Wolves of Alverton

Chapter 28

About an hour and a half after we had stopped, we arrived back in town. Once we pulled into the driveway, Corbin turned around and looked at us.

"Welcome home everyone," he cheered. We all sighed and groaned as he just chuckled. We helped unpack the car, and I went inside to pack up the rest of my belongings. As we loaded-up the car with my suitcase, I watched Lilly walk over to her mother and hug her. The hug was full of passion and affection, one shared between a mother and their daughter, one I had never received. I could see the happiness in her mother's eyes, a look that is seen when someone returns from a perilous journey. I walked over towards Lilly, and her mother gave me a surprised expression.

"Brooke, you're a wolfie?" she asked rather surprised. I looked at Lilly with one eyebrow raised in an inquisitive manner.

"I thought you already knew?" I was rather surprised and a bit confused. She shook her head and looked over at Lilly.

"Maybe she told me and I just forgot," she laughed casually. Before departing, I prompted Lilly to ask her mother about her dad, and she looked at me with an unsure expression. She sighed, but eventually agreed to talk to her mom when she got home. I told her to text me if she found out anything new, and she quietly told me that she changed her mind and wanted me to be there when she had that conversation with her mom. I smiled and gave her a warm hug before climbing into the car and pulling away from Austin's house.

As we entered the community where the Davenports lived, I became tense. So much had changed since I last saw them, and I didn't know what to say or do. It was almost like meeting them again for the first time. Linda looked back at me and told me that I just had to be myself, and that I shouldn't worry about the secret; but deep down, I feared that something would happen, and they would find out. My nervous thoughts caused my heartbeat to increase, which attracted the attention of Jakob. He put his hand on my leg and looked me in the eyes. He told me not to worry, because if anything happened, their family would take me in. That thought made me feel a little better, but I still couldn't help being a nervous wreck.

We parked in front of the house, and the boys helped me get my bags out of the car. They gave me warm embraces to send me off, and drove away, leaving me alone to deal with the Davenports. I grabbed my bags off the curb and walked towards the door. Kelly opened it before I got there, and greeted me with open arms. I ran in for a hug and suddenly felt safe. There was this feeling unlike anything I had ever experienced before, almost like a warmness that can only be provided by a mother, and Kelly gave me that feeling. Somehow, a part of me had formed a connection with the Davenports, and after last night, I've learned to trust my instincts. If my soul, wolf or otherwise, felt a deep connection with this family, then you could believe I was going to do everything in my power to stay with them.

Kelly walked me inside and took my stuff to my room. It was Saturday, and Saturday's were family game nights at the Davenports, so we sat down at our dining room table and played a competitive game of cards. The atmosphere that night was real for me. I felt at-home with this family, and their fun traditions were all things that I wanted to be a part of. Even if they were humans. Rae and Ryan asked only a few questions about camp, and Darryl had provided me with answers to any questions they might have. No one suspected a thing.

When I went to bed that night, I was kept awake with a scene playing over and over again. The scene from earlier that morning, with the wolf. His yellow eyes, and stormy gray coat, and his sharp, piercing, needle-like teeth as they tore away at my neck. As I played this image in my mind, I ran my fingers across my neck where the wound was already beginning to heal. I had a vacant expression on my face as I remembered seeing the wolf not once, but twice on the journey home. I couldn't help but wonder how this wolf managed to follow us so far away from the cabin, or what his motives were for doing so. I hadn't seen him since that last stop, so I tried not to entertain the idea more than I already had.