Page 2 of Planet Wolf

Of course, who would dare try to infiltrate the Union? They were the supreme power of everything, meaning missions against them were a waste of time. I rolled my eyes.Not for much longer, not if I had anything to do with it.

The captain landed the shuttle, and we were suddenly on Planet Wolf. The gravity made my muscles ache, but I ignored it. Physical pain couldn’t compete with the sheer amazement of being on a shifter planet—one of those places in life where regular humans didn’t go. I guessed the ship didn’t have time to do a gentle introduction into the gravity, so I struggled with the transition. I hadn’t traveled much off-planet before, but compared to my previous experiences, our landing was irregular and rough. Some of the other passengers made noises of pain, but not me. I remained silent.

I always hurt. This was just another ache.

After only taking a few moments to disembark the ship, we trudged outside to join an already formed group. Surprisingly, I didn’t have to stop to catch my breath when we disembarked or as we walked. Usually, I struggled with pretending everything was fine, which ranked among my least favorite activities in life.

Maybe it was the adrenaline?

The fearless leader for the Union put on a good show for the disembarking passengers. A big smile stretched his face and he kept patting people on the back. I hung toward the rear of our group, watching everyone else as surreptitiously as possible. I didn’t know who I was supposed to be, nor did I know what my intended task might be on their mission, so my biggest challenge was pretending not to be terrified. So far, I figured I was pulling it off, since no one stopped what they were doing to point at me and shriektraitor.

My heart raced, the weight of what I was doing heavy on my chest, and I tried to ignore it. The sensation wasn’t anxiety. It was just what my heart did on occasion, so I tried to disregard it and focus on my surroundings.

Were they going to talk soon? They had to, so I could slip away unnoticed quickly. The smell of jasmine filled the air, distracting me from my thoughts. I lifted my nose to catch more of it, one of my favorite scents teasing on the breeze. My mom always loved it as well, I remembered suddenly. When I visited her—one of the few times I visited before she forgot who we were—I brought her jasmine oil. She liked it in her bath, and my gift proved one of the few luxuries afforded her for the time when she lived there.

The memory struck me as so pleasant. Did their whole planet smell of jasmine?

The clearing where we landed huddled damp in the dim light, surrounded by thick and old growth forest. Trees I would have called pine on Earth obstructed the view outside the circular area where the ship landed. In the distance, snow covered mountains carved a stark line across the horizon. Other than that, nothing but trees seemed to stretch everywhere I looked, as if the forest cloaked the area in a pine curtain to hide it away.

Were they called pines on Planet Wolf? I didn’t know.

One of the men seemed to think he was my boss, and I watched as he schmoozed a group of other shifters. He was a small man, and he wasn’t the only leader among the people I could see. Three groups of three, each led by a male, with all of the men giving each other a wide berth. Although other women were present, none stood in leadership positions so far as I could see.

From what little I learned from our informant prior to the meeting, we would meet with representatives from all of the shifter planets. The idea of Bear, Lion, and Wolf shifters all agreeing to meet in the same place at the same time—I would be lying if I didn’t admit the idea struck me as amazing. Of course, there were a lot of things about shifters that baffled me, including their bodies. Just… the change…wow.My body couldn’t even function properly if I slept the wrong way, yet theirs could alter shape. Did they have more than one soul? Not that anyone lined up to answer all my questions.

That was when I felt them—the eyes on me. I lifted my gaze, searching for the source of the sensation. Three men caught my eye, each wearing dark clothing. One of them wore a t-shirt, while the other two sported more formal collared shirts, yet theyallstared at me. The one in the center tilted his head, his eyes meeting mine.

Why were they looking at me, anyway? Certainly they could look at any number of more interesting and more important people than little old me, right? I looked over my shoulder, verifying my safety. Was someone behind me? No. All clear, but that also meant I was for sure what caught their rapt attention.

Gosh, do they know I’m not supposed to be here?

“Shall we get started?” the Union rep said.

Finally. I turned to listen as he continued. “We’re here today to cement a peace treaty. One where we all will get what we want…”

I don’t know what he planned to say next. One second, he was talking. The next, an explosion so loud it deafened me shook the area a second before my whole body jolted. A sensation like someone had punched me hard in the chest propelled me backward. Everyone was hit by it, the force leaving nothing untouched. Everyone and everything was flying. Trees. Rocks.

I didn’t have time for fear, no time to even call out.

Then there was nothing.

* * *

I woketo the feeling of something heavy being wrenched off my body. My ears rang. I couldn’t… couldn’t understand what was happening. I blinked my eyes open, struggling to focus. Three men stood in front of me, their faces familiar, but I couldn’t quite…

Oh, that was right. I snuck aboard a ship.The meetings. Shifters. Explosion.What had happened?

I tried to sit up and one of them bent over, saying something to me. I couldn’t hear him over the ringing, but he placed a hand on my shoulder. Okay, he didn’t want me to move.

All right. I’d stay right there. In fact, maybe I would just close my eyes and go right back to sleep.

The hand on my shoulder again stopped me with a gentle shake. Smoke filled the clearing, filled everything. It burned my eyes and my throat. Coughing really sucked. I hated doing it, and then I thought,what a ridiculous thought. Who liked to cough? No one.

One of the other men—not the one who shook me before—picked me up. Being cradled in his arms was nice despite the circumstances.Damn, I must have a head injury. My thoughts tumbled around crazily in my head, like marbles set loose in a jar. The man who’d shook me touched my forehead, then the third man, the one who hadn’t interacted with me yet, touched my cheek.

That was a lot of touching, now that I thought about it.

Why were they doing that? “I’m always a little bit sick,” I tried to explain to them, thinking maybe they just didn’t understand. In fact, where was my bag? I tried to look and gave up as weakness overwhelmed me. There were trees everywhere, green and stretching tall as if someone clicked copy and paste a few too many times. And dead bodies. There were dead bodies! Everywhere. Strewn body parts. Were there other survivors or were just the four of us still alive?

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