Page 1 of Pack Baby for the Silver Foxes

Chapter 1

Mary

“What is happening to me?” I asked my reflection as I stopped outside the student center doors, and pressed my hand to my chest.

I looked feral. My blue eyes were too bright and my normally poker-straight dark brown hair now fell in waves because the air had gone so damp. I was also sure that my navy sweater was more stretched over my chest than normal.

A guy in a Bruins hoodie gave me a cautious glance as he passed by.

“Just talking to myself,” I said, trying to sound normal.

“Cool,” he said, walking faster.

I pushed the door and entered the student center. The heating hit me like a wet towel. Then the smell of fried food, damp clothes, floor cleaner, and coffee, followed by the spiking of my own scent. The blackberry was there, the way it always was, but now it was wrong. Sharper. There was also the smell of rain running through it and a thin note of something floral underneath that I hadn’t smelled on myself for a long time.

My skin prickled. My fingers shook against the strap of my bag.

This cannot be my heat. Not now.

I tracked my cycles. I took my suppressants. I was not careless.

My scent rose again, this time stronger.

“Marli?”

I turned too fast and nearly took out a girl carrying an iced latte with my backpack.

“Sorry,” I said, as I rushed to my roommate, Nina, who stood by the bulletin board with her blonde hair in a claw clip and a concerned look on her face.

“You look weird,” she said.

“I was aiming to look mysterious. Weird is more achievable.”

She pursed her lips. “Are you sick?”

“Do I look ill?”

“Your cheeks are red.”

I pressed my cold fingers against them. “It’s the heating.”

“Last week you told me Boston was trying to freeze your organs.”

“And now it’s chosen violence in the other direction. It’s a city of range.”

“Why are you here?” Nina’s eyes narrowed. She was a woman who loved her pastel blush and matching pink lip gloss. She also had the instincts of a border agent. “You’re going to see Damien.”

“He is my boyfriend.”

She sighed, and stared at me for a beat before she said, “I saw him at the football pitch.”

“He said he was at hockey practice.”

“That ended an hour ago.”

I kept my face neutral, which took more effort than it should have. “Did it?”

“Some of the players came through here. I figured he’d texted you.”