Chapter Two

Edon

Finding out who you are takes some time. Hell, it took me half of my life to figure myself out. Even now, as a grow man with plenty of life experience behind me, I am not always sure of who I am. Not always sure of the choices or the decisions I make.

One thing I am certain of--Camp Midnight Storm is the first place I accepted who I am. It was a fluke I came here as a young boy cast out on his own. With no one to turn to, nowhere to go, a judge sent me here for a summer when I was a sixteen-year-old punk.

Coming to Camp Midnight Storm saved my life.

It was the first time I was with others like me. Others who were different. Being with others like me changed my life. I was no longer afraid of who I am, of the beast inside of me. I embraced the wild creature, the wolf that is part of me. The animal I shift into.

We're very different creatures and yet we're one and the same. There is no separating us. No holding him back anymore. No more lying to myself about who I am. I am a man, and I am a wolf, they're both part of who I am.

Most of my kind keep with their own. Within their packs, they create families, build businesses, and have their political landscape amongst themselves. They've created their own slice of the American Dream. Just one where they shift into animals from time to time.

Wolf shifters are ancient creatures with sacred laws and ceremonies. An Alpha looks after his pack, after his Luna and their cubs. Shifter packs have a hierarchy just the same as anywhere else. If you do not breed, if you do not protect, you serve no purpose.

My mother was a shifter who had never found her mate. The other half of herself that would be a mate to her human and her wolf. It just about drove her mad--and it drove her out of the pack. I was not born as one of the pack. I was an outsider, a mistake. Just about lost my mind the first time I shifted. I thought I was a monster.

"Do not be ashamed of the beast inside of you, Edon," Toran, the first counselor who got through to me had told me. "It is not a monster, you are not a monster. He might be wild now. You will tame him, Edon. He is a part of you, and you are part of him."

His words, his guidance, it meant the world to me. Taron was the first person to ever give a damn about me. About what I was going through as a shifter for the first time. I had no idea how to control my wolf, no idea how to become one with him, the way he suggested I could.

" You must listen to him. He will guide you. Protect you. He is a gift to you. Our wilds, they're a gift to us. We're never alone. We can protect ourselves and those we love. It is a gift to have him inside of you, you just have to let him know you appreciate him. He will listen to you. You are his master. "

That first summer here changed my life. I learned how to control my shift, how to go back and forth between man and beast. I did grow close to my wolf, to the wild animal inside of me that was always at my side. Always there when I was scared or unsure of myself. He protected me by shifting when he sensed danger—other shifters or even humans were always a danger.

Now, I come back to Camp Midnight Storm each summer. To be there for other young shifters like I was. To help them befriend their beast. Learn to control it. Learn to become one with it. It is the most rewarding thing I do, and I look forward to another summer here.

"Get those tents set up, guys," I call to the handful of young men and women under my care. "If you need help, give me a holler. I'm going to check the perimeter before we get things started."

"Hey Edon, we're doing smores and roasting hot dogs, just like a normal camp, right? You didn't bring us out here to hunt food, right?"

Chuckling at the young man asking me this, a look of sheer disgust in his eyes, I shake my head. "No, we're not here to hunt. We will do all the things the "normals" do at their summer camp. Now since you've got your tent up, go help a friend, yeah?"

Watching his chest puff up a little with pride, I smile. Yeah, he's a good one. He's a wolf shifter like me, but we've got other types here in our crew. Bears, cats, some foxes, even a few wild horses. We're all going through the same things, living similar lifestyles, so all the support we can give one another is good.

Heading towards the edges of the meadow we're having our first night camp at, I am on high alert. We're far enough away from Moon Haven to be safe from outsiders. From normals . We should not call humans that stupid name. Hell, I am half human as well. Several of us are half beast, half man, so we should be more accepting of the others.

Not that humans could ever accept us if they knew our secret.

Most of us have a pack who accepts us. Others like us, some of the same bloodlines often going back centuries. There are others like me, of course—ones who never had a pack and were forced to figure life out on their own. I could have created a pack or found one to join, but I figured I spent long enough on my own, I didn't need a pack.

"Can't find a mate or have cubs without a pack, Edon," I mutter to myself as I circle the meadow again.

Once I say the words out loud, my wolf whines inside of me. He is a little dramatic. He wants his mate, and he wants her now . I am almost thirty, alone without a prospective mate, and he doesn't like this fate. Not that I like being alone either. I've never found a connection with a woman, even other shifters.

Somewhere out there is the other half of me, my fated mate, and I will wait however long it takes to find her. Maybe I never find her at all. I would be alone forever, but I've been alone most of my life. My work, as a caterer to the locals' celebrations, fulfills my time and my heart. I love being able to celebrate with them, even as an outsider.

"No. No. We need her." my wolf barks at me.

Jerking my head up as my senses go off like a siren, I am hit with a wave of something I have never felt before. Recognition. I can hear a thumping heartbeat that is not my own. I can smell her. A sweet, sugary scent that makes both myself and my wolf hungry.

"She is here," my wolf preens inside of me, bouncing on his feet. "She found us. She came to us. Go, go, please. Need to protect her."

A snarl rips out of my jaws as my eyes circle the meadow. There are several shifters there, setting up camp, oblivious to this creature coming so close. I snap at her without meaning to. I bark that she should not be here. It does not scare her. I do not scare her at all.

"Yes," I hiss back as I find my way in the darkness. "It is her. She ha s come to us. Must protect her."

Stomping through the thick undergrowth, I head straight for her. I cannot see her yet, but I can feel her. Smell her. Sense her. I would find my way to her with my eyes closed. I move fast, faster, almost running now, my heavy boots pounding against the earth beneath me.

Suddenly a small, sweet-smelling shadow falls out of the woods. I lunge to catch her before I think touching her might be a bad idea. I might not be able to contain my shift. My wolf is so pleased to see her, so excited he feels this connection with her. I am not sure I feel it yet.

Until she lands at my feet, staring up at me with huge, green eyes. "Oh. Oh...uh....hi," she mutters in the sweetest voice I have ever heard. My heart stops beating. My wolf prances with joy inside me.

Then I feel it. I feel everything at once. The warm breeze on my skin, the same breeze that carries her scent to me. The dark skies overhead casting us in a shadow lit by the glowing moon. Those eyes, as they stare up at me, they see right into my heart. And there is no fear, no hesitation, no doubt in those beautiful eyes.

As I move to go to her, I sense one of the cat shifters prowling too close. He does not mean her or I any harm, but I cannot let him get close to her. No one can get close to her but me. I take a few steps towards her, cautiously, watching her eyes as they watch me.

For so long I wondered if I was broken. If there was something wrong with me or my wolf. Is it why my mother didn't want me? Why no pack ever wanted me? Is it the reason I could never find a mate?

Now as I stand here before this beautiful creature, I have my answer. There is nothing wrong with me or my wolf. We were just waiting. Waiting for her to stumble upon us just the way she has.

"You must go," I whisper to her, even as I want to beg her to stay. I will find you, my wolf tells her. We will find you again.

Barely holding it together as I stare down at her, I hold my breath. I need her to listen to me. To understand I am trying to protect her. Now is not the time to explain what we're both feeling. Why my wolf howls for her, making my heart thunder as my pulse skitters. I will tell her once it is time, but now she must go.

Understanding shines in her bright eyes as they stare up at me. Pushing to her feet, she stares at me for a moment before she turns to head out of the thickest part of the forest. I catch my breath as she slides past me, the air between us vibrating. I want to reach out, grab her, haul her against me and take her home. But I can't. Not yet.

Whispering a promise, I let her go. "I will come for you, sunshine."

There is no other choice—she is my fated mate.