Grace of a Wolf by Lenaleia

Chapter 172: Grace: Theories

By the time the tow truck comes and goes and I’ve made peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for all the adults (only to find out Caine likes grape jelly like a psychopath), I’m calm again.

We’re out. It didn’t happen to us. And right now, that’s my focus.

Besides, despite having lucked out onto a wide shoulder like this, I’m still a little worried a car’s going to crash into us. With our current streak of luck, it isn’t a baseless concern.

Andrew dangles a piece of crust in front of Sadie, who’s been sitting in front of him with begging eyes since he first started eating. He seems both nonplussed and enthralled by her.

At first, it was weird. But then I thought about it. Wolves never get to spend time with dogs, so they’ve never had the Sadie experience.

Her tail swishes against the floor as she gingerly snatches it from his fingers, only to then scarf it down like a feral beast.

Then he gets a second bit of crust out, dangling it in front of the dog.

"Don’t feed her that!"

Andrew freezes mid-motion, the crust hovering between his fingers and Sadie’s expectant mouth. "Why not?"

Sadie’s eyes lock with mine. Her tail stops wagging. I’ve destroyed her doggy Christmas.

"Because we don’t know what’s up with her." I take another bite of my sandwich, chewing slowly as I frown at the dog. She’s cute, but knowing there’s something strange about her... it’s hard to see her as just a big, loveable ball of fur.

But so far, aside from her lack of fear, she’s just... a normal dog.

Too normal.

she want to go back home? Why is she so comfortable in a stranger’s car? And now she’s going in and out of the camper with us like she’s been part

just a dog, Grace." Andrew shrugs and drops the crust anyway. Sadie’s tail resumes its happy

a dog," I

asked what Sadie actually was, Lyre had danced around the subject. She did say the dog wasn’t any sort of threat, and might actually be helpful. How a dopey golden retriever’s

like her.

to Archie and Doris—just reiterated Owen’s claim that

this as the App Phenomenon. Anything under its purview is on a need to

don’t understand why an old couple who like to barbecue have anything to do

the magic words came out of her mouth, he was done. It just took the one phrase: "They have nothing to do with Grace, and they’re not a danger

shifted back to us—to me—with his intense, single-minded concentration. He’d even said, "If it’s not a threat to Grace or the children, it’s not my concern right now," without even a flicker of discomfort over saying a line I’d read out of

out to be something strange and dead-but-not-dead. In my world, we call those zombies, thank you very

asks, popping up by my elbow. I blink, realizing I’ve

my bite. "I’m

at her like you

she’s trying to decide if Sadie’s secretly

suspicious of the dog. I could

For him, anyway.

she is," I

running a hand over her golden fur. "Look! She’s such a

to duck his head into the camper, filling the doorway. His eyes sweep the interior, cataloging all of us in his quick, assessing

is an alien," Jer pipes