One day!
Jinny stepped back from the window and told her family, “He’s back.”
As rehearsed and discussed, they retreated from the door and got down on their hands and knees in supplication.
The stranger wasn’t surprised when he opened the door, and his scent was neutral as he looked upon them.
Jinny’s father was the first to speak. “Please, sir, we could use your help.” He tried to say more after that, but he choked on the words. He gave Jinny, his only daughter, a pleading look. He didn’t like the plan. No one liked the plan, but they were out of options.
And Jinny had insisted.
Jinny’s mother took over. “Our daughter. She would make a perfect wife—mate.” Though Jinny’s mother was a wolf shifter, she stumbled over the plan as well. She had been raised in human society, and though she had vague ideas of what wolf shifters who lived in packs did, they weren’t traditions she practiced or truly understood.
The stranger glanced at Jinny. His expression, like his scent, remained neutral.
“Is she not to your taste?” Jinny’s mother asked then winced. Still, she persisted. “Please. We’ve been running for so long. We don’t know how to protect ourselves. We would’ve lost our lives today if not for you. We’ll do anything for your protection, to join your pack, great Alpha.”
The stranger bared his teeth, but it was less a show of aggression and more a sign of frustration. Jinny smelled it.
Then, much like before, the man left and shut the cabin door behind him.
“I guess that means he doesn’t mind if we stay,” Maxton said.
