Page 44 of Wolf's Whisper

"Okay, but if Wolf’s part of the family now," he says, leaning casually against the car like some kind of twelve-year-old philosopher-king, "does that mean she has to come to all our boring family stuff? Like Aunt Linda's weird cookouts where she makes those gross tuna Jell-O things?"

I blink. "Tuna Jell-O?"

Janelle cringe, rubbing her temples. "Don’t ask. Just... don’t."

"But it’s true!" Abel presses on, clearly enjoying his role as instigator. "If Wolf’s dating Mom, she has to deal with Aunt Linda’s tuna Jell-O and Grandpa’s conspiracy theories about pigeons being government spies."

"Pigeons aren’t real!" Dillon chimes in enthusiastically. "They’re drones! Grandpa said so!"

"Right," I say, dragging the word out as I reach up to scratch the back of my neck. "Well, if pigeons are drones, I guess that explains why they always look so suspicious."

Dillon's eyes lit up like I had just confirmed the biggest secret of his young life. "Exactly!"

Janelle groans again, this time louder, and leans heavily against the car like she was physically holding herself together. "Can we please stop talking about tuna Jell-O and robot pigeons?"

"But it’s important!" Dillon protests, his nine-year-old voice full of conviction. "Wolf has to know what she’s getting into if she’s gonna be part of the family."

"Yeah," Abel adds, nodding sagely. "Family is a package deal. You can’t just pick Mom and skip the rest of us."

I smirk at him, crossing my arms over my chest. "Oh, don’t worry, kid, because you also get mine with your family.” Looking at each of the kids with a smirk, “You will get a bunch of new uncles that will protect you with their lives.”

Abel raises an eyebrow, clearly intrigued but trying to play it cool. "Uncles? Like biker uncles? The kind who wear leather and have tattoos?"

"Yep," I pop the 'p' for emphasis. "The whole Wild Jester MC crew. They’d probably spoil you rotten and teach you how to ride a dirt bike before you even hit high school."

Dillon’s jaw drop, his eyes sparkling with excitement. "No way! Dirt bikes? That’s so cool!"

"Don’t encourage them," Janelle mutters under her breath, though a tiny smile tugs at the corners of her lips.

"But Mom!" Dillon whines, turning to her with wide, pleading eyes. "Can I get a dirt bike if Wolf’s in the family? Pleeease?"

"Absolutely not," Janelle’s tone leaving zero room for negotiation.

Abel smirks at me, arms still crossed like he was some kind of pint-sized negotiator. "Guess we’ll have to see how serious you are about this whole 'family' thing, huh, Wolf?"

I laugh, shaking my head at the challenge in his tone. "Oh, don’t worry, Abel. I’m plenty serious. But I’m also not stupid enough to cross your mom when it comes to dirt bikes." I shoot Janelle a wink, which earns me an exasperated eyeroll.

Chloe tugs on my sleeve again, her small voice cutting through the chaos. "Wolf, if you're family... does that mean you’ll come to Christmas?"

The question hit like a sucker punch to the chest—not because it scared me but because of the pure hope in her voice. I glance at Janelle, who looks startled by the question herself. Her eyes search mine, uncertainty flickering there.

"Well," I said carefully, crouching down again so I was eye level with Chloe. "If I am family and I want to be a part of everything that family does, which would include holidays, right?” I look over to Janelle for approval.

Janelle stands there, her lips parting slightly as if she wanted to say something but couldn’t quite find the words. Her eyes flick between me and Chloe, and for a moment, I think she might tell me I was getting ahead of myself. But then she sighs softly and gave a small nod with a wide smile, her form of a silent permission.

Chloe’s face lit up brighter than a Christmas tree. "Yes! You have to come! We make cookies and hot chocolate and watch movies all day!"

"And," Dillon adds with the seriousness that only a nine-year-old could muster, "we build the best snow fort in the neighborhood. Wolf, you can be on my team."

"Hey!" Abel objected, glaring at his younger brother. "You don’t get to claim her just like that. Maybe she wants to be on my team."

I hold up my hands, laughing. Before I could get anything out Chloe pipes up again. “Does this mean you will live with us too?”

The question hung in the air like a live grenade, and I swear I saw Janelle flinch. Her eyes widen and look like she wants to crawl under the nearest rock. I catch her gaze, trying to silently let her know I wasn’t going to overstep.

"Whoa, whoa," I say, raising my hands in mock surrender. "Living together is like... level ten on the family scale. We’re still working on level two: pancakes and Christmas."

Chloe frowns, clearly unimpressed with my answer. "But if you're family, you should live here! Families live together."

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