Lovers: An Aleph Series Stories Novella
Page 9
“Enough to know it’s not going to do either of us any good at the moment,” she giggled, ending with a slight hiccup.
“Wow, I have never seen you drunk before,” he said with an amused grin. He held the bottle up and an equally exhausted looking Fitz took it from him, emptying the bottle before throwing his body into a chair on the other side of her. Solomon turned to Fitz. “Fitz, my mom is snockered.”
She heard a noise of disbelief that sent her into another giggling fit.
“Well, I take back that snort, Sol,” Fitz said, walking over to her and bending over her slumping form. “She’s not snockered, she’s outright wasted. How much did you let her drink?”
“Let her? Really? Are we talking about the same Sarah Aleph here?” Solomon said with a tired grin.
“OK, I take that back. How ‘bout we just haul her up and put her into bed. I don’t think she’s going to do herself any good like this,” Fitz smiled, trying to reach for her.
“I’m not trying to help myself, I’m trying to help my son,” she pouted stubbornly. Somewhere deep inside she knew she’d be paying for this night, both with a hangover, and because for the rest of her life both Fitz and Solomon would hold it over her head.
“Mom, just exactly how are you planning on helping me while being rip roaring drunk?” Solomon asked with a laugh.
“Well, your father always sat here and sipped his scotch and within a few hours he’d come up with some brilliant solution to just about any problem,” she slurred. She took the silence in the room to mean that they’d heard her, but were not entirely comfortable and didn’t know how to answer. She snorted softly to herself.
How can they know that there’s nothing they can do to make it better? They’ve not bonded.
Her head snapped up and she narrowed her eyes at Solomon. “Did you get rid of that slutty, skanky whore?”
Solomon choked a laugh back, but it ended up sounding like a snort. He turned his head toward Fitz. “Did my mom just say what I think she said?”
“What? If it looks like a duck, walks like a duck, and quacks like a duck, then it’s a whore,” she said, certain that that statement made sense somehow.
She crossed her arms in protest against the howling laughter coming from her son and his best friend. “As nice as it is to know that you haven’t lost the ability to laugh, Solomon, I don’t understand what you find so funny.” That just made them laugh even harder.
Solomon wiped his eyes and must have noticed her pouting so he crossed to the couch, sat next to her and gave her a huge hug. “Mom, I love you,” he chuckled. “No, please don’t say anything else that you’re going to regret tomorrow, OK?”
She just nodded.
“And, yes, mom, I threw her off the Ranch, but I can’t stop her from staying in Ranch Town, and I seriously doubt she’ll stay away. I hate her, and I won’t let her near me, but, unfortunately, she’s still legally my wife, and before you even go there, the Council ruled just a few hours ago that if I divorce her, I’ll just be forced to instantly marry again. I won’t have any other females go through that, and I sure as hell refuse to have a wife picked out for me like this ever again.”
“Then how will you have pups? Wait, what if she’s carrying your pup already?” she asked, suddenly nervous about such a…a…whore…blatantly loose woman raising her grandpup.
Solomon squirmed, just like when he was a toddler and got into something he wasn’t supposed to get into. “If she’s carrying a pup, it’s not mine.”
“But…”
“Mom, enough, I’m positive it wouldn’t be mine,” Solomon growled.
She sighed in relief. “Oh good, you used protection.”
He didn’t answer and through her alcohol soaked brain she started to wonder if she’d been told the entire truth about what’d happened on their wedding night. She shrugged mentally to herself. He’d tell her when he was ready, if he ever was.
He was just as strong as his father, but he was still her son and she was under no illusion about how deeply he’d been hurt. He hadn’t been in love, and hadn’t even liked her, but he’d been determined to make a good mating out of it, and in the end he’d only ended up married to a whore.
She turned her head back to look at Fitz, who was still kneeling on the floor in front of her. Probably to catch me if I pass out. She knew she didn’t need to say anything, hundreds of questions were circling in her mind, and she knew that Solomon and Fitz saw all of them.
Solomon took a deep breath. “It’s started, mom. My left hand had started where my right hand left off,” he said cryptically.
Still the good son trying to protect me.
He glanced up and looked her in the eyes. “I’m going to re-make this Region into what I want it to be and, come hell or high water, anyone who opposes me will find himself either exiled or dead. I intend to lay out the new way of things, clearly and concisely. I know almost every District Councilor will buck against nearly every idea I have. So for the next few years I’m going to be doing a lot of travelling. I’m going to go pack by pack in each District and make sure that my new rules are being followed exactly how I say they will be, and if the pack alpha won’t cooperate he’ll be…replaced.”
She nodded. It was a brilliant idea. The Councilors had expected Solomon to fight them, and he had, and he’d lost. They would go back to their Districts, feeling safe in their power and smugly ignore the new “puppy Alpha” but if enough packs changed leadership, a new District vote for a Councilor was automatic. The Laws required it.
The newly installed pack alphas would all the same cloth as Solomon in their beliefs for the future and about living with humans, and they would follow his ideals and ideologies. Within a few short years, none of the current Councilors would be on the Council. “Our son is even more brilliant than we ever thought, Jethro,” she said softly.
She heard Solomon suck in his breath. “Come on, mom, it’s time for bed.”
“I love you, Solomon,” she whispered, patting his cheek like she had when he was a baby.
He chuckled. “I love you too, mom.”
###
ALEPH SERIES STORIES
The series will eventually have at least seven full length books. The main plotline, unfolded in “Solomon Aleph”, continues throughout all the novels, but becomes a subplot in many of them. As with anything an author tries to plot out, characters and storylines sometimes hijack things and run away, and all we can do is hang on for dear life and type.
For the moment, the series will occur like this:
Book One - Solomon Aleph
The young Alpha isn’t so young anymore, but a mature 40 year old male, fully in control of his Region, or so he thinks. Jamie is a 21 ish Marine who has no idea she is a werewolf, until she shifts in a cave, in Afghanistan.. The horrific killings during his father’s time come back to haunt Solomon. And the reason they happened becomes clear. It ends with a Happily Ever After...For Now.
Book Two - Hacker
Hacker geek extraordinaire - Gregory Todd - gets his own book, his own problems to solve...like how to talk to girls...and organizing Solomon’s entire Ranch, while at the same time, helping Solomon rein in the attacks in cyberspace and Hunt those responsible. The main plot concerning Gregory will be wrapped up by the end, but the subplot begun in Solomon Aleph continues.
Book Three - Defender
University trained medical doctor, and best friend - Fitzwilliam Pederson - get his own book, with his own issues...especially when it comes to having a loving mate bonded to you while you know damned well your best friend is screwed. Solomon’s fiercest supporter and lovable goofball will help solve a few things on his own, even as the subplot thickens.
Book Four - Solomon’s Mate
This picks up the next day after Solomon Aleph ends and follows Solomon and Jamie as they have to leave each other. Again. Lives are lost, and hiding is imperative as Jamie learns what it means to be an alpha female werewolf. From werecats. She must figu
re out how to survive completely on her own, for the first time in her life. It also ends with a Happily Ever After...For Now.
Book Five - Shomeyr
The El Shamar operative, Judah Rasmussen, is an integral part of Jamie’s life during Solomon Aleph, and becomes even more important to her, and to Solomon, in Solomon’s Mate. Shrouded in secrecy and ancient tradition, the Shomeyr are not weakling sociologists. Trained by Mossad and placed discreetly near packs worldwide, the field Shomeyr are at the forefront of all things Were. By then end of Judah’s story, your appreciation of these brave humans will know no bounds, and more players in the game come out of the woodwork.
Book Six - Traitor
What makes a man turn traitor? What could possibly turn an adult male werewolf, dedicated to his friends, his alpha and his Region? This behind the scenes look at everything in Solomon Aleph and the hidden things in Solomon’s Mate, this story does not have a happy ending. It can’t. With the choices made, for good reasons or not, there is only one outcome of a male who betrayed Solomon: death. Almost all the players in the game Solomon is desperate to win come out to play by this time.
Book Seven - Solomon’s End
The (for now) final chapter in the Aleph Series Stories gathers all the players together. More death is inevitable. But the betrayals run deeper than Solomon imagined. Jamie and Solomon will finally be together, but not without deadly fights and not without pain. The Happily Ever After will be tempered by loss. But, ultimately, Solomon and Jamie win.
By the time the series ends, there is a chance that two other characters may end up with a novella similar to this: Mo and Kevy. (Don’t worry, you’ll meet them in Solomon Aleph.) They have been knocking, but not loudly yet. As with any best laid plan...it will most likely go awry...but not too far.
Stay connected to find out plots, did they indeed run away with something, and dates for releases.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Julie was born and raised in the East Bay Area, California. She went to college, married, had kids, and inherited two dogs along the way. While not battling hormones and meltdowns from her four daughters, or threatening to tie her son down so he’ll hold still, she enjoys freelancing in graphic design while indulging in her first passion – writing. OK, reading was the first passion, but writing followed quickly after. She’s gone back to her third love, teaching. She traded lovely coastal weather for sweltering desert heat where there are indeed four seasons: winter, summer, more summer and still summer.
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