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Chapter 1

Five Years Later

A year after I left my pack, I found a small town just two hundred miles away that didn’t have a single wolf within miles of it. Two years after settling in Rollins, Montana I shifted. My wolf was pure black with ice blue eyes. I wasn’t a special wolf or anything, but to me my wolf was special. She was the spitting imagine of my father’s wolf except for the eyes. He had deep green eyes.

My mother’s wolf was a gray and white with silver eyes. Every day that passed, I missed them more and more. Lilly was slowly starting to speak to me more and more. She was still mad at the fact that I ran from our mate, but she knew that I only did that because he hurt us.

The fifth year that I was in Rollins, something happened. A small pack moved into town, and I knew it was just a matter of time before they found me. It wouldn’t matter that I was here first, the pack now owned the land I was on, and by council law, it was theirs and I was just a rouge living on it.

But thanks to Lilly, my wolf, I knew how to mask my scent. So to other wolves, I smelled like a human. If the pack found me, it would be the alpha’s place to decide what would happen to me. He could send me back to my pack, send me to the council, or kill me himself.

I would rather he send me to council or kill me. It’s not that I hated my pack, but everything and everyone there reminded me of the family I lost. The day after the pack moved in, I quit my job at the diner in town. I had the money I saved from the job, plus the thirty thousand that I brought with me. Slipping my apartment key into the drop box, I take my bag and make my way out of town.

I knew that I shouldn’t run again, but I didn’t want to want to be sent back to Jubal at least not yet. The mate bond between wolves allowed the other to feel when their mate was in trouble, worried, in pain or when they were cheating. The pain started out as a dull ache in your heart, and most would think it was just heartburn. But as your mate and the other get more intimate, the pain would like a hot iron being shoved into your chest.

Over the past five years, that searing pain would increase to where I felt it almost every night. But not once did I cheat on Jubal. I wasn’t that kind of woman. My mother had taught me that cheating on your mate was never acceptable, no matter what he or she had done. No matter what Jubal did to me, I would not dishonor my mother’s memory by sleeping with another.

My father used to tell me a myth about the first werewolves. It was said that they had the ability to shift into any living thing they desired to. But as the years passed, they slowly lost that ability. But that’s not true. Since we were taught to think that we lost that part of us, no one tried to see if it couldn’t be done. With the help of Lilly, I was able to shift into a four other animals: a dog, a cheetah, a tiger and a jaguar. I could make myself appear as a just a pup or as a full grown animal of each of them as well as my wolf.

Walking through the forest outside of town, I was met with several voices heading my way. Slipping into a small hidden cave, I made sure that my scent was hidden. As they came closer, I made sure that my heartbeat couldn’t be heard. “Alpha, the scouts were sure that only humans lived in this town. We didn’t catch any scent beside humans.”

“That’s good. We still need to stay hidden from sight until we manage to make this town one hundred percent ours. It would be a disaster for them if they were to find out the truth about us.” They come to a stop just right outside of where I was hiding.  “There’s something else you should know sir.”

“And what’s that?”

“In town yesterday, several of the scouts noticed a woman about 22-23 that didn’t seem to belong. They asked around about her and they found out that she showed up five years ago. She was found just outside of town during a bad snow storm. A normal human would have froze to death…”

“And you believe that she’s a were?”

“Yes sir I do. I went to the apartment she was living in, but when I got there, she had already left. It could be that she’s a late shifter or she has an animal but can’t shift. Those are the only reasons I can think of as why she smells human.” The alpha laughs softly and I could hear Lilly laughing as well.  “You’ve over looked another reason.”

“And what would that be Alpha?” The man asked. I pegged him as either a guard or shield. “This young lady could be a shifter who is hiding from her mate or her pack. Our animals can teach us many things, including how to mask your scent. Tell the guards to keep an eye out for her and when they find her bring her to me. I’d like to see this woman.”

They move away and I let out a sigh of relief. As I moved to step out of my hiding place, Lilly stopped me. Tamar, they’ll be looking for you. We need to shift if we’re to get out of here without them finding us.

You’re right Lilly. I’ll shift into a dog before leaving the cave. You’ll have to help block my mind if we run into any of the pack. Five years away from any of our kind is a long time. I picture myself shifting into a Shiloh Shepherd. Seconds later, I grabbed my bag between my teeth. Before stepping out of my hiding place, I made sure that my scent was that of a Shiloh Shepherd and that Lilly was blocking my mind. I made it to the border without running into any guards, but before I could cross it, a deep threatening growl sounded behind me. Turning around, I watched as the alpha and several warriors and guards slipped out for the woods. This would be a tough one to get out off.