“Forget them,” she said, stopping once we reached the bottom of the stairs. “They don’t remember what it was like to be a new wolf because their experiences weren’t the same as
yours. Yes, you’ll have to prove yourself, and yes, it might be hard, but you have a place within this pack, same as everyone else.” She paused, smiling when Fallen joined us in wolf form.
“Ah, you’re just in time. Please show Jo to her room and make sure all her needs are met. Once you do, come and see me so that we may speak some more.”
&n
bsp; Fallen bowed her head in response, watching Ash go before finally turning her attention to me. “Glad to see you made it back.” Surprisingly, it almost sounded like she meant it.
“No you’re not,” I said, my eyes fixed on Ash until she stepped out of my line of sight. “You’d sooner let me starve out there than see me in here.”
“True,” she agreed with a nod, “but not for the reasons you believe. Anyway, if you’d failed to return, it would’ve been my hide on the chopping block, not yours.”
“Still playing the part of a babysitter, huh?” I teased, placing my hand on the railing as I slowly made my way up the wooden stairs.
Fallen paused in front of me, her fur bristling as she spoke.
“Look, the only reason you’re even here is because she feels sorry for you. You’re a charity case, nothing more,” Fallen said with a growl, keeping to her wolf form as she walked beside me. “The rest of us have no alliance to you and would rather keep our fold safe.” She didn’t sound so sure of herself.
“You think I want to be here?” I said, keeping my voice low as we passed a group of wolves at the top of the steps. “I have a life outside of here, one I would’ve loved to get back to until this happened.”
“Someone screwed up,” Fallen said, not looking at me.
“Boy is that an understatement.”
She stepped to our right and onto one of the balconies overlooking the room below. “So you really had no idea?
None at all?”
I shook my head. “No. I have nothing against wolves or their right to live, but if I knew there’d been a mix-up during
my surgery, I would’ve—”
“Given it back, right?” she huffed. “There’s no fixing this now.” It wasn’t a question. Like me, Fallen probably knew how long it took for my body to heal, and seeing as I already went through my first shift…
“I’d take it back if I could,” I told her, frowning when something tingled at the back of my neck.
“What?” Fallen asked, looking up at me. “What is it?”
“I… I don’t know.” I rubbed the back of my neck, but the chill or whatever it was was still there. “There’s tingling like before, but it’s different somehow. Stronger.”
She released a long breath and sat back on her haunches. “I forgot how alarming everything is to you new pups. It’s just your wolf talking, and it sounds like she isn’t pleased. Do our accommodations upset her?”
She’d know better than me. “The tingling is because of her?” How come I hadn’t felt it inside the manor before? Why now?
“Think of it as your wolf’s fur bristling, only it happens under the skin.” Fallen lowered her voice and took a few steps toward me. “That’s usually when we shift because it comes on right before an attack.”
“But you seem fine,” I said, noting her perked ears and confident posture.
“Sure, but that’s because I don’t see you as a threat,” she said, turning her back to me with a wag of her tail. “Your wolf, on the other hand, sees us as the enemy.
Think about it for a second. Out in the woods, you were free to run wherever you pleased. In here, there are a dozen wolves at any given time. Your wolf feels trapped, plain and simple, and you’re only feeling it now because you’ve finally learned to listen to her instincts alongside your own. That doesn’t mean she’s right, of course, but it’s still good to hear.”
“Ash warned me about this, about the way my wolf might react.”
“And it’s your job to steer your wolf in the right direction.
If you feel another shift coming on, you need to tell me. I can sense it but not nearly as fast as the Alpha can. She can sense every single one of us, no matter how far away we are. She can feel us breathe and hear our hearts beat in her ears.”