"They were really good people. They preferred to think of themselves as guardians of the forest. Protectors of those who wandered through it. I was little when they found me but they never treated me as just some human. To them I was family."

He kept eating while he spoke, like if he didn't then he would fall apart. He needed to keep doing this to keep himself together.

"My alpha was a tough man but he was always the one who would let me sleep in his bed when I was scared at night. And his mate was a tiny woman who was gentle and sweet but tough when she needed to be. They ran everything well. Everyone knew their place and no one ever had to question what they had to do or where they needed to be. It was safe. You felt wanted and protected and loved at all times."