《Inheritance》Chapter 11, Wolves Around Us

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Amber and I woke simultaneously to the honk of a horn outside. Then came another honk. A series of honks. I scrunched my brows and asked grumpily

"Who the hell's outside?"

Amber sprung up and pulled her shoes onto her feet

"It's Ivy and her boyfriend."

I walked down with her. She seemed quick to join them, but maybe out of fear? Another round of honking. I walked outside to see a faded red truck. It was quite a beast, with 4 wheels in the back and a few peeling bumper stickers. Ivy sat passenger and looked annoyed with the day already. Amber growled at them

"I'm coming, you don't have to honk! Jackass!"

A crowd of last night's party-goers had woken and stood, huddled in the doorway. Dakota stood behind me with a hand on my waist. Fox crossed his arms defensively. Amber slammed the truck's heavy metal door behind her, and Ivy's boyfriend shouted

"Hey, watch my truck!"

Ivy took a long draw out of her cigarette and cackled, looking at Dakota and Fox,

"Well if it isn't the Fox and the hound. Long time no see, Dakota."

The way she spoke to the brothers gave me goosebumps. It wasn't the Ivy I remembered. Amber's words from last night flashed into my mind 'When it happened, she changed.'

Ivy's boyfriend leaned past her and met eyes with me. He motioned for me to come over. I began to walk over to his side of the car, but Dakota said

"He has nothing to say, Summer."

I looked over my shoulder at Dakota, who seemed more on-edge than I'd seen him look before. I explained in a hushed voice,

"I don't want to be rude."

And continued to walk over to the red monster of a truck. The man had dirty blonde hair, slicked back into a ponytail, and about a forth-inch of stubble growing out of his face and neck. His mouth worked on a toothpick that was clenched between his teeth, and his eyes were piercing and blue. I whispered, feeling nervous by the intensity of his stare

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"Hi."

He put his hand out for me to shake and said

"Asher. Asher Green. I hear you threw a party for Fox. That was real nice of you, truly... but I wouldn't be mixing around with those two. They're bad news. Trust me."

He leaned a little closer, his breath smelling like a mix of cigarettes and scrambled eggs

"Why don't you ask Dakota more about your grandpa's death? Maybe he didn't simply find him dead... maybe he took the matter into his own hands. It's not a far-off claim, given his past..."

I scoffed, staggering back at such a ridiculous statement, and rebuffed,

"Well it's nice to finally meet the town's conspiracy theorist. Excuse me."

I turned and stormed back toward the house. The truck roared to life and drove off, much faster than necessary, leaving two long skid marks in the dirt.

Dakota asked

"What did he say?"

I answered, looking off toward the lake

"You were right, he had nothing to say."

...

The feeling of cool wind and warm sun on my face and shoulders was refreshing after such a tense morning. My legs were getting tired from bicycling, so I just let myself cruise awhile, and watched the green trees go by as I headed down the slight hill, back toward the house. Luna sat, perched in my basket with her ears alert and her tail wagging. I'd triple-checked that I tied her harness tight enough to the basket. Soon she wouldn't be small enough to sit up here with me. These were moments to cherish. The party-goers had long-since gone, and I'd spent my afternoon in town getting gardening tools and seeds from the general store. Now arriving back at the house, I leaned my bike against the side of the house, let Luna down, and turned to see a jogger passing by. It occurred to me this was the first jogger I'd seen running around the lake. Being neighborly, I waved at her while unlocking the front door and letting Luna prance in. The jogger stopped in her tracks, now waving back. She put her hands on her hips, still panting, slightly

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"Settled in?"

I shrugged

"Getting there. I'm Summer, Ezekiel's granddaughter."

She stepped closer, shaking my hand in a firm grip and meeting eyes with mine. She said

"I'm Nia. We've actually met before. I gave you a ride from the airport when you moved."

Nia's fingers softly brushed over her dark, coily hair. I blinked a few times, thinking back to the day I moved here. I stammered

"Oh my gosh-- Nia! Yes. I was so tired and delirious after that red-eye flight..."

She held a hand up to stop me, and replied, laughing

"It's okay! You don't have to recognize me when you were only awake for about a minute of the entire trip."

I asked, jokingly

"Didn't you tell me there were gonna be werewolves up here? I really had gotten my hopes up but-- wouldn't you know it, I haven't even seen one!"

The attempt at comedy made Nia's large eyes light up, and she seemed fascinated with my comment. With a smile peeking at the corners of her mouth, she casually replied

"Maybe they're right in front of you."

I scrunched my eyebrows, thinking back to the morning

"Actually I think I did meet one. Today. Have you met a man named Asher Green?"

Nia scrunched her nose and nodded

"Oh, I know Asher. Most of the time I wish I didn't."

I replied, my rumbling stomach beginning to remind me that I needed food but had forgotten to grocery shop while in town

"Me too. Would you like to stay for dinner? I was gonna cook up some... um... cereal?"

She laughed

"Well I sure wouldn't want you to go to all that trouble. But in all seriousness, I can't stay much longer. But tell you what-- I'll take a rain-check. Let's swap numbers."

I handed Nia my cell and took hers to type my name into. As first name, I typed in "Summer", but for my last name, instead of writing 'Wolfe' I just used the wolf emoji. I handed Nia the phone back. While taking it, she visually scanned my arm, and looked back at me, her eyes wide with shock

"You've been marked?"

The way she asked, it was almost as if it wasn't a question, but a fact of life. I pulled the sleeve down. Nia backed away quickly, shouting behind her

"I've gotta finish my run-- I'll text you. Bye!"

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