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  Colin gritted his teeth. “For pity’s sake, she’s not lying.”

  “What would you know about it?”

  “I saw her injuries before they healed.” Granted, while she’d been in wolf form. “If she’d been human, she’d never have survived such wounds. The fact she’s now a wolf saved her life.”

  The older man scowled at him. “She looks perfectly human to me.”

  Colin met Tanya’s gaze. “You may have to show them.”

  “I don’t know if I can.”

  “I can help.”

  She looked at her parents, each in turn, then turned back to Colin and nodded. “Okay.”

  “I’ll guide you through it, rather than force it. It’ll be easier on you that way.”

  “What are you two talking about?”

  Without answering her father, Tanya slid out of her chair, shoved it back with a foot, then dropped to her knees by Colin.

  He released her hand to frame her face with both hands, looking deep into blue eyes. “Visualize what you saw in the mirror when you first came into Dad’s house. Choose to be the wolf, and you will be.”

  She nodded and closed her eyes. A grimace of pain crossed her face.

  He released her and slid his chair away, giving her room.

  She dropped to all fours then collapsed onto her side and panted.

  “Will, she’s having some sort of seizure!” Mrs. Sikes raced around the table, only to come to an abrupt stop, her eyes wide as she stared at her daughter. Her husband joined her.

  Less than a minute later, the white she-wolf rose unsteadily to her feet, the clothes Tanya had been wearing making it difficult as they tangled in modified limbs they weren’t designed to fit. She stretched, her spine crackling, then shook off the rest of the Shift. She glanced up at Colin with amber eyes then looked over her shoulder at her parents.

  They took a couple of steps back, their eyes wide with horror. Mr. Sikes shoved his wife behind him.

  Tanya wrestled free of the t-shirt and sweatpants with Colin’s help and swung around to face her family.

  They retreated further, moving slowly and carefully, as though they expected her to attack any second.

  Her tail clung to her hocks. Her shoulders slackened as her head lowered almost to the floor, her ears back but not pinned to her head.

  Colin laid a hand on her hips. “This isn’t her fault.”

  Mr. Sikes clenched his teeth, audibly grinding them together. “You both need to leave.”

  If he hadn’t stunk of terror, Colin would’ve thought he was angry. His scent was reminiscent of an elk the pack had cornered once when hunting. They’d been after her calf. As terrified as she’d been, she’d turned and faced the whole lot of them with murder in her eyes. She’d have killed them to protect her calf. Tanya’s father had a similar look in his eyes. Only, Colin couldn’t kill him the way they had that elk.

  The wolf reared back against Colin’s legs as though she’d been kicked, shrinking into herself like she wanted to disappear.

  How could her family throw her out? She needed them more than ever. “Fine. I won’t leave her where she’s not wanted.” He stood up and calmly pushed the chair back under the table. “I’d like to get some things from her room. Clothes and such. She’ll need them.”

  “Fine.”

  “I need to make a phone call to summon a ride.”

  The man pointed at the phone on the counter across the room. Colin picked it up and called Isaac.

  “Hello?”

  “Are you still near Tanya’s neighborhood? We need a ride.”

  “Sure thing. I just finished another sweep of the area. I’ll be right there.”

  “Great. Wait outside if we’re not out when you get here.”

  “Will do.”

  He hung up the phone, his gaze on the unhappy lupine at his side. “Where’s your room?”

  Tanya looked one last time at her parents then slunk away. Colin followed her into a bedroom at the far end of a hall off the living room. She stuck her nose under the bed and dragged out a large duffle bag. Then she dropped to the floor and waited.

  Hopefully that meant she didn’t mind him going through her clothes, including under-things. “If you don’t want me touching your underwear, you’d better return to human form and help me pack.”

  Her gaze moved away, and she made no move to get up.

  “Okay. You’ve had fair warning.” He wasn’t entirely sure what to take, so he pulled everything out of the drawers and shoved it into the bag. In the closet, he found jeans. He left dresses and slacks where they hung. She wouldn’t need those at the Preserve. If she did at some point, they could buy more.

  He zippered the duffle bag closed and hiked the carrying strap onto his shoulder.

  Tanya got up and padded to the door.

  Colin’s gaze landed on a wood-framed photograph on the desk inside the bedroom door. A smiling Tanya with her siblings, all cuddled close together. A brother. Two sisters. He picked it up, tucked it into the bag between clothes to protect the glass, and followed Tanya to the front door.

  He let the bag fall to the tiled entry with a faint thud and reached into a back pocket of his jeans to retrieve his wallet. He slipped a card out and offered it to Mr. Sikes. “We don’t have a land line or cellphones in the mountains, but my dad has a satellite phone. If you decide you still love your daughter, call him.” He couldn’t resist the snide comment or tone.

  The man made no move to accept the business card.

  With a snort of derision Colin made no attempt to hide, he dropped the card on the table in the foyer, pulled open the front door, and let Tanya out.

  Isaac’s car waited at the curb.

  If a neighbor saw them in the front yard, hopefully they’d dismiss the wolf as a domestic dog that resembled its wild kin. Nobody needed animal control or an officer from Fish and Game adding more strain to the situation.

  Isaac popped the trunk without getting out of the car. Colin tossed in the duffle bag, slammed the truck, and opened the back door. Tanya crawled inside and settled on the far side of the seat in a tight ball, ears back, nose tucked under her tail, orange eyes barely visible.

  Colin sat beside her and pulled the door closed. “Let’s go home, Isaac.”

  “They don’t want her.” The certainty in the other man’s voice had a hard, angry edge.

  “They’re afraid of her.” It was probably for the best, really, that she returned home with him. If her family feared her and she’d remained, their emotions would grate on her control. The last kind of test a new wolf needed.

  * * *

  The vibration of the car eased Tanya’s pain, or maybe it was the wolf that did it. She wasn’t sure which. Either way, the sting of her parents’ rejection became less painful with each mile.

  “I’m sorry, Tanya. I hoped they’d react better.” Colin sighed.

  She glanced at him out of the corner of her eye.

  “I guess I should’ve expected it though. Most of the members of our pack were rejected by their families when they were Turned.” He shook his head. “I don’t get it. Why does it matter so much to humans? Are they afraid you’ll kill them in their sleep or something?”

  She was a monster, and her family knew it. That couldn’t be changed. She couldn’t be returned to what she’d been. How could she blame them for fearing that she’d hurt or kill them? She worried about it, too. How could she assure them there was no threat when she didn’t yet believe it?

  Regardless, unless she joined Colin’s pack, she was on her own. She’d be a true lone wolf. No home. No family.

  A shiver of fear flashed through her. She wasn’t ready to join a pack and be surrounded by men she didn’t know or trust.

  Which left her where? Alone, with no idea where to go or how to live with such a horrible affliction.

  The pain tried to rise again, but the wolf turned its back on it.

  Tanya pulled the creature closer and willed the betrayal away. />
  The wolf wrapped around her heart. Warm. Accepting. Protective.

  Maybe she had something to cling to after all.

  The car stopped, moved, stopped, moved, then stopped again. The engine shut off.

  Tanya lifted her head and looked around. They’d returned to the Preserve. The big house filled the view on her side of the car.

  Colin got out and held the door for her.

  She slunk past him, glanced around the back end of the car at the house, and then headed straight for the forest at a full run.

  “Tanya!”

  She allowed the trees to swallow her. She was an animal now. The wolf belonged to the forest, where no danger would come to humans. The forest would shelter her. Accept her.

  Her new home.

  For my father and my mother have forsaken me, but the LORD will take me up. - Ps. 27:10

  Campbell Wildlife Preserve

  Somewhere outside Flagstaff, Arizona

  Thursday, June 4, 2015

  “TANYA!” Colin watched the furry white form disappear into the woods and growled. Not at her precisely, but at the situation. How could her parents turn their backs on her? Didn’t they understand none of it was her fault? Their rejection was so unfair, and so hurtful.

  “Colin?”

  He turned to face his father, who strolled down the walkway from the house with a puzzled, faintly worried frown.

  “I heard you call for Tanya. I thought you took her home.” Dad scanned the area.

  “She told her parents the truth. She shifted into a wolf to prove she wasn’t delusional or lying, and her father demanded that she leave. I couldn’t leave her alone in town, so we brought her back here.” He pointed in the direction she’d run. “She just took off.”

  “She won’t get far. The gates are secure.”

  “Colin?” Isaac dragged his attention back to the car. The man had the trunk open. “Would you like me to take her bag to the guestroom?”

  “Please. She’ll need it if we can get her back into human form.” Lord, please don’t let us lose her to this. You know the consequences if she surrenders permanently to the need to remain in wolf form and run from what she feels. Help us keep her contained in the meantime. No bloodshed. Please! “Can you let the others know to be careful coming and going? We don’t need her slipping out an open gate.”

  “Will do.” Isaac shouldered the bag, slammed the trunk, and headed for the house, with a respectful nod to Dad as he passed.

  “Give her a few days. Hopefully she’ll come back on her own.” Dad smiled, but his expression held little hope.

  Colin glanced toward the forest then returned his gaze to his father. “I’d like to go with her. Keep her company. She’s basically been abandoned by her family. I don’t want her to think she’s alone.”

  “Alright.” Dad nodded.

  He wasted no time stripping out of his clothes and handing them to his father. He trotted toward the forest, shifting into the wolf by the time he’d reached the tree line.

  * * *

  Vegetation closed around her, and Tanya slowed to a trot. Birds chattered in the trees looming over her head. A breeze rustled the leaves, and somewhere close a squirrel barked in annoyance. At her or something else? She didn’t bother to figure it out. It didn’t matter. The small rodent was no threat.

  The twenty-foot wall sprung up from the ground amongst the trees and underbrush, obstructing her path. She veered to trot along it. A stream trickled through the trees ahead. Her eyes followed its path as she took a drink. A culvert allowed it to flow unimpeded under the fence. Heavy bars had been welded over the opening to prevent anything bigger than a rabbit from following the water through.

  She glanced around, hopped over the stream and continued along the wall, testing the boundaries of the enclosure. Neither Colin nor Ian had mentioned how large an area was contained within the inner wall. Regardless of its size, she’d better get used to it. Her new home.

  An ache wrapped around Tanya’s heart, slowing her to a walk. Instinct told her being alone was bad, reminded her of what Colin had said about the benefits of the pack—protection, a sanctuary, belonging. But would the pack accept her? Did she want them to?

  Ian wasn’t quite so bad, though he obviously had a stubborn streak. Graham had proven sensitive to her fears and kept distance between them when he’d been around. Brett had been annoyed with her fear when they’d rescued her, even told Colin to leave her in that horrible place. He scared her.

  Her parents had rejected her. Why wouldn’t the pack do the same? Or would they keep her around because they lacked females? She’d rather be forced out than kept around simply as a breeding machine, if that’s what they had in mind. They didn’t know her. As such, they had no personal reason to want her there.

  A faint footfall on the dry ground somewhere to her right made her freeze. She scanned the forest but saw nothing.

  Birds continued to sing.

  The breeze blew through the trees without a care.

  She sniffed the air, but smelled only the forest. Her gaze landed on a clump of underbrush near a cluster of boulders. She ducked into it and hunkered close to the ground, frozen, waiting for the threat to show itself and hopefully pass.

  A dark gray and brown grizzled wolf stepped out of the trees. Bigger than her. Lean and muscular. Male. White ringed his mouth, but he had no other white markings. Dark brown marked his ears and ran down the bridge of his muzzle.

  His nose twitched. Blazing yellow eyes swept the area. He raised his head and inhaled then snorted. His gaze settled on her hiding place, and he closed the distance between them, his tail relaxed, head up, and ears forward.

  Tanya shrank even closer to the ground and growled.

  He stopped, cocked his head, then circled her, maintaining the same distance as he did so. After he’d moved almost a half circle, he stopped, his tail waving slowly back and forth at his hocks.

  The wind caught his scent and carried it to her. Familiar. Safe. Colin.

  The growl died in her throat, replaced by a low whine. She wasn’t alone anymore. He’d come looking for her.

  He moved closer then crawled under the brush to her side, nipping the top of her muzzle in a way that made her yip in both pain and surprise. Then he buried his nose in the ruff around her neck and nuzzled her. What was he doing? Instinct reveled in it, but the human locked in her mind, unable to communicate, wasn’t so sure. He hadn’t been so… physical… with her in human form. Was it a wolf thing?

  Colin nudged her out of their hiding place. When she didn’t move, he pushed harder.

  Tanya surrendered, crawled out of the brush, and stood up.

  He followed then prodded her with his nose again, this time in the direction of the house. At least, she thought it was.

  She backed away a step.

  He growled low and nipped the top of her muzzle again.

  She lowered her head, laid back her ears, and growled, unwilling to be bullied. Stop that! If only wolves could talk.

  A heavy sigh pulsed his chest, then he leaned a shoulder against hers, shoving her in the direction he wanted.

  Instead of heeding his far-too-apparent command, she whirled around and plunged through the trees at a run.

  He crashed through the brush behind her, but the sounds soon faded into the distance.

  A thrill went through her. She could outrun him!

  When she no longer heard him, Tanya slowed to a trot and looked for a new place to hide. She didn’t want to return to the house, and that’s obviously where he wanted her to go.

  A rock formation loomed ahead and rose perhaps eight feet above the ground.

  Tanya glanced up, only to startle backwards and freeze.

  Colin stood on top of it, looking down with a lupine grin.

  How had he gotten ahead of her?

  She changed direction.

  Before she could bolt, a heavy weight slammed her to the ground and pinned her. Struggling got her nowhere. Growlin
g accomplished nothing. She finally surrendered. Fine. So he had her. That didn’t mean he could make her return to the house.

  The weight moved without leaving.

  She lifted her head and found herself staring into a very human face. He’d Shifted back and was as naked as the day he was born. She should be upset or indignant about that, right? The wolf didn’t care.

  Colin grinned but made no move to let her up. “Speed has nothing on determination and knowledge of the terrain. I know every square foot of this compound.”

  She wiggled to free herself, but he held fast, strong even in his natural form.

  His hand closed over her muzzle, pushing downward, pinning it to the ground. “Knock it off,” he growled. “I’m not letting you up unless you promise to behave. I don’t want to spend the next week or two chasing you down, but I will if I have to.”

  Tanya heaved a sigh and relaxed. Fine. Have it your way. She wouldn’t run again, but she wasn’t going back either.

  “We need to get back to the house so you can eat. There’s nothing but rabbit and squirrel out here, and I doubt you’re ready to kill live animals and eat them raw.”

  Ew. A shuddered racked her body. Would they expect her to do that at some point? Gross!

  Colin chuckled and released her nose. “I may not be able to hear your thoughts, but I see clear disgust in your eyes. Unless you want to start hunting today, we need to go back. Dad will have food ready for you. We both need to eat, but I won’t leave you out here alone.”

  Resigned to her fate, she raised her head to look at him and nodded once.

  In moments, he had returned to wolf form and lifted off of her, waiting for her to stand before trotting away.

  She huffed a sigh and followed. Bossy, stubborn male, just like his father.

  The house came into view minutes later.

  Tanya followed Colin as far as the edge of the back deck and stopped. She glanced back at the trees then at the house.

  The trees beckoned.

  The house loomed like a prison.

  What if Ian hadn’t been honest about letting her choose where she belonged? When he’d said that, there’d still been the possibility she’d return to her parents’ home. Now….