“Rosa! Rosa!”

Her eyes were glassy, unfocused. Her whole body had gone limp, and I thrust my hip out to catch her as she slumped to the ground. I laid her down in the dirt, cupping her soft face in my hand, trying to ignore the pull of our attraction as our skin touched.

Shit. What have those bastards done to her?

Her eyelids fluttered open. My heart stopped. “Wha … what happened? I was dreaming and …”

“Rosa, it’s me, Caleb. You had a bit of a shock. I’ll take you back to your cabin, and explain everything, I promise. Can you stand?”

“Yes … no … I think so.”

Rosa was shaking as she stood up, gripping my arm for dear life. But when she hobbled around so she could see my face, her whole body shuddered. I offered a hand to help her. She swatted it away.

“Stay away from me,” she snapped, her words barbs in my chest.

“I’m not here to hurt you.” I held up my hands, showing her I was unarmed, and giving her a nice full-frontal while I was at it. It was always good to flaunt the body before telling someone that shapeshifters really existed. I found it helped people to have something decent to look at while their entire worldview was shattered. “I’ll explain everything, I promise. We just need to get inside first.”

“If what I just saw was true, you don’t need to explain.” Rosa narrowed her eyes at me, and staggered to her feet. “You turned into a dog, Caleb. Or was it a wolf?”

“It was a wolf.”

“As in, a creature that isn’t a human. A creature that isn’t even supposed to exist in this country. And you fought those other two wolves.”

“Yes, I did. Well, really I just fought off one of them. He was going to drag you away. The other one … he just follows instructions.”

“But why? What instructions? Why were they here at all? They said they were looking for you, and something about choosing.”

“They know you’re my—” I stopped myself just in time. No, don’t tell her yet. She’s not ready. She was still reeling from the attack, and from seeing what I really was, she didn’t need to know about mating … not just yet. I could explain it later, after we’d got to know each other a little better. Instead, I opted for a half-truth. “Because he’s after me, and he believes he can get to me through you.”

“Why?” Rosa scrambled after her groceries, her hands shaking so much she fumbled a block of butter four times before she managed to toss it back into her shopping bag.

“He probably saw us last night. He knows I like you. He thinks that if I see you’re in danger, I’ll obey him.”

“Obey him in what?” Rosa’s gaze was fixated on the ground, very deliberately avoiding looking at me. It was annoying. I wished I could read her expression.

“In returning to Aberdeen, most likely.” I grabbed her salami from where it had rolled to the edge of the path. “I think that’s the last of it, unless you want to go hunt out that package of mince you threw into the trees.”

“No, thank you.”

“Then, let’s go inside. You need to sit down and digest this. I’ll fix us some tea. I promise I’ll explain everything,”

“I’m not going anywhere until you tell me what I just saw! What the hell are you, Caleb?”

I sighed. Rosa Parker was one stubborn woman. “Fine. I’m a werewolf.”

Her face pinched, like I’d just released some kind of toxic odour into the air. “I don’t believe it. Werewolves don’t exist. They’re just characters in children’s books and horror stories.”

“You’re a writer. You know better than anyone that all stories, no matter how impossible, contain a nugget of truth. Think about it. Think about what you just saw. Is there any other explanation that fits the facts of your own eyes?”

Rosa’s eyes met mine, and I could see the fear there. “It’s a trick,” she whispered. “You’re trying to play a cruel joke on me.”

Her face had paled. For some reason, the idea of this all being a joke was more upsetting to her than the concept that I was a man who turned into a wolf. I wondered if that had something to do with what – or who – had hurt her, but now was definitely not the time to press.

“I swear to you that I am not tricking you.” I lifted my arms, showing her the few strands of grey fur still peeking through my skin. “Sometimes they don’t all retract properly. This is what I am, Rosa. It’s what I’ve always been – a man and a wolf, sharing the same skin. There’s nothing supernatural or horrible about it.”

“Don’t tell me that bullshit. Tonight’s been pretty damn horrible.”

“True. But if you come with me now, I promise you’ll be safe. No other wolves will touch you now. You can trust me.”

”Why should I trust you? You were so nice to me last night, and then this morning when I drove past Margaret’s, I know you saw me.”

“I did see you.”

“Why did you act as though you’d looked right through me?”

I cringed. “Again, it’s a long story. I was trying to protect you, dumb as it sounds.”

“You’re right. That does sound dumb.”

“I smelled the two wolves on the path last night, when I was coming back from your cabin. I thought they might pull something like this, so I was going to try to keep my distance from you, to keep you safer. But when I saw your face, I felt like a fucking idiot for even trying it. I heard your car pull up and I was actually coming to apologise when I smelt Angus and Robbie.”

“You know those guys?”

I sighed again. She was not going to like this. “They’re my stepbrothers.”

Big mistake. Rosa’s eyes blazed, her whole body tensing again. “Figures. This is what I get for daring to think I could start over.”

“I can explain everything.”

She turned away from me. “Fine. Whatever. I’ve got vegetables to put away.”

She stalked through the forest ahead of me, deliberately averting her gaze from my naked body. I wanted to make a joke about it, but judging by the set expression on her face, I knew it wasn’t the best time.

When Rosa reached the cabin, she stomped across the porch, unlocked the door, walked inside and slammed the door shut behind her. I stopped myself before I slammed my face against the glass panel.

“Hey.” I rapped against the window beside the door. “I’m still out here.”

“I know that. Say what you need to say to me through the window.” Rosa moved toward the kitchen, and started slamming her groceries down on the bench. Her hands were still shaking, but she managed to open the window a crack. “I’m not having you inside, not when you could turn into one of them.”

“Could you at least throw me a towel or something? It’s a little nippy out here and I’m afraid I’m not showing you my best angle.”

The corners of Rosa’s mouth tugged upward a little, but she didn’t crack that gorgeous smile for me. She balled up the red duvet she’d spread over the bed, and shoved it through the door to me, slamming it shut behind her before I could get an arm through the gap.

I wrapped the duvet around my lower half, knotting the ends together. “Not quite the kilt I’m used to, but it’s something.”

“Don’t try to be funny. This is serious. You’re a werewolf. I was just attacked by two other werewolves. The werewolves that attacked me today – they’re your stepbrothers, and they are after me to get to you for some reason that I’m sure to regret learning.”

“That’s an astute summary of the situation.”

“I’m going to need more, Caleb. I’m going to need the full story.” She slammed the kettle down on the stove, and turned on the gas.

“It’s a pretty long story.”

Rosa held up her cup and waved it at me. She folded her arms and leaned against the bench, one hip jutting out suggestively. “I’m listening.”

I took a breath, trying to sort out what I should tell her. I decided to start at the beginning, with how I’d come to be in Crookshollow. “My werewolf family, the Lowe pack, originally came from Crookshollow. We’re one of the reasons Crookshollow has the supernatural reputation it does – our pack has laid claim to this territory for hundreds of years. The pack lived in a cave deep in the forest, and they were the dominant wolf pack in this area. No other wolf dared to step over the boundary of the forest without permission of the Lowes. The last generation to live in that cave was my grandfather and grandmother, and their three sons.”

“They lived in a cave? Did they spend all their time as wolves?”

“In those days, yes. It’s dangerous to live in a populated area as a werewolf. As you’ve seen today, we’re able to control when we shift. Most of the time, when I’m in my wolf form, I’m still me inside. I have the senses of the wolf, but the mind of a human.”

“Most of the time?” Her eyes narrowed. “Does that mean you can lose control?”

I nodded. “When the full moon comes out, things are different. I can’t control my shift. No matter where I am or what I’m doing I’ll become a wolf, and I operate only on my wolfish instincts. I no longer have control. This is very important for you to know. When the full moon approaches, which is in about five days time, you can’t be near me.”

“I’m not sure I want to be near you now.” The kettle whistled, and Rosa took it off the element, and prepared her drink.

“Fair enough. You want me to keep going? You’re handling this okay so far?”

“I’m handling it just fine.” Rosa sipped her tea.

“Right. So … my grandmother lived in the village, and she worked at the post office, and sometimes she taught at the school. My grandfather did odd jobs sometimes, but it got harder and harder for him to find work as the villagers grew hostile.”

“How come your grandmother didn’t live in the cave? Wasn’t she a werewolf?”

I shook my head. “Now we get into the bit where things get a little complicated. Very few women are fully-fledged werewolves. It’s a genetic trait that is dominant on the male genome. However, women are the carriers of the genes. A pack will only survive if the alpha wolf mates with a woman who has the correct genes.”

“So you have to go around DNA-testing every potential partner?” Rosa rolled her eyes. “How romantic.”

“Not exactly.” A giant moth flew in front of my face and flapped its wings against the window. “We have … a sense, I guess you could call it. When we’re in the vicinity of a potential mate, we get a feeling. Our pheromones go into overdrive. Any wolf can immediately sense that a woman has the potential to be a mate.” I paused, but decided to press on. “Sometimes, a wolf will meet a mate who is a perfect genetic match. The combination of their genes would produce the strongest wolves, and their love for each other forms the perfect bond – we call that a fated pair. Once they lay eyes on each other, they won’t even be able to look at anyone else. It’s very rare, but when it happens, it’s magical. My grandparents were fated mates, and that’s why Lowe blood is considered so pure.”

“That sounds ridiculous.”

A second moth joined his friend on the window, their wings overlapping. They fluttered in unison, climbing over each other in a scrabble of insect legs and wings. Grinning, I jabbed a finger at them. “These moths don’t think so.”

“Don’t female moths eat the male after they’ve finished impregnation?”

“That’s spiders. Female moths attract their mates by excreting pheromones.”

Rosa wrinkled her nose. “Who needs dinner and a movie when you have excretions.”

“Don’t knock it until you tried it. Our moth friends are certainly enjoying it.”

“Can we get away from the moth porn and back to the subject at hand?”

“Moth porn?” I snorted with laughter. Through the window, Rosa cracked a smile too, which she quickly wiped away.

Her eyes darted to the moths again, and then settled back on my face. “Is this why you came to see me, Caleb? Because I’m carrying the werewolf gene and you can smell my excretions?”

“Oh yes. You’re a carrier. To me, you are bloody irresistible, and not just because of that fine ass. Unfortunately, my brothers can sense it, too. I think that might be why they attacked you. But we’re skipping ahead.”

“Right, yes.” Rosa took a huge gulp of her tea. “Let’s keep things linear, just jumping around like a David Mitchell book.”

“Where was I? Aye, so my family lived at the cave. However, many people in the town didn’t appreciate their presence, and over time, the unease at having wolves nearby grew into all-out hostility. About fifty years ago, a vindictive priest decided to use that anger to establish his own position of power. He incited the townspeople to form an angry mob, and they came to the forest and killed my whole family.”

Rosa lifted one perfectly manicured eyebrow.

“Or so they thought. My mother was mated to Amos Lowe, the eldest Lowe son. At the time of the attack, she was visiting her family in Crooks Crossing. She was carrying me inside her. She returned to find her mate and his whole family slaughtered. The Lowe pack was no more, which meant she had no protection. And you can’t just walk into a hospital and give birth to a werewolf, if you get what I mean. She fled to Scotland, where she had some family, and she went in search of local werewolves. Unfortunately, that put her in the line of sight for the Maclean clan.”

“Clan? As in, a Scottish clan? Werewolves dancing around in tartan?”

“Not quite. The packs in Scotland like to affiliate themselves with the traditional Scottish clans. They like the battle cries and the family loyalty and shit.” I turned my arm to show her the tattoo of a tower and the words Virtue Mine Honour across my bicep.

She gasped. “That wolf had the same tattoo.”

“Yup. It’s our clan heraldry.“

“It all sounds very official.”

“They like that, the legitimacy, the sense of history, but it's all a farce. The wolf clans are only as virtuous as their alphas. And in this case, my mother was mated again to Douglas Maclean, alpha of the Maclean clan, the most infamous pack of scoundrels and criminals in the north.”

“You mean, like a gang?”

“Not like a gang, they are a gang, responsible for drug trafficking and violent crimes up and down the Scottish highlands. They’re also the only family I know.”

I watched her face carefully for a reaction. I was admitting that I was a criminal, part of an organised crime family. But Rosa didn’t betray her thoughts. I pressed on.

“My mother Maria raised me with the other cubs as part of the Maclean pack, but Douglas never accepted me as his own. He had two other sons by his previous mate; Angus was five years older and the heir to the clan. He was even more brutal and dismissive of authority than his father, and of course, Douglas encouraged his crimes. Robbie was two years younger than me, and he was a bit slow at times. It took him a long time to understand his lessons, and he’d often muddle up instructions and numbers, which would mess up the business and make Douglas wild. Robbie was always trying to get the crime side of things right, desperate for the approval of his father and brother. I was desperate too, but not so desperate I wanted to hurt innocent people or rob already struggling farmers.”

“You refused to do these things?” Rosa’s eyes were wide.

“Mostly, and my mother would back me up. Every time, it made Douglas hate me a little bit more. But don’t get to thinking I’m some kind of saint. I did a lot of shit for the Macleans that haunts me. By rights, I should be in jail by now. But I really didn’t want to hurt anyone.”

“Why didn’t you just leave?”

“It’s not that easy. Pack loyalty is paramount in shifter society. Leaving means basically becoming a traitor, an outcast. You won’t get any help from another pack, and there’s no pack in this country who would dare take in a wolf who ran away from the Macleans. If you desert your pack, you’re on your own. We call these wolves rogues, and there are very few around, fewer still after an explosion here in Crookshollow killed several.”

“What?”

I waved a hand. “That’s another story for another time. It’s not important right now.”

“Explosions are usually important.”

“Not this one, trust me. Anyway, eventually I did leave, about eight months ago. I read about an archaeological excavation going on in Crookshollow. It was a cave site, where some paintings had been found. It was my ancestral home. I couldn’t stop thinking about it or looking at the picture in the paper. Maria wasn’t interested when I told her about it. She said she wouldn’t leave Douglas to go searching after ghosts. I think she knew I would go. I didn’t have anything keeping me in Aberdeen, and I needed to see what the archaeologists had dug up about my family.

“So I came here, intending to re-enter the caves once the archaeologists were done and claim my own territory in the forest – the last surviving member of the Lowe pack. Having that kind of a legacy attached to my name – even as a rogue – would’ve been enough to help me re-establish some of my old family lands. I thought I might’ve been able to attract some other rogues to the area, and together we could form a new pack.

“But another wolf got here first – my cousin, Luke, although I didn’t know that at the time. I thought he was just a rogue wolf looking to take advantage of the Lowe name attached to the caves. It turned out, Luke’s father, Walter Lowe, had been overlooked when the village brutally murdered our family. He and I defeated another wolf that was bugging his mate, Anna, and together we established boundaries of our own pack – the Lowe pack, version 2.0. So far it’s just the two of us in the whole of the Crookshollow forest. But Anna’s pregnant, and we’re open to other recruits.”

“Right, fine. So I’ve got your entire family history. But that doesn’t explain why your stepbrothers are here.”

“The truth is, I don’t know the answer to that yet. My guess is, Douglas has heard about the Lowe pack by now. He either wants me to come back to Scotland, or, more likely, he can’t bear the insult of having me establish another pack, and wants to fight me to the death.”

“And me?”

I nodded. “That’s my fault. I’ve put you in the middle of this. They saw me with you, and now they think they can use you to force my hand. I won’t let them do it. I’ll protect you.”

“This is nuts. I didn’t ask for this.” Rosa set her cup down. Her hands gripped the side of the bench so tight her knuckles turned white.

“No, you didn’t.” I flashed her my grin. “Look at it this way. It’ll give you lots of fodder for that novel.”

“I already have quite enough inspiration, thank you.”

“I bet Hemingway wished he was targeted by vengeful werewolves.”

“Hemingway blew his brains out,” Rosa said. “I don’t really want to make him a role model.”

“Right.”

“He’s also white, and a man. You could pick a different writer. Or do you only read books written by old, white men?”

Whoah. Where did that come from? “It was just an example. Look, I don’t really want to argue about writers with you through the window, especially since that’s not the pressing issue here, and you’re a writer so I am totally going to lose. And I really hate losing. Can I come in now?”

“No.”

“It’s going to be difficult to keep you safe if I’m stuck out here. Not impossible, just more difficult.” I flexed my arm muscles. “I’m up for the challenge.”

Rosa gave me an odd look. “You’re really going to sit out there all night and keep watch?”

I pulled out the chair at the porch table and sat down, wrapping the duvet around my shoulders. “Yup.”

Her eyes softened. She opened and closed her mouth a couple of times, and moved toward the door. I stood up, letting the duvet drop to the floor. She’s going to let me in. She’s decided to trust me. I’m finally making some progress with this girl. I’m finally—

Rosa opened the door a crack. I took a step toward her, but she shoved something out to me. A cold cheese-and-onion sandwich.

“Enjoy your dinner,” she said, and slammed the door shut again.