The Fullback Protector

by Emma Wolfe

  I forced a smile as I approached. “Good morning and welcome to Jordan’s Diner. What can I get you guys to drink?” I tapped my pencil on my notepad as my gaze roamed over them.

  After they each ordered a coffee, I nodded and slipped my pencil behind my ear and tucked the notepad into my apron pocket. Just as I turned to leave, the tall, hairy man in the back corner started to speak.

  Working at a diner, I’d learned to ignore customers’ conversations. I’d heard my fair share of parents yelling at their kids or couples breaking up. But what came from the man’s lips stopped me dead in my tracks.

  “I’m telling you guys—mammoth. I’d never seen a wolf that huge.”

  My ears perked up, and my breath hitched in my throat. Wolf. Huge. I leaned over the adjacent table, trying to look busy as I adjusted the salt and pepper shakers.

  “I’m sure it was just your eyes. Were you wearing your glasses, Neil?”

  The table broke out in laughter, but the low growl that followed told me Neil did not find it funny.

  “Laugh all you want, but I’m telling you there’s something haunting these mountains. Something dangerous, unnatural.”

  I blinked a few times as his words rolled around in my mind. The men moved on to a different topic, and I finished tidying up the already clean table before going back to pour the mugs of coffee for the table.

  There was something about the way Neil spoke that had me spooked. Smoky Hills did have its secrets; maybe that was one of them. Mom and Dad’s diary spoke of something similar.

  Huge, mutant-like wolves.

  I busied myself with taking orders and filling drinks, and before I knew it, Grandma approached me with my backpack in her hand. She handed it over and took my apron and notepad. “You’re going to be late,” she said, nodding toward the door.

  I slipped my backpack on, leaned forward to kiss her on the cheek, and then rushed from the diner. I hated being late. Call it my crazy need to please everyone, but I liked being the smart, attentive girl.

  I headed out the back and opened the door to my car, slipping into the driver’s seat. I had fifteen minutes to get to school.

  I made it in ten. After parking my car, I climbed out and headed into the school. I scanned the far end of the courtyard to see Cora sitting at a table, her head dipped down and shoulders slouched.

  “Hey,” I said as I dropped down next to her.

  Cora glanced up. Her eyes were red, like she’d been crying, and she was sniffling.

  I furrowed my brow. “What’s wrong?”

  Cora reached out and shifted the pile of books around on the table in front of her. “Nothing,” she said, clearing her throat and wiping quickly at her cheeks.

  There was no way I could believe that. Even though Cora and I had just met, I already thought of her as a good friend. But I saw the desperate look in her eyes, so I decided to leave it for now.

  I stretched out my arms and glanced over at her. “Wanna hear something weird I heard at the diner today?”

  Cora nodded. “Yes, please.”

  I grinned as I turned to face her. “There was this group of hunters, and one of them said the craziest thing.” I tapped my fingers on the table.

  “Are you going to tell me?”

  I nodded. “I was pausing for effect.”

  Cora laughed. “Okay.”

  I took a deep breath. “He said he saw a wolf in the woods.”

  Cora studied me with her eyebrows raised. “Okay,” she repeated, this time slower.

  “A huge wolf. Like, not normal-sized.” I tapped my fingers on the table. “Which is crazy, right? I mean, that sounds like something from a fairytale or something.” Or my parents’ notebook. Which was the real reason I was so excited about it.

  When Cora didn’t respond, I turned to see that her skin was pale and her lips were pinched. That wasn’t the reaction I was expecting. “It’s crazy, right?” I tried again, keeping my voice light.

  Cora gathered up her books as she stood. She nodded. “Super crazy.”

  I joined her as she walked down the hallway. “But I have to tell you I’m not surprised. I mean, I always knew that Smoky Hills held some secrets. I just didn’t think it was a magical, mystical creature.”

  Cora paused in front of a calculus classroom and nodded. “Yeah, but you don’t believe that, do you? I mean, wolves like that don’t exist.”

  Shrugging, I leaned against a nearby locker. “I’m not sure anymore. Who’s to say they don’t exist?”

  Just as those words left my lips, I could hear my grandmother’s voice telling me to stop dreaming and come back to reality. After all, it was dreaming about discovery that had got my parents killed.

  Before Cora could respond, the bell rang, and I was now officially late for class. I gave Cora a quick wave and headed around the corner and smack dab into Grayson. Again.

  “Oof.” I pulled back to see him staring down at me.

  There was a weird look in his eye. One that I’d never seen before. Grayson was a lot of things, but worried had never been one of them. “Sorry,” I muttered as I stepped away and headed back down the hall.

  “It’s okay,” I heard Grayson call after me.

  I slipped into chemistry, giving Mr. Ostler an apologetic smile. He narrowed his eyes but continued with his lecture. I settled back in my chair as I glanced down at my homework.

  Thoughts were swirling around in my mind, and I couldn’t seem to silence them.

  One thing was for sure, if there were giant wolves in the woods, I was going to find them.

  4

  Cora

  I sat in English, my leg bouncing under the desk. I was trying to pay attention to what Mr. Burrows was saying, I really was, but I couldn’t get Rose’s words out of my head.

  In a roundabout way, she knew about Liam. She knew about the huge wolves in the woods, and she wanted to uncover them.

  I chewed my lip as I stared up at the clock. Ten more minutes until it was time for home ec. I’d gone home yesterday after my encounter with Liam at my locker. My heart too broken to face the rest of the day.

  Thankfully, Mom had been okay with me skipping. She’d ushered me up to my room with a box of chocolates and all the Hallmark movies I wanted.

  I wished it had helped, but it hadn’t—I doubted I was ever going to get over Liam. But now I needed to talk to him to let him know that Rose was onto them.

  And from what I knew about Rose, she wasn’t going to let it go.

  I tapped my pencil’s eraser on my notebook as my leg continued to bounce.

  Five minutes left.

  Four minutes.

  Finally, the bell rang. I grabbed my books and backpack and rushed to the door. I knew I shouldn’t be so eager to see Liam—he had basically ripped out my heart—but I couldn’t help myself. I missed seeing him. I missed talking to him.

  I made it to home ec in record time. I slipped into my desk and shushed my pounding heart. I didn’t want to give too much away. I knew he could hear my heartbeat, and I needed some things to be hidden.

  But every time the door opened, my heart started galloping only to have my emotions crash back down when I saw it wasn’t Liam.

  I felt like a fool. I’d spent most of my life not knowing who Liam was or that he even existed. Why was I so attached to him?

  Moving to Smoky Hills was supposed to be a fresh start for me, and I was making it anything but.

  Mrs. White walked into the room and made her way over to her desk. I mindlessly watched her move around, straightening things. It was helping keep my mind off Liam’s impending appearance.

  After staring at a piece of paper, Mrs. White looked up and met my gaze. Then she glanced back down and sighed. “Miss Gray, a moment?” she asked, waving me up to the front of the room.

  I studied her for a moment and then made my way over to her. She returned to studying the piece of paper.

  “Yes?” I asked as I approached.

  She smiled at me. “We’v
e had a change in plans. You are now paired with Christopher Larson.” She nodded to the blond kid that was sitting in the far corner.

  He was a large smile of his face as he talked to a girl across from him.

  I brought my gaze back to Mrs. White, confusion clouding my mind. “What? Why? Where’s Liam?”

  Mrs. White stared at me and then clicked her tongue. “That is Mr. Bronson’s business. Is this going to be problem?” she asked.

  I moved my gaze from Mrs. White over to Chris. I was so frustrated—and I was frustrated that I was frustrated. Which was making my mind move a hundred miles a minute.

  I just pinched my lips together and shook my head. Then I turned and made my way back to my desk, sitting rigid in my chair.

  The rest of the hour slowly crept by. I don’t know why I thought that Liam would still show up for class. By the time the final bell rang, that idea was wiped from my thoughts.

  Liam had never showed up.

  Our one class together—the one time I had to confront him—was gone.

  I grabbed my stuff and shoved it into my backpack. Chris was making a beeline for me, but I wasn’t in the mood to talk. I needed to find Liam and ask him who he thought he was. Why did he think he could just drop me like he had?

  “Miss Gray,” Mrs. White called out just before I stepped into the hallway.

  I cringed and paused, not wanting to turn around. There was no way I would stay in the room one minute more.

  “Mr. Larson is your partner. Please make arrangements with him. Do I need to remind you that the baby project is still going on?”

  Oh, I knew. The baby went off last night, and instead of caring for it, I slipped it into one of the exam rooms downstairs while I hid upstairs. It made me think about Liam, and I couldn’t handle it—no matter what it did to my grade.

  When I turned to look at Mrs. White, she nodded toward Chris. He was standing there with a wide grin. I blew out my breath and nodded. Fine. I’d swap numbers with him, and then I’d leave. I could do that.

  I walked over to him, forcing a smile.

  “Christopher Larson,” he said as he extended his hand, “but you can call me Chris.” His smile was warm and inviting. And now that I was looking at him, he was good-looking. But he wasn’t Liam.

  I shook his hand, and he held on a few seconds longer than necessary. I moved to pull my hand away, but he finally dropped it, reaching into his back pocket for his phone. “Can I get your number?” he asked, glancing up at me.

  I nodded. I used his phone to text mine and then handed it back. “There. That’s me,” I said, nodding toward his screen.

  Chris glanced down and then back up at me. “Perfect. I’ll message you later. I have cross country, but after that I’m free to get together.”

  I nodded. “Great. I should go,” I said, turning toward the door.

  Thankfully, no one stopped me as I made my way out into the hall. When I finally got to the locker room to change for cheer, I collapsed on the bench and sighed.

  Rose was already there. She eyed me as she slipped on her tank top. “What’s wrong?”

  I blew out my breath and lay down on the bench. “Liam dropped home ec,” I said as I closed my eyes.

  “What? Why? And how?” Then she paused. “Never mind. The football coach is the school counselor. That’s how.”

  I raised my head. “He’s such a…” So many adjectives were racing around in my mind, but I couldn’t bring myself to utter any of them. Liam made me angry, but I still cared about him. Calling him names wasn’t going to make me happy.

  Rose laughed. “I totally understand.”

  I pulled myself up to a sitting position, draping one calf across the bench and fiddling with my laces as I slipped my shoes off. “It just makes me so mad, you know? One minute, he’s everywhere. He’s saving me even when I don’t want to be saved. He sucked me in, and now he’s gone. Nowhere to be found.”

  Rose furrowed her brow as she studied me. “Gone?”

  I nodded. “He was talking to me every day. But now? Radio silence.”

  I was trying to deal with it, but I was failing miserably. Part of me wondered if Liam had cut ties because he thought that I couldn’t handle him being a wolf shifter. That, perhaps, I was too weak to have around.

  That thought squeezed my chest painfully. It was one thing for him to decide he didn’t feel for me the way he’d thought. It was another thing entirely for him to decide that I was just too plain for him. That I could never live up to his expectations.

  But what did I know about wolf shifters? Could they even love a human? Really and truly? Or were we just pawns for them to play with.

  I swallowed against the lump that had formed in my throat. Even though my head was throwing those thoughts around, my heart refused to believe them.

  I couldn’t believe that Liam would be so open with me about his ability and then drop me for no reason.

  Liam was a lot of things, but cruel was not one of them.

  Rose moved her gaze to study the lockers next to us. She had a contemplative expression on her face. Then, after a moment, she blinked.

  “Everything okay?” I asked as I stood and started getting changed.

  She glanced over at me. “I think it must be a boy thing. Same thing happened with Grayson.” She pulled her hair up into a ponytail. “Boys are a mystery I’ll never figure out.”

  I sighed as I pulled my tee over my head and straightened it. “Isn’t that the truth?”

  Rose slammed her locker and glanced over at me. “Wanna come wolf-hunting with me tonight? I’m going to head into the woods to see if I can find any trace of these giant wolves.” She leaned into me and wiggled her eyebrows. “I want to find out everything there is to know about the mysteries of Smoky Hills.”

  I cleared my throat as the image of Liam and the wolf fighting came into my mind. There was no way I wanted my only friend to go traipsing off into the forest alone. Especially if she did come across a wolf. I wasn’t sure what it would do to her, but I was pretty sure it wouldn’t end well.

  “Really? I’m sure it was nothing. At least, nothing to put your life in danger over.”

  Rose parted her lips, looking surprised. “Danger? What danger?” The mocking tone in her voice made me roll my eyes. She wiggled her eyebrows as she adjusted her shirt. “I’ll be fine.”

  I sighed. “I’m not talking about the mystical, magical wolves. I’m talking about real wolves. And, oh, I don’t know, holes you could fall into. Hiking in the dark is dangerous.”

  Rose shook her head and started mimicking kung fu moves. “Eh, nothing can hurt me. Not when I have these skills.” She laughed, but then it died down as a serious look passed over her face. “Truth is, I need to at least try to answer the questions that my parents posed. I mean, it’s like my last link to them. How could I not?” Her eyes filled with tears, and I could feel her pain as she spoke.

  A pain I knew all too well.

  How could I deny her answers? If I was a good friend, I would go with her.

  So I sighed and nodded. “What time? I’m meeting with my new home ec partner today, but after that, I can come.”

  Rose nodded. “I wasn’t going to go until later. I have to help out at the diner first.”

  I shut my locker and turned, pulling my hair up into a ponytail as we walked to the outside doors. The sun shone down on us as we pushed them open. It was warm and inviting. I leaned my face back so I could soak in the rays.

  “Later works for me,” I said as I squinted over at her.

  She smiled. “Perfect. We’ll make quite an inquisitive team.”

  I laughed, but just as I did, Liam came into view. He had his practice pads on, helmet in hand, and was making his way to the football field. He was twenty feet away with his head down and his gaze focused on the grass in front of him.

  I must have gone quiet. From the corner of my eye, I saw Rose glance from me to Liam.

  “You okay?” she asked.

&
nbsp; I shook my head. “I’ll meet you at the field. I need to do something first.”

  She nodded and shot me an encouraging smile. Good luck, she mouthed as she started jogging over to where the other cheerleaders were warming up.

  Gathering my courage, I focused my attention on Liam and quickened my pace. There was no way I was going to let him run away from me. We needed to talk.

  He must have heard me coming. As I got closer, he began to take larger strides. Frustrated that he was literally trying to avoid me, I broke out into a sprint and grabbed his arm before he could slip away.

  “Seriously?” I breathed out as I pulled back on his arm, forcing him to halt.

  I could feel his forearm muscles tighten underneath my grasp. He’d stopped, but he did nothing to acknowledge that I was there. Which only angered me more.

  “You dropped home ec?” I asked and then winced as I heard my voice. I sounded weak. I hated that I had no control over myself when he was around.

  “It wasn’t conducive to my schedule,” he said, lifting his arm to break my hold. Once he was free, he stepped to the side, but I moved with him.

  “Why are you doing this?” My voice broke as pain and hurt coursed through me.

  None of this was fair. I hadn’t done anything wrong.

  “I told you. We would never be able to make this work.” He paused before he raised his gaze to meet mine.

  His normally warm, brown eyes were dark, almost black. His jaw was set, and his lips were drawn into a line. He raised his eyebrows like he expected me to just go along with what he was saying.

  There were so many things I wanted to say to him in that moment, but none of them played in my favor. They would just make me appear weak. And I was pretty sure that being weak was one of the reasons for Liam’s standoffish behavior. I mean, I was the human in this relationship. I wasn’t hiding some secret ability.

  “So that’s it? We can’t even be around each other? You’re going to avoid me the rest of senior year?” I had to know for sure. I had to hear it from his lips.