Chapter 1
Dahy Doocey hid in a tree outside a bakery. He’d spent three nights in the small park across from it, both because he liked the scents coming from the building, and because kind people who fed the birds worked there. Every day someone topped off the bird feeder with seeds and nuts, and Dahy wasn’t sure he’d survive the February cold if they hadn’t.
He’d come to Doson on a whim. Or, not a whim. He’d been all over the country, always moving around, always staying hidden, but he’d heard his cousin, Jyran, lived here. Cousins were a loose concept among squirrels. Jyran was his mother’s sister’s mate’s third cousin or something. Close enough, and if one squirrel could survive in Doson, then maybe two could, too. Or not.
Squirrels didn’t stand much of a chance anywhere, and Dahy didn’t know how much longer he could go on. Any day now, some predatory shifter would find and eat him.
Staying in cities wasn’t smart. He had a far greater chance of survival if he stuck to the forests far from civilization, but Dahy was touch-starved, not only physical touch, though it was part of it, but intellectually starved. He hadn’t spoken to a person in ages. Not face-to-face, at least.
He had his phone, charger, and a change of clothes hidden in a tree a block away, but he hadn’t dared to change into human form since he got here. He should check in with Myka though. He’d said he was coming here, but she’d told him she was away on a trip and wouldn’t be back until Thursday. He didn’t know if it was true or not. He wouldn’t blame her if it was a lie.
He was a random guy on the internet who’d struck up a conversation and then said he’d come to her town. It was a massive red flag, but he didn’t know what else to do. He’d have most likely lied too, had he been in her shoes, so he didn’t blame her.
He couldn’t go on like this. He had to find a place to live, a job, and steady meals that weren’t birdseeds.
Tucking his tail around himself, he sat on a branch for a few minutes. He’d try to contact her again, ask if she could recommend somewhere he could stay in the least creepy-stalkery way he could come up with.
He ran along the branch, jumped to the neighboring tree, and climbed down its trunk. He had to run a few feet on the ground, and he carefully scented the air before jumping from the tree. All he could smell was exhaust from the cars, bread from the bakery, and humans. No wolves, no bears, no other shifters. They could appear fast, though, so lack of scent didn’t mean he was safe. And vampires didn’t have a scent at all. On the other hand, vampires didn’t care about squirrels, so he didn’t have them on his list of enemies.
He scurried from tree to tree, spent a few minutes in a hollow trunk about halfway to his hiding place to make sure no one was following him. Then he climbed high into the tree next to the one where he had his clothes and phone hidden.
There he waited until it got dark. The days were short in February, and the wind was icy, so there weren’t many people around. He chanced a jump over to his hiding tree and shifted into his human form. If he’d believed the night had been cold before, it was nothing compared to sitting naked on a branch where the freezing air could wrap around him.
Shivering, he reached into the hollow in the trunk. The clothes were damp despite it not having rained or snowed for several days, and he could hardly get his fingers to work when trying to button his dirty jeans. He didn’t have any socks, and the yellow Crocs he’d stolen a few towns over were two sizes too big.
With a sigh, he reached into the hollow and got hold of the phone. It took some time to get it to start, and he’d soon need to find a way to charge it, but he was good for now.
He found the conversation with Myka, apologized for bothering her again, and asked if she knew of somewhere he could hole up for a few days.
There was a reply almost instantly where she listed the only hotel in Doson and a bed and breakfast on the outskirts.
Dahy gritted his teeth. He couldn’t afford a hotel. He had a credit card, but with no income, he wouldn’t be able to pay off his debts if he used it to pay for a hotel.
He answered her, trying not to sound too pathetic but telling her he was on the run and couldn’t stay anywhere where people could track him. It was only half a lie. He didn’t think anyone was actively hunting him, but if a shifter found out there was a squirrel shifter in town—one who wasn’t mated to a wolf—they’d track him down and kill him.
Several minutes went by, and there was no reply from Myka. If she was smart, she’d block him, but he hoped she wouldn’t.
When the phone buzzed in his hand, he almost dropped it. She wrote she was seeing some friends at seven tonight, but if he wanted to, she could meet him for a coffee at Mildred’s in half an hour. Dahy had no idea where or what it was, but he was freezing his ass off and desperately wanted to be inside somewhere.
Was it safe to go into a restaurant or coffee shop or whatever Mildred’s was, though? All it took was one wolf getting a whiff of him—or bear, or lion, or whatever else might live here.
In the end, he agreed. Worst case scenario, he’d get eaten, best case, she’d take one look at his pathetic self and want to help him.
* * * *
More than one person turned to stare at him as he entered Mildred’s. It was a coffee shop with old-fashioned interior design. The chairs and tables didn’t match, and neither did the cups and plates, but it was cozy. Lots of scarred surfaces and dim lights.
He took several deep breaths, but there were too many scents to know if he was safe. When the door opened behind him, he was forced to take a step forward. He spotted a dark-haired woman sitting alone by a table, and he was almost certain it was Myka. She hadn’t shared a lot of photos of herself on her social media, but he’d seen some.
Carefully, he walked in her direction, ignoring the group of teenage girls giggling when he passed their table. It was the yellow Crocs, or maybe it was his dirty clothes and unwashed hair. Who could tell with teenagers?
The closer he came to the table, the more alarm bells went off in his head, and he almost stumbled backward when Myka looked up at him.
She smelled of wolf.
A pained sound escaped him, and his heart went into overdrive.
“Dahy?” Her voice was soft, and she tilted her head to the side.
