Read Over My Head (Wildlings) for Free Online

ever go to high school?" I ask.
    Solana nods.
    "Remember how much everybody liked the kid who squealed?"
    "This is heavy-duty bullying. Assault isn't the same as who stole somebody's pencil," Matteson says.
    "No police," I repeat.
    The agents exchange a look. Matteson sighs.
    "There's not much we can do if he won't identify them," he says.
    Solana nods. "But we're taking you to the hospital. You could have internal injuries."
    I force myself to my feet and try not to sway. I hurt everywhere.
    "I just got roughed up," I say. "You showed up right after it started. All I need to do is go home and lie down."
    Solana glances at Matteson and shakes his head.
    "I wouldn't say no to a ride home," I tell him before he can say anything.
    Again they exchange a look.
    "It's his call," Matteson finally says.
    I accept Solana's help to the car.
    When we're all inside, Matteson leans over the seat to look at where I'm slumped in a corner.
    "Why did you let them beat you up?" he asks.
    "It wasn't my idea."
    "But with your abilities, you could have—"
    "I keep telling you. I'm not a Wildling."
    He studies me for a long moment.
    "Yeah," he finally says. "I guess you're not."
    "Seat belt," Solana says as Matteson pulls the car away from the curb.
    I fumble with the clasp until it locks into place. I lean my head on the back of the seat and stare out the window. I can't remember ever hurting as much as I do right now. Under my skin I can feel the mountain lion's impatience. It wants to go hunting.
    I close my eyes.

    Mom's not home when they drop me off. I go in and grab some painkillers, then collapse on the couch. I manage to text Des to tell him that something's come up and I can't meet him, then I lie back. I know there's something about not falling asleep when you could have a concussion, but right now I don't care. The adrenaline rush that's been keeping me going has worn off and I need to crash. I wrap myself in Mom's TV blanket and let the painkillers take me away.

    It feels like only minutes later when I wake to Mom hovering over me. The look on her face tells me I haven't magically healed while I was asleep. Then I remember. That only happens when you shift into your animal form and then back again.
    "It's okay," I lie. "It looks way worse than it really is."
    "What happened ?"
    "I got jumped by some guys after school."
    For a moment her worry turns to puzzlement.
    "I don't understand," she says. "Couldn't your—special abilities—protect you?"
    "But that was the whole point. How better to prove that I'm not a Wildling?"
    "And you think this was worth it?"
    "It seemed like a good idea at the time."
    "Who were these boys?"
    I shake my head.
    "Joshua Saunders. If you think I'm going to just stand back and let a bunch of thugs give my son a beating, you don't know me very well."
    It takes me a lot longer to convince her than it did the FBI agents. And then I have to convince her that I don't need to go to emergency. She gets a bag of frozen peas from the freezer to hold against my mouth. I'd protest, but this is a better use for them. I never could stand the things.
    By the time she stops grilling me, I'm exhausted. For one thing, it isn't easy talking around a bag of peas. She lets me go to bed, but I can still hear her grumbling to herself from where I lie. Then it all goes away as I fall asleep again.

    Sometime in the middle of the night, I wake up from a jumble of weird, vivid dreams with the feeling that there's someone in my bedroom. It takes me a moment to get rid of the fog inside my head to focus on the figure sitting in my desk chair: Cory. He looks the same as he always does—like some street kid around my age, dark skinned, hair almost black—but he's one of those old-school animal people who've been around for a lot longer than the half-year or so that Wildlings have been appearing in Santa Feliz.
    I have a bit of a love/hate thing going with him. He was the first to find and help me when I became a Wildling—so props