Pack Secrets

by Shannon Duane

  She crossed her arms over her chest and tapped her foot in annoyance before asking, “Blake will be there?”

  “Of course, he’s the alpha. Why wouldn’t he be?”

  “He’s a newly mated male, so I thought he’d be over the moon runs by now. I doubt his mate would enjoy what they do there.”

  Justin felt his grin fall away as his lips puckered in annoyance. “What is it you think they do there?”

  Now she was smiling, taunting him and he wanted to be annoyed, but he was secretly glad she was engaging him. “Well…They’re wolves. You know what they do.”

  “Yes, we’re wolves. What are you trying to say about your own people?”

  “Oh Mama’s not-“

  Carter was cut off by his mother’s icy stare, “Go on, I’ll sit this one out if you don’t mind. I trust that you’ll get Carter back in one piece.”

  It was Justin’s turn to shoot her a frustrated look, “I think I’ve proven to you and everyone in this pack that I will protect him with my life. In addition, you would have known of our plans if you’d spoken to me on the phone even once.”

  He picked Carter up and walked out the door, shutting it quietly.

  She almost wished he would have stormed out of the house in annoyance. Lord knows she would have. Honestly, he was right. There was a point that she felt Justin was going behind her back, but truly he was as open and honest as he’d always been. It was her distressing attraction to him that got in the way. Not to mention Carter’s clever trick of using Justin against her. The kid was too smart, so she’d have to be smarter.

  After taking the devil puppy out she, once again, locked him back in the bathroom. It’s not like he could get into any more trouble. She washed quickly, making sure to get all the disgusting perfume off in anticipation of being in her natural form.

  She felt her pulse quicken as she thought about running as her lynx. It’d been too long and if she kept to the boarders she’d be able to watch Carter while he experienced his first moon run.

  Her pulse was not speeding up at the thought of seeing Justin in the nude before the run, or of seeing his powerful wolf form as his muscles bunched and flexed. Attempting to convince herself that Justin was off the market because she didn’t date, especially not a wolf, she went into her yard and allowed the change to take over her body.

  Her lynx came out to play in record speed: it had been denied too long. Her fur was a golden color with light brown spots on her limbs and a lighter color on her chest. Her body mass stayed the same, which meant she was a large lynx. Normally a non-shifter lynx was a maximum of forty pounds. She knew what she looked like, black tufts of hair jutting out from the tip of her ears, a beard like ruff of fur at her neck, and huge paws which helped when walking on the snow. Her tail was short, but she didn’t need a long tail to get in her way. She was the size of a female wolf and just as deadly.

  Running the entire way to the clearing, stopping only long enough to chase away a hungry fox, she made it in record time. Hanging back to watch would be easy, as long as she didn’t allow anyone to pick up her scent. She didn’t want to become the prey during the run, although it would be fun to let the wolves chase their tails looking for her a while.

  Ultimately, this was risky. She wished Carter understood that lynx were solitary creatures. A sudden thought brought her to a screeching halt: Yes, lynx were loners, but wolves belong in a pack. Her son was a pack creature by nature and she’d been denying him his nature.

  Well…just another thing to chuck into her fuck-it bucket. She wouldn’t be getting the award for mother of the year any time soon.

  Chapter 4

  Watching Carter jump up and down in his seat on the way over to the moon run was awesome, but seeing his apprehension when they arrived was not. “What’s wrong, lil’ buddy?”

  Carter peered into his eyes looking miserable. “I think I shoulda listened to Mama. I made her sad and she should be happy. I wanna have fun, but Mama’s at home sad. What if she’s cryin’? I don’t want my Mama to cry.”

  The little guy was taking on too much responsibility. Reaching down to rub his hair Justin smiled down at him. “Your mom will be fine. She could have come with us, but for some reason I don’t think she likes the moon runs. It’ll be fine; have a good time and then you can go tell your mom how fun it was and she may come to the next one with us.”

  Carter turned his eyes to the ground where he was shuffling his feet. “Mama says she’ll never go to a moon run. ”Cheerless eyes looked at him, “Will you be here, Mister Justin? Next time I mean?”

  A wicked smile covered his face as he responded, “I’ll be here, Carter, I’m not going anywhere. You can call me Justin, drop the mister stuff, I’m glad your mama is teaching you good manners.”

  “Okay Justin. Everyone is taking their clothes off, is it time?”

  All around them were adults, teens and the few kids that the pack had kept, getting undressed. The moon was almost up and in a few short minutes Blake would call for the moon run to start. They would run all night. Some of the adults might stop off deep in the forest and mate, but the kids would be kept to the center of the clearing, chasing small creatures and nipping at each other. “It looks like it. Here, give me your clothes and I’ll put ‘em with mine.”

  Fully undressed now, Justin stood tall and proud next to his mate’s son, wishing she was here, but understanding it would take time to get to know her. Collecting their clothes and putting them in a big pile on his truck bed he turned to find Carter looking off into the forest. His little back caught the moonlight and that’s when Justin saw the scars; long strips of raised flesh on Carter’s back. They were obviously old and healed some time ago. With very little thought he yelled, “Blake.”

  Immediately at his side, Blake questioned, “What’s going on, bro?”

  Following the line of his vision, Blake didn’t seem surprised, which enraged him further. “What happened?”

  Heaving a deep sigh Blake responded. “I know you’re upset, and I’m not going to help any. It’s not my story to tell. Let’s carry on with the run and you can talk to Dee later if you need to.” Blake placed a comforting hand on his shoulder, “It was a long time ago. He wouldn’t remember, so don’t ask. Talk to her, but make sure Carter enjoys himself tonight.”

  Justin took a few deep breaths, enjoying his brother’s calming powers. “Thanks, he’ll have a blast.”

  Trotting over to Carter, Justin put an ear splitting grin on his face. “You ready to start? Blake said this was going to be the best moon run ever.”

  Carter’s smile lit up his face as he responded, “Wow, Mister Justin, you have a big snake. One time when I was getting in the bathtub Gunner almost bit my snake and Mama wasn’t happy. Make sure Gunner doesn’t see yer snake or he’ll bite it for sure.”

  Face now tinged red, Justin chuckled, “Thanks for the tip. I’ll make sure Gunner doesn’t get a chance to bite my snake.”

  Blake’s voice boomed through the clearing. “Alright folks, it’s that time again. Let’s run safe and make sure the young are protected. A few of you may know that there was a poisoned bunny found recently so parents need to scent their children’s prey ahead of time. Have fun y’all. Let the run begin.”

  In seconds Blake was a wolf, chasing Delilah through the clearing and into the woods. The pack was in various states of change as Justin waited for Carter to change. Carter was staring at the rest of the pack, fascinated.

  “You gonna change, lil’ buddy?”

  He nodded his head, still watching the pack. “I just wanna watch ‘em a while, it’s really cool, Mister Justin.” His eyes were bright and wet, “I likes being part of a pack, do you?”

  Justin nodded his head. “I do.”

  “Okay.”

  In the blink of an eye Carter had changed into his wolf. He was fast. Justin and his whole family were alpha’s so he was used to a quick change, but the rest of the pack took a bit of time as the magic reformed and reshape
d their bodies. Shocked didn’t come close to describing what this little boy had him feeling over the past few hours. He knelt down on his knee and rubbed his fingers through Carter’s soft grey fur enjoying how the boy’s little body rubbed up against him, scent marking him.

  A moment later, Justin was in wolf form. He chased Carter, barking and panting dramatically as Carter ran away. Justin would catch up to him and nudge him in the direction he wanted, occasionally pouncing on him playfully. As Carter became more comfortable with his wolf and Justin’s he began to pounce him and other woodland creatures; a squirrel, a few birds. When Carter came across a rabbit he froze. Justin understood the hesitation so he chased the bunny, scenting that it wasn’t infused with poison, and grasping it in his jaw, bringing it closer to Carter. He dropped it in front of the child and watched the desire to chase cross Carter’s features. Justin nudged him and that’s all it took before his wolf’s instincts took over and he gave chase.

  A few hours into the run Justin felt a presence following him, he’d known there was something out there, but now it felt as if they were being stalked. He chose to lead Carter back to where they all met and end the run; no way would Dee appreciate it if he got her son hurt.

  Carter’s little body perked up as he scented the air briefly before tearing through the woods, the opposite way they’d been going. Following closely on his heels, Justin tried to get him to veer away, but little Carter was clearly on some creature’s trail.

  A shadow was hiding in the high brush and instead of Carter going in softly, stalking his prey, he actually leapt surprisingly high into the air and came down on something furry. He let out a playful growl and began to nibble on a large ear. Justin let out a yip to let him know he was there if he needed help.

  Yowling sounded under Carter as a fully grown lynx darted into a tree. Justin knew the lynx was a dangerous predator, and jumped in front of Carter letting lose a menacing growl as he positioned himself in between the two. As the powerful cat darted up the tree, he caught the slightest whiff of mangos. Probably it was due to the scent lingering on Carter. Stilling entirely, he watched as the cat reached the branch it had been aiming for.

  The small body hit him from behind and he was covered by Carter’s wolf. He stood on his four legs causing Carter to topple off his body. Instead of backing off Carter nipped at his flank and generally began to annoy his wolf. In response to the boy’s new aggression, he clamped his maw over the boy’s neck, stilling him and causing a whimper as the boy was duly chastised.

  Hissing sounded to the side of him as an astonishingly large paw came at his face. He pulled Carter with him as he walked away from the unknown cat. Keeping a steady pace, he raced toward the pack to protect Carter.

  Not making it very far with the added burden of Carter, Justin was stunned when the lynx dropped from a tree in front of him and hissed its displeasure. Justin placed Carter on a rock grouping behind him and faced the lynx, ready to do battle to protect the boy.

  Allowing a wicked growl to escape him, he took up a defensive position in front of Carter. He wouldn’t attack, but he would defend, to the death.

  “Mama?”

  Her son’s small voice filtered through the clearing and the scary sound of Justin in protective mode stopped. She watched as he sat back on his haunches clearly shaken. She sat as well, acknowledging Carter’s claim, waiting and watching.

  Carter lowered himself from the rock Justin had placed him on and he went to the wolf. Hugging Justin, he said, “Please, don’t hurt my Mama. I’m sorry, I thought she came to play with me, but she was probably just watchin’ me.”

  The wolf’s yellow eyes hadn’t left hers and she felt exposed, vulnerable. She’d told herself she would never put herself in this position again, at the mercy of a man and his feelings, wants, and needs.

  Doing the very last thing she expected, Justin’s wolf rose with Carter on his back and walked over to her. He didn’t appear threatening in the least anymore. He walked over and buried his wet nose in her neck fur. He inhaled several times before pulling back and rubbing his wolf fur all over her coat. She sat still as he licked the fur at her neck before rubbing her whiskers with his face, she began to purr. Nuzzling her one last time he huffed, licked her ear and walked away with her son giggling on his back.

  Why wouldn’t he ever do what she expected him to? It was upsetting the way her son clung to him and watched as he marked her cat. Obviously he didn’t have a problem with her being a feline. Hopefully, he was the only one to see her. She needed to keep her cat nature hidden so that her son would be allowed entrance to the pack and not be shunned.

  Interested to see what could happen next, she wandered through the forest, thinking of the friendly wolf. She wasn’t paying attention as she stepped on some vegetation and fell into a deep pit. The fall didn’t harm her and she wasn’t immediately worried because she was an awesome climber. Reaching up she tried to pull herself up but the dirt and mud broke off under her huge paws. After several attempts and falls she sat on her haunches to come up with a new plan.

  Pulling up to her house, Justin took Carter out of his car seat. His step was lighter now that he knew his mate’s scent and secret. The lights were still out at her house and he wondered if she went to bed early to avoid him. He knocked on her door…no answer. Turning to Carter he asked, “Do you have a key, lil’ buddy?”

  “Nope, where’s Mama?”

  Getting a sinking feeling he called Blake. It rang four times before his brother answered breathless. “What?”

  “Dee’s not home.”

  “Okay, you can drop Carter off here, just give me ten minutes.”

  Gritting his teeth he prompted, “The lights are out and no one is home. I just saw her in the woods and she’s not returned yet. Understand?”

  Blake must have heard the fear in Justin’s voice. “How long ago did you see her?”

  “Maybe half an hour. We ran into her in the woods right before we came home.”

  There was a question in Blake’s voice as he said, “I see.”

  “Just get over here with a key. You do have a key, right?”

  “Sort of. We’ll be right there.”

  The click of the phone sounded as Carter walked around the house and came back with a key. He handed it over to Justin, all nonchalant like he hadn’t just solved a huge problem.

  “Thanks lil’ buddy, you’re handy to have around.”

  He giggled. “Mama forgets her keys all the time.”

  Justin took Carter back to the truck and locked him in just in case something had happened to Dee. He didn’t want Carter to be hurt. He walked in to find the house empty, except for the puppy scratching to get out of the bathroom. He opened the door and let Gunner outside to do his business before going back to the truck to find Blake with Carter.

  “She in there?”

  “No, it doesn’t smell like she’s been home since we saw her. Why don’t you take Carter and I’ll go look for her.”

  Blake yelled, “Delilah, come take Carter back with you. I’m going to hunt with my brother.”

  Poor Delilah’s evening was probably going down the toilet, giving Justin a twinge of guilt. First, he’d called and interrupted their nookie and now she had to babysit. She didn’t let it get her down though, walking out of the woods, she picked a giggling Carter up and shot back at Blake, “No problem, but you owe me.”

  “Oh and I plan to pay, Mistress Alpha.”

  Justin cringed. “Not in front of the kid, you’ll give him nightmares.”

  Carter was throwing a fit in Delilah’s arms. “I wanna go get my mama. I don’t wanna go back to pack house yet. Please, can I go with the boys, Missus Alpha?”

  Delilah put him down and looked at her husband, “Keep him safe. I’ll be waiting at home.”

  Chapter 5

  Ten minutes after falling into the dang hole, Dee was still stuck. She’d tried to climb out, jump out, and even call out for help. The moon run had been officially ove
r for a while so there was no one to hear her screams. She tensed on her powerful back legs to jump again when a clump of dirt hit her in the face, Ick.

  She looked up and didn’t see anyone, but when another pile of dirt was tossed down the hole she became concerned; is someone trying to bury me alive? She changed into her human form and attempted to climb the wall but the same thing happened, the dirt broke away under her fingers.

  “Whoever you are, you’re not going to win. Every time you toss dirt down it just falls at my feet. Maybe if I was unconscious it would work, but I’m not.”

  There was a pause as her captor must have been rethinking their plan. She waited patiently knowing she wouldn’t be able to get out. Taking a seat in the earthy smelling corner of the hole she waited patiently, cursing herself for giving her unknown assailant the opportunity to correct their mistake by possibly knocking her out and finishing the job.

  She could only thank her lucky stars that Justin was with Carter and they were both safe. Probably out getting a hamburger or having ice cream. Her stomach growled reminding her that she used up extra calories running in her feline form and would need to eat soon to stay strong. It’d been too long since she’d allowed her lynx to come out to play. It was content at the moment, purring in the background of her mind lazily swishing its’ small tail. She cursed herself for not allowing her cat out more often, because if she had her cat would be hissing its displeasure and fighting to be free instead of sitting meekly waiting for something to happen.

  Following her scent was easy after getting to the spot where he’d last seen her. Justin kept his nose to the ground and in doing so he almost fell into the same hole he found Dee in. Her small form was huddled in the corner, knees to her chest with her arms wrapped around herself. He had to fight the urge to ogle her, even still he caught himself attempting to get a glimpse of her naughty bits. As it was, he could see the creamy expanse of her naked body and, the curves that she attempted to hide with her overlarge clothes. The edge of her breast peaked from under her arm, causing him mouth to water. His wolf wanting to lick her right there before he sank his fangs into her tender flesh to claim her. He heard a growl and it took him a moment to realize it was his wolf, the very wolf who was currently debating jumping in the hole with her to mate.