Chapter 3 #3
“Ding, ding, ding. You win a prize. They found out who the father was and cast her out. Gravewalkers have a reputation for being mentally unstable, and the Packmaster was afraid I might incite one of the wolves to attack me.” I heaved a sigh.
“We moved to a new town, and she found a pack who didn’t know about our past. I was supposed to keep the crossbreed part a secret, but that’s easier said than done. ”
Tak wiped his brow before putting his dark sunglasses on. “It’s good you found a pack.”
I snorted and hopped to the ground. “If you say so.”
“What does that mean?”
I tucked my hands beneath my armpits. “It means people didn’t care if I was a bastard. That’s the label they gave us in those days,” I said, remembering how unfair those times were for a kid like me. “But when they found out I was a Gravewalker…” Irritated, I swiftly walked toward the truck.
The plastic sacks rattled, and Tak caught up. “Don’t walk away. I want to know.”
I lifted my round sunglasses from my collar, and when I slid them over my eyes, they painted the world blue.
“It’s impossible for a kid to ignore ghosts, especially the ones that crawl under your skin like a parasite.
When the others found out, they called me a half-breed.
They said I was a weak wolf and wouldn’t go through my first change.
When I did, my wolf was hyperactive and a little touched, but that’s his personality.
They said he was crazy like a Gravewalker.
” I adjusted my hat. “I was always yelling at ghosts in public and embarrassing the pack. They followed me home, and that freaked everyone out. I told the kids who picked on me that the ghosts were in their room at night. It was a lie, but those little jerks deserved a good scare. Eventually it was more than the Packmaster wanted to deal with, so he told us to leave. I was ‘upsetting the harmony in the pack,’” I said, using air quotes.
“It was a crappy thing to do to a kid. I begged him to keep my mother. He did.”
“And where was your father?”
I shrugged. “He never gave a shit about me. Anyhow, I was sixteen when I left. There was always work, and when I got older, I dabbled in Gravewalker jobs. But that didn’t last.”
“Why not?”
I rocked with laughter. “Really? Try going to bed with ghosties crawling under the covers with you. Whenever the house got infested, I skipped town, but you can’t hide from the dead.
They’re like cockroaches—they’re everywhere.
Packs didn’t want me and not because I’m bisexual.
Well, there were a few, but mostly in the early days.
Nobody wants a Gravewalker in their house. ”
Tak put his arm around my shoulders and gave me a squeeze before we started walking again. “I was raised around Shifters, so I never trusted other Breeds. But my pack changed my narrow views. I don’t understand what it’s like to see the spirit world, but your eccentric ways are fine with me.”
He’d never seen me have a psychotic break, so I took that with a grain of salt. Ghosts in Storybook hadn’t followed me home, and having a clean house did wonders for my mental health, which affected how the pack viewed me.
What if that changed?
Tak stepped in front of me and gripped my shoulder. “Your silence bothers me.”
“If I had a nickel for every time I’ve heard that, I’d have exactly zero cents.”
“You gave Eden and her father a final goodbye. It healed her heart to know that her father’s spirit was there and on a continued journey.
And when Quinn had the blood transfusion, you were the one who realized something was wrong, and that saved her life.
I know the stigma Gravewalkers have and why, but you were chosen to see the spirit world.
” Tak gripped my other shoulder. “What I do care about is how much you drink to cope with it.”
I eased out of his grasp.
“You know what I’m talking about,” he went on. “The sensory drinks.”
“Is this an intervention?”
“Should it be?”
“I only drink those at the bar. One doesn’t hurt, and it makes it tolerable when the bad spooks are around.”
“You haven’t had anything today, and you’re fine.”
Was I?
I glanced at a car passing through a mangled ghost in the road. Then I turned my focus to the punk rock ghost with fifty layers of black eye makeup and bright red hair who was making a slicing motion across her neck at me. “Yeah, fine.”
“When do you plan on settling down?”
I skipped ahead. “Can’t hear you! Must be the sugar rush.”
Once we reached the truck and got in, Tak turned the air conditioner on low.
He stared ahead at the building. “Maybe settling down is what you need. Find a mate who can help you work through all the stuff you won’t share with me. That’s what partners are for.”
“I thought they were for making babies.”
Tak chuckled and put the truck in reverse. “A life partner is a lover and a friend. They’re the anchor that keeps you from drifting away from your path.”
“Slim pickings in Storybook.”
Tak pulled onto the street. “There’s one thing you need to learn about love.”
“Yeah? What’s that?”
“You can run, but you can’t hide from the fates.”
“In these sneakers, I can run from anything.”