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  "I have a call to make to my pack, feed him." He points at the lounge where Freddy is. I have every urge to throw the food in his face, but I take a deep breath and swallow back the need to. No point poking the beast.

  "Fine." I say through gritted teeth, and walk past the annoying man.

  I walk into my lounge to see Freddy in the oversized clothes, the shirt arms are rolled up, and the shirt is tucked into the shorts that aren’t too big on him. I smile a little inside at the fact that he has covered the blood stain on the floor up with a spare blanket. The little gesture makes me want to hug him.

  "Here you go." I pass him the plate and sit next to him with my coffee. I take a deep drink before putting it on the small, wooden table next to the sofa.

  "Thanks, this looks awesome." He smiles happily as he digs into the food. The Wolfman walks back in a few minutes later and sits on the edge of my coffee table, right in front of me. What is with this guy and personal space? To be honest with myself, I feel like drooling over him, and most girls would die to be close to a hot guy like him. What’s worse is that I like him being close because what girl wouldn’t? But then he opens his mouth, ruining my good thoughts about him.

  "So, what the fuck happened last night?" He glares at me, crossing his muscular arms across his large chest.

  "I found Freddy in the car park, with a dagger in his lower leg. He was a wolf at the start, and I couldn’t leave him. Once I got him inside, he turned into the boy next to me and back again. I have the dagger in my bag, if you want it." I tell him calmly, noticing how his face tightens and goes a little pale as he releases a breath.

  "Freddy, what happened?" he asks, clearly trying to stay calm as he tightens his fists. I can see how tense he is from how he looks like he wants to kill something. I’m glad he isn’t looking at me now.

  "A group of young vamps hunted me when I went to the shops. I ran, but there were around five, and they were fast. Someone stopped them from following me but not before the dagger got me. I'm sorry, I know I shouldn't have been out late, but I wanted to get away for a bit," he explains as he stops eating, putting the plate to the side. Jax releases a long growl, and I watch as Freddy does a weird turn with his head, showing his uncle his neck before looking down.

  "We will talk about how you’re going to fix this later, but I’m glad you’re alive,” he tells Freddy who nods, looking sad.

  “You do realise your wolf owes this woman its life, and as your guardian, I have to take the responsibility? I'll have to tell the alpha, and she will have to be looked after." Jax says, getting up to pace near my window. I can tell he isn’t happy about the idea of owing me anything by the way he spits out the sentence.

  "I'm sorry, Uncle Jax. I like her. She won't tell anyone and didn't freak out. It's not like she is going to get herself in a life or death situation anytime soon." Freddy rolls his eyes at me, and I can't help but smile at the cheeky lad.

  "Don't encourage him." I hear the growl of the words from Jaxson by the window.

  "What's your name?" he asks in a rude, snapping voice. I ignore my need to give him a sarcastic answer. I decide not to answer instead because I might shout at him.

  "Well, I’m Jaxson, what’s yours, lass?" he asks in a tired, but more polite voice as he comes to stand next to the sofa and looks down at Freddy.

  "Winter, it’s nice meeting both of you. Well, maybe not you, Wolfman.” I point at him, and he smirks back, it’s not even funny that I seem to be amusing him.

  “I want to get some sleep, so you should leave," I say as I wave my hand to the door of the lounge.

  I jump when Freddy turns into his wolf, ripping all the clothes, and then trots happily over to me nudging my hand with his wet nose. I don’t know what to do other than back away a little, but he just follows, nudging my hand again.

  "Alright, one stroke," I mutter, stroking his head.

  "Freddy’s wolf doesn't want to leave you because he thinks you’re in some kind of danger, and he thinks you are part of his pack now,” Jaxson growls and shakes his head at Freddy, who is pushed closely to my side.

  “His wolf won't leave you in any potential danger, and I won’t make him, I’m not his alpha. You're going to have to come back to the pack with me," he groans, looking like it’s the worst thing that could happen. Freddy nods his head up and down in happiness.

  “I’m not happy with you, Fred, the pack won’t like having a human in it,” Jax says to Freddy gently.

  "There is no way I am going with you. I had a bad night and then came home to carry a heavy wolf into my apartment. I got maybe two hours sleep,” I tell Jax who watches me as I carry on talking and move to stand in front of him. “I'm tired, so you can leave. Freddy is welcome. You are not," I say poking my finger into his hard chest.

  "You are one annoying female, lass," he says.

  "My name is Winter, W-I-N-T-E-R, not ‘lass’," I nearly shout, poking him again.

  "Winter, you’re coming back to my pack with us. I don't care if you want to, but it's safer for Freddy," he says as he tries to guilt trip me.

  “No,” I tell him firmly and cross my arms as I glare up at him.

  “Fine, you can have a wolf follow you everywhere you go. It will save me feeding him.” Jaxson smirks, and I have a strange urge to hit him.

  "Fine, but I'm having a shower, and then we can go," I stomp off to my room hearing his chuckle as I go. Freddy's wolf sits outside my room as guard, which makes me smile. I take a deep breath in the shower as the reality hits me; I’m going to meet a lot of wolves soon.

  Six

  Winter

  I run my fingers through Freddy’s black fur as I sit in the back of Jaxson’s large jeep. To say Jaxson isn’t a good driver would be an understatement. I’m hoping the drive doesn’t last too much longer, or I’m going to throw up. At least I can let go of my seat now that we are out of town, and there aren’t that many turns. Jaxson drives us straight towards the large mountain to the left of the town and into the massive forest that lies before it. We hit the start of the trees, and then the roads all look the same for around half an hour. So far, it’s taken at least an hour to get to this point.

  "Why do I need to come back to your house?" I ask the now silent Wolfman, who is driving slowly down the empty road. There are tall trees lining the sides of the road, and they hang above us, enough that it could be mistaken for night instead of early morning. I don’t think he will reply, but he does, in a gruff voice.

  "The alpha can make you a pack member, and then Freddy will chill out. Freddy is blood bound to him, so he will feel connected to you then,” he tells me.

  "What's an alpha? And blood bound means what?" I ask a little nervously as my palms start sweating, I’m hoping they don’t mean the literal sense of using blood to bind people.

  He sighs like I'm wasting his time before answering, "The alpha is the leader of our pack, lass. He is one of the strongest wolves, so he became alpha when it was needed.”

  "Right, so why are you the guardian of Freddy?" I ask wondering because he looks around twenty-five and that's young to be looking after an eight-year-old.

  "When my sister died, she made me promise to keep him safe. So, I do," he mutters, showing the pain on his face before he turns away from me. Freddy whines slowly next to me, and I see Jaxson look back with a look of pure sorrow for his lost sister. I couldn’t imagine losing Alex, she is like a sister to me, and I would be heartbroken.

  "I'm sorry for your loss." I stroke Freddy’s head, when he whines gently again and puts his head on my lap. Jaxson watches Freddy with a strange expression before commenting.

  "I can't believe his wolf lets you so near. Wolves hate humans, even ones they are protecting." He looks back at me in the mirror, trying to find a reason.

  "Animals become calm around me. They always have. That’s one of the reasons why I want to be a vet," I tell him before looking away at the passing trees. I swear I see a few glimpses of animals watching us as we pass. We don
't say anything more, but I’m aware every time Jaxson watches me in his mirror, like he is trying to work something out about me. We take too many turns for me to remember until we come to a line of trees.

  “It will feel weird for you to pass, but hold onto Freddy and don’t let go,” Jaxson warns me, I go to reply but stop as Jaxson drives through the trees, they part for him as he gets close. A warm sensation covers my body, and my grip on Freddy tightens as I fight a wave of sickness that causes me to close my eyes. When I finally open my eyes, I see we are driving up on a long road with many cabins on each side. There are several people walking around, and I see around twenty cabins. There are small dirt roads leading off the main one to other cabins in the distance. We eventually pull up to one of the larger cabins that stands out from the rest. It looks around three stories, with old-style, wooden windows. The cabin itself has a wraparound porch on the lower level, and many potted plants line the ground near the house. There’s a large garage at the side with enough room for at least five cars with a few parked outside. I look back at the large, wooden door that has two large wolves facing each other carved into the wood, I can’t miss it even from the car. I also notice the two really large wolves standing by the front door, one is a cream colour with brown patches, and the other is a light-brown. I'm guessing this is the alpha’s house.

  I climb out of the car with Freddy following close behind me.

  Jaxson doesn't wait for us and barges past the wolves, not even looking at them, before opening the large, front door like it’s made of paper and not solid wood. The wolves growl at me as I walk past, but Freddy growls louder, and they both stop. I stop in fear as one wolf moves closer to me, blocking the door.

  "Let the lass go past, Joe, unless you want to try that shit with me." Jaxson’s voice comes from inside the house, and as if a button is pressed, the wolf called Joe backs away. They both go back to staring behind me at the road like I’m not here, and a nudge from Freddy on the back of my legs reminds me to keep moving.

  I walk into the cabin, straight into a massive open-planned living room. It has hardwood floors that match the wooden walls giving the place a cosy feel. In the centre of the room is a square fireplace that goes up through the ceiling with a middle part that’s open with surrounding glass. There’s a fire going in it, and it lights the room up as does the natural light from open curtains. Four brown leather sofas surround the fireplace, and a bar covers one wall. There are a few pictures on the walls, mainly of sea sides and I'm guessing some family, but I don’t move closer to have a look.

  "Take a seat," Jaxson says, while he leans against the wall by the door. I try not to jump at his voice, but I fail, and he chuckles. I huff at him and take a seat on one of the sofas, with Freddy sitting by my feet.

  "Someone's got a lot to explain to me. Including why there is a human here," a deep voice, much like Jaxson’s says from right behind me. I turn on the sofa to see an impressive guy walking in the room. I would guess he is in his early twenties, but something about him makes me think he could be older than me. The man looks like Jaxson, with the same dark, nearly black hair, but his is longer, tied with a band at the back of his head. His dark-brown eyes pierce through me, and I look away before I start a staring contest like I did with Jaxson. The one thing that is clear is that this man is powerful, and even I can sense that. Dressed in only denim jeans with no shirt, he is showing off a largely muscled chest that would make any girl swoon. Surprisingly, my eyes flutter back to Jaxson. I bet his chest is nicer. He stares at me for a second before shifting his gaze to Freddy with a massive frown.

  "Shift back, pup!" the shirtless man shouts at Freddy, his tone downright scaring me, but the change is almost instant for Freddy. I look away as he grabs a blanket off the sofa wrapping it around himself.

  "Explain, Jax," the man asks, never taking his eyes off me as he sits on the edge of another sofa.

  "This is Winter, and, Winter, this is my brother, Fergus," Jaxson says as he leans against the wall.

  "I didn't mean names," Fergus says with a dirty look in Jaxson’s direction. I notice he doesn't have a Scottish accent like Jaxson, but they are brothers. I can see there are a lot of differences between them, including the fact Jaxson has bright green eyes and Fergus doesn’t.

  Jaxson goes on to explain everything that happened, while Freddy goes to get some clothes on. The whole time Fergus watches me as Jaxson talks, and I can see he seems shocked by everything.

  “That boy is going to be in training every day, before and after school, for a month for this. He is lucky he is my nephew, or it would be worse punishment.” Fergus growls loudly, and I know it’s so Freddy can hear. I’m guessing the wolves have sensitive hearing.

  "Right, well, I guess I owe you a ‘thank you’ for saving one of my wolves’ lives," Fergus says to me, without a hint of a smile. I have a feeling he doesn't like me.

  "No need to thank me, but I should be leaving," I say, getting to my feet.

  “Hold on, I’m taking you into the pack. It’s an old law, but one that cannot be ignored. Not many humans would save an animal these days, so the likelihood of this happening is rare.” Fergus tells me, and Jaxson nods his agreement.

  “Humans aren’t all bad, I know several people who would have tried to help,” I tell him, well maybe they would have called a vet instead.

  “I doubt it, humans have hunted us many times over the years. We now have to keep our pack hidden from your kind, but enough about that.” Fergus cuts off my argument and turns to Jaxson.

  “You will bind her to you, and I will bind her to the pack. She is your responsibility when she is away from the pack,” he tells Jaxson, his voice firm and strong.

  “No, I’m not doing that with her,” Jaxson growls.

  “I’m not asking Jax, you wanted custody of Freddy, and I let you have him, so this is your problem. I would do it myself or make one of my betas do it, but I can’t leave to help her. None of my betas would take her seriously because they hate humans more than you do.”

  Jaxson stares at me for a second before he nods.

  “Good. Winter, being brought into the pack is simple. Usually, we would share blood, and you would feel a link to us, but as you’re human, you only have to link to one wolf in the pack to feel the link. Jaxson will be the best option for you. Jaxson is the only wolf who works outside the pack and, therefore, can check up on you.” Fergus tells me, getting my attention.

  “Right, what if I don’t want this?” I ask.

  “Then Freddy will keep coming to you. Being part of this pack is just for protection purposes, we could teach you how to protect yourself from our kind who have gone rogue, and other supernatural beings that could be a danger to you,” he tells me firmly. I don’t want to even know in this moment what other kinds of beings there are, but I don’t want Freddy to suffer because of some link between us.

  “Why would they be a danger to me?” I finally ask after thinking quietly for a while.

  “The whole town is full of them; you don’t have to learn, just an offer,” Fergus says like he couldn’t give a damn if I do or don’t.

  “She wouldn’t be able to protect herself, even if I taught her myself,” Jaxson scoffs.

  “You’re a real asshole, you know that?” I tell him, and he just shrugs.

  “Jax, you’ll need to check on her often anyway, so why don’t you teach her?” Fergus says with a small smile. I have a feeling he is testing Jaxson in some way, and I have no idea why.

  “Fine, let’s get this done,” Jaxson growls and stomps over to me. I watch as Jaxson slides out a silver dagger from his boot. The dagger is small but looks like one of those throwing daggers I’ve seen in movies.

  “Your finger.” He holds out his hand, and I slide my hand into his. I watch as he carefully hands the knife to Fergus with a nod. Jaxson holds my finger up to Fergus who makes a small cut, and I hold back a squeak of pain. I watch as Fergus cuts Jaxson’s finger, and then pushes it into mine. For a seco
nd, all I see is Jaxson’s green eyes as they glow, looking straight through me before he pulls away and walks back to the wall where he was standing.

  “All done, welcome to the pack,” Fergus says, and I hold my finger with my other hand to stop the bleeding. I don’t feel any different, except for a warm sensation on the back of my neck.

  “I should go, I’ve had a long night,” I tell Fergus who nods, and Jaxson turns to me from his spot near the wall.

  "You’re under my protection now, lass, so you'll have to come here sometimes to please my wolf," he tells me. I can’t make out his expression, but I’m sure it’s not happy.

  "Who says I want to please you?" I glare at him.

  "You sure you don't?" He winks at me, making me blush a bright shade of red and look away at the fireplace.

  "Jaxy, I heard all about Freddy, I'm glad he is okay," says a very pretty dark-haired girl, about my age, as she comes into the room. She stops at Jaxson’s side taking his hand, and he doesn’t even respond to her as he watches me. I can't help but notice how she looks like a supermodel with long legs, perfect figure, a baby face, and shiny hair.

  "Aye, he is fine now, Esta." Jaxson finally responds, breaking the tense silence. I notice he looks at me for a second before turning away from Esta and me to stare out a window.

  "I would say it’s nice to meet you, but you’re a human. I’m Esta." The girl smiles at me, but her tone suggests she feels sorry for me.

  "What’s wrong with being human? You know what, I don’t care what your answer is,” I tell Esta before turning to face Jaxson.

  “Can you take me home now?" I ask again, and he doesn’t reply. I grit my teeth together.

  Just as Esta goes to talk, Fergus says, "Take the girl home, Jax, but I want a word first, alone."

  Jaxson nods, leaving the room. Esta looks me up and down before coming to stand in front of me.

  "Keep those dirty eyes and hands to yourself, little human. Jaxson is mine," she growls at me. I raise one eyebrow. I don’t know what comes over me, but I move closer, we are nearly the same height, and for some reason, I can’t back down.