Joy to the Wolves (Red Wolf #1) - Terry Spear Page 0,84

still don’t want any of our kind going to prison, because you never know what could happen.”

“She doesn’t mean we’d protect you,” Adam warned. “We terminate rogue wolves. We can’t have any of our kind outing us.”

“And we don’t turn humans,” Josh said. “You need to find a girlfriend among our own kind.”

“That’s why I knew Sandy wasn’t right for me.”

“In rare cases, humans have been turned, but it’s not something you really want to do.” Brooke didn’t know how much he had learned before his parents died or even had remembered. “You have to think of the human’s family, how it would impact everyone, not just the girlfriend. And not everyone who is turned can deal with it. It changes their lives considerably. Some people can’t handle it. They wouldn’t be like you. Like us—royals, who can control when we shift at any time during the month.” Brooke sprinkled parmesan cheese on her spaghetti.

“You must have been adopted, or are you fostered?” Josh asked Lucas.

“Fostered. No one wanted a kid as old as me when we couldn’t find any other family I belonged to.”

“You need to live with your own kind and learn more about our ways. I’m sure your parents, your wolf parents, were able to talk to you about some things, but at your youthful age, maybe not everything,” Adam said. “You need to socialize with your own kind. Play-fight with juveniles, learn what it means to be a part-time wolf.”

“How do you feel about all this?” Brooke asked Lucas.

“Relieved. I knew there were others of our kind somewhere, but no one advertises what they are. Dad had a good-paying job where we were in Medford, Oregon, and he didn’t want to move from there to be around others of our kind. Mom kept saying I needed to meet others that were my age. They had disagreements about it a lot. They were going to see an opera and got a babysitter for me. Then the rockslide happened. A couple of other cars were caught beneath it too. No one survived. I thought because we healed more quickly than humans, my parents might make it, but they didn’t.”

“I’m so sorry,” Brooke said.

Everyone else agreed.

“How do you feel about a judge ‘finding’ some of your family?” Josh asked him.

Lucas’s eyes grew big.

“He’s a gray wolf. He’d make sure you could be adopted, not just fostered, by an honest-to-goodness wolf family. Maybe not grays like yourself, but you’ll be part of a real wolf family. They’ll probably be at the pack’s ranch, so you can be yourself and run as a wolf anytime you have free time,” Josh said. “We homeschool our wolves, so no more regular school for you.”

Lucas paused with a forkful of spaghetti raised to his mouth, evidently surprised at the news. “Cool.”

“What about the Thorntons, who have taken care of you all these years?” Brooke asked. It wasn’t as simple as just moving in with a wolf family who would adopt him. They could make it happen, but Lucas had to do what made him happy too.

“Uh, yeah,” Josh said, as if he’d made a mistake in not taking that into consideration. “How do you feel about it?”

“They’re wealthy and get foster-care money for me, but I pay for everything out of the inheritance I received from my parents. They didn’t want to adopt me in case it didn’t work out.” Lucas smiled at Brooke. “You could foster me, and you wouldn’t have to support me. I could work in your shop and help you with your website, promotions, whatever.”

“She’s not mated,” Josh said.

“I figured that. That’s even better,” Lucas said.

Brooke smiled. Adam chuckled.

“You need to be with a family. One that has some other teens,” Josh said with conviction.

“You’re just afraid I’ll get your girl.”

Brooke thought Lucas was cute. He fit right in with the rest of the wolves.

“Josh is right. I’ll take you up on hiring you to update my online store. I could really use some help with it.” Brooke figured he would be perfect for the job. “But you’d have to wait to start working until I don’t have any more trouble here.”

“Like getting shot? Why is that happening?” Lucas served up a third helping of spaghetti.

“Someone is trying to steal something from my shop. He’s sending armed thugs, so I don’t want anyone else getting hurt.”

“I could work out of your house, if that would be all right with you. I could probably work out of the home I’m going