Chapter 5
I didn’t even think through my lie. The words just came out of my mouth.
“I saw him,” my mouth was running faster than my brain could process. “I saw him take the rest of the pack. It’s safe at my camp, where I’m from.”
“Right,” he said softly, the belief in his eyes growing. “You said… your mom was friends with my dad...?”
I nodded. It was close enough to the lies I had told in the kitchen.
“That’s right. So, we need to follow them. But quietly. The Moonblood’s might be coming after us.”
He nodded, seemingly accepting my story. I let out a breath. I didn’t have time to feel guilty about lying to him. I had to get back to my pack, make sure my family was okay.
“Come on,” I said, offering a hand to help him up. “Let’s go.”
He got up slowly, holding his arm in pain. I hesitated, a small part of me worried.
“You did good,” I said. “Getting away.”
He flushed. “I just ran. Pulled away and ran. I didn’t even…” He trailed off, his face beet red. He was embarrassed.
“I thought you were the brave playboy Alpha’s kid?” I couldn’t resist taunting him a little. It was cruel, the kid just lost his pack and family, but a part of me was still a little pissed at getting slapped by his girlfriend.
“I was, I guess,” he said, his voice dropping. “Now…”
“Now what?” I encouraged him, knowing he had more to say.
“… I couldn’t shift. Not even when I was attacked. I’m… wolfless.”
Oh.
Oh.
He was like me.
A whole new realm of answers opened before me. Of course Alpha Grey took me in. He had a wolfless son. He understood my mother’s worry about having a wolfless daughter.
“Are you going to laugh at me?” He asked and I blinked.
“No,” I said quietly. “I’m not laughing.”
I didn’t tease him. But I wasn’t going to tell him my truth, either. He didn’t need to know that I was also wolfless. Not yet anyway.
“It doesn’t matter,” I said firmly. “What matters now is staying alive. Both of us.”
“I’ll slow you down,” he said quietly. “I can’t shift and run in wolf form like you can.”
Like you can. The words stung a little bit, but of course he didn’t know the truth. He didn’t know I couldn’t.
“I’ll stay in human form,” I insisted, maybe a bit too eagerly. “We’ll make it together.”
He smiled softly and nodded.
“… I owe you.”
That made the guilt pile up. I was lying to him, hiding the truth about me, the truth about his father. He would hate me when we go back to my pack, and I had to tell him the truth. That his father was dead.
Maybe some of his pack will end up there. Maybe my parents are fine, and open to offering sanctuary…
It was foolish hope. But I held onto it.
“You don’t owe me anything,” I said. “Let’s just get to my pack, okay?”
He nodded, and the two of us took off deeper into the woods together.