Luna of the Free Wolf Shifter Land

Raven

The scent of the human territory, Edrin, reaches us long before the trees begin to thin, carrying chimney smoke, horses, and the faint smell of people through the night air. I keep my paws moving beneath me, following Sera as she leads our small group through the forest, while Jacob and Felix stay several yards behind us so we don't draw attention to ourselves if anyone happens to be watching from the border.

“We're getting close,” Sera says through the mind-link. “The border is just ahead, so stay low until we reach the treeline.”

“We’ll shift there and then try to blend in,” I add.

My team knows why this mission matters to me. They know I've spent years searching for my twin sister, Winter, and they know that every time Wildhaven Pack receives word about another collection of human records, I am the first person asking whether anyone has found a name, merchant’s record, transfer document, or breeder document that could tell us where she was taken.

We were only pups when Winter and I were separated, and now we're twenty-one. I've spent most of my life searching for her, refusing to let myself believe she's gone when I have never had any proof that she isn't still alive somewhere, trapped in the life that was forced on her.

“We’re here,” Sera says.

The trees ahead are sparse enough for us to see the first lights of the human territory beyond them.

“That's Edrin,” I say. “And the records we're looking for are in an office building at the center of town. We’ll have to be careful. It’s not a huge city, and people might be suspicious of outsiders.”

“We only shift if it’s life or death. Shifting might mean being killed,” Sera reminds the group.

“Our contact confirmed the records are still in the territory office,” I send. “He's one of the humans helping shifters escape, and he was able to see the ledgers before they were moved into the restricted archives. He said he saw my sister’s name.”

I slow as we approach the edge of the trees, following Sera as she leads us toward the place where we've planned to shift before entering Edrin. I drop my satchel beside me, and we spread out enough to give each other privacy while we shift and get dressed.

The familiar pain of bones rearranging and fur receding moves through me. A few seconds later, I'm standing barefoot beside my pack, and I crouch to open the satchel and pull out the clothes I packed before leaving Wildhaven.

I get dressed quickly, tying my boot laces before slinging the satchel over my shoulder. Around me, the others finish dressing as well.

Jacob looks toward the town. “We should be able to reach the office building without drawing too much attention if we act like we belong.”

“That's what we're counting on,” Sera says. “Once we're inside, we find the merchant’s records and take whatever we can carry.”

Felix looks at me. “I really hope you find something to help find your sister tonight.”

I nod. “Thank you. Me, too.”

Jacob finishes securing his satchel and looks toward Sera. “Once we're inside, do we stay together?”

“No, we have to split up. We'll cover more ground,” Sera says. “If the records are organized the way our contact described, we’ll know where everything is.”

Felix nods. “That should give us more time to search.”

I begin to feel antsy. “Let's go,” I say.

We leave the forest and make our way into Edrin, blending in with the few people still moving through the streets at this hour. We keep our pace unhurried as we follow the road toward the records office, looking like anyone else who has somewhere to be.

A man coming from the opposite direction looks at the four of us as he passes. His eyes stay on us, and a jolt of fear runs through me when I realize he's about to speak. I can only hope he doesn't notice we aren't from Edrin.

“You heading to the pub?” he asks.

“Yes,” Sera answers without hesitation.

He nods toward the street ahead. “Brilliant. They’ve got live music up there tonight.”

“Sounds like we picked the right night,” Sera says, smiling at him.

He gives us a quick smile before continuing on. We keep walking, but my pulse takes a little longer to slow.

“I thought he was going to ask where we were from,” Jacob says.

“So did I,” I admit. “Sera, you handled that incredibly, as usual.”

“Thanks, Bestie.”

I smile at her and then look ahead at the records office as we keep walking toward it. When we reach the alley in the back, Sera leads us around the side of the property, where the fence surrounding it meets an older section of the town buildings.

Jacob climbs the fence first, then Felix leaps over before Sera and I follow. Once we're inside the grounds, we cross behind a line of bushes and reach the rear entrance.

Sera pulls a hairpin from her curls and kneels at the lock. “Cover me.”

I turn toward the grounds while she works the metal into the lock, keeping my attention on the surrounding buildings and listening for anyone approaching. The mechanism gives with a faint click, and Sera eases the door open. We slip inside.

The records are kept in the basement, but finding the way down takes longer than expected. We search two corridors before Sera notices a narrow stairwell tucked behind a door near the end of the second one. We descend into a room lined with shelves and stacked with wooden boxes.

Felix lights a match and then finds a lamp sitting on a table. He lights it, but it barely illuminates the room. “How are we supposed to know which ones we need?” he asks.

“We don't,” I say. “Spread out and search by year first.”

Sera points toward the shelves. “We must just take everything from the year Winter was sold.”

We work quickly, opening boxes, sliding ledgers into our satchels, and gathering loose papers by the handful.

Jacob reaches for another stack. “These are all breeder contracts.”

“Take them,” I whisper.

A sound comes from above us as footsteps cross the floor overhead, and we all freeze.

“What do we do?” Jacob asks.

“We're going to get caught,” Felix says.

I glance toward the stairs, my heart pounding as the footsteps continue overhead.

I sweep my gaze across the basement until I notice tiny windows set high in the wall.

“The window,” I send.

Voices join the footsteps above us, muffled through the ceiling but close enough to make my stomach roll over.

Quickly, we move beneath the window. Jacob gives Sera a boost and she climbs through first, then reaches back down to help him up. He takes her hands and pulls himself through before reaching down for Felix. Once he is outside, they pull me through, passing our satchels up ahead of us so none of the papers are lost.

We sling our satchels over our shoulders and move quickly toward the fence, keeping low so no one inside the office looks out and sees us. Then we jump back over the fence and run into the back alley, staying close to the buildings as we hurry through Edrin without drawing attention. Every sound behind us makes me tense, and I’m expecting a guard or a soldier to come after us at any moment.

We keep moving until we reach the edge of town and the trees give us cover.

Once inside the forest, we drop our satchels to the ground.

“Let's shift here—fast,” Sera says.

I step behind a cluster of trees and remove my clothes, shoving them into my satchel with the papers. I shift into my wolf form, and Sera undresses and secures both satchels to my back, fastening the straps so they won't slip while we run. Once they're secure, Sera shifts into her wolf form beside me.

Jacob and Felix have done the same, emerging from the trees in wolf form. Again, we disappear into the forest.

The four of us don't stop running until we're safely back in our own territory. Near the border, we make our way toward the cabin where Martha and Thomas Meadows live.

“We're almost back,” Sera sends through the mind-link.

“All right. We'll be waiting for you,” Martha replies.

We follow the path to the cabin, where Thomas opens the door for us. “Come in. It's good to see you’ve returned unharmed.”

We step inside, and the smell of stew fills the cabin as Thomas closes the door behind us.

“You must be hungry and tired,” he says. “Go ahead and shift. Martha’s got some supper ready for you.”

We split up into separate rooms to shift and dress. When we return, Martha is ladling stew into bowls on the table while Thomas sets out spoons and bread.

“Let's see what you brought back,” he says, smiling.

We sit down at the table, take the records out of our packs, and begin sorting through them. There are hundreds of pages filled with names, dates, breeders, and records of transfers.

Sera sits beside me. “We're going to be here all night.”

“Where do we even start?” Jacob asks.

“Anywhere. Just look for her name,” I reply.

We search for hours, eating bowls of Martha's stew between stacks of pages and passing records back and forth as we work. The cabin grows quieter as the night wears on, with only the scrape of spoons against bowls and the occasional crackle from the fire breaking the silence.

Most of the names mean nothing to me. I read them anyway, forcing myself to remember anything that might matter.

Then Sera turns a page and gasps. I look up and watch her fingers tighten around the paper.

“What is it?” I ask.

She slowly turns the ledger toward me.

I move my eyes down the page, and the second name catches my attention. I read it again, my heart bursting out of my chest. Winter's name is listed as a breeder beneath that of the merchant she was sold to, and now we finally have the name of the person who might still have her.

My hands begin to shake as I stare at the page, and tears blur the words in front of me. After all these years, I finally have something that could lead me not on another wild goose chase—but straight to my sister.