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Curse of the Hybrids, Book 1: Ch. 1-6 · & I am your Storyteller: Fantastic Fantasy one hour at a time

• 0:07
  (Door creak) Oh, Hello You’re just in time
• 0:11
  I’m about to begin the Curse of the Hybrids Series by Lisa Lagaly
• 0:17
  It’s got magic. It’s got wolves. And it’s clean. So go ahead and play it in the car with the kids
• 0:24
  and share it with your fantasy-loving grandmother.
• 0:27
  Each weekly installment will last about an hour. (chime)
• 0:33
  And I am your Storyteller. Rogue. Curse of the Hybrids. Book 1
• 0:43
  Chapter 1 Honey
• 0:46
  She shouldn’t have come. All the people here were old and shabby looking.
• 0:51
  She stood out because she was young and shabby looking.
• 0:54
  “You’re new here, aren’t you dear?” the short, older woman in line in front of her asked.
• 1:00
  The woman’s fine silver hair was chopped close to her head, exposing delicately wrinkled earlobes
• 1:06
  weighed down with dangling purple beads. Her over-sized T-shirt and dark blue leggings were
• 1:12
  a little worn, but she looked and smelled clean, at least compared to all the other people Honey
• 1:17
  could smell. “Yes.”
• 1:20
  “Thought so. I would have remembered those eyes. Are you here alone?”
• 1:25
  “Stop flirting with her, Sheila,” the old man behind Honey groused.
• 1:30
  He had a smoky smell, like a campfire, not cigarettes,
• 1:34
  a wrinkled face, dark hair peppered with gray, and a jacket even though it was summer warm.
• 1:41
  “It’s called being nice Bob. You should try it sometime.”
• 1:44
  “I’m nice; when the situation calls for it.” Sheila shook her head. “Never mind him, Dear.
• 1:51
  Where are you from?” “Um, around.”
• 1:55
  Sheila nodded like ‘around’ was a real place. She probably heard it often given where they were.
• 2:02
  “Have you been camping?” That was a nice way to put it,
• 2:06
  but it wasn’t the reason the long-sleeve plaid shirt that had been almost new a few days ago
• 2:12
  now looked and smelled like Honey had rolled in a pile of ashes and run a couple of marathons.
• 2:18
  Thinking about the reason nearly made her break down again.
• 2:22
  “Yes,” Honey replied. “They have beds here. Showers too if you
• 2:27
  want to get cleaned up. It’s pretty safe.” “Thank you.” Could the woman smell her?
• 2:33
  Was her air shield not working? Honey quickly inspected the thin layer of air
• 2:38
  she’d pulled to herself to hold her scent in. It still looked and felt complete.
• 2:44
  The showers and the beds were the reasons she’d chosen to come to this shelter. Whether she stayed
• 2:50
  depended on who else was at the shelter. So far, she hadn’t smelled any wolves or magic, but they
• 2:57
  weren’t inside yet. Honey looked around again like she was curious but really she was pulling more
• 3:04
  scents from the air. Her nose caught a whiff of fried food from somewhere down the street
• 3:10
  and her stomach immediately rumbled so loudly a woman three spots ahead of them turned to look.
• 3:17
  “When was the last time you ate?” Sheila asked. Honey rubbed her belly. “Not that long ago.”
• 3:24
  She had eaten her last energy bar at noon, but that was before she’d run fifteen miles.
• 3:30
  “They should open the doors soon,” Sheila said kindly.
• 3:34
  “Good.” “I hope they have
• 3:36
  bologna sandwiches again,” Bob said. “You’re the only one,” Sheila scoffed.
• 3:42
  “Do you know how unhealthy those are?” “Pfft. I’ve been eating them my whole life.”
• 3:48
  He patted his rotund belly. “There’s nothing wrong with me but old age.”
• 3:53
  “Oh look, they’ve opened the doors a minute early today,” Sheila said.
• 3:59
  “Will wonders never cease,” Bob mumbled. It took several minutes to get into the building,
• 4:05
  but once they were inside, Honey acquired a sandwich (not bologna), a bag of chips,
• 4:11
  a banana, and a bottle of water within two minutes of passing through the doorway.
• 4:17
  She sniffed the air again to be sure, but no wolf smell other than her own assaulted her.
• 4:23
  It should be safe to drop her air shield – she wasn’t sure how much
• 4:27
  longer she could hold it anyway. As a kindness to her fellow diners,
• 4:32
  Honey took her smoky, sweaty self to an isolated table far away from everyone else.
• 4:39
  It was the first real meal she’d had since that day if a slice of mystery meat
• 4:44
  and processed cheese between two floppy white pieces of bread could be considered a meal,
• 4:50
  not that she was complaining. Her tears did not improve the texture.
• 4:54
  A shadow fell over her plate just as she stuffed the last bite into her mouth – a
• 4:59
  wolf if her nose wasn’t mistaken – several of them. Darn. She should have been paying more
• 5:06
  attention to her surroundings. She should have left up her air shield. What a stupid mistake.
• 5:12
  Her parents would be disappointed in her. She didn’t look up until she’d picked up
• 5:17
  her napkin and opened it wide enough to wipe her cheeks and mouth at the same time. A boy in his
• 5:23
  late teens with dark blond hair and blue-gray eyes was looking down on her with one side of his lip
• 5:29
  curled up like she’d been rolling in manure. She could feel more people standing around her on her
• 5:35
  side of the table, but she didn’t turn her head to look. She wouldn’t let them intimidate her.
• 5:41
  “Do you need something?” “Where are you from?” the blond boy demanded.
• 5:46
  “Just passing through.” “Do you have a pack?”
• 5:50
  “Not your business.” “Rogues are my business.”
• 5:54
  “Glad I’m not a rogue then.” Phooey. Phooey. Phooey.
• 5:57
  Her dad had warned her about this. This was exactly why she had to avoid other wolves.
• 6:03
  Rogues were wolves who had been rejected from the pack. At best, packs chased rogues away,
• 6:09
  but some packs killed rogues outright. Because of who her mother was, she’d never been part of
• 6:15
  a pack, nor did she need to be. He sat down in front of her,
• 6:20
  leaned forward, and sniffed the air. “You smell, and not in a good way.”
• 6:26
  “Thanks for pointing that out.” “You don’t smell like you belong to a pack.”
• 6:31
  She leaned forward and sniffed at him. She didn’t know you could tell wolves belonged to
• 6:36
  a pack by sniffing them, but the only other wolf she’d ever been around was her dad.
• 6:42
  “You smell like detergent, body spray, sweat, and did you have garlic earlier?” She actually
• 6:50
  liked his body spray, but she wasn’t about to tell him that. There were scents from multiple
• 6:56
  wolves on him too. Maybe that’s what he meant by pack. He backed away with a look of disgust.
• 7:03
  “If you have a pack why are you in a soup kitchen?”
• 7:06
  “I’m just passing through and the food is free. Why wouldn’t I be in a soup kitchen?”
• 7:12
  “Where are you going?” “Not your business.”
• 7:15
  “How old are you?” “Again, not your business. Excuse me.
• 7:20
  I need to bus my table.” She pushed her chair back, but as she’d half-expected,
• 7:25
  something blocked her from backing up entirely. “You need to what?” the boy queried.
• 7:32
  “Bus my table.” She pointed at the sign on the wall behind him that was several tables away.
• 7:37
  “You can read?”
• 7:39
  “Of course. Didn’t your pack teach you?” She made sure he heard the emphasis on your and you.
• 7:46
  While he was thinking that over, Honey glanced at the wolves behind her. Two more males and a
• 7:52
  female. All were about the same age. All of them had beautiful faces and condescending looks. She
• 7:59
  felt like one of those nerdy kids surrounded by the bullish ‘in’ crowd in a bad high-school movie.
• 8:05
  Not that she had watched many of those since Mom found high-school movies irritating.
• 8:10
  “I just want to throw my trash away. Will you let me up please?”
• 8:14
  “You’re not done,” the male on her right said, pointing to the unopened bag of chips.
• 8:19
  “I’m saving it for later.” To prove her point, she grabbed
• 8:23
  the bag of chips and stuffed it into the top of the backpack leaning on her feet.
• 8:28
  “Let’s see what else you’re saving for later.”
• 8:31
  The wolf leaned forward and grabbed her bag. Honey nearly froze him but stopped herself in time.
• 8:37
  Freezing him would be bad. If she was going to make a clean getaway, she’d have to freeze all
• 8:43
  of them at once and hope there weren’t any other wolves around to notice the scent of her magic
• 8:48
  or witches to notice something odd. Besides, as long as he didn’t find any of the cash cards or
• 8:54
  the birth certificate or the burner phone she had sewn in the bottom of the bag, it would be fine.
• 9:01
  The bully dumped all the stuff in the main pocket on the table with a flourish. It was hard to keep
• 9:06
  herself still while he unfolded and tossed her spare clothes to the side and flipped through
• 9:11
  the pretty red notebook she’d purchased in honor of her first day of public school. It was still
• 9:17
  empty except for the one day of notes she’d taken. He rummaged through the smaller pocket on the
• 9:22
  front of her bag next, haphazardly tossing her two pens, two pencils, favorite eraser,
• 9:29
  and her new house key onto the worn table. The key. She’d forgotten it was there.
• 9:36
  She suddenly had a vivid memory of the wall of keys at the hardware store.
• 9:40
  Her Mom was to her right smiling and pointing and suggesting they splurge on the pretty ones.
• 9:46
  They’d inspected them all together before settling on the blue one with a sword and a flower.
• 9:51
  Her mom had seemed excited to get Honey her own key. Honey had been equally excited to use it,
• 9:57
  but when she got home the door was not only unlocked, it was wide open.
• 10:03
  The key disappeared. The noises in the cafeteria crashed in on her and she realized the blond boy
• 10:09
  had pounced on the key and was now holding it right in front of her nose. “Where is this to?”
• 10:15
  She tried to snatch it from him, but he jerked it out of her reach. “My house.”
• 10:20
  “Where is your house?” “Not your business. Give it back.”
• 10:25
  She held out her hand. When he didn’t return it after a couple of seconds,
• 10:29
  she gave up. It was just a key. It might be the last present her mother had ever given her
• 10:35
  but holding onto it wouldn’t bring her back. Honey retracted her hand and started stuffing
• 10:41
  the rest of her meager belongings back into her bag. There was no way to hide how upset she was.
• 10:47
  She could smell the waves of distress rolling off herself even over all her other funk. The
• 10:53
  tears trying to drip down her cheeks cinched it. “Look, we’re here to help. Come with us quietly
• 11:00
  and you won’t get hurt,” blond boy lied, dropping the key on the table.
• 11:05
  She snatched it and tucked it back where it belonged. “This is neutral territory.
• 11:11
  I can be here if I want.” “Only a rogue would say that.”
• 11:15
  “Only a rogue would know a rogue would say that,” she countered. Perhaps not the best comeback,
• 11:21
  but she’d at least confused him a little, based on his frown.
• 11:25
  “There you are Ava.” A round body slid into the seat beside her and another beside blond boy
• 11:31
  across the table. Sheila handed Honey another sandwich with a wink. “I had an extra.”
• 11:37
  Honey took it with relief, not just because her tormentors were already backing away,
• 11:43
  but because she was still hungry, and she didn’t think it would be polite to go back
• 11:47
  for seconds in a soup kitchen when there was still a line. “Thank you, Sheila.”
• 11:52
  Bob offered her a bag of chips from across the table. “I saved these for you.
• 11:58
  I’m supposed to be watching my cholesterol. Enjoy eating chips while you can.”
• 12:03
  “Thank you, Bob.” The blond boy’s glare was
• 12:07
  sharp enough to drill into the skulls of the two older people, but they paid him no mind.
• 12:12
  They started chatting to each other and Honey as if the four wolves weren’t even there.
• 12:18
  Honey focused on Bob and methodically eating her second sandwich one slow bite at a time.
• 12:25
  The two humans stayed with her until a volunteer appeared to tell them it was time to leave
• 12:30
  unless they were staying overnight. Since she was certain the bullies wouldn’t lower themselves to
• 12:35
  stay in a homeless shelter, Honey told the volunteer she was staying. Based on the look
• 12:40
  the blond boy gave her when he pushed open the door to leave, her reprieve was only temporary.
• 12:49
  Chapter 2 Honey
• 12:52
  The questions they asked at the shelter made no sense. Did they really expect criminals
• 12:58
  or people who were trying to get away like she was to answer honestly? She didn’t like lying,
• 13:04
  but the only true thing she felt it was safe to tell the volunteer was that she was homeless,
• 13:09
  and that’s because it was a given. Why else would she be in homeless shelter?
• 13:14
  After they’d finished questioning her, the shelter people gave Honey a much-appreciated, free,
• 13:20
  one-time use toothbrush and a comb. The comb was about as effective against her tangled curls as
• 13:25
  a pair of kids’ safety scissors against a holly hedge, but for the first time in days
• 13:30
  she was clean. She even got to wash her clothes. She wasn’t sure what to expect in the women’s
• 13:36
  dormitory. Would they be loud? Would it be crowded? Would she be able to sleep amid a bunch
• 13:42
  of strangers? The only people she’d ever slept in a room or a tent with were her mom and dad.
• 13:48
  To her immense relief, everybody, except one lady who clearly had some mental issues, completely
• 13:55
  ignored her. After walking carefully around the glaring woman who was gripping her natty bag like
• 14:02
  Honey would snatch it at any moment, Honey found a cot on the other side of the room and fell asleep
• 14:08
  almost the moment her head hit the pillow. The next morning came too soon. She stripped
• 14:14
  her cot as instructed, then collected and quickly ate the prepackaged breakfast the shelter offered
• 14:20
  and brushed her teeth. There wasn’t time to do anything else before they forced everyone
• 14:25
  out of the shelter for the day. Were the wolf-bullies waiting?
• 14:29
  Now that she was rested and had a clearer head, she didn’t understand why they had approached her.
• 14:35
  Her dad had listed all the neutral territories for her a long time ago and Indianapolis had
• 14:41
  definitely been on the list. Was it a normal thing to pick on rogues in Indianapolis?
• 14:47
  Dad had never mentioned it, but maybe it was a new development. Should she go to another town?
• 14:53
  She collected her bag from the front desk and joined the men and women exiting out the front
• 14:57
  door. Outside, the car fumes had already begun to collect between the buildings in
• 15:02
  the early morning air, but the sun was shining, and the sky was a clear blue.
• 15:08
  It was a perfect day to explore the city. Should she?
• 15:12
  She’d been so focused on running and accomplishing step 1 – get away, she hadn’t thought much beyond
• 15:18
  it except to temporarily manage step 2 – find food and shelter. She needed a more permanent solution
• 15:25
  to step 2 and for that, she needed a job or a computer to start an online store like her mother
• 15:31
  had. There was an idea – maybe she could continue the store. No, the killer might know about it.
• 15:39
  Besides, she wasn’t a healer. She wouldn’t be able to add the magic her mother did.
• 15:44
  She discretely wiped her tears before stepping out into the sunshine. Where could she find a good job
• 15:50
  at her age? Maybe there was a book in the library, or better, maybe they’d hire her! Now which way
• 15:57
  was the one she’d visited yesterday? Everything looked different in the morning light. She took a
• 16:03
  deep breath of fresh air and quickly reversed course. Stupid bullies were still around.
• 16:10
  Back inside the shelter, Honey dodged the volunteer who was herding people out
• 16:15
  and made a beeline for the front desk. “Is there a back way out?”
• 16:19
  The woman at the desk didn’t even look up. “No. Everyone must leave through the front.”
• 16:25
  Which meant there was a backdoor but she wasn’t allowed to use it. “There are some mean kids
• 16:30
  waiting to beat me up,” she tried. This time the woman did look up.
• 16:35
  She wasn’t that old, maybe forty, but her face was already starting to wrinkle and her eyes
• 16:41
  were sad and tired. “I’m sorry. It’s against policy. Besides, it wouldn’t do you much good.
• 16:48
  The back door leads to an alley that leads right back to the front of the building.”
• 16:52
  “Okay.” She was going to have to
• 16:55
  use her magic and get away before they could catch her and figure out the magic was coming from her.
• 17:00
  “Hey Claire,” the lady at the desk called, “did you get your car fixed?”
• 17:06
  A skinny older lady with wispy white hair, a bright pink shirt,
• 17:10
  and a long tan skirt who was about to step outside the door nodded.
• 17:15
  The front desk lady jerked her head towards Honey. “This one needs a ride.”
• 17:20
  Claire backed up to stand by the door and looked at Honey expectantly. Honey ran to her side
• 17:26
  before she changed her mind. “Where to?” Claire asked.
• 17:30
  “Library.” “Ten dollars.”
• 17:33
  “I don’t have ten dollars.” “Can’t help you then.”
• 17:37
  Honey grabbed the woman’s arm when she started to move away, but quickly let go when Claire glowered
• 17:43
  at her. “I have a cash card. If you stop at a quick stop on the way, I will buy you something.”
• 17:49
  “Buy me gas.” “Okay.” Ten dollars was
• 17:53
  a lot for a short trip, but if she could get away without revealing herself, it would be worth it.
• 17:59
  She followed Claire outside with two other homeless people after making sure the wolves
• 18:03
  weren’t waiting by the door to grab her. Claire crossed the street and stopped at an old,
• 18:08
  dusty, beat-up two-door car that surprisingly managed a beep when she pushed her key fob.
• 18:15
  “Which library do you want to go to?” “There’s more than one?” Honey asked
• 18:20
  as she opened the passenger door. “Of course. There are at least five
• 18:24
  public ones that I know of. None of them open before ten though.”
• 18:30
  “Oh.” It didn’t matter. She just needed to get away and conveniently, she’d be
• 18:35
  able to look up bus schedules in any library and hopefully get away from the bullies permanently.
• 18:41
  “Whatever is most convenient for you.” Claire slid into the driver seat and started
• 18:47
  moving books and papers off the passenger seat into the already cluttered back seat.
• 18:52
  The car smelled like old vinyl and oil and gas and food, but it was better than wolves.
• 18:58
  Honey slid into the seat as soon as it was clear and firmly shut the door. Something dark moved
• 19:04
  just beyond the corner of the homeless shelter, but it was too fast for her to get a good look.
• 19:09
  Claire nodded. “Gas first though.” “Yes. Gas first.”
• 19:14
  It took a couple of tries for the car to start. The engine coughed.
• 19:19
  Honey didn’t know engines could cough. She wished her dad was there so he could diagnose it. Huh.
• 19:25
  How had she never made the connection before? Her mom was a healer of people and her dad was
• 19:31
  a healer of cars. He would have laughed when she told him that. She missed them so much.
• 19:38
  The gas station was only a couple of blocks away. With the exhaust Claire’s car was spewing and the
• 19:44
  speed of traffic, the wolves wouldn’t be far behind. Honey jumped out of the
• 19:48
  car before Claire had come to a complete stop and ran inside the station to pay.
• 19:54
  How many times had she done the same thing for her mom? Wasn’t the last time only a few days ago?
• 20:01
  “Which pump?” the attendant asked.
• 20:04
  Honey shook her head. She couldn’t afford to start crying right now.
• 20:08
  “Two. Ten dollars.” She handed over her cash card then gave Claire two thumbs-up through the window
• 20:16
  before grabbing and paying for a few of the healthier snacks to restock her bag.
• 20:21
  Claire had just put the hose back on the pump when Honey returned to the car.
• 20:26
  She looked around again and took a deep breath of fuel-laden air. No wolf smell,
• 20:32
  but if they were smart, they’d be standing downwind. She slid into the passenger seat
• 20:37
  and shut the door before handing Claire the coffee she’d bought her.
• 20:41
  “Cream, no sugar.” Claire sniffed at it, then took a sip.
• 20:46
  “I like sugar, no cream, but this will do.” For seven in the morning, there was a lot of
• 20:52
  traffic. They drove a few blocks before they got stuck in a line of cars several blocks long.
• 20:59
  Claire cussed under her breath. “I forgot they were working on this road.”
• 21:04
  “How far away is the library?” At this rate the wolves would make it before she did, if they’d
• 21:10
  heard the destination, which they probably had. “About another mile to the east.”
• 21:16
  That wasn’t right. The library she’d found yesterday had been much closer to the shelter.
• 21:22
  “I will just get out here.” “We’ll get there eventually.”
• 21:26
  “That’s okay. Thanks, Claire.” Honey opened the door and hopped out
• 21:30
  of the car and onto the sidewalk. If Claire was right, libraries were plentiful. Right now though,
• 21:37
  she had to make sure the bullies couldn’t find her. She pulled up her air shield and ran north,
• 21:42
  away from the shelter and away from wherever Claire had been taking her.
• 21:49
  Chapter 3 Honey
• 21:52
  It took her an hour and a short conversation with a woman packing her kids into her van,
• 21:58
  but she eventually found a library. The librarian was human and very helpful.
• 22:04
  She gave Honey a guest pass to use the computer and directed her to a shelf of books
• 22:09
  with job opportunities for teens. The books weren’t helpful, but the bus schedule was.
• 22:16
  She could be on her way to another town and away from the bullies in just a few hours.
• 22:22
  Leaving had the added advantage of putting more distance between herself and where everything
• 22:28
  had happened. If anyone was looking for her, they’d likely look in the nearest city first.
• 22:34
  The bus she selected left from the bus terminal in the center of town. It wasn’t that far to walk,
• 22:41
  which she started to do, but running was much faster. Plus, she liked to run.
• 22:47
  Despite the overabundance of car exhaust from the busy street, she enjoyed the feel of the
• 22:53
  breeze in her hair and the sun on her face. The only thing that would have made it better
• 22:59
  is if her mom were there. Her mom, her wonderful, beautiful mom, would never run with her again.
• 23:07
  Tears blurred Honey’s sight, but not enough to keep her from recognizing the big green blob
• 23:13
  of a bus that passed her. She was here. She slammed into something hard and dark
• 23:19
  and bounced back onto her rear. Small bits of gravel dug themselves into her palms.
• 23:25
  She didn’t have to look up to know the bullies had found her. She recognized
• 23:29
  the smell of the body spray their leader used. “Where are you going so quickly?” he demanded.
• 23:36
  She ignored him and started flicking the gravel off her palms. They were already starting to heal,
• 23:42
  but the dirt needed to be washed off. She opened the bottle of water she’d refilled at the shelter
• 23:48
  and poured water over the worst of it. Bully leader didn’t say anything else
• 23:52
  while she flicked the water off and took several sips from her bottle.
• 23:57
  Bag-dumping bully grabbed the bottle out of her hands and threw it. “He asked you a question.”
• 24:03
  She looked around instead of up. The other two bullies were behind her and to her left.
• 24:08
  She didn’t see anyone else who was obviously associated with them and none of the few people
• 24:14
  coming and going from the station were paying attention. She really wanted to freeze them.
• 24:19
  They deserved it. The problem was, it would only give her maybe thirty seconds to disappear
• 24:25
  and she still had a couple of hours until her bus to Columbus left. On the other hand,
• 24:31
  if she could hide her scent and find a good hiding place, maybe they’d leave before the bus left.
• 24:37
  She closed her eyes and put her head down. Mom had taught her to do magic without any tells
• 24:43
  like that witch on the old TV show who wiggled her nose, but it was a lot easier to envision what
• 24:49
  was happening if she closed her eyes. Also, she’d never tried to freeze four people at once before.
• 24:56
  She imagined the shapes of their bodies with wiggling balls inside,
• 25:00
  then stopped the balls. Slowly, she opened her eyes and inspected her work. Lead bully
• 25:06
  was watching her with his mouth partially opened like he was about to say something.
• 25:11
  She didn’t think he could see her – her dad said he couldn’t remember anything when she
• 25:16
  practiced freezing him – still, it was creepy. She popped to her feet and squeezed past him.
• 25:24
  After scooping up her still partially-filled water bottle, she sprinted away. She didn’t have time to
• 25:30
  walk, not if she wanted to find a hiding place before they thawed. To keep the bullies from
• 25:36
  finding her trail, she pulled every molecule of her scent to her skin and held it tight.
• 25:43
  The area around the bus terminal and transit station was not a good place
• 25:47
  to seek a hiding place. One side of the busy, one-way road was lined with bus stop signs.
• 25:53
  The other side offered a row of cars, some small trees, and a long building. Ducking down behind
• 26:00
  a car would only give her a few minutes at best and the trees were too small to climb.
• 26:06
  She ran across the street to the long building. As soon as she stepped inside, she knew that was a
• 26:12
  bad choice. It was a well-lit, airy place with two big front desks – one with a guard – and
• 26:19
  lots of seats. The only places to hide were under the seats or behind the guard’s desk.
• 26:26
  She was desperate enough to try and convince the guard to let her sit on
• 26:30
  the floor behind the desk next to him until she got a whiff of him. A wolf, of course.
• 26:36
  He wouldn’t hide her from other wolves. She spun around on her heel and ran back out the door.
• 26:42
  The bullies would be nearly thawed by now. Her options were a construction site across the street
• 26:48
  from the terminal, and a row of tall buildings a block away. She turned to the buildings.
• 26:54
  They offered multiple levels where she could hide if she could gain entrance.
• 26:58
  She ran past a county building and a Japanese restaurant that didn’t look open
• 27:03
  and turned into a parking garage. Maybe she’d get lucky and find a truck with a tarp.
• 27:09
  Her dad had told her once to always hide in a place where she had multiple exits, so she
• 27:14
  ran up the stairs to the second-to the top floor to give herself two exits, one up and one down.
• 27:21
  It probably wasn’t what he meant since both ways were accessed through one door, but she could also
• 27:27
  climb to the outside of the building if she had to. She squatted behind a car by the low wall
• 27:33
  that ran all around the parking garage floor and peered up the street toward the bus stop.
• 27:40
  Barely a minute passed before the four bullies collected in front of the transit station.
• 27:45
  By the shaking of heads and the waving of hands, she guessed the other three bullies
• 27:50
  were telling the blond bully they hadn’t found her and the blond was ordering them to split up.
• 27:56
  The male bully who hadn’t talked and the female headed down the street toward her.
• 28:01
  The female went toward the Japanese restaurant while the male continued on to the garage.
• 28:07
  He looked all around, although not up, sniffed the air, then walked toward the garage.
• 28:13
  She’d never tried to hold on to her scent while running. Had it not worked?
• 28:19
  She pulled the layer of air in tighter to her body and jogged around the edge of the garage
• 28:24
  until she found a van parked close enough to the wall that she could lay on top of
• 28:29
  the bumper and lean on the wall. If anyone looked under the vehicles, they wouldn’t see her feet.
• 28:35
  It felt like half-an-hour passed before she heard the scuffle of a shoe and caught the
• 28:40
  scent of wolf. She slowly breathed in and out to keep her heart rate calm, not because wolves could
• 28:46
  hear heartbeats a car away like she’d seen in a movie once – that was ridiculous – but they could
• 28:53
  hear breathing and she needed to be calm. For someone who was trying to find someone,
• 28:59
  the bully made a lot of noise. Was that…was he humming? If she hadn’t smelled wolf,
• 29:05
  she would have thought it was someone coming to get their car. The humming got louder,
• 29:11
  then faded. He didn’t even pause. Ha! The humming disappeared. She waited for
• 29:18
  what seemed like another half-an-hour before she felt safe enough to peer around the van.
• 29:23
  She half-expected him to be sitting in front of it, waiting for her. He wasn’t. Keeping close
• 29:30
  to the wall, she scuttled back to the front of the garage to look down at the street, right at
• 29:35
  head bully. She jerked back, then peered down more carefully. Head bully was on the sidewalk across
• 29:43
  the street waving his arms at the humming bully who was shaking his head. After a few moments,
• 29:49
  head bully stomped back toward the bus stop and humming bully went further up the street.
• 29:55
  Honey sank down into the corner behind a parked car feeling like she’d just escaped from a pack
• 30:01
  of wild animals, which, if she thought about it, was exactly what had happened.
• 30:06
  How had they known she was going to go to the bus stop or was it just a coincidence?
• 30:12
  Should she give up and try again another day? Maybe she could sleep on the roof of the garage or
• 30:18
  find an unlocked vehicle over at the construction site. Would it be safe to do that? She’d
• 30:25
  understood that neutral territory meant wolves from anywhere, even those without a pack, could
• 30:31
  wander around without worrying about stepping into another pack’s territory. Was she wrong?
• 30:37
  Where was she supposed to live if all the wolves she met thought she was a rogue? She didn’t want
• 30:43
  to join a pack. That was dangerous, being what she was, and she couldn’t exactly join a coven. What
• 30:50
  she needed was a place where only humans lived. As far as she knew though, that didn’t exist.
• 30:57
  Maybe she could go to a really big city like New York. Big cities didn’t have
• 31:02
  very many wolves because wolves didn’t like them, but it probably had a lot of witches.
• 31:08
  She’d have to keep her powers secret so they’d have no reason to bother her.
• 31:12
  Ugh. She didn’t want to live in a big city. On the other hand, there would be plenty of
• 31:18
  places where she could go to school and find a job or start an online business.
• 31:23
  Her heart hurt at the thought of doing everything alone. She’d find some friends, some human
• 31:29
  friends, maybe even some roommates. Perhaps she could apply for a scholarship somewhere.
• 31:36
  She’d come two hours early so she could grab a lunch and look around, but the bullies
• 31:41
  had ruined that plan. Surely, they would get tired of looking for her before the bus came.
• 31:47
  It wasn’t like they knew which bus she planned to take or even that she planned to take one.
• 31:53
  Once she got on the bus, she’d do a better job at keeping her scent hidden.
• 31:58
  If, for some unfathomable reason the wolf-bullies were still around and she couldn’t get on the bus,
• 32:04
  she’d find a place to stay overnight, then catch a train in the morning.
• 32:09
  After all the preparation her parents had done and training they’d given her,
• 32:14
  she’d thought she was ready. She was wrong. How was she going to live without them?
• 32:23
  Chapter 4 Honey
• 32:26
  Two hours in a parking garage sitting behind a car was probably the most boring thing she’d
• 32:32
  ever done. Fifteen minutes before her bus was due, Honey started making her way back to the bus stop.
• 32:39
  She’d never ridden in a bus before, so she wasn’t sure how early or late to expect it.
• 32:45
  All she knew was that it was green according to the pictures online where she’d paid for
• 32:50
  and printed the ticket at the library. It was only $30 one way, due to a discount she’d found,
• 32:57
  which she thought was pretty good. She’d heard her dad complain about airplane ticket prices
• 33:03
  enough to know those usually cost at least $100 for even short distances.
• 33:09
  She’d never been on a plane either. She went out the back of the parking garage and
• 33:15
  ended up near the buildings that lined the open construction area just behind the bus stop. If
• 33:21
  she had any luck the bullies had gotten bored and left, but she kept her nose and ears open and her
• 33:27
  scent close while she worked her way around the construction site. She was half-way there when she
• 33:33
  caught the first whiff of wolf. Before she could even turn, there was a sharp pain in her shoulder.
• 33:40
  She looked back to see an orange tube with feathers at the end jutting out from her skin.
• 33:46
  She was so stupid. She should have waited another day or found another bus stop. Still,
• 33:53
  it wasn’t fair. She hadn’t done anything to them. She envisioned the tranquilizer molecules pushing
• 34:00
  themselves back into the dart and jerked it from her shoulder. It was too late to capture all of
• 34:06
  them, but she got enough that when she turned and threw it into head bully’s prominent pec
• 34:11
  and pushed the fluid back out with a little help from her magic, he got at least half a dose.
• 34:18
  His smug look faded into surprise, then anger as he jerked it from his chest and threw it to
• 34:24
  the ground. The humming bully picked the dart up and put in his pocket even as head bully
• 34:30
  stomped her way. He raised his hands and came at her like he was going to shove her. She ducked
• 34:36
  and elbowed him in the back so that he stumbled past her and tripped over the edge of the curve.
• 34:42
  Sadly, he didn’t fall. He caught himself on the orange construction fence and turned with
• 34:47
  an even angrier look on his handsome face. She tensed in preparation when he came at her again
• 34:54
  but didn’t have a chance to get into position because someone grabbed her arms from behind.
• 34:59
  Head bully stopped right in front of her and poked her in the shoulder with one finger.
• 35:04
  “Stupid rogue. I’m trying to help you.”
• 35:08
  Her head was already starting to feel woozy, but there was still a chance she could get away.
• 35:14
  She pictured the molecules in the people around her and froze them. Now she just needed the bus.
• 35:20
  If she could get on the bus in the next thirty seconds, she might have a chance.
• 35:25
  She jogged toward the bus stop and past the work truck that was blocking her view.
• 35:31
  The bus wasn’t there yet, but it had to be soon. All she had to do was get there.
• 35:37
  She jogged one, two, three steps, then the world faded away.
• 35:46
  Chapter 5 Honey
• 35:49
  The first thing she noticed when she woke was the smell. Instead of exhaust and dust and
• 35:55
  warm cement, it smelled like a house and wolves and a little like flowers. The second thing was
• 36:02
  that her neck hurt from leaning forward and that she was sitting in a chair, no, tied to a chair,
• 36:08
  but it wasn’t a cheap chair. It was made out of wood with padding on the seat and the back and the
• 36:13
  arms. She lifted her head to ease her neck, then realized she should have probably pretended to
• 36:19
  sleep for a while and listen for clues. To her surprise, she was in a nice room. It had rose
• 36:26
  and cream tones involving wainscoting, a highly polished wooden desk, a comfortable-looking couch,
• 36:33
  thick carpet, and heavy drapes elegantly drawn back to frame full-length windows.
• 36:39
  If she didn’t know better, she’d think she was in a room at the White House.
• 36:43
  It took her a few moments to remember why she was there. How long had she been unconscious?
• 36:49
  The sun was still shining outside the window behind the desk, but it didn’t look as bright.
• 36:55
  A few feet away, on a small, round table her mom would have described as mahogany,
• 37:01
  the cash cards, burner phone, notebook,
• 37:03
  bus ticket, key, and her destroyed backpack were displayed in an oddly pleasing design.
• 37:10
  She closed her eyes. Someone had discovered the hidden pocket in the bottom of her bag.
• 37:15
  Despite all her mom’s efforts, she’d only lasted four days on her own. She was a failure.
• 37:22
  No. She blinked away her tears. She couldn’t give up yet. As long as she was alive,
• 37:28
  she had to keep trying. She’d no doubt missed the bus, but there would be other buses.
• 37:34
  She just had to figure out where she was and how to get to a bus stop.
• 37:38
  Movement in front of the bright window drew her attention.
• 37:42
  A slim, elegantly coiffured woman with blond hair rose gracefully from a chair Honey hadn’t
• 37:47
  noticed in front of the tall window and stepped around the desk. The woman looked about the same
• 37:53
  age as her mom, but whereas her mom was soft and beautiful, this woman was sharp and handsome.
• 38:00
  The light from the window hit the piece of paper in the woman’s hand, making it glow.
• 38:05
  The worn creases and slight browning on one edge were familiar. It didn’t belong in her hand.
• 38:11
  Honey clenched her fists behind her back. How dare the woman tear up her
• 38:15
  backpack and read her private things. The woman passed by another very tall,
• 38:20
  very muscular woman standing so still near the drapes that Honey had mistakenly dismissed her
• 38:26
  as a statue at first glance. Honey kept her eyes on her instead of looking at the blond
• 38:31
  woman who had stopped in front of her. “Your name is Ava Smith?” she asked.
• 38:37
  Honey didn’t answer. The woman didn’t deserve the courtesy. Not to mention,
• 38:42
  she wasn’t sure she could. Her head was starting to hurt and she was dreadfully thirsty.
• 38:47
  It felt like she’d been sucking on cotton balls for a couple of hours. The statue raised an
• 38:52
  eyebrow at her. Honey turned away from her too and looked toward the other side of the room.
• 38:58
  “Is this your birth certificate?” the woman asked.
• 39:02
  How was she supposed to get out of this? She tugged at whatever was holding her hands together.
• 39:07
  It wasn’t hard like handcuffs nor was it scratchy like rope. It was too tight to slip her hands out,
• 39:14
  but maybe she could cut it off with a claw. She sent a silent thanks to her dad for insisting she
• 39:20
  practice partial transformation every night. Even better would be to partially transform
• 39:26
  and slip her paw out, but would that work? Would whatever it was just reappear on her wrist like
• 39:32
  clothes always did when she transformed back to human? What if the cord reappeared in the middle
• 39:37
  of her arm or something? Could that happen? The woman was still standing in front of her.
• 39:43
  She might have been waiting expectantly. Honey didn’t know. She refused to look up.
• 39:48
  “Maybe I should introduce myself first,” the woman said.
• 39:52
  She was too close for Honey to partially transform and pull her arm free. The woman would notice.
• 39:58
  “I’m Adalynn Mooney, Luna of the Mooney pack, but everyone calls me Luna Lynn.”
• 40:05
  Loony Lynn. Honey could almost hear her mom telling her it wasn’t nice to even think
• 40:09
  things like that, but the woman had her tied to a chair. Maybe she could freeze her and the statue,
• 40:16
  slip her arms out, and escape. If the woman was a pack Luna though, there was a good chance they
• 40:22
  were on pack grounds. It might take more than thirty seconds to find her way out of the building
• 40:27
  and once they unfroze, the women would sound an alarm and set everyone to looking for her.
• 40:32
  Honey would have to find a car or better, a motorcycle, if she wanted to escape a whole pack.
• 40:38
  Unless, Honey focused on the shelves along the wall, she could find the woman’s purse and keys.
• 40:46
  “There’s no need to be frightened. I’m not going to hurt you. I’m trying to help you.”
• 40:51
  Honey made a show of wiggled her arms, then shot a glare upward.
• 40:55
  “We only constrained you because we weren’t sure how you’d react when you woke.
• 41:00
  If you promise not to attack, we’ll untie you.” She wasn’t going to promise anything,
• 41:05
  not when she was already half-way through whatever was binding her thanks to her claw.
• 41:10
  The woman squatted in front of her. Honey looked away from her, toward the door again.
• 41:16
  “How long have you been a rogue?” the woman asked softly. “All your cash cards are full,
• 41:21
  so I know it can’t have been long. What happened? Why did your pack kick you out?”
• 41:27
  Honey wanted to tell her that she hadn’t been kicked out of anywhere and it wasn’t her
• 41:31
  business anyway, but that would have required talking to her, and that she refused to do.
• 41:38
  “It didn’t just happen. You were prepared.”
• 41:41
  Honey saw a flicker of movement out of the corner of her eye but she wasn’t sure from what.
• 41:46
  “Kids don’t usually carry their birth certificates around. Was it something you did or something
• 41:51
  your parents did?” Other than having her,
• 41:55
  her parents hadn’t done anything wrong, and definitely not anything deserving of death.
• 42:00
  A big fat tear decided at that moment to creep out of the corner of her eye and run down her cheek.
• 42:06
  “Did something else happen? Cici said you reeked of smoke when they found you,
• 42:11
  and it wasn’t just wood smoke. She said you smelled like burning plastic and meat.”
• 42:17
  “Not meat,” Honey whispered. The source of the smell, her parents’ bodies lying burnt and
• 42:23
  blackened on the floor of the rented house in the midst of the flames raging over and around them,
• 42:28
  jumped to the forefront of her mind. Her dad, her big, strong funny dad, had been so burned
• 42:35
  she’d only known it was him from his hair and the chain he always wore around his neck.
• 42:40
  Her mom, her beautiful, smart, loving mom had died with her blackened hand reaching for him.
• 42:46
  She didn’t remember finally cutting through whatever bound her or having her feet untied,
• 42:51
  but when she finally recovered enough from the memory to be aware of her surroundings again,
• 42:55
  she was on the floor with a damp face, a dripping nose, and the Luna’s arms around her.
• 43:01
  “Tell me what happened,” the woman, Lynn, said softly,
• 43:06
  pushing a damp strand of hair behind Honey’s ear.
• 43:10
  “Fire. I came home and my parents were both…they were inside.”
• 43:16
  “You saw them?” Honey nodded.
• 43:19
  Lynn pulled Honey into a tighter hug and rested her cheek on the top of Honey’s head.
• 43:24
  “You poor girl. Do you know how it happened?” Honey shook her head.
• 43:29
  “Why did you run? Wasn’t there someone else you could go to?”
• 43:33
  Honey shook her head again. “Were your parents rogues?” Lynn asked gently.
• 43:39
  “No.” “They weren’t?” she sounded surprised.
• 43:44
  “No.” “What pack are you from?”
• 43:47
  “We were our own pack.” “Ah, well how about we get
• 43:53
  up off this floor and sit on the couch, then we can decide what to do with you.”
• 43:57
  “Do with me?” Lynn handed her a tissue from the
• 44:01
  box the muscular woman had passed down. “Yes, do with you. Do you have any other family anywhere?”
• 44:08
  “I don’t know.” She did have a grandmother somewhere,
• 44:11
  but she didn’t know her name and or where she lived or if she was even still alive. She did know
• 44:17
  she was a witch, but she couldn’t say that. “Why did you buy a ticket to Columbus?”
• 44:23
  “To get away from the bullies.” “Bullies?”
• 44:27
  Did the Luna truly not realize how awful her teenage pack members were? “Yeah, those four mean
• 44:34
  wolves who wouldn’t leave me alone.” Her voice cracked. She tried clearing it but was like trying
• 44:39
  to clear glue. Lynn pushed a cold, unopened bottle of water in her hand. Where had that come from?
• 44:47
  “They were just concerned because you’re so young.” The Luna said as Honey took a long sip.
• 44:53
  “Concerned people don’t rifle through other people’s things
• 44:56
  and throw their opened water bottle on the ground or destroy their belongings.”
• 45:00
  Honey looked pointedly at the dissected backpack on the table.
• 45:04
  “I was only trying to learn more about you so I could help you.
• 45:08
  I’m starting a program to help rogues get back on their feet,” she said with pride.
• 45:13
  “I was on my feet until the bullies knocked me down.”
• 45:16
  “You were on the run and alone. Now you have me.”
• 45:21
  The woman pushed herself up off the floor and brushed off her pastel slacks as if her
• 45:26
  rose-colored rug might be dirty. Honey stood up beside her. Lynn was at least an inch taller,
• 45:32
  unlike Honey’s mom who was three inches shorter, or had been.
• 45:36
  “Now, how old are you? The year on this birth certificate is illegible.”
• 45:41
  Because Honey had made it that way. Did it matter if she told her? She chewed her lip. It
• 45:47
  might if she needed to get a fake ID to get a job, which is what she’d been planning to do once she
• 45:53
  accomplished step 1: get away. Finding a job would help her accomplish step 2: find food and shelter.
• 46:00
  “Promise not to tell anyone?” Lynn gave Honey a, ‘children say
• 46:04
  the silliest things’, look. “You are too young to be worrying about your age.”
• 46:09
  Honey looked over at the other woman. She hadn’t moved or said a word since passing on the tissue
• 46:15
  box. “You have to promise too or leave.” Woman 2 snorted.
• 46:20
  Honey shrugged and looked around. A picture on the wall beside the desk caught her attention.
• 46:26
  Lynn was in it along with a big, muscular man with light brown hair,
• 46:30
  and a boy not quite as tall as her. Even though he was several years younger in the picture,
• 46:36
  Honey still recognized him – head bully. Lynn must be his mother.
• 46:42
  Lynn saw where she was looking and walked over and pulled the picture off the wall.
• 46:47
  She leaned casually against the desk and touched the faces with a fond smile.
• 46:52
  “My husband and my son. This was five years ago when Brayton was thirteen. It’s disturbing
• 46:58
  how fast they grow up.” Lynn released a long sigh, then hung the picture back on the wall.
• 47:05
  Honey’s mom had had one picture with all three of them together, but couldn’t display it in
• 47:10
  case someone saw it, not that they ever had visitors. She’d kept it in the false bottom of
• 47:15
  a shoebox high up in the closet. Honey was seven in the picture and wore a green dress that her
• 47:21
  mom said matched her eyes. Her dad was smiling and had his arm draped over her mom’s shoulders.
• 47:27
  Her mom hadn’t quite smiled when whoever it was had taken the picture,
• 47:31
  but she’d had an amused look in her eye and a quirk to her mouth. Honey had used to beg
• 47:37
  to see it, especially when her dad was away on his business trips. Was the picture still there
• 47:42
  or had everything burned to the ground? Would it be too dangerous to go back and look?
• 47:48
  “Fine,” Lynn said, waving her hand like she was swatting at an irritating fly
• 47:52
  before jerking out the chair tucked under the desk. “I promise not to tell anyone.”
• 47:59
  Honey swiped a couple of tears from her cheeks. “What?”
• 48:03
  “Your age. I promise not to tell anyone.” Honey forced herself to focus on the present.
• 48:09
  “Or write it down, or speak in sign language, or record it, or share it in any way.”
• 48:15
  Lynn sighed and plopped down in the chair. “Tell me already.”
• 48:20
  “You have to promise. Her too,” Honey nodded at the muscular woman.
• 48:25
  “I don’t even care, but I promise not to divulge your highly secret age in
• 48:29
  any way, shape, or form,” muscles said. “Can I tell my husband?” the Luna asked.
• 48:35
  “No.” “But I tell him everything.”
• 48:39
  “I’ll tell him if he needs to know, maybe. You can tell him you promised
• 48:43
  and that you are a wonderful woman who would never dream of breaking a promise.”
• 48:48
  Lynn laughed. Despite her sharp features, she had a nice laugh. “Fine,
• 48:53
  I make the same promise that Bernadette did.” “She’s Bernadette?” Honey pointed to muscles.
• 48:59
  “There’s no one else in here.” “Just making sure.”
• 49:03
  “Okay, spill. What’s your age.” “Fourteen.”
• 49:08
  Lynn lifted her hands as if she was saying a prayer, then picked up a pen.
• 49:13
  “You are a freshman then.” “Mmm, not really. I was homeschooled.”
• 49:19
  “Home-schooled?” Lynn said it like she’d never heard of such a thing.
• 49:23
  “Yes.” “For how long?”
• 49:26
  “Forever.” It wasn’t worth mentioning that she’d gone to high school for one day. Lynn might be
• 49:31
  able to figure out where she’d come from. Lynn put her pen down.
• 49:36
  “You’ve never been to a formal school?” “No.” She guessed Lynn wouldn’t count
• 49:41
  gymnastics or martial arts or pottery class and she didn’t need to know about those anyway.
• 49:47
  Lynn leaned back in her chair. “I guess we’ll just have to get you tested. We might have to put you
• 49:53
  with some younger kids so you can get caught up.” “But they already tested me.”
• 49:58
  “Who did?” “The high school. My mom was going to
• 50:02
  let me go to high school but they didn’t know what grade to put me in so they made me take the SAT.”
• 50:07
  “And,” Lynn said, “What did you get?” “A 1600.”
• 50:13
  “No. You. Did. Not,” Bernadette stated. “I did.”
• 50:18
  Luna Lynn got a sly look in her eye. “Prove it and I’ll get you free ride to college.”
• 50:25
  College! Honey pinned her with her eyes. “This semester?”
• 50:30
  That was only three weeks away. Lynn’s eyebrows quivered.
• 50:35
  “Yes,” she said after the slightest hesitation. “Do you have a computer?”
• 50:43
  Chapter 6 Honey
• 50:46
  Luna Lynn was flabbergasted. Honey decided she really liked that word.
• 50:50
  Bernadette was also flabbergasted. “I can’t believe this,” Lynn said again,
• 50:56
  moving the mouse around the screen as if that was going to reveal the page Honey was showing
• 51:00
  her on the college board site was fake. “Brayton took the test three times and only got a 1420.”
• 51:08
  A 1420 wasn’t bad, but Honey couldn’t help but be a little smug that she’d done better
• 51:13
  than head bully. “Which college am I going to go to? Do I get to choose? I want one
• 51:18
  that offers a major in chemical physics.” “You want what now?” Bernadette asked.
• 51:24
  “Chemical physics. It’s the study of chemical processes while thinking like a physicist.”
• 51:31
  “Ah, well, I’m on the board of our local college where most of the wolves attend.
• 51:36
  I was thinking you could go there,” Luna Lynn said. “I’m sure they have both chemistry and
• 51:42
  physics. Maybe you could do a double major?” “That would work. It would give me something to
• 51:47
  build on. I could always go to another college and get a masters or PhD in the field if I needed.”
• 51:54
  “O.M.G. You are serious!” That was Bernadette again.
• 51:59
  Luna Lynn gave Bernadette a sour glance. “Why are you surprised by this? She’s only
• 52:04
  fourteen and she got a perfect score on the SAT. She can do whatever she wants.”
• 52:09
  “Yeah, but she… I mean look at those eyes, and that hair.”
• 52:13
  “What?” Honey reached up to try and straighten her hair with her fingers
• 52:17
  but she knew it was a lost cause. Her curls loved to tangle and she was pretty sure there were still
• 52:23
  three comb teeth lost somewhere in the mess. “Wait a second. This score is for someone named
• 52:29
  Honey,” Lynn said suspiciously. “I know. That’s me,” Honey said.
• 52:35
  “Cici said the people at the shelter called you Ava.”
• 52:39
  “You don’t use your real name at a shelter,” Honey scoffed.
• 52:43
  “Especially with a name like Honey,” Bernadette snorted. “Your mom was a hippy, wasn’t she?”
• 52:50
  “Shush, Bernadette,” Lynn said. “Is your name truly Honey Smith?”
• 52:54
  “Yes.” “And your
• 52:56
  parents were named Matt and Mindy Smith?” Lynn must have read that on the birth certificate.
• 53:01
  Honey couldn’t think of a reason to remove her parent’s names since she was pretty sure they
• 53:05
  weren’t their real ones. She’d asked her mother once if Mindy was her real name.
• 53:10
  Mom had said it was close enough. “Yes.”
• 53:14
  “Why does that remind me of an old TV show?” Lynn mused.
• 53:19
  Since she and her mom didn’t have a TV, Honey had no idea.
• 53:23
  “Are you talking about Mork and Mindy?” Bernadette asked.
• 53:27
  “Probably. Excuse me for a moment, I’ll be right back.”
• 53:31
  Lynn strode purposely out the door, leaving Honey sitting in front of the
• 53:35
  computer with Bernadette standing over her. She was tempted to google how to get to the bus stop,
• 53:41
  but with Bernadette watching…actually, what difference did it make if she was watching?
• 53:46
  Honey opened a new browser window and started typing.
• 53:50
  Bernadette slammed the laptop closed on her hands. “No.”
• 53:54
  “But I just wanted to…” “No.”
• 53:57
  Fine, there were other things she could do to figure out where she was,
• 54:01
  like look out the window. She pushed the rolling chair backwards and spun around,
• 54:05
  then launched herself out of the chair and toward the window. She expected Bernadette to stop her,
• 54:11
  but the woman didn’t move. They were on the second floor. The first thing Honey noticed
• 54:16
  was a big blue metal barn which was just across the wide drive from there window, but there were
• 54:21
  lots of other buildings and people walking between them. She didn’t see any in wolf form.
• 54:28
  Far beyond the barn, she saw fields and a large patch of trees stretching toward what she guessed
• 54:33
  was the west based on the position of the sun. There were a few cars parked around the buildings
• 54:40
  but no motorcycles. It was a good thing she hadn’t tried to run – the cars were
• 54:44
  all too new to hot-wire. She’d have to locate a key if she was going to escape that way.
• 54:51
  “I found it,” Lynn said entering the room with a large workbook in her hand. “Have a seat, Honey.”
• 54:57
  Lynn flipped through the book then set it purposely in front of her
• 55:01
  opened to a nearly blank page. “This is a practice SAT test. I’ve opened it to the math portion.
• 55:08
  I need you to prove to me that you are the Honey Smith whose account you pulled up.
• 55:13
  If you can get all those right, or nearly all of them, you’ve got your scholarship.”
• 55:19
  Honey raised her eyes just enough to see Lynn’s face. “I’ll need a pencil.”
• 55:25
  “Okay then,” Lynn said forty minutes later after checking over Honey’s answers a second time.
• 55:31
  “I am impressed. Let me show you to your room.”
• 55:34
  “My room?” Honey asked from where she was watching out the window again.
• 55:40
  “Yes. If I’m going to sponsor a fourteen-year-old for a full ride scholarship, I’m going to keep
• 55:46
  an eye on her. You will be my ward. When the university is on holiday, you will live here, and
• 55:52
  when it’s in session, you will live in the dorms. I’ll ask Brayton to keep an eye on you too.”
• 55:58
  “That won’t be necessary,” Honey said quickly. “I’m hoping you’ll rub off on him. Mmm.
• 56:04
  What did your mother teach you about boys?” “They like to see if they can get girls to take
• 56:10
  off their clothes, so don’t drink anything they hand you and be very suspicious if they try to
• 56:15
  sweet-talk you into something,” Honey recited. Bernadette snorted.
• 56:20
  “Your mom was not wrong,” Lynn agreed, nodding sagely. “You’re very young. I recommend you stay
• 56:27
  away from boys until you’re eighteen at least. That will give you four years of distraction-free
• 56:32
  studying. Well, boy-caused distraction anyway. You might want to rethink telling people about
• 56:38
  your age. Most boys will behave if they know how young you are. Not all, unfortunately.”
• 56:45
  “I will take your advice under consideration if the situation warrants it.”
• 56:49
  “Maybe you should become a lawyer. Seriously, you sound like one,” Bernadette mumbled.
• 56:55
  Someone pounded on the door. “Mom, is the rogue awake yet?”
• 57:01
  “Yes, you can come in Brayton. How do you feel?”
• 57:04
  The door slammed open and head bully stomped in, or would have if the carpet hadn’t been so thick.
• 57:10
  “Like someone shot me with a tranquilizer dart.” He glared at Honey as if she’d been the
• 57:15
  one to load the gun and shoot it into his back. “It’s a good thing you weren’t actually shot then,
• 57:20
  you’d be whining about the bruise too,” Honey snarked.
• 57:24
  “That’s enough you two. You’re both awake and it worked out for the best,” Lynn said.
• 57:28
  “Come along Honey. I have some conditioner that will work wonders on your hair.”
• 57:34
  “I doubt anything will work on that rats’ nest,” Brayton scoffed.
• 57:38
  “I guess we won’t have to worry about Brayton,” Bernadette commented to Lynn.
• 57:43
  “Worry about me why?” Brayton asked suspiciously.
• 57:47
  “I’ve decided to make Honey my ward. She’ll be starting college with you in a few weeks.
• 57:52
  She’s underage, so I want you to keep an eye on her like she’s your little sister.”
• 57:56
  “You’re what… You want me to what?” he sputtered.
• 58:00
  “You heard me.” “Mom, she’s a rogue. She doesn’t have any money.”
• 58:05
  “She doesn’t need it. She just got herself a full ride. The girl got a perfect score on her SAT in a
• 58:11
  single attempt. I’ve seen the scores myself.” If he’d been able to shoot laser beams with
• 58:17
  his eyes, Honey was pretty sure he would have a hole burned through her head. “It’s a trick!”
• 58:23
  “It’s not a trick. She just took the math portion of your practice test and got every one of those
• 58:28
  problems right too. Bernadette was watching the whole time.” Lynn nodded toward the desk.
• 58:33
  “Check them yourself if you don’t believe me.” Brayton scowled at the desk, but a moment later,
• 58:39
  turned to Honey and scanned her from head to toe with what she could only classify as an evil grin.
• 58:46
  “This means she’ll have to take the WOLF class with the rest of us, doesn’t it?”
• 58:50
  “WOLF class,” Honey asked. “It’s part of the curriculum,” Lynn explained.
• 58:55
  “Since a good proportion of the students are wolves and wolves have a lot of pent-up energy,
• 59:00
  the college offers special fitness and martial arts classes for wolves.
• 59:05
  The freshmen class is at 5:30 in the morning, three days a week.”
• 59:09
  “Doesn’t the name make the human students suspicious?”
• 59:12
  “No,” Luna Lynn said. “They think it stands for Wilderness Officer Land and Fitness training
• 59:20
  and the witches know better than to tell them the truth, or they should.”
• 59:24
  “There are witches at the school?” Honey asked, and then worried that she’d sounded too eager.
• 59:30
  She knew witches and wolves went to the same schools because her parents had met in college,
• 59:35
  but she had thought witches wouldn’t be allowed at this college since Luna Lynn was on the board.
• 59:41
  “Anti-discrimination laws mean we must allow everyone to attend,
• 59:45
  assuming they meet the criteria. Unfortunately, we are not allowed to use ‘wolf’ as a criterion,”
• 59:52
  Lynn explained. “You don’t need to worry. Any witches who use spells on wolves without their
• 59:57
  consent are immediately expelled.” “Oh, that’s…good.” Honey changed the
• 1:00:04
  subject before she got herself in trouble. “Do they teach Krav Maga in the WOLF class?”
• 1:00:11
  She’d wanted to take a class after her dad told her how useful it was for self-defense,
• 1:00:16
  especially for women, but she couldn’t find any classes in her area.
• 1:00:20
  “What?” Brayton looked at her like she was speaking a foreign language.
• 1:00:25
  “It’s the technique the Israeli military uses.”
• 1:00:28
  He rolled his eyes. “Why do girls always fall for the latest trends?”
• 1:00:33
  “It’s been around since the 1940s.” “I’m sure there will be plenty there for
• 1:00:38
  you to learn, Honey,” Luna Lynn said soothingly. “Now, come along. I’ll show you to your room.”
• 1:00:44
  “Her room?” For a moment Brayton looked absolutely horrified, then it morphed back into anger. “She’s
• 1:00:52
  a rogue. She belongs with the rest of them.” “She’s not a rogue anymore Brayton.
• 1:00:58
  I have decided to take her as my ward. She’s a part of our pack.”
• 1:01:02
  His eyes darted between Honey and his mother. “Your ward? Have you asked Dad?”
• 1:01:08
  “I haven’t informed him of my decision yet,” she paused for a moment, then turned to Honey
• 1:01:13
  and extended her hand with a smile. “Come on, Honey. I’ll take you to meet my husband.”
• 1:01:19
  Honey hesitated. She hadn’t agreed to be Lynn’s ward, but Lynn was going to pay for her college.
• 1:01:26
  It was better than trying to find a job that would pay enough to feed and clothe
• 1:01:29
  her at her age – much better. The only challenge would be hiding the entirety of what she was.
• 1:01:36
  She could do that. She’d been practicing her whole life, after all. She slid her
• 1:01:40
  hand into Luna’s smooth one and, ignoring Brayton completely, followed Lynn out into the hallway.
• 1:01:47
  Someone was yelling, although it was muffled. “I used to have the office right next to
• 1:01:51
  Brandon’s,” Luna Lynn said back to her, “but he and his visitors
• 1:01:55
  get so loud, I moved down the hall. I like the lighting in my new office better too.”
• 1:02:01
  “Brandon is your husband?” “Yes. Alpha Brandon Mooney,
• 1:02:05
  but everyone calls him Alpha Brandon.” Honey nodded as they stopped in front of
• 1:02:10
  a heavy wooden door with carvings of animals in each panel. It looked ancient. There were
• 1:02:15
  several sets of gouges that she was sure came from wolf claws. Luna Lynn knocked on a flat part in
• 1:02:21
  the center of the door and called out. The voices inside subsided just before the door swung open.
• 1:02:28
  Lynn dragged Honey inside. Brayton followed so close behind her, he stepped on the heel
• 1:02:33
  of her shoe, or maybe that was on purpose. The room was masculine – overwhelmingly so.
• 1:02:41
  Honey had always thought her dad smelled good and Brayton wasn’t bad, but the combined scents
• 1:02:46
  of so many male wolves from who knows how many years made her feel a little nauseous.
• 1:02:52
  In looks the room reminded her of the bar scene in Beauty and the Beast when Gaston was singing his
• 1:02:58
  song. It was all leather and wood and while there weren’t any antlers, there was an ancient musket
• 1:03:04
  hanging on the wall over an intimidating desk that was holding down one end of a large bear rug.
• 1:03:11
  “What do you need, Dear,” asked the man who matched the picture Lynn had in her office.
• 1:03:16
  He was about the same size as her dad in person. The other wolf in the room
• 1:03:20
  was slighter and wirier and still fuming about whatever he’d been yelling about.
• 1:03:25
  Honey guessed he was the one who had been yelling because Alpha Brandon didn’t look upset at all.
• 1:03:30
  Lynn pulled her forward. “This is Honey. She is a minor. I’ve decided to make her my ward.
• 1:03:37
  Her parents were killed and she ran away to save her life.
• 1:03:40
  She got a perfect score on her SAT. I’m sending her to college. Can she join our pack?”
• 1:03:46
  “Honey? She told the people at the shelter that her name was Ava,” Brayton said loudly.
• 1:03:52
  “No one uses their real names at a shelter if they can avoid it,” Lynn informed him.
• 1:03:57
  Honey might have found it amusing that the Luna had repeated her words
• 1:04:01
  if she wasn’t pinned beneath the gray-blue eyes of the big man in front of her. His eyes were like
• 1:04:06
  his son’s except they had the beginnings of crow’s feet at the corners. That meant he smiled a lot,
• 1:04:12
  although he wasn’t smiling now. “This is the rogue you were telling me about yesterday, Brayton?”
• 1:04:18
  “Yes, Sir.” “What pack are you from, er,”
• 1:04:22
  he turned to his wife. “Her name is Honey?” “Yes.”
• 1:04:26
  “All right, Honey, what pack are you from?” She decided to tell the truth as far as she could.
• 1:04:33
  She wasn’t good a lying – her mom always caught her and she didn’t even have a wolf’s nose.
• 1:04:38
  “I don’t know.” “What do you mean you don’t know?”
• 1:04:42
  “She’s been a rogue all her life. She doesn’t have a pack,” Brayton declared behind her.
• 1:04:48
  Honey turned around to hammer him with a glare. He was such a know-it-all
• 1:04:52
  even though he knew nothing. “That’s not true. My parents just never told me.”
• 1:04:58
  “Why would your parents have to tell you if you lived in the pack?” Brayton scoffed.
• 1:05:03
  “I didn’t live in the pack. I was a lovechild. No one knew I existed.”
• 1:05:08
  Everyone went absolutely quiet, so quiet Honey could hear children playing somewhere outside
• 1:05:15
  the well-insulated windows. After living in so many different places, she could recognize and
• 1:05:20
  appreciate well-insulated windows. A laugh burst out of the wiry man.
• 1:05:26
  Alpha Brandon glanced at him and snorted. Honey didn’t see Lynn’s reaction, but she was smiling
• 1:05:32
  when Honey turned to see who was patting her shoulder. “That explains why you were homeschooled
• 1:05:37
  and why you were ready to run at a moment’s notice,” Lynn declared. “Oh, my goodness, wow.
• 1:05:44
  I am impressed your parents kept you hidden that long. I bet your dad’s mate found out.
• 1:05:49
  She probably killed them in a fit of jealousy. Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.”
• 1:05:55
  Honey was pretty sure her mom and herself were the only women in her dad’s life,
• 1:05:59
  but she didn’t correct her. Alpha Brandon wiped his hand down
• 1:06:03
  his face, then looked down at Honey with a sigh. “Well, Lynn, I had some serious doubts when you
• 1:06:10
  proposed your save-the-rogues program, but if we manage to save any more genius love-children,
• 1:06:16
  I guess it will be worth it, even if we have to rebuild the lodge a few times.”
• 1:06:21
  “Rebuild the lodge?” Luna Lynn asked. “Yeah, one of the males we brought
• 1:06:26
  in yesterday didn’t like his accommodations,” the wiry man said.
• 1:06:31
  “Did you tranq him too?” Honey asked. From the look the alpha and wiry man shared,
• 1:06:37
  she was pretty sure they had. “He was probably afraid you were going to kill
• 1:06:41
  him if you approached him the same way Brayton approached me.” She gave Brayton a
• 1:06:45
  well-deserved reproachful look. “Homeless shelters attract people because the people who need it
• 1:06:50
  know it’s a safe place to go. Maybe you should set up a shelter for rogues downtown.
• 1:06:56
  Once word gets out that they can come and go freely, you can help the ones that ask for it.”
• 1:07:01
  “You are a wise little thing, aren’t you?” the alpha said. “Come here, Honey.”
• 1:07:07
  He took her hands in his big ones. “I accept you into the Mooney pack.”
• 1:07:11
  Her skin tingled where his lips pressed against her forehead. “And I accept you as my mate’s ward.
• 1:07:17
  Make us proud.” (shut book)
• 1:07:21
  That’s it for today. If you want your own copy to read,
• 1:07:26
  Honey’s story is available at all the major retailers in paperback and ebook form.
• 1:07:32
  Just look for The Curse of the Hybrids by Lisa Lagaly.
• 1:07:37
  If you liked what you heard, please share my story with your friends or leave a review.
• 1:07:43
  And tune in next week when Honey goes to college. Thanks for listening.(chime)
• 1:07:52
  and I am your Storyteller.