Tora cut him off with a shake of her head. “No way,” she said. “The job’s yours. You can have it. It was nice to be the leader for a little while, but it’s not for me.”

“But you were so good at it,” Harlan said.

“That’s right,” Argus agreed.

“Thanks.” Tora was flattered by the confidence everyone had in her, but it wasn’t changing her mind. “It’s nice to know I can step in and lead if I have to, but there’s just a bit too much pressure that goes with it for my liking.” She moved over to Noble’s bedside and put a hand on his shoulder. “In fact, I’m looking forward to you getting better so I can go back to being a follower again.”

“Well, I’m feeling much better,” Noble said. “Almost 100 percent. Phyllis even thinks I can go back to school tomorrow.”

Tora took a breath and let out a long sigh of relief. “Am I ever glad to hear you say that,” she said, getting up to leave.

“Where are you going?” Noble asked.

“To call Michael Martin,” she said. “After everything that’s happened, I think there’s something I need to tell him.”

Chapter 25

All four pack members returned to school the next day, doing their best to keep to themselves and get through the day without an incident.

Noble had a score to settle with Jake MacKinnon, but he knew that the longer he waited to confront Jake, the better shape he’d be in to deal with the bully. Of course, Noble wouldn’t back down if Jake pressed the matter, but he still wasn’t 100 percent, and the last thing he wanted was to give a creep like MacKinnon an advantage over him.

As for Argus, he didn’t want to make a big thing about finding Angelina and bringing her back to the hospital, but several students had obviously heard and weren’t about to let the day pass without saying something about it.

“Hey, wolf-man!“ a girl said as she passed Argus in the hall, giving him a friendly wink.

Argus was upset by the comment and looked as if he wanted to say something, maybe even hit something, but Noble managed to keep him in check.

“Relax, Argus,” he said, tugging on his bigger brother’s sleeve. “I don’t think she meant it in a bad way. And besides, there are worse nicknames out there.”

“Yeah,” said Harlan. “Like Dogface.”

Argus laughed under his breath and smiled. “I guess there are,” he said, and then in little more than a whisper, “I am the wolf-man.”

“That’s it,” Noble said. “If you play along with them, they’ll move on to something else before you know it.”