Free Black Magic (Howl #4) by Jody Morse, Jayme Morse Page A

. . . how you can have a mate at such a young age. You have your whole life ahead of you. It seems like a bad idea to tie yourself down to only one person at this age.”
    “It’s not like we get to choose who our mates are,” Samara replied. “Fate—or destiny or some higher power—decides it for us. But once we know, we don’t want to be with anyone else. It’s hard to explain, and probably difficult for you to understand.”
    Her mom shook her head. “Actually, it’s not as difficult for me to understand as you may think. I understand the concept of soul mates. I believe your father is mine.”
    “How did you know that dad was your soul mate?” Samara asked, glancing over at her.
    Mrs. McKinley’s lips turned into a wistful smile. “I knew when no one else in the world gave me the same feeling I got with him when we first met. Even now, your father can still give me butterflies. Not all the time after all these years, but when he does sweet little things. Like last year on our anniversary, he played the first song we ever danced to. We danced to it all over again, and it reminded me of the very first time.”
    Samara smiled. “I wonder if I’ll still have that feeling about Luke in years from now.”
    “If he’s really the right one for you, you will.” Her mom hesitated before continuing. “Sweetie, I know you have a lot going on in your life right now, but I want you to remember that you’re only in high school. You have to focus on your schoolwork.”
    “I do focus on my schoolwork,” Samara replied.
    Her mom shook her head. “You’re not doing quite as well as you used to. I got a phone call from your biology teacher today. She says that you’ve gotten a C or lower on your past three tests. Do you want to tell me what that’s about?”
    Samara shrugged. “They were harder than the other ones we’ve had, I guess.”
    Mrs. McKinley raised her eyebrows. “Are you sure that’s the real reason? I was a little surprised to receive the phone call because biology has always been your strongest subject. It comes easy to you, even though I never understood how because your father and I are both pretty awful at it.” Her mom paused. “I thought you might be struggling, though. That’s why I’ve hired you a tutor.”
    “A tutor? Why ?” Even as the words came out, Samara knew how defensive she sounded, but it didn’t matter. The last thing she needed to deal with right now was a tutor. If it was going to be anything like the Spanish tutor her mom had hired for her in the sixth grade—a little old man who was more interested in teaching her curse words in the language than actually helping her conjugate her verbs—it was going to just be a total waste of everybody’s time.
    “Yes,” Mrs. McKinley replied. “I saw an ad in the paper. I actually just got off the phone with him before I came into your room. He’s won quite a few science fairs over the years, and he seems to have a genuine interest in biology. Not that any of that really matters, though, as long as he can help you understand the material enough to get your grades up.”
    “I guess,” Samara muttered, sighing relentlessly. She knew that there was no getting out of this. Her mother’s mind was already made up. She was going to have to be tutored, whether she liked it or not.
     
    *
     
    In her dream, Samara was chasing after Joe McKinley. They were both in wolf form, but somehow, she knew it was him; it must have been his white, arctic wolf fur which looked just like hers that gave him away. He was also swifter on his feet and had broader shoulders than Seth did while he was in wolf form.
    She followed him to the other side of Starlight Lake, where he leapt into the water.
    Her instincts told her that she knew how to swim even when she was in wolf form, so Samara followed after him. It became a little bit of a struggle to swim, as the cool water clung to her fur and weighed her down. She didn’t give up, though; she