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"Comfy there, Mel?" He asked as he pat my belly. He walked off and put a shirt on.

"Hop on." He said and I quickly jumped on his shoulders. I like it up here, it makes me feel not as small as I usually am. My tail was flicking around as he walked down the stairs.

"Hey. What's for dinner?" Jack asked the ladies that were fluttered around the kitchen.

"Wait and see." One of them said without turning around.

"Do you think we could get an extra plate of meat for tonight?" Jack asked.

"Sure. Who is it for?" A different one asked, not turning around yet again.

"Melody." He said and I let out a yip. The women instantly spun around and stared at me with wide eyes before breaking into huge smiles.

"Aww!" They all said in unison. One of the ladies held something out to me and I sniffed it. Meat. I quickly wolfed it down.

"When's Derek coming back?" Jack asked them.

"He should be back tomorrow." One of them said as she fed me another piece of meat. Jack whisked around the kitchen as he helped plate up dozens of meals. I wonder who Derek is. One of the women ran a bell and soon what sounded like a thousand pairs of feet (when it would probably only 30) came through the pack house and gathered in a room, I'm guessing the dining room. The plates were lined up on the bench and another bell was rung. Jack grabbed two plates (one for him and one for me) and walked into the dining room just as heaps of people came rushing out. He sat down close to the end of the table and I jumped down on to the floor and dug into my food. Goddamn this tastes amazing. I was situated right next to the chair at the head of the table. I lifted my head and I caught a scent. I crept closer to the chair as sniffed all around it. There was something about the scent that was bothering me. I let it go and went back to my food just as everyone else came in to the room and sat down. They chatted noisily and you could hear the occasional laugh echo throughout the room. When I was done I hopped on to Jack's lap and tapped his jawline with my paw. He looked down at me with a grin.

"What's up?" He asked and I sniffed at his plate. I let out a whine when I saw that it was empty.

"Does anyone have any meat left that they'd be able to spare?" Jack called out.

"Yeah I do." A female voice called out.

"Go get it." Jack said to me and I jumped on to the table. Children squealed in delight and adults gasped as I ran down the table. I stopped in front of the girl that called out and she looked at me in awe. She pushed her chair back a little and I jumped into her lap. She fed me her meat while she stroked my fur.

"Does it have a name?" She called out to Jack.

"Yeah. Her name's Melody." Jack replied and the girl repeated it to herself. I heard a door slam open and I jumped off her lap and hid under the table in fright. I ran back to Jack's feet and climbed up into his lap before curling into a ball and hiding behind my tail. I heard heavy footsteps and I hightailed it out of there. I jumped off his lap and ran as fast as I could upstairs and to his room. I hid under the covers.

"Hey Derek. You're home early." I heard Jack say.

"Yeah I wasn't needed any longer." A new person said. I heard someone sniffing the air.

"Is there someone new in the pack house?" Derek asked and I froze.

"There's Melody." The girl from before said.

"Melody!" I heard Jack calling me but I didn't move.

"I'll be back." Jack said and I heard him walking. Soon he was standing right beside the bed. He pulled the covers away to reveal my tiny body.

"Come on, Melody. Time to go downstairs." He said before reaching towards me. I bared my teeth and growled at him. I don't want to meet the new person.

"Fine." He said before walking away. He did something in the kitchen and soon the smell of fresh meat wafted to my nose. Before I could stop myself I had jumped out of the bed and raced downstairs. I leapt on to the bench and on to his shoulders, snatching the meat from his hand. I felt him walking as I devoured the delicious flesh. I heard someone gasp and I looked up to meet the eyes of someone I hadn't seen before. I had one word floating around in my head and I didn't want to accept it. I jumped down from Jack's shoulders and raced back up the stairs. I ran into a random room and hid under the bed.

No.

I don't want this.

"Someone find that damn fox!" Someone shouted and their voice sent a shiver down my spine. I heard the scrambling of feet going all over the pack house. I silently crept towards the door of the room I went in to. I listened carefully for anyone near me. When I couldn't hear anyone I made a mad dash for the front door. When I got close I jumped and wrapped my tiny paws around the doorknob, swinging my body and managing to pull the door open. I dropped down and ran into the night air. I heard a howl before the thundering of paws sounded behind me. I spared a glance back and my heart leapt to my throat when I saw a huge dark brown wolf chasing after me.

I was small and quick so I managed to get into the forest before he did but I still wasn't out of the territory. All of a sudden he was over me and he dropped his heavy body on me. I struggled to get free. This is the only time where I curse being so small. He growled and I ceased struggling. He moved off me briefly and grabbed the scruff of my neck in his jaws. He began walking back to the pack house with my tail dragging along the ground. He picked up his speed and he trod on my tail, making me yip in pain. He nudged the front door open with his nose and people watched in curiosity as he took my small body up the stairs. He dropped my on the bed, shifted back and quickly locked the door so I couldn't escape. I went under the bed and curled myself into another ball. He grabbed a pair of pants and pulled them on before sitting on the bed. I slowly unrolled myself and poked my head out. I looked up to see the guy looked down at me.

"I won't hurt you." He said. He slowly put his hand down and I sniffed at it. He's killed people, that's for sure but it was a long time ago. I looked back at him to see him looking down at me. I don't think he wants to hurt me. I slowly came out of hiding and jumped on to the bed. I approached him slowly and sniffed him. I put my paw on him to get closer but I pulled it away with a surprised bark when I felt intense sparks. I forgot about those. I sat down and wrapped my fluffy tail around my paws as I watched him closely.

"I'm mated to an animal." He sighed as he ran his hand down his face. I got up from my spot and walked up to him. I surprised him by rubbing my furry face against the underside of his chin. He stroked the length of my back and I purred.

"What am I going to do?" He asked himself. He suddenly got off the bed and walked towards the door. I took a running start and jumped, landing on his shoulders and making myself comfortable. He chuckled quietly and he kept on walking. As he kept on going, I grew more confused as to where he was going. He pushed open a set of large wooden doors to reveal and older couple standing in the middle of the room talking with each other.

"Derek? Why did you call us here?" The man asked. So this was Derek.

"This is Melody." He said as he gestured to me. I raised my head and the couple's eyes widened.

"I thought it was dead." The man whispered and the woman nodded in agreement.

"She is my mate." Derek said in a quieter voice. The room was dead silent. All of a sudden the couple began to laugh loudly.

"That's a good one, Derek. I haven't laughed this had in ages." The woman wheezed.

"I'm not joking." Derek told them but they kept laughing like they didn't hear him. I nuzzled his jawline and he leant into me. I turned back to the couple and let out a bark. That got their attention back to us and their laughter died down. They saw Derek's serious face and they completed sobered up.

"You can't be serious, Derek. She's just a dumb animal." The man said and Derek growled.

"I don't care what she is. She is my mate for god's sake. I don't know how it happened but I'm not going to question it." He told them.

"How are you going to have pups? Can't you just take a she-wolf from the pack to be your Luna?" The woman asked and it was my turn to growl. The looked at me in surprise and I buried my face into Derek's neck.

"No I won't. We'll deal with the pup issue when the time comes. Now that you're up to speed, you can go." Derek said and they walked out. He walked over to the large desk and collapsed into the chair. I spotted a laptop on the desk. I hopped off his shoulders and walked up to it. I sat down and used my nose to tap the keys.

"Melody? What are you doing?" He asked. I moved to the side and he read the message I wrote out loud.

"'I'm a shifter'. What? Really?" You could hear the hope in his voice. I nodded and he grinned widely before frowning.

"Why do you stay in that form then? Why are you a fox?" He asked quickly. I turned back to the computer and slowly answered his questions. He read them out loud again.

"'I'm hate my human form and I don't know why I'm a fox'. Why don't you like your human form?" He asked and I typed again.

"'In my fox form I'm always safe. I feel exposed and at risk when I'm in my human form, regardless of where I am'." He read. It's true. When I'm in my human form I can't help but feel like I'm in constant danger.

"Is your name actually 'Melody'?" He asked and I nodded.

"Do you think you'd be comfortable enough to shift into your human form now?" He asked and I was still for a few seconds before shaking my head.

"That's ok. There's no rush." He said and I looked at him in surprise. I thought he would have gotten me to shift regardless whether I wanted to or not.

"How about we go to bed?" He suggested as he got up from the chair. I followed him out of the room and followed him to his room. I waited on the bed while he got changed. My mouth started to water when I saw his washboard abs. Goddamn they're perfect. He climbed into bed and I curled into his side, quickly falling asleep.