As soon as the last word left his vocal cords William ripped them out, Lucian dropped to the floor and each of his Panthers now had a choice to make, follow The King, or join this rag-tag bunch of preternatural creatures and end the tyranny.
Valaria turned to face her pack and Lucian's Panthers, “I never wanted this, I never wanted people to die, I just wanted to be with my soulmate, as is my right, as is all of our rights, we only get one soulmate, and who is he to decide if the mating is valid?” she pointed a bloodied claw at her father before continuing, “This wretch of a man has lied to us, cross species mating and soulmates has been not only possible but how it is supposed to be, this pack represents that truth, Vampires, demons, Panthers and wolves all reside in this pack, it is a Pack of all kinds, and now you have a choice, join my pack, or leave Westingdale, you have twenty-four hours to either be at these gates or be out of town, and as for you...” she turned to address her father but he was gone, like the coward he is he saw his opportunity to run and hide, Valaria couldn't blame him, she was about to rip off his balls and feed them to him, she turned back and walked into the compound, the Panthers made small groups as they dragged away their dead, each wolf returned to the compound to nurse their wounds and see to their Alphas, each hoping that twenty-four hours from now, they would have new pack mates not new enemies.
In the first twelve hours that followed, Valaria and Stacy sent scouts to track the movements of the remaining members of the Prides, Dominic was seen to and was resting comfortably in his bed, Amber had arranged a large meal for anyone that might need an escape from the day-to-day tasks and clean up, and Mal visited Valaria in the kitchen,
“So, what happens now?” the demon who was beginning to grow on Valaria asked,
“Now we wait, in...” Valaria looked at her watch, “Eleven hours, forty-two minutes and twenty-three seconds, we will know if we have panthers to feed or escort out of town,”
Mal smiled, “I meant, what will become of the pack?”
“We will become a beacon, a haven for any preternatural who has been oppressed,”
“So, a sanctuary?” Mal asked,
“Sanctuary seems far too religious, but essentially yes, we have the compound, and we will have Westingdale house too, it has over one hundred acres of land, the compound sits on a little less than fifty, we may need the space,” Valaria explained as she sipped her coffee, she couldn’t help but think of her first full day here, Amber bringing her coffee, Dominic making the sweetest love to her, it seemed so long ago now, but in actuality it was weeks, and now she was the Alpha female of around twenty wolves, three Panthers so far and Mal, yes she classed Mal as a member of her pack, and her family.
“Hey Val,” Called Tyrone from the kitchen doorway,
Valaria turned her head with a smile that actually seemed genuine,
“We have Panthers at the gate, eight of them, with three kits to arrive tomorrow from their aunt's house, shall I send them to you?”
Valaria thought for a moment and sighed in relief, “No, set them up with living quarters, do not separate them from the rest of the pack, get Laura to give them the tour and we will let them settle in, they will find me when they are ready,”
Tyrone nodded, and he approved, these Panthers would need time to adjust to living with wolves, “Sure thing, oh and I thought you should know, our scouts last saw William boarding a train to the east coast,”
Valaria’s eyes rolled, “thank you Ty,” what she was thinking is that she hoped the train derailed and burned to ashes but she was trying to keep her cool.
Valaria knew this venture was not going to be easy, there would be ups and downs, she also knew that other species would join her pack, and this would upset a lot of people, but it’s time the Preternatural lived how they were supposed to live, Together.
Part 2 The Logic Of A Demon
Chapter 11
The ancient Demon stared at himself in the mirror after wiping the remnants of shaving soap from his throat and under his nostrils, he felt old, but the face staring back at him was that of a fit and healthy thirty year old man, a crisp jawline, prominent cheekbones and a dominant brow, that coupled with his exquisite physique made him damn near perfect, and in her eyes, the one that she loved, he was perfect, she would never say so, she knew he hated compliments and he loved her even more just for knowing, these two were not Soulmates, they were friends and lovers and he had finally decided to confess the full extent of his feelings towards her, after the events that followed Dominic’s mating to a Panther, is love for a Wolf wouldn’t even turn a head, at this point he had no reason not to tell her, he smiled as he saw her naked body shift in the bed from the corner of his eye, How in Hell did I get so lucky.
“Mal? What time is it? Stacy asked as she stirred in the four-poster bed, her now longer dirty blonde hair draped across her face like a ruffled net curtain,
Mal’s smile grew wider as he answered, “It’s eight,”
“Holy Shit!” Stacy exclaimed as she bound out of bed and danced around the room looking for her panties, I’m Late I was supposed to meet Dominic at seven-thirty,” she added dragging a pair of skinny jeans on and swiping a flannel shirt from the back of the armchair,
“Sorry Stace, I didn’t know,” Mal said sympathetically as he watched the panicked young wolf who was now in such a state she couldn’t remember how shirt buttons worked so she tied the bottom corners creating a kind of flannel crop top,
“Ah, that will do,” Stacy placed a soft kiss on Mal’s lips before leaving her quarters and heading for the elevator to take her to the parking garage on the ground floor above, when Dominic announced that she would be his Beta at his mating ceremony she didn’t really think of the work involved, she was just so excited to be the youngest Beta on the entire west coat, now three months later and the pack had grown, twenty Panthers from Valaria’s old Pride had joined along with two Demons, four Vampires and even a Fire Dragon, the All Kinds Pack as Valaria called it was getting too big for the land they had, which is why Stacy was in such a panic about being late, her and Dominic were attending a meeting to purchase the hundred acre plot that backed onto theirs and joined at the river, that land was essential to aid the Pack’s growth and security.
The elevator doors opened and there was Dominic, looking like he always did since he met Valaria, he is happy,
“Oversleep?” Dominic asked as he looked at his Beta who was still tying her hair back into a ponytail as she exited the elevator,
“Sorry Dominic, I…”
Her words were cut short, “Don’t apologize, you have been working hard, which is why I pushed our meeting back an hour, we have plenty of time,”
It seemed her Alpha could read every aspect of her, she has been working hard, along with Amber who is Valaria’s Beta and the enforcers and the Alpha’s themselves, Stacy was actually shocked they weren’t all oversleeping with all that they had accomplished in three months.
“Shall we go?” Dominic asked as he swept his hand through his hair,
Stacy grabbed the keys to Dominic’s SUV and pressed the button that opened the garage roller door, “Sure thing Boss,” despite being told to call him by his name Stacy still fell into old habits from time to time, Dominic simply shrugged it off and took his seat in the passenger side, Stacy started the engine and drove out of the garage, up the newly gravel driveway and through the guarded gate which was currently manned by Charlie, the shortest of the enforces, she waved a hand as she drove past and headed for Westingdale town.
The drive usually took around ten minutes but today was fete day so the roads were busier than usual, to break up the silence Dominic asked question that Stacy didn’t think would be asked, especially by her Alpha,
“So, are you and Mal going to bond?”
Bonding is a very serious thing, Soulmates bond naturally when they meet, it is a strong connection binding them together, Preternatural who are not Soulmates can also bond, it isn’t quite as strong and has to be in
stigated by both parties, it’s almost like a psychic marriage.
“I, I haven’t really given it much thought,” Stacy replied, though she was lying, she had given it a lot of thought, she loved Mal, and she had already lost her Soulmate, he died when they were kids, luckily the bond hadn’t taken hold otherwise she would have died from the grief,
“Well, for what it is worth, you make a great pair, I know he loves you, I haven’t seen him like this in a very long time,” Dominic replied knowing full well that Stacy was lying, that was one of the bonuses of being an Alpha, the Pack link lets you feel your Pack members emotions.
When Stacy heard the words He loves you, it sent a pang to her chest, the only reason she hadn’t talked to Mal about bonding is that he could find his Soulmate, it was unlikely because all Demons have a Soulmate that is a Valkyrie, those women never ventured out of their plane and into earths, but it could happen, that would break her heart, especially if Mal picked her over the Valkyrie, denying someone their Soulmate is something that should never be done, especially between a Demon and a Valkyrie, there are too few of them, Mal is thousands of years old, he was a crowned prince of Hell, one of Lucifer’s right hands he had seen the rise and fall of countless civilizations and still found his way to Stacy, a young Wolf-shifter who was chased out of her Pack because she dared to challenge the Alpha, the chances of that happening are astronomical and yet, she still had reservations of bonding.
The rest of the drive was mostly silent, a few comments regarding the slow traffic and possible plans for an extension to the Pack house but nothing really of note, when Stacy finally found a parking spot she switched off the engine and exited the SUV, Dominic could feel that he had touched a nerve with his question so he did what any good Alpha would do, he sent her a psychic message of warmth and acceptance, letting Stacy know that he was sorry for prying and he only wanted what was best for her, it was an odd feeling receiving that message, Stacy’s body warmed and she felt safe and secure, without a word she nodded to her Alpha as he exited the vehicle letting him know that she accepted his apology and understood he was trying to help.
The pair walked from the SUV to the landowners office building, they were developers who originally purchased the land to build affordable housing, a bad investment as Westingdale was already under populated, most likely due to the Panther Pride scaring everyone away, now that the Pack was in control the land was needed to help Preternatural.
Stacy and Dominic were greeted at the front desk by a human woman in her late twenties, she had short blonde hair that clearly came from a bottle and an hourglass figure, Stacy actually thought she was quite pretty until she spoke,
“Hi Y’all, I’m Cassandra,” she said in a strong raspy southern accent, the type of accent you get from smoking forty a day and drinking yourself to sleep every night,
“I’m Dominic Kane, this is my assistant Stacy,” a word Dominic hated using, Assistant, but most humans still didn’t understand the hierarchy of Preternatural, so saying Beta would just cause confusion,
“Ahh, the Werewolves,” Cassandra replied,
Stacy shot the woman a look that could kill, “We are Not Werewolves, we are Wolf-shifters,” Stacy added in a demeaning tone,
“I’m sorry, I didn’t know there was a difference,” sadly there wasn’t much difference, a Werewolf is created when a Wolf-shifter goes feral, their human side essentially dies leaving the wolf in control and mentally broken,
“It’s OK,” Dominic said trying to calm the situation before Stacy tore out the poor girls throat, “It’s a common mistake,”
Cassandra smiled warily and led the pair to the office of Gareth Malcomson, known for being a bit of an asshole but usually fair when it came to business,
“Ahh, these must be our Wolf-shifter friends from across the river,” the man said as he stood from his chair, his accent was southern too but it had a more intellectual note to it, the kind of voice you would expect of a used car salesman who had won the seller of the month for three years straight,
Dominic smiled, “I’m Dominic Kane and this is my…”
“This is your Beta? I hope I said that right darlin’,``he interrupted,
“Stacy, and yes I am his Beta, it’s nice to know not all humans are ignorant of our ways,” Stacy added as she glared at Cassandra,
“Well, I do business all over the country, I find it best to know a little of everything, helps things go a little smoother,” Gareth added as he gestured for the wolves to take a seat,
“Thank you,” Dominic said as they took their seats, “So my secretary told me that you are willing to accept our offer on the hundred acre plot that adjoins ours?”
“That’s right, if I can be absolutely frank, that land was a bad investment for my company, we just want to cut our losses and move on, we have already purchased a new plot right here in town, in a short six months there will be a mall with over sixty retailers,”
Dominic smiled, “A mall? In Westingdale? I suppose everyone needs to shop,”
“Exactly, here is the proposed paperwork, if you want to give that a little look see, I’ll be right back, another client has just come in and I would hate for Cassandra to call him a dirty blood sucker again,”
Dominic nodded as Gareth left the room, Stacy picked up a copy of the contract and began meticulously reading through as Dominic did the same.
“What do you think Stacy?” Dominic asked in a hushed whisper
Stacy finished reading the sentence she was on before responding, “Eighty K for just over one hundred acres, no strange clauses or workarounds in the contract, seems legit,”
“I completely agree, but I was talking about the man,”
“Oh, complete ass, a mall? C’mon, this is Westingdale, the nearest city is Riverside, a populous of just over three hundred thousand, this town has around fifty thousand, he would be better off building up state,” Stacy replied in a slightly aggressive tone
“I agree, and looking at this contract, he knows what he is doing, so what is he really building?” Dominic silenced himself as Gareth entered the room again.
“So then, do we have a deal?” the cocky southerner held out his hand as though a simple gentleman’s agreement would be binding,
Dominic signed the contract and shook the man's hand, “We do, I’ll have my legal team at Predtech deal with the rest,”
Gareth smiled widely, “Excellent, we’ll have you on your new land by weeks end,”
Stacy stood and opened the door for Dominic, as they left she heard Gareth speaking under his breath, “Damn animals,”
Stacy shrugged it off as she knew that all Wolf-shifters had a particular scent to them, humans didn’t seem to like it, but other Preternatural perceive it as perfume or cologne, just another scent to entice each other,
Once they had reached the SUV Dominic spoke again, “Thank you for not gutting him back there, I want you to put a couple of scouts on that development, I want to know what he is really up to, and I’ll have the Predtech team do all the building work back home,”
Stacy simply nodded and began the drive back to the Pack house, the place where she would get to see him again, that crazy Demon that she couldn’t help but love.
Dominic and Stacy returned to find Grace, the doctor who performed autopsies on Nick and Diane after they were killed, Stacy was actually happy to see her, in the months since the battle Grace and Stacy had become friends, even going to the local Preter club together so Stacy could relax and Grace could feed, Grace is a Succubus, she feeds on sexual energy and desire, where better to feed than a club filled with horny Preternatural?
“Grace!” Stacy exclaimed as she was pulled into an embrace, Grace’s heart was pounding in her chest and Stacy could smell the fear in her scent, “Grace? What’s wrong?”
“I got fired!” she sobbed, Grace usually had a beautiful voice which she used to entrance her prey but now she sounded like cat claws on a rope toy,
“What? From the morgue? Why?
” Stacy asked holding her tighter trying to comfort her friend,
“The bastards found out I’m a Succubus, they said they don’t want Preter’s dealing with human corpses,” Grace replied, trying to hold back the tears,
“What the Fuck? Come inside, I’ll get Amber to make some tea and we can talk, okay?” Stacy offered as she wiped the silver tears from Grace’s Icelandic blue eyes,
Grace nodded and asked, “Can I stay here for a while? My apartment was part of the contract with the state,”
“Of course you can, there is plenty of room here,” Dominic added as he entered his security code for the elevator, “I’ll get Laura to make you up a room until the new extension is built, it won't be much but it’s warm, dry and safe,”
“then … Thank you Dominic, if there is anything at all I can do…” Grace was politely interrupted,
“There is, you can join my team at Predtech, we are always looking for scientific minds, you have multiple degrees and you are an MD, you would be more than welcome, when you are ready, that is,” Dominic added before leaving the two of them so he could seek out his mate,
“Oh my Goddess! Thank you,” Grace nearly shouted as Dominic walked away and Stacy led her to the kitchen where Amber was already laying out four cups of freshly brewed tea,
“One day, you are going to tell me how you do that,” Stacy said looking at Amber,
“This one wasn’t me,” Amber pointed to Valaria who of course sensed the need from her mate,
“I’m going to leave you girls to it, no doubt Dom is looking for me,” Valaria left the room and was replaced by a young Panther that no one seamed to notice,
“So who is the fourth cup for?” Stacy asked,
“That would be me,” the young female Panther spoke up, her voice was meek and submissive like a lot of female Panthers who lived under Williams rule, she was a little younger than Stacy, her military styled short hair was bright green and her height was well, lets just say Stacy could use her head as an armrest, “I’m Lucy, I worked at the morgue as a cleaner, they fired me too, giving the same reason as her,” Lucy gestured to Grace,
The All Kinds Pack: The All Kinds Saga Book 1 Page 7
