Page 11 of Gavin

Alli didn’t say anything for a moment, then said, “You mean in general or like right now?”

“In general.”

Earlier that day, Sadie had used Alli’s email to reach out to her mom and let her know she’d arrived safely and was going to hunt with a local pack. Her mom had replied a few hours later that Alpha Holloway had been angry at first that she’d left the pack without his authorization but had decided he’d deal with her if she ever returned to town. Her mom suggested that Sadie focus on making a life for herself without the pack, because she didn’t think it would be good for her to come home. Her mom’s email had left her feeling strangely hollow.

“I’m just a packless wolf right now, but I’ve actually got a pack. I just can’t go back to it.”

“I’m sorry you’re going through this. Your alpha is an asshole.”

Neither of them said anything for a few minutes. The roar of the wind as they rode to the Thorn Hollow pack’s territory was only slightly louder than the voice in her head that was telling her that this pack wouldn’t be any different than her own, that they’d take one look at her albino fur and run her out of town. Just because their alpha female had gold fur and magical powers didn’t mean they’d automatically accept her.

When they arrived at the alphas’ home, neither of them had said anything more. Sadie wasn’t feeling much like small talk, and Alli clearly was okay with giving her space to think.

The problem was that all Sadie could think about was thatthiswasn’t the place she was supposed to be. But what the heck did that even mean? If she didn’t belong in her home pack and she didn’t belong here, then where would her wolf feel at home? Would she ever?

Rubbing the space between her eyes with her thumb, Sadie said, “Maybe I should have just taken you up on your offer to shift and run around in the woods at the apartment complex.”

“We can do that next month,” Alli said confidently as she put the top up on the car and then turned off the engine.

“You make it sound so easy,” she said.

“Isn’t it? If your wolf isn’t happy here, we’ll find another place next month. There’s no shortage of woods to hunt in. The vampires have a tract of land for hunting that I could get you an invite to, and there are also other shifter groups around. You’re a unique wolf because you have white fur, but that doesn’t mean that you don’t deserve to have a place to call home.”

Sadie looked out the windshield at the big home. Her wolf was yearning for something, but she didn’t think it was this place.

Shaking her head, she plastered a smile on her face and said, “Let’s go meet the alphas. I’m sure they have stuff to do to get ready for the full moon hunt and I don’t want to be in the way.”

Alli nodded, and they got out of the car and headed into the home to meet with Adam and Cinder.

Once inside the grand two-story house, Alli went right to a female standing near the stove in the kitchen and hugged her.

“You’re looking as gorgeous as ever,” Alli gushed.

“Me? I swear you look younger every time I see you.” The female smiled. “You must be Sadie. Hi, I’m Cinder, alpha female. Welcome.”

Sadie shook her hand and smiled. “It’s nice to meet you. Thanks for letting me hang out with you all tonight.”

“Happy to have you. Especially considering your situation with your home pack. Let me introduce you to my mate, and we’ll find some females for you to hunt with. Alli, would you be willing to hang out here and help keep an eye on the non-shifting mates and the young kids?”

“I’d love to.”

Their trio walked out into the backyard and straight to a good-looking male with dark hair who was speaking with a handful of males. Cinder kissed him on the cheek and introduced Sadie. Adam shook her hand. “Welcome. Where are you from?”

“Ironwood.”

Adam rocked back on his heels and said, “Really? I’ve heard of Alpha Holloway. He’s a dick.”

She sputtered out a laugh. “Yeah.”

Adam grimaced. “Sorry, I don’t normally shit-talk other alphas, but he’s the worst. I’m not surprised he didn’t want to have you as part of his pack. He’s got a god complex when it comes to his people.”

“Sounds like you dodged a bullet coming here,” Cinder said.

Adam nodded. “Onto our pack rules, we don’t have a lot when it comes to our full moon hunts. One, don’t steal anyone’s game and two, stick with your buddies. Since you don’t know the territory and it’s not safe to hunt alone, we’ll get some females to hunt with you.”

She was going to nod in agreement but paused. “Why wouldn’t it be safe to hunt alone?” She’d been hunting on her own for years. Her mom used to hunt with her, but Sadie had eventually encouraged her to hunt with her friends because she was missing out on camaraderie with the pack to be with her.

“There’s an anti-shifter group that we’re keeping an eye out for,” he said gravely. “They were going after the tigers until a few months ago, and they’ve disappeared, but we don’t believethey’ve left Northern Ohio. And that means we’re keeping our guard up and making sure that no one who hunts in our woods is alone.”

---