Chapter 1

            “Hannah, can you step into my office please?” Called Barb.

            I sighed and turned around to walk back to her office. She gave me a gentle squeeze on the shoulder as I entered and sat down. Barb was a sweet woman; she had run the orphanage since before I had arrived. My eyes followed her as she took her own seat behind her desk, her glasses swaying on their chain around her neck. I couldn’t help but chuckle to myself at her appearance. She looked not a day over thirty, but she chose to dress like an elderly librarian from the fifties.

            “As you are aware, Hannah, you age out in a month.” Her words wiped the laughter from my face. “How is the search for a job and apartment going? Have you found anything yet?”

            “No.” my shoulders slumped heavily, “Nobody wants to take a chance on an orphan with no work history.”         

            “Well. I have great news than!” Barb chuckled. “I’ve recently been authorized to add another caregiver to the orphanage. The position comes with room and board as you will be responsible for the younger children and their needs round the clock.”

            “Really?” I shrieked in excitement. Barb had just told me I wasn’t going to be homeless and on the streets in a month.

            “Hannah,” Barb cautioned. “I wouldn’t offer this position to any of the others. Your circumstances are unique.”

            Barb was right. Before coming to the orphanage, I had belonged to a pack. The rest of the orphans that had come through here in my time had all been human. The only other wolf in the entire place was Barb herself. She was offering me the position not just so that I wouldn’t end up on the street, but also so that I wouldn’t be considered a rogue threat by other wolves in the area. I was an alpha by birth, which made me an even bigger threat as a rogue.

            I had come to the orphanage when I was eight, before my wolf had ever made an appearance. My parent’s and entire pack had been wiped out while I was at a sleepover in the neighboring human community. I couldn’t remember much about that night, just my friend’s father coming home in his policeman uniform with a grim look on his face. He had received a call from my parents, alerting him that something was wrong, but by the time he arrived, our packs compound was a grizzly murder scene. The locals had written it off as some kind of religious massacre. They all assumed we were a religious group of some sort. None of them had been aware that we were a pack of werewolves.

            The only thing that saved me that night had been our packs penchant for sending the pups to the local schools until we reached our freshman year. I had been the only member of the pack, including the other pups, not on the compound that night. All because I had been at a sleepover with my human best friend Ella. I hadn’t seen Ella outside of school since that night. At first, it just hurt too much seeing her with her family, but we slowly drifted further apart as time passed.

            “I’ve arranged for you to have a run tonight.” Barb said, pulling me from my thoughts of the past. “There shouldn’t be any other packs running in the area, but I will be out tonight just in case.”

            I thanked her and left the office, excited for both my run and not having to stress about where I’d be in a month. Now I could focus on finding a pack. I had hoped that I could join Barb’s pack, but me being in the system had thrown a wrench in things. I couldn’t be taken in without approval of the state and they weren’t willing to give it. With the worry of being on the streets off my shoulders, I could focus my attention on studying pack law and stand a chance of being admitted once I turned eighteen.

            When I got back to my room, I quickly located the book with pack law and plopped onto my bed. I read and reread the pages until the words began to blur together. I hadn’t realized it had gotten dark out until I saw the time on my clock read “11:03”. Time for my run! I threw on a pair of sweats and a baggy shirt and made my way out of the orphanage. As soon as I was out of sight of the building, I stripped, folding my clothing neatly, before shifting and letting my wolf have free reign.

            It had been months since the last time Barb had been able to arrange a run for me. The feeling of the leaves and dirt under my paws was exhilarating. I sent up a silent prayer, thankful that I wasn’t in some large city and there were actual woods for me to run through. I pumped my legs harder, flexing the muscles that hadn’t been used in this form in months. I wanted to enjoy this run and push myself to the limits. I wasn’t sure what would happen with my attempts to join the pack, so this could be my last run for a long while.

            I ran aimlessly, enjoying the feeling, until I was struck by the overpowering scent of cedar and rain. My legs carried me towards the scent, stopping to allow me to sniff ever so often and ensure they were on the right path. I found myself in a clearing by the stream that ran through the woods. The scent seemed to surround me here as if I were at its center, but I didn’t see anything except the trees and stream.

            Slowly, I began to circle the clearing, hoping to pick up where the scent was coming from. Movement at the corner of my eye caught my attention and I froze when I turned to see a large black wolf slowly entering the clearing. His size gave him away as an Alpha. I eyed him warily. When Barb had told me she arranged for me to run, that was supposed to mean no other wolves would be in the area. I knew I smelled like a rogue. I was pack-less after all, the fact that it wasn’t by choice didn’t matter.

            He moved towards me, pausing in the center of the clearing, confusion clear in his wolf eyes. I could feel my wolf form wanting to close the distance between us. She was yipping in joy inside our shared mind. Mate! Mate! Mate! I was struggling against her for control, she didn’t seem to understand the danger we were in.

            A howl cut through the night, causing the large black wolf to tear his gaze from me. This was my chance! I pounced on the momentary fear my wolf had felt at the howl and took control. I pushed my body as hard as I could, feeling my muscles and lungs burning, as I raced back to the orphanage. I shifted quickly as the edge of the trees meaning safety appeared, closing the distance in my human form. For the second time that night, I sent up a silent prayer of thanks, I had been smart enough to wear an oversized shirt out and wouldn’t need to stop to pull on my sweats. The shirt would hide my nakedness enough for me to get inside without any questions about my missing pants from anyone I might run into inside.

            I didn’t bother to stop as I scooped up my clothing, just tossed the shirt on and closed the distance between me and safety. Luckily, the orphanage was dark and quiet. Nobody would have questioned my clothing, but they might ask why I had been out so late. Before closing the door, I paused, the scent of cedar and rain was almost as strong as it had been in the clearing. Glancing quickly over my shoulder, I saw that the wolf had indeed followed me home. I almost slammed the door in fright when I realized his eyes were watching me.