“Are you serious? He did that?”

“Yeah, it was hilarious”

“Hey, don’t make fun of me. My wolf didn’t know what a skunk was at the time!”

“How can you not know what a skunk is?”

“I hadn’t seen any. So how should I know what they look like, or that they squirt some mustard gas on my face?”

“I think it’s pretty much common knowledge? Like, that’s what they’re known for.”

“I’d say so too, but Carter is a bit dumb.”

“Hey!”

The whole group laughed, and Remy playfully pushed Carter who in turn tried to just as playfully punch him in the arm. Remy had told Em a story from their childhood where young Carter had encountered a skunk on one full moon and gotten sprayed on the face. Everyone except Carter thought it was really funny.

They had spent most of the day in the park just talking but then decided to find a place to get some food from. Em really liked spending time with Mikey and Carter. They were so funny. Remy too seemed more relaxed and happier than when they had arrived. Em was sure seeing his old friends did some good for Remy, even if he didn’t want to admit it.

“How do you even remember something like that?” Em asked. “Weren’t you a wolf when it happened?”

“Yeah, I was,” Carter replied. “Some things just stay in memory better than others. I guess it’s kind of like seeing dreams. Some dreams you remember and some you don’t.”

“Makes sense I guess,” Em said. “I don’t really remember anything from the nights.”

“It’s hard at first,” Mikey said, “but you get better at remembering. At least I did. The first few moons I had no memory of but then later on I started remembering more stuff.”

“Yeah, and some things are easier to remember. Your mind doesn’t really care about some running and howling but if you get assaulted by a skunk, you’ll remember that for sure,” Remy said.

“And if you don’t, we will,” Mikey added, and they laughed.

“Haha, so funny,” Carter grumbled pretending to be hurt from the teasing.

“I’d be careful if I were you,” he said then looking at the other two guys, “I have plenty of embarrassing stories of you to tell.”

“You wouldn’t.”

“Don’t you even dare.”

“Ohohohoo, you know very well that I would,” Carter smirked. “So careful with what you say, or I’ll reveal to Em all the embarrassing things about you, Remy.”

“Are you blackmailing me?”

“You bet I am.”

Em couldn’t help but smile. It was nice to listen to the guys bickering and joking. They had clearly missed each other a lot. Hopefully Remy would come to the city more to meet them since the first and biggest obstacle had been overcome now.

“Hey there’s a food truck. We could get some food from there?” Mikey said then, gesturing towards a van that by the look of it, sold burgers and sandwiches.

“Sounds good.”

“Yeah…” Remy said a bit hesitantly. A thought had just occurred to him: neither he or Em had any money. Em seemed to realize the same thing as she looked at Remy. ‘It’s fine,’ her eyes seemed to say.

“We’ll offer this time,” Carter said, catching up to the situation pretty fast, “if you promise to cook to us when we come to visit your fabulous forest-y abode.”

“Who said you can come visit us?” Remy snorted but smiled. He appreciated the gesture a lot.

“Wow, how rude. We invite you to spend time with us and you won’t do the same? The forest really has changed you Remy,” Carter said overly dramatically as they stopped at the end of the queue.

“I’ll talk sense to him Carter,” Em said winking.

“Thank you Em. Look at that Remy. You’ve got yourself an excellent girl.”

“She’s not my girl,” Remy mumbled focusing very hard on the menu. “I’m gonna pick the most expensive thing available…”

“Good, good, just drive us into bankruptcy. What would you like then, sweetie?” Carter asked from Em, smiling.

“Hmm, just normal ham and cheese sandwich is fine,” she said.

“Aww, so modest. I’ll get you fries to go with that.” Carter tussled Em’s hair and moved forward with Mikey to order their food. Remy and Em stayed a bit further away to wait.

“Have you had fun?” Remy asked.

“Yeah, Carter and Mikey are really cool. It’s been nice to get to know them better,” Em replied.

“So, you like Carter then?”

“Of course, he’s a nice guy.”

“Yeah…”

“How about you?”

“Huh?”

“Have you had fun today?”

“It’s been nicer than I expected. It was nice to catch up on things.”

“You seemed like you were having fun when we were at the park.”

“Yeah, I guess I was. It wasn’t that bad.”

“Pssh, you like this but don’t want to admit it. It’d ruin your moody image,” Em sneered.

“Hah, you might be on to something,” Remy replied, smiling, “but I’ll never admit it.”

“Of course you won’t.”

Soon Mikey and Carter walked to them, hands full of food.

“Ham and cheese sandwiches with fries for Em,” Carter said handing over the food, “and burger for Remy. With pickles.”

“Thank you!”

“Thanks…”

They headed towards to nearest bench and sat down. It wasn’t too comfortable, all four of the squeezed next to each other but it was nicer than having to stand. Em took a bit of her sandwich and she felt like she could cry. It tasted so good. Cheese was melted, the bread crunched when she bit it and the ham tasted perfect too. The sandwich almost dissolved in her mouth. Delicious. Remy picked out the pickles from his burger and threw them in the nearby trashcan.

“It’s so great to have actual food!” Em sighed blissfully and stuffed three fries in her mouth. Carter and Mikey laughed while eating their burgers.

“What do you eat in the forest then?” Mikey asked.

“Fish and plants mostly,” Em said munching on the fries. “Sometimes Remy comes to get food from here, so we have like rice and pasta sometimes too. But mostly whatever we can find from the forest.”

“That sounds rough,” Carter said.

“It was at first but it’s not too bad once you get used to it.” It was still a bit tough sometimes to eat some leaves but most of the time it wasn’t too bad. In a way it was kind of fun. Not if they had to go to bed hungry because all they could find was berries and leaves. But mixing the forest ingredients with normal food, like rice. They were quite nice to eat after getting used to the taste.

“In the pack, those who work and have money usually buy their own food,” Carter said. “And we collect a lot of stuff too, fish and hunt. It’s the cheapest way to feed a lot of people.”

“How many wolves are there in the pack?” Em asked.

“Currently ten. There used to be more, but a lot of the older people left after Lance and Tanner arrived and started to boss us around,” Mikey said. “The ones left are younger who don’t really have any other place to go. There have been a few new wolves since you left Remy. Two left almost right away but the other two stayed.”

“That’s pretty interesting,” Remy said and stole a few fries from Em who glared back at him but didn’t say anything. She’d gladly share this blessed food with Remy since they’d have to go back to the forest soon and return to munching dandelions.

“You said that some of you work? That’s possible?” Em asked. She had a lot of questions.

“Yeah, of course,” Carter said. “It can be tough with the full moon and having to be absent every month, but a lot of people are able to work it out.”

“Oh.” Now that she thought about it, it made sense. This werewolf thing didn’t really take away her ability to do anything else. So, she probably shouldn’t think that she was doomed to live in a shack somewhere.

“People probably go to school too? And college and stuff?” she asked. Remy glanced at her and then chomped his burger almost angrily.

“Yeah, of course. Well, I guess it depends. We haven’t gone to school in years, but I know wolves who do.”

While they were chatting and enjoying their food, a police car on patrol drove past them. Then it suddenly stopped and made a u-turn driving back to the food truck. The car stopped, and two police officers stepped out of the car. They looked at the group sitting on the bench and talked to each other quietly. Em and the others didn’t pay attention to them, they didn’t really even notice the police until one of the officers, a tall, bald man, walked to them.

“Excuse me,” he said with a stern voice and glanced the group, stopping at Em. Everyone went silent and looked up to the officer. “Are you Emeryn Abigail Dunn?”

Remy felt like something very cold had been just poured in his stomach.

“Y-yes,” Em said. She looked at Remy who suddenly had a very sad look on his face.

“Would you please come with me? Your parents have been looking for you. We will take you home now.”

Em felt like she was struck by a lightning. Her parents… They had been looking for her. Of course. Why didn’t she think of that? She had forgotten, pushed the thought away. And now she would be taken back home.

“I…,” she started and looked at Remy again. Did she just imagine it or did Remy’s eyes looked like he was begging, asking her to not go. “I….”

“Come on, we don’t have all day. Your parents have been really worried. Let’s go now.” The officer grabbed Em’s hand and pulled her up. Remy jumped on his feet too. He looked like he was about to say something. However, he was considerably shorter and less muscular than the officer, unarmed as well, and most of his defiance seemed to disappear.

“Em,” he said quietly “don’t go.”

“I-I’m sorry,” Em heard her voice quiver. The officer started determinedly walking towards the car forcing Em to follow.

“Em!” Remy shouted.

Em was guided on the backseat of the car and the door was slammed shut after she sat down.

“No! I want to say good bye to my friends!” she protested when both officers got in the car. This was her last chance. She wanted to say good bye.

“How about you be nice and quiet?” the other officer said. She was a middle-aged lady with glasses and she had her hair on a very tight bun. “I can’t believe the teenagers nowadays. Running away from home and then they even have the audacity to resist. Do they ever think about their parents?” she grumbled, not very quietly, clearly wanting Em to hear her words. “Can’t they at least wait until they are eighteen?”

Em looked out of the car window and caught a last glimpse of Remy who stood still, looking at the car. Carter’s hand was on his shoulder, but he didn’t seem to notice. Em’s heart wrenched. She should’ve been happy about going home and getting to see her parents, but for some reason she wasn’t. She was sad. She wanted to stay. She wanted to be with Remy. Then the car started and very quickly Remy disappeared from her sight.

It was a long drive home, during which the police officers called Em’s parents. She didn’t get to talk with them, but she didn’t mind. Her chest felt heavy and her stomach ached, and it wasn’t just because she hadn’t been able to finish the sandwich. The police officers didn’t say anything to Em and she didn’t say anything to them. It was just quiet talking and music from the radio.

Finally, after hours of driving the view from the car window started looking familiar. Buildings and road signs that Em recognized. People she knew walking on the streets. In one lamp post she saw her own picture on a poster that said MISSING. The car turned on her home street and soon stopped in front of her house. As Em stepped outside of the car, she heard a dog barking. Then the door opened. Poppy dashed outside and straight up jumped on Em who was barely able to stop herself from falling over. Poppy wiggled and twisted, whined and her tail wagged against Em’s body as the spaniel licked her owner’s face. Em felt few tears burning in the corners of her eyes.

“Hello girl,” she whispered. “Sorry that I disappeared. But I’m home now.

Em hadn’t even noticed that her parents had come outside too. Mom walked towards her slowly, as if she wasn’t sure if the person she was looking at actually was her daughter. She had spent so many sleepless nights, she had almost lost her hope, then had it rekindled by a phone call and then lost it again after the lead proved out to be wrong. Now her daughter was standing there, right in front of her eyes again, looking healthy and well after she had already assumed the worst.

“Em?”

Finally, Em noticed her mother. She put Poppy on the ground where she continued to wiggle and whine. “Hi, mom,” she said awkwardly, not really knowing what else to say.

“I’m so happy you’re safe!” mom said and hugged Em tightly. Dad came over too and joined the hug. They all cried a little.

“Thank you officers for finding her,” mom said then, wiping tears from her cheeks.

“No problem ma’am. We just happened to spot her on our patrol. She was spending time with some young men,” the male officer said. Immediately mom gave a sharp look to Em.

“With young men? Em are you alright? They didn’t do anything to you did they?”

“No, I’m perfectly fine,” Em hurried to say. “They…they’re my friends…”

“Your friends?” Dad’s voice was stern and not happy. “All this time you were hanging out with friends?”

“No! I mean…kind of. But that’s not why I disappeared.”

“I can't believe you. I thought we raised you better than to run away like that just to hang out with some guys. What has happened to you?” Mother sounded extremely shocked and disappointed.

“Sometimes teenagers just need to rebel and test their wings,” the female officer said. “And sometimes they just do it to get attention from somewhere. If not from parents, then maybe from boys.”

“That’s not it!” Em said. “I’ll explain--”

“Oh you bet you will,” dad said.

“But we’ll go inside for that. Thank you once again officers. We appreciate your work so much.”

“No problem at all. We’re happy that we got a happy ending to this story.”

“Make sure to keep a close eye on your daughter from now on.”

“You can trust that we do. Thank you.”

The police got in their car and drove away. Poppy jumped against Em and she scratched her dog behind her ear.

“Now, young lady. We go inside and you’re going to tell where in hell you have been.”