Kale's Spirit Jackie Nacht

When Kale comes to a fork in the road, who will you

choose for his happily ever after?

Kale has just a few more weeks of school and can’t

wait to graduate and get on with his life. At home, he
has amazing supportive parents but at school, he has
habitual run-ins with the popular kids, who want to
make everyone’s life miserable. After catching the
group in the woods doing drugs, Kale has an encounter
fighting for his life.

The road to recovery is long and Kale has help from

his rescuers, Hunt and Volk. Hunt is the strong, take
everyone under his wing kind of guy, while Volk is the
sweet, caring guy. Kale finds himself falling for both of
them.

Who do you choose for Kale to have his happily

ever after?

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This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters,
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actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is
entirely coincidental.

Kale’s Spirit

ISBN: 978-1-77111-317-5

Cover art by Martine Jardin

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Kale’s Spirit

Fork in the Road 1

Jackie Nacht

To my sis...Love you

Chapter 1

was having the worst day and that was saying
something. I swiped my bloody fat lip with the back

of my hand as I walked home from school. It was my
last semester of my senior year and it couldn’t end
quickly enough. Spring Break had just ended and all the
guys had come back with dark tans and asshole tattooed
to their forehead. Okay they didn’t, but they should
have with the way they treated anyone smaller or
different than them.

After a half-mile hike, I finally reached my front

door. This was going to be tricky. I could smell the
home baked bread on the doorstep. If my mom saw the
condition I was in, she was going to flip. Speed was my
only option.

As soon as I entered the house, my mom called out,

“Kale is that you?”

“Yeah Mom! I’ll be right there. I just have to drop

off my backpack to my room.”

I ran up the stairs two at a time to my bedroom. I

always thought I was fortunate in having a bathroom
connected to my room. The few school friends I had,
shared with a sibling. The fights they told me about the
shared domain were epic.

Turning on the light, I went straight to the mirror to

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get a look at my mug. Cheese and crackers, they
worked me over. I could only see one blue eye staring
back at me

—

the other was completely swollen shut. My

usual plump lips were even worse from the fat lip they
had given me. I would make Angelina jealous with
these babies. My black hair was matted with grime and
a little blood from the cut above my head. My natural
tan that wasn’t created by the Spring Break sun was
chalk white, dirty, and clammy.

Why did I bother running up the stairs? There was

no hiding this from my mother. Looking at my face, I
couldn’t see the defect that these guys so clearly saw.
They had tormented me for the last four years. This
year began with pushing me into lockers and escalated
to this. What was so terribly wrong with me? Was it my
size? Was it that I never let them copy from me? Could
I not hide that I was gay? No one knew that, not even
my parents. I tried so hard to be the invisible student at
my high school. Why did they seek me out?

I could feel the tears brimming in my eyes and fall

helplessly onto the counter. I always promised myself I
would never shed a tear and continually broke that
promise by crying when the day got to be too much. I
hated them having this power over me. I wish I could
go up to Thompson and smack the taste out of his
mouth. That would go over well since the guy had at
least four inches and fifty pounds over me. He’d swat
me down like a bug.

It took me a few minutes to compose myself. No

need showing my mom the disaster with red-rimmed
eyes. I did a quick two-minute shower to wipe off the
grime and blood. The tough part was coming out of my

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room and looking for a clean shirt and shorts that were
once folded on the bed. I was lazy when it came time to
put them in a drawer. They usually ended up being
pushed off onto the floor. I finally selected a solid black
t-shirt and khaki cargos and ran down the stairs to the
kitchen.

“What the hell happened to your face?” my mother

asked. I always thought of her as Betty Crocker meets
truck driver. I was okay with that. Mom and I were two
peas in a pod. I was nerd meets truck driver. It always
took my dad to corral the two of us in. Sometimes I
would substitute my swear words to make an effort but
my filter was a little faulty. Mom, on the other hand,
didn’t even bother.

I looked at her as innocently as I could, “Gym

class?”

“That’s bullshit. Are those boys bothering you

again? Do I need to go back to the school?”

My mother walked over and took my chin between

her fingers and turned my head side to side. I knew she
was concerned for my safety, but nothing bothered me
more than being on the brink of being a man and having
mommy fight my battles. Was she going to come to my
school next year and remind me to brush and floss
before I went to bed each night? As much as I feared
my attackers, my pride would not let me have my
mother fight my battles.

“No, Mom. It was off school grounds anyway. They

got me on the way home.”

“Then let me pick you up from school, Kale.”
Senior getting picked up by mother, ugh…no. If I

thought I was having it bad now, it would be ten times

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worse seeing my mom in the pick-up line with all the
other freshmen parents. I had a license, just no vehicle.
I had been working as a bagger at the local grocery
store saving every penny, hoping that I could get
something before I left for college. At this point, I’d
take the Flintstones car.

“No thanks, Mom. I’ll walk with one of my friends

from now on. George’s last week of track is this week
and then he’ll walk home with me.”

I could see my mom’s mind working at ludicrous

speed thinking of all the scenarios I could get into with
three days left in the week. “I think I should still call
the school and just give them a heads up.”

“Fine,” I huffed out. There was no point in arguing.

She was just worried about me. I think she genuinely
felt helpless, as she had to watch me go through my
own teenage hell. She always felt responsible
somehow. It wasn’t her fault I went to school with a
few assholes.

My mother looked at me with a pinched face. To my

horror, I thought my tough as nails Mom was going to
cry. I could see her holding it together by sheer
stubbornness. “Come on sweetheart, dinner’s ready.
Can you set the table?”

“Sure, Mom.” I went about setting the table. I could

hear her at the stove sniffing. Jesus, now I felt guilty for
having my ass handed to me. I could hear my dad’s car
pull into the driveway. He would calm Mom down, get
her mind off things involving me.

My dad walked into the house with his briefcase in

hand and his suit coat folded over it. I always thought
he was exactly what I would look like in twenty-five

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years, at least I hoped. My dad was just a touch over six
feet tall and had muscles from going to the gym on a
regular basis all his life. My dad had no fat around his
belly. At forty-three, my dad still had his six-pack.
Then there was me. I was five eight and about a
hundred thirty pounds. I could only hope to be a late
bloomer.

My dad looked over at me with a smile on his face

that slid off faster than a pie in the face. “What the hell
happened to your face?” So much for thinking Dad
would calm Mom down. It was going to be a long
night.

Kale’s Spirit

Chapter 2

was sitting in my AP English class watching the
clock work its way to 2:17 at a snail’s pace. Who

thought to end school at such a weird time? But anyway
I had a plan today. I’d brought my backpack to class
with all my homework already in it. I figured if I could
get out quick enough I could cut through the back of the
school and into the woods. The woods would cut off
about a quarter mile of my walk home. I just had
always been too chicken shit to walk through it alone.
George and I would always go that way together, but it
was creepy as hell to trek it alone. I was willing to take
a little hair standing on the back of my neck in order to
avoid Thompson and his friends.

With a minute to go, I had my backpack slung over

my shoulder and quiz in hand to give to my teacher on
the way out. My right leg was bouncing with
impatience. I could feel sweat trickling down my
temple. I hated being afraid.

The bell rang, and I was all but jumping out of my

seat. I practically mowed Rebecca down on my way
past her.

“Jeez, Kale. Watch it!” Of course I would have a run

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in with Thompson’s girlfriend on my way out the door.
She was almost as pleasant as her boyfriend. They
made a stellar pair.

I mumbled a quick, “Sorry,” and got my quiz

dropped off and was out the door in record time. I had
this. I was not going to get my ass kicked today. I
opened the back double doors and tore across the
backfields to the woods.

I made it about a hundred yards in when Murphy’s

Law bit me in the ass. There was Thompson and his
buddies sitting on the trunk of a fallen tree smoking a
bowl. Talk about a bucket of ice water getting dumped
over my head. Oh Jesus, oh Jesus, I was dead.

Thompson turned his cold eyes on me. “What do we

have here?” I could already see his eyes were
completely blood shot as well as his two other friends. I
decided to take my chances and make a break for it. I
turned around to go back toward the school only to see
Thompson’s other buddies come into view with
Rebecca and her group of bitches.

Whipping around, I saw Thompson standing.

Looking into his eyes, I realized I was in serious
trouble. He was high, had a group to impress, and I was
his favorite Everlast. Fear clawed at my throat for the
first time in my life. I hated being bullied, but always
thought I would come out on the other end. I wasn’t so
sure about it this time. Too many elements to this
scenario were making it the perfect storm.

Rebecca came up next to Thompson and gave him a

kiss that was so slobbery and nasty, it turned my
stomach. Thompson seemed to love it as he wore her
slobber all over his face…eww. Rebecca broke the kiss,

Kale’s Spirit

“That little shit knocked me over on his way out here.
Are you going to let him treat me like that?”

What a precious gem she was. Let’s pull the tiger’s

tail, sweetie. Not only that, I might have ran into her but
she outweighed me by about thirty pounds. I would
never call her fat, but my little body would never be
able to knock her on her ass on a good day.

“Is that true? You touch her?”
I just stood there saying nothing. There wasn’t

anything that was going to help me out of this. I
couldn’t talk my way out of this. He wanted to do
damage and nothing was going to stop him.

“Did you?” I jumped back from his scream.
I did a quick turn realizing all his friends were

surrounding me. I turned back only to see knuckles
before a blinding pain hit my undamaged eye and I
went down like a ton of bricks. That was when the real
fun began. He began kicking me then I started to feel
the others joining him. Oh God, I was going to die. The
pain was getting so intense and I had no way to catch
my breath to cry out or help. I was too far away from
anyone to hear my cries anyway.

This was it. I could feel darkness closing in on me. I

knew if I succumbed to it, there would be no coming
out of it later. I thought of my mom and dad. I knew she
would live with regret for letting me have my way. She
would feel she needed to put her foot down and protect
her little boy.

I was just about to accept the darkness when I heard

a pathetic little howl coming from the trees surrounding
us. I couldn’t see anything. Covering my head, I tried to
protect it from the feet coming at me. Thompson and

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the others ceased their kicking.

I looked up to see what had stopped the abuse. Every

inch I moved was pure agony. A single white wolf pup
walked into the clearing coming toward us. Everyone
seemed to stop moving wondering what this little wolf
was up to. It walked straight up to me and looked me
straight in the eye. Its bright blue eyes consumed me. I
couldn’t have looked away if I wanted to. I could feel
my heartbeat speeding up out of control. My hearing
was starting to sound like I was under water. The smell
of the forest hit me like one of Thompson’s fist.
Everything smelled clearer and fresh. I could smell the
pine needles and the dead leaves underneath me. I could
smell my own blood.

“Get lost!” Thompson roared, kicking at the wolf.

The pup dodged out of the way, narrowly missing
Thompson’s boot. Thompson was beyond reason. I
don’t think it was simple marijuana he was smoking
anymore. He seemed in a complete rage.

I could hear the underbrush being crunched as more

visitors joined the party. The air itself seemed to
change. The temperature seemed to drop by several
degrees or it might have just been me bleeding out all
over the forest floor. I was struggling for breath. I knew
at least a few ribs had to be broken.

“Step back and let the guy go.” The voice was deep

but young. Maybe he was my age or a little older. I still
couldn’t pull my eyes away from my wolf. As hurt as I
was, I wanted to make sure Thompson wouldn’t go
after him again, even though there wasn’t much I could
do.

“Fuck that!” Thompson bellowed.

Kale’s Spirit

“I didn’t give you a choice. That guy needs medical

attention and we’re going to make sure he gets it.”

I could hear Thompson lunge away from me

screaming and launch himself at the voice. The forest
filled with distorted shouting and screaming. Flesh was
hitting flesh. There were the sounds of Thompson’s
buddies crying now. They were getting taken down.
Whoever the newcomers were, they knew how to
defend themselves.

I could hear my rescuer scream, “Protect him!”
My white pup ran up to me and began to lay his head

on mine. I could feel fur surrounding me and looked
around to see adult wolves surrounding me. What the..?
That’s when my vision started to go. It went blurry for a
few seconds and then it was just…gone. I began to
whimper in the coat of my wolf.

I felt a gentle hand touch my shoulder and roll me

over. I moaned at the pain. It was excruciating even to
move a little.

“Ssh, I got you now. I know it hurts. I’m going to

get someone to pick you up. We need to get you to a
hospital.” It was the softest voice I had ever heard,
masculine and sweet. Even though my hearing was
going with my sight, that voice calmed me instantly.

I could hear the forest quieting down. The fighting

had stopped. The girls had run off with a fading of their
distant screams. All you could hear was the quiet
moaning of Thompson. Where his friends were, I had
no clue. I could barely stay conscious.

The calming voice stepped back with the wolves that

were protecting me as I felt a huge presence approach. I
was surprised when I felt him gently wrap me in his

Jackie Nacht

arms and pick me up. I didn’t think I had it in me with
the cracked ribs but I let out a hoarse cry. Tears started
to run unchecked down my cheeks. Through the pain
only one thought entered my mind.

Taking as deep a breath as I could, I asked the

question I had been dying to know for four years,
“Why, Thompson?”

I really didn’t expect a response and was shocked

when he coughed out, “Because I could. It was fun.”

I heard an unholy roar and the sound of a fist hitting

Thompson, then everything went still and silent. That
was the last thing I heard before my hearing was
completely gone, too. My mind, however, was working
overtime. It had nothing to do with me. Thompson was
just that hateful and I was the target. He had fun seeing
someone scared and in pain. I couldn’t even fathom his
way of thinking. It was sick and distorted. He must be
full of so much hate to treat others this way. I had
constantly looked at myself trying to figure out what
was wrong with me. There was nothing wrong with me.
It was always that there was something very wrong
with Thompson. Luckily, I didn’t have much time to
think it over. Maybe I would later, but right now I
greeted the darkness that would let me escape the pain
for a while.

Kale’s Spirit

Chapter 3

he fog surrounded me completely. I could hear
voices, but couldn’t quite reach them through the

thickness. My mind was trying to reach the unfamiliar
yet familiar voices. I had heard them before but
couldn’t place them. Finally, I got to the end and that
was when the awareness of pain surrounded me. My
body was in so much agony it began to tremor
uncontrollably.

What happened? I couldn’t remember. Was I hit by a

car?

A big hand rubbed my hair back. “It’s okay, the

nurse is coming to give you something for the pain. Just
hang tight.” His voice was deep, masculine. It had a bit
of rasp in it, like it had been used too much. Whoever it
was continued with rubbing my hair back. I focused on
that instead of the pain that seemed to be in every other
inch of my body. If I focused hard enough, the pain was
almost bearable.

I could hear footsteps coming into what I assumed

was my hospital room. “Hunt, did you need
something?”

“Yes, ma’am. I think Kale is coming around. He

Jackie Nacht

needs something for the pain.” Hunt kept petting my
head through the entire conversation. It was nice. If I
hadn’t been in so much agony, it would have been easy
to fall back asleep.

“I need to get permission from his parents. Do you

know where they are?”

“They went home to shower and change real fast.

They told me to have you call if you need anything.”

“Okay, I’ll get a hold of them. Give me a few

minutes and I’ll be right back with the doctor.” The
nurse retreated from the room and I could hear the door
closing behind her. I was alone with Hunt now. I didn’t
know a Hunt. Why would my parents leave me with
him? I couldn’t remember and it was making me
frustrated.

“It’s okay now. Ms. Caine has been really nice.

She’ll take really good care of you.”

My throat was dry but I managed to choke out,

“Who?”

“Oh, right. The name’s Hunt. My friends and I

stumbled upon you being attacked in the woods. We
helped you out and got you over to the hospital. You’ve
been here for ten days now. Got to say, I’m really glad
you’re waking up. The longer you were out, the more
we began to worry.”

I’d been out ten days? Random thoughts went

through my mind. I had turned eighteen, missed my
physics exam, and prom had come and gone. Then the
reason why I was here all started to come back to me.
How I tried to avoid Thompson and ran right into him
and his friends getting high in the woods. The beating I
took, the group of guys that come to help me out. I

Kale’s Spirit

could hear everything, so maybe I just got my ears
boxed. It was weird that I was hearing the change going
into the vending machine, but I could freaking hear. In
the woods I thought I had gone deaf. I remembered not
being able to see them. My eyes! I couldn’t open them.

“My eyes?” I warbled out.
“The doctor said they were just bruised, no

permanent damage was done to them. Volk and I
having been taking turns icing them. There’s more to it,
but I’ll have Wulf explain it to you.”

Volk? Who were Volk and Wulf? Hunt was saying

these names like he expected me to be old friends with
them. Maybe I was and had a case of amnesia. I started
to recount names of people I knew.

“How’s he doing?” It was a soft voice that came

from the doorway. I recognized that voice. It was the
calming voice that helped me after I was beaten. I could
hear him approach and suddenly felt his fingers touch
my arm softly.

Hunt said, “Hey Volk. I was just starting to tell Kale

about you.”

Volk continued to stroke my arm. These two were

very touchy feely, making me relish every second of it.
I could feel Volk’s breath near my ear as he whispered,
“How are you feeling?”

“Hurt.” Talking was painful and it looked like I was

going to be reduced to one-word answers for a while.

“Hunt, you call the nurse? He’s in pain.”
“Yeah, I did. We’re waiting on his parent’s

permission. They went home to shower and grab some
food. I convinced them I would have them get a hold of
them if he woke up.”

Jackie Nacht

“That’s good. They needed to step away for a while.

They haven’t left his side since he was admitted.”

They were talking like I wasn’t there. Maybe with

ten days unconscious, they got used to talking about
me. It said a lot about these two, that my parents would
leave me alone with them to go home for a while. The
only friend they’d ever met was George. Well, I guess
George was really my only friend.

I tried to move my arm to feel my face and felt Volk

grab my hand. “Don’t touch it Kale. Just let it heal.”

“How bad?” I gasped.
I didn’t like their silence. They hesitated too long. It

was interrupted by the arrival of the doctor.

“Hi Kale. I’m Dr. Summers. I hear you’re in some

discomfort. Janice will give you some medicine for that
while I check you out.” He started to feel my face
gently.

“Swelling is starting to go down nicely. You had

three broken ribs and your right shoulder was
dislocated. Nasty concussion to go with a lot of bumps
and bruises but they will all heal in time. I don’t think
any of the cuts will scar but we’ll give you some cream
to take home with you to help them heal.” I hissed in
pain as he felt the left ribcage.

I was eternally grateful there wouldn’t be any lasting

marks to be reminding me on a daily basis. Basically, I
wanted to forget about this incident. Somehow, I
doubted that would ever happen. There might not have
scars on the outside, but I knew that something inside
of me had changed from the attack.

I could feel the nurse next to me, “I got hold of your

parents. They are on their way here now. They gave me

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permission to give you something for the pain. I’m
going to start putting it in your IV now. You might feel
a little burn but it will go away quickly.”

Indeed, I did feel a little burn but whatever juice she

was putting in me was working at lightning speed,
making the pain start to dissipate. I was never good on
pain meds

—

they made me kind of silly. Having no

inner monologue, I was a lot like Austin Powers.

I started mumbling in my best Austin voice, “Yeah

baby, yeah.”

Volk started to chuckle, while Hunt said, “What was

that?”

I could hear Volk laughing softly, “He’s quoting

Austin Powers. I think his meds are kicking in.”

My head was starting to get fuzzy. There was a one

hundred percent certainty I was going to humiliate
myself. Ooooh well. Leaning into the hand rubbing my
head, I tried to get the ultimate out of my head rub,
smacking my lips and sighing. This felt fantastic. “I
must have died and gone to heaven if I have two guys
rubbing me down. Hmmm.”

Hunt laughed, “Well, that answers our question.”
Slurring just a tiny bit, I asked, “Did I just admit to

you that I was gay?”

“Yep, I think you did,” Volk said.
“Well congratulations. You two are the first to

know. Let’s give you the door prize. What did they give
me?”

They both chuckled at me then they went quiet,

making me paranoid. Did they leave because I was gay?
Holy cow, I just admitted I was gay? Covering my face
with my hands, I could feel the swelling around my

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eyes. Looked like I would never be a high fashion
model. I was going to need to grab one of the paper
bags where I worked at and put it over my head for the
rest of my life.

Volk was so quiet I almost didn’t hear him, “It’s

okay, Kale. We are, too. You’re not alone anymore.”

That did it more than anything. It wasn’t the beating

I took by Thompson or the pain. It was the huge weight
that lifted off my shoulders. To my utter humiliation, I
began to cry. I was never a pretty crier, more like the
type that when I got really going, I would snort and snot
everywhere. The longer I went on, the louder I would
get. I did it all in front of these strangers. Through it all
they just continued to keep rubbing me and telling me it
was going to be okay.

“I still can’t see,” I hiccupped out after my crying

jag.

Hunt kissed me on the forehead, “Couple days and

you’ll be seeing just fine. You’re eyes are really
swollen right now. We’ll take care of you until then.”

“Why are you being so nice?” Except they didn’t

answer me, in fact I could feel them moving away from
me. That’s when I could smell my mom’s shampoo.
“Mom?”

“I’m right here baby.” She squeezed my hand in a

death grip. I knew then that she had heard my entire
confession. How could I hear the vending machine and
not my mom? Oh yeah, my loud obnoxious sobbing.

I was about to start crying again when my mom said,

“I love you, Kale. Nothing is ever going to change
that.”

My father was gripping my other hand. There was

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no way my father was going to accept me. “Kale, your
mother and I both love you. This is not something we
haven’t already suspected. We were just waiting for
when you were ready.”

I had never cried so much in my entire life. It was

the best and worst day of my life. Being hospitalized
after getting beat, but for the first time, I had four
people in my corner that accepted me. The nurse who
gave me those drugs was getting a Christmas present
this year from me.

“Sweetheart, it’s okay. Don’t exert yourself. Just get

some rest. There is nothing to worry about. Just
concentrate on getting better,” my mom said.

“Okay, Mom,” and luckily I didn’t have to worry

about anything anymore. Sleep called to me and I
answered…with a few hiccups.

Jackie Nacht

Chapter 4

hat’s it, I forfeit.” I had been in the hospital for
another week. Hunt was trying to teach me how

to play Texas Hold ‘Em. He must have been able to
read my mind or I had the worst tell ever, because this
must have been the twentieth time in a row he beat me.

“You’ll get better, it just takes practice.”
I was amazed at my new friends. Hunt and Volk had

been spending hours keeping me company every day.
After a couple days of being awake, the swelling in my
eyes had gone down enough for me to be able to see
them for the first time. They were complete opposites.
Hunt was massive. He was well over six feet tall, built
like a line backer, with soft brown hair cut close to the
scalp and amber eyes.

Volk was the same as my five foot eight with white

blonde hair and pale blue eyes. I found out he had a
passion for reading Greek mythology like I did. The
next day he came in and started reading the Odyssey to
me. I loved to hear his voice as he told me about the
journey of Odysseus trying to get back home. It was
even better when yesterday, he decided to come up and
sit next to me on my bed while he read to me. There

“T

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was no helping my head from falling onto his shoulder
as he read.

“Nope, I’m a lost cause. I will never make my

fortune in Vegas.”

“How about dancing there?” Hunt chuckled.
“Nope, two left feet. I look scary when I dance.”
“Sports?”
“Always the kid picked last in gym class.”
“That’s okay. You don’t have to be an athlete.”
“I would, however, like to be a little coordinated.

Sometimes my mind and body don’t communicate.”

There was something that had been bothering me for

a few days and I decided to change the subject, “Hunt
what happened to the wolf pup out there?”

Hunt looked uncomfortable for a moment before

answering, “I promise, all your questions will be
answered once you get out. You’ll get to meet the
whole pack and your pup is being taken care of until
you get out.”

“Hunt, I can’t have a wolf, my parents won’t allow

it.” My mom had this white furniture and would be
attacking everything in the house with a lint roller.

“Like I said, we’ll explain everything to you once

you get out. By the way, you have an open door policy
at our cabin. Wulf wanted me to tell you, but you’re
going to need Volk or me to show you how to get there.
It’s kind of isolated. We’ll make spaghetti when you’re
up to coming out.”

“That sounds amazing. After eating this stuff here, I

can’t wait to eat real food for a change.”

Hunt chuckled, “Don’t get too excited. We just

dump a bunch of jars into a pot and heat it up. None of

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us can cook, although Volk mentioned taking culinary
classes next year when he goes to college. He said he
can’t stand one more night of mac and cheese.”

“Maybe my mom can help him out. She’s amazing

at cooking and has a crazy recipe box in the kitchen. It
makes no sense to us, just looks like a bunch of scraps
of paper, but she swears she knows where each and
every recipe is. Maybe she can even give him a few to
practice on you guys.”

“That sounds great. I’m kind of sick of mac and

Cheese myself.”

“Are you in college?”
It was another awkward silence, “I haven’t started

school yet, I’m working right now to pay for it.”

“That’s great. Where are you working and what do

you want to do?”

“I do lawns in the summer and snow removal in the

winter. Its great pay but a little inconsistent. I think I’ll
have enough to start next fall if I have a good summer.
I’ve been applying to schools up north. I want to major
in Fisheries and Wildlife Management.” Hunt shrugged
and reddened.

“I think that’s great. I think you’ll be a natural at it.

You seem to love the outdoors. You always talk about
the forest to me.” He did, too. He was constantly telling
about the animals, plants, and the wonderful swims he
had at the stream there. He seemed completely at ease
when he talked about. It made me yearn to go to the
forest just to experience firsthand what he described to
me.

“What about you Kale? What do you plan to major

in?”

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“I’m not sure yet. I think I’ll go and get my core

requirements done while I try to figure out what I want
to do. It’s not like I don’t like a lot of things. It just
seems I don’t know what will be the best one for me for
the next forty years. It’ll probably be something to do
with computers. I love working on graphics.”

“You sound like you pretty much know what you

want. You just don’t know the details yet. You’re doing
pretty well for eighteen.”

“You act like you’re so much older than me. How

old are you?”

Hunt laughed, “I’m nineteen, but the last few years

have really made me feel a lot older than I really am.”

I squinted my eyes at him, “Umm, I don’t think you

need to apply for your AARP card or anything. So,
what makes you feel old, or am I being too intrusive?”

“No, it’s fine. It’s just…” Hunt paused. He looked

up at the ceiling like he didn’t know how to explain or
maybe it was too hard on him.

“If it’s tough to talk about it, you don’t have to tell

me. It’s okay.”

“No, I want to tell you. I’m just trying to figure out

where to start. I guess I could say that some parents
aren’t as accepting as yours. I was a really good athlete.
Varsity football my freshman year in high school but I
already knew I was into guys. There was a guy on my
team that I started to date and my parents caught us
kissing one night when we were supposed to be having
a sleepover. They sent the kid home and kicked me out
within the hour of him leaving. That was the last time I
saw them.”

“Oh Hunt, that’s terrible. I’m so sorry.” He looked

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so sad staring at the wall across from us. It seemed like
he was doing everything he could to keep it together. I
grabbed his hands to stop them from shaking.

Hunts voice came out a bit deeper, “It sucks talking

about it, but I wanted you to know. Anyway, I was on
my own for a while. Took showers and got clothes from
Affirmations. I don’t know what I would have done if it
wasn’t for them. Anyway, about three months after I
was homeless, I met Wulf and he took me in. He started
home schooling me to get caught up and the rest is
history.”

“So you live with Wulf?”
“Yeah, we all do. Volk, Mahigan, Farkas, Gayl, and

I live in a cabin in the woods. The ones left in high
school are home schooled and Mahigan is taking online
University classes with Wulf. Wulf’s the oldest at
twenty.”

“So he took you in when he was only fifteen years

old?” That seemed really young. It was boys taking care
of boys.

“Well, the cabin belonged to his grandfather who

gave it to him when he left his home

—

or, I guess, was

kicked out too. So we had a place to stay. We worked at
restaurants to earn money for food. It wasn’t easy but I
felt accepted and happy. His grandpa comes by every
now and then to help us out when he can, but it really is
a hike for the guy.”

I couldn’t even imagine living without my parents

for the last three years. They had been there for me
through all my hellish problems of school. I kept
thinking my parents were pretty special in the last
couple days or that I lucked out. My parents didn’t put

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conditions on their love, they just did. It amazed me
how many parents couldn’t look at their kid and say the
same thing.

Hunt seemed to think the conversation needed to

take a complete one eighty. “I think they are going to
release you tomorrow. Your parents invited us over for
dinner this week. I don’t think they know what they are
getting themselves into.” Hunt smiled. It was one of his
mischievous smiles that I learned to really like in the
last couple days since my vision came back. He had
beautiful white teeth and full lips. When he did that
smile he had a dimple on the left cheek that would pop.

“Yeah, I’m getting pretty antsy to get home myself.

Do you think you guys will want to come over and
hang out?” Did that sound pathetic? Maybe a little, but
I really didn’t want to lose my new friends.

“Sure, we’ll be there to hang out. I said we wanted

you to come out to the cabin. Your wolf is anxiously
waiting to see you again.”

I had been thinking about the wolf pup a lot. I had

dreams of his eyes staring back at me. The more I
thought about, the more I thought something kind of
wonky had happened. I’ve been feeling a little different.
The doctor said my eyes healed but some damage had
been done. Somehow I ended up partially color blind.
My ears were another matter. I swore before I lost
consciousness that I lost my hearing however, now I
was hearing things I never heard before. It was
unsettling for sure.

“Hunt…”
He must have seen the question that was coming his

way, “Don’t worry, I know you’re not feeling like

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yourself. I promise you that we will answer all your
questions and help you out. You have nothing to worry
about and it’s not as crazy as your mind is making it
right now.”

How did he know what my mind was thinking? I

could, and was coming up with some crazy stuff.
Looking down at my chest underneath my hospital
gown, I made sure there was still no chest hair. I guess
that meant I wasn’t getting any furrier. With that, I blew
out an exasperated breath and lay back down to
contemplate while waiting for my release from the
hospital.

Kale’s Spirit

Chapter 5

eaving the hospital was both bliss and agony. I
couldn’t wait to get home and get a hot shower. My

hair felt funky without being able to take a shower
without my soaps and shampoo for days. The hospital
grade stuff just didn’t do the job. Sponge baths didn’t
do it either. I needed to marinate in my woodsy bath
wash to feel normal again.

The part that totally sucked was the drive home.

There was no way to avoid every bump in the road. I
never knew how much pain you could feel in your ribs
just from a simple turn at the traffic light. Then there
was getting in and out of the car

—

cheese and crackers,

that hurt like a mother.

My parents rode in the front seat while Volk rode

with me in the back. He was my savior, holding my
hand the entire time. I’m sure he has a few broken
fingers from my death grip. By the end of the trip, I had
sweat gathered at my temples and I was actually
nauseous from the pain. Never had I been so glad to see
our cookie cutter home come into view.

Volk looked over at me, “We’re here, Kale. The

tough part is getting you settled upstairs. Then your

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mom said I could stay over to help you out if you want
me to.”

I could only nod. Truth was, I was a little afraid to

be alone and too embarrassed to mention to my parents
that I was having nightmares since the attack. Volk
must have suggested this, because Hunt and he were the
only ones that had witnessed me waking up from them.
It was humiliating at first, and then the two seemed to
be my lifeline in the darkness. I don’t know why they
continued to alternate staying with me but I would
forever be thankful for it.

Volk helped me get out of the car as my parents

carried my bags inside the house. Walking in, I felt like
a completely different person than when I left for
school the day of the attack. I don’t think it was so
much the attack but for the first time I was walking into
the house as me. A little bit banged up, but there was no
fear hovering over me that my parents might not accept
me. This was truly my sanctuary.

Volk grabbed my elbow, “Ready to take on the stairs

Kale?”

“As ready as I’ll ever be,” I grumbled.
It was a tough go and I don’t know how Volk did it

being the same size as me, but we made it up the stairs.
I had thought of nothing but that shower since I got out
of the hospital. It was my damn reward for not bawling
like a baby in the car when my dad decided to brake for
that biker. Now that I got to my room, there was
nothing I could do but stand there on trembling legs
from the pain. I swallowed a sob and didn’t know
where to go to relieve the aches in my ribs.

Volk turned to look at me, “I know you wanted to

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take a shower but you’re not in any shape—”

“Please, a shower. It’s supposed to be my shiny gold

star for being a brave boy at my dad’s terrible ability to
brake gently,” I pled with him, tears beginning to pool
in my eyes. I was having the hardest time keeping it
together. If he said no, the dam in my eyes might break.
They were already puffy and red from too much crying
lately.

“Okay, here’s what we’ll do. I’m going to go

downstairs and get your meds from your mom. Let me
help you to your desk chair. You take the meds while I
get everything ready for your shower, just point and I’ll
retrieve. Then, I’ll help you take a shower, unless you
want one of your parents to help. I don’t think you can
by yourself.”

“You can help if you’re okay with, you know,

showering with me.” In as much pain as I was in, it was
shocking to realize I was blushing. Yeah, he would be
the first guy see me in all my glory. I had become
freaking faster than Superman dressing in a telephone
booth when it came to undressing in the locker room.
The man of steel could take a lesson or two from me.

I thought I saw him blushing too as he made his

escape to go get me my medication. Maybe I would be
the first guy he would see naked. I knew he was
eighteen, a few months older than me, but living with
all the guys, you would think he’d seen a few of them
in the buff. Maybe he’d seen Hunt. That was a pretty
unsettling feeling in my stomach. Completely
confusing, really, since I didn’t know if it was because
of my feelings for Hunt or Volk. I liked both of them
and would have to be blind not to be attracted to both

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and for the first time, I could express those feelings
without being afraid.

Volk came in with a stack of crackers, water and my

pain medication. He walked over and dished me out
two crackers while he uncapped my water. He then
handed me the water and pills. Volk was all business.
His only tell was the hand not holding his cracker was
frantically tapping on the side of his leg.

“Okay, let’s just sit for a few minutes until your

meds kick in. Where are the clothes you want to wear?”
Was that Volk’s voice? It was cracking like mine did
my freshman year but I didn’t call him out on it.
Instead, I began pointing to various places in my room
where clean clothes were strewn about. He held up my
dirty pair of flannel Elmo pajamas before shaking his
head and dropping them. He did find my favorite black
super soft fleece pajama pants. I shook my head when
he held up a shirt. No way in hell was I lifting my arms
up.

He was still looking a little tense and I started to feel

guilty for asking him to help me out. I’d only known
him a week. “Look Volk, you don’t have to do this if
you don’t want to. I can do it myself.”

“No, no I’m good. Your mom just told me to make

sure you scrub your own junk, her words not mine.” He
looked like he wanted to sink into the floor.

I, on the other hand, couldn’t stop this weird laugh I

developed as a result of the injuries to my ribs. “Don’t
worry you’ll get used to my mom.”

Volk looked down at me shyly. His pale blue eyes

looked a little sad when he said, “I like your mom a lot.
I don’t mind her quirky ways at all. She cares about

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you.” He seemed to shake himself. “You ready for that
shower?”

“Yeah,” I got up and realized the meds had kicked in

and I was having a little trouble with vertigo. Volk was
at my side immediately guiding me to the bathroom.

He had me lean against the counter as he got the

water adjusted to the right temp. He looked at me and
waved his hands like he didn’t know where to start. He
finally focused on my shirt and slowly stretched it out
so he could just hook it over the back of my head and
roll it down my arms. He was a miracle worker on not
getting me to raise my arms.

Then he went to work on my pants and briefs. I was

a little embarrassed at first and then realized with the
pain and meds, I had too many things clouding my
mind to focus on anything like exposed body parts.
Looking at his face and seeing all the bruises being
exposed on my skin, I think he was coming to the same
conclusion. My first shower with a guy and it was
going to be completely clinical. Sigh.

“Kale, are you listening?”
“Hmm?”
“Can you step into the shower and hold onto the wall

while I get my shirt off here?”

“You’re not coming in?” Wow did I sound whiny.
“Fine, but I’m coming in my briefs. “
“Spoilsport.” Yep, the drugs were in full effect.
Volk snorted at me and stripped down quickly

before joining me in his boxer briefs.

“Where’s your soap?” I pointed toward the floor

behind him. He bent over in front of me and I couldn’t
resist giving him a couple of good pats on his ass that

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quickly turning into massaging.

Volk laughed and removed my hand off his wet

briefs, “Behave.”

He quickly grabbed it and squirted out a dollop

before scrubbing it into my dark hair. I couldn’t help
letting out the moan. He immediately pushed my face
into the spray and started to rinse my hair. I got the
message to shut up loud and clear. He grabbed a pouf
and started putting soap into it. That’s when I noticed
his boxers were not leaving anything to the
imagination.

Volk caught me looking, “Oh stop it! I would have

to be dead not to have some sort of reaction. According
to my fifth grade Sex Ed teacher, this is perfectly
normal.” With that he shoved the pouf at me, “Now
scrub your junk!”

Volk turn away from me and began washing his own

hair. I guess with him coming to the hospital so much
he hadn’t gotten a chance to shower that much either. I
just stood there staring at the way the soap ran through
his pale blonde hair. Even the water didn’t darken his
hair that much when wet. He began rinsing his hair out
and I watched the bubbles slide down his body. Oh
what I’d give to be one of those bubbles. I reached out
and began popping the bubbles that were running down
his back.

Volk turned and caught me with my finger still

extended. He let out huff before he took my pouf and
began washing me briskly. I hissed a little when he got
to my ribs and from there on out he went a lot more
gently. When he was done, he looked me in the eye and
whispered, “Now can you please do the rest?” He

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looked me straight in my blue eyes. He was telling me
with his eyes that he was trying to be a gentleman and
here all I could do was stare at the water dripping off
his full lips. I slowly took care of washing the rest of
my body. By the time I was done, he had washed his
body and turned the water off after rinsing both of us.

“Hold still for a sec, okay while I get us some

towels.” He disappeared and came back a minute later
with a towel wrapped around his hips and holding out a
fluffy navy towel for me. Volk began to dry me off
gently and I started to actually fall asleep standing.

“Okay, Kale, let’s get your pants on, then you can go

lie down and sleep.” I held onto his shoulders as he bent
over and lifted one foot at a time to dress me in my
pajamas. He guided me over to the bed and laid me
down.

I looked up at him, “Please don’t go. Will you nap

with me?” I knew the nightmares would come if Volk
wasn’t there.

“Sure,” Volk whispered. He climbed into the other

side of the bed. I reached over and took his hand to hold
it. Before I fell asleep, I felt him take my hand and
softly kiss it before guiding our joined hands to his
heart.

Jackie Nacht

Chapter 6

very day I seemed to be feeling a little bit better.
Hunt and Volk kept coming over and keeping me

company. We would spend our days in my room
playing video games and watching movies. I kept
asking about the pup and how he was doing. They kept
telling me he was fine and that the pack was taking
good care of him.

I continued to ask them about the strange things that

I kept experiencing. They seemed to have this amazing
talent for steering the topic away from my questions
every time and I didn’t have the effort to fight it either.
It seemed ideal to give up until they decided to tell me.
This forced me to focus on graduating and get ready for
the summer.

There were about fifteen days left and I hadn’t been

to school since my attack. I knew I was going to have to
go on Monday and was completely dreading it. The
guys who attacked me never got arrested. They said that
Wulf and the guys started it and we said they did it. It
turned out the cops didn’t really care who started it this
time. Next time someone got hurt, someone would be
arrested. So, I was freaking out about walking the halls

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with all those guys again. The teachers never saw half
the bullshit they did to me. Would they now?

My mom walked in and caught me pouting on the

bed while flipping through the channels. It was
Saturday and I hadn’t heard from the guys all day. It
was the longest I’d gone without seeing one of them
since the attack.

My mom sat on the bed and began to fuss with my

blankets, “How you feeling, baby?”

I sighed, turning the television off, “I’m fine, just a

little bit bored.”

“That’s no way to be on your eighteenth birthday.”
“Mom, my eighteenth birthday came when I was

impersonating Sleeping Beauty.”

“Pssh, so we’re a little late on celebrating.”
“Well, Mom. I don’t see you providing those scary

ass clowns like you did on my ninth birthday. You
don’t have scary ass clowns downstairs, do you?” I
bolted up and scanned over Mom’s shoulder for the
face painted demons.

“You’re right. Those clowns were straight out of a

horror film. However, I did one better. I talked to Hunt
yesterday and invited all the boys over for dinner and
cake tonight. Is that okay with you?”

I looked at my mom, “Really, they’re all coming

over?”

“Yeah they should be here in about an hour. I made

your favorite, lasagna.”

I hugged my mom. I was bored out of my ever-

loving mind. “Mom, this is great, thank you.”

She hugged me back, “Those boys saved my baby.

It’s just as much for them as for you. They need a little

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loving too.”

I didn’t know if my mom knew the whole story, that

they were living on their own, so I just answered,
“Yeah, Mom, they do.”

“Hurry up and get ready. They’ll be here soon.”
She walked out and I quickly went to my closet to

figure out what to wear. The guys had seen me looking
hideous and I was feeling well enough to care about it
now. Scanning the room, I found my favorite pair of
dark destroyed jeans. Then I walked over to my closet
and rummaged through until I found my royal blue shirt
that was a tiny bit snug on me. I loved how it fit and
how it looked against my dark hair and blue eyes. I
showered, styled my hair and gingerly made my way
down the stairs just in time to see my friends coming
through the front door.

Hunt came over and handed my mom a bouquet of

wildflowers. How sweet. You could tell she thought it
was sweet too because she immediately went back into
the kitchen to grab a vase to make them a centerpiece
for tonight’s meal.

I noticed the other guys standing their taking in the

atmosphere. It was Wulf, Gayl, Mahigan and Farkas’
first time here. Wulf was standing straight and proud in
front of the other three. Mahigan was holding Gayl’s
hand. In all the talking I had with Hunt and Volk, I
never knew those two were a couple, but you could
clearly tell how they were holding onto each other like
the killer clowns might jump out of the closet at them at
any moment. Farkas, the youngest, with huge gold eyes
and dark brown hair, looked around like a curious
puppy.

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I walked toward them, “Hey guys, and thanks for

coming.” It should have been awkward but as soon as I
walked into their little circle that they formed in the
entryway, I felt complete. It was like I had belonged
there my entire life.

My guests followed me into the dining room where I

saw my mom setting out heaping plates of lasagna,
salad and dinner rolls. I remembered Hunt saying how
sick of mac and cheese he was, I thought maybe if it
wouldn’t be too much trouble on my mom that we
could make dinner a regular thing from now on.

My parents took the end seats and left the rest of us

to find seats on the sides. Volk and Hunt squeezed me
in between them. I still hadn’t been able to figure out
what was going on but was going to shelve it for the
meal or I might just not make it through.

We all fell into an easy dinner conversation. My dad

talked to Wulf about his lawn/snow removal business. I
could hear Volk asking my mom what she put into the
lasagna, clearly wanting to learn for next year. Mahigan
and Gayl were whispering to each other while
devouring their salads. The only one that seemed to
confuse me was Farkus. He seemed to be examining his
salad like he thought it might walk off the plate.

Mom looked on in concern, “Farkas dear, do you not

like the salad? Do you want something else to eat?”

Farkas looked up, “You mean I don’t have to eat the

salad?”

“No dear, not if you don’t want to. You can just go

ahead and eat your lasagna.”

Farkas pushed the salad plate away and mumbled,

“Thank fuck.” He looked up as his gold eyes widened

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and then he quickly looked over at my mom.

That’s when I proceeded to choke on my dinner roll.

Hunt slapped me on the back, which hurt like hell but
dislodged the roll right onto Farkas’ plate. Seemed
Farkas didn’t like salad but didn’t care at all about
eating a half masticated roll, since he took a little hunk
of it with a great big bite of his lasagna.

He seemed to notice everyone looking at him. While

he was still chewing his food he looked at my mother
and said, “Sorry ma’am, I didn’t mean to cuss at the
table.”

“That’s okay. I don’t care for rabbit food either and

it’s nothing I haven’t said before myself.” My dad
coughed into his napkin at the other end of the table.

Farkas smiled at her with a little bit of sauce on his

face and it made him look a lot younger than his sixteen
years. You could tell by the look in his gold eyes that
he was instantly in love with my mom. Looking over at
my mom, I realized she was going to adopt all of my
new friends. I was okay with that.

After the guys ate their third helping, my mom

brought out a massive chocolate cake with butter cream
frosting. The guys looked at it like Christmas had come
early. My mom brought out two huge quarts of ice
cream to accompany the cake and proceeded to pass it
out. She made my day by not pressing the whole
candles and singing bit. I was never a big fan of having
someone shine a spotlight on me.

I noticed bodies had shifted seats and Farkas was

sitting next to my mom with a huge helping on his
plate. Hunt and Volk seemed to keep their seats next
me and kept smiling at me in between bites. I couldn’t

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remember having a better birthday. It was pretty simple
really, nothing extravagant, but I had friends with me
this year and that was the big difference.

“Thanks, Mom and Dad. This is really good.”
My dad stood up and walked over to me before he

clunked down a set of keys in front of me. “This is from
your mother and me. We’ll pay for the insurance and
car payments as long as you continue working. You can
work at the store or Wulf just offered to take you on his
crew this summer. You’ll be responsible for gas.”

I sat there with my mouth flapping open and shut,

like a fish out of water. I grabbed the keys and took off
toward the front door.

“Kale, it’s in the garage!” My mother yelled.
Running through the mudroom, I opened up the

garage door to see a lime colored Chevy Spark. It was
unbelievable that they had got me a new car. I had been
saving all my pennies just trying to get a beater to get to
and from college next year.

My dad came up behind me, “This is your

graduation present as well. We wanted to get it a little
early so you can use it for the rest of the year. No more
walking home on your own, son. It was going to be a
problem anyway, with all your injuries.”

Everything clicked into place in an instance. My

parents probably planned this all along, however since
the attack they moved it up a few weeks. They didn’t
want their son walking home while the other guys that
hospitalized me were still walking around. My parents
were afraid to have me on my own. I had nothing to say
to comfort them, too afraid myself.

I turned around and gave my dad a huge hug.

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“Thanks, Dad.”

“You’re welcome, Kale.”

Kale’s Spirit

Chapter 7

t had been over a week since coming home. I went
to school and it was pretty uneventful, a few stares

that were completely expected. Who wouldn’t want to
look at the boy with the purple face? Volk and Hunt
took turns standing by my car at the end of the day, so I
didn’t even have to go that far on my own. It was nice
to see them smiling up at me at the end of each tiring
day. I noticed Thompson was watching us every day as
I greeted them.

Hunt would take the keys and my books while I took

forever getting into the car. I might have been able to
go to school, but my ribs ached by the end of the day.
Through the short drives, I found out that Hunt was a
big fan of Nikki Minaj and would sing very off key
along with her.

Each day we would come back to my room where he

would take off my shoes and socks. He would go down
and get a snack while I loaded up my gaming system.
We would sit side by side for hours playing. On the
third day, Friday, I couldn’t take it any longer.

“Hunt, why are you helping me out? It’s not that I’m

not grateful, it’s just, well, why?”

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His cheeks got a blush that crept up from his neck,

“Well I guess it’s because I care about you. I want to
make sure you never have to be alone like you were in
the forest that day. I want to protect you.”

“What about Volk?” I whispered.
“He cares about you too,” Hunt looked down at his

controller, fiddling with it.

“I’m confused,” I admitted.
Hunt reached over and grabbed my hand. “I know

you are, and Volk and I have talked, too. We want to
just give you time to adjust to the last few weeks. Volk
is like a brother to me. He’s a good guy.”

I was getting more confused with the conversation. It

sounded like Hunt cared about me but was pumping up
the competition.

As if reading my thoughts, Hunt went on, “Volk is a

lot smaller than the rest of us. It’s kind of in our nature
to make sure he’s well taken care of. That’s why for
me, I’m a little conflicted. I want him to be happy, but I
want you for myself.”

My eyebrows shot up. I never expected him to be

flat out honest with me. “I’m not sure what to say. I
always have something to say.”

Volk started to massage my palm, “You don’t need

to say anything

—

just get to know us, Kale. That’s the

best thing to do right now for all of us. I’m sure we’ll
figure it all out eventually. We just need to get to know
each other a bit more. Come on, let’s keep playing, I
think I might actually beat you by the end of the
summer.”

Sighing, I fell back on my pillow and began playing

the game. There was an overwhelming need to lean my

Kale’s Spirit

head on his shoulder and I thought what the hell. It was
even better when he leaned his head back on me.

Volk was waiting for me the following day at my

car. After talking with Hunt, I felt a little bit nervous at
first, never having anyone like me before. He took my
keys from me and drove me back to the house. It was
funny how he waited for an approval before stopping at
the music station I liked. It became apparent that he
liked to take a cue from someone while Hunt liked to
lead. I was always somewhere in the middle.

Feeling restless today, I decided to ask Volk on the

way home, “Can we take a short walk and get some
fresh air? We won’t go far from the house.”

He seemed to think it over for a second before

answering, “Sure, just as long as we don’t wonder too
far. I know you’re feeling better, but I don’t want to be
out so far you can’t get back.”

Volk pulled into my driveway and dropped my bag

off inside. He came out with two apples and a bottle of
water. He handed me the apple, uncapped the bottle of
water, and took a swig of it before handing it over to
me. I couldn’t help but smile a little as I took a swig
where Volk just drank.

We walked into the woods behind our house

crunching on our apples. It was comfortable walking
silently next to him. Our gait was the exact same, so we
were in perfect pace with each other. I felt equal to
Volk, unlike Hunt. However, I felt protected by Hunt. It
was tough to figure out which role I felt more
comfortable with. None were wrong, they were just
different.

Jackie Nacht

Volk interrupted the silence, “I heard you talked to

Hunt last night about the three of us.”

“Yes I did.” Would he feel like we were talking

behind his back?

He grabbed my hand and held it. It sent a chill

straight up my arm. “I never got a chance to tell you
how I feel. I’m sorry for that. I just wanted to give you
time to heal and get to know us.” Thank god he wasn’t
ticked.

“Hunt said the same thing.”
Volk laughed a little, “Well I guess great minds

thinks alike.” He sobered quickly, “The thing is, I like
you a lot. I just don’t know if I’ll be very good for you.
Hunt can protect you against those assholes that hurt
you, I can’t.” The last was said so softly I almost didn’t
hear him say it.

Volk quickly lifted a branch to get out of my way. I

had been a tiny bit clumsy since the accident. Already I
was puffing a little, and Volk had me sit on a stump. “I
don’t need protection, you know.” It came out kind of
childish but I was feeling like maybe they were not
really into me, just into wanting to save the damsel in
distress. The way they always talked about protecting
me was beginning to make me feel like the biggest
wimp.

“I’m not really supposed to say too much. Wulf

wanted to explain what happened to you the night of the
attack.”

I couldn’t help but snap, “Will someone just tell me

already? I know I’m a little different and no one will
tell me what the hell’s going on.”

Volk stopped chewing on his apple and looked at me

Kale’s Spirit

with his pale blue eyes, “That white wolf pup chose you
that night, being called by your inner strength. You
have the spirit of the wolf in you. Don’t worry about
changing into a werewolf or anything, but you will take
on characteristics of a wolf. You’ll be partially color
blind, run a little faster, have a bond that is really close
to your wolf, and you will hate being alone.”

“So, I won’t grow fur or fangs?” Okay so I was a

little worried.

Volk laughed, “No, but you’ll just have this amazing

connection to the wolves and the rest of us. It’s pack
mentality. You feel it. You already know you belong,
just like we know you belong.”

“So is that why Hunt and you like me?” I really

didn’t want that to be the only reason.

“I don’t think so. Besides Gayl and Mahigan, none

of us have liked one another like that. It’s more a
brotherly, pack love.”

“Pack?”
“Yeah, that’s kind of another characteristic we take

on. Wulf is the alpha, taking care of all of us. Hunt is
the Beta. I’m somewhere in the middle. I think you’re
like me. I think that’s why everyone is so protective of
you. They’re like that with me, too.”

I crossed my legs and turned to look straight at Volk,

who mirrored my position, “So does that make me
weak?”

“No, you’re not weak. Everyone is important in our

pack. Each person has their role, me included.
Physically we may be different, but we all have equal
say in everything. You’ll find out the others will hover
a little, especially after what you went through, but I

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also think that’s pack mentality.”

I thought I was okay with that. Maybe I might have

been freaking out a lot more if I hadn’t had that stare
down with my pup weeks ago. There was a longing to
see him that went beyond a new pet, a kinship. My
changes weren’t that strange. I wouldn’t howl at the
moon or eat some innocent bystander or Thompson.
There was nothing that would keep me from going to
college in the fall. I just needed to find housing that
took pets now

—

my wolf was coming with me.

“Where did the wolves come from?” I had been

wondering that one too. Wolves weren’t popular around
these parts.

“All we know is that they found Wulf at his cabin

before we all got there. Mahigan’s and Gayl’s wolves
are the parents of your pup.”

“Are there any more pups?”
“There’s one other. He’s a runt so we watch out for

him pretty closely. Yours is the feisty one.”

I noticed Volk was playing with a stray tear at the

knee of my jeans, making goose bumps pop up on my
skin. His fingertip was warm and sent a thrill through
me. I put my hand in my lap to cover up my reaction to
his touch. We didn’t need to add that kind of tension to
an already strange conversation.

“I don’t want to hurt you or Hunt.” I couldn’t believe

I blurted that out.

Volk looked up at me with his pale eyes. They

looked a little sad almost, like he knew I would pick
Hunt and not him. “I think we’ll all be okay. We’ll all
make the right decision. Come on, your Mom said I
could help her with dinner tonight.” Volk grabbed both

Kale’s Spirit

my hands and guided me back toward my house. He
ended the conversation pretty abruptly and I had a
feeling whoever I didn’t end up with would be a little
hurt. I didn’t want to lose either of them.

Jackie Nacht

Chapter 8

olk and Hunt led me into the dense woods. We had
been walking for more than fifteen minutes, which

made me wonder how the hell they had gotten to me so
damn fast. There was a little of the trail we’d left about
five minutes before. The undergrowth was getting
crazy. These guys did not want to be found by anyone. I
had a momentary panic that maybe I was going to be
axed out here then I remembered them saving me, kind
of defeating the purpose.

I was just about to ask the annoying Are we there yet

question when we broke through to the most amazing
opening in the forest. The sunbeams came down from
the sky onto this beautiful rustic log cabin like a
freakin’ fairytale. The wind was blowing the fresh new
leaves that hid this sanctuary from anyone ever
knowing it existed. It was the most breathtaking view I
had ever seen.

The wolves were out in front of the cabin playing

and rolling around on the ground. My pup was the first
one to notice us with a tiny yip. Several of the wolves
decided to run toward us to greet. In the rear was my
pup. I instantly went down on my knees to embrace

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him. I had felt a longing for him through my entire stay
at the hospital.

Hugging him to my chest I scooped him up to get a

look around. He was licking me all over my neck and
face, making me laugh. His tiny baby teeth were
nipping at me in play. I was pretty sure he was excited
to see me, too. My pup had this fluffy coat I kept
petting to try and get him to calm down, which I think
had the opposite effect. His whole backside was
wagging, not just his tail.

“Okay, I missed you too, boy. Wait, you are a boy.”

I held him above my head to check. I didn’t think a
puppy had the capability to look indignant but he
managed it.

“What’s his name?” I looked over to Volk and Hunt

and saw them both petting two gray wolves. Volk’s was
much smaller than Hunt’s. It looked like the wolves
matched their human counterpart. My little guy was
going to be small like me, making me feel for him.

Hunt looked up from his petting, “That’s up to you.

We haven’t named him yet. He’s been waiting for you
to name him.”

“Wait, I told you guys I can’t have a pet. My mom

would never go for it and a wolf is not like a dog.”

Volk walked over to me with his wolf at his side,

“We’ll keep him here with us, Kale, but he as much
belongs to you as you belong to him. Now go ahead and
figure out a name for him.”

Jeez, no pressure. I had two sets of human eyes and

three wolves looking at me expectantly. It was like they
expected to pop out this amazing name and all I could
think of was, “Phelan?” Where in the hell did that come

Jackie Nacht

from?

Phelan yipped and squirmed excitedly until I had to

put him down. He took off with the other two wolves
and began to play again.

Volk was smiling at the wolves’ play, “I guess he

really liked his name, and it’s appropriate too.”

“How so?”
Volk looked over and smiled at me with his brilliant

white teeth. It was the type of smile that you saw on
high fashion covers. “It means little wolf in Gaelic.
Phelan will be smaller, like my Lawler. Hunt’s wolf,
Cayden, is a beta. He’s been really protective of our
two wolves.” That’s when I noticed then that Cayden
was making sure that the other wolves were playing
really gently with Volk’s and my wolf. I didn’t realize
how tense I was watching them, worrying, until Volk
pointed out the dynamics of their rough play.

Wulf walked out of the cabin holding a tiny dark

puff in the crook of his arm to stand on the porch. “Hey
you guys, the pizzas are done. Come and get it while
it’s hot and before Farkas eats it all.” Wulf walked back
into the cabin, ducking under the door jam. You could
see a tiny little tail wagging between his body and arm.
At twenty, he must have been six five, two hundred and
fifty pounds. He was the biggest guy I had ever seen at
his age. He didn’t have a speck of fat on him, made up
of complete muscles. There was not one muscle on his
body that wasn’t massive.

Hunt waved his hand to guide us toward the house,

“Come on guys. I’m starving and I don’t feel like
beating on Farkas tonight because he took my bacon
and sausage pieces.”

Kale’s Spirit

Walking into the cabin, I saw the layout was nothing

I would have ever expected. Basically, the cabin had a
small opening that led into three different directions.
One led to a hallway with a bunch of doors lining it. I
could only guess

—

bedrooms? The opening to the right

led to the kitchen where I could see the guys sitting at a
decent size picnic table. The third opening led to
carpeted stairs that led down to a basement.

Ceasing my gawking, I followed Volk and Hunt into

the kitchen. Everyone seemed to have their own
designated spot at the table. I stood there awkwardly
wondering where I should go. Volk turned around and
patted a spot in between him and Hunt. Quickly, I took
my spot and waited for everyone to get their pizza.

Hunt looked over at me, “Better pick your pieces

quick before Frick and Frack over there eat it all.” It
was strange to see the difference between them eating
at my house and them eating here. I felt like I would
need to wield my fork as a weapon to fend for my
pizza. They all had table manners, they were just a little
territorial when it came to what toppings they were
going to have on their plate. Didn’t matter what pieces I
picked, I was going to take off all the toppings anyway.
I was a plain cheese pizza person.

It made me come to the conclusion that they were on

their best behavior when they came over to my house.
This was the first time I was seeing them in their
environment and there was a big difference. I worried
about them not having parents but they were really a
family that worked well together. They were happy.

Picking up a piece, I set to work on removing the

pepperoni when I noticed the noise at the table had

Jackie Nacht

extinguished completely. I looked up to see five faces
of horror. Farkas was the only one smiling, “Kale, are
you going to eat those? If not, I can take care of that for
you?”

The table erupted with a fight for my pepperoni.

Farkas and Mahigan were rolling on the ground. Volk
and Hunt seemed to be protecting my plate from grabby
hands. Wulf was laughing. Phelan came strolling up to
me and I knew exactly how to resolve this argument
without getting myself into trouble. I grabbed my own
pepperoni and fed it to Phelan. Farkas stopped in mid
choke hold and looked at me like I just gave Phelan a
million bucks. “Kale, you didn’t?”

I started to laugh at his devastated face, “I did, and

from now on Phelan gets all my toppings. Now let’s
eat.”

After dinner, Wulf guided us out to the front of the

cabin just after the sun set. He turned to look at all of us
with the runt in his hand, “I know Volk told you
everything so we don’t need to explain too much to you
now. A lot of nights we go running with our wolves and
play around. We’ll make sure that you and Phelan don’t
get too far behind. You’ll get faster as time goes on but
you and Phelan will be a little slow and awkward at
first.”

Every single one of them took off in front of Phelan

and me. “Well I guess we better gets our butts in gear.”
We took off together and I realized I was like a colt on
gangly legs. This was nothing new. I was absolutely
terrible in gym class

—

add healing broken ribs and it

was my very own layer of hell. Even though I noticed I
saw a lot better in the dark woods, it did nothing for my

Kale’s Spirit

balance. Phelan and I were doing a lot of face time on
the ground. He was this fluff ball tripping over his own
feet and get up covered in dead leaves. It seemed so
cute until I did it too.

Hunt came back to help me up after my latest dive

with his wolf, Cayden. Cayden circled Phelan with
playful nips before the two took off together. “It’ll get
easier. It’s your spirits entwining. Now you’re just as
much a pup as he is. You’ll both grow out of it in time.”

“Was everyone like this at first?” Please say yes.
“Pretty much. Maybe not Wulf, but the rest of us had

to adjust a little. You think you haven’t had that big a
change, but sometimes the little things make a big
difference. It took me a couple weeks. You’ll get
there.”

Jeez, I hoped so. Being almost healed, it sucked to

fall like I was. Hunt started to guide us to where the
others ran off. I could hear splashing in the distance and
a couple of them laughing. We passed a few more trees
before we came to the edge of a stream. The guys were
running into the water, while Volk was staring at the
woods as if he was waiting for us.

He walked up, “You okay? Hunt said he’d help you

out. How’re your ribs?”

Volk looked so adorable, flustered, running his

hands over my shirt, checking me out himself to see if I
was injured. “I’m fine, Volk. I’m a little bit scuffed up,
but nothing major.”

“Do you want to go in the water? It’ll get the dirt off,

but it’s not the cleanest.”

“Yeah, I think a swim sounds really nice.” Looking

over, I saw that Cayden and Lawler were helping

Jackie Nacht

Phelan into the water.

I was trying to figure out how far to undress when I

looked over and saw Hunt running bare ass into the
water. Oh lord, everyone was skinny-dipping. It would
be okay once I was in the water, however it wasn’t dark
enough to actually hide my reaction to seeing Hunt’s
bare ass.

Hunt dove in the water. A few seconds later he

reemerged, throwing his head back. Water droplets flew
behind him in the moonlight. “Come on, Kale!” Damn
that dimple.

There was a huge pile of clothes over by the tree. If I

could pull my super gym move, I might have a chance
of no one seeing me. I began to undress at lightning
speed. Volk came next to me and began undressing too,
which put me into high gear. I took off for the water
and was under before I was prepared to choke on my
own balls that had crawled up into my body.

“It’s fricking freeeezing.”
Hunt swam up to me and embraced me before I was

prepared, “Better?”

He smelled delicious, was extremely warm and he

was naked. I was in Heaven. Returning his hug, I laid
my head on his chest. This felt so right, but it felt right
to hold Volk too. Looking over at Volk, he was
laughing and splashing with our wolves. I couldn’t
believe how understanding these two were being. I
know I wouldn’t have been.

Hunt must have been reading my mind because he

said, “This is for forever, you know. The one you pick,
it’s not temporary, and that’s why we’re taking our time
on this. We all need to know for sure. I know right now

Kale’s Spirit

that you feel perfect right here in my arms.”

He squeezed me so tight. Hunt was telling me the

truth but I also knew he cared for me a great deal more
than what he was saying. We drifted in the current
while holding each other. I had to admit that at the
moment, I didn’t want to let him go, either.

Jackie Nacht

Chapter 9

he final day for seniors had finally come. Emptying
my locker was a surreal experience. This was the

last time I would be doing this. I had been slowly
emptying it all week. All that was left was a locker
mirror, a few end-of-term papers, and a picture of the
guys and me at my birthday party. My mom had taken
it after we sat down to watch a movie. We were all
scrunched on the couch. Volk and Hunt were on each
side of me on the couch, while the rest were in front of
us on the floor.

Stuffing what little I had into my backpack, I took

one last look around to try and remember my school for
all the good things that happened here and not my hell
with Thompson. I wanted to remember my eighth grade
trip to Washington, pep rallies, and the people that were
nice and helpful to me. I didn’t want it to be cheapened
by the few idiots that I had to deal with. It was tough

—

they’d managed to shove themselves in my face and
drown out the rest. This was my moment to push them
out of the way and see the good that came through my
years here.

Taking one last look, I turned to go down the stairs

Kale’s Spirit

to my car. Hunt and Volk were waiting for me today.
Wulf must have dropped them at the school after work.
They said they both wanted to be a part of my last day
and they were going to take me later to the cabin to
celebrate. No graduation parties for me, I would be
hanging out with my pack.

I greeted both of them with a hug before reaching

into my pocket to dig out my keys.

“What the fuck, man?” Of course I couldn’t count

myself lucky and be done with Thompson. The ass had
to make one last dig at me. “What are you, a fag?”

I could see Hunt tense up. He stepped in front of

both Volk and me. I could see him start to shake like he
was doing everything he could to keep in all his anger.

Thompson looked at all three of us before he

laughed, “It’s true, you’re a fag. God, I wish we had
worked you over a little bit more. If your boyfriend
wouldn’t have interfered, maybe we would have been
rid of you for good.”

I had enough of his hateful words. It was bad enough

when they solely focused on me but my friends were
now being targeted. “There’s nothing wrong with us,
Thompson. You need to just walk away. You heard
what the cops said to all of us. I don’t know what’s
wrong with you, but high school is over. This is
pointless.”

“You don’t get to tell me what to do. Now come out

from behind your fairy boyfriend.”

Hunt went to go after Thompson but before he did,

the principal stepped in front of him. We were all so
focused on Thompson we’d missed Mr. Kensington’s
approach completely.

Jackie Nacht

“I believe, Mr. Young, you need to come with me to

my office. I believe we should call the sheriff’s
department to let him know that you have a confession
to the assault of Mr. Long. It seems these other
gentlemen were falsely accused and I believe the sheriff
would like to know the facts once and for all.”

Thompson looked like he had sucked on a lemon. I

couldn’t help but notice his eyes start to get full with
tears. If I thought it was because he was remorseful, I
might have felt a little sorry for him, however, I knew it
was only because he got caught. The worst for him was
that it was his own pompous mouth that was landing
him in trouble. When the sheriff talked to all of us, he’d
seemed like he would be extremely hard on the
individual that started it all if more was to surface. We
were a small town and the sheriff said he didn’t want
any of the bullying coming into the boundaries of his
town.

The principle grabbed Thompson by the neck,

leading him toward the school. He stopped and turned
to look at me with remorseful eyes. “Mr. Long, you
have yourself a pleasant summer. Good luck to you in
the future.” He turned back and took Thompson inside.
Maybe after the accident, the teachers were watching
out for me. Maybe they felt like they’d failed me before
and were in their way trying to make up for it.

Hunt and I were shaking by the time they

disappeared. Volk reached over, “Kale, give me your
keys, I’ll drive us to your house.” Without thinking
twice, I handed him the keys and got in the car shaking.
Hunt sat in the backseat saying nothing.

Turning around, I said, “Hunt, are you okay?”

Kale’s Spirit

Hunt blew out a breath, “Yeah, I just never wanted

to see that guy again. The things he said…I hope they
come down really hard on his ass. Every time I see him,
I see him kicking you in the woods.” With that he bent
over in the backseat and buried his face in his hands. He
was coming down from a massive adrenaline rush. I
turned back to give him his privacy. That’s what Hunt
wanted most at a time like this. Volk reached over and
grabbed my hand, squeezing it. I looked over and he
was just as affected by the encounter. His pale blue
eyes burned like a flame. No one said a word

—

we all

just let the car ride give us time to let the adrenaline run
its course through our veins.

We pulled up into the driveway and got out quietly,

then walked into the house to the sound of familiar
laughter. The three of us entered the kitchen to see
Farkas sitting with cookies and milk at the island while
my mom was leaning over laughing with him. Farkas
looked like he was in heaven as he continued to eat the
homemade snicker doodles while taking big gulps of
milk. I didn’t know his story, but I knew he really liked
my mom a lot.

Farkas looked over at us smiling, “Hey guys,” His

smile vanished as he saw our faces, “What’s wrong?”

Hunt sat next to him at the island, Volk sat across

and I went to the fridge to retrieve three more glasses of
milk. Hunt went on to explain what happened in the
parking lot. My mother looked over at me and began
fussing looking for new wounds. I wanted to tell my
mom that words don’t leave visual marks but I didn’t
want her to feel worse, so I just let her fuss. What
started to loosen all of us finally was when my mom

Jackie Nacht

went over to Volk and Hunt and began checking them
out. Volk looked serene while Hunt looked like a deer
in headlights. I don’t think he ever had anyone fuss
over him a day in his life.

I needed to save Hunt from my mom, “We’re fine,

Mom. No one even laid a finger on any of us.”

“I hope they really nail that little shit.” Yep, I loved

my mom.

“Where are you boys going to be tonight?”
“If it’s okay with you, Wulf and the others wanted

me to stay the night and celebrate there.”

“Of course it’s okay. Do you need me to make

something for you all?”

I was about to say no when Farkas piped up, “Could

you, Mom?”

Mom? Okay, I officially had a younger brother. Ooh,

I could have fun with this.

“Sure thing, sweetheart. What do you want me to

make?” I noticed my mom was asking Farkas and not
me. I wanted to laugh but knew Farkas was eating all
this up.

“Lasagna again?”
“Sure thing. It’s my boy’s favorite.”
Volk perked up, “Can you show me how to make

it?”

My mom smiled at him, “Go and wash your hands,

while I get the ingredients out.”

In a matter of a few weeks, my pack had fully

immersed themselves in my family’s life. Now it was
their family. It was easy to forget about Thompson
when I got to look at how happy everyone close to me
was, including me.

Kale’s Spirit

Chapter 10

e got over to the cabin around five in the evening
with lasagna in hand. My mom had written

instructions on top to show us how to warm it up. We
walked in and Volk immediately took it and began to
preheat the oven. Volk looked so proud that he’d helped
my mom. By the end of making it, my mom was just
pointing things out and Volk was mostly doing it
independently. My mom said she would work with him
all summer until he took his culinary classes in the fall.
I had a feeling Volk was going to be a very talented
chef one day.

It was amazing watching the guys eat lasagna at my

house, then turning around and watching it in their
environment. Their table manners went out the door.
Loud moans, and some dinner rolls flew through the
air. The wolves loved that part. They ate the rolls with
gusto. My mom found out about all our wolves and
bought a bunch of bulk food for them. They were lying
around on their backs because their bellies were so full.
She even said I could bring Phelan home with me
sometimes.

After we ate dinner, all of us went into the basement

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to watch a movie. I found out this was the family room
for all of them. It held a large screen T.V. that they’d
bought the previous summer from pooling their lawn
job money. It had a couch that had seen better days but
was impossible not to fall asleep on it. There was no
entertainment center

—

instead, the floor in front of the

T.V. was covered with game consoles, DVD player,
games, and piles of movies. In the corner was a bunch
of blankets where the wolves would make a giant
puppy pile and sleep for the remainder of the night.

Mahigan and Gayl brought down a cooler full of pop

and water so no one had to go running up and down the
stairs. Wulf came down caring five various bags of
chips. I quickly snatched the barbeque. I would have
taken the Doritos but that’s not best on your breath and
when you’re trying to impress a couple boys…Hunt and
Volk sat on each side of me and shared from my bag.
We watched two movies before the warmth of Volk and
Hunt had my eyes getting heavy lidded. In no time, I
was fast asleep.

I woke up to complete silence. Looking around,

everyone was gone except for Wulf sitting in a beat up
recliner across from me reading a book. He looked at
me when I went to sit up.

“What time is it?” I asked.
“It’s a little after midnight. Everyone else went to

bed for the night.”

“Wow, I’m a real partier.”
“You’re fine just the way you are. I think that’s what

the problem is with you not being able to choose
between Volk and Hunt. You’re finally just learning
that it’s okay to be just yourself, and you haven’t had

Kale’s Spirit

enough time to adjust. You want to make them both
happy, but you’re afraid of hurting the other one
because you’re not confident in your own skin yet.
They have a similar problem. Volk thinks he can’t
protect you, Hunt thinks you’ll be happier with Volk.”

“You’re right. I don’t want to hurt anyone.”
“Then make a decision. They both care for you, but I

know whoever you don’t choose will easily become a
very close friend. You won’t lose one of them if that’s
what you’re worried about. We’re pack, connected
deeper than brothers.”

In the last month, that was what had become my

greatest fear. I was so afraid of losing one of them, I
couldn’t move forward. “You really think I won’t lose
either one of them?”

Wulf looked me right in the eye, “I know you won’t.

I’m heading to bed. Think about it. You already
know

—

that’s why I talked to you tonight. I just didn’t

want the fear keeping you back. Goodnight, Kale, and
remember everyone else cares for you like a brother.
Your decision won’t change that.”

With those parting words, Wulf made his way up the

stairs to leave me to my thoughts. Fear had been
overruling my decision. I knew who I wanted to be
with, I just was afraid of losing one of them and my
new friends. Now that I had the go ahead from Wulf, I
felt ready.

I sat on the couch and collected myself for a

moment. I knew what I wanted to do. I wanted to go see
him. Would it be too forward to go into his room and
just climb into his bed? He had at my place all the time.
Why did it feel so different here? Then I knew why. My

Jackie Nacht

intentions to go up there were not just to hold one
another for the night. I wanted to cement our
relationship with something more. How much more
would depend on both of us, but I wanted more than
cuddling tonight. With determination I got up off the
couch and walked up to the guy who was the one.

Fork in the Road
If you want Kale’s happily ever after to be Hunt,

turn the page to

Chapter Hunt, page 65.

If you want Kale to be with Volk, turn to

Chapter

Volk, page 74

Kale’s Spirit

Chapter Hunt

opened the door to Hunt’s room. This was the first
time I had ever been in his room. It was exactly how

I would picture Hunt’s room to be. It was done in dark
browns and tans, completely masculine with dark wood
furniture and a king size bed. The bed was covered with
a dark chocolate plushy comforter. I looked over to see
that Hunt was awake, looking at me. Extremely
nervous, I knew what coming here tonight would result
in. I felt ready but it didn’t mean I wasn’t nervous as
hell.

Hunt’s amber eyes shone in the darkness. I only saw

understanding and love in them. He knew it was a hard
decision for me to make. Volk meant a lot to me and
wouldn’t begrudge me for those feelings. He quietly
lifted the covers, a silent invitation for me to join him
with no pressure involved.

I quickly took off my shoes, socks, jeans, and t-shirt,

then climbed under the covers in my boxer briefs. Hunt
immediately pulled me to his chest and covered me up.
I held him like a lifeline to the unknown. His strength
seeped into my shaky limbs. Strong arms rubbed
against me and leaned in to sniff my hair. It reminded

Jackie Nacht

me of how different our sizes were. Hunt made me feel
like I would never feel pain again, that he’d protect me
no matter what.

Suddenly, I was completely ready for everything that

was about to happen. I looked up into Hunt’s eyes,
mirroring the same desire as I was having. He moved
first, rolling over on top of me, and took my lips into
the first of many kisses we would experience together.
It was gentle but firm. His hands started to move over
my body. I reciprocated with my hands. For the first
time, we were at liberty to learn each other’s body. I
had craved to do this since the pond. Things were
starting to get heavy pretty fast and then Hunt stopped
what he was doing.

“Are you sure?” he panted.
I was. I gave him a little nod

—

the green light for us

to proceed.

He bent his head back down to kiss me as he reached

for my boxer briefs. I clumsily reached for his. We
weren’t in sync at all. Everything was a little messy, we
might have had to actually read the directions on the
box of supplies, but we laughed it off. When you were
with the right one, even fumbling your way through it
was perfect.

I always pictured my first time waking up next to

someone as them spooning, kissing on my neck, telling
me how perfect I was or if being sexy was a crime, I’d
be guilty as charged. Should have known better. What I
woke up to was me completely frozen, with not a stitch
of blanket on me. I rolled over and saw that my new
boyfriend was peacefully asleep with all the blankets

Kale’s Spirit

wrapped around him. A cover hog! Grabbing the covers
to yank them off, I halted when I got a look at his face.
For the first time since I met him, he looked a lot
younger than nineteen.

So instead of waking him, I watched him for a few

minutes before I ventured into the bathroom to take
care of business. As I was washing my hands after
using the restroom I looked up into the mirror. “Holy
shit!” I knew I was sore from the various activities last
night but I was covered in hickies…love bites?
Whatever. My entire chest and neck looked like Hunt
nibbled me up.

I blushed at the memory of my first time. Hunt went

really easy on me, especially since it was his first time,
too. He was as inexperienced as me. Hearing a lot of
stories, I knew how painful it could be. I was sore, but
it was definitely something I wanted to do again with
Hunt, soon.

Hunt rushed in, “Hey, you okay?”
“I’m covered! What are my parents going to say?”
“Kale, they’ll be fine. They’re okay with you being

gay.”

“This has nothing to do with me being gay! It has to

do with my parents having evidence of my sex life. I
don’t want them to know that you sucked all over me
like a damn Hoover. Not that I didn’t enjoy it. Do I
want to see hickies on my mom? Ewww! I’m blind! I
can’t get the visual out of my head now!”

“You’re being over dramatic. Wear a long sleeve

and they don’t have to see that big fat one by your
nipple there.”

I covered the hickey and gave him my all-time stink

Jackie Nacht

eye, which only made him start laughing at me. “Are
you laughing at me? You are!” He was and he couldn’t
seem to catch his breath. Hunt was bending over
laughing at me. The ass.

“You know my mom, Hunt. The whole damn

neighborhood will hear how her son was deflowered
through her kitchen window. She has a voice that
carries to the next county.”

“Seriously, don’t worry about it so much. You were

loud enough last night to take care of that on your own.
At least she’ll be cool about it. You’re lucky.” He was
right, of course. I couldn’t ask for better parents. They
loved me and I knew that wasn’t always the case. Look
at the other guys. They were tossed out because they
were a little different in who they loved. Wait a minute,
did he just say I was a loud lover?

I walked over to him. Hunt straightened up to look at

me with his now watery eyes from laughing. Reaching
up, I put my arms around his neck, “You’re right, of
course.” I started to nibble along the sides of his neck.
For some reason he had none on him. Was it his beta
spirit that made him feel like he had to mark me? I was
going to have to remedy that. If I was going to wear his
mark

—

hmm I liked the sound of that

—

well he was

going to wear mine, too.

Hunt starting rubbing the back of my head and

moaned, “What are you up to? Don’t you want to go
over and get breakfast at the diner? I’m sure the guys
will be leaving soon.”

I continued to suck on his neck, “Okay, just give me

a couple more minutes.”

Hunt chuckled at me again but he did let me have

Kale’s Spirit

my way. I wasn’t the only one that was loud.

I was full of anxiety about meeting the rest of the

guys at the diner. We ended up taking a little more than
a couple minutes, so they yelled at us through the door,
to meet us there. My stomach was full of butterflies
from being anxious to see Volk. I never wanted to hurt
him. I just felt that Hunt was the one for me. Hunt must
have realized how nervous I was because he held my
hand the entire way there. He was just as nervous, too.
He cared about Volk like a little brother. No one
wanted to see him hurting.

Hunt led us all the way to the back booth. It was a

circular booth with Volk in the back. Hunt’s hand
pressed on my back as he guided me to sit next to Volk.
Settling down I let out a big sigh and looked up into
Volk’s bright eyes. I didn’t want this to go down in
front of everyone like this, much preferring to explain
my decision in private.

Volk reached over and hugged me tight. He

whispered in my ear, “It’s okay, Kale. Hunt is a
wonderful person. I’m so happy for you.” He pulled
back to look me straight in the eye to verify that he was
in fact all right. He was being completely honest with
me.

“I’m sorry.”
“There is nothing for you to be sorry about. Never be

sorry for falling in love with someone. I can handle
being your friend. Can we be friends?”

“Of course!” That was all that needed to be said. It

seemed Wulf knew his pack very well.

Wulf called the waitress over and we all ordered our

Jackie Nacht

breakfast. Everything was going to be okay. I had my
first boyfriend and friends that were tried and true. I
was a very fortunate person.

That day we all decided to give me round two on

learning to run with Phelan. He had been excited to run
and swim all day. I was a little more confident this
time. This was my second go at it and it was daylight.
My eyes were getting better at night but I could see the
underbrush clearly through the beams of light coming
through the trees. Phelan seemed to be more sure footed
today too. He was off running with Lawler and Cayden.
Hunt was staying close by me today, reaching out every
now and then to steady me. I was also getting a lot
faster, actually keeping up with the pack today.

The weird thing is that I could start to feel Phelan’s

emotions. Every day our spirits were entwining more
and more. He seemed to have a way at looking at me
and I would know exactly what he needed. Hunt said
Phelan and I would get even closer as time went on.

We finally got to the bank of the stream. Everyone

was taking off their clothes to get ready to go into the
stream. I grabbed Hunt’s arm. “Hunt, do you ever
wonder why we were picked by the wolves?”

“Wulf talked to us about this a couple years ago. He

said he thought it was that we needed them and this was
their way of helping us belong. Their spirit senses the
lone human calling out to the lone wolf. That night you
were hurt, Phelan guided us to you. He somehow knew
that you were in trouble and knew you were meant to
be with him.”

A steak was in order for Phelan. He had saved my

life that night, then. Without him leading the others to

Kale’s Spirit

help me out, Thompson would never have stopped. I
remember how brave he was coming out from behind
the trees to take me into the pack.

“Come on, Kale, let’s enjoy the night. I wanted to

show you how much fun it can be in the water.”

He took off toward the water with me fast on his

heels.

One month later
Hunt and I walked into my house as sweaty grassy

messes. It was a busy day, cutting twenty yards. We
were all sporting dark tans from the long days in the
sun. A lot of the guys went back to the house to jump in
the stream with the wolves. Hunt and I decided we
would take showers at my house and spend some alone
time in my room. My parents were really cool about
Hunt and me being together. I lucked out that one of the
schools that accepted me was the school that Hunt was
going to. My parents helped us find off campus housing
that would let us have pets. It was a bit hectic but I
think my parents were happy that I was going to start
my freshman cores in the fall. They thought getting into
the college atmosphere, that I would figure out my
niche soon enough. They were happy that I wasn’t
going alone.

We walked into the house to see we were beat there

by Farkas. His dirty work boots were lying by the front
door. He was spending a lot of time with my parents
lately and they were eating it up. My mom had
approached me the other day saying Farkas wanted to
try going to public school next year. Seemed they were
in the process of turning the fourth bedroom that was

Jackie Nacht

used as a computer room into a room for Farkas. Hunt
and I had talked to Wulf about it and even though he
looked a little sad, he thought it was best for Farkas.

Hunt and I made our way up to my room where we

hopped in the shower and rinsed off together. We loved
to wash each other and have a little fun in the process.
Let’s put it this way, we were always squeaky clean
when we got out.

We both put on mesh shorts after our shower just in

case anyone wanted to pop in. I went down and got
Hunt and me a couple sandwiches. I looked into the
family room to see that Farkas was watching a movie
with my parents. He looked so content laughing at the
comedy that was playing on the screen.

Hunt was setting up a new game I had just gotten

when I walked into the room. He walked over quickly
and grabbed his plate. “Thanks, this looks great.”

“You’re welcome. The chef has prepared a ham

sandwich with ruffles. Please give extra points for
presentation.”

“Yeah, the M & M smiling in the bread is pure

talent, for a toddler.”

I stuck my tongue out at him.
In between bites Hunt asked, “You ready for next

year?”

Wiping my mouth with a napkin, I said, “Yeah, I

am. I think Farkas is going to help my parents out a
lot.”

“Does that bother you, him living here next year?”
“No! I think he needs some maternal love and my

mom has a lot to give. I think it’s best for him, plus I
always wanted a little brother.”

Kale’s Spirit

“He never talked about what happened to him

before. We just found him outside the grocery store
when he was twelve during winter without a coat. We
took him home and Jalapeño entwined his spirit with
him.”

“I’m happy he found his way here, since I’m going

to school with you in the fall.” I leaned over and took
his plate off his lap before I began kissing him. He
opened his mouth and I tasted Hunt himself. Hunt
began rubbing my cheek with his thumb. I loved the
feel of his rough hand on my face. It jolted me every
time.

“I love you Hunt,” I murmured between kisses.
“I love you, too, Kale. I always will.”

Jackie Nacht

Chapter Volk

stepped into the room to see that Volk was sound
asleep. He looked so peaceful sleeping in a pile of

blue fluffy pillows and blankets. The only way I was
able to find him was his shock of white hair that stood
out against those deep blues. His mouth was slightly
parted, making him look completely edible.

I walked over to sit on the edge of the bed and

reached out to gently pet his soft downy hair. Volk’s
eyelids slowly parted and then he looked up at me.
“Kale, you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine.” Then, I took the initiative and

leaned over and kissed him. Volk let out a whimper and
pulled me down on top of him. There was a little
problem with the covers being between us but I was too
absorbed into the kiss to pull away. Volk tried to fix the
problem by kicking his legs to push them down. I was
going to be singing tenor if he kept it up.

I quickly sat up and threw them off him, noticing he

was sleeping in plaid pajama bottoms. I looked up at
him and realized he was smiling but shaking like a leaf.
“Kale,” he whispered, “I don’t think I’m ready yet. I
love you but I’m scared.”

Kale’s Spirit

“Volk, we don’t have to do everything tonight. I

love you too. We have all the time in the world. If we
just end up kissing all night, I’m okay with that. I just
want to be here with you.” I gave him a soft kiss on his
trembling lips.

“Hunt can protect you better.”
“Didn’t you hear me? I love you. You are my equal

in every way. I don’t need protection, I need someone
to stand by me and be my partner. You’re that guy,
Volk. I just need you to love me, that’s all.”

“I do love you, Kale, so much. I’ve wanted more for

so long…I’m just so happy you’re here.”

I took my shirt and jeans off and got into bed with

Volk in my boxer briefs. We held each other kissing for
the longest time. Our hands roamed our smooth skins.
We were exactly the same size and shape. The only
difference was his hair was light next to my darkness.
We never went any further than kissing that night. We
would both know when we would be ready.

One week later
Hunt and I sat on the tailgate of Wulf’s truck eating

our lunch. The day was getting hot and we had ten more
lawns to complete before we could call it quits for the
day. It was the first time we had been alone together
since Volk and I got together.

“Hunt, I’m so sorry,” I looked down at my half eaten

sandwich

—I’d lost

my appetite all of a sudden.

“Why are you sorry? Volk and you are perfect for

each other. This past week watching the two of you
together made me realize I cared for you, but there is an
intensity between the two of you that was lacking

Jackie Nacht

between us. It doesn’t mean we can’t be friends
though.”

“I would like very much to be your friend.”
“Someone’s got to keep you from getting Volk into

trouble.”

I looked at him haughtily, “My mother taught me to

be a perfect gentleman.”

“Ha!” Hunt looked up at the sky seriously, “You will

always have my friendship.”

Volk walked over to us slowly, “Is everything

okay?”

Hunt started to laugh, “Yeah, just straightening your

boy out here. He’s been worried that I’d be mad at him.
I’ll tell you what I told him, I’m good, really happy for
both of you. I’ll just be happy to have both your
friendship.”

Volk’s shoulders seemed to relax, “I’d love that. I

heard you were starting at Northern in the fall.”

“Yep, Cayden and I found a tiny place for us to live

off campus. I’ll miss you guys terrible. You have to
make sure you come and visit me.”

Volk grabbed my hand, “We’ll make sure to come

see you.”

Hunt got up from the tailgate and crushed his

sandwich wrap. He walked over and hugged both of us
at the same time. “Take care of each other.” He turned
and went to help Farkas out with the backpack blower.
He was trying to be strong for us, but I had a feeling he
cared more than he was letting on.

“Come on, Kale, sit, you need to eat more. We have

a long day ahead of us.” I had a feeling Volk was going
to take Hunt’s word to heart.

Kale’s Spirit

Two months later
“Kale, don’t forget your pillows.” My mother came

rushing out of the house with two pillows in hand. Volk
and I were moving into a rented house between our two
campuses. He was going to culinary school while I was
going to the neighboring college to begin core work. I
was hoping to get into the graphic arts department next
year. Lawler and Phelan were waiting for us in the
backseat with the windows down.

My mother reached out and hugged us both. “You

took take care of each other. Make sure you lock your
doors at night and use protection.”

“Mom! I can’t believe you said that!”
“Just do it. I put the box in your pillowcase.”
Volk chokingly laughed next to me. He was fire

engine red with embarrassment. I was so used to my
mother, nothing she said anymore could embarrass me.
She might surprise me by buying us condoms, but not
embarrass me.

I saw Farkas coming up behind my mom laughing at

our predicament. Farkas had decided to go to public
school next year and live with my parents. I think he
and my parents were building a special bond that
Farkas needed badly. There were a lot of times Volk
and I would come downstairs to see Farkas sitting on
the couch watching comedies with my parents. My
parents were just as excited to have him stay. I don’t
think they were ready to be empty nesters yet.

My dad walked up shaking his head. I knew he’d

heard every word that came out of my mom’s mouth.
He gave me one of his great bear hugs. “Take care, son.

Jackie Nacht

Volk, have a good year. You learned from the best.” He
patted his flat stomach for emphasis.

I walked up to Farkas, “Good luck next year. Call if

you need to talk.”

Farkas hugged me tight, “Thanks, Kale, for

accepting me into your family.” I squeezed my new
little brother as tight as I could, wanting to be a good
big brother. He was going to have to live his role as
little brother though. He would eventually be able to
wear his favorite Calvin’s again, after he unthawed
them from the freezer. Was I immature? Yeah, but I
was learning to be a big brother too. There were some
fun perks.

Volk and I got into the front seat to begin our two-

hour drive to our new home. We waved goodbye to the
three of them, promising to come home for
Thanksgiving.

That night, Volk was pretty quiet. He hadn’t said

much during the unpacking of our stuff and getting the
wolves settle in. I wondered if he was having trouble
leaving the pack. It also brought out a question that I
had longed to ask.

We were sitting down to eat a casserole that Volk

whipped up when I asked. “Volk, do you ever wonder
why we were picked by the wolves?”

“Wulf talked to us about this a couple years ago. He

said he thought it was that we needed them and this was
their way of helping us belong. Their lone wolf senses
your lonely spirit. That night you were hurt, Phelan
guided us to you. He somehow knew that you were in
trouble and knew you were meant to be together.”

I looked over to a sleeping Phelan. He had grown a

Kale’s Spirit

lot this summer and lost all his puppy fluff. I would go
out tomorrow and get him a big fat steak. Phelan had
saved my life. He led me to Volk. I was forever
thankful.

The casserole was delicious. It was an exact copy of

my mom’s. I was just finishing the last bite when Volk
whispered in his soft voice, “I’m ready, Kale. I know
you have been waiting for me, and I’m ready. I want to
be with you tonight.”

This is what had bothered him all day. He’d been

thinking about our first night on our own together. I felt
a little lame that I kept thinking about how to keep my
arms from falling off from moving in. My silence must
have made him unsure.

“We don’t have to if you don’t want to.” He began

to fidget with his napkin in his lap.

“Come on, we can clean the dishes later. Let’s take a

shower and wash this sweat off.” I reached out to him
and he took my hand.

We made our way down to our room and into the

bathroom. Both of us stripped before we climbed into
the shower together. This was the second time we
showered together. The first time I was in so much pain
from the beating that I really couldn’t do anything but
stand there in pain while Volk washed me. I wanted this
one to be all about Volk. Grabbing the shampoo, I
poured some into my hand and rubbed it into his white
blonde hair. Loving the softness of it, I took my time
massaging his scalp and making sure his muscles turned
into jello.

“Oh, that feels wonderful.” Volk tilted his head back

in the water to rinse off. His beautiful long neck was

Jackie Nacht

exposed to me. I leaned in unable to resist kissing it,
tasting him through the refreshing water running down
his body. Sucking on his neck a bit, I leaned back and
saw a small red mark there. I loved seeing him with my
mark on him. My body worked on its own accord,
moving toward Volk to press him close to me. We
began kissing softly at first, then the kisses turned
hungry as we began rubbing against each other. My
body was getting to a point of no return. Volk was
panting through the steam in the shower while biting
onto my shoulder.

Breathing heavily Volk said, “We need to wash

quick

—

I don’t want our first time in this tiny shower. I

have everything ready for us by the bed.”

We backed away from each other and quickly

finished our shower without touching each other. We
knew that it would only take one touch and we would
never see the bedroom.

Volk jumped out of the shower and grabbed a towel

that was sitting on the sink before wiping himself down
haphazardly. It actually looked a little funny. He was
missing spots all over his body. Stepping out of the
shower, I grabbed my own towel and guided us both
into the bedroom. I wrapped the towel quickly around
my waist and took Volk’s towel from him. I slowly
wiped him down, making sure I got all the spots he
missed. Volk took the towel from around my waist and
began reciprocating.

Volk began walking to the bed, “Come on, Kale,

we’re ready for this.”

I walked over to him and got into bed next to him.

We pulled the covers over us and lay there looking at

Kale’s Spirit

each other for a few minutes. I could see the love
shining in his eyes and knew he was seeing the same
thing in my eyes. Volk leaned in first and began kissing
me. It was soft, slow kisses. Volk and I might have not
gone all the way, but in the past few months we’d
learned a lot about each other’s bodies. We knew what
spots to touch that would make the other one crazy.

We took our time that night. It was something we

had been building up to for months. There was a little
pain, even with all the preparation we had been doing
for weeks. We were going to be sore the next day.

That night I lay there hugging Volk as we slept with

limbs tangled together. It didn’t matter how big the bed
was, we always ended up in a puppy pile in the middle
of the bed. I thought back to when I first met Volk. I
was in terrible shape, but his voice was one of the
things I first fell in love with. He was calming in a time
when I was really stressed out with life. He got to me in
a way no one else did. I loved how he just had to be
around me now and I was content.

“Kale, what’s wrong?” Volk said sleepily.
I kissed him on the top of his head, “Nothing. Just

thinking how much I love you. I’m really happy we’re
starting our life together, is all.”

Volk kissed me back softly, “I love you too,

sweetheart. Now quit thinking so hard and go to sleep.
We have a busy day tomorrow.”

Volk was always trying to take care of me, always

would. We were partners for life. I tightened my hold
on him and listened to his breathing as I fell into
slumber, dreaming of the years to come.

About the Author

Jackie Nacht is happily married to her husband for over
nine years. She is currently a stay at home mom where
her days are spent playing with blocks, dinosaurs, and
taking her little ones to the park. At night, she is
typically curled up reading a book or writing on her
laptop, while her feet are tucked under her hubby to
keep them warm.

Please contact or visit her at:

Jackie.nacht@yahoo.com

www.jackienacht.com

www.jackienacht.com/blog

https://www.facebook.com/#!/jackie.nacht

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