Secrets of the Wolves

Chapter 10: And Run

Sigrid

I was peacefully minding my own business the next afternoon, eating a pomegranate on the back deck. I suppose I should've known better--when you're emotionally invested in a pack your uncle might kill and your sister knows you're a werewolf and you have a troublesome mate and a werewolf hunter for an uncle, peace is an illusion. A bittersweet pastime. It was a cloud, shrouding things from view and waiting to reveal them in the dark shadows.

But I liked it. The little kids next to us were squealing on their playset and in the yard fifty meters from our backyard, the dogs were munching on rubber bones. I heard the door sschhhh open and Cassidy stood there with a pomegranate in her hand, pulling her jacket on with the other. It was a little chilly today.

"Oh. I didn't know you had one."

"That's okay," I said as she ducked inside to place it on the counter. She sat in a chair to the left of me and folded her hands on the table.

"So, can you like, read minds? Uncle Zion told me werewolves share a mind link."

I motioned with my hand for her to keep her voice down. I knew Uncle Zion was upstairs, but I never knew if he had a window open. "No," I said softly. "Only wolves within a pack can read each other's thoughts. It's like an open telephone line."

"Ohhhh."

"Yeah."

I popped some more pomegranate seeds in my mouth and she took a hesitant breath. "Will you and Theo ever make up?" she said in a whiny voice.

I glared at her. "Cass. It's not like he was hanging out with another girl--which he does already--whilst I was hanging out with another guy. This is literally life and death."

"But he's so cuuuute!"

"You can have him."

"Really!"

My wolf growled threateningly. "No," I said. She moaned and threw herself against the back of the chair.

"I don't understand, Sigrid. You have these awesome powers and you're immune to Hexes. I've seen you draw them and I just found out--y'know--the big secret. Why can't you just take out Marshall?"

I set down my pomegranate. "Because, Cass. Uncle Zion's probably not his only employed hunter. He's probably got hundreds." The thought made my stomach sink. Raylor and the others had no idea what they were delving into. "I'd need an army to take him down."

"Not to mention the rest of the hunters across the country."

"Thaaanks."

"What? I'm just pointing out the facts."

I rolled my eyes in frustration, and then dug my fingers into my pomegranate, breaking it open and peeling the seeds off the inside.

The door opened again and before she even spoke, I knew who it was. I shot to my feet and whirled around, a cold sweat breaking on my forehead. Raylor's ebony eyes pierced through me, her fingers shaking.

"Raylor," I said. Geez, I was really losing my manners. "H-Hi." My eyes flashed to Cassidy's and I could read her eyes perfectly. Is she a werewolf?

"Hey, Sigrid," she said tensely, rubbing her wrists. "Um, there's something I need to talk to you about." She peeked at Cassidy nervously.

I opened up my ears and I heard Raylor's heart beating fast, like a panicked rabbit's. "Um, Cass? Could you give us a minute?"