Virals(100)

The pup darted past me and started wading out towards the boat. I sloshed forward to catch him.

"Cooper!" I circled an arm around his neck and knelt in the water. "What are you doing, boy? Don't you want to go with your family?"

Face lick. Then he slipped my embrace, bounded through the surf, and started paddling toward the boat.

"What's he doing?" Hi asked. "Swimming to England?"

I glanced toward shore.

Coop's family waited by the tree line. As I watched, Whisper stood and barked sharply.

I looked over my shoulder. Coop was still paddling toward Sewee.

I made a decision. Kit would just have to live with it.

"Help him into the boat," I said. "Coop's made his choice. He's part of our pack now."

Ben and Hi hauled the soaked puppy over the gunwale. He shook, spraying everyone with salt water.

I jumped aboard and pulled Coop's small wet body to me. On shore, Whisper and her family melted into the forest.

"Is that what we are?" Shelton smiled. "A pack?"

"Of course," Hi said. "A pack with superpowers. And a dark secret."

"Tory can order me around inside my head," Ben said. "If that doesn't make us close, I don't know what does."

"We are a pack." I ruffled Coop's fur. "We're bound by our mangled DNA."

"We're Virals." Hi held out his hand. "Family."

"Virals." Shelton's hand covered Hi's.

"Virals." Ben's hand joined the others.

"Virals." My hand topped the stack.

I grinned, then yelled into the wind.

"And God help anyone who messes with the Virals!"

The others howled in agreement.

So did Coop.





Acknowledgements


First and foremost I would like to thank my son Brendan, without whom Virals would not have been possible. Thanks for all your hard work. I would also like to thank my tireless agent Jennifer Rudolph Walsh, and the entire staff at William Morris Endeavor Entertainment, for encouraging me to follow through with this project. I am grateful to Don Weisberg at Penguin and to Susan Sandon at Random House UK for believing in Virals from the beginning. Finally, a hearty thanks to Ben Schrank and Jessica Rothenberg at Razorbill for helping me navigate the new challenge of writing young adult fiction. I appreciate you all!