Fire in the Heir

7.

After Monika and Alpha Riese left, I had a very quiet dinner with mom and dad, showered, and went to my room early.

While neither of them questioned me, I could tell that they were either uneasy or nervous about something, but they didn’t push me or ask many questions.

I wasn’t sure if I was more bothered by their lack of questioning and interrogating me or by their obvious deflection of something else.

The next few days were beyond uneventful. Besides the announcement being made at the pack house about the tournament that would take place in two weeks, everything was back to normal.

Nice, boring, and ordinary. I went to school, practiced with the team, spent my evenings with Monika and my parents, and repeated the same process throughout the rest of the week.

The one thing that helped to get me through this week was that on Saturday we were taking our trip off the compound to the City.

I had been to the City a few times with mom and dad for different things over the years, but this trip was exciting because this time I was going alone.

I really wanted to get a feel for it since I have been hoping to leave the packlands and come to college here after graduation. That was a secret that even Monika didn’t know and she knew just about everything.

While I loved my family, and I loved my pack, but I needed to see what else this world has to offer someone like me.

So as the week finally drew to an end, Friday night seemed to bring with it so many mixed emotions and not just for me.

“OMG, can you freaking believe that we are actually leaving the compound,” Monika seemed to be visibly vibrating as we walked to my house.

“Yeah, I can’t wait to tour the city.” I didn’t want to sound too excited or tell her about what I was really interested in just in case she let it slip at dinner.

“I want to try every vendor and stall at the food court. Oh, and I want to see if we can talk them into letting us see a movie before we come back.”

She trailed off ticking off all of the things that she wanted to squish into one day. I couldn’t help but smile because we would have to spend an entire week in the city to fit in all of the things that she wanted to do.

At dinner that night, my parents had a lot of questions about the trip. I could tell that my mom was really anxious about it, but she didn’t push to come with us, thank the goddess.

“You girls sound like you are going to have a great time. I want you to take pictures, and make sure that you stay with the group at all times,” mom encouraged with an overly large smile.

Dad smiled and then chimed in, “the teachers have set up their itineraries with the help of myself and the security teams. They are taking a few of the patrol team members with them and I will be sending Klyde along to help with security.”

“What? Why?” I shot out as I dropped my fork on my plate a little too hard. “If Klyde goes he will just follow me around like I’m some kind of pup!”

Mom reached over and tried to rub my hand, but I pulled away from her. Dad saw and his eyes instantly shot at me.

I shifted in my seat as the discomfort from the slight that I didn’t intend to inflict crossed not only mom’s features, but his as well.

“Taylor, as this is the first time many of the children will be leaving the compound without their parents, we want to make sure that we send sufficient supervision for all of you.”

I stared at him but kept quiet because I knew that if I let the words that I wanted to say come out of my mouth I would either upset them more, or be pushing my limits and get myself in trouble and they would end up keeping me home.

I knew that if Klyde went I would not be able to get the admissions information from the college that we were supposed to tour without my parents finding out.

“Come on Mr. S. you know if you send Klyde he won’t let us have any fun,” Monika said airily as she shoved another heaping spoon full of mashed potatoes into her mouth.

It was truly a wonder how this girl was not over two hundred pounds with the amount of food she consumed, but regardless, that one comment broke the tension that was building at the table.

“She’s right dad, none of my other friends will want to hang out with us if Klyde followed me around all day.” I smiled at him and looked over at Monika, who was enthusiastically nodding her head and pointing at me with her fork.

My parents looked at each other and I could tell that they were talking through their links to each other. Mates could do that.

They could link one another and speak to each other in either of their forms, like the way that we can speak to our wolves.

I took a bite of my veggies and tried to act as if my hopes were not hanging in the balance on this one choice. Finally, my dad let out a large exhale and tapped his fork on the end of his plate.

“Fine, if you think that his presence will keep you from having fun with your friends, then I won’t send him with your class.”

Relief flooded through me and I could feel Kana’s calming presence wash over me and try to sooth both my nerves and my excitement.

“But, I expect you to keep your location on at all times, and you will answer every call and text from us.” This time he looked at both me and Monika.

Her expression changed for just one second and I saw the nod that she gave him before she swallowed her mouthful of food and said “I will keep her safe.”

The next morning, we all met in the school parking lot around seven in the morning and it was full of all the wolves and their families.

My mom had packed me a huge breakfast that I ate in the car while we waited for everyone to show up, and, of course, that Monika helped me eat after she jumped in the back seat with me after she and her mom arrived.

It only took about twenty minutes before everyone arrived, we all said our goodbyes, and we were on the bus and heading to the southwest gates to exit the compound.

The city was a two-hour drive from our pack lands and we weren’t going to be coming back until ten o’clock tonight, so we would have a whole day away from our parents and the rest of our pack to enjoy the city.

As we drove away from the school and headed to the gate, we could see patrols in both human and wolf forms around the perimeter and the gate.

I wasn’t sure if it was excitement or anticipation that filled me, but I was both giddy and nervous as we were about to get to the guard station.

Just then, I saw my dad there and waved at him eagerly as we waited for the gates to open for us to leave. Today there held so many possibilities for me and I was determined to make the most of them all.

As all the guards on patrol waved us on, you could feel the excitement of all my friends and classmates.

Monika was rambling on with the girls on the seat next to us and I was still waving to my dad through the window, but as we drove out the gate, I locked eyes with Vaughn.

He was sitting in the woods outside the compound near a tree and instantly

Kana told me to wave and smile at him. I hesitated because there was no reason why he would be there to see us off, but I lifted my hand and waved at him with a small smile.

Surprise filled me as he nodded ever so slightly and then slunk into the darkness of the trees quickly out of my sight.