by SJ Himes
Ghost cast Gabe a sideways glance as the young alpha shifted, his golden-skinned hands growing white at the knuckles as he worried his fingers together. Ghost leaned a little to the side and nudged Gabe with his shoulder, earning him a quick, surprised glimpse of moss-green eyes before Gabe looked away. Ghost did it again, and that garnered him a very small smile from the young alpha.
“Why aren’t you mad at me?” Gabe asked suddenly, and Ghost turned, pulling his legs back through the railing so he could face Gabe more comfortably.
“Why would I be mad at you?” he replied, carefully watching Gabe’s facial expressions.
“You knocked me out when I lost control, and instead of getting a lecture or a beating from the Clan Leader or the Heir when I wake up, I get my mom and a crazy shaman asking me if I’m okay,” Gabe said, clearly confused. Ghost assumed he was the crazy shaman and giggled, grinning.
Gabe gave him a look that said he really did think Ghost insane, and Ghost laughed some more. He settled down after a minute and gave Gabe a half-hug, the young alpha staying stiff for a minute before relaxing.
“You’re hurt, Gabe. Injured in your soul and spirit. You have hurts that I can’t heal, but I can help you. That means not punishing you for things over which you have no control. I could tell you had no idea that you had the Voice. You didn’t know that the gift was rising in you. So I stopped you, instead of Kane or Andromeda doing it. Their way would have been painful and bloody, on everyone’s side. Which meant knocking you out.”
“Huh,” Gabe exhaled and went back to watching the activity going on below. “Is it true you spent the last fifteen years as a wolf and only just learned to Change back?”
“Very true,” Ghost confirmed and leaned toward the railing when he caught sight of Kane and Gerald below in the yard, the two alphas talking. Their words were lost in the winds, but whatever it was, it was serious from both wolfkins’ expressions. “More like fourteen years and six months, but then I have trouble counting. Fourteen does come after thirteen, right?”
Gabe laughed at that and nodded, eyes glinting. His smile stayed longer, and Ghost cheered internally at the sight.
“In fact, this is the longest time I’ve gone in years without hunting for my own food or going for a run through the woods. I’m feeling itchy,” Ghost mused, his whole body suddenly aching to feel the wind in his fur, the snow under his paws, and the cold rush of flying through the trees after prey.
“I haven’t gone on a run in weeks,” Gabe said, looking hopeful. “I wasn’t able to Change because of the silver poisoning, but you took care of that. Think we can go on a run before the storm sets in?”
“Sure,” Ghost said, climbing to his feet. “I hope I don’t get stuck again, that would be really embarrassing.”
“Stuck? How does that happen?” Gabe asked curiously, following Ghost as he led the way back inside, heading for the stairs. They passed two Black Pine betas, and a steady stream of Red Fern betas filling the halls, the sound of many wolves running up and down the stairs loud in the great wooden structure.
“Very long story. Short version is I Changed too early, under bad circumstances, and I had no one to show me how to get back. I eventually gave up and stopped trying,” Ghost said, as Gabe gaped at him, surprise writ on his golden features.
“Stopped trying?” Gabe asked, incredulous. “Why did you stop trying?”
“I was afraid,” he replied. There were multiple betas climbing the stairs with their arms full of supplies. Ghost was too impatient to wait, he wanted to get out of the cabin and feel the wind. Ghost sprinted down the stairs, Gabe on his heels, and they jumped over the railing at the landing, boots smacking the floor of the foyer. The betas climbing up spared them an amused glance before continuing on their way. He would be so happy to stop wearing clothes for a few hours.
“Afraid of what?” Gabe went to open the front door, but Ghost gave it a mental nudge and it opened with a snick, the wind pouring into the foyer. Gabe missed a step, but regained his stride and followed Ghost out of the cabin. Kane and Gerald looked up at them as they came outside, and Ghost spared the door one last thought as he shut it against the wind.
“I was afraid of lots of things. Afraid I would Change back, and then deal with my humans learning I wasn’t an animal. Afraid I wouldn’t be able to Change, and that I would be nothing but an animal the rest of my life, cut off from my people and alone. I was just afraid, and so I crippled myself.”
“Fear held you back,” Gabe said, staring at Ghost with an odd expression on his face.
“Yes, it did,” Ghost nodded, and they walked down the path to his mate and uncle. Gabe was almost hiding behind Ghost as they approached the two older alphas.
“Thank you for helping Sophia last night,” Kane was saying to Gerald, his uncle trying to hide his pleased expression at the Heir’s praise. Ghost cheered internally, gladdened to see his uncle slowly losing the gloomy air he carried with him. He didn’t know what it was that gave Gerald that sour and unhappy demeanor, but it was quickly fading away by the hour.
“If you need me to help again, just ask,” Gerald said, gruff and to the point, valiantly trying to keep the happiness out of his voice. His uncle saw them coming and wiped the small grin from his lips. Kane was clearly upset by the time Gabe and Ghost got to their side.
“What are you two thinking?” Kane asked, glowering. “He shouldn’t be out of the house unattended,” Kane pointed at Gabe, who blushed and dropped his head, “and it’s not safe for you, little wolf. Roman and Remus want you, and it’s not to reminisce over the last fifteen years. Get back in the cabin.”
Gabe nodded and went to walk back up the path, but Ghost grabbed his arm and stopped him.
“No,” Ghost said, calm. He gave Gerald a smile when his uncle looked like he might choke on his tongue, and then went back to smiling at his mate. Kane was surprised and frowned at him. Kane opened his mouth, but Ghost popped up on his toes and kissed him.
Kane pulled him in. Big arms held him, cradled him close, demanding tongue sliding over his own, his mate’s scent and taste filling his senses. He put his arms around Kane’s neck and kissed him back, quickly learning what his mate liked through their link.
The kiss went on for a few minutes, until the awkward shuffling of the two alphas nearby brought them back to reality. Kane put him down and made to pull him close to his side, but Ghost shook his head and gave his mate a big smile. Kane frowned and reached for him again.
“Gabe and I are going for a run,” Ghost said, taking a step back out of Kane’s reach. His mate growled, but subsided when Ghost stayed an arm’s length away. “Gabe won’t be alone, he’ll be with me. His gift cannot hurt me, so I’m the safest person for him to be with anyway. River is too busy dealing with his other duties to watch Gabe. And I need to run. I’m not used to wearing clothes and boots, and I want the snow under my paws.”
“Little wolf,” Kane started, but Ghost rolled his eyes, knowing what Kane was going to say.
“Kane, you can’t come with us, you have things to do here. Uncle Gerald can keep an eye on us both,” Ghost said with a quick wink to his uncle, privately pleased he could manage the tricky human expression. Gerald looked like he wanted to object, eyeing Kane warily. Kane grumbled about stubborn shamans but nodded.
“River said the storm will hit in about two hours. You have one hour to stretch your legs, then all three of you are to come back here.” Ghost yelped when Kane suddenly grabbed him and pulled him in for a quick plundering of his mouth before setting him back on his feet, dazed. “One hour, little wolf, and then I’m coming after you.”
“Yes!” Ghost grinned in victory, and in his excitement, called to his power.
A lightning storm of silver-white mist eclipsed his vision, and his clothing fell to the snow. He thought of the form that felt more like himself than the human one did, the form he wore for yea
rs and years, and it answered, his power shaping his reality and forging him anew.
Four paws settled to the earth, and he opened his eyes as he pulled the cloud full of miniature stars and lightning back inside, the power flaring as it was absorbed back under his skin. He sniffed at his boots, thinking he may have been a bit too eager to Change. He shook out his thick fur and ducked his head, picking up his boots in his teeth.
Laughter and groans met his ears. Kane was shaking his head and laughing so hard he was crying, and Gabe and Gerald were staring at him, as were most of the Red Fern wolves and the Black Pine sentries stationed around the cabin. He wagged his tail and sprinted for the porch, dropping his boots on the steps and returning for his shirt and pants. His socks had stayed in his boots when he dematerialized during his transition, so thankfully he didn’t need to pick those out of the snow, but his shirt and pants were getting wet. He dropped his clothes beside his boots and went back to Kane.
“Little wolf, please don’t be scaring the locals like that,” Kane said through his laughter, but he bent down and pressed a kiss to the spot between Ghost’s eyes. His mate appeared to be proud of him despite his chiding words. “I guess that answered the question about how your transformation will go from now on.”
Ghost yipped and danced on his paws, feeling slightly abashed at his eagerness. The Red Fern wolves were still actively staring, and the Black Pine guards were casting him nervous glances as they returned their attention to their duties. Gabe shook himself out of his shock and started walking for the tree line, obviously intending to Change in private. Gerald went after him when Kane waved a big hand at him, and Ghost gave his mate one last look before following, claws digging into the thick snow crust.
ROMAN STOOD in front of his wolves, lesser alphas and former first betas, all wolfkin stripped of position in their former packs and clans. Exiles and criminals, some murderers before they came into his employ. They were his, all for the chance to become more than Nature and Goddess decreed at their births. Twenty wolves, the ragged and bitter dregs of their kind, dangerous and aggressive beasts that delighted in misery and pain, they looked to him for money, power…and the chance for revenge.
Simon leaned against the door behind him, the moon lighting the human clearly, his skin burnished bone-white by the light, but for where the blood leaked past the soaked handkerchief he was pressing to his shoulder. Roman huffed in satisfaction, glad he took the time to bite the fangless worm again before calling in his wolves. Let them see his new place of power, with the human now his bitch. If Simon behaved, he might even let him get dressed.
“We go in, now, tonight,” Roman growled, and his wolves, all in their wolf-forms, shifted on massive paws and grumbled, jaws dropping, fangs flashing in the moonlight. A kaleidoscope of gem-colored eyes reflected back the light, all eager for blood. They spent too long hunting the easy pickings of their kind, using human weapons to incapacitate and kill, and not enough time tearing apart their prey and enemies with fang and claw. “Caius—,” he snarled the name to an answering growl from his wolves, “—is coming in the morning. Black Pine’s Clan Leader is sure to be bringing reinforcements, and we need to get into Red Fern, get the shaman and the Heir. Before Caius arrives.”
“What good will it do to send wolves after a greater alpha with the Voice?” Simon sneered, shivering in the cold, bitter air. After his run in with the gray shaman, Simon was now apparently a believer in the gifts of wolfkin. “You send them after Kane, especially after we tried to blow up his wolves, and he won’t bother killing you. He’ll just tell you to kill each other.”
The wolves in the snow shifted, their attention passing from him to Simon and back. He sent the human male a look that made him snap his mouth shut and send his gaze to the ground. Satisfied Simon was cowed, he returned his attention to the wolves, who had unfortunately all heard the human.
“By not sending wolves after him at all, that’s how,” Roman scoffed and threw back his shoulders, lifting his head higher. One greater alpha, while formidable, was not invincible. Kane could be defeated, and not by another wolfkin. “I will be leading the attack on the Clan Bitch’s cabin, where our spy said the shaman Luca was staying. Shaman River should be there as well, since that pale-haired pussy never steps far from his sister’s shadow.”
One of the wolves in the back let out a nasty moan, and the Change rolled through him. A lean, homely man with thin features and a wraith-like cast to his body kneeled in the snow and hacked at the cold air entering his lungs. Roman growled at this show of disregard for his status, since he’d ordered the wolves who answered to him to all stay in their wolf-forms. The former First Beta of a minor lesser clan from the Midwest laughed and sent him a twisted smile.
“So we’ll die attacking the White Wolf instead of the great and powerful Kane?”
Roman took a step forward, hands clenched, before he could stop himself. “The White Wolf!” he spat, the words tumbling from his throat as anger pooled in his gut. “She is naught but a haughty bitch who plays at being an alpha. She is a beta, and a fucking female! A she-bitch! Red Fern is a clan of betas, and the only strength there is the borrowed might of Black Pine!”
Roman pulled in a breath and held it, trying to calm himself. None of the wolves present knew that Andromeda once defeated him in combat over fifty years prior. If he was lucky, she would spend her time either chasing humans at the park border or tearing his wolves apart while he got the shamans, leaving him alone as he escaped with his prizes.
“The humans will attack the perimeter near the gates, and Kane and Black Pine will respond. The humans will keep most of the park residents occupied while we come in from the opposite side and head for the fancy wood shack the She-Bitch uses as her clan house. River and Luca should be there, since they have the throwaway wolfkin we left behind with the human slavers in Worcester. Simon and his men will overwhelm Kane and his wolves, and once the Heir is down, they’ll retreat with him in tow.”
“Attack shamans with fang and claw? This ought to be fun,” sneered the thin beta, who snarled back at Roman as he tried to quell the other wolf with glare. “Of course, it’s preferable to going up against the Heir or the White Wolf.”
“Shamans don’t use their gifts to harm wolfkin,” Roman said. “I haven’t heard of a shaman ever using his abilities against one of his own kind in centuries. By the time Shaman River and the whelp realize we’re there, we’ll have them hog-tied and halfway back to the border.”
Roman ignored the laughing, bleeding human behind him and called to his wolf-form, losing himself to the Change. He wanted blood. He would have it, even if he had to sacrifice his wolves to do it. Better them than him.
GHOST RAN, tail flagging as he dodged around a tree and poured more speed into his legs. The white rabbit was inches from his muzzle, Gerald and Gabe a few lengths behind him.
Neither alpha was as fast as Ghost, nor as nimble on their feet. Ghost sensed their frustration as he outstripped them at every turn, both alphas’ pride twinging as he made that final push and caught the rabbit. One hard shake, and the rabbit stilled in his mouth, spine broken.
He lifted his prize, tail high, as Gerald and Gabe caught up to him. He waved his tail lazily, laughing inside as Gerald grumbled at him. The older alpha was a huge beast, dark and brown in alternating patterns, stocky and heavily muscled. His eyes were dark liquid pools, alight for once with something like happiness, even as he panted from the fierce sprint Ghost put them through. Gabe was leaner and a solid black, though not as dark as Kane’s wolf-form. There were a few streaks of gray on his lower jaw and throat, and his eyes were a brilliant green.
Gabe threw himself to the ground, big body displacing wet snow with a crunch, and Gerald went sniffing nearby among the pines, looking for his own snack.
*You are very fast,* Gabe said with a cool breeze of thought. *I thought I was fast, but you left me in the dust. You’re faster tha
n most alphas.*
*Years of running on four feet instead of two?* Gerald’s disgruntled voice offered, even though he was just out of sight past the pines. Ghost wagged his tail, laughing mentally at his uncle’s snarky tone.
*Been hunting my own food for years. Never got enough at the sanctuary. Cat always wanted to feed me cold dead cow from the butcher or dog food. I got faster out of necessity.*
*They starved you?* Gerald growled, and the big alpha rambled back out from the pines to stand over his nephew. That wouldn’t do. No one needed to be mad at Cat and Glen for thinking him an animal instead of a sentient individual.
*No. They just couldn’t feed me enough. I ate three times more than the other wolves there. Cat and Glen had trouble buying enough food for the regular wolves, I didn’t want to be a burden. I ate a lot deer and rabbit.*
*You were a pet?* said Gabe, curious, his sleek black head tilted to look at Ghost where he ate his rabbit. The meat was succulent and delicious, still hot from the chase.
*Kinda. I wasn’t treated badly, and other than trying to make me wear a collar when I was a pup, they never tried to restrain me. I always got out, and they stopped once they realized I wouldn’t go too far. Had nowhere else to go, since I couldn’t remember where I was from or how to get back.*
He sensed Gabe was curious, wanting to know more, but the young alpha restrained himself. Ghost nibbled on his rabbit and nudged the heavily muscled hind section toward the other wolfkin. Gabe eyed him like he was expecting to get bit for even looking at the rabbit remains, but Ghost insisted and Gabe leaned out his muzzle, nipping a leg piece and chewing happily, tail thumping a few times in the snow.
