Silver Kiss by Naomi Clark Read Free Book Online Page A

around at the neighborhood as I always
did. Like me and Shannon, my parents lived on a mixed, but largely
human estate, the Oaks. The main reason for their choice was so I
could get into Sparrowfield Middle School, the better of the two
middle schools in the city. On a werewolf estate, we would have
been out of the catchment area.
    The main difference between purely wolf
estates and mixed ones was the lack of green, open spaces. The Oaks
was built like a maze, little twisting streets and passages that
seemed to lead to a different place each time you walked down them.
There was one small play park at the heart of the estate, but no
real room for a wolf to shift and run freely. I suddenly had a
renewed appreciation for my little house in Foxglove, which
bordered one of the city parks.
    Dad opened the door before I could knock,
greeting me with a broad smile. “Ayla! Just in time. Your mum’s
just dishing up. We’re having your favorite.” He ushered me into
the dining room, where Mum was indeed serving up plates heaped with
steaming vegetables and generous cuts of roast lamb. My mouth
watered as I watched.
    “ Hello, love,” Mum said,
setting a plate down in my place. “Oh, are those for me?” She took
the flowers with a sweet smile. “They’re lovely.”
    “ Yeah.” As always, I
couldn’t quite find the words to convey my sentiments. They’re because I love you didn’t feel right, even if it was true. “I thought you’d like
them.”
    “ Sit down, tuck in,” she
ordered. “I’ll put these in some water.”
    I obeyed, spooning mint sauce onto my lamb.
I felt like I’d slipped back in time, reverted to a child. Whatever
tensions had—and did—exist between me and my parents, I always felt
a little safer here; a little more at home.
    “ So have you heard from the
police yet?” Dad asked.
    I shook my head. “Could be another six weeks
yet.”
    “ You’ll get in,” he said
confidently. “Before you know it you’ll be out on the streets being
insulted and spat at by junkies and yobs.”
    “ Oh Dad, don’t. It’s not
going to be like that.”
    “ Depends where you get
sent,” Mum said, sitting down opposite me and smoothing out the
checkered tablecloth absently. “The city center is fine, but I
wouldn’t want you out on the beat in some of the
suburbs.”
    “ I think I can take care of
myself,” I said, spearing a baby carrot. “I doubt they’ll send me
after the crack whores and baby killers on my first
shift.”
    “ No, they’ll save that till
they’ve broken you in,” Dad said. “How’s Shannon doing?”
    “ She’s working on a case.
Actually, I wanted to ask you about something.” I turned to Mum,
figuring she’d be more willing to divulge any scandal than Dad. “Do
you know a wolf named Tina Brady?”
    Mum frowned, chewing a piece of lamb
meditatively. “It rings a bell. Tina Brady… Would that be Christina
Markham, do you think?” she asked Dad.
    “ The wolf that was made
outcast?” Dad wore a frown that matched Mum’s exactly. It was cute.
I wondered if Shannon and I would develop synchronized expressions
over time. “She was married to Robert Markham, wasn’t
she?”
    “ Yes, but they divorced
before she was outcast,” Mum said. “She had an affair, I
think.”
    “ I thought he had the
affair?”
    “ Maybe they both had
affairs?” I offered. That couldn’t be why she was outcast.
Infidelity wasn’t anything like a strong enough reason to exile a
Pack member.
    “ No, it was definitely
her,” Mum said. “Because she got pregnant, didn’t she, and that’s
why…” She trailed off, staring down at her food.
    I prodded, sensing some juicy secret. “Why
was she outcast anyway?”
    My parents exchanged dark looks, a ripple of
disquiet passing between them. Mum was suddenly very occupied with
her roast potatoes and Dad took a long chug of his water. I waited
patiently while they eyeballed each other.
    “ You tell her, Paul,” Mum
said. “It makes me feel