Winds of Change

by Kat Keppeler

  Skye laughed at that, as she could hardly picture Liam doing anything other than weeping and clinging to Betty in gratitude when their babies were born and she told Betty as much.

  “I said dominant males,” Betty repeated, drawing another peal of laughter from Skye.

  Betty, like Skye, was heading out of her first trimester and into her second but multiples meant they were both already short on clothing that comfortably fit. The top of Skye’s list was soft bras that didn’t make her hurt and Betty wanted dresses that were not shapeless sacks as an option as they headed into the warmer months.

  Skye traded the clothes she’d left the house in for a cute printed top and maternity capri pants as soon as she’d made a few purchases and Betty had a dress that she adored. Skye finally felt like she wasn’t an absolute train wreck. Slouchy clothes were all well and good but she still wanted to have those date nights she’d been promised and that wasn’t exactly yoga pants and sweatshirt sort of evenings.

  “Do you mind stopping at the food court? I want to get a smoothie before we get back in the car,” Skye explained as she carted her bags in that direction.

  “Smoothie for you, cheese fries for me.” Betty said in agreement to quickly get some food before they left. “And maaaaybe a milkshake too.” As they began walking toward the food court there was a gasp from behind them, both women turned to look in the direction of surprise.

  “Betty!” Said a voice from a store front before a purple haired woman came rushing from store to grab the petite brunette in her arms. “Oh my god, Betty it’s been so long! I thought I’d never see you again.”

  Betty struggled in the embrace for a moment before she was able to move out of the woman’s arms.

  “Vera?” She asked before she embraced the purple haired woman again. “Oh my god! Vera! Wow, it’s been so long!”

  The women clung together before Betty gasped and then said, “Wait, you’re a long way from Bedico. Why are you up here in Montana?”

  “The alpha made us leave Louisiana thirty years ago. We’ve been kind of traveling around since then, won’t be here too long. There’s already a big pack here so unless we want to see our alpha be challenged its best we move on.” Betty was nodding as Vera spoke, it wasn’t for a few moments that the violet haired woman noticed both she and Skye with a round swell of impending offspring.

  “Oh my god you’re pregnant!” Violet’s voice was a mixture of shock and jealousy. Her hands came down on either side of Betty’s abdomen with surprise though the gesture was oddly proprietary. It was invasive enough that Skye took a step closer. “I mean… HOW? It’s been…”

  Betty held up a hand to silence her. “I know, it was a surprise to me and my mate too.”

  Almost as soon as she said it Betty tensed and looked at Skye. She was talking too much.

  Skye glanced nervously over her shoulder at the mention of alphas and packs. There was no hiding either Skye’s scent or her belly so she was just going to have to make the best of it. She’d caught the clean, clear scent of wolf as the woman had hugged Betty and so Skye stepped forward with a polite smile. Unconsciously, her posture adjusted to be both protective and dominant as the wolf within her roused to Skye’s tension.

  “It’s so nice to meet you. I’m Skye,” she offered politely, her hand moving to Betty’s shoulder in reassurance even if it left her holding more bags than she’d normally carry in the opposite hand, the same way that she’d seen Rory or Finn offer the lower ranked wolves support countless times. Instincts also told Skye that she wanted at least one hand free… just in case. “We were just on our way out, we’ve got a bit of a drive ahead of us to get home but maybe you can trade numbers and catch up sometime while your family’s in town.”

  Betty almost melted into the floor, she knew that she had said too much and when it was obvious that she couldn’t backpedal Skye stepped in. Vera stepped back and eyed Skye, the swell of her belly was also prominent and noteworthy.

  “Oh. Hello.” Vera said as Betty stepped back at Skye’s side.

  “I am sorry, Vera, it’s really best that you just pretend you didn’t see me. Okay? I was outcast and you know what he would say if he found you talking to me. It was nice to see you.” Betty took Skye’s hand and began walking away.

  “We’re going to have to skip the smoothie, honey.” Betty muttered as she ushered her queen toward the door.

  Betty got Skye out to the SUV as fast as she could, unlocking it and tossing bags in the backseat. Almost as soon as Skye was in the seat she saw the violet haired woman with a few others standing at the entrance of the mall.

  “Hold on.” Betty instructed, gunning the motor and peeling out of the parking lot. She didn’t slow down, she kept speeding until they were on the highway.

  “Call Rory. Call Rory right now.” Betty said, tension rising in her tone and the scent of her fear thick in the air as she checked the mirror behind her.

  “Okay, okay!” Skye said, reaching for the ‘oh shit’ bar and holding on as Betty did her best impression of the Fast and the Furious. The omega’s fear was overwhelming in the tight confines of the car and Skye struggled to contain the wolf inside. She was an alpha and her wolf would rise to fight threats for the weaker members of the pack but there weren’t any threats right here and now to actually fight. “Just, easy on the gas pedal, okay?”

  Skye plugged her phone into the car’s port and used the speaker to dial Rory’s number so they could both hear the voice of the pack alpha when it came across. “

  What’s wrong?” Skye wanted to know as the phone rang.

  Sure enough Betty saw a car following them as they drove. Betty did not listen to Skye, instead she hit the gas pedal harder. When Rory picked up, Betty didn’t give Skye a chance to speak. “Rory! We were at the mall, there’s another pack… My old pack, in town. They saw the both of us and I think… Well I know Jude enough to know that he’d send someone after us.”

  The truck that had been behind them made a left hand turn but Betty didn’t stop checking her mirrors.

  “Calm down, Betty, how far are you two from town?” Betty let out another gasp as there was a second truck now behind them.

  “Fifteen miles? Far enough they could nab us before you’d have an opportunity to-”

  Rory cut her off. “Betty, you have to calm down. I’m getting in the truck now. I’ll call Dave, you’re coming back highway fifteen?”

  Betty didn’t have a chance to answer, this time she wasn’t just over suspicious. She caught the eyes of Vera as they sped, the woman was in the truck behind them with a few other people in the cab.

  “Betty!” Rory hollered bringing her back to her senses.

  “Yes! Yes, fifteen!” She answered, looking at Skye with wide and fearful eyes.

  “Drive like hell, Dave’s going to meet you at the town limits. Don’t stop when you see him, I’m on the way!”

  The phone hung up and Betty had frightened tears streaming down her face.

  “Skye. Call Liam?” She asked, anything to keep her from freaking out and killing all of them.

  Skye punched Liam’s number into her phone and let it ring through so Betty could talk to her mate but she wasn’t about to sit there like a helpless idiot while they were chased. Her wolf wouldn’t have any of it, and neither would Skye. As the phone rang, Skye unbuckled her safety belt and wiggled out of her seat. She was grateful that she was nimble enough to fit through the seats and towards the hatchback.

  “What are you doing?” Betty shrieked from the front seat as Skye tossed the bags from the back into the seat behind her.

  “Just drive, Betty,” Skye growled back, her wolf in her voice. It had been so long since most of them had even been around a dominant female and as Chance had told everyone in the kitchen not all that long ago, none of them were quite like Skye. Rolling on her back, Skye bunched her legs up to her belly and then kicked full force, shattering the window in the hatchback right out. They could feel the presence of Skye’s w
olf, and her magic, filling the car and spilling out the broken window.

  Riding her instinct as her wolf sang in her breast, Skye rose up as Betty floored it towards the city limits, bracing herself on her knees as she tossed her hands forward towards the car behind her. If she’d stopped to think, Skye would have felt ridiculous but she was riding the heady combination of power and adrenaline. Witchfire licked along her palms, a vibrant blue, and at her violent gesture, the road between the two cars ripped and tore as if great invisible claws chewed up the asphalt. “Drive!”

  Betty was sobbing, Liam’s voice came through the speakers frantic and worried as she cried. She hit the gas to the floor and they peeled out. The road shredded by pure, potent magic between them and the truck on their tail. Vera had to slam on her breaks so that she didn’t plow into the jagged broken concrete and nearly flipped the truck. Betty was terrified even more now, she was shaking and gripping the steering wheel so tightly her knuckles were white.

  It seemed like an eternity despite the fact she was going as fast as they could and the moment they hit the Belcrest city limits Dave was behind them with the lights on and flashing. Betty was in shock, she didn’t slow even when Dave was behind them. It wasn’t until Rory drove up next to them and Skye had to try and talk her down that she slowed. By the time they got to Main street for Betty to pull over the omega female was so terrified that she barely could put the car in park.

  Rory jumped from the truck, pulling the door open to reach for Skye.

  “Holy shit!” He said, as Betty climbed the seats and into his arms before Skye could get out of the back. Skye was unnaturally calm as she shook off the glass from the shattered window from her clothes, her eyes burning like brilliant blue flame.

  “They were after us! They were after us and Skye…” Betty cast fearful eyes toward her alpha female as Skye watched the road out of the city.

  “Okay, Betty, alright. Slow down. Dave, get her in the back and take her to my house as fast as you can.” The shock was going to do wonders for both pregnant ladies. “Skye, what happened?”

  Skye’s wolf was so close to the surface that Rory could feel its fury. She had been chased by men in her territory. As Rory took his stiff mate into his arms, she was struggling to contain the rage as she knew it didn’t help Betty. She managed a tense smile for their pack mate in an attempt to reassure her although her lips were clamped closed to hide the elongated canines. There was nothing she could do about the fire flickering in her eyes so she turned her gaze up to Rory.

  “I kicked out the back window of the car,” Skye said turning her gaze back towards the road heading out of town. Her voice sounded far away, even to Skye’s own ears, “And then I think I threw fire at them. I was really, really angry, Rory. I still am.”

  Her wolf rumbled in her chest, only now starting to be soothed by the presence of one of her mates.

  “They chased us. They chased me.” Skye spat out, “In my territory.”

  There was a threat implicit in the way she said it. A threat that had Betty’s eyes rounding and Dave double-timing it to get away from the barely leashed rage of an alpha predator. She wasn’t shouting, it was low and barely audible, Skye’s gaze fixed on the road behind Rory’s shoulder as if she were just waiting for the truck. “They hunted my pack mate. I’ll kill them.”

  Rory felt pure pride in Skye’s protectiveness, his own wolf surged up within him to meet his distressed mate. He ignored for the moment the talk of throwing fire, instead focusing on helping her keep her wolf under control.

  “I know. I know you will. Look at me... “ He cupped her chin in his hands and forced her gaze up to his. Her eyes were the color of her wolf, it was straining so hard against her skin he could feel it.

  “I know you want nothing more than to run at them, tear out their throats. Listen, look at me…” Rory’s eyes bled to his wolf, matching his mate’s anger easily. “They will not hurt our pack. But we cannot go running after them because we have to think of our pups.”

  He let out a slow growl, her wolf immediately came to attention.

  Rory rubbed his chin against her, his wolf greeting hers as it tried to soothe her. “It’s alright baby, we’re safe now. It’s alright.”

  Skye let a soft huff of breath, sagging as Rory coaxed her wolf to recede enough for the woman to regain full control of the situation. She buried her face against his throat, her arms sliding around his broad shoulders as she shivered with the aftermath of riding adrenaline and power.

  “Oh, god, Rory,” she breathed in, her arms tight around his neck and her body pressed against him. As the rage left her, Skye sagged in exhaustion as she was no longer drawing on her power or riding that adrenaline high. She’d used up a lot of energy throwing magic that she didn’t even know how to call or control. “Can we go home? I want to go home.”

  “Yeah. We’re going now, honey.” Rory said. He packed her up in the truck, being certain to grab the shopping bags that were strewn all over the back of the SUV, and as they drove back home he called Wilson’s repair shop about getting the SUV fixed.

  “Keys are in it, if you have it done by the end of the day we’ll stop by to get it and there’ll be a bonus for you.” He explained, saying very little on the phone. When he was done, they drove back in complete silence. The only thing that Rory did was hold her hand, gently stroking the back of it with his thumb.

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  When they got home the house was in an absolute uproar. Liam held a weeping Betty on the front porch while their pack mates paced back and forth restlessly. When they saw their alphas the lot of them began to talk all at once until it was just chaos and noise. Demanding answers, demanding action, they spoke over each other and Rory had to hold a hand up for silence. From the crowd, Lee pushed his way forward to take Skye in his arms.

  “Our mates were followed, seen by a visiting pack. They were followed but they lost them. We will be on high alert, okay? High alert and ready in case they decide to wander in our territory. Don’t worry… Dave call a meeting at town hall tonight. We’re all going to be there, to address the town okay. There’s a lot to talk about.”

  Chance wasn’t far behind Lee as Skye turned her face up to him with a troubled expression, snuggled safely in Lee’s arms.

  “I threw fire out of my hands, Chance,” she said softly, under the murmurings of the rest of the pack. The beta grimaced, touching her cheek gently in mute understanding before he wrapped his arms around both her and Lee, pressing a gentle kiss to the crown of her head.

  “It’s going to be alright,” he said softly to the both of them, his presence offering solid reassurance while Rory was busy speaking to Dave and soothing the rest of the agitated pack. “Why don’t you let Lee help you put things away and settle down. Using that kind of power takes energy like a shift would. Some food and a nap before tonight is probably a good idea.”

  Those suggestions were mostly directed to Lee as the gentlest of Skye’s mates was often the best at coaxing her to take care of herself. Over their heads, Chance searched for Finn’s over the heads of the rest of the pack and met his eyes directly. Silently, he tipped his head towards Finn’s clinic in mute suggestion.

  Lee left and the rest of the pack split up. Finn was getting Betty over to the clinic because of the shock and fear, he was worried about the state of her pups. Since Chance wanted him in that direction might as well kill two birds with one stone. The new machine was still in the front room of his little clinic waiting to be unwrapped and hooked up. He made Chance wait as he saw to Betty, checking her blood pressure and heart rate of her pups, and sending her and Liam on their way after citing for Betty to get some rest tonight and drink some water.

  Once the two omegas were on their way Finn sighed and turned toward Chance.

  “You rang?” He asked crossing his arms. “Don’t we have some things we have to do before Rory’s big speech tonight?”

  Chance hadn’t complained at the wait. He’d shed his sl
ing much to Lee’s displeasure and at least his limp had largely faded.

  “Hop on up, sunshine,” the beta replied with just as much wry humor, patting the exam bed before he turned to start bringing in a few other packages that were stacked up in the lobby from various medical supply companies. “We do, this is one of those things.”

  While Finn frowned at him, the beta opened the boxes and began pulling things out of them, waving a hand at the doctor when he protested, “Because we cannot leave town without a crisis, I ordered things for you to try on in the comfort of your own home. If you absolutely must keep the peg leg from the nineteen eighties for sentimental reasons, we’ll put it on an end table in the new house and Lee can bedazzle it. Think of the party starter that will be.”

  He set the gel liners next to Finn first making a ‘get on with it’ gesture towards the prosthetic he was wearing, “If things are uncomfortable, we’ll have them redone but I sent them several photos and measurements of your injury and I found a company that makes a three dimensional model and designs based off of that. If there’s some tweaking that needs to be done, please don’t suffer in silence. Now, this one is supposed to be waterproof, let’s start with that one.”

  There was probably a good half a million dollars in high end prosthetics that Chance was waiting patiently for him to try on.

  Finn stared at Chance as if he’d grown a horn suddenly. He had to shed his pants in order to get the old leg completely off to try on new ones. Once he was sitting in his boxers on the table, Finn picked up one of the new sleeve liners and slid it over the stump of his leg. The big alpha let out a sigh at the cool feeling, he hadn’t had a new one in a very long time and it felt good against his skin. He held out a hand for Chance to hand him the new waterproof one, and stuck his stump in it before gently standing up. It was a snug fit, and Finn made a noise of surprise.