“And I just thought if I could mind-link with Jasper it would make this whole long-distance thing easier.”
“You haven’t had a lot of time together, have you?” Mom asks.
I shake my head.“And there’s also…” I trail off. I don’t know how to tell them I had a vision, if that’s what that was.
“What is it?” Dad leans forward so both my folks are bent awkwardly toward me.
“A few times now when we’ve tried to mind-link I’ve heard this howl and I dunno, it’s hard to explain. I feel like I’m being called, like someone’s trying to tell me something. Then today I saw—” I can’t say it out loud, the words catch in my throat. “I saw something awful and I feel like I need to figure out what’s going on. But with all the stuff with the pack and with school and everything else going on I…”
I can’t explain why but suddenly I’m tearing up. My eyes sting and my head wants to flop all the way back. Mom jumps up and comes to join me on the sofa.
“You must be exhausted,” she says.
I rest my head on her shoulder and realize she’s right. I am so, so freaking tired. Keeping everyone’s voices out of my mind is a twenty-four-seven job. I’ve become so used to it I don’t really register how much energy I’m expending keeping my walls up. That, coupled with my regular teenager duties—homework, school, friend drama—and my directive to be a good leader for the pack,ANDmissing my boyfriend, is a lot for this little wolf.
“School will be done for the year soon,” Dad says, doing his best to be comforting. “And we can look into finding someone to help with the whole blood-wolf thing. How does that sound?”
I nod as Mom brushes my hair back from my forehead. “Your birthday is coming up too,” she says. “Have you given any thought to what you might like to do?”
“Probably just something small,” I say. Planning a birthday party is the least of my worries. “I dunno.”
“Don’t think about it now then,” Mom says. “And maybe it’s best not to try and mind-link for now.”
“Yeah,” Dad joins in. “And you can forget about the pack for a while. There are plenty of people whose job it is to take care of that stuff. You just concentrate on getting through the school year.”
“Okay,” I say, sniffing.
“You want to go to bed?” Mom asks.
“Uh-huh.”
I shuffle off to my room thinking they’re right. Screw worrying about the fate of our pack. I’m a sixteen- (nearly seventeen-) year-old kid, not a diplomat with a degree in international relations. And Jasper and I have plenty of time to figure out this mind-link thing. Maybe we’re just putting too much pressure on it. Maybe it would be easier to back off for a while.
Once I’m tucked under my covers, I give Jasper a quick call.
“Max!” He answers on the second ring.
“I’m fine,” I say before he can ask. “Just a bit of a headache. Pretty standard.”
“I didn’t see what happened, I had my eyes closed.”
“Hard to say, really. Think I blacked out.”
“Was it the same as last time? That wolf call?”
I take a beat before responding. Should I tell him the truth? Tell him what I saw? Or is that a little preemptive? Would it be just another thing to worry about? I don’t want to place any more pressure on Jasper, so I decide not to tell him about the vision.
“Yeah, just the same thing.”
“You’ve never lost consciousness before,” he says. “I was worried.”
“I know. I appreciate that.” I snuggle back into my pillow. “What were you doing before I called?”
“Packing,” he says.
“Where you off to this time?”
“Philadelphia.”
