Lupa (Second Edition)

by Kimberly Odum Wells

  *****

  Josette woke up with a full body ache. Everything hurt, from her hair follicles to her toenails. It was a deep throb that seemed to beat in time with her heart. Even without opening her eyes she knew the sun was too bright. The sound of the vacuum was like the housekeeper was vacuuming the pillow that she’d thrown on top of her head. She could feel every hair on her body and the sheets that she’d thought as soft as whispers on her skin, were now rubbing her raw. She was in sensory overload.

  “Tehila?” Max whispered. When she cringed at the soft words she felt him moved off the bed. Slowly.

  The sound of the blackout curtains covering the windows made her grind her teeth to stop from yelling and Max footfalls has he ran from the room were booms in the new found darkness. She could hear Max as well as if he was standing on the side of the bed as he went to her parents’ room to tell them that he was taking her to an underground bunker. Wait….and underground what?

  “Josette.” Max didn’t use his words, he thought them. It wasn’t speech, not words that she heard in her head but she knew he was calling her. “I underestimated how sensitive you’d be. I’m going to take you somewhere quiet. I know you’re uncomfortable but it won’t take long. Just hold on Tehila.”

  Max picked her up, one arm behind her back the other under her knees, cradled her in his arms as she ducked her head into his chest. He walked her to the elevator in her room. The doors closed and after a time, way too long to be the bottom level of their house, the doors opened in blessed silence and the temperature was cooler. Josette could smell fresh concrete.

  Max sat Josette down on her feet and let go of her. She opened her eyes. The room was dark, almost pitch black. Max had a sheepish grin of apology on his face. “That should have taken a few days.”

  She tilted her head to the side. Cool. Max had spoken to her but his lips hadn’t moved.

  “I’m going to take this off.”

  Josette had a second to wonder what “this” was, before he bent over a little and grabbed the material of her gown. Shocked still, she stood motionless as he pulled the gown up and over her head. Her heart was in her throat beating as fast as a hummingbird’s wings and what felt like a bolder sat in the bottom of her stomach. Her gown was transparent enough to read newspaper print through, but she still felt covered. Now she was standing naked in front of Max for the very first time.

  “Lay down, the sheets should feel better now,” Max instructed her and she was all too happy to oblige.

  Max face appeared before hers again and she smiled at him. “We’re in a bunker under the house. You’re safe here. I’m going to get breakfast”

  “Okay,” she said in the tiniest of whisper that sound like a megaphone was attached to her lips. Max smiled and pressed his lips to her forehead. She’d expected some discomfort, but there was none.

  “My touch will never cause you pain Tehila.”

  Josette reached out and touch his face, running first her palm and then the back of her hand across his cheek. “I love you Honi,” she thought.

  The smile he gave her was enough to catch her breath. “I love you too. Sit tight I’ll be right back.

  Josette looked around the room and then sat up in the regular size bed. It didn’t take her long to realize that the room didn’t have any lights but her vision was just that good. She stood up wrapping the sheet around her tying it around her neck. She walked around the room. She didn’t know what kind of bunker whoever had built this one had been in, but it was not the kind that Josette would come to for prolonged survival.

  There were no shelves of food or supplies. Not generator or radios. There weren’t any jugs of water or batteries and flashlights. It looked like a regular bedroom, not as grand as the ones upstairs, but still comfortable.

  “Better,” Max said and this time his mouth moved.

  “Much,” Josette said looking at the covered tray. Her stomach gave out a ridiculously embarrassing growl, making Max laugh.

  The tray was overflowing with bacon and scrambled eggs. A second tray had stacks of pancakes and fruit. It was enough for four people at least. Josette open her mouth to say it was too much when her stomach growled again.

  “Let’s get you fed,” Max said going to one of the cabinets and pulling out two plates. One of the cabinets wasn’t a cabinet at all but a refrigerator. He grabbed two bottles of water and came back piling two plates full of food.

  “Thanks,” Josette said and dug in. She had finished off her plate before she came up for air from chewing and found Max staring at her. “What?” she said.

  “I like a woman with a good appetite,” he said.

  “You mean you like this woman with a good appetite,” she said smiling at him. He laughed and switched plates with her. He hadn’t eaten any of his food. “You’re not eating?”

  “Not until you’re full.”

  “You’re taking this whole ulric and ulrich thing very serious.”

  “It’s a serious thing,” he said. His lips were curled in the sexy secret smile that she’d grown to love, but Josette know that his words were serious. His life was no longer his own. It would have been a little scary except she felt the same way. She ate most of what was on his plate and he ate the rest.

  By the time Max had finished eating Josette saw that the room was getting lighter. Hidden lights along the ceiling were getting brighter; the same with a sound that was playing in the background.

  “What is this place?” she asked while Max packed up the tray and dishes behind her.

  “A moon room.”

  “A moon room?” she said turning around to face him. She wasn’t sure why all the extra amenities weren’t pointed out sooner.

  “A place for a new wolf to make his or her change in a safe and secure environment; sometimes new wolves are...frisky,” he said but Josette knew he meant violent.

  “Will I be that way,” she asked walking to him.

  He straightened from what he was doing and pulled her into his arms. “Maybe,” he said in a low voice, “Probably.” Max hugged her tight to him as her anxiety level rose.

  She’d not thought about being a danger to herself or others when she changed. What if she didn’t know who she was, or who Max was? What if she attacked her mother or her dad? Okay, her dad could take care of himself, and Max too, but her mother wasn’t a werewolf. What if she got out of the moon room and ran wild.

  “I’ll be with you,” Max said kissing the top of her head.

  “You only turn for three days, what if I turn before you or after?”

  Max took a deep breath. “I’ll be with you,” he repeated.

  Josette pulled away from him to look at his face. “I could hurt you,” she said. Max was shaking his head. “We’re a mated pair. You’ll recognize me as your mate even if you don’t keep your consciousness. Do you regret doing it,” Max asked. His voice was a whisper.

  Josette could feel his uncertainty and sadness. His thinking she wasn’t happy about allowing him to bite her.

  “No, of course not,” she said snuggling into his embrace. “I want to be with you in every way. I want to chase the moon and smell the night air as a wolf. I want you to show me everything that you love so much.”

  “I love you very much Tehila.” Max lowered his head and kissed her on the lips; nothing more than a whisper of a kiss as their mouths brushed each others.

  “I love you too my Honi,” she said right before the sound of a clearing throat interrupted them. Neither was surprise. They’d both smelled and heard the arrival of her parents.

  ‘Honi?” her father asked. His eyebrow was raised and a small smile was on his face. His arm was around Brianne. They were dressed and Josette remembered that they were leaving today for their trip.

  “Arapaho for wolf,” Max answered.

  “Oh,” Julian said.

  There was some persuading needed to get Brianne to leave. She was worried about Josette, not that she could do anythi
ng about heighten senses, but mothers will be mothers. In the end the three of them won and she agreed to stick with the original plan. Of course, that was the only part of the plan that stayed the same. Julian was going to make the official announcement and set in works his coronation. He was going to issue a royal decree that Brianne was the pack’s Nonakris and Josette was Lupa. Josette and Max’s mating would be revealed and...wait for it... there were going to be two weddings. A week long party being kicked off by the coronations of her parents, the middle featuring Josette and Max’s wedding and a second ceremony to recognize them as Lupa and Lupus of the pack and ending the whole shebang with the wedding of the new king and queen. All this was going to happen in three weeks. It seem like Josette wasn’t the only one who didn’t want to wait on the next full moon.

  Chapter Twelve