I quickly shifted back to my human form, clothes forming from the scales that had been there previously. My long brown hair sway with the wind as I moved towards the town. I couldn’t keep on hiding in the woods, I would go mad without human company, and this town was too small for security scanners to be posted. I checked one more time, to make sure my dagger was in its holder before walking into the village. I walked past the sign that said ‘Welcome to Lupos!’ That was not a popular name to have right now. I looked around and noticed that they were isolated from normal human life. Their shops didn’t have music or TVs, homes were made log cabin style, and I didn’t see any phones. This will be nice! No way to contact the authorities! I smiled happily and wandered around town, looking for a house for rent. I found one a little way into the forest surrounding the town and immediately went back to town, following the address the sign said. I opened the door to the lady’s office and walked inside. There were comfortable chairs, a desk, a computer (I guess they kind of need it for this job) and a painting of two wolves.

“May I help you?” A woman asked from behind the desk. She wore a dark green sweater and her pants were hidden behind the desk.

“Yeah, I would like to rent the house that’s on the edge of town. I don’t have money, but I can work it off some other way.” I said, hoping she’ll take my offer. I smelled the room, to make sure my fear scent wasn’t clogging her nostrils, even though she probably couldn’t smell it. Though I did smell a bit of wolf coming off of her. Weird since wolves didn’t usually come into towns. She could be a shifter, but that wasn’t very likely.

“That house has been empty for years, it would be cheating if I made you pay for it. Here are the keys, if you want you can start working at the zoo to pay it off. Meet me at the Zoo in a week and we’ll talk about it.” She said, handing me the keys. “Sorry, I forgot to ask, what’s your name? My name is Annabel Bluefinch, but you can call me Anna.”

“My name is Orca.” I replied, smiling and shaking her hand. I stuffed the keys into my pocket and turned to go. I closed the door behind me, but not before noticing a sudden movement inside the room. I shrugged it off, since I didn’t smell anything that hinted at weapons. My legs stretched beneath me as I jogged towards the edge of town. Once out of sight, I shifted into my wolf. I ran through the forest, relishing the wind through my fur. Humans could steal my family, friends, and home, but they would never steal my free spirit. I leaped into the air transforming into an owl seamlessly. I pumped my wings and rode silently along an airborne street of birds.

“Arooooooooooooo” I heard the call before I smelled them. A wolf pack moved below me. I drifted down and shifted to a fox before stepping out from behind the rock. I was shocked to hear the voices of shifters in my head as I stepped into plain view.

“Aw, it’s so cute! We should catch it!” A wolf to left said. Two other wolves started surrounding me and I growled at them.

“Leave it alone, Arianna!” The wolf directly in front of me said. The three wolves behind her backed her up, nodding and growling at Arianna and her friends.

“Darling, do you smell human on it?” A brown male stepped out from behind the lead wolf

“Yeah! Anna, don’t you smell it? We need to take it back to the pack house!” Ariana exclaimed. I looked nervously at Anna, she was a gray wolf with two jagged scars running down her back. I started to back away. They noticed my unease and tensed, ready to chase.

“Chance, tell the alpha. Everyone else, let’s round up the fox. Don’t hurt it, though.” She received a yes from the remaining wolves as Chance, the brown wolf, left. He headed towards the town. The wolves advanced and I turned around, were they in for a surprise! I leapt onto a boulder, getting happy reactions from the wolves. Their triumph turned to fear as I shifted into my spitting mad Viper. This species was extremely lethal and they had a right to fear my strike. I rattled my scales in warning.

“Humans, now!” I commanded and they shifted to human. Happy, I sailed into the air, gaining size and flapped away as a dragon. The wolves didn’t budge and I flew passed my house before turning around and landing next to it in owl form. I Shifted into a human and slipped inside just in time to see Anna and two other girls run up the path towards my house. I masked my animal scents quickly and set down the bag I had stashed by the door earlier. I quickly looked around the house and found that it wasn’t all that bad, considering how long it had been empty. I opened the door when they knocked and let them in.

“Hi Orca!” Anna said cheerfully. “I would like you to meet Jasmine and Arianna.” She said, gesturing to the two girls next to her. They were definitely shifters. Jasmine was a darker color with black hair and green eyes. Arianna had very light-colored skin and dark brown hair. Her eyes were blue with hints of yellow. The two girls walked to either side of me and I accidentally lost hold of my scent for a moment. It wasn’t very long, thankfully, Jasmine didn’t catch it and nodded at Anna. “Orca, can you please come with us?”