Free Unchained (Dark Shifter Romance) by Sophia Wren

encountered before, let alone been invited into…
    But she was here now wasn't she? Whether she wanted to or not, Colt had thrown her into this new world, full of beasts that thought like men and men that could turn into beasts. She shivered in the cool forest breeze.
    The two of them picked their way through the woods, scoping out the properties that butted up against the wild forest trees. Jack held a hand up, silently indicating for her to stop, and the two of them stood there for a while in the shade of the trees, looking at the property in front of them. Jack bent his head toward Lacey, close enough that his lips were nearly brushing her cheek. "You know this place?" he asked, his voice a whisper.
    Lacey shook her head. "I knew a few people who lived over here, but I never went to their houses." She pointed at the property to the side of them, an unassuming little house. "Mr Jones lived there, I'm pretty sure. He was a gun nut, the whole school knew. We might be able to pick up some weaponry there…"
    Jack shook his head decisively. "No need for guns," he said. "Shifters never really took a fancy to them. Anyone who comes after us will come as wolves. I feel more comfortable going after them the same way."
    Lacey shrugged. Jack may have talked a big game, but the memory of Colt’s burning amber eyes was seared into her memory, and she didn't have that raw physical power in her own defence. Jack had said she was going to turn into a wolf, same as him, but at the moment, she really would have preferred something with a little more firepower to it
    They stood there for a moment, Jack testing the air and listening intently, and then he nodded once. He let her down out of the woods and across the nearest property’s back yard, making his way silently around the trampoline, the children's toys, the abandoned deck furniture.
    Lacey's heart rose to her throat. The yard looked completely normal, as if the family that lived there were still inside, sleeping in on a lazy Sunday morning. Her stomach clenched as she thought about the inhabitants, and what she would find inside.
    She hadn't said a word, but Jack's head snapped around towards her, as if he had sensed her discomfort and unease on the wind. He jerked his head down, towards the patio steps. "Stay here," he murmured. "You can be my lookout.”
    Lacey let out a weak smile, and he went around the corner of the house, out of view. They both knew that there was nothing she could have sensed that he would not have, but the lie had been welcome. She sat down heavily on the steps of the abandoned porch, fighting the urge to wrap her arms around herself like a scared child.
    This place looked so peaceful and normal, but she'd seen the bodies in town. Her mind drifted inevitably to thoughts of Jenny, and her family house. Had this same scene repeated itself on her family house?
    Jack re-emerged from the house, leaning in the doorway with a box of crackers and a jar of peanut butter under one arm. "Will you eat this?"
    Lacey stared up at him, slightly incredulously. "Do I get a choice?"
    Jack looked down at what he was holding, then shook his head, chuckling. "I guess not, huh? This was all that I could find in the house that hadn't gone off yet.”
    Lacey looked at the supplies and bit her lip, thinking. "How much longer are we planning to stay out there?" she asked.
    "Full moon is in a couple of days," he said.
    "Then we’re going to need a little more than PB and crackers," she said. "You didn't exactly stock up your cabin, did you?"
    Jack passed where she sat on the steps, and started heading towards the next door neighbours. Glancing around, Lacey quickly followed at his heels.
    "It wasn't my cabin," he said in answer to her. “I just needed a place to keep you safe."
    Coming to the fence that separated the two properties, Jack knelt down and offered his hand to give Lacey a leg up. Primly, Lacey stepped into his offered hands, and then slung her legs awkwardly over the