LARKIN

“I’ll show you where you can bunk down.”

We were done talking about our situation for the night.

The cabin Auden led us to was larger than his trailer, with walls that had seen better decades and windows that rattled in their frames when the wind picked up. But it was mostly clean with a wood burning stove and a bed that might not collapse when we both climbed in.

"It's not much.” He placed sheets that had been mended many times on the mattress and opened a cupboard containing a quilt and pillows. I assured him we’d be fine for the night and I was pleased we’d saved our own quilt from the bonfire at our former home.

“This place used to house my beta and his mate, back when..." Auden’s voice trailed off and there was a faraway look in his eyes. Living alone in the middle of nowhere must have had a lasting impact, especially when he didn’t intend to live alone. Wolves needed to be surrounded by their kin.

“Thank you.” Creven had driven most of the way today and his voice carried the weariness of a man who needed sleep.

After spending hours in the truck, fearing every vehicle and the heads that swiveled toward us, this place would do. We were lucky to have a roof over us rather than sleeping in the truck, though these rickety walls would crumble if a pack was intent on finding us.

"We should only stay the night.”

We’d been back and forth between the truck and the cabin, bringing in our belongings and had made the bed. Clouds of dust spiraled into the air but we were too exhausted to take it outside and whack the heck out of it.

My mate’s hands shook as he unpacked. I suspected that wasn’t just from exhaustion and worry about who might be on our trail. The half-bond also had my wolf pacing and demanding I allow him to mark Creven.

We hadn’t discussed it, not really, but my mate was burdened with guilt at not stopping his fox from marking me. There was little I could say to convince him he wasn’t responsible.

"We're putting Auden at risk by being here." Creven sneezed thanks to the dust.

"And go where?" I tested the mattress. Not bad. "We've got limited funds, a truck that needs four new tires and every pack within a thousand miles has probably been alerted to look out for us."

I fell into his arms and mumbled against his shoulder, "We have to rest.” Tomorrow we’d have this conversation again but for now I needed to close my eyes and block the reality that this could be our last night together.

Long after my mate fell asleep, I lay awake listening to his breathing and the creaking of the old cabin.

The sounds of the forest drifted through the thin walls.

Owls called, maybe looking for a mate, and I envied them their freedom.

I scented deer but my wolf wasn’t interested in hunting.

Instead, he was focused on our half bond with Creven, pestering me about when he could mark him.

Despite not sleeping until the wee small hours, I woke at my usual time. Not wanting to get up and face the morning, I tried going back to sleep until my belly grumbled. I opened the door to air out the cabin and squinted at the bright morning light.

Auden was on his trailer porch drinking coffee from a metal mug "Sleep well?" He beckoned me before grabbing a pot and two more mugs

The coffee was so bitter I was tempted to leave the rest but downed most of it, the taste distracting from my worries.

"Good. Because I've been thinking and I've got a proposition for you."

We were back to reality and couldn't avoid it.

My mate appeared in the cabin doorway. His expression told me he was ready to jump in the car and take off.

"We appreciate the hospitality, but we can't stay.” He flung his pack in the truck. “We're putting you in danger by being here."

"I've been in danger since the day my pack died and I chose to stay here instead of joining another one. A couple more rogues isn't going to make things worse."

"But I’m the rogue, Larkin is?—“

Auden silenced my mate with a wave. “Sit.” He might be in a pack of one but he was the Alpha and his tone told Creven to obey.

"This place has been home to lost wolves for generations. My grandfather built the first cabin and there's always been an understanding with the surrounding packs. This is neutral ground."

"Neutral ground?" It sounded as though it was a place where packs met to conduct a war council.

"It’s a sanctuary, of sorts. Not officially recognized, but tolerated.

The big packs are aware of us, of me, and as long as we don't cause trouble, they leave us alone.

" Auden glanced between us. "That half-bond of yours is going to kill you both if you don't do something about it. But running isn't the answer."

"Then w-what is?" my mate asked. Exhaustion and desperation mingled in his voice.

"I need to talk to some people. There might be a way to legitimize what you've done.” Auden drained his cup. "Give me a few days to work on it, but this is where you belong."

I repeated his words in my head. Where you belong. How long had it been since anyone had said that to me other than Creven? And we’d left the place we’d called home. Could this be where we created a new one?

“But,” my mate started before Auden cut him off.

"No arguments. Consider it an Alpha's command.”

We were being given permission to belong, even if it was only temporary. My mate hesitated but after sharing a glance with me, he nodded.

We spent the morning exploring the small compound. One cabin had been used recently as I caught the faint scents of other shifters.

"He's not lying about this being a sanctuary.” Creven examined the cabin. "I can scent at least six different types of shifters who’ve stayed here.”

"All rogues?"

"Seems like it. I can’t detect any pack scents." He examined a carved symbol on the doorframe. It was a tree with many branches and deep roots. “I wonder what this place was like when it was alive with Auden’s pack.”

If this became our permanent residence, others might join us and the cabins would be full of laughter and conversation.

In the afternoon we cleaned our cabin, saying goodbye to years of dust. We had fun using a broom to hit the mattress and rugs, using it as an outlet for our fear and frustration.

"It's temporary," Creven reminded me as I hung my clothes. “Don’t get too attached to this place.”

But I was already imagining how we could improve it by fixing the loose floorboards, getting new curtains, ones with no holes, and modernizing the kitchen.

Auden invited us for dinner and he brought out beer to celebrate our arrival. I wondered how long he’d had the bottles but it tasted okay. He regaled us with stories of shifters who stayed here, some living the rest of their lives on this land and others who passed through.

"What happened to them?" I was intrigued about the rogues and shifters without a pack.

"Some found other packs willing to take them in and others moved on together. A few..." He pointed out the window to a small cemetery at the edge of the clearing. "…stayed until they went to the goddess.”

This wouldn’t be a bad place to live out our days but our situation had to be resolved. Creven and I would have to discuss it but we were out of options. We couldn’t go back and venturing into the world could result in my mate being captured, maybe tortured, and being put to death.

“What do you think?” We were getting ready for bed and I was at the window studying the constellations. They’d been staring at earth for thousands of years and our problems wouldn’t even register as a blip to them.

“Let’s see if Auden comes up with a solution. If everything he says is true, his diplomatic skills ensured he and the former residents were unbothered by outsiders.”

The next morning, Auden was gone.

I woke to find a note propped against the coffee pot on his porch.

Left for a few days. Look after the place. Stay put. Going to town puts all of us at risk. Back soon. A.

"Think he'll be back?" My mate was reading over my shoulder.

This place had been his home for decades, since before I was born. He wouldn’t vanish. And if he was the man my alpha father believed, he wouldn’t abandon us, leaving us to face the wrath of the surrounding packs.

"He will.”

Our food had dwindled but Auden had plenty and an adjoining shed, which was an outdoor pantry of sorts, housed dry goods. I wondered why the local rats and mice didn’t raid the place but he’d marked every inch with his Alpha scent and that was better than any “Keep Out” sign.

As the days passed, we joked more and didn’t scan the road leading up the slope with binoculars as often as we had when we arrived.

I marked out an area for a new garden but without being able to go into town, I couldn’t plant anything.

Even the half-bond seemed less urgent here.

My wolf enjoyed the wide open space and stopped pacing.

Whatever Auden was planning, I hoped we could stay.