Feral

by Nicole Luiken

  Thinking about Abby and his parents hurt, a deep ache, worse than a thousand cuts. He’d learned to shunt thoughts of them away. After the crash, grief had hobbled him, and in the woods where survival balanced on a razor’s edge, he hadn’t been able to afford the distraction, so he’d stayed wolf. He’d cut off the part of him that was Marcus Jennings.

  He’d do almost anything to make Chloe choose him as her mate. Could he do that? Go back to the boy he’d once been? He didn’t know if it was even possible. He feared that his wolf had saved his body at the expense of crippling his soul.

  chapter

  13

  “Marcus, I’d like to run a few tests,” her dad announced that evening. “Just simple ones.” He produced a pencil and paper.

  Marcus balanced on the edge of a kitchen chair, as if poised to flee. Chloe put a hand on his shoulder. “You’ll do fine,” she said, projecting confidence.

  Her mother had approved the pizza party on the condition that Chloe keep up with her homework, so Chloe resumed making notes on her assigned Social Studies chapter and tried not to betray her tension to Marcus as he underwent the testing.

  He had trouble writing, holding his pencil like a toddler in his fist, but followed her dad’s questions well enough. When asked him to write his name, he scribed a huge blocky M A R then ran out of room and had to continue on the line below. He whined in distress.

  “No, that’s fine,” her dad soothed. “It looks like you remember your letters, but have lost some fine motor skills. Let’s try a little math.”

  So much for Chloe’s plan to ask Marcus to write out his answers to the Alphas’ questions.

  His numbers were also big and uneven, but he proved adept at addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. Her dad didn’t go beyond that, but demonstrated the proper way to hold a pencil and set him practising his letters. If Marcus resented being treated like a six-year-old, he didn’t indicate it.

  “I’m going to do a bit more research and then tomorrow we’ll see about setting up some throat exercises for you, too. Limber up those muscles.” Her father moved to pat him on the shoulder, then thought better of it.

  In addition to more deli meat, her mom had purchased new clothes for Marcus and a toothbrush. She handed him the toothbrush. “Go brush your teeth,” she said firmly.

  Five minutes later, Chloe spotted him still in the bathroom. He stared at a large glob of blue freshmint toothpaste on his brush.

  Chloe removed half of it and handed him back the brush. His nose wrinkled.

  “C’mon, brushing is important,” Chloe coaxed. She remembered what Kyle had said. “Nobody’s going to kiss someone with shreds of meat stuck in his teeth.” She had meant the words to be teasing, but they came out flirtatious.

  Perking up, Marcus started brushing. His eyes widened in horror. He spit and spit and spit into the sink, obviously trying to get rid of the mint taste. He gave Chloe such an intense look of betrayal that she snickered.

  “Sorry, I promise you’ll get used to it.” Heartlessly, she left him alone.

  Two minutes later he slunk out of the bathroom in wolf form. The bit of foam at the corner of his mouth set Chloe off again.

  “It’s not funny,” her mom told her. “I shudder to think what damage he may have done to his teeth without dental care for a year.”

  “It’s not like he ate a lot of sugar as a wolf,” Chloe pointed out.

  Her mother narrowed her eyes. “Weren’t you doing homework?”

  Chloe hastily lowered her head back over her textbook.

  Marcus picked a slice of pepperoni off the top of the pizza and ate it, but pushed aside the melted cheese.

  Chloe sighed. “Maybe you should be tested for lactose intolerance.” She couldn’t imagine voluntarily giving up pizza. Or pop, which Marcus had also scorned.

  She’d pinned a lot of hope on this party. In the three days since the Alphas’ ultimatum Marcus still hadn’t spoken. He hated the throat exercises and practising writing the alphabet. Every time she turned around he’d gone wolf again.

  The only time he seemed happy was when he was bounding through the woods.

  Whatever form he took, he glued himself to her side. He’d even come with her yesterday when she did her punishment detail of raking and garden work at the Alphas. She hadn’t liked the way Nathan had watched him the entire time as if expecting him to suddenly turn violent.

  She’d half-expected Nathan to refuse to let Judy come to the party, but she was here along with the other Pack kids. Pizza had been consumed, and the hockey game would start soon.

  Trying to relax, Chloe moved into the living room. “Who’s playing?” she asked, plopping down in the empty spot beside Kyle on the sofa.

  “Oilers versus the Flames, grudge match,” Kyle said with relish. He put his feet up beside hers on the coffee table.

  Before Chloe could blink, Marcus shoved Kyle over and squished in between them. His lip curled in warning.

  He couldn’t have been more obvious if he’d hung a sign around her neck saying Mine.

  Judy was staring, her pop can halfway to her lips. Chloe blushed. What should she do? Ignore it?

  Marcus was more Dominant than Kyle. By Pack rules, he had a right to shove the other boy aside. If she interfered with that, she would confuse Marcus.

  But the muscles in Marcus’s leg pressed against hers, and, since he was once again not wearing a shirt, her arm also brushed against his bare chest.

  She did not want to spend the whole hockey game like this: hyperaware and overheated. She affected casualness. “Hey, you’re crowding me. Shove over you two.”

  Kyle and Marcus obligingly bumped over, giving her a couple of inches of breathing room.

  Chloe only pretended to listen to the TV hosts’ pre-game chatter. To her disappointment, Marcus’s gaze roamed the room, not focusing on the TV. Was this going to fail, too?

  But when the game finally did start, he leaned forward, following the play. When the Flames scored early on, he growled.

  Chloe relaxed and got caught up in the game herself. Thankfully, it was an exciting one, with lots of end-to-end action.

  Pine Hollow wasn’t particularly close to either Edmonton or Calgary so loyalties were divided. Dean and Kyle cheered for the Flames, whereas everyone else leaned more toward the Oilers.

  Chloe cheered for the Oilers, her mom’s team, most of the time, but if they didn’t make the playoffs she’d cheerfully switch loyalties to the Maple Leafs, her dad’s team of choice.

  After the first period, she did the hostess thing and put out a tray of cut vegetables, as well as chips and dip.

  When she re-entered the living room, Kyle was trying to persuade Marcus to play a game on his phone.

  Chloe had had zero luck interesting Marcus in video games, but she hung back and let Kyle try.

  But Marcus noticed her standing there and stopped paying attention to Kyle. She set the last two bowls down on the coffee table. “Have some chips!”

  He rejected the nacho-flavoured Doritos, but started scarfing down the plain potato chips. Good. He was too thin, still.

  Muscled, but too thin.

  The Flames won, but otherwise the evening went well. Chloe was feeling cautiously optimistic until Judy’s dad arrived to pick her up.

  “Chloe,” Nathan said. “Why does your property stink of wolf urine?”

  Chloe winced.

  “It’s the feral, isn’t it?” Nathan said heavily. “It’s marking your territory.”

  “Marcus,” Chloe correctly him sharply.

  The Alpha turned the full weight of his stare on her. “Is Marcus responsible?”

  Compelled, she nodded. While Chloe was in wolf form herself, Marcus’s behaviour had always seemed perfectly natural and unremarkable. Now it seemed weird. Had he used the toilet at all? She thought he had, but she couldn’t say for sure.

  “We’ve been working on other areas,” she said.

  Marcus slipped into place besid
e her, his muscles taut and corded.

  Don’t growl. Don’t challenge the Alpha.

  Nathan nodded. “Has he spoken?”

  “Not yet. My dad has set him some voice exercises. We’re trying to limber up the muscles.” Chloe struggled not to sound defensive.

  Nathan grunted. “Judy, you ready to go?”

  “Yes, Dad.” Judy slipped into the entrance way.

  While Judy put on her shoes, Chloe desperately tried to think of some proof of humanity or improvement she could offer. He eats with us, but prefers meat. He sleeps as a wolf at the foot of my bed. He can’t talk and he writes like a kindergartner. He refuses to brush his teeth.

  She still hadn’t thought of anything convincing when Judy and her dad left.

  “We’re in trouble,” Chloe told Marcus later that evening. She was sitting up in bed, unable to sleep, and Marcus lay beside her in wolf form. She petted his head, trying to soothe herself more than him.

  Her emotions were all in a jumble.

  Anger burned inside her chest. Marcus had been a wolf for almost a year. Asking him to return to being a boy like flipping a switch in a week’s time was ridiculous. He wasn’t any more a danger to others than soldiers who’d come back from war with post-traumatic stress disorder, and nobody suggested killing them.

  He wasn’t feral. She’d caught glimpses of Marcus the boy: his fascination with hockey, the devoted way he shadowed her, the small smile on his lips when she agreed to go for a run. He might be part wolf, but he was also Marcus, Abby’s brother.

  He just needed more time. She clenched her fists. Time they didn’t have.

  Underneath the anger lay stomach-churning fear. She’d never been more terrified in her life.

  More than ever she didn’t trust the Alphas to make the right decision. Olivia had been absent or erratic for months because of her illness, and Nathan was so worried about her that he’d become impatient with other issues. He wanted them settled fast. And Marcus’s recovery wasn’t going to be a quick thing.

  The one-week deadline was rushing up at them with the speed of a Nascar racer.

  She feared Nathan had already made up his mind to judge Marcus feral.

  Chloe’s heart ached, and her entire being rebelled. She couldn’t let them execute Marcus. She’d promised Abby’s soul that she’d keep Marcus safe.

  She’d fight, if it came down to that. But she was one small wolf against the rest of the Pack. She’d lose. They’d restrain her, and Marcus would die.

  Marcus lifted his head, whining, and she swiped away the tears running down her cheeks. “Don’t worry,” she told him. “I won’t let them touch you.”

  The Alphas could get away with murder because Marcus was already believed dead.

  So it was time to show the townspeople he lived. Chloe took out her phone, intending to post a photo on social media, but would that be enough? Photos could be faked. What if the Alphas claimed she was lying? No, if she was going to go public, she was going to need multiple eyewitnesses, too many to be dismissed or intimidated. She nodded firmly. Tomorrow, they were going to school.

  chapter

  14

  “You’re up early,” her mom remarked between sips of coffee. “What are your plans for the day?”

  Chloe had big plans. Phase One: get her parents out of the house. Her dad had already left on an emergency call, and her mom would soon follow. All Chloe had to do was keep her mom from getting suspicious.

  Chloe shrugged. “I might make an appearance at school. I don’t want to fall behind on my homework.” She skirted the edge of a lie.

  “Leave Marcus alone for a bit? Hmmm. I suppose we’ll have to get back to a regular routine sometime,” her mother said.

  Chloe took a bite of toast and said nothing. As much as her parents wanted to save Marcus, they couldn’t go against the Alphas’ orders. Physically couldn’t. But Chloe hadn’t received the Bite yet. She could.

  Her parents would be mad at her afterward, but any punishment would be worth it to save Marcus. And she’d make it clear to the Alphas that her parents had known nothing of her plan.

  “I have to go now.” Her mom stood up. “It’s my turn to look in on Olivia and run errands for her. Then I have a full day at the clinic. Prep supper, but don’t put it in the oven until your dad and I let you know when we’ll be in.” Her mom continued giving instructions as she put on her shoes and jacket. “Don’t let Marcus cut short his vocal lessons. It’s vital that he start talking again.”

  “I won’t,” Chloe promised.

  The instant her mother drove away, she sprang into motion. Phase Two: transportation to school. She snatched her backpack from where she’d stashed it in the closet, then retrieved Marcus from his bedroom where he was waiting, already dressed. “Hurry or we’ll miss the bus.” She grabbed his hand and hurried him out the door—only to backtrack seconds later when she realized he was barefoot.

  He’d let her pull a T-shirt over his head for the first time this morning, though he’d growled a little. Now she made him slip on the new Crocs her Mom had bought him.

  Stomach tight with nerves, she lectured him the whole trip down the driveway. “We’ll be riding the bus. You can sit with me. The bus is bigger than the SUV so you shouldn’t feel crowded. Remember, no growling at people even if they do stupid things. And absolutely no Changing. We’re not going to stay at school long. We should be in and out in twenty minutes. If you get desperate, just tell me and I’ll make an excuse to leave immediately, but I need you to try your best.”

  Marcus’s head turned. The bus approached.

  She touched his jaw and looked into his blue eyes, impressing her fierceness on him. “Today is important. You don’t have to be perfect, but you have to stay long enough to be seen, okay?”

  He nodded.

  The bus screeched to a stop. Showtime.

  To her relief, Marcus boarded without prompting, though his nostrils flared at the stink of exhaust.

  The driver, Mrs. Patil, was accustomed to the Pack kids getting on or off at each other’s stops and never fussed about it. But today her mouth hung open. “Marcus Jennings?”

  “Go sit down.” Chloe gave Marcus a little push. She paused to whisper a few words to Mrs. Patil. “After the plane crashed, he was lost in the woods for a long time. He doesn’t talk much. Please, don’t say anything about the crash. The rest of his family died, and it was really traumatic.”

  Eyes as round as ping-pong balls, Mrs. Patil nodded. She put the bus back in gear, but her eyes watched Marcus in the rear-view mirror several times on the way to town.

  Dean and Kyle weren’t on the bus—they usually drove. Brian was already on board, but had his head down on the padded seat in front of him, sleeping.

  The bus bounced down another mile of gravelled road then slowed in front of Judy’s house. “Hunch down,” Chloe told Marcus. They couldn’t risk one of the Alphas spotting him through the bus windows.

  Judy boarded and headed toward the back of the bus. She stopped in the aisle when she saw Marcus and almost fell when the bus lurched into motion. She sat kitty-corner from them.

  “What are you doing?” she hissed. “My mom hasn’t approved taking him out in public yet.”

  Chloe hesitated. Play innocent or try to get Judy’s support? In the end she shrugged. “He needs to get used to other people sometime.”

  Inside, her muscles coiled, ready to throw Judy’s phone out the window if she tried to text her mother.

  “But he’s still half wild!” Judy protested. “He could give us away.”

  Chloe met her gaze. “He’ll be fine for half an hour. That’s not the real reason your mom wants him kept out of public view and you know it. I won’t let anybody kill Abby’s brother.”

  Judy just shook her head. “I hope you know what you’re doing, Chloe.”

  She hoped so, too. “It’s already too late. Mrs. Patil has seen him.”

  “True.” Judy steadied.

  The last stop
before school was Ilona’s ranch house. As usual a wave of horse scent preceded the blonde. Chloe wrinkled her nose. Marcus sniffed several times as if puzzled. She patted his arm. “Ilona’s okay, just horse crazy.”

  Ilona plopped down in the seat in front of Chloe and across from Judy. She frowned. “Who’s this?”

  “Ilona, you remember Abby’s brother, don’t you? Marcus Jennings.” Ilona had moved to town a few months prior to the plane crash.

  Ilona blinked. “But Abby—”

  Judy frantically shook her head.

  Ilona cut herself off. “Uh, good to see you again, Marcus.”

  Marcus nodded solemnly.

  “So, I’ve been out of school a few days.” Chloe changed the subject. “Tell me the latest gossip. What’s up with you and Dean?”

  Ilona’s expression grew stormy. “The coward dropped me like a hot potato as soon as his dad found out.”

  Chloe nodded thoughtfully. “Yeah, Dean isn’t much of an original thinker, is he? He just follows along with whatever the most dominant personality says.”

  “Still, that body. And face.” Ilona sighed. “What a waste. So who should I set my sights on next? What about him?” She pointed to Brian, who was still sleeping like the dead. “Is he good boyfriend material?”

  As if on cue, Brian started snoring.

  Judy snickered.

  Chloe joined in. “Brian is more easy-going than Dean, but I’m afraid he still thinks fart jokes are the king of comedy. He is cute, though,” she offered fairly. Brian had a nicely muscled chest, ink-black hair and a firm chin. She tensed in case Ilona said anything racist about Brian’s epicanthic eye folds. His half-Chinese ethnicity was a rarity in the predominantly-white northern community and had caused scuffles between Pack and townies in the past.

  Ilona sighed theatrically. “Fart jokes? Now I understand your interest in younger men,” she nodded toward Marcus, who was staring out the window as they entered Pine Hollow. “They are still trainable.”

  Judy snorted with laughter.

  Chloe started to say Marcus wasn’t her boyfriend, then settled for raising one eyebrow. Let Ilona think what she wanted. It could cause complications if Ilona set her romantic sights on Marcus.