by Jessica Snow
“Oh?” Edward asked, concerned. “What was it?”
“Not sure . . . whatever it was, it wasn’t that big, more of a tiny pounding sound that just annoyed me,” Kristina spat. “Never mind, I’ll be able to ignore it.”
“Probably should ask if it can ignore you,” Magnus growled. “You don’t want to be asking for things that are impossible. And for your information, I heard it too. It was long and very drawn out.”
“You know . . .” Kristina growled before her lip quivered and she stared at her plate, stabbing another slice of ham and chewing. Kim, who’d just filled her plate, looked in shock from Kristina to Magnus, her eyebrow lifting.
“What’s going on?” she asked, her voice half friendly, half commanding. Magnus could tell she didn’t want to invoke her position as Alpha Female, but she would if she had to. “Is there a problem?”
“No, no problem,” Magnus said, shaking his head. “Just slept wrong I guess.”
“I see,” Kimberly said. “Well, after breakfast then, Magnus, I’d like to take a helicopter flight. I’ll need a co-pilot for The Wolf. Edward, would you be willing to take Kristina to town for a supply run?”
Magnus could tell that for every word being said, another three were being communicated over Kimberly’s link with her mate, but Edward nodded immediately. “Of course. I think we need laundry detergent anyway.”
Breakfast continued in a strange double-triangle of conversation, with Magnus and Kristina pointedly ignoring each other until the dishes were cleaned and everything was taken away. Magnus went upstairs and changed into his flight suit, going out to the Bell 222 dubbed ‘The Wolf’ just as Kimberly stepped out as well, her suit and helmet under her arm. “Ready?”
Magnus climbed into the chopper, running diagnostics from the copilot’s seat while Kim did her walk-around and got in, firing up the engines. While The Wolf lacked the distinctive howling sound of its television inspiration, inside the chopper, Magnus felt a thrill as Kim pulled back on the stick and they lifted off. “Where to?”
“Just a pleasure run,” Kimberly said, turning and pointing the helicopter toward the river. With a tilt of the rotors, the helicopter catapulted forward, following the narrow borders of the Highland ravine, swinging left and right as Kimberly adjusted and steered. “So what was that at breakfast?”
“What do you mean?” Magnus asked. Suddenly, Kimberly yanked the helicopter into a dizzying vertical climb before twisting just as it began to stall, pointing it back toward the river and plunging back in a stomach clenching dive. “Jesus!”
“I can do more,” Kimberly said quietly, her voice carrying all the intensity of her Alpha status. “Magnus, Keith’s not the only one who’s made people puke in this chopper, and you know if you do, you’re going to be cleaning it up personally. Now . . . what’s going on between you and Kristina?”
Magnus glanced over at Kimberly, then sighed. “Last night, Kristina and I both heard you and Edward . . .”
“Being mates?” Kimberly asked in good humor, her voice losing none of her Alpha intensity. “Yeah, sort of happens. You’ve heard stuff like that before, I’m sure.”
“Yes, but Kristina hadn’t, and I’ve been feeling . . . on edge around her,” Magnus admitted. “So we took a walk and got to talking. And we . . . well, we kissed.”
“Usually, kissing doesn’t lead to biting each other’s heads off,” Kimberly noted as she leveled out the chopper and pointed it north again. “So what happened in between?”
“I was tempted to go further, but I didn’t want it to be because we were worked up hearing you guys . . . well, mate,” Magnus said. “I tried to deal with it with a cold shower, but afterward I started . . . you know.”
“Again, I lived with Keith. Our rooms were right next door to each other and . . . oh, my,” Kimberly said, chuckling. Her voice softened, and she glanced at Magnus, amused and friendly again. “I forgot—before that was my mother’s room as Dame Lockwood, that was my old room. And you can hear.”
“You can hear. The timing must have been just right because I heard her, she heard me, and we sort of . . . verbally played. But it just pissed me off in the end, and I ignored her when she asked me to join her in her room,” Magnus admitted. “I’ve got more self-control than that.”
“Self-control is only helpful if it doesn’t get your damn head bitten off, you know,” Kimberly said with a wise chuckle. “Okay, at least I can understand why you were both snippy with each other. And maybe if this is going to be a problem, I’ll have you move to another room in another wing of the manor. But for now . . .”
Kimberly went silent, her eyes going wide as she pulled The Wolf into a hover, and Magnus watched as her face went pale. He reached out, taking the co-pilot’s control stick and steadying the chopper, making sure they stayed in control. “Kimberly?”
“Edward just got a call,” she said, turning her eyes to Magnus and reasserting her self-control. “Take us back to the manor. We’ll refuel using the stocks there.”
“Refuel? Why? We’ve got almost a full tank of fuel.”
Kimberly nodded. “You’re right, but still, I need some privacy. Edward just a phone call. His mother has died.”
Chapter 10
The big Russian Ka-62 transport chopper took longer to drop to the landing pad on the back lawn of the manor than The Wolf, but Kristina had to admit that it was still impressive. Kristina waited while the rotors slowed, watching as Keith Waldwyck, his First Mate, Melanie, his Second Mate, Akiko Thornblood, and his child, Jay, climbed out. She was standing next to Magnus as Edward and Kimberly approached the couple, the family embracing as they comforted the largest member of their group.
“Magnus?” Kristina said, feeling shy. They had been so busy over the two days since the announcement of Linda Stormstout’s death that she had little chance to speak with him, and watching the moving reunion, she felt she had to take the chance.
“Yes?” Magnus asked, holding the tie-down equipment that he would be using to secure the chopper as soon as the Waldwycks went inside. “What do you need, Kristina?”
“I wanted . . . I wanted to say I’m sorry for snapping at you the other morning,” she said, feeling heat creep up her neck. “I was wrong.”
Magnus swallowed, looking at her, and she could feel that same pull that she’d felt for days since they’d started spending time together course through her body again. Aklark . . . Lycan . . . she didn’t care. She wanted him. The way he looked at her was like no man had ever looked at her before, and in every movement as they had worked together, she saw the truth of Magnus Fiachan. He might not be an Alpha Male in station, but he was an Alpha Male in every other way, in her estimation.
“Thank you. I was wrong too,” he finally admitted. “When we were in the bathroom . . . I heard you, and I know you heard me. What started as teasing . . . I’m sorry.”
She smiled, an unusual expression on her face, and reached for his hand. “Can you tell me why you didn’t join me? Was it that I’m Aklark?”
Magnus shook his head, smirking. “Hardly. It’s . . . it’s a very long story, and one that I don’t really understand myself. It wasn’t because I didn’t want to, though, Kristina. But if I go to your room, I want to make damn sure it’s because I want to, totally absent of outside influence.”
Kristina smiled, nodding. “Okay then. Well . . . maybe after this is over, we can talk about it.”
The Waldwycks went inside, and the two of them tied down the chopper, Kristina following Magnus’s commands. Just as they got the fuel hose run, a stiff wind ruffled Kristina’s hair, and she looked up into the sky. “Oh no.”
“What?” Magnus asked, checking the pump and making sure fuel was flowing. “It’s just a winter wind. Looks like maybe a couple of flurries. This thing’s Russian. It can handle that no problem.”
Kristina shook her head, shivering. “I’m Aklark, Magnus. I know when winter is coming with its teeth.”
Kristina’s words proved p
rophetic as within two hours, the entire manor was in whiteout conditions, a sudden nor’easter howling around them. Kristina was glad that at least, as part of the repairs, the windows of the manor were thick, bulletproof, and embedded in metal and stone frames.
“So you’re used to these?” Melanie Waldwyck asked her as the two of them found themselves in the library again. “I mean, I’ve never been to Canada, but this is going to shut down the city.”
“It’ll shut down up north too,” Kristina said, shivering again despite the warmth of the library. “Will you be okay in a few days?”
“My change?” Melanie asked, sounding bemused. She glanced out the window and shrugged. “There isn’t a lot I can do about it either way. By inheriting a lot of the abilities of Akiko, I’ve inherited a lot more strength than most first-generation Lycans. But the monthly change is something I can’t control. That’s okay, I guess. I’ve had some pretty cold nights out at Thornblood Hall, and I know these lands well. Keith’s done a great job of guiding me through it all, and Jay’s great too. Actually, I was sort of thinking that this month . . . it’s been a long time since Kim and I went on a hunt together, and it’d be nice to run with my sister under the moonlight.”
“What about Magnus?” Kristina asked for a reason she didn’t quite understand. “I mean, my senses are telling me that this storm’s going to last a while, and it might be better for your children if they don’t change this time. I don’t even know if Kimberly’s children can control their change. The babies might need their mother and father for a while longer.”
“We’ve never asked Jay not to change,” Melanie said, thinking. “But if the storm’s still going, I think you might have a point. You know, it’s funny. I never really got to know Magnus much during the time I was living among the Lockwoods. I know he is so vital to the operations of the clan. How do you like working so closely with him?”
Kristina felt heat rush up her neck, and she knew she was blushing slightly, but she couldn’t help it. “He’s . . . no offense to you, Melanie, but I think he’s equal to any Alpha the Kenai have had in my years living next to them. I won’t try to compare him to your mate, though. Don’t know him well enough.”
Melanie chuckled knowingly. “I see. Well, perhaps I’ll take your suggestion under consideration. Kim and Keith need some sibling bonding time, and with this weather, it’d be useful to have a full-fledged ranger in my hunt pack. Changing subjects, how do you feel about the news? I can tell Edward is still shocked.”
“Mrs. Stormstout was one of those people you’d never expect this to happen to,” Kristina said, trying to keep the bitterness out of her voice. “Regardless of how I feel about her or her husband, I feel bad for Edward. He’s a good man, and it is his mother, after all.”
“Tell me about what happened,” Melanie said. “I mean, I know the basics. Your family and the Stormstouts have history. But from what I understand, that wasn’t your generation.”
Kristina nodded and looked in the fire that was burning in the fireplace that dominated one wall of the library. “Edward was the only member of the entire Stormstout family who ever treated me like I was a human being,” she said. “Ben Stormstout maintains control of my people through a very effective system. He finds someone or something external to blame all of the Aklarks’ misfortunes on, and he uses cliques and exclusion to sway people toward his way of thinking. Politicians have been doing it for centuries. And with my family history among the Aklark, it was pretty easy to use me as the target. I guess I kinda helped, since I stuck around and kept taking it and taking it. I’d like to say it was because I wanted to save somebody else the same harassment that I knew he would turn on them if I weren’t there to be the internal bogeyman, but the reality is simple. The Aklark territory is my home, and I’m not going to be bullied out by the likes of Ben Stormstout. I’m pretty hardheaded that way, even if I am enjoying this vacation.”
“You’re enjoying spending time with Magnus,” Melanie teased lightly, and Kristina blushed again, making her laugh. “It’s okay, Kristina. Remember, I’m the one who a few years ago was a plain old normal human. I’m still getting used to being a Lycan, so I’m also the one who can be more . . . plainspoken.”
Kristina chuckled, looking over at the now nearly six-feet-tall Melanie, and smirked. She might have at one time been just a normal human. She certainly wasn’t quite so Barbie-doll perfect in form as a lot of Lycan women. “Okay . . . as long as you don’t mind me giving it back once I get to know you better. You Lycans tend to have thin skin, you know.”
“Cops don’t,” Melanie said with a laugh. “I was a cop before I was a Lycan.”
“Great . . . the Alpha Mountie,” Kristina joked, and Melanie laughed, relieving her tension before she changed subjects. “And how are you adapting to being an Alpha Female?”
“Thankful I’ve got Akiko as Dame Thornblood,” Melanie said with another laugh. “And that I’ve got the biggest badass in the world for a mate. You might be right—Magnus could be equal to the Kenai Alpha, but Keith . . . well, Keith is Keith. Still, I’m interested in seeing how Magnus is under the moonlight.”
Magnus shivered as he looked at the two feet of fresh snow that covered the back lawn of the manor. While the snow had stopped and they’d already dug out the helicopter, the weather up in Canada was still so severe that they’d yet to leave. The storm couldn’t have come at a worse time, since now they had another two nights of delay, a delay caused by Lycan nature. He watched as the sun went down, and he knew that within a few minutes, the moon would rise on the eastern horizon and his change would be upon him. “You’re sure of this, Lady Thornblood?”
“Very sure,” Melanie said, watching the same snow with him. “My mate and my sister will be taking care of the children today, teaching them things that I can’t, and my dame has already taken her wolfsbane. I need someone to run with under the moon, and since you have to change as well, you’re it.”
“I understand, but . . . as you wish,” Magnus said, finding his discipline again. “If you don’t mind, though, I’d like to change over in the outbuildings. A little quirk of mine. I don’t like stripping naked in front of others for my change.”
“I’ll see you in a few minutes then,” Melanie said. She had taken a long time to get used to the idea of having to strip naked for her own change, and she appreciated Magnus’s gesture. “Let’s meet by the chopper as soon as we’re both changed.”
Magnus nodded and went to the outbuilding, stripping off his casual sweatpants and sweatshirt, folding them, and putting them on the seat of one of the ATVs that filled the former horse stables. He slipped off his shoes, shivering slightly as his lean, chiseled body was exposed to the light winter breeze that came frozen off the snow banks and rippled over his mostly hairless body, another difference he had from most Lycans. He didn’t wait for the moonlight to hit him. He looked inside, seeing his inner wolf.
Here I am.
It’s time to run.
With a new bitch.
Don’t even start with me. You know who she is.
Not a problem. She’s not as interesting as Kristina anyway.
You just won’t give up on that, will you?
She’s a good woman. Good body. She’d make a great mate.
Just . . .
Magnus opened the last of his internal keys as he thought of just how he’d like to reply to his inner nature, and he squatted down. The tingle came first as his body started sprouting hair, not a pain but a maddening itch that covered his entire body.
Next was the pain, and he gritted his teeth as his body started to rearrange, the muscles tearing and reknitting themselves even as his bones broke and shifted, his shoulders rotating, his skull stretching and reknitting itself. He squeezed his eyes shut as his vision shifted, and when he re-opened them again, the world was different. No longer was he limited by the colors of the human spectrum, but he could see the ghosts of infrared and ultraviolet, the sharpness of detail that he loved
in his wolf form.
Getting to his feet, he walked, the winter cold no longer biting at all as he went to the helicopter, stopping when he saw Melanie. She was truly the daughter of her dame, with the same pitch-black fur and glowing green eyes that Magnus knew Akiko was famous for. She was waiting for him, her head tilted to the side.
He understood. They’d never hunted together, and their instincts told them that here was a stranger, a potential enemy. He stepped closer, slowly, not whimpering in submission but also not threatening. They were to be equals on this hunt. She was not his Alpha Female.
Melanie also stepped forward, sniffing as Magnus approached, the two of them sniffing each other, reassuring themselves that this was who they thought it was. Magnus didn’t have Lockwood coloring either. His fur was the gray and black of his bloodline, his eyes orange-red. Still, in the exchange of sniffs, he smelled the same Melanie Waldwyck he’d known, and his instincts were reassured.
With a jerk of his head, Magnus took the lead, showing Melanie the tracks that led through the hills. It was rare to have the hills so open to them on a full moon. The winter storm had also kept most of the clan in the city, and as he ran along the trails and between the trees, where the snow hadn’t drifted so deeply, he felt freedom and strength.
Melanie kept up with him well, staying on his left flank as they searched for something to take up the hours. Magnus stopped suddenly when he smelled something and froze. Melanie immediately stopped next to him, and he indicated the smell, letting her get a sniff as well.
Elk. Rare in these lands. They normally stay up north.
He made a note to tell Melanie what the scent was when he could again, and he gave her a questioning tilt of his head. The spoor was fresh, and he couldn’t afford to make a single sound. Melanie caught on, though, and with a slight nod of her head, he took the lead, following the trail.
