Page 27 of Wolf Duty

Bay ripped off the paper and stared down at the box in his hand. “You got me an ereader.” He hated how flat his voice sounded, but he thought Sonya knew about his dyslexia. They hadn’t talked about it straight out. There hadn’t been time to talk about a lot of things. But he’d mentioned it, sort of, in a roundabout way when he told her about Dale’s note.

Sonya opened her mouth, but before she could utter a word, Karim, bouncing with excitement, interjected, “Open the other gift.”

The other package contained a pair of top-of-the line wireless headphones. Those, at least he could use.

Karim grabbed the ereader box and started opening it. “Now you have the same setup as me. Let me show you how it works. Well, your headphones are nicer.” He shot a reproachful look at Sonya.

She sighed. “Let him open his own gifts and figure out how to use them.”

“I don’t mind,” Bay said, lamely. Odin would grow a new eye before he’d be able to decipher the instructions for the ereader and then he’d still not have a use for the gadget.

Karim chatted away as he ripped open the boxes. “Get Sonya to buy both the text and the audio file for the stories you want.” He paused and looked at Sonya. “Do you have enough money to buy us both books or do I have to share mine?”

“I think we can find funds that cover both of your reading needs, but it would be nice if you shared your books with others.”

“Fine,” Karim grumbled, but then got excited again. “So when you set the font to the one that helps people like us with dysleskia–”

“Dyslexia,” Sonya corrected and earned another reproachful look from the pup.

“That’s what I said. Anyway, there’s a special font for us and if you use that when you read your story and have the voicereading to you in the headphones at the same time, it’s much easier to figure out the letters.”

Wait, what? How had he missed this? “You have dyslexia?”

Karim rolled his eyes. “Duh, yeah. Just like you.” He beamed a full-wattage smile at Bay. “We’re the same.”

Lost for words, Bay looked at Sonya for guidance. Moisture glimmered in her eyes. “He’s been thrilled ever since he found out you share his condition.”

“Yeah,” Karim said. “Because now I know I can grow up to be a real wolf and a pack member even though I take longer to read.” He had the ereader out of the box, but frowned at it. “It won’t turn on. I think we have to charge it first.”

“We can set it up after the party,” Sonya said. She looked at Bay, worry showing on her face. “Do you like your present?”

He stood and pulled her into a hug. “I love it.” He cleared his throat. “It’s the best present ever.” Leaning down, he captured her lips with his.

“Ew,” Karim shouted. “Stop with the kissy face.”

Bay reached behind him and pulled the pup into the hug. “I’ll give you a kiss next,” he threatened.

Karim made gagging noises, but burrowed between the two grownups, arms around their legs. Sonya sighed, the sound happy, and leaned into Bay’s chest.“You know I went to school to become a teacher, right?”

Bay nodded and then realized she couldn’t see him. “Yeah.”

“I’m actually a special education teacher, focused on pedagogy for people with reading difficulties like dyslexia.” She paused. “Ifyou’re open to it, I could show you some methods for making reading easier.”

“Don’t do it.” Karim said. “They’re not as much fun as the reading stories on the ereader. You have to do a bunch of writing exercises and she gives you homework.”

“I give you homework to help you learn,” Sonya said.

“What if there’s a game that could help me learn,” Karim said with newfound enthusiasm. “That would be fun.”

“You should get Ulf to research that for you.” Sonya ruffled his hair and he swiped at her hand impatiently.

“Ulf only likes where you get to shoot stuff. I think I have to research that myself.”

“I’ll help you,” Bay said. “And if we find one, we’ll play it together.”

“Yeah,” Karim exclaimed.

“After we do our homework for Sonya’s lessons.”

Karim sighed. “I guess,” he said with such a forlorn sigh that both Sonya and Bay laughed.

His wolf purred.Family, it grumbled joyfully.

Family, Bay agreed. The best family he could ever have hoped for.He hugged them tighter.