Spirit Animals Vol. 2

|Chp. 6: Steaming Hot Water|

Quinn was quiet as he sat on his bed and I sat next to him. "Your certain he is a wolf?" Quinn asked turning to me while biting his lip. A nervous habit. Something Quinn rarely did as he was rarely nervous ever.

But now for the first time in a long time Quinn was nervous. Nervous at the fact that his brother was a wolf. "Yeah, I don't even know why." I said and Quinn looked away at that. "Are you hiding something from me?" I asked and Quinn looked back at me and sighed.

"Blizzard. . . he's adopted. My mom didn't birth him. She found him and Snowflake in the snow covered in blankets. There was a blizzard coming in at the time and he would of died. So she took him in thinking he was a polar bear cub abandoned." Quinn said.

"She named him Blizzard since he appeared in one. But we always thought he was a polar bear. And last time I was here, he didn't have those ears or tail. And my mom would of never admitted to him being a wolf. She would of said he was a dog or coyote first." Quinn said.

"Your family really hates wolves." I noted and Quinn nodded. "I'm sorry about that. They just don't know you. I'm sure once they see that you aren't a threat they won't care. . . and Blizzard and North like you." Quinn said.

"Blizzard is a wolf. . . and your sister scares me." I responded. "My sister scares you, how does my sister scare you, she is harmless?" Quinn asked. "She was talking about dressing me up. That is scary. And she's talking about clothes like that." I said looking at the silk he was wearing.

"I'm not wearing that." I responded. Quinn smiled. "North is just looking for a female friend. She doesn't really have any friends besides Thaddeus." Quinn said. I wanted to mutter shocking but I decided to be nice. "So why does your family hate wolves again?" I asked Quinn and he bit his lip.

"I'm sure you heard my dad about the wolves and Thaddeus. The scars on Thaddeus's face were done by a wolf. A wolf raked it's claws down the side of Thaddeus's face. That's why they don't like you and probably why Thaddeus choked you out." Quinn said looking at the mostly healed bruises around my neck.

I nodded at that. "How did a wolf manage to rake it's claws down his face, do you see how big he is?" I asked. "He was younger when that happened. Barely nine. Thaddeus wasn't always a jerk he used to be sweet once upon time." Quinn said.

"Now he's really only sweet to his family. Mostly protective now." Quinn said and I nodded at that. So they hated me because Thaddeus was attacked by a wolf when he was younger. So they assorted me to the wolf. Then it clicked in. They had encountered a wolf before.

"Where did you find a wolf?" I asked. Quinn looked back over that upon realizing what he told me and what I had asked. "Silver," Quinn started. I watched him wanting an answer from him. Most things that Quinn didn't like to talk about I would leave alone. As he did the same for me.

But this. It couldn't be left alone. Quinn bit his lip at that before looking back at me. "Silver. . . uh, this is a bit hard to explain, if you truly want to know ask my mother. She has better answers than I ever could." Quinn said.

"Well answer to the best that you can." I told Quinn who bit his lip but nodded. "So. . . you can't go over your head on this, but there are wolves around here. And they are still here." Quinn said and I nodded at that.

"But Silver, do not go search them out, they will kill you. They nearly killed my brother. They'll do the same to you." Quinn said. I was going to argue but that urgency in Quinn's tone stopped me.

"Promise me you won't go after those wolves." Quinn said. "I promise." I said. If it was just us I'd give him a run for his money. But I knew nothing about this place, Quinn did. And as of right now Quinn was the only reason that I was alive and the only reason I would survive.