Sold to a Wolf Pack

STAWP | Chapter 35

Saffron

I shake my head in denial. Logan is not psychic. That's just not possible. I bet he can guess what people are texting based on how their thumbs move or maybe there's a reflection of the phone screen somewhere. I turn around, expecting to find a mirror, but there isn't one. Still, I know there is some logical explanation for all this.

"Come on, Sofie," Zara gives me an encouraging look. "Type something else."

"Okay." I pick up the phone, prepared to write something else, when I get an idea. "Switch places with Logan," I tell her.

"Sure," Zara agrees and slides off of the exam table. Logan gives me a sexy grin, gets up from his chair, stretches, and sits down next to me so our thighs are practically touching.

"Um...," I mumble and quickly jump off the exam table.

"Where are you going?" Logan drawls. "You have to sit next to me so I can see what you're writing." He pats the spot to his left, but there's more room on his right. I could sit there, but it would place me next to the condom bowl, which would be super awkward. Maybe sitting to his left is a better idea.

"Um...," I say again, looking down at Zara's phone. "I'll show you when I'm done."

"Are you sure you don't want to sit down?" Logan winks.

"I'm sure," I tell him, and quickly turn my back to Zara as I type a few random science terms. When I'm done, I hand Logan the phone.

"Igneous rocks, plasma, neutron" Zara lists them off one by one, exactly as I've written them.

This time, I hesitate. There is no way Zara saw what I was typing. I also watched Logan carefully, and he didn't mouth the words to her or anything.

That's when it hits me. Last year, I overheard a few kids planning to cheat on a test. They bought a tiny speaker online that fits inside the ear canal. It's completely invisible and the only way to remove it is with a magnet. The app Zara has must read things aloud and transmit them to ear pieces she and Logan are both wearing!

"Can we try one more time?" I ask, forcing my voice to sound hesitant. Let them think they've got me. That should teach them a lesson!

"Sure, Sofie." Zara nods.

"What are you doing?" Logan asks when I hand him Zara's phone and head for the nurse's desk.

I don't answer. Instead, I rummage through the drawers, looking for something to write on. While her bowl of condoms is on the table where everyone can see it, the only blank notepad I find is buried beneath a bunch of stuff in the bottom drawer. Figures!

I pull it out, grab a pen, and start writing. I don't know what to, I begin, then realize that's way too obvious. Steak, wings, ribs, I continue writing, but those are simple words. I need something more challenging. Newton, Galileo, Tom Hanks. I add, thinking of things I learned in class. Then, just to make things interesting, I add 7 commas, a semi-colon and a few em dashes. You know, those long dashes we learned about in English class?

I hand the notepad to Logan and watch him carefully. His lips don't move, and neither do his hands, so I know they're not using some sort of sign language. Even if they were, there is no way they could communicate punctuation.

A few seconds pass, then Zara begins repeating everything exactly as it's written.

"Semi-colon?" she asks when she gets to it, rolling her eyes at Logan. "Our future Alpha told me it was a dot on top of a comma."

"Semi-colon," I confirm numbly.

"Right, then there are two of these really long dashes," Zara adds. "I actually don't know what they're called either."

"Em dashes." I mumble. There has to be some sort of scientific explanation because this can't possibly be happening.

"All the wolves in our pack can do it," Logan explains, gesturing for me to sit next to him.

Stunned, I take a seat, not even caring about the bowl of condom's that's now within reach, or the nude poster on the opposite wall. "How does it work?" I ask, trying to wrap my head around the fact that Logan and Zara can read each other's thoughts. I wasn't really paying attention to the details of this link earlier, considering I thought they were playing me. I guess this means there was no prank, and the two of them didn't totally betray me. I should be relieved, but I'm so overwhelmed with what I just learned that I can't think about anything else. "Can you read my mind? Do you know what I'm thinking?" Oh Goddess, I hope not.

"Only if you tell us something over the link. We can't hear anything you don't want us to," Logan explains.

"So, it's like talking? Just in your head?" I clarify.

"Yup," Zara answers this time. Logan nods.

"Can you talk with Jasper from here?" I ask her. "Or Jess?"

"No, it doesn't work through closed doors," Zara explains.

"We can do it through closed windows," Logan interjects, "but sometimes it's hard to understand."

"What if you go outside? Can you hear someone in another city?" I wonder aloud.

"That would be awesome." Zara giggles.

"It'll only work for maybe 50 meters," Logan tells me. "If there is stuff in the way, like trees, it's harder."

"Everyone in your pack can do it?" I ask him.

"Every wolf I've ever met could," Logan tells me, "until now."

"Seriously?" I ask in shock. My dad couldn't link, and neither can I, so maybe it's genetic? Or maybe it's because we're not part of a pack? "What about rogues?"

"Rogues too." Zara confirms. "We need to tell Alpha about this."

"No!" Logan and I shout at the exact same time.

"Why?" Zara looks confused.

"He's so busy," I grasp at straws. "I wouldn't want to bother him." Last thing I need is for POW to sell me to a different pack because I'm 'defective'—not when I'm so close to getting away. Plus, if POW knows I have a weakness, it'll give him something to hold over me. He could communicate with guards over the link, or give wolves orders with me around, knowing full and well I can't hear him.

"Sofie's right. Father's too busy to deal with this," Logan agrees. "Plus, every wolf can link. I'll just have to teach her how."