Pack of Her Own, page 21
Rias chuckled, but there was little amusement in the sound. “Yeah, that sounds about right. If it’s the coven I’m thinking of, they don’t have the best track record with helping anyone, really. They work for themselves and only themselves.” Her face darkened as she pushed around a leftover crust on her plate aimlessly. “They tread real close to breaking the Rule of Three.”
I glanced at Heather and Natalie. I wasn’t exactly a practicing pagan or Wiccan, but even I’d heard of the Rule of Three. That what you put out into the world comes back to you in threes, both positive and negative. But the way Rias said it felt more significant than just a simple karmic balance.
“So why are you out here, on your own?” Natalie asked. “Or is there a coven here that no one told Wren about?”
I scowled but the other girls had a good laugh.
“No,” Rias said, “no coven. I left the last one I was in a long time ago.” She paused for a moment. “Let’s just say I didn’t approve of the direction they were taking things. I needed to get out of there, so I came here.”
Natalie nodded, and the conversation continued, but their voices faded into the background for me. I could focus on nothing but my mate. Her upset feelings from her confrontation with Misty had riled up not only me, but my wolf too. She wanted to hunt down the stupid bitch that would talk to our mate like that. The fear and despair I’d felt over our connection had torn me apart. It had hit when we’d been tracking down the coven and I nearly shifted then and there, ready to tear out the person’s neck. Heather had to pull me away from the witch, who was certainly not about to lend help to someone they called a rabid wolf.
We weren’t mated yet. I knew that. But this connection with her had grown all on its own. One day it wasn’t there, the next suddenly I could feel what she was feeling, could feel where she was. I’d never heard of anything like this before. Even Heather couldn’t recall another wolf ever speaking of it. It was like a pre-mate bond. A partner bond, maybe. Once my heart knew who she was to me, that was when we were connected. Was it as strong on her end? As I stared into her eyes and she met mine, I wanted to say yes.
But she was human. She was human and that meant I couldn’t have her. Could I? She’d begged me to bite her, to make her my mate. And by the Mother, I desperately wanted to. My wolf wanted her. I wanted her. But the book said she couldn’t. Kendra said she couldn’t. I wasn’t going to risk her just to make her my mate.
Something hit my shin under the table, and I blinked, turning to Heather. She glared at me before turning back to Rias.
“So do you think you can help us with this?” she was saying.
“There’s a good chance, yeah. But I’d have to get a look at the inside of you, see what’s in there keeping your wolf all locked up.”
“Okay. How do we do that?”
Rias stood, dusting pizza crumbs off her hands. “Come with me. I have an altar in the other room I can use to help. I’ll take a look, then we can see what’s what.”
Heather looked at me as if asking for permission.
“Go ahead,” I told her. “Anything we can do to help, just ask.”
“Just stay out here,” Rias said. “Too many people around can muddy up what I’m doing.”
“Oh, I think they’d much prefer to stay out here,” Heather said as she followed Rias out of the kitchen.
The moment they were gone, we were out of our chairs and clinging to each other. I dug my nose into the side of her neck, taking in that beautiful blend of smells that was my mate. Like pine trees and fresh baked bread, like cinnamon and just a hint of spiciness. It filled my nostrils and I groaned loud enough for her to gasp against me.
“Wren,” she cried as I planted kiss after kiss up her neck until I claimed her mouth. I caught her bottom lip in my teeth and bit down until she whimpered.
Mine, my wolf howled.
Ours, I agreed.
“Wren! Please!” she gasped again as I released her lip. “We need to talk.”
“I know,” I leaned over and whispered in her ear. “I know what happened. I’m so sorry. I should’ve been here to help. I should’ve been here to protect you.”
Her lips touched my cheek then moved down the side of my neck. Her teeth nipped at my skin.
“It’s not…” she began, as her mouth moved against my skin. “Not your fault. I should be—” She gasped as I moved my hand over her breast and flicked her pebbled nipple. “I should be stronger.”
You’re perfect. The words were on the tip of my tongue, but I couldn’t get them out. She was perfect. As I pressed lips to flesh and played with the sensitive parts of her chest, I knew she was absolutely perfect for me in every way.
Except one. She was human.
It wasn’t fair. She couldn’t know the dangers of being involved in my world. She’d already had a taste of them, and that was far from the worst it could be. What if another pack tried to attack us? Or worse, hunters? No matter how peacefully we lived, there were always those who thought people like us shouldn’t exist. I didn’t want her to have to deal with that.
“It’s okay,” I whispered into her ear. I bit the lobe and tugged softly. “You’re wonderful just as you are.”
She sighed into me, pressing herself tight to me as her leg found its way between mine. She lifted her knee until I was rubbing against her and growling under my breath.
The things this girl did to me.
“You’re mine,” I growled, “all mine.”
“Yours!” she gasped, and I pushed her back and took control again.
I trapped her against the kitchen wall and lifted her shirt until I could get proper access to her beautiful breasts. With one hand, I kneaded her breasts, trying to give equal time to each, as I moved the other hand down and quickly undid the button on her jeans.
“Wren!” she moaned. She leaned forward in an attempt to capture me, but I pushed her back.
“No. I am going to make you mine.”
She writhed against the wall and her hands flailed uselessly as I touched her clit and wrapped my hand around it. It was trying to stand at its full length, and I smiled. She was already wet, and it was easy to start focusing on the parts I knew were going to drive her wild.
And they did.
She thrashed and moaned and clamped her hand over her mouth after a particularly loud cry when I bent forward and took one of her nipples into my mouth. I brushed it with my teeth and held it gently as I pulled away from her body. She stopped breathing for a good few seconds before I let it fall.
“Wren,” she whimpered, “please!”
“No, darling.” I moved into her again, working her into a fervor as I wrapped my other hand into her hair and pulled her head to the side. “You don’t come until I tell you to come, understand?”
She whimpered again as I drew my teeth along her neck and collarbone and nipped at the skin there. I pulled the collar of her shirt down her shoulder, which gave me better access as I left a trail of mouth-shaped bruises from ear to arm.
“Wren!” she cried. Her eyes were wide open. I glanced at them, seeing the golden reflection of my own eyes in them. Arousal filled my nostrils, and I could feel my body reacting. Fur grew along my arms and legs, my ears moved to the top of my head, and my teeth lengthened and sharpened. Fear flashed across Nat’s face, and I buried my head in her neck, focusing on the scent of her, and not how scared she suddenly was. “Please, Wren!” she gasped as I continued to pleasure her with a hand now furred with small sharp claws. “Please! Bite me!”
I pulled my head back and stared at her.
“Bite me!” she pleaded again, her eyes closed, as her body writhed under my ministrations. “Please!”
I leaned into her again and rubbed my body against her. I placed my mouth to her ear and whispered, “Come for me. Do it now.” My low voice sounded like a hungry growl.
I moved down to her collarbone, my mouth wide with sharp teeth and ready for the bite. She wanted it. I needed it. We were mates. It was meant to be. Wasn’t it?
Humans cannot handle this. Kendra’s words echoed in my head. Most of them can barely survive the mate bite! I assure you, going further with this girl will not end well. I pulled back as she began to shudder and cry out and wetness exploded over my hand. You must either turn her or let her go.
Then I was across the room. I wiped my hand on a napkin as Natalie collapsed against the wall. She slid down to the floor with a soft gasp, disheveled and eyes out of focus. I loved seeing her so wrecked. But as her vision cleared and she stared at me, I could see the beginnings of tears in her eyes. I took a step forward but stopped myself. I couldn’t do it. I was too close to biting her before. I couldn’t let that happen.
Humans cannot handle this.
Those words were going to haunt me for the rest of the night, but there was nothing I could do. I couldn’t bite Natalie. She couldn’t be my mate.
“Nat,” I began as she slowly started to get herself put back together.
A second later, the door opened, and Rias returned with Heather following. They looked from me to Nat and back again. Heather chuckled and shook her head while Rias went to the counter and picked up a roll of paper towel, then tossed it to Natalie.
“Really?” She directed the question at me. “You couldn’t wait?”
There was no good answer, so I shrugged. “Sorry.”
“Well, get cleaned up,” Heather said. “We’re doing this tonight.”
“Tonight?” Natalie gasped.
Rias nodded. “No time like the present. We can take care of it in the backyard, but I’m going to need you, Wren.”
I glanced at Nat. “What about Natalie?”
“I want to be here.” The words dropped out of her quicker than she could think about it. I raised an eyebrow.
“It might be dangerous.”
Rias seconded my comment.
Nat shook her head, standing and turning her back to us all as she put herself back together. “I don’t care. This is my family too.”
My heart all but broke at her conviction.
“Okay,” Heather said, “but if it goes bad you run into the house and barricade yourself, understand?”
She nodded, her eyes a little wide.
“Good,” Rias said, “then let’s get this done.”
Chapter Thirty
Wren
Together we cleared off the concrete pad that Rias used in lieu of a back deck. On either side of the yard was a large, nine-foot privacy fence preventing the neighbors from being too nosy. The back of the yard encroached on a field that led to one of the many wild forests of pine trees found along the foothills approaching the Rocky Mountains.
I couldn’t help but wonder who else in this town was hiding secrets. Like me, like Rias, like Hikaru. I knew Zeke had family here, parents and a few siblings and cousins, but in five years I felt like I’d barely scratched the surface of this place.
Maybe I didn’t want to.
It’s not like I went out of my way to ask around, to find a community. I didn’t want anyone. I was a werewolf with a huge chip on my shoulder. I don’t even know what Hikaru saw in me that day or why she let me buy her building.
“Wren.” Rias’s voice broke me from my thoughts.
“Are we ready?” I glanced around. Rias had drawn a large, unbroken circle in chalk on the concrete. Heather waited inside it, legs crossed, hands fidgeting like she couldn’t stop them.
“We’re ready,” she confirmed. She beckoned Natalie over, who had been standing a little away from the non-humans. “I can’t just delete the spell that is keeping her wolf locked up. It doesn’t work that way. But what I can do is weaken it.”
“What do you mean?” I demanded.
“Think of the witch’s spell like a cage inside Heather, and her wolf is trapped inside the cage, okay?” We both nodded. “I can’t just unlock the cage without knowing exactly how the witch did it in the first place. But I might be able to bend the bars enough to let the wolf out.”
“Is this going to be dangerous?” Natalie asked in a small voice.
“Potentially, yes.” Rias caught my eye and held it. “That’s where you come in, Wren. Her wolf has never known freedom. She’s going to be scared, and that can be dangerous. I need you to help.”
“How?”
“When I’m ready, I will call for you. I want you to break the circle and do whatever Alpha magic you can to make sure her wolf comes out peacefully.” She gave us a wry smile. “Preferably before she rips my throat out.”
“But I don’t—” I began, but Rias was already taking her position inside the circle beside Heather. A warm hand touched my shoulder. Natalie was there, a soft smile on her face.
“You can do this, Wren,” she said. “You can be exactly the Alpha Heather needs right now.”
“Natalie—”
She shook her head before I could continue, moved away and positioned herself behind Rias, outside the circle. Heather’s eyes flicked to her, and she gave my mate a brave smile before focusing on the witch.
“Okay,” I said, “let’s do this.”
I don’t know what I was expecting. Maybe some flashy lights, loud sounds, strange symbols. Something that gave presence to the invisible power I could feel swirling around us all. I glanced at Natalie. Her eyes were wide, and she stared into the circle.
I had to forcibly push my thoughts away from my ma—Natalie. I couldn’t think of her like that anymore. I just couldn’t do it. If something happened to her because of me, I’d never be able to live with it. I certainly wouldn’t be fit to be an Alpha for anyone.
Rias’s lips were moving, but even my hearing couldn’t pick up any words. Was it the circle blocking her voice? Not knowing made me growl under my breath. If I was going to do this whole Alpha thing, there was a lot more I needed to learn. That book from Kendra was a good start. Maybe if I asked, she’d help me with everything else. She was kind when I went to her, not like what I was expecting. I hated to ask for help, but she did offer.
Heather cried out and I focused back on my wolf, ready to break the circle. Rias’s eyes were open, wide with fear, but her lips kept moving without sound.
“Heather!” I shouted and Rias’s eyes flicked to me. The barest shake of her head made me stop. It wasn’t time, I couldn’t break the circle.
Heather snarled, fur growing on her skin one moment then receding the next. She opened her mouth to howl, fangs jutting out from her jaws in slow, agonizing spurts.
“Shit!” I shouted, drawing Natalie’s attention. “She can’t control the change! Rias is in danger.”
“What do we do?” she cried.
Rias was still chanting, and I couldn’t do a thing about it. If she didn’t stop and get herself to safety, there was no telling what might happen when Heather’s feral wolf broke free. But she wouldn’t stop. I took a step closer to the circle, earning another baleful glare from Rias.
“We have to!” I yelled to her. “I can’t let her hurt you!”
Again, Rias shook her head. The movement made Heather’s stormy gray eyes focus on the witch in front of her. Her face began to elongate as her teeth and fur still couldn’t decide whether or not to stick around.
Shifting was painful enough, but being stuck in limbo with everything going in and out was something I wouldn’t wish on my worst enemy. I had to do something.
“Heather!” Natalie cried, standing just outside the circle behind Rias. She waved her hands to draw Heather’s attention. Heather’s wolf-gray eyes slipped toward Natalie and narrowed. A low snarl rumbled through the backyard. “Heather, it’s me. It’s Natalie. I am the Lupa of your pack and you will listen to me.”
All my focus turned to Natalie, along with my wolf’s. Hearing Natalie claim to be our Lupa almost tore my wolf from my control. How did she even know that word? Was this more about the connection between us? Who was this astonishing woman?
“I am your Alpha’s mate!” she screamed over the rush of wind and power that circled around us all. “You will hear me and you will stand down! The one in front of you is a friend of the pack!” Heather’s eyes locked hard onto Nat, and I saw Nat’s throat bob as she swallowed her fear. “She is a friend, and you will not hurt her, understand?”
They stared at each other for so long I lost track, but then Heather sat back on her haunches, her head lowered and to the side. Natalie had asserted herself as dominant over her, and Heather accepted it. How was this even possible?
She caught me staring at her and gave me a small smile. “It’s okay,” she said, “it’ll be okay now.”
My head jerked into a nod, but I still couldn’t understand what I’d just seen. No wolf would ever be submissive to a human. It was taboo. It was unheard of. It didn’t happen.
“Natalie…” I whispered, but she didn’t hear me.
“Wren!” Rias’s voice was oddly modulated as it reached out from the circle. “Now! Break the circle—draw out her wolf!”
I shook myself and charged into the circle. Heather was lying on her side on the ground while her body started the shift, then shifted back again and again. Her wolf was trying to break free, but Heather was fighting her wolf. I knew how frightening the first time could be.
I knelt beside her, taking her face in my hands as I forced her attention onto me. I could feel my wolf creeping to the surface as I stared into her wolf’s gray eyes.
“It’s okay, Heather,” I murmured. “It’s okay.”
She shook her head in my hands. “No! No!” she cried. “I don’t want to hurt anyone!”
“You won’t,” I told her. “It’s only you and me, and I won’t let you hurt anyone.”
Rias and Natalie had retreated back into the house, but a glance back told me they were watching from the window.
