Free Mischief in a Fur Coat by Sloane Meyers Page A

couldn’t understand that sometimes bad shit just happens and you don’t need to blame someone else for it for no reason.
    To Drew’s surprise, the clan hiding out with him took the news of the epidemic in stride. Maybe they were just so used to shifters being villainized that it didn’t faze them at all to hear about the “bear flu.” Even Hope, who tended to get more fired up than anyone else about the shifter war, wasn’t impressed.
    “So let them blame us,” Hope said with a shrug. “They’re wasting their energy. They should focus on finding a cure instead of blaming a group that they’ve already locked up, anyway.”
    Drew agreed, but the rest of the world didn’t. There wasn’t much Drew could do about it, though. At least he and the clan were relatively safe out here in the woods. They were so far removed from civilization that it was unlikely the disease was going to get to them anytime soon. Hopefully, a cure or vaccine would be found before then. Drew determined to do his best to put the situation out of his mind, and he went about living his day to day life as though nothing out of the ordinary was happening in the rest of the world.
    His favorite part of day to day life was spending time with Hope. Now, when he went to town for supplies, he took Hope along for the hike. She never actually came in to town with him, for fear that the bartender or general store owner would becomes suspicious of her—a fear she, thankfully, seemed to finally understand. She would wait for him in the forest on the outskirts of the small town, and then help him carry supplies back to the clan.
    Supply days had become Drew’s favorite. He loved the long walk in the woods with Hope, and he loved the feeling of having a fresh batch of supplies to take back to the crew. He had a sturdy wooden wagon that he would fill, and now that Hope was helping him he had extra hands to take even more supplies back. The weather had turned cold by this point, and there had been a few snowfalls. But the cold never bothered Hope, which was no surprise since she was a polar bear shifter. And Drew was so used to winters in Northern Michigan by this point that he almost enjoyed the snow.
    Today was a supply day, and Drew couldn’t have asked for better weather. Although it was cold and crisp, with a generous layer of snow on the ground, the sun was bright and the sky was a deep blue. Every time Drew breathed in deeply, his lungs filled with fresh, freezing air. He loved that sensation. It was one of his favorite parts of living in a place with cold winters.
    As they neared the edge of the forest, Hope found one of her favorite waiting spots. An old tree trunk made a perfect seat, and the snow-dusted pine trees made for a great view.
    “I’ll be back as soon as I can,” Drew said, leaning down to kiss her softly on the lips.
    “Take your time,” Hope said. “No rush,”
    Drew smiled at her and gave a little wave as he finished the rest of the short distance to town alone. He felt badly having to leave Hope alone there, but there wasn’t much he could do about it. The population out here was sparse, but there were enough people spread out in these woods that Drew felt confident at least one of them would be more than happy to turn in a bunch of shifters in exchange for a hefty reward. All Drew and the crew could do for now was keep quiet and hope the shifter war ended sooner rather than later so they could all get back to their normal lives. Whatever normal even meant anymore.
    Drew stomped the snow off his feet as he walked into the general store, leaving his wooden wagon outside. The owner nodded at him from behind the counter, where he was ringing up the purchases of another one of the county residents. Drew was surprised to actually see another customer. He almost never ended up in the store at the same time as someone else, and it always felt a little strange to be reminded that he did indeed have “neighbors.”
    “Howdy,” the