AllFreeNovel
Share Us
It wasn’t a long drive by any means, but it felt entirely too long. Colt made an offhand comment about how Atlas wasn’t “all bad” or even “that bad,” but Harlow felt too rejected by Colt to humor him. She thought she had picked up on a connection—more than a connection, even. How could she have misread something that screamed at her?
Not far out of town, empty fields transitioned into farmland and orchards. Colt stepped out first to open her door for her, but she assured him she was more than capable. Trees surrounded Harlow as far as her eyes could perceive, each of them dotted with varieties of apples she barely recognized.
A large log cabin, built like a hunter’s lodge stood quaintly on the horizon, up a steep incline. As Harlow and Colt climbed, a much larger barn became visible. Horses and goats roamed freely across open fields surrounded on all sides by trees and plantations.
“I know what you’re thinking,” Colt said. “And no. The pack doesn’t maintain all this. We have an agreement with the locals. As long as they keep quiet and let us use the area, Forest Crest buys their products at a more than generous rate.”
Colt introduced Harlow to Caroline and Devon, the middle-aged couple who tended the land. While Caroline harvested fruit from tree after tree, filling dozens of buckets to the brim, Devon tilled wide stretches of new land, preparing for next season’s potato crop. She was impressed by their hardiness but also shocked at how standoffish they were with her. While Colt managed small talk with them, every word Harlow uttered was met with indifference or a snide remark.
“Don’t worry about them,” Colt reassured her. “They’re like that with everybody at first. They’ll warm up to you.”
“And you just trust them with pack secrets?” Harlow couldn’t stop the incredulity from entering her tone. Then she noticed Atlas delegating tasks at the lodge’s center. While carrying a platter of meat stacked higher than Harlow, Atlas communicated to some of the younger pack members how the tables should be rearranged. She’d never seen him at work before, but she could see how he commanded such respect and earned his title.
“They don’t really ask,” Colt replied. “If they know, they don’t seem to care.”
“So, you’re the new girl.” As Harlow turned, she discovered that the nasally feminine voice belonged to a tall, athletic blonde with waist-length flowing hair. She folded her arms, and as Harlow looked from the flannel crop top the girl was wearing to the rest of the room, Harlow realized she was massively overdressed.
“Don’t get too comfortable,” the girl sneered.
“Giving Harlow a warm welcome, Lauren?” Atlas had walked over rather abruptly, and Colt was surprisingly tight-lipped. Atlas then turned his attention to Harlow. “Glad you could make it.”
“Well, I did give you my word. Didn’t I?” Harlow grinned.
“Indeed, you did,” Atlas said flatly and her smile dipped a little.
Perhaps sensing that she was no longer involved in the conversation, Lauren stalked away, scowling at Harlow.
“What, no calming reassurance about being accepted later?” Harlow asked Colt, half-jokingly.
“Who, Lauren?” Colt shook his head. “I still don’t know what her problem is. I’d keep my distance from that one. Nothing but trouble.” Harlow had never seen Colt be negative about anything until now.
“Pack drama is everywhere,” Atlas explained. “Keep your nose clean for now. As long as you help out where you can and treat members well, you’ll find a fantastic community here.”
Harlow did her best to socialize that evening, but wherever she went, it seemed Colt and Atlas weren’t far behind.
The pack children were playing board games, and Harlow found herself joining in. Often, the children got into arguments, either over rules or how the games went. Harlow did her best to mediate and deescalate the drama, either by calming them down or by pulling up rules on her phone.
Zachary was notably aloof when she sat down, keeping an eye on the comings and goings of the evening. Even then, the most she managed to get out of him was a noncommittal grunt. She wasn’t sure if he didn’t trust her, didn’t like her, or was just focused on doing his job as head of security.
As the dinner began, Atlas stood atop a long wooden table and gave a round of announcements. The pack had welcomed three new members, all of them children. An outsider was interested in buying a space downtown to turn into a hobby car and model airplane business.
And lastly, he announced that a wolf from another pack, who they were providing safe haven to, was attending. A hushed silence took over the room as plates full of cooked ham filled the tables.
“I know how careful we are, but what we’re being called to do is embrace a sister in need,” Atlas continued. “She’s had to leave her pack through no fault of her own. Let her sit among us and see how we live.”
“Permission to speak?” Colt spoke, as the room still hadn’t warmed to this announcement, and Atlas nodded. Colt stood atop the table as Atlas took a seat. “You might have met Harlow, our guest of the evening,” Colt raised his voice. “She has been mediating drama among the children and speaking to each of you, taking an interest in each of your lives. And all she wants right now is to live in our town. She would be a great asset to our pack, but we cannot push her. All we ask is that you let her live in peace.”
Colt’s words were received far more positively, receiving meager applause.
Harlow found, as the dinner came to a close and the children were put to bed, that she was showered with questions about her previous pack and past life. She reminded herself that nobody needed to know why she had left her pack. That was her story to tell, on her own terms.
Still, she found it easier to cope with the interrogations as the night wore on. The more questions and judgmental stares she received, the more she drank. It made her feel at ease and, as the evening came to a close, Atlas and Colt both insisted that she sleep at the cabin for the night so they could watch over her rather than driving her home.
Chapter 12
Colt
Aside from the sounds of the whirring air conditioner units behind businesses, passing cars, windblown trees, and idle chatter outside the cafe, the streets of Forest Crest were usually silent. The town did not take well to that peace being disturbed. Colt had always known that fact. Whenever an outsider drove in, they were immediately confronted, and one of two things happened—either they were welcomed into the fold, or they were politely asked to leave.
