by Tarrah Betts
“Here, be a dear and grab that for me and bring it downstairs with you,” she said as she gestured towards a plate of warm cookies.
Rose never ceased to amaze me; she could cook up a meal singlehandedly for the entire pack without batting an eyelash.
She was also a delegator extraordinaire and could have led a small expedition through the Alps, I swear. Nothing ever seemed to faze her, she just took life as it came and didn’t worry about things until she had to.
The Big house was comfortable and homey and was decorated in country décor with an extra large dinning room table, capable of holding twenty people, right smack dab in the middle of the enormous kitchen.
As a kid, there was rarely a time when all twenty chairs weren’t filled for breakfast, lunch or supper as Weres were highly social pack animals and were happiest when they were together with their pack mates.
Plus, it didn’t hurt that Rosie was a fantastic cook who always had something delicious coming out of the oven.
As we made our way downstairs, each of us laden down with bowls or plates filled with snacks that Rosie had instructed us to carry for her as we headed downstairs to the meeting room, I could hear my pack brothers and sisters talking and laughing in the large room that served as both a social gathering area and a spot to hold group meetings purely because of it’s size and ability to hold our entire pack if the need arose.
We got down the hall and rounded the corner and were greeted by thirty-three Weres in various stages of dress. Some were in bed when they received the late night call from the Alpha and had rushed over in their pajamas. One was dressed in medical scrubs, having been on her way home from work and another in tactical vest with a side arm strapped to his side.
We had Weres in important vantage points throughout the community so we could monitor and cover the entire town, in one way or another.
The humans would have been fearful had they known how much of the town was run by us, so keeping our secret was vital to all of our survival.
Everyone called out their greetings as we deposited Rosie’s bowls of chips and dip and a plate of fresh cookies on the enormous table. Everyone started digging in as I made my way over to sit at the Alpha’s right hand.
He gave me a knowing look, nodded imperceptibly and started the meeting when I nodded back.
“Thank you everyone for coming and getting here so quickly. I’m afraid we have run into a problem.” My inner wolf and I sat up straighter in our chair and listened intently, wondering what had gone wrong. As the pack’s Beta, I knew I would be called upon in some capacity to deal with whatever had happened.
“I’m afraid we have run into a problem with our new male Were. Roan was supposed to pick him up tomorrow morning at the train station and then bring him directly to the training camp, but unfortunately that plan is not going to work out,” he said as he turned to look at me.
I frowned at him, wondering what had happened.
“It seems the new Were accidentally phased before his parents could get him to the station and load him on the train. Our new Were is presently holed up in the basement of his parent’s home and is stuck in phase and can’t figure out how to change back. So, what we have right now is a starving, angry and frightened new Were imprisoned in the middle of a heavily populated city,” the Alpha said gravely, “It’s a disaster just waiting to spill out into the city.”
As soon as the words were out, everyone started talking at once. Asking questions and voicing opinions on what we should do. The Alpha sat back in his chair, folded his arms and listened for a moment before he turned to me.
“What do you think, son?”
I shook my head and an unspoken message passed between us. I was not happy with this recent turn of events. As far as I was concerned, it only meant one thing: that I would have to go and forcefully retrieve the new male Were and then bring him directly to the training camp. What this translated into was more time away from the pack, but more importantly in my eyes…more time away from Aspen.
“Alright, it’s decided then, get this room back under control so we can all go home and get to bed,” he said to me quietly.
I was the Beta; the Enforcer of the pack and the Alpha’s wish was my command. I quietly pushed my chair back and stood up to my full height. A couple of Weres nearby stopped talking immediately and looked up to see why I had stood up but the cacophony of voices kept on.
Clearing my throat to get their attention, the chattering and confusion continued, so I suddenly brought both closed fists crashing down onto the table.
It cut through the chatter like a knife and the room was suddenly silent as everyone turned and looked up at me with shock.
I shot a menacing glance at each one of them. “I dare you to keep talking,” it silently said.
The room was deathly quiet. No one would dare fight me over something so insignificant as I sat back down and the Alpha started talking again.
“Alright everyone, I’m going to get right to the point. This is distressing news for us all, but let’s look at the positives. Having the new Were phase in public could very well have been a disaster. But he didn’t, he phased at home. His parents assure me that he is presently well contained in their basement, although I don’t think they are fully aware of a newly turned Were’s strength. Bottom line is that I will be sending Roan to pick him up directly at his home in Shawfield before he breaks free and we have a monumental disaster on our hands. Griff and Kuno will accompany Roan for backup, in case of any unforeseen incidents.”
The Alpha turned his head and looked in our direction. “Boys, I am confident that you can handle this and will have no problems bringing this new Were back to Spruce Hollow ASAP so we can send him to the training camp and begin rehabilitating him.”
Griff and I exchanged knowing glances. We had been to Shawfield before so we would not be going in blind. At least that was one thing to our advantage. New Weres could be unpredictable, so any Intel we could gather in advance was a bonus, in my books.
I sighed inwardly, I really did not want to go and pick up this new Were in Shawfield but it was my duty as pack Beta to follow the Alpha’s orders.
Leaving Spruce Hollow early meant that I would be leaving Aspen behind even longer and leaving her behind left me with an uncomfortable feeling in the pit of my stomach because I didn’t trust her right now.
She was angry with me over the Christmas formal and Lord only knows what she’d do to get back at me.
Aspen wasn’t the type of teenager that should be left to her own devices for very long when she was upset or angry.
She was too intelligent and crafty.
Feeling torn between my duties to the pack and my responsibilities as Aspen’s mate, I leaned over the table toward Caver, while the crowd began to slowly disperse, “Hey, Caver, do me a favor while we’re in Shawfield and keep close tabs on Aspen for me? She’s ticked off at me right now and I don’t want her thinking that my absence is a chance to get back at me,” I asked him in a genial tone, but my look implied that it was an order, not a request.
Caver winked at me and flashed his killer grin. “Oh, don’t worry, boss. I’ll take great care of your young, hot, little minx while you’re gone,” he snorted, “I’ll make an extra effort to be on her at all times, I’ll even sleep on her bed in wolf form, to protect her and everything.”
Caver was still sore about me beating him to the Big house and was really having a ball toying with me. Normally I didn’t exhibit signs of weakness but Aspen was my one true Achilles Heel.
Damn her!
I pushed my chair back quickly, knocking it over and stood up to my full height as I hovered over Caver, brimming with unleashed anger.
“Listen, you little asshole. If you don’t screw off I’m going to have to punch you in the throat. I want you to keep an eye on her while I’m gone, not have sex with her. She’s a kid therefore she doesn’t make good decisions. I don’t want her to get into any trouble while I’m gone, understand
me?”
I was bristling with fight, my body language urging him to make a move as Griff shot up and stepped in between us. But Caver knew better, I was the more dominant and physically stronger Were and I would have wiped the floor with him, so he backed down immediately.
“Geez, I was only kidding around, calm down, big boy. Yes, yes, I’ll watch her for you for cripes sakes. She’ll be fine,” he said as he raised both his hands up in resignation.
All eyes in the room were on me as I glared at Caver with utter hostility, and then growled at him as I shouldered past him and stalked out of the room.
The entire pack knew I was having a hard time coping with the whole Aspen situation, so nobody, other than occasionally Caver, ever gave me any grief about it.
Mates were such a serious topic among Weres that it would have been in poor taste for them to say anything. That, plus there would be hell to pay if they stepped over the line and pissed me off, so nobody ever said anything about Aspen.
I didn’t think they really understood how difficult it was though. The way things were now, the way they had always been Aspen and I, was so unnatural, it went against every single urge I had towards her.
But lately, it was a hundred times worse as Aspen had started to come into her sexuality and it was heady stuff. She’d started wearing more revealing outfits that showed off her stomach and breasts and it was impossible to shrug off the way she looked at me now, with barely contained desire in her eyes.
I tried my best to ignore her and at one point, I had even considered going away for a while until Aspen grew up because it was getting harder and harder to stay away from her.
But that thought lasted for about five seconds. Who was I trying to kid? I could never leave Aspen.
This entire tragedy was all due to the fact that I refused to mate or blood bond with her because she was simply too young. Physiologically, her body was ready; she had regular menstrual periods and could technically get pregnant and carry a child, but mentally and emotionally, she was far from ready to go through that experience.
My mouth watered at the thought of mating with Aspen. Of holding her down, her lithe, soft body beneath mine, head thrown back and moaning in pleasure. I would take her over and over again until she cried out my name in release.
…I had to get the hell out of Spruce Hollow. I needed to get away from Aspen Greystone before I went crazy.
“Griff, I’ll be by to pick you up in fifteen minutes, then we’ll swing by and pick up Kuno. Pack light; I’ll bring the supplies. We’re leaving for Shawfield now,” I said as I walked back downstairs to the meeting room and poked my head back through the doorway and glanced at both of them, to let them know there would be no discussion or argument about this.
We were leaving now. Period.
I looked over at Caver and he looked away, refusing to meet my gaze. I knew he felt regret at the things he’d said to me, he had a good heart and tended to speak before he thought most of the time. But he meant no harm most of the time, which was why I didn’t lay him out on the floor of the meeting room.
But he could be such a dick sometimes.
Chapter 8
***
I stared at the house, not wanting to go in. But it was late and the house was completely dark. Aspen was undoubtedly already asleep and as I focused my hearing towards the house, I could hear no sounds coming from within, save for the regular, deep, even breaths of sleep coming from her bedroom.
Sighing, I silently closed the truck door and made my way up the stone walkway to the front door.
Cocking back the gun, I slid the safety on and shoved it into my shoulder holster and then started on loading the tranquilizer gun. I made sure that I loaded the darts with enough Ketamine to make sure the new Were had a good long nap if he gave us any grief. I also packed handcuffs, chain, a taser, rope, first aid kit and a change of clothes.
I shook my head as I surveyed the weapons and restraints lay out on my bed, this guy’s parents were going to flip out once we got there with all our gear. If they thought that they could contain a Were behind a single wooden door, then they really didn’t understand what they were dealing with at all.
With any luck, they would both be unharmed and the new Were would be still locked in the basement by the time we got to Shawfield.
But I was a man who liked to be prepared for almost anything.
Because new werewolves could be notoriously difficult to handle and I didn’t want to come up short in case we ran into trouble, so I rechecked all our supplies and went through my mental checklist until I was satisfied that I hadn’t forgotten anything that we might need.
Stuffing the tactical gear into my rucksack, along with a few personal items and I was ready to go, except for one thing.
I had yet to check on Aspen.
Her bedroom door was closed and I really didn’t want to wake her but I needed to look at her with my own two eyes before I left for Shawfield with Griff and Kuno, otherwise I’d be completely miserable and preoccupied with thoughts of her the entire time.
I paced the hallway outside her room, liked a caged animal, hating myself for the weakness and uncertainty she brought out in me.
But the truth was, the real reason I hated being separated from Aspen so much was because it made me feel…lonely.
My wolf was filled with despondence and grief whenever we were apart. He was useless and apathetic and I hated him whenever he was like that.
He didn’t understand why we couldn’t be with Aspen completely. Age had no bearing in my wolf’s world. He lived in a world of “this girl is mine and I want her, so let’s take her” and no amount of trying to convince him otherwise was ever likely to succeed.
Part of me felt like I should wake Aspen up and tell her that I was leaving. I really didn’t know how she’d react when she woke up tomorrow and found out that I was gone to Shawfield without even telling her or saying goodbye.
She was a wild card. A temperamental wild card that was starting to feel possessive towards me and my time.
Thankfully, Aspen didn’t know about Andie or any of the other girlfriends that I’d had over the years. I didn’t think she would have handled it very well so I kept those two worlds completely separate as there was no need for Aspen to know about them, nor they about her.
It would only hurt Aspen in the long run anyway, especially once she fully matured and realized who we were to one another.
She would surely be devastated to know that I’d had sex with a number of women while waiting for her over the years.
The ironic thing was, is that I had sex with these women because I didn’t want to force myself on Aspen when she wasn’t emotionally and physically ready. So, it was either have meaningless, animalistic sex with women I had no real emotional attachment to…or take Aspen to bed, steal her virginity at sixteen years old and lead her into a relationship that she was neither mentally nor emotionally ready for.
I couldn’t win because either way, no matter what I did, I would end up hurting Aspen.
I guess I saw sleeping with other women as the lesser of two evils, as it was something Aspen would never find out about because I did everything in my power to shelter her from that part of my life.
I picked up my rucksack off the floor outside Aspen’s bedroom and started for the front door when I made a quick decision to go back and open her bedroom door and at least check on her before I left, otherwise my mind would be preoccupied with thoughts of her and I’d be completely useless in Shawfield.
Aspen was fast asleep, sprawled out on the top of her covers for some reason. Wasn’t she cold?
She had fallen asleep dressed for bed in fluffy pink polka dot gym pants and a form fitting t-shirt that had been yanked up during sleep to show her lower back.
She was lying with her stomach pressed into the bed and her little round butt sticking up. You know, for such a skinny girl, she was blessed in the breast and ass category, with both attributes being round and plump.
Her hair honestly had a life of it’s own and was currently a tousled strawberry blond mass of curls draped across her shoulders and falling down her back in silky ringlets.
She looked like a sleep-softened princess, like sleeping beauty or the princess and the pea.
I inhaled deeply and pulled the smell down deep into my lungs. Aspen smelled intoxicating, like the forest after it rains. That was what I always smelled whenever she was around.
Aspen’s scent.
I would be able to find Aspen anywhere. Her scent had been committed to my memory since the day I first met her in her little pink sea monster bathing suit.
“Our mate’s scent,” my wolf corrected. “Oh, be quiet, would you,” I snapped back in irritation, but truthfully I secretly enjoyed calling Aspen “my mate”.
I wanted to howl it from the highest mountaintop and let every male Were around know that she belonged to me.
Even though she was still a young girl, she was still mine and I wanted her badly. Over the past year, I had often fantasized of biting her and turning her Were.
I fantasized about it more often than I’d like to admit but unfortunately, if I turned her now, she would have a Were’s metabolism and would therefore age at a much slower rate than a human.
So, the end result would be that it would take her even longer to mature and reach an acceptable age for her to be my mate.
So, turning her wasn’t even an option that I could realistically entertain right now.
I watched as her chest rose and fell with soft, sleepy breaths and my wolf and I decided that she was okay for the moment.
I had come into her room a lot at night, from the time she was a little girl. Just to check on her and make sure she was safe before I headed off to bed, just like a parent would do for a much loved child.
Aspen was a funny little sleeper, with her right arm always tucked in like a little wing. It was one of the quirky little things that I found endearing about her. I supposed it was a comforting position for her, kind of like how carting a security blanket around with her when she was a kid was comforting. Lord, that thing went everywhere with her.
