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    “ Be ca u se I d o n ’ t k n o w o f any o th e r o f o u r kind re ckl e ssly l iving o ff o n th e ir o wn away f r o m th e ir k in d . Bu t that ’ s j u st m e .”
    He h e a r d the s o ft la u ght e r i n h e r v o ice bu t the c o mm e nt st i ll c u t. “ H o w ’ s Ch e s?” K e lly ’ s h u s b and Ch e st e r was a fath er - fig ur e to h im. K e lly was, f o r all i nt e nts and p ur p o s e s, G a rre tt ’ s m o th er , h a ving r ais e d him f ro m th re e y e a r s o ld wh e n his o w n m o th e r d i e d o f l eu k e mia. A r a r ity f o r w o lv e s.
    “Ch e st e r is as de man d ing, cantank er o u s a nd w o n der f u l a s e v er . H e’ s p re s e ntly r ipping d o wn the o ld b a r n to bu ild a p e n f o r a n e w h o r s e . H is h o r s e . C o rre cti o n, h i s b a b y, M athil de .”
    G a rre t t l a u gh ed . He h e a r d the small, sha r p p r o t e st o f the swing sp r ings ac r o ss the st ree t. H e a r d the s o ft snick and ji n gle o f L iv g o ing insi d e and s h u tting h e r do o r f o r the night. H e’ d g e t h e r a d o g. H e’ d re sc u e a st r ay aft e r s o me s e a r ching. S o m e thing with s e ns e s l ike h is to live u n de r the same r oo f with h er . “ I t ’ s always g oo d to h ave s o m e thing t o ca r e f o r .”
    G a rre t t h a d n ’ t m e ant it that way bu t th er e it was. A ll th e se last y e a r s w r app e d u p in a single s e nt e nc e . He h e a r d K e lly s u ck in a small bre ath and b l o w o u t a s o ft s igh. “ G a rre tt… I k n o w h o w b a d ly y o u’ ve bee n h ur t. I k n o w h o w a n g r y y o u a r e with m e . With u s. A ll o f u s. Bu t wh e n it c o m e s to th e se thi n gs, we h a ve to c o nsi der —”
    “ T he pack. I k n o w. Bu t my l o ss s h o u ld h a ve bee n pack l o s s,” he g r o wl ed . “ I t was.”
    “ A nd th er e was no call f o r re p e r c u ssi o ns th e n? M y f u t ur e s t o l e n f r o m me b y a single h u man and th er e c o u ld b e n o vin d icati o n? N o j u stic e ?” His v o ice h e ld s o m u ch ang e r that he want e d to simply hang u p. He hat e d talking to K e lly with s o m u ch r age i n his v o ice bu t G a rre t t kn e w that hangi n g u p o n h e r w o u ld h ur t h e r m o r e than h is i re .
    “ G a rre t t, we h ad y o u ng o n e s a nd we w er e o n the r a d a r . We c o u l d n ’ t go a r o u nd e xacting v e ng e anc e . T he s urr o u n d ing n e igh b o r s might h ave tak e n n o t e . A nd we can ’ t aff o r d a s h o w d o wn with a bu nch o f ig n o r ant h u mans. N o t that th e y ’r e all ig n o r ant, mind y o u .” He c o u ld h e ar the s m ile bu t it d id no g oo d . H i s h e a r t was twisting, bru is e d and b l oo d i ed , it c o u l d n ’ t m u ch han d le this pa r tic u lar c o nv er sati o n with g r ac e .
    “ N o t e v e n f o r a w r o n gf u l de ath? E v e n f o r a de ath that c o u ld hav e —shit—sh o u ld have bee n a v o i ded . T hat m a n was a dru nk and he had two h u nting st r ik e s o n his re c o rd . D ru nks s h o u ld n o t b e o u t dur ing h u nting s e as o n.”
    “ G a rre t t—”
    “ A nd th e y l e t it sli d e be ca u se he was k in to the sh er iff. A nd what w a s the re s u lt?” “ E il ee n.”
     

    “ M y kin, K e lly. M y kin . M y f u t ur e wif e , the w o man I l o v ed , the w o m a n who was t o be ar my y o u n g o n e s. H o w a r e we p r o t e cting the y o u ng o n e s i f we r aise th e m to b e
    timid a nd w e ak? I f we l e t the h u mans take ou t ou r o wn and d o n o t h ing, n o t hing at all, to s e nd the m e ssage that it ’ s n o t o k ay. T hat i s in fact w ro ng ! ” T he last w o rd s came o u t in a g re at bur ning bur st o f ai r . His face was h o t, his h e a r t r acing. He f e lt that si l v e r tight wi r e o f c h o ic e . He c o u ld cha n ge o r he c o u ld g e t c o nt r o l o f hi m s e lf.
    “ G a rre t t. Sw ee t b o