Connor and the Wolves - 10. The First Day After School

Soren leaned against the blue truck, scanning the car park. Two of the Chonos had already shown up — John was sitting in the back, nose-deep in another book, and Altanchono was bouncing off the tire. But there was no sign of Kurt. The last bell had rung nearly ten minutes ago. Soren would search the school for the neko, but he had no idea what class she had last. Hopefully, she hadn’t gotten lost.
Cars filed out of the park, honking and revving as they added to a traffic jam just off school property. Soren doubted they’d get through the lines of vehicles within an hour, if not longer. Maybe it didn’t matter how late Kurt was — they wouldn’t be leaving any time soon.
“Finally!” Altanchono yelled, drawing Soren’s attention. The neko bounced off the tire again, flipping backward through the air to land on wobbly legs. He steadied himself, glancing at Soren. His gaze was torn away moments later, and the neko scowled toward the school, where Kurt was hurrying through the car park with her instrument in hand.
Soren flashed a smile at Kurt as she approached.
“Sorry I’m late,” Kurt said breathlessly, tossing her case into the front of the truck. “Hey! John!” Slapping the side of the truck, she glared at Altanchono. “And you. What are you doing, trying to wreck what little brain you have? Stop trying to show off. There’s no one here to impress.” She smacked the truck again. “John!”
“Huh?” The Niwo glanced up finally, blinking in the afternoon sun. “Oh… hey, Khurtsaa. When did you get here?”
“Just now. Change of plans. I need you to take Altanchono and Soren home.”
“What?” John set his book aside, a bewildered look spreading across his face. “The fuck? Why me?”
“Because I’m joining the track team, and I won’t be home until seven. Maybe later if I can’t figure out the bus routes.”
Soren blinked, caught up in Kurt’s whirlwind. He shook his head quickly.
“Oh, I can show you the route home,” he said. “I took it a few times last year.” Of course, he had no money, so he’d only ever ridden as a wolf before. But Kurt didn’t need to know that.
“Really? You don’t mind waiting for me?” Kurt asked, finally looking at him.
“Nah, I mean, I didn’t have much to do tonight. Catch a fish or two, maybe gather some potatoes, but I can do that by moonlight,” Soren smiled. “Besides, with the way things look, we wouldn’t get home until seven, anyway.”
“Ma’s going to be sore if you don’t go home,” John interrupted. “She wanted to get that new gelding picked and rasped.”
“Skylar’s there to help her,” Kurt waved off. “Besides, she’s always saying I should take an interest in something other than music. And rasping would only take ten minutes, max.”
“Only if she can catch him,” John pointed out.
“Well, I guess you better get going so you can help her, then.”
Soren glanced between the two siblings, shuffling his feet as the confrontation dragged on.
“Fine. Come on, Altanaa. You’re riding up front with me,” John grunted, jumping out of the truck’s bed.
“Whoo!”
Altanchono scrambled around the truck, leaping into the front seat. The door closed behind him, and he stuck his hand out the window, waving at Soren before John could close the window. Soren waved back.
“Last chance to go with them,” Kurt said, casting a sidelong look at the mage.
“Nah, I might join the track team too. If I’m not running to and from school anymore, I need some way to stay in shape,” Soren replied, turning toward the track. “Er… I guess we should shift then.”
“Oh, yeah.” Kurt grinned. “Just another benefit to running. We get free rein to wolf out after school.”
This was a horrible idea. Soren was using his magic four times a day now. It was suicidal. But seeing the grin on Kurt’s face… he couldn’t back out now.
He looked over at Kurt as they hurried toward the locker rooms. Was it really worth his life to run with the werewolf? Maybe there was a way around actually shifting.
“What?”
Kurt frowned at him, and Soren glanced away.
“Sorry. Lost in thought. I don’t really shift that often.”
“Oh. Is that why you changed in the stall?”
“Yeah.” Soren leapt at the explanation. How was he supposed to say he had no idea if his shifts even looked lycanthropic? “I… don’t really like watching myself change, and seeing others do it…”
“Hey, I get it. Or… at least I understand some people don’t like it. You’re not a born wolf then?” Kurt asked, peering at the human as they entered the locker room.
Soren hesitated. If he said no, it meant he wasn’t a virgin. But why did that matter? He wasn’t trying to mate with Kurt — he just wanted to be her friend.
“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have asked that,” Kurt said, opening a locker. “Oh, I don’t suppose you play SoA?”
“What’s that?” Soren asked, eager to escape the topic of his nonexistent lycanthropy.
“Seekers of Aquilen. My guild’s running a mining raid tomorrow night, and we could use another pair of hands.”
“Really? Uh… I haven’t really played any video games before… not online ones, anyway.”
“Oh, that’s okay. I promise the guild’s very friendly toward new players. You just have to play a neko or half-neko to join. I’ll write my screen name down, and we can chat on PackTalk if you want to try it out.”
Kurt slipped into a stall, shutting the door behind her. Soren stuffed his clothes into his backpack before hurrying into his own stall. A minute of sculpting later, the cinnamon wolf flicked his door open. Kurt’s brindle wolf kicked her locker shut, glancing over her shoulder at Soren.
The two trotted out to the track. A group of wolves roamed near the bleachers, some in various stages of stretching, others drinking from strategically placed fountains. Alice and Miles stood nearby, talking quietly as Soren and Kurt approached.
“Hey… Kurt and Soren, right?” Miles asked.
Kurt let out a bark while Soren nodded.
“Okay, we’re stretching out now, then we’ll get you into your events. Kurt…” Alice glanced at Kurt, almost as though she was ensuring she had the right wolf. “Kurt, you didn’t seem to do as well with distance earlier. Miles said you’re joining him. Soren, I don’t suppose you’re up for running distance?”
Soren nodded again, his tail wagging.
“You already have enough runners.” Miles turned to Soren. “Why don’t you stick with me for practice? There are plenty of distance events. You seemed like an endurance-focused runner, so tossing you into the 800-metre could help you work on speed.” The elf grinned almost evilly. “And you could be fodder for the 4x4 relay.”
“And when you can’t handle the torture anymore, the cross-country team will welcome you with open paws.” Alice laughed.
“Ah, don’t mind her,” Miles scoffed as Alice turned away. “Both of you stretch out. Oh, are either of you aerafael?”
Kurt nodded, tail drooping subtly.
“Great, I have a new strategy for working with aerafael. It should help with your colour blindness.”
Soren glanced at Kurt in surprise. She was blind?
The brindle wolf grunted, trotting off to the bleachers. Soren followed a moment later, joining the stretching wolves.

Soren limped toward his bag, crawling into the straps as lockers slammed around him. Kurt had already trudged into a stall, carrying her clothes in her mouth.
His legs throbbed. Months of hunting and patrolling his territory hadn’t prepared him for this. Four laps of walking, four laps of running, two laps of jumping — he didn’t know how the other wolves weren’t whimpering with every step they took. And that was only a small part of the day. Nearly an entire hour had been spent on accelerating, pushing themselves to reach a maintainable speed faster. Miles didn’t seem impressed with Soren’s speed either. His endurance, the elf praised to no end. But his speed gave Miles just as much to criticize.
And Kurt…. Soren had seen the brindle hobbling when Miles finally let them go free. He hadn’t expected this to be as hard as it was, and Soren doubted Kurt had, either.
Crawling over a bench, the mage collapsed, letting the wood hold him up as his legs dangled. He rested his chin on the seat, sighing tiredly. There was still so much he had to do when he got home. If he was lucky, dinner would be easy. He could just catch a fish from the weir in this form and be done with it. If not… fuck it, he could go without food one night.
“You going to shift?”
He cracked an eye open. Kurt stared back at him, her bag slung over a shoulder. Soren huffed, sliding back along the cool bench. Adjusting the bag on his back, the mage wagged his tail, heading toward the exit. If he rode the bus as a human, he’d have to pay. This way was much better.
“Oh… okay.”
Kurt followed close behind him, fiddling with the bangle on her right wrist — right wrist? It had been on her left wrist earlier. Soren paused, frowning at the bangle. Most people kept their jewellery on their off-hand… right?
“Told you you’d notice.” Kurt chuckled. “Though to be honest, most people don’t pick up the change that easily, unless they know to look for it.” He glanced toward the far end of the car park. “That’s the stop, right?”
Soren nodded, continuing his silent trudge. The sooner he could get on a bus, the sooner he wouldn’t have to move. At least until they reached the black line heading out of the city.
“You don’t have to worry about paying for SoA,” Kurt added as they reached the stop. “It’s entirely free to play, though cosmetics can cost a bit. And it got an update recently for newer players. It used to be you didn’t get a pet until GF 10, but now you get a basic pet in the tutorial and you can upgrade them throughout the game.”
He settled onto the bench, massaging his legs as Soren found his own spot on the ground.
The mage closed his eyes, listening to Kurt as he gushed about the game. He’d already decided to try it; the neko was overselling it. But it was nice to hear about one of Kurt’s passions. Playing the game might make Kurt like him. Finally, Soren could make an actual friend.
Traffic flowed around them. It wasn’t long before a bus pulled up to the stop. Soren stood up, leading Kurt onto the bus and pausing so the neko could drop a copper into the till.
“If there’s a bus that goes out to our place, why do you run?” Kurt asked as the driver helped buckle Soren into a harness at the front of the bus.
The mage grunted, laying down beside Kurt’s seat. Kurt took his bag, holding it for him as the bus lurched into motion.
“I mean, I feel like the bus would be a faster option. Though that traffic when we got into Astara this morning was unreal.”
It probably would be faster and easier, but Soren was not going to shift every morning just for a quick ride. He could run easily enough. As long as his muscles held up after the torture they’d been through today.
Soren shook his head, resting on his paws. After a minute, Kurt pulled out a tablet, clipping an earbud on his ear. The two settled in as the bus moved through traffic.

“First person is really only useful for snipers — even long-range combatants can get caught in the stupid, and you’ll want to make sure you can see the ground.”
Soren slipped his shirt over his head, stretching as his muscles settled after his shift. His legs were a little wobbly, but he could get home without any issues from here.
Stepping out of the bathroom stall, the mage nodded to Kurt, who was deep in another explanation of the game. It was… rather amusing if a little annoying — he just would not stop talking about it.
“I promise I’ll download it tonight. It sounds rather fun,” Soren said, clearing his throat a moment later to let his vocal cords settle.
“It is. You want to come over for a bit? You can get some good food, and I’ll show you what playing is like. You’ll die, a lot, but that’s part of the fun too; redesigning your clone from the ground up.”
Dinner and good company? Who was he to say no?
“We’re about ten minutes from the pond,” Soren said, pointing across the street toward the woods.
“Is that in walking time or running time?”
“Uh…”
Kurt laughed, shaking his head.
“I’m joking, Soren. Let’s go. Hopefully, Ma isn’t too upset that I stayed after school.”
Waiting for a break in the traffic, the two hurried across the road. Soren led Kurt through the brush, emerging next to the pond a few minutes later. From there, it was easy to break into the field near Kurt’s house. Soren paused to watch a distant wolf chasing a herd of horses toward a barn.
“Oh good, John’s almost done with the horses,” Kurt said. “Skylar should have dinner finished soon.” He glanced at the house in the distance. “Er… maybe you should let me check with my parents before you come in. I’m probably in trouble for not coming home on time.”
“I don’t mind waiting,” Soren said as they approached the house.
“Gotta make sure John didn’t leave my viola-”
“Khurtschono, where in the blessed god’s name have you been?!”
Soren flinched at the deep voice. He turned, searching for the werewolf’s father, only to come face to face with Kurt’s calico mother as she stormed toward them from the barn.
“At track practice, Ma,” Kurt said. “I told John where I was and when I’d be home.”
“Track? You’ve never run track before. Where did this come from?”
“Catherine, we have a guest.” Soren’s head whirled toward the front porch, where a black-furred Ythin neko stood with his arms crossed. “I apologise for my wife’s rudeness,” the neko said. “Welcome to our home. Unfortunately, Khurtschono did not inform us we’d have a guest this evening, so our table is a little sparse, but you are still welcome here.”
Kurt flinched at his father’s words, ducking his head.
“Sorry, Aav. I didn’t know until a few minutes ago. This is Soren. He lives by the river,” he said. “Soren, my mother, Catherine, and my father, Khenbish.”
“It is a pleasure to meet you,” Soren mumbled, looking away from Khenbish’s piercing gaze.
“I apologise as well, Soren. I was worried about Khurtschono, and didn’t notice you,” Catherine added.
“Please, come inside and make yourself at home,” Khenbish said. “I would ask you to remove your shoes, but I see you don’t have that issue.” An almost strained smile crossed his lips. “Perhaps Khurtschono can show you to the washroom?”
“Yeah. Come on Soren, we’ll get cleaned up for dinner.” Kurt dragged Soren past his father. “We can even get SoA downloaded now and you can make a character tonight.”
“Don’t forget, it’s a school night,” Khenbish called after them. “And leave your door open.”
“Yes, Aav!”
Soren swept his eyes around the house as Kurt led him around. A long entrance hall terminated in a flight of stairs. Doors lined each wall, the open ones giving Soren glimpses into large rooms. One seemed to be a music room — he could see a pair of cases sitting against the far wall, with a strange stringed instrument waiting on a stand. Another door led to a kitchen, where a black-furred Niwo was stirring a wide pot on a stove. Her tan skin nearly matched John’s, offering a warmth her fur colour didn’t share.
“Altanaa and I share a room, so he might pester us,” Kurt warned as he opened a door at the end of the hall. “The bathroom is right across- Altanchono!”
Soren caught a glimpse of orange fur before Kurt ducked into the room and shut the door. A furious discussion followed, muffled by the barrier between Soren and the nekos. Finally, Kurt opened the door again, revealing a ruffled wolf.
“Sorry, I know you’re not a fan of shifting,” Kurt grumbled. “This butthead thinks he’s going to run before dinner.”
Altanchono darted between the two, racing toward the front door with his tail held high.
“I don’t mind shifting,” Soren said, following Kurt into the bedroom. “I just don’t like shifting in front of others.”
Two beds sat on either end of the room, neatly made. A bookshelf ran along the far wall, a desk beside it. Soren studied a small horse model on a dresser.
“Altanchono’s,” Kurt said, plugging his laptop into a socket. “He wants to be a farrier like Ma and Skylar.”
“Oh.” Soren shrugged — the word was as foreign to him as the language he’d heard Kurt and Altanchono arguing in not moments before.
“Here, bring your computer over here, and I’ll help you get the game installed before we wash up,” Kurt said, pushing his computer aside. “It shouldn’t take more than an hour to download. By the time dinner is done, you should be free to get a character started.”
“I do need to head home at some point,” Soren said, digging his laptop out of his bag.
“Oh, Ma and Aav would never let me have a friend overnight. Certainly not while I sleep in the same room as Altanchono.” Kurt snorted. “But you can’t leave without dinner — that would be rude.”
“It would?”
“Oh yeah. You’re our guest. We’re offering you our hospitality for the evening.” Kurt’s fingers skimmed over Soren’s computer, bringing up a website. “There, you’re on our internet. Just make an account, click download, and you’re good to go.”
“Uh… thanks,” Soren said, grateful the neko hadn’t tried to close the browser. He didn’t think he had anything embarrassing up, but then, he hadn’t used his computer in a few months. “I… uh, I hope you don’t mind… but after dinner, I’m going to head home. I’m still sore from track and I need some sleep.”
“Yeah, it’s okay,” Kurt reassured him. “You’ll be back tomorrow morning, right? I mean, you’re not going to run to school again?”
“I wouldn’t want to inconvenience you.” Soren frowned. “And it’s good exercise….”
“Too much exercise.” Kurt chuckled. “But I won’t stop you if you want to paw it all the way to school. Just keep in mind the car is an option, and you should be here by nine if you want a ride.”
By nine? Soren would have a whole two hours to sleep in… or to do some work around the house. The potatoes still needed picking, and he wanted to mix up a mint and clove solution to spray around the wasps’ hangout. It might have to be mint only — he’d meant to grab some cloves from the Home Ec room, but the day had conspired against him.
“We can even throw in a free breakfast,” Kurt added.
That did it.
“Yeah, I’ll be here.”

Soren stared at the slender silver sticks beside his plate — savkh, Kurt had called them. Altanchono and Kurt sat on either side of him, eating the slices of meat on their plate with obvious relish — in fact, the entire family seemed almost starved. Soren would be gulping down the dinner with them, but these savkh were beyond his ability to even begin wondering how they worked.
“Here-” Soren startled as Altanchono grabbed his hand and set a savkh in it. “Hold it like a pencil but resting on your ring finger, then hold the other between your thumb and index finger. It’s easy.”
The neko scooped up a small clump of rice from a bowl, dipping his mouth toward his savkh to inhale the grains. Grabbing a piece of meat between the stick, Altanchono added it to the rice in his mouth, chewing hungrily.
Soren tried to replicate the neko, scooping up rice from his own bowl. A few grains fell, and he scrambled to catch them, nearly dumping the entire clump in his struggle not to make a mess.
“Careful,” Kurt chuckled beside him. “You should bring the bowl to your mouth. Altanaa is a beast who has bad manners.”
Altanchono stuck his tongue out at Kurt, a bit of food falling from his mouth. Across the table, Khenbish glared at them, snapping something Soren had no hope of understanding. Both Kurt and Altanchono ducked their heads, ears planing.
“So…” Soren swallowed around the small bit of meat he’d managed to capture. “I saw John chasing your horses toward the barn earlier.” Small talk was good… right? He hoped he wasn’t breaking any taboos — Khenbish was terrifying, the way his glare shot across the room. “I never thought werewolves would pen their herd for the night.”
“That is my wife’s custom,” Khenbish said. “She cares for our herd with Skylar. They are very good at what they do; our herd did not suffer at all with our move south.”
“I’m glad to hear it,” Soren smiled weakly.
Beside him, Kurt poured his drink into his near-empty bowl, lifting it to his lips to slurp the broth. Seeing this, Soren finally worked up the courage to try the milky liquid sitting in the cup Kurt had offered him at the start of the meal. A sip made him grimace as salt flowed across his tongue. Milky tea dimmed the salty flavour a moment later, but the damage was done. Soren quickly set the cup down, trying to work his face into a more bland appearance.
Khenbish spoke up as Soren recovered from the tea. Kurt leaned toward Soren, murmuring in his ear.
“A toast to our guest; though he is unexpected, it is through the unexpected we find joy.”
The eldest Ythin scooped a drink from a container into a wide bowl, handing it across the table to Soren. Soren’s nose wrinkled at the smell of sour milk. Khenbish kept speaking, his voice almost lilting as he watched Soren. Stealing himself, Soren brought the bowl to his lips and took a gulp.
Beside him, Altanchono snorted. But Soren was too busy fighting the taste in his mouth to notice. Sour notes sparkled across his tongue… and then creamy, like a warm glass of milk that had sat out a little too long. It… wasn’t bad.
He handed the bowl back to Khenbish, who flashed an unexpectedly warm smile at him. Soren returned the smile as the neko poured more of the drink into the bowl. Khenbish was definitely singing. Soren couldn’t understand the words, but he could feel the cheer behind them — despite his gruff exterior, the neko seemed happy to have a guest.
The bowl was passed to Catherine next, then to Skylar and John. John paused with the bowl in hand, dipping his ring finger inside. He flicked his finger to the sky, then in the air, and finally toward the ground, before swiping his finger across his heart. Finally, the neko took a sip from the bowl, before handing it back to his father.
Kurt took the bowl next, following the ritual John had started. Finally, Altanchono accepted the bowl, copying his siblings, though he seemed to forget to cross his heart.
Altanchono handed the bowl to his mother, who ladled more of the drink into it before handing the bowl to Khenbish. The head of the family repeated the ritual, swiping a bit of the drink across his forehead instead of his heart. He set the bowl to his lips before placing it back on the table.
“Aav, are you pregnant?” Kurt blurted, startling Soren. He wasn’t familiar with neko biology, but Soren was almost certain male nekos couldn’t get pregnant. And why would Kurt ask a question like that after drinking spoiled milk?
“Yes, as I already informed the family,” Khenbish said. “Unfortunately, you were busy elsewhere and missed the announcement.”
“I knew it!” Kurt grinned. “You didn’t take your bane last night.”
“I’m confused,” Soren said, looking between them.
“Aav used to be a girl and Ma used to be a boy,” Altanchono explained helpfully. “Now they aren’t. Khurtsaa’s still both. But he’s a boy right now. And I’m going to have a younger brother.”
“Or sister,” Kurt pointed out.
“I’m getting my own room too,” Altanchono grinned. “Khurtsaa gets to sleep with the baby.”
“We have not decided how we are dividing rooms,” Catherine spoke up. “And this really is not appropriate to discuss in front of a guest.”
“Actually, I should probably go,” Soren said. “It’s been a long day, and I still have much to do before bed.”
“I’ll make sure you get home safely,” Altanchono blurted, pushing his chair back.
“Oh no, really, it’s okay. Thank you for letting me share your meal. It was delicious.”
Kurt stood up with Soren.
“Your computer should be done downloading,” he said, tugging the mage toward his room.
The door closed behind them, and Kurt busied himself checking Soren’s laptop.
“I hope we didn’t scare you away,” he said, unplugging the computer.
“No… I mean, I’m not used to eating with other people. I hope I didn’t mess anything up,” Soren said.
“Oh no, you’re fine,” Kurt brushed off. “And everything is downloaded.” He pushed the laptop into Soren’s hands. “I’ll see you tomorrow morning?”
“Yeah.” Soren nodded, wrapping the charging cord around his laptop. “Yeah, I’ll be here.”