No one needed a ride back to the pack house, much to Julius's relief and annoyance because we "wasted so much time for nothing," even though he understood why we did it... I hoped.

"Finally," Julius said, breathing a sigh of relief when we started to make our way home, and I held back an eye roll while I scowled. "Do we have to stop anywhere else, or are we going to go straight home, TJ?" he asked and raised an eyebrow in question.

"We are going to go straight home," I said and shrugged with a small grimace before I cleared my throat and shifted in my seat. "Mel and I still have training, and then I still have work to do."

"And he has to ask Dad if Serenity is allowed to work for the family," Mel added. She flashed me a small wink, and my cheeks turned slightly red. "Isn't that right, TJ?"

"Yes," I said and nodded in confirmation. "I want to see if Dad will allow Serenity to work for us."

Julius frowned and looked at Melody before he looked at me, furrowing his brows. "Would that be safe?" he asked and cocked his head while he studied me. "I mean, there is a lot of information that she could get out of it like pack information, and we don't want that." He paused and cocked his head further while he pressed his lips into a thin line. "Do we?"

"We don't want her to know about any pack information," I said and shook my head, tapping my finger against the steering wheel, feeling very nervous. "However, it'll be safe if she works on the paperwork with me. We will have to black out some information or make sure that she can't read that stuff."

Julius furrowed his brows before he slowly nodded with a thoughtful look on his face. "Wouldn't she ask questions if the information was blacked out, though?" Julius asked, studying me while he furrowed his brows further. "I mean... she seems like she is a smart girl."

"Hey, all girls are smart," the youngest girl and sibling, Paige, said. She pouted and folded her arms across her chest, glaring at her older brother, and I bit back a small snort while I slowly nodded. "What do you mean by that, Julius?" she asked and raised an eyebrow in question.

"N-N-N-Nothing," Julius said with a small stutter in his voice, staring at her with wide eyes. He cleared his throat and shifted in his seat, his cheeks turning red. "I didn't mean anything by it, Paige." He shook his head and stared at her with wide eyes, and I bit back a small snort, becoming amused.

"Ya, get him, Paigie," Mel teased. "You are closer to him than I am."

Paige grinned and narrowed her eyes. She didn't say a word and raised her hand a little to hit him, and I bit back another small snort and shook my head.

"Paige, don't," I warned and shook my head before I cleared my throat and pressed my lips into a thin line. I narrowed my eyes and scowled while I looked at them before I looked at the road again. "Be nice. Julius, you need to be nice as well. Is that understood?"

"Yes," they said in unison before they nodded in confirmation, and Paige lowered her hand before she could hit him. They didn't say another word and looked at each other before they looked at me.

I cleared my throat and tapped on my steering wheel some more. "So, what are you all going to do when we go home?" I asked, changing the subject. "Do you all have homework that you need to complete?"

"Yes," Julius grumbled, louder than the other murmurs and folded his arms across his chest. "Can you help me when you have the time, TJ?" he asked and raised an eyebrow in question. "I have a stupid quiz tomorrow, too."

"Strange," Mel said. She furrowed her brows and cocked her head while she looked at him before she looked at me and then looked at me again. "It's the second day of school. Why do you have a quiz for tomorrow?"

"Because apparently, I got stuck with one of my older siblings' teachers," Julius said with a sickly sweet voice that almost had me snickering.

He rolled his eyes and scowled. "They want to make sure that I actually do the reading and not fuck around."

"Language until you are older, Julius," I said with a small laugh in my voice. "Or be careful of whoever hears you because there is a chance that someone might say something to Mom." I looked at one of my younger sisters, and she grinned and shrugged.

"His mess up is safe with me," she said sweetly, and I scowled and narrowed my eyes at her while she made the money sign with her fingers. "For a price..."

Julius scoffed and rolled his eyes while he scowled and narrowed his eyes. "What do you want, Chloe?" he asked and raised an eyebrow in question. "What are you trying to say?"

"Nothing," she said innocently while she shook her head and stared at him with wide eyes. "I am not getting at anything, Julius."

Julius scowled and narrowed his eyes further. "What do you want, Chloe?" Julius asked again, not believing her for a second.

"Be careful of what you want him to do, Chlo," I warned while I narrowed my eyes and scowled. "I will either veto it or say you can do it before this reaches Mom."

Chloe bit back a small scoff and rolled her eyes. She frowned and narrowed her eyes while she looked at me, and I had a feeling that she did not like the idea of me vetoing it before it reached Mom.

"I'm serious, Chloe," I warned while I narrowed my eyes and scowled. "You should be careful about what you want from Julius. He hasn't done anything wrong except for saying "fuck" when he knows better."

She bit back a small snort and rolled her eyes again. She leaned against her seat before she folded her arms across her chest and scowled. "Well, fine," she grumbled and narrowed her eyes. "I didn't want anything from him anyway."

"Mmmhmm," I said, not believing her. "So, since that is settled, who's teacher did you get stuck with, Julius?" I asked and raised an eyebrow in question. "Is it one of mine?"

"No," Julius said and shook his head. "It's Ms. Patterson."

Mel cringed and wrinkled her nose while she moved away from him. "Oof, sorry, Bud," she said, and I bit back a small snort because I knew what happened to her. "I didn't mean for you to be with one of my old teachers."

Julius bit back a small scoff and rolled his eyes, scowling. "Un huh," he said and folded his arms across his chest. "Like you have had the power to do that. If you did, then I would be in awe."

I bit back a small snort and tapped my thumb on my steering wheel. "I mean..." I said before I trailed off and looked at my brother, winking, and my brother rolled his eyes and scowled.

"Very funny, TJ," Julius grumbled, rolling his eyes again, and I snickered. "So, yes, I will be stuck with Ms. Patterson for second grade. Do you have any suggestions for me?" he asked and raised an eyebrow in question while he stared at me.

I bit back a small chuckle but shook my head. "Unfortunately, not," I said. "That would be a good question for Mel." I gestured to Mel before I placed my hand back on the steering wheel.

"Well, you are the charmer," Julius said, and my sister bit back a small snort. "You can charm the pants off of anyone, so I am sure that you could charm her and teach me your ways."

I bit back a small laugh and shook my head. "Unfortunately, not," I said. "There are some people that I can't charm even if I want to."

"Does that mean you can't charm Ms. Patterson?" Julius asked and raised an eyebrow in question.

"I don't think so," I said and shook my head with a small smile on my face. "I wouldn't mind trying, but I don't think it will work."

"And then you can teach me your ways."

I bit back a small laugh and nodded. "Ok," I said. "I will do that when I can, but for now, I think we need to worry about getting everyone safely home, ya?"

"And hopefully nothing bad happens while we are on our way," Julius said. "Because that would really s-"

Pop!

Pop!

Pop!

Pop!

Screams sounded throughout the whole van when someone popped all of the tires at once, and I took my foot off the gas and slowly started to put my foot on the brake, making sure that I didn't swerve into a tree or something.

Shit! Shit! Shit! I thought while I gritted my teeth and grabbed the steering wheel tighter, still making sure that I didn't run into anything or off the road and crash into a tree. Shit!

"Way to go, stupid head!" Mel exclaimed, grabbing her arm rest tighter. "This is what you get for speaking stuff into the fucking universe!"

"I'm sorry!" Julius exclaimed and grabbed the "oh shit" bar tighter. "I didn't mean for that to happen. I don't even know why it did that. I am not magical!"

"None of us are," I said and gritted my teeth while I finally got the van under control and was able to pull off to the side of the road. I parked the car and locked the doors, not knowing if this was some ploy to get me alone or without my parents nearby.

I turned around and looked at the back to see everyone looking pale and afraid, grabbing anything that they could hold onto. "Is everyone ok?"

There were a few murmurs of agreement from my group, and they relaxed a little, even though everyone was on edge because that was unexpected.

"Are... we going to have to get out of the car?" Julius asked, his voice barely above a whisper, and I shook my head no, not liking the fact that we were sitting ducks, but I knew it was better to be in the car than out of it, especially since we didn't know what happened.

"Not at this moment," I said and grabbed the steering wheel tighter. I took a deep breath and released it before I closed my eyes, trying to link my mother but was not able to, for some reason.

It felt as if there was this... mental block or something that didn't allow me to contact my mother, even though I knew we should be able to, no matter how long of a distance we drew away from them.

Shit...

"Hey, Mel? Can you link Mom?" I asked, opening my eyes, and reached for my bag to get my phone out so that I could call her if she couldn't while I tried to contact our father via mindlink, too. "Or Dad?"

"No," Mel said and shook her head. She pressed her lips into a thin line, furrowing her brows, and I could tell that she was getting nervous, all of us were. "I am not able to contact our parents via our mindlink."

"Shit," I muttered under my breath. I pulled my phone from my bag and opened it to see that I still had a charge and was connected to data. "Thank, Goddess," I said, breathing a small sigh of relief and unlocked my phone so that I could call my mom.

"I'm scared," one of my younger sisters said, her voice barely above a whisper. "What if something bad happens to us?"

"Nothing bad will happen to us," Mel said and shook her head, even though I could hear a small bit of doubt in her voice that she tried to keep hidden. "I mean, we have TJ, who is a strong ass wolf, and then we have me."

"Who is weak," I teased before I looked at her through the rearview mirror, winking teasingly before I turned my attention back to my phone.

My sister scoffed teasingly and rolled her eyes while she scowled. "Gee, thanks, TJ," she said sarcastically. "If I were so weak, then why does Mom want me near you? Hmmm?"

I shrugged and grimaced while I tried to call my mom, but I kept getting the busy signal for some reason. "Maybe because you are close to the same age as me?" I asked and raised an eyebrow in question. "Or at least, you are in the same grade as me."

We tried to keep the air in the car as relaxed as possible, even though we didn't know what was going to happen or why the tires had popped out of nowhere.

No one passed us on the road to help, much to my surprise and worry because this road not only led to the packhouse, but it also led to town, even though it wasn't the "main" road that did so. It was still pretty busy, especially at times like these.

My sister scoffed and rolled her eyes while I scowled. "I don't understand why she did so," she said. "I mean, I'm only sixteen, and I'm with people way older than me." She gave me a pointed look and raised both of her eyebrows in unison. "Some of them, I do not want to be with."

I bit back a snort and shook my head, amused. "I mean, they were trying to make sure that you were going to behave and decided to challenge you better than what you were getting at, Mel. That's why they did that," I said. "I mean, it did work."

'Mel? Do you copy?' I asked, trying to see my mindlink with my sister work while I looked at her through the rearview mirror.

"Ok, then why does Mrs. Patterson hate me?" Julius asked. "I mean, shouldn't she think I was the smartest person in the world since she had a student skip a grade?"

"Because that happened after her," Mel said with a small laugh in her voice while she shook her head. She looked at me through the rearview mirror, and relief flashed through her eyes. 'Yes,' she said. 'I can hear you. Are you ok?'

I bit back a small sigh of relief before I slowly nodded. 'I am. Are you?'

Mel held back an eye roll and pressed her lips into a thin line. 'I am scared,' she said honestly, and I bit back a small snort because I was scared too. 'Are you sure that you can't contact Mom or Dad?'

I held back an eye roll and scowled and narrowed my eyes while I looked at her. 'I am sure that I can't contact Mom or Dad. Why else would I be contacting you?'

She gave me a blank look before she held back an eye roll as if not to worry our siblings and let them know that we were linking each other. 'Haha, very funny,' she said sarcastically, and I beamed a little.

"Well, that sucks. Why couldn't you have done it in her class, Mel?" Julius asked and raised an eyebrow in question while he looked at her. He folded his arms across his chest and scowled, narrowing his eyes. "Why did you have to do it later?"

Mel shrugged and grimaced before she cleared her throat and shifted in her seat. "Don't know, but it happened," she said. 'Dad isn't answering his phone.'

I pursed my lips in annoyance and tried to call my mother again, with worry settling into the pit of my stomach. 'Strange because Mom isn't answering hers either.' I paused and looked at my phone. 'All I am getting is the busy signal.'

"Do you think tha-"

Thunk!

Something hit the side of the door, and all of us, including myself, turned that way and screamed out in fright.

Oh Goddess...

Protect us.