A Place to Call Home

It wasn’t long before realization spread across Derek’s face and he looked at Dakota, nodding to himself as if silently agreeing with whatever decision he’d made.

“Okay, this is what we’re going to do,” Derek stated, “Stiles, I want you to take Dakota home and I will drop off some clothes for when she shifts back.”

“Derek...” Scott began to argue, falling silent when the alpha held up his hand and continued.

“There’s a pack meeting tonight and I want you both there,” Derek added, “It’s important that the pack knows her scent.”

“Okay,” Stiles agreed, motioning with his and leading Dakota back to the jeep.

She knew that there would be plenty of questions and that scared her, but not as much as being in her human form did. There was so much that she hadn’t experienced in her life, simple things such as sleeping in a bed, and the taste of human food.

‘I don’t know how to be human’ Dakota admitted quietly as she lay in Stiles' room a while later.

“You’re going to be okay, I’ll be here to help you,” Stiles reassured her, sitting on the bed and stroking her head.

Derek dropped by with some clothes an hour later and Stiles placed them on the bed, leaving her alone. The shift was slow and Dakota fell to her knees, fighting the urge to scream as pain ripped through her body. Sat on the floor after what felt like hours, she pushed herself to her feet with a grimace and got dressed.

“You can come in,” Dakota stated, sensing Stiles on the other side of the door and looking up as he entered.

“Are you okay?”

“I will be...”

It was soon time for them to head to the pack meeting and Dakota spent the ride over watching the scenery pass outside the window, surprised at how different the world looked through the eyes of her human form. Anxiety stirred in her chest as Stiles pulled up outside an apartment building, climbing out and taking in her surroundings.

She could sense the others as soon as they entered the building, eight strong heartbeats, and not all of them werewolves. Stood behind Stiles, Dakota watched the metal door that separated them from the others and flinched as it opened to reveal Derek.

“Come on in,” he said with an easy smile, stepping aside and letting them past, “This is the rest of the pack, Boyd, Isaac, Erica, Lydia, Allison, Jackson, and my sister, Cora.”

“Hi,” Dakota mumbled.

With everyone’s eyes on her, Dakota fought the urge to shift back into her wolf and run. She shifted awkwardly from one foot to the other, sticking close to where Stiles stood protectively in front of her and swallowing past the lump that had formed in her throat.

“You don’t have to be scared,” Cora told her softly, “We’re not going to hurt you... we want to help.”

“What do you want to know?” Dakota asked, directing the question mainly at Derek and waiting for an answer.

“Why don’t we start with the rest of your pack?”

“The people that I belong to call themselves the Circle, but it’s not a pack...”

“What do you mean the people you belong to?” Erica added with a frown.

“The Circle leaders,” Dakota explained, “They are the masters of the wolves, they own them and create the laws by which their members live.”

“How did you get involved with them?” Isaac inquired.

“My parents were captured when my mum was pregnant, so I was born into it,” Dakota answered, hating having to talk about her parents, “The leaders call my kind shelter wolves because we’re born in captivity.”

“Is that why you’ve never been in your human form?” Derek stated.

“Shelter wolves are not permitted to shift.”

Dakota knew that there was a lot that the pack wouldn’t understand and she was prepared to explain, but any further questions would have to wait as the sound of a car pulling up to the building caught her attention.