by A Lonergan
I held my hand up and ignored the crest stamped into his chest. The one like Knox’s. “Don’t you dare do anything like that.”
A rumbling laugh filled the car. “You don’t want me to make an oath to you?”
“That’s the last thing I want from you, any of you. All I wanted was a normal life. I want a normal life now. That is why I am applying at all of these places.”
Mav pulled his shirt back over his beautifully bronzed body. “You will never be normal again.”
I gritted my teeth together as I pulled into a parking space on the side of the road. The city wasn’t very big but looking up at all the corporate buildings, I felt really small. “I have your Alpha to thank for that.”
I slammed the door so hard the glass rattled in the door. I took a deep breath as I walked up to the first building.
Chapter 43
Rafe Crimson
Tracey watched me from the corner of the cottage. Carden was no longer chained to the wall but he was warded against leaving Granny’s hut. Knox hadn’t been able to breach the wards around the traitor’s mind but during the full moon, it would be on.
He watched me with easy eyes. Tracey was the only one with me now. Granny couldn’t stand to look at the man any longer and was staying at the Manor. “Why won’t you let me leave?”
My shoulders slumped. “We have been over this countless times.”
Carden rolled his eyes. “Ah, yes, you have to know who did this to me.”
“Do you even know what you are?” Tracey whispered from the corner of the room.
“No, but I know one thing…” Carden’s face went grim. “They are sending an army and when they do, nothing will stop them.”
Tracey pushed away from the wall and threw herself out of the cottage. I followed behind her. I couldn’t listen to him say the same thing over and over again. An army? It wasn’t plausible.
“Where is Jade today? Shouldn’t she be at the preschool class?” I asked as soon as the door closed behind me. I took a deep breath of fresh air and followed my friend to her parent’s home.
Tracey glanced at me from over her shoulder and shook her head. “No, she is applying for jobs in the city. I told Mav to go annoy her for the day.”
I pinched the bridge of my nose. “Are you trying to drag her away? He will run her ragged.”
Tracey shrugged. “I would never send any of the others. They’re too serious for their own good. Or there’s Knox who will probably try to get in her pants before they would have made it out of the city.”
A growl rolled through my chest and then my fur sprouted over my arms. Tracey spun on her heel and ran at me. She punched my shoulder before my wolf could take over. “Sorry.”
She rolled her eyes. “Don’t. You have zero reasons to be protective over her right now.”
“I could think of a few reasons,”
Tracey smacked me then. “You have zero reasons right now to be protective. She needs someone to watch out for her. She needs a friend, someone that will be a good friend to her. Someone that isn’t me. She needs people that can relate to her.”
I pressed my lips together and nodded. She was right. Mav would be the best friend she could ask for. After all, Mav had been turned against his will too.
Chapter 44
Jade Rivers
After dropping off my resume to at least fifteen businesses, I was exhausted and not anywhere near prepared to deal with the massive Guardian in my front seat. Thankfully all the businesses I was going to were in the same block and I didn’t have to walk far. Not that my wolf minded much she was itching for a good run. It was the full moon after all and I had no idea what to expect. All I knew was that my wolf was going to be ecstatic.
Mav had the passenger seat leaned all the way back and was scrolling on his phone. He didn’t look up at me as I slid back into the car. I pulled away from the curb and didn’t bother with speaking. The sun was still high in the sky but I could feel my wolf growing stronger. There was a restlessness inside of my limbs that I had never experienced before. I took a shaky breath as I maneuvered my car through the traffic and back to my house.
“See, everything was fine,” I didn’t know if I was trying to reassure him or myself.
Mav let out a grunt and didn’t say anything.
“You were awfully chatty earlier, what happened?” I didn’t know why I cared. I hardly knew the man but there was that jittery feeling under my skin again and I had to do whatever it took to get it to either; go away or to calm. Talking seemed to be the only thing that would help for now.
His light eyes cut toward me. “I got reprimanded by the Alpha.”
I rolled my eyes. “Tracey sent you with me?”
He grunted again.
“Your company was nice today, I think I would have been a lot more anxious had you not tagged along.” I hoped that helped smooth out his wounded pride.
His eyebrow quirked up slightly. I barely caught it. “Tracey cares about you a lot and she wants you to pledge into the pack.”
I snickered. “Apparently I’ll die if I don’t find a pack soon.”
Mav’s face went slack. “I don’t think you will die if you don’t pledge to an Alpha, but I guess we will all see tonight. You will feel a pull to Rafe if he’s supposed to be your commanding officer.”
I scoffed. “I would like to think that no one is.”
Mav’s lip rose in a smirk. “I have a feeling you’re definitely a sigma or maybe,” he grinned. “You’re an Alpha and you’ll put Rafe in his place.”
All I could do was stare straight as I drove but there was a tad bit of satisfaction that rolled through me. It felt a little like relief.
Naked.
I was going to be naked in front of the rest of the pack. It was the one thing that was holding me back from jogging through the woods to the pack lands. It was the last thing I wanted to do. I could go the rest of my existence without showing my tits to a little community. Tracey walked out from the darkness of the trees and smiled at me.
“Don’t try to talk yourself out of it.”
I took a deep breath. She was wearing jogger sweatpants and a zip-up jacket. Her hair was pulled back away from her face and her eyes were glowing. The sun had gone down just a short while before she had stepped away from the tree line and I could feel the moon pulling me. Pulling my wolf to the surface.
“I don’t know if I’m ready for this,” I chewed on my lip.
Tracey took my hand in hers and smiled. “I remember my first shift under the full moon. It was one of the best nights of my life.”
“Really?”
“Really,” She pulled me in for a bone-crushing hug and I felt a little better. “The rest of the pack will be gone by the time we get there. No one will see you naked. I don’t like to shift in front of the others yet either. They don’t expect me to shift with them.”
That helped ease some of the anxiety. I held her hand tightly and we walked into the woods together. The smell of blood was gone, thankfully but I still couldn’t get the memory of what happened to disappear from my thoughts. Tonight would also be the night that Knox took a walk through Carden’s memories as a wolf. The thought didn’t sit well with me.
Almost time. My wolf purred in my mind. I was somewhat excited for her. She was a quiet wolf, at least for now, and I didn’t exactly know what to expect. Changed wolves went through things a little differently than the ones born with their wolves. They grew with their wolves, whereas I was just kind of forced to be with mine. Vivian had mentioned the story of the first werewolf but I had forgotten to ask about it again until now.
I stopped walking halfway to the pack lands. “Can you tell me the story of the first werewolf?”
Tracey’s teeth were blinding as she smiled. “Thousands of years ago there was a boy who was valiant and courageous. His name was Ramadon. He was abandoned as a child on the full moon. A pack of wolves spared his life that night instead of eating him like they should have. There w
ere hunters in the woods that night and they heard the howling of the wolves. The wolves led the hunters to the small child, in hopes that they would save the baby. The hunters took the baby home where the village raised him. He was truly one of a kind and loved by all. As he grew older he felt a pull to the woods. He would often run through the forest with the hunters and sometimes slip away through the night to feel the forest beneath his feet. One night the wolves ran beside him. They recognized the child they had rescued and accepted him into their pack. Secretly Ramadon ran with the wolves and hunted with them as much as he could. Ramadon befriended one wolf in particular. They would bring each other meals and fur pelts. They were practically inseparable.
One full moon there were hunters from another village prowling through the forest. Ramadon and the other wolves didn’t see them until it was too late. The arrow blazed through the air but before it could pierce Ramadon in the chest, the black wolf dove in front of it to save his life. As his friend’s life spilled from his body, Ramadon prayed to the gods. He swore that he would do what it took to protect the wolves, as much as the wolves had protected him. No one knows what happened after that but it was said that the goddess of life came down and merged their souls. They would be the guardians of the wolves and the humans. Ramadon would protect the humans from the wolves and eventually, the other nightmarish creatures that would come to be, and his other half would protect the wolves from the humans. That’s how it has been since the beginning.”
“What about his true mate?”
Tracey’s eyes twinkled. “They say there was another human that had been blessed with a wolf spirit in another village.”
“Are you going to tell me the story of her?” My heart swelled. I didn’t know why but the legend had opened something up inside of me. It had made me feel connected to my wolf in a new way. It gave me a connection to her that I knew I needed.
Tracey tugged on my hand and dragged me through the rest of the forest. “Maybe another time. My wolf is itching for a good run and I know she is dying to meet yours.”
“Best friends for life,” I muttered.
“We are going to be best friends for a lot longer than life, don’t you know that we are immortal?”
She took off running and a laugh burst from my chest as I chased after her. Maybe the answers could wait. Maybe all that mattered was living in the moment tonight. My wolf surely liked that idea. Tracey unzipped her jacket as I peeled my shirt from my body and before I could blink her massive honey-colored wolf was standing in front of me. I took a deep breath again and closed my eyes as I shimmied my pants down. Before my pants hit the forest floor my wolf was surging forward. I gasped as the pops and cracks echoed off of the trees. It was different than before. Nothing hurt this time as my wolf took over and then we ran.
There were no words to describe what happened next. The feeling of my wolf taking over was interesting. She pushed forward in my consciousness and as much as I tried to hold onto the reigns, it wasn’t possible.
Sorry. She muttered into my mind and I felt my worries ease away. I didn’t fade completely but I let her call all the shots. It was easier, comfortable even.
Other wolves came bounding out of the woods around us and I had a momentary feeling of panic before my wolf took over once again.
I have a name. There she was again, speaking to me.
I didn’t think to ask. This is all so new for me. I thought back to her.
Nalia is what I was known as in my past life. It was such an ancient powerful name and for a moment, I wanted to ask what her past life was like. Why she was with me even.
My story is for another time.
I imagined that I was reclining in the darkness, surrounded by warm fuzzies as I drifted through my consciousness. Are all wolves from another time?
Nalia was silent for a moment as she pounced on Tracey’s heels. No, most of them, their spirits are born together. They are bound within the heavens. They become one.
I let myself sink farther into my subconscious then turned it off. What kind of trouble could Nalia find in one night?
Chapter 45
Rafe Crimson
Jade’s wolf was a blinding white and as she passed me up in the woods I caught sight of her eyes. They flashed between green and yellow as she ran. She looked to be lost in thought which was odd as her eyes switched back and forth. There was a desire low within me to grab ahold of the bond that had started to form between us and pull it taut to speak to her. But I couldn’t force her allegiance to our pack, even if I wanted to.
There were so many things that I wanted to do but I had to be patient and it wasn’t one of my virtues. So I watched as she chased Tracey through the woods and to a stream. Tracey avoided the running water, she couldn’t swim very well, but Jade dove in headfirst like a happy puppy.
I sat back on my haunches and cocked my head while she played in the stream. Mud and dirt washed out of her white coat as she shook her body. Before I knew it was running out of the water at top speed… right for me.
I held my ground and my wolf let out a growl before she hopped right over us and let out a happy yip. Her eyes were no longer switching colors but were instead a vibrant gold. Her tongue lolled out of her mouth as she circled me. I laid my head on my paws as I considered what was happening. I thought of the moments in her room a few days prior and my wolf perked up.
Her eyes had been green. They had never gone yellow. I lifted my head and pressed my snout to the side of Jade’s wolf. She didn’t growl, just sat back on her haunches and let me explore. A purr rumbled through her chest.
The massive white wolf smelled like Jade, but yet, she didn’t. She smelled like something else.
Something ancient. My wolf whispered.
Perplexed I led the group of wolves away from the water. Tracey kept throwing me glares as the wolves would bound into the water. If I didn’t do something she would try to rip my throat out. Her wolf hated water more than anything.
Chapter 46
Jade Rivers
When I woke up, I was back to having control of my body and Nalia was slumbering away in my mind. She was like a mental house cat. I could practically picture her peeking open an eye to glare at me as the thought passed through.
I was naked and covered from head to toe in mud and foliage. Someone had put a blanket over my body and I could hardly feel the cold of the morning dew around me. I shivered as I sat up and then my body went ramrod straight as I realized I wasn’t alone.
Nalia, you are in the dog house for this.
She mocked a yawn in my mind. I trust our Alpha.
Not our Alpha.
Rafe sat a few feet away from me but he was fully clothed. He wore a flannel button-down over a white t-shirt. The white shirt was tucked into his worn jeans and his feet were bare.
I raised my eyebrows at them as I pulled the blanket tighter around myself. “How long have I been sleeping?”
He tilted his head at me and his wet hair flopped over his eyes. “For about an hour. You just didn’t want to stop running.”
I winced as I moved my legs. They were definitely sore. The soreness that I had experienced the first day after my second shift was nothing like this. Everything felt more intense and deeper. “Nalia didn’t want to stop running.”
Rafe leaned back against a tree and watched me carefully. “Nalia?”
“My wolf,” I nodded. My stomach growled and Rafe turned his head so I could stand to wrap the blanket around myself better. When I looked up, his eyes were on my body that was wrapped tightly in the thin blanket. Desire filled the air and it took everything inside of me to walk away from him and not climb him like a tree.
“Let’s get you some breakfast, I’m sure you’re starving. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a wolf dive into the water before.”
I choked on a laugh. “She did what?”
“You jumped headfirst into a stream on the west side of the pack lands.”
I rubbed my hands down my arms.
“Nalia is really in the dog house for this.”
Rafe held his hand out to stop me. “What do you mean?”
I got the distinct impression I had said the wrong thing. I didn’t get the chance to explain as the rest of the Guardians seemed to come out of the forest around us. They all had a similar build, freaking huge, rippling muscles, while they were each different heights. Knox was easily the tallest, then Mav. The rest I hadn’t learned their names yet but I could recognize their scents from the night before. There was a growl from Rafe before the Guardians held their hands up and took a step back. I lifted my lip in a snarl. Why was he acting this way?
It took me only a second to realize that they weren’t looking at my face but instead my body wrapped in the thin blanket. I rolled my eyes. My wolf laughed in my head.
“You’re all stupid,” I shoved through the muscle barrier in front of me and prowled to the Manor. Way too much testosterone. “You all get naked then transform into wolves in front of each other but here I am, half-naked and you all lose your senses?” I groaned. I hated men.
Since I was a child, I had never known stress. I had never had a need to know it. My parents hovered and always provided me with what I needed. As I grew older and they started to travel, things weren’t as easy, but not stressful. But as the days go by and my wolf tries to come to the surface more times than not, I am saddled with a difficult task.
Find a job and responsibility or continue to put my family in danger. Even though my parents love to travel, they will always come back. They will never leave my side and if I don’t put some distance between us… they will get hurt.
I pace my kitchen in frustration as I wait for my steak to cook on the stove. I no longer crave raw meat like I once had and my senses were starting to straighten out a bit. I run my hands down the front of my shirt as I consider calling Tracey. It had been a few days since the full moon and a few days since I had delivered all of my resumes too. My wolf stayed slumbering inside of my mind, only offering advice when she wanted to, not when I actually need it.
