by Lucy Lyons
I skidded to a stop and grabbed her arm as she streaked past me, tugging her into an awkward embrace that had nothing to do with romance or lust, at least until my arm slid around the silken curve of her waist and her scent filled my nose.
“Are you OK going back like this?” My question was sincere but clumsy, and for a moment I thought she might actually hit me. “I mean, are you upset that our wolves . . .”
“Were wolves? No, I get it, we’re connected, and it isn’t your fault or mine. It’s just the way it is,” she broke in.
“So I didn’t cause trouble between you and your pack?”
She blinked rapidly before she answered. “You care about that?”
“Of course I care. I never wanted to be on the outside with my pack, I sure as hell wouldn’t wish it on you.” I sighed and released her, my desire to touch her swept away by disgust at how she saw me. “I’m not a monster, and I don’t hate you. I’m doing the best I can with an impossible situation.”
“I don’t hate you either, but I feel like I should,” she said, and sat on the ground, hugging her knees to her chest again. She’d returned to a fully human form, and she shook all that long hair down around her like a curtain, hiding behind the thin crimson veil.
“You look like a mushroom all hunched in on yourself like that,” I teased, rolling my shoulders as I shifted and sat naked beside her. I tucked my legs in to keep warm, unused to the colder northwest temperatures. “My God, I don’t think I’ve ever been cold before.” She peered at me through her hair and chuckled at the horror on my face.
“I’m sorry, come in a little closer . . . for warmth only,” she finished as I wrapped myself around her like a buoy in a storm. “I have to go with you, don’t I?” she asked when I’d finished fidgeting and readjusting into a comfortable position. I froze in place, unsure of how to answer. “That wasn’t a real question, I know what I have to do, to keep my pack safe, and your pack. I love Josiah, but this isn’t about love. It’s about duty.”
I sighed heavily, my breath blowing her hair forward over her shoulder. “It’s one thing us shifters seem to have in abundance, compared to humans, isn’t it?” I shrugged, and she nestled back into my chest. “We have so much more responsibility to our people, so many more rules, rules we can’t break without dire consequences.”
“You’ve thought about this before,” she stated and I grunted my agreement.
“When I realized my brother was stuck in a wheelchair, I was horrified. But then, I rationalized it, because he’d be able to go out and drink until he passed out, or sleep with a beautiful stranger, or go away to college without those, ah, how did I put it? Oh yeah, those dire pack consequences.”
“I’m not beautiful, huh?”
I snorted. “Hell yeah, you are, Cherie, but those consequences, right?” she tipped her face back to me and I leaned down and kissed her, just a brush of my lips on hers. Just that brief touch shot electricity through me and I groaned with the effort of pulling away. “I’m truly sorry that I showed up and messed up your life, Golden wolf,” I sighed into her ear. “If my life hadn’t been on the line, I’d have, oh, I dunno, called first or something.”
“You did call, and I answered, whether I wanted to or not. I might not like it, but I feel the truth of it.” She shifted her arm and held it out, examining it in the light that filtered through the trees. The sunlight played on her fur, shooting it through with threads that looked like real gold wound through the cream and russet. “I got so good at downplaying my color, I’d forgotten that I ever looked like this,” she sniffed, and my arms reflexively tightened around her.
“You don’t have to hide anymore, Goldie. I wish I’d done things differently, but here we are, near-strangers, your pack leaders aren’t happy I’m asking to take you away and threatening their unborn young ones in one fell swoop, your Fae allies dismissed me, and . . .”
Her hand on my cheek stopped me midsentence. “Sh. Portia’s a bitch to everyone. I can feel how upset you are not to meet the Fae, but Clay and Ash will make it happen. The queens and the master of the city,” she broke off in a chuckle, “even the vampire hunters can’t stop them once they have an idea in their heads.” She laughed again and shook her head. “No, they have a plan for you, boy. I don’t know what it is, but they won’t just let you leave without accomplishing something for them first.”
But leaving was just what I’d decided to do. It wasn’t the kiss or the sex or her blissful surprise at finding her true form that had done it, but the moment she chose to comfort my unrest. She was too good to force away from her family and the people she loved, no matter what I thought of them. I held her close and shielded my thoughts from her as she had from me. She’d have to come to me on her own terms, or damn both our packs and the human world, because I couldn’t be the one to steal her away from her family, not after mine had been ripped away from me.
CHAPTER TWELVE
Camp was sleepy and cold, the fires had been moved inside, and the pit was ashes and turned over stumps while smoke puffed out the chimney in the longhouses. The professor was in his garden, the sole body out in the grey Washington morning. He paused in his weeding to wave and went back to his work as though our return was an everyday occurrence. I’d been led to believe couplings like ours were rare, but for all appearances, we were old news already.
Inside the larger of the longhouses, the old wolf who’d been barbequing steaks the night before was now busy in the kitchen area at the far end of the building, slapping bacon down on a long, flat griddle and cracking eggs into a blender.
“Where do you get your electricity?” I asked in a low voice, and the closest young wolves grinned as one of them pointed up.
“The professor and Bernie put together a solar exchange system just big enough to heat water, cook food, and run the lights, but it helps that we don’t need them much,” Goldie explained. “We only take what we must and try not to upset the balance out here.”
“I nodded and pointed to the tap. You divert water from the stream, but you don’t filter it?”
“No need, we’re above the human watershed,” she smiled and led me into the cooking prep area by the hand. She avoided the glances of the wolves engaged in cooking, and showed me the trap door that led to the root cellar beneath. “We keep perishables here, but truth be told—”
“The pack eats through too much to worry about it going bad?” I guessed. “That’s no surprise.”
The longhouse was well-built and spacious, with a large firepit in the center below a smokestack that ran up through the peaked roof. Someone handed me a plate and soon it was covered with sausage and eggs, several strips of bacon hanging over the crisp white edges to drip fat on the floor. Goldie handed me a matching white mug full of coffee and I nodded at her when she brought me cream.
“Please, and thank you.” She topped off the mug and the clouds of cream swirled through the fragrant, steaming coffee as I made my way to a table already packed with wolves who had gotten to the food before us. A couple of them shifted to the sides to make room on the bench for me to sit, and I watched, silent, as they did the same across the table for Goldie.
There wasn’t much talking amongst the pack as the males shoveled food into their mouths, the quiet chewing punctuated by the female alpha, Ash, as she called out chores for some of the pack members and reminded others of their shifts at the club.
It was surreal, unlike anything I’d ever experienced or heard of, that a pack would be so organized in their interactions with each other or the outside world. Like watching a movie on a stereotypical suburban family, before the plot twists and you find out they’re all bloodthirsty monsters. Except we were monsters, and it wasn’t horrifying. I wondered for the first time if one day we’d be able to admit our existence to the world. If we did, we would be stupid not to make the Rainier pack and even their vampire master of the city the poster-children for human/monster relations.
But this pack didn’t seem to see them
selves as monster at all, and maybe that was the point. I hated knowing I had to leave, and stared down at my plate, wishing I could just go back and pretend I didn’t have more power than any wolf but the alpha, if not him too. In my movie, I’d prove to Goldie I was the better man and she’d be happy to leave with me, confront Thaddeus at my side, stand by Porter without seeing him as weak. But the reality was the vampire already had the girl, and Porter was weak, and needed me to go back immediately.
Clay appeared at my periphery and said something to his pregnant wife that made her look at me sharply. Alarms went off in my head and I jumped up from my seat, not waiting for them to decide they didn’t want to share whatever had Ash spiking hot fear from her aura. The red sparks floated off her like embers from the fire in the center of the big room.
Just like that, my daydream of a quiet, normal life disappeared, replaced with the tightness in my chest that had become my near-constant companion since my parents had died, leaving me with a little brother whose injuries I couldn’t heal and the wolves I trusted watching me like an outsider. Hell, I was an outsider to the Rainier pack and they didn’t treat me with the suspicion Thaddeus had in recent weeks.
Then again, they also seemed immune to the reality that I’d been trying to make clear to them. All that they knew, the peace, the victories they’d apparently won to gain their freedom from creatures even more powerful than them—all this normalcy was about to disappear when Goldie finally turned against her will and killed, either one of them, or a human, maybe one of the Fae they were so fond of.
“What’s the frown for, lady-wolf?” I greeted her and she managed a wan smile. I waved my hand in the air even though the embers I could see were her power just behind my eyelids. “You got some-tin’ bothering you, Cher?” I touched her shoulder and the sparks began to fade.
“Your alpha contacted us. He wants you back, bad. Bad enough to tell us that he has your brother in chains and will execute him in your place if you don’t go back. Right now.”
I took a deep breath and nodded. “Not really a surprise, is it?” I growled. “Like I said, y’all knew I was on a short deadline when I got here, and now it’s time for me to go.” Her face crumpled but she held back tears, her eyes shining with mute rage and regret.
“I’m sorry we couldn’t help you, Orson.” Clay’s voice was low, full of barely controlled fury.
“What could he have possibly said to make you both so angry?” I held my hands up in front of my chest in a position of surrender. “Is there more you’re not telling me?”
Ash growled and Clay cupped her elbow in his hand, warning her to be still as he kept her stable. “He likes to threaten anyone he doesn’t think is as strong as he is, doesn’t he?” He said, somehow keeping his voice steady despite the murder in his eyes.
“Actually, he threatens those he’s afraid might be stronger more often than those he thinks are weak.” I laughed without humor. “He just kills the weak ones without a warning.” I wondered if maybe they’d never seen a real monster before me when I saw the horror on their faces.
Clay nodded slowly and pointed toward the door, gesturing me to walk with them as we moved away from the pack, who had all stopped eating to watch us. “We’ve dealt with his kind before but never had to send someone into that kind of danger alone.”
“It’s sick, Clay. I won’t send a wolf to their death.” She looked at me. “You can’t go alone.”
“Well, I’m sure as hell not taking Goldie. Thaddeus has decided my fate. She doesn’t have to share it.” I rubbed my face. “We’ve barely bonded. I’m sure with the care of your witches, she’d survive my death.” Ash growled again, and I knew this time it was for me.
“Ash, he’s a grown man and an alpha in his own right, you can’t boss him around.”
“I boss you around all the time.” Her teasing broke the heavy mood that had fallen and I chuckled without meaning to.
“And it’s obviously for the best, I can see that, but I won’t sacrifice my brother, or Goldie.” Silently I cursed myself for being so blind for so long. “This is my fault. My father loved Thaddeus and I blindly accepted his increasing cruelty and viciousness as necessary because . . .” I huffed. Because he was the only father I had and I didn’t want to be his victim, or be guilty for subjecting my brother to a real monster, I added silently to myself.
“I have to leave. Let me grab my duffel bag and any herbs your witch has that can keep me from going crazy until I get my brother the hell out of Baton Rouge and I’ll dance to whatever tune you want, Ms. Ash.” I ducked my head in respect for the alphas and pivoted to go, almost crashing into Goldie.
She didn’t curse at me or argue, just shot me a hateful glare and spun on one heel, disappearing through the door to the longhouse before I could say a word to her. I turned back to Clay, who shrugged, and I followed her back inside. My duffel bag was slammed against my chest as I stepped through the door, and I peered over the zippered top at Goldie’s angry face.
“In case you were wondering why I’m mad, it’s because you’re still trying to make decisions for me without bothering to consult me about them.” She hissed. “What is it with you alphas, always doing whatever you want no matter what the consequence?” She stormed up the circular staircase to a room above.
I took one step to follow her and thought better of it, and with a nod to the curious wolves who’d been watching, I slung the bag over my shoulder and walked out, straight into Henny and the professor.
“You’re not leaving?” she blurted, grabbing my arm. “You can’t go yet, we have to bind your wolf for you.”
“I really don’t have time, Ms. Henny,” I argued. “My alpha summoned me and I must go.”
“Just wait until Caroline gets here, Orson,” the professor countered. He jerked his head toward the cabin he and his wife shared and I followed the herb witch as her husband brought up the rear.
“You think the vampire mistress has the ability to cure me?”
Henny laughed abruptly. “No, I think she has the ability to shield you better than you can do for yourself, young one. Don’t underestimate her abilities because you don’t ken to who she associates with.”
“I’m sorry. I’ve been rude.”
“You’ve been a bigot, but who’s judging? After all, you were specifically taught to believe what you do, not like some random race hate just because of Goldie’s boyfriend.” Henny arched her eyebrow at me and I sighed.
“Fine, when can I expect Caroline the miracle worker to arrive?” I drawled, leaning against the doorframe of the little cottage the two shared.
“Right on time, as always,” Caroline’s sweet voice lilted behind me, making me jump. “Now, let’s see about getting that murderous wolf under wraps. From what I hear, you can always set him loose on your alpha when you get back home.”
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
I didn’t respond, just dipped my head in sort of a clumsy bow and let her precede me into the cottage, where Henny was putting the final runes on a protective circle. The figures were not a language I recognized, but I’d been around enough Vaudun priestesses to know that they were planning big magic and needed to keep it controlled.
“Y’all aren’t going to set me on fire, are you?” I teased. Henny chuckled and Caroline let out a snort.
“I can’t very well send you home in an urn, now, can I?” she asked. “That would cause your brother some trouble.”
“If he’s even alive still,” I muttered. I hadn’t meant to say it aloud, and the looks the humans gave me made it feel even worse. Henny touched my arm and Caroline chewed her lip as I forced a smile to my face. “I’m sure everything’s fine. It’s me he wants, and he knows I’ll be there.” I waved my hand at the faintly glowing inscription on the floor, and Caroline nodded, tugging at the hem of my shirt and instructing me to remove any clothing that a shape shift would ruin. That left me little choice but to get naked in front of the near-strangers, and I sighed heavily as I took off my pan
ts and shirt.
Henny motioned me into the center of the circle and told me to kneel. When I crossed the shimmering blue lines on the floor cold shot into the soles of my feet and climbed up my spine to the base of my skull and I gasped and dropped to my knees.
The instant my knees connected with the bare wooden slats beneath them, the cold faded and left me shaking but no longer in agony from the ice in my blood. The witches shared a glance and Caroline’s eyes widened, but she pressed her lips together in a thin line and knelt outside the circle facing me.
“We’re going to need Clay, aren’t we?” the professor blurted, his voice unnaturally loud in the quiet. Caroline nodded and I heard the cabin door open and shut to my left but didn’t bother to glance away from the woman staring at me like a puzzle.
She pursed her lips and sucked in air, then, in a motion that, incredibly, was impossible for me to follow, she jerked a knife from a sheath up the sleeve of her flowy blouse and sliced her forearm, splitting it from wrist to nearly her elbow. Henny rolled the sleeve up for her as I stared, aghast, and blood ran down into a wooden bowl between us, outside the protective ring.
The blood was potent and the smelled promised even greater power if I drained it directly from her body, but I pushed the beast deep inside me and clamped down on my control as hard as I could. She could see the struggle in my face and gave me a look of sympathy before switching hands and slicing the other arm as the first healed. The bowl was small, only as big as my two hands cupped together, and it was nearly full of the witch’s lifeblood by the time I saw her arm healing and the flow slow and stop.
