Wolfskin (A Werewolf Novel) - ON HOLD

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No matter how deeply I tried to burrow my hands into my hoodie, they still felt like blocks of ice. I mean, I considered myself to be pretty hot-blooded but damn the truck was freezing. Where was this 'hottest summer on record' Dad had been moaning about? The sun was just about managing to peek over the huge pine forest that surrounded us, clinging on to the last hour of the day.

That's all I'd seen for the whole journey, after we'd left the tiny airport four hours ago. Tree after tree after tree, with a tiny glimpse of the river, until I could've convinced myself we were lost—if I hadn't known Dad was a native with a built in body compass. The road stretch out ahead of us, long and open, and I lifted my head as the sign came into view.

Welcome to Bellepoint

Finally! I could've jumped out the truck and kissed the damn thing I was so relieved. Bellepoint—the town where my parents had long ago been high school sweethearts—was one of those sleepy places where not much happened. People who were born here never left, so Mum said, when she used to tell me stories of her father being stationed at a military outpost nearby in her teenage years . Sat on the banks of the Belle River, the only reason it was even on the map was because of the Bluestone Park. Completely different from London.

"Like you remember it?" Dad asked, his hands resting on the bottom of the steering wheel. Conversation had been sparse until now. We'd talked about school, mainly, and the plane journeys. Nothing too intense.

"Uh...yeah." I shrugged. "Yeah. More trees though?"

Dad's face broke into a grin. "I'll bet. A big change from your concrete jungle!" His tone was light, but I didn't miss how his smile dropped a little. "Though, we've gotta be careful. They've been clearing trees. Trying merge us with Hinton, so Hank says. No sir-ee, over my dead body."

I frowned, surprised at the protectiveness I felt. The forest shouldn't be controlled; it needed to be free to grow however it wished. That was the beauty of it. "How awful."

"Sure is. Don't know how many more people they think the lake can water! I mean, Bellepoint has nearly doubled in size since...well, since you were here last time."

Last time. There was silence as we both came to terms with the fact that 'last time' was when I was ten and preferred a game of baseball to shopping. Back when things were easy.

Dad tried again. "How was the flight?"

I shrugged. It had taken me almost fifteen hours to get here; twelve on the transatlantic plane then three on the tiny national one. I'd slept, mostly, but I still felt exhausted. "Good. Zeus howled, apparently, but they were alright about it."

Dad's eyes flicked down to my huge Alaskan Malamute cross Husky who was flopped on my feet, just about squeezing into the footwell. "Ah yes, Zeus. The dog." He paused. "I've never had a dog."

"Really?" I asked, surprised. "You look like a dog person."

He pulled a face. "No. Dogs and me—well, we don't really tend to get on."

"Oh. Well, you seem to be doing okay with him."

"For now," He murmured, so quietly that I didn't think I was meant to hear.

"Well, they're kind of like..." I paused to think of something that I knew he knew, "...like children? Just cleverer."

Dad grinned at me. "Well there's somethin' I know about. As long as he does his business outside, I think we can manage."