At Sixes and Sevens

by M. A. Church

  “Thank you, that means a lot to me. If you’re serious, after dinner I’ll call Marshell and see if he wants to speak to you.” Aidric took a deep breath, slowly released it, and held his hand out to Baylor. “So let’s start over too. Hi, Baylor. I’m Aidric. It’s nice to meet you.”

  That’s when I knew I’d fallen in love with Aidric.

  Dinner turned out better than I hoped. The conversation flowed freely, and the laughs and jokes at each other’s expense lightened the mood even more. Aidric probably never would be great friends with Baylor and Jack, but he’d forgiven them and moved on.

  After dinner Aidric and I stepped out on the back porch with Jack and Baylor. Aidric called Marshell, told him what was going on, then simply handed his cell phone to Baylor. Baylor’s hands shook as he took it.

  Baylor might not be my favorite person either, but I was proud of him. I nudged Aidric and Jack and nodded toward the house, giving Baylor and Marshell a chance to speak privately.

  Half an hour later, Baylor returned inside, tapped Jack on the shoulder, and handed the phone to him. The two of them went back outside. I imagined Marshell also wanted to speak with Jack, considering how Jack had stalked him.

  After everyone said goodbye, Aidric and I returned to the pack house. As he rode my cock that night, demanding I not come until he was satisfied, my happiness soared. My life finally felt complete.

  TWO DAYS later the night of the full moon was upon us. Tempers flared easily during this time, and I was no different. My skin itched and felt as if it were too small. Every little thing seemed monumental. Just breathing around me was irritating.

  Shea, Temple, and I had broken up several fights already. I’d snapped at Aidric twice, and it was just barely past lunchtime. I apologized, of course, and again tried to explain how the pull of the full moon affected werewolves.

  It was early afternoon, and Aidric sat on the corner of my desk, swinging one leg freely. The motion annoyed the shit out of me, but I bit my lip so I wouldn’t say anything. The growl, unfortunately, still escaped.

  “I had no idea you guys were so touchy at this time of the month.” Aidric smirked, and I was grateful he didn’t expand on that thought. At this time of the month indeed.

  “It’s a difficult time, yes. The pull of the moon is only going to get stronger as the night gets closer.”

  “Good thing this is only once a month, huh?”

  “You have no idea.” Energy coiled in my body, and the need to shift was a living thing within me. “So about the pack run tonight.”

  “Yeah?”

  “Do you feel comfortable enough to attend?”

  Aidric paused and finally stopped swinging his leg, thank Fenrir. “I…. Is this tangible aggression I feel from you and the rest of the pack going to be better by that time?”

  “Yes. Once we can shift, things will level out.”

  “Interesting. We don’t experience this, and after watching the tempers flare around here, I’m glad we don’t.”

  “Lucky you. So? You coming with us or not?” Aidric raised his eyebrow, and I growled again. “Would you like to come with us?”

  “Will it be safe, since I’m not a wolf and you guys are hopped-up on adrenaline and bristling with aggression? And before you growl at me yet again, I want to point out how I really don’t want a repeat of the tree incident.”

  “I’ll kill anyone who so much as bares a fang toward you,” I snarled. At least it wasn’t a growl.

  “Good goddess, will you dial back the aggression a couple of levels, please? I can’t breathe for all the testosterone in here.”

  “Oh, ha-ha.” I didn’t see the point in adding I wasn’t the only male in the room. “The pack knows you and who you are. Nothing is going to happen. Besides that, I’d really like it if you were there.”

  “I can do that, then. I’m not big enough to take down something like a deer, in case you’re planning on hunting.”

  “Then aren’t you fortunate your mate is the Alpha? I feed first, and so do you.”

  “Good to know. Okay, then, I’ve got to get back to work,” Aidric said. “What time does the thing start?”

  “We’ll probably gather around nine o’clock and head out then. By the way, please stay by my side during the hunt. It’s normal for the Alpha-mate to anyway, but with the trespassers we’ve had lately, I’d prefer you near.”

  “That’s not a problem.”

  “I’ll probably stay around downstairs after we eat in case I’m needed. I’d like you to be there too.”

  “Right. The whole temper thing. I guess we can work on my technique at pool while we wait. All right, then, I’ll check by later when I’m done working. Try not to lose your temper anymore.” With a wave, Aidric left.

  Fortunately I had enough things connected to the businesses I owned to keep me busy until it was time to eat the evening meal. Shea and Temple could handle any minor disputes for now. Aidric stopped by my office right before the dinner bell rang, and we joined the rest of the werewolves who dined at the pack house.

  After we ate, several of us played pool or hung around outside. It never hurt to have our presence felt, especially with the mood of my wolves, thanks to the full moon. By almost nine o’clock, the majority of my pack members were in front of the house and ready to go.

  I had a standing arrangement with a few of the members who also had pups to keep an eye on the rest of the youngsters. Each pack run, they split up the shift so all members had a chance to at least shift and run and stretch their legs.

  “Okay, listen up! As most of you know, Meme and Delaney are not going to join us tonight.” Temple waited until the murmurs died down. “Aidric is accompanying us. Fair warning, though. The first werewolf who steps out of line concerning Aidric during this time is going to deal with our Alpha. Don’t make that necessary.”

  I scanned the crowd and let my senses expand. There were only a handful who weren’t overjoyed with Aidric being with us, but the vast majority were more than okay with it. Good. We stripped off and shifted. Once Aidric was in werecat form, he darted over to me.

  I lowered my head, and he rubbed against my muzzle, spreading his scent, and I returned the favor. The primitive side of me needed him to smell like me. My wolves shifted nervously from paw to paw, anxious to hunt as we scent marked each other.

  Some of the younger ones whined, and there were a few aborted howls. I licked Aidric’s furry ear one last time, then threw my head back. My full-throated howl echoed across the landscape. As it died off, my wolves joined in, raising the call once more.

  The night was cool, but the sky was cloudless. A stiff breeze blew through the clearing, and the dead leaves swirled on the wind. I raised my face to the silvery light. Short of my mate, nothing brought me more pleasure. Muscles bunched, I sprang forward, the wind slicing through my fur.

  My pack spread out behind me as we raced to the woods. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Aidric keeping pace with me easily. No point in telling him this wasn’t my full speed. My wolf was ecstatic, though. The full-moon light beat down upon us, my mate was by my side, and my pack was with me. Prey ran in fear before us, but for now, that wasn’t a concern.

  We wanted to run with the wind, nothing more. The restless energy that plagued me and the rest of my pack finally had an outlet. As we ran we broke into smaller groups and took different pathways through the woods.

  Each smaller group would have at least one delta with them. Shea led another group, but Temple always stayed with me. The groups stayed close enough to hear each other and render assistance if needed.

  My pack members ran off the relentless energy and played. The time to hunt would come later, once I decided it was time. One howl would bring us together. I brought my group to Dark Lake so we could relieve our thirst. As we approached the bank, everybody hung back, waiting for me to give the all clear.

  Lifting my nose to the wind, I parsed through each scent, but there was nothing here that was a danger to us. I
approached the water, and Aidric settled next to me. As we drank, the others joined us. Once Aidric and I were done, we moved away from the water and settled on the bank, Aidric curled up next to me.

  Missy and Darius were across from us. Darius stayed with us because Missy was his mate, and she was always with me during a hunt. Jack was also part of this group, which wasn’t unusual since he was my nephew.

  Thankfully the animosity between Aidric and my nephew was gone. I would’ve hated for Jack not to be here with me. Since Baylor was not a natural-born werewolf, he couldn’t shift and join us. Wes, a werewolf who was friends with Jack, was also in my group, along with Fanny, one of the cooks.

  Darius settled down next to the base of a tree while Missy and Jack tussled. Wes nosed around in the underbrush, and Fanny lay down next to Temple. Aidric and I selected a nice spot in the moonlight away from the group but still close enough. Aidric sharpened his claws on a nearby tree, then explored the area.

  In the distance I heard the howls of my other pack members. I called out, letting them know I was nearby and everything was fine. Wes suddenly raced across the area and jumped on Jack’s back. Missy abandoned the fray and settled down next to Darius as the two younger wolves nipped and snapped at each other.

  Darius wandered over and slapped one of the younger werewolves on the rump and soon found himself in the middle of their antics. The three rolled around until they managed to end up practically on top of me.

  Jack gnawed at my tail, ran around in a circle, then launched himself at me. I found myself in the middle of a free-for-all with Aidric just close enough to bat at one of us when we rolled near him. Missy and Fanny barked at us, encouraging the younger werewolves to do their best.

  Since we were so much taller than Aidric, he darted in and out between our legs, gently nipping whomever was near enough. Finally I let Wes and Jack pin me. The two werewolves pranced around the area, carrying on like they’d just won an Olympic media. Gods, to be that young again.

  Aidric wandered over, batted my ear, then settled down to clean my fur. It was possibly the best run I’d had in a long time. When Aidric got a little enthusiastic with his cleaning, I trapped him under one of my front paws and decided to return the favor. Aidric good-humoredly hissed at me and swatted my muzzle.

  My wolf found that hilarious and told Aidric all about it, yipping and barking. While this was fun, it was time to hunt. I let Aidric up and rose to my feet. The other pack members in my group turned to look at me, their ears forward. I lifted my head, getting ready to howl so the other pack members that had split off from us knew to regroup.

  But before I opened my muzzle, I scented the musky scent of wolves who were not part of my pack. How dare they? Every werewolf knew the full-moon hunt was not the time to come calling on another pack. That left only one other option as to why there were trespassers on my land. We left the lake, and as we darted in and out of the trees, I let my senses expand.

  The scent was strong, too strong, and… stagnant. That was the best way to describe it. As the thought passed through my mind, they stalked out from the shadows, eyes glowing yellow and fangs bared. I howled, the challenge rising on the air.

  My wolves would hear and come running, but in the meantime, I was outnumbered. Eight. Eight werewolves, and they were all betas. Shit. I only had one beta with me, and that was Temple. Darius was no match for a beta wolf. The smell of unknown wolves grew more distinct. I slowed to a trot.

  Three of the werewolves raced toward me and attacked. I met them in a tangle of fur, limbs, and teeth. One went for my flank, and I snarled as teeth cut through fur and skin. Fuck, that hurt. The other one bit my front foreleg. Pain shot through me, and blood flew as I shook him off. Another one tried to jump on my back, but I dodged out of the way. One swiped claws down my side, and I howled as my blood spilled again.

  A feline scream of rage echoed through the woods. Aidric. Gods, I hoped he didn’t get in the middle of this. Temple stood in front of Aidric as another wolf stalked toward my mate. Violence pumped through me as I realized what was going on.

  They were after my mate. Again. I heard snarls, and I spared a brief glance to see Darius and Missy fighting off another one to my right. Fuck. They weren’t strong enough to take on a beta. Incensed, I shook the three wolves off of me and closed in on the nearest one. I slapped him into a tree several feet away.

  He yelped as he hit the tree and fell into a heap, not getting back up. Pain radiated down my rib cage as one of the two attacking me dug his claws into my other side. Agony seared through me. Turning, I bit down hard on whatever part of him I could reach and jerked my head, blood and flesh filling my mouth.

  A wailing cry came from the injured wolf, and he momentarily backed off, blood flowing freely down his hip. I spit out the mess in my mouth and quickly scanned the area again. Jack was fighting one, and Wes and Fanny were fighting their remaining wolf. My attention was diverted again as the last one of the three who had attacked me charged. He slammed into me, fighting to get at my throat.

  Dimly I heard Darius cry out, and Missy howled in fear. Oh, fuck this shit. I was not going to lose any of my wolves. I wrestled the unknown wolf onto his back and clamped my teeth around his neck. He fought, raking his claws across my belly and opening up more wounds. Snarling, I ripped his throat out, dropped the dead body, and charged toward the wolf Darius was fighting.

  Temple was fighting his wolf and keeping him away from Aidric. Just before I slammed into the wolf Darius and Missy were fighting, Temple put the other one down and killed him. Missy backed out of the way as I attacked the one on Darius and flipped him off. Jack howled in pain, and, shaken by the anguish in his cry, I took my eyes off the wolf in front of me to find out if Jack was okay.

  The wolf had Jack pinned. I howled again as Missy raced toward them. What did I do? Darius was losing the battle with the strange wolf and was injured, but so was Jack. Temple whined pitifully, also unsure what to do. His main job was to protect my mate.

  Then my heart stopped as a small streak shot out from behind Temple and landed on the back of the wolf attacking Jack right before Missy got there. Oh Fenrir, that was Aidric. I gutted the wolf fighting Darius, his entrails trailing from my claws.

  The scent of blood, the cries of pain, and the stink of fear maddened me. Darius licked one of my wounds and whimpered. I stumbled toward where Aidric, Missy, and now Temple attacked the wolf that had Jack pinned. Finally they got him on the ground and killed him.

  Wes was standing over a whimpering wolf on the ground and growling at it with Fanny close by. That was the last one either alive or conscious. Excruciating pain flooded through me with every step I took. The ground underneath my paws squished from the blood my wolves and our attackers had shed. Low menacing growls erupted from me as I stalked toward the one Wes had pinned, and then Aidric, now in his human form, knelt beside me.

  “Oh goddess, you’re hurt.” Aidric grabbed my muzzle and turned me to face him. “You might need to shift back and forth a few times to speed the healing process. Please, my Alpha, I can’t lose you. Shift.”

  Howling in pain as I forced my body through the shift, I was still screaming when I became human. Panting, I crouched on the ground as Aidric ran his hands over me, checking my wounds.

  “Carter? Carter?”

  I focused on my mate, carefully cataloging the cuts and bruises already showing on him. I wanted to lay him down on the ground and fuss over every last one of them, but the situation still wasn’t resolved.

  “Are you okay?”

  “Me? You’re the one who took on three werewolves. Fuck. Fuck, are you okay?” Aidric yelled.

  I stood, and Aidric hovered around me, but he didn’t help. Maybe he knew that, as Alpha, I couldn’t be seen as weak, even though I was still hurting.

  “Okay, okay, you’ve got pretty significant claw marks down both sides, and those are the worst of the wounds.” Aidric’s voice shook as he checked me over. “But they’re only seeping
now. The rest aren’t so bad. You need to shift again.”

  I pulled him closer to me and kissed him hard. I wanted to kiss him all over, but there simply wasn’t time. “I’m an Alpha. I heal quicker than normal werewolves. I’m okay.”

  “Are you?” Aidric clutched at me, tears in his eyes. “Are you really?”

  “I am, I promise.” I wanted to comfort him, but I couldn’t. Not at the moment. “You can check me over to your heart’s content, but first….” I glanced around the area. Everyone but Wes was shifting.

  Missy flung herself at Darius, and he wrapped an arm around her waist.

  “What the hell was this? Son of a bitch, what a fucking mess.” Temple waved his hand at the dead, dying, or unconscious wolves. Then he stomped over to where Wes was still guarding the only conscious wolf. “Oh goody. This one is alive and awake.”

  “I don’t know what the hell is going on, but I recognize the scent of at least three of them. They’re the ones who attacked Aidric that day he went for a walk.”

  Wes growled at the trespassing werewolf.

  “You okay, Darius?” I asked.

  “Yeah, banged up, but okay.” Darius limped toward me with Missy and Fanny helping him. “Thank you for helping me.”

  “I damn sure wasn’t going to let you get killed. Any of you.” I took a deep breath. My body ached as I healed. I wasn’t back up to fighting strength yet, but I was getting there. “Jack? Are you okay too?”

  “Yeah,” Jack said. “Nothing bad.”

  “I’m glad.” I did a quick head count, then another. Shit. “There’re only seven wolves here. And I smelled eight.”

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Aidric

  I’D NEVER been as scared as I was when those three wolves attacked Carter. Every instinct I had demanded I help my mate, but I wasn’t stupid enough to get into a fight between four werewolves. I would’ve been more of a hindrance than a help.

  As it was he was already distracted by the ones fighting our pack mates. Temple standing in front of me as protection irritated me, yes, but again, I stayed out of the way. Then Jack cried out in pain, and I didn’t think. I simply reacted. Temple would probably chew my ass out later for darting away from him, and Carter might too, and they could just get over themselves. Since Keegan had come into our life, I understood how impossible it was for Missy and Darius to watch their pup get mauled.