Page 83 of Raised By Wolves

When the helicopter landed, Wendy was screaming, my brother had vanished, and everything was chaos. And in that moment, Waylon had reached for my hand. Squeezed my fingers tight between his. Held me there.

First I froze.Tonic immobility.

And then—though suddenly I could move again—Istayed.

I can’t explain it. I can’t justify it. But I couldn’t pull my hand away from his.

“I thought you were behind me,” Holo says. His voice breaks. He looks like he’s about to cry.

“They just would’ve caught her, too, you know,” Waylon says quietly.

Holo’s sorrow turns to anger faster than a blink. “As fast as Kai runs?” he practically spits. “No way.”

“Well, Ididn’trun, and it’s too late now!” I snap.

Guilt makes my words come out with sharp edges. I’ve betrayed my brother. I’ve betrayed Wendy. The wolves have scattered, the forest is crawling with men with guns, and I’m the only member of my family not in handcuffs.

I never should have left the woods in the first place.

Agent Rollins says to my brother, “Didn’t anyone ever teach you that running from the law is a bad idea? A person could get hurt that way.”

Holo bares his fangs at him. “I didn’t know who the hell was behind me; I was just obeying mymother.”

He’s never called her that before. Neither of us has.

Does your sister take care of you, Holo?The social worker’s question still haunts me. Because I knew I hadn’t. But Wendy always had, for as long as I could remember.

And now she can’t.

Holo tries to get closer to her, but Rollins holds him back.

“Let Holo go!” Wendy shrieks. She stumbles forward, trying to reach him, too, but the chief pushes her down.

“Sit,” he says fiercely. “You’re in enough trouble already.”

“She didn’t do anything wrong!” I yell.

“That’s whereyou’rewrong, Kai,” the chief says. “This woman’s broken a lot of laws. And she’s dangerous.”

“Well, so am I! Remember how I took down your deputy in the Grizzly Grocery?”

“You spent a few days in jail for it,” the chief says grimly. “And if you don’t calm down, I’ll have you cuffed, too.”

The gray-haired FBI agent, Dunham, says, “I think everybody should cool their tempers. No reason to make this unfriendly.”

“Screw you,” I say. “What’re you even doing here? Can’t you see the chief’s perfectly capable of arresting us?”

“Watch it, Teen Wolf,” he warns.

So much for keeping things friendly.

Agent Rollins says, “The chief might’ve put the handcuffs on, but he knows our badge trumps his.”

The chief reflexively looks at his ragtag bunch of fake deputies. Compares it to the two suits with the waiting helicopter. He clearly can’t dispute what Dunham says. “Are you going to walk off with my suspect?” he asks the older agent.

Dunham gives a weird little smile. He says, “We’re going tofly, Chief. Wendy and I have a lot of catching up to do.”

Wendy and I both look at him in surprise.

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