her ears pinned, it’s a distinctly disgruntled gesture with a hint of a threat.
Finn reaches out and brushes the cobweb off of her. “Hey now, what’s that look for? You could have had a wee spider.”
Ginny shows her teeth.
“Nice,” Finn comments.
“Very,” I agree.
Unaccustomed to hiding her reactions in wolf form, Ginny’s tail sways, showing she’s secretly pleased with the compliments.
Finn grins. “Awww.”
Ginny turns and bites the tip of her tail to stop it.
Body curled at an awkward angle for a newbie on four paws, she falls to her side, her tail clamped in her teeth, a regal wolf in such an undignified heap that it elicits a snicker out of Susan.
Eyes popping wide, Susan rolls her lips together and covers her mouth. She gives Ginny an apologetic look. “Sorry.”
Pride pricked, Ginny releases her tail, puts her nose in the air, and finds her way to her paws.
Susan crouches and, smiling, sincerely tells her, “You really are stunning.”
Ginny deigns to move forward into Susan’s space—and walks right into Susan’s arms.
Susan hugs her like that, arms thrown around the furry neck of the girl, not letting go until Ginny sits back, panting, and leans her head up until she can see Finn upside down behind her.
“Stuck as a wolf now?” Finn guesses.
Ginny wurfs. By the white beginning to show in her eyes, she’s about to panic again, this time because she can’t yet reverse.
“Like I was telling you, faolán.” Little wolf. Finn shrugs. “You can try visualizing yourself in your human form, but mostly you just have to let it happen the first few times. If you clown around and relax and don’t think so hard on it, suddenly you’ve got opposable thumbs again and your biggest worry is covering your naughty bits. Don’t worry your furry little head, Gin-Gin. It’ll happen.”
Ginny turns all the way around so that she can glower at him. As a wolf, she can glower pretty impressively. But after a heartbeat, two, she stares up at him, clearly at a loss as to how he could expect her to stay stuck like this until her body figures itself out.
He spreads his hands. “Everyone gets stuck on paws for a bit after their first Change. Sue here will carry your clothes, so she’s got you covered when it happens.” He waves at Ginny. “And don’t worry about how you look in grey and white. You’re a fine beast, and just think—you can eat your sarma as a wolf. You draw a lot less attention when you end up covered in beef and cabbage if you’re eating it down on the floor.”
Ginny wurfs at him in indignation.
He smiles at her. “You ready?”
Ginny cocks her head.
I start walking, heading past Finn. Ginny’s gaze flicks to me, confused, before locking back on Finn.
Finn takes a step backwards. And another. “I don’t know about you, Sue,” he calls. “But I feel like a race. Last one there—”
He doesn’t get to finish any consequences for the loser. With a flash of fur, Ginny bolts by him, speeds past me, and books it to the Vlkolak House, her instincts the only thing she needs to rely on to reach her destination.
CHAPTER 34
SUSAN
“So you won’t be going to any classes with me?” Charlotte asks Ginny, crestfallen.
Ginny’s ears drop, her features plainly frustrated, easily discernible despite her still being a wolf.
“The Pack’s school is great. It offers wolf students the same curriculum as humans students receive...” Deek tries to say, but Charlotte and Ginny toss him twin looks of Are you serious. He winces, squeezing his eyes shut. “Right, that’s not the issue. Forget I’m here.”
Ginny snorts, and Charlotte smiles. “Thanks for trying, Deek.”
He dips his head, grimacing, and he retreats to the kitchen where he retrieves the trash—without being asked—and walks it out the backyard to our trash can.
“Thank you!” I call to his back.
I watch his head bob in silent acknowledgement.
There are sets of Ginny’s clothes tucked away around the house in the hopes that she will spontaneously Change before school tomorrow. But… it’s obvious she’s not feeling optimistic about her chances. Honestly, she was braced for Finn to tell her that she had to stay with the Pack until she could regain control of her human form, and it was clear in her posture that she was grateful when he made no such decree. So she’s home with us. But she’s stuck as a wolf in a (mostly) human household.
At first, she carried around an oversized shirt in her mouth, perfect for changing