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looked out into the garden and the woodland beyond. They were worth exploring. I rolled my eyes at myself and tried to make myself focus. This wasn't about exploring or finding potential new shiny things. I walked down the wide hallway on the second floor as quickly as I could for fear that I'd have to interact with one of the cubs.  
    I was torn between forcing them all to shower so they were clean (wolves never were properly clean) and pinning them down to make things clear from the outset. They were clearly disobedient, untrained, and disrespectful. I opted for walking quickly, keeping my eyes forward to stop myself from checking for shinies, and looking for the stairs up to my new domain.  
    A black door stood at the end of the hallway, a complete contrast to the crisp white doors lining it. I smiled - a nice clear marker, then. Alex had decided to follow me by that point and stood far too close as I opened the door and jogged up the spiral staircase. I hated those things, they were a nightmare when drunk, but if they gave me more space of my own I wouldn't argue (too much).  
    I stood in a very spacious, open-plan room with landscape windows, skylights, and two queen-sized beds. The ceiling fell away slightly to the right, giving the room an interesting architecture. I assumed that the bed to my left, the one sitting between me and the door I guessed was to the bathroom, was Alex's. I smiled to myself and strode over to the other one, tucked under the sloping ceiling with a skylight overhead. I'd chosen my bed, whether Alex liked it or not. He stood in the middle of the room while I poked at the bed. It wasn't bad, a little harder than I'd usually like, but I'd live.  
    I heard his quiet laughter before he said, "Welcome to your new home."
    I curbed the desire to curl my lip and continued to ignore him. I'd deal with him at a later date. I had a much more important thing to be concerned with. Sleep. It'd been a long day, my muscles ached, and I was not amused by my new situation. The cubs were exactly that. They didn’t even have the basics, such as hiding their energies, down. They were also clearly an established group unto themselves, which I would have to try and break into and then form bonds with. I wasn’t ready to deal with something so unpleasant. I wasn’t even sure that they were worth it.  
    The entire thing was crying out for sleep. I carefully placed my bags down next to the bed and set about making it just so. It kept my mind off the problems at hand, off all of the hard work, pain, and heartache I’d have to go through with the cubs that I hadn’t even chosen myself. For three strangers who could be worthless to me, that had been forced on me. I bundled up the duvets, blankets, and pillows and made myself a nice comfortable nest. A safe place to ignore my surroundings, and Alex.
    The irritating nervousness I felt at his seeing me in my underwear as I stripped down ate at me. I was careful not to disturb the bandages, and shifted my jaguar tail and claws. I curled up in the middle of my nest, wrapped my tail around me, and smiled for the first time in a long time. I hated the situation, I would curse the Wyrd Sisters for years to come, but I finally had the freedom and safety to be myself.  

    ** ** **

    I woke up feeling refreshed and relatively calm. I would live, but still I growled to myself when I remembered exactly what had happened. What I had been dropped into. I couldn’t help feeling like it was a punishment. There was pleasure to be had in carefully hand-picking my pack, making them come together in unity. They had denied me that. I pushed my mind onto happier things, stretched languorously, and rolled onto my back to gaze through the skylight to the stars overhead. I'd missed them, their peaceful and calming wisdom. It was shattered by Alex. He sat on the edge of my bed, and I studiously ignored him while I tried to keep the raven up front for fear that the jaguar would go straight