The refreshing theme of a young werewolf pup being cared for by a grown werehorse lifts these characters and action out of the ordinary shifter stories and adds dilemmas due to their contrasting natures. RUNNING FREE is in the Northern Shifter series and here we meet Zack, a strong chestnut horse when he's not being a shy human, guardian to pup Storm, otherwise a six-year-old boy. Right from the start Storm is threatened by a strange wolf and Zack doesn't hesitate to protect him, an attitude he maintains throughout the story.

Others are becoming aware of little Storm however and Sally, a mild-mannered piano teacher, when she's not being a stubbornly single wolf, is sent by the pack in Wolf Town to investigate who this pup is and how he is being raised. Some believe it would be better for the youngster to grow up in a pack environment while others feel this would prove too stressful to a boy who has lost his parents. Storm's grandmother visits him often and holds Zack accountable for his welfare, but knows any shifter guardian has to be better than none. Zack is unsure of himself around humans, having been lost as a horse for years, and at first doesn't know how to respond to the new piano teacher who gives Storm lessons. Only when Sally allows Zack to see her as a submissive, friendly wolf in the snow does he realise why she has been sending mixed messages.

A visit to Wolf Town is on the cards, little though Zack likes the idea of a prey animal being surrounded by predators. But the reasonable wolves there are not the only shifters around, and a more threatening variety is looming large in Storm's vicinity.

I liked the contrast and the equine behaviour or lupine behaviour which carried over into the shifters' human sides. I also liked the idea that a romance could spring up between the humans when they were not being predator and prey. Sally has been pounced on by big male wolves too often to be comfortable with a relationship with one, so a male horse became a better option. Storm is a great kid and an endearing pup; children are all too often missing from fantasy stories when they present an opportunity to show how the adult characters developed. RUNNING FREE is easy to read as a standalone but will complement the series.