Page 27 of Shadow Mate

“Neither are you,” I replied.

She smirked. “I think I’m going to like having you around.”

“I wish I could say the same, but I’m not exactly looking forward to being a prisoner,” I said.

“You’re not fully, you know. You can wander town, you just can’t leave.”

“That’s not reassuring,” I said.

She offered her hand. “Come on. I’ll take you to town and show you around.”

“Can I get some water first?” I asked.

“I’ll show you the kitchen,” she said.

* * *

Copper Springs was small.We had several businesses, two bars, two schools, and various houses and shared housing buildings. Compared to this place, though, my little hometown seemed huge. “So this is really the Lost Pack?”

I glanced down the gravel road, noting the Main Street that looked like the set of an old western movie. A cafe and a bar stood out as the most occupied places. Aside from that, there was a grocery store, a general store that looked to have a fair selection of basic clothing, and a barber shop. There were a couple other stores with names on their signs that didn’t give an indication of what was sold inside them. If they were even open at all. The whole place was nearly abandoned.

“Yep,” Zoe confirmed. “They had another name at one point, but they sort of became the thing everyone said they were.”

“So does this town have a name?” I followed her down road and noticed it was practically devoid of cars. One was parked near the barbershop, and I saw one tucked in an alleyway next to the cafe.

“They just call it Darken.”

“Were they once the Darken Pack, then?” I guessed based on how most shifter packs named their towns after themselves.

She nodded. “Cooler thanLost Pack, but it is what it is.”

It was so odd being in a place that was supposed to not exist. I wondered how many outsiders actually got to see it. “I take it you don’t get a lot of visitors.”

“Does any shifter pack?”

“Probably not,” I agreed.

Unless you were a shifter yourself, you couldn’t even pass through the wards around my hometown. It wasn’t often we got anyone new. Though, I’d heard some of the larger packs that were closer to major cities had more to offer. A sleepy mountain town wasn’t a huge draw for tourists or for relocation. It wasn’t like we offered much. Turns out, my pack isn’t all that different from this one. The major thing was that my pack was on the maps. This one wasn’t.

“Does the council even know this place exists?” I asked.

“Nobody does,” she said.

“So how did my dad find it and why would he challenge your alpha?” I asked.

“That’s exactly what I was trying to find out when I was inside your head,” she said.

My shoulders slumped at the reminder but not because of the sheer violation of it. That was something I wasn’t even going to let myself explore at the moment. Instead, my mind went right to Jasmine again. Chatting with a witch who was stepping into the role of friend made me homesick. Well, at least I missed her even if I didn’t miss the rest of the town. If my dad had sent me here, what had he done with her?

“Listen, I know you’re worried my dad will take me out, but people count on me back home.” Aside from Jasmine, there was Mary, who needed the warmth of my bar in the coming weeks and months. Nobody else would help her. There was no helping the less fortunate in the Copper Pack.

“I can’t let you leave,” she said.

I cocked my head to the side, taking in those words. “You’re the one who keeps the ward up.”

Her jaw tensed.

“How did my dad get through?” I asked.

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