“I’ve been waiting my whole life. You know that, Sully boy? It’s what I do. I wait. For the last few years, I’ve been waiting for death. Before that, for over twenty years now, I’ve been waiting to hear the cry of a new Cleary wolf pup, and before that, ever since I was a girl, I’ve been waiting for the White Wolf. And I still am.”

“What d’you need him for anyway?” I said. Then, to try to get a rise out of her, I added, “Him or her.”

She chuckled at that. “Oh, the next White Wolf is a he, but the one after that . . . for all I know, that one might be a she.”

I rolled my eyes. I was damn sure she was having me on. There was no way she could know that. “Seriously, why are you waiting for him?”

She shrugged. “I guess I want to fly one last time. Need him to shift me, ’cause I can’t do it on my own anymore.”

Mrs. O’Malley was something else. I realized then and there that she was so crazy she might just outlive us all because of a mad determination to see a myth, a legend, a fairy tale, come to life.

“How do you do it? How do you wait and not feel angry all the time?” I asked.

“Oh, I gave up anger for Lent one year and I never took it up again. And do you know, I haven’t missed it at all.”

I didn’t even bother asking what a wolf like her had been doing observing a Lenten sacrifice. I didn’t want to get into all that. Instead, I said, “Do you think I should try giving up anger for Lent next year?”

She laughed at that. “Don’t be so silly, boy. You need yours.”

14. Fourteen

14

The endless boredom of summer was broken by rumors of vampires headed our way. The pack was abuzz with news. Apparently, they were heading up toward us from Oklahoma. We didn’t see a lot of vampire activity in Clearwater Valley, but now and again, they’d swing by, and we’d run them out of town. As shifters, we were uniquely programmed to despise vampires. I hadn’t even shifted yet, but I knew they weren’t for me. Just the thought of them made my skin crawl. Dead men and women with ice cold bodies feeding on human blood.

Ew.

No thank you.

The rest of the pack were riled up as hell. Dalton and The Brothers were huffing and puffing and flinging violent threats around. Even the omegas were on their feet instead of lazing under the cottonwood tree.