A Boy Among Wolves

Chapter 4

Danny

Theo has an adorable thinking face on right now.

Granted, he's running thru my math homework, and I'm sure I did it all wrong. But he's probably thinking of a polite way to break it to me.

"Give it to me straight, T," I say with a stoic voice. "How bad is it?"

He cocks his head at me and smiles. "I don't hate that nickname, but you got about half of them right."

"Fucccckkkkk," I say with a groan.

"Daniel! Watch your language, please," shouts Mrs. Collins from the kitchen.

"Sorry," I shout back.

"It's not that bad. You're getting the formula right most of the time. You're just plugging your numbers in wrong. We can fix that," he says and pushes my math book back over to me.

Before I can say anything, my phone rings, and I see it's Dad. "I have to take this. I'll be back."

Bryce hands Theo his math homework, and he starts looking it over as I go out into the backyard.

"Hey, Dad," I say in an even tone. I don't want him to think I'm panicked. Even if I am.

"Are you ok?" He says quickly. His voice is full of concern.

"Yeah," I say. "We're fine. I just wanted to tell you."

"Ok, good. You did the right thing heading back home," he says. "So, what do you know?"

I left my voicemail vague in case someone got his phone. We can't be too careful.

"I know it's a shifter, but I don't know what kind. It definitely followed us," I say and wait for his response.

"Shit. Ok. And it wasn't a wolf?" He asks.

"Brenden and I've never smelled one like this," I say. "I feel like it wanted us to know it was out there. It was upwind from us the whole time. Like it wanted us to smell it."

"Ok. I don't want you going home tonight. Stay with Brenden. And before you say you can handle it. You can't. You don't even know what it is," he says as if he's reading my mind.

"Ok. Fine. I'm at Bryce's anyways. I'll just say here," I say with a grumble.

"Ok, good. I'll send some of the pack out to investigate now," he says and takes a breath. "What you three doing today?"

"We did the hike, and now we're doing homework. Theo's helping us with math," I say and then add with a smile. "I might get a C+ this semester thanks to him."

Dad laughs, "whatever it takes. You're smart, Danny. Just not math smart. Neither was I. Don't let it get you down."

My Dad can be surprisingly supportive sometimes. He's just busy at the sheriff's station, and I understand.

"Thanks, Pops," I say back.

"Ok. I've got calls to make. I'll let you know when they're done. I love you and be good."

"I love you too," I say back, and he hangs up.

I head back inside and find Brenden, Bryce, and Jackson laughing at Theo. He looks annoyed.

"What'd I miss?" I ask and take a seat. I looked at my math homework, and Theo mapped out two of the problems I got wrong for me. He's right. I'm close to the right answer on some of these.

Brenden smiles and turns to me. "I bet Theo I could get an 80 on the homework, and I won."

"Nice, what'd you win?" I ask and Theo Huffs.