SHADOW

“What’s wrong, Shadow?” Kent, my adopted father, asked who had raised me since I was eight. His thick brows squished together. Concern filled his hazel eyes.

“I don’t know. I think I sense something.” My wolf anxiously stirred and became restless. I gulped a glass of water.

I barely escaped from the savages who killed my father’s entire pack. Because of the mixed mating, they ended up dead, and I ended up in a shelter with homeless humans. That was how Kent found me, gave me a home, and raised me as his own.

When I turned ten, Kent noticed something was different about me. I told him everything, how my parents died. At first, he thought it was a trauma that I’d seen things. When I reached puberty, he saw me change for the first time. Since then, he explored my kind.

We were about to meet the investor, and I couldn’t screw this up. We traveled all the way from California for this meeting, only to be ruined because I felt something odd.

“I’ll be fine alone. Go ahead. Get some air.”

“I’m fine.” I’ve already learned to mask my scent, but I could be reckless sometimes and tested my limit. Or probably just my luck, and there was a huge chance I would run out.

I joined a pack once in college, but the Alpha turned out to be more interested in finding a bedmate, his whore, than ruling his pack.

When Kent put my choices on the table, let me join a pack again or be with humans and work as one of them. I chose the alter I refused to join again.

I had been a rogue for years. And I’d rather be a rogue than join another pack ruled by a useless or raging homicidal maniac Alpha and get killed.

I learned my lesson. The last thing I wanted was to be controlled by an arrogant asshole alpha.

I believed in finding a mate, though— a lifetime partner, a soulmate in the human world, but at this moment, I was happy with how my life had been.

If my parents were alive, they would be proud of me, standing on my own, and soon, I would be working at Kent’s company, Cornelius Marks & Co. Finance.

My wolf was happy hunting rabbits and raccoons on Kent’s vast acre of property. I couldn’t be selfish with her, and she was also a part of me, so we ran every weekend. I let her feel the dirt and mud under her paws. I let her smell the earth and taste the blood in her mouth as she chunked the rabbit.

She was happy, but deep inside, I knew she wanted more. She wanted to be in a pack where she could run and hunt with other wolves.

All of a sudden, the hair at the back of my neck stood up. My heart pumped so hard. I could feel my spine tingling as heat rushed through my body, and my wolf began purring.

“Calm down. Your eyes are about to glow.” Kent reached for my hand, which I had already formed into a fist. He squeezed it. He knew when I was about to shift. He’d helped me through my first shift no matter how terrified he was.

As a human, I felt how much he loved me and never let me suffer alone through that tough time. He’d watched me as my bone deformed and cracked in my body until hair spread in my skin, my face formed a snout, my claws came out, and fangs erupted from my gums until I fully shifted and was able to talk to my wolf for the first time.

“Something is wrong.” In my confused brain and restless wolf, I smelled someone’s scent despite smelling these humans— their sweats, cologne, aftershave, and the arousal of that woman at the corner. Still, something distinct of that particular smell— something enticing and more.

Breathing deeply, I closed my eyes and inwardly talked to my wolf. Calm down, or you won’t run for a month.

The most alluring, delicious scent became more distinct. As a hybrid of a Lycan and a witch, I had super senses ten times more than a regular werewolf. Since my father was an Alpha, I had superior strength and control of my mind.

“I’m sorry, Kent.” I opened my eyes. I knew they were glowing. My half-witch gene made my gray eyes gleam silver and violet.

I could feel my claws and fangs coming out, and I’d never lost control over it since that incident almost killed Kent. I learned how to restrain my emotions, but something was wrong—a danger was coming my way.

With my weak knees, I rose from the seat and hurried out of the hotel cafe to get some air. I took the elevator to the rooftop since I was in uncharted territory in New York, and if the hush-hush was right, a big pack led by a feared Alpha was in this city.

Instead of running out, I went to the rooftop. I knew there were packs everywhere. I couldn’t risk stumbling upon any kind because of my circumstances— a rogue. And there was no place safe for me. They would hunt me down.