“That’s what Buck says too,” Estelle said. “And look what he’s like.”
“We do not need two Bucks,” Flora said fervently. “Like,ever.”
“You need to let your wolf do wolf things, or you’ll lose touch with her.” Beth looked genuinely worried about this. “Please, alpha. You do so much for us, we just want to make sure you take care of yourself, too. Promise that you will, okay?”
Honey hesitated. She hated having to deceive the kids. She couldn’t lie right to those innocent, trusting faces.
But if she kept evading the issue, they’d start to become suspicious. She’d already come perilously close to a fatal mis-step with Ignatius. She couldn’t afford to make another.
“Well… all right,” she said reluctantly, trying to convince herself that it wasn’treallya lie. “If it’ll set your minds at rest, I promise that I’ll take time to relax and meet my own needs.”
Estelle held out a crooked finger. “Pinky promise?”
Honey obediently hooked her smallest finger around Estelle’s tiny one. “Pinky promise. Now, if you’ll excuse me…”
The girls stayed parked on the step, looking up at her expectantly.
“Uh.” Honey’s heart sank. “You… want me to go… now?”
“Itisa nice night,” Flora pointed out.
“Lovely full moon,” Estelle said encouragingly. “Perfect for howling at.”
“Estelle,” Beth said out of the corner of her mouth. “It’s waning gibbous. Don’t you payanyattention in stargazing session?”
“Well, that’s even better than full,” Estelle said. She seemed to flounder for a second. “Because it’s, uh…”
“More private?” Claire offered.
Estelle seized on this. “Right. Private. Like, if it was afullmoon, every other wolf shifter would be out in those woods. But tonight you should have it all to yourself.”
“Mostly,” Flora added, shooting the other girls a sly grin.
Beth elbowed the wombat shifter in the ribs. “The important thing is that you go out into the woods and have a proper run.”
“Feel the wind in your fur,” Claire suggested. “Get away from the camp for a bit.”
“You could go up to that place Buck showed us,” Estelle said a touchtooinnocently. “You know, the pretty one, with the waterfall and the cool view? That would be the perfect place to really let your wolf out.”
Flora nodded so vigorously her curls bounced like springs. “If you howled at the moon up there, I bet it would carry for miles.”
Honey was definitely starting to smell a rat, and not the fictitious one that lived under her bed. “You seem to have given this a lot of thought, girls. Do I need to getyouto pinky promise not to sneak out after me?”
“No!” Beth exclaimed. “We would never break the rules by going out after dark without a counselor.Would we, Estelle?”
“Nope,” Estelle agreed cheerfully. “At least, not this time. The whole point is for you to be alone out there with—ow! Beth!”
The form of the rat was starting to become apparent. It was wolf-shaped, with wings.
Still, at least that meant the girls didn’t suspect the real reason she never shifted. And if she played this right, she could keep it that way.
Honey narrowed her eyes at the girls. “You swear that you’ll all stay right here? And that the boys will be in their own cabin too?”
“We swear.” Flora traced an X over the center of her chest. “Cross our hearts and hope to die.”
“We really aren’t trying to trick you, Honey,” Beth said, her young face filled with touching sincerity. “We just want you to be happy.”
Honey sighed, surrendering. “All right then. But I’m going to ask Leonie to check in on you, understand?”
