Page 104 of Never Submit

My human mind is still very much in control, not relegated to the backseat as I’d feared.

Members of the same pack have been known to communicate with each other telepathically. What did Noble tell you about it?

I huff out a wolf equivalent of a laugh.Nothing, I reply.He was amused that I was eavesdropping and told me to get used to my new hearing.

Mathis lopes ahead easily. The chestnut color of his fur is cut through with a line of rich espresso fur along his spine. He’s massive, larger than Dax as a wolf form, and I’m almost delicate next to him.

Only I don’t feel delicate. I feel powerful.

I pick up speed until we’re neck and neck.Tell me more about you, I press.

Overhead, the sky darkens with the bruised peach and violet of approaching twilight. The stars are beautiful from this angle. So much brighter than they are when I stare at the heavens normally.

What do you want to know?

Mathis isn’t the kind to blow me off for being curious. If anything, he sounds almost eager to get to know me better, and to talk about himself.

Anything. Everything.I’m intrigued by the thought of Mathis as a kid, I tell him.

My amusement is clear and his laughter reaches me as though he’d spoken out loud.

Well, I had a good childhood in general. My mom is still alive, but barely since her mate died.

I’m so sorry about your dad,I reply.What happened?

Cancer.His answer is easy, like Mathis has already made peace with the loss.It was natural but a little too soon for both of us.

I can’t even imagine how I’d feel if I lost either of my parents right now.

Just as bad as they’d have felt if they’d lost you on your last birthday, he says.But we survive. We get through it and we make the best of our new normal.

A sound cracks from the left and I glance over to note the sharp outline of a squirrel bounding from one tree to another. A whine burns the back of my throat.

I’ve never wanted to chase animals in my life, but for some reason the urge to crash through the underbrush after the little thing pushes at me.

I just want to go back to the way things were before, Mathis tells me patiently when I return my attention to him.Old-fashioned family values. The pack is my family.

You have a lot of respect for family traditions, then?

The wolf tips his head forward and stares at me down his long black snout.I do. The way things go…it works for a reason.

You know, Torin may say you only see a future in the past. That it might be a handicap because your pack stays stagnant.

I take delight in the way Mathis shakes his shaggy head, snapping his teeth.Then I’d say you’re spending too much time around people like Torin who have nothing to act as a foundation.

That’s probably true.

I’d rather not think about Torin, though. Not right now. Noble is there in a constant presence but he’s distracted and—it’s hard to explain. He’s not against me going off with Mathis.

It seems as though he’s open to the idea, or rather resolved, like there is nothing he can do about the draw I feel for Mathis so he’s not even going to try to fight it. He is simply there for me. Always.

My father was a warm and caring man. Almost too nice. He kept a close watch on me, and when he felt my vision slipped, or I’d put stock in values that wouldn’t serve me in the long run, he’d swoop in to correct me.

Sounds smothering, I add.

Mathis laughs again and the sound draws through me until an answering throb grows to life in my lower half.You have quite a few opinions about me and my childhood.

Maybe because my parents were always keeping a close watch on me, too. I’m surprised they let me explore different hobbies the way they did. I guess being stillborn does that, though, so I never blamed them.

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