A Pack of Their Own novel · Chapter 16 of 32

Chapter 16: The Name at the Fire

The clan lit the Fire on the second night.

It burned in a ring of black stones at the bottom of the yard, and everyone came down to it.

Thirty people sat on logs and on blankets, with the little ones asleep across their parents' laps.

Roark sat on my left. Callie sat on my right with her knees pulled up.

Nana Bess had put a mug in my hands. I hadn't taken a sip.

Grandpa stood on the far side of the flames.

He had not spoken since supper. He looked older than he had at the gate.

"Nobody's said this name at this fire in thirty years," he said.

"I'm going to say it tonight, and then it's said."

He looked straight at me, and then he said my father's name.

It went across the flames quietly, and the fire popped.

Somewhere behind me, an old woman started to cry without any sound.

"He's my son," Grandpa said. "He was born in that house, in the room over the kitchen."

"He is half bear. His mother is wolf, and I'm not."

"He is the same as you, Winona."

I did not move.

My mind had gone flat and quiet.

"He put me at the far end of the lot," I said. My voice sounded odd. "Every time an Alpha's car pulled in."

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