Page 2 of Summertime Secret

Yet as I kneel there at his feet, I do not feel fear or intimidation. I am safe. I have no idea what makes me certain of this, but I am. There is something in his steel gray eyes that sets me at ease. Something inside of myself that is drawn to this stranger.

“Why not?” I whisper in question, frowning up at him.

“You got lost,” his voice softens, still coming out as a low grumble. “Dangerous things out in the woods, sunshine.”

He is right, of course. Besides a half dozen wild animals that could harm me, the woods themselves with their tangled roots and poisonous foliage pose a threat. Most especially to me, because I wouldonly findthe twisted roots or the deadliest foliage by sheer bad luck.

“You ain’t a woofing,” I snark as I dust myself off.

Tall, dark, and mysterious cocks his head at me. I swear I see a smirk twist his lips for the briefest of moments. Too soon it vanishes. Backing up, he shakes his head, as if admonishing my clumsiness.

“Get back to town. Go for a walk somewhere safer next time.”

Then he turns and fades into the darkness of the woods I just stumbled my way out of. I frown again, wondering if I made up the entire interaction after bumping my head. It wouldn’t be the first time I dreamt up a hot hero coming to my rescue.

No, hewashere, he told me to be safe--and now I want to know who he is and why he would care.

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,andI 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, youare nota 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. Fromnormals. 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.