Page 1 of Scapegoat

Chapter 1

“Take your sister with you.”

That’s what my mother would’ve said, if she’d caught me heading out. Luckily for me, she’d stopped dogging my heels partway through the seemingly endless list of chores she’d set me, frustrated no doubt at my inability to do everything the way she wanted. So I was pretty sure I was going to be able to sneak out unencumbered by my younger sister. I carefully opened the back door only far enough to slip through, to make sure the screen door didn’t creak and give me away, then moved, softly, silently, across the back porch to the top of the set of concrete steps that led down along the side of the house and then turned to continue down into the expanse of our back garden. I quickly glided down the steps, pausing once I got to the landing, halfway down, where I stood there for a moment, listening for any signs of life back behind me. Nothing. I threw a quick look back up towards the house, half expecting to see my mother standing there, with her arms crossed and a pinched expression on her face at my foolhardiness. No sign of her.

All day, I’d done everything my mother had asked me to do, working my way through the long list of jobs I had woken up to.

While my younger sister did nothing. That wasn’t unusual.

What was unusual today was that, once I was done, I hadn’t gone and reported back to Mum to get her to check my work, something she always insisted I do. That meant I hadn’t had to brace myself for her inevitable disappointment in me as she critiqued everything. I hadn’t had to start again, to ‘do it right this time’. What’d been different today was that, partway through the chores, when my phone had buzzed and I’d pulled it out of my pocket, I’d seen a message that derailed my usual compliance.

Meet us down the swimming hole.

It came from a group chat that we’d set up, just me and the Campbell boys, and as soon as I read the message, I’d felt it: the irritation at having to spend my summer working on the house while the rest of the town played. As I’d studied the words, the heat outside, the atmosphere inside the house felt like it became more and more oppressive. My eyes had darted to the doorway, because I’d been sure my mother would appear to snatch the phone out of my hand and deny me this outlet.

But she hadn’t.

So, today, I’d rushed through the rest of my jobs. She was never happy with how I did them, even when I tried my hardest, so why bother doing them well when I could be somewhere else? So, as soon as I’d dropped the cleaning cloth into the laundry basket, I made my escape.

Everyone in this town had the ability to shift into a wolf once they reached a certain age. I was due to do the same, any day now. I knew that because I could feel her presence coming to the fore within me, as I ran down the steps and into the garden. Her paws slotted into my feet as we ran across the grass; the slope of my body, the swing of my hips, all hers as we slunk past low-lying shrubs and pushed through the dense stand of gum trees to get the fence at the edge of the yard.

“Kaia?” My name echoed through the backyard. Like a lot of families here, we lived on a big block, so Mum had no qualms about making her voice ring out, to make sure she was heard. “Kaia?”

She couldn’t see me, not unless I stepped out from behind the trees, but I still hesitated, gripping the wooden fence, but not committed to taking the next step of hauling myself up and over it. Not yet. I’d listen a little longer. Maybe she had something positive to say.

“Kaia? You cleaned up your room, but you didn’t take the rubbish away! And you still need to finish the bathroom! …Honestly. Where is that girl?”

That’s why she wanted me? That’s why she was shouting my name so loud the whole neighbourhood could hear? There was one bag of rubbish, less than half of one really. I was made to keep the room clean because “Anna likes it that way” but most of what needed to be thrown out were my sister’s old soft drink cans and food wrappers.

Call Anna, I thought traitorously. Ask her to take the bag of rubbish downstairs and to the bin. And if you can’t bear for her to get her hands dirty, do it yourself!

That felt like the wolf talking, because I never said things like that, not to my mother or my father, and especially not Anna.

“Bloody child…” I heard Mum mutter, then the screen door slammed shut in defeat.

I grinned, the air playing over teeth that felt like the wolf’s fangs, her strength mine as I launched myself over the fence. Her lope was the one that took me down the dirt road that led to the forest, her senses alive as we were swallowed by the trees. No possibility of Mum seeing me now. With the resinous scent of pine trees in my lungs, my footsteps swallowed by masses of pine needles, I was invisible, silent, a ghost, as I moved. I trot-jogged all the way, only slowing my pace down as I got to the very edge of the pine forest and the surface beneath my feet changed from soft pine needles to bare rock and the occasional hardy gum tree clinging to the stone.

The bedrock beneath me was made of limestone and, every now and again, the rock would drop away, creating sinkholes. The one I was standing above was only a little one and well known to all of the local kids. It filled with rainwater every winter, the porous rocks absorbing any impurities, leaving water that was crystal clear. So I saw each of them perfectly from my vantage point.

Xavier emerged from the water, flicking his head back and grinning as he gasped in huge lungfuls of air. His body was big and strong, already, making people mutter. Young men got to challenge the existing alphas for a place in the pack hierarchy. The contenders would pit themselves against the more experienced alphas, not to fight to the death, but for recognition. If you were deemed worthy, you might be made the heirs to the leadership of the pack.

And if they weren’t?

If you were too strong to obey, but not strong enough to lead, then you would be exiled.

I froze where I was when I saw Xavier scan the tree line, as if already aware he had an audience. But whatever his senses had told him, they were quickly drowned out when Jayden launched himself at his brother, wrapping a thick arm around Xavier’s neck and dragging him down into the water.

Atlas —the last of the Campbells —grinned, his teeth sharp and flashing in the diffused sunlight. Seeing a fight in the offing and ready to jump right in, he raked his dripping dark blond hair back from his face in order to plan his move. Xavier bucked against Jayden’s grip, but he just held him tighter. Atlas moved calculatingly closer, a wolf on the hunt. But they weren’t the only beasts here, I thought to myself with a smirk as I stepped out from between the trees, cupping my hands around my mouth to funnel my voice.

“Atlas!”

My friend—my confidant—swung around, trying to pinpoint where I was. His break in focus gave Xavier a chance to rally and he shot me a wild grin of thanks as Atlas stared up at me, smiling widely. Xavier seized the chance to shake off Jayden’s grip, because their other brother had been equally distracted, then he launched himself out of the water, slapping his hands down on Atlas’ shoulders to then drag him under.

I laughed, as much at the trick as at the glee on Xavier’s face. It felt like the only time I ever did smile was around the three of them. The fight devolved into a writhing, thrashing, splashing mess, until finally all combatants emerged from the water’s depths, each trying to keep an eye on the other two.

Then failing when their collective attention swapped to me as I picked my way down to the edge of the waterhole.

“You made it!”

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