Aidain, the housekeeper smiled. at Liulf as if he was remembering the same thing, and handed him a pewter mug half full of warm mulled wine.
“Will that be all, Alpha?”
“Life is strange, is it no’, Aidain?”
“Indeed it is, Alpha.”
“Aye. That is all. Thank ye for the fire and the wine.”
“Ye’re most welcome, Alpha.”
“I’ll no’ be thankin’ ye for the discipline though.”
Aidain chuckled and closed the door behind him.
When he was finally alone, Liulf removed his dress tartan shawl and sank down in the chair, glad to be alone. He would have liked to simply sit there unmoving for weeks, allowing the events of the past three days to seep in slowly so that he could make sense of it all. But he no longer had the luxury of indulging personal whims.
He glanced at the clock, then opened his uncle’s desk to search for Win’s phone number. Windwalker was his cousin on his mother’s side. Liulf’s aunt had met an alpha from North America when he was visiting Scotland and had returned with him. She sent Win to spend summers at Loch Maree so that the connection between families would not be lost.
Liulf and Win had been inseparable when he visited, getting into so much trouble together that Win was constantly threatened with being sent home.
“Win? ‘Tis yer favorite cousin.”
“Liulf,” Win chuckled, sounding glad for the call. “I haven’t heard from you in too long.”
“Can say the same of ye.”
“Yeah. I wouldn’t mind it if somebody would wave a magic wand and tell me I had the summer off to play around Loch Maree this year.”
“Again, I can say the same. Oft times I’d like to be a carefree pup. Did ye hear that Dunegan passed over?”
There was enough of a silent pause to answer Liulf’s question. No. He hadn’t heard.
“That’s… ah… I didn’t know.”
“’Twas sudden. We just came from the funeral. Pyre coals are still burnin’.”
“How did it…?”
“He was at Girnigoe. In wolf form. Shot by a PowerBow, but none saw anythin’.”
Again there was a lengthy silence. “Humans.”
“No doubt.”
“I’m sorry for it. I liked your uncle.” Pause. “So that must mean that Conn is alpha.”
Liulf’s mouth dropped open and his face went slack. He was stunned that Win would think Dunegan would skip over him and name Connuchur. Of all wolves! Then he heard Win chuckling and relaxed.
“And if I said aye? Would ye no’ feel foolish then?”
“If you said aye to Conn being alpha, I would know the world had come to an end.”
Liulf inhaled a big breath. “Well, that’s part of the reason for my call. Dunegan said some very strange thin’s as he was dyin’. He said I should talk to ye about them.”
“I can guess. Tell me what he said.”
“Well, ‘tis perhaps no’ word for word, but ‘twas somethin‘ about takin’ our people to a new world where we would no’ be hunted. Do ye know what he meant?”
Liulf expected Win to say that he couldn’t decipher the hallucinations of a dying man. He really wasn’t prepared to hear Win say, “Yes. I do.”
For the next hour Win told a story that sounded more like science fiction than family history. Win began by saying, “Guess who’s king of the Elk Mountain tribe?”
“Are ye, Win? I had no’ heard.”
“Guess where the old man is?”
Liulf felt his hair follicles stand on end with excitement. “He did no’ pass away?”
“No.”
“Tell me.”
“He’s gone to the place you’re asking about. Took a lot of us with him. A few stayed, including me. Cloud was pregnant with the twins and was scared about the trip. Then there was the simple fact that someone needed to stay behind and look after those who refused to go. Next time I get the chance to choose though…” He trailed off, but Liulf got the gist of how that sentence would be finished.
“Where is this new world?”
Win laughed softly. “That’s the part you’re not going to believe.”
Win was right. It took some time for him to convince Liulf that he was telling the truth, that the planet to which our reality is anchored consists of many dimensions existing side by side, that there are a few creatures who are able to travel between them at will, some of them who work for The Order of the Black Swan. And that werewolves had migrated and colonized one of the alternate dimensions thousands of years ago. They had opted out of trying to share a world with humans, even at a time when there weren’t enough humans on the entire planet to fill New York City.
Win said he could get in touch with someone he knew at Black Swan and ask them to contact him. He told Liulf not to be surprised if he was paid a visit in person.
Liulf brought the mulled wine to his lips while he stared into the fire. He lifted his head when he heard a knock at the door. Conn and Ken entered and closed the door behind them.
“Ye knocked,” Liulf announced, half amazed.
“Aye, well, yer alpha now,” Conn said with a half grin. Liulf snorted and turned back to the fire. “So what did Win say?”
‘Preposterous fantasies.”
“No. Really.”
Liulf looked from one brother to the other. “Let me sit on it for a day or two.”
Conn turned to Ken. “He’s officially been alpha for an hour and he’s already got secrets.”
Ken smiled. “Heavy is the head and all that.” He rose like he was about to leave. “Meat and bread in the kitchen. ‘Twas good if ye’re hungry.”
“I may wander there in a bit.”
“I’m turnin’ in. Will ye be wantin’ me to head back to Girnigoe in the mornin’?”
“No’ just yet. Let me see how this thin’ with Win comes about and then we’ll decide.”
“Very well. G’night, Alpha.”
“Stop it,” he chided at Ken, suddenly feeling centuries, rather than minutes, older.
Conn left a few minutes later. When the mug was empty, Liulf climbed the stairs to the bedrooms. The alpha’s house was more home to the Cu Ahlee brothers than any other place on earth. When Liulf reached Dunegan’s chamber, he stood outside for a while before opening the door. Then he stood inside the alpha’s private bedroom for a longer while trying to imagine himself occupying that room. Eventually he concluded that he would never feel at home in the alpha’s chamber and went down the hall to the room that had been designated his when he was at Loch Maree. He fell on top of the bed without undressing and immediately slipped into a deep slumber with vivid dreams of other worlds.
CHAPTER 2
The next thing he knew a bright female voice was saying, “Wakey. Wakey. Rise and shine!”
Liulf opened his eyes to find a strange woman standing at the foot of his bed. His first thought was to wonder how she got past the night servants. He glanced at the door and saw that it was closed.
“Who are ye and how did ye get…?”
She held up a pair of handcuffs padded with what appeared to be sheepskin, dyed purple and gave him a winning smile.
“Want to go for a ride?”
He sniffed. She wasn’t human nor was she elf or fae. She wasn’t anything he’d encountered before, but she did cut a fine feminine form with emerald green eyes and the dark curly hair of a wilding. Perhaps there were benefits to being alpha he hadn’t known about. He was on board with an early morning tumble and considering the possible uses of handcuffs, but decided he should take the prudent approach.
“Let me add a few questions to the rapidly growin’ list and I would strongly encourage ye to answer this time. “Who are ye? What are ye? How did ye get in here? And what are ye plannin’ to do with those?”
“You wake up in a foul mood, don’t you? You sound more like a bear rising from hibernation than a werewolf who had a good night’s sleep.” She looked him over. “In his clothes,
” she added drily. ”And I like a kilt as much as the next woman, but yours is ooching upward and I’m a married woman so…” She waved her finger toward where his privates were partially exposed.
At least she had answered the question as to whether or not the visit had carnal intentions. He pushed his kilt down to preserve her modesty and waited.
“I’m Litha Liberty Brandywine Storm. I work for Black Swan. I’m half witch, half demon. I got in here using the same process that’s going to take you to scout Lunark Dimension. Winwalker Grey… he’s your cousin, right? Says you’re hoping for an exploratory mission. I’m your ride. These handcuffs are to make sure you don’t get lost somewhere en route. My idiot father lost my husband a few years ago and it was the very devil finding him and getting him back. Since then, we use handcuffs for insurance. Just think of it as a safety feature.”
Liulf was halfway wishing she hadn’t answered his questions. “I’m gettin’ up now.”
“Please do. I haven’t got all day.”
He towered over the intruder. “If ‘twill no’ be overly inconveniencin’ ye, I need to relieve myself of some well-processed mulled wine.” He ran his tongue around his mouth and found he didn’t like the morning after taste. “When I return, we shall discuss this ‘ride’ ye speak of.” He turned at the door in time to catch her yawning. “I’d offer ye a coffee or tea, but I am no’ yet ready to reveal the details of this… em, adventure, to my brothers. So if ye would no’ mind waitin’ here.” She wiggled her head on her shoulders in a gesture that was neither a shake nor a nod. He took it as acquiescence. “Ye know, I’ve ne’er met a half witch or a half demon and I’m suddenly feelin’ that, since ye claim to be both, ye have me at a disadvantage.”
“Don’t be afraid.”
His face clouded over with a glare as he gritted out, “I did no’ say I am afraid.”
“Good. There’s nothing to worry about. I’m married to a Black Swan knight.“
He stared at her for a moment longer before slipping through the door while being careful that no one saw the visitor.
Litha sat down on the unmade bed and twirled the handcuffs, looking around the sparse room while she waited. When Liulf returned, he closed the door, locked it, and leaned back against it with his arms crossed over his chest.
“Ready?” she asked.
“Do ye no’ have any words of preparation for me? Do ye typically just grab people from a sound sleep withou’ explanation? Wavin’ fuzzy purple restraints about in the air? And expect them to trust ye with…”
“Interdimensional travel? Well, I wouldn’t say that giving newbies rides through the passes is exactly typical, but I have done it many times. What would you like to know?”
“How likely is it that I will be comin’ back here to this room? Shortly and in one piece?”
“One hundred percent.”
“Well, now that is comfortin’. Would ye say that my dress is appropriate?”
She looked him over. “Sure. You look fine for somebody who slept in their getup. So you ready?”
In fact he wasn’t ready and he didn’t like having his formal clothing referred to as a “getup”, but he was self-aware enough to know that another hundred questions and answers were not going to make him more ready.
He eyed the handcuffs suspiciously. “Which hand do ye want?”
“Left.”
He held his left arm up. No sooner did he hear the chink of the cuff being snapped than he was in a grayish rosy fog so thick and murky that he couldn’t make anything out. Not even the woman who took him from his home. He took little comfort in knowing that he’d lose all credibility as alpha if he admitted to either willingly embarking on such an insane course of action or being taken forcibly.
Between not being able to get any perspective on where he was and the sensation of traveling very fast, without moving feet, he began to feel unwell. When his brain caught up to the fact that his feet weren’t moving, they made a pitiful, ineffective attempt to participate in forward momentum even if there was no frame of reference for the mobility.
Dizziness followed and nausea soon after that. He was just about to notify his abductor that vomit was eminent, when they came to an abrupt halt on a pleasant-smelling grassy berm. Having become unused to standing on his feet – even in the short time they’d been underway, Liulf concluded the experience by promptly collapsing on his rear end.
He looked around quickly, not to see if anyone had witnessed the tumble, but to reestablish his equilibrium. At least that was the story he’d be telling.
After getting to his feet, Liulf found that bending over with hands above knees helped with both the nausea and dizziness. After a rapid succession of deep breaths and a string of assurances by Litha Something Something Something that he would be fine, he felt a slap on his back and heard a friendly laugh.
“He’s all yours,” she was saying. “When do you want me to pick him up?”
“Give us the day,” replied a deep gravelly voice that was vaguely familiar. “And thank you.”
“Sure. You want me to bring anything when I come back?”
“Dark chocolate. Much as you can carry.”
“You’re a fan of chocolate?”
“No. That would be Luna. You could be indirectly responsible for making me an extraordinarily happy wolf.” He wiggled his eyebrows.
Litha laughed. “Okay. Just as long as it’s for Luna and there’s no selfish motive involved. Later.” And she was gone.
“Liulf. You okay now? Come to the cabin and let Luna have a look at you. She’s marvelous with curing ailments.”
“Uncle?” Liulf let Stalkson Grey help him to his feet.
“Welcome to New Elk Mountain.”
Stalkson Grey was Liulf’s uncle by marriage on his mother’s side. He was Win’s father and also alpha of the part of the Elk Mountain tribe that chose to migrate to the new world in a dimension they were told was called Lunark. Liulf spent the next hour with his uncle’s second mate, Luna, and their twin girls. The beautiful little girls had black hair like their mother and gray eyes like their father. Liulf wasn’t sure about intermarriage with other biped species, but he was certain the lassies were cute as could be.
“So ye like it here?” asked Liulf.
Stalkson confirmed that he and the members of the Elk Mountain Tribe who had chosen to migrate four years before were happy and had no regrets.
“Sorry to hear about Dunegan. I was told he was a good leader. As I know you will be, Liulf,” Grey said as he showed Liulf around the settlement they’d built on a treed hillside next to a lake that was impossibly blue.
Changing the subject, Liulf asked, “What is this ye be wearin’?”
Grey looked down as if he wasn’t sure what he was wearing. “Doeskin pants. You should try them. I got the idea from a demon.”
Liulf scowled. “Demon?”
Stalkson Grey laughed. “Hmmm. Litha’s sire, as a matter of fact. It turns out that we’re not the strangest creatures in the universe. Not by a fathom. Who would have guessed?” Stalkson picked up one of his little girls and gave her a kiss on the cheek while she smiled at Liulf in a way far too fetching and knowing for a three-year-old. “Maybe you’ll meet him. Sometimes he drops by to aggravate me.”
Liulf scoffed. “Aggravate ye? He must have a death wish.”
Grey laughed. “Wouldn’t do him any good. I don’t think he can die.”
Liulf cocked his head. “He’s a real demon? Immortal?”
“The real deal and an incubus. His idea of a good time is telling me he’s going to sex up my daughters someday. One time he started to take his cock out of his pants to show them what they have to look forward to.”
“’Tis different from ours?”
“No. Not really.”
“Well, then it’s nothin’ they have no’ seen, but talkin’ about the wee lassies like that? ‘Tis perverted.”
“It would be if he meant it. You’d have to know him. He just like
s to rile people up.”
“Sounds… demonic.”
Stalkson chuckled. “Luna didn’t like it either. She hit him full force with a hot iron fire poker and told him to never come near us again.”
“Has a temper for a human, does she?”
“Hmmm. Didn’t leave a mark though. He laughed at her.” Stalkson grinned at that and motioned for Liulf to walk with him as he started toward the edge of the New Elk Mountain village.
Liulf could tell that Stalkson Grey was pleased with what his tribe had built in the new world. As he showed his nephew around the settlement he engaged various members of the pack with easy conversation and pointed out the various innovations they had devised to make life optimal for werewolves.
“The original colony, New Gaul, is in the south. I chose this land to the west because of the hills, trees, and the lake. I knew my people would be reminded of Coeur d'Alene and feel at home.
“I don’t want to mislead you and say it’s easy. It’s not. It’s a tradeoff. We gave up electricity and engines in favor of living in a place with good air and water and quiet. Best of all, no humans. No guns. The only weapons that are allowed are those that operate with muscle power.” Liulf realized they had circled back to the starting point outside his uncle’s house. Grey cast Liulf a sideways glance. “There’s unoccupied territory to the north that reminds me of the Scotia Highlands. If you’re on a scouting mission, I’ll take you.”
Liulf looked to the left, to the right, and then finally at Grey. “Aye. If it would no’ trouble ye.”
“Well, then.” Grey smiled with a light in his eye that could have been pleasure or could have been pride. “Show me your wolf.”
Liulf’s brows went up in question.
Liulf: Alpha of the Mahdrah Ahlee, New Scotia Highlander Werewolves: A Paranormal Romance (The Brothers Cu Ahlee Book 1) Page 2
