Free Runt of the Litter by Sam Crescent Page A

Paul didn’t waste any time. He walked upstairs,
showing Jack where she slept. “I don’t have any of your senses, but I’m warning
you, Jack, leave her alone.”
    Heat filled her cheeks. “Will everyone stop treating
us like horny teenagers?”
    “Boys have needs,” Paul said.
    “So do girls.” Slapping her forehead, she growled.
“Not that I’m saying that I have needs. God, will this nightmare ever end? Jack’s
my friend. I trust him, and he’d never make me do something I wouldn’t want
to.”
    “Hey, I’m insulted. I won’t break any laws here. I’m a
decent guy.” Jack held his hands up in surrender. “Everyone’s treating me like
a perv .”
    “You’re not a perv ,” she
said.
    “Damn right.”
    She laughed while Uncle Paul glared between them.
“Meet me downstairs in ten minutes. Jack, your bedroom is across the hall.”
    Tori watched him leave. “I’m so sorry about this.”
    “Don’t be.”
    He walked behind her into the bedroom, dropping her
bag onto her bed.
    “I’ll unpack later. Let’s see your room.”
    She took the lead opening up his room. The view was
perfect of the ranch from his bedroom.
    “How are you coping?”
    “I’m fine, Tori.”
    “I didn’t think I’d care, but I’m really glad you’re
here.”
    “I’m going to take that as a compliment.”
    “You should. I mean it with all the love in the
world.”
    He laughed. “Come on before he gets a shotgun to my
ass for being improper.”
    Jack took her hand leading her back toward Uncle Paul.
    She meant every word she spoke to him. Jack didn’t
have any idea how much she appreciated him. The very thought of going through
this alone scared her. Uncle Paul was amazing to her, but he wasn’t pack. Jack
had the link to the pack. He’d been through the transition and knew exactly
what she was going through.
    The rest of the afternoon was spent showing Jack
around the place. She’d seen most of the ranch and didn’t really need a tour to
become acquainted. At the end, Uncle Paul guided them to the main barn around
the back of the house.
    “I thought this was to house hay?”
    “I had it changed while you were away,” Uncle Paul
said.
    He took out a key and began unbolting all of the locks,
cracking open the door. Jack opened the door for her.
    The light was switched on, and inside it had been
turned into something like a gym. There were no workout equipment, but the
floor was covered in padded mats.
    “We’re going to be working on your senses. I figured
the more padding we had the better it would be for you,” Uncle Paul said.
“We’ve got no risk of accidents, and I’ve also got a fully stocked first aid
kit.”
    “What are the chains for?” she asked, noticing the
chains in the center of the barn.
    “We’re going to call on your wolf, try to bring her
closer, maybe even open up that cage in your mind that’s got her locked tight.
I’ve had a theory.”
    She looked at Jack then toward Uncle Paul. “What’s the
theory?”
    “You were born prematurely. Where a lot of us take the
usual nine months you were born too young. I figure that in a normal birth the
body has time to adjust to the wolf genes, almost as if it knows when to be
locked away and when to come out.”
    “Tori’s prematurity kept her wolf locked tight?”
    “It’s kept all of her development locked tight. Most
of the wolves before they transition are always a little bigger than humans,
their senses more alert whereas Tori is not. She’s
weaker, smaller, tiny, the complete opposite.”
    “So calling her wolf is going to help?”
    “Not calling her wolf but unlocking the door to the
cage in Tori’s mind. The wolf can’t get out, but she’s there. You’ve only just
recently started to sense her. Your wolf’s awake, but she can’t help you. She’s
in danger of staying in that cage during your transition.”
    “You think that our wolves are not locked in cages?”
Jack asked.
    “Your wolf is part of you. It’s not locked