Chapter 47: Digging in Deep
As I start explaining my logic to them, Alex and Rita calm down. Their expressions go from pensive to considering. Then, Alex tells me something shocking. “Actually…after we came back from the movies, that guy… He was there, watching your house.” My mouth gapes in shock. Then, the wolf growling and snarling I heard that night…that was Alex fighting him. And the next day, his eyes were brighter than usual. Even now, his eyes still have bright remnants of gold, and his smell is stronger than normal. Rita’s eyes are also gleaming, the smell of rosehip tea coming from her direction. I’m really not sure how other people don’t notice these things when it seems so obvious to me. “Fuck, okay,” Rita murmurs. “So, that guy was already after her from the jump.” “Yeah…” Alex pulls me in closer, almost as though he’s trying to fit me in his muscles somewhere. “But why would he…” “And why were you chasing him in the first place?” “…Cause I thought he knew something. About Michael. And he’d been lurking around here, so I thought…” “Uhm…about the sssecond attack near my house. That wasssn’t you?” I look up at Alex. “I think sssomeone or something fought him off.” Alex shakes his head. “No, I was already gone by then. Had to be someone else.” Rita leans against a tree, looking just as casual as she did in school. Still, she gives off a different, more strained air being barefoot in the forest, clouds rolling above us. “This town is in the unowned zone between Ayzena and Malkeye territory. The second time, it could’ve been a Malkeye who noticed him and told him to fuck off. I’ll see if I can chat with them.” “Malkeye?” Alex nods, helping me stand up. There’s no use in staying in the forest for much longer, so we prepare to head back to my car. “A werewolf pack. Ours is Ayzena.” “Ayzena…” “Werewolf packs typically get our names from one of the ancestors who set it up. Ayzena was a great ancestor who started ours, so it’s named after her. There’s a few different blood families in each pack, but we’re all a pack together, if that
makes sense.” Ah, that explains some of the changes he made to the play, then. The original idea the drama club had just put a bunch of rag–tag werewolves together who weren’t really all that related to each other. But actual packs are full of extended family and
some newcomers they invite. “So, since there’s reason enough to say the rouges are attacking Cynthia… It may be because she got involved with you,” Rita says, looking at Alex. “We can’t leave her out of this.” Alex winces, but I pat his arm reassuringly. I’m sure I would’ve gotten in trouble one way or another, regardless of the wolf stuff. “While I try to
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#Chapter 47 Digging in Deep
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touch base with the Malkeyes, you talk to your dad. She can’t stay in the no–zone without anyone protecting her. Especially not if we got her involved in our mess.” “…Fine. Okay.” “Wait, what do you mean?” I look between the two of them, confused. “I mean, you’re gonna need to hang out with us at the pack base for a while. At least until we can work things out.” “But, what about my mom? And, like, when isss this ss–supposed to happen?” “Hmm…talk to your mom and see if there’s been anything weird around her lately. If not, then it’s something specific to you. Alex and I are supposed to stay around here until summer, so we can bring you back with us by then.” “Oh…uhm…how?” “I dunno,” Rita shrugs. “Summer camp or something?”
After we made it back to my car, Rita
took the wheel instead of me to let me relax. She took us to a really nice–looking cabin in the woods, with a wide–open yard and a small yet beautiful nearby. As it turns out, it’s the house Alex, and now Rita, are using as a home. We get cleaned up as we plan what to do, with Alex and Rita making calls as I gaze around the cabin, dressed temporarily in one of Rita’s shirts and pants. She’s not super big like Alex, but since I’m short, I still end up swimming in her clothes. Inside, it’s definitely a house, but it doesn’t look like a home. There’s no family pictures anywhere, the floorboards seem too clean, and the kitchen’s pristine. It’s a cover house, enough to stay in, but not meant for long–term living for them. After a while, as the sun starts to set, Rita and Alex gather in the living room. Instead of cooking, Rita ordered Chinese food, so we’re sitting around a table of delicious grease and spicy chicken, eating out of take–out boxes. “Okay, so, I’ll meet with the Malkeyes tomorrow. Alex, you go back to school, and I swear to God, if you stray off-” “I won’t,” he grumbles. When I look up at him, he gazes at me for a moment before looking away. “Damn right you won’t. Be on your best behavior. Anyway, Cynthia. You need to chat it up with your mom. If everything seems fine on her end, convince her you’ve gotta go to a summer camp or something.” “Okay… When should I say it ssst–sssta-“I clear my throat. “Starts?” “Around June 5(th).” “But, that’sss before…” But I trail off. June 5(th) is several days before graduation. If I’m gone by then, I’ll miss it. Not that some seniors don’t go ahead and miss it anyway, but it was something I was looking forward to doing with Mom. Not to mention, schoolwork doesn’t really come to a complete halt for seniors until June 10(th) or 11(th). If I want to keep my high grades, I’ll have to work overtime on stuff for class, and I’ve been missing some of it with this whole ordeal. So, either I give up my grades, or I make more time for homework…which might mean giving up the rest of drama
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club. The thought is displeasing… But the idea of getting ripped apart by werewolves I don’t even know is even worse. “Okay. I’ll work it out sssomehow.” Rita seems pleased by my agreement, but Alex throws me a pitying look. He has a better idea of what I’m giving up, after all. I shrug back at him. It can’t be helped. And it’s not his fault either. It’s the fault of whoever decided to target him, and me by proxy.
“Cynthia…?” As I walk into
my home, Mom greets me at the door. She looks frazzled, worried. “I got a call from your school. You left suddenly, saying there was a family emergency? Is everything okay?” “Uhm…yeah. It wasss Alexss-” I pause, knowing those Ss were going to be hell to pronounce. “…My boyfriend. Hisss family. Been having a hard time, so Rrr–Rita asked me to help.” “I see… Is he okay?”
“Not rrreally,” I admit, both of us moving to the living room. “There’sss sss–hff.Stuff. Going on. And I rrreally want to help. Uhm. Speaking of help. Have you been, uhm. Okay? At work and ssstuff?”
She blinks. “Uhm, well. Yes. Everything’s been fine.” “Arrre you sure?” “…Cynthia? What’s going on?” We stare at each other for a long moment, both sizing each other up. I know Rita said to act like I was going to summer camp or something, but Mom and I… Well, we’re too connected. We both know each other too much and can often tell when one of us is telling a lie. We had to grow together like that to survive while Dad was around. So, I know Mom’s telling the truth when she says she’s been fine. But she’ll also have an idea that I’m lying if I say I’m going to a summer camp before school’s even over. Considering everything, I sit down on the couch, then pat the seat beside me. She comes over and sits, gazing at me. “… If I sssay I can’t really tell you everything, would that be too much?” She doesn’t respond immediately. “… Is it drugs?” “No.” “…Is it some sort of gang thing?” Packs aren’t gangs, so, “No.” “…Is Alex hurting you?” I frown, feeling frustrated for him. “No. He’sss the one dealing with really tough thingsss and…and I want to help him. It’sss not drugs or gangsss or anything like that. It’s…” I sigh. “His family’s in trouble, and I want to be therrre for him.” Reaching forward, I clasp my mom’s hands between my own. These hands that have worked to protect me in the ways she could. But this time, I’m asking her to let me go. “Can you pleassse trust me?”
