“It just got too much,” she answered grabbing some more of her clothes.
Silently he moved behind her catching her off guard when she turned around. Clara was torn between shoving him away and yelling at him or pulling him down so she could kiss him. The beast inside favoured the latter. “You can stay here for as long as you like, we’re not going to push you” he repeated what Mary said.
“You don’t know me,” she answered back, “You’ll get sick of me and want to chase me off”.
“We’d never do that,”
“You don’t know me,” she repeated, “And you will”.
Caleb’s hand shot out grabbing her arm and pulling her to look directly at him, “Did someone do that to you? Chase you off? Who hurt you?” he asked her, watching her eyes closely.
“Let go,” she said tugging herself free.
“Will you at least tell me who shot you?” He pleaded.
“My boyfriend,” she replied softly before slumping down on her bed putting distance between them.
Caleb couldn’t believe his ears. Her boyfriend, someone he guessed she had loved, had shot her when she had been bitten. It was no wonder she thought they would want to get rid of her. “Was he part of The Order?” he queried.
“He was the best hunter, a stickler for the rules,” she practically spat, “I was surprised he was even interested in a deviant recruit like me”.
“So, you’ve never been one to follow an authority figure?”
“They never gave me a reason to follow,” she replied leaned back on her bed.
“You don’t like going into detail, do you?” Caleb smiled as he sat down next to her.
“A skill I picked up at my foster homes, no one can blame things on you if you can rewrite the truth” she grinned at him.
“A survivor at heart,”
“Always had to be,” she said grimly before sitting up. Her hands gripped his forearm as she turned to him, “I want to get one thing out in the open. I never joined The Order because I hated Shifters, I never even knew they existed. I was a nobody when they found me, just a lost child. They noticed me and saw their chance at having a recruit with no attachments. I didn’t even hate shifters when I first started hunting. I just distanced my emotions from the process and learnt that it was a necessary evil. They helped me learn skills that have helped me survive. In this whole world I am on my own, and the only thing I knew I could do well was survive.”
“Now you have us,” he replied, “Even if you leave, you are in this Pack which means you have a family”.
Clara blinked at him. He smiled softly at her. Her heart raced as the beast inside was raging to get out. The human side was too stunned at what he said to stop the she-wolf. Clara’s hand shot out grabbing Caleb and pulled him towards her. Their lips met but the she-wolf wanted more. One of Caleb’s hands rested against her neck urging her to tilt her head up whilst his other arm anchored her against him. Her mouth opened with a moan and his tongue dove in. Their tongues dance as they clung to each other. Caleb quickly realised what had happened and slowly pulled away from her. Clara sat just starting at him with golden eyes. “I…I’m sorry” she muttered leaning away from him. Caleb noted how she shook her head trying to dislodge something. He breathed in catching scent of the she-wolf just below her skin, and something his wolf wanted claim as his. And he wasn’t someone not to listen to his wolf.
Caleb pulled her back to him, “Don’t be,” he whispered before kissing her again. He felt her soften against him as she wrapped her arms around his neck. Her clawed nails gripped his shoulder pulling him with her as she leaned back. Her teeth nipped his bottom lip and her eyes flickered open as he pulled back slightly. Her eyes glowed gold as her wolf sat calmly behind them. Clara lightly ran her claws down his torso admiring the muscles that tensed beneath her touch. The wolf blocked every thought that rested in her mind, everything that didn’t revolve around the man before her. Something about him made the she-wolf want to rub herself all over him. He leaned back down kissing her lightly on the cheek before moving further down her neck. Her hands moved to his neck and she closed her eyes. She could feel his heart beat, could sense his attraction and lust, and she couldn’t feel and scent anything but him. His fingers danced along her sides gripping the thin fabric of her dress. Possessively her wolf took over. She pulled him back up and claimed his lips in a deep passion-filled kiss. She wrapped her legs around his hips before turning them over until she was on top.
Once perched on top she sat back and just looked down at him. Caleb was handsome with golden eyes that watched her closely and a smile that urged her to take things further. “Mine” growled a voice in her head causing Clara to jump back away from Caleb. What had she been doing? He wasn’t hers; she had barely known him for a week. This wolf thing was sending her hormones crazy. She shouldn’t be looking at other men, she had to be reeling from Howard’s betrayal. That must be what caused her to seek comfort. That’s all it was, just her seeking comfort from the first kind man who got close enough.
Caleb sat up and watched as she paced around the room trying to work something out. He stayed quiet, unsure as to what had just happened. He had listened to his wolf and he knew that this female in front of him was what his wolf wanted. Clara turned looked at him, her eyes turning from back and forth between blue and gold as she battled between the two parts of her soul now. He shuffled himself forwards, so he was just perched on the edge of the bed. She stepped closer and her eyes turned gold again. She stepped forwards until she stood between his legs. Her eyes watched his. “Why does this feel right?” she asked softly watching her fingers draw invisible patterns on his chest. “The beast keeps pushing me closer to you and it feels right but it shouldn’t, should it?” she queried looking up at him.
Caleb’s hands moved to hold her against him, and he looked up at her. “This happens sometimes,” he said, “It used to happen all the time when she-wolves were common.”
“There used to be more?” she said leaning back to look at down at him properly.
“About a hundred years ago there were just as many females as there were males,” he smiled before returning to her original question, “The wolf side is usually dormant and helps us along with everyday things by giving us extra abilities, and it only fights for control when the individual has become too uncontrollably anger or when the wolf wants someone. The latter only happens once in a lifetime”.
Clara quietened and stepped back from him. “Did it work?” she asked without looking at him.
“Most of the time,” he said turning to her.
Slowly she eased out of his embrace and moved to tidy her room again. It wasn’t right to feel instantly attached to someone after one kiss. She had barely settled into being a Lycan. Maybe this was something like Stockholm syndrome. That she only felt attached to him because he had saved her, looked after her and was kind to her. “Don’t over think it,” she heard him say softly as he watched her. She swallowed hard; the she-wolf wanted to be next to him.
“This is so fast, why is everything happening so fast?” she stated dropping what she was moving. Her eyes turned to him. “I shifted within a day, I only just shifted back after adjusting to my wolf form and then this” she waved her hand between the two of them, “My wolf won’t shut up and it’s happening so fast. She there, in my mind, as if she has always been there. I can feel her but it’s no different to before, her voice is just louder.” Clara put her head in her hands, “I don’t understand this.”
“What do you mean it’s no different to before?” Caleb asked trying to pull her back to him, even if he was only able to touch her hand. He needed to feel her skin as if to reassure himself she was still there.
“I’ve always been able to hear people nearby, sense their presence and have even had keen eyesight, it’s just enhanced a little now. I’ve always been more animalistic and instinctive compared to others, that’s why I never stayed with families too long. The wolf just…well, she… it feels l
ike she isn’t new, just louder as if I’ve never listened to her before”. Clara stared up at Caleb.
“We’ll work this out, okay?” Caleb said grabbing her hand.
Clara pulled her hand out of his hold. “I just need space. This is too fast, too confusing” she pleaded him gazing up at his dark brown eyes. How she wanted to push the rational side of her brain away and just give in to the animal within that tried to stretch beneath her skin.
“Okay,” Caleb said bowing his head, “When you need us, you know where to find us”.
Clara watched him leave her in her room. Loneliness filled her almost pushing her to go after him, to say hell with it all but she couldn’t. She barely knew him. Sure, she had watched him these past few days as she wandered around in her new wolf skin, but she didn’t know him. He was so similar to Howard in the way he could command a room just by entering, but unlike Howard he was warm, friendly and playful without her having to tease it out of him. Clara sat down on her bed with her head in her hands. She was lost and had no idea how she was going to survive.
Chapter 6
The Order
Howard Jones stood before the Council who had been in a gathering for over a week now. No one had known that he had had a relationship with Clara, all they knew is that his occasional work partner had been killed during a mission. The Order wasn’t sentimental over these things. As he stayed quiet watching the Council members talk amongst themselves, he tried to block out the shock he had seen in Clara’s face when he shot her. He didn’t know whether his shot had killed her or left her suffering for hours, that fact haunted him. He would have put her out of her misery if Natalie hadn’t started having a panic attack.
“Agent Jones,” called a voice bringing Howard out of his memories.
“Yes, Sir” Howard answered stepping out of the line.
“You may have heard that there have been some disturbing rumours going around lately,” stated one of the Council members, Stiles.
“I haven’t heard any, sir. I have been busy cleaning up the mess left on my ex-partners mission” Howard answered clenching his fists at his sides.
“And there I thought all Agents kept their ears open to rumours,” mumbled another council member, General McKenzie who was Natalie’s Grandfather.
“We have heard rumours of a female shifter living a few miles from Ash Forest, in a place called Hartwick.” stated Stiles, ignoring McKenzie.
“There are no female shifters anymore, sir,” Howard replied.
“That’s why we need you, Agent,” Councilman Higham said, “You are to travel to the local pack, the Daevers’ Pack, and ask them questions. If anyone knows of a female shifter it would be the local pack. You are not to attack or kill whilst on their land. The Order’s rules must be held in high regard. We cannot afford a war”.
“Yes, Sir” Howard stand straighter.
“You are also to take Agent McKenzie with you. It is time she saw the other side of our operations” stated McKenzie.
“We expect you to move out in the next few days,” Stile said, “That will be all, Agent Jones.
“Sir” Howard said before marching out.
The doors shut behind him. Air rushed out of his lungs as he realised, he was going to be returning to the area he had left Clara for dead. Straightening his back, he walked towards training room where he knew he would find Natalie.
∞∞∞
Pack House
Clara stayed still by the window in her room as a large black SUV pulled up in the drive. Fear gripped her stomach. She watched as the doors opened. A black-haired woman stepped out. Clara caught a glimpse of her face and noted that it was Natalie, the one that had pushed Howard to check Clara’s wounds. A growl rumbled in her chest, but it halted at the sight of the second person.
“I told you she would bring The Order here!” yelled a voice downstairs. Edmund was in his usual paranoid rage. Clara no longer cared for his rants; it was just him airing out his fears. It helped him cope, helped him rationalise situations. It didn’t mean her inner child no longer feared his behaviour, instead she was getting used to it a little with each day she was here.
“Will you be quiet, Edmund!” yelled Mary in return. There was shuffling downstairs, but Clara no longer cared as she watched the Agents walk towards the door. The man moved with strength and control. Howard always had an air about him that drew everyone’s gaze.
The doorbell rang. “I’m not answering that,” Edmund spat, Clara could hear him storm into another room. Clara moved slowly out into the landing to hear things better. The front door opened, “Hello?” Mary greeted them.
“Is this the Daever residence?” asked Natalie in her sickly-sweet voice. Clara almost gagged at the sound.
“Who’s asking?” Mary replied with a bitterness that made Clara proud.
“We are from The Order,” Howard spoke up, causing goose bumps to rise along Clara’s arms. “And we’ve heard of some disturbances in this area, so we have come to check in with your alpha”.
“Well, won’t you come in,” Mary said. Clara heard her moving out of the way and the agents stepping in. “The Alpha is just through those doors,” Mary stated pointing them towards the living room opposite the stairs. As they moved towards the room, Clara stalked down the stairs watching the guests closely.
Caleb looked up catching a glimpse of Clara watching from a hidden perch on the stairs. He halted Joseph from closing the living room doors. “Won’t you sit,” Caleb stated to the Agents before glancing back at Clara. Quickly he moved his focus to the agents in the room. The woman was young with dark skin and black coal eyes that gazed around the room taking in all the men in the room. There was no slight interest in the woman’s eyes like most women instead there was pure hate. Her anger oozed from her being as her hand moved to rest on the gun at her hip. The man, however, glared at Caleb knowing he was the most powerful man in the room. On another day, Caleb would have accepted the challenge in the man’s eyes. The man opposite was tall, blonde and obviously spent a lot of his time working if that bland expression was anything to go by. Caleb felt the urge to scare him, to send him running for the hills. Instead Caleb relaxed in his chair letting his easy-going mask fall in place. “How can I help you?” he said crossing his arms.
“We have been sent to investigate sightings of a female shifter around here” Howard stated.
“Female shifter?” questioned Edmund, “There hasn’t been one for almost fifty years, and women aren’t born unless there are both female and males around”.
“We all know the mythology,” Natalie stated stressing her boredom with the discussion, “Have you heard anything from other shifters?”
“Nothing,” Caleb answered trying not to gaze over in Clara’s direction.
“Then you won’t mind if we look around your place?” Howard asked.
“Actually I do mind, many of my wolf don’t favour your kind. I hope you understand that my refusal more to do your safety rather than my privacy,” Caleb answered glaring at the man. Clara moved further down the stairs. Caleb caught her movements; he didn’t understand why she was moving closer to the room.
Clara came to stand just next to the door to the living room. Her heart pounded. She knew that she should hide upstairs, allow Howard and Natalie stay ignorant of her existence. But she knew The Order would only send more. She would be locked inside the house for the rest of her life. The Order never gave up. So, she would have to face her nightmares right now. Howard would recognise her and realise he hadn’t killed her, and Natalie would finally find out how a feral wolf really kills its prey. Anger boiled up within her as she made the small step into the room. Caleb’s eyes flashed to her. Clara could see every emotion there. Fear, anger, confusion and something else that she didn’t want to work out. “You were looking for me?” Clara said turning her eyes on Howard and Natalie. They turned and their eyes widened.
“Clara…” Howard said softly.
“Surprised?” Clara said feelin
g the wolf inside getting ready to pounce.
“I…You’re dead”
“You know that I’ve never been able to stay down,”
“You’re meant to be dead!” shouted Natalie raising her gun and readied it to shoot.
“You shoot and it’s the last thing you do McKenzie!” growled Clara.
“I think you have overstayed your welcome,” Michael said moving to stand in front of Clara.
Howard and Natalie were pushed out of the house by the enforcers, but it didn’t stop Natalie turning around with venom in her eyes and voice, “The Order will be here soon. You better be willing to give up your freedom for that she-bitch!”
The door shut and Clara was pushed down into the sofa. “What the hell were you thinking?!” Caleb yelled down at her. His body grew as the beast within him wrestled to gain control, to teach the she-wolf who was in charge.
“They killed me!” Clara yelled back.
“They didn’t have to know you were still alive!”
“They should suffer with the knowledge that they failed!” Clara said pushing herself up until she was standing toe to toe with Caleb. “It’s better that they know now rather than later!”
“You just wanted a fight!”
“So what? Don’t I deserve one? Don’t I deserve revenge for what they did?!” her voice ricocheted off the walls
“So, they shot you and left you for dead?” Caleb said, “What would have happened if they hadn’t done that? You sure as hell wouldn’t have gotten out of The Order or have met us?!”
“Oh, so I’m meant to be grateful to them?!” Clara growled shoving at his shoulders, “Because without them I wouldn’t have gotten here?”
“That’s not what I meant”
“Sure, it isn’t. They left me for dead! They only person I’m grateful to is you. Not them! Never….” Clara was so caught up in yelling at him that she became utterly shocked when Caleb’s mouth lowered on hers. His arms wrapped around her pulling her against him. Clara’s hands sat flat against his chest whilst his hands moved to grip the back of her head. His fingers brushed through her hair as his tongue dominated her mouth.
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