Read Online Marked (The Pack) by Suzanne Cox - Free Book Online Page B

finished for him.
    The adults agreed with the explanation and I rolled it around in my mind a bit. That could be cool I guess, traveling to different places. Maybe Aunt Louise and her friends weren’t so weird after all. I glanced around the table as their conversations resumed. Nah, they were weird, but not in a bad way.
    It was nearly midnight when I finished brushing my teeth. I stepped from the bathroom as Louise opened the door to the computer room.
    “I was going to work on the computer a bit before I go to bed.”
    I checked my watch. “Now?”
    “It is a little late, huh?”
    “It’s not especially late.” I continued on toward my room.
    “So do you want to get on the computer and check your e-mail before I get started?”
    “No, maybe tomorrow.”
    I padded to my room and pulled back the covers. It wouldn’t do any good to check my e-mail. I’d been here six days and not one of my so called friends in Chicago had tried to make contact with me. I had even given them my aunt’s phone number, and I knew they weren’t holding off because they were worried over the cost of a long distance call. They spent that kind of money on snacks after school. I had been upset that I’d be spending the summer without them, but they hadn’t even noticed I was gone.
    I heard a dog bark and sat up. Maybe Myles’ ferocious pooch Beowulf had gotten loose and come back to visit. I heard it again. Nope, Beowulf couldn’t possibly have a voice that deep, even if he did think he was a big dog. I kicked the covers off and stepped to the window. The moon hung low and full above the tree tops. At the edge of the woods near the path to the lake I saw movement, definitely not Myles’ dog. I couldn’t tell what kind it was, but it was big. It moved away from the trees and started across the yard. The dog’s coat flashed golden in the moonlight as it trotted closer. It didn’t stop until it was within fifteen feet of the house, where it sat down and stared directly up at me. The animal was huge. Its back would probably have come to my waist if I stood next to it. I could see a fancy collar around its neck. It was blue and silver with odd shaped stones. I noticed more movement at the edge of the woods and three more large dogs appeared. It was too dark to see their color or breed, but I didn’t like the idea of an entire herd of dogs in the yard.
    I rushed to the computer room and tapped on the door once before shoving it open. Louise spun around in the roller chair.
    “Whew, you scared me. What’s the matter?”
    “There are giant dogs in the yard, like a whole herd. One of them is right here at the house.”
    “Pack.”
    “What?”
    “A pack. Dogs in a group are referred to as a pack, not a herd. Herds are horses or cows.”
    She got up to follow me. “Whatever, pack, herd, they look like those wolf hybrid dogs. I saw one when I went to Channing’s the other day. As a matter fact, one jumped on our car over by the cemetery the very first day we got here. Mom wanted to pull over and look at the headstones from the car and this huge wolf dog ran across the cemetery, jumped the fence and pounded the car.”
    Louise paused staring at me. “And you just remembered it?”
    “I thought of it a few times, but it didn’t seem important. You have to admit, I have had a few things on my mind the last few days.”
    Louise didn’t answer as we entered my room. Below the window the yard was empty.
    “Aww, it’s gone. Wait, there they are.” I pointed toward the path where the shadowy figures disappeared into the woods.
    “Should we try to call someone?”
    Louise shook her head. “I’ll ask around tomorrow or either call animal control in case it was a pack of wild dogs.”
    “The one that was up close was a pet. It had on a nice collar.”
    Louise frowned then walked around the room. She went to the chair beside the closet and slid it across the room in front of the window.
    “In case you decide to sleepwalk tonight,