Alpha Prime: Shiftily Ever After(9)

With a regretful glance in her direction, he took the radio from Anders.





Chapter Four




The new arrivals had been told to report to the meeting hall to find out where they’d be staying and what jobs were available. They were in no rush, though. They were gathered in little groups, chattering excitedly, taking in their new surroundings.

“It is so gorgeous here,” Dakota said to a coyote shifter named Naomi, inhaling deeply. “Get a whiff of that fresh air. And those mountains. It’s so flat where I’m from!”

Naomi and Dakota had been seat-mates for the last three days on the shuttle bus. Dakota had lucked out; Naomi was funny and goofy and cheerful, and she’d insisted on sharing all the snacks she’d brought with her.

“I thought your branch of the Montenegro pack was from the Sky Lakes region in Oregon,” Naomi said, looking puzzled. “Aren’t there tons of mountains there?”

Dakota tried to hide a grimace of dismay. She couldn’t slip up like that.

Tina had briefed her on the Montenegro Pack. Jamie Roberts, the girl she was pretending to be, came from the Oregon branch of the pack, known as the North Montenegro pack. They’d broken off from the Nevada pack over some dumb dispute twenty years earlier. And they lived right near a mountain range.

“Uh…yes, but the mountains here are much taller,” she muttered. “We’ve got, uh…very short mountains where I’m from. More like hills.”

“You know what I like about this area?” asked Macy, a lean, scrappy-looking fox shifter. She’d been sitting behind Dakota and Naomi on the bus.

“No cops?” Dakota suggested. Macy scowled at her, but it was true. Every time they’d been at a rest stop and seen a cop, she’d quickly headed back to the bus.

“The scenery,” Macy said, glancing over at several male wolf shifters who were standing in the middle of the town square. She winked at Dakota and Naomi. “See you later. Hello, boys.” She sauntered over to the wolves.

Dakota looked around for some clue as to where they were supposed to go, and her gaze lit on half a dozen picnic tables that had been set up outside the Granite Flats meeting house. There was a big sign that read “New Arrivals”. A tall, muscular, stern-looking woman stood next to the sign, with a scowl on her face.

“Shall we?”

They walked over to the picnic tables, where shifters of different species were handing out cups of coffee to the newcomers. The women from the bus were wandering towards the tables now, chattering excitedly with each other.

A female bear shifter stood by the tables with her hands on her hips, surveying the crowd with a scowl. She was tall and stocky and had shiny brown hair scraped back into a ponytail.

“Listen up!” she yelled at the crowd.

Naomi raised a hand timidly. “Are you in charge here?” she asked. “I have some questions. I was wondering—”

“No questions,” the woman snapped at her. “My name is Anthea. I am a member of Clan Stoney Creek. Everyone in the western half of the territory ultimately answers to the Fenris Pack. The eastern territory is a bunch of wild and woolly assholes who can’t play nice with others, so if that’s your thing, head on over there, but get ready for them to chew you up and spit you out.”

She pointed to where the town square ended. There was a dirt road that led off to the east, hemmed in by trees. “You go past that maple tree over there, you’re in the east, which is Creel’s territory. You don’t want to be in Creel’s territory.”

Naomi flashed Dakota an alarmed look. Dakota whispered, “Well, this is a new frontier. But look, we’re in the safe side of the territory.”

Anthea continued at full volume. “There are representatives from all the packs, prides and clans waiting inside the meeting house. Go talk to them in the next hour or two, and find one that will take you. You don’t want to leave the downtown area until you’ve been accepted into a pack, pride or clan.”

“Why not?” Naomi piped up.

Anthea scowled at her. “I said no questions.”

“She makes me nervous,” Naomi whispered to Dakota. “I talk a lot when I get nervous. Do you talk a lot when you get nervous? You don’t seem to. But I do. I think that—”

Anthea was glaring at them, and Dakota clapped her hand over Naomi’s mouth. Naomi continued mumbling something behind Dakota’s hand, but at least it was muffled.

Anthea bellowed, “Here’s what you need to know to survive in this territory! Everyone up here pulls their own weight. You don’t work, you don’t eat. If you’re the type to start something, you’d better be able to finish it. And that’s about it.”