Soul Lines (Completed)

Chapter One

I shook as his body vibrated with chuffed laughter. Rolling my eyes, I clung to his fur, trying not to slide away. 'Have you started the biology homework?'

There was a disappointed sigh and a half-grunted bark.

'Hey!' I cried, pinching his ear softly between my fingers. 'It's not my fault that Mr Kriten assigns boring homework. Of course, I didn't want to start it!'

As the air around us cooled, I curled closer to his warmth, allowing him to chase away some of the winter chills. Together, we stayed like that in the setting sun – I filled the silence with my thoughts while he listened, lazily humphing now and then to prove he was listening. We let the forest speak for us when I had nothing to say.

Eventually, as the sun threatened to disappear past the horizon, I clambered to my feet, missing the heat he generated as soon as I pulled away.

His mournful glance made me want to bundle back into his warmth, and the whimper of loss almost shattered me, but I sighed, staying firm on my decision. 'Come on, Sweetness,' I cooed, offering a consoling scratch behind his ears. His eyes lulled, and I delighted at his inner turmoil. 'I have to go. Let's get a wriggle on.'

He huffed, resigned to the fact. As he stood, a mischievous glint lit his eyes. Stretching his front paws, he shifted his weight from his back left leg to his right, wriggling back and forth.

'Cute.' I snorted, lacing my fingers through his fur. 'But we really do have to go. I cannot be late. Nanna invited Brent's friends over, and she wanted help making dinner.'

He stopped suddenly, and my fingers slid over raised hackles as I walked away from the abandoned zip lines. I tried not to think about the disapproving stare I'd receive from Nanna if she ever found out where we'd spent the day, but it was too tempting to ignore. When I turned back, his teeth glinted in the setting sun, a snarl darkening his features.

'I know.' I sighed, rubbing a soothing touch to the crown of his head, 'Sweetness, I don't like them much either. But it's alright. If Lachlan tries anything, I'll wring his throat!'

He blocked me as I tried to step around him. Almost tripping, I cried, 'knock it off,' with a scowl, shoving him away. 'I need to get home. Stop being silly.' I sighed, crouching before him and cupping his snout between my hands, 'I just spent the whole day with you. What more do you want? People already think I'm crazy for wasting all my time here alone. Imagine what they would think of you if they knew.'

He tossed his head, snorting as if to say let them find out, but stepped aside with a low whine. His whole body shook, his fur spitting dirt and leaves from laying down, and then he bounded ahead, his tail tucked between his legs, his ears pricked for anything hidden away in the shadows – always too cautious.

I watched him for a heartbeat before skipping after him, trailing my fingers across his back as I stepped beside him. He shivered, but we stayed like that the rest of the way, walking side-by-side until the trees started to separate and glimpses of houses could be seen between the trunks.

This time, he let me go, his gaze trailing after me with pouting eyes. Disappointment had soured his mood, but I had made a promise. So I stopped, turned back and waved. 'I'll see you around, Sweetness. I've got work tomorrow after school, so don't be out here pining away for me, okay?'

He was still there as I stepped onto the back porch, watching until I had made it through the door before slinking off into the darkness of the shadows, disappearing as if he had never been there to begin with.

***

The salty aroma of crisped bacon caused saliva to pool in my mouth. Nanna was in the kitchen, bent over the sink wielding a bright yellow peeler. She had two buckets on either side of her. The bucket to her right had five large potatoes with the skin still on them. The other was overflowed with skinless potatoes, a handful left in the sink.

All her hard work was shown on her hands – red and raw from clasping the potatoes and peeler. She must have stood over the stove at one point because drops of sweat were formed on her brow, beads of labour, like pearled jewels, glinting in the kitchen light.

I snuck around the kitchen island, approaching her on my tip-toes until I was close enough to kiss her leathered cheek. Her face was decorated with the lines which mapped her life upon her skin. They wrinkled in shock as the potato slipped from her grasp, landing into the sink with a plop. 'Elle!'

She clutched a hand tightly to her chest, a gasp on her lips as I bit back a laugh. 'I'm sorry, Nanna,' I said unapologetically, ducking out of reach as she jabbed the end of the peeler into my ribs.

'You can't sneak up on an old woman like that!'

'You're not old, Nanna.' I paused, tapping a finger to my chin dramatically, 'You're only, like, eighty-two.'

'Only e-' her eyes widened, and she started curling a tea towel in on itself. 'Only eighty-two. Why, you cheeky girl!'

I snickered, skirting her range with a wisping dance, giggling. When she wasn't ready, I stepped in, wrestling the peeler and towel from her grasp and then nudging her out of the way.

I ran my hands under the warm water, listening to her grumble under her breath as she went to check the oven, a smile hidden behind her façade. 'How was your day?' I asked as I selected my first potato.

'Brent and I spent the day cleaning.'

'I bet he enjoyed that.'

Nanna laughed, 'He didn't.'

I wasn't surprised. I'd never known anyone who had such a dislike of cleaning before in my entire life. He had feigned allergies to get out of cleaning – self-diagnosing himself in a desperate attempt to escape the responsibility.

I can't remember ever seeing him use a vacuum cleaner, and as I thought about it, I doubted he knew how.

Nanna's mirth was neither shocking nor unexpected. She'd given up on being angry long ago and now found it more amusing than anything when he was forced to help.

She often let him get away with it, having him do other jobs around the house – but he'd made the mistake of mentioning his friends late Thursday evening as we sat down for dinner.

Nanna had drafted him immediately into an early spring clean, and they'd spent the weekend dusting cabinets and clearing the attic. Meanwhile, Brent had been too busy arguing for a barbeque instead of the formal roast dinner Nanna had intended and couldn't get out of cleaning.

I should have helped him and thought about it, but watching the desperation flicker across his face had been worth more than ending his suffering. And then I had felt bad and considered helping him out, but he had waved two twenty-dollar notes in front of my best friend and begged him to sneak him a case of beer.

Jacobi had told me, and big-sister mode had been enabled as soon as it happened. I'd wanted to go full grisly on Brent, but Jacobi had told me that the bottle shop would be conveniently out of beer the day he went to get some.

So, seventy-two hours later, Nanna's old china cats were proudly displayed around the house – dusted, polished and primed for special visitors. Her delicate set of porcelain dinner plates was stacked on the benchtop, despite the paper plates tucked under the barbeque. And there wasn't a spec of dirt throughout the house.

Everything was perfect.

She'd even insisted that we find new outfits for the occasions, taking us shopping the day before, on the hunt for a bargain.

Half the neighbourhood had been invited, even though she knew the divide between the four packs of Aucteraden would mean only a quarter of the guests would show.

With it being Brent's party, it meant the Umbra pack had first dibs, and I had spent all weekend wishing that my brother had picked better friends or that the border feud hadn't been so nasty.

I wasn't friends with anyone from the Umbra pack. Jacobi was from the Vermiculo pack, and Kendra, a friend from my pre-school days, was human. Jacobi couldn't come alone to a party full of rival pack members. There was no knowing what would happen. Kendra could, though, and I was clinging to that knowledge.

'Hurry up, Elle. Those potatoes won't peel themselves!'