Wolf Healer by Huckleberry Rahr

Author:Huckleberry Rahr [Rahr, Huckleberry]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Huckleberry Rahr
Published: 2021-12-02T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 22

Tuesday. School. Had it really only been a week?

It was warm for Wisconsin, forty-six degrees, a veritable heat wave. Compared with Florida, though, it was freezing.

Being a werepanther, the effects of temperature were muted for me. The cold didn’t seem as bitter as it used to. I wore jeans, a t-shirt, and a zippy sweatshirt that read, “It’s more fun in Gainesville.”

It felt wonderful not to be bundled in so many layers. My arms actually went down. Sarah and I met in the usual place.

“Did your parents decide?”

Sarah’s head dropped back as she searched the clouds, then she soldiered on. “Yes, and then no, and then yes. It keeps going back and forth. The problem is this isn’t a game. It’s real life. They don’t want to get caught up in something they can’t get out of.” She sounded lost and threw her arms up in frustration.

Huffing out a laugh, I snorted. “They were told that they can leave the pack at any point, right?”

“No,” Sarah said, looking confused. “We thought it was like the mafia.” She changed her voice to sound low and gruff. “Once you’re in, you’re in for life.”

“Sarah, we told you about Annie. She left, went to college, may or may not return. Did you think we were lying about that?”

“Well, no. Honestly, I kind of forgot about her. Okay, so it isn’t something you have to join for life. That’s good to know. I’ll text my parents when we get to school.”

She sounded like her normal self again.

“Do you want to join the pack? Are you flipping out about all of this? Do you hate me for never telling you about any of this?” My fingers were getting numb, and my heart skipped a beat as I asked that last question. Trying to breathe, I was terrified the answer would be yes. I didn’t know what I’d do if I lost her as a friend.

“Do I hate you? No. I’m impressed, really. You’ve kept this from me for, like, ten years. That’s impressive. You’re even more like a sister to me now.”

There was a pounding on the pavement behind us and when I looked, it was Bevin.

“Hey, kitty cats.”

My eyes narrowed. “No.”

“Fine. Although, you are missing out on some prime nicknaming potential,” he said, waggling his eyebrows.

Sarah didn’t look any more amused than I did. It occurred to me that we hadn’t thought at all about school and all the people we were about to see, and my hand shot out and grabbed Sarah’s elbow. “Stop. Before we get to school, Sarah, we should talk. You are most likely going to be overwhelmed.”

Her eyes narrowed and then she raised an eyebrow in question.

My memory of the airport made me shiver. “Scent, sound, even vision. You need to find a headspace for peace. Close your eyes, breathe. If you need to cover your ears, do it. You can be subtle about it, but you need to protect your senses. There is going to be a lot of information flowing in, and you’ll have to try to control it.

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