Knock, knock, knock.
My eyes pop open. I glance towards the door. I try to rub the tired out of my eyes. Didn't get much sleep thinking about everything that went down last night.
Knock, knock, knock.
"It's open," I say.
Mist opens the door. The look on her face worries me.
"What is it?" I get up out of bed.
"He's back."
"Seriously?" I ask.
She nods furiously.
"Where is he?" I growl.
"Front door." She runs up and climbs under my covers.
"I'll go deal with him while you get ready for school."
"Can I stay home? I'm scared..."
"Mist, I won't let anything happen, okay? Now get ready so we won't be late."
I walk downstairs and hesitate before opening the door. I notice Hunt, pacing in the front yard.
He suddenly stops, and his head turns towards me. He bolts up to the door.
I put my hand out to stop him from coming closer.
"Look, please, can you just tell Mist that—"
"I ain't gonna tell her shit for you. I don't care if you meant to hurt her or not. She wants nothing to do with you, so leave, or I'll make you."
"But—"
"But nothing!" I grab him by his shirt and pull him close. "Leave, now." I bare my teeth in a low growl.
His eyes, glowing gold, stare past me.
I look behind me and Mist is standing at the top of the stairs, looking down at us, tears welling in her eyes. I can see the fear in them. I turn back to Hunt.
He mouths, "I'm sorry." He pulls back, turns, and runs off.
I shut the door and look back at Mist. She still stands there with the same look in her eyes. I rush up the stairs to meet her.
She looks up at me. "I don't like it when you're mad. It's scary." She wipes the tears from her eyes.
"I'm sorry... I didn't mean to scare you. I was just trying to get him to leave."
"I-I know. I'm still getting use to all this—"
"I know. I'm sorry, a lot has happened so fast. It's scary, I understand. But we also have school. If you really don't feel like going, I'll tell Mom you're feeling under the weather, so you can stay home." I sigh. I scared her! I feel like shit... I didn't mean to scare her.
"It's okay. I'll manage. The more time that passes, the more all this will feel real. But I'll be okay." She hugs me.
"Well, if we're going, we better hurry up, or we'll be late. I do have one question for you."
"What is it?" Mist asks.
"You did say you knew more about me than I did, around when I first got here. I guess you didn't know as much as you thought?"
"Yeah, no shit, Mary never mentioned anything about werewolves in her emails."
***
It's been roughly a month since Mist found out, maybe more. Today was our last day of school. We're just getting home. Mist and I trudge into the kitchen. We find our mom starting to cook dinner.
"Hey, kids. How was your last day of school?" my mom asks cheerfully.
"Sucked like always," I comment.
"Oh, come on, it couldn't have been that bad. What did you think, Mist?"
"I agree with him, it sucked." Mist grumbles.
"Oh..." She frowns.
"Sorry I ruined your good mood, Mom." I frown.
"It's alright, honey. I wish you two had a better day than that. Was that boy Hunt bothering you again, Mist?" Mom gives Mist a serious look.
"No... he wasn't there today."
"Well, that's good to hear. What are they teaching you guys these days?"
"Nothing important... I don't feel like I'm learning anything I actually need in life. I'm just glad it's summer now," I state.
"Hmmm."
My mom has that look on her face that moms get when in deep thought. If that makes any sense.
"So, what were you so happy about?" Mist asks our mom.
Her head pops up. "Oh, I was talking to your father last night about something, and I've been dying to tell you two. Your father got a big raise the other day and, well, we decided that I should quit my job to stay at home. I'll get to spend so much more quality time with my kids! I'm so excited. What do you think?" she asks.
"That's great, Mom. But we're at school all day, it won't be that much more time really," I state.
"Well, I have a solution to that. How do you feel about homeschooling?"
"Homeschool? Really?" I ask, surprised.
I turn to Mist to see how she feels about this. Her eyes stare wildly at Mom. Not sure if that's good or bad...
She suddenly runs around the counter and hugs her.
"Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes!"
"Wow, honey, I didn't know you'd be this happy. I'd thought you'd be a least a little sad not seeing your friends every day." She laughs.
"What? No way! This is the best thing ever! No 6 a.m., no school buses, no annoying people, no sucky teachers! PJs all day! This is gonna be the best thing ever!!!! Thank you thank you thank you!" Mist hugs our mom even tighter.
"I'm glad you're happy, Mist. Your brother over here doesn't seem too thrilled."
"Oh, well, I've only ever been to public schools, don't really know what homeschooling is like."
"It's awesome, Ryder! I have a friend who stopped going to public school and started doing homeschool and she said it's so much better!" Mist says happily.
"I'm sure you'll love it, Ryder. There's something else I'd like to tell you, but I want to wait till your father gets home."
"Oh." I frown.
She comes over to me. "Oh, honey, it's nothing bad, I promise! There's nothing to be upset about, okay? I didn't mean to upset you," she reassures me.
"Okay. I just, I've been told that before and it ended with them sending me back." I frown at the thought of being sent away from here.
"Oh, honey, never! It's the furthest from that, I promise you. I think you'll really love the news your father and I have for you," she states cheerfully.
I glance towards Mist to see a confused look on her face. I guess she knows as much as I do about this "news."
I hear the front door open. "I'm home," Dad says as he enters.
YOU ARE READING
Foster Wolf
Werewolf(Complete) Ryder is a teenaged boy in foster care. his parents died when he was two and was put into the foster system. He has bounced from one home to another. Either he was sent back or ran away, but this time when his social worker, Mary, found h...
