Fiona Frost: Order of the Black Moon (55 page)

“Not probable in the least.
Not only does their
alibi
line up in every way,
but
we
also
have picture evidence of what happened
—all in line with their story.
They
’re
troubled teens,
no question,
but hopefully this experience will turn them around.
If you want to rebel against society,
society
will
judge you—no matter what you look like on the inside.
”

“Well, Damien did want everybody to
feel his wrath
per his Facebook post,” I added in a sarcastic fashion, an eyebrow arched in cynicism
.

“I’m certain he did it to get attention
.
That’s what
attention-seeking
teens do
—
attempt to shock people
to get
noticed
.
The sad thing is that social media posts can be used against you
,
”
the detective said
.
“Damien is currently being investigated for what he said in
his
posts
.
Don’t worry about him going nuts at
the
school, the police have it under control
. They know how t
o determine the difference between attention-seekers and the ones that mean it.”

“
Yeah,
w
e all need to be careful what we say online
,
and should assume we’ll always be taken seriously
,
” Lauren added
warmly
.

After detailing the case and saying our goodbyes, Wolfe set out on his
longboard
to his house to pick up whatever it was that he had for me
, and
I jumped in the car with Detective Chase.

During the car ride, we
celebrated with a
lively
conversation about
how we had solved another case
.
He
offered for
my team
to observe the evidence collection at Melanie Newsted’s home, but since Lauren, Willow and Maddie were unavailable
,
and Wolfe was swinging by my house, I told him we’d catch up
with the crime lab later.
He
explained that we wouldn’t miss much, since they were going to take everything they could find that even resembled evidence in the case.

Within minutes, h
e pulled the Impala into my circle driveway
,
I said goodbye
and rushed
towards the
house. I tore
through
the front door, shouting to Janice that Wolfe would be stopping by
—she said she’d throw
together a batch of his
favorite cookies with
wolves
drawn on
top in
frosting.
I rushed to the pink palace to freshen up and a
fter about twenty minutes, the doorbell rang.

I couldn’t stand it. I
burst out of my room and ran down the hallway
.
I swung open the
front
door and h
e
was standing
on my porch, holding
a
gigantic
box with an enormous
red
bow on top.
There were curious holes punctured in the top of the
gift-wrap
.
He gingerly set down the
box on the floor as a
slight whimper
sounded from inside,
followed by a
tiny
bark.

“No way!”

I frantically ripped off the
gift-wrap
and unveiled
a cardboard pet carrier.
I nearly fainted
as
I opened the top of the box and
laid my tired eyes upon the most adorable, tiny black puppy inside.
He
looked up at me with
shiny
black eyes
and hopped up on
two legs, pawing gently at the side of the
box
, begging
to be picked up.

“Meet Canis, Fiona,”
he
said in an enchanting voice.

My limbs deadened
as I dropped to the ground by the carrier and lifted the puppy
into the air, pressing him gently against my chest
.
A
Scottish
terrier
.
M
ale.
He looked
identical to
Luminal
at that age
;
I remembered the day ten years before that I got him.

He crawled his way
up
towards my face,
anxiously
lick
ing me as I
dropped onto
couch.
I loved t
he smell of cute puppy’s breath;
it was incredible.
He settled into my tummy and immediately started to fall asleep.

“Canis
?
Why Canis
?
”
I said in a panicked tone
,
stroking his soft fur.

Canis
woke up for a moment,
snuggl
ing
as closely as he could
get to my body
as Janice walked in with
the plate of cookies for Wolfe.

“Hi
,
Mr.
Canis!
”
she
sang, stooping down to allow
him
to lick her cheek.

“Janice, you knew about this
?
”
I said
in a
shocked
tone
.

“Why, Fiona.
Do you think that Wolf
i
e would purchase a dog for you without getting prior approval from your parents
?
Wolfie is a gentleman!
”
she
chuckled as she ambled back into the kitchen.
“Oh, Wolfie, would you like to stay for dinner tonight
?
I am making Chinese stir fry
with fried rice
.
”

“I’m in
!
Thanks!
”
he
shouted
, leaning down
with a d
azzling smile.

“Why Canis?”
I asked
, confused.

“
H
is full name is Canis L
upus
after t
he Genus and species of the gray wolf.
My name’s Wolfe. So,
every time you say his name, you’ll think of me
,”
he said
.

I was speechless.
Leaning
towards me with
smoldering eyes
, he
slid his hand under my chin, tilting my head back to read my expression.

“Now,
for the
bad news
.”

I held my breath, cringing on the inside.
His face was smooth, unreadable.
I wasn’t sure if I wanted to hear what he had to say
for t
his moment
had been too good to spoil.

“
I
resign from the
club.”

A
few seconds
had
passed before I realized
what he had done.
His words descended into my brain, one at a time.
I took a deep breath.

“What
?
Why would you do that
?
”
I said with panic
riddling my
voice
.

He dropped his hands into his lap as
I raised
the sleeping puppy
towards
my chest.

“I want to focus on music.
I joined a band last week
,
and we want to
start practicing more,” he said as he stared into my eyes.

I wanted to say no, but I bit my tongue.
It was harebrained to entertain such a ridiculous notion.
I dropped my head
, looking down at
Canis’s
wavy, black fur
.
I couldn’t imagine not having
Wolfe
in the club.

“I-I understand, I gu
ess,
”
my heart gave a gentle squeeze.

“It
’s
official.
I
’m
not in your club,” he
said, his expression was soft as he stroked my hair.

My eyes
filled with so much sadness
, my vision blurred.
Trying not
to blink,
I kept the tears from gushing onto my cheeks.

Canis
struggl
ed
in my arms, wanting my full attention.
Wolfe grabbed
him and placed
his wiggling body gently on
the ground.
He
pranced
around the living room, stopping to look at me and pounce.
I had forgotten how
cute puppies were and how they
were
equipped with magical powers to
force
smile
s
on face
s
.

With one motion
, Wolfe
closed the distance between us, wrapping
his arms around me
, squeezing. I couldn’t breathe, but not
from
his hold on me.
After a moment of perplexity,
I
followed his lead and laid my head
on his shoulder
. I slid my arms around his chest
;
they felt like they belonged there.

After holding each other as tightly as we could, h
e
relaxed his grip,
back
ing
up
ever so slightly
, raising m
y chin up
ward
with his hand
.
With an intentional slowness, he
leaned down and
press
ed
his soft
lips onto mine.
The moment our lips
molded together
, every fiber in my body weakened,
leaving
me vulnerable.
Heart
hammering in my chest,
m
y body dissipat
e
d
as a floating
sensation
took hold
.
Our
bodies
became
one as
our lips press
ed
into
what felt like
an unbreakable bond.
I trailed my hands
upward
along his back
, finding his hair,
twisting my fingers through
the silky strands. I pulled him closer
as
my hands found
the back of his neck
. His lips were strong, wondrous.

I backed away, gasping for air,
my chest rising in a frenzy
as
I fought to catch my breath.
My mind
float
ed
as
he mesmerized me with his gorgeous eyes
.
With a
mischievous grin,
he
lean
ed
in
once again,
tauntingly
slow;
his lips m
e
et
ing
mine with greater force than before
.

Something
grabbed
my
pant
s
and I pulled away, looking down at my ankle to see
Canis
sh
aking
his head
back and forth with
the edge of my jeans
i
n his mouth. He growled with a tiny voice
, yanking them repeatedly, pushing backward as if he
were trying to take them
from me. We
broke into a hysterical fit of laughter as
Wolfe gently pried
the dog’s
mouth from my pants, scooped him up
, and lifted
him in
to
the air towards his face.