Setting up camp should have been easy, but as with everything else at All-Pack, there were subtleties within subtleties to consider. Our new encampment butted up against Justin's, but I chose to locate my tent at the far side of our allotted space since I wasn't able to stomach the idea of sleeping a stone's throw away from Wolfie's older brother. And as I was erecting my canvas dwelling, I also had to keep half an eye on my companions, who seemed bound and determined to showcase my total lack of pack-leader abilities in front of the neighbors.
First came the drama over sleeping arrangements. Even though I would have preferred to enjoy a bit of solitude within my own tent, I'd instead chosen to share with Sarah in an attempt to keep bickering at bay. But David and Blaze proved that my effort at proactivity had been worthless when they struck up an argument over whose tent would be erected closest to the alpha's...the attraction clearly not being myself since I was growing grumpier with my honor guard by the moment. After that issue was settled (by parking each Wilder tent at a far corner of our territory rather than clustering them all together as I'd originally intended), it was time to delineate the boundaries of our new land, which turned into another...quite literal...pissing contest.
"You know, most of us are bright enough to change into wolf form before marking territorial boundaries," Fen chastised, looking up from her job of lighting the campfire in time to catch Blaze chugging a liter of water in hopes of upping his urine production. Sarah's two potential beaus seemed to have decided that whoever could mark the longest stretch of border around our All-Pack territory was the most dominant male...which I guessed made a strange sort of sense if you were a eighteen-year-old guy who measured your inherent worth by the output of your penis.
"Bigger bladder when two-legged," Blaze replied shortly before rushing off to continue pouring out his seemingly never-ending stream of urine across the grass. As her friend left, Fen and I exchanged a commiserating glance, and I could tell that we were both equally exasperated by the youngest yahoo's childish behavior. But, on the plus side, the contest between Blaze and David did keep the two contestants out of my hair for a few minutes, while also eliminating my own need to assist in marking the boundaries of our property.
So it was only after I'd finally settled the yahoos and my two relatives down for the night and headed back toward my tent to check on my pregnant charge that I noticed Wolfie's truck parked a mere hand's breadth away from where I would lay my head that night. It seemed that, while I wasn't looking, Wolfie had chosen his own territory...and apparently I was it.
But the bloodling alpha hadn't stopped there. Despite the lack of electric lights in the campground, enough fires were scattered across the field to allow me to make out the form of my mate, who was currently trotting four-footed around a vast half-moon shape larger than my and Justin's territories put together. And, just as the yahoos had done earlier on my behalf, Wolfie was currently marking the boundaries of his temporary property with urine. I couldn't help thinking that, if the quantity of effluent really was proportional to the quality of the alpha, then my mate was definitely the most dominant werewolf around.
Only when a shout arose from Justin's encampment did I realize that Wolfie wasn't just breaking with tradition by marking off such a large territory entirely on his own. The bloodling alpha had also side-stepped the unspoken All-Pack rule of leaving unmarked out-territory aisles to allow easy traffic between each alpha's peed-upon land. Every other clan present had carefully allotted five feet of empty space between their markers and those of their neighbors, but Wolfie had instead butted his land right up against parts of my and Justin's territorial boundaries, completely encircling Wilder territory within a Young moat.
I couldn't afford to show any preference for my mate—after all, I was still trying to string along Justin and perhaps gain the attention of a few other alphas while I was at it, and my plans would be soundly derailed by a show of affection for my true mate. But, despite my better sense, I couldn't help smiling widely as I realized that Wolfie's strangely-shaped territory would protect me from invaders on three of my territory's four sides. The realization that Wolfie's prodigious pee was being utilized in my defense warmed me in the same way that the telegram had, and I felt my wolf stir happily within my skin.
But even as I smiled into the darkness, I also saw that I had underestimated my mate's protective instincts. The bloodling alpha wasn't content with simply enfolding the Wilder pack within his territory on three sides. Instead, Wolfie was bound and determined to completely cut his mate off from the big, bad world.
"What do you think you're doing?" Justin's angry voice rolled across the campground, and my eye wasn't the only one that caught Wolfie walking right up to his brother's boundary line...then raising a leg to pee. Like good shifters, Blaze and David had provided an out-territory aisle between our territory and that of the older Young's clan...and now Wolfie was taking advantage of that no-man's-land to sprinkle urine directly on top of his brother's marker. In essence, my mate was killing two birds with one stone—all at once, he taunted his brother and also completed my protective circle, blocking off Justin's access to the Wilder camp along our shared boundary.
The bloodling alpha had nearly completed his line of urine by the time his brother started toward him at a run. And I could almost feel Wolfie's amusement when, despite his haste, Justin paused before jumping over the double-Young territorial marker. The older alpha's vacillation was an unconscious admission that Justin was afraid to cross his little brother's line, and I knew that every nearby werewolf would be marking that omission down in their mental tally book, ceding the first point to my mate. Meanwhile, when Justin continued down the territorial line to cross over in a spot where only his own pack's urine had soaked into the ground, the achievement of his destination didn't make up for the face that Justin had lost in the process.
But my mate's brother was well aware of the impression he was making, and he quickly strove to regain the lead with both tone and posture. "That's far enough," Justin said at last, standing firm and tall above his brother's lupine form. The older alpha might have been afraid to cross his brother's line, but he had clearly dredged up enough courage to attempt to prevent Wolfie from completely cutting the elder Young's pack off from potential contact with my territory. And Wolfie's refusal to take human form did act a bit in Justin's favor, making my mate appear weaker in contrast.
Behind the older alpha, I could see several of Justin's underlings rush forward to back up their alpha, while another dashed off in the other direction, presumably heading toward their main village in search of reinforcements. I was surprised that Justin didn't call after his lackeys to prevent the latter action since that was another sure way to lose face—for the host to be forced to expand his honor guard beyond what other pack leaders had been allotted in order to keep the peace was proof that he wasn't the strongest alpha present after all. Is the messenger acting without his alpha's permission? I wondered. Or is Justin so unsure of his success that he's willing to risk lowered status in an effort to protect his own skin?
But as the rest of the audience and I mulled over Justin's actions, Wolfie ignored all of the commotion. Instead, my mate continued to slowly walk forward, lifting his leg at intervals to squirt urine directly on top of his brother's territorial line. And with each splash, Justin's face turned redder and his jaw clenched tighter. I almost expected my mate to continue walking and peeing even after he reached his brother, simply dribbling urine right over the other alpha's foot as Wolfie continued his unhurried effort to completely enclose the Wilder pack within his own territory. And, at that point, would Justin explode...or implode?
As much as I would have liked to wait and see what happened, though, I really couldn't allow either reaction. Not that Wolfie's behavior and his brother's chagrin didn't make my wolf dance in glee and my human side relax just the barest smidgen upon realizing that my insufficient honor guard and I wouldn't be standing up to all of the other packs entirely alone.
Yes, I'll admit that the thought of being entirely enclosed within Wolfie's territory sounded like a day at the spa and a hunk of gooey chocolate cake all rolled into one. The only thing better would be if my mate similarly encircled me within his arms.
But Wolfie himself had warned me not to play all of my cards at one time, and my mate bond with the younger alpha was definitely a trump card that was better kept hidden at this time. Plus, from a purely utilitarian perspective, if Wolfie completed his circle of pee, then my pack and I would be forced to ask the other alpha for permission every time we entered or left our encampment. Which could get tricky and annoying and would definitely make us look bad in front of the other clans.
So I headed toward my mate at last, albeit more slowly than his brother had made his similar journey, and I was sure to kick the tent that Wade and Blaze shared on my way to the boundary line. "Wha..." Blaze's voice called out groggily, but the older yahoo was up and by my side (if clad only in boxers) before I'd taken two more steps.
By the time my guard and I reached the sibling standoff, a cluster of interested shifters from other packs had also made an appearance, ensuring that word of this event would reach all corners of the All-Pack campground within the hour. But I ignored my audience just as Wolfie had and strode quickly down the out-territory aisle to stand between the other two pack leaders. Finally, without looking at either Young alpha, I turned to Wade and pretended to berate the one member of my contingent who had yet to cause any problems at all.
"You neglected to mark a path here," I said, putting the alpha command into my voice for the sake of the bystanders, even though Wade needed no impetus to follow my lead. "I expect several visitors tomorrow, so our site should be accessible to all and sundry."
"Sorry about that, boss," Wade replied, his wolf crouching down within his human form and its ears submissively lowering at my tone of voice. But I had a feeling the yahoo understood that we were just play acting as he continued: "Where exactly do you want the path?"
"If you guys don't mind?" I said primly, finally meeting the eyes of each Young alpha in turn and gracing both with the same half-smile. Justin was too surprised by my presence to do anything except back up into his own territory, but Wolfie just plopped down onto his lupine butt and allowed his tongue to loll out of the side of his mouth.
Yes, Wolfie, I know you think this is great fun, I wanted to say. But I couldn't, of course, not with my mate's brother and the other shifters all avidly looking on. Instead, I just scrubbed away a bit of Wolfie's hard work, scraping up the urine-soaked grass with my shod heel in order to open up five feet of space in the contested area for the sake of Wilder egress.
I'd half expected Wolfie to protest, but I was soon proven wrong. Instead, my mate just grinned wider, glad to let me take him down a notch in front of the other alphas, and I realized as I worked that Wolfie had probably been able to guess my most likely reaction all along. My mate might even have planned for me to piggy-back on his own success in this manner, figuring that if I was able to face down one of the strongest alphas at All-Pack, then I would gain face in front of the other clans. As a result, Wolfie's self-appointed job of preventing me from being torn to shreds became significantly easier.
But that was probably giving the bloodling too much strategizing credit. Wolfie had never been one to back down from a fight, and his lupine grin now suggested that he was enjoying playing games with other alphas in general and with his brother in particular. And, as much as the idea that Wolfie was taking this altercation so lightly exasperated me, I couldn't resist letting my eyes rest for a split second on my mate's. Immediately, my wolf started dancing beneath my skin, and she nearly yipped in glee at Wolfie's proximity.
"Start here," I told Wade, attempting to remain focused on the larger issue of Wilder safety as I pointed out a line of bare earth leading from the boundary of our territory into the center of our campsite. "And then bring the trail all the way up to our fire circle."
Now my mate finally growled, unhappy with any action that would allow outsiders entrance into the core of Wilder territory. And by my side, Wade's inner wolf cowered yet further, caught in the cross-fire between the alpha he'd been obeying for the last few weeks and the stronger alpha who was his original and true leader.
But our audience didn't need to know what was really going on. Instead, I wanted them to see Crazy Wilder's daughter facing down the erratic but powerful Wolfie Young even after he'd complained at her choice of actions. So I stepped up to the snarling wolf, crouched down until the two of us could see eye to eye, and glared into my mate's furry face. "Do you have a problem with what I do on my own property, Wolf Young?" I demanded, doing my best to keep a straight face.
And, to my delight, Wolfie played along. Without shifting back into human form to exchange words with either me or his brother, the bloodling wolf got to his feet and padded away. And at last, with a shrug, Wade hastened to do my bidding.
Chapter 13
I could hardly sleep, but not for the reasons you might expect. By rights, I ought to have been worrying about out-pack shifters sneaking onto Wilder territory and ambushing us in the night. Or perhaps my mind should've been running like a hamster in a wheel as I attempted to scheme ways of maneuvering a little bit more support for a female alpha from the other clans.
But, instead, I lay awake in the dark...and I thought of Wolfie.
It was hard not to focus on my mate when his head was only a few feet away from my own after we'd spent so many painful weeks apart. And, to make matters worse, I was worried about the bloodling, alone out there in the cold. Because, after his attention-getting display, my mate hadn't even bothered to bed down inside his vehicle. Instead, he'd curled up in lupine form on top of the hood, the bloodling's fluffy tail covering his nose for warmth but only frozen metal supporting his paws.
The winter solstice was a tough time to be camping anyway, despite our fast werewolf metabolisms, but no one ever seemed to consider breaking ranks with the macho party line and suggesting a new gathering date. Still, despite not wanting to rock the boat, most of us did show up with subzero sleeping bags and air-filled mattresses to shield our human bodies from the cold ground. In contrast, without even a layer of canvas over his head to hold in his body heat, my mate was definitely shivering on his truck-top perch right now.
But cold and precariousness wouldn't be enough to prevent my mate from achieving his goal, which I could only guess was to guard me so that I could sleep soundly. Knowing that Wolfie was putting up with discomfort on my behalf meant that I really should have rewarded his chivalry by actually going to sleep...rather than by imagining slipping out of my sleeping bag and drifting through the darkness to my mate's side. I would run my fingers through his fur until the canine slipped into manhood, his transformation so rapid and seamless that I would barely have time to step out of Wolfie's way before his two-legged self spun me around and pinned me between his hot chest and the frigid hood of the car.
Even in my scanty sleepware, I would be warmed by my mate's embrace, and we'd barely be able to kiss for our joint gasps of pleasure as patches of bare skin finally touched after so many weeks apart. Wolfie would lift me up to perch above the headlights, and I'd wrap my legs around his bare waist, feeling the bloodling's cock rub against my moist panties until I moaned with pleasure....
...And, meanwhile, every shifter within a mile radius would smell and hear our joining, making it easy for our enemies to guess exactly what was going on. That, in a nutshell, was the trouble with All-Pack—there was absolutely no privacy with so many werewolves clustered so close together. Even if I simply whispered Wolfie's name on the barest breath of air in an effort to connect with my mate, soon everyone would know that Wolfie and I were a couple.
But did our hard-won secrecy really matter in the long run? The bloodling alpha had already made his intentions quite clear in front of the entire gathering by attempting to curl his territory around my own. So even the most oblivious shifter would
expect Wolfie to formally court me in the near future. The only question currently up for debate among those not in the know was whether I would choose to return Wolfie's affections, or whether I would instead continue hunting for a more appropriate mate.
Even that hint of subterfuge was wearing my patience thin, especially now that my true mate was close enough to smell. I imagined slitting a hole in the canvas of the tent and reaching out my hand to touch the bloodling alpha, the contact bound to appease the yearning that made it hard for me to swallow and that left tears prickling behind my eyes. I used to think that the packless ache that had once filled my stomach was the worst pain I'd ever experience, but now I knew that finding a mate and then enduring a forced separation was so much worse. Was it really worth the agony we were both facing in order to maintain this distance from Wolfie, just on the off chance that my unmated status would help me hold onto leadership of the Wilder clan?
My father would have warned me to cling to whatever smidgen of power that uncertainty presented...but it was harder to hold firm when Chief Wilder wasn't here. Instead, my current decision was impacted most by the werewolves scattered across this little patch of loaned earth. Unfortunately, if I succumbed to weakness, I would be harming shifters like Hawk and David, who deserved to be led with a light hand rather than being turned into lackeys forced to do a power-hungry alpha's bidding. And, glancing across at my tent-mate, her rounded belly pushing up into the air like a basketball beneath the covers, I knew that neither Wolfie nor I was willing to risk the lives of the other shifters under our care.
So even though I yearned to be close enough to my mate to once again make myself whole, I instead clenched my hands into fists under the covers and lay as still as a stone. I ached for Wolfie's touch, but the right decision was to play this game through to its inevitable conclusion and to do my level best to protect the Wilder clan in the process. Yes, I'd even put my whole heart into protecting the pack princess beside me, despite her apparent goal of shaking up the status quo within my current clan.
Pack Princess: A Fantastical Werewolf Adventure (Wolf Rampant Book 2) Page 10
