Pack Bound

by Holly Hook

"Yeah," I lie. In years past, a few theater kids would dress up as monsters and help staff the dance. Mostly, it was to collect tickets, swoop around, and look stupid because many of us couldn't find dates. Even Mr. Saffron knows it's not a job to envy.

  "I know this is a long shot and you might be busy," Mr. Saffron says. "But we need a few more people to staff the dance and just hang around and act spooky. Ryan and Lucy were going to do the job this year, but Ryan hurt his ankle and he doesn't think he'll be able to stand being on his feet for that long. And Lucy isn't sure if she can make it."

  I think of the full moon Sunday. "We can't," I say.

  "It depends on which time the dance starts," Cayden says. "We can't be there past eight or so. If we go, we'll need to be out of there early. Brie and I have plans."

  Mr. Saffron raises an eyebrow. "That's fine. We mostly need staff at the start. The organizers asked me to find people who aren't otherwise going," he says. "They want actors and actresses to make it authentic. Just roam around the parking lot in costume. Serve the punch and do mad experiments. Do an evil laugh here and there. Well, it depends on what monsters you two go as. Vary the act up."

  A grin teases Cayden's lips as if he's ready to laugh at a joke. Mr. Saffron asking us to act like monsters is a joke. But I don't find it funny. If Noah knew, he'd never let us live it down.

  "We can do it," Cayden says. "Who are the organizers we need to talk to?"

  I snap my look to him.

  But Cayden winks. It's a good way to get into the dance and keep an eye on everything. It is a lucky coincidence.

  But the full moon—

  Having to leave or risk—

  "Thank you so much, on the behalf of the dance crew," Mr. Saffron says. "I'd ask Olivia, but she's never up for staffing the dances."

  "Figures," I mutter. Impressing those awful girls means more to her.

  Cayden takes my arm and ushers me away from Mr. Saffron. The school's clearing out and we still haven't found Noah.

  But at least we'll be able to supervise the dance and not look creepy as people are coming in.

  The two of us step outside. It's a chilly, blustery day and the few non-pine trees around have almost lost all their leaves. They blow across the parking lot and make skittering noises like flat, fleeing bugs. "We have to go to Noah's house," I say. "We can't let him try to date Olivia."

  Cayden takes my arms. We stare right at each other. Far behind him, Tiffany and Alesha herd Olivia into a shiny convertible. The three vanish inside, but not before I catch a frown on Olivia's face. She's not happy.

  "Noah has to get past Matthew to ask her out," Cayden says. "He'd have to catch Olivia alone, and those girls don't leave her alone often."

  He lets go and I try texting Noah again. "I'm going to his house," I say.

  "Maybe you shouldn't. The more you tell him to stay away from her, the more he'll want to ask her out. Forbidden fruit."

  Cayden screws up his face. "Let me handle it, okay?"

  "But you haven't known Noah for long. The two of you haven't even talked much. I know Noah. He's totally in love with Olivia and he hates Matthew with a passion. After the two got to dance with each other at the play and fake kiss, I think he's emboldened."

  "Let me take care of it," Cayden demands. "You're doing too much, Brie. I hate that you have to live this life now."

  "It's better than the alternative," I say. Cayden may be reining in his anger issues, but the urge to be in charge is still there. Now he's doing it by caring. Is it a natural alpha thing? "And you sound like my aunt."

  He swallows. I've struck another nerve. "Yes. It is. But I wish you hadn't gotten involved in this. Having to worry about peoples' lives all the time. That sort of thing." Cayden pauses, rubs his hand through his hair, and eyes the tree line. "You should be enjoying high school right now and not worrying about Savage Wolves."

  "We're in this together, and I don't care."

  "It didn't have to be this way," he says, backing away.

  "But now we're together," I say. "And we're going to deal with this together. Right?"

  Grief shines in Cayden's eyes. "Let me handle it," he says. "I'll make sure everything is right and Olivia and Noah and nobody else has to die. I won't get the pack involved. Nobody else should have to die to the Savage Wolves or anyone else. I want all of you to stand aside."

  "What is with you?" I ask.

  Cayden shakes his head. "I'll see you at the dance, Brie. By then, maybe we won't have to worry about Olivia."

  He turns and runs, fleeing to the woods and ducking through the thick vines. I stand in shock as he vanishes, taking his scent with him. The vines give one last shudder and go still.

  Chapter Ten

  "Cayden!"

  I shouldn't yell in the woods, not if there's the chance that the Savage Wolves are waiting at the periphery, watching for any infected people to turn and cause us and everyone else in Breck problems.

  "Cayden!"

  Birds take off into the gray sky, exploding from pines and moving in disorganized flocks.

  Grief is getting to Cayden, and he's not the same person anymore. Every day, he's someone different. Yesterday, he was commanding and trying to gain control. Now he's relinquished it. Abandoned us. Taken the entire burden on himself.

  And abandoned me, at least for now.

  He'll deal with Olivia.

  He says she doesn't have to die, but there are other things that could happen to her.

  The sounds of that turn my stomach.

  The trail through the woods is widening now that the ground cover is losing its leaves, but it's also harder to see. But my sense of smell tells me that deer—which smell musky—use this often, and their scent wafts up from the trail, allowing me to keep following it. Cayden and I have walked this trail dozens of times now, over the same hill and past the same boulders. I sometimes walk this path in my sleep.

  I sniff and pick up Cayden, but he's so faint he's almost imagination. A dream that never existed. Picking up my pace, I try to follow, but in my shock, he got a head start. Where is he going? The Lowe house is straight down the trail, past the fork and to the right in about half a mile. His scent isn't coming from that way. Instead, it flows on the wind from the opposite direction, to the left and up steep terrain. He must be at the clearing where his brother fell.

  He won't let go of Wyatt for a long time.

  Maybe never.

  I don't know what it's like to have a sibling, or much family, but the pain must be like a nightmare he can't wake up from. And now because of it, he will put himself in danger all over again.

  "Cayden," I mutter. "Stop doing this to yourself. Why did you face down five Wolves in the first place?"

  I arrive at the fork, just past the area where I spotted Cayden as a wolf for the first time. The boulder where he stood looms behind me. One trail heads downhill, and the other up. I take the up trail although I can no longer smell Cayden. He's put some distance between us. Is he heading to the edge of our territory, hoping he can take down more Savage Wolves?

  My stamina lets me climb with ease. Not once do I have to stop and catch my breath, despite the steep incline and the small rocks falling around me. With my backpack on my back, I climb the steeper parts of the trail on all fours, grasping every nook and cranny with skill. My hands and fingers know what to do and my body balances. I straighten at the top of the trail. Through the thinning leaves, I see the clearing in the distance where Wyatt and the Lowe parents fell and got buried.

  But Cayden isn't there, grieving or reflecting. I've come the wrong way. There's nothing up here but trees, rocks, and wild animals. Our territory extends another few miles past this clearing, according to Cayden. After that, the Savage Wolves can attack.

  A sad air hangs over the area. I breathe through my mouth out of fear because I don't want to smell what lies under a dirt and leaf blanket. Crossing the clearing, I run into the trees on the other side, searching.

  A faint piney scent reaches
me, and at first I think it's Cayden, but this scent carries a different flavor: a trace of wood smoke. Remo. He's out here instead of off inventing something.

  Until now, I have thought little about where he goes, though I've seen him hanging in the Science wing at school, alone. Remo's more of a mystery than Cayden. Why is he way out here?

  I've already left my house and the Lowe place a few miles behind. Now I continue away from Breck, journeying into the surrounding wilderness. Maybe Remo knows where Cayden's gone. I can at least warn him his brother's returned to his dangerous ways.

  And if I find any Savage Wolves near the border, I can defend myself.

  Trying to tell myself I'm not trying to take this burden on myself, I continue on. The woods out here have fewer trails, and every wildlife trail I find leads to a dead end or vanishes in thick foliage. But Remo's smell strengthens and I follow it towards the border of our territory.

  No Savage Wolf smell rides on the wind, but it could blow the wrong way. Cayden says he's marked the edges of the territory to keep out the Savage Wolves, and as I near it, I pick up his scent. But the smell isn't the same as Cayden himself. There's a stale touch to the flavor he's left as a wolf.

  Remo overtakes it.

  And then I hear his voice, broken by the wind. He's in human form, which makes no sense if he's out here patrolling the border.

  "...tired of running. What was the point..."

  "I don't know..."

  The second voice freezes me.

  It's Leonora. My coworker who gave me the foxglove to try on Cayden, thinking it was wolfsbane. She's way out here and Remo is talking to her.

  I've never been to Leonora's place. I only know her family, the Russels, live off-grid somewhere in the woods and are masters of the frugal lifestyle. Leonora's parents don't venture into town often, but members of their family have worked in Sterling Grocery for generations, providing the veggies and herbs we sell. Why is Remo talking to her?

  I meant to talk to her anyway, to see if she has something that can slow down Olivia. So I can check one thing off my list.

  But not yet.

  Curiosity overtakes me and I stalk towards their voices, which are somewhere straight ahead in the green gloom. Judging from the way they're distorted, Leonora and Remo stand close to the border of our territory.

  The trees are thick here, sheltering the two, but as I near, Remo's voice clears.

  "All we do is defend the area," Remo says. For the first time, his calm's peeled away and his words fill with resentment. "I'm alive, but so much for University."

  "You can find a way," Leonora says. "And you have a family now."

  "The Lowes were never human," Remo says. "None of them know what it's like to turn."

  I grip a tree trunk.

  Crazy Leonora knows about werewolves?

  My mind flashes back to the vial of herbs she gave me without question. More waits for discovery here.

  "My family's been trying to help forever," Leonora says. "But we haven't found a cure yet. Only a preventative."

  "But you worked with the hunters for hundreds of years."

  I almost choke.

  The Russells have worked with werewolf hunters and joined the war against the Savage Wolves?

  "Yes," Leonora says. "The Sterlings and a few other families. All we've figured out how to do is give the infected silver pendants to stop them from turning and that we can give Noble Wolves before they reach puberty. It's still not a cure. I'm sorry, Remo."

  Remo says nothing and then sighs. He'd been hoping Leonora could help him.

  For the first time, I realize the truth: he hates being a werewolf.

  And I'm not sure if I think much different from him. Until now, I thought it was bringing Cayden and me closer than before. But has it improved things between us?

  Keeping my stride graceful and quiet, I miss every twig that could snap and stay on a bed of pine needles. Ahead, a low log cabin comes into view and smoke spirals from a spent fire pit. The Russell residence. When Leonora said her family lives off grid, she meant it.

  I duck to keep Remo from picking up my scent. Smoke rides on the wind. It's blowing towards me, which will stop Remo from detecting me. The two stand by the pit, and on closer inspection, I spot an iron pot hanging above it. Herbal smells follow along with boiled water. Bicycles sit against the house—the Russels don't use cars—and a narrow dirt road snakes into the trees I've never seen. Near the road, a low greenhouse shelters a variety of plants. Solar panels cover the top. Somewhere, a generator hums.

  Leonora and Remo walk around to the other side of the cabin.

  She lives close to the edge of our territory. But at least the road will lead me back to town and Sterling Grocery if Leonora uses it. Thoughts of Cayden return, and I debate leaving to go hunt for him instead. I have the sense Remo won't want me to butt in. But Remo is trying to find a way out of all this. A cure.

  Could one work for Olivia?

  Creeping out of the trees, I enter the small clearing. Gravel rests around the cauldron which is empty but smells of strange herbs I can't recognize. Peeking inside, I find a clean interior, but scuff marks fill the pot as if it's used all the time. What do the Russells do out here?

  And how involved are they with the fight against Savage Wolves?

  Someone shuffles inside the cabin. Leonora's parents.

  "Remo," Leonora says from the other side of the house, her voice just above a whisper. "Without Noble Wolves, the Savage Wolves will invade. We no longer have Hunters to hold them off. My family's talents don't lie in combat. All I can offer is wolfsbane to tip arrows, but archery is a lost art anymore."

  "Maybe you have the cure, and you're not sharing it." He's angry. I catch a growl in his voice.

  "We don't have one, or we'd use it on the Savages and stop the infected from turning."

  "So you can't even help that girl I told you about."

  "All I'm capable of doing is making her sick. And wolfsbane won't weaken her until after she turns. If you know of any hunters who could use wolfsbane, come back."

  I sigh. Leonora's answered my question without my asking. It seems Remo was thinking along my lines.

  "Leonora." Remo lowers his voice. "I know you can help. I told you what happened."

  "I want you to be happy," Leonora says. "I won't quit. But we need the Noble Wolves. The peace we've had for almost twenty years is over."

  "I think they know what's happening here. And they won't like it. Be careful out here. Please. Their attacks won't stop." Remo's words soften. "You should be safe now, but that could change. And don't tell Cayden. He's doing his best as alpha, and I don't want to give him false hope. And I don't want him to think I'm ungrateful."

  My phone buzzes, the sound broken by the bad reception.

  "What was that?" Remo asks. "I thought your family had no cell plan?"

  "We don't," Leonora says. "The magnetic fields--"

  Heart racing, I dart back into the shelter of the trees, forbidden conversation in tow. Remo and Leonora circle around the house though Remo's footsteps remain quiet and graceful. Leonora's are heavy and human.

  "No one," Leonora says. "You might have heard a bird."

  "It was a buzz."

  I duck behind a tree trunk and dare to peek out. Remo's back comes into view and Leonora joins him in looking at the trees opposite me. Remo knows things his younger siblings don't. Perhaps the Lowe parents let him in on secrets that Cayden doesn't know.

  "I'll be careful," Leonora says.

  Remo faces her.

  Leans over.

  And kisses her on the cheek.

  "Leonora," I whisper, jaw falling.

  With that, Remo removes his jacket, walks to the trees without a sound, and crouches as he pops, groans, and shifts into the form of a large blond wolf as if punctuating his request for a cure. He looks back at Leonora, who flinches, and leaving his jacket on the ground, he bounds into the trees.

  * * * * *

 
; It's not until I follow the road down the terrain and away from Remo's scent I get back into better reception and check my phone.

  The signal gives me no choice but to wait. My conclusion about the road leading back towards town turns out to be correct. It emerges on the dirt road that leads to Sterling Grocery, and as soon as I leave the woods, my phone buzzes again. I hope Cayden's contacting me and telling me where he's gone, and most of all, that he's all right.

  But when I pull out my phone, the message is from Noah. The green bubbles I've assigned to him fill the screen.

  So, guess what?

  Brie, are you there? Maybe you need more time to cool off? The eruption might still spew lava?

  So, I went to Olivia's. And talked to her.

  A scared emoji face.

  And then nothing.

  "Noah, no," I say.

  Heart racing, I fumble with the touch screen to type a message, but my sweaty fingers refuse to work right. Becoming a werewolf hasn't made me type faster, and for Olivia, I'd rather talk.

  So I call Noah and stand on the side of the road, lifting the phone to my ear.

  Chapter Eleven

  "So," Noah says. "I did it."

  "You did it," I manage.

  "Not like that," Noah says. "I wasn't that lucky. Didn't even get to first base, let alone the home run. It's more like I walked up to the baseball game, and the ticket collector said someone had already taken my seat."

  I force a laugh and study the trees. Though I can smell everything within a few hundred feet, and sometimes more if the wind's blowing the right way, it's a habit I've kept from when the Savage Wolves tried to invade town.

  Do they know about my friendship with Noah, and how much it would hurt me if something happened to him?

  "So, what do you mean?" my brain's not working.

  "Olivia's still going out with Matthew for the dance," Noah said. "But she also told me she didn't want to. I mean, you can tell Olivia doesn't like him."

  "We all know she'll go with him," I say. "Wait until after the dance to try asking her out again." By then, Cayden and I will know how much danger Noah's in. "Do you know what? Stay out of the dance. Watching Matthew and Olivia won't help, and we all know they'll break up the next day. Then you might be free to ask her out again. It's just that you don't want trouble with Matthew."