United (The Ushers)

by Vanessa North

  “I’m sorry, Monica,” he whispered in her ear. She met his eyes and knew he was talking about Fionn.

  “I’ll live.” She smiled at him. “Where’s Ellen?”

  “She’ll be along in a few.” Kathy giggled. “She wanted to call Bee before getting hairy.”

  “Ellen, meet us in the woods.” Monica sent the thought gently and then dropped her robe and shifted. Her shift was fast and furious: a shake of her head, and the world hazed into her animal senses, and she was flying across the campus in a blur of fur. In moments, she knew she’d left Ted and Kathy behind, so she slowed to a gentle lope as she approached the woods. There in the grass, she could smell him. Fionn. He’d shifted here this morning. She dropped down onto the grass and rolled in his scent. He smelled of wood and smoke and crackling fires, and it called to her. She lay in his scent, imagining he could be there with her, running with her. Ted and Kathy came bounding across the field toward her, feinting and playing as they did. She couldn’t speak to Ted in her head, though she could feel him.

  “It smells like Fionn here,” she whined to Kathy.

  Kathy stopped short, sniffing. “Like Fionn and Angelo. No wonder you’re rolling in it.” Kathy sprang at her Alpha in a mock attack, and they were running again. Monica followed Fionn’s scent out into the woods, feeling the echoes of his presence. He’d run hard and fast, like he was running from something.

  “From you, Monica.” Kathy confirmed. “He was all shook up this morning. We could all feel it. Whatever you said to him knocked him for a loop.”

  Monica tossed her head back in a howl. Fionn was thrown for a loop because she’d forced him to recognize the call between them. It was as potent as anything she’d felt with Robert, her first mate. When Fionn Murphy returned to the compound, she’d lay in an all-out seduction, an assault on his senses. He may not feel ready to claim his mate, but she had every intention of claiming hers. The time for persuasion had passed; now was the time for possession. She would feed herself into his senses until he couldn’t resist her any longer.

  She heard Ellen approaching through the woods.

  “Ell. Do me a favor?”

  “Of course, Alpha.”

  “Change the locks on Fionn Murphy’s room and have his personal belongings brought to my apartment. He won’t be needing his own place anymore.”

  Chapter Four

  NESTLED IN THE BLUE RIDGE MOUNTAINS, Asheville, North Carolina, was a small city, sparkling with art deco architecture and new-age spirituality. Annie and Fionn drove into town and found a hotel in the bustling downtown area. After checking in to separate rooms, they walked to a nearby restaurant. Asheville was the type of city where shifters wouldn’t attract attention. It seemed to be a refuge for hippies, hillbillies, and retired movie stars. Art galleries and restaurants lined the busy streets, which were filled with an odd mix of business people, street musicians, and giggling college students. Fionn smiled to himself as he looked at the city passing by outside the restaurant window.

  “What?” Annie asked. “You have that look on your face.”

  “I was just looking around, and you know—this place is like an endless parade of freaks. I feel right at home.” He grinned.

  She looked around at the restaurant’s other patrons and smiled back at Fionn. “Yeah, I almost feel like I’m in a required dress code.” She gestured to her flower-child clothing and Birkenstock-clad feet.

  “Annie, you always look perfect.” Fionn smiled at his companion. “And I mean that in a totally platonic, just friends kind of way.”

  “Thank the Goddess.” She laughed. “I’m so glad we’ve moved on, Fionn. It’s so nice to sit and chat with you without that night between us.”

  “Well, you were right about one thing five months ago…you said that when I met my mate, my infatuation with you would fade. I can’t get Monica out of my head.” He thought of that kiss. He’d been so angry with Monica for pushing him to it, but once her lips had softened under his, he’d been lost. The mating hunger rode him hard. He could still feel her hands fisting in the front of his shirt, the sting where her finger caught his nipple ring, the softness of her hair as he sank his fingers into it. He felt the way her teeth had sharpened and she had smiled under his lips. He’d felt a crushing urge to pull her head back by the hair and mark her right there in her office. Just remembering made him hard and hungry. And then Angelo’s confession in the woods, that Monica cried out Fionn’s name when making love?

  His hand formed a fist on the table.

  “Fionn. Don’t do this to yourself.” Annie patted his hand. “You know I can tell what you’re feeling. This self-loathing, it’s ridiculous. You should feel exalted when you think of your mate.”

  “How do I make myself worthy of her?” He met Annie’s soulful eyes.

  Her expression serious, she studied his face. “You’re already worthy of her, Fionn. What you feel now is regret and shame. You feel badly because you rejected her in your first meeting. You’re embarrassed and too damn proud to let it go. But you have to, dear one. You’re never going to be the man you think Monica deserves unless you let her in here.” Annie tapped his head, then his heart. “She will make you that man.”

  “But if I don’t—if I fuck it up, she’s stuck with me then. How can I do that to her?”

  “Fionn Murphy, if you think being stuck with you is a bad thing, you have a thing or two to learn about women.” Annie chuckled. “You’re a very fine-looking man. A kind man. A good father, in spite of everything. You’re kind of a catch.”

  “You left me,” he reminded her.

  “I made mistakes, Fionn. I should never have made love with you without telling you who and what I was. That’s on me, dear one. You don’t own that shame.”

  “Annie, there’s something I’ve been meaning to ask you.” His voice was quiet, barely more than a whisper.

  “Go ahead.”

  “Sara—she died in that fight. She knew it was coming. Are you—”

  “Am I going to die when you complete your task?”

  He nodded, tears filling his eyes.

  “No, Fionn. My sister—being who she was—she chose to be Bianca’s Guide. She could have chosen you, or the Third. But she chose Bianca, and I think part of that was because she couldn’t bear the thought of losing me or our brother. She’d always had a bit of martyr complex, you know.” A mirthless smile bared Annie’s teeth.

  “I’m sorry. I had to know.” He took her hand. “You’re my best friend, Ann. Even if you do smell like cat.”

  “Well, you smell like a dirty dog, Finners, so there.” She smiled for real this time, breaking the somber mood. “You want to know what happens to me when your task is complete? I suppose I’ll start to age, like wolves do. I’ll be mortal, like you. I won’t be able to catch glimpses of the future anymore.”

  “So, you could die?”

  “I will die, one day, Fionn, make no mistake about that. All living things do. I hope that day is a long way off, because I’d like to see the Goddess freed before it happens. I’d like to see you and Monica have pups and grow old together .”

  “Goddess, so would I,” he breathed, imagining Monica’s svelte figure rounded in motherhood—his baby making her glow from inside out. In the moment between two breaths, he suddenly saw his mate cradling their dark-haired baby to her breast, then a lifetime of images flashed before him as he realized he could have a child born to the same longevity that all wolves shared. A child who could live in his home and would eventually shift under the moon with him.

  “Yeah?” Annie smiled. “What happened to the ‘I’m not worthy’ thing you’ve been doing the last few months?”

  “I might never be worthy. But I don’t think I can do this alone anymore. So I’m going to spend the rest of my life trying to be worthy.”

  “Good. It’s about damn time. Twenty years is a long time for navel gazing. Time to save the world instead.”

  “Don’t let me be an asshole, Annie,”
he pleaded.

  “Well, dear one, I’m not sure I can prevent asshole behavior on your part. You have free will and all that. But I can give you advice, and while I know your stubborn ass will ignore it until it’s damn near too late, it’s always there.”

  “What more could a guy ask for?” He grinned. “A beautiful wife and a best friend who is willing to call me an asshole when I need it. It seems odd, now that I’ve accepted the inevitable; it seems strange to have to wait. I wish we could go straight back to the compound right now.” He sighed.

  “Work. Gotta get to work, buddy. If it’s any solace, though, this being away from her would be even harder if you were already mated.” She smiled. “We’re meeting the Alpha of Appalachia tomorrow morning. Let’s go see what sort of nightlife the endless parade of freaks enjoy.”

  The Alpha of Appalachia lived in the mountains east of Asheville. Along the drive to his home, the scenery grew more and more rural until Fionn started to wonder if they were going to the right place at all. He saw boats and cars resting under ubiquitous blue tarps, no trespassing signs, and dogs so cross-bred, there was no telling what breeds they might have been. Every once in a while, they’d see signs for a campground or a cigarette outlet if they would just get back on I-40, but they stayed on the tiny back roads, praying that the GPS wouldn’t lead them astray. Finally, they came upon a gate, chained closed with a heavy padlock. Annie gestured at a security camera, reaching for her phone.

  “Hi, it’s Annie. Fionn Murphy and I are here to speak with Tavis Kirk. Yeah. Okay. Bye, then.” She hung up, gestured to the gate. “They need to come let us in. Kirk’s brother is coming.”

  They leaned against the side of the car, waiting. Fionn felt uneasy—something wasn’t right with the security here in North Carolina. A padlocked gate, but no guards? And the Alpha lived here? A ragged SUV pulled up to the other side of the gate. It had the look of a vehicle that spent a lot of time mudding, but maybe it had never been washed.

  “You Murphy?” a voice called out.

  “Yeah,” Fionn replied. “Kirk?”

  “I’m Jonny. Tavis is up at the house.” A skinny man stepped out of the SUV. He grinned at Fionn as he opened the gate. “Nice to meet you.” He ignored Annie at first, her eyebrows raising at the slight. “Y’all can leave your car here. Nobody will touch it. I’ll leave the gate unlocked for when y’all leave. Are y’armed?”

  “I carry,” Fionn answered. “Do I need it?”

  “Nah. Y’all are here to parley. I’ll protect you.”

  Fionn nodded—something seemed off here. Jonny hadn’t said the words with full ceremony. It was as if he were making fun of parley, or making fun of the process of actually saying the words. It was as if he didn’t understand that the words themselves, making the vow of protection bound the wolf to a code of behavior. “You’re the Guardian, then?”

  “Kinda. It’s not that formal up at the house. Tavis is in charge, but we all help out. I guess I’m Second ’cause I’m next oldest, but it’s just the three of us up there. Hey, is your woman some kind of pet?”

  “Excuse me?” Annie hissed. “Jonny, let’s get one thing straight. I am nobody’s woman but my own. And I am nobody’s pet; I am the Guide to the second Usher.”

  “Sorry. Didn’t mean to offend. We’re not really cat people up here. I never saw a cat shifter before. Anyway, hop in. I’ll take y’all up to the house.”

  Annie glared at Fionn, who shrugged and climbed into the SUV.

  Jonny chattered at them in his easy-going mountain accent as they drove down a dirt road up to the house. The building itself wasn’t much to look at—it didn’t have the feel of an Alpha’s home; they were used to feeling a sense of raw power emanating from Monica’s apartments or Ted’s old colonial on the Bay. Annie shot Fionn an apprehensive glance. This home reeked of neglect and mildew. The porch was sagging and showing weather stains, the front door had paint peeling, and the roof needed to be replaced in a bad, bad way.

  “C’mon in. Y’all can help yourselves if you want a beer or a coke or anything. Fridge is through there.” Jonny pointed down a hallway to the kitchen.

  Fionn shook his head.

  “No thanks, Jonny,” Annie said. Her attention had been captured by some black-and-white photographs on the wall. They appeared to be forty or fifty years old and showed Jonny and two other wolves who looked a lot like him on the front porch of the same house.

  “How old are you, Jonny?” she asked.

  “Oh, I reckon about a hundred and fifty give or take. Mama never did write down my birthday. Figured it wasn’t important.” He grinned. “I guess that means I can have cake whenever I want.”

  “Hey, that’s a bonus.” Annie smiled. She was being won over by the man’s easy-going attitude, his seductive southern accent and his smiling charm encouraging her to trust him. She felt so at ease, the words slipped out: “I don’t have a birthday, either.”

  “Really? Fancy girl like you oughta have a birthday.” Jonny winked at her, and she laughed.

  “Really. I wasn’t born…I was created.”

  “Fuck me. Really? Like Adam and Eve?”

  “Yeah, kind of. Except I was created by the Goddess.”

  “Oh, we don’t ken to that kinda talk here. We’re good Christians.” Jonny held up a hand to stop her from saying more. “Ain’t no other gods, ma’am.”

  “I see.” She raised an eyebrow at Fionn, who shrugged. Neither of them had ever heard of a Christian werewolf. Annie had been in the presence of the Goddess and had lived with her Creator back before the Goddess had been trapped. It was absurd for a wolf to deny Her existence. They felt Her presence like crazy during the full moon when She called them to run.

  “Anyway, y’all ain’t up here to find Jesus, I reckon. Let’s go see what Tav’s up to.”

  Jonny started up the steps in the front hall, and Fionn and Annie followed. He knocked on a door off the hallway on the second floor, and they heard a gruff, “Come on in.”

  Jonny pushed the door open, and they walked into a bedroom.

  “Girl, if you don’t hold onto that eyebrow, it’s gonna fly away,” Fionn whispered in Annie’s ear.

  She forced the eyebrow to relax as they looked around the room. It was dominated by a four poster bed, in which a large old wolf, his face marked with scars, glasses perched upon his nose, reclined. A moldy, musty stench filled the air, as though the sheets hadn’t been changed in years. Everything in the room seemed stripped of color, having been leached away by the sun and dust. Fionn felt Annie flinch when she realized the old man was missing a leg.

  “Murphy?” the old wolf asked, his voice gruff.

  “Yeah. I’m Fionn Murphy.” He reached out a hand for a handshake, but the older man waved him off. Fionn felt slightly fogged as the man introduced himself.

  “What do you want?” Tavis said abruptly.

  Must be an Alpha thing, Fionn thought to himself as he thought of the direct, just-shy-of-rudeness way Monica always spoke. Fionn decided to let loose his charisma on the old man. He knew what would happen—when he let another wolf sense the entirety of his power, they had no choice but to offer obeisance. Animal nature bowed to power, always.

  Fionn watched as the other man’s eyes widened. Against his will, Tavis bared his neck, offering his obeisance to Fionn. Frail old hands twitched against the urge to shift into claws.

  Holding his breath against the smell, Fionn took the old man’s throat in his teeth.

  Immediately, his senses were assailed by the thoughts of this strange old wolf. Fear. Anger. Accusation. The sensations chased each other, flickering around like a wolf pup chasing its tail. Under it all, a deep love for his God and Jesus Christ but overlaid with so many levels of confusion and paranoia. One thing was clear to Fionn: Tavis Kirk was completely terrified and not remotely sane.

  “What frightens you, Tavis?” Fionn asked.

  “Witchcraft.” The old man pointed at them. “Y’all are bewitching me. We’re
good Christian folk here. We don’t want no part of what you’re doing.”

  “I’m uniting the wolves under a single leader. Unification. To strengthen us all.”

  “No. We’re fine here. We don’t need a single leader. Around here, wolves prefer to keep to themselves. We don’t need no wolf government coming in and telling us what to do. I’m sorry you wasted your time.” The old man twitched on the bed, as if he were under a great strain to hold back his wolf.

  Fionn could see hints of the wolf around the man’s face. He sighed heavily as he prepared to make his case.

  “It’s time for y’all to leave.” Jonny spoke before Fionn had the chance. “I’ll show you out.” He led them down the stairs and opened the front door. “Y’all can find your way back to your car. Don’t take your gun out on our property unless you want to revoke parley.”

  And with that, he shut the door in their very astonished faces.

  “What the hell just happened?” Annie exclaimed as they started down the dirt road toward their car.

  “Libertarian Christian Weres happened. Are you fuckin’ kidding me?” Fionn growled. “That old man is Alpha of the entire southeast?”

  “Apparently. Well, this is new.” Annie frowned. “I think we need to go home. Make some calls. We can stop and see Rose and Dev on the way.”

  “Yeah. Let’s get back to the hotel,” Fionn decided. “I’m going to call Mo.”

  “Why do you call her that?” Annie asked, her curiosity written on her face.

  “Because no one else does.” He smiled. “I don’t like how Bee calls her ‘Mon,’ and everyone else calls her Alpha or Monica. Except Angelo, and he calls her sweetheart in Spanish. I wanted something that only I called her.”

  “Oh my god, you are such a fucking sap.” Annie laughed.

  “Shut it, cat.” Fionn grinned at her. “I’ll deny it if you breathe a word of this to anyone.”

  “Wow, it’s odd being called that.”