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A moment later, the back door opens. One of Parker’s siblings comes walking inside, so Will leads me out the front door. We head down the gravel road that leads toward my house.
“You know that you’re not a wolf shifter, right?” Will asks.
I nod. “Yes. Obviously. I mean, I’d know already if I was. Plus, I don’t smell like one.”
“I just want to make sure you know—you’re not one of us. You’re not pack. And as soon as we figure out what you are, you’ll be sent off to live with your own kind. You have to learn how to control your powers and you can’t do that here,” Will explains.
My chest aches at his words. “I’ll be sent away?”
“You have to learn control,” he repeats. “How can wolf shifters teach you how to control your powers when they’re so different than ours?”
I consider his words, but the more I think about it, the sadder I get.
I don’t want to leave here. For the first time in my life, I feel like I’mhome. I never felt that way in New York. I hated every moment that I lived there.
“The pack is accepting you now, for the sake of your dad, but they won’t accept you forever,” Will warns me.
Why would the pack accept me because of my dad? I wonder what he did that makes him so welcome here as a human. I file the thought away for later—another thing to ask my dad. At this point, the list of things I need to ask him is getting long.
“Why are you walking me home?” I ask Will.
“Because Mr. Thorne asked me to. He thinks you and Parker are getting too close,” Will answers.
He’s not wrong, but the thought still makes my chest ache.
“I’m going to get Parker’s Jeep too since he left it at your house. And I wanted to make sure you know to stay away from Parker. The two of you can’t be together. It’s not going to happen.” Will gives me an intense look as he says it.
“I know,” I say, ignoring the tears that well up in my eyes.
I turn my head away from him and walk a little bit faster.
I know that I’ll never be accepted. Not by Will. Not by the pack. Not by Parker’s parents. Soon, Parker will see that I’m not worth the effort it takes to be my friend. Then, I’ll be all alone again. And once they figure outwhatI am, I’ll be sent away, never to see this place again.
12
Because he’s pack.
The weekend is long.
My dad only came home one time. It was late Saturday night. I heard him leave the next morning around six o’clock, so I spent the whole weekend alone. Parker never texted or came by to check on me, nothing. Part of me expected him to after what happened, but I try not to be too disappointed by it.
This is for the best. If he stops being so nice to me, it’ll make it easier.
Still, when I hear his Jeep pull up on Monday morning, my heart races at the thought of seeing him again. Just as I’m about to head out the door, I remember what Will said to me Friday night.
“As soon as we figure out what you are, you’ll be sent off to live with your own kind.”
No matter how nice Parker is to me, I’m not part of his pack. He’s just temporarily welcoming me until he can ship me off. He probably can’t wait to get rid of me.
I open my door as Parker is walking onto the porch. He’s got his hands stuffed into the front pocket of his jeans. He’s wearing a plain black t-shirt. It’s cool enough that he should need a hoodie or something, but he doesn’t look cold.
His blue eyes meet mine. “Hey. Are you ready to go?”
“Yeah.” I turn to lock my door. Parker grabs my backpack from my shoulder, carrying it for me.
As we walk to the car, he doesn’t grab ahold of my hand. It hurts more than it should.
I was never like him. I should’ve known that he would want to ditch me after he got to know me. I’m a freak.
