3

I’d been around the block a time or two, and although I didn’t like fighting if I didn’t have to, I’d brawled enough in my life to know when someone was bluffing, and my niece was most definitely doing just that.

So, I charged right back at her, arms wide to catch her in a hug. I couldn’t do that with a full-grown wolf shifter, but she was essentially the size of a large husky. Much to my chagrin, Arietty predicted my move and dodged to the side. Clearly, she was still getting used to the strength in her legs, because she slammed into the oven. The glass shattered and crashed to the floor. Well, now I definitely couldn’t let her slurp up any of the stuff she spilled.

Taking advantage of her surprise and the time she took to shake off the glass, I rushed forward and picked her up. She let out quite an indignant sound and kicked, but I carried her out, all the while using my alpha voice to soothe her.

“Breathe, Arietty. Breathe and focus on my voice. You will stop this nonsense now.”

Alpha voice was a complex skill that was easy to abuse. It was a combination of the subharmonics that all us shifters could use and my influence as her leader. It was natural instinct for her to obey anything said in that voice, which was why I was so cautious about using it.

Some alphas weren’t, but I was resolved to never cause harm to anyone in my pack. There was too much blood and pain in our history, and while I could never erase that, I was resolved to make sure I made it a distant, distant memory.

Arietty relaxed within my grasp, and I brought her out onto the grass. Quite a crowd had gathered, but they wisely gave us space.

It was yet another reason why I was so grateful to my pack. Yeah, we had our squabbles and drama like all large families and communities did, but we didn’t have any bad eggs. No one malicious who would try to hurt others for entertainment, no Karens, no Bitter Bettys, and no Lecherous Lennys trying to break up relationships. On the whole, we all just wanted to live and let live.

Now, I wasn’t so naïve to think it would always stay that way—after all, life liked to happen, but I definitely appreciated it in the moment.

“There you are,” I murmured as I put her down on the grass and scratched behind her ears. “I know it’s a big, scary world right now, and no one was expecting this, but you’re safe. No one’s mad at you. In fact, we’re all very happy for you. We just weren’t expecting it to happen so soon, that’s all. Not even you.”

She whined and pressed her head harder into my hands. Poor girl. Her human mind was probably only just beginning to catch up now that there was no food to distract her. Unfortunately, since she was new to having her wolf form, she likely didn’t know how to turn back yet, and it would take her a while to figure it all out.

“There you go. That’s my girl. Just settle for a moment and let yourself breathe. You’ve made us all so proud. Look at you, so healthy and strong!”

“Arietty?” a familiar voice called. A moment later, the crowd parted, and Chris and Bethany came rushing toward us.

“Arietty!”

I gave them space to hug their daughter, who was now letting out excited little yips. It didn’t surprise me when her mother shifted almost immediately, licking and pawing at her daughter as they no doubt communicated in shifter-speak. The girl still had a long way to go before she could speak back, but at least she would be able to understand it.

“Everything’s fine,” I assured my best friend. “Just made a bit of a mess, that’s all.”

Was that an understatement? Yes. But it wasn’t anything that we couldn’t repair. Besides, that was what the pack fund was for: fixing all the hiccups that came with human and shifter life.

“Thank you,” Chris said, looking up at me with those intense eyes of his. There was a depth of emotion in them I wasn’t sure I’d ever felt, and my heart squeezed at it. After everything Chris had done for me in all our years of being friends, I was finally paying it back a little.

“I’m gonna check on everyone inside. Be right back,” I said, tilting my head. Now that Arietty was with her parents, it was safe to leave her.

When I opened the door to Letitia’s house, smoke billowed out. Had a fire broken out? That was about the last thing I needed.

“How did she turn the broiler on?” Melodie shouted in frustration. She was pretty even-keeled—as much as a teenager could be—so concern lanced through me. I hurried to open a window while Auntie Letitia turned on the ventilation hood.

“It must have been when she crashed into it,” the older woman said with a heavy sigh. “This isn’t the first time a wolf has gone wild in my home, but I will say this has probably been the most damage one managed to do.”