- Fight! - a girl of seven years old was balancing on a fallen log and maintained a confident stance of a fighter. She looked over her fists at the boy, who had just stepped onto the opposite edge of the log, but he felt less confident in wanting to be there. - Hey! What are you frozen?Without waiting for his answer, she deftly ran along the log and pushed him with her shoulder from all the running start. The boy fell. The girl towered over him with a triumphant smile. She did not see his face, he turned away and breathed heavily. He didn't turn around until he calmed down. Then he simply got up, scratched his palms to peel off the leaves and litter that had stuck into the skin, and sat down on a log.The girl frowned, the victory was no longer so pleasing.Why don't you answer? Come on again.- I do not want."Then how are you going to defeat me?"- I don't want to beat you.The boy tore off a piece of bark from the tree and threw it, the shell hit the hollow of the tree opposite. T

“Kira,” I heard Martha’s voice near the house.She hasn't even reached the porch yet, but she's already calling. Here is the sloth!“I’m coming, my friend,” I answered in a disgusting high voice, laughing at certain people from our community.She crept up to the front door and flung it open. But she couldn't even try. Martha stood near the steps and smiled.“Hi, girlfriend,” she smiled defiantly and curtsied.Once upon a time, Martha was bothered by our ridicule, she had more of this emotional substance in her head that always gets in the way of good jokes. I'm definitely a bad influence on her.Satisfied, she went down to her, threw her hand on her shoulder, and we wandered past the colorful cottages of our community, which were always so popular with tourists who occasionally wandered to Reed's office. Each house has its own color, sometimes its own status.Silence reigned in the only street of our small community. But this silence was deceptive. And invisibility too. We were in the

It's good that Reed heard that.I turned to my brother's voice. They approached with Lark, and as soon as they stopped, Reed pulled his wife to him with a habitual movement and hugged him in a possessive gesture. How much we do unconsciously. Alphas are alphas.- Those ribs. You didn’t see them.” I popped the last piece into my mouth and smiled contentedly.“You're lucky it's not your last,” Reed threatened me, but he kept a suspicious look on Alex and me. He only pretended to be seduced.“Rachel said you know where the trays are in your house. Will you help? Lark said to Alex, breaking up the tense situation.- Oh sure.When Lark and Alex left, my brother and I were alone. He straddled the bench next to me and pushed a plate of meatloaf toward him. What can I say, the main dish is always on our table - it is meat and all its varieties.For some time we ate in silence and watched how, around the corner of the Red House, the nearest to the central part of the community, the children we

Toward morning, I found myself naked in the forest. The she-wolf left, left me, as if punishing me. This was not her first meanness, and in this case, I kept caches of clothes and shoes all over the forest. In the nearest one, I found a long shirt and sneakers that were almost trashed. Too many hiding places, too few unnecessary clothes.But such a walk through the gloomy forest, when the sun was just preparing to assert its rights, on the grass wet with dew, cleared my head. I, like a ghost, went through the fog to the community houses. Tourists should see me! My feet were covered in mud and grass, my head was a complete mess. Maybe not a ghost? Maybe a bride from the grave? Thinking like that, a smile appeared on my face, and I smoothed out the fabric of my white shirt, which reached down to my knees.I went into the house through the back door, threw off my dirty sneakers, made a note in my head that I needed to return things to the hiding place in case of new wolf kicks, and went

“Mr. Wilson, five years ago, when I was fourteen, we found out that I do not understand half hints. Be direct about what you're getting at.Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the old man wince. If the alpha points directly, even without the intent of an order, it is difficult to cross this barrier. I knew that the old man would never admit it, and therefore would not complain to his brother.“I didn't want to remind you. But my heart always remembers and regrets your loss: you lost your father, then your mother and maternal uncle ... If you think about it, then your brother and his wife are behind all these events.“If you think about it, my Uncle Trent is behind all this,” I said through gritted teeth. Every family has its own black sheep.Are you still wearing it? He suddenly changed the subject.My gaze dropped to my hand. I myself did not notice how unconsciously I began to twist the strap on my arm. Mr. Wilson knew it well, having seen me put it on. And he knew the reason.I lowe