Все главы Mage of Wolves: Глава 1 - Глава 10

On my seventeenth birthday, I went to school as usual. I didn’t have a lot of friends, but I had two really good ones. Mara is one of the smartest people I know, and Vicky is one of the funniest. We were inseparable, relying on each other to get us through long school days with lots of kids who thought they were better than us for ridiculous reasons, like the brand of their jeans or the logo on their shoes. We didn’t go to a ritzy school by any means, but in California, everyone is concerned about things like that--everyone but us, I guess. I couldn’t imagine making it through high school without Mara and Vicky by my side, and I know they felt exactly the same was as

The drive from California to Montana was slow and tedious, not because it was really that far in the large scheme of things, but because none of us wanted to go. Even my parents, who weren’t in the same vehicle but talked on the phone several times on the trip, had a tone of melancholy in their voices that Grayson and I were unable to miss. It was quite clear that they were just going through the motions. Whatever had sparked this sudden, necessary move, it wasn’t something my mom or my stepdad was thrilled about either.

Grandma’s house did smell more like burning wood in the spring than it did in the summer, but seated in her kitchen, a cup of warm milk in my hands, it was the scent of baking gingerbread that filled my lungs. When Grandma had announced she was making her famous cookies, Mom had reminded her that it wasn’t Christmas. Grandma Agnes had shrugged and said, “Gingerbread cookies can be for any special occasion, dear. Haven't I taught you anything?”

The forest around my grandmother’s was alive, just as she had mentioned. It wasn’t just one creature that opened my eyes to the life around me, but dozens, and the further I walked away from the cottage, the more I could see exactly what she was speaking of.Squirrels darted from tree to tree. Birds fluttered above me, calling out to one another as they circled

 For the next few weeks, nothing much happened. My mom had tried to enroll us in the local school, but it was already out for summer. They told her they’d just go ahead and advance us to the next grade levels when school started up in the fall, which meant I’d be trekking the fifteen miles to Whispering Hollows High for my senior year, and Grayson would at least spend the start of her sophomore year there. I knew she was still trying to figure out a way to go back home. I wanted to go back as well, but I had resigned myself to the fact that I’d have