I wheezed, trying to breathe and laugh at the same time.

“What the fuck?” Angus hollered, his face red. He was pissed. He glared at his pack. They stared at the pigeons.

“Well?” my father said, disgusted. “Do something!”

The pack quieted, for a minute perplexed. Then a few enterprising souls started climbing the support beams. I used the distraction to roll to my feet.

A noise cut through the clamor then, the high, trilling song of a phoenix. Dammit burst through one of the windows, a fireball come to earth. He screeched, pulling up in the air, wings out. Flames licked his sides, his wings. He screamed again, unleashing his pigeon army upon my father’s pack.

As one, the birds took flight, dive-bombing the crowd. Harassing the few that tried to climb up to the rafters. I watched, a feeling of joy filling my aching chest.

The barn doors burst open then, the rest of my pack running in, coming to my rescue. I laughed when I suddenly realized there wasn’t a single shifter among them. My pack was a motley bunch of mages, elementists, ferrets, and even a baby bird. And that was okay.

They didn’t need to be shifters.

They just needed to be mine. Like I needed to be theirs.

I didn’t have a chance to bask in the warmth of it all. Angus decided he’d had enough interruptions. He came at me swinging, his face twisted in rage.

I cut away from another punch, but not quite fast enough. His fist clipped my side, sending me spinning. I moved with the motion, ducking down and sweeping out with my leg. He hit the ground, but rolled into the fall, springing to his feet smoothly. Angus brought his arms up, ready to block, but he was eyeing me a little more cautiously now. I must have surprised him.

As we circled each other carefully, chaos reigned, spilling out of the barn. Trick grabbed handfuls of Dammit’s flame, arcing it around him like a whip. Sidney, her former leash wrapped around a man’s throat as she clung to his back. He shifted to wolf, losing her only to get a face full of Zoey’s snarling maw.

Mama Ami, arms wide, sent a flock of pigeons surging toward Eva. They battered her with their wings, scratching her face as she screamed. Bay stood behind his mom, protecting her back, a rusty pitchfork in hand. I couldn’t see Lou, Vanessa, or Will, though I knew they were around somewhere.

Again my dad came at me. I dropped down, barely avoiding a right cross that would have hurt, but didn’t miss my father’s knee. Pain flared as he connected with my ribs. I ignored the pain as I pushed forward, knocking him off me.

Angus circled again, laughing, his stance loose and ready. Confident. He was the stronger wolf here.

Physically. My wolf chuffed. We are faster. Smarter. Better hunters.

He had a pack of actual shifters. I had…ferrets.

We can do a lot with ferrets, my wolf reminded me, his voice filled with pride. Our pack is strong and wise. Look how they fight.