Casey's Wolf

Chapter 4

        The next few days seem to fly by for Casey. Shane had been right though. She went to school and her parents were still there to take her back to Shane’s house, which she had discovered was the pack house. Were all the wolves without families lived with Shane’s father, the pack Alpha.

                Her parents would stay till after dinner. Then they would walk her to her room and tell her goodnight. After that they would head home.

                Shane would give her a ride to school every morning. She was beginning to really enjoy his company. He had quickly became her best friend during all the craziness, helping her with adjusting to this crazy new world that she had found herself in.

                And Shane had been right about his father not being very happy with Shane’s younger twin brothers when he found out that they had been bullying kids at school. On her first night in the pack house, they had kind of told on themselves.

                When Shane and Casey had first walked into the house, they very loudly asked Shane, “Why did you bring such a nobody into our home? You know that father would not approve of such filth entering here.”

                The look of pure shock when their father came through the door behind Shane and said, “Am I hearing what I think I am hearing? You boys know how I feel about bullying. And to hear you saying mean and hurtful things about a new member of the pack like this. I am extremely disappointed in the two of you. Apparently your last punishment did not teach you a lesson. So, it shall be extended until I see fit to release you. And that means no more football or any afterschool activities until further notice. It hurts me to do this to you boys but I will not allow you to act like this. We have to try to live harmoniously with the mortals and to hear that you boys treat them as such saddens me. But I will not tolerate. Apologize to Casey and then go to your rooms until I call for you.”

                “We are sorry, Casey,” they both said, glaring at her like it was her fault that they were in trouble.

                As they turned and sulked up the stairs Shane’s father turned to face her, “I am so sorry the twins acted like that. Are they the ones that were bullying you when your wolf surfaced?”

                “No sir. It wasn’t them,” Casey answered.

                “Okay, that’s good I guess. I just wish I knew what had gotten into them lately to act like that,” Isaiah said, his mind clearly not fully on the conversation he was having.

                “Dad, if you want to talk to the boys, I can show Casey to her room,” Shane offered.

                Isaiah only nodded and he followed the boys up the stairs.

                Now it was the day of the shift moon. Casey headed down stairs, ready for school. She was shocked to see that Shane wasn’t dressed.

                “Are you not going to school today? Are you okay?” Casey asked, concerned.

                “We aren’t going to school today. We never do the day of the shift moon. Our wolves are a lot less predictable today, so it safer for us to just stay home. So what do you want to do with our day of freedom?” Shane asked with a little smirk on his face.

                “Seriously? Great that gives me some extra time to study for my math test. I just hope Mr. Herring will let me make it up,” Casey said as she turned to head back up the stairs.

                “He will. He is a wolf, too. So he won’t be in school either. Dad has already let the teachers who are in the pack know that you are one of us. So you will be excused,” Shane answered. “But do you really want to just study on such a nice day like today?”

                “I can’t afford to fail this math test. I am already struggling in that class already,” Casey said, slightly embarrassed.

                “You should have said something, Casey. I can tutor you. I am a math genius according to Mr. Herring,” Shane laughed.

                “I am a lost cause when it comes to math. I have had three tutors, and still almost failed the last two years. It just doesn’t make sense to me,” Casey sighed, sitting down on the stool next to Shane at the breakfast bar.

                Shane smirked, “Make you a deal. You come swimming with me at the lake in the woods until lunch and after lunch I will help you with your math until dinner. Deal?”

                “I don’t have a bathing suit,” Casey admitted.

                “I think my sister, Lexi, may have one that you can borrow. You guys are about the same size. What do you think, Lexi?” Shane asked without turning around as Lexi walked into the room.

                “I am sure I do. Come on, Casey, we can go check and see,” Lexi said excitedly as she turned to head back down the hall.

                “Are you sure?” Casey asked as she stood up again, throwing her backpack over her shoulder.

                “Absolutely. Now come on.” Lexi said excitedly.

                Casey followed her back up the stairs, dropping her backpack off at her room. Then following her to her room.

                “I am so glad to finally have another girl in the pack house that is close to my age. It’s kind of refreshing, you know?” She asked as she went to her dresser and started pulling out bathing suits. Casey was surprised at how many bathing suits she seemed to pull out of one drawer.

                “Yeah, I noticed that there weren’t a lot of girls our age here,” Casey said as she approached the bed where Lexi had been piling up on her bed.

                “So, what’s your favorite style or color?” Lexi asked.

                “I don’t really have a preference, honestly,” Casey said, shyly.

                “Okay, let’s try this cute red one piece. I think it would look cute on you with your honey brown hair. You can change in here if you want,” Lexi said, handing her a red one piece that had lace in the torso part. It was really cute.

                After about 5 minutes both Casey and Lexi were in bathing suits and cut off shorts. They were wearing similar bathing suits and cut offs, Lexi’s pink and Casey in the red one. They sort of looked like twins. They rejoined Shane in the kitchen. His jaw dropped when he saw Casey.

                “Wow,” escaped his lips, causing Casey to blush slightly.

                “Come on, guys. Let’s go before it gets too hot. Are we packing lunch or coming back here for lunch?” asked Lexi.

                “We are coming back here. I promised Casey I would help her study for math test after lunch,” Shane said, trying to recover from his shock of seeing Casey.

                “Well, then let’s go, Lazy Bones,” Lexi said. “I will run down to the linen closet and grab the beach towels and the sunscreen.”

                With that she took off down the hallway. Shane stood up and headed for the stairs.

                “I am going to go get changed. I will be right back,” Shane said as he headed up the stairs.

                Casey was left alone in the kitchen. She heard footsteps on the stairs. She turned to see Isaiah coming down.

                “Good morning, Mr. Isaiah,” Casey said cheerly.

                He gave her a quick glance, “Going down to the lake today? Who all is going with you?”

He asked.

                “Shane and Lexi,” Casey answered.

                “Awesome, I may come down and join you later. After the other packs leaders and new wolves get here,” he said as he opened the fridge.

                “Other packs?” asked Casey.

                “Oh, yes, the neighboring packs join us for the shift moon ceremony for new wolves. It is a sign of the unity and peace between the packs,” he explained.

                “Oh, how many different packs are there?” Casey asked curiously.

                “In our area, about 8. But all over the world, hundreds. Maybe even thousands. No one really knows for sure because there are so many packs that split apart or die out,” Isaiah answered. “I have tried researching it, but it is hard when we are not supposed to exist,” he added, giggling.

                “Oh, true,” Casey said.

                Just then, the doorbell sounded. Isaiah left to open the door as Shane and Lexi came back into the kitchen.

                “Alright, got the towels and sunscreen. Let’s go,” Lexi said.

                As Casey stood up, Isaiah entered followed by three young men. One of them stared at Casey with complete surprise on his face.

                “Guys, this is our neighboring pack’s Alpha, Sebastian and his Beta, Christian. The young men behind them are the new wolves that will be going through their first shift,” Isaiah said. He turned back to the visiting pack’s Alpha. “Sebastian, this is my son, Shane. My daughter, Lexi. Casey is a friend of theirs from school and one of our new wolves going through the ceremony tonight.”

                Shane, Lexi, and Casey all nodded their heads as they were introduced.

                “I feel like I have seen Ms. Casey somewhere before. She just looks so familiar,” Sebastian said, turning to Casey he asked, “Who are your parents, Dear?”

                Casey looked to Isaiah. When he nodded, she answered, “Alyza and Darren Warkin, sir.”

                Sensing that Casey was getting uncomfortable Shane spoke up, “Welcome to our home, gentlemen. If it is okay with my father, we would like to excuse ourselves. We were getting ready to head down to the lake for a little while.”

                “Of course, there will be plenty of time to catch up later,” Sebastian said. “Maybe we will join you after a while. I think I could fancy a swim on this beautiful day.”

                Shane looked to his father, who nodded his approval.

                “Alright, let’s go Lexi. See you gentlemen later,” Shane said as he bumped Casey’s arm and motioned for her to follow him.

                Casey followed him. As they got to the back door, she turned back and looked back at Sebastian. She found him staring at her. When they locked eyes, and he nodded at her. She turned and closed the door quickly behind her.

                What was that all about? She thought.