Fearless Little Werewolf

by Katie Salidas

  Giselle scooted over on the edge of the bed, her knees butting up against the chair Orion was sitting in, and the moment they connected she felt that strange spark.

  No words could define the sensation, and the moment it was there, it vanished, leaving only the ghost of its presence in her mind. She was connected to him. Of that she was certain. But the depth and meaning behind it she could not fully grasp.

  “I wish I knew what to say to you.” Giselle looked at Orion’s face, feeling awkward about making eye contact, although talking to him without at least trying to face him felt somehow disrespectful. He was there in the room. Whether or not he responded to her should make no difference.

  “I always wondered where I came from. Spent a lot of time alone growing up. I didn’t really fit in. Too tomboy for the girls. Too tomboy for the boys, too.” She laughed awkwardly. “I made friends with the walls of my room, for the most part. When I had a room, that is. This one seems nice.” She rambled on, trying desperately to make small talk to fill the void and decrease her own feeling of unease.

  Reality often proved stranger than fantasy. Her fantasies had always played out with her parents reaching out with open arms to embrace her. They’d tell her fantastic stories to explain why they’d had to leave her, and promised never to do so again.

  Knowing the truth now, she wished her fantasies had been real. Seeing the shattered remains of what had been done to those who’d brought her into this world made her childhood trauma seem so much less horrible.

  At least she’d had a life. A roof over her head. Even now, she had a family that had taken her in, and a pack that loved her and wanted her with them. She had so much to be thankful for. Even amidst the awkwardness of this meeting, Giselle knew she had a father. And he deserved more than to be hidden away in this room.

  “We don’t have much back in Vegas. That’s where my new pack is from. But I promise you, we’ll do our best to care for you and make you part of the family. I won’t leave you sitting in a room all day. I promise.” Giselle placed a hand on her father’s, wanting that strange sensation, their connection, to last more than just the brief moment of initial contact. Like the heartbeat of a hummingbird, there grew a vibration between them. Energy. Magic. Giselle still could not find the right word for it, but as she held on, she swore she heard the echo of her name being called out.

  A tap on her shoulder pulled her snarling from within her own thoughts. She turned around with the ferocity of her angry wolf ready to strike out and found Taylor behind her.

  She took a moment before she spoke. The sudden anger, that desperate need to protect – that wasn’t her. Giselle pulled her hand away from her father’s, and her heart immediately slowed. “I’m sorry. I don’t know what came over me.”

  Fear, the like of which she had never seen in her sister’s eyes, held Taylor speechless.

  Giselle stood and faced her. “Are you okay?”

  “You were like in a trance. I was calling your name. And then you... What the hell happened?”

  “I don’t know. It was so weird. He totally reacted when I touched him.” Giselle whispered to Taylor as if saying it out loud would sound insane. “I felt something. Like... I just can’t explain it.”

  Taylor closed her eyes and sighed.

  Why was it that no one could ever take her at her word?

  “I’m sure it was just one of those reflex motions. Nerves making his hand jump or something when you brushed against his arm hair or whatever.” Taylor’s sympathetic tones only sounded like mocking to Giselle. “He’s been a vegetable for years now. But Vivian said he shifts occasionally. That might be it. We are near another cycle.”

  “It was more than that. I felt it. There was a connection there... like... magic.”

  “Awww, honey.” Taylor pulled her into a big hug. “Of course there’s a connection. He’s your dad.”

  Hugging was the last thing she wanted from her patronizing sister. Giselle pushed away and turned to Orion, half hoping he would have moved or done something to prove she wasn’t just making things up.

  “Giselle, please,” Taylor called after her. “I want you to be happy now that you have a dad, but don’t expect miracles. It will just lead to heartbreak.”

  “I know you’re trying to be all nice and sisterly. So I’m not going to get mad that you instantly assume I’m going to do something stupid. But really, for once, just indulge my crazy and pretend to be excited. I felt something. A real connection when I touched his hand.”

  “You’re right. I’m sorry. You totally have the magic touch. I saw it all happen. It was amazing and unbelievable.”

  “And now you’re patronizing me,” Giselle groaned. Taylor’s eyes rolled so hard they nearly popped out onto the floor. “Sorry, sister. You don’t get it both ways. You can have down-to-earth me, with all my naysaying, or you can have super Yes Woman, at your service.”

  “Whatever.”

  “Look, I get it. I do. And I really want you to be happy. But I also want you to realize that you cannot fix every problem. Some things are unfixable.”

  She hadn’t even gotten to the part about fixing him yet, and already her sister had proved she would be no help. Naysayer or no, Giselle had felt a connection. There was magic there – and she knew exactly who to talk to about magic.

  “It’s time for us to head to the hotel,” Taylor said impatiently, when Giselle failed to respond to her.

  “Fine. Let’s go.” Giselle looked back to her father. “See you soon. I promise.” She squeezed his hand before letting go.

  “You think he can hear you?” Taylor asked.

  Giselle looked back again. Her father stared blankly, as he had been doing the entire time. Giselle looked back to Taylor. “I do. I really do.” She couldn’t explain the feeling, the connection when she touched him – not yet, at least. But it was there. And she knew he was too. Somewhere trapped inside his own body, Orion was there.

  Chapter 10

  “Despite what you think, I am on your side.” Taylor sounded as if she were trying to convince herself more than Giselle. “I just want to see you relax a little. You’ve been super stressed for a while now. Even before this whole Alpha business.”

  She led Giselle back down the long hallway. In the distance, raised voices and the sounds of a struggle suggested the meeting had not gone as civilly as originally planned. Giselle dreaded going back into the solarium to deal with that horrible woman Vivian.

  “I’ll relax when we’re back home, living our normal lives again. I promise I’ll never complain about sitting through another boring lecture in Mr. Harper’s class again.” Giselle laughed awkwardly.

  From what she could glean from the muffled sounds behind the door, Martina and Vivian were disagreeing on costs owed for the care and transporting of Orion back to Vegas.

  “You know that’s not true.” Before they hit the double doors, Taylor took a turn left, passing under a thin archway back into the grand foyer. “Alpha or no, you’ll still have to sit through them and pass his class, all the while, managing these squabbling wolves.” Taylor angled her head toward the doors as they passed them.

  “From what Ace said... yeah. Nothing but bitching all the time. Why bother?” Giselle’s annoyance revealed itself in the weary tone in her voice.

  The entire house was a giant nerve waiting to be tweaked just so. At any moment, with the right words or actions the whole place could explode into violence. She remembered how hateful the Thrace and Hernandez packs had been when she’d first arrived. Coupled with the angry shouting from the other room, it formed an image of her future – playing mediator to people who refused to simply get along. More and more she realized this wasn’t for her. But Giselle had no choice in the matter.

  Anger wasn’t her issue, though all outward appearances seemed to suggest it. She’d always had an even temperament. Always tried to feel a situation out. But with the extreme stress and pressure she was under now, Giselle felt ill-equipped to deal with
the overwhelming amount of emotions it created.

  If only she had time to digest what was happening – but no, the wolves demanded immediate action, and as a result, two families were poised to destroy each other over who got to be in charge of whom. Stupid, really; especially since Giselle would have never known or cared about it if they hadn’t made her queen in their stupid game of chess.

  “Ignore my grumpiness, Tay, I’m just exhausted right now,” Giselle started to say as they cut a path across the large foyer to the front door.

  Leila stood by the entrance, arms crossed, scowling as they approached.

  If she hadn’t known better, she’d have thought Leila was looking for a fight; but Giselle remembered what Ash said, and rather than go with her gut and assume the worst, she tried to approach with kindness. “Hey. Thanks for taking such good care of Orion. And I’m so sorry for how things turned out.”

  The look she received in return for her sympathetic words had more contempt than appreciation, but Leila did not verbally respond to Giselle.

  Body language spoke volumes without the need for words. Leila might have been in mourning, but her lack of speech was not the root of the problem. Silently seething with rage, she looked as if at any moment she might lash out in anger.

  Yet another person affected by Giselle’s sudden acknowledgement as Alpha presumptive.

  Making enemies for just being alive was the theme of the week, it seemed.

  She ignored Leila as best she could as she walked past, ready to head to the van and be done with the Silverman pack for the day, but as she hit the first step, Leila broke her silence.

  “Just a stupid mutt. Totally not the Alpha type. Don’t even know why you would want the job.” Leila’s tone matched the rage Giselle had sensed, but her words had been far nastier than she would have expected.

  A snarky comeback tiptoed to the edge of Giselle’s tongue, but she held it back, despite the impulse to retaliate. Cooler heads were expected when one was supposed to be a leader. At least, that was what the voice of her subconscious was trying to convey. What would be the point? Leila’s lifestyle proved she was nothing more than a pampered little princess, completely out of touch with the lives of regular girls. Her opinion barely registered on Giselle’s scale of importance, though the insult stung a little.

  “Bitch,” Giselle mumbled under her breath, and continued down the stairs. A fight would only prolong their departure.

  Taylor did not have the same level of restraint, and Giselle hadn’t noticed until too late that her sister had not followed her down the steps.

  “You’re just pissed because you and your family are nothing special. Just one of us now.” Taylor had turned on Leila and looked ready to go full wolf.

  “I will never be one of you. Alpha or no, we will always be better than you.”

  “Keep thinking that, sweetie. Because once Giselle is your Alpha, snark like that can have you banished from her territory,” Taylor responded.

  Giselle was about to put an end to the conversation. Pleased as she was that her sister had gone to bat for her, the whole conversation was going nowhere. But before Giselle could pull her sister away, Leila responded, “That lone wolf will never be Alpha.”

  For the first time ever, Giselle didn’t feel like a lone wolf, but hearing someone use it in such a way had her hackles up.

  What was wrong with being a lone wolf? If anything, being a loner had taught her more life skills than being in a pack had. She was resourceful, inquisitive, and self-sufficient. When others relied on the judgment of leaders, Giselle had learned to rely on her intuition. When those in power were doing things wrong, even when their intentions were good, she made it a point to bring in the truth and see the right decisions were made. Being a loner was probably the reason she kept being told she was suited for this job. She’d never seen herself as a leader, but in the time she had known her pack, she’d taken that role, and she’d inspired loyalty and trust.

  “Small minds should not try to comprehend large concepts.” Giselle put all her annoyance into to the tone of her snarky response as she took hold of Taylor’s arm and pulled her away from the little princess.

  Behind her, with a whole lot of huffing and puffing, the pissed off wolf demanded that Giselle return and defend her words.

  Giselle smiled inwardly, knowing her response had had the desired effect.

  “Go mop the floor with her,” Taylor said.

  “Don’t need to. She’ll be fuming for hours over that comment. If I knocked her out, she’d spend the next bit sleeping it off.” Giselle didn’t have to look back to see Leila storming into the house; the fading sound of her crazed ranting was proof enough she’d hit her mark.

  “But she’d have bruises to remember you by.”

  “She’s got mental ones now, trust me,” Giselle laughed.

  “What are you going to do with her?” Taylor asked.

  “Nothing. I don’t have to do anything with her. She’s so certain I won’t be Alpha anyway. If I’m not, she can relish her victory, and who gives a damn? You know I don’t care about power.”

  Taylor stopped dead in her tracks. “But it’s your birthright.”

  “Um... hello?.... Orphan.” Giselle pointed to herself, as if she needed to make sure her sister understood exactly who she was. “I lost my birthright the moment I was born.”

  Taylor had disbelief all over her face. “Only because you were lost. Now you’re found, and wolfy royalty to boot!”

  “Whatever.” Giselle shrugged, as if hoping to shake loose the title and all the weight that came with it. “I’m just glad I found my family.”

  “And because of that, you’re able to claim the title,” Taylor reminded her.

  “Great. If they want me to have it, I will. If not, that’s cool too.”

  “I can’t believe how nonchalant you are about this.” Taylor still refused to accept that Giselle didn’t yearn for power.

  “That’s because nothing has happened. I mean... aside from me finding Dad.” He’d taken up the bulk of her excitement. That touch. The spark of life. She felt it. There was something still within that shell of a man. And she’d do whatever she could to bring him back to life. The rest of the trip was kind of annoying, if she was being completely honest with herself. The whole Alpha changing of the guard seemed just an excuse for a spectacle.

  Even the Council meeting seemed a bit over the top. There would be a vote, and Vivian as Alpha of her family pack would be given a say. There was a real possibility that Giselle would not be allowed to take the title of Regional Alpha, birthright or not.

  Giselle really didn’t know her own mind about where she stood on the whole issue of taking the title.

  On the one hand, it would be cool. But on another it meant the spotlight would be on her, and even going back to Vegas and living with her pack in their small family home, she’d never have the same simple life she’d grown accustomed to.

  But, whatever the outcome, she’d face it head on. She just wanted to get it over with quickly, so she could focus on Dad and maybe bring him out of his shell.

  “I think I lost her,” Taylor said, and Giselle realized she’d let her train of thought derail mid conversation and hadn’t even noticed Martina standing there in front of her.

  “Honey, are you okay?” Martina asked.

  “Just a lot on my mind,” Giselle replied.

  “That girl was talking trash. Don’t let her get to you,” Taylor replied.

  “I couldn’t care less what she said. What I want to know is, when is this part going to be over with, so we can go home and get back to normal life?”

  “I know this is a lot to deal with. I promise once this weekend is over, we’ll be back home. I’ve changed our flights and arranged for a special van to pick us up, so we can get your dad home with us and settle in.”

  Martina’s care and attention to detail was part of what made her such a good head of the family. She was the kind of wolf who should
be Alpha. One silver lining in the whole ordeal, if Giselle was made Alpha, was that Martina would get that opportunity.

  Chapter 11

  “We don’t have long, so sit down and pay attention.” Richard whipped his hand out, his finger an arrow pointing to the dinette set in the small living space of their two-room suite.

  Tension had left everyone in the hotel room unable to sleep the previous night, and no amount of coffee had tempered their annoyance. That, coupled with the fact that there were only two showers, one each in their adjoining rooms, meant the queue had formed before Giselle had even risen for the day.

  She grumbled, desperate for revitalizing spray of hot shower water, and resigned herself to sitting down for another lecture on wolf politics.

  “You will be alone tonight.” Richard’s words slapped her in the face.

  “What?”

  “At least for the beginning. The – we’ll call it a reception – before the dinner party.”

  Richard’s tone might have been matter-of-fact, but his words sent Giselle’s heart racing.

  “Why? They can’t do that!” She jumped to her feet, but an angry glare from her mentor had her quickly returning to her seat.

  “It’s a test. Obviously.” He sighed in annoyance. “You’ll need to show them you are worthy of the title without the leash of your parents guiding you.”

  Giselle huffed. News like this required more caffeine than she’d been allowed this morning, and the sludge they’d set out on the counter might as well have been decaf for all the effect it had waking her up. “I can’t do this.”

  “You can and you will, little wolf.” Richard scowled down his sharp nose at her. He had the kind of face that could intimidate you with a smile, and the way he glared now had her wanting to escape.

  “I’m just not the girl for the job and yet you people keep pushing me to take it.”

  “If you act the way you are now, you’ll certainly prove you’re not up to the task, and the Council will be forced to open the position to challenge.”