“I heard you the first three times you told me,” Fen snapped.
“Don’t be smart.” Kris stood and walked back to get another beer. “Bet there aren’t as many patrols during the day.”
“I have school,” Fen started.
Kris opened the second beer. “You think the wulfenkindare going to care that you had school?”
“I could try again tonight,” Fen suggested. “But what about Laurie?”
Kris nodded. “She didhelp, so that term is met. Go get it on your own, and if you can’t get it tonight, you miss school tomorrow.”
“Right,” Fen said.
“If you don’t get the job done, Laurie will have to meet them,” Kris threatened.
Years of protecting his cousin made his answer obvious. He said, “I’ll get it. Promise.”
Fen heard the alarm go off in the middle of the night, far too few hours after he’d set it. It was one of those horrible clocks that ticked, and the alarm was a little hammer that smashed back and forth between two bells. Like Thorsen’s little Hammer trick.Fen threw the alarm at the wall. Like I could throw him.Even as he thought it, though, Fen scowled. The sad truth was that Fen couldn’t toss Matt at a wall. Thorsens were unnaturally strong, and even though every Brekke had a few extra skills of their own, they also knew not to tangle with Thorsens. Well, not everyBrekke knew it. Laurie was still clueless. Fen had only known what was up for a few years, and he’d done his best to play dumb.
Like the Thorsens think we all are.
After Kris snarled about the alarm—and the thunkof the alarm hitting the wall—Fen figured he’d better make as little noise as possible. He carried his boots to the front door. When he stepped outside, he held the screen door rather than let it slap closed. A rush of relief hit him when he turned to face the darkness. He could pretend it was just because he’d avoided Kris’ temper, but the truth was that Fen always felt a bit of stress vanish when he stepped outside. Wolves, even those in human skin, weren’t meant to be inside. This time of night was the best. Most people were in their beds in their homes, and the world was his.
He sat on the stoop, shoved his feet into his boots, grabbed the sack and crowbar Kris had left out for him, and started off toward Sarek Park. If Fen didn’t take care of what he owed the Raiders, there would be consequences. The Raiders— wulfenkindpacks—lived a life of thievery and scavenging, roaming from camp to camp, barely a minute ahead of the law. They could join packs once they shifted, but from birth they owed dues. Usually their parents paid. If not, the pack held a running tally of dues. Fen, like every Brekke, had to either pay dues to the local pack of his age group, join it, or—once he was old enough—go lone-wolf. For now, he’d opted to pay dues—his andLaurie’s. He wasn’t going to offer obedience to anyone simply because they were the best fighter.
Laurie didn’t even know a lot about the ways things worked. She didn’t know what he was or what she might be—because she didn’t know about their ancestor Loki. So she had no idea that Fen was sometimes a wolf. Unless Laurie changed, they didn’t need to tell her.
Her dad, Fen’s uncle Stig, didn’t think she’d change. Her mother wasn’t wulfenkind, so she might turn out to be just a regular person. If she didn’t change, she didn’t need to know. Fen wished he could tell her, wished she would be a wolf, too… almost as much as he hoped, for her sake, that she wouldn’t be one. For now, he agreed to pay her dues to the wulfenkindduring the transition window. Usually wulfenkindparents did that, but Uncle Stig was a lone wolf, so Fen had taken on the responsibility. It’s what he’d have done if Laurie were reallyhis sister, not just his cousin. It meant double payments, but he could handle it. Once they knew if she’d change, she’d take over her own payments, join a pack, or go lone-wolf like Uncle Stig. Laurie was even less likely than Fen to join, so if she changed, Fen figured he’d either help her with payments or they’d go lone-wolf together. The problem with being a lone wolf was that you couldn’t stay in any one territory too long. He couldn’t imagine going lone-wolf without her, and he certainly wasn’t joining the Raiders.
For now, that left him with dues, and for reasons he didn’t want to know, the Raiders said the old shield was payment enough for both of them. The only weird thing was that the wolf in charge of their age pack, Skull, had said Laurie had to be involved at least a little—and she had been. Now Fen just had to finish the job.
His feet hurt from too many trips between Kris’ trailer and the park, but there were rules about running around Blackwell as a wolf, so he went as he was. Of course, even if he was allowed to shift to wolf, it would cause other problems. What would I do? Bite it free?He smiled a little at that image, and he ran the rest of the way to Sarek Park.
This late— or early, really—the patrol cars weren’t passing by as often. He took the crowbar Kris had given him and applied it to the side of the ship with as much force as he could. The shield was already loose. It had to be that specific one, the third shield from the front with the weird designs on it. Viking symbols, Fen guessed. He didn’t know why it had to be that shield; he didn’t really care. He just put his strength into prying it free.
Fifteen minutes and several splinters later, Fen was starting to really worry. “Come on; come on.” He gave another good tug, and the final bolt popped free. The shield dropped to the ground with a loud crash.
Fen jumped over the side of the longship, landing in a crouch with one hand flat on the ground, and grabbed the shield.
As he did so, a big gray wolf padded into the park. He was as large as a full-grown wolf, but even before he shook off his fur and stood on two feet, Fen knew who it was.
Skull grinned at him and said, “Not bad.”
Skull was only a few years older than Fen, but he was a lot scarier than any of the guys at school. He had scars on his arms, and right now, he also had a red scrape on his cheek that kept company with a number of purple and yellow bruises. He wasn’t skinny, but he didn’t have any fat on him. Skull was nothing but muscle, scars, and attitude.
“Where’s Laurie?”
“Not here.” Fen shoved the shield into the bag he’d brought with him and held it out to Skull. “She helped the first time I tried to get it, but she doesn’t need to meet you.”
Skull didn’t take the bag Fen held out. “You can carry it.”
He turned his back and walked away without seeing if Fen had obeyed. Of course, they both knew that he could follow or fight Skull—and that fighting would either result in being hurt pretty bad or being in charge of this pack of wulfenkind.Winning a fight with the lead wolf meant replacing him. As much as Fen disliked Skull, he didn’t know that he could beat the older wolf, and even if he could, he didn’t want it badly enough to risk getting saddled with the responsibility of a pack.
They walked at least five miles, so on top of the lack of sleep, Fen was dead on his feet by the time they reached the camp. Small groups of wulfenkindlooked up with interest.
Skull’s twin sister, Hattie, walked over and held out a chunk of some sort of meat on a stick, probably elk from the smell. “Want a bite?” She took a bite out of it, chewed, and swallowed. “It’s safe.”
He accepted it with a nod. He wasn’t as constantly ravenous as the older wulfenkindgot, because he didn’t change forms as much yet, but he was starting to notice a change.
Skull nodded at Hattie, and she put her fingers to her lips and whistled. Once everyone looked at her, she signaled different people and then different directions. “Check the perimeter.”