131
Lucy
Seeing Peter at the museum left me in a weird place. I appreciated learning more about the world, but his words, and his presence, were still unsettling to me. I was glad to be back in just my human classes today.
“Afternoon classes have been canceled.”
I looked up at Sarah. “What?”
She held up her phone and showed me the notification that there was some sort of construction happening that required the entire campus to be empty.
“What a perfect way to start the weekend!” Amy exclaimed, her eyes practically glowing. “Let's go sign up for our first community service project with Helping Hands!”
“Classes were canceled, and you want to do manual labor?” Sarah asked. She turned to Michelle. “Someone else be on my side for this.”
Michelle smiled. "That sounds amazing, Amy. I’m in.”
Sarah groaned. “Lucy?”
“Will they take us?” I asked. “I mean… will they have space?”
“They said they still needed more hands when I passed by,” Amy pouted. “It’s okay if no one else wants to come.”
“We’ll leave Sarah out if she’s too pretty to sweat,” Duke said, stretching. “I’m in.”
Amy’s whole face lit up as we left the classroom and headed toward the Helping Hands. Sarah grumbled a little about there being more fun things to do than manual labor, but it quieted as soon as we reached the booth and she saw the two older guys running it.
One of them grinned at us and thrust a sign-up sheet toward us. “You all need a ride?”
“No,” Duke said, smirking. “Just the address.”
We filled out the sheet, got the address, and headed outside. Thomas was there with an SUV and a wry smile.
“We got out of classes early,” he nodded to Amy. “We’re going with Amy to Helping Hands.”
“Ah,” Thomas said and opened the back door. “Then, please get in and we’ll head that way. Mr. Chance is already on-site.”
We got in and Sarah cooed at the luxury of the seats. Thomas drove us away from campus and through the streets to an area that looked kind of empty. The parking lot was craggy, but there was a lot of green space nearby and a greenhouse that looked like it was still being built.
As we arrived, David turned and waved us over. We climbed out and other people from Helping Hands swarmed us.
“New blood!” one of the guys cheered. “Good to see you. Let’s get you some aprons and split you into teams.”
He turned. “David! You have room?”
He grinned. “Of course.”
“Great.”
Amy was practically bouncing with excitement as he gave us directions and equipment. I pulled on the Helping Hands aprons and crossed the area toward where David was rallying his team.
Watching him made me wonder if I had been wrong about what alphas were supposed to be like. Tony and Matt didn’t seem to have the same kind of energy with their pack as David had with these humans. I’d seen it before with him at Shell Cove. Watching Tony and Matt with the members of their pack was nothing like this. I couldn’t imagine anyone responding to Tony and Matt without...
Then, someone handed me a shovel. He grinned.
“I hope you’re not too pretty to sweat.”
I took it, shook my head, and followed him. Duke had a shovel, as did several others. We were supposed to be digging up a marked-out patch of what looked like old, broken-up concrete. It didn’t take long for me to get tired, but I felt good. It was the first time since I worked at that warehouse that I had been doing anything like this.
I hauled a shovel full of concrete into a wheelbarrow. The wheelbarrow shook, and someone else lifted it and started to drive it away. I looked back at the rest of the concrete we had to move.
“We’re going to be at this for hours,” a girl groaned nearby.
“Maybe if you lifted more than just one rock at a time, we wouldn’t be.”
She scoffed.
“Behind you,” David said as he walked past, carrying a huge chunk of it on his shoulder.
Someone let out a dramatic sigh. “What a man.”
Duke grinned, leaning on his shovel, and wiggled his eyebrows at me. “Lucy? Nothing to say.”
“Leave me alone.”
He laughed as I got back to work. We laughed and chatted as we cleared the concrete. David and another part of the team wheeled it away to where they were using it to block off parts of the garden bed and make walking paths. Soon, a large truck dropped off a machine where they threw the really big pieces in.
When the ground was clear of concrete, we retreated to the shade for a break, and another team started to water and break up the ground.
I watched another group start to paint the walls of the little shed they just finished assembling on the other side. Someone was hanging a banner. A few other people were sweeping the sidewalk. I saw Amy carrying big bags of something into the greenhouse.
“Alright,” someone called. “Great job. Ready for more?”
“My back hurts!” one of them cried.
He rolled his eyes. “Anyone else?”
“I’m good,” Duke said, getting to his feet.
“Great, gloves and spades. We’re rotating and planting on the other side.”
I grabbed a set of gloves, a spade, and a bucket and followed David to where other volunteers were shoveling it out. He set four buckets down to be filled back up and turned to me.
“You alright?”
I nodded. “It’s… a bit like being back in the orphanage.”
His eyes softened as he grinned. “Yeah, with better tools.”
Once his buckets were filled, he picked them all up and headed off. They filled my bucket, and I followed behind to where the area we were planting in would be.
“Lettuce,” David said, nodding to the trays of seedlings. “They’re coming with more, but we can get started with these.”
David showed me how to mix the soil and the compost to prepare the ground. When I got the hang of it, he kneeled further down from me, preparing the other parts of the bed as we planted. He made it look easy, overturning the soil and mixing it around, but his clothes were soaked with sweat pretty soon. By the time we finished the seedlings that were there, an hour had passed, and a truck was pulling into the parking lot.
David wiped the sweat from his brow, looking around at our work. "Looks good. Volunteers to help me get the rest off the truck?”
“Where do you get all of this energy from?” someone asked.
He grinned. “I eat my vegetables.”
Duke and I burst into laughter, remembering one of the caretakers always saying something similar to us. Duke and I volunteered to go to the parking lot with him.
Just as I crossed the threshold of the gardening space and the sidewalk, a shiver went through me.
“You okay?” Duke asked.
I nodded, trying to shake it off. David eyed me suspiciously, then cast his gaze around.
“Stay with her,” David said and walked further from the sidewalk. Duke led me to the tailgate of the truck and opened it.
As we began unloading the plants and trees from the truck, a strange unease settled over me. The bustling sounds of the volunteers and the scent of the earth started to fade away. I could feel someone watching me. Something was wrong.
A shiver ran down my spine, and my senses heightened. Every sound seemed louder. I looked around, frightened, but I couldn’t see anything.
“Duke, take her into the greenhouse,” I heard David say, but I couldn’t see why. My heart was racing.
My stomach turned. I shook my head.
“I’m fine. It’s just…” I frowned. “A weird feeling.”
I pulled one of the small trees from the back and lifted it into my arms. I glanced around again, looking for something, but I saw nothing.
David came to me. “Don’t ignore your instincts, Lucy. I’m going to scan the area, but I want you somewhere you feel safe, okay?”
I nodded. I turned back, following Duke inside. I glanced back, but the gnawing sense of unease pushed me to hurry and follow Duke. We crossed the threshold of the sidewalk, and I felt a little better, but the fear didn’t leave me.
I walked to where the tree was going to be planted and set it down. Once we’d had it set in the ground, I headed back to the truck, but I stopped right on the edge of the green space. There was a thin, glowing barrier just in front of me.
My heart pounded in my chest. The fear seemed to be growing, but I didn’t understand what was going on.
Then, I realized what was making me feel that way as a familiar car pulled into the parking lot.
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