Shadow Mate - Jen L. Grey Page 0,4

go even if my wolf was howling in my head. She wanted to break free and run after them. She’d never acted like that before. No one had ever stirred those types of emotions out of me, but of course, it’d be those douchebags. Good thing I wouldn’t have to see them again … I think.

Chapter Two

It took a few days, but I'd finally managed to force myself not to think about that night …as often. And when I mean not often, I still thought about that dickhead all the damn time. That couldn't be healthy.

"Are you going to help me set this table or just stare out the window?" Max arched an eyebrow at me and pointed to the forks I still had in my hand.

The garage door opened, and Dad stepped into the kitchen, joining us. He set his laptop bag down and headed over to my mom, who was finishing up the taco meat on the stove. He moved her dark hair to the side and kissed her cheek. "Honey, did you by chance get the mail today? I'm expecting something from one of the alphas out west."

"Oh, no." She glanced over her shoulder at me. "Since Max is apparently the only one setting the table, do you mind running outside real fast?"

"Now you're taking his side." It figured. Mom had even made comments about me being flighty. Granted, it wasn't solely the dickhead that was distracting me. I'd received all of my college acceptance letters already, and tomorrow I would graduate high school. Things were getting real, and though my feelings were probably normal, I'd been having trouble processing what I was feeling. Some days, I felt like I could be bipolar. One minute, I was happy, and the next minute, I was in a pit of despair.

"Now, now. There are no sides." Max shook his head and frowned. "There is only one side. Singular. And it's always mine."

"Tell that to poor Ruby, who caught you cheating on her." If he was going to be an ass, so could I.

"Hey, hey." He picked up one of the butter knives off the table. "We were on a break." He held the knife in my direction. "Don't make me use this. It could get ugly."

"If you attack me, then I'll have to kick your ass." The problem was I could, but I had always purposely lost to him. Being Dad's replacement was so important to my brother that I didn't want to be the one who got in his way. The one thing Dad and Mom had taught both of us growing up was that family always came first. Yes, our packs were important, but in order for us to be good pack mates, we had to have a solid familial base. When I was a kid, I had always thought it was cheesy. Although, now that I'd seen what competition for being top dog amongst siblings could do, I was so thankful for them. Max and I were close in a way most shifter families weren't.

"I could take you with my eyes closed." He straightened his shoulders, but the corners of his mouth tilted upward.

"Yet, you resort to threatening me with a butter knife." I shrugged as I headed out of the kitchen and into the living room. "You might want to rethink your position."

"Well, she's got you there, son." Dad chuckled as I crossed the room and slipped out the front door.

When I stepped out the door, I thought it was kind of odd to not see many people outside. Our subdivision held our entire pack, so usually there were a few people about, but the low numbers kind of made sense since graduation was tomorrow. We were all spending our last night as high school seniors with our families.

I strolled down our cement walkway and went straight for the mailbox. I opened it up and pulled out a handful of envelopes. As I slammed it shut, the gothic, formal script of Wolf Moon Academy caught my eye.

Maybe my brother was finally getting in. I hadn't applied, so that was the only thing that made sense.

Rushing into the house, I barreled through the door, pulling the envelope from the pile. As I ran into the kitchen, I came to a screeching halt. It wasn't addressed to my brother.

Why was it addressed to me?

"Hey, are you okay?" Mom turned around, her rich caramel eyes resting on mine. She placed the bowl of meat on the table and