Chapter One

Niki Sokolof looked at the clutter surrounding her. While working, she hadn't realized just how much of a mess she had made. She didn't really want to clean it up as she had not yet fixed the problem, and she knew she'd only end up recreating the mess the next day. But somehow, she didn't think her boss would appreciate it if she left half of the hangar a mess.

And it wasn't like cleaning up would be a particularly difficult task. Not with her abilities. Using her telekinesis, she picked up all the tools and parts for the aircraft she had been working on. Instead of putting everything in its proper place, she simply moved it out of the way, leaving it easily accessible for when she returned to work. As she worked, she couldn't help but feel a bit sad about how things had turned out. This wasn't the work she'd always envisioned herself doing.

After being kicked out of the Anitreh, Commander Barton had managed to find her a position working as an aircraft mechanic. He had done more than enough to ensure that she would be okay, but Niki found herself still longing for the days of being an Anitreh. But had she been given a chance to do things over again, she wouldn't change a thing, because she knew her best friend was alive because of what she did. Or at least he was eight months ago.

She hadn't heard from Darius Laporte since her discharge, and it had only been one short note letting her know he was still alive – the official report claimed he had died and Niki had thought she lost him until Barton sent her a picture of him as well as the note. That had been the only thing that really kept her going. She wasn't sure she'd be able to function knowing that all her actions had only led to Darius' death. With no contact, Niki could only have faith that he hadn't died since, but she was sure that Barton would have found a way to let her know.

Once she cleaned up around the aircraft, she headed out, only stopping to clean her hands. She had stayed a little late that night, wanting to see if she could get anywhere on that particular plane that had been troublesome. And she preferred having something to concentrate on rather than sitting at home all night with nothing to do.

She took her time driving, although the traffic was light at that time and she made it home in less than thirty minutes. She walked in the front door – she had disabled the lock because she didn't like having to stop to enter the key code every time she came home. The lock wasn't necessary anyway. She had nothing of any value to be stolen, and even if someone did come in, Garm would get rid of them.

Her fylgja would protect his territory. He was a gray wolf, and a large one. Most people would likely leave immediately just seeing him, never mind the fact that he would growl at anyone he didn't know, and probably attack if they didn't leave right away. When she first knew she would be living on her own, Niki had been concerned about Garm. She thought she'd be living in an apartment, which would not work well with the wolf. Fortunately, in addition to finding her a job, Barton had found several homes for rent in the area that Niki found she could afford. The home was small, but it did have a backyard, which while still not ideal in size, was far better than keeping Garm in an apartment all day.

Garm greeted Niki enthusiastically when she walked in the door. Niki had never bothered to teach Garm not to jump up on her – she liked it when he did that and it made her feel welcome. She scratched the wolf behind his ears and headed to her bedroom to change out of her dirty clothes. Her work clothes went into a heap on the floor and she decided to shower before putting on clean clothes. It wasn't just her clothes that got dirty at work.

Ever since she had cut her hair, she had found it far easier to keep clean. She had initially cut it while on the run with Darius. To keep themselves hidden just a little bit longer, she had passed herself off as a man, and she had kept it short ever since. And she knew it wasn't only because of how much easier it was to take care of.

Something had changed while traveling across the country with Darius. It had been the first time in her life she had been forced to make a hard decision between following orders and doing what she thought was right. Seeing her short hair in the mirror was a nice reminder that she was not the same woman she was only a year ago. In fact, she often continued to pass herself off as a man. She had to adapt to a new life and she didn't see any reason why not to make everything else different.

Even at work, she went by the name Nik, and she doubted that any of her coworkers knew that she was female. Her boss knew, as Barton had told him, but she had even heard him referring to her as a male. Sometimes, she found she could almost get lost in her Nik identity and not have to think about her past as an Anitreh or worry about whether or not Darius was still alive.

It was the times that she was home alone that were the worst. There, she was Niki the disgraced Anitreh. The betrayer of the Anitreh. At home, she had reminders of her past life and too much time to dwell on it. There was nothing to distract her, nothing to keep her busy. Just her and the wolf, who himself was a reminder of her past.

As she thought about it, she realized that it wasn't healthy to be so inactive in her free time. Occasionally, she went to the bar, but even that wasn't healthy. But she had no idea what else to do with her time. She had no friends anymore. Darius was the only one she had and she couldn't contact him. She still thought of Barton as more of a boss than a friend, and regardless, she knew she couldn't just call him up.

There was one other person she could talk to, and she was the only person that Niki had really spoken to since leaving the Anitreh. Wynter Summers was Darius' girlfriend, and one of the few people who knew everything about what had happened. Although Wynter had initially disliked Niki, they had formed something of a friendship through their mutual concern for Darius' wellbeing. But Niki really didn't want to talk about Darius and she didn't feel their relationship was the sort that she could unload her problems on her.

"Guess it's just you and me, Garm," Niki said to the wolf. "As usual."

Garm didn't even acknowledge her. He was preoccupied walking around the perimeter of the room, as if he were on patrol. She watched him as he walked slowly around, sniffing the floorand occasionally looking around. Niki wondered if he was simply bored and briefly thought about taking him for a walk, but she really didn't want her neighbors to see him. The last thing she wanted was for them to learn that she used to be an Anitreh.

Just as Niki was about to stop paying attention to Garm, she noticed he started acting differently. He looked towards the frfont of the house, his ears angled forward, and then, he started to growl. Realizing that something was happening to cause him to act differently, Niki started walking towards the front door, wondering if she should get her gun first.

She reached out to Garm telepathically, hoping to get some sense of what was causing his behavior to be out of the ordinary, but she couldn't tell much. Only that someone was approaching and that Garm didn't like them.

The doorbell rang, and Niki quickly decided that whoever it was, she could handle them unarmed. Or at least as unarmed as any Anitreh ever was. Garm didn't seem to think they were a real threat, which meant that Niki wasn't too concerned. Once she opened the door, however, she quickly changed her mind. She wanted that gun.

"What the fuck are you doing here?" Niki asked her brother, Sergei.

"Hey, Niki," he said. "I, um, need your help."

"Fuck you."

"Can't we talk about this?" Sergei asked. "Look, I'm kinda desperate here. You're the only one who can help me."

"You had your chance to talk," Niki said. "Now fuck off and go home. Or somewhere else. I don't give a shit as long as it's not here." She gave him a telekinetic shove and then slammed the door shut before returning to her couch.

Her brother was the last person she wanted to see. After all, it was him who had called the police on her and Darius. He was the reason they had so much pressure on them at the end of their journey, and quite possibly the reason that they hadn't been able to make it to Barton safely and the reason Darius had to fake his death.

At first, she didn't even care why he had shown up there, nor did she even want to know how he had found her. But then, over an hour after slamming the door on him, she noticed that Garm was still sitting by the front door, and through their connection, the wolf was filling her with a sense of urgency to take care of the problem. With a quick glance out the window, she saw that Sergei was still there, strange behavior for him. She had expected him to get angry and leave, but he was still sitting there in front of her house.

Whatever he needed help with, Niki knew it had to be serious. As much as she didn't want to talk to him, she really wanted to know just what kind of trouble he was in if for no other reason than to laugh in his face and tell him to deal with his own problems. A small part of her wondered if she might even get some payback for what he had done.

"What the fuck did you get yourself into?" Niki asked once she opened the door. Garm stood behind her, growling lightly.

Sergei explained quickly, and after hearing what he had to say, Niki was willing to put aside the past, at least temporarily. As much as she hated what he had done, she hated the people he was in trouble with even more, and she knew that she was one of the few people who could actually help him.