Page 53 of Raised By Wolves

Nailed to the barn wall is the pelt of a giant, silvery-gray wolf. The tail’s stubby and tinged with black at the tip. Just like Ernie’s. I grab onto the chief to keep from falling.

No, no, no.

“Kai?” the chief whispers.

Hardy stands there, bowlegged and proud. “A wolf’s no match for a Winchester,” he says. “Though it did take him a long time to die.”

With a growl that turns into a scream, I charge toward Hardy. When our bodies collide he goes stumbling backward. I hook a leg behind his and give him another hard shove. Falling, he reaches out—grabs my shirt—tries to pull me down with him. I land a hard chop to his forearm. He lets go. Falls. Lands hard on the barn floor.

You think it’s hard to wrestle a man? It isn’t—not if you practice with wolves.

I go crashing down on top of his chest. Dust and hay fly up. Hardy curses and struggles. He slaps me hard but he can’t get himself free. I’m punching and scratching at his face like a wild animal. “You killed my friend!” Tears are streaming down my face. “He was adad!”

Hardy bucks beneath me. My nails scratch bloody lines on his cheek. I grab his hair and hold him still with my left hand while I punch him with the right. It feels so good, I could do this forever.

Humans are the only animals that understand revenge.

Suddenly I’m yanked backward by big, strong hands. I kick and scream. I want to kill Hardy and I’m about to do it, too.

But the chief pulls me away. He yanks me up and shoves me against the wall and holds me there. He says, low and fierce, “If you don’t stop, Kai, I will take you to jail and I willnotlet you out.”

I go limp. All the anger drains out of me, and grief fills up the space it left behind. My shoulders shake with sobs. Snot pours out of my nose. I can barely breathe from crying.

Hardy lies in the straw, cursing. “I’ll sue!” he spits. “You and the county and all of you bastards!”

Still holding me by the shoulders, the chief says calmly, “Mr. Hardy, with all due respect, you got a little kitten scratch just now. You want to press charges for that? I don’t think you do. Because investigations look very carefully at the accused—andthe accuser.”

“It ain’t over,” Hardy hisses. He rolls over and retches into the straw.

“It is for now,” the chief says. And then he guides me toward the door.

I can barely see through my tears.

“Why’d you pull me off him?” I cry.

The chief smiles grimly. “In case you didn’t notice,” he says, “I took my time in doing it. You’re welcome, Kai.”

CHAPTER 38

THURSDAY AFTERNOON, WHEN he’s supposed to be working the speed trap out on Highway 20, Chester is instead stomping up the steps to Kokanee Creek High School. The secretary wouldn’t tell him what the matter was when she called. Just said:If you can just come to the office, Chief Greene. Mrs. Simon wants to speak to you.

What is itthistime?he’s thinking as his boots ring down the hallway. He’s expecting the worst, of course. Holo biting and drawing blood. Kai ambushing someone in the hall. The two of them jumping a kid who made the mistake of insulting wolves.

Chester’s seen how strong Kai is, and Holo’s probably not much weaker. But if they hurt someone, whose fault is it really? Theirs—or his, for sending them to a place where everyone knows they don’t belong?

He strides down the long hallway to the office, cursing himself for his stupidity. Why did he ever think this would work?

The secretary, Suzy Garcia, waves him toward the principal’s door.

Kai and Holo are already in the office. Holo looks confused. Kai looks defiant. Chester’s jaw clenches.

We had an agreement, he thinks, feeling the fury growing inside him.No acting like animals!

He turns to Mrs. Simon. He’s angry at her, too. Hasn’t she dealt with unruly kids before? Can’t she handle these two for a measly six hours without calling him in to deal with whatever mess they’ve made?

“What’d they do?” he demands. He just wants to get this over with.

Instead of answering, Mrs. Simon hands him a piece of paper. Chester takes it, but he doesn’t know what he’s looking at. There are rows of numbers and percentages and graphs. He sees a lot of 99s.

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