Page 1 of A Pact for Porter

Chapter One

Porter

Graduation Day

Neither of our packs attended. This small college in Maine lay thousands of miles from our homes, making the trip impractical. They didn’t have a lot of money, and what our families did have extra they had used to help with our expenses. We didn’t hold their absence against them.

My best friend, Angus, and I had each other, as we had for the past four years. Together, we’d struggled through late-night study sessions, exams, part-time jobs, way too many ramen meals, and, hardest of all, fitting in to a human school where we were definite outliers. Not that we made it obvious or shared with many people, but our upbringing was so different from the other students, not many took the time to get close to us.

We met on the second day of classes our freshman year, in Psych 101, where we learned enough about human thinking and behavior that I was ready to flee. It helped not at all that our professor had a particular love of serial killers and the mental illness that can drive someone to kill a dozen or so people without ever feeling a bit of guilt. Twelve years later, I still wondered if he knew maybe a little bit too much about those criminals and their proclivities.

Angus happened to be sitting next to me that first day and when I tensed and started piling things in my backpack, he laid a hand on my arm and said, “My alpha always said humans were weird. We have to stick together to survive, I think.”

And so we did. I never knew how he made it happen, but a week later, he’d managed to switch our roommates. We shared a dorm room for two years and an apartment on the edge of town near some wood we could shift in for the rest of the time. Also something my omega buddy found for us.

He had better life skills in this broader world than me, but I had alpha skills that made sure nobody bullied him. At least not after I spoke with a couple of the bullies. Wolf eyes went a long way toward convincing people to behave in a civilized manner.

We were so proud, standing there in our caps and gowns, shaking hands with professors and hugging the few other students who had legit befriended us. The dark-gray clouds that hung low while we’d hurried to campus had parted just before the school band struck up “Pomp and Circumstance. We marched onto the lawn in front of the university library in bright sunshine, as bright as our hopes for the future. I’d been too excited to eat breakfast, and my stomach growled a few times, sending Angus into a fit of laughter.

“That is beneath the dignity of the moment,” I warned him and clapped my hand over my belly to prevent another rumble.

“Here.” He passed a protein bar from inside his wide sleeve to my hand. “I warned you to eat. Just try to be subtle. Remember the dignity of the moment.” He laughed so hard at his own humor, we earned a severe look from one of the professors on the stage. We were so happy, taking pictures of one another and sending them home to our families who had long wondered if we were more than roommates, despite our protests to the contrary.

The university even offered a special meal for those of us who didn’t have other plans, so we attended that, having a hard time believing it was the last time we’d eat in the cafeteria. Oh, they’d decorated it with balloons and streamers in the school colors, and the buffet was a big step above the burgers and sandwiches we’d eaten there in the past, but it was still the familiar room with its ancient wooden tables and faded leather banquettes.

The following morning, after four years of seeing each other every day, we faced one another across our packed-up apartment, wide-eyed. We were both returning to our families for a brief visit before heading out to full-time jobs we’d been recruited for and leaving behind the odds and ends of furniture we’d acquired since taking on the apartment. All we had to show for four years were a few duffel bags of personal belongings and a degree to frame and hang on the wall. Or rather those were the tangible things.

“I guess this is it.” Angus finished a final walk around the place, checking to be sure we hadn’t left anything behind. “I’d better get on the road if I’m going to get any miles behind me.”

“Right. And my airport rideshare will be here any minute. It feels strange, doesn’t it? Leaving here without a plan to come back?”

“Yeah.”

We’d both made trips home, sometimes together to visit one another’s pack. “We’ll get together though.”

He nodded. “Maybe we can take a trip together or something, once we’ve got some vacation time. It’s a shame we couldn’t have gotten jobs close enough to keep sharing rent.”

“It’s going to be exciting, though. New cities, new challenges.” What an alpha thing to say. “It’s been good, don’t you think?”

“I wouldn’t have made it through, without you, Porter.” Angus kept his gaze on the floor while he spoke. “I was so scared when I got here, and by the time we met in that class I was thinking of going home. I’d never been around humans much, and even among shifters my kind is unusual and treated that way. And then you show up, an alpha wolf of all things and treat me like I’m just as good as anyone.”

“Well you are.” How could anyone think different? And yet some people did think his pack was less than others. Maybe not too bright. Not Angus. “Better than most, in fact. You’re kind, organized, and got me through calculus when I was ready to give up and go home.”

“We were a good team.” He still hadn’t looked up. “Have I mentioned being nervous about to a town where I know nobody?”

“You might have, once or twice, but it’s a great opportunity, and you were so smart to take it.” I went over and tipped his chin up, wanting him to look me in the eye. “And you’re going to rock it, but anyone would be uneasy about a big move like that. I am about mine.”

“I don’t believe it.”

“Well do or don’t but that doesn’t change the fact. It would be great if we’d been offered jobs in the same town, but we went to college for an education. Stepped way out of our comfort zone, and look how that worked out.” He had such a gift, it would have been criminal if it hadn’t been developed.

“You don’t think I should just go home and try to find work there?”

“Do you?” His sleuth lived in a rural area where not many jobs were available at all. “Reminding you we have already had this conversation.”

“No. Of course not.” He stepped back but continued to look me in the eye. “And I’ll never find a mate there because I know everyone and they are not that.”

“Exactly. We need to get out there and see what Fate has in store for us.”