Running in a Pack

by A M Burns

  However, apparently Adrian wasn’t done yet. “You know that you guys can kiss in front of me, right? I mean, you don’t kiss at school, but you’re together now, so when are you supposed to be kissing? It’s not like you’re standing there in the hallways trying to pull out each other’s lunches like the other seniors are doing.” He made a gagging noise, and Finn dropped his head back onto the wall and sighed. Did he want to kiss Ivan in front of Adrian, though? He wasn’t completely on board with that yet. It felt strange and weird, almost like Adrian wanted to be a voyeur or something.

  Ivan took his hand, and Finn looked down at their joined fingers. “We’ll kiss later,” Ivan softly said. “If you want to be a perv and watch.”

  Adrian threw a pillow at him, which Ivan deflected, and that seemed to be the end of any awkwardness between them for the moment.

  “What do you think your sister sees in Channing?” Adrian asked. His expression made it clear he saw nothing redeeming in the boy, which Finn instantly agreed with. Adrian pulled a sketchbook out, and a pen. It didn't take him long before a shiny miniature ferret was bouncing around the bed between them. It didn't stay around long though, just a couple seconds before it was gone, in a poof of ghostly sparkles, as quickly as Adrain had brought it to life. Finn was pretty sure he'd always love seeing their gifts.

  Finn shrugged trying to pull something out of his conversation with her that would have made sense. But there really wasn’t anything. “Well… he’s popular, according to her, and she wants to be popular now that she’s in high school so they eat lunch together.” It all sounded totally stupid and incredibly shallow to him.

  Adrian snorted and started on another sketch, a bird this time. “He’s popular? Since when?”

  “Yeah, really.” Finn laughed and shifted on the bed to get more comfortable. He ended up on his side with his knees close to Adrian’s. Pretty soon Ivan was lying down with them, with his upper body half on Adrian’s. For the first time in a long time, Finn was thankful for his slender frame. It made it easier for them to all fit on the narrow bed. They lay in a haphazard mess, like puppies in a pile, their feet twisted together at the head of the bed as they were all facing the foot. No, not like puppies. They were laid out and relaxing like the cubs did in the office when they got tired.

  Finn heard the front door open and started to sit up, but Ivan stopped him by putting his hand firmly on Finn’s side. “Don’t worry about it. Adrian’s parents won’t care that we’re all lying on the bed like this.”

  Adrian looked back at Finn. “Why would they?” He looked completely confused and Finn didn’t get a chance to explain to him why he was going to try to stand up before a man and a woman came down the stairs. Adrian had his father’s eyes but his mother’s soft, nearly shy smile.

  “Hey, boys,” Adrian’s mother said, then she spotted Finn. “And hello, new friend of Adrian’s.”

  “That’s Finn. He volunteers at the center too,” Adrian explained.

  Finn was pretty sure he should have been shaking her hand or something at that point in order to be polite. But he couldn’t with how Ivan had moved so that he was lying on Finn’s legs. “Hi.”

  Both of Adrian’s parents smiled at him. “It’s good that you’re both here. Adrian needs friends. He’s shy.”

  Ivan chuckled. “We got that.” He reached over to ruffle Adrian’s hair, and Finn smiled. Maybe this actually was normal for them to be like this, and he should get over feeling weird and out of place about it.

  “Are you boys going to be hungry for spaghetti in about an hour?” Adrian’s dad asked.

  Adrian nodded and so did Finn. “Yeah. Sounds good.”

  "And you're drawing..." Adrain's mom pointed out curiously.

  Ivan touched Finn's shoulder. "It's okay. He knows about us. He's special too."

  Finn really didn't think of himself as being gifted, not like they were anyway, but he nodded all the same. "I won't say anything," he promised Adrian's parents.

  "That's good. We'll see you all soon. Have fun," Adrain's dad said as he and his mom began walking out of the room.

  After Adrian’s parents went back upstairs, Finn sighed a little. “Your parents are seriously cool.”

  Adrian smiled over his shoulder at him. “They are pretty great.”

  For some reason Finn couldn’t name, he wanted to hug Adrian right then. Maybe it was because he’d looked so scared and worried in gym class. Or because he’d been so cool about answering Finn’s questions. Or maybe it was how his mom had said he needed more friends because he was shy.

  Finn wasn’t exactly shy, but he’d never actually had all that many friends either, and none he’d felt as comfortable as he did with Ivan and Adrian. He’d been propping himself up on his elbow, but now he lay down and used one of Adrian’s pillows to support his head.

  It didn’t feel strange for the three of them to be like that together. It seemed normal. Ivan was reading his textbook, Adrian was drawing in a notebook, and Finn was on his phone. But he still wanted to hug Adrian, and the feeling didn’t go away after a few minutes. He took a big chance, although he knew he was risking messing things up in some way between them, and moved around on the bed again until he was partially over Adrian and able to wrap his arms around Adrian’s stomach even as he lay face down. He felt Adrian freeze, and then a moment later, Adrian relaxed and breathed normally again. Finn laid his head on Adrian’s shoulder and Ivan joined in, also hugging Adrian. Finn wasn’t sure why they were both hugging him—only that for him, it was something that he had to do, and he wasn’t able to think of much else until he had.

  11

  Finn rubbed a towel through his wet hair, hurrying to get done in time. He’d spent all day Saturday out at the center helping clean pens and working to get a couple of new ones built. It had been hard work, and even in the cool mountain air, he’d managed to work up a sweat. When he and his mother reached the house, they’d both dashed for their individual showers. It felt good having something like the wolf center that he could share with his mother. He’d never realized she was much of an animal person. They hadn’t had family pets in several years—not since Muffin had died of old age. Having his mom around so much felt almost as nice as having Ivan and Adrian around.

  “Come on, Finn, we need to get going soon if we’re going to be on time,” his mom called from the kitchen.

  “Aren’t Dad and Shelby coming?” Finn called back as he flung the towel over the shower curtain rod and grabbed for his brush. He paused as he looked in the mirror. He’d been on the go so much since school started, his reflection there rarely registered. He blinked. His chest looked larger than it ever had before. He flexed. It felt harder too. He flexed his arm, and for the first time in his life, he had something resembling a bicep. Shit. When did he start getting muscles? He figured it was from his work at the center and wondered if he’d look like Ivan by the end of the school year. “They’re going to meet us out there” came her reply. “But if you don’t hurry, we’ll be late.”

  Finn forced his gaze away from his reflection. He wondered if Ivan had noticed he was filling out. “Okay. Be down in a second.” He hastily brushed his hair, then dashed to his room. He knew the clothes he wanted to wear and went right to them. Since he wanted to look nice, he grabbed his blue dress shirt and his best jeans.

  Five minutes later, he and his mother were in the car heading toward the center with the smell of her barbecue pulled pork swirling around them.

  The parking area of the center had more cars in it than Finn had ever seen in the place. His mother drove into the last spot before folks would have to begin parking down the narrow drive that led back to the highway.

  “It’s good to see all of the community support.” She opened her car door before reaching into the backseat for her Crock-Pot of meat. “Grab the bag of buns, please, Finn.”

  He did as he was asked. When he straightened, Adrian was at the car door. “Hey, Finn. Looks like we’re all right on time.”
>
  “Looks like it.” Finn waved his free hand to Adrian’s parents as they fell into step with his mom and walked toward the main building for the center. “So did you get your paintings set up this afternoon?”

  “Yeah. I’m kind of nervous about it all now.” Adrian walked next to Finn. “This is the closest I’ve ever come to actually having an art exhibit of my own. Last year Mom entered a couple of my pieces in the county fair art show without telling me.”

  “And how’d they do?”

  Adrian looked down at his feet, but he grinned. “I took third place with one.”

  Finn smiled at Adrian. He’d found himself doing that a lot recently—almost as much as he smiled at Ivan. The three of them were becoming very close, and it felt right in so many ways. “That’s really cool. Is that picture here tonight?”

  Adrian shook his head as they reached the now-familiar main building. “No, that was a horse painting, not a wolf. I hadn’t done many wolf paintings in time for the fair.”

  “I hope you enter some more this year. I’ve never known an award-winning artist before.”

  Adrian blushed and ducked his head. “Maybe.”

  While Adrian’s father held the door open for them, he smiled at Finn. “What did you say to make him turn so red?”

  Finn smiled back. “I just told him I’d never known an award-winning artist before.”

  A look of pride filled Mr. Smith’s eyes, which were the same brown as Adrian’s. “He’s very talented. I hope he can get an art scholarship or something.”

  “We’ll see, Dad.” Adrian blushed harder, his face becoming nearly crimson.

  “Hey, you guys made it.” Ivan descended on them through the crowd of people that clogged the entryway, looking great in a tight T-shirt—sporting the center’s howling-wolf logo—that was almost too tight for his broad chest. His brown hair was still damp from a shower.

  Rolling his eyes, Finn held up the bag of hamburger buns he’d carried in for his mother. He’d somehow lost sight of her while he’d been talking to Adrian’s dad. “Like we could’ve missed it. Where do you want these?”

  “Come on.” He grabbed Finn’s elbow, sending a rush of energy through Finn’s arm.

  He’d never had reactions to other people touching him like he did when Ivan touched him. There was something about even casual touches that made him want more.

  Adrian trailed behind them as they went into the center’s kitchen where the counters were full of the huge array of potluck food. Finn’s mother had found a spot where there was a power strip and other Crock-Pots plugged in.

  “I was starting to think you’d run off to feed the buns to the wolves.” She grinned at him as she took the bag and put it behind the Crock-Pot. “Hi, Ivan and Adrian. Looks like we have quite the crowd here tonight.”

  “That we do, Mrs. Ryan,” Ivan said.

  Finn’s mother frowned at him. “Ivan, you’re a friend of Finn’s, you can either call me Lisa or Mom.”

  “Sorry, Lisa.” Ivan bowed his head slightly.

  “That goes for you too, Adrian.” She smiled at Adrian. “Don’t you two forget it.”

  “I know I won’t forget it. Mom.” Channing’s voice came from right behind Finn.

  Finn spun toward Channing with the sudden urge to protect Adrian, even though he knew the bully wouldn’t dare utter as much as a harsh word with all the adults around, then Finn stared as he spotted Shelby on Channing’s arm, looking more demure and sweet than he’d ever seen her before. His blood raced.

  “Shelby, I’m glad you made it.” Finn’s mother nodded to his sister. “Channing, I hope your folks managed to come—I’d love to meet them.”

  “They’re right here.” Channing gestured behind him to where a tall woman with dark curly hair, who had a similarly primitive look to his own, stood holding a basket of shiny red apples. The man on her arm was smaller than she was but still in good shape, though with a rapidly balding head. Beside the man, Esteban had a dark, dangerous look.

  “Oh, good,” Finn’s mother stepped around him and approached Channing’s family. “I was looking forward to meeting you.” She proceeded to exchange greetings with them while Finn caught his friends’ gaze and nodded toward the door at the far end of the kitchen.

  The three of them slipped out of the back door. The heavy, musky smell of the wolves out behind the house hit Finn and immediately made him feel better. But he still couldn’t believe Channing and Esteban had invaded his safe spot and that Shelby had brought them.

  “I wasn’t expecting that,” Adrian said slumping onto the wooden bench near the back porch.

  Ivan hugged Finn before Finn could sit next to Adrian. “Mom and Dad have been working on making this a real community event. I’m surprised they came, but I guess it shows their marketing paid off.”

  Finn relaxed in Ivan’s embrace. It felt warm and wonderful as it pushed back the existence of Channing. “And it’s worse seeing him with Shelby outside of school. It makes the horror all the more real.”

  “I doubt it will last.” Ivan released Finn and settled onto the bench next to Adrian. “Mom’s always told me that high school relationships don’t tend to go anywhere.”

  A stab of fear shot through Finn. “Do you believe that?”

  “I think everyone’s different.” Ivan shrugged and reached for Finn’s hand. “I like to think that you and Adrian are going to be around for a long time.”

  “I think we will,” Adrian added, putting his hand on their joined hands. “We’ve got more going for us than just hormones, we have magic, that’s just ours.”

  “Good.” A sense of relief flooded Finn. He had to agree that he felt a sense of magic when he was around them. It had something to do with them declaring themselves a pack, but he couldn’t put his finger on it.

  The back door opened, and Ivan’s mother stuck her head out. “Hey, you three, are you ready to start tours? We’ve got to get folks moving out into the pens.”

  “Sure, Mom.” Ivan stood and pulled Adrian with him. “We’re heading in.”

  “Okay.” His mother disappeared back into the house.

  Ivan wrapped his powerful arms around Finn, then pulled Adrian in close too. “We’ll get through tonight. It’ll be fine.”

  Finn nodded his head against Ivan’s shoulder. The feeling of rightness flooded through him with their arms around him.

  As the sun disappeared over the mountains to the west, Finn and Adrian led their group—a bunch of older folks from a nearby church—into the house for the potluck portion of the evening. Having Adrian help him remember all the details about the wolves made Finn relax during the tour. He still got a little nervous when conducting tours of the pens, constantly thinking he was going to forget something important about the center’s main occupants.

  People were already standing around and eating when they led their tour group in. The space was small, made even more so by the large number of people standing around and eating as they looked over the art on display for silent auction.

  “Are they all yours?” Finn asked Adrian as they managed to squeeze past a few people and make their way over to where the food had been set up. He grabbed a paper plate for each of them, then started piling a few sliders on his.

  Adrian nodded and quietly began eating a muffin. He was being extremely neat about it, with the plate held almost to his chin as if he didn’t want to risk getting any of the crumbs on his paintings. No one else was taking that much care around his art. “Yes. At least, I think they are. I didn’t get a chance to look through them all yet. And there are so many people here.” He sounded nervous and possibly even a little scared.

  Ivan stopped shoving some nachos into his mouth. “If you need a break, just say the word and we’ll get you out of here. We’ll go hang out with the cubs. No one is allowed back there besides us and my parents, so it’ll be a good place to hide away from all these people.” He looked a little in awe of the gathered crowd.

  Adrian blushed. �
�Thanks. I think I might need that before the night’s over. But, for right now, do you two want to see my favorite piece here?”

  “Of course,” Finn said as he wondered why Adrian would even bother asking. He even kind of hoped it would come to life. Then maybe everyone else here would see just how special Adrian really was. He knew that was just wishful thinking though. He wouldn't ever actually want Adrian to show a bunch of strangers what he could really do.

  “Okay, but eat first. I don’t want to risk it getting crumby.” They both finished their food as quickly as possible, then Adrian led the way back out into the throng of people standing around in the cramped space. They didn’t have much room to move around as they walked single file through the throng, and poor Ivan had to go sideways through the tightest spaces. It was nearly as tight for Finn since he’d bulked up so much. He could hardly believe it, but now that he’d noticed his new muscles, he couldn’t stop touching his upper arms in the subtlest ways. At least he hoped he was being subtle—otherwise he might look weird.

  Adrian stopped in front of a canvas that was at least two feet tall and nearly that wide. There were so many people around it that at first it was hard for Finn to see what the painting actually was of, except for a few wolves, but then when he got to get a good look at it, he recognized it immediately. Only it wasn’t the wolves in Adrian’s painting he was seeing, but the three of them sprawled out across Adrian’s bed. He’d painted three cubs in almost the same positions the three of them had been in when they’d been relaxing together earlier that week. One of the wolves even looked like Ivan had when he’d shifted for Finn at Rainbow Falls. The detail was impeccable.

  “I just finished it last night,” Adrian whispered. Finn and Ivan were close enough to him to be able to hear him even when he was that quiet.

  “It’s us,” Finn said just as quietly back to him. A thrill ran through him at their quiet time being shared so openly, but discreetly, with the people gathered for the anniversary.