Wolf Tales VI by Kate Douglas Page A

was plenty of room for her if she wanted to crawl back in bed with them. Adam and Eve, both so blond and beautiful, Oliver dark and mysterious, but with such a wonderful way about him. She loved his voice, his gentleness, the way he’d made love to her as if she were the only one for him. He made her happy. Made her want to forget what a shitty life she really led.
    But Montana…that was a huge step. Leaving the one place she’d known her entire life and just going away to a new part of the country? Wow…that was a major move. Of course, it wasn’t like she had anyone here who would miss her. The few friends she’d had over the years had all moved on and forgotten her, or they’d ended up dead from drugs or worse. She’d quickly forgotten all of them. Even Eve, until they’d found each other, and that had been just a bizarre accident of chance. There never had been any family.
    She would never forget the way one of her foster mothers told Mei how she’d been abandoned in a park. She didn’t even know which one, but a little kid had found a newborn wrapped in bloody newspapers, her umbilical cord still attached.
    Attached to a placenta, but not to a mother. Whoever had birthed her there in the bushes had just left her wrapped in papers like so much garbage and walked away. She couldn’t imagine that. Carrying a baby under your heart long enough for it to live, and then just shitting it out on the ground like so much waste.
    That story had taught her something powerful, though. She was a survivor. She had no one to count on but herself, but she’d survive. Since she was a little girl, she’d depended on herself for everything, though she’d obviously not done a stellar job at it. If she had, Eve wouldn’t have caught her shoplifting in a cheesy little mini-mart.
    It really was embarrassing when she thought about it. She was better than that. She shouldn’t have been caught. Unless, of course, it was meant to happen.
    Mei shivered in the muggy warmth of another Florida morning. She tucked the towel under her butt, wrapped her arms around her legs and thought of the odds of Eve being the one to find her. Thought of the odds they’d share this weird telepathy thing.
    She rubbed at her arms, scratching at the unusually itchy skin, and stared at the three in the bed. She wondered what they were thinking as they slept. Did they dream of rocky cliffs and dark forests, of long legs stretching out in front of thick paws and a sensitive nose? Were their nights filled with exciting hunts and the taste of fresh blood?
    Mei’s dreams were just plain weird, and she couldn’t help but wonder if Eve or Oliver or even Adam ever had dreams like hers. Then an errant thought drifted lazily through her mind and Mei smiled. She could open herself to the unexplainable. Maybe while they slept their thoughts would come to her, just as Eve’s had yesterday. Settling herself more comfortably in the chair, Mei yawned, stretched, and turned her thoughts free.

    Oliver’s dreams felt as if they’d been filtered through a soft layer of contentment. Though he’d always dreamed of life as a wolf, it had only been the past few weeks where those same dreams were actually based on reality.
    He’d not run last night, not even thought of shifting for the first time since becoming Chanku. No, his time with Mei had been absolutely amazing and his body still hummed with the sense of completion she’d given him. He thought of her now, caught up as he was in his dreams. He was the wolf. He was Chanku and she was near. He felt her as if she were already a part of him, as if the mating bond held them close, but now she strayed, just beyond his sight. He sensed her nearby and knew she paced restlessly, but she remained elusive, separate from him.
    Oliver moved deeper into the dream state, aware on some level that it was indeed a dream, yet a part of his reality at the same time. He concentrated on his surroundings, on the thick carpet of grass