Running in a Pack

by A M Burns

  The front door opened, and his mother looked out. “I thought I heard a truck pause, then drive off. I take it that was Ivan dropping you off.”

  “Yeah.” Finn glanced at her, then back into the tree, watching the black-and-blue bird hop around with the occasional squawk that sounded almost like a spring that needed oiling.

  His mother stepped onto the porch. “Did you guys have a nice hike?”

  “Yeah, we went up to a place called Rainbow Falls. It’s pretty up there.”

  “Did you see the falls?” She settled onto the bench next to him. “If it’s not too much for your sister, we should go see it sometime.”

  “I think Shelby would be fine. I had to stop a couple of times to catch my breath and drink some water. We didn’t make it all the way to the falls. Ivan said we could try that again later, once I’ve grown accustomed to the altitude.”

  “Good. He seems to have a good head on his shoulders, then. I like that.”

  “Yeah, Ivan’s a great guy.” As he said it, Finn realized his tone held mixed emotions. He did think Ivan was a great guy. There was something about Ivan that called to him, almost like the wolves did. But he wanted to know what was up with Ivan and Adrian.

  His mother dropped her chin and cocked her eyebrow, a sure sign that she had caught the conflict in his voice. “Is there a problem with Ivan? Did he try to get you to do drugs? I know folks here in Colorado are more laid-back about that sort of thing than they are in Texas.”

  Finn held up his hand to cut her off. “God, Mom, it’s nothing like that. From what I picked up from Ivan and Adrian, they aren’t real fond of the druggies either. No. I’m just trying to figure Ivan out… well, him and Adrian too.”

  “Who’s Adrian? And in what way?” Her voice softened.

  For a moment, Finn studied his mother. Their family had a no-secrets policy. With psychic visions running in the family, it was fairly stupid to lie, or keep secrets, even if not everyone was as strong as his grandmother had been. It worked well for all of them, and when he compared the way he and Shelby were with their folks and what the kids at school went through, he knew it was a good policy. He’d never found anything he couldn’t talk to his parents about. He was closer to his mother than his father, but he figured part of that was due to the fact they spent more time together. “Adrian’s Ivan’s best friend, and there’s something going on with the two of them. They might be a couple, but I’m not sure. We encountered two of the school bullies out on the trail.”

  Her hand shot to his head, lifting his blond bangs from his forehead as she studied him. “You weren’t hurt were you?”

  Finn shook his head. He’d been hurt enough times in the past by the bullies at school, and she’d always been there to make sure he was okay, then to march into the principal’s office and make demands for his safety. “I’m fine. It didn’t get physical, just a few jibes tossed between them and Ivan and me. Adrian hid from them.”

  She frowned as she smoothed his hair back into place. “Hid from them? That’s not good.”

  “That’s what I thought, but Ivan’s the only one of us that would be a match for these two physically. It was probably for the best.” Finn didn’t want to think about trying to take on either Channing or Esteban, even with Adrian’s help. He was too skinny to be of much good against one of them in a fight.

  “It’s always better to avoid things getting physical if you can help it.” His mother folded her hands in her lap. “Does Ivan think these boys are going to be a problem in school?”

  “He and Adrian are sure of it.”

  “Well, I’ll talk with the Dubovaskys about this, and we’ll get with Adrian’s folks and make sure it’s not a problem for long.” The mother-wolf look came into her eyes as she squared her jaw. Finn knew she was already working out a list of things to go over with the other parents to combat the evils that plagued their children.

  “Let’s wait and see what happens, Mom. If we’re lucky, you won’t have to go all crazy-crusader mom on them. Let’s try and keep that side of you out of the principal’s office for as long as possible.” He wanted time to get established in the new school before teachers started being scared of pissing his mother off.

  “The first time things get physical with these bullies, I’m dealing with it.” His mother frowned at him. “Bullies are just a sign of bad parenting.”

  “I know.”

  “Okay, you know I’ll step in when I’m needed. So, who’s this Adrian guy? Is he nice?”

  “He seems nice. At first he acted a little jealous of me going hiking with them, but Ivan was cool. He’s smaller than Ivan and quieter. Ivan hugged him after we made it past the bullies.”

  “Do they act like they might be a couple?”

  Finn shrugged. “Maybe. I don’t know. I think Adrian’s hiding something, but I don’t know if that’s it or not. I don’t think Ivan’s hiding anything other than Adrian’s secret.”

  “It’s good that Ivan’s honest with you. Maybe you can ask him about Adrian the next time you see him.”

  “I hope to. Overall, gut instinct—”

  “And I always say to follow your gut,” his mother interrupted. “Unless you’re getting visions. You haven’t said anything about having visions.”

  “No real visions.” He wasn’t sure how to explain the way Ivan occasionally looked fuzzy around the edges. “But my gut says they’re great people and potential friends.”

  “Do you want to find out what’s going on before we start volunteering?” The tone of her voice said that she may have already made arrangements for them out at the wolf center.

  “When do we start?” Finn wanted to say that he would like to find out what was going on first, but he was fairly sure that no matter what it was, he’d be able to still be around Ivan, and the idea of spending more time with the wolves was better than anything else he could think of right then.

  “I haven’t heard back from Ivan’s mother, but after I finished sorting through that mountain of mail, I sent in the web forms for us to go to their next training class for volunteers. That’s this weekend.” She sounded rather proud of herself. “If you want to put it off—”

  “No. We’ll be fine. This is great.” Finn’s heart raced. More than finding out about Ivan and Adrian, he wanted to spend time with the wolves. Being able to learn more and being able to help out pushed the questions about Ivan and Adrian out of his mind. He hugged his mom. “Thanks for signing us up.”

  “Thanks for wanting to find something interesting to do around here. Your father and Shelby aren’t going to go out just yet. He thinks maybe you and I need something special that’s just the two of us for a while. Is that okay with you?”

  “Sure. You know I never mind spending more time with you.”

  “Good.” She let go of him and ruffled his hair. An almost sad smile crossed her lips. “You’re growing up so fast. If we don’t spend time together, we might miss our chance.”

  He smiled back at her. “Mom, we’ll always have time for each other.”

  “That’s easy to say now, but when you go off to college, that might be a different thing.”

  Going off to college wasn’t something he’d ever given much thought to while living in Austin; he just figured he’d go to college there and live at home while he did it. He hadn’t investigated the options in Colorado. “I’ll always come home as much as I can.”

  She sighed. “I know. I love you, Finn.”

  He hugged her again. “I love you too, Mom.”

  Stepping back and Finn rubbed his smooth chin. “So what would you think if I grew a beard? Adrian says it helps to blend in with the mountain men around here.”

  His mother frowned. “I’ve never been fond of beards. Your father tried it once about the time you were born. I didn’t like it, and he shaved it off. It’s your life, if you want one, try it.”

  Finn tried to envision his father with hair on his face, then he tried to think about what he’d look like and just
couldn’t see either. “I’ll think about it, if it looks like I’m going to be getting the cold shoulder as the new kid, or if a lot of the other boys have them.” He turned toward the door and headed up to his room. Maybe he could find a photomanip site where he could do some experimenting.

  5

  Finn tried desperately not to fidget as the training class entered the final hour. He’d gotten a text from Ivan the night before that said Ivan had a surprise for him, but he wouldn’t say what, even when Finn all but begged for some kind of hint. Ivan just said it would happen when Finn and his mom came out to the center for their volunteer instruction. The class had been longer than Finn figured it would be, but there was a lot more to safely interacting with wolves than he’d expected. Ivan’s mother and father had explained proper body posture and how important it was when dealing with the different wolves, particularly the pack alphas. They’d also covered wolf body language and when to avoid eye contact. If Finn hadn’t spent so much time researching wolves, it would’ve been a lot to take in on top of the basics of feeding and cleaning up after the wolves, which was what most of the volunteers would be doing.

  As he and his mom walked out of the trailer that served as the center’s office, following the rest of the class—a couple of elderly women and a middle-aged man who already acted like he knew more than everyone else—Finn spotted Ivan leaning up against the railing of the steps to his log cabin.

  “Hey, Mom, can I steal Finn?” he shouted.

  Ivan’s mother stopped and looked back at Finn. “I suppose. We’ll be down in the pens with some hands-on training. You’ll have to cover it with him.”

  Finn’s own mother glanced at him. “Don’t take too long—I don’t want you to miss much.”

  “Thanks, Mom.” Finn dashed toward Ivan, his heart racing more than he thought it should. It was strange that every time Finn was around Ivan, he got excited. Even though he was still trying to sort out what was going on with Ivan and Adrian, being near Ivan made him feel like he’d felt around the couple of girls he’d gone out with in Austin, only the effect was stronger and more pronounced.

  Ivan motioned him up the steps. “I thought they were going to drag out orientation forever.”

  “So it’s not normally that long?” Finn followed Ivan into the house.

  “Sometimes. It depends on the participants.” He glanced at the clock. “That one took about two and a half hours. I bet you have a know-it-all in the class.”

  Finn stopped and stared at Ivan. “How do you know that?”

  “Know-it-alls always slow things down for everyone.” Ivan rolled his eyes and walked through the tidy living room and toward the hall.

  “Yeah, he did add a lot of his own comments to everything.”

  Down the hall came the cheerful sound of someone laughing. The voice could’ve been Adrian, but Finn wasn’t sure.

  A deep, musky smell welled up out of the room as Ivan opened the door. “Well, now that you’ve survived that, here’s the surprise. We just got these girls in last night.”

  The room was bare except for three large plastic dog kennels and Adrian, who sat in the middle of the white tile floor covered by three wolf cubs. The cubs climbed over Adrian, licking his neck and face. They didn’t seem put off in the least by his beard.

  Adrian laughed again. It was a happy, pleasant sound that brought a smile to Finn’s face. “Hey, Finn, you’ve got to play with these guys. They’re awesome.”

  Finn sat down next to Adrian. “They’re so cute.”

  “Wolf pups are some of the most adorable babies you’ll ever see.” Ivan sat next to Finn. The three of them formed a triangle on the floor with their knees almost touching.

  “Where’d you get them?” Finn accepted one of the cubs, a white one with light gray ears and a black spot on the tip of her tail.

  “They came in from Idaho.” Ivan took the darkest of the three cubs. It whined in his hands. “According to the folks who brought them down, they were orphaned when their pack was killed by a rancher. The rancher claimed they were killing cattle, but there was only one dead cow found on his land that had been fed on by wolves. Technically that’s only circumstantial evidence, but a lot of the state wildlife departments try to keep the ranchers happy.”

  It was one of the dumbest things Finn had ever heard. He shook his head slowly as he stroked the white cub’s head. Its fur was soft and had a bit of static in it. “That’s really sad. These little ones end up orphaned all because some rancher was being stupid.”

  “Yeah.” Adrian set down the cub he was holding. It waddled toward the cub in Ivan’s hands. “People don’t understand wolves. Unfortunately humans tend to attack what they don’t understand.” There was a note of bitterness in Adrian’s voice, but it didn’t eclipse his obvious joy at playing with the cubs.

  “And wolves have been reviled since the beginnings of our history.” Ivan let the cub in his hands down, and it tumbled with the one Adrian had put between them. “Unfortunately there are more wolves in need of proper homes than there are facilities that can properly house and care for them. There aren’t any facilities between here and Idaho that have current openings for cubs. We’re just lucky we have enough undeveloped land that we can build them an enclosure before they need it.”

  Finn set his cub down with the other two. She instantly ran over to the darkest one and pounced on it. The darkest one squirmed under her weight and rolled over. The third cub licked the other two, and they were quickly in a puppy pile, napping.

  “And it’s important for them to stay together in a pack,” Ivan continued. “If we happen to get any more cubs in over the next year or so, we would want them to go in with these girls. We’ve got the space to put in several more pens of at least two to three acres depending on the number of wolves in the pack. I know Dad would love to eventually have a pack of seven to ten together in a five-acre pen.”

  “That sounds like a lot of wolves.” Finn tried not to sound absentminded since most of his attention was on the little fuzz balls in front of him.

  “There are bigger packs in some of the more established centers, but the catch is finding the right dynamic.” Ivan flashed Finn a bright smile, and for a second his heart skipped a beat. “Sort of like good friends.”

  Finn was suddenly at a loss for words. “I can see that.” He glanced at Adrian, who had a strange look on his face that Finn couldn’t identify. It wasn’t an upset or jealous look, but there was something there. He didn’t want Adrian to feel left out. “Hey, Adrian, how long have you been volunteering here?” Finn was asking mostly because he’d never seen Adrian’s parents around, and he didn’t look any older than himself. Adrian glanced at Ivan before answering. “Well, it’s been a little over a year. I started last year after my mom decided I needed something to keep me going. Ivan was great last year, and my folks like him. Our moms are both on the farmers’ market committee.”

  “So my folks made an exception on the age restrictions for Adrian. They think we’re good for each other.” Ivan chuckled. “We’ll keep them thinking that, won’t we? If we’re lucky, they’ll think you’re a good influence too.”

  “Cool. Right now my folks are just happy I’m making friends.” Finn couldn’t help himself from running a careful hand over the pile of sleeping wolves between them. The easy acceptance of the young wild creatures made him feel good. There was something natural about the wolves sleeping among them and about sitting there with Ivan and Adrian. Even if he hadn’t already made up his mind that he wanted to spend more time with Ivan, Adrian, and wolves, the cubs that were quietly sleeping with complete trust told him this was something he wanted to do often and make into a huge part of his life. Being with Ivan and Adrian helped cement in his mind that he would easily be able to make a home in Woodland Park, and it would be a good life.

  6

  After falling asleep the previous night texting Ivan and Adrian, Finn got up earlier than usual on the first of September and sat up in bed with
his blanket wrapped around his hips. It was his first day of school but also the first day of his senior year. After this year he’d be out of high school, and his mom’s questions about college would start getting intense. In Austin his teachers had liked asking him what he wanted to do after he graduated and where he saw himself in five years. He hadn’t had an answer back then, and he still didn’t.

  From the room next to his came the sounds of Shelby’s alarm clock, and she started moving around. She was actually singing to herself and acting like a morning person for once, which she really wasn’t. Maybe she was excited for her first day of high school. Finn would have rather spent the day at the wolf center, followed by a hike with Ivan and Adrian.

  “Finn! Shelby! Better start getting ready!” their mom yelled from somewhere in the house.

  “Yeah! I am!” he called back, even as he pulled the blanket tighter around himself. It was probably okay to be worried about what school would be like in a new place. Maybe that was even normal, and it didn’t make him a baby to be thinking all his teachers might be horrible and mean to him.

  He looked at Pikes Peak and wished the ancient mountain had some kind of wisdom to give him, but there was none. The only wisdom he was apparently going to get that morning was from his mom as she yelled, “Finn! You’re going to be late if you don’t start hurrying.”

  He’d gotten up early but had lost time as he sat on his bed thinking. Today would be fine, he told himself. Ivan would be there and so would Adrian. It was a new school full of people he didn’t know, but he already had two friends, which was more than he’d thought he’d be starting the year off with.

  Shelby was already halfway through her cereal when he came down fifteen minutes later, showered and dressed. “You’re really slow today,” she said as she bounced in her chair and swung her feet over the rungs.