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Pax and I did two laps around Panacea. There had been a lot of changes since the boys started relearning their humanity. With the help of Lance, myself, Mom, the builders, and the gardeners, they were learning the skills they needed to make the space their own. Inside the cabins, those who were further along with their recovery were able to paint their rooms.

Samuel had helped them with that. He was a completely different person. No longer agoraphobic, he’d blossomed into a social butterfly. I think part of him wanted to atone for escaping without them—something he viewed as a betrayal—but more than that, he’d missed his friends.

I referred to the feral kids as “kids” and “boys,” but the oldest of them were only a little younger than me. They were close to adulthood but knew nothing about how to function in a real pack. There was a special school to teach them the basics of pack life and to continue—in some cases, re-teach them—their education. Tanya and a few other women ran it. I’d