The She Wolf

Tally

As soon as we were out of the cafeteria, Alex dropped my hand. My whole body went cold as soon as we were disconnected.

He strode ahead of me, and I followed, mesmerized by his swift movements. I wasn’t even sure where he was leading us to; I just knew that I would follow.

“We’re going off-campus?” I asked as we strode off of the school property.

Alex turned around and raised an eyebrow, his blue eyes sparkling. “Isn’t that obvious?”

I opened and closed my mouth, unable to speak. I just kept walking.

After a while, I decided to speed up the pace and ran up beside Alex. It was hard staying in stride with him, seeing as his legs were a lot longer than mine.

“Where are we going exactly?”

“Out for lunch,” he answered nonchalantly.

“Why?”

He rolled his eyes, annoyed by my line of questioning. “Because it’s what I’m supposed to do.”

It hurt my feelings to think that he viewed taking me out as a chore. I stayed silent as we walked.

Finally, we came to the only decent diner in town and took our seats. I opted for a window seat so I’d have somewhere to look if things got awkward.

“We’re not going to make it back in time for third,” I noted.

Alex just shrugged. “It’s just school.” We ordered and then sat in stony silence for a solid five minutes.

“So, do you like it here?” I asked, trying to break the mounting silence.

Alex looked the other way as he answered. “It’s all right.”

It was becoming increasingly obvious that he was avoiding looking at me. Whenever I would speak, he would look down before he replied. I was starting to grow frustrated.

“Do you miss Maine?” I asked.

Alex looked down at his food. “Kind of.”

I sighed. “I don’t understand why you decided to whisk me off campus,” I said bluntly. “It makes no sense.”

Alex looked out the window. The forest reflected in his eyes, tinging them green.

“Things are complicated, and I decided that it would be best if I cleared something up with you. I thought it best not to do it in front of the others.”

I felt my stomach knot. “What has to be cleared up?”

He looked down. “Remember when I helped you pick up all of your things?”

I felt my palms moisten.

He was referring to when time stopped and everything clicked. That magical moment when I met his eyes. The same moment that had been replaying in my mind since it happened.

“Yeah,” I squeaked.

“Do you feel sparks when I hold your hand?”

I swallowed. “Yes.”

“Ignore it,” his voice was like ice.

I frowned. “What?”

“Forget about that moment, ignore the sparks, forget about me.”

I stared at him, wishing more than anything he would look at me. “I can’t.”

He stiffened. “Tally,” he said, his voice weak and strangled, “forget it all.”

“But I can’t,” I protested. “I can’t do that.”

“You have to, or else it will just get more complicated,” he begged.

“Why won’t you look at me?” I asked quietly.

He put his head in his hands and sighed.

“Because I know that once I do, I will crumble. Look, you just have to forget it all happened, avoid me like the plague. Whatever you imagined was between us is just in your head. Understood?”

“Look at me,” I demanded. I felt like the tables had turned. Before it was Alex demanding my gaze, now it was me who was demanding.

His eyes slowly moved upwards until they were locked on mine, and again, I felt like I had been swept off of my feet. Everything was so surreal.

I reached up a hand, not sure what I was doing. He caught it midway and glared at me.

“Don’t. Forget it, Tally. It’s never going to happen.”

“Why not?”

My question seemed to surprise him. “Because I’m bad news.”

I almost laughed. “I’m sure.”

His eyes were no longer blue, but black. “I’m serious, Tally. I don’t bring good things with me. I’m a dark cloud and I don’t want to smother you with my past. It’s not happening. I won’t let it.”

All of the sudden, Alex was standing and then he was gone. I deflated instantly, my heart hammering in my chest as tears threatened to spill.

I wasn’t sure why I was so upset. I hadn’t known him long and we weren’t in a relationship.

But still, I felt this odd bond between us. And I felt like I had lost something important before I had even had it.

I noticed that Alex had dropped money before he left so I stood up and collected my bag before I started the long walk back to school.

Instead of taking the main roads, I decided to walk the forest trail. This turned out to be a mistake because as soon as I was in the forest, I didn’t have the willpower to leave it.

I strolled through the trees, feeling comfortable and at home. I realized I had walked too far when Nala came running up to me, excited that I was home early.

Nala ran through the woods around my house, which was quite a large area. Together, Nala and I walked back to the yard. I tended to the large, old wolf in the pen and then stumbled inside my house.

“Tally?”

I looked up as my mother peeked her head into the hallway; she had some sort of blanket in her hand that she was stitching. “Hey, Mom.”

“Why aren’t you at school?”

“I wasn’t feeling that well,” I lied.

My mother walked forward and put her slim hand on my forehead. She raised an eyebrow. “No fever.”

I shrugged. “Maybe it was just something I ate at lunch then, I just… I had to come home.”

My mother set down the blanket she was working on and headed over to the tiny kitchen. She scrambled around various jars and cupboards and smiled.

“I’ll make up some mint tea to soothe your stomach. Why don’t you go change?”

I smiled and headed up to my room, before doing as she told me. I spent the rest of the afternoon sipping on herbal tea and helping my mom stitch up some old linens and clothing.

My mother moved to make dinner and I fell asleep on the couch.

“Tal!” my mother called. “Dinner’s ready!”

I moved to the kitchen to find a huge bowl of beef stew in front of my seat. My stomach rumbled and I suddenly felt starving. I sat down and cleared the whole bowl in a few minutes.

My mother stared at me from across the table like I was some sort of alien. “Hungry?”

I blushed. “I guess so.”

“I haven’t seen you eat that much since you were a kid,” my mother commented. I shrugged and stood up before helping myself to another serving.

“I’m still starving,” I said. “Isn’t that weird?”

My mother watched as I scoffed down another bowl. “Weird,” she murmured. “Another bowl?”

I shook my head and refused although I was still hungry.

After dinner, I helped clean up and then headed to my room. I scribbled down some homework and then fell asleep.

***

When I woke up in the morning, I had slept in and had to hurry to get to school. I ended up being late and walked into my first class with a tardy slip in my hands.

I took my seat next to Alex and felt a pang in my chest when I remembered what had happened.

My stomach growled and I felt my eyes widen as I noticed that Alex was looking at me with an amused expression.

I looked up to meet his eyes, and then that amusement faded, and he looked away.

By the time lunch hit, I was beyond starving. I ran up to the food line and ordered as much as I could afford. “Tal?”

I looked behind me and smiled. “Hey, Avery.”

“Hungry?” She looked down at my loaded tray and raised an eyebrow. It was unusual for me to have an appetite.

I grinned. “Yeah, starving actually.”

She only shrugged. “Do you want to sit with those kids today? I don’t want you to feel uncomfortable.” I could tell by the way she was biting the inside of her lip that she wanted me to say yes.

“Sure,” I told her. “I liked Mira.”

She grinned. “Thanks, Tal. I’m trying to get to know them since I will be representing them as the junior senator.”

I smiled. “Sure, it doesn’t bother me.”

We started to walk toward the table, and I breathed a sigh of relief as I noticed Alex’s absence. I walked straight toward Mira as Avery branched off to speak with the other kids.

“Hey, Mira, do you mind if I sit here?”

Mira turned to me. Her long auburn hair was pulled up into a tight ponytail. “Sure, take a seat, Tally.”

I smiled at her and sat down before I began mowing down on the food I had bought. I noticed Mira’s hazel eyes on me and sent her a sheepish smile.

“Hungry,” I mumbled.

She nodded and pursed her lips together, but there was something about the way she looked at me as if she knew something. “What happened after Alex swept you away yesterday?”

I felt my face heat up. “We went and got lunch.”

Mira grinned. “Finally!”

I raised an eyebrow. “Finally? He basically told me not to look at him, or think about him, or talk to him, or… He rejected me before I even got the chance to know him. It was strange.”

I wasn’t entirely sure why I was telling Mira this, but she just seemed trustworthy.

Mira’s face went red as her features contorted in anger. “That jerk! I’m ashamed to call him my cousin, honestly. He messes everything up.”

“Messes everything up? He just isn’t interested in me. It’s all right, I guess. I wasn’t exactly sure if I was interested in him. It was just odd.”

Mira shook her head and sighed. “Do you want to come over to my house?”

I blinked a few times. “Really?”

She nodded. “Yeah, that’s why I asked you.”

I blushed. “It’s just, well, I don’t exactly make friends easily and I wasn’t sure—”

“But I’m your friend and I’ve known you for two days,” she pointed out.

“Well, people from here don’t like me much,” I explained.

“Why not?” Mira inquired with a frown.

I frowned too. “My dad was a big advocate for wolves when he was alive. He got in the middle of a lot of town matters when it came to their safety.

“Not many people liked him because he believed in something more than his own happiness. He believed that it was his job to speak up for those who couldn’t: the wolves.

“And the mayor and his board of idiots were too narrow-minded to even consider half of what he said, so my dad had to fight harder.”

Mira smiled. “He sounds like a guy I would admire.”

I nodded. “He was a great man.”

“How did he die?” The bluntness of her question was a little shocking.

I swallowed. “He was caught in the crossfire of a wolf hunt. He was shot down by Harry Bay, one of the biggest wildlife haters I have ever met. It was ruled as an accident and that was that.”

Mira was outraged. “That idiot didn’t go to jail? How do you mistake a man for a wolf?”

I shrugged, trying my best not to let the old wound fester. “I don’t know. My dad was just trying to get to the animal they had wounded. He was trying to help…”

I stopped talking, no longer sure if I could continue without provoking tears.

Mira laid a hand on my shoulder, her touch warm.

“I’m sorry, Tally. That sounds like it would have been hell to go through. How about we have sundaes at my house to make up for me bringing the subject up?”

I forced a small smile. “I love ice cream.”

***

At three o’clock, when school ended, Mira and I drove to her house in her car.

I admired the fact that she could drive anywhere at any time. If there was one thing I needed, it was a car.

We drove for about twenty minutes, and I was surprised she lived so far from the school. It wasn’t until I started to recognize where we were going that I spoke up.

“You live near me,” I told her.

She smiled. “Really?”

I nodded. “I’m only a ten-minute walk from here.”

Mira smiled as she turned onto a small dirt path in between the trees. I thought living beside the forest was out there, but she seemed to live inside the forest itself.

Finally, Mira slowed to a stop, and I looked around to see at least twenty other cars parked in a small parking lot.

I frowned as I got out of the car, totally confused.

We walked down a small path, and a large house came into view.

It was four stories tall, and the top of the roof just broke the treetops. The house had large windows and a wraparound porch with beautiful gardens and a big red front door.

The windows, too many to count quickly, were all edged with white trim that offset the gray siding nicely. It was beautiful.

“This is home,” Mira said.

“What’s with the parking lot?” I asked.

She smiled patiently.

“Around the main house is a series of cottages in the trees. Everyone on the property parks there. The main house is only for the family of the current Alp—uh, the… It’s only for my family.”

“You know, you start a lot of sentences and then don’t finish them, or end them weirdly,” I noted.

Mira laughed and scratched the back of her neck. “Yeah, I know. I’m a weird one.”

“How come you all live together?” I asked.

She shrugged. “We were used to being a tight-knit community back in Maine and wanted to remain one here.”

I nodded. “Cool.” And it was cool, a little strange but I could appreciate community after being isolated from mine with my mother.

We walked into the house, and I was blown away by the number of people. They seemed to notice me and stared; most had a mask of confusion on their face.

“Who is she?”

I turned to see the blond boy I had seen a few days ago in class talking to Mira.

Mira crossed her arms over her chest. “Honestly, Brett, can’t you mind your own business?”

“She smells odd though,” he told her as he looked me over. “She’s in the middle—”

Mira put a finger to her lips. “Hmm, I wonder why?”

Brett seemed to think it over for a second before his eyes grew wide. “Is this Tally?”

Mira nodded, looking smug. Brett grinned and shoved a hand my way. I shook it tentatively. “I’m Brett Cole, Alex’s best friend.”

I grimaced. “Hi, I’m Tally Murdo.”

“I know,” he shot back.

I don’t know how, but the atmosphere of the room shifted, and I knew Alex was there. I looked around and found his blue eyes among the many faces in the room.

“Brett,” Alex said shortly as he approached.

Brett turned around and grinned at Alex before looking back at me. “I met your girl, Alex.”

“I’m not his girl,” I said.

At the same time, Alex said, “She’s not my girl.”

Brett looked confused, and Mira looked pissed off. “He’s an idiot,” she told Brett, jabbing her thumb toward Alex. She was anything but subtle.

Alex rolled his eyes. “Let’s go, Brett.”

Mira smiled, feigning a polite interest. “What are you two doing?”

Brett smiled as well. “We’re going to see a movie.”

Mira’s smile widened, her hazel eyes sparking. “I love movies. And so does Tally.” I blanched as my stomach rolled; there was no way I was going with Brett and Alex.

Alex seemed pissed. “Don’t do this, Mira.”

“Do you want to go, Tal?” she asked me.

Brett grinned. “I would love it if you would come.”

I looked up at Alex, who was glaring at Mira before he swung his gaze and began to glare at me. I looked down. “Uh…”

“It’s settled then,” Mira said. “We’re all going to the movies together!”