by Eva Harper
Rush pattered down from the third floor and greeted Jonah and his mate. They wandered into the kitchen, and I smiled at Jonah since my hands were covered in raw fruit.
Jonah’s mate entered behind him slower, her wheelchair nearly bumping into Melrose’s foot as she bustled around the kitchen. Melrose nearly cried and apologized profusely to which Jahida laughed and waved her hand.
“As long as I don’t crush your toes, we’re fine,” she assured her. Melrose relaxed visibly and continued raiding the cupboards, her ash-blonde hair whipping around.
“I’m sorry, my hands are disgusting, or I would properly introduce myself,” I apologized, holding my fruit covered hands up to show her. “But I’m Sloane, you must be Jahida, Jonah talks about you a lot.”
“Does he?” She smiled lovingly at her mate, who ducked his head. “It’s nice to meet you, Jonah’s told me a lot about you, as well.”
Jonah moved one of the chairs around the table so Jahida’s wheelchair could fit with us. I set the bowl of apricots next to Melrose and washed my hands, watching Jonah and his mate as I did.
Jonah looked at her so tenderly, eyes sweeping over her thin features. Her hair was wrapped up in a cream-colored turban, and her dark eyes and arched brows stood proudly on their own. Her hand laid on top of Jonah’s, her skin a shade lighter, stroking his palm.
Rush reached across me and turned the water off since I was too distracted. I grabbed the towel closest to me and wiped my hands.
“What’s for breakfast?” Jonah asked hungrily.
“Belgian waffles, sausage with apricot glaze, and garlic hash browns,” Melrose called over the steam and sizzles from the stove. Jonah moaned loudly, leaning back in his chair. “I take it that sounds okay?” Melrose giggled.
“If I didn’t already have a mate, Mel,” Jonah joked, winking at Jahida, who shook her head and ignored his antics. Melrose laughed and pulled a pan out of the oven.
“Sloane, what pack did you come from?” Jahida asked, reaching her hand across the table towards me to get my attention.
“Intrepid Pack, it’s about three hours to the east,” I told her.
She nodded and looked off into the distance, trying to remember something. “Was there a Maverick in your pack?” she wondered, eyes narrowing.
“Yeah, he was one of my sister’s friends.”
“I knew it!” she shouted triumphantly. “Our mothers were best friends; we use to play together as children.”
“It’s hard to imagine Maverick playing with anyone, but Ezra and Finn, he’s such a man’s man.” I tried to picture Maverick and Jahida as children.
“Yeah, well, next time he gives you shit, tell him you know about the sleepover, and he’ll shut right up,” she said as she smirked.
“Sleepover?”
“Yes, ma’am! He let me do his makeup, and we played tea party, and he cried during one of those dog movies,” her voice wavered, trying to keep from laughing. “My mother has pictures.”
“Oh my,” I chuckled, saving the information for later. “That’ll definitely come in handy.”
“No problem.”
Melrose set dishes on the table, and we all dug in hungrily. Rush held the plates out to me, waiting for me to put food on my plate first. It was customary that Alpha’s ate first, and this was one way he could show I was his equal.
Jahida noticed and pinched Jonah’s arm, motioning to us with her eyebrows. Jonah paused his attack on putting sausages on his plate and watched.
I took a bite of my waffle, and Rush relaxed and began eating. I ate slowly, wondering why he allowed me the honor of eating first as it was usually the Alpha’s right. We finished breakfast quickly and with little scraps of leftovers.
Melrose cleared the table happily, huffing as Jonah lifted his hand to grab one last sausage off the platter. Rush murmured something to Jonah, and they left the table inconspicuously.
“I’ll never understand men,” Jahida said far away, looking at her mate, disappearing around the corner. I nodded in agreement and stood up. “Have you seen the garden’s yet?”
“No,” I told her, unaware there were even garden’s here. “Where are they?”
She pushed back from the table. “I’ll show you!” I followed her outside and down a small path that led a few minutes through the woods. “My friend Zyra and I tend to the gardens. They used to be dead and decaying, but we took them under our wing, and now they’re the most beautiful part of the pack grounds.”
I picked up my pace, and she pushed herself excitedly towards the gardens. After a moment or two in the woods, we approached a large patch of flowers where pack members were laying, reading, talking, and sunbathing.
There were hundreds, no, thousands of different flowers; coral, amethyst, pastel yellows, and bright cherry reds covered the entire area. My smile grew as she showed me the different areas, what each flower was called, and when they bloomed. We wandered close to the edge of the woods as she pointed out a certain kind of fern that only grew towards the sun.
I lifted my head for a moment and caught movement in the trees. My eyes settled on a human boy, perhaps in his teenage years, that was frozen under my gaze. He was dressed in all black and carried a gun strapped to his back.
He was nervous, unsure of what to do. I knew from my father that his training would have taught him to shoot or alert the other hunters, but he stayed still-breathing labored, sweat building on his forehead.
He darted off to the east, and I turned to the small group of wolves lounging in the gardens.
“Everyone, back to the packhouse,” I ordered loudly, sweat breaking out on my own forehead. The wolves looked up at me, confused and unmoving. “Now!” I roared. Something in my voice made them stand and walk back to the house, casually glancing at me.
“What’s wrong?” Jahida asked next to me as we moved at a quick pace.
“There was a hunter in the woods,” I said loudly so the other wolves could hear. A few of them broke off and began running back, shifting, in fear.
“Go, someone needs to alert the rest of the pack,” Jahida urged. The pack link could be used to notify an individual but not a group, and it was only useful if that person’s mind was open to the message.
I became frustrated, trying to contact Rush, but I couldn’t get through. “I’m not leaving you. One of you, run ahead and tell the Alpha!”
A man shifted quickly and ran ahead of the group. Jahida pushed herself faster, the rest of the wolves followed behind us, no one was going to get left behind. Jahida panted, arms tired, as we tried to make it to the safety of the pack. I kept my guard up, glancing around the woods, ready to shift at any sudden movements.
We broke the tree line to see Rush, Jonah, Beckett, and another few wolves coming out of the packhouse. Jonah ran to Jahida and knelt down, checking over her. Rush walked assertively towards me, but I could feel his eyes checking over me as well.
“There were hunters?” Rush asked, scanning the woods behind us.
“One, he was a boy, but he ran off towards the east.”
Rush nodded.
“Everyone go home. Stay inside until further notice. No one goes anywhere alone until we are positive we’re safe.” The wolves nodded and scurried off. Rush grabbed my hand as we walked back to the packhouse. “Don’t go outside without me,” he told me, looking down as I glanced up at him.
“Of course,” I squeezed his hand, resting my head on his arm.
Jonah and Jahida stayed with us at the packhouse until dinner when they insisted on going home. Rush could only be handled in doses when he was stressed; I understood.
“They’re getting closer to the packhouse.” He threw a book on his desk. I lifted my hand to soothe him but pulled it back to my chest when he turned around faster than anticipated. He sighed and leaned against his desk, running a hand through his hair. “I’m sorry, I’m just stressed out. I didn’t mean to scare you.”
“You didn’t scare me,” I said firmly, stepping in b
etween his legs, resting my palms on the tops of his shoulders. “What can I do?”
His hands found my waist, pressing his fingers into the soft flesh below my shirt.
“I don’t know if there’s anything any of us can do,” he spoke honestly. “The humans are getting more reckless, and if they get close enough to the packhouse, I don’t know what we’re going to do. It’s not the humans that are indifferent towards us that we have to worry about. It doesn’t matter if ninety percent of them don’t care about us, it’s the ten percent that are going to harm our pack members.”
“That ten percent can do a lot of damage,” I agreed. “So, what’s our plan?”
“Honestly?” He looked up at me sadly. “I don’t think we have one.”
Offspring
“So,” I said conversationally, purposefully not making eye contact with Rush. “My sister said something about visiting our pack soon, would you mind?”
“No, not at all.” He continued working on the pile of paperwork on his desk.
“Really?” I said, surprised.
He glanced up, looking over his reading glasses. “Why would I? I’d like to spend some more time with your sister, the only time I met her was when she thought I was going to kill her,” he said, chuckling, looking back down to sign something.
“Well, okay,” I said. That conversation went a lot smoother than I thought it would. I was prepared to make my argument and give character witnesses, but he was oddly accommodating.
“Tell her to wait a week until we can figure out a bit more about this hunter situation. I wouldn’t want her showing up in the middle of this, but next week would be fine.”
I ran out of the office to our bedroom and grabbed my phone off the end table. Isla picked up on the fourth ring, yelling at someone with the phone muffled against her chest.
“Sorry, S, I’m working with amateurs!” she screamed the last word loudly to whoever was in the room. “What’s up, girl?”
“I was wondering if you had any plans next week?”
“Uh, apart from killing the Alpha, taking over the pack, uniting all the packs under my reign, and ruling over everyone as the ultimate, supreme, glorious, Alpha….no, not really, why?” she said it so casually it was hard not to take her seriously.
“Rush, and I want you to come visit for a few days,” I said happily.
“That would be wonderful! I do have a lot of stuff to do here, but I can maybe come for a day or two? I promise I’ll stay for longer later, but you know how busy the shop gets right before school season, all the kids need new clothes.”
“Absolutely, even just a day visit would be nice.”
She hummed on the other end of the phone and then said something that didn’t make sense. “Sorry, I’m not talking to you.” She pressed the phone against her chest again. “Okay, now I’m talking to you. I’ll let you know what day I can come!”
We talked for a little while longer and then hung up. I wandered back to Rush’s office and swung the door open. Beckett was sitting across from Rush, he glanced up at me but didn’t change his facial expression.
“You know, they say frowning leads to premature wrinkles,” I said spitefully, walking past him to sit on the edge of Rush’s chair.
“Who are ‘they’?” Beckett sneered.
“You know.” I crossed my legs. “The universe, cosmetologists, dermatologists, people who have actually smiled before.”
Beckett let out a heavy breath from his nose.
“Okay, enough,” Rush settled, fighting the humor out of his eyes. “We need to find out more about these hunters. They’re gaining confidence and numbers, which makes them dangerous.”
“Has anyone tried to talk to them?” Beckett and Rush looked at me strangely. “What?”
“The last time we tried to talk to them, they stabbed you and nearly killed you,” Rush spat. “So, no, I don’t think talking is the best option.”
“That’s it? You’re just going to go straight to fighting? Maybe we can work something out, they’re people too, they have families and lives.” My heart ached for the humans.
“I’m more concerned about the lives and families of our pack members. The humans come second.”
“Why do you care about the humans so much?” Beckett scrutinized, eyes narrowing, lips scowling.
“Are you still hung up on the idea that I could be working with the hunters?” Beckett stayed quiet and continued to stare. “I’m not.”
“Then why do you care so much if they live or die?”
“Oh, I don’t know.” I threw my hand in the air, adding to my sarcasm. “Because they’re people too? They may be human, but we’re half human, too. I don’t want anyone to get hurt.”
“People are going to get hurt,” Rush said sadly, and his hand settled on my lower back.
“But what if-”
“Sloane,” Rush interrupted in a steady but empathetic tone. “We’re not negotiating.”
I grumbled and stayed quiet for the rest of the meeting. Beckett and Rush pulled out maps of the territory, old battle plans, and strategies, discussing aspects of the pack I wasn’t even aware of. I committed it all to memory and began working on an alternate plan in my head in case theirs didn’t turn out as expected.
Beckett left the office sometime in the early afternoon, and Rush and I remained seated, talking about protection for the pack.
“I think we should appoint more guards to the border,” I suggested.
“I agree.” Rush folded his hands on his desk. “I also think we should remain with the idea of a buddy system, just to be safe.”
“I agree.” I mimicked him, folding my hands across the desk close to his.
“I also think that you should come over here and let me kiss you,” he said flirtatiously.
“Why don’t you come over here?” I could feel my eyes darkening, an obvious sign of a wolf’s arousal. Rush launched off the desk and picked me up from the office chair. My legs wrapped around his waist as he roughly pushed me against the wall, a picture frame falling to the ground.
He kissed me, hands roaming the undersides of my thighs, and they tightened around his waist. I tilted my head back, moaning in the sweetness of his lips on the mark etched in my skin. His hand reached for the doorknob and then resumed its position under my leg. He walked out of the office into the open hallway.
My hand gripped the back of his neck tightly, painfully, and he groaned against my skin. We came to the stairs, and when I thought he would ease me back onto the ground, he stepped up. Without looking, he climbed the familiar path to our bedroom and pressed me against the wall next to the door.
Our clothes were nothing but a distraction, mentally burning off as his hands roamed. We could have been naked, it wouldn’t have mattered, nothing was in between us.
As his hand touched the door handle, a small, spritely ‘eek’ erupted from behind Rush’s large body. He turned slightly, my body still wrapped around his hips and shoulders.
Kenna was spread out on the wall, pressing herself further into it like she was going to disappear through it. Her cheeks filled with color, and her large brown eyes remained frozen wide.
“I’m so sorry,” she said frantically, moving to leave. “I’ll just talk to you later.”
The sexual tension in the air decreased, and our moment was gone.
“What’s up, Kenna?” I sighed, loosening my legs and slipping to the ground.
“No, no.” She shook her head, covering her eyes with her hand, flinching away. “You continue on, I’ll catch up with you later!”
“The moment’s kind of gone now,” I joked.
Rush slumped away in disappointment.
“I’m so sorry. I was just going to ask if you wanted to come into town with my brother and me, we have to get some things for my dad’s birthday. I know you said you wanted to check out a few of the stores in town.”
“That’d actually be great,” I told her, fixing my shirt.
“Oka
y, I’ll uh, just wait for you downstairs.” She stumbled away.
Rush let out a frustrated grunt and walked through the open bedroom door. I followed him and snatched my purse from the side table.
“You shouldn’t leave.”
“It’s safer if there are more of us in town, I wouldn’t want anything to happen to Kenna.”
“I don’t want anything to happen to you,” he insisted. I pressed my palm to his cheek before kissing the opposite. “Just be careful. I’m sending extra guards with you.”
“We’ll continue this later,” I promised, smirking slightly. He chuckled and nodded his head.
“Be safe, stay with Kenna’s brother, he’s a Warrior. Link me if anything happens. If you see any of the men that attacked us, leave, and come home immediately. I want you all back before dinner,” he droned on.
I hurried out of the room in the middle of his speech and trailed after Kenna and her brother, Griffin, into the human town. Kenna rattled off all the things they needed to make a cake and wrap presents.
I sat in the backseat of the car, watching the road, memorizing the path to the shops. Griffin slowed the car as he looked for a parking spot, and I unbuckled my seatbelt in anticipation. As I turned my head, I noticed one of the men who attacked Rush and I getting into a large truck.
A small, brunette girl waved goodbye to him, and I saw her mouth form the word, “dad.” She wistfully walked into a clothing shop, and the door closed behind her.
Kenna and Griffin climbed out and started off towards a bakery. Another car filled with Warriors from our pack pulled up behind Griffin’s car and stood watch as we decided where to go first.
“Hey, do you mind if I go check something in that store?” I asked, already stepping a few feet in that direction.
“Yeah, just be quick,” Griffin said gruffly. I nodded in agreement and jogged across the street after looking for cars. Two Warriors followed me but stayed outside the store, watching me from the windows of the storefront. I opened the door to the shop hesitantly, not knowing what I was doing.