Page 108 of Pack: Posy 3

"I don't have a wolf inside me," Thoreau told them with a pout, then turned to his big brother. "Bubba, can Spring come here? He might learn some things, too."

"They know you don't, honey," Emerson said, "and yes. I'll see if someone can drop him off."

Thoreau clapped his hands, and I smiled at his innocent happiness.

"Should we wait for Spring?" Adam asked, but Emerson shook his head.

"Okay, then," Nick started, "number one is be smart. Be aware of your surroundings. Don't let yourself get cornered. Know where the exits are. Stay around others instead of wandering off by yourself. And if you're uncomfortable, walk away or link one of the pack to join you."

I nodded. I did a lot of that already. Made sure I knew how to get out of a room and watched strange men's hands to make sure they didn't come flying toward my face.

"Number two is run," Rio said. "Try not to panic and run blindly, though. Head for a place where you know there will be people. Last thing you want is to end up trapped in an empty classroom. There's always someone in the main office, and the cafeteria is used as a study hall outside of breakfast and lunch."

"Finally, number three is scream," Reuben told us. "It startles your attacker, maybe even enough to scare him off. Plus, it lets everyone in the area know something's wrong. I know you both can link anyone, but screaming alerts humans, too, and most of them have good hearts and would help you."

"Can you remember those, Reau?" I asked him.

"Smart, run, scream."

"Good job!" I praised him.

"Give me head pats. Bubba gives me good job head pats."

"Oh, my bad." Biting back a smile, I reached up and patted his soft curls.

"Give me a good boy kiss, too."

"And who gives you those?" My brain was having trouble imagining Angelo or Leo pecking his forehead or cheek.

"I will let you be first." The way he blinked at me reminded me of Sid, Granite, and Topaz when they wanted belly rubs.

"If you do a good job until the end of the lessons, I'll give you a good boy kiss," I promised.

He jumped up and ran a lap around the entire center while the gammas chuckled at him and Emerson rolled his eyes. When he came back around, he plopped next to me, panting and red-cheeked.

"Now that good boy kisses have been sorted," Reuben smirked, "let's start with how to escape simple holds. I'll explain it, then act it out with one of the other gammas. After that, you can each try it. As I explain, I'm just going to say 'he' because statistics show males attack other people far more often than females, okay?"

"Okay," Thoreau said, and I nodded.

"So, first hold is a common one. If he grabs you by the wrist, don't try to jerk your arm back. That isn't ever going to work because your hand is bigger than the circle he's created around your wrist. You'll just pull him with you. What you do is turn your hand until your thumb lines up with his, then bend your elbow really fast at an angle. That works almost every time."

He had Rio stand in front of him and demonstrated what he'd just explained in super slow motion so we could see, then they repeated it at normal speed.

"Reau, do you want to try with me first?" Adam asked.

"Sure! Watch me, luna!" He leapt to his feet and met Adam in the middle of the mat. "You grab me or me grab you?"

"Whichever you want to try."

"Me grab you first, then the other way."

The two of them worked through the move a couple of times at slow speed and then twice more at normal speed. Thoreau's pretty stone-colored eyes widened each time it worked, making me chuckle. When they finished, they both sat down in their places again, but only after Thoreau had gone around and fist-bumped or high-fived all of the gammas and Emerson and I had patted the top of his head.

"Now, luna, who would you like to try this with?" Rio asked.

Swallowing hard, I pointed to Reuben only because he was more familiar to me than the others. I got to my feet and joined him on the mat, making sure to keep three feet between us.

"How about you try to grab and hold me first?" he offered with a kind smile.

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