download the entire thing right now while it’s free!<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n***<\/p>\n
Chocolate is the last scent I expect as my paws skim across snow at the most remote corner of my territory. But the pack princess\u2019s aroma is unmistakable, even when layered beneath the bitterness of fear.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\nProtect. <\/i><\/span><\/span><\/span>The alpha urge thrums through me, heating muscles already warmed from running patrol. But I\u2019m as human as I\u2019m lupine. And the human part of me knows I can\u2019t endanger the haven I\u2019ve created for wolves not tolerated elsewhere, not when harboring a pack princess would draw an endless string of unsavory characters to my door.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\nStill, my canines press against the inside of my lip. I need to know more before I dismiss my knee-jerk reaction. So I circle wide, pretending to continue my sweep even as I close the distance between myself and the woman I smell.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\nI\u2019ve been running these patrols for months now, ever since neutral outpack territories disintegrated and desperate lone wolves began testing my boundaries. Usually, snow and bitter cold do my work for me, forcing intruders out of my land. But the ravens have abandoned their usual perch on the rocky ledge ahead of me. Something bigger has claimed their space.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\nOn the leeward side of the outcrop, the pack princess\u2019s scent grows stronger and at the same time more muffled. She\u2019s trying hard not to breathe, I\u2019m guessing, like a child pulling covers over her head to hide from monsters. That reminds me of myself fifteen years ago\u2014too wary to rest, too hungry to think straight. If the same weight is pressing this pack princess\u2019s shoulders low, I can\u2019t meet it with teeth alone.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\nI\u2019ve worked past my initial alpha urge, though, and know what my strategy has to be. I\u2019ll drive this intruder from my land the way I\u2019ve driven out others, but I\u2019ll do so carefully. I won\u2019t eject her east or south, toward greedy alphas who\u2019d treat her like property to be sold at a mate market. Instead, I\u2019ll ensure she feels safe enough to accept supplies and directions to help her on her way.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\nFirst step: buy myself additional time to assess what I\u2019m dealing with. Because her chocolate aroma is so strong I can\u2019t tell whether she needs medical supplies as well as food. Deliberately, I clench my toes until my paw punches through the snow crust, then I grunt as I pretend to struggle, yanking uselessly at my not-really-trapped leg.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\nThe noise should alert her to my presence, let her catch the remnants of alpha musk I left upwind. If she trusts easily, now is when she\u2019ll come down from her perch and beg for sanctuary.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\nSanctuary I can\u2019t give her. But if she makes the first move, it will be easier to ensure she isn\u2019t harmed once she steps beyond my territory\u2019s edge.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\nThere\u2019s no movement from the rocks, though, as I take far longer than necessary drawing my paw back onto snow hard enough to run across. I can only imagine her there, huddled against the wind-scoured stone. Alone in a way no wolf should be.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\nIf I had to guess, she\u2019s keenly aware of what happens to unmated pack princesses with no clan to protect them. Before the outpack fell, she could have found an unclaimed corner and hid herself away from hungry males. Now her mere existence turns her into a mouse with no choice but to leap from one cat\u2019s territory to another, knowing most like to play with their food.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\nMy alpha instincts twist inside me a second time. Am I really going to drive a wolf who needs my protection out into the cold?<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\nCan I really afford not to?<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\nThe answer to the second question is: no. Every single member of my pack was unanimously voted in after an extensive trial period, selected because they had their own reasons for eschewing society and were willing to embrace others\u2019 differences. We\u2019re all male also, the one experiment with inviting in a woman having failed so spectacularly we agreed to keep the pack single-gender other than entirely hypothetical mates.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\nStill, I linger as the wind picks up, howling through the rocks like a wolf calling to its pack mates. Surely the arctic blast will tempt her out of hiding.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\nNo sound, no movement, nothing. She\u2019s too wise to give in easily…or too scared.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\nI can\u2019t give her what she truly needs, and she\u2019s not picking her way down to accept what I do have to offer. Eventually, I turn away and lope alone into the night.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\n
***<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\n
Werewolf law claims that the door I knock on next is within my territory, but human standards say this property isn\u2019t mine. I\u2019m a guest here rather than an alpha, a guest who can\u2019t afford to reveal his ability to shift into a wolf.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\nGood thing I stuffed clothes into a backpack before going running in wolf form. By the time the door swings open, my toes are frozen within my boots from standing barefoot in the snow while dressing, but I look presentable by human standards. Still, I can\u2019t quite prevent myself from sniffing at steamy air scented with moose stew as the woman who feels like an older sister greets me by name.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\u201cLocke!\u201d Dawn\u2019s smile is as wide as the horizon. \u201cGirls! Look who remembered we exist.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\nI duck my head, a gesture more wolf than human. \u201cI was in the area.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\u201cYou\u2019re always <\/span><\/span><\/span>in the area<\/i><\/span><\/span><\/span>,\u201d Dawn says, mimicking my deep voice while tugging on one sleeve to draw me inside. She reaches up to rumple my hair the way she\u2019s done ever since I was sixteen and she was a new mother at the far more advanced age of twenty-one, the gesture softening her complaint: \u201cYet somehow months pass between visits.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\nThe main room of the cabin is exactly as I remember it\u2014warm in ways that don\u2019t depend on the crackling woodstove at its center. That warmth comes from the family as a whole, but it\u2019s Setsoo in her rocking chair that everything orbits around.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\u201cThe wanderer returns. Come, sit by me.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\nThere are no chairs in her vicinity, but I\u2019m not the only one who rushes to accept the invitation. Dawn\u2019s twins abandon their homework and sprawl on the floor beside me, boneless as wolf pups even though they\u2019re fully human. Nita and Josie have grown since I saw them last\u2014they\u2019re sixteen now, their dark hair hanging in identical braids down the middle of their backs, their eyes bright with intelligence.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\u201cDid you bring us anything?\u201d That\u2019s Nita.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\u201cHis bag\u2019s empty.\u201d Josie crosses her arms and tries to scowl. But the smile she inherited from her mother shines through even before Nita pokes her and she descends into giggles.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\u201cI only brought my poor, useless self,\u201d I say gravely, thanking Dawn with a smile for the ceramic bowl of stew she sets into my hands without asking if I want any. \u201cUnless you count the rabbit I left by your smokehouse last week.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\u201cWe found it,\u201d Josie says. \u201cMom thought it was from one of her suitors.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\nDawn\u2019s cheeks redden. \u201cYou sound like a gossiping old setsoo.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\u201cI resemble that remark.\u201d Dawn\u2019s mother pretends to scowl from her rocking chair while I cover up my smile with a spoonful of stew. The rich flavors of garlic and wild game flood my mouth, tempting me to drift back into my earliest memories of this place.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\nI was so scared, then, that coming in out of the cold had been physically painful. What had given me the courage to take that first step?<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\nSetsoo\u2019s weathered hand settles into my hair. \u201cYou have a question.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\nWhile I consider Setsoo\u2019s observation, the twins pull out a brush and butterfly clips, amusing themselves with my unruly curls the same way they have since they were old enough to stand on tiptoe and reach my head as I sat hunched over. When they were younger, the twins used to yank as they untangled. But now they\u2019re gentle. And Josie\u2019s hands have grown even more cautious than her sister\u2019s, as if she\u2019s starting to realize I\u2019m a man.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\nIf Josie is realizing that, she might be starting to notice other things about me also. Like the way my hair grows faster than an average human\u2019s, each shift tempting hair follicles to work overtime. Or the way a wolf killed that rabbit by the smokehouse rather than a bullet or a snare.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\nIf any of these humans find out I\u2019m a shifter and the Council learns about their knowledge, they\u2019ll be killed. But I\u2019ve managed to work around Setsoo\u2019s keen eyes for well over a decade, so I dismiss the surge of unease that rises in me at that possibility. Surely Josie won\u2019t be more astute than her grandmother.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\nTime to focus on what I came here to ask.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\u201cRemember when I arrived fifteen years ago?\u201d I ask the older woman. \u201cHow I hovered at the edge of your yard for a week before I could bring myself to speak with you?\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\u201cHow could I forget a skinny white boy scaring away all the game?\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\nI don\u2019t reply verbally to the dig because it\u2019s true\u2014I was a skinny white boy. Still, I flex my now-large biceps, making the twins giggle, before I continue. \u201cHow did you tame me enough to trust you?\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\u201c<\/span>Did<\/i><\/span><\/span><\/span> I tame you enough to trust me?\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\nI must be imagining the knowledge in her dark eyes. I let myself believe that as Dawn interjects.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\u201cIf we\u2019d tamed you, you\u2019d show up on a regular basis rather than once in a blue moon like a hungry stray who only visits when he fails to hunt his own dinner.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\nI belatedly remember manners Setsoo taught me. \u201cYour stew is delicious. But you know I come for friendship, not food.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\u201cI wouldn\u2019t feed you otherwise.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\nDawn and I share a grin, then I return to the question I want to ask her mother. \u201cWas it food that finally brought me inside? Warmth?\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\nSetsoo rocks gently, but her eyes are sharp on my face as she answers. \u201cI just kept the door open. A scared stray doesn\u2019t come in for food, Locke. A scared stray craves safety. That\u2019s all I offered you\u2014a home with no strings attached.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\nA home is the one thing I can\u2019t give the scared pack princess hiding in my territory. \u201cThat\u2019s it?\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\nSetsoo grabs a handful of my hair and tugs harder than is comfortable. \u201cYou think a home is simple?\u201d she chides. \u201cThen you\u2019re not thinking hard enough.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\nKeep reading in Alpha’s Guide to Lost Wolves!<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Do you want a sneak peek into my newest story, Alpha’s Guide to Lost Wolves? Keep reading…or just download the entire thing right now while it’s free! *** Chocolate is the last scent I expect as my paws skim across snow at the most remote corner of my territory. But the pack princess\u2019s aroma is […]<\/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":[49,3,174],"tags":[59,14,7,27,23,8],"class_list":["post-3973","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-excerpts-aimee-easterling","category-aimee-easterling-news","category-series-ghost-pack","tag-free-fantasy-and-romance-books","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\/3973","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=3973"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/aimeeeasterling.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3973\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3975,"href":"http:\/\/aimeeeasterling.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3973\/revisions\/3975"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/aimeeeasterling.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3973"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/aimeeeasterling.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3973"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/aimeeeasterling.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3973"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"Wolf](\"http:\/\/aimeeeasterling.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/a-photograph-of-a-powerful-grey-wolf-spr_J0TPpJGLTam_oBCcisnTyw_0mdBGFCSRuSj-8tL-gb9ew-1024x574.jpeg\")
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