Page 7 of Gavin

Alli’s apartment was a spacious two bedroom. After setting her bag and purse in the spare bedroom, Alli fixed breakfast for them while Sadie showered and changed into fresh clothes. Asthey sat at a small table in the kitchen to eat, Alli shared how she and Sadie’s mom had met.

“Must’ve been sixty or seventy years ago,” Alli said as she cut chocolate chip waffles into bite size pieces. “I was taking classes at a college in Michigan, and I met this really shy but very sweet female named Evelyn.”

“My mom went to college? She never told me.”

Sadie took a bite of waffle and washed it down with a sip of cold milk.

“She didn’t finish her degree. Her alpha let her take some classes but she got involved with a shifters’ rights group.”

She frowned. “What?”

Alli smiled. “Yeah, it was called the Unity Alliance.” She leaned back in the chair and her eyes got a faraway look. “In the fifties, shifters were pretty isolated. The Unity Alliance was created by a group of different shifters who were students at the college, and they wanted to challenge people’s perceptions of shifters and help integrate them into society while also keeping their traditions. They held protests and seminars and lobbied the state and federal governments about shifter issues. They believed shifters should have the right to choose their own paths, even if it meant leaving their groups and living among humans or mating humans or other types of supernatural people.”

“Wow. Really? That…doesn’t seem like something my mom would do. I can’t imagine her protesting, even peacefully.” Her mom was the most straight-laced person she’d ever known and always followed whatever the alpha said. “So what happened?”

“Well, word got back to her alpha that she was spending a lot of time with a human male. I’m pretty sure there were spies in the organization who were reporting to the shifter groups. I told her to leave the pack and be with him, but she got scared. Your alpha saw the group as a threat to the traditions of the pack and wasn’t interested in any sort of progress. He consideredit a challenge to his authority and worried that Evelyn would influence other pack members. He came to one of the meetings and told her to drop out of college and cut ties with the organization or she’d face the consequences.”

“So she left?”

“Yep. I offered her a place to live and hell, she and the human were really close and I know he wanted her to stick around. Then the human, whose name was Mickey, was attacked on the way to his apartment from an evening class and your mom knew it was a warning. So she left, but before she did I told her she could reach out to me anytime. I did hear from her occasionally, we wrote to each other by snail mail and when emails were a thing, we communicated here and there. After you were born, I didn’t hear from her again until yesterday when she asked for help for you.”

“It’s like she was a whole different person back then,” Sadie said.

“Yeah, love will do that.”

“I wonder if he’s still alive.”

“I don’t know. If he is, he’s no spring chicken anymore. I doubt she would have stayed with him anyway, even if she loved him. Imagine aging slowly while the guy you love ages like a human. It would be hard to watch.”

“Yeah, it would. Have you ever dated a human?”

“Hell no. I’m immortal and I can’t turn anyone immortal. So generally I stick to dating other immortals like vampires or fallen angels. Occasionally I’ve dated shifters and fae over the years, I’ve been around for a few hundred of them you know. But even with your shifter long-life, it still means they’re aging and I’m not.”

They talked a while longer about the past, a glimpse into Sadie’s mom’s history that she never knew, and then they talked about Sadie’s own history.

When the dishes were finished and they’d settled on the couch, Alli said, “The full moon is tomorrow. There are woods a short drive from here that some of the shifters who live here use for hunting. But I could also take you to meet the alpha of the wolf pack. His name is Adam and he’s a great guy. His mate Cinder is a special kind of wolfy witch called alygisa. The pack is large and welcoming, and I know they’d let you hang out with them. No pressure.”

She hadn’t thought any farther than getting to Cleveland.

“I… don’t like people to see my shift.”

“Why not?”

“Because I’m an albino wolf.”

“Yeah, you’re rare. I think that’s pretty cool.”

“Well, my pack doesn’t.”

Alli leaned forward, her eyes blazing. “Your pack can go to hell, minus your mom of course. Differences should be celebrated not discriminated against. Cinder’s fur is gold. Hell, Adam’s sister Angie has two vampires for mates and she’s an immortal beloved mate. So I promise you that the Thorn Hollow Pack could not care less that your fur is white. But it’s up to you. You can hang out here with me or with Adam and Cinder’s pack.”

Sadie toyed with the fringe on a throw over the back of the couch. Ever since she shifted that first time, she’d only ever wanted to be accepted. It seemed like a crazy dream.

Her mom had feared for her safety so she’d sent her to Cleveland to an old friend she hadn’t seen in decades. And now, maybe Sadie could actually shift and run with a pack that wouldn’t see her as something to fear and shun?

It seemed too good to be true.

But the truth was, Sadie felt like she was supposed to be in Northern Ohio. And how strange was that? To actually feel like she belonged somewhere she’d never been in her life?

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