“But school isn’t over yet,” she objected. The shrill peal of the bell cut her off and I took her hand, pushing my way past the other students as I led her to the lockers, and then out the door.
Ed, Michael, and Tommy were waiting for us at the Jeep. Penny was behind Erik on the motorcycle, her arms wrapped around his waist, cheek resting on his shoulder.
“How’s the arm?” she asked.
“It’s okay,” Nikki answered, smiling.
“Tiffany shouldn’t be allowed to be on the squad if she’s going to act like that,” Ed growled, his eyes locked on a blue car near the front of the school, no doubt thinking up other ways of exacting revenge.
“We saw her move. We know she’s the reason you fell,” Tommy informed Nikki.
“All of you saw her move?” Nikki asked, incredulous.
Ed, Tommy, Michael, and Erik all nodded in unison.
“Let’s go,” I said, opening up the passenger door of the Jeep. I had to get them moving before someone accidentally let the reason slip on how all of us had been able to see and hear everything from so far away.
After everyone piled in, I turned to Nikki. “You want to drive?” I asked.
“Huh-uh,” she shook her head. “I’m happy where I am, thanks.”
I grinned and pulled out of the parking lot. A few moments later, I parked in Erik’s driveway. Everyone piled out of the Jeep and said goodbye, splitting up to head in different directions and go home. Erik was leaning against the hood of his Wrangler, looking thoughtful.
“I thought we’d stop here first, then go and study at my house,” I explained as Nikki’s eyes widened in disbelief. “I hope you don’t mind.”
“Not at all,” she said, and then stared at Erik. “This isn’t the old beat up car you’re getting rid of.”
“Yep, good ol’ Bessie.” Erik patted the hood and then spoke to the car as if it was a living thing with feelings. “Don’t take it to heart, love. I never said you were beat up.”
“You’ve got to be joking. That’s a nice car!”
“I know,” he replied, “but I can only drive one thing at a time and the insurance on both the ‘cycle and the car is pretty steep. I wouldn’t dream of getting rid of the motorcycle, unless it was to get a better one, of course.”
“Of course,” Nikki mumbled, as if everything he had said made perfect sense. If it had been me, I would have sold the motorcycle in a heartbeat and kept the Wrangler. But…that was me. My second-in-command tended to enjoy the adrenaline rush of motorcycles over the safeness of an enclosed vehicle.
“You wanna take her for a spin?” he asked Nikki.
“Sure.”
He tossed her the keys and hopped into the backseat, letting me take the passenger seat next to Nikki.
“Okay, so the heater knob sometimes sticks,” he explained. You have to jiggle it a bit. She burns a little oil, but not bad. I just check it once a week. I gave it a tune-up a couple of months ago, but I haven’t driven much since the weather warmed up. The four-wheel drive works great, so you shouldn’t have any trouble getting out in winter.”
No, but you might, I thought, suppressing a grin.
“I think that’s about it. Start her up and let’s go!”
Nikki turned the key and pulled out of the driveway. The Wrangler shifted smoothly as she drove down the road.
Brian had been teaching her well, I acknowledged begrudgingly as she drove a few miles down the main road, and then turned around to come back.
“Well…what do you think?” I asked.
“It depends on the price,” she said. “But I think I’m in love.”
“If you want it, I’ll work with you,” Erik piped up from the back seat. He gave her a low figure and I watched her smile.
“Are you sure? That doesn’t seem like enough.”
“It’s enough,” he reassured her. “I got it for a good deal, so I’ll give it to you for a good deal, too. Maybe karma will work in my favor and I’ll find the ‘cycle parts I’ve been looking for cheap. She’s all yours, if you want her.”
“Deal!” Nikki said happily. “We can stop by the house and I’ll get you the money.”
“Don’t worry about it today. Dad’s got the title locked up, so I’ll have to wait until he gets home to get it. When we get back, I’ll get my junk out of here and you just drive it home tonight. We’ll do all the other stuff tomorrow,” he said as we pulled back into his driveway. “Wait. Do you have your driver’s license yet?”
Nikki shook her head. “Not yet.”
“I’ll ride back with her if she wants to take it tonight,” I offered as we got out of the car.
“I want it!” Nikki said, tackling Erik in a huge hug.
Erik looked at me from over her shoulder and grinned. “Easy, you’ll make Adam jealous.” Then he looked past me to the front porch of his house where his mom and girlfriend stood. “Maybe Penny too.”
Jenna White Hawk’s eyes sparkled. “I told you, Penny. You can’t leave him alone for a minute. Trouble finds him.”
When Nikki turned him loose, Erik turned back to the vehicle. “Mom, this is Nikki. She’s buying the Wrangler,” he said, his voice muffled, as he began getting his stuff out. “Nikki, that’s my mom.”
His mother came down the steps and held out her hand. “Hi, I’m Jenna.”
“Nice to meet you,” Nikki said, shaking her hand.
“Listen, I hate to break this up,” I interrupted. “But if we’re going to study…”
“Go ahead.” Erik’s hand came out of the Wrangler and waved us off. “I’ve got to get my mess out of here. I’ll be done before you’re ready to go.”
“Nice to meet you, Mrs….” Nikki stopped, unsure of what to call Erik’s mother.
“White Hawk, but just call me Jenna.” Jenna’s eyes met mine as I turned to lead Nikki back to my Jeep. A look passed over her face, as if some sudden knowledge had just surfaced that she was aware of. “Come back anytime and visit, Nikki.” Her words were friendly, but they held an odd tone.
A quick glance out of the corner of my eye proved that I was the only one who had picked up on it. But whatever Jenna White Hawk knew, she kept to herself as she and Penny turned to go back inside the house.
It took less than a moment for me to drive to my house. I parked near the basketball goal and hopped out of the Jeep, coming around to open the door for Nikki.
“Dad must have had to work late again,” I murmured, talking more to myself than anyone else as I looked at the empty spot where he typically parked his police cruiser.
“Maybe they found a lead on the missing hikers,” Nikki offered.
“I hope,” I said, but I shook my head. “I doubt it, though.” I took her book, led her to the porch and opened the screen door. “Come on in. I’m going to grab us something to drink, then we can go out on the back porch. I’ll be right back.”
“Okay,” she said. I left and went to the kitchen, grabbing a two liter of coke out of the fridge. As I poured it into glasses, I heard her walking around in the living room.
When I came back, she was leaning over, staring at a picture on the end of a shelf. “So that’s where you got those eyes,” she murmured. I knew exactly which one she was looking at. I’d spent hours myself staring into the golden eyes of the woman in that photograph.
“My mother,” I said. Nikki jumped. She hadn’t heard me come in.
She regained her composure almost immediately, and then gestured to the picture. “She is beautiful.”
“Yeah, she was. She died when I was born.” I hadn’t meant for my words to sound so flat…so final…but they did.
“I’m sorry.”
The silence was getting a bit awkward, so I smiled and handed her a glass. “It’s okay. Erik and I have been best friends for as long as I can remember and Jenna is just like a mom to me. She’s the closest thing I’ve ever had to one.” I shrugged. I didn’t dare tell her that I remembered staring at my mother’s picture for hours when
I was little, wondering what she had been like. But I hadn’t lied; Jenna truly had been like a mother to me—and still was. “Let’s go out on the porch. We’ll need to get started if I’m to keep my promise of getting you home by dark.”
Afterward, we went back to Erik’s house and picked up the Wrangler, then headed toward Nikki’s house.
She slowed down as she drove past Brian’s house. His truck was in the driveway, but the house was dark.
“Maybe he’s out with his mom,” I offered, hoping to chase away the frown that was pulling at her mouth.
“Maybe.”
I started to tell her not to worry, but then the hairs on the back of my neck stood up. I turned, looking out the passenger window toward the woods that ran alongside the road. Something was there. I took a deep breath, searching for a scent, but didn’t find anything out of the ordinary.
“What is it?” Nikki asked, slowing down even more.
“We’re being watched.”
“By what?”
“By whom,” I said, deciding to use some of that night’s lesson correctly. “I don’t know, but it feels like I should. Whatever it is feels...” I stopped, searching for a word that wouldn’t sound too strange. “Whatever it is feels familiar.”
She didn’t say anything else, and I kept my eyes locked on the shadows of the forest for the rest of the way to her house. Then she pulled into her driveway and turned to me. “Would you like to come in?”
“No, I need to get back. There’s something I need to check on back at home.”
“I can get Mom and we’ll drive you back. If there’s something in the woods, you shouldn’t go back that way,” she said, looking worried.
“There are lots of things in these woods, but I’ll be fine. Walk me to our spot?”
She nodded and we got out of the car, walking to the path behind her house. I reached down and took her hand when we stopped, lifting it to brush a kiss against her knuckles.
“Thank you again for the study date,” I whispered, then I let go of her hand and walked into the shadows of the forest.
“You’re welcome,” I heard her say as I moved further into the depths so that she wouldn’t see when I shifted.
Once I was sure she was safely inside the house, I ran, following the edge of the woods to the place I had first felt eyes watching us. I stopped just across from Brian’s house and took a long, deep breath.
Wolf, I thought. And not one I am acquainted with. The faint traces that I was picking up were old, though. At least by a day or maybe more. Who, then, had been watching us? Were my instincts completely wrong?
I followed the trail into the forest for a few moments until I lost it completely. Maybe it was Darren’s wolf, I thought, changing direction to head back to the reservation. The scent of the Keepers always melded in with their surroundings, one of nature’s ways of protecting us as we protected her, but occasionally a new Keeper’s scent would stand out until a few moons had passed.
I still didn’t know who had been watching us, but I could check and see if that scent belonged to our final Keeper.
Darren lived with his mom and dad at the opposite end of the Res, so I made a wide arc and came through the woods on that side, not bothering to switch from wolf as my paws found the gravel road that ran in front of his house.
Probably not the safest course of action, but then, everyone here is used to seeing the wolves and don’t think anything of it.
I padded over to their front door, shifting back at the last second so that I could knock. Even though everyone on our land knows our wolves, not everyone appreciates paw prints on their screen doors.
Reuben came to the door. “Adam,” he said, acknowledging me with a short nod.
“Hello. I’m sorry to bother you so late, Reuben.”
“It’s all right,” he said, his eyes narrowing as he wondered the reason for my visit.
Testing to see if his wolf was still with him, I sent a strong picture of six wolves running through the forest, letting him know that I wanted to see if my pack was now complete.
“No,” he answered in a short, clipped tone. “Whenever my wolf leaves me, U-la-gu, I will be sure to let you know.”
While his words were polite enough, I felt my wolf bristle at the subtle, sarcastic tone, so I took a deep, calming breath before I replied, “Thank you, Reuben. I am sorry to have bothered you.”
Just over his shoulder, I spotted Darren, a look on his face that was obviously asking why I had come. I gave him a quick smile and he returned it, polite, but uncertain, then I turned and left as Reuben closed the door.
My wolf’s hackles were still up. As alpha of my pack, he hadn’t taken Reuben’s tone lightly, so I shifted, and let him run us the rest of the way home.
If it hadn’t been Darren’s scent that I had picked up? Whose had it been? I wondered, going through different scenarios in my head as I raced up on my own porch.
Maybe a regular wolf, I thought. There was a pack of wild wolves that roamed the forest, perhaps it was one of them that had wandered so close.
The phone began ringing the instant I walked through the door.
“Hello?” I answered.
“Hello…Mr. Black Water?” the voice asked.
I laughed, recognizing Nikki’s voice. “Well, sort of. But not the one you thought you were talking to.”
“Adam, how did you get home so fast? You haven’t been gone twenty minutes.”
It wouldn’t have taken me that long if I hadn’t backtracked and gone on a detour…
“Oh, I know shortcuts,” I said, offhandedly. “And I ran a little.” Then I began to get worried. Why was she calling me? “Nikki, are you okay? Did something happen after I left?”
“Yes…I mean. I’m fine. Everything’s okay.” She was talking quickly, her words bouncing together. “I…I was worried about you and wanted to make sure you got home safe.”
“Oh.” She was worried about me. That was something I wasn’t used to. Being U-la-gu typically meant that I was the one who worried for everyone, not the other way around. “I didn’t mean to worry you. I’m sorry. I’m home and everything is okay.”
“Did you see anything in the woods on your way back?” she asked.
“No, everything was quiet, which means something was there earlier. Promise me you won’t go into the woods by yourself, Nikki. There are things in there you wouldn’t understand. Some of it is dangerous.”
“Like what?” she prodded, her voice suspicious.
“Just promise me.”
“Okay, I promise.”
“Thanks. Did you happen to call and check on Brian?” I asked.
“Yeah, I don’t know where he is. He isn’t answering.” The worried tone came back into her voice again.
“I don’t know where he is either, but I’m sure he’s fine,” I tried to reassure her. “Listen, I need to make a couple of phone calls. If you want, I’ll call you back later.”
“No, I think I’ll try calling Brian again. I’ll see you at school tomorrow.”
“I’ll be there. Goodnight, Nikki.”
“Goodnight,” she whispered, and then the phone clicked in my ear.
I held it for a second, considering calling the rest of my pack out to help me scour the woods one more time to be sure I hadn’t missed something near Nikki’s house.
I glanced out the window at the dark sky, my wolf pushing toward the surface as I saw the bright, full moon. I hung the phone up on the receiver.
No, I wouldn’t bother my brothers tonight.
Tonight, I would run alone and let my wolf soak up the moonlight. If there was anything close to her house that should not be there, I would find it.
Chapter 6
Staying out all night had put me in a bad mood. At least, that’s what I was trying to tell myself when I felt the sudden flare of jealousy well up at the sight of Brian and Nikki pulling into the parking lot the next day.
It wasn’t true, though, and I knew it. While
I hadn’t found anything that suggested anything was in the woods that shouldn’t have been, the trip had been worthwhile. Once I came home, I’d felt centered—whole once again. That run had helped both of us, my wolf and me.
So why was I fighting the urge to punch Brian in the face the instant he got out of the truck?
The reason was getting out of the driver’s side, slinging her bag over her shoulder as she shut the door.
Brian didn’t acknowledge me, just ran to the front of the school to catch up with some friends, leaving Nikki behind.
“I take it you found him alive and well,” I said dryly.
“Yes.” Nikki frowned, a small dent appearing between her brows as she looked up at me. Mentally, I kicked myself for my choice of words.
But that all left when I took a deep breath—and caught Brian’s scent mixing with hers.
“Okay, I give up,” she was saying. “What’s the problem?”
“No problem,” I lied, taking another deep breath.
She shrugged, as if she’d given up on trying to figure out what was wrong with me, and began walking. I kept up with her, my nose still telling me that something had happened—and whatever the something was, I wasn’t liking it. Not one bit.
I can smell him. He touched your cheek. Did he kiss you? Why did you let him? What about me? Don’t you care? My thoughts ran in a million directions as we split apart and went down either side of the hallway.
She didn’t say anything as she left. Neither did I.
What happened next was the longest few hours in the history of the universe. I didn’t see her again until English, and by then, I was more than ready to apologize.
She slid in next to me, her long blonde hair bouncing over her shoulder creating an effective wall between us.
I took a deep breath. Now was the time for me to make it right. “I’m sorry,” I whispered.
But she didn’t answer. The teacher came in and started class and Nikki stayed completely on her side of the desk, perching on the edge of the seat like a bird, readying to take flight.
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