Psyche Honor (Psyche Moon)

by Buhr, Chrissie

  Psyche Honor

  Psyche Moon Two

  Chrissie Buhr

  Psyche Honor

  by Chrissie Buhr

  Amazon Edition

  Copyright 2014 Treasure Valley Writing Services

  ASIN: B00IU1Y6KG

  Psyche Honor is a work of fiction and a construct of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual people, living or dead, businesses, organizations, locales, or events is coincidental.

  This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. It may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you're reading this ebook and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased solely for your use, then please return to an online retailer and purchase your own copy. No part of this ebook may be reproduced in any form without the prior permission of the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  Thank you for respecting my creative efforts!

  Dedication

  For all the women in my life:

  Family, Friends and Lovers

  Sisters, Nieces, and Mothers.

  Dance. Sing.

  Listen to the Blackbirds Sing.

  We’re taught to think and reason,

  But never forget how to dream.

  Table of Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  About Chrissie Buhr

  Preview ~ Psyche Shield

  “Love will find a way through paths where wolves fear to prey.”

  ~Lord Byron~

  Chapter 1

  “Jason, we have a big problem,” John's voice, strained and tense, sprang from the phone.

  “What’s wrong?” Jason growled. He didn't want any more problems, big or otherwise. He had enough to manage without something new surfacing.

  The drive back to Boise had given him plenty of time to ask Nathan questions about the Wolf who bit him. When asked, the Pup’s eyes darkened, and his shoulders tightened. Jason had coaxed and pushed for the information, but the man remained taciturn most of the trip. Dealing with a panicked Wolf while driving could be disastrous, so he took it easy on the Pup. With shadowed eyes, Nathan watched the scenery pass, new instincts drawing him inexplicably to the forests and hills.

  The transition of becoming Wolf was never easy, and his had been more difficult than most. Alone, with no way of understanding the changes within him, he'd responded with escalating aggression and violence. One unfortunate man still lay in a hospital bed after an encounter with Nathan.

  Fortunately news of the brutal assault and Nathan's arrest had reached Jason's ears. He'd left for Rigby immediately, posing as an old family friend. The local judge listened to his story about owing a debt and a promise to Nathan’s father. Jason asked to take Nathan under his wing in payment of that debt. Instead the wily old man surprised him by replying, "Don’t lie to me, Alpha. If the kid’s a Wolf, just say so and he’s yours.” He’d take good luck any way he could find it. Wolves don’t tolerate captivity well, and they avoided the perils of having a Wolf in prison at all costs. Risk to other inmates and exposure to humans was too high.

  Jason had planned on spending a great deal of time with the Pup during his first week in the Pack. Instead he’d come home to the worst Pack cleanup since becoming Alpha, and a Mage living in his territory. Reluctantly, he'd focused his immediate attention on the nine dead teenagers, a wounded Beta, and a powerful but seemingly benign Mage. In his wildest dreams, he'd never imagined a situation in which he'd allow a Mage to live in his territory, let alone date one of his Wolves. The proverbial shit had hit a very large and rapidly spinning fan. A week later he could still smell it.

  John's announcement promptly returned his thoughts to the present. “Nathan told me who bit him and what happened. All of it this time. He said the one who bit him was ordered to do it by a human.”

  “A human?” Jason’s lip curled in skepticism. His normally stony face darkened even further than usual.

  “The way he described it, no way that Wolf was acting on his own.” John’s voice shook in fear masked with a healthy dose of anger.

  “A Mage made a Wolf and then abandoned him? That doesn’t make sense.”

  “Wait ‘til you hear the rest of his story.”

  “I’m on my way.” Jason jabbed a button on his cell phone and shoved it into his pocket. He paused, thinking through the situation. He could do without Mage problems until he knew how he felt about Sadie. He’d have killed her the moment he knew if it hadn’t been for Billie. He’d kill her now if not for his promise. Dammit, Billie, he thought. Only you would dare fall for a Mage. He’d promised his Beta, and he kept his word. He'd allow Sadie to live so long as she didn’t threaten the Pack. That didn’t keep him from wishing he’d never given his word to begin with.

  Mage trouble on the heels of Sadie’s arrival couldn’t be coincidence. Jason didn’t believe in coincidence, and he wondered how it all fit together. He hoped, for Billie’s sake, that Sadie had nothing to do with Nathan. For all of their sakes, he hoped Sadie was exactly who she said she was. If not, they could be wishing for a quick death before this ended. He ground his teeth and growled.

  Pulling a worn T-shirt over his head, Jason grabbed a set of keys off the kitchen counter and left for John’s home.

  Jason entered without knocking to find Nathan pacing erratically about the living room. John and Phil shared a modest urban home rented from the Pack. The Pack owned several houses for young or volatile Wolves. After the inevitable property damage, they had to explain themselves to a packmate, but they didn’t need to pacify an irate landlord. Closer to Nathan's age than anyone else and with a bedroom to spare, it was the best living situation available for the Pup. They lived in a classic bachelor’s pad, worn mismatched furniture in a living room cluttered with clothes and gear. It nevertheless smelled clean with a prevailing odor of mild soap and Wolves. A quirk of the species – most Wolves preferred to live in a clean environment, single or not.

  The Pup stopped pacing as soon as Jason entered, his eyes meeting his Alpha’s gaze for a few seconds before lowering meekly. John stood in the doorway between the living room and kitchen, muscled arms folded across his chest. He watched the agitated man’s internal struggle with sharp brown eyes. “He’s restless. He needs to run.” John stated the obvious.

  Jason nodded. “We’ll run soon. But first I need to hear what happened.” Nathan resumed wearing a path in the carpet, and Jason listened to his rising heart rate. The frightened Pup didn’t want to run – he wanted to tuck his tail between his legs and bolt blindly into the brush. “Sit down,” Jason ordered sharply, his command giving no room for disobedience. Nathan obeyed without hesitating, crossing to the couch and falling into it. His hands and feet continued to twitch with the impulse to flee.

  Jason gazed down at the man with his best kind but stern Alpha expression. He was better at stern and intimidating with his tattoos and chiseled features. His more temperate side, buried deep beneath the tough exterior, didn't show easily. Over the years he'd learned how to soften his expression when helpful. “Look, kid. The way that you were made Wolf isn’t the way we do things. It makes the tra
nsition more intense and emotions harder to control.”

  Nathan interrupted insolently. “You told me that already.” His rising voice demonstrated the level of his irritation.

  Jason growled. “Don’t interrupt me.” Nathan shrunk a little, his Wolf nature instinctively submitting to his Alpha’s authority. If he’d been in wolf form, his ears would have dropped in apology. “If the situation was different, I wouldn’t push you. I’d let you run this energy off and calm down. But I need you to tell me what happened first. All of it this time.” His tone left no room for argument.

  Nathan nodded and closed his eyes. He pressed a hand against his forehead as if the memory would explode if allowed to surface. “It was a couple o' months ago in Rigby. I was at home changin' out a bad starter in my old Dodge when two men drove up. They got out o' their car, and the skinny one started asking me for directions into town. I lived a few miles out off the main roads, so it was strange them being there at all. The big one didn’t say nothin'. His eyes were dull, like he wasn’t playing with a full deck. The skinny one made my skin crawl, and I could tell right away he was trouble. I didn’t want trouble, so I told him how to get to Rigby and was done with him.

  “Behind me, I heard the skinny one say ‘Do it.’ I knew somethin' was wrong and spun around ready fer whatever. But the big guy - the one with the dull eyes - was built like a tank and freakin’ strong. I hit him and he didn’t even feel it. He broke my nose and a few ribs, or that’s what I thought when it happened. He knocked me to the ground, grabbed up my arm and bit a chunk out of it. After that he just stopped. He walked back to the skinny guy and stood there like a moron.

  “So I’m bleedin' from my nose and arm and in a lot of hurt.” He paused, and Jason waited in silence, sensing the poor man’s struggle to explain what he’d experienced. “I’ve been in plenty of fights. Nothin' like this ever happened before. It felt like somethin’ was crawling inside my head. Like a bad trip I had once as a kid and I popped acid. Never did that again. For a minute I thought the skinny guy was talkin’ to me in my head.” He shook his head, either to banish the memory or clarify it. Jason couldn’t tell. “Then out of nowhere a woman shows up. They argued and the air went sharp like it does in a thunderstorm. She said me and the big guy belonged to her now. Like we were pets or somethin'. The air went sharp again, worse this time. My head cleared enough to stand, and I took off running. Never looked back.” The Pup reached the end of his story and stopped.

  “Did you call the police?”

  Nathan shook his head. “Nah. It was too weird. Didn’t know what to say to them. Didn't want anyone thinkin' I was crazy. I went to a buddy’s house and crashed there for a few. Never healed so quick from a fight. My nose and ribs were good in ‘bout a week. The bite took a lot longer.” He pulled the sleeve of his shirt up to show Jason an ugly scar on his upper left arm. Jason had seen it before.

  The story troubled Jason. Two Mages fighting over Wolves didn’t bode well. “Did you hear any names?” Nathan shook his head. “Describe them.”

  “The skinny guy had glasses and light brown hair. My height. He talked like the local kids do when they come home from college. You know, like anyone else 'cept bigger words and full o' themselves. The big guy, the one who bit me, was solid muscle, over six foot, army haircut. I didn’t get a good look at the woman.”

  Jason nodded, taking it all in and liking the situation less with every sentence. “What do you remember about their argument?”

  Nathan's eyes darkened and his shoulders hunched forward, like something warred within him. “Not much. It’s kind of a blur.” Jason could smell his fear rising in acrid waves, panic not far away.

  “Look at me.” Nathan's head snapped up, his eyes focusing. Jason held the Wolf’s eyes, forcing the man to see the strength of his Alpha and Pack. “You’re safe now. You’re Pack, and we protect each other. We'll protect you. For now, I want you to always have a packmate with you. Until I’ve looked into your story and you quit acting like a caged animal about to jump the gate, you don’t go anywhere alone.” He looked pointedly at John. “Don’t take any chances. Keep a few Wolves around here at all times – safety in numbers.” John nodded solemnly, understanding his orders to protect the Pup and to protect others from him. Without a word, he flipped out his phone and sent a quick text.

  “Any sign of a Mage, let me know. Kill any Mage you find if you can do it without getting caught.” Jason remembered the newest complication. “Except Sadie.”

  “Sadie? Billie’s girl?” John exclaimed, his dark blue eyes widening in alarm.

  “Yeah,” Jason snarled. “Billie’s mate is a Mage.”

  “Holy shit!” John dissembled visibly. “How the hell did that happen?”

  Jason glowered. He'd been asking himself the same thing for days. “Sadie didn’t even know what she was.”

  “She … How? … Shit! Do you trust her?”

  “I trust Billie. I gave my word – I won’t kill her if she doesn’t threaten the pack.” Jason reiterated the same words he'd conveyed to everyone.

  “Billie’s not collared?” He shivered involuntarily.

  Jason's jaw twitched at the thought. “No sign of it. Sadie saved Billie’s life last week. You heard about the mess in the North End?” John nodded. “She protected the pack, too. She’s earned the benefit of the doubt.”

  “Jesus. This is fucked up.”

  “Tell me about it,” Jason rumbled.

  Nathan had been listening intently. “I thought Billie was a girl.”

  “She’s my Beta, second in command.”

  “And she’s dating a girl?”

  Jason looked sideways impatiently but spoke to John. “Why don’t you fill him in on Mages. And explain what a lesbian is while you’re at it.”

  “I know what a lesbian is,” Nathan huffed and grinned.

  Jason met the Pup's eyes and held them, his voice low and threatening. “Billie is the second most powerful Wolf in the Pacific Northwest. She can kick your ass without breaking a sweat, so I suggest you don’t go there.” His tone softened. “Besides, she’s the only other Wolf here that was turned by force. She knows what you’re going through firsthand, and she knows how to pull out of it. You’d be wise to learn from her.” Nathan nodded, his silly grin vanishing.

  Jason fished out his cell once again and hit speed dial. “Amy. I want you to check the Pup again. If anything is off, I want to know.” He listened. “After work is fine. You can join us for his first run when you’re done.” He hung up and turned to Nathan. “I’ll be back later. Stick with the others. Do what they say.” The Pup nodded compliantly.

  He gestured for John to follow him outside. Far enough away from the house that they could speak without Nathan overhearing, Jason whispered, “We don’t know how far the Mage got with him.” John nodded gravely and without surprise. “He could be collared. Don’t let him out of earshot and keep others with you at all times. I won’t lose anyone to him if he’s collared. I’ll be back before sundown and we’ll run.”

  “What about Sadie?” John asked hesitantly.

  “What about her?” Jason groaned, ready to order yet another Wolf not to harm her. He didn't want to consider all the possible ways this could go wrong. As Alpha he had no choice.

  “Could she tell if he’s collared?”

  Jason’s eyebrows hit his hairline. He hadn’t anticipated the question. “You would trust a Mage?”

  “I trust Billie,” John stated simply. “Unless you think Sadie was the woman Nathan mentioned?”

  Jason frowned, rolling the events of the last week over in his mind and looking for a connection to Nathan's story. “No. The description doesn’t fit, and she wasn’t lying when she didn’t know about Mages. I’ll consider it. She’s Billie’s mate, but she’s still a Mage.”

  “Mind-blowing.”

  “To say the least,” Jason agreed. Phil drove up in his new pickup and joined them silently. Jason filled him in on the situation quietly. Phil lo
oked to his Alpha for reassurance, but Jason’s response didn’t console him. “A collared Wolf turns him, one Mage tries to collar him, and another Mage tries to steal him. Somehow he gets away and winds up in my Pack. He’s either incredibly lucky or we’re in deep shit. Be very careful and very aware. Sleep with two ears up. No one is to be alone with him.”

  “What are you going to do?” Phil wanted to know. Jason saw enormous promise in the young man. He didn’t say much, but he observed the world around him and absorbed it all. Clever and sensible, the Wolf would make a fine Elder in a century or two.

  “I’ll meet with Billie and the Elders, see what we can come up with. Maybe Richard or Kato can shed some light on all of this.”

  “And Sadie?” John asked again.

  “We’ll see. For now don’t tell her anything.” Jason said goodbye and climbed into his truck.

  The thought of meeting the Elders without Billie tempted him, but only briefly. Leaving his Beta out of the conversation would only cause more problems, and she’d never given him reason to regret naming her Beta. Before he'd driven two blocks, he made up his mind and dug into his pocket for his cell phone. He sent a text without looking down. “Meeting at Billie’s house ASAP. Something’s up.” The text went out to the group, and he headed to his Beta’s North End home to wait.

  He wouldn’t have to wait long with that message.

  Chapter 2

  Jason pulled in front of Billie’s spacious home overlooking the foothills and leaned against his truck to wait. Before long, the Elders and Beta arrived. Kathryn stepped out of an expensive white hybrid as Billie parked behind them in her black Jeep, Richard sitting in the passenger seat. She didn’t open the door, hopping over the side in her usual flair. Her lean muscles flexed, flaunting her recovery from a knife wound to the shoulder. The stunning redhead moved with unusual agility and power even for a Wolf.

  She and Richard came directly from work and wore tailored suits appropriate to professionals in a prestigious law firm. Kathryn dressed casually and smelled of floor wax and Human sweat, suggesting she’d come from a dance studio. The old civil rights activist loved all forms of dance and channeled that love into organizing events that showcased local dancers while benefiting a cause. Richard greeted Kathryn warmly, linking arms with his mate in old habit.