Page 72 of Out of Peril

Sad faces stared back at me.

“You don't want us to go to school?” he asked.

“What? No. That's not what I meant. I grew up in a Pack. I know how awful it feels to go to a human school and keep the family secret. I was the weird kid, too. I would never put you guys through that.”

“But there aren't any humans there,” Dante insisted.

“Yeah, it's a Pack school.”

“It is?”

They nodded.

“So all wolves? But we don't even know if you two are wolves or not.”

They shrugged.

“It's not all wolves. I met a tiger yesterday.”

“Yeah, and there's a bear cub too,” Maya said excitedly.

“Oh. Okay. So you like it there?”

I certainly couldn't relate. I had hated school growing up.

“We love it there,” she explained. “Mary Alice, Nathan, and Zachary are in our class too.”

“And Vada. She's really pretty,” Dante told me.

“She is, huh?”

“Yup. And she’s nice. She traded me a turkey sandwich yesterday for my peanut butter and jelly.”

“Mrs. Shelby makes our lunches for us and picks us up and brings us home,” Maya said. “She does a real good job. I like her.”

“Me too. I love it here. Can we stay, Lindsey? Maya and I can even have our own rooms if we want, but she's too scared to sleep alone right now.”

“Me? You're the scaredy cat.”

“Shh. You're going to wake Walker,” I reminded them.

“Too late. Walker's already awake.” He roared and grabbed them both up in his arms as they squealed. “Good morning, munchkins. Are you ready for school?”

“Yes, sir. We had those muffins Mrs. Callie made for breakfast then brushed our teeth, washed our face and hands, and put our backpacks by the door for when Mrs. Shelby honks,” Maya said.

“Who's Mrs. Callie?” I was pretty certain I hadn't heard that name before.

“She's a police officer,” Dante said.

“And she's mated to Michael,” Maya added.

“Then who's Michael?”

“My team leader,” Walker explained.

“Did we forget anything, Walker?” Maya asked

“Uh yeah, good morning hugs.”

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