That’s how they always respond—with lip service. You can’t teach them, but you have to try anyway.

“You don’t have to steal things. You can earn them yourself.”

“Right.”

“It’s unfair to take what other people earn.”

“Uh huh.”

Her face shutters. She’s tuning me out, and now my temper’s flaring. There’s no sense in beating this dead horse. Her kind don’t want to learn.

I kick off my shoes, unbutton my jacket, and hang it on a piling.

“What are you doing?” She wrinkles her nose, curious. Some of the tension leaves me and my wolf. We didn’t like her telling us what we want to hear. We didn’t...