Chapter 124

Sarah POV

“Did you know?” I asked Zane that evening as we got ready for bed in our luscious tent.

He looked at me.

“That Jordan’s mother is human?” I clarified.

Zane nodded. “Sure. Olivia told me all about them before we married. They’re quite devoted to each other.”

“But Jordan’s still in line to be the next pack alpha, isn’t he?”

Zane frowned. “Well, he’s one of several, but given how he behaved today, I’m guessing he’s very much on the short list.” He finally seemed to understand what I was getting at. “His territory’s much less strict about that sort of thing than ours.”

He looked around to see that the girls were busy and lowered his voice. “Spain honors personal virtue over bloodlines, and personal dedication to the family and society is highly prized in all seventeen of its territories. In fact, twenty years ago a human briefly served as ‘pack alpha’ while the heir apparent of the Catalonia Territory needed to come of age.”

I thought about Zane’s casual discussion of another territory’s acceptance of humans all through the next day. First, we saw Jordan off for home, then we both made speeches at the school, which was indeed a few thrown-together trailers with a sign that read Abrigan Elementary and College. There, I learned that the teenagers of the community would either give up on education to work the mine or flee for their livelihood elsewhere.

Zane, I, and the girls attended an outdoor luncheon that showed a largess that worried me until Zane whispered in my ear that he had paid for it out of the “petty cash.” I got out my phone and saw Jordan was trending with a clip of his short speech with his face written over by the words: “The Abrigan Mine is now an example of just what can happen when humans and wolves work together to benefit everyone.”

I was glad about that but was much less happy to see how many photos there were of the girls. Zane and I knew, of course, that bringing them to the mine would mean their faces would be everywhere online, but we’d also known that soon they would be media fodder no matter what we did, and having them at the mine was the best way to “out” them.

I still didn’t like it, though. I read through some comments.

GinnyWolf: OMG. I didn’t realise how much they looked alike!

BreakItDown2: Grace should cut her hair like Chloe’s! Soooo cute!!

Worldofsilence: The girlz are being risked for a photo-op! What crap are they breathing in right now? #ZaneGirlz

Allisstoopid: Where’s Jordan? He’s so cute! How old is he?

Augst54evah: Bad parenting! Save the Girlz! #ZaneGirlz

JK143: Be the change you want to see in the world-if a profile looks like mine but without any JK content- it’s no me!!!

JaneSillwell: Diabetic, awkward & proud Girlz fan!!!

S: Two lovely little girls who are going to be lovely like their parents.

Wait, I thought.

I clicked on S’s profile and saw their recent texts.

S: Sarah takes no shit, people. M I Rite??

S: Seriously, Sarah Astor might be a wolf. Have you seen her? Would explain the Luna Temple thing too.

S: Sarah’s the best! Look at her dealing with nasty wolves!

S: Things at A-Mine don’t look good!

S: How can someone like Sarah go unclaimed? Have we no real wolves anymore?

S: Fated mate for some lucky wolf? Maybe.

S: <3 Sarah!

I looked away from my phone for a moment, took a breath, and then went back to my screen. There were another few dozen texts, all along the same lines and starting around the time I’d met Zane.

Could they be from Scott? Maybe. They might also be from anyone else whose name began with “S,” or any other letter. You couldn’t tell anything from online names, except sometimes that someone had a sense of humor or when they put their ideology in their name, like KillAllHumans142.

I went back to my main feed and found a photo of Jordan giving his brief speech, along with a few-dozen comments about his age and declaring him attractive. It seemed harmless.

It was there, however, that I found a meme I greatly disliked. It showed my face on a white wolf’s body with wings. The wolf was also draped in an Oracle-like robe. I looked beatific.

I sent a text to Lainey: How worried should I be about this?

LaineyAtYourService: Not at all. It’s just some kids with Photoshop. Concentrate on being you.

SarahAstor: If you say so. Creepy, though.

LaineyAtYourService: Take it as a compliment.

SarahAstor: Did you see the comments? People think I put that up.

LaineyAtYourService: People will think anything. Ignore it.

SarahAstor: If you say so.

I put my phone away somewhat unhappily.

“1492!” I heard Chloe announce.

I turned to see the girls gathered around Chloe’s laptop. I heard Dr. Hayes’s voice say, “Very good, but it’s not enough just to name the date. What else was happening during the late 1400s?”

I realized I didn’t have a clue and was very grateful I wasn’t being asked to help with their homework.

“Vasco da Gama sailed around Africa and discovered a sea route to India in 1498,” Grace said quietly.

“Very good! Anything else?”

“The first Black human slaves were brought from what would be America Santo Domingo,” Chloe said.

“And why is that really important?”

“Legends about those Black human slaves meant werewolves were scared of humans and killed them. People thought Black humans could rise from the dead and eat people’s brains.”

“Yes, they thought Black humans were zombies,” Dr. Hayes said.

I stuck my head in front of the camera lens on the laptop. “A little ghoulish for right before bedtime, don’t you think, Dr. Hayes?”

I saw in on the screen in his tweed jacket and wondered idly if he had pajama pants on. “You’re right. My apologies.”

“No worries,” I said, deeply grateful we had such a dedicated tutor even now when the girls were in school. “Girls, say goodnight to Dr. Hayes.”

“Goodnight, Dr. Hayes,” the girls chorused in what I thought was a particularly patronizing manner.

He signed off while I growled at them, which sent them into a fit of giggles.