Wolf Women (The Madison Wolves Book 10) by Robin Roseau Page B

tonight, just a nice run."
    I looked up at Portia. "Running?"
    "I'd like to blow out the fur a little, and I wouldn't mind a little attention later."
    I smiled. "I'd love to. I'll wait here for a while, but if I'm not here, I'll be home, waiting for you. If I go, I'll take your clothes with me."
    Neither Monique nor Ember had moved, and Portia could wait until it was time.
    "What are you two doing?" I asked.
    "I'll run," Monique said. "Zoe, my mom bought the camera. I know you and Portia have plans or something..."
    "Work it out with Portia," I said.
    "I don't know your homework load, Monique," Portia said. "What would you like to do?"
    "Could I come over tomorrow after school?"
    I looked up at Portia and nodded, so she said, "Yes, but call us. We might be running errands and have to do it after dinner."
    "Okay. Thanks."
    "Ember, are you running?" I asked.
    She looked over at me. "May I stay here with you, Zoe?"
    "Of course you may, honey," I said.
    So the four of us stayed that way for a while. Then as the wolves finished shifting, Monique and Portia got up. Portia whispered to Monique, who ran off and returned with some blankets. She slipped one under my head and then arranged another one on top of me.
    "Thanks, Mom," I said, and she laughed.
    They both undressed and shifted, then shook their fur out. Portia leaned over and licked me, and then they were running.
    Ember hadn't released my arm the entire time. I was a little surprised. First Monique, and now Ember. Iris and Lindsey had sort of adopted me, too, and the boys had been sweet.
    "Sleepy, Ember?" I asked.
    "No. Do you mind?"
    "No. This is nice. Thank you for helping me feel welcome."
    We lay quietly. I wanted to know what was going on with Ember, but I wasn't sure how to ask.
    "The stars are pretty," she said. "Did you know that some of them are entire galaxies?"
    "I did," I said.
    "Have you seen those pictures from the Hubble Deep Space Telescope? They pointed the camera at a seemingly empty place in the sky and took pictures, and it's full, full, full of galaxies, too many galaxies to count."
    "Yes, I've seen those. They're beautiful pictures."
    She lay quietly for a while before she said, "Monique's mom bought her a camera. That's what she was talking about."
    "Yes."
    "Like yours?"
    "Kind of like mine. Not as expensive."
    "Yours are expensive."
    "To me, frightfully."
    "Is Monique's expensive?"
    "Not if she bought the one I recommended. Not cheap though, either."
    "How much?"
    "Maybe six or seven hundred."
    "Oh." She grew still. "I guess I can't take your photography class."
    "Your mom can't afford one, huh?"
    "I don't have a mom."
    My gut reaction was to pull her into my arms and hold her, but in a way, I was already doing that.
    "You live with your dad?"
    "He took off years ago. I don't remember him. Mom said he was a total asshole."
    "What happened to your mom?"
    "She was human," Ember said. "He got her pregnant and never told her what he was. Imagine her surprise when I shifted to wolf the first time."
    "Oh my god." And I wondered if the reason she was here with me was because I was human and so I reminded her of her mother. I was okay with that.
    "She was a drug user and thought it was a trip. But after I did it a few more times, she realized it wasn't the drugs. She remembered my dad was from up here, and so she stared calling every Klein in the book, looking for relatives. She asked if they knew Clay Klein and described him as 'particularly hairy'. She found my uncle. So she put me on a bus and told him to pick me up at the bus station."
    "Oh honey."
    "No, it was best. She couldn't take care of me. Young wolves need structure. I was turning really wild, and I didn't understand what was happening. And it hurt. It really hurt. My aunt and uncle took me in. But they have their own kids."
    "You live here now."
    "Yeah. Michaela and Lara said I may stay as long as I want, and I study really, really hard in school."
    "What about your aunt and uncle."
    "I haven't