“Donna…!” I wail disgruntledly. “I’m serving lunch today.”
“So are three other wolves, Cece,” Donna insists with a pout, but she catches my frustrated sigh and relents, “Okay, we’ll be back before lunchtime. I promise. I don’t want you getting into any trouble because of me.”
“Thanks,” I say as we continue to hang the laundry. When we’re done, Donna picks up the basket, and we both make our way to the laundry room, where I remove my apron and hang it behind the door.
“I should probably go inside and check that I’m not needed,” I say, pointing to the main pack center.
Donna grabs my wrist, shaking her head firmly. “And risk you being caught up with some other chore that isn’t in your job description? Not a chance! You’re leaving now.”
As Donna pulls me out of the laundry room and redirects us toward the forest, where a gathering of trees separates the village from the harbor, I giggle and allow myself a moment to breathe. Not as rigid as I usually am since Donna is around, I follow her lead as she transforms into wolf form at the ingress of the woods just behind the pack center.
My shift is more pathetic and ungraceful than hers, my bones cracking with audible squeaks as if my gears aren’t lubricated enough. The transformation is painful, too, the distending of my limbs forcing me to ride out the unforgiving torture with a mild squeal that falls from my wolf muzzle, my furry face contorting in anguish. Donna knows the drill by now and waits for me with patience I’ve never experienced from anyone else. Even though I’m riddled with torment, I’m able to whimper my appreciation before giving her a curt nod to let her know that I’m ready to make the run toward the beach.
The only true freedom I taste is when I’m running in wolf form, even if my bulkier, smaller body makes it difficult to run as fluidly as Donna does in her agile wolf form. While the crisp air blows through our fur, and the tiny wisps of saltwater splatter across our faces from the harbor, I try to keep up with Donna.
I envy my best friend, but not in a savage way, and not because she has a better body than I do. She’s never made me feel any different, and I’m grateful that she accepts me for who I am.
But she’s freer than I am, and that’s the part I can’t overlook about our differences. Where she’s free-spirited, I’m more reserved. I have my rank to blame for the way I am and how the pack sees the Morales family name as a stain on their squeaky-clean pack honor.
I’m considered an dishonorable member of werewolf society because my mother was a human woman. When I’m faced with the pack’s bitter contempt, I mentally chastise my deceased werewolf father for ever falling in love with an ordinary human. The product of true love was a desolate hybrid subjected to the brutalities of a wolf pack that could never accept her. The only thing preventing me from being exiled is a pack law that dictates that no Lunaris Pack member will be cast out unless caught committing treason. That’s the only thing that keeps a roof over my head—being the daughter of a werewolf.
But that’s how my father died; he was accused of committing a crime against the Lunaris Pack long after they’d allowed us to stay on Lunaris soil. It’s the only reason I’m still here, some innate loyalty to a wolf pack that hates me makes me want to clear my father’s name of the crimes he was convicted of, crimes I know he wasn’t guilty of. But I’ve been struggling with that, since I’m the only hybrid in the pack, a useless omega who’s only good for doing chores.
Donna, on the other hand, enjoys the luxuries of being the great-granddaughter of an ex-alpha of the Lunaris Pack. Her fall from grace was only her grandfather’s inability to win the alpha trials, but it never stopped the Rivera family from enjoying some perks in the pack.
Still, it’s not like Donna hasn’t faced spite from the pack because she’s my friend. It’s never stopped her, and that’s what I’m most grateful for.
Treading the white, warm beach sand is delightful under my cushioned paws, allowing me to feel a semblance of the freedom Donna has because she isn’t as cautious as I am. She has every reason to be, as long as she’s my friend, but she doesn’t let it get to her.
Maybe that’s why I find flickers of hope in the mundane things all around me, even when I refuse to admit it.
Ahead of me, Donna slows down as we near the shore and shifts into human form, turning toward me with a breezy smile.
“Come on, Cece!” she encourages with a nod toward the beach, knowing that it’s the coercion I need to shift into my human form. It’s something I’ve struggled with in the past; I can’t always control the shift the way I want to.
I close my wolf eyes and take a deep breath through my pointed nostrils, allowing the salty air to fill my lungs and command the transformation. As my fur retracts beneath my skin, I’m crouched on all fours in the sand when a hand comes out to offer me help.
“Thanks,” I whisper sheepishly as I take Donna’s hand and climb to my feet. I dust off the sand on my knees while my best friend begins to undress.
“Hey, what are you doing?!” I chuckle nervously as I watch her strip down to her underwear.
“I told you we’re spending the day at the beach,” she smirks with a mischievous wink. “What fun would it be if we didn’t swim?”
“You’re crazy!” I retort, slowly peeling off my dress.
“And you need to loosen up a bit!” she giggles before stepping out of the pool of her cargo pants and grabbing my wrist just as I fling my dress on the ground.
Despite my reservations, I can’t help but enjoy Donna’s easygoing company as we splash around in the shallow waters, the gentle waves crashing against our toes. Letting all my inhibitions slip away in the presence of my best friend, who’salways supported and uplifted my spirits, I giggle and enjoy myself for the first time in months.
We haven’t spent much time out here since she started taking classes this summer. It’s only when our arms are exhausted from all the splashing about that we head back to the beach and lie on the sand to soak in the sun.
A long, drawn-out sigh escapes my lips. “How’s college been?”
Donna makes a disgruntled sound that prompts me to open my eyes and squint them at the sun’s brightness before I turn my face.
“It’s fine,” she relents, her lips curling as if tasting something bitter. “I can’t wait to finish my program and start practicing at the clinic.”
I frown. “The pack clinic? You guys went through all of that trouble just for you to be a doctor in Nightmist?” I scoff. “I thought you’d go out into the world. Be the free bird you always wished to be.”
