“So,” the stranger said sitting across from Lowell without waiting for invitation, “I hear you’re a journalist looking for information on my pack, is that right?”
Lowell wasn’t stupid. He knew when he was facing an alpha, and this man was definitely one. But the knowledge didn’t help. If he admitted to being a journalist, the alpha would run him out of town. If he denied it however, he’d need to explain what he was doing here. And if there was one thing Lowell was certain about, it was that he couldn’t tell the truth. Oh, he was from naive, he knew his father would be on the lookout for him. Also, the man would do anything to incriminate Lowell and get out of any charges. There was no way Lowell could give his real name to the man before him. Not knowing what else to do, Lowell decided to go with his gut feeling and lie his ass off.
“Actually, I’m not,” he said calmly. “Although if that’s what your people thought, then it explains why they weren’t very forthcoming.
“Not a journalist? Well, then I’m even more concerned. Why are you inquiring about my pack? We don’t take kindly to people prying into our business!” the man said with a low growl. Lowell had a quick random thought, wondering about the man’s accent, but he quickly dismissed it.
“The truth is,” he said, “I came here looking for a job. I thought maybe I could find something with the local pack.”
“It’s a bit unusual, isn’t it? A human looking for a job in a shifter pack?” the man asked suspiciously.
“While that might be normally true, my situation is rather complicated.” Lowell paused and thought for a minute about how to continue. The best lie was one that had a grain of truth in it. Shifter’s ability to literally sniff out lies aside, it was easier to remember your fibs, when they were as close to the truth as possible. Lowell knew, that a shifter could only smell lies, when they were really close to you, sniffing with their nose to your skin. The minute changes in a person’s scent could only be detected from such a close distance. Staying as close to the truth as possible though, was still in his best interest. So he dug back into his past reviving the online identity he’d created in his activist years. To his knowledge his father never knew about it. “I used to be a rather well known online activist for shifter’s rights,” Lowell said. “In recent years I haven’t been doing much of that due to my personal situation. I still managed to anger some pretty powerful people who are out to get me. I am in a bit of a pickle really. I can’t go to any o the places where they’d look for me. So I decided to hide somewhere the people looking for me would never think to check.” Lowell paused, letting the man consider what he said.
“Why hide in a shifter pack then. Wouldn’t they think that’s exactly where you’d hide?” The dark haired man asked.
“No, that’s just it. I am known as the very human shifters’ rights activist. That’s what gave me the edge over shifters fighting for the same cause.” That and him having been the son of a well known politician, Lowell thought. It was long time ago, though. In his online activities he had never revealed his true name. He was known as MerelyHumanVoice19. He knew there were still people in the community who remembered him and his efforts.
“And so you want to bring risk to my pack by hiding here?” The man still sounded suspicious. Lowell decided to ease up a bit. He sighed then said.
“While I don’t think you’d be in any danger, I can understand your concern. You were simply the first pack I encountered in my travel. I thought it couldn’t hurt to try.” Lowell finished and took a sip of his beer. The man watched him closely for a long time. Finally, he asked slowly.
“Would you be willing to let me smell you?”
“You mean you want to sniff out the truth?” Lowell laughed. “Sure, why not.” He shrugged even as his heart picked up. He never had anyone but Purr sniff him and he wasn’t sure he was going to like it. It seemed to intimate, to close to cheating on Purr, in Lowell’s opinion. But it might have also been his only chance of getting closer to the pack and discovering what happened to Purr.
The man got up and gestured for Lowell to do the same. Lowell did as asked and the man stepped closer to him. He was big, towering over Lowell’s slim frame. He grabbed Lowell’s chin and tilted his head to the side, before lowering his nose to the crook of Lowell’s neck.
“You seem nervous,” he murmured into Lowell’s skin.
“Yeah,” Lowell’s chuckle had a nervous edge to it. “I’m not used to having a shifter with big, sharp teeth so near my artery.”
“Fair enough,” the man stated, then asked “What is your online identity?”
“I’m known as MerelyHumanVoice19.” Lowell’s answer was firm.
“Why are you in hiding?”
“I’m running from some really powerful people, I don’t want them finding me.”
“And why did you came to my pack?” on this question Lowell hesitated.
“I...” he swallowed loudly then answered “I want to hide among shifters and your pack is first I came across.”
The man released him and stepped away, his expression betraying nothing. Lowell sighed with relief. Having the shifter at his neck was more uncomfortable than he thought. He could feel his skin beginning to itch and he brought his hand to the place the man sniffed in a protective gesture. It’s been necessary, but he never wanted any other shifter than Purr around his neck!
“Fine,” the man said. “I do have a job to offer, but I’ll warn you, it’s not easy.”
“That’s fine,” Lowell answered trying to contain his excitement, “I don’t mind. I can work hard!”
“Well, that’s good then, because this job will be difficult in more ways than one.” He then turned around and said over his shoulder. “Follow me, we’ll discuss this further in the Pack Leader’s house.”
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