Page 32 of Pack Kasen: Part 2

“There are, but they come later.” He holds the door open for me. “Rules are important. People can die without them. Let's eat.”

I eye him suspiciously. “You keep trying to feed me.”

“Do I?” He leads the way to the dining room. “What did you learn about in class?”

Still suspicious about his intentions, I trail him, curious about this conversation. “The third form.”

“Ah.”

I try to envision him as a man with a wolf's head, a terrifying and powerful form that won a fight.

He flashes me a grin, showing off a boyish side. “Do you want to see it?”

“Of course not,” I deny.

But I do. Truly, I do.

He gives me a knowing look. “You sure?”

I need to work on my lying face. Aren is proving too adept at knowing when I’m lying.

“Leo was disappointed you didn’t do it for show and tell.” I take a plate he fills with fried chicken, corn salad, and chopped watermelon. “And I could have done that.”

Aren glances at my face, catches me eyeing the large platter of fried chicken—my favorite—and adds three more pieces to my plate.

Seriously, I need to work on hiding my expressions.

“Now you don’t have to.” He hands me the plate and fills his own. “Leo might be excited to have seen the third form, but it can be a little scary. Not all the other pups would have appreciated it.”

“Where do the older kids learn?”

“They learn the best way they can once they’ve learned the basic rules in class.” He sweeps his hand around the room. “With the rest of the pack. By doing. And by making mistakes, the way everyone else learns.”

No sooner have we sat at a table and started eating than Finan walks in.

“Aren?” Finan appears in the doorway, nodding at me before he refocuses on Aren. “It’s here.”

I stop filling a glass full of water from a jug on the table to glance from Aren to Finan. “What’s here?”

Aren shovels a few more mouthfuls of food into his mouth and gets to his feet. “Just a delivery. Don’t come upstairs until I come get you.”

As he walks out, I hear him ask Finan, “Where is Tagge?”

“Don’t know. Haven’t seen him,” Finan responds.

“Maybe that means he’s left,” Aren mutters.

I’m still curious about this delivery and the strict order not to go upstairs, but I have a plate of crispy fried chicken in front of me. Whatever Aren is up to can wait until I’ve eaten.

I dig in.

10

AREN

Finan clears his throat. “Was there a reason you broke your bed into so many pieces?”

“Kat doesn’t like the bed, so the bed goes.” I walk over to the pile of boxes on the floor. I’m still hungry and would have preferred not to leave Kat when she seemed to be in a chatty mood, but this is important. “Where’s the mattress?”

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