“Yeah, for sure.” I didn’t even need to think about it. I knew my mom would come. There was no question about it. And I knew my dad would follow wherever she went.

“I don’t think my mom and dad will.” His voice was small when he said it.

“Why not?”

“Because they stayed when my brothers left. I never even heard them talking about leaving. I don’t think they considered it.”

“They’ll come with us. You’ll see.”

As I said it, my resolve strengthened. I didn’t like seeing Jules feeling scared or unhappy. I couldn’t stand it. I wouldn’t allow it.

Your parents will come with us, I thought. If need be, I’ll make them.

We packed up the cabin with long teeth. It felt almost sacrilegious how easy it was. We’d finished most of the food so there wasn’t much to pack or toss. All we had to do was strip the bed and bundle our clothes into our duffel bags. We latched the windows and disconnected the gas.

Before we left, we stood at the doorway and looked in. The cabin looked identical to the way it had looked when we arrived. Identical. Everything was the same. Except for us. We were in no way the same. We’d arrived as two unshifted friends. We were leaving as wolves. Mates. Two halves of a whole.

I kissed Jules softly on his cheek. “We’ll come back.”

He put his shoulders back and adopted a far more formal tone than usual. “This you swear, Sully Cleary?”

“This I swear,” I replied.

On the way home, we stopped for gas despite strenuous resistance from Jules. “We don’t need gas, Sully. The tank is more than half full.”

“What’s the harm in getting more? You just never know, you know.”

I pumped the gas while he went into the store. It was the farthest he’d been from me since the infamous morning of the mushrooms. I was pleased with myself for being so reasonable and non-crazy about it. I told myself I was doing well. The reality was that I could see the top of his head as he made his way through the store. I tracked him ceaselessly. I didn’t lose sight of him once. When he came out, he had a bag of snacks and a big smile on his face. He looked terribly pleased with himself.

“Look what I got for you,” he said, pulling a T-shirt out of the bag. It was olive green and had the outline of a mountain on it, along with the words I’ve never been so high.

“That’s awesome.” I laughed.