by Melissa Haag
While I worked, Charlene’s mind quieted even more. She was going to fall asleep in the tub. Worried, I stood. Mary snickered.
I tapped on the door and heard the water move.
“Charlene,” I said. “If you fall asleep in there, I will come in.”
“Chill. I’m almost done.”
I listened to her step from the tub before moving away from the door.
When she came out, I looked up from the start of my matt and smiled at her. She flushed and turned toward the stove.
Frowning, I stood and moved behind her. I felt her embarrassment and set my hands on her shoulders. She had nothing to be embarrassed about. We’d worked hard, and she was—
The thread of desire that nudged my mind stunned me for only a moment.
She turned her head, a soft beckoning look in her eyes. I slid my hands down her shoulders, over her upper arms, then moved them to her sides. Her heart raced and her breathing hitched. Her desire grew stronger. Or was it mine? It didn’t matter.
Hunger gripped me.
Her lips parted. Transfixed, I glanced at them. Need clenched my gut. Just a taste. She’d allow that.
Then, she set the spoon aside and turned toward me. Acceptance. The need to grin in triumph was washed away with the need to take what she offered. I lowered my head.
Her pulse leapt, and she licked her lips.
“How’s the soup?” Mary asked. Barely contained laughter laced her words.
Charlene pulled back slightly, her wide-eyed gaze locking on me.
Annoyance and frustration clawed at me.
You just lost your eggs, I sent Mary.
As Mary snickered, Charlene exhaled slowly and ducked around me. I turned and watched her flee the main room doors.
Mary stood to go after her.
“Mary, finish your basket,” I said as I moved to follow.
Charlene was right to leave. I shouldn’t have started to kiss her in front of the others. I knew humans liked privacy. However, as her desire began to fade, I started to worry this wasn’t a change in location but a retreat.
I caught up with her on the stairs and gently wrapped my fingers around her arm to stop her in the upstairs hall.
She pivoted, taking me by surprise. A sudden surge of need nearly brought me to my knees as she grabbed my face and pulled me down for a kiss.
I couldn’t think straight. Her lips brushed against mine. Her fingers feathered over my jaw and up into my hair. Charlene was kissing me.
I reached for her sides and backed her toward a wall. She opened her mouth to me. I growled and deepened the kiss. Charlene wanted this. She wanted me.
Finally.
She was mine. Always.
I left her mouth to trail kisses along her jaw. She wouldn’t regret her decision, I thought as I started backing her toward her room. I would show her how much I loved her every day for the rest of our lives. I kissed my way down the column of her neck, licking and tasting her skin.
She suddenly yanked my hair with unusual strength for a human.
“Ow!” I took a step back and scowled at her, rubbing the spot I was sure now lacked hair.
“What do you think you are doing?” She glared at me, her cheeks flushed and her eyes bright.
“It’s called kissing,” I said.
“No, you were trying to back me into my room. Why?”
I stopped rubbing my head and stared at her a moment in confusion. Had I misread her desire to mate with me? I reached for her in my mind. As soon as I felt her lingering hunger, mine echoed it.
The sting on my scalp faded, and I focused on her lips again.
“No, Thomas,” she said. “You promised. Nothing more than I’m ready to give.”
“But I thought that was a yes.”
“That was a kiss, remember?” Anger coated her words but concern flowed from our link, cooling my desire.
“I’m sorry, Charlene.” I stepped close and slowly pulled her into a hug. She resisted at first then leaned into me.
“I’m sorry,” I said again, gently smoothing my hand on her back.
I’d wanted her trust and at the first hint of interest, I’d misread the situation and pushed for more than she’d been willing to give. Did that mean any trust she’d had was now gone again? I realized she hadn’t left to find a quiet place for us, but for herself. She’d wanted a moment alone. I could give her that. Well, something close to that.
When her concern faded, I pulled away.
“I’ll save you some lunch. Mary will come up to sit with you.”
“Thank you,” she said.
She turned and closed herself into her room.
Mary, can you come to Charlene’s room? I upset her and don’t want to leave her alone.
Why do you think you upset her?
She pulled my hair.
I could feel Mary’s humor.
I’ll be right there.
She was grinning when she walked up the steps, carrying a partial matt and extra leaves. I shook my head at her and went downstairs as she went in by Charlene.
“Everything all right?” Gregory asked when I entered the main rooms.
“Yeah. Fine.
Over our connection I felt a wisp of Charlene’s confusion.
Everything all right? I sent Mary, echoing Gregory’s question.
Yep. Girl talk with Charlene and Winifred. You should go take Gregory for a run. Tell him I want eggs for breakfast.
I tilted my head back, sighed, and rubbed my shoulder. Mary really needed to stop talking to Winifred so much.
When I looked at Gregory, he was watching me.
“Mary wants eggs.”
“We can keep an eye on things here,” Leif said. He and Reed and their Mates and cubs were in the main room. They would hear Charlene and Mary if they needed anything.
“Thank you.”
* * * *
Desire hit me between the eyes. Mid run, my back paws tangled and I tumbled forward ass over head. When I landed on my back, Gregory stood over me chuffing so hard he drooled.
Ignoring him, I sprang to my legs and faced the general direction of sanctuary. I could feel her lips on mine, her fingers in my hair. She wasn’t just thinking about our kiss. She was reliving it in her head. In my head.
A shudder ran through me.
His laughing stopped.
Is something wrong?
Charlene’s thinking about mating.
I took off at a run as he resumed laughing.
At the edge of the clearing, I shifted and grabbed my pants from the base of the tree. I could see Charlene standing by the door as I tugged them up and cringed. Carefully, I buttoned. Her gaze swept the treeline, passing over where I stood.
Mary stepped out behind her and sniffed.
“You better be ready to run,” she said to Charlene.
Charlene startled and spun around toward Mary. What had Mary scented? The need to know just made my desire to reach Charlene worse.
I stepped into the light and quickly crossed the clearing.
Mary grinned at Charlene as I neared.
“What were you doing?” Mary asked her.
“Trying to get him to come back,” Charlene said.
I set my hands on her shoulders. She jumped again, but this time she squeaked too. I inhaled deeply before she turned and my canines immediately lengthened. Charlene smelled like almost-sex.
Mary laughed, shook her head at us, and walked back inside.
“You succeeded in gaining my undivided attention,” I said. “Was there something you wanted?”
Her desire vanished and worry took its place.
“I wanted to talk to you privately but maybe now isn’t the best time,” she said.
I scooped her up in my arms and took off running into the trees.
“Now is the perfect time,” I said, watching her as I ran.
“Don’t run into a tree,” she said, nudging my chin up. I grinned and focused on our path.
W
e broke through the trees onto the lake’s grassy shore, and I set her on her feet. She eyed me warily as I turned her to face me.
“There’s no one around to hear us,” I said, trying for calm. “Now, what did you want to discuss?”
Her worry turned to fear, and I wanted to howl in frustration. How could she go from wanting to touch my tail to ready to run that quickly? My pants still didn’t fit right.
Taking a deep breath, I wrapped my arms around her and sent her a wave of reassurance.
“Hey, it’s okay,” I said. “I hate when you worry this much. You can tell me whatever you want or keep it to yourself. I won’t be upset with you either way. Just stop worrying like this.”
I lightly rubbed her back, and she slowly relaxed.
“I can control people with just a thought,” she said without pulling away.
Tucking her head under my chin, I held her more firmly.
“I know. Winifred told me. She and I talked after the first time we saw what you could do. We thought it was tele-whatever, where you can move things with your head. When you told her it was something else, she told me.”
I frowned as I felt annoyance brushing our connection.
“Don’t be angry,” I said. “She told me because she had to. She’s responsible for all of us. Keeping information to herself about the possibility of someone in our midst who could control us could have killed her.”
“What?” She lifted her head to look at me.
“Like I said about Grey, Elders serve us, not themselves. If Winifred knowingly did something that could jeopardize us, she would die. She does want to protect you. She believes that you’re a key to our future and will do what she can to keep you safe. That’s why she told me what you can do and asked that I keep an eye on you. Besides, I saw what you can do. It’s impressive; and as far as I’m concerned, there’s no reason to worry. The damage you can do to us is no worse than when we challenge each other.”
A mixed of emotions crossed her features, and I didn’t miss the well of terror she felt just before she pulled me down for a kiss.
She was afraid of something. Whatever it was, she was desperate enough to try to cover up her fear with a kiss. I willingly let her, putting everything I had into helping her forget.
Without breaking away, I wrapped my arms around her and lifted her up. Her chest pressed against mine and she wrapped her legs around my waist. When she moaned into my mouth, I knew I’d done my job.
I wouldn’t be able to run home though.
* * * *
The next morning, I still watched her hungrily. I carefully kept what I felt in check, however. Since her terror the day before, she seemed a little tenser than usual.
Last night, she’d taken over an hour to fall asleep. I’d thought setting my head on her chest would help her relax. Hearing her heart had been comforting and having her breast under my cheek, heaven. It had taken all my control to keep my breathing slow and even.
Instead of relaxing, she’d continued to worry in the dark.
When she’d said “What next?” I’d thought she’d been talking to me. I moved a little and she’d immediately guided me back to my position and ran her fingers through my hair. Part of me thought it was a yes, and I almost turned my head to kiss her. Since her hands were in my hair, though, I waited.
Her breathing had evened out several minutes later, leaving me wondering what that had been about.
Now, she turned away from me and bent down to pick a shirt out of the basket. Her jeans stretched over her backside, and I almost whined. I withheld it, knowing she wouldn’t appreciate the sentiment.
She straightened and handed me the shirt.
She’d woken in a fair mood, and I hadn’t objected when she asked to help weave after breakfast. The task only frustrated her though. So, when she moved away and started gathering dirty clothes, I offered to help her with the wash so Mary could keep making baskets.
A thread of frustration grazed my mind.
“Weaving’s not for everyone,” I said as she handed me the next shirt.
“What gave me away?” she asked.
“Your frustration. It felt the same now as it did in there.”
She wrinkled her nose at me. I grinned until I heard the faint rumble of a truck. It didn’t sound familiar.
I think a human is approaching sanctuary, I sent Winifred.
Tell me why, as soon as you know.
Human is approaching sanctuary, I sent to the pack. Tell everyone. No fur in the yard.
I let Leif and Reed know, Mary sent back.
I’m heading out the back to find the others, Gregory sent.
I’m with Anton. We’ll stay away, Carl sent me.
I turned to watch a light blue and white truck roll into the yard. Charlene kept pretending to hang laundry, but I could feel her curiosity and worry.
A man behind the wheel looked at me as the truck stopped and the engine died. I moved toward the truck, and he opened the door. The screech of metal on metal filled the air.
“Afternoon,” I said as he stepped from the truck.
He smelled like cattle and sun and wind. A farmer.
“Afternoon,” the man echoed. “Sorry to come in here without warning. Am I interrupting something?”
He glanced over my shoulder at Charlene. I could hear her hanging the rest of the clothes.
“Just laundry,” I said.
“Not a shirt left to wear, huh?” he said with a smile as he glanced at my bare chest.
I wasn’t sure how to answer so I stayed quiet.
“Yeah, the Mrs. lets it pile up at my place, too,” he said. He looked around then met my gaze again. “I’ve seen your smoke for a few weeks now and wanted to stop in and warn you. We’ve been seeing some wolves around. They’ve left our livestock alone so far and don’t bother the dog none, even though that thing yaps up a storm.”
“Wolves? Which direction did you say?”
“I live a few miles to the west. It’s a farm just off the road.”
Winifred, he said he spotted wolves by his farm just a few miles west of here. We need to find out who it is.
With humans creeping further north, it was impossible to avoid their land, but it wasn’t impossible to avoid being seen.
She sent out a call asking whoever was in our area over the last few weeks to report back to her.
“And you saw our smoke from your place?” I asked the man, keeping up with our conversation.
He laughed.
“Not from my place. I’ve seen it when I go to town for supplies.”
Having a nosy neighbor would make sanctuary less of a haven for our kind. But there was nothing I could do to discourage him without looking suspicious.
“Thank you for letting us know about the wolves,” I said pleasantly. “We haven’t seen any yet, but we’ll keep watch and let you know if we do.”
“It’s no trouble,” the man said. “It’s nice having neighbors again. Thought the lady who bought this place from the hippies was just going to let it rot.”
“That’s my aunt,” I lied. “She was thinking about it but asked me and a few of my friends to move out here and start fixing the place up. Might still rot.”
Charlene picked up the basket and walked inside. The man glanced at her.
“A few friends?” he said.
Tell Charlene to stay inside, I sent Mary.
“Yeah, a group of us working together. We don’t have much right now. An overgrown garden. An empty coop. So it might not work out, but we’ll try.”
No one has come forward, Winifred sent me just as Mary reminded me to shake the man’s hand when he left.
He nodded. “We have chickens by us. I can bring by a few young hens for you to get you started.”
“We’d appreciate it but don’t want to trouble you,” I stuck out my hand, trying to hurry the man on his way. “I’ll send out a few of the guys. They’re good hunters and wouldn’t mind looking at the tracks.”
&n
bsp; We shook, and he moved to open the truck door.
“Sure. Wouldn’t mind showing them those tracks. They’re bigger than any I’ve ever seen.”
He closed the door and waved. I watched until the taillights disappeared down the road.
It’s clear, I sent the pack as I moved toward the building.
Charlene was near the table when I entered. I went to stand behind her and set my hands on her shoulders, relieved the man hadn’t seemed overly interested in her but worried about what he’d said.
“What part bothers you?” she asked. “That someone came here or that he thinks I don’t do laundry?”
“That there are wolves to the west.”
“I don’t understand why that’s troubling.”
“Winifred says there are no wolves to the west.”
“Could it be some of your pack trying to cause trouble?” she asked.
I could feel where they were because of our connections.
“No. Most of them are to the north or the east.”
“Maybe they’re just real wolves,” she said.
Not when he’d said they were the biggest prints he’d ever seen.
“Maybe.”
Over the next week Charlene and I worked hard to get ready for the males we knew were coming. I sent Hem and Carl to the farmer to get the chickens and check the tracks. They confirmed what I’d suspected. The faint scents they caught were not normal wolf, and we started monitoring the areas around sanctuary more closely, which was easier to do since the man at the salvage yard told the males they weren’t needed again until spring.
The money they’d earned would be missed, but we’d managed to put enough aside to buy seed for the hens throughout the winter. The hens, in turn, produced enough eggs to allow Charlene and the women to start making bread to go with the meals.
In addition to more varied meals, the women also had pillows and mats in several of the empty rooms. When two more families appeared, we were ready.
Baskets of vegetables hung from the rafters in the main room, helping make the first impression of the new sanctuary as a bountiful place. Charlene’s welcome and the prepared rooms had put the families at ease, and they’d settled in and began helping right away.
When Winifred came with supplies Saturday morning, that first meal had felt like a celebration until she quietly told me that Grey would soon come to stay at sanctuary permanently. I knew that meant he was taking the final steps to becoming an Elder. I feared for him and hoped we were all making the right choices.
