IN THE SILENCE THAT followed, Malachi’s concerned gaze seemed to burn its way into my skin. With the hearing of a wolf, my cousin had definitely caught both sides of the preceding conversation. So he had to know how chagrined I felt at letting my father down.
Perhaps that was why Malachi swung off the highway at the first opportunity, pulling up at the window of a Dairy Barn. As teenagers, we’d spent far too many hours evading our pack and hanging out at establishments just like this one. So I didn’t buy my cousin’s tough tone when he informed me curtly that we were stopping for lunch whether I wanted to or not.
Instead, my heart melted as my cousin ordered six hamburgers, a side of chicken nuggets, plus fries for both of us. Malachi was helping a pack mate gorge away her sorrows and he
