Malachi tried to keep my routine as normal as he could. That meant, training at the den, every day. I wallowed in self-pity, and the prospect of training didn’t lighten my mood.“You have to focus,” he said as his bare fist landed on my nose, and a trickle of blood appeared.“I’m trying to,” I replied, and brought my hands up to protect my face. His punch caught me in the ribs, and I grunted, and felt it break. Malachi had no mercy on me. Another punch came for me and I managed to block it, but missed the punch that caught me on the side of my head.Malachi stopped and looked at me. “It’s no use trying to train you when you fight like a three-year-old girl.” He grinned at me and I returned his grin. He loved his insults especially if they added to my humiliation.We got into Malachi’s Navigator and drove home to shower. Karani just gave us a look as she saw the blood from my nose and told Malachi to take it easy on me. Tomorrow would be a rough day for me.It was the day of Sarah’s fu
Her name was Adara, and she was broken. That’s the thought she woke up with every morning. She didn’t need to tell herself that, it had been beaten into her ever since she could remember. Her mother, Juniper, was a weak woman. Nobody knew what had happened in her life to make her that way, she didn’t talk about the past at all.The only family Adara had in this cold world was her mother and her stepfather, Ramos. She didn’t remember hugs or kisses or even birthday parties. Soon she would be seventeen, and then it was just one more year until she could leave – if they let her leave.She didn’t have many memories from her childhood, almost like something or someone had made her forget, and sometimes she felt that someone inside her was missing. It was something that always felt just outside her reach and at times she wondered if she was going crazy.At first, it was just Adara and Juniper, alone in a small apartment. If she didn’t do the laundry or clean the apartment, it simply wouldn’
“Adara!” She jerked her head up at the foreign voice calling her name.“Yes, Miss Jackson?” Everyone in class was laughing at her. She had fallen asleep at her desk. Again. The bell rang, and Miss Jackson told her to remain seated as everyone else left the class.“Adara, is something wrong at home?” she asked so gently that Adara burst into tears. She always sat at the back of each class. She never talked to anyone. She did just enough to avoid being noticed. How was it that she noticed her? Where had she gone wrong?“No, Miss Jackson. I just went to bed very late last night.” She tried to give her a convincing smile and shrug of the shoulders like a regular teenager would.“I want you to go see the school counselor. You sleep in class every day. You don’t involve yourself with anything at school, and I can see that you’re losing weight. Your eyes have dark circles under them.” She studied Adara carefully and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. Some people could be so compassionat
Juniper came into her room later and sat down next to her. She sighed loudly and looked at Adara. “Oh, Adara. What have you done?”Adara felt tears well up in her eyes. How could she be that way? Didn’t she care about her at all?“Ramos told them that we suspect you’re doing drugs and that you’re constantly in trouble with the police for shoplifting. I think they believed him.” She had said it in such a way that made it sound like a good thing.Tears rolled down Adara’s face, she shouldn’t even care about all that. They always did that. It hurt to know that everything people knew of her was a lie. What possible future did she have in this world? She felt so lost and lonely, wondering if her own mother ever loved her.“Ramos will take care of that nosy teacher tonight,” Juniper said.“What do you mean?” Adara asked but Juniper put a finger to her lips instead.“The school will have more pressing matters to deal with than a teacher worried about a student.” Juniper smiled at her.“Mom,
Malachi sat in his office, staring at the contract on his desk. He closed his eyes and rubbed his fingers against his temples. He felt inadequate and it was a feeling he hated. His son was hurting and there was nothing he could do to help him.He’d warned Karani, told her that it wouldn’t end well, but she’d gone against him like she always did when it concerned Kiran. Malachi sighed as he thought back to the conversation they’d had.“Malachi, he’s only fifteen there’s no harm in him dating her now, give him the freedom of choice you never had,” Karani said one night as they discussed Kiran and Sarah’s relationship.“It’s wrong, it’s unnatural,” he said to her angrily.“He’s in love.” Karani’s voice was unusually quiet and Malachi’s temper was ticking towards dangerous.“I don’t care if he’s in love, when he shifts for the first time in a few months, what do you think will happen?” Malachi had been brooding about this ever since he’d seen them together, walking hand in hand like they
School would start soon, and I wasn’t prepared to face everyone. The rumors had taken on a life of its own. Did Sarah kill herself because I dumped her? Was it because Jasmine had kissed me? Nobody thought of pregnancy. Sarah wasn’t thought of as cheap or easy, and she hadn’t been. Our relationship had been one of mutual love.I hadn’t seen any of my school friends, except for James. I didn’t take their calls and after two weeks they stopped calling. I was in my own emotional hell and I hadn’t switched my emotions on since the funeral. No good would come of that as I soon spiraled out of control.The newspaper published nothing more about Sarah. Just the lonely caption, ‘Local Teen Takes Her Own Life,’ with a picture of Sarah smiling. My name wasn’t mentioned in the article, and I had to wonder if that was because of Malachi or because of her parents.A week into the summer holidays, we traveled to inner Alaska and Canada to visit other packs. Malachi knew a lot of people and he held
James and I sat on that bathroom floor, with James’ arm around my shoulder, as he let me cry it out. I cried for Sarah as much as I cried for myself. It took a while for me to compose my emotions again but once I had, I felt better, and I splashed cold water on my face.James looked at me and nodded his head. This was what he had hoped for, that I would break down and cry, and let it all out. “Good, now let’s get a drink.”We could drink more than the average human, because our body heat burned the alcohol from our systems much faster. We could get drunk but we didn’t stay drunk for too long. How much and how fast you drank also played a role, but we could easily drink five times what our friends could.At 1 AM, I dropped James off at home and promised him that I was going home as well. I wasn’t. I needed space, time, and something. I wasn’t sure what though. Release maybe? I turned on 3rd Avenue and drove straight toward the Seward Highway. I turned left again and parked at the lagoo
In the reception area, the secretary nodded her head at a chair and I sat down and waited. After what felt like half an hour, the secretary cleared her throat. “Mr. Rush will see you now, Kiran.” I knocked on his office door and entered.“Kiran, please, sit down.” Mr. Rush remained sitting behind his desk and I sat down and looked him straight in the eye. An Alpha never looked down, it wasn’t in me, even if I hadn’t been a wolf, I still wouldn’t look down.“How are you doing, Kiran?”“I’m doing just fine, Mr. Rush.” It was the truth. Ever since I’d let go of Sarah’s memories, I was simply fine. It was a benefit of being a wolf.“I know you and Sarah broke up quite some time before she …er… the incident.” He looked uncomfortable as he searched for the correct words. “I hope you don’t blame yourself for what she did.”“It’s extremely sad that she did this. I’m sad that she couldn’t talk to someone, anyone, about what she was going through. I feel sad for her parents, but I don’t blame m