"SO, TOMORROW'S the last day."

Amelia and I sat cross-legged in plaid pyjamas on my bed.

"Yeah, it's going to be hard to leave."

Chuckling, Amelia snorted. "Super hard, considering you and the wolves are now joined at the hip."

I turned my head to admire the pack who had gathered outside my window to rest.

"Yeah, it sure is..."

I hadn't yet told Amelia about the bond I had with the wolves; though I would eventually tell her because nothing gets away without Amelia's knowledge. She was a good friend to have, not just for the friendship aspect, but because she knew secrets about everyone in our town. She was like a storage compartment with secret things no one would like to expose.

"What's on your mind," Amelia questioned, "you look like you're trying to understand why you weren't elected for president."

At the mention of my thinking face, my lips curled into a small smile.

"I know this trip was meant such that we could spend even more time together, but we didn't end up getting to do that. Sorry," I apologised with a grimace.

Amelia crawled across the bed to hug me. "It's okay. Although that was my plan, I had fun nevertheless."

"What did you do?"

As soon as I asked, Amelia spewed out information at a hundred miles a second.

From what I could comprehend, the wolf pack she and Ian visited were quite rude until Ian told them to throw away the bad attitude. The wolves reluctantly agreed but slowly grew to trust Amelia.

"-they didn't necessarily love me and attack me with hugs and kisses like the first pack of wolves did with you, but they didn't look like they wanted to bite my head clean off my neck."

She continued blabbering away until she got to the part about Ian.

"Guess what?" I shrugged and shook my head. "On the way back from the second pack, I saw a really cute guy. He came up to me and asked me for my number!"

By then, my best friend was close to jumping on the bed in excitement, leaving me wide-eyed in surprise. I had never seen her so ecstatic before.

"What's his name?"

"Julian!" she replied, "he's working here over the winter and helps to take care of the second wolf pack!"

"Where's he from?"

"I don't know..." Amelia paused, "but he did say he and his family are moving to Arizona!"

Blinking, I verified if she was going to Arizona State University next year too.

"Yes! And he's the same age as me and will probably go to the same school as well!"

I gave her a full-blown grin. "Wow, Amelia! I'm so happy for you!"

Amelia had suffered a hard breakup with her boyfriend a two-year relationship at the beginning of Junior year. They had originally been childhood best friends until their relationship ruined the friendship past the point of no return. I had just joined the school and had comforted her, earning her friendship.

"Have you decided where to go yet?"

"What do you plan to do with him?" I countered.

"Don't change the question!" she wagged her fingers in front of my face. "Not as gullible as you think I am!"

"But to answer your question," Amelia continued, "I don't think I can do anything about him yet. We'll see in Arizona."

"Your turn to answer my question," she demanded.

Shaking my head, "Iris and Ben still haven't decided where they're moving to next. They would already be at their next destination by this time of year."

Iris was my mother's sister and Ben is Iris' husband. They were travellers who could never quench their thirst for exploring the world. Every year, we would move to a new place. Sometimes even earlier. The fact that we stayed in Denver, Colorado for two years meant a lot.

"Oh... maybe they'd stay somewhere in America, so it'd be easy for you to visit them when you go to university."

"Yeah, maybe."

Iris and Ben were my guardians since my parents died in a plane engine failure accident when I was just 6 years old. I would have barely been able to remember their faces had it not been for the photo album Iris had given me for my 8th birthday.

On the same day of their deaths, their house caught fire. Luckily, I was at school.

Amelia snapped me out of my reprieve. "What did you do during all the times you were with the wolf pack?"

I debated whether or not I should tell her. In the end, I gave in. I trusted her as much as I would trust family.

"Hold up." Amelia gave me a look of disbelief. "So, you're bonded with five wolves? BONDED?"

My limbs felt limp, but I nodded in affirmation.

"Holy macaroons! That's why you were barely around most of the time!"

Amelia was also a strong believer of in cuss words as it makes a person sound uneducated. But she would still incorporate phrases like "fudge" or "chocolate ice cream". Always related to food.

It was no surprise when I started swearing cucumbers and pasta.

Delicious.

"Food is heaven."

After calming her from her detective high, a diagnosis I invented related to being high from a sudden realisation, Amelia reluctantly went to bed.

"I expect you to tell me more at breakfast," she called out as she walked out the door.

"There's nothing more to say," I yell out after her.

***

A/N:

Second chapter of the week, whoo! A bit (not albeit, though it could apply) longer than usual.

I'd like to give a dedication to @hmmwhatyouask for always being interactive in the comments and voting ❤❤❤

Run wild!

-Hilda

Chapter 7: 10April2022 (at least the date's closer than it was yesterday - 6 days instead of 7!)