I snapped awake. I turned my head to examine my situation. This is new. Almost every other time I’ve woken up after being unconscious, someone had tied me up. I’m okay if that never happens again. It was my bedroom, and it looked like someone had cleaned everything and sorted my clothes away. I guess this is the best place to wake up after passing out. Wait, what happened? I tried to get up, but every muscle in my body erupted with pain, causing me to scream.

What happened to me? Why does moving hurt so much?

I heard someone running down the hall before they burst through my door. Molly came through, and she looked at me. “You’re awake!”

She’d matured with the years, though she never grew tall. I’m taller than she is, and I’m ten. But her curves made sure you knew she was almost a grown woman. Her straight black hair touched her shoulders. She wore a simple, thick dress of her favorite color: white.

Molly walked to my bedside and put her hand on my forehead. Then she tapped the tip of my nose with a finger. I tried to flinch away, but I barely managed not to scream in pain.

“It looks like your fever has gone down.” Her voice was her secret weapon. If her body could get a man’s attention, her voice would ensnare him. It was so smooth, and it always sounded like she was having a good day. Even I had to admit that her singing was sublime.

“I had a fever?” I asked.

“You’re lucky to be alive.” Nora sounded a bit more upset than usual as she walked in. “I swear you’re going to take more years off my life than any other child.”

“I think I’m taking enough years off my own life.” I turned my head to look at the ceiling.

“Don’t.” Her voice told me she was not amused. “But why were you screaming just now?”

“Everything hurts,” I confessed. “I tried to get up, but it hurts to move. And now everything is throbbing with pain even while I’m not moving.”

“That’s because you tore most of the muscles in your arms and legs, you big dummy.”

Zenny?

“What are you doing here, Zenny?” I didn’t move, even though I wanted to.

“I’m here to check on a certain big dummy who can’t control herself.” Zenny’s voice was full of life and cheerful now.

Her father had died in a logging accident, and her mother had died shortly after from some kind of sickness. Salien wouldn’t give me the details. Even though Zenny’s mother was treated, Zenny made it sound like she’d just given up on living. That left Zenny an orphan too. However, while Salien was treating her mother, they became the best of friends, and Salien adopted Zenny shortly afterward. The thing they bonded over the most was their infatuation with romantic tales. Nora said that it was one of the fastest adoptions she knew of. Salien had been raising Zenny as her daughter and was teaching her to be a doctor, just like her.

It'd been good for her. Watching the two interact always left me feeling a bit jealous. Salien devoted everything to Zenny, and every season she seemed just that much happier. Ever since her family died, Zenny had slowly traded in her depressing attitude for a lively and determined personality. Last year she gave me a nickname, something I never would have guessed she was capable of.

It's almost like a fairy tale with how quickly her life changed and improved. I guess as long as everyone is happy. Except for Zenny’s father, who was a jerk. He can stay dead.

I sighed. I’m in good hands. “That would explain the pain. But what was that you said about a fever?”

Zenny had made her way to replace Molly and placed her hand on my forehead. “You had one. Mom said it was because you pushed yourself as hard as you did. How long did you run from the wolf? Does anything else hurt? How does your stomach feel? Is there any numbness in your toes?”

Why is she fussing over me so much?

“No, but I don’t know how long that wolf chased me for. By the way, what happened to it? The last thing I remember is that I was still running from it and I hadn’t reached the town gate yet.” I looked into Zenny’s calm blue eyes. Even with her barrage of questions, her face was still serene.

“That was two days ago,” Nora interrupted. “The knights from Brian’s Bedlam brought you here after they killed the wolf. I heard Zane and Marigold’s side of the story. Now it’s your turn.”

“Well, what did they tell you?” I asked as I stared at the ceiling.

“Why don’t you start at the beginning and tell us the whole story? I imagine yours will differ from theirs in some places.” Nora’s sweet voice told me I was not getting out of it.

“If you know the answer, then why bother asking?”

“Because I want to hear you say it.” Nora sounded angry.

I tried.

I sighed as I began at the very beginning. Molly left because she had work to do. Nora and Zenny collected chairs and sat down to listen to my recounting of yesterday’s events, or rather the events from two days ago. It’s not like I can do anything else. I told them where we went and how boring it was while we waited for something to show up. I gave a brief version of the fight with the toad. That caused Nora to interrupt me, and she demanded all the details. With a groan, I didn’t purposely omit anything else. I told them about the wolf and how it chased me.

After I finished my story, I had one question on my mind. “So, was that a dire wolf?”

Nora shook her head. “No, if it’d had large bone growths on its back and around its neck, that would have been a dire animal. Also, dire animals are far more intelligent.” So if it was, it would’ve killed and eaten me. Oversized intelligent animals... I’m thinking I should reconsider this hunting thing. I’m a lot further down the food chain than I thought.

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“Then was that a normal size for a wolf? Also, don’t wolves hunt in packs?” It might be time to start taking this education thing seriously. I don’t know enough about this world.

“Oh, so now you want to learn?” Nora asked in a mocking, surprised tone. “You think you know everything, and then you have one run-in with a wolf, and you decide maybe you should’ve taken the time to learn.”

“Yes, Mom, you were right,” I said sarcastically. “Happy now? But you know, you could try to make learning a little more fun.”

“So it’s my fault now?” Nora asked incredulously. “What’s in those books is important. I told you that, and yet you refused to read them. You kept running around town or went out with Zane and Marigold to check on traps.” She raised her voice, but not to the level that would hurt me.

“You know I have a problem sitting still!” I matched her tone.

“Stop it!” Zenny shouted louder than us. “Stop it.” She lowered her volume once she got our attention. “Lucia, please stop arguing with your mom. She’s only trying to help.”

“You’re taking her side?” I felt a little betrayed. I thought we were best friends. “She started it.”

“But you’re in the wrong this time.” I could hear Zenny’s voice start to waiver. “You told me anyone could be wrong. It didn’t matter their age or station. She’s trying to help you. Why do you need reading to be fun?”

I felt the need to bury myself in a hole. “I can’t sit still. If I don’t move around, I get anxious and my mind wanders. I can’t focus on a book for more than a page or two.” I’m lashing out, and I know I shouldn’t. With a heavy sigh, I continued. “I have so much energy I can’t deal with it. I constantly feel like a dam about to burst. Nothing I do works. If you want me to learn, it’ll require me to move at the same time. Maybe make a game of it.”

“You already take more of my attention than any of the other kids.” Nora sounded tired. “Keeping up with you takes a lot out of me.”

“Please don’t just tell me to go to the classroom and read.” I could feel my jaw tightening. “Please, teach me. Don’t pawn it off on someone else.”

Nora leaned forward and knelt next to my bed. “I need to take care of April now that she’s sick. The others require my time as well.” She sounded like she didn’t want to say those words.

April was our newest addition. She’d joined us at the start of this last ice season. At seven years old, she was the quietest girl I’d ever met. It took her an entire season before she said a single word to me. Most of the time, she would run off. Her bright-red hair, her most noteworthy feature, didn’t match her shy demeanor, but she cared for it almost as much as I cared for all of my fur. I think I scare her more than anything else. She hadn’t told us why she was here, and Nora had been extra tight-lipped about it too. However, Nora told us that her aptitude was knives.

Zenny chimed in. “I’ll do it.”

The words I was about to say died on my tongue. Nora didn’t say anything either.

“What?” My word ended the silence.

“I’ll teach you,” Zenny reiterated. “Nora, you give me the books you want her to learn, and I’ll do my best to make it fun for her.” Her voice chirped like she’d been planning this.

“Are you serious about this?” Nora asked, not attempting to hide her doubt.

I said, “Yeah, I know you’re smart—smarter than someone your age should be—but are you sure you should be the one teaching me?”

“If it will keep you two from fighting, then yes.” Her determination was almost palpable. “Also, it feels like Lucia has been avoiding me lately. This way I get to spend more time with her.”

It isn’t because I don’t want to spend time with you. I’ve just been literally running around town while you want to talk about the latest book you’re reading. I kept those thoughts to myself.

“Also, I could learn something new. Like that one saying you used—it’ll be like killing two birds with one stone.” Zenny gave me a wide smile.

“I have to question the judgment of letting a twelve-year-old be in charge of a ten-year-old’s education.” Nora didn’t sound impressed, and she let out a heavy sigh. “Nothing else has worked with you yet, so why not?”

Is she really going to let this happen?

“I haven’t been that much of a problem child, have I?” I asked, more for myself than anything else.

“You have been, by far, the most difficult one I’ve had,” Nora said without hesitation.

“I’m also the only beastkin you’ve had,” I remarked with extra sass. My mind wandered to Zenny, and another thought bubbled out of my mouth. “I can’t help but think I’ve been a bad influence on Zenny.”

Nora broke into an instant laugh. “You know what? I think I feel a little better about Zenny being your teacher now.” She continued laughing as she spoke. “Maybe she’ll get through to you when nobody else will.”

“I don’t get it.” Zenny’s voice was full of confusion.

“Don’t worry about it,” I said sullenly. I really need to put a filter on my mouth.

“I’m sure Lucia will fill you in.” I heard Nora pat Zenny somewhere on her body as she said that. “But back to the serious matter: what did Salien say about Lucia’s recovery?”

“A week of bed rest and she should be able to stand, given her recovery rate.” Zenny’s voice lost all emotion.

A week? Not again. I groaned at the news.

“Oh, no,” Nora quickly snapped at me. “You’re to stay in that bed until Salien says so.”

“But a week?” I whined.

“Yes.” Nora stomped her foot.

“Once she can stand, she’ll need to keep her movements heavily restricted. Mom says that at that stage, her muscles will still easily tear again. But she needs to move around slightly, otherwise she won’t heal properly,” Zenny continued, despite my protests against the prescribed treatment. “She’ll be spending a lot of time over the next couple of weeks in that bed until she no longer feels pain while fully extending her limbs.”

“Could you bring your mom with you when you come in two days?” Nora asked with honey-laced words.

“Of course, but she said that she wanted to stop by tomorrow to make sure the tonic was working for April.” Zenny sounded confused.

“Tomorrow sounds fine. She’ll be happy to know that April is doing better. She’s breathing easier.” Nora walked to the door.

“So, did you really outrun a wolf?” Zenny questioned me once Nora reached the door. “How? I know you’re fast, but I don’t believe you’re that fast.”

I blushed. “I can’t outrun it on two legs.”

I heard Nora’s footsteps halt with a harder step than usual. “Care to repeat that?” I could feel Nora’s gaze on me.

I guess the cat’s out of the bag now. Nora isn’t about to let this drop any time soon. “I kinda sort of ran on all fours to get away from the wolf.” I wished the bed would swallow me whole.

“You never told me you could do that,” Nora said. “But that would explain your arms.”

“You never asked.” My snarky reply got me nowhere. “I’m not very good at it. You’ve no idea how hard it is to coordinate moving like that. It’s embarrassing, okay? So please keep it to yourself,” I pleaded.

“As you wish,” Nora replied just before continuing on her way.

“I won’t tell a soul,” Zenny said with way too much enthusiasm for my liking. “Since you’re to stay in bed, and Mom said I could spend the day making sure you were doing well...” Her voice trailed off. It sounded like she was thinking. With a clap of her hands, she enlightened me with her epiphany. “I could read you my new favorite books.”

It’s going to be a long week. Unwilling to suffer physical pain, I prepared myself for the emotional onslaught I was about to receive.