Kelly

Four

The next morning, I was woken up not by the sun streaming through the window, but by another knock. This time it was Caleb. He was already dressed in dark jeans and a plain t-shirt.

"Breakfast," he grunted. "Then you have to see the pack doctor."

I quickly got dressed in another pair of shorts and a shirt from the closet and followed him downstairs. The house was still too quiet. Beta Joseph was sitting at a big wooden table in the kitchen, reading something on a glowing rectangle. He just grunted a good morning. Aunt Charlotte was across from him watching me. Noah was beside a woman at the stove making what looked like breakfast. Was she another relative or was she someone who worked in this big house? I had seen that before, in my old Alpha's house. There were lots of people who worked there doing all kinds of things like cooking and cleaning and looking after the garden. This house was a bit like my old Alpha's house in that it was very big too.

"You're to sit at the table in the kitchen Kelly-Grace. Marcy will make you something. Next time, make sure you wake up on time or you wont get any breakfast. You are far too old to be relying on us waking you." Charlotte snipped before looking down at her food and continuing to eat. I thought about how Sissy and I used to wake up before anyone else and go and see what Pa was doing in the garden or try and sneak a cookie from Ma's kitchen. I didn't want to be woken up. I wanted to wake myself. But I didn't know when I was supposed to wake up here. I didn't have a clock. Marky had my little moon clock.

I sat at the big wooden table. Marcy the cook placed a bowl of oatmeal in front of me. It was bland and grey, with no berries or honey like Mama used to make. Caleb and Noah ate quickly, their spoons clinking against their bowls. No one talked. The only sounds were chewing and the scrape of a chair.

After breakfast, Beta Joseph stood. "Let's go, Kelly-Grace. Doctor's office."

I slid out of my chair and followed him out the front door. The morning air was cool, filled with the scent of pine and damp earth. We didn't drive. We walked. The pack was alive now, with people walking purposefully on the dirt paths, some carrying tools, others with children trailing behind them. They all stopped to watch us as we passed. Their eyes were curious, but their expressions were unreadable, their faces set in serious lines.

"He's not a real pack doctor," Caleb said from behind me. He had followed us out of the house. "He's a human we brought in from a town outside the territory. Our last one died, and we haven't found a new one."

Beta Joseph shot him a look that could freeze fire, but Caleb just smirked.

The doctor's office was a small building at the edge of the pack lands, right up against the dense wall of the forest. A little wooden sign with red paint on it said "Dr. Abel." The inside smelled of antiseptic and something vaguely like cinnamon. A man with a kind, wrinkled face and round glasses looked up from a book.

"Joseph. And you must be Kelly-Grace," he said, his voice warm. "Please, come in."

Beta Joseph didn't come in. He just stood by the door, arms crossed. "I'll be back in an hour," he said, then turned and left, leaving me alone with the human doctor. I looked at the human doctor. He was so much older than me. Almost as old as my Pa, maybe even older. He didn't have the pack scent on him. He smelled of something else. Something I couldn't name. He smelled like my Pa's books but not as old.

"Alright, little wolf," Dr. Abel said, gesturing to a chair. "Let's have a look at you."

The check-up was quick and gentle. He listened to my heart, looked in my ears and throat, and tapped my knees with a little rubber hammer. He didn't poke or prod like the doctors at the Silverstream hospital.

"All seems physically well," he said, making notes on a clipboard. "The doctors at Silverstream did a good job patching you up." He sat down in a chair opposite me, taking off his glasses. "Now, can you tell me how you're feeling?"

I stared at my hands in my lap. They were clean.

"Sad?" he prompted gently.

I nodded.

"That's very understandable. You've been through something no one, let alone a pup, should ever have to experience." He leaned forward. "The mind and the body are very connected, Kelly-Grace. You slept for a long time because your mind needed to protect itself. That's a remarkable thing. But sometimes, after a shock, our minds can get stuck. They get scared. It's important we talk about things, so your mind knows it doesn't have to be scared anymore."

He talked about feelings, about how it was okay to be angry and sad and scared. He asked if I had bad dreams. I shook my head. I didn't dream at all. He asked if I thought about my family a lot. I nodded. He asked if I thought about what happened. I shook my head. I tried not to.

When the hour was up, Beta Joseph was back, standing in the doorway exactly as he said he would be. He didn't ask how it went. He just said, "Time to go."

The walk back was silent. When we reached the house, I could hear shouting. It was Caleb and Noah.

"You weren't supposed to touch it! That's mine!" Caleb yelled.

"I just wanted to look! You're so mean!" Noah wailed back.

We walked in to find Caleb standing over Noah, who was on the floor, crying. On the floor between them was a wooden toy wolf, its leg snapped clean off.

"What is going on here?" Charlotte's voice cut through the air from the doorway of the living room. She had a stern face.

"He broke my wolf!" Caleb shrieked, pointing a finger at Noah. "He went into my room and broke it!"

"I did not! It was already broken!" Noah sobbed, rubbing his eyes with his fists.

"Don't lie!" Caleb roared, and I saw his hands clench into fists, his knuckles white. He looked like he was going to hit Noah.

"Enough!" Beta Joseph's command was so loud it made me jump. Everyone froze. "Caleb. To your room. Now. You too, Noah."

Both boys stared at him, their mouths open.

"Now," Beta Joseph repeated, his voice dangerously low.

Caleb shot a hateful glare at Noah, then at me, before stomping up the stairs. Noah scrambled to his feet and ran after him, still crying.

Charlotte sighed, pressing a hand to her forehead. "Honestly, Joseph. There was no need for that. They're just boys."

"They need to learn discipline," he grumbled. He looked down at me. I must have been shaking. "Go to your room, Kelly-Grace. Dinner is at seven. Don't be late."

I didn't need to be told twice. I fled up the stairs and locked myself in my small, pink room. I sat on the bed, my heart thumping against my ribs. The shouting had scared me. Beta Joseph's anger had scared me. I didn't like it here.