Shifting Hearts

Chapter 13 - The Other Pack

They left me alone in the stall for a while before Mason came back. When I woke up, there was already a bridle on, and I still couldn't shift, so I didn't have a chance to get it off. The brunette carried in a lead rope and gripped the bridle to clip it on. I shook my head out of his grasp before he managed to clip it on.

Neighing, I pranced backwards and tried to avoid the man's reach as he made grabs at me.

"Come here, girl. It's okay. I'm not gonna hurt you," he tried to calm me. He was a big guy and he had a voice that suited his body, a deep, gravely tone that dropped lower as he soothed me.

The wall hit my flank, and I was trapped in the corner of the stall. His hand flicked out and, quick as a flash, clipped on the lead rope before backing away and pulling me with him.

I decided to be docile and followed along without too much of a struggle. But no matter how hard I tried to push down my rebellious nature, I couldn't just give up so every once in a while, I would buck slightly and give a feeble tug at the line.

Mason was laughing lightly at my antics, and a couple other workers wished him luck or chuckled as we passed. It was weird that there were men and women who were humans and wolves working here. I was used to only having male wolves around, but I forget that it was only because of the curse that Cooper's pack had no diversity.

But here, I saw human men working some horses outside. There's a pair of wolf women sitting on some hay bales talking as a man slipped up behind the one woman and wrapped his arms around her, causing her to squeal with laughter. I even saw a young girl running around chasing a sheepdog puppy.

People watched us as we passed, and I could only imagine what I looked like. A beautiful yearling thoroughbred, ears cocked forward curiously as the midmorning sun glistened off of my sleek brown coat. I couldn't help but preen slightly at the attention.

What? I was always the ugly one or the odd one out in the herd because of how different I looked. To have someone looking at me as though I was beautiful was a welcome change.

I expected to be taken outside into an open field or a corral or something but instead I was led into a giant classic red barn. The double doors shut behind me, and I looked around in amazement. The building wasn't just another barn with stalls or a tack room or something. It was a giant indoor arena.

The high roof was slanted and made the room look even bigger. There were big, plate-glass windows that let in enough natural light that the big lights along the ceiling were probably only used at night. The metal gate ran around the entire arena to make a clear space outside of the main area so that people could walk all the way around. The main area was a flat, dirt floor with some jumps and other obstacles shoved off to the side.

Mason tied me to a rail on the fence and walked through a door. I gave a tug and tried to pull away, but he tied it well enough that it didn't even budge.

I sighed and calmed down, knowing I couldn't escape right now. I might as well wait for Mason to come back. I inhaled deeply to see if he left the building or was just looking for something in a back room.

The man was still in the building, but it was then that I also realized that he was a human. This guy seemed to be a top member in Nolan's pack, but he wasn't even a wolf. I didn't think I'd ever understand werewolf hierarchy.

Mason came back into the arena hauling a full set of tack over his shoulder. He might not have been a wolf, but he could definitely take care of himself, even with werewolves.

"Okay, girl. You gonna be good?" he asked as he slung the tack over the rail next to me.

The bridle turned out to be some 2-in-1 deal as he clipped the reins on to it, converting it into a halter. I shook my head angrily, but he didn't respond, he just rubbed my nose.