by Kat Keppeler
Finn made a gesture, waving one of his hands as if he could push away the topic of his past, “Be a lot more expensive to get plumbing into the mountains now. Before Aiden we all lived in houses of a few, spread out. We did trading, had businesses, our own little paradise. Then he came into power and suddenly we’re all walking the earth like we’re following Moses. Living out of wagons.”
Finn wrinkled his nose. “It’s pretty awful, but unless you lot planning on buying up all the empty real estate in Belcrest to build houses it’s what the reality is.”
Skye gave Finn a curious look.
“How old are you?” Skye wanted to know, briefly distracted from the topic at hand, “I know that the exile was about sixty years ago and I know that Rory and Chance were born a little after America declared independence but how old are you, Finn?”
Skye had sort of assumed that he was a little older than her mates but with the way he talked. Skye’s brow furrowed as she tried to remember her high school History. If he hadn’t been part of the pilgrims… “Have you been here since the Vikings, Finn?”
“Truly a romantic notion, but no. I didn’t come over here on a long boat, but I did arrive by boat. Just… Not on my own feet but my mothers.” He gave her a half smile, his fingers clasped before him. “First litter to be born on the soil of a New World they said, I don’t know if it’s entirely true but maybe. At least from my clan, there were already shifters here. Lots of fighting. It was a violent, difficult time. I‘m lucky to have survived it.”
Finn rested his elbows on his knees and looked at her. For a moment the look held a sort of longing, but he quickly averted his eyes and looked down, dropping her gaze. “History. Ancient History.”
“So. You, a big city girl, want to stay here in po’ dunk Belcrest Montana and hope to add to its already minuscule population a few hundred. If we do maybe they’ll come build one of those big department stores here so we don’t have to make a whole day back and forth?” It was a joke, but anything was better than the struggle with his own silence and her questions. Every time he looked up he’d catch the outline of her legs under that robe. He could smell her, the scent of her sex was strong which meant she was not wearing anything under her robe yet. Still.
“I don’t want anyone having to sleep in the basement, Skye. Not after that… Micah wouldn’t be able to and you know it.”
Skye sighed, heavily and stood up, the robe falling down to cover her skin as she moved forward towards Finn on silent, graceful feet. Her hips swayed with her movements. She wasn’t a tall woman; fine boned and slender but her hips and breasts were full and the robe she wore really didn’t hide any of that. She dropped down in front of him, kneeling between his legs as she took his much larger hand in hers.
It was the sort of thing that tended to confuse their pack. Skye had been born and raised human and though her scent was absolutely one of an alpha, and her wolf was strong, she easily took on submissive postures when the mood suited her. Lee was only now finally starting to get used to having her nose tucked against his throat or the easy way she yielded. No other alpha female would put themselves in so vulnerable a position but Skye didn’t seem to think twice about it.
“Micah isn’t going to be put anywhere that he doesn’t want to be, Finn,” Skye said simply, “No one is going in the basement if it causes them even a bit of distress. We’ll finish it out and move what we can down there. I don’t mind sleeping underground. We can move our room down there, it’s fine. Stop fretting. I’m not going to make anyone suffer. You know that.”
Skye had descended on him and his eyes had grown rounder with every single step. She spoke so gently, and he knew what she said would be true. Had to be true.
“I know, Skye.” Said Finn, resting his other hand on top of hers. “I know you wouldn’t, we all know you wouldn’t. I am just trying to make you see that this isn’t exactly the most ideal situation us all here crammed together. It’s working for now, it really is, and I know there’s talk of us all housing together. I know that’s what Rory is used to, Chance and Lee too. But it’s not necessary. We’re a pack, but we can live apart if we like.”
Finn patted her hand again, a sigh. “And maybe when it’s time I can take a house with Caleb and Micah until they get on their feet. Make our own meals, have our own beds and space until he needs us. This is going to work but it has to be short term only if he’s serious about change.”
Finn turned her hands in his then, showing her marcas and tracing over it with his thick fingers. “And before we do any of that we have to fully unite. We need to do the branding, the branding of all of us.”
Skye’s stomach clenched at the idea of Finn leaving the house and she had to take a slow, steadying breath. She was so thankful that Lee had explained at least something of the big man’s past or she’d be hurt and flying blind. Now, though, she knew his reactions were tempered by pain.
“Lee told me about your wife,” Skye said and when she felt him shift, her hands tightened on his and despite the fact that she sat on her knees in front of him, her voice filled with authority, “No, stop, listen.”
It was not a request. No, that was a command and the first time she’d pressed her authority against Finn. She wasn’t going to let him run away this time. “I’m so sorry. I can’t imagine losing Lee or Chance or Rory and it's only been a few weeks. I have my wolf in hand and I’m not going to… I know what the other alphas are like. I know what happened in that basement. I would never push you. You have my word.”
Skye looked down at her exposed wrists and the outline he’d traced of her brand, “If you want to take a place in town, you can. If you think it would help Micah and Caleb to go with you, I would trust you but don’t just run from me. You don’t need to. You’re safe here, too, Finn, but you have to stop holding yourself apart.”
She released him then, sitting back on her heels to look up, “You have to trust us, just a little. We’re not like Aiden, or the other alphas that I keep hearing about.”
There was anger brewing in his chest, the secrets had been shared when he wasn’t ready. He had hoped that if it came to Drusilla and his story he’d have been the one to tell it.
“I think you forget that I am alpha too, Skye.” Said Finn, an annoyed sigh leaving him. “I didn’t take up a place as Rory’s right hand, I didn’t challenge him for dominance but I know this song and dance. He’s Aiden’s son. He might be all for change now but as a wolf king how will he be?” Finn had every right or reason to have a smidgen of distrust even if Rory hadn’t yet given him any reason to distrust him.
“He won’t want another alpha, perhaps a stronger alpha, encroaching on his space and territory.”
“I don’t think you understand how Rory works,” Skye sighed as Finn bristled with outrage. She stood up then, taking a few steps away to let the angry male have his space. She’d said what she needed to say. She retreated, her slender back to Finn as she turned to stare out the window, her arms folded across her belly for warmth.
Skye had braced herself for this conversation and she did have her wolf in her hand so there was nothing coming from her at the moment, no sense of her mood roiling off her skin to disrupt the household, just the faint hint of orange and cinnamon that was always there in her scent. “He is stubborn and loyal to a fault and he won’t bend his morals, not even when it means losing what he values the most. It’s one of the many things I love about him but you’ll either see or you won’t.”
She tipped her chin to watch the snow fall outside, her voice was studiously even as she continued, “I’ll go over the plans with Lee and we’ll move the main bedroom down there and a bath. We’ll put our room down there and it’ll free up space, we’ll move the office down there as well and the library to free up three bedrooms on the top floor to get us through until spring. I’ll talk with Rory and Micah and Caleb and see if they want to join you in taking a place in town. Ruby’s looking for a renter again and she still feels bad so we can probably get a
good deal there. Anything else, Finn?”
He had stood while she had her back turned, he still had anger in his chest from having his secrets spilled when he wasn’t ready. He knew they’d have to be talked about eventually but he just wasn’t ready. Lee had spilled the beans on that and now Skye was giving him unwanted sympathy. Wolves were so unpredictable when it came to their dominance and anger. Finn was behind her suddenly, before she even caught his scent. His hands were on her, pulling her against his chest.
“I don’t know a thing about this do I?” Finn snarled against her ear, his breath hot. His teeth snagged her earlobe in a gentle nip while he untied her robe.
“How do you think he’s going to feel about this, Skye?” Finn demanded, his voice still a growl. One hand cupped her breast while the other slid between her thighs to cup the mound between her legs. “Another alpha moving in on his mate? The inevitable fight because you have to choose? How do you think that’s going to play out? Will you pick him, or me?”
Finn let her go suddenly, his fingers wet from where he had slid them between silken folds of hidden skin. The back door opened and shut with a slam and Finn was gone.
Skye sagged against the window frame, her breathing ragged and her robe still open. Her body ached everywhere, just that touch on her skin had her so close and aroused but his words, those had horrified her. Shaking out of the opened robe, Skye let the only clothing she was wearing drop as she fell into her wolf in search of peace. Her instincts said fight or flight, or fuck but Skye refused to fight and sex was off the table.
Skye darted out of the kitchen, startling Betty as their alpha female slipped through those working on a meal for the pack to head out the door into the snow. “Is she joining the hunt after all?”
Skye was not, instead she streaked out, running as if she could escape her problems on foot. It was soothing, at least, to feel her muscles burn and ache and catch the wind ruffling her fur and know that nothing could catch her when she ran. Skye wasn’t as strong as the bigger males but she was the fastest thing in their pack. Even if any of them had wanted to follow, there was no one that could keep up.
Chapter Four
The tension in the room had been at a deafening pressure for weeks. The angry cloud that was Rory’s inevitable presence made everyone squirm with anxiety in the cramped space of the police department. Dave was surprised that just a week after Seamus was laid to rest the tall wolf was already back at his desk.
No matter what he tried to smooth over the tension he was shut down. Dave’s wife had made Rory breakfast too many times to count, Dave offered it to him by placing the plate on Rory’s desk only to watch the big wolf not even look up as he dumped it plate and all into the trash next to his desk.
They both sat in the too tense office working silently, Dave felt himself almost ready to scream with frustration by the end of the day. They had more than a few people stop in to wish Rory their condolences or offer their apologies. The moment they started talking Rory stood up and left the room without even saying a word, leaving the lot of them staring at his retreating back. Nothing was seeming to heal his anger or his grief, no matter how hard the town tried.
The phone rang and Dave snatched it from the receiver, desperate to speak to someone and break the silence of the room. “Belcrest Sheriff Station…”
“Wait.. wait wait what?” Dave asked into the phone, grabbing a pen as he began to scribble down the details of their caller. “Eating your cats? Who… oh god stay there and do not answer the door. Close the drapes, be as quiet as possible. Get down low and someone will be out there shortly…” He hung up and then gasped when he saw Rory standing directly in front of his desk.
“Who’s eating cats?” Rory asked, his tone tense and fixed without any bit of excitement. He kept his eyes fixed on Dave in such a way it made the boar squirm.
“Oh it’s Miss Ellie, she said she woke up to the sound of her cats screaming to find Jesse Finch and that girl of his ripping felines to shreds.” He swallowed and gave Rory a half smile. “You want to pile into the cruiser with me? We can go sort this out together, Sarge…”
A hand held up stopped his words mid sentence. Rory’s cutting gaze made Dave’s heart sink. He knew he had messed up but he just missed his friend, he missed Rory being a bright personality in this town. Nothing any of them could do or say would bring Seamus back and that loss had left an insurmountable wall between the pack and the town.
“Sit down. I don’t want you to have to witness what real police work looks like, or decide I’m too rough and run my pack out of town. I’ve got it.” Rory said, turning around to pick up his hat and slip his coat on.
“You can’t keep acting like no one in town exists, Rory…” Dave said, getting to his feet. “You can’t ignore everyone forever. We’re sorry, decisions were made and yeah that really sucks. But I’m your friend and so is Ruby, Rita… all of us. We miss Seamus too, and nothing we say or do will ever change that we followed the wrong trail…”
Rory turned on him then, his eyes already the bright yellow of his wolf’s. “Don’t speak to me about remorse, or tell me what I do or don’t have to do. The bottom line? If you had just tried to believe me, then my grandfather would still be alive. You turned your back on us. And I could care less if my so called friends feel bad for alienating me and my pack. I don’t need those kind of friends.”
Dave sighed and let Rory walk out. The pang of sorrow for decades of friendship lost was something the boar would feel for a long time.
Chapter Five
Skye ran for hours, eventually finding the sleepy town of Belcrest. Rory would still be working for a while, it hadn’t been that long of a run but she found his snow covered truck and leapt into the back. She was bigger than a typical wolf but her all white coloring and the thickness of her coat made it easy to think that she was a big white dog, at least if no one looked too closely. Most of the town were supernaturals anyway and everyone, at least, was aware of the secret of their existence. It was the advantage of this small town, for all of those who chose to call it home. Turning around a few times, Skye settled down to wait, head on her forepaws as she dozed.
Rory had been out dealing with some trouble at the trailer park. Belcrest was a tiny town but it was no stranger to drugs or crime. Unfortunately, a new drug had hit the market targeted at shifters and apparently it had reached Belcrest. Rory had arrived in time to arrest a few resident locals who were high, and tossed them into the backseat of his squad car. He ignored them as the couple growled and carried on.
“That's enough,” Rory said, his voice stern as he pinned the pair with his gaze through the rearview mirror. “If you get high and you eat old Mrs. Ellie’s cats because you’re too stoned to keep it under control then you get to spend the night in detox.”
His only other deputy, Dave, was at the station. As Rory drove back the crackle of a radio came in.
“Sarge! Either you adopted some big bitch of a dog or one of your pack mates is sleeping in the bed of your truck here. Best come quick.”
Rory frowned. It was a good thing Belcrest was one of the many growing towns with a strictly preternatural populace. If one of the wolves had come running to him, it meant they had been frightened badly enough to seek their alpha. He just hoped that it wasn’t Micah having trouble with his new job. That omega wolf badly needed a confidence boost and the setback would be rough for him.
“Alright. I’m headed back, Dave. Call Finn and ask him to step down to the station, tell him to bring whatever we can to bring someone down from a bad high. I don’t know if naloxone works on… them.” He meant shifters, but you never use the police radio to talk about shifters just in case mortal ears were listening.
Rory pulled up to the station some twenty minutes later, recognizing the wolf in the back seat immediately. Even covered in snow, Skye’s white coat was distinctive. Only Finn shared her coloration and his wolf was much larger than Rory’s mate. He knew her wolf as well as he knew her human fo
rm.
“Dave! Help he get these two in there…” Rory called. It took both of them to grab the thrashing shifters in the back who were still strung out. Once Dave had them both of them in the two holding cells, Rory stepped out to his truck.
“Hey… Skye? What’s going on?” Rory’s voice softened, and he reached out fearlessly to brush some of the snow from her head, ruffling her fur and smoothing her ears back. Her ears were flattened against her skull in abject misery and she blinked open bright blue eyes.
Skye whined and whimpered as soon as Rory roused her from slumber and when she leapt down from the truck, she hunched low to the ground with her tail down and ears pinned back. She pressed her cold muzzle against Rory’s thigh and just whimpered her distress. Skye had let her wolf rise up to take more control than she usually allowed her to occupy and while the wolf didn’t understand the complicated guilt and shame that the woman felt, she shared it just as keenly.
Rory frowned, he bent to lift the big wolf in his arms and carried her to the passenger seat of his truck. In wolf form they never liked to be caged, he was hoping that she wouldn’t take it that way but nonetheless he rumbled a warning at her to behave when he opened the door and set her in. He jogged to the driver’s side, shrugging off his coat and then sliding into the driver's seat. Setting the coat across the wolf’s back, he turned the truck on and started the heaters on full blast.
“Hey… What’s happened, huh?” Asked Rory, his hands against the wolf’s fur gently caressing her coat. “I’m never going to know if you don’t come back and talk to me.”
As Rory tried to coax his mate back to her human form, Finn pulled up alongside them in a small car that looked like it had to have been built around his massive form. The large man got out, frowned when he saw who was in Rory’s car, and then walked into the station toting Seamus’ old doctor bag without so much as a word.
