3. Wolves

I ran my hands through the young wolf's fur and checked on her skin.

"I can't have you shift just yet, wouldn't want you tearing up those stitches, now would we?" I said. She gave me a soft bark before I stood up and made my way to the kitchen.

"Want breakfast?"

I grabbed a large bowl and filled it with water before placing it down in front of the wolf, who stood on her wobbly legs, and lapped up the water. She was half my height in wolf form, which meant that she was probably a really young wolf – most wolves my age could easily be my height, and I was almost at six feet – but, of course, the Goddess chickened out on my final two inches.

"Bacon?" I asked and she barked happily as I cooked.

"This would probably be less awkward if you were human right now, wouldn't it?" I mused and she barked again as she made her way towards me and placed her paws on the counter.

"I wonder what pack you're from. You don't have a very familiar scent," I said as I heard a knock on the door. The wolf got down from the counter and dashed towards the direction of my room. I went to the door, opened it up, and found myself staring at a young man with long blonde hair tied in a ponytail.

"And you are?" I asked.

"Xander. I'm one of the Umbra Pack's deltas," he greeted and I raised an eyebrow. "My Alpha informed me that you rescued his sister–"

"Right, and have you had breakfast?" I asked. He was probably in high school or something - and he had bags under his eyes. He'd probably been driving all night.

"I'm fine, I'm sure-" He began but I shook my head.

"Eat and then go, the poor wolf hasn't even eaten yet and I still need to have her shift to complete my check-up," I said as I moved aside. He made his way inside and I went back to the kitchen to finish breakfast.

"Make yourself at home," I said as I toasted some bread and brought out three plates.

"Xander?" I called as I looked at him, he had gone to the windows to stare at the view of the city.

"Yes?" He answered.

"My name's Auden. Could you tell me her name?" I asked.

"Her name's Lana," Xander said. I placed some crisped bacon into a plate and pulled out some peanut butter and jelly.

"Place these on the table for me would you? I'm just gonna grab Lana from wherever she's hiding," I said. Xander nodded and I went into my open bedroom. Lana's tail peeked out from under the large white bed and I chuckled.

"Lana, if you don't come out, you're not getting breakfast," I folded my arms over my chest and watched as she crawled out from under the bed, it lifted off the ground a bit from her size and I wondered how the hell she even got under there.

As soon as she got out she pouted. I stared into her green eyes and rolled my eyes.

"You know you have to go back home right?" I asked and she simply pulled the puppy dog eyes at me. I shook my head.

"Come on, breakfast is waiting and I'm not feeding you in my bedroom."

Lana eventually came out, but she growled the moment she spotted Xander, who bowed his head in her direction.

"Where do I put her-"

"On the floor. She probably won't mind, right?" I asked as I looked at Lana. She barked and wagged her tail but as soon as Xander moved she growled at him. I took the plate from him and placed it on the carpet she'd slept on last night.

Lana gladly began to eat and I fixed myself a peanut butter and jelly sandwich for breakfast. Meanwhile Xander looked as if he was resisting the temptation to eat – either that or he was preoccupied by Lana through the mind-link.

"Please eat, I'm not asking for much right?" I interrupted. Xander looked at me and nodded before he picked up some toast, added a measly amount of butter, and took a bite.

I began fixing up another sandwich, wrapped it up in some paper towels, and handed it over to him.

"For the road," I said. I glanced at Lana and saw her licking the grease off of her now-empty plate.

"I may have underestimated how hungry you were," I said with a smile as I pet her head, "Now I'm gonna need you to shower. I'll bring you some clothes – and you–" I turned over to Xander, "Finish the food or pack them into a tupperware, I have some in a drawer. Afterwards, put everything in the dishwasher and we'll be good, okay?"

"Okay." He said.

Lana and I went into the bathroom and she hopped into my tub. I ran some warm water and washed down the clumps of fur and dried blood on her body. She shed quite a bit of her brown and gold-toned hair - which was definitely gonna be hell for me to clean up later. She barked as I rubbed her head with water.

"Now, I'm not about to waste a liter of shampoo, so you better give a shot at shifting. If anything hurts, scream," I joked and she barked as I stepped back and turned off the shower head. I grabbed a towel and a robe and left them beside the sink before I went into the kitchen to check on Xander.

"How's she doing?" Xander asked as he finished wiping my counters.

"Thanks for the clean-up. She'll be fine. Seems like she's well-healed up already. I'm gonna grab her some clothes and then you guys can hit the road, I'll hand over some antibiotics that I have on hand and some pain medicine - her side might be a bit sore, but it shouldn't be anything your pack doctor can't handle," I said and he nodded his head.

"Does your pack live in the city?" He asked and I laughed.

"No, I'm half wolf. I do the occasional business for my pack but you might as well consider me human," I said. I wanted to avoid any further questions so I retreated into my room to look for clothes. I searched my closet and found a padded deep blue dress that could probably work for her size.

I heard a knock come and went over, opening it to find a young girl, probably only a little older than ten, standing in front of me. She had short dark curly brown hair that fell just above her shoulders. She was tanned - with lines indicating a sunburn on her shoulders and her nose was slowly peeling.

"Wow. You're a lot younger than I thought you were," I commented. She smiled, the robe she had on looked so large it made me chuckle. As I was about to give her the dress she gave me a huge hug and squeezed me tight.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" She shouted. I felt my dress grow damp. I looked down and saw tears in her eyes and she squeezed me even harder.

"You're... welcome…" I managed to squeak. She had basically squeezed it out of me. When she eventually let go, I handed her my clothes, "Okay, okay, stop crying and go change before you squeeze my soul out of my body," I said, as I rubbed the bottoms of her eyes gently with my thumbs and she sniffled and rubbed her nose as she took my dress.

I left her in the bathroom and pulled my dark brown hair into its usual ponytail. I went to my bedroom and changed as well, pulling on a white turtleneck sweater, a pair of slim-fitting jeans, and some black low cut boots. I prepared my handbag and stuffed it full of my things and the paperwork I needed to fill out yesterday. Just as I was about to open the door, I heard growling.

Not from one person, no. I didn't even hear two growls, I heard three.

I opened my door and lo and behold - there were three people in my apartment. Xander, Lana, and a tall man who I didn't recognize.

"Okay, who invited-" I froze. I smelled something that was a little too... sweet for my liking. I instinctively stepped forward but logically held back.

As unknown man almost turned to see me, I ran into my room and slammed the door shut.

"Oh hell no…" I cursed. "No, no, no, no, no, no…"

Not today.

Not ever.

I was not gonna let something else govern my life. I was not gonna let this happen-

I gasped as I realized I hadn't locked the door. I reached for the knob but just as I was about to touch it–

The door opened.