in greeting. I tapped mine against it and waved both him and his mother toward chairs.
"Roman, on Monday night, someone was running the wall behind the Castillo house. You know who?" I asked, getting right to it.
He quickly glanced at his mom, looking a little too tense. "Yeah?"
"Tell him," she ordered.
He looked back at me, right in the eyes, and the boy didn't even realize he was doing it. "I did it, sir. I mean, a few of my friends were with me."
"I said no wolves past my place," I reminded him. "What were you thinking?"
His eyes dropped to his hands, proving there had been no challenge between us, just honest respect. "I was telling Gabby about the wolves out here. I mean, it kinda came up accidentally, and we needed to cover it up."
"Go back." I made a circular motion. "What came out accidentally?"
The boy sighed. "Xander was talking about wolves and normals. He completely forgot Gabby was human, and she asked what he meant, so Olivia blurted out that we're wolves since we live in Wolf's Run. Those who don't live here are normals."
"Nice save," I said, making the praise clear. "Ok, so then what?"
"Um, then Gabby said something about it being a shame there weren't any real wolves, because that would be cool." His eyes flicked up for a split second. "And I told her there were, and that sometimes they'd run through the community at night. I kinda figured that way, if she saw anyone, then she wouldn't think anything of it."
"And then you made sure it happened." I nodded to show I understood. "How'd you get away from Lane?"
"Lane was out?" he asked, sounding worried. "No, sir, we weren't hiding. We just ran over there, howled a few times, then hurried home."
I couldn't help but laugh. The kids had probably been almost in their beds before Lane had made his shift and gotten one of us to open the door. Seth said Elena had been out as well, and he'd only heard the two calls, which made me think Roman was being honest.
I'd noticed that little look, though. Their prank hadn't been as innocent as he wanted me to believe. Oh no, this young man was trying to impress the bitch. Not like I had any room to talk, since I was here for the exact same reason. Still, I had to ask the next question.
"You know you can't tell Gabby, right?"
He quickly glanced to his father. I couldn't read his expression, so I wasn't sure if he was hoping for backup or worried about saying too much in front of his parents. When his dad nodded, Roman seemed to relax a bit.
"I can't tell her, but does that mean she can't be my girlfriend?" he finally asked. "I mean, in our last pack, that wouldn't be allowed, but I thought it might be different here."
Yep, that was pretty much what I'd expected. "You think you can keep what you are from her and make it work?"
"Yeah. No one ever asks why we all stick together, and we do just like you said and keep the wolf stuff at home. I mean, Gabby lives here, though, so she's going to find out, isn't she?"
"Maybe, but I'd prefer she and her mother find out because I tell them. Not in a way that would make them scared of us. The Castillos are friends of my family, and I was serious when I said they're under my protection. Do you understand what that means, Roman?"
"Yes, Alpha," he mumbled.
"Do you agree to keep this to yourself? Whether or not you date Gabby is up to your parents and hers. Well, and her, of course. I will not put restrictions on us about who we can and cannot associate with. Your parents may have their own opinions. But regardless of your relationship with her, I'm trusting you to make sure the others do not let our secret slip."
The kid huffed at me. "I thought that was the whole point of this place, though. We're supposed to finally be able to stop hiding and just live naturally."
"Then you thought wrong." I made it clear there was no grey area. "Wolf's Run was designed so that if and when we are discovered, we have a safe place. Those walls? They're to keep torches and pitchforks far away from us, since we all know that's how the humans would react. We made this place as much a fortress as a haven because