by K J Carr
Changing hurt. I suspected it was because there was so much silver still in my blood stream. Still, this pain was more than usual.
I was panting on the floor when Max returned, Holden right behind him. The doctor knelt and put his hand in my fur, digging deep into my neck muscles to relax the tension he could feel from me through the Pack connection. He sighed, running a hand down my wolf’s side, to check the wounds. I flinched a time or two, when his hand touched sensitive parts.
“How is he?” Holden asked. Max looked up at her. “Sore, but the bleeding has stopped. He still has two broken ribs, so I want him to shift a few more times, except I don’t think he can do that yet. Come and sit by his head, Holden, while I get him some food and water.”
Holden sat by my head, cross-legged. I whined and shifted around so that my large head was in her lap, licking her leg.
Max chuckled, shook his head, and rose, leaving the room to go into the kitchen.
“Shane?”
Holden. I answered, using my mate bond to talk with her. Exhaustion colored my tone.
She almost jumped up, startled. “I was talking with you!” Her hand landed on my neck, her fingers clinching the thick fur that was there.
I sighed, snuggling my head in more. Yes.
Holden massaged my neck muscles, and I melted. It felt so good to my wolf to have her touch me, to know about me. She wasn’t running, which made my wolf ecstatic. And while her pheromones were less, I could smell that she would enter a true heat soon, not the artificial one that Edward had tried to induce.
Max entered with two bowls, one filled with meat and the other with water.
“Shane, I need you to be the good patient for us, please. The meat is mixed with an antibiotic. I know you will taste it but eat, anyway. For Holden.”
He put the bowls down near my head. Holden picked up a chunk and offered it to me. I sniffed and then groaned, hiding my head in her lap.
“Come on, Shane, you need this medicine.” Holden pulled on my fur, lifting my head. She held the meat in front of me, the look on her face determined. “Eat this.”
Neither I nor my wolf could resist the dominant tone she had used. In fact, my wolf wanted to whine and go belly up. I huffed at the silly beast, before taking the meat and chewing. I swallowed the mouthful with a wolf grimace.
Max laughed. “Good luck getting enough of that in his stomach, Holden. He needs it, but he will fight you all the way. Once he finishes, though, we should have him shift back to human and I will look him over. I suspect I will have to have him cycle between wolf and human a few times before he gets to the stage I want him at.”
I growled at the doctor. Holden smacked my muzzle, startling both Max and me.
“Stop that.” Her voice was absentminded, her expression thoughtful.
My wolf stared up at her, my eyes wide.
Max barked out a laugh. “Shane, you have met your match! Holden, please make him your mate and put the rest of us out of misery from having to deal with this bullheaded male.”
He continued out into the living room, his chuckles coming back in intervals.
Holden held up another piece of the abhorrent meat, her eyes expectant. I grimaced. Then I ate the meat my mate provided.
Holden
“Enough.”
Even in his human form, he growled the word out.
“I think he has lost all patience for this.” I studied the man lying on the floor, his face resolute. I couldn’t help admiring his body, given he was naked in front of me. Shane had a gorgeous body, firm with fluid muscles that moved under smooth tan skin. “Perhaps we should stop.”
I shook my head, fanning myself from the sudden heat I felt, and headed to the couch. Max finished checking Shane’s ribs, the man’s back to me, thank god. After a few stressful moments, the doctor sat back on his heels.
“Good enough. Go get dressed, Shane. We can do the rest with you as a human. It will be nice to hear more than growls and whimpers out of you.”
“Asshole.” Shane stood, grabbing a nearby blanket to wrap around himself, before shuffling off into the bedroom, closing the door without it making a sound.
Max sighed and joined me. “And that, dear Holden, was Shane’s method of slamming a door and saying ‘Fuck you’.”
I giggled, resting my head against the back of the couch. “Wow. If it wasn’t for my exhaustion, I think I would be excited about this new field of study. Lycanthropes. Who would have figured?”
Max gave me a strange glance, but before he could say anything, the front door of the cabin flew open, banging against the wall.
Three little kids, around the age of six, charged in. A woman who looked to be in her early twenties followed them. The kids flung themselves at me, holding onto me tight. I turned wide, confused eyes towards the doctor.
“Who…?”
Max laughed, knowing I hadn’t a clue who these children were and why they were enthusiastically hugging me. He pulled a dark-haired little girl off of me, setting her in his lap. The girl squirmed, but he held her tight.
“Betta, please sit still. Lexi and Soren, We just introduced Holden to lycanthropes, so she doesn’t know you are the wolf pups she has been caring for.”
The little boy and girl froze, their eyes wide. They lifted their heads to stare at me. I stared back at them, taking in the doctor’s words.
“Lexi? This is Lexi?” I touched the little girl’s cheek, taking in her red-hair and emerald green eyes. Those eyes…. Yes, those were Lexi’s eyes. I shifted my gaze to the little boy. “Soren?” He was a looker, his hair a mixture of red and dark brown, his eyes gray. His solemn stare gave me the feeling that he had the weight of the world on his shoulders.
I then turned my head towards the dark brown haired little girl, with wide, worried blue eyes. “Betta.” The word was a whisper. I put out my arm and Max released the girl as she flew into my grasp.
I held the three children tight. Tears flowed down my face as I mumbled words of love and astonishment at them. I only had two arms, but I filled them with the three small children and they were not complaining about the lack of room on my lap.
Shane came out of the bedroom, pulling a shirt over his low-lying jeans. I figured he had heard the door.
I looked up at him, my watery grin ecstatic.
“My puppies!”
I didn’t care if they were wolves or children. I loved them as they were.
Shane exhaled in relief, moving to sit on the arm of the couch.
Lexi patted my face in her small hands. She wiggled around so she could meet my eyes. “Mama Holden. We wanted to change and show you, but we couldn’t. We weren’t sure you would love us because we had wolves. Would the Bad Man find us? But he came anyway and took you. We are so glad that Uncle Shane got you back. We will help him keep the Bad Man away from you.”
Soren, his face so serious, nodded in agreement.
Betta just reached up and kissed my cheek. I laughed and then cried, holding the pups tighter.
Shane glanced at the young woman standing near the door. “Maggie, please come over here and sit. Holden will want to meet you.”
I looked up, my face startled. “Maggie? This is Maggie?” Bemused, I looked between Shane and the young woman.
Shane nodded. “Yes, this is Maggie. You knew her as the wolf who played with the pups.”
Betta spoke up. “Maggie is nice. I like her. We like her. She is family, Uncle Shane. Pack.”
Shane smiled, as if he knew what Betta was saying. “Yes, Betta, she is Pack.”
The little girl smiled back at her uncle before snuggling back in against me and her siblings.
Maggie smiled. “I have been watching them for you, Holden. They are good pups. So easy to love. I would love to continue helping you with them if you will have me.”
Her voice was soft and melodic, a slight accent sounding every so often, even though I wasn’t sure what it was.
I studied the woman wondering what…
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“Omega! You are an Omega. You are not a submissive wolf at all! Omegas help to bind a Pack together.” I somehow bounced on the couch, still holding the pups. “I cannot believe that your Pack has an Omega, Shane! I have heard about these in natural wolf Packs, but they are so rare!”
The other three adults stared at me. Max was the first to recover, shaking his head. “Of course! I should have guessed, given how much easier it has been to treat wolves with her around.” He grimaced.
Shane stared at him. “What?”
Max looked at the woman in question. “Maggie, you are not the bottom of the Pack. You are one of the most important. You help keep a Pack healthy, both physically and mentally. Baron will want to keep you once he finds out, though, because Omegas are so rare. Shane may have a fight on his hands.”
Soren peeked at Maggie, sliding off my lap and scampering over to the woman. “No, Maggie. You are ours. You are not part of that Pack, but ours. Please don’t go.”
The look of astonishment left the other woman’s eyes. She pulled Soren onto her lap and he hugged her, his nose tucked into her neck. “I will stay with you if I can, Soren.”
Shane snorted. I figured that Baron would not win this fight. Maggie was part of Shane’s Pack. Sadness filled me. I wished I could be a part of his Pack, like Lexi had said. Unfortunately, I was human.
Shane looked down at me. I hugged the two little girls, so alike and yet so different. Lexi had her arms tight around one of mine, her body curled up on most of my lap, her head lying against my chest.
“It looks like you have two sleepy pups there, Holden.” His voice was deep, filled with emotion.
I looked down and smiled. “Lexi is out, and Betta looks like she will be soon.”
Shane gave Max a look, and he threw his hands up in the air. “All right!”
Confusion crossed my face as Max stood and picked up Betta, nodding at Maggie and moving to the door. “We are taking the pups back to the compound. You two need to clear up a few things. You do not need to involve the pups in that.”
Maggie lifted Soren, who yawned, and joined the doctor at the door.
Shane stood and put out his arms. “I’ll take Lexi, Holden.”
I tightened my grip on the little girl. “Shane!” My wail was soft, since I didn’t want to wake Lexi.
Shane bent down and kissed me on the lips. I turned my face up to him, wanting more, but he pulled back. “I want that too, but first, let’s get the pups settled. And kick Maggie and Max out. They will take good care of them, Holden, while we talk.”
I knew what he was implying, so I let Lexi go, my hands reluctant as they trailed a caress along the little girl’s arms. Shane picked her up and followed Maggie and Max.
Chapter 20
Shane
I closed the door, listening to the sound of the truck leaving behind me, and watched Holden.
Holden shifted on the couch. She noticed my solemn face. I rubbed my eyes, not sure if I wanted to have this conversation but knowing we had to have it.
“What is it?”
I blew out a puff of air and rubbed my face. Moving towards her, I opted to take the chair across from her. I slumped, my eyes closed.
“Edward got away.” My words were quiet, except they seemed to boom out into the room.
She stiffened, her eyes searching my face. “He…. got away?” She didn’t understand. I don’t think she wanted to understand.
I nodded and turned my head to look at her. “Somehow, in all the confusion, he slipped away. Baron said he was unconscious when he had turned to get Tessa out of the cage but Edward had disappeared when he returned for him minutes later. We thought we had all the mercenaries, but there may have been one or two hidden that helped him escape.”
She sat there, shaking. She pulled a blanket around her, bundling herself up before pulling up her feet so she could rest her chin on her knees and hide everything up to her head.
“He is dangerous, Shane.”
“I know.”
“And he will come after me again. He thinks I am this hybrid human-lycanthrope being. He doesn’t understand that I am not a wolf, that I cannot shift.”
I wanted to reach out and hold her, but I suspected she wouldn’t welcome me right then. “Yet you can talk via the Pack bonds. You smell just like a wolf to us – enough that you drove the Pack males wild.” I hesitated, and then continued even softer, deciding to lay all my cards on the table. “And my wolf says you are my mate. He has always wanted you. I have always agreed with him — I want you. Something is different about you — more than any other human woman I have met.”
We sat there, the room growing darker as night fell outside. Holden just stared at the floor while I watched her. I couldn’t take the silence any longer and I stood, moving towards the kitchen. I opened the refrigerator and took out a casserole dish.
“Lasagna okay?” I asked over a shoulder, diving back inside to pull out a salad. Not waiting for her answer, I placed both on the counter and turned the dial on the stove to preheat it. Turning back around, I leaned against the counter to wait for it to get warm.
Holden stared out into the room, her voice almost a murmur to herself. “My father always called me his pup. My mother would call me her miracle child. I never thought those endearments would be hints I was different.”
“What else did they say that seemed a little odd?”
Holden snorted. “I was a child, Shane. Much of what they said seemed odd. I remember them being so in love, and yet they never let me feel like a third wheel. They would finish each other’s sentences and seemed to communicate without words.” A small smile touched her lips. “They were always touching each other, little touches that showed how much they were in love.”
I nodded. Mate bond.
Her eyes widened. “They were bonded, weren’t they? They could talk in their heads like we do?”
I smiled, nodding. My mate was learning what it meant to be a lycanthrope. Her whole past was being rewritten as she learned about my world. I wished that Edward and his crazy issues hadn’t forced it on her like this. And yet, I wasn’t sure if there was a good way to get to this point.
The oven beeped, and I turned to place the dish in it, setting the timer for twenty minutes. I stared at the salad bowl, realizing that I had taken it out too early. I returned it to the frig, pulling out a beer instead.
“Beer? Wine?” I held the frig door open, looking towards Holden.
“Hot tea on the list?”
I nodded, shutting the door before filling the kettle and plugging it in to heat. I pulled out a tea bag and a mug from the cabinet.
This felt homey and yet tension filled the room.
I turned and looked at her, deciding to just come clean.
“I am a wolf, Holden.”
She looked at me, wary. “I know.”
“My wolf is certain that you are our mate. He feels that you could shift if you wanted to. I think that is what Edward was trying to force. You to shift. To activate the lycanthrope part of you.”
She stared back at me. “That is what I don’t understand, Shane. Lycanthropes, by definition, are both human and wolf. What makes me different? Why did he call me a hybrid, as if I was a different breed?”
Shit. She was right. I wasn’t sure what the difference was, just that Holden felt different to me from other lycanthropes.
Max. I searched for the doctor, finding him talking with Maggie and Sarah, his wife, at the compound.
I wondered when you would ask. The reply was instantaneous.
You should have just said something. So, what makes Holden different? What makes a hybrid different?
I could hear the doctor’s sigh across the bond. There’s not much difference, that we know. But there haven’t been that many hybrids and most of them have been male – and sterile. Holden not only isn’t male but also can breed, given the pheromones she was giving off earlier. Hybrid females should have an easier time carrying our young, sin
ce they won’t have the same urge to shift, if they can even shift at all. Which is one of the larger differences. We – lycanthropes – cannot breed with humans. We might breed with a hybrid, even if they cannot shift. They share our DNA, which would make it easier for them to have pups.
I interjected. So, she may not shift?
What Holden is, Shane, is unknown. One male could shift, but it was slow and painful. So much so he didn’t do it, outside of twice, the first time because something had frightened him into it. Another got stuck between wolf and human and they executed him. I am not sure if any of the others even tried.
Do you know if any of them had mates? I wondered if mate bonding would make a difference.
That caused Max to pause. I could imagine the wheels turning, the doctor accessing the vast information in his brain.
Good point. The response came slower. I don’t think any of them were. The researchers isolated them after they found the hybrids, so I would have to presume that, no, they didn’t have mates. He paused again. Are you going to bond with Holden? Are you going to mate bond with her?
I think I already have. With that, I closed the communication pathway, blocking the doctor. I knew that Max might otherwise have checked in to see how things were going if I left it open. And this, whatever it was between Holden and me, was only between the two of us.
Looking up, I saw that Holden was waiting, her impatience showing. Damn, that was rude of me.
“Sorry.” I raised my eyebrows in placation, twisting my mouth. “I was, well…. Talking with Max. I wasn’t sure of the answer to your question and wanted to ask him.”
“And?” I could see she was resisting jiggling her leg.
“And a hybrid is different because it is possible you may not shift, even though you have some DNA of a lycanthrope. Most of the other hybrids had been male and sterile. First, you are not male. And we doubt you are sterile. The result? We are not sure what you can do.”
“Sterile?” There was a touch of horror in her tone. I remembered that Holden had tried to have a child before, with Thomas. I sought to ease her mind, rushing over and taking her hand.
