It took us a good half hour to load up the van. The trunk had been tightly packed when there were just four of us on the trip, and now that we had picked up Owen and his friends – and lost Char – we had a total of six. No one had much legroom since extra bags and our snacks were taking most of the floorspace. It was times like these I was glad to be the driver.

Also, I loved my sister dearly, but she was nauseatingly touchy with her new mate. It was a relief not to have to watch.

"What did Char say when you told her we were coming?" Penny asked from the back seat.

I snorted. "She said she wished we called a couple hours sooner. She invited her parents and brother to come up and help her adjust, and now we're going to be absolutely swarming her with people."

"Oh, no! Should we leave her alone? It's not too late to pick another direction," Penny said fretfully.

"No, don't worry about that. We'll stay out of her way if she needs it. Maybe we can take a little time for sightseeing, eh?"

Serena pulled out her phone and started scrolling through information on Edmonton and I tuned out most of their planning, only answering when I was spoken to. I had the Beatles playing quietly and was perfectly content to go along with their plans later if only I could have some time somewhat to myself now. I wasn't used to being around people so much and I didn't like it. Especially not with Penny's mate's friends in the back seat. Owen was one thing. He might be a stranger, but he was family now and I knew it was important that I start getting to know him. Penny had explained that he didn't have any family of his own, so when she moved out of our parents' house, she wouldn't be going far. Owen would be a regular part of my life now.

His friends, though... they were nice enough, but they were rowdy.

Even now, I could hear them guffawing in the backseat. I was far enough away that I had no idea what they were laughing about, but I couldn't escape their laughter.

"Jasper? What do you think?" Serena asked, snapping her fingers near my face to catch my attention.

"About what?"

"I swear, you never pay attention. We were talking about doing an escape room," she said. When I glanced over, she was lifting an imperious brow in my direction and I winced. Maybe Serena and I wouldn't be such a great match after all. She was kind of demanding.

"An escape room would be fine," I said. Over two decades of having Penny as my sister had taught me when to just go along with things. This was one of those times.

"Now we just have to pick one," Penny said excitedly.

"How about that one? It's got good ratings," Owen said.

I tuned out of their conversation again and focused on the road. The miles – or kilometers, since we were in Canada – couldn't pass quickly enough. Eventually, people started clamoring for something to eat, so I pulled off at a rest stop. It was loud and crowded inside, and there was someone here who was a very faint match for me. The pull was easy enough to resist and I could only hope she did the same, whoever she was. Most people wouldn't bother chasing such a weak mating pull, but I had learned a long time ago not to assume I knew how people were going to react to things.

We got into line at a burger place. There was an awkward moment when I went to pay for Penny and found Owen already holding out his credit card. I stepped back and Serena patted my shoulder.

Serena leaned in closer to me and quietly said, "It'll just take a little getting used to."

I nodded and pulled out my phone, navigating automatically to the Menagerie site. I might be done interacting with people in person today, but there was something truly refreshing about the online community of shifters. I went to the werecoyote forum first out of habit and quickly backed out of it when I saw the post Sam had made about her mating. That wound still too fresh.

Instead, I opened up another forum I had poked around a bit, one that was for all species of shifter. Every user had their species listed under their username when they posted and it was fascinating to see all the different kinds of shifter there were. Menagerie even had different sub-forums by region so I could see posts made only by people near me.

"You're up," Serena said, nudging me forward. I almost dropped my phone in surprise. I had been so focused on my scrolling that I forgot I was waiting in line for food.

I quickly ordered a cheeseburger meal and a bottled water – it was better for car trips than a cardboard cup of soda. After paying, I joined Penny, Owen, and his friends where they were waiting for their food. There was a convenient wall to lean against and I took full advantage of it while I got back to my scrolling.

I was specifically looking for posts about the Edmonton area. I liked knowing what was going on nearby, and who knew, maybe there would be some event or museum or something we shouldn't miss.

I jumped again when my arm was hit. I looked down and saw that Serena was trying to hand me a tray of food. "What is with you today?" she asked. She didn't seem particularly annoyed, though, and she didn't wait for an answer. After I took my tray, she picked up her own and led the way to a table where the rest of our group was already digging into their food.

"How much longer until we get there?" Penny asked.

I opened up the navigation app on my phone. "A little over two hours until we get to the hotel. I think we should get settled into our rooms before we bother Char."

"I knew it! You think we're bothering her!" Penny accused.

I put my elbows on the table and let my head drop into my waiting palms. She was too much sometimes. "I don't think that, Penny. Char will tell us if she needs some space." She was honest like that. Char was always considerate of people's feelings, but she never let it get in the way of telling the truth.

When we got back to the car, Serena yanked the keys out of my hands and said, "I'm driving. You take the passenger seat."

"It's not my van," I pointed out. "It's my mom's. I should be the one to drive it."

"Psh. I'm a great driver. And if anything happens, I'm insured. Don't worry about it. You need a break, so hand over the keys. Put on some headphones and read or nap or whatever."

I would have argued more, but she was right. Thank goodness Penny had found Owen after only a few days. I didn't know how I would have managed several weeks of road trip. Being away from home was weighing on me and all I wanted to do was shut myself in my bedroom, away from people and noise and especially away from vans full of people.

So I let Serena climb into the driver's side and settled myself in the passenger seat. I did put on my noise-cancelling headphones, sighing in relief when the argument in the backseat became muffled and indistinct. If I focused, I could make out some of what was being said, but the rumble of the van and the sounds of the road made that difficult. I considered trying to nap, but didn't want to waste this opportunity on sleep. Instead, I pulled out my phone and went back to scrolling through Menagerie.

After a little while – reading about a werecheetah who was almost caught in her shifted form and how she rolled down a hill and dove into a frigid lake to get away in time, then about a werehamster who spent a day in a pet shop cage on a dare, I found something really interesting.

There was a party tonight in Edmonton at a leisure center. The venue was huge and could hold over a thousand people. It included a pool, fitness center, lounge, and ice rink. There was a hefty fee for entry, but it was open to all species of shifter. I might be done being around people, but I didn't think I could pass up the opportunity to meet so many different kinds of shifter and interact with them. Besides, in such a big venue, surely I could find a nice quiet spot if I got overwhelmed.

I pulled off my headphones and said, "Hey, let's go to a party tonight."

Serena jerked the steering wheel and let out a gasp of surprise before straightening us out in the lane. The sounds of blaring horns had me cringing and I started to regret ever letting her have the keys.

"You want to go to a party?" she asked once everything calmed down.

"Yeah." I explained the venue and the fact that it was for all shifters and I could see the excitement growing on her face as I spoke.

"Awesome!" one of Owen's friends said.

"Yeah, let's go!" said the other.

"What do you think?" Owen asked Penny.

"I just want to see Char. Maybe we can get her to join us? I'll call her."

I put my headphones back on and smiled to myself before going back to scrolling the forums. It didn't matter who else was in; I was going.

--

I stayed at the hotel when Serena, Penny, and Owen went to meet Char and her family for dinner. I would catch up with Char later or tomorrow, but for now I finally had a room to myself and I was determined to enjoy it. I didn't see Owen's friends again until we met at the curb in front of the hotel, where Serena picked us up in my mother's van to go to the party.

I climbed into the passenger seat – at this point, I was resigned to Serena driving – and found a takeout box there. "That's for you," Serena said. "We didn't know if you were going to eat something while we were out and it's best not to count on being fed at these kinds of events."

"Thank you," I said, surprised. I opened the box and found a chicken club and fries, which I gratefully scarfed down on the way to the leisure center.

By the time we got there, my fingers were a little greasy but my stomach was much happier with me. We paid our admission and filled out our nametags. Everyone wore their name and their species on a sticker on their shirts, which I appreciated. What fun was there in being at an unusually diverse party when you had no idea what species surrounded you? Sure, my nose could figure out a lot of peoples' species, but it was harder in a crowd and I couldn't differentiate between similar species. If I weren't a werecoyote, I didn't think I would be able to tell the difference between us and werewolves, for example, and I certainly couldn't tell the difference between the different kinds of werecat or the wererodents.

"I'm going to take a look around," I said to no one in particular, and I slipped away before anyone could comment or stop me. It was fine that they were here, but I wanted to go my own way, at least for now.

This place was huge and my nose was overwhelmed trying to pick up all of the scents around me. Every hall and room was littered with people and more were arriving all the time. I couldn't remember the last time I saw so many people sharing the same space.

It was like a wonderland.

And the best part of all this was, I felt completely alone. There's something isolating about being surrounded by strangers. Even the noise of dozens of people chattering around me wasn't so bad. Everyone's speech blended together so I couldn't make out a word anyone was saying. It was sensory overload, but instead of being too much, it was strangely liberating. Here, I was nothing. I was invisible. No one knew me, no one cared to. Maybe I would strike up a conversation with a stranger, or maybe I would just observe.

For a while, I amused myself by reading the nametags of everyone I passed. There were species here I had never heard of. Wereocelot, werefalcon, even a werebuffalo.

I thought I would feel jipped if I got to be part of the supernatural community but could change into a buffalo. What did you even do when you shifted? Eat grass? I'd rather run through the forest, climb trees, and enjoy the enhanced senses my coyote side allowed me.

Finally, I found a nice mostly-empty strip of wall. I settled back against it and watched the mass of people churn around me. There was a D.J. in this room and a crowded dance floor. Food lined the walls and I was having prom flashbacks, only my prom hadn't been half so fascinating. There were a few other people camped out along the same wall I was on, but we were spaced out enough that when I met the gaze of the person closest to me, he waved instead of saying hello. I smiled and waved back, then we both got back to people watching.

Something strange was happening to me, though. It was so crowded here and so many scents were mixing that my nose wasn't able to process anything, but a familiar warmth started making its way through my body and my nose started to tingle. A prickling awareness crept through me and I sat up straighter, looking around. Someone at this party was a potential mate. The trouble was, I had no idea how strong the pull was in this mess of people.

Out of curiosity, I pushed off from the wall and tried to let my nose guide me to the scent. I found myself going in circles, which was aggravating enough to make me want to give up, only the longer I followed the scent, the more forceful the pull became.

I took in another deep breath through my nose and fought off dizziness. I was breathing in too much, but I couldn't seem to make myself slow down.

Was the person whose scent I chased trying to find me too? It would be comical and idiotic if we were both chasing each other in circles. Since I really did need to take a break or risk passing out, I stopped the next time I found an empty chair. I couldn't seem to stop myself from drawing in deeper breaths than I should, but at least now if I passed out, I wouldn't fall as far.

Maybe half a minute after I sat down, I felt a strange tingling sensation as a nose brushed across the sensitive skin of my neck from behind. A voice in my ear said, "Finally."