New Friends

ALLIE

Jason picks up my battered old suitcase. It’s heavy, but his werewolf strength allows him to lift it effortlessly.

He turns around and starts walking out the door of the bus station, and I follow closely behind him.

“My car is parked outside. I’ll take you to your new home and introduce you to your three housemates. They’re all werewolves, so you’ll be able to relax with them, and there will be no need to hide your true nature.”

“Good. It will be nice not to have to worry about giving my secret away.”

“Linton is great,” Jason goes on. “There’s a good mix of humans and werewolves. The Red Moon Pack lives close to humans and tries to integrate with them where possible.

“For that reason, the university is popular with a lot of wolves. Loners like us but also pack wolves.”

“How does that work; don’t the pack wolves hate us?”

“It isn’t easy,” Jason acknowledges, “but we manage to make it work. We keep to ourselves. Loners and pack wolves don’t mix, and that allows us to keep the peace.

“No one wants to do anything to alert the humans to the fact that we’re different.”

“If you manage to keep the peace, then it can’t be too bad,” I say, watching him closely.

“It isn’t, but there are rules you’ll need to follow. Me and the guys can explain in more detail when you’re settled. As long as you follow the rules, you’ll have a great time in Linton, I promise.”

“That’s all I care about.”

I’ve waited so long for this, and I don’t want to distract myself with politics between pack wolves and loners.

Besides, it can’t be any worse than being run out of town by a hostile pack.

“You’ll love the house,” Jason assures me. “It’s on the outskirts of the town, close to the forest, but only a twenty-minute walk to the university.

“The guys will show you around and tell you the best places to go for runs in your wolf form.

“You’ll also have to visit the Red Moon Pack to introduce yourself to the alpha so he can approve you being here. It’s a formality. I’ve never known him to not approve a lone wolf.”

I’ve never met an alpha before—Mom did everything possible to make sure we avoided them. She described them as arrogant, domineering, and quick to anger, particularly toward loners like us.

Jason must sense my concern because he turns to me and says, “You really don’t have to worry. The alpha is a great guy.”

I nod, feeling a little bit better.

“What about work?” I ask. I need to find a job pretty quickly. I have some savings, but they won’t last long.

“Don’t worry about that. There are a few bars and restaurants that are always looking for staff. I work at Raffles, a bar close to campus. I can put a word in for you with my boss if you’d like?”

“That would be great, thanks.”

My spirits lift. This is going to work out; I know it, and I’m not going to be put off by a few unfriendly pack wolves. I’ve spent my life avoiding them, and this isn’t going to be any different.

The drive to my new home only takes ten minutes. As we make our way out of the town center we pass by large houses with freshly painted fences and well-tended gardens.

Soon, they give way to a poorer district. The houses are still large, but most of them have been split into flats, and the gardens that surround them are overgrown and uncared for.

“It isn’t the best part of town, but it isn’t as bad as it looks, and you’ll be left alone. No one will ask any difficult questions,” Jason tells me.

“It’s fine,” I assure him. It really is. I’ve lived in far worse places than this.

“Well, here we are.” He pulls up outside a small house at the end of the street.

It isn’t as run-down as some of the other houses we have passed. It has a small, well-tended garden, and the door has been painted a bright red.

“Danielle likes to look after the garden, and she has roped Adam and Toby in to help decorate the house. She’s a bit of a force of nature,” he warns me, “but she has a good heart.”

He pulls my bag from the trunk and walks up the drive, and I hurry to follow him. For the first time since I’ve arrived in Linton, I’m nervous. I’ve never lived with anyone other than my mom before.

I hope I get along with my new housemates.

Jason knocks, and a couple of minutes later a tall, strikingly good-looking girl with long dark brown hair and brown eyes opens the door.

“Hi, Jason.” She pulls him in for a hug.

Letting him go, she turns to me and looks me up and down. I feel her sizing me up, but her attention isn’t unfriendly.

I’ve obviously passed some kind of test, because after a moment, she says, “And this must be our new housemate. Hi. Welcome to ‘Lone Wolf House.’”

She grabs my arm and pulls me into the house.

“It’s going to be great having you here. Adam and Toby are all right, but I’m outnumbered. Now that there is another she-wolf in the house, we’ll be able to hold our own.”

“When has that ever been a problem for you?” Jason asks with a grin. “You always get your own way. The guys will do anything for you. They adore you.”

“You exaggerate.” She airily waves Jason away, no longer listening.

Danielle marches me through the house. “I’ll take you to your room so you can drop off your bags, then I’ll give you the grand tour of the house and garden.

“You’ll ~love~ the garden. It’s so tranquil and backs up to the forest. We have easy access whenever we want to go for a run. You must be desperate to shift after your journey. We can do that tonight.”

“But before that, Allie needs to be introduced to Adam and Toby,” Jason reminds her.

“Well, yes. We can do that too.”

She takes us both up the stairs. “Your room is at the end of the hall, right next to mine.”

She opens a door and shows me into a large room with a high ceiling and a window looking out over the garden and into the forest.

It’s sparsely furnished with a double bed, a wardrobe, and a desk for studying.

“This is perfect,” I tell her. “I’m used to cramped one-room apartments. This is huge in comparison.”

“The bathroom is the third door on the left. Jason will bring your bag up to your room while I show you around.”

“Will I?” Joseph asks her with a smile.

“Of course you will, Jason, you’re always so helpful.” She gives him a killer smile that lights up her beautiful face.

He blushes and walks back down the stairs to pick up my bag.

I see how she’s able to persuade Adam and Toby to help her decorate. I can see the effect she has on male werewolves, and it makes me smile. I think it’s going to be fun living with Danielle.

“Now, while I show you around the house, you can tell me all about yourself. Where are you from? What made you decide to come to Linton?”

“I’m not really from anywhere. I moved around a lot growing up,” I confess.

I don’t tell her how my mom was always sure there was a better town out there, just waiting to be discovered.

A better town with a better school than the one I was attending, a better house to live in, and better-paying jobs. And once she made her mind up to find that better place, we would have to go.

“Which pack were you originally from?” Danielle asks.

“I’ve never been part of a pack. I’ve always been a loner. It was always just me and my mom.”

Danielle sits on my bed and makes herself comfortable. “You must have had a pack at some point? What was your mom’s pack called?”

“I don’t know,” I answer slowly, and for the first time, I realize how strange this is. Why don’t I know? Why didn’t she tell me? She must have been part of a pack once.

“You’re unusual,” Danielle muses. “Loners normally have a sob story about fleeing a cruel alpha or our pack being wiped out by an enemy pack or band of rogues.

“For instance, my pack, the Wolf Claw pack, was ambushed by the Savage Wolves Pack. Those of us who survived the battle were given the choice of joining their pack as omegas or going rogue.

“I preferred the idea of becoming a loner to being a slave in their pack. It has been four years, and so far it hasn’t been too bad,” she finishes brightly.

I take a seat next to her. “How brave of you. I haven’t been through anything like that. Mom just liked to move around. We’ve been run out of town by a local pack, but that’s the worst we suffered.

“I haven’t heard of the Savage Wolves Pack before. Are they as violent as their name sounds?”

“Yes, the alpha sees himself as a savage. He was banished from his pack, the Midnight Moon Pack. When Ryan was thrown out he built his own pack and filled it with the worst rogues he could find.

“Anyway, let’s not talk about him.” Danielle stands up. “It can’t have been easy having to move around all the time.”

“It was okay, but I’m looking forward to being able to stay here,” I admit.

“You’ll love Linton. I’ve been here for a year, and it’s been great. The loners stick together. We’re outnumbered by pack wolves, but we keep to ourselves and avoid them where possible.”

She continues chatting as she shows me around the house.

It’s clean and freshly painted in bright colors. Well-worn carpets and old leather sofas fill the large living room, and the dining room contains a massive table and twelve mismatched chairs.

We walk into a large kitchen, where two young wolves are cooking.

“Toby, Adam,” Danielle calls. “Come say hello to our new housemate, Allie.”

“Hi, Allie. I’m Toby, it’s great to meet you.” A large wolf with blond hair and a sweet smile walks forward to shake my hand.

A shorter, dark-haired wolf waves. “I’m Adam. Dinner will be ready in five minutes. Why don’t you girls set the table?”

“As soon as I’ve opened the wine,” Danielle replies. “We need to celebrate Allie moving in.”

“It’s in the fridge chilling,” Toby tells her.

Danielle pulls a wine bottle from the fridge and smiles as she holds it up.

“Excellent.”

The five of us settle down for a meal. Toby and Adam have made lasagna and garlic bread. It’s delicious.

I’m going to love living here.

We chat amiably while we eat, but once the meal is over, Jason turns to me. “Right, Allie, now for the serious stuff. We need to explain the rules to you.”

The others nod in agreement.

“Linton is safe for loners, as long as we don’t do anything to antagonize the pack wolves. They outnumber us by three to one, and you need to steer clear of them.”

I sit up straight in my chair, concentrating on what Jason has to say; this is important.

“We don’t need to ~hide~ from them—they wouldn’t try to stop us from attending classes—but there are certain places that are theirs, where we’re not welcome.”

“Which is fine, because we don’t want to go to those places,” Danielle chips in. “We have our own spots where we like to hang out.”

“The Wolf Coffee shop on campus is off-limits,” Jason continues. “As is the Howling bar on Madison Street in the center of town. In fact, it’s better to ignore all the bars on that street if you can.”

Danielle goes into the kitchen and pulls the wine bottle from the fridge. She refills everyone’s glass.

“There are also university clubs that we’re not welcome to join, like the midnight running club that organizes runs through the forest, and the claws fighting club.

“Steer clear of those, and you should be fine,” Jason reassures me.

“Okay. That doesn’t sound too hard.” I have no desire to join a fighting club. I’ve had to fight when attacked by pack wolves, but joining a club to fight for fun isn’t my scene.

I suppose running with other wolves could be cool, but I’ve never run with a pack, so I’m not going to miss it. Besides, running with my housemates and Jason sounds better.

“On the whole, it works out okay. We share classes with them, and we just avoid sitting near them or working on assignments with them where possible,” Adam adds.

It will be a hassle trying to avoid pack wolves, but if I avoid them then I should be able to have a great time.

Even if Linton isn’t as perfect as I had hoped, it will still be much better than I’m used to.