So far, the feeling was distant. I could wait for this small luxury, I decided. I drank the rest of the coffee, which had gone cold, and glanced out the window. The dark empty street stared back at me, as still and silent as a photograph.
The dryer’s buzzer rang out, scaring me enough that I let out a squeal before realizing what happened. I threw open the door and pulled the warm sweater over my head. Next, I changed into fresh panties and leggings, shoving my dirty clothes into a plastic bag for next time. I packed everything carefully, knowing it had to fit in my backpack.
The feeling was getting stronger. Someone was tracking me, and they were closing in fast.
I threw my backpack over my shoulders and pulled out my pocketknife from the outer pocket of my fanny pack. I tucked the short blade up my sleeve; it wasn’t much but it had saved my life a few times over the years. What now? I thought to myself. Did I stay here where there were lights and security cameras or did I make a run for it?
My choice was made for me when a woman crashed through the window. She barely flinched as she shook the glass from her body. Her pale eyes met mine. “There you are, little pet.”
THREE
————————————
LUNA
I reacted the only way I knew how to: running. I took her by surprise by dashing straight at her and then swerving and running out the door.
I called up my glamor to change my appearance, making my hair black instead of bright pink. I ran towards the main roads. Dawn was coming, early morning commuters would be awake. I’d have a fighting chance in a public place.
With my knife clutched tightly in one hand, I dared take a glance behind me. I couldn’t see the faerie hunter, but she was close. I could feel her magic in the air. All I had was the steel in my hand to protect me and I hoped it would be enough if it came to it.
I turned a corner and ran headfirst into someone. I cried out and sprawled back, hitting the ground hard. “Fuck!” I shouted.
“Oh! Are you ok? I didn’t see you,” A voice said.
“My fault,” I groaned, looking up. My eyes went wide, seeing the guy who I had possibly given myself a concussion for. He looked like an underfed rock star, in a good way. His light blond hair was wind blown away from his face. He had high cheekbones and gray eyes. I was obviously losing my mind because there was no way a guy like him would be out wandering alone at night.
That thought brought me back to my senses. I scrambled away. “Stay back!” I shouted, holding out the small metal blade.
He blinked. “Seriously?” He laughed and shook his head.
This guy could be another faerie in disguise. I didn’t sense magic, but maybe he was good at hiding it. I jumped to my feet, my hand brushed my fanny pack just to make sure it was still there.
The hunter’s magic was approaching. I glanced around, still nothing in sight, but her glamor could be hiding her anywhere.
“Are you ok?” The guy asked.
“No. Yes!” I stumbled over my words. Then, I had an idea. “Uh,” I said. “Tell me your shirt is red.”
He looked down at his t-shirt, which was obviously black. “What?” He asked.
I needed to know if he could lie. If he could lie, then he wasn’t a faerie. “Just say it! Lie to me!”
“Uh, my shirt is red?” He looked at me as if I were crazy.
That would have to do. “Good enough,” I said. “I’m being chased by someone, please help me.”
Magic surged through the air and the pale woman appeared. Her eyes were like pearls and her hair was as white as snow. “Don’t run,” She hissed.
I held up my knife. “Don’t come any closer!” I shouted.
The man, who I thought would have bolted by now, stuck by my side. His eyes glittered and a growled rumbled up his chest. A shifter. Just my luck.
The faerie hunter smirked. “Oh, all the impures are banding together now? Disgusting.”
“Back off, this is not your territory,” The shifter said. At least he was on my side.
“And that changeling does not deserve protection!” The faerie fired back. “She has been evading capture. Give her to me or face the consequences.”
I glanced at the man. I didn’t know him, but I had to hope that he’d be willing to protect me. It was well known that shifters weren’t exactly fond of magic-users of any kind. I could barely use magic aside from a simple glamor, but that didn’t mean he would take kindly to me either.
‘This is coyote territory,” He said again. “Your faerie laws do not work here. Your queen has no power here. Now go.” His voice was cool and even. He maintained eye contact with the hunter, and she became visibly uncomfortable before looking away.
The faerie sneered. Her huge pale eyes moved to me. “You can’t run forever, girl. We will catch you and you will regret the day you were born!” She vanished and her voice echoed through the air.
I let out a gasp, not realizing that I had been holding my breath. I choked back a sob before finding my voice. “Thank you,” I whispered.
“No problem.” He said, looking me up and down. “Name’s Chase. What about you?”
“Luna,” I said. I had renamed myself when I ran away from foster care. It had been so long that I had almost forgotten my birth name. Almost.
“So, Luna,” He drawled. We were far northeast, but I caught a hint of Mississippi in his accent. “What’s a girl like you getting in trouble with the fae for?”
I laughed. “It’s a long story.” I paused. “I didn’t know this was coyote territory?” I had been here for about a month and hadn’t caught wind of a shifter until today. Meeting Chase brought it up to four.
“It’s not technically, but she doesn’t need to know that,” He smirked.
“You bluffed a faerie hunter?” I shrieked.
Chase shrugged and brushed his hair back with his fingers. “Don’t worry about it.” His light brown eyes inspected me again. “So, what are you, then?”
Before I could reply, I was cut off by the sound of footsteps.
“Chase, there you are!” A tall blond… The tall blond guy who I had attempted to rob only hours before came running up. “I sensed magic,” He said and then trailed off as his eyes met mine. He frowned.
I smiled nervously.
“What are you doing here?” Jasper demanded.
“You know her?” Chase asked.
“We’ve met, yeah,” Jasper’s expression was like stone. “Except last time your hair was pink.”
I sighed and let the glamor fall away from me, revealing my pink hair.
Chase and Jasper stiffened, silent in shock for a few seconds.
“So, what are you, then?” Chase repeated.
Jasper sniffed. “She has the scent of magic on her, but it’s not like anything I’ve ever felt before.”
“Wait, that lady, the fae hunter,” Chase said. “She called you…”
“A changeling,” A deep voice broke through our conversation. Seth, the curly haired bronzed sex-god of a man and Maddox, the red head with a bad habit of growling at me approached us.
Now I was surrounded on all sides. I didn’t like this. I felt trapped. I was in danger. My instincts begged me to turn and run, but I didn’t see a way out of this. Not with these guys around me. I trembled where I stood.
“A changeling?” Jasper said with disbelief.
“She was being chased by a faerie hunter,” Chase added. He glanced at me as everything fell into place. “You’re on the run?”
I tried to bolt, but Seth grabbed my arm and wrestled me back. “Hold on, we’re not the enemy here!”
“Prove it!” I snapped.
“Uh, I did just save you from the hunter,” Chase said, raising his eyebrows.
Fine, so that was true. I guess he had a point. I looked around me. They were too close. All my senses cried out. I needed to run. I had to get away from these shifters.
“I knew something was up with you,” Maddox said.
�
�You need to come with us,” Seth said firmly. “We’re not the enemy here.” His voice was slow and even, he knew I was scared. He could probably smell my fear, being a shifter.
“No. I’m fine.” I protested. My body was shaking.
“How long until the faerie hunter catches up with you?” Chase asked. “Seriously, you can’t run from them forever. Let us help you.”
“Why would you want to help me?” I asked. Men never did anything for free. Sure, maybe they had saved my ass, but I still didn’t trust them.
“Luna,” Chase said softly.
I flinched. Now all four of them knew my name. Suddenly, a shiver ran through me. Magic. Fae were coming back.
The glance the four men exchanged let me know that they felt it as well.
“We need to get out of here,” Jasper said, and the others nodded.
“Then go, I’ll be fine,” I said dismissively. I had been alone my whole life, these four guys sure as hell weren’t going to change that.
“No way,” Chase said. “I saw that fae hunter. She looked like a psycho! We can’t just leave you out here defenseless.”
Maddox opened his mouth to protest but Seth spoke over him. “Agreed. We got into this business to help supernaturals, did we not?” The others nodded with varying levels of enthusiasm. “Luna, come with us to a safe place.”
It wasn’t a request. My instincts surged, telling me to run, while my heart and my head begged me to go along with it and just find a place to rest until morning. “I don’t need your charity,” I said, despite desperately wanting to say yes.
“I’m not asking,” Seth said. He grabbed my arm. “Come on, let’s make tracks before anymore faeries show up.”
FOUR
————————————
LUNA
I was whisked away by the four shifters to a motel a few blocks north. It wasn’t a fancy place, but it wasn’t shabby either. It was tucked between two other buildings, looking fairly inconspicuous; it was a perfect place for shifters to hang out doing whatever shifters did when they weren’t rescuing pink-hair damsels in distress.
The motel room was small. There were two double beds, a small couch, side tables and a mini fridge. One door led to what I could only assume was the washroom. Maybe I’d get a hot shower out of this mess, which didn’t seem like a bad deal.
“I don’t like this,” Maddox muttered. “If the fae are after her, this is out of our control!”
“The fae can suck my figurative and literal dick!” Chase snapped. “They were hunting her in public, anyone could have seen.”
“Thank goodness it was you who found her,” Seth added.
I stood awkwardly by the door, holding my backpack, and realizing how much I smelled like fabric softener, not that I was complaining about that.
“She’s eligible for a place at Woodlock’s, I’m sure she will be,” Seth continued.
“What if she’s not and we’ve pissed of the faeries for nothing?” Jasper asked.
“We’ll deal with that if it happens,” Seth waved his hand to dismiss the unsettling thought.
“Uh,” I spoke up to get their attention. All four of them looked at me, sending a chill up my spine. “Sorry, but what are you guys talking about?”
“Don’t worry yourself,” Seth said. “Here, why don’t you go take a shower and clean up. We’ll explain once your settled.”
I glanced at the door. I was already this far in and no one had tried to kill me yet. My suspicions were beginning to fade slowly. “Fine,” I said. I shouldered my bag and brought it into the small motel bathroom with me, as if any of these guys would bother stealing my extra socks.
Once I was undressed, I turned on the shower and let steam fill the room. The last thing I took off was my fanny pack of cash, which I buckled on the towel rod so I could watch it while I showered. Paranoid? Yes. But it was worth the extra energy to not get robbed.
The moment I stepped under the hot water, I let out an uncontrollable sigh. It was like heaven. The water in the women’s shelter was lukewarm at best and I never got more than five minutes. Here I could stand under the hot water without anyone banging on the door telling me to hurry up. I enjoyed every moment of washing and conditioning my hair with the motel shampoo that smelled like jasmine. I stood under the water, letting the bubbles run down my body and continuing to enjoy the warmth far longer than I needed to.
Once I was sure that I couldn’t avoid the guys any longer, I turned off the water and grabbed a towel. Humming to myself, I wrapped the towel around my body and found the blow drier. I hadn’t felt this pamper in so long. I brushed out my hair and dried it, moisturized my body, and threw on clean clothes from my bag.
I emerged from the washroom feeling like a new woman. The first thing I noticed after seeing their jaws drop, was the pizza on the table between the two beds. My stomach cramped at the sight of food.
Chase opened one of the boxes, letting out a wave of steam and the delicious smell of pepperoni. “Here, you hungry?”
“Starving,” I admitted. I grabbed three slices and plopped them on a paper plate. It wasn’t until I was three bites in that I hoped they hadn’t decided to poison me.
“Never met a girl that could eat like you,” Seth chuckled. “Or drink a beer for that matter.”
I blushed, remembering how our eyes had met across the bar earlier. It seemed like a lifetime ago now. “Let’s be honest, we’ve barely met.” I popped the past bite of stuffed crust in my mouth. “So, why don’t you guys introduce yourself properly and tell me what the hell is going on?”
A moment of silence passed before Seth spoke. “Fine. But only if you do the same?”
I nodded. My mouth was full of pizza.
“Ok,” Seth sighed. “Well, my name is Seth. I’m a jackal shifter.” He gestured to the guys around him. “And these gentlemen and I make up our own ragged pack of shifters. We used to be like you. Lost and committing petty crimes. Now, we’ve gotten ourselves out of that mess and we help find supernaturals like yourself who need help.”
“I’m Maddox,” The red head said. “I’m a red wolf shifter.” A man of few words.
“Jasper. Timber wolf.” The blond said. “But we’ve met already.” His dark blue eyes twinkled. “You’ve got a knack for picking pockets, I’ll give you that. If I hadn’t sensed the traces of magic on you, you might have gotten away with it. Might.” He stressed.
Chase smiled. “And I think we’ve already done the introductions, but I’m a coyote shifter and happy to be part of this unorthodox pack.”
I nodded, taking it all in. Four different subspecies of shifters in one pack, now that was interesting. I had never heard of that before.
“And you?” Seth prompted.
“Luna.” They didn’t give last names so neither would I. “I’m a changeling. Been on the run since I was sixteen.”
Jasper whistled. “Never met a changeling before.”
“We don’t normally stick around in this realm,” I said. I had very few memories of my childhood, thanks to the abuse I endured. I knew almost nothing about changeling customs besides what I had been told by the hunters who were out for my blood. Basically, once a changeling had either grown up or lost contact with their human parents, they were supposed to return to the Faerie realm. Too bad I got lost in the system and didn’t get. the memo until I was a teenager. By them I decided my own fate. There was no way I was going back with those hunters just to be treated like a second-class citizen by both the Seelie and Unseelie courts.
“Well, we’re here for all supernaturals, so that’s no problem for us,” Chase said with a smile.
“What do you mean by helping supernaturals?” I asked.
“There’s a reform school a few miles from here,” Seth explained. “That’s where we met. They help rehab under aged supernaturals that go astray from the law. It’s a nice place, honestly,” He said. “Like a foster home, but with more structure.”
I wrinkled my nose at
the thought of going back to an institution. “No thanks.”
“It’s not like the mundane ones,” Seth added quickly. “I think you’d like it if you gave it a chance.”
That guy didn’t know anything that I would like, besides my taste in expensive beer, maybe. “I doubt it,” I said. “I think I’m doing just fine on my own.”
“I won’t argue that,” Seth said much to my surprise. “Honestly, evading hunters for this long while living on the streets is an impressive feat. But you don’t have to live like this. There’s supernaturals who want to help. People like us.” He gestured to the other three men in his pack.
“I need to think about it,” I said finally.
“Sure,” Seth said with a shrug.
“But just remember, if you decide to keep running, there’s more out there than just the faerie hunters,” Jasper added. His tone gave me shivers.
“I said I’ll think about it. Right now, I need to rest.” I needed sleep desperately. Once my head was right, I would make my decision. I glanced at them all in turn, before moving to the couch. No one protested, in fact, Jasper tossed me a blanket.
The moment I put my head down I felt sleep trying to take me over. These guys had been good so far, right? They didn’t seem as sketchy as I originally thought they might have been. Ignoring my street smarts, I cuddled into the blanket and let myself sleep.
***
I was woken by an unpleasant feeling in my gut. At first, I thought it might have been the pizza, but then I realized I was sensing strong magic. I bolted up, my eyes glancing wildly around the dark room.
The boys were instantly out of bed and getting dressed. Their movements were methodical and practiced.
“What’s going on?” I asked. I threw my sweater over my body, making sure that my fanny pack was still locked tight. “I sense magic.”
“The faeries are coming back,” Maddox hissed.
Jasper nodded.
“We need to make tracks,” Chase said. “So, Luna, are you coming?”
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