A Shifter Among Wolves

Chapter 1

"Yes sir." I answered politely, what caused John to laugh. "Please call me John. I know it is far too soon for 'dad'. If you have any problems with this one," he said while playfully smacking the back of Nick's head, "then let me know." He finished with a smile.

I gave Nick a once over before I smirked lightly. "I think I can take care of him myself, thank you." Nick playfully glared at me before he tried to slap the back of my head. I dodged him and grinned. "You see? All bark and no bite." Everyone laughed at that comment while Nick looked at me with appreciation in his eyes.

"Alright you guys, enough ganging up on me! We are going to school tomorrow and unless you want to run, you'd better be a little nicer to me." He said to me while his mom rolled her eyes.

I just smiled at him before I turned towards John and Kath. "Can I go and walk around in the forest for a while? I love drawing and I figured that I could find some interesting subjects there."

John and Katherine shared a look in their eyes and I wasn't sure what caused the slight tension between them. Eventually Katherine turned around and said " You can, but you have to take my cellphone with you. If anything happens, you call us immediately." Her tone was strict, leaving no room for exceptions. I agreed; I was happy enough that they let me roam around freely, so I wasn't forced to sneak out of the house.

"Well, that being said, I'm going to Jacob's house. He was returning before we had to go to school, so I'm going to make sure that he's home. After all, I can't have him running around without meeting my new baby sister, eh?" Nick smirked on the end, speaking with a sweet voice.

I grumbled at him under my breath while Kath and John laughed at us. Both Nick and I stepped out of the house and went our separate ways. I glanced over my shoulder to see him walking over to the enormous building across the street. Then I was between the trees and I could become one of my other forms.

---Nick's POV---

I left our house, still grinning and in a good mood after I had met my new sister, Paige. At first we, my father and I, were against the idea to adopt anyone when mother suggested the idea. Unknowing to us, mom had already contacted orphanages across the land, looking for someone who could fit in with us.

Unlucky for her, it was dad who picked up the phone when the Good Hopes orphanage called back to tell them they had a possible candidate.

I shook my head while thinking back at the fight that my parents had after that conversation. Mother almost lost it when Dad said that she wasn't allowed to bring anyone in this family. But instead of yelling profanities at us, she explained with a slow and pained voice what situation Paige was in, the longing for a daughter clearly sensible in her voice.

We knew it wasn't our fault, but I knew that father and I blamed ourselves for what had happened to her. After she gave birth to me, her womb was unable to sustain the needs of a growing child. In other words, she became infertile after her first child.

I knew she had to tell Paige that she was thirty-seven, but she was well in her forties. But because we're all werewolves, we didn't age after our twenty-second birthday. So when mother explained us all the details about Paige becoming a family member, we came to an agreement and allowed mom to go get her.

And I had to say; things weren't going to get boring with her around. Although she was held back in the orphanage and apparently had been bullied for a long time, she still had some spirit in her.

Walking over the pack-house, I could hear her heartbeat fade away behind me; she was too far for my enhanced hearing by now. So I picked up the pace and almost ran into the Pack House, running up the stair and jumped on top of Jacob, who was just unloading his bags.