by Jade Alters
The pack was formed in the deserts of Afghanistan and the five of them, along with their pup, traveled to Bali, looking for a place to start over. Along the way they've collected strays, myself being one of them.
The pack is about 20 strong now, mostly males, pups and old women. As my name might imply, I was found wandering along a ridge on Komodo Island.
My family was killed, my pack, all of them except for myself and a younger pup named Grayson who I'd been told to protect.
Grayson was the son of the alpha and it was important to the pack he survive. I'm a beta, but was one of the strongest of our pack, so that's how I ended up with the assignment.
I don't necessarily blame the humans. We had a renegade omega in our pack. He was killing farm animals then humans. Before he could be dealt with, the humans came for all of us. They didn't know what we were, they just believed they were dealing with an overpopulation of wolves.
Chelsea and her mates found Grayson and me and invited us in, with open arms. Since then, we have both learned a lot about being human as well as being a wolf. Our pack lived mostly in our fur and sometimes we were hungry and cold.
Since we've joined up with Chelsea's pack, our bellies have always been full, we've slept warm and dry at night and we lived more as human than wolf, which I was getting used to.
My only complaint was the lack of females in our pack. Chelsea had no objection to us finding a human mate, but she wanted us to do that the old-fashioned way. I'm 23. I need a mate, and I hate to say it, but I don't see anything wrong with the way my kind has done it for God knows how long.
“I'm not going to hurt her,” I told Chase. “I'd never hurt a woman.”
“You're just going to drug her a little bit.”
“You know how much respect I have for Chelsea and her mates, but they all lived most of their lives as humans. She doesn't understand the old ways. She's coming around to a few of them...”
“But, she specifically forbade us from using the drug for mating.”
“I'm done curling up alone at night, Chase. I'll take the consequences. I'll handle it. I want this woman and she won't give me the time of day.”
“Maybe that means she's not interested.”
“She's afraid. She's had a bad go of it with men. I'll show her a whole new world.”
“And that's what concerns the pack. You show her our world and she tells everyone else and then we're exterminated the way your pack was, and mine.”
Chase was found on the island of Bali where the pack had intended on settling. He'd come from a very small pack. Some of them died off from hunger or old age, but the majority of them had been hunted. Chase was a pup when he lost the last of his pack. He survived, barely, high up in the woods, alone.
Like me, he knew little to nothing about functioning as a human. The Pack found him and took him in.
He’s got a lot to learn, but his heart is in the right place.
Bali was where the Pack intended to settle, originally, but they found it to be too overpopulated mostly thanks to all of the tourists.
The Pack moved onto Komodo Island from Bali and finally settled on an island just north of Komodo. It's unincorporated and many people don't know about it. The population is under a thousand counting our little pack. There are plenty of places for us to run and hunt and frolic in the woods without drawing attention.
We can blend with humans easily most of the time, but keeping us in our human skin too long is like keeping us in a cage. The locals call the island “Surga” which in Indonesia means, “Paradise,” and I would agree that it was, if not for the lack of females.
My main problem with doing things the old-fashioned way as a human was that it took so much time. You couldn't just spring who and what you were on them without running for the hills, or the cops.
In my world we mated with another wolf, or we used the drug for humans. By the time they woke up, they were one of us. Sometimes it was slightly traumatic for them, but I've never seen one that didn't come around...eventually.
I wanted to do it the way my parents had done it, and their parents, and my great grandparents before them, but the youngest female wolf in our pack was Chelsea, and she was certainly taken. Then, the next youngest was in her 50's. I loved her like a mother, but definitely not a mate.
“There she is,” I told Chase.
My eyes were drawn to her whenever she was in the room. Her name is Cheyenne and she's beautiful. She's from the US, Native American, she told me, in case I couldn't guess. She has that look about her.
The high cheekbones, long, shiny dark hair and big, round dark eyes. Her eyelashes are so long that at first you might think they're fake, but they're not.
What I like most is that her body isn’t rail thin like a lot of human girls. When I first saw her, I noticed that she had curves...so many curves, curves my palms itched to explore.
I could tell the few times I talked to her that she was somewhat insecure, probably because the curvy girls in Indonesia are few and far between.
Her two friends that she comes out with every week are rail thin. One of them looks Indonesian and the other is a blonde, probably also from America. They're both beautiful women...but not like my Cheyenne. She was the one I wanted.
Cheyenne
Another Friday night out in Surga. I both loved and hated my new life. Just before I graduated from college with a BA degree in finance and a minor in mathematics, I was offered an opportunity that I couldn't pass up. My father's best friend lived in Indonesia and had houses in both Bali and on this small island called Surga.
Surga was an unchartered island, found by a group of fishermen in the late 90's. The story goes that it was bought by a billionaire who built homes there for the poor and needy who roamed the streets of Bali. He built an entire little town for them, a haven, so to speak. When he died, he left the island to one of its inhabitants with the stipulation that it couldn't be sold, only passed on to whomever he chose to be his heir.
The guy was about 50 years old now and he owned the bar I had just walked into. He was a super nice guy, and a lot of fun, but mostly everyone hung on his every word and every crazy story in the hopes of someday becoming his heir.
Meanwhile the population of the island continued to grow. It was a collection of people who simply wanted to live off the grid, people hiding out from one thing or another and people like me, here for work.
My boss was a contractor and owned a real estate business. He dominated the market on Surga and his men were always busy.
I did the payroll and taxes and things like that. It was a good job and my boss was generous with my wages and benefits. The island was gorgeous. I couldn't have dreamed up a more beautiful place to live.
But at 21 years old, with a chubby build and shy personality, being on an island of 650 people, where the median age is 42...well, it can get a little lonely sometimes.
My two girlfriends and I have a standing date every Friday night for drinks and dancing at a local club called “Park's Place”. Park is the last name of the guy who owns the club and it is always a fun time.
My roommate Marta and our co-worker Bonnie are my best friends. They're both slim, beautiful and outgoing and are constantly surrounded by men.
I get hit on sometimes too...usually by a sailor who has been out to sea for too long, or one of the old, married men, looking for a little fling.
I wasn't interested in either.
I promised myself that no matter how lonely I got, I wasn't going to settle. I've spent the past six months on this island, not settling, and not dating. But a few weeks ago, I'd met a man at the club who I now couldn't get off my mind. He was in the bar tonight.
I saw him as soon as I walked in. Of course, I was looking for him. Something about him, beyond the fact that he was drop-dead gorgeous, drew me. He introduced himself to me one night and tried to buy me a drink.
I turned the drink down.
Although I had thus far not had any reason to wo
rry on the island, I was still wary of the possibility of someone slipping something in my drink. It had happened to a close friend of mine in college back in the states. She was raped and never the same afterwards.
He had told me he understood and asked if he could sit with me and talk. There were so many beautiful women in the place, I was confused and maybe a little suspicious about why he'd picked me. He did most of the talking, but I have to admit that he was really good at getting me to open up, more than I would usually to a stranger.
The night ended however, without him asking for a date, or even my number. I was disappointed, but not necessarily surprised.
Oh well..
I saw him one other time and we had just started talking when a man came in the bar, a big, burly man with a beard. He was nice looking too...but kind of scary and dark.
He came up and said something in Ridge's ear and then walked away, like I wasn't even there. Ridge was profusely apologetic and said he had to leave, and he hoped we could meet up again...but still, he didn't ask for my number or a date.
Maybe he had a hot girl at home and I was just for conversation. It happened to me all the time. I was a good listener and even in high school, no real threat to the girls the hot guys actually dated.
They came to me when they needed to talk, and the hot girls got them the rest of the time.
“I'm going to get us some drinks,” My friend Marta said into my ear. “Grab that table over there in the corner, okay?'
“Sure,” I yelled back.
Bonnie already saw a guy she knew and was huddled close to him, talking. I knew she liked him, but when she first met him he had been in a relationship.
He recently broke up with the girlfriend and Bonnie was slowly but surely moving in for the kill. She was blonde, green eyed and a fashionista. I had no doubt she'd soon be dragging him around on her arm, practically begging her to let him do his bidding.
I made my way over to the table in the corner, stealing glances in the direction of Ridge...even his name was cool.
Too cool for me.
I shook off the thoughts in my head and sat down at the high-top table. Forcing myself to focus on anything else, I looked out at the dance floor, watching all the people hug each other, rub up against each other, kiss and sway to the music.
A pang of jealousy and loneliness assaulted me just as I heard the deep, baritone, melodious voice say,
“Well there she is, hello Cheyenne. It's so good to see you.”
I turned to look at him.
“So good” didn't even describe the way that seeing him made me feel. Strangely, although I knew very little about him, that pull was ever-present. I'd never felt anything like it before and it confused me.
“Hi Ridge. How are you?” He slid a long leg over one of the tall stools and then he touched me...for the first time. He slipped his hand under mine and the contact was electric. I was staring into his beautiful hazel eyes, but it was hard not to look down.
My whole arm was tingling.
He smiled and a part of me melted as he said,
“Just fine, now.”
Ridge
The spell was broken by the sound of Cheyenne's friend Marta's voice.
“Here you go,” she said, “One Cosmopolitan. Hi Ridge.”
Cheyenne introduced her friends to me the first night we met. They seemed like nice enough girls but I preferred having her to myself.
Growing up mostly in the woods, as a wolf, I didn't have a lot of experience being around groups of women.
They tend to whisper and giggle too much for my taste. I was a very direct guy and all that whispering and giggling kind of annoyed me. I felt like if you had something to say, you should just say it.
If it were simply up to me, and I thought it wouldn't freak her out, I would tell Cheyenne how I felt and then I'd take her to the woods, and change her.
I could feel her vibes. I knew she was having feelings for me, but in typical human fashion, she was fighting them.
“Hello Marta,” I said, politely, while hoping she'd go away. “So nice to see you again.”
“You too,” she said. She whispered something into Cheyenne's ear and they both giggled.
Then Cheyenne said,“Go on. I'm okay.”
To me she said, “So are you here with your friend Chase again tonight?” I'd introduced Chase to Cheyenne the first night I met her.
Something about the vibe between them made me change my mind about having him around when I talked to her though. Their vibe wasn't nowhere near as strong as mine and hers...but, it was there and I didn't like it.
I respected my alphas and their ability to share Chelsea, but I didn't like to share, and when I got Cheyenne to believe she was my mate, I wasn't about to share her with anyone.
“Yes,” I said. “He's on the prowl out there somewhere.”
Poor Chase didn't have much luck with women. He was a good-looking guy, I guess, but he had no idea how to talk to a woman. I was just winging it myself most of the time, but it seemed to work for me a lot more often than it did him.
Cheyenne's eyes scanned the crowd on the dance floor and I felt a tickle of jealousy, thinking she was looking for him. The sudden loud burst of laughter from a table behind us prompted her to smile herself and say, “Hopefully he's careful. It sounds like the hyenas are out in full force.”
I laughed too.
I loved that she had a sense of humor. I loved that she was just so real, and I told her so.
“You're not just another pretty face. You have wit as well.”
I watched the color rise in her cheeks.
“Sure, whatever you say,” she said, picking up her drink and hiding her face behind it for several seconds. I watched her eyes scan my face. It was like she was always trying to figure out what I was thinking...or why I was with her.
I couldn't figure out how she didn't know how incredibly beautiful, and sexy she was. When she was mine, I would spend the rest of our lives proving it to her.
“So there's a question I've been wanting to ask you, Cheyenne. Why don't you have a boyfriend? You're much too wonderful to be alone.”
Another blush and then a slight roll of her eyes like she thought I was simply using my lines on her. “I haven't had the best of luck with relationships,” she said, leaving it at that.
“Hmm, sounds like you've been looking for long-term in temporary people. Some men have no idea how lucky they are to have a beautiful, sexy, funny, smart woman, until it's too late.”
Her blush grew darker and she said, “You don't have to say things like that. I'm happy to just sit and talk to you, about real things.”
I raised an eyebrow and said, “All I ever talk about are real things. You, Cheyenne, are the realest thing I see in this club and I meant every word I just said.”
She was fidgeting with a straw with both of her hands and not looking at me when she said, “You could have any woman you want in this club...any woman on the island.
You can't expect me to believe that you look around this room and see all these gorgeous women and truly believe that I'm the most beautiful.”
I reached over and put my fingers underneath her chin and tipped her face up so she would be forced to look at me. “I do expect you to believe it, Cheyenne, because it's true.
Take a walk with me, Cheyenne, in the moonlight. Let's get out of this stuffy place and get some fresh air.”
Her eyes widened and I saw her scan the room for her friends. This was the part about that old-fashioned way, that annoyed me. I was too impatient to wait until she began to believe I genuinely had feelings for her, and she ran it by her friends and her family.
I wanted her...right now. “Um...I'm not sure that's such a good idea.”
I covered her hand with mine, stopping the fidgeting, and looked into her eyes and said, “Cheyenne, you don't think I'm going to hurt you, do you? I would never hurt a woman, especially not you. You would be safer with me than anywhere in the world, I guara
ntee you that. Did I tell you that I work for The Pack?”
The Pack was the name of our security company, and it was quickly gaining a sterling reputation on the island. We didn't have police of our own. They had to come over from Bali or Komodo and sometimes that took too long.
The citizens had begun to turn to us for many of their safety needs. The alphas, Courtney's mates, had begun installing security cameras in some of the darker places in town where crime had increased in recent years and so far in the short time we'd been there, our pack had been responsible for the apprehension of over a dozen criminals who had been terrorizing the locals for a long time before we even got there.
I could tell by the look on Cheyenne's face that she knew exactly who The Pack was.
“Your company does a lot of business with the company I work for,” she said. “My boss used to have a company come over from Bali to install the security systems on the new properties he built, but he's been using your company almost exclusively for months now.”
“Awesome,” I told her with a wink. “So see, there's a connection between us that should make you feel more comfortable with me.”
She smiled. “And...that could be just your angle...getting me to feel comfortable with you and let down my guard.”
I laughed. “I guess you could be right, but you're not. I just want to get to know you, Cheyenne. I want to spend some real time with you.”
“Then maybe,” she said, still not looking like she believed me, “Maybe we could go on a date or something.” I resisted the sigh I felt inside. Dates are fine and once she's my mate I'll take her on as many dates as she wants to go on.
But, no matter how pissed Chelsea and the alphas are going to be with me...I had to have her sooner, rather than later.
