Heart of the Pack

by Jenny Frame

  Caden put her hands in her jeans pockets and rocked back on her heels. “If that’s what you want, but how about this? If you’ll eat what I’ve ordered, I’ll take you out on a hike to Whitefang Hill on Saturday to work it off. It’s quite a hike and it looks down over the lake. The view is beautiful, truly.”

  Lena smiled. “Why are you trying so hard to get me to eat?”

  Taking the chance that she was winning the argument, Caden walked over to her and said, “Because a wounded animal must eat and take care of itself to heal. If it is unwilling, then the pack must help it heal.”

  “The pack?”

  “Well, you know I always speak in terms of animals. I mean the family, the community, the collective. We’ll help someone who is struggling or injured.”

  Lena raised an eyebrow to her. “And this hike will burn a lot of calories?”

  “Oh, millions, I should think. I’m going to push you hard.” Lena giggled at that and so Caden held out her hand to her. “What do you say? Will you share my food?”

  What did I say that for?

  Lena grasped her hand and pulled herself up. “I’ll share your food, Caden.”

  Caden felt both extreme elation and terror at the same time.

  “Wait a minute.” Lena stopped and stared down at the bed. “Is this dog hair?” She picked up some between her thumb and forefinger. “How on earth did that get there?”

  Caden panicked. “Maybe it came from my clothing?”

  “How?” Lena asked.

  Caden tried to think on her feet. “Well…there are a couple of dogs that live at the farm, and I sat on your bed while making up your overnight bag. Yes. That’s it. It was on my clothes.”

  Lena nodded, but looked as if she was a bit suspicious about the explanation. “Oh…okay.”

  “Let’s go eat. I’m starving,” she said, hoping to avoid more unanswerable questions.

  *

  “I must say, that was delicious.” True to her word, Lena had eaten as much as she could, which was about a third of what Caden managed. Lena was amazed at how much Caden ate, and how quickly.

  “I’m glad you liked it.”

  “You sure can eat a lot,” Lena blurted. “I’m sorry, that was probably rude, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone eat as much, and be so lean and fit.”

  “Well, I do a really heavy job, and like I said to you before, my body suits its purpose.”

  Lena felt a blush rise up her cheeks, but Caden didn’t seem to notice and got up to take the plates to the sink.

  “Can I get you your medication now?”

  “Yes, please. It’s aching a lot.” She flexed her fingers, trying to ease the pain.

  Caden brought over the boxes and began to read the labels. “Okay…one of these, and two of those red ones.” Caden placed them in front of her and said eagerly, “What happens now?”

  “What do you mean?” Lena asked, mystified.

  “How do you take it? The medicine, I mean.”

  “You’ve never taken pills before?” Every time she thought she had heard the strangest thing come out of Caden’s mouth, another oddity followed behind it.

  “No, I never get sick.”

  “Not even painkillers for a headache or a pulled muscle?” she asked in disbelief.

  “Nope. So, what else do you need?”

  Lena stared at Caden, trying to work out this puzzle. “A glass of water would be good. You can find a glass in the right-hand cupboard up there.”

  Caden filled a glass and brought it back, and watched her with a strange fascination.

  Once she swallowed her pills, Lena yawned. “Sorry, I’m really tired. I—”

  Without warning Caden lifted her into her arms.

  “Caden! What are you doing?”

  Caden stopped and looked down at her with confusion. “You said you were tired. Do you want to go to bed or to the couch?”

  “It’s my arm that’s broken, not my legs,” Lena snapped.

  “I’m sorry, I just jumped in headfirst again. I’ll put you down.” Caden looked like she’d lost her last friend.

  Lena sighed and gave her a small smile. “Hey, it’s okay. Why don’t you pop me on the couch.”

  Caden’s expression lightened. “Hold on tight, then.”

  With her good arm Lena held on tight around Caden’s neck. Lena’s eyes closed and a moan escaped from her lips as she burrowed nose and lips into the crook of Caden’s neck.

  Caden gently placed her on the couch, then propped her injured arm on some cushions and placed a blanket over her.

  “I’ll be fine now, Caden. Don’t feel you have to stay with me—you’ve done so much. You have work at the farm to be doing.”

  Caden smiled and carefully removed Lena’s glasses, placing them on the coffee table. “I’m going to stay for a while and make sure you get some rest. I’ve taken a day off. That is, if you don’t mind me staying?”

  “Of course not. I don’t know what I did to deserve a friend like you,” Lena said sleepily.

  Caden sat in the armchair opposite. “You deserve someone who cares. Sleep well, Lena.”

  Lena drifted off and murmured, “Cade…” as sleep overcame her.

  *

  Lena was awoken from her sleep by a loud howl, coming from outside. Her heart thudded in her chest, as she jumped up and ran to the window. It took all her courage to pull back the drapes and peek out the glass.

  Seeing nothing, she slowly opened the window. The wind rushed in, blowing the drapes in the air. Behind her, she heard a deep growl, which both terrified and excited her.

  Her breathing became shallow and rapid as the growl got closer. She forced herself to turn her head to the side, and there, bathed in the shadowy light of the moon, was Caden, naked, muscles taut, with a dark and dangerous look.

  “Caden?”

  She said nothing in reply, but prowled forward, like an animal stalking its prey. Lena snapped her head forward, too fearful and excited to face who and what was approaching her.

  Caden got so close that Lena felt her hot breath on her neck. She throbbed inside and moaned, “Caden…”

  She felt Caden’s hands travel up and down her silk negligee, feeling her curves, grasping her breasts through the lace material that covered them.

  Her eyes closed and she moaned in pleasure. She wanted Caden’s touch everywhere, she wanted Caden inside her, taking and possessing her.

  Caden’s lips ran over her neck, and her body was on fire. Caden’s tongue laved a spot on her neck that felt directly connected to her clit.

  She heard Caden say one word, “Mine,” and with a growl she sank her teeth into Lena’s neck. Lena’s eyes sprang open in shock, and there, reflected in the windowpane, were the pair of yellow eyes that haunted her.

  *

  Caden was enjoying the quiet contentment of watching over and guarding Lena. She had quickly fallen asleep after taking her pain medication and so Caden had taken the opportunity to lie back in the armchair, with her booted feet crossed and her Stetson over her eyes. Her wolf would have much preferred to be lying next to Lena, guarding and snuggling into her, but this was the next best thing.

  As Caden dozed, she began to hear murmurs and small moans coming from Lena. Her first thought was that she was in pain, but the moans became deeper, and sounded of longing. Caden replied with a growl.

  She jumped from her seat and walked over to Lena. She knew she shouldn’t watch, but she could not tear her eyes away from Lena as she moved and squirmed in her sleep, stretching and offering her neck to her dream lover.

  “Who are you dreaming about, beautiful one? Who makes you moan desperately?”

  “Caden…Cade…bite me,” Lena moaned.

  Caden scented Lena’s arousal. She fell to her knees, and her fangs pierced through her gums, in response to Lena’s call.

  She’s dreaming about me.

  She allowed herself to inch closer to Lena’s neck and inhale her scent. It would have been so ea
sy to bite the exposed area, so easy to make Lena hers. She ran her tongue over her elongated canines, contemplating what it would feel like to sink them deep into her neck.

  It took all of Caden’s will, but she managed to pull back and stand away from Lena. Her head was swimming with lust and sensation. Her claws were already starting to shift. She had to get Lena to wake and stop calling for her, or she could lose control.

  She bent over and shook Lena gently. “Lena? Lena, please wake up. You’re dreaming.”

  Lena gasped, and her eyes shot open in terror. She jumped up so fast her head smashed Caden in the face. “Oh God. Caden, I’m sorry, I was dreaming.” She crouched down beside Caden, who had both hands over her nose.

  “It’s okay,” Caden’s muffled voice said.

  Lena gasped when she saw the blood starting to flow through Caden’s fingers. “What have I done? Quick! Get to the sink.”

  Caden leaned over the sink and let the blood drip down the drain.

  Lena hugged her from behind. “What can I do? I’m such an idiot. I’m so sorry.”

  “Look, don’t panic. It’ll be okay.” Caden spat blood into the sink. “Can you get me a wet towel or something?”

  Lena looked around the room in a panic. “A wet towel, a wet towel. Oh yeah. Hang on.”

  When she ran in the direction of the bathroom, Caden mumbled to herself, “How do I get myself in these situations?” Since meeting Lena, Caden’s ordered world had been thrown into flux.

  Normally a simple injury like this would cause no problems. It didn’t hurt much and would heal as soon as she shifted, but she couldn’t shift. Not now, and not later, or Lena would know clearly that there was something different about her.

  Lena came running back with the towel. “Here you go.”

  Caden turned and leaned against the sink, holding the wet towel to her nose.

  “Are you okay? Is it broken?” Lena asked.

  She waggled the bridge of her nose with her fingers. “No, it seems okay. Don’t worry about it. It’s just a lot of blood. No harm done.”

  She watched Lena look down to the ground in sadness and instantly wanted to make her feel better. “We make a great pair, eh? Me with a busted nose, and you with your busted arm,” she joked.

  Her words had quite the opposite effect, as she heard Lena start to sniffle and cry. Caden mentally kicked herself. You have no business talking to a submissive female, Wolf. Look at the effect she had on them.

  “Don’t cry, Lena.” She threw the bloody towel in the sink. “Look—it’s stopped bleeding.” Caden caught a glimpse of herself in the living room mirror. Her nose had stopped bleeding but was still a mess.

  Lena looked up and cried anew at the sight. “Look what I did to you. Everyone is right about me. I’m a baby elephant that stomps around, breaking everything in its path.”

  Caden took Lena in her arms without even thinking, and pulled her tightly to her. “You are not clumsy, not a fool, none of those terrible names bullies have called you, and if I hear anyone call you a baby elephant I will bite them. I mean…smack them around.”

  They held each other quietly for a while, before Lena pulled back and looked into her eyes. “You were in my dream again.”

  “Was I?” Caden feigned ignorance.

  “Yes. Your eyes…your eyes are always yellow.” Lena touched Caden’s temple with her fingertips.

  “Why would my eyes be yellow?” Caden asked, as their faces inched toward each other.

  “I have no idea, but I know it’s important. Somehow, it’s important.”

  They were a hairsbreadth away from each other, and Lena licked her lips, unknowingly seductive.

  Caden’s eyes zeroed in on her plump red lower lip and ached to take it between her teeth. I’ll bite it, and suck it and… What was she doing? She let Lena go like she had been burned.

  “I’m sorry. I better go.” Caden grabbed her hat and, walking backward toward the door, said, “I have to get going. If you need anything, just call me okay? Bye.”

  She ran from the apartment like a frightened rabbit, leaving Lena to wonder what had just happened.

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  Caden drove straight to the sheriff’s office, where the elite wolves met before leading their squads out on the nightly patrols.

  Dante, Flash, Blaze, and Xander were already in the sheriff’s office when Caden arrived. She walked out back into the locker room where they were congregated, and all conversation stopped immediately.

  Dante gave her a lopsided smile and said, “Second? Did one of our prey kick you in the face?”

  The other wolves sniggered. Caden had never felt so embarrassed, and she knew it was about to get worse.

  “Please don’t ask, Alpha.”

  The locker room had an exit directly into the forest so they could undress here and lead their wolf squads all over pack land. While the others were in various stages of undress, Caden remained clothed and sat on one of the benches.

  “Second, I have to ask myself why you would let yourself remain injured, when you could shift and heal yourself.”

  Caden held her hands over her face and said, “I can’t shift and heal because it was a human who injured me, a human who might work out our secret if I show up the next day with not a scratch on my face.”

  Caden knew that Dante had an idea who that human was, but her silence allowed Caden to keep the rest of the story to herself.

  Xander, the county fire chief, walked over and looked closely at her injured face. “You let a human do that to you?”

  Caden’s dominant feathers were getting extremely ruffled. “I didn’t let some human do that to me, Xan, it was an accident.”

  “So why don’t you just shift and stay away from the human in question?” Blaze asked.

  Caden looked up at Dante with a pleading look and sighed. “Because I work with the human at the farm, and I promised to take her out on Saturday.”

  “A human female did this to you?” Xander asked, barely controlling her laughter.

  Then Flash realized who it must be. “Not Selena? The little-bitty human girl who acts like a mouse?”

  “Don’t say that about her,” Caden boomed.

  “It is.” Flash and Xander howled with laughter, and Caden launched herself across the room and tackled Flash, one of her best friends, to the floor.

  “Take it back now.” She growled and bared her teeth.

  A shocked Flash turned his head to the side and offered his throat in submission. “I’m sorry, Cade. I didn’t mean anything by it. You know I would never insult you or anyone you liked.”

  Dante gave a warning growl. “Second, get up now.”

  Caden pulled back and was helped up by Blaze. When she got to her feet, she seemed dazed and confused. “Wha—?”

  Flash, now on his feet walked up to Caden with his eyes cast down. “I’m sorry, Second.”

  Dante watched closely but allowed her Second to patch up this dispute, like the dominant wolf that she was, for which Caden was grateful.

  Caden put her hands around the back of Flash’s neck and pulled him close. “I need forgiveness, not you.”

  Xander then approached with her own apologies and they reconciled in seconds.

  Dante stepped forward and said, “Second, go to Blaze’s office and wait for me there.”

  “Yes, Alpha,” she said with resignation.

  Caden stalked to the office and paced up and down, waiting for Dante. She ripped her shirt off in frustration and threw it across the room.

  “Second.”

  Caden stopped her relentless pacing and looked at her Alpha. “I’m sorry, Alpha. Forgive me. I don’t know what’s happening to me. I feel like my wolf is clawing at my skin from inside. All I want to do is shift, and I can’t.”

  Dante took a seat at Blaze’s desk and indicated for Caden to sit. “This is what we are going to do. You are going to shift and run with me tonight. You cannot deny your wolf, especially while you are experien
cing these new emotions. You have to shift.”

  “But Lena will know something is different about us. She’s already dreaming about me having yellow eyes. I’m sure in the back of her mind there’s a memory of when I first saved her.”

  Dante sighed. “That’s probably true. Are you sure this day out on Saturday is a good idea?”

  “I don’t have a choice—I promised her, and I can’t let her down. Everyone she knows lets her down, judges her, and finds her wanting. I can’t bear to have her think I’m the same.”

  Dante was silent for a moment. “I can’t imagine letting Eden down, and I won’t force you to do that, Second. You will have to stay away from her these few days, and on Saturday you’ll just have to convince her you’re a quick healer.”

  Caden nodded her head in resignation. “But she’s injured. Someone will have to check on her until then. I would just worry.”

  Dante stood and began to unbutton her shirt. “I’ll send someone to check on her.” Before Caden had a chance to reply, Dante added, “And no, I won’t send a dominant wolf. I’ll ask a submissive to go. Stella or Vance, maybe. Is that acceptable?”

  “Yes, Alpha. Thank you. Thank you for understanding.”

  “I understand what drives you to protect your mate. And although you want to suppress it, that’s who your wolf thinks Lena is.”

  Caden just hung her head and didn’t reply. Dante, now divested of her clothes, smacked her on the shoulder. “Come, Second, we will run all that aggression and mating energy out of you, and if Leroux’s scent is anywhere near pack land, we will put it to good use.”

  They shifted quickly and Caden ran after her Alpha, her injury already nearly healed.

  *

  That night as Lena lay sleeping, Caden, her evening patrol finished, stood guard from the fire escape outside her window. I will watch over you, beautiful one. She couldn’t stop her wolf seeking out Lena. Lena was addictive.

  Caden had been all around the apartment building, scent marking so any wolves in the building would know this was now part of her territory. She had even padded inside and up the stairs to rub her scent on the welcome mat at the door. Any wolf that approached Lena’s apartment would scent a big warning sign, lit up in neon. Caden’s. Do not pass.