Rhodes takes a long sip of his drink. “Yeah, basically the same thing then. Just more drugs at the one up north.”
“Any special kind up there?” Sage asks.
“Fang blossom. Lots of the plants up there, so it makes it easy to harvest.”
“Cool, I’ve always wanted to try that. Here, you can only get Silver Leaf.”
My dad sighs, running a hand down his face. “I think I’d rather not know about your drug habits, Sage.”
My brother laughs and then pulls out a joint, the wild herb catching the breeze and giving off a distinct smell. Nothing unpleasant, but also not my cup of tea. This plant is unpredictable and makes alphas revert to the old wolf behaviors, causing us to be loud and stupid. Sage calls it medicine. I call it a liability.
“Anyone have a lighter?” he asks.
Rhodes pulls one from his pocket and leans forward, holding it out to my brother, the flicker of the flame catching our eyes. My brother places the end of the joint at the flame and sucks in before leaning back with a sigh.
“Not bad, not bad,” he says. “Anyone want a hit?”
Rhodes holds out his hand, and Sage gives it to him. He takes a puff and holds it out to Forest, who gives it to me.
I stare at it, the little rolled joint in my hand.
Shouldn’t do this; I really shouldn’t. It’s never had a good effect on me, but the longer I sit there, breathing in the secondhand smoke, the less I think it’s a bad idea.
Why the fuck not, I think as I stare at the spiral of smoke drifting up from the end. Nothing else to do this weekend but stay home. I have some projects I want to do at my place, but I can do that tomorrow. Right now, I wouldn’t mind relaxing a little.
Maybe this will help me stop thinking about my new boss.
About my omega.
“Have you ever smoked this before?” Sage whispers as I place it to my lips.
“Back in high school,” I remark and then drag it into my lungs. It’s dark and heady, my body relaxing as I sink into my chair. “Remember when I disappeared for two days?”
“Oh shit,” Sage giggles, my dad sitting upright in his chair.
“Absolutely not,” my dad growls. “You put that down, Glenn Vale.”
“Oooh,” River says, giggling. “You’re in trouble. Dad middle named you.”
“Yeah, yeah, don’t worry about me. I’m smarter now. Just got a little too high back then,” I say as I take another puff. Forest pulls it from my fingers and hands it back to Sage, leaving me to grab my beer and take a sip.
“Won’t do anything crazy tonight, though. I’m an adult. A responsible one. No wandering off for me.”
I meet my dad’s eyes, and he closes them for just a second, shaking his head.
“I promise. I’m gonna be fine.”
I’m not fine. Not at all. My weekend is completely ruined. I spend all of Saturday moving in and out of consciousness, resisting the urge to strip down naked and bay at the moon. I swear I hear wolves in the distance calling to me, telling me to join them, to let go. Obviously, I don’t respond, just stuff the pillow over my head and curse Sage.
And myself.
Sunday, I’m not much better, just a walking zombie, barely able to shower or shave. I growl and hiss at any sounds, mainly the stray cats outside, clinging to my screen and screeching at me.
I feed them with a snap of my teeth.
One shows me its butthole as it saunters away.
By the time I show up for work on Monday, I feel like I’ve been scraped off the floor and plastered back together. I shouldn’t have met Sage after our family dinner and smoked another one.
