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Rami fumbled with the key ring. “It’s all rosy at first. Then the fighting starts, and you’re stuck together until you’re at eachother’s throats every day, miserable and hating the person you thought you loved.”
Jonah’s eyes widened, and Rami hurried to backpedal.
“I mean, that’s not the case with you and Moira, obviously. You two are made for each other. Fated mates and all that. Plus, look at you three, the perfect family. Nothing is going to mess that up.”
And Rami believed that. Jonah and Moira were made to be, and he’d defend them to the death if anything tried to harm them. But what they had was special. Unique. Nothing like anything Rami had ever had before.
“Just a hunch,” Jonah said, leading the way to the start of the patrol route they’d be taking that evening, “but I’m going to wager you didn’t have a happy childhood.”
Rami snorted. “Did anyone? Come on. It’s too cold to be out here without fur.”
He shifted, feeling the rush of power as his body morphed into that of a wolf. Long, mottled grey fur covered his muscular form. His height carried into his wolf form, and he stood taller than Jonah, but leaner, almost rangy, with more legs than anything else. Swiveling his black-tipped ears, he heard the gulls cry as they circled out of sight, a group of children laughing, the creak of a swing’s chain.
Unlike many of the wolves in the Silversand pack, Rami hadn’t been born a wolf. He’d been bitten. What had started as a boys’ night out, a camping trip to get out of the city, had turned into a nightmare. Now, he couldn’t imagine life any other way. It was the only time he could truly let loose and let his impulses rule him.
Jonah took the lead with a burst of speed. The landscape blurred past them, houses and shops and trees blending together until there was nothing but the chase, nothing but keeping Jonah only a pace ahead.
They followed the coast south to a stretch of woods. Jonah turned into the tree cover, and the temperature dropped, their breath puffing in front of them in billowing clouds. Running the boundary of the Silversands' territory, they moved deeper into the forest, where the trees grew closer together, slowing their pace. Roots reached for paws, and low-slung vines threatened to tangle them.
It took some time for Rami to realize what felt so wrong about the place. He and Jonah had pushed their way through the densest growth when he connected the uneasy feeling to the environment—it was silent. No birds sang in the branches. No voles scurried in the underbrush. Rami’s ruff stood on end.
“What was that?” Rami asked Jonah when they returned to the bookshop, shaking off their wolf forms. He retrieved Jonah’s backpack, heavy with books, and tossed it to him.
“I don’t know, but I don’t like it. It wasn’t so eerie last month when we ran it. It’s changed.” Jonah caught the bag and slung it over his shoulder. He looked troubled, his eyes distant. “I need to head home and let Moira know. We’ll have a pack meeting tomorrow.”
“See you then,” Rami said, shivering more from the lingering unease than the cold.
He made his own way home, unable to resist looking over his shoulder. Whatever wrongness had been in that woods seemed to cling to him now. In a way, he’d gotten his wish. Thoughts of Vera had been pushed to the back of his mind forthe moment, a tangled knot of emotion he was only too happy to bury under the worries of whatever threat lurked in the woods.
Rami was eager to be home in his beachside cottage, eager to kick off his shoes and forget the day. But someone stood on his doorstep, lit by the glow of his porch light. A woman. He hesitated, still on edge, then laughed at himself. She was probably just a tourist mistaking his house for her rental. It wouldn’t be the first time that had happened, and he could make out the lumpy, shadowed shapes of bags beside her, slumped against the railing.
“Hey there,” he called, not wanting to startle her. “I think you might have the wrong house. This is my home. Are you renting somewhere nearby?”
She turned, a lump of blankets in her arms. “No, I’m not renting.”
Climbing the steps to his house, Rami froze. He recognized the woman, barely. Her face was a blur from a one-night stand he’d had before getting involved with Vera, and he couldn’t even remember her name. Ashley? Allison? Something with an A, he thought.
“Why are you here?” And how did she remember where he lived when he couldn’t even remember her name? “I’m not interested in sleeping with you again.”
The woman rolled her eyes, and now that he was closer, he could see the strain on her face. Deep, purple shadows ringed her eyes. “Yeah, well, I’m not interested in that either. You’ve done enough already.”
“What?” Rami asked, bewildered. “Look, it was a fun night.” He thought he remembered it being fun, at least. He knew enough to not let on how little he remembered about her. Women didn’t like being forgotten. “But it was just one night.It’s a little… weird to have you showing up at my place late at night.”
In her arms, the bundle shifted. He drew back and scented the air, wishing he’d been in wolf form. Had he misjudged? Was she somehow related to the wrongness in the forest, and did she have some sort of weapon on her?
The bundle let out a squeal. She pushed it toward him, and the blankets fell back, revealing a baby’s face, which was scrunched in displeasure. He had no choice but to take the baby before she dropped it, and he reflexively grabbed for it, holding it gently in his arms. Jostled by the movement, it squealed again, louder.
“What?” He said again, stupidly. “Who—“
“She’s yours. Her name is Jessa, and I’ve had enough. I can’t take care of her anymore, and you know what? It’s your turn.” The woman nudged one of the bags with her toe. “This is all of her stuff. Good luck.”
She turned to go, but Rami reached out and caught her by the arm. “Wait a minute, I can’t take care of a baby. You’re her mom!”
“And you’re her dad.” She wrenched her arm out of his grasp, and he let her go when the baby, Jessa, he corrected himself, started to cry in earnest. “Look,” she said, softening. “I’m not in a good place. I need help. I’m checking myself into a hospital after this, and I just need you to take care of her. Okay? I can’t do it.”
The woman’s face was crumpled in pain, her voice tinged with desperation. She had the gaunt, hollow look of someone who had been struggling with her demons for a long, long time.
“Okay,” Rami breathed. He looked down at the baby in his arms. She was his?
