1
Ladon
Living as an ordinary human in a pack of wolf shifters is interesting, to say the least.
Those who make up the pack were either brought in because they were lone shifters, a mate to someone in the pack, or born into it. I’m none of those things. Yet I’m treated differently because of who my mom is, who my stepfather is.
I’m the son of the mate of the alpha of the Quivakond Pack. That’s a mouthful. It’s something I embraced when we first moved to eastern Pennsylvania. For years we lived on the West Coast but as soon as my mom met Merrick, everything changed. They found out they were mates and that we could have the protection of a pack. Mom decided to move us to where we currently are in Jacobsburg State Park.
There’s never a dull moment. That’s what happens when you live with a pack of shifters and other paranormals. They’re always creating noise. With this many beings under one roof, quiet isn’t something that exists. Except maybe in the middle of the night and that’s not all the time.
If someone asks me where I see myself in ten years, I say mated to a paranormal. I don’t want a human for my partner. I’ve never been shy about that. However, that hasn’t happened, so I began dating humans. Falling in and out of love. Only to be left broken-hearted when things didn’t go as I hoped. It’s not like I can bring anyone I’m with back to my house. Humans don’t understand why so many adults would live under one roof.
It’s not an option to spill the secret of who or what the pack is. I can’t tell the world I live with wolf shifters and other paranormals. Not everyone here is a wolf. We’re a very diverse pack and proud of it. But I’m just a nineteen-year-old male, with no female to call my own, in a world I can’t speak about to anyone outside of the paranormals.
Keeping secrets from those I love isn’t easy. It caused one of my relationships to fail. The female I was with didn’t like that I never brought her home. I made up lies to cover it, but she knew I was lying. Of course she did. Eventually, I gave up dating humans. It was something that only caused me pain. Why keep doing it?
That leaves me alone. Again. Where I have been for months now. The pack is here. They love me. I even have a couple of friends with benefits in the pack, but that’s few and far between. My mom and Merrick, my stepfather who is also the pack's alpha, are aware, though I hate it. Who wants their parents to know they’re sleeping with others under the same roof? This isn't an ordinary home, however.
Nudity, swearing, fights, death, it’s all part of being in the paranormal world. The shifters in this house don’t care who sees them naked. They have zero qualms about walking around in the buff. I’m not one to judge. Male or female, I look my fill. There have been countless times when I’ve rounded a corner and found two of the pack screwing up against a wall. I’m numb to it anymore. I may pause to see who it is, but then I keep going. It’s not my business. If anyone asks the pack, they’ll say anything that goes on in here is all of their business.
Banging on the wall on the opposite side of the room gets my attention. Lovely. Austin and Corinna must be making up. They got into a fight earlier. Austin is the pack’s beta. He’s one of the best males I know. Seriously, right up there with Merrick, and he has a soft spot for his mate, as all mated paranormals do.
Corinna found out Austin went into town today to deliver one of the pieces he made—he’s crazy good with his hands at crafting wooden furniture—and didn’t tell her he was going. That wouldn’t have been a big deal normally. This time he came back with blood stains on his shirt. Seems he walked in on his customer in the middle of a domestic dispute and put a stop to it. We don't call the local cops. They can’t know about us. Sure, Austin could have let them handle it. However, when he saw a male’s hand around the throat of a female, he acted. Any of us in the pack would have done the same thing.
With blood on his clothes, Corinna asked him what happened. He explained and she was upset that he could've been exposed for what he truly is. When shifters feel a powerful emotion, their wolves rise to the surface and their eyes blaze emerald green. I have no doubt Austin’s did. But he handled it. He didn’t shift. The male who was hurting the female got a hefty dose of fear instilled in him.
The worry and anger Corinna felt wasn't from this one incident alone. It stemmed from the time Austin was shot by a hunter. He was in the woods as his wolf, a good distance from the pack property, and didn’t see the hunter until the bullet lodged into his side. He was lucky it didn’t hit a major artery. He was able to get far enough away and shift to heal. If he would have been captured, who knew what would have happened.
Low moans reach my ears. I toss my tablet onto my bed and stand. I’ve bought more noise-canceling headphones than I can remember. Nothing drowns out the sound of shifters making love.
I stride from the room, down the hall, and descend the stairs. I need something to do. My feet don’t stop moving until I’m out the back sliding door. It’s October and the leaves are near the peak of their beautiful colors. Outside our warded area, that is. In here, it's warm and lush. The seasons don’t change. There could be two feet of snow out there and we're warm in here with green grass and trees covered in leaves. Just like summer.
Another amazing feature is that the pack house and the surrounding area is invisible. No one can see us. If someone stumbles upon our area, we have paranormals stationed who can lead them away. We’re not on one of the trails which winds through the state park. We’re deep inside where the humans don't hike or ride their horses unless they get lost.
Penelope and Aura are swimming in the in-ground pool when I get outside, both in bikinis, both strikingly gorgeous. I don’t think I’ve met a paranormal yet who wasn't stunning. There have been plenty of times, since I came here six years ago, when I’ve had crushes on some of the females in the pack. Mated or not, my teenage hormones didn’t care.
There’s none of that anymore. Only stark loneliness, even though I'm surrounded by the pack.
“Joining us, Ladon?” Penny asks. Her long, dark auburn hair is pulled up on the back of her head in a messy bun.
“Nah. Just came out to get some fresh air. Austin and Corinna are being a little loud.”
Aura chuckles. “You get the worst of it since you share a wall.”
“I need to ask Rilee if she can use her magic to block out the noise like she did with Lync and Baker’s room. There are some nights I can’t sleep because Austin and Corinna are so loud.” Luckily, the room on the other side of me belongs to my parents and it’s massive. The size of three rooms put together. Their closet is against my wall. I almost never hear them. Thank fate for that.
Aura leans her head back on the edge of the pool. Her dirty blonde hair hangs wetly just past her shoulders. If there were one word to describe her it would be supermodel. Aura looks like she belongs on a page in a magazine. She is also hands down one of the most down-to-earth females I’ve ever met. Not superficial in the slightest.
A hand claps me on the shoulder. Turning, I find Kayden, Aura’s mate, looking down at her with a smile. Shifters, man. They are so incredibly silent when they move. I never heard him coming.