1. Shya

Chapter one

Shya

4 days ago

The Louis Vuitton heels were calling to me. They were perfection. A blossom slingback pump with a three-inch heel. Slim, pretty, powerful; they were everything I needed for my meeting with Ellen tomorrow. As nominated leader of the humans on the town council, I had to work closely with her, but she was possibly the most annoying human I had ever met. Every little detail had to be discussed, every angle considered.

I was more of a just-get-it-done kind of girl. And tomorrow, my parents had asked me to push through the new rules for our security protocols. My parents wanted the rules updated to reflect the heightened risk of attack from outsiders these days. Ellen was not keen because she thought it sent the wrong message to the humans and tourists in town. She had a point. Bridgetown worked because it was marketed as a haven for humans and Shifters to live together. Tourists came here to drink with Shifters, go rafting with Shifters, get served their meals by Shifters … and we put on a friendly face for all the paying humans who then went home and told their friends that the news reports were wrong, and Shifters were just people who grew fur and claws every now and again.

The Wolf Council supported our mission here. There had been too many voices in the human government recently demanding that Shifters be put in cages, to be tamed and controlled. The more tourists we made happy here and in the conclave cities down South, the more human allies we had who realized those voices were talking bullshit when they said we were a species that could not live safely side by side with humans. What we did here was important for all Shifters.

But recent events meant we needed to update our security. Tristan, our old Beta, thought Shifters were infinitely superior to humans and had had enough of bowing down to the pets, as he saw them. He'd plotted to kill my parents and take control of the Pack, and when that failed, he escaped with a lot of our people. He was still out there, still hated humans, and still wanted my parents dead. This meant I needed to get Ellen on board and put these new measures in place. The last thing we needed was an attack where a human was killed. It would scare the tourists off and would be used by those in government who wanted to enforce segregation between the species.

So, I needed to have my armor on. Just like Clark Kent's glasses, my shoes were my disguise. Not many people realize this, but shoes have a superpower. Slip on my favorite rainbow sneakers and I can run for miles. My sky-blue sneakers can kick Martin, my trainer, in the head, and he's six foot five. Given I'm five foot three, that's some feat. And my green satin Manolo Blahnik's turn me into a powerful Pack princess who can take on the world. Shoes are my armor, my shield against other people realizing I'm not up to the job. I step into the right pair, and I become exactly who I need to be for that day.

"I see you've found them."

I turned to see Marnie smiling at me. "They arrived yesterday. I made sure to order your size."

I grinned back at Marnie. She always seemed to know exactly what I needed, sometimes even before I did. That's what made her such an incredible friend as well as a successful businesswoman.

Marnie had opened Marnie & Summer's Shoe Emporium shortly after moving to Bridgetown, turning her passion for footwear into a thriving business. She was a human in a predominantly Shifter town, and she'd quickly become a beloved figure in the community. Her warm personality and killer instinct for fashion had won over even the most skeptical werewolves.

"Marnie, you're a lifesaver," I said, admiring the shoes once more. "These are precisely what I need for tomorrow's meeting."

She leaned against the counter, her hazel eyes twinkling. "Ah, another showdown with Ellen?"

I groaned. "Is it that obvious?"

"Only to someone who knows you as well as I do," she laughed, her chestnut hair catching the light as she shook her head. "So, what's on the agenda this time?"

I slipped off my everyday flats and tried on the Louis Vuitton heels. "The new security rules."

Marnie nodded understandingly. "Ah yes, I heard her talking about those in Josie's cafe this morning. Those are definitely the shoes for you, then. Go on, have a look."

Marnie had had her own run-ins with Ellen when Marnie and Summer first arrived here. Ellen had wanted to buy these premises for her own yarn shop but with another yarn shop already in Bridgetown, the town council had liked Marnie's proposal for a shoe shop better. Ellen had not been happy and had let everyone know about the new single mom in town who stole her shop.

I walked over to the full-length mirror just as the bell above the door chimed. Summer walked in, her school backpack slung over one shoulder.

"Hey, Mom! Hi, Shya!" she called out, her gray eyes lighting up.

"Hey, sweetie," Marnie replied. "How was school?"

Summer dropped her bag behind the counter, but before she could answer, she caught sight of my new shoes. Her eyes widened. "Shya! You look amazing in those!"

As Summer moved closer, I caught a whiff of her scent. Today, it was distinctly human, but there had been times over the last five years when I'd sworn I'd detected a hint of Shifter. Marnie refused to talk about Summer's dad and would just say that it was best for all of them that he was gone (though she'd never elaborate if "gone" meant living somewhere else or dead). I wondered if he'd been a Shifter, though, despite it being extremely rare for Shifters and humans to be able to have children together. I pushed the thought aside for now, focusing instead on the excited pre-teen in front of me.

I looked at the shoes in the mirror and did a twirl. "You think?"

"Absolutely! You'll win Ellen over in no time in those!"

I glanced over at Marnie. "Does everyone know about the meeting?"

Summer nodded seriously. "Oh, yes, Ellen's telling everyone how she's going to shoot down the ‘ridiculous new proposals that have no place in our community.'" Summer did an almost perfect job at imitating Ellen's nasal voice.

"Wonderful," I deadpanned. "I definitely need these shoes, then."

Marnie laughed. "I'll get the box for you."

I turned back to Summer. "You got any exciting plans for the weekend?"

Summer's cheeks flushed slightly, and she glanced quickly at her mother before answering. "Um, not really. Just helping out here in the shop and maybe doing some studying."

I raised an eyebrow, sensing there was more to the story. "Studying, huh? Any particular subject?"

Her blush deepened. "Just … you know, general stuff. I picked up a few new books from the library."

Marnie chuckled softly. "These are books numbers twelve and thirteen this month."

I had a feeling she knew exactly what—or who—was behind Summer's sudden interest in reading. I made a mental note to ask Henry if he had any plans this weekend.

My phone buzzed in my pocket. It was a message from the boy himself.

You better get back here. Visitors just arrived.

Visitors? Odd. Henry normally warned me about exactly who was at the house.

"Everything okay?" Marnie asked.

"Yeah, I might need to run, though. Can you keep the shoes for me?" I didn't want to run with the box. I shuddered to think of what would happen if I dropped it.

"Don't worry. I'll add them to your account and get Summer to bring them up to the house for you."

"You're the best, Marnie."

"And me!" Summer said, "I'm the one being volunteered to bring you the shoes."

Given it would give her the opportunity to see Henry and talk about her latest books, I suspected she was secretly pleased with the idea, but I kissed her on both cheeks, European style, making her giggle, and said, "You're the bestest, Summer," making her giggle even more.

I waved goodbye at them and the gorgeous shoes that would soon be mine and jogged out the door.