Page 20 of Opposites Attract
*
The afternoon breeze danced around the trees. I kicked a pinecone, sending it sailing toward the bushes as I slid my phone into my back pocket. No cell service out here. It figured.
Things will work out.
Always the optimist.
One of us has to be.
“Are you the new Luna?” a little voice called.
I turned my face to the sky, squinting between the branches of the trees. “Are you a squirrel?”
“No.” Giggles followed as a little girl shimmied down the nearest pine tree. Booted feet hit the earth and she turned big blue eyes up my way. “You’re prettier than on TV.”
I chuckled. Maybe everyone wasn’t an asshole here. “That’s good to know. Did you see the show?”
“We all did.” She nodded eagerly. “Bryant played it at the lodge and we got popcorn when we watched. We even got to stay up late.”
“How many kids are there?” I frowned. We hadn’t passed a park in the area and John barely mentioned the school. Notthat I liked kids or anything, but I’d almost assumed the whole pack was made of elderly shifters or young adults hurrying to get away.
“Come on. I’ll show you. We’re meeting at the fort.” A small hand laced through mine and I cringed.
It’s touching me.
It’s got little teeth. We’ll be fine.
“I’m Alice by the way.” The surprisingly strong, tiny girl pulled me along behind her. “And Iloveyour black fingernail paint.”
*
The “fort” was a lean-to made of fallen tree branches and a moldy piece of plastic siding surrounded by a circle of rocks half-heartedly stacked like a fence. A frayed ladder rope hung from a low branch overhead where a heavyset boy sat kicking his bare feet on a piece of rotting plywood. Another small child crouched inside the fort, watching me approach with distrustful eyes. The sight of the dirt on their faces and clothes had my wolf whining. I took a deep breath, slowing my heart.
They’re fed and cared for. Look at their bellies.
Where are their parents?
Probably glad they’re out playing.
Memories of my childhood, of Ranger and me in wolf form as we hid out in the woods, and of the hunger pangs that plagued us, came to me in snippets. I pushed them away like I always did and focused on the present.
“Password,” the boy on the tree branch commanded. I thought about tossing a rock to knock him off, but I glanced at Alice instead.
“It’s password.”Alice whistled a tune out loud as she whispered the answer through our link. That tugged on something. The connection she shared with me was pack, butit was also something more. As if my soul was called and it answered with purpose. Maybe being a Luna meant I felt the links to the weakest members of the pack stronger. Or my heart was growing larger.
Strange. Very strange.
I should probably get that checked out.
“Password,” I said confidently.
The boy passed over the rope with a smile and just like that, I was in.
*
“Alice wants to be a Luna like you,” Hannah teased as we sat around the empty firepit inside the fort.
“Do you?” I asked.