“Juliette, here’s my number, until I can get Nova a phone, you can call me to talk to her anytime.” Amari handed over a hand written note. “I am sorry this happened to you. But I am glad Nova had someone.”

  “Thanks for this.” She lifted the paper. A message dinged. Bright grey eyes looked up, then to the right. Only a little discoloration around her left eye, marked the recent past. “You have it backwards, I had Nova. She changed everything when they brought her. So calm and observant.”

  Amari's prideful smile turned in full force on Nova. Her arms stretched out, wrapping the stiff girl in a big hug.

  The small town train station bustled in peak tourist times, but in the off season, only a few townies used it to get from town to town. Old, well maintained rails circled the edge of the national forest before criss-crossing back and forth over the river on the way back to the beginning. Patterned and sometimes inscribed red brick filled a clean white cement border. The ticket booth joined the platform under the same open shelter.

  “You do the same.” Juliette adjusted the small bag. A few things that they pulled together stuffed in an old backpack for her to use on the trip. “Thank you for the ticket.”

  Nova squirmed, despite no-one paying attention. Of the few idling on the platform, a few ran after kids, while others fell into the world within their hands.

  “Enough.” Nova stepped out and turned to Juliette. “Seriously, call me anytime.”

  “Message us throughout the journey, just to make sure you get there safe.” Amari smiled.

  “I will.” Juliette stepped forward offering a hug. Wrapping her arms around Nova, she whispered. “Let her love you.”

  Nova swallowed hard. “Bye.”

  Juliette waved from the steps of one of the old school passenger cars lined the front of the train followed by a long line of cargo. A loud whistle blew as the engine began its slow chug forward. Nova tamped her hands over her ears she nearly doubled over.

  “I am sorry. I am so sorry.” Amari kicked herself. She thought only of the crowds that would be absent. A newly transformed Mutare’ system, without Pack connections and on the tail of a traumatic event, would be on the precipice of control.

  Amari pulled one hand down, turning it over in her palm. Nothing. The other tilted up Nova’s chin. Still nothing. Hope wiggled its way in, perhaps she didn’t royally fail Nova again. Claws, ears, fur, or eyes gave away a Mutare’s slipping control. Some mutares, especially newly transformed, lacked control on their more reckless nature. She never saw one, only heard second hand the devastation. But every one that transitions was meant to memorize all of the local safe houses that could handle the rage of a Mutare. Every pack would offer their safe-house to keep a lid on the secret of the Fae. Even the no-man zones had a few.

  “Where are you at?” Amari’s eyes shifted quickly between the four.

  “Like when a hair tie snaps in your hand.” Nova slipped out with her held breath.

  They wouldn’t get anywhere in time. Amari pulled up her sleeve. The peek-a-boo patches of fur were far too frequent. A few of the people left in the station cast curious looks. Nova’s growls began to grow in timbre. The train spans both directions blocking the safety of the woods.

  “We have to jump the train.” Amari hated this option.

  “What?” Nova hisses through clenched teeth.

  “Trust your new reflexes. Run, grab the bars, cross, jump, run for the woods. I will be right behind you.” Amari was grateful for the old school passenger car. The ends offered a pass through.

  “You’re serious?” Nova wide eyes shifted from brown to a soft grey-blue.

  “GO!” Amari pushes her.

  Attendants yelled from the turnstile as they took off. Nova stutters as her mind and body fight for control. Nova in two jumping steps made it up. Amari’s fingers brush the cool handrail. Her feet stumble waiting for clearance. She pulls herself up, quickly jumping after Nova.

  Pulling on her own wolf, she put on some speed. “Follow me.”

  Nova pivoted, leaping awkwardly over forest debris.

  “What is this place?” Nova walked up to the peeled paint and exposed rust.

  “The Caboose.” Amari rubbed her hand on the corner.

  “It's not a caboose, it is a boxcar.” Nova cocked an eyebrow as she peered past the end. The rails disappeared beneath large leafy ferns.

  Long ago, Max randomly painted a massive nameplate in obscenely bright colors. ‘The Caboose’ in his bold chicken scratch still wired to the back end was now faded. “I know. But Max is a jokester.”

  This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

  “He seems like it.” Nova looked around the back. “So, a safe house?”

  “The place you go when control feels barely within reach. Every pack has one.” Leaving a descent distance, Amari trailed behind Nova as she walked around their fire pit with a roasting spit.

  “I feel that way.” The calm of the forest calmed the fever of the partial shift, the edge remained in Nova’s voice.

  “Your wolf wants to run free.” Amari sympathetically sighed.

  “How do I not have it run away with me?” Nova turned quickly on her heels.

  “Your wolf is you. It is not separate. You share a soul.” Amari empathized with the grimace that showed Nova’s incisors. Her wolf pulled at her like a dog at the end of a chain. “Just like learning anything else, control comes with practice.”

  “It feels impossible.” Nova perched on the edge of the stones stacked high around the black and grey peppering the inner circle.

  “We can help. My family and I… out here far from prying eyes.” Amari waved her hand encompassing everything. In a few steps, she pulled open the opposite door. With a little jump, she turned and seated herself on the edge.

  “This is your family’s special place?” Nova climbed up past her. Aluminum lawn chairs with fraying lattice webbing boasted clashing colors. Stepping behind one with a metallic scrape, Nova’s finger traced the entries on the walls between the angle irons. Years of moments marked on the walls. Both difficult and joyous. The modge podge of marker, paint, and etching started at the bottom, like a growing page of a year book. Some had faded, but it was still living.

  “Yes. It can be yours too.” Amari turned to look at an open panel. They had decided long ago that they wanted to keep a few open for the pack to grow.

  “Why do you want me?” Nova’s voice was small.

  “Hmm.” Amari felt the weight of the question. “That is not a simple answer.”

  “Try?” Nova kept her head down and away.

  Amari struggled to encapsulate the feeling that drove her to claim the girl. Nothing came remotely close, but it seemed the best option. “Have you ever had something in your life… a job, a person, a hobby, anything that just felt right?”

  “No.”

  “I am sorry.” Amari frowned. A simple ‘no,’ cut her heart. One day, she vowed she would earn the right to hear every part of Nova’s story. Clearing her throat, she circled her hands. “Lack of a better way of saying this, a switch flipped in my mind. You became mine…oh wow that sounded stalkerish. Uh. I mean I knew in that moment, I would be there for you. That I wanted you in my life.”

  “Has that ever happened before?”

  Hope filled eyes pierced her soul. Amari breathed deeply. “Exactly five times before.”

  “Your siblings.”

  “My siblings.” Amari let the silence be for a beat. Nova paced slowly before her. She watched emotions warring over her normally placid expression. Words fell out of her mouth. “I am not going anywhere. Ever. And I will remind you of that everyday if that is what it takes.”

  “Everyone says that.” Nova jumped out.

  “How’s it going?” Rema didn’t even look up from her desk as Amari flopped over the armrest onto the couch.

  “Remember the story of Erlking? The elves told us about their version of the bogey man. The one that killed everything it touched?” Muffled words squeezed out from beneath the pillow Amari’s arm pinned to her face.

  Rema paused the page mid-turn. “Yeah?”

  “He’s doing better than me.”

  A spurted chuckle was quickly reigned in. Rema closed the notebook. “Oh no, what happened?”

  “A week of failing to do my job.” Amari fought the urge to scream into the soft plushy corduroy.

  “Did someone die?” Rema’s pen clinked against the clay cup. A gift from a child in the local tribe the last time she photographed the Aardwolf in east Africa. Her office held many such art pieces from local craftsmen. Many lay beneath a copy of the work she captured.

  “Not that job.” Amari slammed the pillow onto her thighs.

  “Nova is here and safe.” Rema rolled her chair over, laying her arm on Amari’s shins.

  “I wish I didn’t have to cut my fangs on her though. Being a newbie is just awful.” Amari pouted, looking up at her sister’s amused fondness.

  “Just think, pretty soon you might be able to be the Fae’s Cheaper by the Dozen.” Rema poked Amari’s side.

  “Not funny.” Amari launched the pillow. Grimacing when a picture frame fell flat.

  “Made you smile.” Rema backed out of range. “Seriously, Nova will come around.”

  “And all the other stuff?” Amari began to tick off her fingers. “We learned nothing from the Morningstars’ report. Elias is still neck deep in dust and ink and we cannot even tell him the whole story. And Orion is still not back.”

  “It will all be okay.” Rema bent to pick up the pillow and toss it back. Placing the picture of her and Orion back where it previously stood. “When was the last time you went on a run with Ruac?”

  “I’ve been a little busy.” Amari swung her legs to sit right on the cushion. Regret pulled her eyes to the ground.

  “Not something you should let slide. Spending time with the pack boosts us, particularly the leaders, that is a fact you very well know.” Tenderness filled Rema’s voice and eyes.

  “Yeah, I do.” Amari shuffled her toes on the ground. Disappointing Rema was almost as bad as disappointing Orion. They stalled their careers, foregoing lucrative opportunities, to help the rest of them to succeed. Meeting Alpha King Asseric and officially joining his pack opened even more possibilities, she would never be able to repay them. She could only pay it forward. “Speaking of, want to join Nova and me for the rounds? The sooner they are over the sooner we can complete the pack link. I want her in on this protective power boost.”

  Rema pushed papers off her desk calendar. “Sure. You fitting everything in between your twelves?”

  “Best I can.” Amari shrugged. “Diana moved things around to be opposite me and be with Nova. Not to mention the thrill she is getting planning the party with Max.”

  “You better prepare Nova.” Rema penciled in the note.

  “You really think?” Amari already knew the answer. It was Diana and Max, no one could predict what a party thrown by them would hold.