Chapter 3

Dakota’s POV:

I try my best to show Akela around without much resistance from my classmates. I know he notices the way that everyone is treating me. Wolves that I have been friends with since I was in preschool will not talk to me. Koda makes a point to mock me anytime I’m near him. I desperately need to speak to him, but I know I cannot do it here at school.

At lunch, we go into the cafeteria. I’m terrified since there is limited supervision. "I think I’ll grab something and eat outside. You can eat in the lunchroom…or come with me," I say.

Akela opens the door for me. "I’ll come with you unless you want to be alone," Akela says. He smiles at me. He’s the only person who has smiled at me all day, and it feels so good.

"She is a traitor to this pack," Koda says as he walks past Akela and me.

I’ve had enough. I turn around and face Koda. I rush toward him, but another wolf steps in front of him. Akela quickly comes to my aide. He grabs the wolf standing in between Koda and me.

"We should let them talk. It seems they have some things to work out," Akela says. The other wolves follow Akela into the lunchroom, leaving Koda and me standing outside to talk.

"Why are you rejecting me?" I ask him.

I move closer to him, but he steps away from me. "My father—your Alpha—has forbidden me from speaking to you. I cannot talk to you, Dakota," Koda says.

Koda steps around me and reaches for the lunchroom door. I rush in front of the door. "Please just tell me why. I thought you loved me. We’re supposed to get married soon." I beg him for an explanation.

Koda pushes me out of the way. I fall to the pavement, hitting my head. "Stay down, traitor. I would not marry you if you were the only she-wolf in this pack. I rejected you! Never speak to me again," Koda says.

I curl up in a ball and cry. I can hear my classmates laughing at me. I want to die. The door opens to the lunchroom. I look up, expecting it to be wolves coming to enjoy my pain, but it’s Akela. He’s carrying a lunch tray.

He sets the tray down on one of the outside tables. He comes back to help me up from the pavement gently. "I have your lunch, Dakota," Akela says. I lean into him. My heart is breaking, and I’m embarrassed.

"I don’t want to be here," I say as we sit down to eat.

"Go home and come back tomorrow, but if you want to stay, I’ll stick to you like glue all day," Akela says. He smiles at me again. His smile is beautiful, and his eyes tell me he is sincere and genuine in his offer of friendship.

"I’ll stay. Besides, who will show you around if I leave?" I say.

"They shouldn’t treat you this way. None of what happened is your fault," Akela says. He peels an orange for me and hands it to me.

"You were there last night, weren't you?" I ask him. Akela nods his head.

"Our induction to the pack was last night when your father came in and challenged Alpha Odin. I really thought your father had him, but something strange happened. It was like he could not shift into his wolf fully. I think he meant to let Alpha Odin win," Akela says.

I eat the orange slowly, thinking and making a mental list of the events. My father can shift faster than any wolf in this pack. Number one, there is no way he would not have shifted. Number two, he was so angry with Alpha Odin that he would never have gone there intending to let him win.

"Something is off with all of this. Could you tell me everything after school when all of these ears aren’t listening to us?" I ask Akela.

He hands me another piece of fruit. "I would love to help. I have to go home first, and then I could come over to your place," Akela says.

"Thanks. Will your parents be okay with you coming to the traitor's house?" I ask him.

"My parents are very understanding people. Trust me, they will be perfectly okay with me hanging out with a beautiful she-wolf," Akela says. He gives me that beautiful smile again. Just when I think the day might be okay, the bell rings, and everyone starts coming out of the lunchroom.

"Traitor!"

"Stupid!"

"Ugly!"

"Rejected!

My classmates taunt me. Akela turns my head to look at him. "Don’t listen to them," Akela says. He takes my hand and walks me to the next class. I feel safe with him even though the entire school tries to make my day miserable. Akela is the one wolf trying to make this day go smoothly.

I manage to make it through the day with only a few minor infractions with other wolves. No one says anything after Akela makes it clear he won’t tolerate anything being said or done to me, but when I go to the bathroom, one of the girls puts a wad of gum in my hair. I manage to get it out with a lot of soap, but it still pulled out some of my hair.

After school, Akela walks me to my house. "My house is only a short distance from here. I’ll be back in a little bit. I have to help my mother," Akela says.

"Thanks for being a kind soul to me today," I say. Akela gives me that smile again.

"It was my pleasure, Dakota," Akela says.

I watch as he walks away. It feels good to have a friend right now. I walk to the front door and notice there are a lot of boxes on the front porch. My mother must be boxing up all my father's things so we can start over without his memory staring us in the face.

When I open the door, she is pacing frantically. She is manic and out of her mind. "Mother," I say. She turns and looks at me. Her face is wet with tears.

"I…I…I cannot do this, Dakota. Our Luna told me that I can no longer work with the Alpha, so she…fired me. I have to take a job doing manual labor—no more office work for me, no more working for the Luna or the Alpha. I’m a nobody. That is what the Luna said. She told me I’m a traitor and that my daughter is not worthy of her son." My mother is rambling. She isn’t making any sense.

"Mother, calm down. Talk to me. What’s with all the boxes?" I ask her.

My mother rushes toward me, grabbing my upper arms. "I’m leaving, and you’re coming with me. We’re getting out of here. Now, help me pack. We have to get far away from here where no one knows him. We’ll tell everyone that your father died," she demands.

I push her off me. "No, stop. This place is my home. I’m not leaving here. I want to be here. I want to know why my father challenged Alpha Odin. I want to know what happened. Don’t you want to know, Mother?" I protest.

My mother slaps me across the face. I grab my face as it stings all the way up to my ear. I have been abused all day by my classmates, and now, my mother. "How could you do that to me after everything I’ve been through today?" I ask her.

"Your father did this to us!" she screams.

I run to my room, leaving her in the living room, frantic and packing her things. I listen to her screaming and crying until I become hungry. I go into the kitchen to make a sandwich when everything quiets down. My mother is sitting at the table eating a banana.

"I’m sorry, but you know I’m right. I’m leaving. I understand if you stay behind, but once I leave, you are dead to me, Dakota. You and your father are no longer my family. I wish you the best," she says.

She gets up from the table and grabs a few bags. I watch as she loads a few things into her car. I can’t watch this anymore. I’ll eat after she leaves. I go back to my room and listen for her car to start. After she leaves, I’m motherless and fatherless. I’m all alone in this world.

As I begin to feel sorry for myself, there’s a knock on the door. I get out of bed and go to the front door. I open the door, and Akela is standing on the front porch. I open the door for him to come into the house. He looks around at the boxes everywhere.

"She left me all alone," I say. Akela wraps his arms around me.

"I will help you, little wolf," Akela says.