by SJ Himes
“But I think he can have visitors,” Andromeda stated, and neither alpha gainsaid her as she walked to Burke and Ghost. She took their hands, towing them behind her as she headed for the kitchen. “I think our lonesome alpha needs something to eat. I’ll take Kane some breakfast, and some company. You two can carry his food for me.”
“Yes, ma’am.” Burke knew when it was best to agree.
The Day Before
It took Andromeda’s presence to keep Ghost from running ahead. Laden with several pounds of raw steak, Ghost and Burke trudged through the snow behind the lithe clan leader. Burke toted a gallon of fresh water and a clean dinner bowl, and Ghost was reminded strongly of his years spent as a wolf.
A large shadow peeled off from the trees, stepping in their path. Andromeda didn’t even pause, just swept past the greater alpha standing guard as if he were part of the scenery. A hulking brute with dark gray and brown markings, he growled low in his chest at the effrontery, though made no move to intercept the Red Fern clan leader as she led the way to Kane’s prison.
Ghost’s control broke the second the cage came into view, and he ran for his mate. Kane surged to his feet, pushing his muzzle through the bars as best he could, a sharp, short whine escaping. Ghost threw himself to his knees in the snow, arms winding through the bars to wrap around Kane’s thick neck. Hot breath frosted the air and blew across his neck, Kane scenting him and licking his skin, wet nose snuffling. Ghost tipped his head and let Kane have his way, his larger mate examining every inch he could reach through the bars. Ghost pressed as close as he could, laughing in delight when Kane lowered his nose and breathed deep against his lower abdomen. It tickled, and Kane did it again.
*My little wolf,* Kane whispered in his mind, the words so soft they were closer to sensations than anything else. A yearning so intense that tears came too his eyes rose in Ghost, and he pressed his forehead to Kane’s, indifferent to the rust and dirt that fell from the ancient bars.
*Kane!* Ghost cried out, fingers clutching his mate’s thick black fur. Kane smelled of musk, sex, and blood, and his body stirred despite the circumstances. *Miss you, need you.*
*Missed you too, my mate,* Kane replied, and Ghost kneaded at the firm muscles under his fingers, making Kane rumble at his ministrations.
A smoke-smooth chuckle came from behind them, and a bare toe nudged Ghost’s thigh. Ghost pulled back, and hurriedly scrambled for the plastic container piled high with meat. He pried off the top and lifted high a choice cut of venison, presenting it to his mate. Kane gave him a fond glance from one large eye, before snapping his jaws and devouring the hunk of meat in one swift bite. Ghost took a quick, appreciative lick of the blood his fingers before reaching for another steak, feeding Kane by hand. It was intimate, and somehow it felt like just the two of them, wolves wild and free under the sun.
*Thank you, Ghost,* Kane said as he licked Ghost’s fingers, his long, hot agile tongue cleaning every drop of fluid left behind. Ghost’s body burned—he needed, he ached, and he wanted to howl his frustrations to the moon, tear the bars from the earth and burrow beneath Kane’s large and powerful frame, safe from friend and foe alike.
Burke knelt beside him, and Ghost regretfully pulled his arm away and sat back on his heels. Burke gave Kane a small, rueful smile, and slid the dinner bowl into the cage sideways before pouring fresh water through the bars. “Sorry it has to be this way, brother. But we have news.”
“I am sorry—I was so excited to see you I forgot! Kane, you’re not guilty!” Ghost declared eagerly, earning him chuckles from both Andromeda and Burke. Kane tilted his head in confusion, poking his nose at the bars of his cage, and Andromeda clarified.
“The Tribunal was given testimony by the shamans that your bond to Ghost is indeed Goddess-forged, and therefore you are innocent of blasphemy. Heromindes has not dropped his charge against you for improper use of the Voice. For that, the Tribunal will still meet tomorrow as planned.”
Kane growled low in throat, Ghost echoing the sentiment. His relief at the blasphemy charge being dropped was so strong that he felt extreme aggravation at the remaining charge against his mate. Kane spoke to them all next, his own frustrations heavy in his mental touch. *That was faster than I expected. Why am I still caged?*
“Better you are behind bars than free to be Challenged by an angry and embarrassed Clan Leader. Hero is no match for you, but Black Pine needs you as Heir, not as Ashland’s new alpha. Bid your time for another night—they decide tomorrow in regards to the last charge. It helps that Mercuriel is eager to return home, and that Julian is as impatient and self-centered as always. Their impatience will spur the other three into action.”
“What is the punishment for illegal use of the Voice?” Burke asked next, nudging the bowl towards his alpha to drink. Kane grumbled but lowered his head and sated his thirst. “I don’t think I’ve ever heard of it being levied against an alpha with the Voice before.”
“It’s an old Law, one meant to prevent the usurpation of one clan by another, causing upheaval. A Challenge between a Clan Leader to another, or one of comparable rank, such as an Heir, are the only times it is sanctioned to be used on a Clan Leader. There are Clan Leaders out there in the world without the Voice—and they are suited to their places, whereas a greater alpha with the Voice but no moral compass would be devastating as Clan Leader. The Voice, as you know, can be used by any alpha or clan leader upon their own wolves, but never on an out-Clan wolf. When Kane used it on Heromindes, it was both accidental and necessary—but outside of a Challenge, Kane broke the Law. The punishment is not death—but he can still die.”
“What?” Ghost demanded, sick of the explanations and needing a direct answer. His hands buried themselves in the thick scruff of Kane’s neck and clung. Andromeda stood over him, a white wraith in the long shadows, her blonde tresses lifting in a faint breeze.
“I have seen the punishments range from a whipping, docking, and banishment. Even a turn in the Pit.” Andromeda’s words sank into Ghost’s heart, and he curled his fingers tighter. Kane gave him a lick across his cheek, trying to reassure him, but Ghost was appalled.
“What is docking! Whipping! And they call me a feral creature!” Ghost was at a loss, his stomach roiling. “Tell me what docking is!”
*They would make me take wolf form, then cut off my tail. Sometimes, a paw or even an eye is taken.* Kane told him, calm and cold, as if the act wasn’t a possibility to be faced. Ghost caught an image from his mate of what that would look like, and stumbled away a step, vomiting onto the frozen earth.
“I will destroy them all if they tried it! That’s far more evil than whatever crime it could be punishing!” Ghost sobbed as he threw up again, nothing but bile left in his belly. Burke knelt behind him and rubbed his back, Kane watching him worriedly from behind the bars of his cage. “How could our people do something like that?”
Andromeda shrugged, her features expressionless, but her eyes glowed an eerie blue in the darkness under the trees. “We are both human and wolf—the ruthlessness of one is fueled by the imagination of the other. Atrocities are not owned purely by the humans, regardless of what our younglings are taught today.”
“Will they…are they…” Ghost tried to crawl back to Kane’s side, his body shaking. Burke picked him up, then sat them both beside the bars. Ghost huddled on Burke’s lap while Kane nuzzled his face. Burke was warm, and despite his immunity to the cold, Ghost was thankful for the support and comfort of shared body heat.
“I will do my best to advise them away from such an act, youngling. And you have Caius and Royrick on your side—neither of them has condoned such barbarity in the past, and have spoken out against it many times. But—the Tribunal is likely to find Kane guilty.”
Ghost buried his face in Kane’s scruff, breathing his mate in, trying to fill his whole body with Kane. His warmth, his strength, the feel of his fur, the thrumming of his h
eart.
Burke hugged him close, curling around him, and Kane gave him kisses across his cheeks. Ghost refused to believe such horror would fall upon his mate. *I won’t let them harm you. I will not.*
*Not even I am above the Law,* Kane answered, and he seemed resigned. Ghost smacked his nose, then went back to snuggling as best he could.
“I’ll come fetch you in a while, younglings. Take your time,” Andromeda murmured. She then addressed the witnesses in the trees. “And no one will bother you, or face me.”
Not a growl or displeased rumble to be heard, only the wind. Andromeda melted away into forest, leaving them alone. Ghost felt a measure of hope, sandwiched as he was between the two alphas.
The Tribunal
Dawn broke cold and brittle, fragile as a last breath. He watched the sun rise high over the mountains, burning so brightly it stole his vision before the soothing warmth of piled wolves lulled him into dozing.
He woke when Sophia, in her wilder form, slipped from beneath his head and changed back into a woman, picking her way over the jumbled Black Pine wolves. She went around the corner, and Ghost went back to watching the sun move over Baxter. Noon was soon approaching, and the wolves around him were awake, but none made to leave. Burke was at his back, Gerald at his side, and Sophia had served as his pillow most of the night.
Andromeda had returned for them late the previous evening. Ghost cringed, whining quietly when he remembered clawing at Burke’s arms, determined to stay with his mate, terrified the next time he would see Kane it would be to find him cruelly mutilated. Burke carried him from the woods, making no mention of when Ghost fell limp in his embrace, his human body learning again how to sob uncontrollably, his composure fractured at last. With every step from Kane, Ghost felt his mental foundation crumble, shatter, and he was a mess of emotions and tangled thoughts.
His memory was foggy after shifting, the change rolling over him faster than thought, his instinct to return to the form he knew best. Soon after, he found himself covered in Black Pine wolves, those wolfkin who followed Kane with love and devotion, bolstering his faith and mental reserves.
Ghost sensed that Kane was still sleeping, his mate reserving his strength for whatever may come when the sun reached its zenith.
“Burke.” Sophia was back at the doorway to the living room looking anxious, hands fisted at her sides. Burke, in his wilder form a large wolf with a dark chocolate coat, lifted from Ghost’s side and stepped around them, claws clicking on the hardwood floor. Gerald grumbled and pushed closer to Ghost, and they both watched as Burke changed back to his human form and spoke quietly to Sophia. A moment, no more, but the stiffening of Burke’s shoulders and the way he looked back at them told Ghost it was time.
He stood, staying as a wolf, and Gerald rose at his side. The remaining Black Pine wolves stood and changed back, reaching for clothes discarded in the night. Burke came back, digging through the tangled clothing on the couch, pulling his out a piece at a time. Burke sat to tug on his boots. “The Tribunal is convening. It’s time.”
He stood in a pair of borrowed jeans and a V-neck tee, barefoot and feeling small, surrounded by Black Pine wolves and Andromeda’s family. The vast place carved from the mountainside smelled of moss, mud, and wet fur. Ghost looked up through the trees, the midday sky covered in white clouds that moved briskly across the small opening in the high treetops. The tops of the trees moved in the high wind, but here beneath the boughs, the sounds of winter were muffled.
Ghost shivered, but not from the cold. A weight, a pressure made itself known, his awareness of a hovering presence prickling the longer he stood amongst the growing crowd. There was something here, something watching, as if they were the center of the everything and the universe was spinning around them. He breathed, in and out, steadying himself. He struggled for calm, for peace, his fears were sneaking past his faith that everything would be all right. He did his best not to become distracted, and focused on what was happening around him.
Wolves climbed the tiers, settling in small family groups, friends and packmates sitting close together. The old ruin was filled with wolfkin, Red Fern wolves unmistakable with their bright blonde tresses. Ghost and his entourage stood on the lowest tier, directly overlooking the snow and ice filled pit, the bottom a mix of forest debris, mud, and frozen stretches that the sun couldn’t reach. His heart ached, thinking that his mate may end up fighting for his life.
The Tribunal gathered across from Ghost on the other side of the pit. The five alphas who were to decide Kane’s punishment sat upon a stone slab that left them situated above most of the crowd. Andromeda was in front of Ghost, standing on the ledge overlooking the pit. She was dressed as she always was, in a slip of fabric from shoulders to just above her knees, this time a brilliant white that rivaled the snow, long blonde hair lifting in the subtle breeze. The many voices eventually feel silent, eyes drawn to the White Wolf as she waited. Ghost reluctantly sat, Burke on his right, his uncle Gerald on his left, with Sophia and Gabe behind them on the next tier up.
Ghost searched the pit and surrounding the seats, but there was no sign of Kane, and about half of the greater alphas brought by the clan leaders weren’t present. Ghost tried to reach out to Kane, but his mate’s mind was closed off, a trickle of aggression and frustration slipping through. No pain, so whatever was happening, Kane wasn’t hurt yet.
Michael and the other shamans sat near the Tribunal, except for River, who was with Andromeda’s brood, the shaman looking tense and wan. Ghost shifted impatiently, wondering what they were waiting for.
Andromeda slowly moved, turning to face most of the witnesses who sat above and behind Ghost. Her voice rang out over the crowd, carried on the wind.
“I am Andromeda, the White Wolf of Red Fern, vassal of Black Pine. Here, in this sacred wellspring of our Mother’s blessing, I call forth the presence of our ancestors. May they guide us on our journey for truth and justice, and may the light of the Northern Star shine down upon us. I invoke the grace of our Great Mother. May all of Her children feel Her presence, and let us be worthy of Her Gifts.”
The world dropped out from beneath Ghost. He gasped, grabbing a Burke and Gerald, scrambling for an anchor. The unseen presence rose, almost suffocating, pressing down upon him until he was immersed. He swayed where he sat, slamming his eyes shut, whimpering. Burke gripped his shoulder, concern filling the breeze around them, and Gerald growled under his breath, looking around for a threat.
Breathe, my shaman. Ghost sucked in a deep breath and slowly let it out, his heart easing its wild gallop within his chest. He gently patted both Burke and Gerald on their knees, settling the protective alphas. There was no danger from their Goddess.
She was here. Her voice was beyond language, beyond words, far past thought and emotion. She was. She was everything. And nothing. Here, in his heart, as She was in the air around them, the stone and earth beneath his feet.
“I call the forth the Tribunal,” Andromeda continued, and Ghost pried his watery eyes open, blinking until she came into focus. “May their judgments be wise. Let us begin.”
Silence, as Andromeda stepped down from the ledge and moved to the side, standing over one of the open voids carved in the stone walls of the pit.
Royrick, blond hair brushed back from his face and his forest-green eyes somehow even more brilliant beneath the dark green pine boughs, spoke above them. “I am Royrick, leader of Red Wraith. I speak for the Tribunal. We call to judgment Claire, daughter of Andromeda, beta of Black Pine.”
From one of the dark tunnels in the Pit came a single greater alpha, dragging a small blonde beta by her upper arm. Claire, sometime-lover to Roman McLennan and admitted traitor. Ghost saw again in his mind Gabe standing over a sobbing Claire as his newborn gift of the Voice compelled from her the truth about her misdeeds, and Roman’s treachery. Gabe growled low in his throat behind him, and Sophia whispered to the you
ng alpha, asking for calm.
Now Claire was dressed in a dirty shift that reached her knees, barefoot and shivering, hair a tangled mess and her features wan, terror etched beside her wide eyes and trembling lips. She was a lesser version of her powerful mother; Claire was a shadow of that great line, and it showed in her blatant terror and the stench of nervous sweat that drenched her clothing. The greater alpha holding her arm was immune to her whimpers, though he wasn’t rough with her, almost oblivious to her presence beside him as he brought Claire to the center of the Pit.
“Claire, you are charged with many crimes, first among them is accessory to countless murders and treason to your people. You will be questioned by an alpha with the Voice, for all the gathered wolfkin here to witness your words. You will not be afforded the luxury of lying.” Royrick’s handsome face was stern and closed off, nothing of mercy in his tone or body language. Claire shuddered on shaking legs, the grip of the guard all but keeping her upright. Royrick gestured, and from behind the Tribunal came another greater alpha from the shadows under the pines.
This alpha was like all the others who came as honor guards to the clan leaders—tall, thick with muscles, and imbued with a natural arrogance that spoke of supreme confidence. He wore nothing but a pair of dark jeans and boots, bare-chested and long reddish-brown hair twisted into a braid that hung over one shoulder. Same golden skin and the grace of an apex predator, this alpha stalked as if hunting even in human form. Ghost’s attention was drawn to this strange alpha, sensing an odd, almost tangible force emanating from him.
His skin crawled and his heart thumped hard when he made the connection. This stranger, this greater alpha, felt like Kane. The same dominating presence, with an undercurrent of impenetrable strength.
The same Gift. This alpha bore the Voice in its full measure, same as Black Pine’s beleaguered Heir.
