****
Where had Tacitus disappeared to? He wouldn't have gone hunting without me. We always went together. But he had a project now. Mouthy Red. Had he marked her since the first night I ate with my sire? If so, they'd be underground. I went through the secret entrance, down the concrete stairs, into the main hall of the compound's subterranean community.
Empty now. Most people only congregated here for breakfast and supper. The youths were in class in the lower level. Now is a good time to check the suites for new occupants and names of mated pairs who earned the right to claim a room because they had mated. I hurried to the corridor beyond the kitchen and passed the thirty doors. Each had a Shifter's name written on a small rectangular slip of paper in a metal frame to the upper right of each door. The last door on the right had Tacitus written on the plaque.
He'd be engrossed in the Mating Fever until Sherry nurtured his growing seed. I waited with Wolf in my ears.
Not a sound indicating they were caught in a mating frenzy seeped through the wooden door. Knocking couldn't hurt. I needed something to do. Something to keep my thoughts off Elise. Like hunting. I banged my knuckles against the door.
A second passed. Then another.
The doorknob rattled. The door jerked open about a foot.
Tacitus filled the entire gap, bare-chested, wearing combat boots and camo pants, eyeing me over.
"Fancy meeting you down here." I eyed his name next to the door. "Ta-ci-tus."
He smacked his lips as if unimpressed by my joke.
Typical reaction. "Busy?"
He shrugged.
"Too busy to go hunting?"
"Just a minute." He closed the door.
Hell. The only problem with your friends mating is that they suddenly left you standing in the corridor facing their door.
The door jerked back open, producing him with one arm in a sleeve, carrying his compound bow and quiver. He pulled the door tightly shut at his heels. "Let's go."
Asking what his mate did wouldn't get me anywhere with the big Shifter. I'd just have to be thankful hunting would help the afternoon pass.
We saddled horses and rode out of the sanctuary, into the broad-leaf forest of the southern Big Woods that was once called Townsend Woods, AEI. The various hardwoods leafed out in vibrant greens that stretched as far as the eye could see. Into a deep thick shadowy forest with little vegetation over a couple inches tall carpeting the forest floor.
"You haven't asked yet," Tacitus said where he rode behind me.
Probably referring to mating Red. "I didn't think you'd care for probing questions."
The paint took four steps.
"She's just terrified. Mating seems to have curbed her fears. For the most part." Tacitus paused a moment. "But she's calmer mated to someone she believes can protect her."
From the aliens? I didn't want to go into my behavior on the trail with anyone else though. I'd just keep that point to myself. "So, what do you plan to teach her how to do so she isn't worried while you're out here hunting with me?"
He chuckled a low rumble. "She likes the idea of hiding underground. It's beyond the extraterrestrial extermination ray's reach. She'll probably help in the subterranean community."
Hiding. Alien Extermination ray. Elise. I'm an asshole. Would everything circle back to note I had harassed Elise on the trail? And that I needed to gain Elise's trust so I can apologize. Maybe then we'd find a way to be friends.
Mine, Wolf begged. Play.
Only if she even fancied the thought. If is key with playing. At least, I'd spend the day hunting. Wandering free in the wild forest. Tomorrow, I'd take another shot at visiting Elise. She'd have some time to reflect about how I had left her gifts. About how our meeting had been non-confrontational. Maybe, just maybe, she'd stand in her open doorway longer. Tomorrow. I'd figure out a way to calm her thrashing heart's fears.
****
Lucius grabbed the saddlebag filled with cabin supplies and a coffeepot and strode along the hard-packed path around the visitor's lodge leading to Elise's door. The basket had vanished in a whirl of movement yesterday. Surely she was happy after I'd spent the better part of yesterday morning trading weapons and tools for anything a woman might like. And Elise just snatched them away. I suppose I deserved the reaction. So, I'd just have to work harder on her to earn the chance to speak with her and apologize. Or I could forget about eating a lord's meal at my sire's table. Hopefully, today's offering will gain me entrance to her cabin. Today. Or tomorrow. Where I can speak privately. Without Marcus' mug stumbling onto the scene.
Movement at the other end of the path caught my eye.
Marcus. The bastard. He better be heading somewhere else.
Marcus stopped at her door, knocked, and shot me a grin. "Nice weather."
Mine, Wolf demanded with a snarl.
Hang on, Wolf. If he pisses me off, the smartass is all yours. "You won't be thinking about the weather when I finish with you."
"Oh, threats?" He patted his chest with a palm like he was afraid. "Still bullying your way around?"
"Shut up. Or I'll shut you up."
The door creaked.
Marcus planted one elbow into the doorframe and swung a suave grin toward the door, blocking my view with his camouflage-covered shoulders.
She had to be there, looking him in the eye. And she couldn't bring herself to look at me.
Wolf shoved into my throat and wormed around until I had to cough.
Marcus shot me a scowl. "I got here first, Lucius. You'll have to come back later." He turned back to the door and dropped his voice to a whisper.
Fool. Turning his back to me.
Wolf began clawing the underside of my ribs like seriously bad heartburn.
"Back off, Marcus."
Wolf growled a deadly warning, following my words.
Marcus turned an incredulous mask to the sound in my chest. "You're kidding. Right?" He eased a combat boot toward me. "You want to fight here? Demand I back off and let you have another shot at Elise? I'm not the one who pinned her down in the dirt and made her shake with fear. Shut the fuck up and find something else to do." He planted his palms on his hips like a patronizing ass.
Wolf ripped and tore at my chest.
The beast had to settle down. Before I did something I'd regret later. "That's good advice. You should take it to heart."
"Growl threats all you like. I'm not tucking tail to run."
"Then you can take the beating."
He thrust his chin toward the path. "Go on, Lucius. I'm not going to fight you. I don't need to. Elise talks to me."
My skin began to sting.
The mangy little bastard. He knows talking to me like that only brings Wolf to the surface. In a moment, I'd be more than furred.
His angry scowl stretched in disbelief. "I told you to leave. Go on. Leave her the hell alone."
Fire burned across every millimeter of my skin.
My bones began to pop.
Wolf burst into full form and shook free of the scraps of clothing clinging to my upright body.
"Don't even think I'm shifting, Lucius. You're frightening Elise again. And I won't be a part of it."
Wolf growled as loud as a lion roars.
Marcus waved me off like a deer fly and turned back to the door.
To rip his larynx out.
To hear his screams as he bled out beneath my claws.
Fool.
Can't he see the effect of his actions?
I have to calm down.
Have to shove Wolf back into the chasm. I dragged in the longest breath, catching her scent.
Mine.
Licking my lips. The taste of her glided like liquid elk across my tongue.
Take mine, Wolf gurgled.
"Why the fuck are you still here?" Marcus yelled, scowling my direction.
Augustus burst from the edge of the lodge beyond Marcus' camouflaged stance. "What in the Gods-be-damned hell is going on here?" He stormed at me
.
Pissed by his blood-red mask. But this is between Marcus and I.
"Shift the hell back, Lucius, before I have to call on my Wolf to teach you a lesson."
Shifting? He's insane. I'd be lucky to come down from the stupor by supper.
Augustus stopped a step between Marcus and I, blocking my idiot brother. "Shift," he snarled.
Impossible. Better to run it off than fight my sire. I tore out back the way I'd come.
"Go on, then. And don't come back until you tame your Wolf," my sire yelled.
****
"He's lost his mind," Marcus snapped steps away outside my lodge's door where he stood with his sire in the shade.
Maybe Lucius has. At least, he hadn't hurt anyone. I stared at the Shifters.
Augustus slid a caring gaze to me. "You'll be alright here. Lucius has enough sense to stay away until he can contain his beast."
And I have a lovely two-by-four to use to secure the door. "I'm fine."
"Did Lucius speak with you yet?" Augustus asked.
Marcus shot him a quizzical stare.
Why? "No."
"That man." Augustus sighed, scanning the path behind him where Lucius apparently disappeared. "This would be easier if he'd just do as he's told."
That didn't make sense. And if he'd come to talk with me as Augustus ordered, I'd gone and refused to speak with him when he did. "I didn't realize you'd told him to speak with me." I should have known. "I'm sorry. If I'd known, I would have listened just to help him be done with all the confusion." Anything to find myself some peace from all the accusation.
Augustus nodded slowly. "He'll behave from now on. And if he comes by again, please, let him do what must be done."
And just what is that? Fur out? Throw me against a wall? Rip my head off? He had just lost control of himself with his brother. I'm not even kin. Just how will he behave with me, the enemy? This game to gain my confession is starting to grade into my losing my life.
"He won't hurt you, Elise. I swear. But some things must be done a certain way."
Maybe. Maybe not.
And Marcus hadn't said a thing. Nor did he seem upset with the news. He obviously wanted to earn my trust. I don't want more than a friendship with him though. And if one of them is foolish enough to mark me, life would be torture. A true joke because they're not going to give up on this game. Me. I'm the prey. I'll just hide in this damned room and wait for this churning storm to pass. I nodded and closed the door.
Chapter Six
Lucius almost threw in the towel and shifted back into Wolf form to race into the forest and live the life of a solitary Shifter because foraging through an old overgrown subdivision for boots and pants could really make a Guardian think twice about accidentally shifting into his Wolfskin and having to cut-and-run without a thread of clothing. But that's what a Shifter does when he pisses off his alpha, he thought. Cut-and-runs. So now, I grovel alone. Hours had passed just in finding boots to wear on the long hike home. Among the ghostly looted homes. Among the contents pilfered and flung about. The piles of pants and shoes, socks scattered like autumn leaves, and bowls with spoons left wherever, like someone had just eaten, are always disconcerting. As disturbing as what unfolded back at Augustus's outpost.
Before I tucked tail and ran.
I'd tore through the surrounding hardwoods until Wolf calmed enough to shove the annoying beast back into the chasm. But I couldn't shake the thought that Marcus spent the better part of the afternoon with Elise. The stupid fool found the balls to stand up to me! Twice now since we came upon Elise. Like he could cram his balls down my throat and win Augustus' favor to be chosen next clan leader. Not in this lifetime. I'd busted my tail to prove I could handle decision-making the way my sire does. Smooth and seamlessly. It's easy to do so. For the most part. Easy until Elise. Why did she make my thoughts and actions twist into contradictions?
Even worse, Augustus sided with Marcus. What kind of insanity gave the mate chosen by the eldest son's Wolf to a younger son who is never left in charge?
So, I'm wrong for losing my Wolf?
Maybe. I could have grabbed him by the mangy scruff and held him back more. But when Wolf's ripping at your skin for presence to claim a mate, a Shifter's screwed. Rather, naked standing among the humanity's debris, trying to piece together some semblance of order among the chaotic odds and ends of civilization tossed aside as useless by the Normals left behind to deal with Bounders AEI. This I know more, now, than a Wolf can sniff out tail.
And sniffing out tail is what got me here.
Licking my wounds.
My tail between my legs.
Shit. I needed to haul my carcass back home. Talk to Elise. Take care of Augustus's orders. Try to make peace between my little brother and I. It'll take two days' hiking to reach the outpost. Two days with Marcus grinning and smooth talking my woman.
Run, Wolf whispered.
Shut up! You're why I'm here.
What I need is a damned backpack. If I could stuff the few things I found, things that reminded me of Elise, her eyes, her curves, those things could be carried back in a pack to the outpost, in a bag. To give to her. Maybe, then, just maybe, I could win back enough of her trust to allow my mangy tail's presence at Augustus' table to beat Marcus and win Elise. Regaining her confidence enough to mate her can't be out of the question yet. Wolf won't accept that lump of crow.
****
Marcus chuckled with the biggest sinister grin, standing next to me by the bath's door. Having an escort to help me feel safe enough to do the few things that made a woman feel whole and civilized in The Wild isn't a bad thing since Lucius went rabid and ran for the hills. Except that Marcus always cooed and leaned too closely for comfort. I could see growing fond of him in about six months. But Marcus just didn't make me feel safe the way Lucius had--before he scared me to death. Marcus didn't even strike me as touchable like Lucius. And deep down inside, I'd probably always compare the brothers. Always see Marcus as lacking.
The hairs on my arms prickled to chilly attention.
Probably trying to make me listen to myself.
Yes. Marcus would never be Lucius. I slid my gaze across the hard-packed ground outside the bathing lodge and tried to find something to study.
To make me look preoccupied. Anything to forget about Marcus' scrutinizing blue gaze.
The bath's door whined.
At long last. I turned.
Tacitus stepped from through the doorway, leading Sherry. Her long red hair hung wet, combed and left to dry untangled.
My sister's gaze settled on mine, widening, then narrowing.
She bathed with Tacitus present? Or worse. Risked having babies with an ungodly amount of alien DNA.
My heart leapt.
We are in so much danger. When the first baby pops into this world…Life will never be the same.
Tacitus and Sherry passed me, drawing Sherry's stare away, to saunter off, closely, not touching though, until they disappeared around the corner of a log cabin.
"You okay, Elise?" Marcus asked.
No. My whole being is quaking. Everything keeps falling apart more and more each day. And to think I found a Shifter touchable. I'd have been as guilty as Sherry for mating with a Shifter. At least I hadn't mated myself. I'd have to blow my brains out from guilt after seeing what Sherry had done. Knowing she risked our safety. But Sherry didn't know. Couldn't guess she'd done anything wrong. No, nobody could be blamed because they didn't know about our alien father.
I have to find a way to take Violet some place else before Sherry gave this outpost a clue of our heritage in Tacitus' child.
If only I could shape shift. Tear out of here on a two-day race through the woods. Forget about my troubles. But I'm not a Shifter. I'm not Lucius nor my Guardian. "I'm alright." I kept my gaze on the ground, stepping onto the wooden plank leading up to the bath's plank floor, and closed the door behind me.
To take a bath. To wait for the inevitable falling into my
hands in nine months with Sherry's love child. To shut Marcus out.
****
Sherry didn't return to our room that evening. Maybe she feared I'd ask questions. Or the big Shifter promised Sherry the security that nothing else could. I can't worry because she's safe with Tacitus. At least, for nine months. Safe the way I'd give anything to be. Maybe I should just accept Marcus? Allow him to show me what it's like to have a Guardian around every second of the day? Even though he's nothing like Lucius. Maybe Marcus would prove himself to be as strong and commanding. But Violet kept asking questions. Kept pushing me back to the underlying problem that we can't hide were hybrids indefinitely.
Loving Lucius (Werescape) Page 10
