I woke up to sunshine hitting my eyes. The sun shone through the window and onto the bed where I had been sleeping. I stood up and walked over to the window, squinting as I gazed out the window. I could see the sparkling water of the pool down beneath, but there were some dark shadows on the bottom of the pool. I winced; that would be the mud from last night.

I decided to get ready for the day with pool cleaning on my mind. I brought my bag filled with toiletries into the bathroom and dug through it to find the items I needed. I decided not to unpack and leave my stuff everywhere, because I wasn’t sure if I was really supposed to be staying in this room.

After a shower and an attempt to make myself look presentable, I started digging through my luggage to find appropriate clothing. I decided yoga pants, sneakers and a T-shirt with a zip up hoodie to layer over it would work for any cleaning I had to do today. I left my borrowed clothes folded on the bed; I could return those later. Before I left the room, I repacked my bags just in case I was going to be kicked out of the room.

I was ready to leave the room and go in search of breakfast but nervous at who I might run into. Four out of the five of the guys I had met so far have been welcoming, but how would the other 50 or so pack members feel?

I squared my shoulders back. I wasn’t going to hide in this room because I was afraid of people not liking me. I opened my door and stepped into the hall. I didn’t see or hear anyone as I walked down the hallway and then down the stairs. I headed toward the kitchen so I could investigate what they might have for breakfast.

I made it to the kitchen without seeing anyone. A part of me was relieved that no one jumped out and said, “Hey, what are you doing in my house, stranger?” The other part of me was disappointed that I had not run into any of the guys I knew.

I was rummaging through the fridge when someone came into the kitchen. I closed the fridge door so I could introduce myself. The newcomer was about my height with chestnut brown hair and warm brown eyes. He was wearing jeans and a long sleeved tee. He looked lean and not as heavily muscled as the other guys in the pack.

I smiled at him. “Hi, I’m Anna.”

He flicked his eyes down to my feet and back up to my eyes. “Caleb. Austin mentioned there was going to be a girl here, but I expected you to be more…” He waved a hand in my direction.

I narrowed my eyes at him. More what? I thought to myself. More pretty? More petite? More well-dressed?

He realized that wasn’t the best way to start out and backpedaled. “That is to say, I’m happy to meet you.”

Mmmmhmmmmm…I decided not to let it bother me; he could think whatever he wanted.

“What do you guys usually eat for breakfast?”

He smiled. “Breakfast is usually every man for himself. The twins have the tendency to only visit the meat and deli departments when they go to the grocery store. The rest of us pick up food occasionally to go along with all the meat, but no one really wants to cook breakfast.”

“Ahhh,” I said. “Will anyone care if I start cooking with the food you guys do have here?”

“You’re going to cook?” He looked at me incredulously.

“Why does everyone look so shocked when I say I’m going to cook?” I was curious but also a little irritated.

“Because you’re hot. Everyone knows beautiful girls don’t cook; they just lounge around and wait for people to bring them things,” he stated bluntly.

My jaw dropped. Hot? Beautiful? Did this guy need to put on his glasses? Also, I was a little offended that he thought so poorly of women but I thought about the Kelseys of the world. If the only girls he had ever met were like her, then he might not know any better.

This made me determined to show these guys that not all women were awful. I walked back over to the fridge and started to pull things out. They had bacon, eggs, and cheese in the fridge. I was a little surprised that the pantry had flour and other baking necessities in addition to snacks.

“Where are all the other guys?”

Caleb watched me gather up items from around the kitchen. “James is out of town, Austin should be down for work in a half hour or so. He will probably drag the twins down with him. Cody is still out on his morning run.”

I started pulling out pans, bowls, and measuring utensils. I decided I had everything I needed for bacon, egg and cheese sandwiches on biscuits. With an extra side of bacon, of course.

Caleb watched me measuring out ingredients dubiously but took a seat at the counter. “You’re not going to use a recipe?”

“Trust me, once you have made something ten thousand times, you don’t need a recipe,” I told him confidently. “Do you have to go to work this morning, too?” I asked him, trying to make some light conversation.

“I do, but I work from home.”

I smiled at him. “That sounds cool. What do you do?”

“Oh, I’m the tech guy for the pack.” He grinned ruefully at me. “In case you haven’t noticed, I’m not great with people.”

I laughed a little and shrugged. “I get nervous around new people.” I gestured toward the mess I was making as I formed and then placed biscuits onto a baking tray. “It helps me to keep moving and focus on physical tasks so I don’t worry so much about what other people think about me.”

He nodded thoughtfully. “I can see that. So that’s why you like to cook?”

I shrugged. “Part of it was necessity; I have to cook if I want to eat. But the other part of it means I have something to keep me occupied when I go to gatherings. If I’m busy with food, I’m not standing awkwardly in the corner, trying to think of things to say to people or being too nervous to walk up to them and start a conversation.”

He looked really surprised. “You don’t look like the type of girl who would have a difficult time socially.”

“What type of girl do I look like?”

He tilted his head. “You look like the girl who everyone else would be too intimidated to talk to.”

I gave him a weird look. “You mean because I’m freakishly tall or something?”

“Nah, you look like a model.”

Was he just messing with me? I looked in his eyes, but it didn’t look like he was mocking me. With the biscuits baking in the oven, I started putting the bacon on another baking sheet that I had found.

“You’re going to put that in the oven? I thought you were supposed to cook it on the stove?”

I rolled my eyes at him. “Trust me, this is going to be good.”

I could tell he wasn’t a believer. The bacon was going in the oven once I popped out the biscuits in another couple minutes, but I needed something else to keep me busy, so I started cracking eggs.

I started opening and closing all the cupboards, looking for something round I could use to make the eggs into the right shape for a sandwich. I eventually found several of those metal rings used to make hamburger patties and figured I could make it work.

Caleb watched me curiously as I put a pan on the stove to heat up. I finished making my egg mixture and looked around for their spice rack. I found what I needed just as the timer went off for the biscuits. I switched the biscuits out for the bacon and reset the timer.

“Jason and Mason have both eaten my food and lived to tell the tale,” I assured him. “I’m pretty sure I hear them coming now.”

I started cooking the eggs and slicing biscuits as I went along. Austin was the first one in the kitchen, and he raised an eyebrow at me standing at the stove. The twins were right behind him.

“Good morning!” I chirped out.

“Anna!” Jason exclaimed. “I checked your room this morning, and you were gone. Why are your things packed?” he asked worriedly.

I glanced at Austin. “Well, I wasn’t sure if I was going to be staying there or…” My voice trailed off, and I was interrupted by the timer.

“I think that room is the best choice,” Austin answered. “Cody and I can keep an eye on you.”

I nodded and pulled the bacon out of the oven.

“All right, bacon!” Mason exclaimed. He was picking up a cup of coffee he had just made from the Keurig. Austin took it out of his hands. “Pack-master gets the first cup.”

Jason snatched a piece of bacon off the tray and tossed it from hand to hand, trying to blow on it and cool it off.

I finished assembling the first two sandwiches and handed them to Austin on a plate. “I’m guessing that goes for sandwiches, too?”

He grinned. “You learn fast.”

I started on the next batch of eggs I needed for more sandwiches. Mason and Jason took turns making coffee and stealing bacon.

Eventually, all of us had sandwiches and coffee. Austin clapped his hands together to get everyone’s attention. “Caleb, you already have your assignments for today?” Caleb nodded in confirmation.

“Anna, I need you to work with Caleb at some point today. He needs some info from you for the investigation you are helping with.” It was my turn to nod.

“Mason and Jason, you are going to class as per usual, but I want you back before dinner and to stick with Anna while you are home.”

“We can’t skip class today to take care of Anna?” Mason asked.

“No,” Austin answered sternly.

Caleb cleared his throat. “Don’t you guys only have class from one to four today anyway?”

They both mumbled an assent.

“That gives all three of you plenty of time to clean the pool and take Anna shopping for anything she needs. I’m guessing she can’t live on meat alone,” Austin told them.

I smiled; it sounded like Caleb wasn’t the only one with complaints about the guys’ shopping habits.

Mason got a glint in his eye. “So, we can shop the way Anna usually does?”

Austin glanced at me. “Within reason, and stick to the budget.”

All of us nodded. Everyone turned to look as the glass door out to the back patio opened and Cody stepped through. He was shirtless and sweaty.

Oh my god, that man was built. I tried not to stare or drool in his direction.

“Cody, excellent. I need you in my office by 10 this morning. We have some things to go over before contract negotiations.”

Cody nodded and looked at the remnants of breakfast. “It looks like I came in a little late.”

“We still have eggs. I can make you an omelet,” I offered shyly.

“You cook?” he asked in surprise.

I groaned. “Why does everyone keep asking that?”

“She’s an awesome cook,” Jason told him enthusiastically.

Mason chimed in and told him about the Mexican dinner they had helped me prepare the previous day. All the guys looked impressed.

“I vote we put Anna in charge of food procurement,” Caleb suggested.

Austin looked at me thoughtfully. “We haven’t decided what Anna’s responsibilities are going to be for the pack yet. I need some more time to get to know her.”

The twins groaned in disappointment.

“You two didn’t think it was going to be that easy to pawn your duties off, did you?” Cody teased them.

“All right, everyone, time to get started on the day. I need to go debrief the night guards unless anyone else has something they needed to bring up?”

Everyone shook their heads no. Austin put his dishes in the sink and headed upstairs. Caleb hesitated after he stood, looking in my direction. “We will bring you Anna when we need to leave for class,” Mason assured him. Caleb nodded and headed after Austin.

Cody wiped his sweaty face with the shirt he had thrown over his shoulder before heading to the fridge. “I already made myself a protein shake for this morning, Anna, but thank you for the offer.”

I smiled at him. “Sure.”

He took his protein shake and a bottle of water back upstairs with him. I was guessing he needed to rush to get ready for the day of meetings with Austin.

It was just me and the twins left standing in the kitchen. “Help me clean up here before we go out to clean the pool?” I asked them. They grumbled a little bit but agreed once I asked them where they planned to get dinner tonight.

We spent the morning cleaning the giant pool. To my surprise, the twins stayed on task and all three of us stayed relatively clean and dry. Once we were finished, we all plopped down in the cushioned chairs.

“We only have one task done for the day, Anna,” Jason told me.

Mason added, “We need you to do your magic grocery trick so we can be free to do fun stuff for the rest of the day.”

“Yeah, we need something good for lunch.”

“My iPad is upstairs.” I laughed.

They both groaned.

I decided to take advantage of the fact that neither of them wanted to move right now. “So, what is it that your pack does for money? It seems like whatever it is, you do it well.”

Mason opened one eye to look at me from where he was lying. “Mainly, we get contracts from the military for ‘security’. You know, like Blackwater.”

I nodded in understanding, and he took it as a sign to continue. “We do really well with that, because almost everyone in our pack is prior military. We also have a lot of ex-special forces like rangers and SEALs to take on projects that no one talks about.”

I looked at him doubtfully. The bars around Seaside were packed with “special forces” on Friday nights. Everyone and his brother claimed to be a Navy SEAL when it came time to impress girls like Kelsey.

“If you’re not deployed overseas or busy with training, you can work for one of the companies Austin has here. He has a construction company and is a part-owner of an engineering firm and some kind of financial company that does investments,” Jason added.

Mason looked at him. “Don’t forget about the bar.”

Jason nodded. “Yeah, so everyone in our pack can always get a good job through Austin’s connections.”

“You guys go to school?”

They both nodded. “We are using our GI bill to get a degree in business.”

I thought it was a little odd that Mason made it sound like the two of them together were earning the same degree and using the same GI bill. I had noticed both of them speaking like that before but had just brushed it off. I decided to delicately bring it up this time.

“So, you guys do everything together?” I asked softly, avoiding their eyes.

They both nodded. “I can tell by your face you think it’s a little weird,” Jason said with a soft smile.

Mason changed the subject. “You know, you’re a little weird, too.”

“Believe me, I know.” They both laughed at my response, but Mason continued. “I didn’t notice it at first, but I can tell that you think of your wolf form as a separate person.”

I gave him a confused look. “Isn’t it, though? I’m a person, and she’s a wolf. I have different thoughts and ways of thinking than she does.”

Jason shook his head. “You’re Anna. Sometimes you look human, and sometimes you look like a wolf, but you are still always Anna.”

Mason frowned. “What do you mean, you ‘have different thoughts’ from her?”

I struggled a little to explain. “You know, when I’m human-Anna, I might feel insecure or nervous, and I am always thinking about how my actions will be interpreted by other people or what they might think about me. My wolf - I mean, I guess when I’m in my wolf form, she - I mean, I act more on instinct. I feel more free, and I just want to run and play and explore.”

They both exchanged glances as I struggled to speak.

“Do you think it might be because you were raised by humans?” Mason asked.

Jason chimed in, “You probably felt like you had to separate your wolf form and hide it from everyone. That made all those aspects of yourself more repressed and must have seemed almost like another person was emerging once you finally let it all out.”

I was a little shocked at how smart they were. They were a lot more than just fun pranksters.

“So how do I…recombine myself?” I felt like an idiot for not being able to find the right words, but they both understood why I was trying to say.

“You need to stop repressing everything that makes you a wolf while you are in human form. You can relax around us; we’re pack.”

I nodded. I wasn’t sure that I could do that. I didn’t even realize I had been repressing myself. Mason scooted over and patted the seat next to him. “I’ll help you practice.”

Jason looked over at us curiously while I moved over to Mason’s cushion.

“I noticed you don’t even try to pick up on scents while you are in human form,” Mason told me.

I blushed. “I didn’t realize I could.”

I think Jason realized what Mason was planning, because he nodded approvingly.

“Close your eyes,” Mason told me. I hesitated.

“You can trust us,” Jason murmured softly as he came over to sit on my other side and nudged me closer to Mason so he could have enough room to sit. I was now wedged between the two twins. I have never felt small before, but being squeezed between these two big guys made me feel petite.  I imagined this was what Kelsey felt like all the time.

I tried to relax and closed my eyes. I knew the twins did not intend me any harm; they were trying to help. But despite my best efforts, my body was still tense, as if waiting for a blow to fall.

I felt Mason pick up my right hand and hold it in his. He gently caressed my wrist with his thumb. Jason did the same with my left hand.

“Concentrate on what you are feeling right now,” Mason coaxed me quietly.

I first focused on the feel of their hands on mine. Their hands felt callous, as though they spent a lot of time working with their hands. I idly wondered if they spent time at the construction company they mentioned; they definitely had the physiques for it.

I expanded my senses from my hands. I could feel the warm of their bodies pressed against each of my sides. Their thighs against mine…I started to flush with the heat of embarrassment in addition to the heat their bodies were giving me. I decided to abruptly move on because my thoughts were definitely going in the wrong direction.

I decided to focus on the cool breeze I could feel across my face and ruffling my hair.

“You’re doing great,” Mason encouraged me. “Now, reach deep inside yourself where ‘your wolf’ resides. Instead of just letting go and giving that part of yourself complete control, try to use that part of yourself to extend your sense of smell. Try to identify us by smell alone, as if you had no idea who we were.”

I struggled with this part. I reached down and connected with that part of myself that yearned for freedom. I felt ‘her’ trying to emerge, and I clamped down to prevent myself from changing.

I opened my eyes, filled with disappointment and a little bit of shame. “I tried, but…” The words came out in a whisper, and I tried to hold back tears that were threatening to fall.

“It’s OK” Mason patted my thigh encouragingly.

“That was just your first try,” Jason added and released my hand.

“You should keep working on exercises like that, though. Keep trying to expand your senses and draw in that other part of yourself,” Mason told me.

They exchanged glances. “We can try letting her human side have more fun,” Jason suggested.

Mason nodded, his eyes lighting up.

“We are banned from using paintball guns on the property, for reasons I’m sure you don’t need an explanation.”

I rolled my eyes. “I can imagine.”

“We are not even allowed to use them outside,” Jason told me mournfully.

I tried not to laugh. Where were they going with this?

Mason grinned and rubbed the top of my head, messing up my hair. “Paintball actually isn’t just a fun game -”

“Although it is fun,” Jason interrupted.

Mason ignored him and continued. “It lets you use all of your wolf senses and indulges your urge to hunt.” I started to see where he was going with this.

“The adrenaline from the hunt should bring some of those senses to the surface for you,” Jason explained helpfully.

“But you will be having fun, so you shouldn’t feel the urge to automatically suppress those instincts. You might even use them without realizing it,” Mason added.

I nodded. This was making sense.

“We just need to clear it with Austin. The best place to go for this is about a thirty-minute drive from here. But he told us not to take you out of a two-mile radius from our property.”

I frowned in disappointment. “Does that mean we can’t go on another run?” The run we had yesterday was a lot of fun. “I think it was really helpful for my wolf – I mean…” I decided to just start over. “I think it was really helpful for me to interact in my wolf form with other wolves and people.”

Both guys grinned at me with approval. “We are definitely making progress here,” Mason told me. “It would be a shame to slow that down. Austin did tell us to teach you about wolves…”

“Technically, he told us a five-mile radius from the property, not the house,” Jason said impishly.

“And our property extends for miles…we are on the very edge of Seaside. Not many people head this way and out into the wilderness.” Mason grinned roguishly.

They were both grinning, and I think we had just talked ourselves into getting in more trouble. That didn’t stop me from grinning right along with them.

Jason jumped up. “We have to finish our tasks for today before we can have fun.”

Mason stood and pulled me to my feet. “Let’s go get your iPad so you can make food magically appear again.”

Jason stretched out. “Last one to Anna’s room has to clean up after lunch!”

Mason and I looked at each other, and all three of us exploded into motion. They might have been larger than me, but I was quick. I used it to my advantage; every time they were shoving at each other, I used the distraction to slip under their arms or around them. I also wasn’t above tripping anyone.

We were all laughing as we pushed and shoved our way up the stairs at top speed. Jason was the first to make it to my door. When he paused to turn the handle, I used my momentum to push him to the side and fall into my room first.

The twins pushed through the door at the same time. I was laughing too hard to even stand, so I just rolled around on the floor, watching them argue.

“I said first one to the room, not in it. I was the first one here,” Jason insisted.

“Nope. Anna made it in first; you lost.”

They were pushing each other back and forth until Jason tripped over the luggage that I had packed up and left near the doorway this morning. Mason and I laughed at the surprised look on his face as he fell.

He rolled over on the floor to where I was. “You think that’s funny?” he asked. “I’ll show you funny.” He started to tickle my ribs, and I tried to wiggle away while laughing hysterically. I had never been tickled before.

I screamed with laughter and begged him to stop. Mason decided to get in on it and pulled off my sneakers before tickling my feet. We were all laughing hysterically and rolling around on the floor when Caleb walked in.

“What the fuck? I could hear her screaming all the way down the hall. I thought you were murdering her!” He tried to keep a serious look on his face, but I could see a grin forming on his face and a sparkle in his eye.

Austin and Cody pushed past Caleb and into the room next. The twins and I froze. Now we were in trouble.

Austin and Cody were both impeccably dressed in tailored suits and looked amazing. I tried not to stare and sat up on the floor. Damn, they cleaned up nice.

“Let her up,” Austin ordered.

Both twins just held their hands up to show they weren’t touching me. It seemed like Austin was more amused than angry. Cody just looked exasperated. “We could hear you all the way downstairs as we were about to head out the front door.”

“Did you get your assignments done already?” Austin asked. “If you need something else to do –”

“Nope,” Jason quickly interjected.

“We just came upstairs to help Anna find something in her room before we did the shopping,” Mason added.

Austin eyed my luggage, still packed and sitting near the door. “After you go to the store and get her what she needs, make sure you help her unpack and settle in.”

He smiled at me. “I want to make sure you feel comfortable here.”

Both the twins nodded enthusiastically. “We will make sure it’s done right after we feed her lunch.”

I tried my best not to roll my eyes. I think it was much more likely that I would be preparing them lunch. Cody thought the same because he snorted and rolled his eyes. “God forbid you miss lunch.”

Austin glanced at his expensive looking watch. “Just don’t be late to class.”

Both the twins murmured an affirmative and nodded.

“Cody and I have meetings out in town. We won’t be back until late tonight, so don’t wait for dinner.”

All of us nodded, and they headed to the door. “Have a good day!” I told them out of habit.

Cody and Austin both looked surprised and turned back to me. “You, too,” Cody told me. Austin nodded and gave me a smile. That was odd; was I not supposed to say things like that?

The twins and I stayed on the floor until we heard Austin and Cody go down the stairs and out the front door. Caleb was still watching us and laughing a little.

“Make sure you bring her to my room before you leave,” he told the twins. They nodded, and he gave me a smile and a wave. “See you a little later.”

I smiled back at him and gave him an awkward wave. “Yup.”

Then the twins and I were alone again. “Well, that went better than I thought it was going to,” Mason said with a chuckle.

“Yeah, thanks for being cool and not tattling on us,” Jason said.

Mason gave him a faux stern look. “Anna wasn’t ‘being cool’; she is cool.”

“That’s true,” Jason said. “I think the other guys stormed in here thinking they were going to find you crying or whining, but you looked just as guilty as we did when they burst in. I think it threw them off, and they weren’t sure how to react.”

Mason threw his head back and laughed. “Yeah, I think they kinda realize you aren’t really like the other females, but they don’t get just how different you are. The pack is not going to know how to interact with you.”

I wasn’t sure if I should take it as a compliment or be worried that I was so weird.

“Do you think your pack would prefer a more…traditional female?” I asked hesitantly, wondering if I should try to start acting more lady-like.

“No way!” Jason said adamantly.

“Yeah,” Mason added. “Don’t start wearing dresses and heels all the time and get mad if your hair gets messed up.”

“And don’t start wearing tons of make-up and acting fake.”

“Uh, OK.” I looked at both of them, not sure of what else to say.

Mason stood up and held out his hands for me. I put my hands in his, and he pulled me up. I went over to my pile of stuff, grabbed my iPad and jumped on the bed. I piled a couple of pillows up against the headboard so I could sit comfortably. Mason sprawled out on his stomach next to me, and Jason lay across the foot of the bed.

I searched for another location of the grocery store close by to see if they would deliver to this address. It turns out that there was a location 5 miles away, but they didn’t deliver. I could still order online, but we would have to pick up the groceries.

The twins were fine with that. They shouted out things they wanted, and I added them to the list. Eventually, we were satisfied that we had enough food to prepare breakfast, lunch, and dinner for the rest of the week.

I clicked through the prompts to check out and finalize the order, but my heart dropped when I saw the total. “Uh, guys? Is Austin going to be OK with this?” I flipped the screen around so they could see the outrageous sum.

Mason chuckled. “That’s over the budget, but I don’t think we should mention it to him until after he eats a couple meals you cook. He won’t care about the cost then.”

I blushed at the compliment. “I think you meant to say ‘we’, not me.”

“Huh?” They both looked at me.

I patted Mason on the arm. “There’s no way I could prepare enough food for six wolves without my two helpful sous chefs.”

Jason shrugged. “Technically, it is our job.”

Mason groaned but nodded. 

“It will be ready to pick up in ninety minutes,” I announced.

Mason rolled off the bed. “Next task, get Anna unpacked.”

I sighed. “It’s OK, guys. I can unpack my own stuff.”

“Nope,” Mason said.

“Yeah, we all know you’ll just leave your stuff in your luggage if we leave you alone with it.”

I shrugged; they weren’t wrong.

Mason went over to the largest bag. “What’s in here?”

“Just clothes,” I answered. “Dump it out on the bed so I can figure out what to do with it.”

Mason dumped it, and Jason started going through it. “Damn, Anna, where’s all your girl stuff? I don’t see any dresses or anything.”

I just laughed. “Hey, sometimes I wear jeans instead of yoga pants. I even wore a purple sweater the other day.”

Mason grinned. “Don’t you remember? We just told her not to wear dresses.”

“Yeah, but I don’t see any lacy thongs or anything in here either.”

Mason punched him in the arm before I did. “Don’t go through her underwear; it’s creepy.”

“I’m not going through it, it’s all mixed in,” he complained, rubbing his arm. I wasn’t embarrassed about any underwear he might find. I wore mainly sport bras to hide my 34Cs and either cotton boy short or bikini panties to be comfortable. My underwear usually covered more than what most girls wore to the beach.

I just rolled my eyes at them and went to work. We had everything put away in a very short time. The closet was one of those insane rich people closets, with built-in drawers and shelves to keep your stuff organized.

There were enough shelves to fit at least a hundred pairs of shoes; I thought it looked funny with just my two pairs sitting there. The hanging space for the closet was also mostly empty, with only two hoodies hanging there. I could not imagine owning enough clothes to fill this space.

“I’m glad your stuff is put away in here; it makes it feel like you’re really here,” Mason said quietly, standing next to me and gazing into the closet.

“Yeah, like you’re not going to suddenly disappear the same way you just appeared one day,” Jason added as he walked up to us.

I was surprised at the emotion from these two pranksters. I had felt myself grow attached to them fairly quickly, and I was surprised at how comfortable I was becoming with them, but I hadn’t considered that the affectionate feeling could be mutual. Evelyn was the only person I had who truly loved me; Kelsey was my friend mostly when it suited her needs.

It had been easy to slip into a camaraderie with the twins, and a part of me had wondered if they were like this with everyone. I found it difficult to believe it was just me. I was nothing special. They probably had leagues of human females that wanted to hang out with them just as much as I did.

I felt a flash of jealousy and chastised myself for it. Why was I jealous? Of course they would date other girls; it’s not like they could both date me anyway.

 “When are we getting the rest of your stuff?” Mason asked.

I didn’t know how to break it to them that I was only here for the week. It seemed like they wanted me here longer. I guess it would be worse if they found out later from someone else and I hadn’t said anything to them about it.

“Well, Austin only invited me to stay here for the week. Plus, I’m on a trial membership in the pack. And isn’t the house only for the high-ranking pack members anyway?” I spewed all of that out in a rush and then took a deep breath.

The twins exchanged glances and replied together, “We’ll talk to Austin.”

Jason glanced down at his phone as the alarm went off. “Time to get the food!”

The mood was broken, and I followed them downstairs and to the Jeep. We had just enough time to get to the store and unload the groceries into the kitchen before the twins needed to leave for class.

“Hurry up and get your stuff. I’ll make you some sandwiches to take with you for lunch,” I told them. “I don’t want you to get in trouble with Austin for missing class.”

They both broke out in huge grins and ran out of the kitchen and up the stairs to get whatever they needed for their classes.

I looked around at the mess of groceries piled all over the kitchen; it looked like I was on my own to figure out where all this went.

I had just put together some sandwiches when they came back in the kitchen with a backpack slung over each one of their shoulders.

I handed Mason his sandwich. “Roast beef and Swiss.” Jason held out a hand expectantly. “And for you, turkey and American.” I had wrapped their sandwiches in foil to keep them warm since I toasted the bread. 

They both looked happy and gave me an enthusiastic ‘Thanks’, so I had remembered their preferences correctly from our earlier shopping session. Mason reached out a hand and mussed up my hair on their way out, and then I was alone.

I looked around at the mess and sighed. I decided to start with the fridge and freezer items first. I hoped they didn’t mind if I reorganized so I could fit everything.

I was rummaging around when I heard, “Hey.” I turned around to see Caleb heading into the kitchen. 

“Hey, Caleb,” I called to him. “I didn’t forget about you. I just wanted to get some of this stuff put away before I headed up to see you.”

He laughed. “I was heading down here for lunch anyway. Got anything good?”

“I have sandwich-making items,” I offered, gesturing to where I still had everything out from making the twins lunches.

“Cool,” he answered. “You want help getting all this put away?” He gestured to the food items covering every available surface of the kitchen.

“Nah, go ahead and make lunch. I enjoy a good organizational challenge.” I grinned. “I didn’t spend all those years of my childhood playing Tetris for nothing.”

He laughed. “We wouldn’t want those skills going to waste.”

“Hey, do you think the guys would mind if I got rid of some of the expired stuff and…mystery items?” I asked as I held up a GladWare container that may have contained food at some point. “I’m guessing this isn’t a science project for one of the twins’ classes?”

He chuckled. “I’m pretty sure no one will mind, especially if you are replacing it with edible food.”

“Excellent,” I replied.

Caleb made his sandwich while I sorted through the contents of the fridge. “I brought my iPad down. Do you mind if I get some info from you while we’re down here?”

“No, that’s cool.” Truthfully, I was glad to have something to do while we talked. I would be a lot more anxious if I had to sit still while we stared at each other and talked about personal stuff. This way, half my attention was on other things so I would be doing less blank staring and stuttering. Hopefully, that meant that I would also be embarrassing myself less.

Caleb finished making his sandwich and took a seat at the counter. “I’m going to just have you start from the beginning, when you first met Evelyn. Even the smallest detail that seems insignificant can be important when you put it together with other information. I’m going to take notes while you talk, and I’ll try to keep any questions I have until the end, unless you need prompting.”

“OK.” I felt awkward getting started but decided to jump right in.

“I changed for the first time one night when I was around 10. It was a stressful night…Evelyn thought that had something to do with why I might have changed.”

Caleb raised an eyebrow but didn’t say anything; he just patiently waited for me to continue. I chewed on my lip. That probably sounded weird to him. I’m sure he was thinking, How could life be stressful for a 10-year-old?

I had no desire to explain my uncle, or the fact that I lived most of my childhood buried in fear and anxiety. I was willing to let him think someone had stolen my Barbie or something and just continued with my story.

“I had no idea how to react to what happened to me when I changed. Obviously, I realized it was not normal, and a part of me wondered if I had imagined the whole thing.”

I paused, thinking back to that day.

“I had seen Evelyn outside before, working in her garden but had never spoken to her; I was really nervous around strangers. I had changed back to human in her garden, and it was only after she came out that I realized later she must have seen through her window. She came out of her house in a fury, marched in front of me, and crossed her arms across her chest.”

I laughed. “I was huddled up with my knees up against my chest and my arms wrapped around myself, just staring up at her with really wide eyes. She glared at me and asked, ‘What do you think you are doing in my garden?’ I was so scared and overwhelmed, I just burst into tears, hiding my face up against my knees and barely managed to stutter out, ‘I don’t know what’s happening to me’ in-between my sobs.”

I paused for a moment to see if I could move a shelf in the fridge up a level to make some extra room. It took some wiggling, but I got it. I glanced back at Caleb; he was watching me with a small smile and waved at me to continue.

I told him how Evelyn had brought me inside and cleaned me up. I did not mention that one of the reasons why she took pity on me was the bruises she found on my body. “She asked me a lot of questions about my adoption and my parents, but at that age I didn’t really know anything.”

Caleb nodded. “She realized pretty quickly that I was a wolf adopted by humans. I asked her if she was a wolf, too, and she told me no but she had family that was. I didn’t understand genetics or anything like that at that age, so it seemed like a reasonable explanation.”

I paused for a moment to critically eye the counters. I was pretty sure I had gotten everything in the fridge that needed to go in.

“What did she tell you about her family?” Caleb prodded gently.

I told him every detail I could think of while I worked on the pantry. I decided it would be easiest to empty everything out and start over so that I could organize things a little better.

Almost everything I told Caleb about Evelyn’s family was vague, but I knew Evelyn had lived with her father’s pack. I explained their system to Caleb, how the pack kept females for breeding and the way that females were treated by the pack. I told him about Evelyn’s daughter and the yearbook photos that Evelyn had shown me.

He looked really interested when I described the photos that I had seen her with and the possible names of the high school Evelyn’s daughter had gone to.

“From what you have told me so far, I’m surprised that the pack let the females go to school,” Caleb said.

I nodded. “I told Evelyn the same thing. She said it was because the pack would send the females out to get jobs but keep the money ‘for the good of the pack.’ I asked her why they didn’t just run away but she told me about the punishments they would get if they were caught…” I swallowed, getting nauseated at the memories.

“You’re doing great,” Caleb encouraged me. “Did she ever mention names for any of the other females?”

“No, she always referred to them as ‘the other girls.’ She didn’t even tell me her daughter’s name. She wanted to make sure that I wouldn’t be put in danger by telling me pack secrets.” I started to tear up. “Evelyn was always thinking about everyone other than herself. I loved her so much, she was like the grandmother that I never had.” I had to stop to fight back my tears.

I shoved my emotions down as deep as I could but suddenly had an epiphany. Was I repressing these emotions just like I repressed my wolf? Is that why the emotions would come to the surface and seem almost uncontrollable? It seemed similar to when my wolf would come to the surface and how the emotions that I felt with her would seem almost uncontrollable.

Caleb watched me carefully; I think he could tell that I had come to a realization. “What are you thinking?” he asked me.

I wasn’t ready to talk about my inner feelings with him, so I tried to offer up another piece of interesting information. “I was just wondering if the school that Evelyn’s daughter went to would have done mandatory fingerprinting. They do that at some schools up in NY.”

Caleb considered it. “Is there anything in Evelyn’s house that might have her daughter’s fingerprints on it?”

“Evelyn had this little wood box with a rose etched into the lid. She never said anything, but I just got the feeling it might have belonged to her daughter.”

Caleb didn’t look too hopeful. “We can check it out, but I don’t know if any fingerprints would be left on it after all this time, especially if it was something that Evelyn had handled on a regular basis.”

I just nodded. Caleb drummed his fingers on the counter as he looked through the notes he had gathered on his iPad. “Is there anything else you can think of that she mentioned in passing that might help us?”

I told him about stories she told me about taking day trips to the mountains, snowstorms in the winter, and a waterfall that was in biking distance of her house. “She also mentioned penguins at a zoo she took her daughter to once.”

“Let’s change gears a little bit,” Caleb suggested. “Did she ever talk about her captors? Any characteristics they might have had?”

“She never talked about anyone in particular except her father. She would just talk about wolves in general, but from meeting you guys, I have kind of seen that maybe she was wrong about some things.”

“What were some of the things she told you about wolves?” he asked curiously.

I hesitated, unsure of what I should say.

“It might give us an idea of what to look for in a pack. If all of the wolves in the pack did certain activities or held certain beliefs, it could help us narrow things down.”

I squirmed a little uncomfortably. I didn’t want to repeat a lot of what she had said. “She said they were mean, abusive, barbarians who thrived on senseless violence.” That was actually one of the nicer things she had said.

“Hmmm,” Caleb responded. “Were there any activities or hobbies they engaged in?”

“They liked to fight and would hold matches like gladiators.”

Caleb looked down at his iPad. “Did they have a specific venue?”

“Just outside. Evelyn said the loser would end up with their face in the dirt.”

I couldn’t tell what Caleb was thinking; his face was impassive. “What about the higher-ranking pack members? Was there anything they indulged in? Cars, motorcycles, maybe an expensive house?”

I shook my head slowly. “No, she never mentioned anything like that.”

“What about jobs?”

“She told me that they would send the humans and lower ranking wolves out to get jobs, but it seemed like all blue collar stuff.”

Caleb took notes on that. “Anything else?”

I shook my head no. “Okay, this is a good start,” he told me.

I looked at him doubtfully, but he smiled at me. “I promise we are going to figure this out. We already know she can’t be from Florida with the snowstorms,” he joked.

“Oh!” I said suddenly. “You can also rule out any states on the coast. She told me that she never saw the ocean until she left the pack because the closest beach was two states over.”

“That’s great! If anything else like that comes to mind, let me know.” He smiled. “Let me look into some of this, and I’ll come up with ideas of which packs this could be. Maybe if we examine the packs one by one, you might remember some other details to help narrow it down.”

I looked at him hopefully. Maybe we could figure this out. Caleb gathered his iPad and a second sandwich to head back upstairs. He seemed deep in thought with the information I had given him, so maybe I had given him something useful to work with.

“Hey, Caleb?”

He turned around, still lost in thought. “Yeah?”

“Will you be free around six tonight? I thought it might be fun for us to have a family style dinner. You know, like they do on TV?” I asked shyly.

His eyes widened with surprise as they met mine.

Had I said something wrong? I backpedaled quickly. “I mean, it’s OK if you’re busy or have other plans -”

“No,” he said quickly. “That sounds nice. The guys and I are used to just grabbing our food when we can, but I think that would be a good idea to sit down together. It will be a nice break from work.” He smiled at me. “I will be here at six.”

I smiled back. “Is Italian OK? I was thinking lasagna.”

He nodded enthusiastically. “That sounds great.”

“OK, cool.” I stood there awkwardly, not sure what to say next. He gave me a small wave with the hand that was holding his iPad and headed back upstairs, saving me from any further embarrassment.

When I lived with my uncle’s family, dinner was a terrifying time. When he was working day shift, Uncle would be home at 5:30 and dinner would have to be served exactly at six. He had an armchair in the living room that I used to think of as his throne.

No one else was allowed to sit there or touch the chair except his wife, and she was only allowed to touch it to clean. He would sit in his armchair and be served dinner on top of a little rolling table that would slide right in front of his chair.

He would take his time eating while he watched the evening news and spewed angry political commentary. The rest of us were expected to be absolutely silent during this time and wait for him to finish; we were allowed to eat after he was done. After he rolled the table to the side as a cue for his wife to come clean up after him, the rest of us would file back into the kitchen.

The kids lined up in the kitchen according to age, the oldest first and myself last. Each of us was allowed to make a plate from the leftovers for our own dinner. The other kids took a perverse joy in making sure nothing was left by the time it was my turn. They would smirk mockingly at me as I gazed into the empty pot or pan with sadness.

Then to add insult to injury, it was my task to clean up after everyone else was done eating. As soon as they had shoveled what food they could into their mouths, the rest of the kids would run and hide in their rooms, staying as quiet as possible to avoid drawing attention.

Unfortunately, that left me alone in the kitchen, and while I tried to be as quiet as possible while I did the dishes, inevitably some small noise would always attract the ire of my uncle. I had nowhere to hide in the kitchen, so I was completely exposed to his rage. Part of me thought this was why I was left with kitchen duties; everyone else in the family used me as a sacrificial lamb to take on the brunt of rage from my uncle.

I loved the weeks he would be working the 3-11 shift. That meant there was no dinner time. My uncle’s wife wouldn’t even bother to cook; most days, she took her kids to her mother’s house for dinner. I was never invited, but I loved the solitude that being alone in the house gave me.

Evelyn always made sure I had enough to eat and would have something waiting for me at her house after I was free from the agony of dinner time and the work of cleaning up after everyone.

I always wished I had a family like I saw in the movies and on TV. They would all sit at the table and pass dishes around to each other, smiling and laughing. After spending time with the twins, I was hoping I could create something like that here. I knew I could get the twins to cooperate; they would be more than happy as long as food was involved. Caleb had seemed OK with it as well.

After I had everything put away, I stood in the kitchen. The silence around me seemed almost too loud, and I missed the twins. It would still be a couple of hours until they were back, and I could rope them into helping me prepare dinner.

I skipped up the stairs, remembering the large bath that was mine for this week. When I had examined the tub earlier, it looked like there were jets that could be turned on as well. I figured it would be a good idea to make myself look more presentable if I wanted to convince the guys to make family dinners be ‘a thing’ here. I took my time soaking in the tub.

It had been a long time after I left my uncle’s house before I was comfortable taking a bath, even in my own tub. He would fly into a rage anytime he heard the water running for more than 5 minutes, screaming about how we were using his hot water and costing him money. I got into the habit of taking showers only when I knew he was at work but still showered as quickly as possible, just in case he stopped home.

I had made the mistake of taking a bath in the house once, he had stopped by the house on his lunch break unbeknownst to me. I was relaxing in the tub with music on, so I did not hear his heavy footsteps approach. He had disabled all the locks on the doors inside the house, so there was no way to keep him or anyone else out.

The bathroom door had burst open, and my body jerked in shock. I had tried to hide under what little coverage the water offered as he stood there and looked at my naked and exposed body. I shuddered in terror as I could see when his thoughts shifted from rage to something else.

I knew the only thing that had saved me that day was the sound of the car in the driveway; his wife had come home just in time. She took the brunt of his rage that day, as she had not been home, waiting to make him lunch in case he stopped by.

There were some times when I pitied his wife. She was treated almost like a slave and was expected to stay home and devote every waking moment to taking care of his needs. She didn’t work so she could spend her days cleaning the house, doing the shopping, preparing his meals, etc.

As I got older, I pitied her less. She was an adult and had the ability to walk out whenever she wanted. I was a minor; if I left, I would just be dragged back here by the police. I was not stupid enough to try. I knew that my life would only get worse if I ‘embarrassed’ my uncle by doing something like that. As I got older, his wife became even more cruel to me, so there was no pity left in me for her.

I pushed those thoughts out of my mind and tried to relax in the tub. I had gotten out, put myself through school, had a great job, and lived a life that most people would label as ‘successful’.  To anyone on the outside looking in, I had my own house, a car, and even a little bit of money in a savings account. I may have seemed independent and confident, but I had the deep ache of loneliness inside of me. I had thought if I could make it to this point I would have been happy, but instead I just felt empty.

I had worked for years to break myself of the constant, crippling fear and anxiety that had ruled my life for so long. I worked hard to appear ‘normal’ in my interactions with other people, and I no longer had crippling panic attacks when I would hear a man’s deep voice or the sound of heavy footsteps coming closer to me.

I tried to appear confident and poised on the outside, but I mainly only succeeded at that when I was at work. I was hopeless at social interactions and just felt awkward and uncomfortable when trying to interact with people outside of work. I had developed a self-imposed exile because I tended to try and avoid social interactions whenever possible.

Kelsey was really the only person who made consistent and determined efforts to drag me out in public on a regular basis. I think most people just gave up and assumed I didn’t want to be friends with them because of how standoffish I could be. Kelsey was the only person who realized that I wasn’t a snob; I was just scared and didn’t know how to interact.

I relaxed in the tub and felt hopeful for the first time in a while. I was here with other wolves, so I could relax and open up to them in ways I would never be able to with a human. I just needed to overcome my innate fear and trust them. I was the only person holding me back, and I didn’t have to be afraid. The twins had already done everything they could to make it clear they wanted me here. I just needed to relax and accept it.

I felt better after my bath and the pep talk I gave myself. I dried my hair with the hair dryer and brush so it fell straight and shiny down my back. I even dressed in cute skinny jeans and a light pink sweater to feel girly. I swiped some mascara over my eyelashes and put on some pink lip gloss. I felt ready to make my new start and headed downstairs to see if I could start getting some things ready for dinner while I waited for the twins to come back.

I bounced down the stairs and jumped down the last three. I quickly turned around the corner and collided into someone with an oomph.

Of course, it had to be James. I sighed as he took a step back from me. He gave me a glare, but it lacked his usual intensity.

“Oh, hey James,” I said hesitantly, trying to be friendly. “I didn’t realize you would were here.”

“I live here,” he said. I could hear the unspoken ‘unlike you’ that completed that sentence. I started to feel hurt but remembered this was James. He was mean to everyone on purpose, so I couldn’t let myself take it personally.

I decided that being peppy and friendly towards him was my best option. It would show him that he couldn’t intimidate me and as a side benefit would probably annoy him.

I gave him a big smile. “I just didn’t realize you were back from your trip. The twins and I are making lasagna tonight. Dinner is at six,” I told him confidently.

He looked a little surprised and suspicious. “You cook?”

I fought as hard as I could not to roll my eyes or growl at him. “I guess you will find out tonight,” I told him brightly and started to walk around him.

He touched my arm gently but let go when I glanced down in surprise. “I’ll be there at six,” he said quietly.

I nodded and continued to walk back to the kitchen. I could feel his eyes on me as I walked away but did my best to ignore him and not glance back. I was a little proud of myself with how I handled him, so when I reached the kitchen, I decided to reward myself with a snack.

I chopped up some fruit for a fruit salad in a big bowl and then scooped some out for myself. I put the rest in the fridge for snacking the next couple days and wandered to the living room area to eat my snack. I curled up on one of the couches with my iPad to entertain me. It was very strange to have this much free time with nothing to do, but I found it really relaxing.

It wasn’t long before I heard the front door burst open. “Anna!” I heard the twins yell. I briefly considered hiding and making them look for me in an impromptu game of hide and seek but thought better of it when I thought back to their earlier confessions of being afraid that I would disappear on them.

“In here!” I yelled back. Jason came running in and flung his bag to the ground before jumping on the couch and wrapping me in a tight hug.

“I need to breathe, big guy,” I teased him as I patted him on the back. He released me as Mason walked in and tossed his bag next to Jason’s.

“How was class?” I asked them.

“Boring,” Jason replied.

“What have you been doing without us?” Mason asked.

“Well, I invited Caleb and James to a family style dinner that we are going to make.”

“James is back already?” Mason frowned.

“What makes a dinner family style?” Jason asked curiously.

I nodded at Mason and turned to Jason. “You know, like how happy families eat dinner on TV.”

They both looked at me with their mouths open in surprise.

“Like on TV?” Mason murmured as he shared an unreadable look with his brother.

I felt self-conscious as I blushed and chewed on my lip with a nod.

Jason jumped up. “We had better get started, I’m starving!”

I chuckled; it had not been that long since their sandwiches.

“After dinner, we should go on a pack run,” Mason told me.

“Yeah!” Jason nodded enthusiastically. “It’s really fun, Anna, you’ll love it.”

I was nervous. “With James and Caleb? I don’t think James likes me that much. What if his wolf attacks me?” I blurted out.

They both laughed. “James likes you,” Mason told me. “He wasn’t even that mad about the car and the mud last night.”

I looked at him incredulously. That was James not being mad?

“And it’s not James’ wolf,” Jason reminded me gently. “It’s James. He would never hurt you.”

Mason slung his arm around me as we made our way to the kitchen. “Besides, how could anyone not like you?”

I felt a little reassured but still nervous. I tried to put it out of my mind as I directed the guys on what we needed to do to make dinner. I had decided on lasagna with spicy Italian sausage, garlic bread, and a classic Caesar salad for dinner tonight. Simple, yet delicious.

The scent of lasagna filled the air as the boys and I waited for it to be done baking. The delicious smells must have made their way through the house, because James and Caleb both showed up down in the kitchen a half-hour early.

“Damn, Anna. That smells good!” Caleb announced enthusiastically. Even James peered, seeming interested in the direction of the oven.

“Where do you guys want to eat?” I asked them.

“I’ll just take mine upstairs to my office -” James started out.

“No!” the other guys answered in unison.

They all looked at each other. “Anna wants to have a family dinner,” Caleb told him seriously.

James looked at me in surprise. “A family dinner?”

“Yeah, you know, like they have on TV,” Mason said significantly.

The other two guys nodded seriously, and James looked at me. “That’s not a bad idea. I think it’s good for the pack to gather and eat together.”

The gathering tension in the room faded as the guys relaxed. “We have a formal dining room,” Caleb said hesitantly, “but it’s not set up for eating right now.”

“We have been using it more as a command center,” Mason added helpfully.

“What about on the patio?” I asked. “I saw a couple of tables out there that could fit all of us.”

“That could work,” James said thoughtfully. He turned to the twins. “You two, go clean one off and make sure it’s ready for us to eat on. Preferably the one with the fire pit in the middle.”

Surprisingly, neither of them argued or complained and just headed outside, maybe because there was the potential for fire to be involved in the task.

James looked at Caleb. “Go find that dining set that Austin’s mom left here. I think it’s still in boxes in the dining room. We can use nice dishes for Anna.”

Caleb nodded, and I was left just staring at James. I guess it shouldn’t have surprised me that he would want to take control, but it did surprise me that he was willing to play along with the family dinner concept.

I wanted to ask about Austin’s mom since James had brought it up. Did she live around here? How did the mom of the pack-master fit in to things here? Austin had said I was the only female in the pack. I guess it made sense that she would have her own pack since Austin had built this one himself. I wasn’t comfortable asking James about any of this, so I started with an easier question while I opened the oven door to peek and see how the lasagna was doing. “How was your trip?”

“Not very productive,” he answered with a sigh.

“Did your trip have anything to do with Evelyn?” I asked him, trying to pry some information out of him. I decided the lasagna looked almost ready, so I popped the garlic bread in there to heat up.

“Yes, I followed a lead that didn’t pan out. On the bright side, we now can cross one pack off our suspect list.”

“Hmmm.” I chewed on my lip as I thought. I was hoping Caleb had been able to make some progress. I was feeling very useless, just standing around and waiting to see what they came up with. I was used to doing everything on my own.

Caleb walked back into the kitchen hauling a heavy box. I blinked when James pulled a sharp looking knife out of a hiding place somewhere on his body and bent down to cut the tape. I peered over his shoulder into the box where thick and heavy plates were packed carefully.

“They look expensive. Are you sure we should take them outside?”

Caleb laughed. “Why have plates if we aren’t going to use them?”

“Well, if they were a gift from Austin’s mom…”

James grinned. “Don’t worry, she knows better than to give a pack of wolves dainty and delicate things. I’m pretty sure she expected them to get broken at some point.”

I chuckled. I could see that; she had to have met the twins.

I washed the plates and serving dishes we found in there as James and Caleb dried. They passed dishes, silverware, and cloth napkins over to the twins to set up the table outside.

I pulled the lasagna out of the oven and put the bread and salad in the pretty serving dishes that had also been in the box. I handed the salad to Caleb and picked up the bread. “James, I’m trusting you with the most important part of dinner.” I pointed at the lasagna with my elbow.

“Good choice.” Caleb chuckled. “I would have seriously questioned your judgment if you had assigned that to the twins.”

I laughed, imagining what could go wrong in that scenario.

We were soon sitting at the table and filling our plates. The air outside was cool, and the sun was on its way down, but the fire in the middle of the table exuded warmth and provided plenty of light.

“I’m surprised you’re not cold,” Caleb told me as he blew on a forkful of piping hot lasagna.

“That’s true,” Jason said thoughtfully. “Girls are always cold and trying to steal my hoodie from me.”

I just rolled my eyes. “Be careful not to burn your mouths with the first bite, or you won’t be able to taste anything,” I warned them.

Jason lowered the forkful of hot lasagna he was about to shovel in his mouth and decided to start with the salad first.

“Anna probably never gets cold,” James added. “She’s an arctic wolf.”

The twins and Caleb all stared at me. I frowned. “How is that different from what you are?”

“Arctic wolves are smaller. They have shorter legs and smaller, more rounded ears, plus have more white in their much thicker coats.”

“Why shorter legs?” Jason asked.

“It helps with circulation to prevent frostbite, same with the smaller ears. If blood is too exposed when running through less insulated parts of the body, it can lower the body temperature.”

“Huh,” I said. “I guess that explains why I really do not like going outside in July and August.”

The guys all laughed, and we ate in companionable silence for a few minutes.

“Anna, this is amazing,” Caleb groaned out between bites.

“Hey! We made it, too,” Jason added.

“I think we all know who is responsible for this, and it’s not you guys,” James joked.

Jason grumbled in reluctant agreement.

I was really surprised to see the usually sour James acting pleasant and joking around. Maybe he wasn’t so bad after all?

Since he was in a good mood, I thought now would be the time to remind him of his promises to me. “So, James, have you made any progress on getting Evelyn back?”

Caleb and the twins looked confused. James swallowed the bite of food he had just taken. “Anna, I have to move carefully here. No one knows about the relationship that you and Evelyn had and Austin, and I decided it was best if we kept things that way.”

I nodded, I could understand why he wouldn’t want the pack that had brutally murdered Evelyn to have a reason to focus on me. “What’s the plan, then?”

James cleared his throat. “I have approached the subject delicately with the team that is handling the situation. It was difficult to explain why the pack would want the…why we would want Evelyn. But I made a contact earlier today who can help us.”

I nodded. It seemed like James was doing the best he could, and I only had myself to blame for what had gone wrong in the first place. The rest of the group was quiet for a moment, and then we went back to casually chatting while we enjoyed dinner.

Our pleasant dinner was interrupted with the sound of a distant howl. James stood up abruptly. “Caleb, you have Anna. Jason front, Mason back.” The twins started to quickly strip, and I just stared, not quite understanding what was happening.

“I just sent an alert out to the pack, backup will be here in moments,” Caleb said quietly, on alert.

The twins bounded off in wolf form, one to the front of the house, and one to the back. “I texted Austin, he and Cody are heading back.”

“Contract negotiations not go well?” Caleb asked.

“I don’t think that’s what this is,” James stated as he pulled out a gun.

My eyebrows rose. Where did that even come from?

James glanced back at me, remembering I was there. “Take her inside. I want your eyes on everything,” he told Caleb.

“What’s going on?” I asked.

Caleb just motioned to come with him. James ignored me.

“I’m not going anywhere -” my voice cut off in a squeak when Caleb simply lifted me up and threw me over his shoulder.

“C’mon, Anna-banana, we have things to do.”

I was too shocked to even struggle as he carried me inside. He patted the back of my thigh as we reached the stairs. “Can I trust you enough to set you down? We can move a lot quicker if I’m not carrying you.”

I mumbled out an assent, and he set me down gently. “Let’s go!”

He ran up the stairs, and I followed. What was going on? Were my guys in danger? I wasn’t going to stand around and let them get hurt. I let out a small growl as I followed Caleb. He turned toward me as he opened the door to what I assumed was his room. “Don’t worry, Anna, this is what we do best.”

He grinned, and I followed him into the room. His room looked more like a fictional military command central than a bedroom. He had computer monitors covering an entire wall, and all kinds of other electrical equipment scattered across the room. He flicked a switch, and the monitors lit up with images of the entire house and around the property. I looked through them, looking for signs of the guys.

Caleb sat down at his desk covered in computer equipment. He started typing, and I heard him making a call on speakerphone. A flicker of movement caught my eye on one of the outdoor monitors. “Caleb!” I pointed to the monitor where I saw an unfamiliar wolf prowling. I had not met James in his wolf form yet, but since he had pulled out a human weapon earlier, I’m guessing this was not him.

“I see it,” Caleb answered me grimly.

“Caleb, report!” a voice barked out from the speakerphone. It sounded like Austin.

“Quinn scented something at the border and warned us of a possible incoming.”

“Multiple?”

“One that he saw, but I wouldn’t discount the possibility of more. They could be coming in separately.”

“Anna?”

“She’s here with me, safe,” Caleb assured me.

“Hi,” I squeaked out nervously.

“Hey, Anna. Don’t be worried, everything is fine.” Austin had softened his voice a little when he was speaking to me but hardened up as he switched his attention back to Caleb.

“Cody and I are 5 minutes out.”

“Trevor and a bunch of the guys just got here.” Caleb gestured toward a monitor showing a couple of trucks pulling into the front gate.

“Excellent. James is directing from the ground?”

“He is.”

The trucks stopped, and eight men piled out, stripping and tossing their clothes aside. These must be more of the pack I had not met yet. I was being cautious not to look too closely as they changed into wolf form; I wouldn’t want anyone spying on me while I was changing.

I blushed when I realized just how much of the property was covered in cameras. The times I had changed outside were definitely caught on tape. I was going to have to ask Caleb who watched them and how long they kept them.

“James is having them spread out and surround the house,” Caleb informed Austin.

“I’m close enough to tap in now,” Austin informed him.

I frowned. Tap into what? And how was James directing anyone? It didn’t look like he had been speaking at all on camera. Could these wolves be psychic?

No way.

Could they hear my thoughts?

My eye caught on one of the cameras where a wolf fight came into view. Two wolves were savagely attacking a third. “We got one!” Caleb shouted. So that must be our wolves getting one of the intruders.

A chase appeared another one of the screens. A lone grey wolf was being chased by three brown wolves. The grey stumbled, and all three of the other wolves were on him.

“And we have two.” Caleb pumped his fist in the air. “That’s what you get when you attack Seaside Pack!”

“So, everyone in our pack is safe? No one got hurt?” I asked worriedly.

Caleb tilted his head to one side, as if listening. “Robbie has a gash on his leg that might need stitches. They are bringing him in now.”

I turned to the door, but he stopped me. “Not yet. Austin hasn’t given the all-clear.”

I fidgeted, wanting to see for myself that everyone was OK. I also had emergency medical training, so I could help.

“I’ve worked as an EMT before, and I do rounds in the ED when a critical care patient comes in,” I told Caleb. “If you don’t have anyone else here, I can take a look at Robbie until we get him to the hospital.”

Caleb looked surprised. “Let me check with Austin.” He did another head tilt, and his eyes glazed over, as if listening to a silent conversation. Yep, these wolves were definitely psychic.

Caleb nodded. “You can go downstairs. They are bringing him in the office now; that’s where we keep medical supplies.” He looked at me sternly. “But you cannot leave the house.”

I nodded quickly and turned toward the door.

Caleb reached out and grabbed my hand. “Anna, I’m serious. We just found you; we can’t lose you.”

I looked into his worried eyes. “I promise, I will not leave the house. I also promise you that I am not some helpless female that needs to be hidden away and protected.”

He laughed. “I doubt we would be able to hide you away for long.”

He let go of my hand, and I rushed out the door and down the stairs. They might be the best at fighting and protecting their territory, but I was at my best in a medical emergency. I turned the corner and caught up to two men carrying a third who was dripping blood. I followed them in the room as they laid him on the couch. He was groaning and clutching his leg.

“Medical supplies?” I asked them as I strode over to the couch.

A tall man with a beard nodded at a younger but still impressively large man to his right. The younger man ran to a cabinet against the wall and pulled out a large bag. I knelt to take a look at the injured man while he lugged the bag over to me.

“You’re Anna?” the bearded man asked me.

“Yeah. Can you open the bag and look for clean clothes and sterile irrigation fluid?”

The younger man smiled at me before he dug through the bag and held up some sterile gauze pads. “This?”

I flicked a glance over to him and nodded while I worked on the injury. It looked deep enough to need stitches, but it didn’t look like any major arteries or veins were nicked. The wound was filthy, as if he had rolled around in the dirt right after being injured, but the bleeding was slowing and starting to clot. I was going to have to clean it well before stitching him up.

“Robbie?” I said softly to get his attention. Robbie looked over at me in pain. “I can stitch you up here, or I can have them take you to the hospital.”

Without hesitation, all three men answered together, “Here.”

“OK, see what we have for pain meds in there,” I directed my new assistant.

I cleaned the wound gently as he pulled meds out and read me their names. I was pleased at how well stocked the bag was; I was going to have everything I needed to treat the wound. I also had pain meds and antibiotics for my patient.

Once I identified what I needed, I asked my assistant, “What’s your name?”

“Alex.”

“OK, Alex, I’m just going to need you to hand me the things I ask for as I need them. I might also need an extra pair of hands once I start stitching.”

“I can do that,” the bearded man told me. “I’m Tony, by the way,” he said with a blush. I was surprised for a second to see such a large and intimidating man blush, but this was no time for idle thoughts.

Alex and Tony were excellent assistants, and I had the wound clean and almost stitched up when Austin walked in.

“How are we doing?” he asked.

Alex jumped to his feet immediately and stood straight. “Good, sir.”

Tony, thankfully, did not let go of where I needed his hands to stay to do the same. Tony gave Austin a respectful nod but stayed where he was, concentrating on the task I had assigned him. My patient just moaned. The pain medication that I had given him had kicked in, and he was limp and holding still the way I needed him to.

Austin came a little closer to look at what we were doing. “Good work, Anna.”

I grunted as I finished my last stitch and eyed my work critically. I was satisfied with the way the wound had come together and stopped bleeding, but I was still worried about infection because the wound had been deep and messy.

“They said it was OK to treat him here instead of bringing him to the hospital,” I explained to Austin, a little defensively.

He nodded. “We stay away from hospitals whenever possible. I’m glad we have another person on the team that can help out with that.” He gently laid a hand on my shoulder. “Come upstairs to my office when you’re finished.”

I nodded.

I finished cleaning the wound and bandaged Robbie’s leg. I gave Alex and Tony instructions on how to use the pain meds and antibiotics and made them promise to keep Robbie here for a least a day so I could keep an eye on the wound and monitor for infection.

After I was satisfied, I cleaned up my impromptu medical area and headed upstairs. I wanted to head straight to Austin’s office so I could find out what was going on, but he probably would not appreciate me getting blood on his stuff. I stopped in my room to wash up and change my clothes as quickly as I could.

I headed to Austin’s office with a mix of anticipation, worry, and curiosity. I wanted to know what was going on and how I would to be able to help, but I was also worried about the guys being in some serious trouble. Regardless of what was going on, I was sticking with them; these were the good guys.

I knocked on the closed door but decided to barge in without waiting for an answer. Austin was sitting behind his giant desk, with Cody and James sitting across from him. It looked like I had interrupted a serious discussion, but Austin waved me toward them.

Cody stood up to offer me his seat. I tried to turn it down, but all three guys insisted. Cody stood behind me with his hands on the back of my chair.

Austin leaned forward as he started speaking. “Anna, I’m glad you’re here. Thanks for your help earlier tonight.”

I nodded. I didn’t really feel like I did anything that helpful, but I didn’t want to waste time arguing. “So, what happened tonight?”

James cleared his throat. “We had a group of wolves attempt to gain access to the house tonight.”

I frowned. “Why would they do that? Is this a territory issue? How often does this kind of thing happen?” I tried to stop myself from asking questions so that he could answer some of the ones I already asked. I was babbling again.

“Well, we think they were on a mission to get something from the house.”

I nodded. That made sense; it looked like they had a lot of expensive things here. “How were the wolves planning to get it out, though?” I asked with a frown. “It’s not like they could carry anything in their wolf forms.”

“That’s a good point, Anna,” Cody added from behind me.

“James will have to look more into what they were planning and how they were planning to do it.” Austin looked at James pointedly, and he nodded in response.

“Are you going to ask the wolves you took prisoner?” I asked, curious to know what was going on. It seemed odd that the three of them were sitting here when there were prisoners somewhere on the property that might have the answers that we needed.

Austin sighed. “We have laws among our kind that dictate what we can and can’t do if we find members of another pack trespassing on our territory. We captured two, but it looks like there were a total of ten wolves on the property tonight. That’s a significant number and leads us to believe it was the work of a pack, not the work of a few rebels from within a pack.”

I thought about that for a moment. “You think they were looking to attack our position here and not just steal something?”

“That’s possible,” Austin told me. He exchanged looks with James, and they seemed to have a silent conversation. James clenched his jaw and looked away while Austin continued. “We were aware that someone had our pack under surveillance, but we weren’t sure why. Today, we set a trap. If they were interested in taking over the pack or my territory, they would have went after Cody and myself while we were alone out in town today. They didn’t.”

Austin paused and looked as though he was considering his next words. I heard Cody shifting behind me, but I couldn’t see his face to guess what he was thinking.

“Instead of coming after pack leadership, they came here. We had made it look like there were only a couple of wolves on guard duty on the perimeter and four wolves here in the house. The reality was that we had a lot more wolves on standby, just waiting for them to make a move.”

Not that I didn’t appreciate being kept in the loop, but I wondered why he was telling me all of this. I was a brand new wolf to the pack, just here on a trial basis. My heart dropped. Did he suspect me of being involved somehow?

As Austin shifted in his seat, my thoughts must have been all over my face. “Anna, the reason I’m telling you this is because we think those wolves were after you.”

“Me?” I spluttered. “Do you think that’s Evelyn’s pack? That they know I had a relationship with her?”

“That’s one possibility. At this point, we are not sure. We are following protocol, which is to contact the council and have them act as a mediator between myself and the other pack-master.”

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw James shift as he pulled out his vibrating phone. Austin gave him a wave, and James went outside of the room to take the call.

“Our next step is to have the pack-master identify himself and what he wants. If he wants our territory, he will have to declare war. If he wants you, it gets much more complicated.”

Fear trickled down my spine. It seemed unreal that anyone would want to kidnap me, but Evelyn had warned me this could happen if wolves found out about my existence. She had not predicted there would be a pack of good wolves willing to protect me, though.

Or would they? Was Austin willing to negotiate something in return for me? Would he risk putting his pack in danger for a stray wolf he just met? He could hand me over, and all his troubles would be over.

“What are you going to do if they ask for me?” I whispered.

Austin sat back. “That depends on you. I need you to answer me honestly. Is there another pack that would have a claim on you?”

I was confused. “How would they do that?”

“Your father or a male that you had mated with could make a claim on you.”

I just stared at him. “I don’t know who my father is. And I haven’t, uh, mated with any wolves.”

“Are you sure?” Cody asked me quietly. “You couldn’t tell I was a wolf until I told you.”

I turned bright red. “I am 100 percent sure. There was only one guy, and it was a long time ago.” I closed my eyes in complete embarrassment. Oh my god, please let words stop coming out of my mouth. I slunk down on my chair, hoping to disappear into the floor.

“Huh,” Austin said.

I peeked out of one eye to see if they were laughing at me for being a complete weirdo.

“I’m going to have to ask you to give James his info so we can check, just to make sure,” Austin told me gently. “It would be better to find out now than to be surprised later.”

“He’s no longer alive,” I told them awkwardly. “Even if he was a wolf, his pack wouldn’t have any claim on me, right?”

“No, they wouldn’t. But I still want to confirm the story,” James announced as he strode back into the room.

Oh my god, now James was discussing this? How was he even a part of the conversation when he had just been out in the hall? If I could have sunk any lower in my chair, I would have. “Can’t I just say I want to stay here?” I mumbled.

Austin looked at me with pity. “Unfortunately, wolf society has been very patriarchal over the centuries. Females are considered part of the pack they are born into unless they mate outside of the pack. Males are free to change packs and go where they want. Wolf society is behind on the modern times.”

I shifted uncomfortably. “But I wasn’t born into a pack, so I don’t belong anywhere.”

He shrugged. “That is what makes this a delicate situation, and why I decided to involve the council. They have the authority to name you as an official member of our pack; other packs will respect that and back off. No one will risk the anger of the council in order to kidnap you.”

“But what if the council wants to give me to another pack?” I asked nervously.

“Austin’s father and James’ cousin are both on the council,” Cody informed me.

“So it will be difficult, but not impossible, for us to have you named to our pack,” Austin told me.

“There’s going to be opposition from the more well-established packs. They are going to argue that she should go to one of them,” James voiced.

“We can argue about what may or may not happen all day. Right now, we need to plan for the things that we can control,” Austin said firmly.

“I’m going be contacting the council members individually to try and get their ear before any official proceeding occur. James, I need you on the investigation to see what we are dealing with. Cody, I need you in contact with the other local packs; see if they have had any problems with renegade wolves or another pack encroaching on their territory. I already have Caleb working this from a tech aspect.”

Finally, Austin turned to me. “Anna, I need you to stay in the house and out of sight.” I frowned. Everyone else got an assignment, but I was told to hide? Not fair.

“Can’t I do something to help?” I asked. “I feel kind of useless just going to hide under my bed, when all of this is kind of my fault.” I chewed my lip nervously.

Cody chuckled, and James was hiding a grin. “None of this is your fault, Anna,” Austin told me reassuringly. “We have been dealing with attacks on our territory a lot since we are a new pack. Having a female here now is just giving them extra motivation.”

I nodded and tried not to worry. These guys were professionals, they knew exactly what they are doing and are the best at what they do. Everyone is going to be fine.

“I’m going to have you stick with the twins, so you can help them with all of their tasks,” Austin told me.

“OK,” I told him.

James took that as a signal that the meeting was over and strode out. I stood up and headed to the door after him. I wanted to find the twins to check up on them and see what I could do to help.