Courage of the Wolf

Chapter 9

It's been a couple months since I moved out of my parent's house. Living at McKenzie's has been a real eye opener for me. Her mom treats me just like her own kid, even grounded me along with Mac one time when we let our wolves out to run and came home really late. I had never experienced a real home life, at least not one in which I was a part of it. I was actually almost sad about leaving soon.

We had taken our request to the Alpha and as expected he approved it. He made sure we planned on finishing high school, and he even put in a good word with the Alpha King for us. They have known each other for years, were friends in school, so this is wonderful for us. Another month and we will graduate, then be free to leave this pack. We are submitting our formal request to the King a week before graduation. That should hopefully give him some time to look it over and approve us so we can get started before fall.

My birthday is tomorrow and Ray, Mac, and I, along with their parents, plan on having a BBQ then going on a run. It will be a Friday so we can stay out after our parents head home. We don't drink because, honestly, it would take a ridiculous amount for us to even get a buzz. Who has that kind of money to waste?!

Speaking of money (yes, even in my head I ramble) I have been able to save every bit of money I have been earning since I moved, and even picked up extra shifts since I don't have to take care of the house. It will be a modest start to our pack but at least we won't be broke. Ray said his parents are giving him money for graduation, and Mac thinks her parents are going to get her car a complete overhaul. Both sets of parents know our plans and I know this is their way of making sure their kids are going to be ok.

My thoughts are interrupted by a Native war cry (or Mac's version of one) as Mac comes flying into the room and jumps on my bed, which I still happen to be in. "Get up b***h!! One more day and you'll be 19!"

"Ugh! Like I don't know when my birthday is or how old I'll be! Get off me wench!" I push her off the bed and she lands firmly on her backside. I wince a little because that really did sound painful.

"What the hell! That hurt! And I was being so nice to you, making sure you didn't oversleep. See if I'm nice again." She's got her full pout face on as she stands up and rubs her butt. I'm doing my best not to laugh because I know she's not even hurting anymore. Being wolves, we heal quickly but I decide to play along.

"My stomach! Ow! And my chest hurts too!" I cry out dramatically then start pretend coughing. I glance at her just in time to see her stalking towards the bed. I scoot to the side and block her as she jumps at me. She lands beside me on the bed and I start tickling her. We are both laughing so hard we didn't hear her mom come to the door.

"As entertaining as this has been", she said with a smile "you two are going to be late to school if you don't hurry up."

We both quickly glance at the clock. We've wasted almost 40 minutes just goofing around! I jump up and start grabbing clothes. "Thanks Mrs. Warcloud."

"Please just call me Sarif or Mom, Hope. You are part of the family and soon to be my daughter's Alpha." She smiles at me before turning to leave. "I expect you both to be walking out that door in a half hour."

I kick Mac out of my room, rush to the bathroom to brush my teeth and wash my face, pull my frizz into a quick ponytail, then run back to my room to strip and put on clean clothes. I grab my school bag, slip on my shoes, then run out my door only to collide with Mac. We both land on our butts and bust up laughing. We quickly get up and rush to the front door where Sarif waits with breakfast sandwiches in paper towels. We grab our sandwiches and tell her thank you as we rush out to the car.

"Your mom makes the best breakfast sandwiches ever!" I say through a mouthful of food as we sit in line at DB waiting to order our coffee. Knowing we wolves will eat a ton of food if we can, she always makes our sandwiches with bacon, eggs, cheese, and sausage patties layered twice each.

"Mf mmm mmfm" is what I heard in reply. I probably sounded the same to her. Thankfully my mouth was empty when our barista came to the window to take our order. I ordered for both of us and paid with my app as McKenzie just gave them a thumbs up. She was almost done with her food so I decided I should hurry up and eat mine.

We raced to school and checked our teeth before grabbing our coffee and bags and rushing into class right after the bell. The teacher was giving us the stink eye so we made sure to sit down and stay quiet during class. I sent Ray a text explaining what happened this morning and why we were late. He said we needed to talk and we all decided to skip next period.

'Hope I feel anxious. Like we should be expecting something.' Hanna said as she paced in my mindspace.

'Should we be watching for something bad to happen?' I asked, immediately stiffening and glancing around furtively.

'I don't think it's anything dangerous. But I feel we should be cautious. Even around our friends. Their wolves are on edge as well.'

'Ok, we'll keep our guard up until we figure it all out.' I reassure her and she calms down a little bit. She is very protective of me and my friends. She is a very strong wolf. I'm the weak one of us two.

Class ended and we rushed out to the car and headed for the diner. Once we settled in and got more coffee, we waited for Ray to start talking. Finally he cleared his throat and raised his head to look not quite in our faces. He was looking somewhere in between and behind us.

"Cory wants to come with us. So does Linds and a few others from the team and squad." He says this all very quickly then takes a deep breath and keeps his eyes on the table. I'm completely stunned, and Mac is just gaping at him.

"Uh, how did they even know we were leaving? We haven't even been approved officially to have a pack yet, how are we supposed to add more members? What were you thinking Raymond?" I was starting to get really upset. I didn't even really know these people! This is our pack of course, and even though I'm going to be the alpha these two are my Beta's and their opinions matter to me as well.

"I don't know! We were cuddling after s*x one night and just talking and I mentioned leaving. They started asking questions and I just kind of blurted it all out. Don't be mad please. I know they don't technically meet the requirements for our pack but they are accepting of everyone, willing to help make pack runs to spread the word of our pack. Most of the team are Enforcers and the squad are warriors, bakers, and one is a nurses aide already. She will get her RN after graduation. Please at least think about it!"