Pack Enforcer

Emily Black kicked her shoes off and laughed as they flew across her living room. Godforsaken things. It felt so good to be barefoot. She hated shoes no matter what kind they were. At least the tennis shoes she wore to class were more comfortable than the heels her friends wore. She couldn’t even imagine how much her girlfriends’ feet ached after hoofing it across campus. Even though classes weren’t in session, as the new semester hadn’t yet started, Emily had spent the day going over her options for her upcoming schedule, trying to decide if she wanted to make any changes. She’d brought home the selections her counsellor had given her and she planned to choose in the next couple of days.

She nudged her shoes under the coffee table then stripped off her shirt and jeans while heading into the bedroom for loose shorts and a tank top. Once comfortable, she strolled to the kitchen. The fridge, which she kept overstocked, was cool as she opened it. She grabbed a bottle of water and the Tupperware full of lasagna she had made last night. She placed the container in the microwave then punched in two minutes at high heat. As she waited with the fork in her hand, she jumped up onto the counter.

A human would consider her behavior weird or think that she hadn’t eaten in hours. But for her, it was just another day. She had eaten lunch only two hours ago, but a shifter burned a lot of energy and needed to eat large regular meals, especially when the full moon was close. All her hungers increased as the natural cycle for shifters approached.

She, however, ate many small meals. Especially around the few people she called her friends. All the girls and guys who she hung around with were human and they wouldn’t understand what she hid behind closed doors. No one at school knew about her shifter abilities. Of that she was pretty sure. To them, she was just a quiet girl who liked to study and keep to herself. She was pretty in a traditional way, but not a head-turner. She would leave being stunning and charming to those around her. She preferred to blend in and not draw attention to herself.

Her blinking answering machine light caught her eye, but she wasn’t in any hurry to check. It was probably someone trying to sell her something. She didn’t get many phone calls. All her true friends were back in Pack territory and they usually called on the weekends. She missed them, but was still proud that she’d gotten accepted to the state university a couple of hours away from Pack land.

When she’d first made the decision to attend college out of Pack territory, she’d never thought it would be so hard to be away from them. The longer she stayed in the city, the more her mind drifted back to her friends and family. And the man who her heart belonged to.

The microwave dinged and she yanked the handle to open it up. Even though the food was still steaming, she started to shovel it into her mouth. She was getting better at cooking and this recipe was one of her very favorites. When the container was half empty, Emily finally took a deep breath and set it down, giving her stomach time to process the food she’d practically inhaled.

She hopped off the counter to walk over to the cabinet next to the fridge and grabbed the leftover rolls she’d put in a plastic baggie. As she passed the answering machine she hit the play button.