Her bedroom door opened, then, and Daniel stuck his head in. “You are so going to be late.”

He had the fortune of having it easy. Like Stephanie, he looked a little rough around the edges but unlike her, he didn’t have such a hard time with the shift, as a full-blooded Beta. The lucky jerk. She groaned and rolled over, putting her face into her pillow. “Oh my god why isn’t it the weekend already?” She mumbled into the fabric.

The door clicked shut as he chuckled and left. Heaving a forlorn sigh, Stephanie rolled onto her side and rubbed the grit out of her eyes. Before she could convince herself to go back to sleep, she jumped out of bed, cringing as her muscles twisted and protested. The wood flooring was unpleasantly cool against her feet, sending a bolt of energy through her. A very obvious muddy forest smell coated her skin, so she hopped into the shower and washed off as quickly as she could.

From underneath the hot jets pouring down on her, she could hear Daniel yell up the stairs, amusement in his voice. “I’m walking Lily to school, and my parents are already gone. You better hurry up!”

Stephanie turned the shower off and wrung out her hair, grabbing a towel and drying off. “Yeah, sure, I’ll be there soon.”

In nothing short of record time, Stephanie dragged a brush through her hair and threw on a clean t-shirt and jeans. Picking up her backpack and slipping on her jacket on the way out, Stephanie felt a little less zombie-like and a lot more like a very tired teenage werewolf. Believe it or not, it was a big improvement. The short walk to school pulled at her aching muscles and reminded her that she’d forgotten to grab breakfast in her rush, but there was nothing to be done about that now.

Things hadn’t changed much. Not in any way that an outside observer would notice. Even though the pack theory had been introduced, it would be extremely strange if suddenly every hung out at school and became very obviously a part of the group. It was safer to keep things how they were, and no one was really too bothered about that particular detail, least of all Caroline and Stephanie.