Chapter 13

After they’d finished washing and putting away the dishes, there was a knock on the front door.

“Did Argus lock himself out?” Harlan asked, drying the last of the silverware—a misleading name for it since the knives and forks were all made out of stainless steel and the pack would never have anything made of silver in the house.

Noble took a look out the front window. “No, it’s just Michael Martin.”

“He didn’t say anything about coming over,” Tora said, a confused look on her face.

“Well, he’s here,” Noble said. “Don’t leave him standing outside all night.”

Tora answered the door. “Hi, Michael,” she said.

“Hey!”

“What brings you here?” Tora asked.

“My bicycle.”

“That’s not what I meant.”

Michael shrugged. “I don’t know…I was in the area.” A pause. “I haven’t seen much of you lately and I was wondering if everything was okay.”

Tora realized she’d been so wrapped up in her new friendship with Maria Abruzzo and engrossed by the plight of the werewolf in their backyard that it might have seemed like she’d forgotten all about her “boyfriend.”

“C’mon in,” she said, closing the door behind him.

“Hi, Michael,” said Harlan.

“Hey, Mike,” echoed Noble.

“He came to visit me,” Tora said, grabbing him by the hand and leading him through the house to the back door.

“Where are we going?” he said.

“Out back. There’s something I want to show you.”

“Is it the wolf?” Michael asked.

“Yes,” she said, grabbing her coat and slipping on her boots. “And more.”

They stepped out the door and took the long way around the garage to the pen where the wolf was. She was up on all fours and moving about with a slight limp.

Tora crouched down behind a woodpile and gestured to Michael to do the same.

“What is it?” he said.

“Get down!”

Michael joined Tora and the two of them peered over the woodpile at the wolf. “Okay,” he said. “What’s the ‘more’ part?”

“Just wait.”

They stayed there in silence, watching.

Then, with barely a sound, the werewolf came out of the forest and moved closer to the pen, until he was sitting at the fence with three fingers stretched straight through a hole in it. The wolf limped over and began rubbing her body against the fence.

“Wow!” said Michael. Tora had told him about the pack and their secret, but Michael had never really seen any of them in their full werewolf form.

“He’s been out there waiting ever since he brought her here.”

“Really? They must love each other.”

They remained crouched behind the woodpile for the longest time, just watching the wolf and werewolf.

Finally Michael said, “So, this is what you’ve been doing with all your time lately…” From the tone of his voice, it sounded as if he understood.