Misha pointed to Drake’s stomach. A fine line of dark pelt ran down the center of her lower abdomen. “That happens when your wolf ascends. You know—when you’re challenged or in sex frenzy.”
“It feels like something’s trying to rip its way out of me,” Drake said, rubbing her stomach.
“She probably is. Especially if you need a release, which you must even if you can’t tell. You sure you don’t wan—”
“Food,” Drake repeated, although the urge for sex was back full force. “And those clothes.”
Misha vaulted off the bed and opened the door. “Come on. I’ll take you to the mess hall.”
Drake followed her down the hall. Misha pointed into an alcove just inside the front door.
“Grab pants from the stack in there. A shirt too, if you want.”
“Thanks.” Drake dressed automatically, but when Misha held open the door to the porch, she hesitated. “Should I tell Elena I’m leaving?”
“You’re not a prisoner,” Misha said softly. “You’re Pack.” Drake knew better than to think it would be that easy. She’d been in this situation dozens of times while making her way through the state care system. Just when she’d get settled in one place, she’d be moved because of funding cuts or lack of personnel. She’d wake up in a new place, surrounded by strangers. If she was lucky, there’d be someone like Misha, who didn’t care if she was an outsider, to befriend her and explain the rules and regs. But more often than not there was no one.
Even if she made an ally or two, she could always count on needing to win her place. She’d learned quickly how to do that, first with her fists, then with her brain. Now she had to learn the rules all over again, but she was in a whole new world in a body she barely recognized, with feelings and urges she couldn’t control. She wondered if she’d survive, let alone ever truly belong. The clawing, gnashing sensation in her stomach started again and she winced.
Outside in the ballpark-sized courtyard between the sprawl of log and stone buildings, male and female Weres, most dressed in khaki or black BDUs, a few shirtless, came and went in pairs and groups.
Some slowed and stared, a few narrowed their eyes and rumbled. Drake didn’t make eye contact, but she didn’t lower her head either.
“Look, Misha, maybe this isn’t such a good ide—”
“Hey! Here come Alex and Jazz,” Misha said.
Drake looked where Misha pointed. The two teens she remembered from the ER made a beeline for them across the hard-packed earth.
“What should I do?” Drake said quietly.
“Your wolf knows what to do,” Misha said confidently.
Drake wasn’t so sure. She stood still as they drew closer. Her skin felt galvanized. The hairs on the back of her neck stood up. Her loins tightened, not with the now familiar urge for sex, but with an urge to fight. The two boys stopped a few feet from her and regarded her warily, their legs spread aggressively, their shoulders thrust forward. She kept her hands open at her sides and her head up. She looked from one to the other, meeting their eyes in turn. Alex immediately ducked his head and shifted to one side, leaving Jazz facing her.
“I’m Drake,” she said, watching his eyes.
“I remember you from the ER.” His nostrils flared and he looked confused. “You smell like the Alpha.”
Drake wondered why, but she said nothing, waiting, not moving.
He slipped around behind her and she growled softly, a quiet warning.
She heard a soft, plaintive whine, then the press of a cheek against her shoulder.
“I can tangle with you,” Jazz whispered, sliding around in front of her, brushing his chest across her arm. He met her gaze for only a second before casting a look at Misha. “Unless you…?” Misha shook her head.
“No, thank you,” Drake said to Jazz, and he shrugged, unperturbed, the same way Misha had. “Misha and I were on our way to get something to eat. You guys want to come?”
Jazz and Alex readily agreed and fell in on either side of Misha, jostling her playfully. Drake sighed inwardly, the first hurdle cleared.
They’d almost reached the long one-story building from which emanated a plethora of mouthwatering odors when someone called her name. Sophia hurried across the courtyard in their direction.
“Go ahead without me,” Drake said to the adolescents. “I’ll be a few minutes.”
“See you,” Misha called as she took off with the boys.
“How are you?” Sophia said breathlessly, scanning Drake’s face.
“All right, I think.” Feeling curious eyes on her as more Weres passed by, Drake pointed to a shaded area by the side of the mess hall, just at the edge of the forest. “Let’s talk over there for a minute.”
“I called in sick to the ER for you this morning,” Sophia said as they made their way over. “I hope you don’t mind.”
“No,” Drake said. “I’m really glad you did. I’ll call later and tell them I have a personal emergency. I have plenty of leave time coming.” She checked the woods behind them. Possum. Rabbit. Raccoon.
Nothing threatening. She put herself between Sophia and the forest just the same. “If I can go back to work at all.”
“Why wouldn’t you be able to?” Sophia asked.
“It’s a little too soon to be sure of my prognosis.”
“You look good.” Sophia tilted her head. “Your scent is healthy.” Sophia’s eyes widened and she caught her breath, her face flushing.
“Oh.”
“Please tell me you’re not going to offer,” Drake said.
Sophia laughed. “I gather the adolescents already did?”
Drake grimaced. “Enthusiastically.”
“I can’t imagine how this all feels to you right now,” Sophia said.
“The weird thing is,” Drake said, “part of me feels completely natural. The part that isn’t trying to rip my guts out.”
“She wants you to shift—I remember what that’s like,” Sophia murmured. “All this power bottled up inside, needing some way out and never knowing how to let it free. Never being able to make it stop. All our instincts try to surface at once, creating a huge hormonal bottleneck, for want of a better descriptor. And the only outlet for a while is sex.” She appraised Drake frankly. “Sex is a safety valve. A release will help you.”
“I…I don’t think I’m ready.” Drake didn’t know why, but despite the gnawing demand for sex that tore at her like a powerful predator, she didn’t want anyone. She swiped at the sweat trickling down her neck and thought she smelled Sylvan, but that couldn’t be.
“What you’re feeling is perfectly natural, you know.”
“I understand—but my head and my body aren’t quite in sync on all of that.”
“Just so you know, a lot of the unmated Weres are going to feel your call, but no one is compelled to answer.” She grinned shyly. “A lot probably will, though. They offer because they…well…want you.”
“Have you seen Sylvan?” Drake asked abruptly. She didn’t want to talk about the craving that was slicing her to ribbons, one slow, agonizing cut at a time.
“The Alpha?” Sophia shook her head. “No, but none of the centuri are here, so the Alpha is probably no longer in the Compound.” Sylvan was gone. Drake should have expected that, but the disappointment was still exquisite. Sylvan had been doing her duty as Alpha that morning, ensuring that the newly turned Were was not a danger to the Pack. Now that Drake was reasonably stable, the morning’s intimacy with Sylvan was not likely to be repeated. The Alpha was no longer concerned with her. Drake shuddered, a howl of rage blasting inside her head.