Present day...

"Go back to where you came from, whore!" a voice yelled from one of the cars streaming past. Claire's eyes immediately locked on the candy apple red Camaro and its passengers before it started to become a dot on the horizon.

A low rumble escaped from her mouth. Just ignore it, Claire thought. She tried desperately to sooth her inner wolf, at least enough to where she didn't want to chase after them and rip them to shreds.

After a few moments, she managed to unclench her fists. Claire hated this. Hated that she had to constantly calm down the beast inside her because people found it amusing to make fun of her. While her human half had moved past it, barely caring what people said anymore, her wolf half loathed the fact that people would dare try and cross her.

But there was nothing she could do about it.

Claire walked along the side of the road towards home. It was a little over a mile to get from her house to school and vice versa. Not a really long walk when she could transform into a fast-running, stamina-crazy beast, but at least in her human form, the walk went by a little slower.

The cluster of trees that started a few feet down from the embankment accompanied her on her trek home. Trees were everywhere here in their little town. On every street corner, in every front yard. There were more signs of nature here than people.

Claire didn't mind. In fact, she loved nature. It was a part of her, part of her home. She loved the way the birds sang early in the morning. The way nature never slept—always making beautiful sounds, forming wondrous melodies even in the darkness of night.

What she loved most of all, though, was the ground itself. The way the dirt came up slightly under her paws when she ran and played. How the twigs snapped and cracked when she stepped on them. And even in the morning, she adored the coolness of the ground before the sun had a chance to rise and heat it up.

"Care!" Charlie, her six-year-old brother, yelled as she walked through their front door. As he'd grown up, Charlie had had a problem pronouncing her name right. It'd been so long now, the nickname had stuck. She actually sort of loved it.

He launched himself at her with all the force a tiny, not-yet-shifted werewolf could. Luckily, like every day when she came home from school, she was ready. Catching him easily, Claire grinned at her adopted brother.

"Care, you missed it! Jackie and I painted and then we played with playdoh!" Charlie proclaimed, bursting with excitement.

"Is that right?" Claire asked him softly, clicking on the tiny living room lights before leading Charlie into the kitchen. "Well, were you sure to tell her 'thank you?'"

Charlie's lips turned into a small round 'O.'

She chuckled. "Yeah, that's what I thought."

Upon entering the kitchen, Claire gently nudged him in the direction of Jackie, his nanny, who was currently washing some dishes in their rusting sink.

Charlie rushed over and wrapped his arms around Jackie. With his smaller Omega size, he barely came up to her waist. "Thank you, Jackie."

The older woman peered down at Charlie with a forced smile on her face. "Of course, Charlie."

The air in the kitchen picked up weight and tension. Claire could practically feel how much trouble Jackie had holding herself together. "Charlie, can you do me a favor and give Claire and I a second to talk?" Jackie asked.

Claire gave her brother a confirming nod. Reluctantly Charlie agreed and slowly headed up to his room, dragging his feet the whole way. Jackie and Claire didn't start talking until they heard the click of Charlie's bedroom door.

Jackie dried her hands with a frustration and anger Claire had never seen from her before. Granted, the graying-haired woman wasn't often sunshine and rainbows, but she wasn't a terror either. An elder of the pack, she had been watching Charlie for their family for quite a while now. Never had Claire thought there'd be a serious problem.

"Is everything okay?" Claire's eyebrows scrunched together in concern.

"No. No, it's not." Jackie ran a hand over her face, "I can't do it. I can't do it anymore. I've been holding everything in, hoping the next day would be better, but it only ends up worse. I'm done."

Claire's stomach dropped. "Surely you're not talking about quitting."

"That's exactly what I'm talking about. I can't take this anymore!"

"But Jackie, Charlie's a great kid, and I know sometimes he might be a little troublesome—"

"It's not about Charlie. It's about you and your parents." Jackie was absolutely livid now. "I cannot sit around all day watching that child. I am supposed to be the help, not his parent."

"But—"

"I am the babysitter." She stabbed a thumb at her chest. "I watch Charlie for a few hours, I clean the house, I get paid, I go home. It is that simple. Somehow you and your parents do not understand that. Services aren't free around here, Claire."

When was the last time Jackie had been paid? Cole said— "Jackie, if you'd just let me talk to Cole and Marie, I'm sure I can make sure that something like this never happens again—"

"It won't happen again because I won't be here to see it. I quit." She huffed and snatched up her purse and keys on the table. With determined steps, she began heading to the door.

"Jackie, wait!" Claire followed her to the door. "Can't we just work this out? Please?"

"Not a chance."

"Please, Jackie?" Claire's tone turned desperate. "You're our last chance here."

Jackie swung open the door and took one step into the outside world before turning around. "You Omega's aren't good enough for this pack anyway. It shows in the way Charlie acts. None of you listen to orders well and you don't ever give money to help the pack. I hope my quitting teaches you all a lesson: you can't take advantage of a pack member." Without hesitation, Jackie stepped down the crumbling porch steps and to her shiny Volvo.

Claire shut the door carefully, wincing as it creaked. She listened to Jackie's car rumble as it drove down the street. Resting her forehead on the door, eyes closed, she let out a quivering sigh. Damn it, damn it, damn it. Even if she wanted to, she didn't have any money to pay Jackie for helping out. Could it get any worse?

"Care?" Charlie's small voice asked. His tone wavered, like he was fighting back tears himself. "Care, I'm sorry."

Claire took in her little brother as he came down the stairs, her eyes locking on his shaking bottom lip. She wasted no time at all in picking the boy up and holding him close, inhaling his warm and calming scent. "It's not your fault, Charlie. Jackie just wasn't the right babysitter for us, is all."

"Mommy's gonna be so mad at me." Clear tears started to drip down the boy's face.

Claire hushed the child, cooing sweet words into his ear. "It is not your fault, Charlie. Do you hear me? This is not your fault. This one's on me, Cole, and Marie."

Little Charlie's eyes were red as he sobbed in Claire's arms. The sounds of his sniffles pierced Claire's heart and made her hold him to her chest tighter.

The two siblings sat by the front door for a while. Claire waited patiently while Charlie cried. No matter how many times she told him that none of this was his fault, he still sobbed. Claire knew she couldn't quiet him either. It was something only time or his mother could do. She understood. She was exactly the same.

Except Charlie's mother wasn't going to be home for still quite a while, so she had to step up and rise to the challenge.

Claire ran a hand over Charlie's blond curls. "It'll be okay, Charlie. This just means you'll get to see more of me from now on. We're going to be buddies."

Charlie rubbed at his cheeks. "You promise you won't leave me?"

Without hesitation, Claire replied, "I will never leave you, Charlie."

And that would be a promise she would keep even until her last breath. Because Charlie was the closest thing to family she'd ever had, and she would never ditch family.

***

It wasn't until nearly eight o'clock when she finally got Charlie to fall asleep.

Claire hugged the storybook to her chest and closed her eyes. Exhaustion ran through her whole entire body. She wanted nothing more than to fall asleep here next to Charlie and stay asleep for years and years.

But she couldn't.

Reluctantly, Claire slid off of Charlie's rickety old bed they'd gotten at a garage sale and quietly tiptoed to the door. She whispered a quick goodnight to the little sleeping boy and flicked off the lights.

It was getting dark outside—the wondrous darkness that the beast inside her coveted so much. The wolf wanted nothing more than to run amuck in the forest, leaving her scent anywhere and everywhere to show the rest of her kind in this territory that this secluded area was nobody's but hers. The itch to let out the wolf was something fierce. It had been at least a week now since she'd last had the chance to be free, and Claire didn't know how much longer she'd be able to keep the other half of her subdued.

After grabbing and heating up a little cup of Easy Mac in the microwave, Claire headed off to her bedroom to get started on her numerous homework assignments.

With an exasperated sigh, she sat down on her bedroom floor and scattered her homework out around her. She got to work, even though the entire time her brain protested.

Hours and numerous homework assignments later, Claire dropped her Pre-Calculus book to the cluttered floor. She needed to cool down. Her brain just couldn't do any more. The wheels in her head were squeaking and smoking from too much use.

Claire got up slowly, her bones creaking and her muscles complaining. Running a hand through her hair, she grabbed a towel from the hallway closet and headed off downstairs to the only bathroom their home contained.

She slipped into the shower, cranking the heat up almost to unbearable levels. As a wolf, her body automatically ran at a temperature higher than normal. Unlike most wolves, Claire always had this natural draw to anything warm. Her favorite season was summer and truth be told, if she could live in a world where summer was the only season, she'd do it in a heartbeat.

Claire stepped out of the shower, wrapping the towel tight to her body. Her long hair dripped water down onto the tile as she looked into the old mirror. Her own pretty face stared back at her. Her normally reddish auburn hair matted to her head and wet strands of it hung down to her mid back.

Claire held some of that natural beauty often instilled in her kind. In her opinion she didn't have much, but it still was a bit more than what some others had been gifted with. Her green eyes stood out through the steam in the bathroom. They were the first thing most people noticed after her hair. She had somewhat prominent cheekbones, but her nose didn't quite fit her face and her pores always looked like craters.

There were some girls in her pack that could make every single guy stop and look just by entering the room. She'd seen it happen before. Most girls of her kind often had the potential to become models, celebrities, and actresses if they really wanted to.

At one point in her life, Claire treasured her average looks. It made it easy for her to blend in amongst the humans, unlike all the other wolves whose beauty and graceful stance stood out. But in her world, the one filled with werewolves—the one that actually counted—she was the one who stood out. Almost painfully, her fair skin, medium height, and scattering of freckles along her nose made her the laughingstock of the pack. The Omega status didn't help either.

"Come on, Claire, suck it up," she told herself, and ran her fingers through her hair.

She scrambled through her drawers searching for something clean to wear for bed. After she'd pretty much uprooted her entire drawer, she finally found a clean shirt. Granted, it had a few small holes in it, but nonetheless, it was clean.

It was hard to find a shirt of hers without holes and tears in it these days.

She threw on the t-shirt and a pair of plain grey sweats and headed back off to her room to attempt her homework again. Her stomach was growling from lack of food, but there wasn't much she could get from the kitchen. Anything in the fridge Charlie would need for breakfast tomorrow. Charlie needed the food more than she did.

***

Her alarm clock read 12:30 when she heard it.

Claire looked up from her homework, cocking her head slightly at a sound. There it was again. A creak of the front porch.

She hopped up, forgetting all about her homework and grabbing the bat by her bed. It was heavy in her hand. The weight of it relieved her slightly, making her more brave and ready to face whatever or whoever dared to try and mess with their family again.

She crept down the stairs, bat poised at the ready. Her mind whirled with the possibilities. Would they paintball their house again? Were they going to leave a decaying carcass at their doorstep? Did they have the gall to come in wolf form and try to attack?

Or worse—was it a rogue? Was Claire going to have to go through the Change in order to protect her foster brother and her foster family's home?

With her enhanced senses, Claire could hear footsteps on her porch. Two sets. She brought the bat further behind her head, her other arm slowly reaching to turn the knob.

The door swept open. Claire couldn't help but let out a soft shriek. Against all her training, she squeezed her eyes closed and swung.

The bat stopped abruptly, making contact. Claire opened her eyes, taking in the two forms standing in her doorway.

"Is this how you welcome us home, Clairebear?" a deep voice asked, laced with amusement.

As if a huge weight were taken from her, Claire dropped her shoulders with a relieved sigh. Her heart beat started to calm. "You scared me," she said weakly. "Next time you come home this late, you might want to give me a warning so I know it's you."

"Aww, but where's the fun in that, Clairebear?" Cole said as he dropped his hold on the bat and flicked on the nearest light.

Claire's adopted parents came into clearer view, their hospital scrubs a bit dirty from the trek home. Cole and Marie stood by their front door, staring at their daughter as if they'd never seen her before. Claire knew for a fact they've never seen her like this before. So stressed and at her wit's end.

Marie stepped closer to Claire, catching Claire's cheek in her palm. "Are you okay, honey? You were clutching that bat like you were ready to take out an army."

"I'm okay, Marie."

Cole peered at his daughter. "You sure, Clairebear? You're looking a bit paler than usual. I didn't think that was possible."

Claire snorted very unattractively. "Ha. You're so funny, Cole."

"You know, I've been home two minutes now and I've yet to get a hug from my favorite girl." His eyes squinted at the corners as he smiled down at Claire.

Claire immediately stepped forward into Cole's hug, allowing his warmth to flow into her. She wrapped her arms around his middle, holding onto him a bit tight. Cole fit her head under his chin as he hugged her. His natural scent soothed Claire's nerves.

He always reminded her of home.

After a bit, Claire reluctantly pulled back from the hug. "I'm sorry about this. I just—" Claire's voice cracked. She cleared her throat and tried again. "I just had to make sure they weren't going to try again."

Cole and Marie both knew she was referring to the incident.

Awhile back, her family was out for a walk through the forest like usual, only unlike usual, when they got back, they'd found their tiny home broken into. Everything was in shambles. Their cheap couches were ripped to shreds, windows shattered, bed sheets torn, plates broken, TVs and safes stolen, and even the mirrors cracked.

They were still paying for all the damages. In fact, Claire's last paycheck had gone towards a new microwave. Adam, the pack treasurer, said their check to cover the damage was still pending. And somehow, they were on their own to find the "culprits."

It had taken Claire three hours to get the spray painted words off the walls, none of them words she would ever dare to repeat.

She knew who it was responsible, though. And why they'd done it.

But Claire didn't have the guts to tell Cole and Marie that she was the reason it had happened in the first place. The guilt, though, was already starting to deteriorate her insides. And by Luna, she'd die trying to stop them if they ever attempted to attack her family like that again.

Marie's eyes became distant, no doubt remembering the horrendous state of her kitchen afterward. They still hadn't saved up enough money to buy a new kitchen table.

Cole smiled sadly at Claire. "Well, thank you for holding up the fort, Clairebear. You did a magnificent job."

Claire had seen that smile more times than she could count. These people were the closest she'd ever had to parents. They were everything she'd ever known. She could decipher every emotion, every thought from their facial expressions.

And Cole's sad smile always came out to play. He was more than likely upset that Claire had to question her and Charlie's safety. At the same time, he was proud of her for her quick actions and willingness to defend her family.

Claire sighed. "Not as well as I could have." She set down the bat so it leaned against the wall. "But before I get to the bad news, how was work?"

Marie threaded her hand through Cole's. "It was work. Not much happens when you're cleaning hospital patients."

Cole chuckled. "At least I didn't have to clean any catheters today."

Marie mock-glared at him. "Speak for yourself." She turned back to Claire. "It was work. Either way, we're still only pulling in the bare minimum."

Claire felt bad for Marie. She knew Marie wanted nothing more than to be a stay-at-home mom. She'd wanted it for as long as Claire could remember. Instead, she'd been forced to take any job she could in order to support their family. That job just happened to be part of the clean-up crew for the local hospital. Not the daytime clean-up crew either. The night time working-at-all-awful-hours-for-minimum-wage crew. Party of two.

The only good part of it was that she got to work with her husband.

Marie stared at Claire expectantly, waiting for her to share the bad news.

"Jackie quit today."

The room went dead silent, save for the crickets and rustling of branches from outside that she automatically picked up with her hearing.

Marie's blue eyes sparkled with frustration and Claire wanted nothing more than to be able to take the words back, if only to save her adoptive mother from the damage she knew Jackie's quitting would cause.

"I'm sorry." Claire could barely hear her own words. "I tried to stop her, except she was so dead-set on going. And I know this is bad, but I can ask my boss if I can start bringing Charlie in. Maybe I can just sit him in a booth or something and—"

"You shouldn't have to," Marie mumbled so softly, only someone with better hearing like Claire and Cole could pick it up.

Cole started rubbing gentle circles on his wife's back. "It's okay, darling, we'll figure this out. Let's just take everything slowly—"