Chapter 16: Chapter 16

GRACE I sit across from my best friend Lina.

”What?” she gasps. “Evelyn tricked you? And the man drugged you and forced you to drink! She's shameless! I'm going to find her!" Lina is one of the few friends I have left.

She’s also a wolf but from a pack on the opposite coast. We connected in college. I miss running with her. Her wolf is lean and like a flash of white under the moonlight, with a streak of darker fur along one flank.

It’s a bit like her human form. Her hair is pale. Her eyes are dark. She’s a tiny woman with a surprisingly big wolf.

“It’s still so weird to see you with injuries because … you know.”

Yes…I know.

Everyday.

“I’m going to kick her ass.”

I laugh.

“She’s not worth it. And it’s my fault. I was too careless. I thought that she would at most try to get some money from me. I didn't really expect…” I trail off. Lina wouldn’t understand what it is to be so vulnerable. She would’ve shifted and torn the guys’ arms off. “Fortunately, Jay came to pick me up when I was drunk."

"Jay?"

"He's the person who's living with me now. Think of him as my brother. I got him to call me ‘sister'."

“WHAT!?”

“You’ve been gone for three years. You never once let me visit you in prison. No matter how many times I showed up for the visitation hours.”

Prison was no place for Lina. For anyone really.

And what could she do—but see me beaten and weak? Then I’d have to worry about her losing control or trying to help in some way… all of which would only have ended badly for her.

“I appreciate that you came to see me. It meant everything just to know that you showed up.”

She sniffs. “Let’s talk about this guy you’re now cohabitating with…”

I didn’t really expect to get off the hook so easy.

At the thought of Jay, I feel my lips curving.

“How long have you known him?" Lina asks.

I smile fully now. “Oh. Two days.”

“WHAT!?!”

I laugh. I can’t help it.

”What are you thinking? What if he has evil intentions? Have you ever thought that you might be putting yourself in danger? You studied law, didn't you? Are you not thinking about the risks!"

"I know what you're worried about, but, Lina, you’re talking about the same man who has saved me twice now—“

“Twice? What else happened?”

My friend’s voice is getting shrill. And she looks genuinely freaked out.

“Just trust me,” I say. “He’s a good guy. He wouldn’t hurt me.” I lower my voice to a whisper. “I feel safe when he’s there and… less lonely.”

"What do you mean that you feel lonely? Don't you still have me!?" Lina shakes her head. "Why don't I move out and live with you?"

"Don't do that. Your parents will hate me even more if you move out of the house.”

Lina comes from a prosperous pack with a strong sense of community.

In my opinion, it’s how every pack should be. Wolves helping each other, supporting each other.

“You can’t do that,” I tell her. “You know why.”

She frowns. “Hey, look, I know my parents didn’t support you on the Council. I’m so sorry…”

I clasp her hands. “It’s okay. The evidence at the car accident was condemning. They were following what they saw as the facts.”

“Yeah… but it doesn’t make sense. We’re wolves!” She somehow manages to shout-whisper.

Thankfully, there’s no one around us at this cafe. “You couldn’t be drunk. Our bodies metabolize alcohol too quickly.”

It’s true. When I had Ava, I could drink a bottle of wine and scarcely feel a thing.

I shrug. It’s not worth debating. What’s done is done.

“Hey, you believe me, and that’s what matters.”

Lina shakes her head. “But you lost all your friends and your pack, your family.”

Losing Grandpa was crippling.

Dad and Melinda? Evelyn.

I’m better off without them.

“You can’t miss what you never really had in the first place,” I say.

Lina frowns.

“And the friends that didn’t stand by my side…they weren’t real friends anyway.”

“Hmm.”

I squeeze her hands again. “Let’s not dredge up those things.” I grin. “I’m just so happy to see you.”

She leans over the table and hugs me.

“I wouldn’t be here without you.” And it’s true. Lina helped me study case files and to prepare for my court case. She spent months helping me. We didn’t win. But it could’ve been much worse.

“I can never repay you, Lina.”

“Stop. We’re friends. You’d do the same for me.”

After everything she’s done, I’d walk through fire for her.

I nod.

“Now. Back to this Jay fellow…”

I laugh and she does too.

In this moment, I feel young again. Free.

It’s a sensation that’s so alien to me.

And I hang onto the feeling fiercely.

I finish my lunch with Lina. And I promise to meet her again next week. But at the park next time.

I love seeing her, but I’m not going to become some charity case where she buys my meals every time we get together.

Before we leave the cafe, she hands me an envelope. “This is a copy of your case from back then.

There's also some information I've found over the past few years.” Lina passes a stack of documents to me. ”Since you have been released already, are you planning on reopening the case?"

"I don't know. I don't know where to find the witness from that year, and all the evidence still points toward me. I haven't been able to reverse the verdict for three years. In the future..."

"Perhaps we'll find an opportunity to turn over the case in the future. Don't forget that you are Grace Cummins, and the Grace I know doesn't give up easily," Lina says.

I smile, but it is forced.

Everything surrounding the events from three years ago feel so bleak.

Hopeless.

Maybe I would’ve tried to overturn the verdict for myself back then, but after spending three long years in prison, my high spirits and sharp edges have been obliterated by pain. And by acknowledging that the system is broken and corrupt.

Both the human courts and the ruling packs’ Council.

I know the Council didn’t give me a fair shake.

Those ruling wolves were guided by favorites and politics and their own motives. I shouldn’t be surprised. Packs are as corruptible as human organizations.

It’s the way of things, I guess.

“You can’t tell me that you’re okay living like this,” Lina whispers.

I glance around and suddenly feel self-conscious. I wore my nicest pants and a plush sweater I’d bought from a second-hand store.

“Look, I know I look bad now, but I’m getting back on my feet. I’m sorry if I embarrassed you—“

“What? No. I’m not talking about you living on this side of town or even talking about you working as a street cleaner.”

“Then what are you talking about?”

“Losing your wolf… being only human.”