*Rafe*

My horse whinnies, and I pat his neck to steady him. He’s not a fan of wolf shifters. I can’t say that I blame him. It’s not like he’s been around a lot of them, and even though these folks are all in human form, not wolf, it still makes him uneasy to be around savage predatorial beasts.

Gazing through the trees, I see malnourished, dirty young people and almost laugh at myself for ever thinking to describe them that way. They are not a threat to my horse or me.

The urge to go closer, to further inspect them, is overwhelming, but I fight it. I’d just as...