Page 50 of Raised By Wolves

What am I supposed to tell him? My brain can’t process what I just went through. A wolf risks its life because it has to eat. A human risks its life for—moving to a different location?

“It was… intense,” I say. I’ll leave it at that.

Waylon reaches out and lifts the helmet from my head. He frowns. “You look like you were crying.”

“The wind,” I say.

And, okay, maybe just a little bit of panic. Before a few weeks ago, I’d never gone faster than I could run.

When he gently wipes the tears from my cheek, I freeze. I can’t help it.

“You’re doing that thing again,” Waylon says. “Tonic whatever it is.”

“Immobility,” I manage. “Sorry.”

He steps closer to me. It’s overwhelming to be so near him. I don’t understand why, and I don’t know how to control the feelings flooding my body.

He must sense that something has changed between us. He brushes a tangled strand of hair from my face. “It’s okay, Kai,” he says softly. “I like you, too.”

When I was little, I used to spin in circles until my stomach churned and my eyes watered, and when I stopped I couldbarely stand up. For years, that dizziness was the biggest feeling I knew.

This feeling is bigger.

I can’t bear it, and I turn away. And when I do, I realize that we’re standing in the parking lot of the Grizzly Grocery.

Suddenly I’m not overwhelmed by desire anymore. I’m just angry.

“Why’d you bring me here?” I demand. “Is this some kind of joke?”

“No!” Waylon says. “Never. I told you, all that carrion talk got me hungry.” He grins. “Seriously, though, the Grizzly has the best doughnuts in town. They make them fresh on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, and I’m going to buy us a dozen. Maybe eventwodozen. I’m feeling dangerous today.”

And now I’m feeling slightly stupid.

I glance over at the door my brother smashed. The glass hasn’t been replaced yet. Instead there’s plywood nailed to the doorframe, and I’m pretty sure I can see the rock that Holo used lying a few feet away on the sidewalk. Guilt flushes my cheeks. “Um, maybe I should wait outside.”

Waylon’s eyes follow mine. He nods in agreement. “Yeah, that’s probably not a bad idea.”

When he comes back, he’s holding a brown paper bag spotted with oil. He reaches in and hands me a warm, sugar-coated circle of dough. “Next time you rob the place,” he says, “just remember that the doughnuts are the only thing worth stealing, and they’re at the end of aisle five.”

CHAPTER 36

THE CHIEF LOOKS so grim as he starts to leave the house on Saturday morning that I stand in front of him and block his way. “What’s wrong?” I demand. “Is the Grizzly pressing charges after all? Are we going to jail again?”

I never should’ve let Waylon take me there, even if those doughnuts were the greatest things I’ve ever eaten.

The chief shakes his head. “I’ve been talking to Fish and Wildlife,” he says. “Ranchers in the area are reporting new wolf attacks.”

My stomach’s suddenly full of lead. “What do you mean?”

“I mean that calves are disappearing. Sheep are being killed.”

“Here?In Kokanee Creek?” I gasp.

My wolves would never do that.

Would they?

“Apparently so,” the chief says, slipping past me and stomping outside.

---