Love Is Flower Like

Chapter 18

Edited 05/30/21

Staying home from school was frustrating for Meadow. Her dad insisted that she follow Sam's orders even though she vehemently protested the opposite. She didn't want to follow a man who thought it was right to force someone to do something just because he thought it was for the good of the pack. He was more paranoid than anything, in Meadow's eyes, so she thought it was just an abuse of power.

The day after she had her talk with Paul, she was banned from going to school and had to learn all there was to know about being a wolf and being a part of the pack. It was an overload of knowledge and Meadow had a tough time keeping up, especially with the patrol patterns. Working with Sam was the worst part of it all. Not only was he unable to sympathize with her, but he hated mistakes. She was yelled at every time she made one. Overall, he was a bad teacher. She wondered how the boys learned anything from him.

"I'm only going to explain this once, so pay attention," Sam said sternly. They were sitting outside with a map laying between them. It was a map of the reservation, and it had all kinds of lines and circles going through it.

"There are four sectors of the reservation. They are labeled North, South, East, and West," he said while pointing to each of them. "Two wolves are on patrol duty at all times, though that number is based on how many vampire sightings there are. Each wolf patrols two sectors at a time. During their patrol, they often cross paths like so," he said while following lines on the map. Every line on the map was black, which made it harder to follow. Her face scrunched up as she tried to memorize each patrol line.

"You'll be patrolling the West and East sectors since you're new. These sectors usually have the lowest rate of sightings. Here's the map so you can memorize your route. I'll give you a few minutes. After you're done, you can start."

Meadow stared at him in astonishment. That was all he was going to teach her? He must have read the look on her face right because he said, "The rest is merely instinct."

Merely instinct my ass, Meadow huffed in her head. Just because it was instinctual didn't mean she knew how to do it! She didn't know how to fight a vampire if she ran across one and she didn't know how to control her thinking. She really wanted to pull her hair out, but she didn't have time to throw a fit. She had to memorize her route and fast.

"Time's up," Sam said as he took the map from her hands and rolled it up. She narrowed her eyes at him but said nothing. "Go. Jared will relieve you when you're done."

She shifted into her wolf form and shook out her fur before running off. Immediately, the thoughts of her younger brother invaded her head. His thoughts revolved around one brunette that resided in the neighboring town. Meadow rolled her eyes at the direction his thoughts were trailing. He was upset that she had been dating a vampire, his natural enemy. And she knew about it! He couldn't figure out why she would voluntarily do something that dangerous.

Would it be any different if she were dating you? Meadow asked.

Of course! he shouted. She's human and he's a creature that drinks human blood.

Wolves are dangerous, too, Meadow said as she pictured an image of Emily. She hadn't gotten the full backstory, but it was obvious that it was one of the guys who did it. The scars were shaped like something ran its claws down her face. It's plausible that a bear did do it, but as far as Meadow was aware, Emily wasn't one to go hiking, and since Sam wasn't directly hateful towards any of the boys, it had to have been him who had done it.

We're monsters in our own right, she said. He was contemplative for a moment before he huffed and grumbled.

We're still better than those bloodsuckers.