I can’t believe we are moving again, and just before my sixteenth birthday too.  I was sure that Angelo and I would be mates and now I may never get to find out.  Dad’s job takes us all over the country for extended periods, so naturally, we must go too, and it is unlikely we will get back to the Full Moon Pack anytime soon, if ever.  My heart is breaking.  If we had just waited a few more weeks, I could have found out for sure.  I feel no one ever considers what I want, and this is the sixth move in as many years. Not to mention I now need to start yet another school, and a human one at that.  There are no large packs nearby, so it is unlikely that any of our kind will be at the school.  All the smaller packs pretty much keep to themselves.

“Oh, stop pouting Emily!” Jane sighs from the front of the car. I roll my eyes at her and look out the window, watching the trees on the side of the highway flash by.  Jane is my stepmother.  My own Mum was killed in a rogue attack when I was only a few weeks old. Jane is Dad’s second chance mate, and probably the only reason Dad survived when Mum died.  I love Jane, like she is my own mother – and I love Tyson too.  Tyson is my little brother Jane had with Dad when I was still a baby.  Tyson has just turned fifteen now and is really starting to fill out.  He got his wolf at thirteen and ever since then has shot up in height and filled out in width.  When he is fully grown, he is going to be one bad-ass wolf.  Of course, he takes after Dad.  Dad is literally huge and would easily pass for an Alpha.  He does have Alpha genes, but his older brother inherited grandad’s pack.  Dad has a gift for fighting and is one of the best warriors and strategists in the country, so he consults to other packs that struggle with security issues.  In all honesty, if Uncle Angus had listened to Dad, Mum would probably still be alive.  I think that is why Dad ultimately left our birth pack.  After Mum died, Uncle Angus and Dad never really saw eye to eye.  They still love each other, but Uncle Angus overriding Dad’s security plans the night of the rogue attack was always a source of disagreement.  We left shortly after Dad met Jane, and we haven’t been back since.

“Are we there yet?” Tyson moaned from next to me. I smirked.  He was scrunched up in the passenger seat behind Jane.  Unfortunately for him, Jane is abnormally tall for a she-wolf, so her seat was pushed right back.  That did not bode well for Tyson who had no leg room and was suffering from the four long hours we had already been in the car.  I also had no leg room, courtesy of Dad, but as I was not as tall as Tyson, it was more bearable for me.

“Only another fifteen minutes or so”, said Dad.  Well, that was a relief.

My mind wandered back to Angelo.  Angelo was the most gorgeous hunk of a wolf I ever laid eyes on in my life and the minute we arrived at the Full Moon Pack we were drawn to each other.  Dad was employed on a yearlong contract to improve their security and train their high-ranking warriors after the pack had suffered numerous attacks from rogues and hunters.  In the last attack before Dad arrived, they lost almost half their warriors and many she-wolves and pups. Angelo’s mother and sister were among those lost which was devastating for him.  But since Dad’s training regime, the pack had been attacked several more times with no fatalities – what a turn-around.

Angelo and I bonded over the loss of our mothers, and he always said he didn’t know how he would have got over the grief if I hadn’t been there supporting him.  We both just knew we were destined mates, but Dad’s contract ran out three weeks before my birthday, and two months before Angelo’s and, unfortunately, Dad received another contract from the Forrest Glade Pack almost immediately.  It broke my heart when I told Angelo I was leaving.  There was no option for me to stay as technically, I am still a pup until I turn eighteen, but we can find our mates from the age of 16.  He vowed to come and find me when he turns eighteen, of course, and we can keep in touch.  But it is not the same as him actually being there.

We turned off the highway, so I knew we must be getting close.  We were not going to stay at the Forrest Glade Pack, we only do that if they are a remote pack, and we absolutely have to.  Dad doesn’t take any chances any more with our safety, and the packs he consults to are usually pretty light-on with security.  We are staying in the human town nearby which surprisingly is safer for us.  Humans have no idea we exist, and we like to keep it that way.

I looked on with interest as we approached the border of the little town of Forrest that we will be staying in.  I guess this is where the Pack took its name from.  The Forrest Glade Pack is about half an hour away, deep within the forest that surrounds the human town.  The humans know there is a settlement there, but I don’t think there is much interaction. The townsfolk think they are hippies.  I sigh as we pass the official welcome sign for the town – “Population 36,000” it reads.  My, oh my, this is a small town – hopefully it doesn’t come with a ‘small town mentality’.  I slump back in my seat and resign myself to another year of dealing solely with humans.  Not looking forward to it.

I look sideways at Tyson, and surprisingly he looks almost excited as we pass through the centre of the town.  I follow his gaze to one of the shopfronts in the centre of the town. Ah, there’s the reason for his excitement – a gym.  He lives to train and his biggest worry was that he won’t be able to get his quota of training in before, after and during school while he is here.  Problem solved. I must confess, I am also a fitness-freak, again courtesy of a father obsessed with training and security, so I secretly sigh in relief. I make a mental note to join the gym later today if I have time. Hopefully they have some kick-boxing or martial arts facilities too.  Both Tyson and I are skilled fighters already, and we are fiercely loyal to each other, probably because of our closeness in age, so watch out anyone who gives us trouble.

“Fiiinnnally”, Tyson drawls out as we pull into the driveway of a small cottage at the far end of town.  He wastes no time exiting the car as it pulls to a stop and exaggerates stretching his legs as he gets out.  He seriously is a man-child.

I get out of the other side of the car and stretch my legs too.  I am wearing my short denim shorts and a tank top with converse lace ups.  Really, what else does one wear for a long car trip – but my clothing choice does happen to show of my long tanned and toned legs which are muscular from all the training I do.  I am horrified, however, to hear a loud wolf-whistle as I stretch my legs.  Wow, someone’s in trouble.

I turn around to see a tall blonde guy leaning against the lamppost opposite our new house, smirking and giving me the once over.  He obviously missed Tyson getting out of the car, or he perhaps wouldn’t be so smug.  However, he did not miss my dad as he unravelled himself from the driver’s seat of the car.  As Dad emerged from the car, I could see cocky guy’s jaw drop and I swear his face paled a few shades.  Dad’s huge hulking form immediately searched out the source of the offending whistle and once the target was located, he started across the road.  Cocky guy wasn’t waiting around and took off, leaping neighbourhood fences to make his quick exit.

Dad could easily have caught him given his werewolf speed, but I think the point was made.  He turned to me with a small chuckle.  “Think that’s the last we’ll see of him huh?” 

I wish.