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“Tav,” I started talking before I could think better of it. “Bryn can have free rein of the grounds, but she can’t leave the territory.”
“For real?” Tavi gasped. She jumped up and down and then hugged me tightly. “You won’t regret this! I promise you!” She zipped away to tell Bryn the good news, leaving me to stew on my own.
I sat on the bench, seething. Jasper was the only one who could treat Bryn well? Those words made me want to break the table in half. I was so eager to get Tavi to stop talking about Bryn and Jasper together that I’d ended up giving Bryn more freedom than I’d intended.
I tried to let go of the rage pumping through my blood, but my wolf was holding on to it with his fangs. I knew I had no right to the anger that burned inside me, but my wolf disagreed. I didn’t have any claim on Bryn, but I was acting like a jealous boyfriend. What was wrong with me?
I turned away from Bryn and Tavi and pressed a hand to my chest, rubbing at the spot where a new ache had started to form.
22
BRYN
Tavi burst into the kitchen while I was washing dishes. “Bryn,” she called. “I’ve got great news!”
“Quiet down, young lady,” Mabel called from the other room. “Some of us are trying to focus.”
“Oops—sorry!” Tavi jogged up to me and took my soapy hands in hers. “You won’t believe what I just convinced Night to do for you.”
I tried to take in her words, but they didn’t make sense to me. During breakfast service, I’d heard that Night and Dom had arrived too late to save one of the wolves that were attacked last night. I couldn’t imagine that Night was taking the loss very well. The last time we’d spoken had been a fight. How could Tavi have convinced him to do anything for me?
“What is it?” I asked, hesitation evident in my tone.
“He says you’re not confined to Violet’s cabin anymore!” she shrieked, jumping up and down. “You can’t leave the grounds, but you can do what you want now!”
I felt like I’d just had a shock. “He said that?”
“Yes!” Tavi pulled me in for a tight hug, still laughing.
I hugged her back. I could hardly believe the day I was having. Pax had come in to tell me that he had finally shifted, and he wanted me to go and watch him. I’d had to tell him no because I wasn’t allowed to go anywhere but the dining hall and home. Now I couldn’t wait to tell him that had changed.
I thought back to when I had found the young boy crying in the corner at the back of the kitchen after dinner. He had been hesitant at first to tell me what had him so broken up, but with a bit of bread, some strawberry jam, and a glass of warm milk, I convinced him to share what weighed so heavily on his shoulders.
Most wolves shift before their sixth birthday, but his birthday was right around the corner, and he still hadn’t managed to do it. He’d run away from his cabin when one of his siblings had teased him about it.
My heart had broken for those teary, doe-brown eyes and the clenching of his little fists around his glass of milk. I sat next to him and wrapped an arm around him. While I had no experience being a wolf, I knew plenty about feeling left behind by my peers, so I could relate to Pax’s troubles in that way.
“You need to be brave, little guy,” I’d told him. “Don’t you know that the best things take time?”
He’d shaken his head, wiping at his tears with the sleeves of his shirt.
I’d ruffled his golden blond hair and given him a smile. “I’m sure you’ll shift any day now. I can feel it in my bones.”
“Really?”
“Of course, Pax! You just have to wait a little while longer.”
I was relieved that my words seemed to help, and he had finally been ready to return home. That night, he’d given me a big hug.
“Is it okay if I call you my friend?” he’d asked.
My heart had just about burst at the sweet, soft question. I’d agreed right away and sent him home with a strip of bacon that was left over from dinner service.
For the past two days, he’d come in to see me with a glum look on his face. When he told me that it still hadn’t happened yet, we shared a tight hug, and I sent him back home with another extra piece of bacon and a message not to give up hope.
With Tavi’s news that Night had eased my restrictions even further, my heart swelled with joy. Pax, with pride glowing in his eyes, had been so excited to tell me, of all people, the good news. But he had been so crestfallen when I told him that I wouldn’t be able to watch him shift. Now that I was free, things could be different.
Despite everything that had led me to the Wargs pack, I was charmed by the people and the strong sense of community that they shared. With each day that went by, I felt more and more comfortable with these wolves, and I felt more like I belonged.
