quickly here,” Sean agreed.
“I’m sorry you were all dragged into this…whatever this is,” I whispered.
Sean shook his head. “Don’t apologize. Honestly, it was a nice change of pace, and I learned more here than I did at my regular school.”
“Same,” Taylor and Arnold said simultaneously.
“Are you ready to head out?” Sean asked. “We’ve got about twenty miles to cover before we reach the rendezvous point.”
I nodded, Chelle jumped into my pack, and I slung it on. “Ready, but can I just walk along with you for a bit instead of you carrying me? We don’t need to keep running, right?” I honestly just hated them having to take turns carrying me like I was some damn princess who couldn’t even walk.
Sean smirked. “Sure.”
“Thanks,” I whispered.
We headed out, Sean in the front, and Taylor and Arnold behind me.
“So, you don’t play sports at all?” Taylor asked.
“No, I’m not very physically aggressive,” I admitted. “I prefer to cheer them on instead of participating.”
“You enjoy cheerleading?” Sean asked.
“It takes a lot of core strength and coordination with your partners,” I said. “Plus, it’s just fun.”
“So, the pack plays football?” Sean asked.
I nodded. “They keep their plays as close to human as they can, but they always stomp the competition.” Though, I guessed that wasn’t really true. “One year they did lose, but it was because they didn’t want to go across the country for nationals again.” I couldn’t remember why, though.
“I wish I could play sports,” Taylor said and Arnold nodded.
Would it be possible to expand their pack? To include the others? That would allow her to return home, right? Maybe they could have their own Moon Academy back at her pack’s home.
“What sports do you guys like to play?” she asked them.
“Baseball,” Taylor and Arnold said.
“Football,” Sean said. “Though, it’s been over a year since I played.”
“I also like tennis,” Taylor added.
“Really?” Arnold asked, looking at his twin with wide eyes.
Taylor nodded. “I played it a little bit with a racket I found and it was a lot of fun.”
“Tennis is fun,” I agreed. “I pretty much suck at all sports, though.”
“What do you do for fun aside from cheerleading?” Taylor asked.
“Play with the pack,” I said. “The younger kids like to play tag and although I’m human and slower than them, they like to play with me. Sometimes, I will hop onto Nick’s back while he is in wolf form, and he’ll let me tag the others who are faster than me and we’ll play as a team.”
The memory made me smile. Nick had always been at my side, helping me make my place amongst the wolves.
“You love him,” Taylor whispered.
My cheeks warmed. “I do love Nick, but I know now that I can’t only have one Guardian.” The others I had feelings for as well, but I couldn’t say it was love. It was too early for that.
Plus, I didn’t want to admit that to anyone else.
“Nick has been my best friend since I was a child,” I told them. “He was always protecting me and trying to keep me from harm. I was terrified when he went through the change that he would stop wanting to be with me, but he didn’t. I’m terrified what will happen with Gary, but he’s as stubborn as, if not more than, Nick. Knowing him, he will fall for me even more and vow never to let me out of his sight the next time I see him.”
“So, there really is no help for the rest of us,” Arnold said.
I flinched. “I didn’t mean to make you feel that way. I would love if we could all stay together, as friends.”
He chuckled. “I would like to be friends. I’m not certain what the world has in store for us now that the existence of other witches has been confirmed. Are we supposed to go to them? Are we supposed to just help you? There isn’t a clear path.”
“I hate that there isn’t a clear path,” Sean said. “I am with you now and I won’t stop protecting you, but why were these witches kept secret? What was the Triune, or whoever they are, planning with us all? It’s all so up in the air and such a weird secret that it drives me crazy.”
“You and me both,” I admitted. “Why would the Triune train me, or resurrect spirits to train me, if they had some nefarious plot involving me? Why wouldn’t they tell me that I wasn’t actually the last witch? Who are