Damaged Mate

20

“There was a time when only Dusk would fall upon these lands,” Aunt Dia continued. “But soon, the Northern Lights would descend upon them. Another pack, broken and fragmented, would take shelter between the night and unite them.”

I flipped to a page with two drawings of humanoid wolves; one built stockier, with heavy, curling fur scribbled with ink, the other lithe and nimble, with short tufts sticking out occasionally from their face and ears.

“You mean these two?” I asked.

“Oh, um, a-are you’re looking at the rival p-packs?” Laura asked, carrying a tea tray in hands as she craned her neck to see. “It’s amazing how th-their original environments, um, changed their looks so d-dramatically.”

I couldn’t help but trace the designs with the tip of my finger. The form was so familiar, right down to the curling black fur. I wasn’t sure if the sight made me feel better or not, though—didn’t this mean my dream was real? I didn’t even see the wolf’s face when he turned back. I wouldn’t even know where to start. Except, maybe…

“Ice-blue eyes.” I flipped through the book a bit more, lip curling slightly. I hadn’t realized I’d said that out loud until I glanced up to find both Laura and Aunt Dia’s expressions puzzled. “Oh, um… is there any way I can borrow this? Or m-maybe just take pictures,” I added hastily. “I know it’s crazy old, and you might want to keep it safe?”

Aunt Dia looked somewhat relieved. “I always forget what you kids carry around in your pockets nowadays. Take as many as you’d like, Miss Aria. Oh, and let me know if you find anything of interest,” she added with a wink. “I’m excited to find another enthusiast of the unusual in this town. Seems like folks have all but forgotten their roots.”

Chapter Eleven

I

almost couldn’t believe it had just been a week since school started. Time felt like it flew past me whenever I flipped open my phone’s photo album, fully engrossing myself in the journal images. Every page just led to more questions, depicting images of women wearing antlers, of men with pointed fangs, and wolves. So many, many wolves. Their faces at various angles, their canid proportions carefully sketched and measured, and dozens of hasty scribbles of them in the forms I’d seen in my dream. In my memory?

I kept flipping between the two possibilities, knowing that, eventually, I’d need to decide.

“Aria, heads up!” Noah’s hand suddenly flew across my face, catching a basketball spinning toward me. I nearly fell off the bleachers as the ball bounced innocently across the gym floor. Hastily, I stuck my phone back in my pocket, not wanting anyone to see what I was looking at.

“S-sorry!” I apologized with a grimace. “Just got lost in a text chain with my dad.”

Noah shot me a bemused grin, turning back to the court and blowing his whistle sharply. “Alright, guys! Be back in ten for a matchup; I want us sharp for our end-of-month skirmish.”

All the guys let out a breathless cheer, happy for the chance to breathe and rehydrate. As they jogged toward the water fountain, I managed to upright myself, catching Aiden’s eye as he passed by. He gave me a smile and a wave, but before I could reciprocate, Clyde shouldered into him with a far more sarcastic smirk and salute. My hand recoiled immediately, a disgusted scowl crossing my face.

“Those two really have it in for you, huh?” Noah asked.

I sighed, pushing up from the stands to stretch out my back. “Aren’t I lucky?” I glanced Noah’s way, catching him with his phone out this time. He seemed fixated on the screen, lip caught between his teeth as his thumb scrolled through. “You doing okay over there?”

Noah blinked, looking up with a sheepish grin. “Oh, yeah, no worries. Just some family stuff is all.”

“Anything I can help with?” I asked.

He rolled the proposal in his mind for a moment, eventually setting his clipboard against the bleachers before taking a seat himself. “It’s just my brother. Ma’s been all over him about wandering off lately, and she keeps asking if I can walk him home from school.”

“Ooh, I get ya,” I teased. “She thinks you don’t have a social life.”

“Exactly.” Noah groaned. “And he’s, like, ten now! Kid’s old enough to get home on his own, but ever since the harvest festival mishap…” He shook his head, running a hand through his hair. “Anyway, Ma’s been on my case all week about it. I’ve been getting away with having him stay at school, but now he’s on my case. Like he doesn’t have a phone to keep him occupied for an hour.”

I give Noah a reassuring pat on the back. “Gosh, it must be so swell having siblings. I wish I could relate.”

He responded with a playful push. “Yeah, well, he should take the medicine he dishes out. It’s what he gets for running off into the forest at night.”

A shudder ran down my spine, hand quickly pulling back to my side. “He… went to the forest? During the harvest festival?”

“Yeah. Mom was madder than I’d ever seen her.” Noah scoffed. “And now I’m in trouble because of it.”

The image of the boy filled my mind, quickly followed by his gruesome shift into a wolf. “Um… random question, but is your family native to this area?”

Before Noah could answer, his phone started vibrating in his hands. “For God’s sake.” He gave me an apologetic smile and started toward the gym entrance, his good-natured tone quickly sinking to an irritated one. “Ma I’m not walking him home! He can wait for an hour until I’m done! I—Ma—Ma, it’s not just a game!”

I couldn’t help but smile as he vanished behind the double doors, though a hint of unease stuck with me. Sliding my phone back out, I started sifting through the journal pages once more, trying to find something, anything, about Ayersville itself. Maybe the town was magic? Noah hadn’t mentioned anything about he and Clyde being related in any way, so how could his brother become a wolf?

“If his brother is a wolf,” I muttered under my breath.

“Whose brother is a wolf?”

I let out a startled gasp, spinning around and nearly clocking Clyde straight across the face with my phone. He managed to catch my arm, spinning me into a dip and holding me there for what felt like forever.

God, but his face was so close to mine.