{"id":1359,"date":"2016-06-10T06:11:19","date_gmt":"2016-06-10T10:11:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/aimeeeasterling.com\/?p=1359"},"modified":"2018-06-19T16:37:17","modified_gmt":"2018-06-19T20:37:17","slug":"lone-wolf-dawn-chapter-1-scene-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/aimeeeasterling.com\/?p=1359","title":{"rendered":"Lone Wolf Dawn: Chapter 1, Scene 2"},"content":{"rendered":"

Make sure you read the first part of Chapter 1<\/a> before continuing…<\/em><\/p>\n

Chapter 1 Scene 2<\/strong><\/p>\n

The interior of the warehouse was in an even more disreputable state than I\u2019d initially imagined. The building was small and windowless, with barely enough space for me to walk between two rows of cages. And the stench now that we\u2019d entered was overwhelming. I actually had to ask my wolf to turn off our nose for a moment to prevent myself from gagging.<\/p>\n

But that wasn\u2019t the worst of it.<\/p>\n

An emaciated female dog hovered against the back wall of one cage, her lip curling upwards into a snarl as she strove to protect her litter. Above her head, a frightened puppy released his bladder. Liquid splattered down to land on offspring and mother alike.<\/p>\n

There were dogs everywhere. Half a dozen crammed into a cage too small to house a single beast. Others with matted fur and open sores where animals had been left to fight over the bare minimum daily ration.<\/p>\n

The air filled with coughs every bit as loud as the growls and barks. And then there were the eyes. Dark, begging eyes. Liquid, terrified eyes. Crusted, infected eyes.<\/p>\n

Amber, sparkling eyes so much like my mate\u2019s that I gasped and released the proprietor before I realized what I was doing. I only came to myself when the first bloodling pup licked my hand, his tiny teeth following up with a bite to my thumb. Pay attention<\/i>, he seemed to be saying. Your job here isn\u2019t done quite yet.<\/i><\/p>\n

I rose from my knees with murder on my mind. The puppy-mill owner was standing in one corner, a large, adult wolf growling in front of him as Hunter made up for my lapse by keeping the offender in line. \u201cThis is private property…\u201d the human began.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis<\/i>,\u201d I said, waving my hands to encompass the two rows of reeking cages, \u201cis a travesty. You\u2019re breaking so many laws you could spend the rest of your life in prison.\u201d<\/p>\n

I expected the man to cower in the face of Hunter\u2019s teeth even if my rage made little impact. But, instead, he smirked. \u201cAnd who are you to pass judgment?\u201d he demanded.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re with the…\u201d I paused, trying to remember the name of the human organization that dealt with puppy mills. \u201cWe\u2019re with the, um, AARP?\u201d<\/p>\n

I closed my eyes for a split second in frustration. I hated that my sentence had risen at the end into a question, our cover story abruptly forgotten in the face of the bloodlings\u2019 eyes.<\/p>\n

Worse, the puppy-mill owner laughed at me. \u201cI think you mean the ASPCA,\u201d he offered, side-stepping Hunter as if he knew my companion possessed a human intellect within that lupine body and wouldn\u2019t lunge forward instinctively the way a real wolf might.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut you aren\u2019t really affiliated with any organization at all, are you?\u201d the man purred, stepping into my personal space and forcing me to backpedal until my spine settled against the metal bars of the closest cages. \u201cYou have secrets of your own to keep and you can\u2019t afford to harm a human<\/i>, hmm?\u201d<\/p>\n

I gasped, shaking my head in negation. This money-grubbing two-legger couldn\u2019t really know that he was trafficking in werewolves, could he? Hunter\u2019s job as Tribunal enforcer had set us on the one-body\u2019s trail, but the rules were clear\u2014we couldn\u2019t out shifter-kind to the larger human world and we didn\u2019t have the authority to punish a human the way we might want to.<\/p>\n

But if the human already knew about werewolves? That was a gray area I didn\u2019t know how to navigate.<\/p>\n

Hunter, apparently, lacked my scruples. Despite the security cameras I\u2019d seen in each corner of the room, he shifted without warning and strode toward my assailant two-legged. \u201cStay away from my mate<\/i>,\u201d he growled, an unconscious alpha compulsion turning his words into daggers of command.<\/p>\n

Of course, alpha compulsions only worked on werewolves. Still, the human\u2019s eyes widened with the first faint inkling of fear as he took in Hunter\u2019s massive, muscular, form. \u201cShit,\u201d he muttered. \u201cI didn\u2019t think they were really real<\/i>.\u201d<\/p>\n

Then, slowly, the one-body\u2019s brain caught up with his eyes and his scent morphed into the terror I\u2019d expected from the get-go. But the puppy-mill owner still tried to tough his way out of what he must have realized was an increasingly hairy situation.<\/p>\n

No pun intended. Okay, maybe I did intend that pun just a little bit after all.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou know more than you should know,\u201d Hunter whispered into the man\u2019s ear, his words so deep they resonated in my belly. Even when he\u2019d fought by my side against serial-killing shifters, I\u2019d never heard the uber-alpha sound quite so wolf-like.<\/p>\n

In fact, I wasn\u2019t entirely sure his human brain was involved in determining his current actions at all anymore. So I set one hand on Hunter\u2019s bare forearm in hopes a simple touch would prevent my mate from doing something he\u2019d later regret.<\/p>\n

Amber eyes the exact same shade as those of the caged bloodling puppies flicked over to meet mine before darting away. The tiniest dimple formed on Hunter\u2019s right cheek and I released my pent-up breath. No, my mate was still in there. He was just doing his job\u2014making sure this puppy-mill owner didn\u2019t turn into a repeat offender.<\/p>\n

\u201cHuman law believes in three strikes you\u2019re out,\u201d my mate continued, his voice becoming even quieter as he leaned in closer. On the final word, his teeth snapped together a millimeter away from the puppy-mill owner\u2019s ear and, to my satisfaction, the man jerked away as if he\u2019d been struck. The human wasn\u2019t so brave after all.<\/p>\n

Smirking, Hunter finished his train of thought more loudly. \u201cOur<\/i> law believes in one <\/i>strike you\u2019re dead.<\/i>\u201d<\/p>\n

The bloodling paused to let his words sink in. Then he stepped back, releasing the human from his over-powering presence. Abruptly, Hunter became the epitome of a cordial\u2014if naked\u2014businessman sealing a deal, and immediately the human\u2019s tension eased.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re taking the puppies, plus your records about any other \u2018dogs\u2019 you\u2019ve rehomed. Then we\u2019re burning the building,\u201d my mate continued, his light tone suggesting that he was talking about baking cookies rather than planning arson. \u201cIn the future, I\u2019ll be checking up on you at intervals. If you even think about bringing home a goldfish<\/i>, you\u2019re out of the realm of human law and into the realm of our<\/i> law. Do you understand?\u201d<\/p>\n

The puppy-mill owner gulped, then nodded. Hunter clearly had everything under control, so I took advantage of our opponent\u2019s stunned silence to snatch the cage-keys out of his hands and head toward the kennel that housed the bloodling pups. We\u2019d save all of the residents of this reeking shed, of course, but the shifters came first.<\/p>\n

Especially the biggest male with the dash of white fur on his forehead who had nibbled on my fingers a moment earlier. I\u2019d bonded with him instantly and was already starting to call him by a pet name within my mind\u2014Star.<\/p>\n

But to my surprise, the bloodling in question bared his tiny teeth when I reached forward to pull him out. Only when Star began nudging his weaker companions toward the front of the cage did I realize that he wasn\u2019t resisting my advances. He was merely making sure his less able cage mates were rescued first.<\/p>\n

And wasn\u2019t that all werewolf?<\/p>\n

Shooting one last glance toward the one-body who considered shifters and dogs alike unworthy of his compassion, I once again thanked my lucky stars that I\u2019d been abandoned by my parents. After all, I\u2019d lost that easy familial love at a far too tender age but had gained something unimaginably more valuable in the process.<\/p>\n

Despite my half-human heritage, I\u2019d enjoyed the distinct advantage of being raised by wolves.<\/p>\n

I wouldn\u2019t have it any other way.<\/p>\n

Dive into Chapter Two<\/a> of Lone Wolf Dawn<\/a>…<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Make sure you read the first part of Chapter 1 before continuing… Chapter 1 Scene 2 The interior of the warehouse was in an even more disreputable state than I\u2019d initially imagined. The building was small and windowless, with barely enough space for me to walk between two rows of cages. And the stench now […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[49,45,21],"tags":[14,7,27,23,8],"class_list":["post-1359","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-excerpts-aimee-easterling","category-alpha-underground-series","category-urban-fantasy-paranormal-romance-fantasy-romance-reviews","tag-paranormal-books","tag-shifter-books","tag-urban-fantasy-books","tag-urban-paranormal-romantic-fantasy","tag-werewolf-books","post-preview"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/aimeeeasterling.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1359","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/aimeeeasterling.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/aimeeeasterling.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/aimeeeasterling.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/aimeeeasterling.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1359"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/aimeeeasterling.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1359\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1366,"href":"http:\/\/aimeeeasterling.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1359\/revisions\/1366"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/aimeeeasterling.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1359"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/aimeeeasterling.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1359"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/aimeeeasterling.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1359"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}