My face and neck felt hot and I knew my cheeks were likely pink. Either these shifters were lying to me, or my pack had lied to me. Honestly, I wasn’t sure what was true.“She thinks we’re going to kill her and eat her or skin her alive or some bullshit,” Alec said.“You really think that?” Sheila asked, her tone pained.“I don’t think you’ll hurt me.” I really didn’t. They could have already if that was their plan. “They taught us a lot of things in Wolf Creek that don’t seem to be true. I thought all shifters needed a pack. That it was harder being on your own.”Even though that was my plan, I never considered that I counted into that theory since I couldn’t actually shift.“It is harder on your own,” Malcom agreed. “That’s why we live in a community. We have companionship but we don’t have the burden of a pack.”“We prefer to be around others like us. It makes things less complicated,” Sheila explained. “But packs have systems, rules, expectations.”“You don’t have rules?” I was li

“Hello?” A voice I would now recognize anywhere called into the tent.I stood. “Alec?”He opened the flap. “I would ask if you’re decent, but it’s not like I didn’t carry you naked for three miles.”“Wait, what?” That was news to me. “You said I was a wolf when you found me.”“You were, as was I, but you shifted back as soon as I growled at you. You gotta work on your wolf’s ability to stand up for herself,” he said.“Well, that would have been helpful information when we first met,” I said.“Not really, you couldn’t do anything with it. I’m going to wager you still couldn’t. Sheila said she wanted to have you work with Greta.” He held up a pair of boots. “She also said you needed these.”The black combat boots in his hands were practical, sturdy, and looked like they could do some damage if I ever needed to kick someone while wearing them. Basically, they were my dream shoes. I crossed the tent and took the shoes from him. “Thanks.”A quick glance at the tag let me know they were exa

Greta was on her feet and out of the tent faster than I expected for someone of her age. I followed, chasing the child and Greta down the pathways, past the clusters of tents, until we reached the woods near where I’d entered when I’d arrived.A male with sandy-blonde hair was laying on the ground, blood pouring from his nose and mouth. His clothes were torn and his shirt was bloody. He was moaning in pain, his hands gripping for the ground and finding no purchase.“What happened to him?” Had someone attacked him in the camp?“Why isn’t he healing?” The child asked. “He should be healing. Shift, Daddy. You need to heal.”She ran forward and Greta caught her, then passed her to me. On instinct, I reached for the girl and pulled her into my arms.“Get the child out of here and keep her away,” Greta ordered.I looked down at the kid. The little girl had the same blonde hair as the fallen man. She was trying to stay strong but I could almost feel her fear.“Go, now,” Greta barked.I grabb

In the short time I’d been here, this group of feral shifters was more like a pack than my own pack growing up. I saw signs of community, support, kindness, and joy. They shared meals and presented a united front when a problem arose. Shit, another family stepped up to help Megan when her dad was injured. Nobody once even checked on me when my mom nearly died of an overdose when I was twelve.I knew I shouldn’t get too attached and that I should be cautious, but things were looking pretty good from an outsider’s perspective. It was all the things I wished I’d had growing up that I never even knew I wanted. I wasn’t sure what it meant, but even with Alec’s weirdness, this place was better than Wolf Creek.Surprisingly, I managed to find Sheila’s tent. When I stepped inside, it was empty. Instead of risking getting lost forever trying to find Sheila, I decided I’d wait. I plopped down in one of the folding chairs and closed my eyes for a bit. My mind was too restless to settle so I open

“Lola? Lola, it’s time to wake up,” a gentle voice called.My eyes fluttered open and I saw Sheila sitting on her cot. She stretched, lifting her arms above her head. “You were out.”Surprisingly, I slept like the dead. I didn’t even remember falling asleep and I’d had no dreams. I rubbed my eyes, then sat up and stretched before standing up. “How long were we asleep?”“Few hours,” she said.My stomach growled and I covered it with my hand.Sheila laughed. “Let’s find some dinner.”I pulled on my combat boots, which looked amazing with the shorts Sheila procured for me, and then the two of us emerged from her tent. The sky was purple and I couldn’t even see the sun anymore. It was that magical time of evening right before it changed from day to night.There had been people around the common area every time I’d passed through, but as we got closer, I realized I’d only seen a fraction of the shifters who lived here.There were easily a hundred or more shifters gathered around the massiv