BooksBarbecue
Back The First and The Last Save as PDF
Chapters (25)
  1. The First and The Last
  2. 1. One
  3. 2. Two
  4. 3. Three
  5. 4. Four
  6. 5. Five
  7. 6. Six
  8. 7. Seven
  9. AFTERWARD
  10. 9. Nine
  11. 10. Ten
  12. 11. Eleven
  13. 12. Twelve
  14. 13. Thirteen
  15. 14. Fourteen
  16. 15. Fifteen
  17. 16. Sixteen
  18. 17. Seventeen
  19. 18. Eighteen
  20. 19. Nineteen
  21. 20. Twenty
  22. 21. Twenty One
  23. AFTERWORD
  24. ABOUT THE FIRST AND THE LAST
  25. A LITTLE ABOUT ME

“Oh,” I said, and tried not to worry about how different my dream had been.

7. Seven

7

Jules and I got a job hauling debris at a construction site that first summer after we graduated high school. We were made up about it. It was the first time either of us had ever earned anything worth writing home about. Our moods took a knock when we got our first paycheck and Dalton came knocking, hand out, demanding half of it as pack tax.

That didn’t sit well with me either. It didn’t sit well with me at all.

I’d been granted a scholarship at the local college on account of my grades, and I’d been hemming and hawing about going. I couldn’t really see the point of studying further. Shifters weren’t known to pursue white-collar careers. It wasn’t like I didn’t already know most of what I’d be learning. Dalton hadn’t flat out said that I had to go, but he loved the idea of a member of the Cleary pack being a college graduate.

I strolled down to the pack house and asked to see Dalton. My request drew a few looks, but nothing too serious. I’d done a lot of calculations since Jules and I had paid the pack tax. No matter how I looked at it, the numbers didn’t stack up. The pack was living on fumes, but by my calculation Dalton had cash. Real cash. He had to. He’d been pack leader for almost twenty years and even though he and The Brothers lived a very different standard of living from the rest of the pack, they weren’t what you’d call extravagant. He had to have cash.

“Dalton,” I said, “I’ve been thinking a lot about college.”

“Mm-hmm, been thinking about that a lot, too. You’re making us awful proud, Sully boy.”

“Thing is, I don’t think I can go.”

“Why the hell not?”

“I just don’t think it’s fair for me to go, but not Jules.”

“Aw, Sully. Jules is many things, but he isn’t what one would call college material.”

“There are two of us left, Dalton. Only two. Jules and me. We’re the last two wolves in this pack. What’s going to make a shifter girl choose us when they could have wolves from big packs like the Cedar Key pack?” It wasn’t a threat to leave exactly, but it also wasn’t a promise to stay. Dalton’s face twisted and his teeth clenched when I spoke. “Neither of us have much to offer. Just think how much better it would look for the future of the pack if we were both college grads?”