WOLF TAMER (Claiming My Pack Series Book 1) Page 3

  I crouched down and began to pet Muffin, prompting a low purr to escape her. I looked back up at the boy with my big eyes and smiled.

  "I like cookies."

  "Me...too," he whispered shyly.

  There was a loud noise that came from the living room, making both of us jump. I picked up Muffin and the boy slid inside the room. I closed the door until only a bit of space was left. We both listened in.

  "Find her another family."

  My imaginary friend growled in my head. She hated this man. He was called Rogan, and he didn't like me. My imaginary friend and I didn't know why, but he only thought of us as trouble and he wanted us away from this place.

  "Rogan, this is getting ridiculous," Sam argued.

  "You four can tell me your decision in the morning. I will be leaving." That statement came from a woman’s voice. There was a quick exchange of thanks before the sound of the door closing reached my ears.

  "We're adopting her."

  My heart skipped a beat at Dolly's words, and I slowly turned to the boy whose face lit up with joy.

  "Adopt...me?" I asked him.

  He turned to look at me and nodded. "Dolly would take care of you so you don't have to go to scary families anymore."

  "But..." I trailed off when Rogan began shouting.

  "You are NOT fucking adopting that child! She's trouble. Look at the chaos she created in six different families. You want that THING on the property?"

  My shoulders sank at the hurtful words, the happiness I once felt disappearing. My imaginary friend felt my sadness, and I didn't want to make her sad, but I couldn't help it. I missed home. I wanted to be with my family. Couldn't I just die, so I can meet them in heaven?

  The boy reached for my hand and clenched it firmly, which brought me out of my depressing thoughts. I lifted my head to see determination in his eyes. "You're staying."

  "But...you don't know me. I don't even know you. No one likes me...or my imaginary friend. Everyone doesn't want me here," I whispered.

  "I want you here!" the boy declared. "And I'm Ian Chestwood! You're Harper, right?"

  "Yes. Harper...Blake," I mumbled, needing a second to remember my last name. The incident had done some damage to my brain and I couldn't remember a lot of things. I didn't even know exactly what my parents and brother looked like, but the single picture I had of them helped.

  Ian nodded and looked at the door. "You're going to stay here. I won't let Rogan win."

  With his rather loud declaration, he squeezed my hand and opened the door, tugging me along while I carried Muffin in my right hand. I couldn't react until we were in the living room; four pairs of eyes landed on us as we entered.

  I shyly moved to stand behind Ian, not liking all the sudden attention. That and Rogan's scary orange eyes were my main reasons.

  "Ian?! The adults are talking right now," Sam pointed out.

  "Harper is staying! I won't let anyone hurt her!" Ian announced. I peeked a look at everyone but Rogan. Officer O’Neil and Sam appeared a little taken aback, while Dolly had a small smile on her lips that made me a little happy.

  "She's NOT staying, Ian. You stay out of this," Rogan snapped.

  "No, YOU stay out of this! This is Dolly and Sam's house. You're just a mean bully! Harper is my friend. She's staying! You can't take her away from me! Muffin is staying too!" Ian pointed at Rogan and then crossed his arms over his chest.

  "Me too?"

  I leaned in and whispered in his ear. "Can my imaginary friend stay too?"

  Ian turned his head to meet my desperate eyes, and fear started to settle inside me at the thought of my imaginary friend not being allowed to stay. Ian smiled and nodded his head quickly. "Yes!"

  He turned to face the adults again. "And Harper's imaginary friend gets to stay too!"

  Officer O'Neil chuckled, walking over to where we stood. He knelt down and patted my head. "You're very protective of your imaginary friend, huh?"

  "She protects me. She told me the man was going to do bad things if I didn't get help," I replied earnestly. I noticed the sadness in Officer O'Neil's blue eyes, and Dolly looked like she was about to cry at my words.

  Sam seemed upset, but it didn't feel like it was towards me, and Ian looked worried.

  "Man? Who was going to do bad things to you, Harper?" Ian asked.

  I turned my head to him and answered before anyone else could say anything. "The sixth Dad wanted me to bathe with him and do weird things. My imaginary friend told me to take Muffin and run away. I took the phone and blanket and called Officer O'Neil for help. He came and helped me. I...I don't want any more families," I confessed and swallowed the lump in my throat.

  "I want to stay here. Here is safe. Dolly is nice. Sam is nice. Rogan’s a meanie," I admitted and heard Rogan grumble something, but Sam cut him off.

  I kept going anyways. "Officer O'Neil helped me. He's busy, but he helped me. No one wants to listen to me. Everyone says something is wrong with me. I'm a dog or mutt or something. They call me mean things and lock me in the basement and don't give me food."

  I turned my head to the adults, noticing their troubled expression. "Ian gives me cookies. Dolly feeds me when I come back here. Sam holds me when I have scary nightmares. Even Wolfie is nice to me."

  "Wolfie?" Officer O'Neil asked.

  "Wolfie! He's the one who saved me in the forest. He has nice fur and I like cuddling him," I said happily. The others exchanged looks, but I noticed Ian had a super wide smile on his face. I guess he was happy that Wolfie was my friend too.

  "If...if I can't stay, can I die too?" I asked.

  The room was silent, and Ian moved to stand in front of me. "No, no, Harper. You can't die! Dying is bad!"

  "Is it? But...Mommy, Daddy, and Brother are dead. If I can't find a family, can't I die so I can be with them? No one likes me. No one likes my imaginary friend. They say I'm crazy and a problem. I'm a disgusting mutt. If I die, no one will mind. I won't bother anyone if I die. Mommy can read me stories again. Daddy can teach me and my brother cool things. Brother would play with me...and I...I'd be happy. I don't think I'm happy, Ian. I want to be, but...I'm sad. Really sad," I explained, tears rolling down my cheeks.

  Ian blinked a few times, his silver eyes pooling with tears. He lifted his arms and pulled me into a hug. "Don't be sad, Harper. I care. I'll make you happy. If...if no one will take you, we'll live together. You and me! I have a tree house! We can live there...uh. I'll ask Dolly to make our food and um...work around the house to make money! We'll live in the tree house and Muffin can come, and your imaginary friend and Wolfie will visit, and...and you can meet my friends."

  Ian moved back and tried not to sob. "Don't be sad, Harper, or I'll be sad. You're my friend. You can't die...or I'll cry. Wolfie will be sad. We'll all be sad."

  "But..." I whimpered, and Muffin snuggled against me. "I'm lonely. I want...I want to be loved again. I don't want to be a burden. Everyone says I'm a burden. The families all say the same."

  Officer O'Neil reached out to stroke my head and I looked at him, noticing how watery his eyes were.

  "Harper, you are not a burden. Don't be sad. Let me talk with Dolly and Sam and figure things out. If they can't take you in, how about you come to stay with me?"

  Rogan gasped. "You're not serious."

  Officer O'Neil glared in Rogan's direction, making him close his open mouth, and turned to look at me. "How does that sound?"

  I looked at Ian. "Can Ian visit? And Wolfie? And can Muffin and my imaginary friend come?"

  "Yes. All of them can come and visit whenever they like."

  "Really?" I said with hopeful eyes. Ian let me go and took Muffin from me so that I could give Officer O'Neil a hug. He lifted me up and held me tightly.

  "Really. I wouldn't mind having a smart kid like you. You'd be my little deputy on duty. Now, the adults need to talk, but I don't want you shedding any more tears. That clear, Officer Blake?"

  I pulled back to see the single tear roll down his cheek, and I reached out to wipe it away. "Yes, Officer O'Neil! I'll be good and happy!" I agreed happily.

  "Me too! Officer, officer!"

  "And my imaginary friend too!" I added.

  "Oh! Can I be an officer too? Please?!" Ian asked, hopping up and down with Muffin in his hold.

  "Meow."

  "And Muffin!" I pointed to her. "She can be our sidekick!"

  Officer O'Neil chuckled. "I guess we'll have a mini team of officers. That includes Wolfie, huh?"

  Ian nodded. "Yes! He'd love to join!"

  Officer O'Neil nodded. "Alright. Why don't you two go and play in Harper's room until we're done talking? You can eat the cookies Ian took."

  Ian blushed, looking at Dolly who raised an eyebrow at him. "I was wondering who kept taking my cookies."

  "Run away!" Ian declared, running to the hall with Muffin.

  "Wait for me!" I replied, giving Officer O'Neil another hug before he lowered me to the floor. I looked at Dolly and Sam and ran up to them.

  "Say thank you?"

  "Um...thank you for everything. Sorry if I'm a burden." I bowed my head slightly before I turned around and ran after Ian, not bothering to look at Rogan.

  I reached my room and entered it. Ian slowly closed the door, but we caught Dolly's statement. "We're adopting her. It's final."

  Ian and I stared at each other's eyes, and I reached out to hug him. "Ian. Thank you for being my friend."

  "You're welcome, Harper. Thank you for being my friend too. I don't have many friends."

  "Me too! We can keep each other company!" I exclaimed.

  He nodded his head with a wide grin. "And eat cookies!"

  We giggled and ran over to our plate of cookies. We sat on the floor to eat them while Muffin wa
lked around. Ian grabbed both of my pillows and we relaxed on the floor and talked.

  "Ian? I'm sleepy, but I'm scared to sleep."

  "Why? Scary dreams?" Ian asked.

  "Ya..."

  "I'll protect you!" Ian announced.

  I turned to look at him and he patted his pillow. "Come here."

  "Why?"

  "I'll hug you!"

  "Why?"

  "Dolly always hugs me when I have a nightmare. It keeps the bad dreams away! If I hug you, no nightmares."

  "Oh. That's cool. I like hugs," I admitted and crawled to his side.

  He hugged me, and Muffin ran over to snuggle on top of us, which made us laugh before I yawned and closed my eyes.

  "Ian?"

  "Yes, Harper?"

  "Can we be friends forever?"

  "Forever and ever. Your imaginary friend can be my friend too."

  "That makes me happy," I mumbled.

  "I'll always make you happy, Harper. I promise."

  That made me smile, and it wasn't long before I fell asleep.

  That night, I had not even one nightmare.

  ONE WEEK LATER...

  "I don't want to go to school anymore," I cried.

  Ian held my hand as I cried, both of us standing in the living room with our backpacks still on. School was a horrible place. People were mean and had called me names since the first day of classes. I didn't like how they made fun of my imaginary friend. Now she didn't want to talk to anyone, and it scared me.

  "Harper," Sam said softly, and Dolly walked over to where we stood.

  She knelt down and wiped my tears before she gave me a hug. Ian let go of my hand so that Dolly could pick me up, and she walked back to where she'd been sitting and sat down again, placing me on her lap. Ian made his way over to where Sam was and put his backpack down, and then he helped me take mine off as I continued to cry my eyes out.

  "They won't stop picking on us, Sam. We don't talk to them and they still bother us. They poured milk all over Harper today. She had to change her clothes," Ian admitted; the story made me cry harder.

  "They don't like my imaginary friend. They said she's not real and poured milk on me. Ian told them to leave me alone or he'd hit them. They told the teachers we were being mean. They started it, Dolly." I explained the best I could through sobs, lifting my hands to rub at my eyes and wet cheeks.

  "Harper, who's your imaginary friend?" Sam asked.

  I didn't reply, not wanting to answer them. My imaginary friend didn't want me to answer them. They would just say she wasn't real and I didn't like that. She was real, and I knew she was.

  "Sam." Ian climbed onto Sam’s lap and whispered something in his ear. I took a peek at Sam who seemed a little surprised, but he slowly nodded.

  "Ah. Okay. So, your imaginary friend is shy?" Sam questioned.

  I glanced at Ian who had a small smile on his lips, and I quickly nodded. "She doesn't like when everyone says she's not real. It makes her sad and then I'm sad. She won't talk to me now and it makes me more sad. She's my friend. Why can't people understand?" I asked.

  "They're just mean, Harper. They don't like Wolfie either."

  "They don't?! But, but Wolfie is nice to hug. You got to bring Wolfie to school?" I asked.

  Dolly giggled quietly and shook her head. "Something like that." She smiled and helped me wipe my tears. "No more crying, Harper."

  "But I don't want to go tomorrow." I sniffled.

  "You won't need to go tomorrow. Neither of you," Dolly announced.

  When I looked at Ian, he had a puzzled expression on his face. He tilted his head to the left. "Where are we going?"

  "You're both staying home." Dolly picked me up from her lap and lowered me to the carpet.

  I walked back to Ian, and he immediately reached out for my hand, squeezing it gently and then wiping away another tear that ran down my right cheek.

  "Staying home? What about school?" Ian asked.

  Dolly and Sam exchanged looks and turned to look at both of us. "Sam and I've been thinking. Since the kids at school have been picking on Ian for some time now and he's been ignoring them as best he could, we had a hunch they wouldn't be nice to Harper either."

  "Why are they mean to Ian? He's nice to me." I gave them a curious look.

  Sam chuckled. "Ian's a good boy and very smart. Sometimes kids don't like people who are better than them."

  "Ya! I get perfect marks on my tests and can color in the lines. I also don't get in trouble with the teacher," Ian stressed.

  Dolly looked happy as she spoke. "Sam and I decided that we'll homeschool the both of you."

  "Homeschool?" I asked, but Ian began jumping up and down.

  "YES!" He moved to look at me, blocking my view of Sam and Dolly as he pressed his hands on my cheeks. "Harper! Homeschool means we can stay home and learn!"

  "We can?"

  "Yes! We can wear our pajamas and sleep in and learn about stuff at home! Dolly and Sam will be our teachers and...and we just get to do cool stuff! AT HOME!"

  "That means I don't need to go to school anymore? We can stay here with Dolly and Sam? Muffin can come to class with us?"

  "Meow!"

  Muffin popped out from one of the boxes that held some of Ian's toys that he let me share. She hopped down to the dark wood floor and ran to where we stood. Her gaze landed on me as she reached her paws up for me to hold her.

  "Yes! Muffin can come to class with us. As long as she doesn't scratch me." Ian stared at Muffin who looked innocently at us.

  I giggled and picked her up. "That's awesome!" I shouted happily. Homeschool! We get to stay home!

  "Home? No more mean people?"

  No more mean people! Just Dolly, Sam, Ian, and Muffin!

  "Happy!"

  "My imaginary friend is happy!" I exclaimed, and Ian laughed.

  "I'm happy too! I'm gonna tell Wolfie when he wakes up."

  We laughed and hopped up and down with Muffin. Dolly and Sam just smiled and watched us as we celebrated.

  "Can we go change now?" Ian asked, looking at Dolly and Sam who nodded.

  "Go change and come get a snack. Remember I promised we'd show Harper around the sanctuary today," Dolly instructed.

  "Yes!" Ian fist pumped the air.

  "San...Sanc..." I frowned, unable to say the weird word.

  Sam smirked and headed over to where I was and knelt in front of me. "Our home is called the Sacred Moon Shelter for Endangered Wolves."

  "Sacred...Moon...Shelter for En...dang...Wolves!" I tried to repeat his words, which made Sam's smile widen and he reached out to ruffle my shoulder-length brown hair.

  "Good job."

  "There are more wolves like Wolfie here?" I asked.

  "Yes." Sam looked at Ian who was patting Muffin on the head; she was still in my arms. "Our home takes care of wolves who are almost extinct."

  "What's that?" I asked, never having heard the word.

  "It means there aren’t many left, Harper. Wolfie is the only one of his kind. Same with the others."

  "Only one? Only one Wolfie in the WHOLE world?"

  "Yup!" Ian said proudly, and Dolly cleared her throat. We looked at her, and I noticed her arched eyebrow at Ian. He blushed and pouted his lips.

  "They're endangered, Harper. That means that there is only a small amount of them left. Hunters try to kill them for money and that's why we protect them."

  "Oh..." I replied. Remembering the scary Hunters made me shiver.

  Ian moved to give me a side hug. "You're safe here, Harper. No one around here are Hunters."

  "Does that mean I'm en...endanger? Is my imaginary friend the only one left?" I asked.

  Dolly and Sam both frowned and didn't say anything. Ian shook his head and moved between me and Sam.

  "I don't think so! Those Hunters were evil. They won't come here. You and your imaginary friend are safe, Harper. I'll protect you both!" Ian vowed.

  "Okay," I said softly. "Just...don't die. I don't want to lose my friend." I let muffin down to give Ian a hug.

  He laughed and hugged me tightly. "I'll never die! I need to protect you, Harper."

  We pulled back and I nodded. "I'll protect you too, Ian!"

  "Yeah! We can protect each other!" Ian nodded his head and then turned to look at Sam and Dolly. "We're going to change now."

  We moved away before they could reply, heading to my room to get our pajamas. Ian and I didn't normally sleep in the same room, but he'd come early in the morning to wake me up for school.