As part of the Prey Integration Program, Penny joins the Predator shifters in a world that is completely foreign to her. Her wings make it impossible for her to hide what she is and draws curiosity from those around her, including the obsession of a Snake Shifter. She wished she had the attention of her course instructor instead, but the Alpha Werewolf is too far out of her league... Or is he?<br /><br />~~~~~ Excerpt ~~~~~<br /><br />&quot;Look, Jeff,&quot; she sighs. &quot;I&#39;m sure you mean well,&quot; she says, but even that is a stretch because he brought her on a highly unnecessary detour where she is subjected to his presence for almost an hour. &quot;But I don&#39;t want to spend a second more with you,&quot; she settles for saying and can&#39;t help but grimace because she doesn&#39;t want to spend an extra second with the man.<br /><br />&quot;We can be friends first and look where that takes us, hmm?&quot; he suggests.<br /><br />&quot;Nowhere,&quot; she bites, her temper rearing because they have been dancing over this topic for ages and she&#39;s sick of finding new ways to tell him that she&#39;s not interested.<br /><br />&quot;Excuse me?&quot; he responds and ah, there&#39;s that sneer on his face that had put her off in the first place. He wears the veneer of friendliness well, but underneath that is an entirely unpleasant man that makes her skin crawl.<br /><br />&quot;I am really not interested in any sort of relationship with you,&quot; she says in a hushed whisper, wary of eavesdropper and not wanting his ego to take too big of a hit.<br /><br />His expression hardens and for a moment, she is filled with the instinct to run and take flight, but the moment passes too, the man seeing that they are not alone.<br /><br />&quot;Is anything the matter?&quot; a deep voice intones from behind her.<br /><br />She startles at the sudden interruption and feels a pair of hands on her shoulders, steadying her when she almost walks back into the person. Even without turning around, she knows who she almost walked into.<br /><br />There&#39;s a deep growling noise coming from the man and she can feel anger coming from him in thick waves. &quot;Is this man giving you trouble, Miss Earnest?&quot; he asks.<br /><br />She is at once glad and frustrated by his presence. She is insistent on being independent and not needing anyone to fight her battles for her, but at the same time, she has been fighting this particular battle for the past several weeks to no success and perhaps the intervention is necessary, as upsetting as that is.<br /><br />&quot;Jeff is having a little trouble hearing no for an answer,&quot; she admits and it must be different hearing her say those words out loud in the presence of another person because instead of being upset like he had been the past few times, he looks dumbfounded, his face twisting into a myriad of expressions before settling on apologetic, though even that looks insincere.