Chapter 1
I lay in a ball on the cold metal floor, trying to use my fur to keep me warm as I slept. I’ve lost count of how long I’ve been here. I’ve received three bowls of dog food, which gives me the impression I’ve been here for at least three days.
Dog food. I know, right? But I’ve refused to shift into my skin, so they’ve retaliated by serving me food meant for dogs from a can. This and their jeers have made me want to shift into my skin less and less.
Not to mention the fact that I have no creature comforts befitting even a human in this rectangle of a cell. There is no bed, no blankets. Okay, yes, there is a toilet. Ha ha. I’m not shifting to use that, not when cameras are pointed down the hall of the cell block, leaking into my room.
The first day, the guards who captured me came in to taunt me, whacking the bars of my cell with their staffs and calling me names. They’ve mainly left me alone since, seeing as the only response they get from me is a growl. Cowards. The only reason I am here is because they are cowards. Little boys trying to make themselves look good by herding me across their borders and marking me as invading their territory.
I hear the door to my cell block creak open and hide my head into my forelegs. Feeding me dog food and treating me like an animal will do nothing to get me to communicate. Footsteps come down the hallway, and I hear four men walking towards me. My sense of smell hits me next. Two little boys who captured me are with the man in charge and another Delta wolf.
This is interesting. My wolf, Pandora, stirs as she smells the authoritative scent of the Alpha wolf walking towards me.
I refuse to look up until I hear the Alpha wolf stop in front of my cell, flanked by the unfamiliar Delta and one of the little wolves.
The Alpha wolf stands in front of my cell, his legs hip-width apart, his hands clasped behind his back. He looks youngish, with brown curly hair tied up and hazel eyes. I can smell his mate on him and am surprised she smells like a Fay.
“I hear you’ve been quite difficult,” the Alpha states. I raise an eyebrow at him before closing my eyes again, feigning uninterest.
“I’ve been told you ran onto my land, refused to shift and tried to attack my men,” the Alpha continues. I scoff at his words, ‘men.’ Little cowards he means.
“Shift!” the Alpha orders, the command seeping through my ears. Technically, he’s not my Alpha. But he’s powerful, so I obey.
“Fuck! You told me she was a male! Get me a blanket, quick!” the Alpha roars at the little coward with the freckle above his right eyebrow. Coward Freckle visibly shakes as he receives his order and scampers off.
“I apologise. I was told you were a male wolf. Your wolf is larger than the average she-wolves,” the Alpha explains. I give him a simple nod.
“I’m sorry, Alpha. She acted like a male wolf!” the little coward standing behind Alpha apologises, his voice quivering with fear.
“And she refused to shift when we asked her to!” he adds. Coward Freckle then walks up and hands the Alpha a blanket. As he does so, the Delta wolf unlocks my cage door, allowing the Alpha to walk inside.
I take the blanket from the Alpha and wrap my body with it, grateful that the pungent smell of arousal coming from the two coward wolves now has a barrier blocking the sight of my body.
“And why did you refuse to shift in front of my men?” the Alpha asked in a gentler tone. I angled my head slightly at this question. All the time, I’ve been analysing the dynamics of the four men, listening to their heartbeat, and smelling their scents.
It’s been a long time since I’ve been this close to werewolves. Almost two years. And I haven’t spent much time in a pack house since then, either. Their scents are strong, and I can smell the undertones of other scents around them. The Alpha has an unusual scent mixed with a soft floral fragrance, which seems odd with who he is. His mate, perhaps?
“If you were a single she-wolf, would you shift freely surrounded by five virgin male werewolves whose only intimate contact they’ve had is with their hand?” I finally ask after a pause. The Delta next to the Alpha chuckles at my response.
“I’m sure they let you shift behind a tree,” Alpha replies. I look over his shoulder at the coward wolves, their faces with expressions of anger.
“They did not. In fact, they had cattle prods and herded me across your border, taunting me as they went,” I reply.
“We did not!” the coward standing behind the Alpha yells. The Alpha turns to look at him, giving him what I can only imagine to be a glare, making the coward stand down.
“Well, you have cameras in that section of the forest. They were on. So, you can believe that,” I say. The Alpha and Delta look at me, surprised.
“How do you know that?” the Delta asks, just as both the coward wolves retort that there are not.
“I heard them.” Like, duh.
“Why would my men use cattle prods and herd you over our border?” the Alpha asks, raising an eyebrow.
“I don’t know. This is your pack. Maybe they had something to prove, like putting me in a cell with no bedding and attempting to feed me dog food? A lovely introduction to your pack, this is,” I retort, stepping to the side to reveal the three full bowls of dog food I had pushed against the cell wall.
“Leyton?” the Alpha asks, turning to the Delta beside him.
“Alpha Jed, my shift started today,” the Delta replies. I nod. I haven’t scented this wolf since I’ve been here.
“He’s telling the truth. He hasn’t been here. Only the little cowards have,” I reply. The Alpha glares at me, making me suddenly feel bad for telling him the truth.
“Gregory, get your friends and meet me in the office in ten. Leyton, please show our guest to one of the spare rooms in the pack house, get her some clothes and let her clean up,” Alpha Jed growls.
“Yes, Alpha,” Delta Leyton bows, watching Alpha Jed storm off, followed by the two little cowards.
“Little cowards, huh?” Delta Leyton smirked, indicating that I should follow him. I nod.
“How can you tell Gregory and Christopher are virgins?” he then asks.
“I can smell it,” I reply.
Delta Leyton doesn’t say anything else, instead walking through corridors and upstairs. I take in everything as we go. I haven’t lived in a pack for five years, and wandering through this pack house gives me a mixture of awe and apprehension. I can smell many different wolves, and a few other supernatural beings in this building, and their scents are overwhelming. However, I do not see a soul.
Leyton says nothing about the lack of people as he leads me through the pack house. I assume they have been warned to keep out of this section of the building. We walk down a hallway when suddenly a door opens, and a she-wolf walks out. When she notices Leyton, she grins.
“Hi, Leyton. Have you been laid lately?” the girl asks. Leyton growls, but the girl smirks.
“No? Soon, maybe?” she smiles.
“That’s not even remotely funny, Laura,” Leyton replies.
“Really? I thought it was,” Laura smiles happily.
“Why are you here and not Carla?”
“She was going to do it, but I volunteered!” Laura responds, still smiling.
“Next time, don’t.”
“Oh, you’re no fun!” Laura simpers, walking off down the hall away from us.
“She likes you,” I observe once she’s gone.
“And how would you know that?” Leyton scowls. I look at him knowingly.
“You can scent it?” he huffs.
“Strong and clear,” I nod.
“She’s not my mate,” he says under his breath, opening the door. Laura exited to let me in.
“That never stopped anyone before,” I answer, walking into the room.
Wow. This was not what I expected of the accommodation I would be sent to. Inside the room is a large four-poster queen bed with a canopy. Yeah, that’s right, a fricken canopy. Every eight-year-old girl’s dream. And still mine. Wow. On the wall facing the bed is a flat-screen TV and a door to the side, which I assume leads to a bathroom.
“What? No walk-in closet?” I tease, turning to look back at Leyton. He shakes his head and smiles.
“Sorry. No. Get yourself cleaned up. Laura’s left some clothes on the bed for you, and I’ll come back with some food in a couple of hours. I have to lock you in, though. But you have the TV,” Leyton tells me, heading out of the room.
“Wait,” I call out. Leyton looks at me.
“I haven’t eaten anything for a few days. Could I get some food sooner?” I ask. They gave me dog food, after all.
“I’ll ask my Alpha. If he says yes, I’ll knock before I come back in. Just clean yourself up,” he says, turning away.
I tilt my head to the side as I watch him walk out the door and listen as he locks me in. I don’t look that bad, do I? I mean, I’ve been in their cell for three days and haven’t eaten, but before that, I was in my fur…
Shrugging my shoulders, I let the sheet go and walked over to the door for the bathroom. Yes! It’s a bathroom—fancier than the one in my apartment. My apartment… I have no idea how long I was in my wolf form—maybe weeks. I wonder if I even have an apartment to go back to.
“Sorry,” Pandora complains sarcastically in my head.
“You should be,” I reply.
“It’s not my fault you kept me locked in for over year!” Pan huffs before retreating back inside my head. I sigh. I know I kept us in our skin for a long time. I shouldn’t have, and I missed the forest once we came back. But… I needed a change of scenery.
“Shit!” I cry out when I catch my reflection in the mirror. Okay. Now I can see what Leyton was getting at. My skin is a shade of brown that is not from the sun, and my hair, also brown, is matted with sticks and stuff in it. I look like I’ve rolled in the mud and hit a dozen trees while I was at it for good measure.
“Pan!” I cry out, exasperated. She snickers in my head, and I roll my eyes.
I guess I’ll have to try to get all the debris out of my hair before I shampoo it.
This takes time. I pull sticks and twigs and fricken brambles out of my hair, long strands coming out with it.
“Ow!” I cry when I pull a huge mass of whatever it is from my hair.
“Oh, build a bridge,” my wolf complains to me. I chuckle at her sarcasm.
“I love you, Pan, but the damage to my hair…” I complain.
After ten minutes, I feel slightly more satisfied and turn to look at the rest of the bathroom. The white bathroom has shiny, clean, white square tiles adorning the walls and floor. There is a separate bathtub that looks big enough to fit two and a walk-in shower cubicle. I’m pleased with this room; it is much nicer than the bathroom in my apartment… which is pink. Or was pink. If my apartment hasn’t been rented out to someone else by now.
“Oh goddess,” I sigh as I stand under the showerhead. Not that my shower in my apartment is terrible, but this one is so much better. The showerhead is bigger… it’s large and square, and I feel like I’m standing under a waterfall rather than a sprinkler.
When I walked in, I noticed some expensive-looking cleaning products. When I opened each cap to smell their scent, they smelt good. In the meantime, I stood under the water and let the dirt wash off me.
“How long were we a wolf for?” I ask Pan as streams of dirt run down my paper-white skin. Pan huffs in response, still angry at me for moving into the city.
I shake my head. I was only in the city for eleven months, far from the forests and open spaces. After weeks of Pandora bugging me, I finally relented and took a bus to the nearest town by a forest. I left my bag with my money and ID in a tree near the edge of the tree line and shifted into my wolf. Admittedly, I missed the forest… the trees and the smells. I guess I got carried away in the forest and lost in my run through the bush. I slept under the stars again in my fur, which was nostalgic. I also hunted prey again, which I enjoyed. The forest where I was only had little animals, like wild pigs, foxes, and rabbits. Not like the larger animals seen in the northern forests where I’m from.
It was this one tricky hare that got me, though. I had scented him out at least a week ago. I had feasted on a family of foxes (I know, I’m cruel… but fox meat is so tasty), so I was full, but this one hare… It just caught my attention, and I had to catch him. He was quick. Bounding around shrubs and under trees. I kept my distance, enjoying the chase more than anything.
I must have gotten distracted, though. You see, some would think a small animal is easy prey. But there are pros and cons to whichever size animal you hunt. Big animals are, well, bigger. They are easy to capture but put up more of a fight. Smaller animals are the opposite. Hence the challenge.
I enjoyed following this hare, which led me to another and then another. I was lost in the bush, not that I was worried. But I was definitely nowhere near a pack’s boundary. I’m not stupid. I can smell a pack boundary from miles away and so avoid them.
Anyway, I was about to pounce on this poor grey hare when suddenly, a wolf came thumping through the forest, frightening my prey off. I was not impressed and growled when he made himself apparent.
I immediately knew he was a werewolf, as I could smell his pack on him. His size also told me that he was a Delta, albeit young.
I also knew that if I had to, I could take him on. I wasn’t on his pack land; if he attacked, I had werewolf law on my side. Neutral territory is meant to be a safe area for all wolves… and I wasn’t doing anything wrong by being there.
But I was pissed at his elephant-like movement through the forest. Stealthy, he was not. I’d been hunting rabbits for days and was about to complete my hunt, so I growled at him. He growled back, arching his back, threatening to attack. I may be a female, but I can hold my own, and I was not about to back down from his threat. Until his four other friends came bumbling through the forest after him.
Quickly, I found myself surrounded and outnumbered. The first wolf and his friend shifted before me, putting on shorts they had tied to their legs.
“Shift!” the first wolf commanded. I laughed. He had no power in his voice, and even if he had, I was a much stronger breed and not from his pack, so he couldn’t tell me what to do.
“He said shift!” his friend ordered. This one had his nose pierced. I think the piercing was an attempt to make him look tough, but it didn’t suit his face.
“David, did you bring the prongs?” the leader asks.
“Yup,” a voice says by my side. I turned to see the leaders’ friends around him, now in their skins, wearing nothing but shorts. The wolf who had just spoken opened the duffle bag he had laid at his feet and pulled out four sticks, passing them out to his friends.
Growling, I turned and watched them. When one stepped forward, I snarled in their direction, creating a chorus of hearty laughter and jeers at my expense. This continued until they surrounded me in a tight circle, close enough to prod me with their fricken electric prongs but far enough to keep their distance from being hurt.
Which is why I call them cowards. I’ve never heard of werewolves who herd other wolves using such devices. But it’s low. Very low. Whichever pack they were from, I would make sure they would pay.
I watch as the water flowing down my legs is clear, and then I squirt more body soap on the shower puff to clean myself with.
After stepping out of the shower, I wrap a soft towel around my body and walk over to the bathroom mirror, wiping it clean. I look like myself again. My hair is less brown, and my face is clean once more. It’s amazing what a little soap and water can do for you.
“Just a little?” Pan quips, and I snarl at her, making her snigger. My wolf is my best friend but also my harshest critic. We’ve become quite close these past five years, almost in sync.
Finally, I exit the bathroom, where a scent of lavender greets me. Laura. A three-tiered service cart stands in the room, filled with covered dishes, drinks and snacks. On the top of one of the covers is a note.
“I didn’t know what you’d like, so we got you a little bit of everything. L,” the note reads. I smile at it and lift up the first lid. Steak, mashed potatoes, steamed vegetables—yum.
I spent the afternoon on my bed flicking through TV channels and eating. I had checked the door- it was locked. I mused that I had swapped one prison cell for another, although this one was much more comfortable.
I knew what the time was from the television and the date from the news channel. Six weeks. I had been in my fur for three weeks, running through the forest like I had no responsibilities. At first, I was angry at myself and Pan, but I only had myself to blame. I had chosen to move to the city, wondering what city life was like and why it drew humans to them. I understand now that although humans distanced themselves from each other, they needed each other and were drawn together like us werewolves and packs.
But city life wasn’t for me. I guess my years living on and off in the woods and Sierra significantly affected me, and I needed to be back… to breathe in the aroma that only forest trees hold and to feel the soft dirt against my paws. I’m part animal and have resisted my true self for too long.
I’m fully aware that my decisions have meant I’ve probably lost my apartment in the city and everything held within its walls. I’ve also lost my job due to the inconsideration of my responsibilities. And I’m angry at myself for that. I was not raised that way.
What was meant to be a weekend escape… well, I’m back where I started—in a pack, surrounded by werewolves. It’s been years, and I’m curious if I’m ready to immerse myself in werewolf life again. But maybe it’s a good thing. Perhaps I should go back home? See my parents?
I wallow in these thoughts. I was selfish when I ran away. But I couldn’t be there anymore. I’ve often wondered how my parents have fared. But it hurt too much to be around other wolves. Seeing them happy while feeling what I felt.
I stop my thoughts there. I don’t want to think of… the reason I took off in the first place and avoided werewolves.
I smell Leyton before I hear him walking down the hall towards me. Over the day, I smelled other wolves walking past my doorway, unaware I was stuck in this room. But no smells that I know have come near until now.
I watch the door and wait, my ears perking up when I hear a knock and a rattle of keys. Leyton gives me a quick nod when he walks in, pushing another service cart.
“Dinner. Wow, you must have been hungry,” Leyton notes when he sees the empty cart waiting at the side.
“It’s better than dog food,” I answer, watching his reaction.
“We’re terribly sorry about that. Those Deltas are being punished,” Leyton responds.
“I hope not only for that,” I mutter. Leyton turns and looks at me. His aura is full of remorse.
“That is also being dealt with,” Leyton replies, turning and leaving, locking the door behind him.
I look at the door in thought. I wonder how that is being dealt with. My initial impression of this pack was that it was not a good one. Only when the Alpha came to see me did my treatment change. I’m angry at how I was treated and want to lash out. But I’m also at this pack’s mercy. I need to be careful in case they can hurt me more. But as soon as I can, I’ll contact the council.
