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Prologue

It was night when Nina arrived at Glacier National Park

She didn’t go into the Park itself Instead, she skirted along the round She didn’t want to risk being seen by any tourists Snow leopards didn’t belong in Montana

Or anywhere, as far as she’d been able to figure out

Nina wasn’t picky She would’ve happily settled down in a pack of wolves, or bears, or any other kind of shifter She’d been so relieved to learn that she wasn’t just a crazy freak of nature, that other shifters existed at all At first, anyway

But she’d been out on her own for years, searching out packs, trying to find a place she’d belong, and all she’d learned was that she didn’t belong anywhere

We don’t like kitty cats here, the bears had said Go find some other cats to bother

So she’d kept looking, and when she’d heard of a pack of ht she’d found the answer The mountain lions had cautiously welcorown up in When she’d said none, they’d looked at her like she was dangerous Feral We can’t have a feral cat in our pack I’ to have to leave, Nina

She’d tried again and again, with every shifter pack she’d ed to track down There always seee outsider

Finally, she’d found a place with a Colorado wolf pack She’d been so happy to meet shifters who seemed to like her, anted her around, who smiled when they saw her

And then she’d learned that the alpha had ordered the rest of theht she was pretty

Since he was thirty years older than Nina and already married, she’d said no And suddenly the pack had turned hostile

It had been awful The moment she’d realized the smiles were fake, theand she’d understood as happening

She’d told theiving up

She was tired of searching, tired of endlessly searching for the people ould let her in, let her stay She was tired of the desperate hope that this tiht

At this point, she was pretty sure she’d need to find a whole pack of unicorns And they probably wouldn’t want a predator around, anyway

So she’d made her decision She wouldn’t put herself out there to be hurt again

She didn’t need a pack to survive

Glacier Park had sounded like a good bet for a snow leopard shifter who didn’t want too many questions asked The territory ild and mountainous, perfect for her shifted forh, so a new face wouldn’t attract too much attention Even a face as dark as hers, hopefully

She just had to find a job, keep her head down, and live her life As long as no one asked her questions, she’d be fine

She’d be just fine

Nina spotted a little cave-like rock formation and trotted toward it As far as she could tell, there was nothing much in this area as far as huood place to lie lohile she found a job and saved enough et an apartment

She hunkered down in the rock hollow, curling up in a pile of leaves and soft forest earth, and closed her eyes