Once I am ready I run downstairs to find them. The living room is full of wolves. Some of my brothers and some of the pack. None of them look too excited about me going out.
“Well, we ready?”
Father walks into the living room and goes over my rules once more. Stay with your brothers, mind them, so on and so on. Once he finally stops yelling at me we get to leave. I call my friends on the way out the door.
“Hey, Mel it’s Cara. Look, I am on my way to the mall can you guys meet me?”
“Your father is actually letting you out? I take it he knows since you didn’t say pick me up on the side of the road.”
“Yes, he knows. I have my brothers and some of their friends with me. They will kind of be in the background today. Can you get the others to meet at the mall?”
“You bet. Dawn and Heather are here now. Eric is on his way and I think Rob and James are gassing up the van. So, we will see you there. Where do you want to meet up?”
“How about at the fountain?”
“See you there. This is going to be so much fun. We can hit all the good stores. I want to get some new shirts and oh yeah jewelry. Shoes too. See you soon.”
“See you soon.” I am bouncing up and down in my seat. Marcus looks at me and rolls his eyes. It isn’t often I get to go to the mall. Hardly ever in fact. Marcus is one of my older brothers and he hates babysitting duty.
“Princess, you will behave today, won’t you?”
“Marcus, you know me, I will be a little angel.”
“Uh huh, that is what I was afraid of. If you don’t father will never let you go again. You will stay close by. If I have to I will cuff you to me.”
“You didn’t bring handcuffs did you?” He laughs. Something makes me think he did. He knows me all too well. I don’t let that get me down. I am too happy to let his warnings get in my way of a little fun.
Chapter 2
We get to the mall and before they will let me out of the truck I am being yelled at again. You will blah, blah, blah… I try to ignore them. Once they have all taken their shots at me they let me get out of the truck. We took three trucks to the mall. We don’t all fit in one even with the two seats. My packmates are relatively big, compared to human males.
Once inside I almost run to the fountain in the center of the mall. My brothers and the others move quickly to keep up with me. Amos grabs me by the arm and pulls me to a stop. “Cara, damn it, slow down. We don’t want to attract too much human attention.”
“Sorry, I am just excited to be out of the house. To see my friends. You have no idea how hard it is being me. You guys get to go out every night if you want, but I hardly get a chance to see my friends.”
“Princess, look at me.”
“What now Marcus?”
“Don’t get an attitude with me. Look, we will give you a little room to be with your friends, but we will be close by. You have enough money?”
“Yes, I think so father gave me some and I had some. Thanks, Marcus. I don’t mean to be such a brat. It’s just I want to be with my friends.”
“I understand that, but you need to remember there could be others of our kind here. Ones that don’t belong to our pack. You will stay in listening range. If we say stop, you stop. Understand me?”
“Yes, I got it. About a hundred times now. Look, nothing bad is going to happen. Oh, hey, here comes my friends.”
“I want to meet everyone you’re going to be with, so we know who is safe and who is not.”
“Got it.”
Mel runs up and gives me a huge hug. We haven’t seen each other for a month because of my last sneak out. Then Eric and Mike are at my side. I see my brother Marcus stiffen when they give me a hug. Then Dawn and James come walking up hand in hand. Next, I see Heather and Rob they seem to be locked into some heated discussion.
“Hey, you guys this is my brother Marcus. He wanted to meet everyone.” I introduce him to each one of them. The guys, Eric, Rob, Mike, and James offer him a hand to shake he refuses to take their hands. He nods instead. I know he doesn’t like me having human boys around me, but tough they are my friends.
“Well, we’re going now.”
“Prin… Cara, you remember the rules.”
“I will. Dang will you stop now.” I walk on with my friends. I have my arm through Eric and Mel’s arms I hear a low growl from behind me. It is one of my brothers. I think he is warning me to keep my hands off the humans.
“So, what is up with your brothers?”
“Oh, you know my father, he thinks every time I want to do something I have ulterior motives. He sent them along to watch over me. You know, so I can’t have fun. Too bad I intend to have fun.”
“A bit overprotective isn’t he?”
“Way overprotective. At least I got to come. Not that him saying no would have detoured me.” We all laugh. They know me well. It isn’t like I haven’t snuck out a dozen times to be with them. All, though lately father has had the pack watching me more. It has gotten a little harder to get away.
When I am running in the woods my scent is everywhere. So, I make a point to go running often. That way when I do sneak out it is harder to track where I am. Unless it has rained recently.
The first store we go into is a store with clothes for the younger generation. We girls try on a few things while the guys give us their opinions. My pack is out in the store, I can see them. I also see a couple of them who look ready to attack my friends. Father sent some of the single wolves with me. He tries to keep pushing them on me. He wants me to choose one of them for my mate. I don’t think so.
“Oh, Cara that shirt is awesome. It shows your figure so well. Hubba, Hubba.”
“Eric, you are just making fun of me.”
“No way. Babe, you look great in that shirt. It shows off your boobs rather well. I like it. If you don’t buy it, I will.”
“You would look a little funny wearing it, don’t you think?” He laughs. But the look in his eyes makes me know he is telling the truth. Then I turn around and look in the mirror to see that the shirt does, in fact, show my cleavage nicely. I like it. I am definitely buying this shirt.
I can see through the mirror my brother Marcus, shaking his head no. He doesn’t want me to buy the shirt. He doesn’t approve of me showing off what mother nature gave me. I get the shirt anyway.
We go on to the next store and shop for jeans. I find a couple of pairs I like. They fit tight and show my shape well. Again, I can see my brothers watching and shaking their heads no. I don’t listen to them. I dress the way I want.
Later, as me and my friends are walking out in the mall looking in windows of different stores, I hear my brothers rushing toward me. I look around to see what the problem is. That is when I smell another wolf. I search through the crowd looking for him, but I don’t see him. Then my brothers and the pack are squishing me into a window as they surround me pushing my friends out of the way.
“Hey, what the hell man?”
“Princess, stay right where you are.”
“Did he just call you Princess?”
“It’s a nickname. Marcus, stop pushing me.” The pack and my brothers stand with their backs to me as they search the crowd looking for the threat. My friends are looking at me like what the hell is going on?
“Amos?”
“Shush.” I take it whatever threat they thought was there they couldn’t locate. Too many people in the mall. They ease up some. They step away from me only a step or two.
“What is going on with your brothers?”
“Cara are you all right?”
“Yes. Who knows with them.”
“Princess, it is time to go home.”
“Marcus I am not done shopping.” He growls at me. I don’t think he meant for my friends to hear, but I see them all step back away from me. I turn to my brother and stare him down. Something a female werewolf shouldn’t be able to do.
“I said I am not through shopping. I don’t get to come to t
he mall that often. Whatever was there, isn’t now.”
“That doesn’t mean the wo… problem is gone. I said we are going and that is that. You knew the rules when we came.”
“Marcus, please. There is more than enough of us to stop the…. problem. Come on, let me stay. Please?” He looks at me then looks around. I know it wasn’t more than one or two wolves they smelt. I smelt it too.
He looks around again then at the rest of the pack and I see two of them walk off. I know he has sent them to look around. “You stay with us right now. You and your friends must wait a minute. If things are… better, then I will consider staying. But know this, if things haven’t left, then we are leaving no matter how you whine.”
“I know.” I turn back to face my friends and see them staring at Marcus. They heard him growl and are confused. I step closer to them.
“What is he?”
“Marcus? He’s my brother who thinks he can growl at me to make me do what he wants. Look, I am sorry about all this. I hate when father sends them to watch over me.”
“What is wrong? Why are they all crowding around you now?”
“Oh, they heard someone say something I guess. No big deal. Can we just forget this? Hey, look the jeweler store. Let’s see what we can find. I want to look at necklaces.”
My friends follow me inside and so does half the pack. They stay right by my side. It is taking all the fun out of being with my friends. My friends who now wonder what the hell is going on.
A little later when things seem to be calming down and my pack gives me a little more space. Not as much space as before, but enough that my friends think they can talk to me, Eric and James corner me.
“Why did they call you Princess? Are you some kind of royalty?”
“Who me? That’s funny. No, really, it’s a nickname they gave me a long time ago because of the way my father treats me. Really me a Princess.” I laugh like it’s the funniest thing I have ever heard. All the time I want to think what would happen if my friends knew the real truth? Where I may not be a Princess like they are thinking, I am somewhat of a Princess in wolf terms being that I am female.
We shop a couple more hours, then start for the food court. I am starving. I know the pack is too. We take a lot more food to keep us going then human’s do. We all get our food, then find a table and sit. There are not enough empty seats for the pack to sit by us thank goodness. I see them standing around waiting for a table to clear next to me. They won’t sit and eat if they can’t keep an eye on me.
I am eating when I smell it, the wolf is nearby. I hear my brothers and the pack scramble to their feet and rush to my side. My friends are freaking out. What is going on they want to know? I am in tears. I don’t want this. I don’t want my pack acting like I am a baby with my friends watching.
“Princess, it is time to say goodbye to your friends.”
“Marcus?”
“Now!” He yells.
“You guys I better go. Sorry. Thanks for meeting up with me. I just wish you didn’t have to see them acting like idiots.” I point toward my pack. I stand up and look around. I see where my brothers are staring. I find him. He is gorgeous. Our eyes met for a minute and I see the flames in his eyes. He is alone at the moment that doesn’t mean his pack isn’t close by. I know there is no talking my brothers out of leaving now.
The lone wolf stares at me as if he wants me. As if he wants to get close to me. Close enough to touch me. To mate with me. I shake. I am not scared, but I feel weird looking at him. It is an odd sensation that I have never felt before. One that says I want him. I see his nostrils flare. I can see he is taking in my scent. I have already caught his well enough to know him anywhere.
I see his eyes. They seem to glow. He is still watching me, taking all of me in. I see his eyes go from my eyes to my toes and back up again. He smiles at me. I smile at him. Then I am jerked off my feet. Marcus is pulling me out of the area. “Cara, start walking and fast.”
“Marcus, who is he?”
“I don’t know, and we don’t want to know. You, young lady, are in grave danger. Now we are getting out of here and in a hurry. I don’t care who sees us moving.” He pulls on my arm as the pack gathers around me. I have my bags in my hands. I drop one. Marcus doesn’t even let me stop to get it. He tells one of the others to grab it.
Once outside the pack circles around me. Then we walk rather quickly to the trucks. I am shoved in the middle of the back seat. I mean shoved. My brother Marcus pushes me inside, then jumps in beside me. Amos has already jumped into the driver’s seat and has started the truck. On my other side is Zeke. I can hear growls coming from all of them. In the front seat with Amos is my brothers Aidan and Raul.
The pack is in the trucks behind us.
I can’t believe I saw her. She was beautiful. A young female wolf. A female who called to my inner animal. I have never felt so compelled to be near someone before. She was amazing. Tall and with red hair like flames. Her smile was mesmerizing. She was so alluring. I must get to know her. I will follow them. I will find out where she lives. I will get to her somehow.
The pack drives like there is a fire behind us. I keep looking around. I don’t see him. I do see a blue truck a ways back and have to wonder if that is him following us. “Are you going to tell father about this when we get home?”
“You know we have to. Princess, do you have any idea how close we came to shifting in front of the humans today to protect your ass?”
“You wouldn’t have shifted in the mall.”
“Honey, you have no idea how hard it was not to. Cara that wolf wanted you. He wanted you in the worst of ways. He smelled your scent, and he knew you were ready to take a mate. I take it he was alone, or we would have had a fight on our hands.”
“Father will never let me out of his sight again. Please don’t tell him. We got out, no one got hurt. He didn’t get anywhere near me. Marcus? Amos? Zeke?”
“Sorry Princess, but even I agree with them on this one. Look you’re my twin and I know more about what you’re feeling than anyone. Baby girl, do you think for one minute that I would let you get taken from us? From me?”
“No, and that is why I think this was no big deal. You all wouldn’t let me get taken. Besides, we left the mall, and he is back there. He has no idea who I am or where we live. No one does. I got to say you freaked out my friends today. I don’t know if they will ever speak to me again.”
I have tears running down my face. Zeke wraps his arm around me and pulls me closer to him. He does understand on some surface. “Baby girl don’t cry. We just want to keep you safe. You know I love you.”
“I know you all do, but Zeke it was totally embarrassing. My friends had to ask me if I was some kind of royalty. They thought the way you all acted… well they had to wonder if I was someone special. Even at school someone is always following me.”
“You are special. Very special. You really are a Princess. At least to the pack. Cara, stop crying.”
Now Marcus is reaching for me. He wraps his arm around me and pulls me out of Zeke’s arms. He holds me close and wipes the tears off my face. Even though he is still watching out the window looking for trouble.
“Um, I can’t be sure just yet, but I think we are being followed. The blue truck four cars back. Hold on you all, I am going to make some sharp turns.” He does just that. The truck the pack is in following us is keeping up with us. The blue truck I thought was following doesn’t turn on the same street we do. That seems to ease the tension in the truck for a few minutes.
We get out of town and on the highway headed home. It isn’t long till Amos is pulling off the road to stop at a gas station. He sits in a parking spot that he can drive on if he sees trouble. The parking lot is huge. It is a truck stop. The pack doesn’t pull up beside us. They have parked off in the distance. I know they are watching to see if we are being followed.
“Do you see anything?”
“Not yet, but I swear we are being followed.”
We stop and start several times before we enter our territory. We stop in town and wait for a good long time before heading home.
Once at the house I see father waiting on the porch. Marcus had called him from town and told him a little bit of what happened. “Cara, oh baby girl, I knew if I let you go something like this would happen. Are you all right?”
“I’m fine. Nothing happened. So, stop acting like I am a baby.” I get mad and run into the house and up to my room. I don’t wait to get my bags out of the truck or anything. I know father will have more reason to keep the pack after me. They will be watching me like a hawk now. Wolves can hide and watch without you knowing they’re even there, unless you’re one of their pack. Then they can sense your presence.
We can hear each other’s thoughts if we want. I usually keep everyone tuned out. I hate listening to my pack. The males think of two things, hunting for meat and hunting for females. Then from there their thoughts get a bit ugly. What some of them want to do to their mates is just… yuck.
I lay on my bed crying. It has been a devastating day. I don’t know what my friends think of me now. Will they ever talk to me again? Will they still be my friends? Will I ever get to see them again? The whole thing is more than I can take. I have to run off the frustration.
I head out back and into the woods. I strip and shift. I take off. I know I am not alone immediately. I run faster hoping to lose them, but I know they can follow my scent. I run for two hours before they catch up to me.
I am sitting on a rock overlooking the little winding river that runs through the mountains. I hear them give me a low growl to let me know they are coming up to me.
Zeke is the first one to come over to me. He nips at my neck, then rubs his nose along my face. He rubs heads with me. He wants to let me know he is sorry that I had such a bad day.
One Princess One Pack One Villain Page 2
