The last bell set the whole building in motion — lockers slamming, sneakers squeaking, the usual stampede of kids desperate to escape. Gabriel and I cut through the noise and headed for the lot, the Humvee standing out like a tank among rusted compacts.

Mark was already gone, probably picked up by one of his parents. I caught a glimpse of him earlier, navigating the hall with that soft smile and careful steps, as if he was trying not to take up space. He didn’t know yet how much space he already took up in my head.

We climbed into the Humvee, doors shutting with their usual heavy thud. For a while, the only sound was the diesel growl as I eased us onto the road.

“You were quiet at lunch,” Gabriel said eventually, adjusting his guitar case in the back seat.

I kept my eyes forward. “Was I?”

“Yeah. You were watching him.”

I didn’t answer right away. The road bent past rows of clapboard houses and weathered fences, the ocean wind carrying salt through the cracked window.

Finally, I said it. “He’s like us.”

Gabriel turned toward me, brows lifting. “Mark?”

“Yeah.” My grip tightened on the wheel. “He doesn’t know it. Doesn’t even feel it yet. But the wolf’s there. I can smell it. See it. The way he carries himself. The way he pulled in at the table.”

Gabriel was quiet, but not doubtful. “You’re sure.”

“I’ve never been more sure of anything.”

He leaned back, staring out at the gray line of the horizon. “Then what do we do? Tell him?”

“Not yet.”

“Why not?”

“Because he’s soft,” I said. “He’s good. He’s got this… perfect family, this normal life. He has no idea what it means to wake that part of himself up. If we just dump it on him, it’ll wreck him.”

Gabriel nodded slowly, chewing on that. “So we wait.”

“Yeah. We watch. We let him come to us.”

The Humvee rumbled over a patch of uneven asphalt, the sound filling the silence between us.

After a while, Gabriel said quietly, “Feels different, though, doesn’t it? Knowing there’s another one.”

I allowed myself a small smile. “Yeah. It does.”

For a few miles, neither of us spoke. The wolf in me paced restlessly, thrilled at the thought of a pack starting to take shape. But underneath it was something sharper, more cautious. Because once Mark woke up, there’d be no going back.

And the world wasn’t ready for three of us.