Page 9 of Secret Wolf Baby

“N-no,” I stammered. “I wasn’t lurking. I had only just gotten there. I was about to knock. I have your mail.”

I raised the bundle of mail in my hand. I knew he could hear my heart thundering. His eyes caught it, and his lips curled into a sneer. He snatched the mail from my hand with such force that one letter fluttered to the ground.

“Don’t knock when I’m in a meeting, you know that,” he growled. “This shit can wait until after.”

You say that every time, and every time I listen to you, you berate me for not giving it to you sooner,I thought. But there was no way in hell I was going to say it. Instead, I just gave a timid nod of my head.

“I’m sorry,” I said. I would promise that it wouldn’t happen again, but it was part of the inevitable cycle that seemed impossible to break. No matter what I did, it was wrong, and I would get in trouble for it. The only thing that came close to saving me was apologizing and shuffling away as quickly as possible.

Reacher looked down at me coolly, his face expressionless as his eyes stared into me with contempt and disdain. I stood frozen in fear like caught prey, trapped by that gaze, waiting for the retribution.

“I’ve got to go,” Reacher said, not taking his eyes off me. “I’ll leave you to take care of this and our other problem, Saul.”

“Of course,” Dad responded immediately.

Reacher brushed past me without another word.

“Come on,” Dad snarled, leading me down the hall and opening the door to his own office. The instant it was ajar, he grabbed my arm and jerked me into the room.

“What the hell are you doing?” Dad hissed. I gasped as his nails dug into my flesh, his grip tight enough that I knew it was going to leave bruises. “I knew you were a tramp and a runaway, but I didn’t think you were dumb enough to be a spy.”

“I’m not,” I protested, my throat dry. I tried to pull my arm away, but he only gripped me tighter. “I swear, I wasn’t—”

“What did you hear?” he demanded.

“Nothing,” I said, my voice strained.

He looked me up and down, eyes squinting at me in suspicion. I realized with a horrible, sickening dread that he knew I was lying.

“You little liar.” His grip on me tightened, and I gave a sharp intake of breath as he jostled me. Anger filled his eyes, but something that might have been a twinge of fright lurked behind it. “How much do you know?”

Truthfully? More than they thought I did. Over the last year, ever since I had noticed the atmosphere at town hall had shifted, I had picked up snippets here and there of whispered plans. Plans I was definitely not supposed to know. It’s easy enough to be a fly on the wall when most people pretend you’re not there in the first place. I had heard enough to know that what they were planning was bad, and a lot of people would get hurt because of it.

But there was no way in hell I was going to tell my father that because I also understood enough about their plans to know that there was nothing I could do to stop them. All I could do was get myself and the only person I cared about in trouble. The best course of action for me was to play as dumb as possible.

“Nothing,” I said.

He sneered. “I’m not an idiot. Stop lying.” He raised his eyebrow. “You wouldn’t want me to get Claire involved in this, do you?”

This time, I couldn’t help it. I winced. His sneer turned triumphant as he realized he’d won. As usual.

“Anything I may or may not know, I have no way of proving,” I said. “And even if I did, I wouldn’t tell anyone. So for all intents and purposes, I know nothing.”

I could tell that was the answer he had wanted. Still, he leaned forward, his eyes flashing wolf as he got close. I wanted to stand still, to show him he didn’t scare me by not shying away. But when his face was inches from mine, I couldn’t help it. I flinched, my head shrinking away.

“You sure about that?” His hot, rotten-smelling breath brushed against my face. It took all my effort not to grimace or try and take a step backward. My insides squirmed with unease, and I looked away.

“I’m positive,” I said.

“Good.” He released my arm. I took a step back, forcing myself not to rub the area he’d been gripping. “Be sure to keep it that way. Do you understand?”

I understood perfectly. I gave a short jerk of the head.

“Good.” He turned and walked away, leaving me alone and with a dozen new, unsettling questions that I would never risk asking.

***

Later, I sat at the kitchen table, drumming my fingers as I contemplated the cramped space, still trying to calm my nerves from the brief encounter with Dad and Reacher. For what had to be the thousandth time, I imagined leaving the pack, running away again like I used to. But I knew that was an idle fantasy, one that would never come true for one specific reason. And that reason was likely getting home from school right about now.

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