Page 71 of Who Let The Wolves Out?

She snorts. “Don’t push it, Wolf Boy.”

I lean back, a grin spreading across my face.

“So you think it’ll work?”

She nods once. “I think itcan.And more importantly, I think you’re the right person to lead it.”

My chest goes tight.

Good tight.

Like my ribs just grew to make room for something bigger.

“Thanks, Julie,” I say.

She gestures to the door. “Now go help Zak with the lake obstacle course. He nearly drowned a witch this morning with the floating trampoline.”

I’m already halfway up. “On it.”

“And Jason?”

“Yeah?”

She smiles. “Good pitch.”

I walk out of that office ten feet taller.

Because for once, I didn’t just belong here.

Ibuiltsomething here.

I find Alice in the art shed, perched on a stool in a cloud of yarn and glitter chaos, helping Rubi tie a bead necklace that looks suspiciously like a mini spell circle. She flashes me a quick smile but finishes tying off the cord before walking over to where I’m waiting by the door, folder still tucked under my arm.

“Okay,” she says, brushing glitter off her hands. “You’ve got that face.”

“What face?”

“ThatI did something brave but now I’m panicking about itface.”

I grin. “Wow, called out.”

She crosses her arms and tips her head. “Spill.”

I hold out the folder. “I pitched it. To Julie.”

She blinks. “Pitched what?”

“The mentorship program. For kids like Nolan.”

Her expression shifts immediately—curious, open. She takes the folder gently and flips it open, skimming the first page.

“Wait—this isthatidea? The one you were too shy to actually show her last week?”

“I wasn’t shy. I was... emotionally buffering.”

She smirks without looking up. “Uh-huh.”

I lean against the doorframe and try to sound casual. “I’ve been thinking about it for a while. How there are campers who don’t quite... find their place here right away. The ones who struggle with their powers or don’t have great support systems at home. The ones like Nolan, who show up half-terrified and full of doubt.”

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