Liam called in a massive order to a fast food place when they were an hour away from it. Jackson parked at the gas station next door and started filling the tank. Liam ran in to get the breakfast sandwiches and Kia took a couple of the wolves in at a time for a bathroom break. They were hoping to not stop again until nightfall.
Liam handed out the sandwiches - biscuit, egg, and sausage for everyone, and gave everyone more bottles of water. They held their breaths as they pulled away and the uneasiness didn’t fade as nothing happened.
Four in the afternoon and Kia took over driving. Places were too busy to stop so Jackson handed out snacks from the duffle Liam had packed. Jackson dozed next to Wren. They hadn’t been able to stop for a bathroom break in awhile and no one on the bus had complained about having to use the tiny toilet on the bus. No one on the bus had said much of anything, really.
Jackson woke up as the sun was setting. He found John and
Margaret, Charlene, and a woman Jackson hadn’t met before met them at the front doors. Margaret led the healthier wolves to the dining room for food. Charlene and the other woman had the sick wolves follow them to the smallest conference room. The sick wolves were directed to the couches that had been pulled in and Wren, Liam, and Kia went to bring them some plates so they could eat while waiting.Jackson stared at the medical supplies stacked up on a table pushed against the wall.“How long has it been since we left?” He asked.Charlene smiled at him. “Liam texted and told Zain some of them were in pretty bad shape. Zain told Rose. Rose called Nathaniel.”“Nathaniel called me.” The woman Jackson hadn’t known spoke up. “Dr. Brooks. It’s nice to meet you.” She held her hand out. Jackson shook it. “If I had more notice, I could have prepared more. This room will work for now, but you&rs
Jackson was warm in Wren’s arms. The sky outside the window was just beginning to lighten. A young child was crying down the hall and a woman was shushing him gently. There was quiet clattering in the kitchen. Liam was snoring next door.In an hour, everyone would be waking up. Margaret would be serving food. Liam would be laughing about whatever amusing thing he’d found. Kia would be talking about whatever crossed her mind… and an entire busload of wolves would be trying to figure out what they were supposed to be doing now.Wren pressed his lips to the top of Jackson’s head and pulled away. A quick shower, and he made his way to the kitchen. Margaret was steadily cracking a large flat of eggs into a massive bowl. She smiled at him when he walked in.“I’m afraid it’s a little too time intensive to make the scones,” she said. “But if you wait a bit I can have some bacon and eggs ready for you.”
Jackson had several news stations up that he was flipping through in the lobby. Not a single one was running any kind of story on the wolves they’d freed. Liam was sitting next to him scrolling and searching for any kind of articles online.“Found one!” Liam said. “Sort of. It almost looks like they don’t want it out that so many wolves vanished on them. The report only says that…” His voice trailed off. “A large number has been purchased by the estate that we freed them from. There’s speculation that some managed to escape but nothing confirmed.” Liam groaned in frustration. “They’re all just going to keep buying more! We’ll be doing this forever and they’ll just be getting replaced quicker than we can make a dent.”Jackson sighed and set the remote down. Liam was right. They were going to be replaced just as fast as they took them but… “But if you ask the wolves cu
Wren enjoyed running as a wolf. He liked being able to stretch out to his full length. Feel his muscles moving how they were meant to move. Propel himself forward. It settled the wolf side of him and satisfied a part of him that he couldn’t really explain.Running as a human was a little more tiring. He could cover only a fraction of the distance as a human that he could as a wolf. He tired out much faster, yet there was something satisfying about it as well. Satisfying about the way sweat collected on is skin. Satisfying about the way his muscles burned when he pushed himself more and more.Wren could run faster than Zain, but he kept pace next to him. Their steps pounded, rhythmic and soothing, along the concrete sidewalk. Cars drove past. Sun filtered down through the leaves that lined this section of the sidewalk. The breeze was nonexistent.It wasn’t quite cold anymore but calling it warm was a stretch. Running, though, sweat was causing his shi
Kia laughed as the sticks tumbled out of his hand again. “Here, let me,” she said. He let her manipulate his hands so the sticks were held in place. “Now you just-” She put her own sticks in her hand and snapped the ends together.Wren tried, but the ends slipped right past each other and they tumbled to the table again. “I don’t think this method of eating is right for me,” Wren admitted.“You just need practice. Try again!”So Wren did. Time and again the chopsticks fell to the table and Kia patiently explained how to hold them again. When he finally managed to pick up a piece of food with them, she threw her head back and laughed in delight. Wren grinned in response, and even though the hunk of food fell to his plate before he could get it in his mouth, he counted it as a win.“Told you you could do it,” Kia said. Her head tilted to the side and Wren focused in on what she was listening
The second trip had been a success. Kia texted Jackson as soon as they’d crossed the border. They hadn’t had to drive near as far for their second hit, and Jackson was excited to hear they were already back in Mendota. Wren was sitting next to him on one of the couches in the front lobby. He looked a lot more worried than Jackson did.The tv was playing a news station from Oconee. The red block at the bottom read ‘Escaped Wolves - Carmillan Collar Broken?’ Jackson wasn’t worried. He knew news would catch hold eventually, though it was a little surprising this second trip was the one to get the news rolling.“What’s up?”“What if your dad releases a new collar that we can’t get off?” Wren answered immediately.Jackson waved off his concerns. “Then we get our hands on a copy and I figure out a way to get it off. That’s nothing to worry about.”“Ther
Rose woke for a moment as Frank got out of bed and pressed a kiss to the top of her head. She rolled over and drifted back to sleep. She couldn’t sleep long, and after years of the same routine, her body wouldn’t let her sleep in much longer anyway.She rose with the sun. Her hands moved on autopilot as they braided her hair and twisted it up out of the way. A swipe of lipstick and a string of pearls around her neck completed her process and she stepped out of the bedroom into the quiet house. The smell of coffee, kept warm for her, reached her as she descended the stairs.It was too chilly in the mornings still to sit outside with her morning cup, so instead she took it in the living room and flipped on the news. Her heart sank as the television played a clip of Jackson’s father speaking and she reached for the phone instinctively, but paused. Jackson would want some time to process it himself before talking to others. The least she could do is give
Kia tapped on the door to the office Jackson had claimed as his own. Jackson glanced up with a wry grin. “And since when you do you knock?”Kia grinned back and stepped into the room. She set a plate down and shoved it at him. “Since when do you skip meals?”“Since I’ve been too busy to keep track of time.” His stomach growled though and the hunger he hadn’t noticed before became too strong to ignore. “Thanks,” he said.“No problem. What’re you doing?” So, Jackson told her. She nodded along, then interrupted at the first pause. “Real quick, explain to me in detail how you found Wren’s family.”Jackson set his sandwich down. “Remember that site you showed me when I first got him?”“Yeah, I know. I saw the email.”“I emailed them to ask how they chose which wolves to purchase and take on. Their email back explained it w
Jackson dug their big knife out of the drawer. He crushed and minced the garlic and scraped it to the side of the cutting board. “Wren?”“Yeah?”“Check the chicken.”There was a rattle behind him. Jackson turned to the carrots and started peeling them. The peeler was apparently a little loose and cocked the side after just two swipes. “Chicken’s good. Want me to adjust that?”“Nah, I got it.” Jackson straightened the peeler clamped on the edge of the counter. He tightened the grip and switched back to peeling the carrots. “Has anyone texted yet?”“Kia and Belle said they might be a little late. Otherwise, no.”Jackson glanced over. Wren was leaning his hip against the counter. His hair was loose around his shoulders. The sun beamed through their kitchen window and lit him in a warm light. Jackson set the half-peeled carrot down and stepped forward.
Nine months since he’d lost his arm and he and Wren were homeowners. Jackson laughed as he caught sight of the white flakes swirling in the wind outside the kitchen window. He opened the cabinet doors in search of the cocoa. Wren was starting a fire in the fireplace. The first snow of the year was later than normal and nothing more than barely there flurries. “Wren,” Jackson called from the kitchen.“Yeah?”“It’s snowing.” Jackson found the container. He braced it between the counter and his hip and used his hand to pry off the top. He mixed the chocolate into the hot milk, squeezed the excess out of Wren’s tea bag, placed both cups on his tray and carefully carried it into the living room. “Our first kiss was in the snow.”The fire was just starting to catch on the logs. Wren settled on the couch next to him and reached for his steaming mug on the coffee table. He tossed his other arm across Jack
Six months of therapy and rehab and sympathetic looks and Jackson was sick of it. He was tired of living in the hotel. He was tired of nonstop people. Nonstop sound. Nonstop everything. For a moment, he considered asking Wren if Wren would want to move in with Grandma Rose and Grandpa Frank. Then he realized what they could do. What they had the means to do.Wren stepped into their room. He was sweaty from the run with Zain. His dark hair stuck to the back of his neck despite the ponytail’s effort to keep it off. Jackson pushed his laptop to the side and rose up on his knees.Wren leaned forward for a kiss and Jackson pulled him in closer with his arm around Wren’s neck. Wren chuckled and gently disengaged. “What’s going on?”Jackson fell back and reached for his laptop again. He avoided eye contact as he pulled up the screen he had minimized. “I was just thinking that maybe it’s time we get a house? Just for the two of
Three months. His scar was still red and angry. Jackson’s therapist was great. Really. He knew any body image issues he might have were something he’d get over with enough time, but for now, staring at the angry red skin that marked where his arm should be… He felt a stupid mixture of embarassment, shame, and disgust. Jackson was pale. He’d always been pale. He’d never had an issue with it before, but now, the paleness of his skin made the scar look all the more alarming. The knock on the door startled him and he realized he’d been standing there for a little too long. “Just a second,” he called. The shirt was still a struggle to get on, but he was getting quicker every time. Jeans were a no go since he couldn’t button them one handed so he spent all of his time in sweatpants. Sweats were comfortable, but they were just another reminder of what he couldn’t do anymore. What he didn’t have anymore. The empty sleeve hung limp over his shoulder. Jackson turned hi
His dad was on his way to Jackson’s hospital room. Grandma Rose had reassured him countless times that if he changed his mind then she would personally escort him from the entire country. Jackson appreciated the thought, but he needed to talk to his dad. It had been a week since Jackson woke up. A week and Jackson was leaving the hospital in hopefully another day or two. He wanted to talk to his dad now, while he was still in such an impersonal place such as a hospital room.Jackson stared at the door. His dad should be arriving any minute. His dad had told Grandma Rose that he would be there at noon and it was currently 11:57. Wren sat next to him, on his left side, the side of his missing arm. He glanced at the clock. Then the door. Then the clock.When the knock came, he jumped and glanced at Wren. “Can you get it?” Jackson asked. Walking across the room in his hospital gown with one sleeve hanging limp would have put him in too vulnerable a positi
About two hours after your shooting, all of the collars in Oconee stopped working.Jackson didn’t understand. “That’s not possible. I know the coding in those collars backward and forward. There are countless fail-safes. For them to just, stop working…” Jackson shook his head. He was already feeling tired again, but he pushed through. “Do we know what caused it?”“There was a statement put out from that Carmillan Collars PR lady that they were looking into what caused the problem, but that was three days ago. There’s been no word since.”Three days. “What day is it?”“You were shot four days ago. You’ve been in and out of consciousness but every time was only for a few seconds and you were pretty confused,” Kia said. “You mentioned geese a couple of times.”Jackson’s lips twitched in a reluctant smile. “I think I was dreaming of
Jackson woke up confused. His brain was fuzzy and he couldn’t move. The ceiling was unfamiliar to him. It was white and speckled… like a quail egg. Jackson chuckled, but the laugh sounded wrong. He couldn’t stop though, because quails made him think of geese and geese made him think of Kia getting chased by the geese that lived in the pond.His chest heaved as he tried to stop laughing, then a sharp burst of pain stole the laughter from him. He gasped and closed his eyes.“Jackson!” That was Kia. Wasn’t she just chasing the geese? “Jackson! Wren, wake up.” There was a thump. Wren? Did she name the geese? Maybe he’d help her chase them…* * *Jackson opened his eyes to the quail egg ceiling. “Did you get the geese?” There was a weight across his legs that he hadn’t noticed until it was gone. He tried to turn his head, but his muscles didn’t want to work so he just closed
They mingled. Jackson shook countless hands. Laughed with people as he passed them by. The crowd bubbled around him and let him through easily. Kia held tight to one hand as she pulled him forward through the crowd. “Come on!”She shoved him up onto a truck bed, then pushed him higher so he was standing on the cab. A megaphone was shoved in his hand. He gripped it tight and stood up straight. In the most surreal moment of his life, the crowd in front of him stilled and grew silent without a word from him. Hundreds of people. Thousands of people? A lot of people, quiet and staring at him. Jackson lifted his chin and raised his hand in a wave.“Are you ready?”There was a murmur of assent through the crowd.“Please, march quietly. We ask that this be a time to reflect. A time to ask ourselves what else we can do for those oppressed in Oconee. If you’re religious, use this time to pray for our neighbors. If you’re no
Jackson couldn’t believe it. The sheer amount of people who had crammed their way into the small town near the border… He turned to Kia. “How did you do this?”Kia grinned. “The power of the internet… And your second interview was probably the main thing.”People in bright colors carrying signs of various messages milled about. The streets were packed. There were police officers out, some of them carried signs of their own.No More Collars. Freedom For All. No Rest Until We’re All Free.Jackson shook his head and stepped back from the window of his hotel room. “I can’t do this. I shouldn’t be the one speaking.”He heard the shower cut off. Kia leaned against him. “You’ve done so much more than this already, Jackson. Now you’re going to lead this march. You’re going to climb on that stage and you’re going to give that speech. Look out there