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A group of guys that I go to high school with make their way over to me and it takes my whole entire soul not to gag at the intentions written all over their faces. I’m nothing more than a pretty wolf to them, but I’ll play along like I believe they want to know more about me. Fuck it, better than standing here by myself.

“Hey Snap, got any new pics to show us?” Jared, the taller, more broadly built guy from their trio, asks as he throws his arm around my shoulder. I can’t help but roll my eyes at the nickname that practically everyone in town calls me, even my own dad. I know that I always have a camera in my hands, but come on. It’s cute though, so I don’t mind too much.

I really can’t stand being touched, especially by sweaty boys who think they’re hotter than they really are. It always causes my muscles to lock up and the breath to stall in my lungs. I’ve never understood why these boys cause me to react this way, but something about the mere thought of them coming near me—gross.

“Yeah, Snap, I’ve beendyinggggto see what new photos you have this week.” Oliver chuckles as he playfully taps Nathan’s chest. Oliver is more of the sleek, athletic build. His muscular build was perfectly chiseled and fit for the cover of a magazine.

Nathan, being the quieter of the trio, does nothing more than nod as he swipes his dirty blond ringlet curls out of his eyes. His tall, slender build always makes him look like he is all legs and arms.

As I’m flipping through my photos, pretending these boys even give a shit about them, I feel eyes on me. But not the ones I’m already aware of. No, this feels like someone is watching me. Observing me like I do the animals in the wild.

The boys give some lame excuse of having to do something before they move on without another word. Thank the Goddess, because I’m starving. The feeling of eyes on me follows me as I move through the crowd to the buffet table.

The sensation feels more like a caress as if someone is lovingly watching me. I’ve never felt as seen as I do right now. Like breathing in a storm, the sweet smell of cedar surrounds me as if I’m standing in the forest right now. The damp forest floor, the earthy tones of wet moss, the faint smell of campfire smoke pulls me closer, almost guiding me somewhere.

My eyes flick up in time to catch Gail walking away from none other than Caelon. He’s looking right at me, his lip quirked slightly. His face is shadowed, only offering me the smallest hint of what he could be thinking, his piercing hazel eyes are all I see. As if he’s nothing more than smoke, he disappears, leaving me wondering if I just imagined the whole thing.

Mom agreed to thirty minutes before I could dip, something I count down the seconds to. I can’t help but suck in a lungful of fresh air the second my feet hit the ground outside the back of the Pack House. I stand there, basking in the morning sun, as I let the wind carry away my anxiety. I’ve never liked large crowds, preferring to the open world and less people around. The more people, the higher my anxiety gets. Which is why Mom only requires a minimal amount of attendance.

It’s about a ten minute walk from the Pack House to Flash Me Studio, where I need to drop off my rolls of film from the last pack run. Silas was really cool about letting me go in my human form so I could snap photos of the pack as they ran, played, and wrestled together. I can’t wait to see how they turn out. One thing about my rangefinder camera is that you can’t see the shot until the film is developed. After Warrick pushed me to take my photography seriously, I purchased a used camera from the studio as a beginner camera. The lovely owner, Lourie Snapley,walked me through how to use the camera, load the film, and promised to develop them in her personal dark room anytime I needed. As an ex-photojournalist, she loves teaching new people how to use the old cameras.

I find Lourie standing behind her countertop display case cleaning another TLR camera as I walk in. She smiles brightly at me as I come closer.

“Good morning my favorite new photographer. Got sum film for me to develop today?” she says cheerily as she sets down the camera she’s working on.

“Yep! Filled this one with some of the Silvery Lupines that have bloomed around the base of the mountains. They are too gorgeous not to fill a roll of film with.”

“Glad to ‘ear it.” She holds out her hand for me to deposit the roll of film. “I ‘hould have em done by the weekend the ‘atest.”

“Thank ya Lourie! Are you planning any trips back to see your family in Georgia? How long has it been?”

"Well, darlin', I do plan on goin' back for Christmas again this year. Gotta see my sister and all her grandbabies, you know."

I head back out in search of some caffeine and sugary baked goods. Thankfully, Flick the Bean is only two doors down from the photography store. My mouth is salivating for one of the owner’s new juice selections. Hazel has been experimenting with different juice combinations to provide us non-coffee drinkers with a selection and our caffeine kick. You can select between green tea, black tea, or guarana extract as your choice for natural caffeines. So I’m always happy to play the guinea pig for her.

With my Orange You Glad juice and banana nut muffin from Crust Issues Bakery, I’m heading down the sidewalk back towards pack land. I’ve got a few assignments I need to finish for my English class that are due Friday that I should probably be working on before class tomorrow morning. The nice part of Sunday mornings in Jasper is the sidewalks are full of peopleas they mingle about. You have your gossip mills that huddle together as they spread the latest juicy secret. There are the old dudes that talk about what things were like back in their day while shaking their canes at us kids. Then you have the kids that are either huddled inside the coffee shop, the bakery, or the ice cream shop if you can even find them in town. Needless to say, you are 100% guaranteed to run into someone on Sundays.

Keeping my head down, I weave through the crowds along the sidewalk hoping with everything to make it without being stopped. I’m just passing Find Me Between the Pages when I hear my name called out.

“Selene!” Of all the people to stop me in town, why does it have to beAspen? I’d settle for Betty Winters, the town gossip overthiswoman.

Sighing, I turn around to find none other than Aspen pushing open the door to her bookstore. Her beautiful long brown curls flow easily in the wind.Does she also have to be so freaking beautiful?Her light cream-colored blouse is tucked into her tweed pants in the most sophisticated, put together look. Damnit, I look like I rolled out of bed and found this outfit crumpled on my floor.

We haven’t talked since the whole Warrick situation. It’s still sick that she thought I would sleep with someone else’s mate. I get it, I do. But, damn she didn’t even let me explain. I know from the outside looking in, she saw us close together looking at photos, smiling at each other. I know that he had done some shitty things in their past, but she just assumed I would sleep with a mated wolf, especially Warrick of all people.

“Yeah,” I say with a sigh. Doing everything in my power to not roll my eyes.

“I was hoping to talk with you. I know we haven’t exactly had a moment to do so and I wanted to apologize for assuming what I did. That had nothing to do with you and I’m sorry you werecaught in the crossfire. I was hoping we could chat about putting some of your photos up in my library? Maybe have you take some of our wolves to showcase here?” Aspen asks nervously.

“Uh…Thank you for apologizing. I would love to have some of my photos displayed somewhere. But…I don’t really have any printed. Definitely not in a size that can hang on the wall. I just handed off some film to Lourie from the last pack run, if you want to look through those when she finishes them?”

“That’s okay,” Aspen says calmly as she shifts her weight to her right foot while her left foot props the door open. “I would love to see them when you get them back. Warrick and I are leaving for Ireland next week, but if you can stop by before then it would be great.”

“Yeah, I’ll do that. Well…I’ve got assignments to work on for my English teacher. So, Imma head out.”

“Yeah, sure. Have a great day Selene,” Aspen says with a slight wave before closing the door.

My eyebrows furrow as I turn to walk the rest of the way back towards the pack lands. The hairs on the back of my neck stand up as if someone is watching me, chills running down my back. The feeling intensifies as I reach the other sidewalk towards You’re Bacon Me Crazy, almost as if I moved closer to them. Looking around I don’t see anyone staring at me.Odd.