Shadows of the Ancients

by Christine M. Butler

  “Damn straight I do. You smell like the promise of damn good sex.” I gasped at her, “Jesus, listen to me, I’m not even a werewolf. Your family is going to flip the fuck out!”

  “Don’t suppose you want to come with me?” I asked sheepishly. It was a cowardly thing to do, but if I could be cowardly with anyone, it was Ashley.

  “Um, no hon! That’s one thing I do not want to be in the middle of. No offense, but if I decide to let one of you turn me later on, like you did Jack… that’s one thing. To get accidently turned in the middle of a family drama – nope, I’m good right here.”

  “I don’t blame you.” My cell phone beeped in my pocket again. I took it out and looked, sighing as I read the message. “Well, there’s really no more delaying. She’s pissed about something. Zach probably threw a hissy fit after I left yesterday. If he thinks I’m going anywhere with him today after what he did, he’s lost his damn mind! Too bad he doesn’t understand that me not falling under his power grip means that I am alpha to him.”

  She stifled a laugh, “yeah, I don’t think he can see past his own arrogance on this one.”

  “Okay, well, come give me a hug.” I threw my arms out dramatically, “you never know, I may never see you again after this blow up.”

  “Or…. Maybe they’ll just kick you out of the pack, and you can come be my roomy!”

  “Ah, the wishful thinking…” I said, trying to look wistful, even though the thought of being kicked out of the pack sent chills all the way to my bones. If I were ever excommunicated, I would be cut off, from the pack, my parents, everything and everyone. I would be a lone wolf. It was dangerous enough for males to be lone wolves, for a female it was unheard of. They would be claimed by the first male who held enough power to snare them. Sometimes, the werewolf world could be brutal. I wasn’t naïve enough to disregard that fact.

  “I’m not sure I want to hug you when you’re smelling all like that, but um, good luck!”

  “Yeah, I’m gonna need it!”

  It took 45 minutes, and a sea of honking, irate drivers later, for me to get home. I was going beyond slow, in no hurry to greet my fate. My cell had gone off four more times before I pulled into our driveway. I was sure they were all my mom, and I was just planning on telling her there was traffic, and it’s not safe to text and drive.

  I had changed into sweats, and washed all the leftover makeup from my face before I left Ashley’s house, but I felt like last night was still clinging to me somehow. I guess it was the scent of my mystery wolf. It sure did suck, not knowing his name. I didn’t have a bag with me, since I had left it on the front porch yesterday when I took off so fast. So, I pocketed my keys, in case I needed a quick getaway, and strode into the house to meet my fate.

  “Where the hell have you…” My mom’s nose scrunched up, catching the unfamiliar scent on the air. It stopped her short, in the middle of a tirade I’m sure she had practiced repeatedly in the past 45 minutes it took me to drive home.

  “I was with Ashley, you know that.”

  “What am I smelling?” My mom’s eyes were wide, too wide to be natural. “What in God’s name did you do, Jess?” Then she called out over her shoulder for my dad. “James!” She threw power behind the call. Not good.

  “Was that really necessary?” My dad asked a second before the smell hit him. “What the hell?” He sniffed, and again a little harder as he passed my mom. Knowing the unfamiliar aroma wasn’t coming from her, he locked his gaze on me, and strode forward on a cloud of power. I felt the hairs on my arms stand on end. “JESSICA MARIE ST. MARKS!” I stood taller, facing him, pretty sure my eyes were as wide as my mom’s now. “Have you been marked?”

  “Um,” The one syllable stumbled out of my mouth all the other words getting lodged somewhere deep in my throat.

  “I ASKED YOU A QUESTION. ANSWER ME!” Power was pushing off my dad and slamming straight into me, I bowed over, and found myself on my knees, then on all fours. My dad towered over me. “WHO MARKED YOU?”

  “I don’t know.” It came out as a whimper.

  “How could you not know?” My mom’s voice was less powerful, at least it didn’t hurt when she spoke.

  “WHO MARKED YOU?” My dad’s voice crushed me, and I was damn near crawling across the floor to his feet on my belly. As soon as I reached him, he backed up. Tears stung my eyes. My dad denied me. Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit. Things just got real.

  “I don’t know,” I tried again. “I didn’t get a name.”

  “You allowed someone to mark you, and you can’t even tell us his name?” My dad’s fury rolled across me, causing my bones to ache. I was about two seconds from him causing me to turn. That’s when my mom stepped in. “Did they see your wolf? Is that why someone did this to you? You know you are not supposed to show anyone your wolf!”

  “Maybe, I should talk to her first.” At the harsh look and power that rolled off of him, my mom backed up, but she didn’t give in. It had to hurt. “You’re going to make her turn, and she can’t very well explain herself if her wolf is at the forefront.

  “Get her to talk, and do it quickly.” He turned his back on me, even though I whimpered. “Zach and Marcus are already on their way here. How in the hell are we supposed to explain this?”

  “We’ll figure it out. She doesn’t know who did this to her, maybe he won’t know where to find her either.” My mom said hopefully.

  “Do you really think with a scenting that strong, he won’t be able to find her?”

  “Okay, then maybe he’ll just realize his mistake and leave her be.”

  I really hoped that wasn’t the case, but I was not going to say that out loud. I was just now able to start sitting up. My dad’s power trip was starting to settle. “Talk to your daughter. Find out what the hell possessed her to go get herself marked by a freaking super-alpha. I’ve never felt power like that before from just a scent.” He turned and shook his head. “I have a feeling all hell’s about to break loose.” He was walking out the front door when he added, “I’m going to sit outside and wait for Marcus.”

  My dad left the house, and my mom came over, and gathered me in her arms. “It’s going to be okay, baby. We’ll figure it out. And don’t you worry. Your dad’s just… well, his anger is coming from a place of concern right now.”

  “That felt a whole lot like straight anger, not worry.”

  “Yes, well, one day when you become a parent, you’ll understand that.” She smiled at me, “Now, tell me what happened, everything.” Even though she was asking nicely, I heard the demand, and felt the weight of her power behind it. I could stand up to my mom’s power if I wanted to. I knew that deep down inside, my wolf kept telling me, but I wasn’t ready to stop being her baby just yet.

  I spilled, telling her the story in super-heated painful detail. Shock was written all over my mom’s face as I relayed the encounter I had with the strange werewolf. I knew my dad was listening from the porch too. It was just much easier to say with him not staring me down and forcing his will on me. By the time I got to the end of the story, and how everything happened, my mom looked too shell-shocked to talk. We sat there in awkward silence for a few minutes before the door opened. When I was finishing the story, I’d heard my dad walk off the porch and address Marcus. “We need to talk before you go in there.”

  That did not stop Zach from just barging into my house, thinking he owned the place and me. So, it was rather humorous for me when I watched his face react to the scent that was enveloping me.

  “Hey Zach, you probably should have waited out front with Marcus and my dad.”

  “What Is THAT SMELL?” Power was washing off of him in waves, as he tried to demand the answer from me. I was a little nervous about the situation after my parents’ reaction, but this part… this was going to be fun.

  “None of your business.” I said. My mom turned to Zach to see his reaction, and while her head was turned I stuck my tongue out at him. Childish, I know, but I couldn’t help myself. I
was having visions of punching him in the nose the way I had punched the guy in the bar last night.

  “WHAT?” He staggered back when it was clear his power play hadn’t affected me. He didn’t get to say anymore, and neither did I, because Marcus threw the front door open and stalked over to me, sniffing the air around us.

  “What have you done, girl?” He smacked me across the face with the back of his hand. It wasn’t a light tap either. I flew into the sofa, and was trying to pick myself up when my dad yelled at him. Oh God, I so didn’t want my dad challenging Marcus. The last fool who did ended up dead.

  “Know your place, wolf.” Marcus said as he rounded on my father. My dad stood tall for a solid minute, before something passed between he and my mom, and then he backed down as Marcus’s power washed over him. In a normal situation, I would have given the fight to my dad, but with Marcus having pack Alpha status, he packed a bigger supernatural punch. “I blame you for this. You should have gotten your bitch under control long before now.”

  Oh hell no! I was not going to lay here, on my back with my face throbbing, while he talked to my dad like that, and referred to me as a common breeding stock dog. “Leave. Him.” I was fighting through the power he was blowing off. It was threatening to sweep the air directly from my lungs and leave me for dead. “ALONE.” I finished, and then I fell to my knees.

  “Do you DARE, challenge me?” He roared, and I swear it shook the damn house down to its foundation. I didn’t like him one bit, but Marcus was a bad-ass. I sometimes forgot why he was the alpha.

  “Sorry,” I said meekly. He was coming towards me when his phone started blaring a God-awful noise. It sounded like an alarm, and judging by the look on his face, that’s exactly what it was. He stopped midstride, half way to me, and answered the damn thing. I said a silent prayer of thanks for the reprieve, because no doubt, he had been about to come put me in my place again, physically.

  “What?” He screamed into the phone. He listened for the length of three heartbeats. Okay, maybe five, since my heart was about to hammer right out of my chest. “No, stay there, I am on my way.” There was a pause, and I could see his temper flaring up again. I could really see it, there was a tangible cloud of power gathering around him, and the air smelled of ozone. “I said I will be there, and unless they want trouble they will wait for me to get there.” He hung up the phone, and looked down into my eyes. “We are not done here. I will be right back. You will go up to your room, and stay there until I get back.” Power rolled over me, and I was moving before I even thought about it. I clawed my way up from my position on the floor as he stormed out of our house.

  “Guess that didn’t go like you expected, huh?” Zach was stupid enough to speak to me like that in front of my dad. Things were about to not go his way too.

  “ZACHARIAH, SIT!” I laughed, because he didn’t even move to a piece of furniture, he literally plopped right down in the same spot he already occupied on the floor.

  “Good dog!” I whispered to him as I sauntered by, and headed up the stairs to my bedroom, like I was told to do. The irony was not lost on me. Inwardly, I told myself I was a good dog too. Damn it.

  I paced my room. My wolf paced inside me. She was anxious, it was a reflection of how I felt. I knew I needed to pull myself together. It wasn’t a good thing when my wolf and I felt like separate entities. We worked best as a species when we were one with our wolves. I breathed through the anxiety, and thought about the night before. His face came to me, and I inhaled his scent again, letting it wrap me up, and comfort me. My wolf was happy with that, and so was I. Funny that a stranger could make me feel that way when no one in our pack ever could. Maybe I was a pack reject after all. I had felt that way since my changing. When my parents first saw my wolf, they forbid me from changing in front of the rest of the pack. They told me my wolf wasn’t normal, and that I needed to be protected. They never made it sound like a bad thing, just that I was different, and some people wouldn’t understand. I had seen many of my pack in their wolf form. None of them were solid colored. I always assumed that was the difference. My coat was solid, with no markings at all. As I half-assed contemplated that, the conversation I had with Ashley before I left her apartment this morning, came back to me again.

  I guess living among the humans wouldn’t be too bad. Surely, by the time this wolf that marked me ever tracked me down, he’d see I was too much trouble. Maybe once he saw my odd wolf, he would turn away and run. Judging by his friend’s comments last night, it was all some sort of game to them anyway. Okay, probably not the best thought process. My wolf was pacing and on edge once again.

  It took fifteen, very long minutes before Marcus came back to the house. He didn’t bother knocking. He let himself in, and there were others with him. It took only a moment for the smell to hit me, and the familiar bite of his power to ripple through the house and tug at me. There was almost a tangible line of energy pulling me to him, and I was going to follow it.

  I had already begun walking out of my room when I finally tuned into the conversation that was happening downstairs. I didn’t get a chance to catch what was said, before I felt Marcus’s power pull me too as he said my name, “JESSICA MARIE ST. MARKS, COME.” I rolled my eyes, but I obeyed, and started down the steps, pulling my hair from the ponytail it had been in. I could still feel the sting of the slap Marcus placed across my face earlier, and I wasn’t about to let my mystery wolf see it. He might think me too weak and leave me here to my punishment.

  As I clamored down the steps, holding onto the banister, I felt Marcus’s anger crash over me, but there was something else mixed with it, an undercurrent of fear. Oh shit. Marcus didn’t fear anything. That wasn’t good. As soon as I hit the bottom step, Marcus’s powers over me slipped away completely, and I felt a calm wash through me. My eyes locked with the one who had marked me, and he smiled. Good lord, that smile nearly undid me right there in front of my parents, Marcus, God, and whoever else cared to watch. A small whimper escaped me, but it was not from fear. Oh no, it was the good kind of whimper. My dad had the presence of mind to look away. Marcus, on the other hand, pierced me with a death stare.

  “What the hell is going on here?” Zach was stupid enough to speak up. Someone had to tell that kid his ego was seriously too big for his abilities. My mystery wolf cocked his head to Zach, then turned to face him before speaking.

  “And who are you?”

  “I’m her mate,” he pointed over at me. I was pretty sure that wasn’t going to go over well. Now, it was my turn to give a death stare. My wolf’s friend started snickering, and my death stare transferred from Zach to him.

  “Is this true?” My mystery wolf asked me.

  “We were paired in an arrangement, but I have not agreed to it.” I said, surprising myself with how calmly it came out.

  “But you were going to.” Zach said, trying to throw power on me to get me to submit to him. I laughed his attempt off, and then I got angry again.

  “You sorry ass piece of shit…” The words were out of my mouth before I could think about how this would look. I flew from the steps, heading for him. “You think you can roofie me with your power? I told you never to try it again…” Before I could get much further from the steps, a very strong arm caught me around the waist.

  “It doesn’t appear that she agrees with the pairing. I can’t say that I blame her. Who approved such a thing?”

  Marcus’s hackles went up as he responded. “He’s the strongest unpaired male we have. They’re a perfect fit.”

  “Tsk, tsk, tsk.” My mystery wolf started, as he continued to hold me. I stopped struggling to get to Zach, but he didn’t relinquish his hold on me. Part of me was melting inside, and I definitely didn’t want him to let go. I was over the struggle, and now I found myself leaning further into him, my back pressed up against his hard chest. “He’s beneath her. Any fool could see that. If he’s the strongest in their generation, then you have bigger problems here than I thought.”
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br />   “We’ve all got problems, brother.” My wolf’s friend spoke quietly.

  “That we do.” He said, the vibrations from his deep voice seemed to travel right through me, sending the hairs on my arms to stand on end. I tipped my head up to look at my wolf. I suddenly had a need to see if his eyes were still that deep cobalt that entranced me last night. When I moved, my hair fell free of my face, and he got a front row seat to my shameful mark. The hand print that had turned into a swollen bruise, would probably remain there, getting uglier and uglier until I was able to shift to my wolf form and heal. My mystery wolf sucked in a breath when he noticed the mark. His fingers came up, and gently stroked over the mark. Then he leaned down, bringing his face so close to mine I thought he was going to kiss me. To my disappointment he sniffed me instead. Getting the scent of the one who’d left the mark. Then, he did kiss me. His lips brushed lightly over the mark, and he slowly removed his hand from my waist, passing me off to my father, who had come up behind us.

  “You dared hit the woman I marked as my mate?” His fury was palpable. He turned to Marcus, and it was the first time I’d ever seen the man scared. “You will pay for this.” He raised his hand and let it fly, right into Marcus’s face, leaving behind the same mark that currently marred my own cheek. Then he grasped Marcus’s chin and forced him to meet his gaze. “You will not shift again until this heals naturally. You will wear this mark for as long as it takes until it sinks in that you do not ever touch that which is mine.”

  He looked around for Zach, who was cowering over on my couch. “You will leave now. Run on home, and never come back to this house again, or face my wrath. We are the Ancients. You all bow to us.” The power that rippled over him caused every single person in the room, including his friend, to bow down on the ground before him. I was in the process of doing just that when he caught me with one finger under my chin, and lifted my gaze to his. “Everyone except you. You are my chosen, you bow to no one.” Holy shit! I had no clue what all this meant right now, but I was sure I stepped pretty damn deep in shit last night. I was equal parts awed, thankful, delighted, and scared shitless. My wolf was ignoring the scared shitless part, and working real hard at trying to get closer to this man. That’s when it crossed my mind, once more, that I didn’t even know his name. “You look like you want to ask me something.”