One Princess One Pack One Villain

by Brenda Westfall

  “Since this is all your fault little pup you can clean it up. Marcus you and Zeke watch over her. I am going outside. I think the others need to run it off. I am going to go with them on patrol. I will be back in a bit this kitchen better be clean.”

  I say a few words before I can stop myself. Father is across the room and his hand is raised. He has never hit me before but there is always a first time. He swings and Marcus steps in front of me. He barely makes it in time to take the blow. Right to the side of his head. He is down.

  Father looked at Marcus then at me and dashed for the back door. He runs out without another word. Had he hit me that hard I would have been out for hours? Marcus lays there till he is sure father is gone. I rush to help Marcus.

  “Are you all right? Marcus open your eyes. Damn him. He had no right to hit you.”

  “He wasn’t aiming for me.” His eyes are still shut. He shakes his head a time or too then slowly opens his eyes. He tries to smile at me but fails. Zeke is kneeling on his other side.

  “Hey man you ok?”

  “Yeah I will be. Help me up brother.”

  Zeke helps Marcus to his feet. I pull up a chair for him. He sits still for a long time. I am worried. No wolves don’t die that easy it’s just a sister thing. That and I am not used to seeing my father hit one of us. Shift and take us down to the ground yeah.

  “Sorry, he hit you.” I tell my brother Marcus.

  “If I hadn’t stepped in he would have hurt you. I never dreamed he would hit you. One of us maybe but never you Princess. Are you all right?”

  “He didn’t touch me thanks to you.”

  “That isn’t what I mean, and you know it. Are you all right from before this?”

  “You mean did Kyle hurt me? No. Heck, I held my own. If we had been outside and I had more room I think I would have torn him apart. I have so much tension built up right now I need to tear something apart.”

  “I can understand your need to, but I have to tell you Kyle came pretty close to taking you as his mate tonight. You better watch yourself unless that is what you are waiting for.”

  “You know I am not. I didn’t do anything for him to attack me.”

  “He didn’t attack you, my dear. He kissed you there is a huge difference as you will soon learn. Now you better start getting this mess cleaned up. Father will come back sooner or later. I would hate for him to go off on you before one of us could step in the way.”

  “Marcus, thanks.” He stands up and bends down to kiss my cheek.

  The rest of the weekend goes by without any major events. Mostly because my father has Duncan and Kyle and Rufus working away from the house. It gives us all a break. I get to stay up in my room and relax a bit.

  Chapter 6

  A couple of weeks go by and no signs of the wolf from the mall. Things start to calm down at the house. Well, as in I am allowed to run again. Father still has several wolves go out with me. Being wolf he knows I need to run.

  “I have decided to split you all up. Each time Cara goes out for a run, a different one of you three will go along. Rufus will go one time, then the next time she goes for a run Kyle will go and so on. I don’t want to have all this fighting going on. You all are just driving her further from making a choice.”

  I am so glad he has made this announcement. Unfortunately, Rufus is the first one to go out with me. We step out back and walk to the edge of the woods. I step behind the bushes I use to undress and then I start to shift. Before I am shifted all the way I look up to see Rufus watching me. That makes me furious. I finish shifting then rush him. He shifts a minute too late. I have him pinned to the ground.

  Again, male wolves like things rough. But not if they aren’t getting a chance to join in. I Have him pinned before he knows what hit him. He growls at me, but I don’t let go. My brothers hear the ruckus and come to investigate. Rufus is still in his human form and I have him pinned by the balls. He isn’t moving anymore.

  “Cara let go of him. You might want pups someday.” I growl at Marcus. His words are not ones he should use when I have the family jewels in my mouth. Father comes running when he hears Marcus screaming at me. His face when he sees what I have done is priceless. He almost looks like he is going to cry for the pain he is feeling for poor little Rufus.

  He steps closer to me and orders me to drop Rufus. I look up at him without letting go. “I said let him go.” I slowly let go and step back. Rufus is up and shifting. Father and Marcus are on him. Once they have everything quieted down, they ask Rufus what happened.

  “I was watching her shift.”

  “You watched her undress first, then didn’t you. You wonder why she tried to eat your nuts? You know how she feels about things right now. You’re trying way too hard to get her to choose you. If I were you I would back off a lot.” My father yells at him.

  “I wasn’t touching her just watching. She’s the most beautiful wolf ever. Before and after she shifts.” Rufus has lust in his eyes.

  I step back a few more steps, then turn and walk off. The rest of the pack who have shifted follow me. It isn’t long till Rufus has joined us.

  He walks up to me with his head hung low, then whines and rubs against me. It is a forgive me thing, but I snap at him and run off. Sure, he gives chase, but with the others in between us.

  After my run, I start making a list for the grocery store. I haven’t been in a few weeks. Father gave the other’s instructions. He told them to check around the woods outside of town than in town before ever letting me step out of the truck.

  Once I have a list made father hands over the money. It takes a lot to keep a pack of wolves’ feed. We spend anywhere from five to six hundred every two weeks. That doesn’t include all the hunting we do. There is a total of thirty-six in our pack. A couple of older females who have long ago seen their last pup born. They feed some of the wolves and the others eat at our house.

  When we get to town I have to sit in the truck with Duncan and Marcus. I am in the front seat between them. It’s one thing to sit beside my brother, but Duncan is one of the wolves I have been trying to avoid.

  “Princess you seem a little uptight today. Something bothering you?” He plays with a strand of my hair. He wraps it around his finger, knowing just how much he is getting under my skin.

  I look at him and simply say. “You want to keep that finger?” He laughs. But then he pulls his finger out of my hair. I think he has gotten the message. He hasn’t. He pushes my hair back out of my face. I feel his hand brush my cheek. “What is it your trying to do?”

  “Nothing, I was just trying to move your hair so I could see you better. You are very beautiful you know that don’t you?” He smiles.

  “Duncan please just stop.”

  I saw them leave the property. I saw her in the front seat. I felt it instantly. That pull that says she is mine. Then I felt like ripping the males apart that are with her. I want to kill them. And I shall, one by one till I have her in my arms. I will lure them out into the woods. Then I will spring on them. I will have her!

  I will take her in my arms and find out just what it is about her that calls to me so. That makes my body ache with need. What it is that makes me feel like I am on fire. Like I am more alive than I have ever been. She makes my dick hard. Oh yes, I will touch you soon my little wolf.

  It isn’t long till some of the pack returns. They haven’t seen or heard anything. A couple of the wolves haven’t returned. But Marcus says for me to go on inside the store and start shopping.

  Duncan goes in with me. I wish he wouldn’t. I know I have no choice but to let him. A couple of the others come in to. Each gets a shopping cart. They know the routine.

  I start filling my cart. Once my cart can’t hold anymore, I switch carts with my brother Cane. We are halfway through the store when I get the feeling something has happened. It’s Zeke. I stop and stand still. The others look at me funny.

  “Zeke, he is in trouble.” I run for the door they follow. We will have
to grocery shop later. When we come flying out of the store Marcus and Amos are standing beside the truck.

  “What is wrong?”

  “Zeke is in trouble,” I say it as I run by them. I don’t know exactly where he is, but I can find him faster than the others because of our twin connection. Marcus is trying to stop me, but he can’t catch hold of me.

  Once in the woods, I shift shredding my clothes. I pick up Zeke’s scent. I start howling. He doesn’t answer me. I get a gut sinking feeling he can’t.

  It takes about fifteen minutes before I find Zeke. He is shredded laying on the forest floor. He is soaked in blood. I howl and then I growl. I am ready to attack anything that moves. Whoever did this to my brother will pay. To my twin!

  Marcus shifts and takes in Zeke. He checks him over good. He says Zeke is alive, but barely. He tells one of the others to go back for the truck. To bring it to the road outside of town. We will wait there with Zeke.

  I don’t think so. I start tracking. It isn’t till I have calmed down and start tracking that I know the scent. It is my wolf from the mall. No, he couldn’t have tried to kill Zeke, could he? Damn him, I know it was him. I know his scent and the way I am feeling inside tells me I am right. I had thought I was just feeling Zeke’s pain, but it wasn’t just that I was feeling.

  I am furious and confused and desperate to find my wolf. The one who has me fighting all my instincts. My instinct tells me to find him and kill him for attacking my brother. Yet my body says I can’t kill him, he is my mate. I stop tracking and see the pack is following me. They all know I am a damn good tracker. Marcus is carrying Zeke. Cane is following close to me.

  I put my nose back to the ground, knowing I have to track the wolf who attacked my brother. If I don’t the others will tell father.

  I am relieved sometime later when the tracks stop. He had his truck waiting for him and has left. The others are growling and howling. They are steaming mad he got away again. Me? I am so confused.

  We get Zeke loaded and then everyone shifts. We keep extra clothes in the trucks. You never know when you will need to shift without warning. Once dressed I sit in the back with Zeke. They laid him in the very back of the truck. I hold his head in my lap. I don’t talk to him. He knows I am there as I would if the roles were reversed.

  When we get to the house father is waiting for us on the porch. He runs to the truck to grab Zeke. Marcus had called him to tell him what had happened.

  Zeke is taken inside and up to his room. Father examines him and determines he is badly broken. He has several broken bones. Father sets them, then Zeke starts to heal. It will take him a few days to heal. Then his broken bones will take a little longer.

  Once Zeke is awake and can talk, he tells me what happened. “I was just about to head back thinking there wasn’t anything to worry about then I caught his scent. I went after him. He must have been waiting, because he was on me before I saw him jump off the boulder he was on top of. Sis it was…”

  “I know. I am so sorry. I tracked him but lost his scent. I take it he had a truck close by. Zeke, I am sorry he hurt you. He came so close to killing you. Why didn’t he finish the job?”

  “What, sorry I lived?” He is trying to make me smile it doesn’t work.

  “You know that is not true. I would die if I lost you. I am just trying to figure out why he stopped.”

  “Because he smelled your scent on me. Then he asks me who I was to you. He called you the little wolf in the mall. I knew he had seen you. I knew he would come looking for you. I told him the truth, that I was your twin. That is when he stopped the attack. I was all ready too mangled to fight back. He should have finished me off.”

  “He stopped because you are my twin. He knew if he killed you I would hurt. Oh Zeke, what are we going to do? He can’t go around trying to kill my brothers or the pack.”

  “I don’t think there is anything we can do. We don’t know where he stays or where his pack is. Baby girl, don’t look so worried I am going to heal.”

  “I know, you just scared me to death. I felt it. I felt him hurting you. Then I felt nothing. I thought you were dead. Zeke, I wanted to kill him. Yet, I was confused and didn’t want to kill him.”

  “I know baby girl. I know. It’s all right. It’s over for now. Don’t worry about it.”

  “Zeke, I love you too much not to worry about it. You’re my brother, my twin, my other half. He is just a stranger, I long to know.” I start crying. Zeke pulls me down to him. I lay on his chest. He holds me while I cry. The others think I am crying because I almost lost Zeke. They weren’t in the house while we were talking. Father comes up to check on Zeke and I am curled up on the bed beside him asleep. Zeke is asleep now too.

  Father covers us up that is when I wake up. “What?”

  “Nothing Princess. I was just covering you up. You looked cold. You have Goosebumps.”

  “Oh, thank you. Father, is Zeke all right?”

  “He will be. He took a pretty bad beating. I don’t know what kept the other wolf from killing him. He could have ripped his throat out before you all found Zeke.”

  I heard her cries. She howled out in pain. I hurt her by nearly killing her twin. If I had known, I wouldn’t have attacked him. Yes, I would. I shouldn’t have, but I would have to protect myself. If he had found me before I found him, he would have killed me. But when I felt her getting close I could feel the pain she was feeling. I hurt her so. I am sorry my mate. I didn’t mean for you to feel it. I will have to be more careful. I still have every intention of getting to you. I will meet you. I will talk to you. I will have you.

  ***

  When we went back to school it was without Zeke. It was hard for me to be at school with him lying in bed. I felt the loss. I know he is still alive, but it didn’t feel like it.

  My friends were all talking and in a good mood. It wasn’t until lunch when we were sitting down that they got to ask me what was wrong.

  “It’s Zeke, he had an accident. He nearly died.”

  “Oh, Cara I am so sorry. What happened?”

  I had to think of something I could tell them and fast. I didn’t mean to let it slip out that he had gotten hurt. “My brothers were off-roading. Zeke got thrown from the truck. He got hurt pretty bad. They said he could have died. He will be bed ridden for a while.”

  “Oh, man. I wondered why he wasn’t by your side all day. It isn’t like him to let you out of his sight.”

  “Eric, he is my brother. It is his job to protect me. Don’t think I am alone the others are still here.”

  “I know. I didn’t mean to make you mad. Cara don’t cry. Oh, damn it, I said sorry. Babe, look at me. Really, I didn’t mean anything.”

  “I know.” He pulls me in for a hug and Rufus is there. He lets go of me and moves away from me. I stand up and start for the door, hoping Rufus will follow me instead of attacking Eric.

  He does thank goodness. Outside he pulls me into his arms. I let him. I am so upset over Zeke. When I don’t fight him, he worries that something is wrong with me. “You ok? Princess, what is wrong?”

  “Zeke is in pain. A lot of pain. It hurts.”

  “I’m sorry you're feeling his pain. I know you two have something that the rest of us can only wish for. Hey, why don’t I take you on home? It isn’t doing you any good being here. You can’t possibly be hearing the teachers.”

  “I think I would like to go home. But I need to get my homework first.”

  “I will walk with you to get your assignments. I will get mine too. Then I will take you home. Come on now.” He has his arm around my lower waist. We walk back inside, and Kyle is all over Rufus. I hear kids start ranting fight, fight. I say a few choice words, then let out a low help that I know my pack will hear. They come running.

  Amos and Cane try to grab hold of them and separate them. The principle is yelling at them to stop fighting. The kids are yelling hit him hit him. I don’t know who they are wanting to hit whom. It takes a good ten minutes to get
them apart and under control.

  The principal wants to know what they were fighting about. They can’t tell him of course. He expels them both for three days. Then he looks at me and asks me what I am crying about.

  Amos steps in. He tells the principal that my twin was in an accident and I am just feeling sad. The principal thinks about it then remembers that the teachers had said something to him before lunch about it. I had been asking for his assignments earlier. He tells me how sorry he is for my brother. Then tells me to get my stuff together and go home. Amos agrees I should go home and says he will take me. We all end up leaving. That is my brother’s and the rest of the pack. There were six of us. Duncan and Zeke weren’t with us.

  Back at the house father has already gotten a call. He talked to the principal about my cousins being expelled for three days for fighting in school. He is angry. Once I am upstairs, he takes Rufus and Kyle into his office. I don’t want to hear so I shut the door and lay down beside Zeke. He is asleep but wakes up when he feels the bed move.

  “Hey, why aren’t you in school?”

  “I went, I couldn’t take it. That and well, Rufus and Kyle got expelled. They got in a fight.”

  “I heard about that already. Father was ranting and raving about it. Said the principal had no idea what he broke up. So, what happened?”

  I told him all about it, then laid my head on his chest. I fell asleep. Zeke held me. He fell back asleep. I woke when Zeke started whimpering. I sat up and looked at him. He was having a dream.

  I got up and went to my room. I did my homework and started on Zeke’s homework. I would do it for him. We both knew most of the stuff already that we were learning in school. Father had started us on school stuff as soon as we could talk.

  The next few days went by in a blur. By the end of the week, Zeke was up and moving around. He was seventy percent healed. The broken bones were almost healed. A few more days and he would be back to normal.