Shadows of the Ancients

by Christine M. Butler

  “Shit!” I could not believe I had been sitting here this whole time with a rat’s nest for a head, and wearing my favorite worn out sweats. Evan was looking at me curiously now, and so was everyone else. Damn. I said that out loud. “Um, I need a shower.” It came out as no more than a whisper, and then I was biting down on my lower lip. I moved to stand, and Evan stood with me, putting his back to my family and giving me all of his attention for the moment.

  “And do you need a hand with that?”

  “What?” YES! Yes, I did want a hand with that. “Um, No,” a giggle erupted from somewhere in the back of my throat. “I think I’ve got it covered.”

  He leaned in and whispered in my ear, “too bad,” and I swear my blood was suddenly lava-hot flowing through my veins. I wasn’t a prude, and werewolves as a whole were pretty open about things, but my cheeks flushed immediately when I thought of the fact that my parents heard every word of our exchange. Sure, I was an adult, I had already completed my full transformation, and I was ready for a mate; yet I so wasn’t ready for my parents to hear a guy offer to shower with me. As I slunk off I noticed the smirk on Asi’s face, and decided I would do my best to try to embarrass him somehow in the future. My mom was offering to make some food for everyone by the time I got to my room, so I figured they were all occupied for the time being. I had just turned the water on in the shower when I heard my phone going off in my room. I threw a towel around me, and ran for it.

  “Hello?”

  “Hey, hon. I have been dying to hear from you! So, how much trouble are you in with the family and the pack?”

  “Oh God, Ashley, you just wouldn’t even believe what’s happened, even if I told you.”

  “Well, tell me, so I can judge that for myself!” I laughed at her as she said it.

  “Well, first my parents nearly nose-dived into crazyville, then Marcus and Zach both blue a freaking gasket.”

  “Wait, they were at your house?”

  “Yeah, they showed up after I talked to my parents about it. Apparently, that’s why my mom was on my ass to get home this morning. Marcus scheduled a visit to help force my hand in the whole pairing thing.”

  “Well, he didn’t force it, did he? Zach’s a fucking douchebag! If you tell me you’re being forced to bond with him, I swear, I will come get you right now. I will fight my way through all the werewolves, including my brother to get you out of there.” My heart caught somewhere between my chest and my throat with her words, because I knew she meant them one hundred percent.

  “You are so amazing! It’s not necessary though, because the mystery wolf who marked me in the club showed up.”

  “WHAT?” She screamed into the phone. “Did he still look just as yummy? Oh, even better, was his friend tagging along with him too? Was he as fabulous as I remember?”

  “Yes,” I answered.

  “Wait, yes to which part?”

  “All of it. Anyway, listen, I need to get a shower and get my ass presentable. We’re about to call a pack meeting. I promise you, as soon as it’s over I will fill you in on everything.”

  “Fine!” I could hear the pout in her voice, and I pictured her bottom lip sticking out like a little kid being told no they couldn’t eat candy before dinner. “BUT… you have to promise to call right away, and…” I was about to cut her off as she took a breath, but I let her finish instead. “Are you okay? Promise me you’re okay, and that I shouldn’t be worried, or I’m getting in my car and coming to visit my brother, as an excuse to see for myself.”

  “I promise, everything is fine. I’m okay. There’s no need for concern right now. I love you for worrying though!”

  “Love ya too, chica! Now go get clean, I can smell you from here.” Her laughter broke free about two seconds before the phone went dead. I set it down to head back across the hall to the bathroom, and the steamy shower that was using all the hot water up without me in it. As soon as I walked out my bedroom door I ran into a solid mass of body. Arms immediately encircled my waist, and heat flared through me from the tips of my toes straight up to the roots of my hair. The pressure Evan was applying with his hands around my hips was making the towel I was wearing dip dangerously low across my chest. That sudden intake of breath he took told me he noticed too.

  “I heard you talking up here. I figured I would come check on you, and make sure everything was okay. I know it’s a lot to take in all at once. This is really not how I would have imagined doing things, you must understand that. I would give anything to turn that clock back and do it all the right way, so you wouldn’t have to be nervous about things.”

  I smiled up at him, “I’m not nervous.” It was the truth. I don’t know why it was the truth. He was a Prince, and he was one of the Ancients. Those two things alone should have had me quaking in my boots. Ancients weren’t known to be pillars of the community. They were more of the rape, pillage, and murder crowd. Of course, it could be that everything I had been taught to believe about the Ancients was wrong, because here was Evan, and all he was trying to do was put me at ease. He could have easily taken me last night, and no one would have ever known what happened to me.

  “I can’t tell you what it means to me that you say that.” He brought his lips down to my forehead and planted a tiny kiss there. Now, go, get your shower. Your dad has already made the necessary calls. The pack will be convening within the hour. As I pulled away and started out for the bathroom, my towel’s battle to stay firmly planted around my body was lost, and the damn thing fell all the way to my abdomen before I caught it. I could feel the blush that burst across my skin. I could also hear the animal sound coming from Evan. I pulled the towel up around me and hauled ass into the bathroom, not daring to look back until I was shutting the door. He had turned his back. What man turns their back when a woman is exposed by accident? I was contemplating that as I shut the door. When I did, I heard him move across the hall to stand on the other side.

  “I’ll be downstairs when you’re done, Jess.” The strain was evident in his voice. The handle of the door had turned a bit, and then his footsteps were the only proof that he had indeed left to go downstairs. I turned the shower nozzle from the hot steamy setting I had it on, to a much cooler temperature. I had been wishing he was going to ignore decorum, and come help me clean up after all. I had hoped for it. I threw myself under the stream of cold water before I did something stupid like call out to him, tell him to scrub my back, or make me dirtier. The minute the icy water hit me, all those thoughts departed, and I literally squeaked.

  I made the shower a quick one, especially since it was so freaking uncomfortable. I dressed in a pair of faded, and well worn, boot cut jeans. I put a white camisole on underneath it and topped it with a fitted black and white flannel shirt that I only buttoned the bottom three buttons on. I paired the outfit with my black pointed toe boots, and then I tossed my hair up in a ponytail, applied a little bit of eyeliner and mascara, and brushed my teeth. This was as good as it was going to get, considering I was about to have to go face the gauntlet that was my pack. They were not going to like the fact that one of their females had found a mate outside of our close community. Part of me wanted to just sit this one out and stay home, but my wolf nipped at my insides telling me that wasn’t an option in her world. I was going to go face my pack, and be at one with the mess I had gotten myself in last night.

  As we were leaving the house Asi bent low on the way by me and whispered in my ear, “That squeak of yours was very telling. Cold water always does the trick, doesn’t it?”

  I growled at him. He laughed, and hopped off the porch like he’d never heard of steps. He was going to be in for it one of these days. Evan clearly heard every bit of the exchange, because he was still laughing when he came up and put his arm around my shoulders, pulling me close. “Don’t worry about Asi, little wolf, he’ll get what’s coming to him in the end.” I heard Asriel laugh up ahead.

  “Don’t count on it, brother, I am untouchable.”

 
“We’ll see about that,” I mumbled.

  Evan laughed again, and his laugh eased my nerves. He dropped his head lower, to hover just above mine. “At least you had the luxury of the shower. I had to go outside and beat up on some trees for a minute. I am sorry I missed your little squeak as the water hit you though.” There was a rumble to his voice that told me he was picturing me in that shower.

  “You’re going to have to stop there, because I am so not dousing myself with cold water again today.”

  “There are other cures for what ails you, besides a cold shower!” Evan added with a chuckle, and Asi joined him. My parents were hanging back, giving us space, and I wasn’t sure how much of this they were overhearing. I was sure they’d heard enough, and I couldn’t help feeling the tiniest bit embarrassed by that. Sure, I was an adult, but up until last night, I didn’t even have an interest in anyone in that way. Now, all of a sudden, sexual innuendoes were easy banter as we walked to a pack meeting. I had definitely left my life behind somewhere and planted myself firmly into the middle of the damn Twilight Zone. It was an odd feeling as I stepped into the pack meeting area.

  Unless there was severe weather, our pack meetings were always held outside in a cleared area in the woods just beyond all the living quarters. As we approached the area a friendly face came walking over to me. “Jessie!” He snatched me up in the air, giving me a huge hug. Evan stood off to the side, not intervening, but not looking happy either. “Damn, are you what all this fuss is about, because that is definitely not Zach’s scent all over you?”

  “You’ll find out soon enough. What’s with the super emphatic hello with a hug?”

  “Oh, yeah, I just wanted to thank you for putting a foot up my ass yesterday. I talked to my mom, and after she cried and stuff, we had a really good chat. We’re doing a family weekend starting this Saturday. Ashley already agreed, and Jeff is coming in from college for a few days. It’s going to be like old times. Of course, mom said to tell you that you are more than welcome to tag along too, since you’re family and all.”

  “I’m not sure what’s going on with me for next weekend, but I will let you know as soon as I can.” I returned his hug this time, truly happy that he’d finally worked things out with his parents. They weren’t really too thrilled about him running off to be a werewolf. “Now, who’s your favorite sister? That’s right, this girl!” I said pointing to myself.

  “I’m going to agree with you today, but just don’t tell Ashley. She’d kick my ass, my new found werewolf strength be damned.”

  “You’re right about that!” I agreed with a laugh.

  “So, seriously, what’s going on? People are starting to stare at you.”

  “Can’t I just be that amazing?”

  “I think you are,” Evan said as his head popped down by my shoulder. “I’m pretty sure we’re going to be needed momentarily, so we might as well make our way closer to the front now.”

  “Yeah, okay.” I agreed. When I turned to wave goodbye to Jack his eyebrows shot up in a questioning look.

  At the last pack meeting it had been announced that Zach and I were chosen to be paired. Which probably explained all the funny looks I was getting for marching, with the arm of a strange wolf wrapped around me, up to the front of the stage that the pack had set up in the clearing.

  “She smells like the stranger.”

  “I knew nothing good would come from her always traipsing off with that human of hers.”

  “Do you think Zach will challenge him for her?”

  “She’s not worth it, if she’d throw away a pairing from our pack like this.”

  Evan was standing behind me when we reached the front of the crowd. He wrapped both his arms around my waist and pulled me back into his chest. Then he whispered in my ear. “Ignore the comments for now, my sweet. They’re about to get a bigger shock.” He pressed a kiss to my temple, and at the shocked gasps from two of the female wolves nearest us, he leaned in and started marking me with his scent again. The feel of his slightly stubbly face rubbing all up and down my neck was starting to cause my body to tingle in places that shouldn’t be tingling during a pack meeting.

  My father had taken the stage, and looked pointedly at Evan as he cleared his throat. Evan chuckled, but stopped trying to shock the women around us.

  “You’re terrible,” I whispered. He gave me an appreciative squeeze. He may be trouble, but I was loving every minute of it so far.

  “I thank you all for coming out on such short notice today. We have a few important things to discuss that involve the pack. If you’ll bear with me, and hold your comments until the end, we’ll try to get through this as smoothly as possible.”

  “Where’s Marcus?” David, one of the older wolves in the pack asked.

  “He’ll be along shortly, but I am the one calling this meeting.” He made a gesture towards me, “Jess, come on up and join me for a minute.” I walked forward, and went to stand beside my dad. “At our last meeting Marcus announced that my daughter, Jessica, would be paired with Zachariah Brighton. As a family, we have decided that is not a wise decision for her.” There were some angry shouts, and a few nasty comments thrown my way about how I smelled. “ENOUGH!” My dad shouted, and he threw all his power behind that one word. Even I wanted to crawl beneath his feet momentarily. Everyone stopped what they were doing and started paying closer attention now. “Now, I did say, no interruptions, and I meant it. Jess would have eaten poor little Zach alive if they were a mated pair. She has far too much power to be bonded with him equally. It wouldn’t have been fair to either of them.”

  I heard Zach mumble under his breath. “This is such bullshit. Like she could ever overpower me.” It took every ounce of willpower I possessed not to show him just how wrong he was. My dad was about to announce the fact that he was challenging Marcus for pack leader though, so I wouldn’t dare dishonor him in this moment. Not any more than I probably already had by showing up marked by another wolf. Besides, there were murmurs of disbelief already rolling across my pack family. One, in particular stung. “She’s always thought she was better than us. You know, I’ve never even seen her wolf. I bet she never fully completed transition.”

  My father had to have heard her, but chose to ignore the comment. “We had no eligible males that would make a good pairing with my daughter, and rather than see her mated for life in a catastrophic union, she has found one who was strong enough to lay claim to her, and will make the best match possible. Evan,” My dad gestured for him to join us on the stage. As he came to stand by me, and placed a hand possessively at the small of my back, my father continued on. “As some of you have pointed out already, Evan has claimed Jess by scenting her. Jess did not object to this being done. She finds him a suitable mate, and there will be nothing more to say on this matter.”

  “That is for the pack leader to decide, not you. Father or not.” Dave interjected.

  “And on that matter,” my father started, standing straighter as he spoke, “I put forth challenge for the position of pack leader. I will concede that Marcus can willingly step down, or he can fight me for it. After that is settled, if there are any others who feel they deserve this position, your challenges will be dealt with. Marcus has been breeding the strength right out of our pack for generations with his ridiculous pairings. We can’t stand by any longer and keep allowing this to happen.”

  There were a great many whispered comments at that point. Some were definitely in favor of my dad taking his place in the pack that should have been his when his father passed on. Others were just confused. But one stood out from the crowd.

  Sierra stood apart from a very unhappy looking Jack and shouted above the din, “Who is this man, Evan, that he can come into our pack and lay claim to one of ours? Marcus decreed that our females would not breed outside of the pack. Even Jack had to be accepted as pack before we could be a mated pair.”

  “Man, she’s never going to stop being a pain in my ass, is she?” I mumbled under my b
reath. I didn’t get a chance to respond though, and neither did my father.

  “Jessica is too powerful for any of you to mate with, and I am counting those who have already bonded too. I understand pack law, and normally I would not go against it, but for this, I must.” Evan stepped back and let the shudder of power he threw out into the crowd speak for itself.

  “Prince Evan is one of the Ancient. You will respect this pairing. There will be no further questions about this topic,” my father informed them all. The whispers on the wind from the pack changed their tone at that point to one of shock and awe. I’m sure they could sense his power, but they hadn’t expected an Ancient, let alone a prince. The looks on some of the women’s faces were priceless now. Especially the ones who only moments ago had been all but saying I was a whore.

  “Well, that shut them right up didn’t it?” Evan teased into my ear. I turned my face, to snuggle into his chest, scenting him back for the first time, even if not in the proper place. I wanted him marked with a piece of me, and I wanted it done in front of my pack. They needed to know this was serious. My wolf needed them to know, because she was tired of us being underestimated. Just because I had chosen on numerous occasions not to make waves, didn’t mean I hadn’t been capable of doing so. “If you keep that up, we’re going to have to leave this party early.” He had whispered it so low I doubted anyone but maybe my dad heard it. I laughed out loud. “Come on,” he grabbed my hand and started pulling me along with him as we left the stage. We didn’t go as far as I thought he was intending though, just to the edge of the crowd to stand beside my mother and Asi. “This is your dad’s moment now.”

  “Marcus Dupris, I challenge you!” My dad shouted above the small roar of conversation that had begun to fill the meeting area. I looked around, trying to find Marcus. “Come forth and answer your challenger.”

  Marcus came forth alright, head hung low. If he’d been in wolf form his tail would have been between his legs. Audible sighs rippled through the crowd. Marcus was a man defeated. The stench of fear clung to him like a second skin, and the sheen of sweat gracing his brow was just one more physical manifestation of it. When Marcus got all the way to the stage my dad started again, as was the way of things.