A Shifter Among Wolves

Chapter 1

           

---Paige's POV---

The voice of a man downstairs stirred my curiosity while I was dressing myself. From the sound of it, this was Katherine's husband, John. I let out a shocked laugh when I realized that I had a family again. If only my old family could meet my new one.

I looked in the mirror and observed myself for a moment. My brown, slightly curly hair was towel dry and hanging over my small frame, though I believed myself to be slightly muscular. My green eyes scanned my body, inspecting my jeans and t-shirt outfit, before I looked back at my face. The only thing of my body that I couldn't criticize, were my eyes.

They had a bright green color, with flecks of blue spread across them. Mostly, my emotions spoke from my eyes. They sparked up when I was angry and the blue flecks appeared to be more prominent when I was very emotional. Anyone who knew me could tell how I felt by looking at my eyes.

"Paige? Would you like to come down please?"

Katherine's voice floated up the stairs. I took a deep breath before walking down to meet my new family. Katherine was standing in the living room, talking to the two men who were sitting down in front of the giant TV. Wow, how did I even miss that screen on my way up? The men where following some show on it, so I silently passed them to stand next to Katherine.

"John, can you please just listen for a few seconds? And Nick? I appreciate it if you would be so kind to get your feet of my couch, unless you want to clean the whole house!" I smiled at Kath's frustrated voice; apparently she liked the house clean, something that I needed to remember when I came back after a day running.

The guy named Nick quickly swung his feet of the couch and sat up straight before both he and John turned towards me. I noticed now that Nick was a lot younger than John, probably my age. Both of them had dark brown hair and they towered over me when they stood up. From what I could tell, both were very muscular and handsome, although that's strange to say about your adoptive brother and father.

I was suddenly engulfed in a huge bear hug while I heard Nick laughing in my ear. "Welcome to the family sis. Damn, did you know you're such a lightweight? Haven't they fed you from where you came from?" He released me and gave me a massive grin while I was chuckling.

"Thanks for the welcome, although I'm going to need a new set of ribs." I said laughingly. He just smiled while he brushed his hand through his hair. "How old are you exactly? You don't look old, just, you know, little." He said while he smirked a little. I playfully slapped his arm.

"Hey, I'm not small, you are just enormous. And I'm seventeen years old by the way." I looked at him as he leant against the couch. It was almost like he was showing off his muscles, stretching his arms in front of him before he crossed them.

I smiled at him. "Didn't anyone tell you that it's illegal to use hormones to get that amount of muscle?" He started laughing at my playful question, followed by John and Kath.

"I'm hurt that you would think that. I got these through hard work, missy." He smirked before Kath spoke up. "I think you'll fit into this family perfectly Paige." She gave me a warm smile, a dimple appearing in her left cheek as I grinned back before realizing her husband hadn't said anything yet.

John still had a smile on his face but something about his behavior was.... off. He was looking at me observantly as he took deep breaths, his nostrils flaring. Did I smell or something? I was almost tempted to sniff my arm discreetly but thought against it.

He held his hand out and I shook it, quickly letting go after he released mine. There was an amused twinkle in his eyes and he chuckled before saying "Don't worry, I'm all bark and no bite. If you follow the rules in this house then we will be the best friends." I looked at Nick, who was turning red from holding in his laughter. What was so funny about what John just said?