by Eva Harper
“Sloane Ivy Calder,” Rush said as his lips slid into a proud smirk. “I submit to you as my Luna. I acknowledge that you are capable enough to make decisions for this pack, with or without my approval or consent. Do you accept my humble submission as your Alpha?”
I glanced at the pack members before turning my head back to Rush. “I do.”
As he stood up, he lifted me off the ground with him. His lips were on mine before I could open my eyes, kissing me deeply.
It took a moment for our pack to realize what happened, but a small smile of pleasure blanketed them. Rush swung me around in a circle, never once allowing my lips to leave his. My arms curled around his neck, and I pulled on the roots of his hair.
Joyful applause and hollers echoed, happy to see their Alpha and Luna in love. Rush lowered me to the ground, my toes fighting to find the ground. I stumbled back a few steps, drunk on Rush’s scent.
“Every day with you just seems to get-”
His words were cut off by a sharp growl. Our heads snapped sideways, peering out far past our pack members where a wolf stalked predatorily behind the trees. My shoulders tensed as it moved forward, our pack members moved back, allowing the Warriors to shift and circle the wolf.
“What’s going on?” I panted frantically.
“Shh,” Rush hushed me, stepping to the edge of the stage.
The charcoal wolf snarled, whipping it's head violently from side to side, looking at the Warriors surrounding it. Saliva dripped from its muzzle, soaking the ground beneath its feet.
I stepped up behind Rush, placing my hand on his shoulder.
The wolf paused, closed its eyes, and shook its head as if to clear its thoughts. The wolf's eyes opened in a flash, and he pounced forward, intent on blood from our pack. A Warrior quickly caught the wolf around the throat, killing it instantly. The Warrior dropped the body to the ground, its flaccid limbs falling into a pile.
Rush gulped loudly, a torn expression covering his eyes.
“What is going on?”
Slow Burn
“This is absurd that another pack would allow another wolf to invade our territory while we are all fighting the threat of humans,” Rush growled, slamming his hands on the bookshelf; a few books clattered onto the ground.
I carefully stepped over the fallen literature and touched his side lightly with my fingers.
He moved quickly, walking away from me, hands on his head, stomping around the office. “I want to know what pack that wolf came from. Now!” he shouted to Casey, who scrambled out of the room, nearly slipping as he ran. “Who the hell would use this opportunity to move in on a territory?”
“I don’t know.” I shook my head.
“And to think they came into our territory while we had the pack gathered. Do you think there’s a traitor in our pack?” He didn’t wait for me to answer. “I swear I will tear them to shreds, I don’t care who it is.”
“Rush, you need to breathe,” I told him forcefully.
Beckett sat in the corner of the room, arms crossed, waiting for Rush to settle.
“No, what I need is to find out what the hell is going on!”
“So do I!” I screamed back. “So, calm the hell down so we can actually talk about this!”
The loudness of my voice snapped Rush out of his angry daze, and his eyes grew wide. Beckett leaned back slightly in his chair though he wasn’t close to us.
“Sorry,” Rush mumbled.
“I know you just want to figure this out, and so do we. Why don’t you call Duncan and Francis and see if they know anything about this? Beckett, go help Casey figure out what pack that wolf was from, and I will ask around the pack and see if anyone knows anything.”
Rush nodded and sat down at his desk while Beckett and I left the room. I started by asking the pack Warriors and border guards if they knew anything about the wolf. We had pulled back the guards on the border for the meeting, only three were running point, but for the short amount of time, we thought they would be enough.
All my leads came up short. No one knew anything. Beckett and Casey couldn’t track the scent, and neither Francis nor Duncan knew anything about it. Francis had mentioned something about a neighboring pack’s member going missing, but they hadn’t turned up yet. The wolf was the wrong color to be the one on our territory, but just knowing there was another wandering wolf made me uneasy.
Rush ran his hand through my hair as I sat on his lap, taping the edge of a book that tore when it hit the ground. Rush’s fingers tangled the strands of my hair, weaving them together and tying the ends in knots.
“Will you quit it?” I asked playfully, setting the book in a pile with the others.
“I’m trying to learn how to braid,” he chastised. “I don’t understand how any of this works.”
“It’s simple.” I laughed, pulling the chunks of hair out of their knots and tangles. My hands wove together a strand, showing him how to do it. He stared at my hair curiously.
“Yeah, I don’t know how to do that.” He chuckled, pulling my face over to his so he could kiss me.
“You might have to learn if we have a daughter.” I smiled. His cheeks warmed.
“So, you’re thinking about it?” He grinned, excitement in his eyes.
“Yes, I am thinking about it.” I nodded. “But that’s it, I’m just thinking.”
His smile continued to grow, and he pressed his hands under my butt. My mouth opened in surprise when he stood up, taking me with him into our bedroom. He set me gently on the edge of the bed, reaching over his head to pull his shirt over his head. I eagerly unfastened his belt and tugged his pants down.
I was quickly undressed in the same fashion and laid down on the bed where we made love. Twice. We were panting, lying next to each other, skin sleek with sweat.
“You look warm,” Rush commented, peering over at me.
“Rush, we’re both sweating from our little exercise session there,” I rolled my eyes.
“Little?” he screeched. “Little exercise?”
I gave him a flat look. “I’m sorry; above average and lengthy exercise session.”
Three knocks sounded on the door, and Jonah’s nervous voice shouted, “Hey guys, I really don’t mean to interrupt anything, but we kind of have something important to talk to you about.”
Rush laughed and dressed quickly, throwing his shirt over to me since mine was lost in the folds of the bed. I slid my shorts up my legs and tucked the large shirt into them. Rush opened the door as I pushed my belt into place and slipped my shoes back on.
“Yes?” Rush drawled out, a satisfied grin on his face.
Jonah pursed his lips uncomfortably and cocked his head, motioning down the hall. We followed him to the office where Beckett, Casey, and woman I hadn’t met stood staring at a man in one of the chairs. The man looked down, eyes shifting around the room anxiously.
“Alpha, Luna,” Casey addressed, his voice tight and tense. “Gideon says he might have information on the wolf who crossed our territory.”
Gideon was shaking, his small frame dwarfed by the taller people in the room. The boy was a teenager, no older than sixteen, hair too long, eyes too scared.
“What do you know?” I asked tenderly.
He looked up at me, hopefully through the strain of angry eyes pointed towards him. “Luna, I um, I called my sister who lives in the Cronus Pack, like I do every week, and she said two wolves wandered into their pack a few days ago. One that she mentioned looked a lot like the one who crossed our borders.”
“Did she tell you anything else? Does she know what pack they’re from?”
Gideon bit his lip, thinking hard. “No, she doesn’t know where they came from, only that they were acting a bit strange…like erratic and stuff, but so have some other people. I think it's just the anxiety of everything going on.”
I nodded and smiled. “Thank you.”
Gideon got up out of the chair and ran out of the room.
“So, this is hap
pening in other packs?” Rush voiced, leaning his back against the door frame.
“It would appear so,” the woman nodded her head.
“Maeve, I don’t think you two have been introduced, but this is Luna Sloane. Sloane, this is Maeve, she acts as our diplomat to other packs.” Maeve smiled, and I returned the sentiment. “Maeve, I need you to get in contact with the Cronus Pack and find out if they know what pack those wolves came from.”
Maeve nodded dutifully and left the office. Casey and Beckett stayed behind, helping Rush and me with new border protection plans. Our territory was expansive, and we would need almost half the pack stationed at the border to ensure no one could slip through. It wasn’t an option to use that amount of people, and it took us most of the afternoon into the evening to devise a schedule and new sectors.
For our plan to be implemented, we would need to pull students from their last year of school to learn the system and take a shift. Casey oversaw their training along with a few of the other Warriors.
The students were gathered in the training fields two days later, lined up, looking around apprehensively. Casey instructed them on how the border patrol was going to work in the future. There would be two lines, running parallel and in opposite directions, circling the pack border. Since the shifts would be tiring, they would only last a few hours, and the next shift would take over.
All able-bodied pack members were recruited, and after long hours of scheduling, we were able to work with individual’s schedules.
“Is this really the best option?” I murmured to Rush as we stood observing the students' training. They would only be responsible for observing any abnormalities within our borders and were told not to engage in combat with any human or wolf that crossed the border; that would be the responsibility of the Border Guards and Pack Warriors. Casey wanted the students to have basic knowledge of combat in case something was to happen to them during their shift, which made me feel perturbed.
“Until we know where this threat is coming from,” Rush lead on.
“Is it really all that much better if we know?” I said pessimistically. Rush looked down at me. “I mean, we either find out other packs are taking advantage of the fact we would be fighting on two fronts or the humans have other packs on their side. Either way, we need to continue this plan until they’re gone.”
Rush moaned and rubbed his hand over his chin, scratching the small scruff of facial hair he allowed to grow. “At least we would know who we’re fighting.”
“Either way, we’re killing more of our kind, and the humans get stronger.”
“I bet that bastard Harrison is behind it,” Rush growled through clenched teeth.
“Either him or his nephews.”
“He has nephews?” Rush pulled my shoulder back, so I was forced to look at him. “How much do you know about his family?”
“Not much,” I faltered. Rush’s gaze grew angrier. “I just know that he has his nephew’s working for him and that they have guns, but we already knew that. Hazel didn’t say anything else and when I drove her home-”
“Sloane,” Rush’s voice was steely and soft. “You need to tell me where he lives. We never talked about it because of the attack right after, but its time.”
“What were you going to do? Go to his house and kill him in his sleep?”
“Maybe!” he shouted, stepping away from me. “You can’t keep this from me.”
“It won’t change anything.” I shook my head.
“You don’t know that. You can’t know that. You took a vow to protect this pack, Sloane, and I know that you have some sort of connection with his daughter, but that man is evil. He killed four of our Warriors, he hurt you, and he’s threatening the lives of every single one of our pack members.”
“I can’t tell you where he lives,” I said softly.
Rush’s body tensed. “Why not?”
“Because you’re going to march over to his house and kill him, and what is that going to do? That’s only going to start the war right now, is that what you want? To fight humans and other wolves at the same time?”
“You blame me for not treating you like a Luna when you are making all of these decisions for our pack without me even knowing there were decisions to be made. You can’t preach to me that I’m not treating you with respect when you aren’t doing the same.”
“Rush.” I ducked my head.
“No, Sloane.” He started walking towards the house. “If you won’t tell me, I’ll figure it out for myself.”
I walked after him, following on his heels into the house and into our bedroom, where he began overturning chair cushions and tables.
“What are you doing?” I fumed, trying to catch his hands as they wildly overturned every surface in our bedroom.
“I see you writing in that journal all the time before we go to bed. Some sort of diary? You can’t keep things from me when you put our pack in danger. You lose the right to have secrets when they could mean our pack suffers!” His voice rose with every word.
“Rush!” I yelled, trying to stop him. His eyes found the pile of books I kept by the side of my bed, and he stalked towards them. I tried to move faster than him, but his long legs took him much farther than I could get.
He began flipping through them, tossing the books onto the bed once he checked I hadn’t written in them. He finally got to the black, leather-bound journal I kept.
“It’s in here, isn’t it?” He peered down at me, holding the journal higher in his hand. I looked down, guilty, and cornered. He shook his head in disappointment and began looking through it.
My breath became shallower, and I fought back the urge to cry, suddenly emotional and wanting to apologize, but the other half of me felt proud that I stood my ground. My breathing became louder and more like pants, so much so that Rush looked up from the journal. He stepped forward in concern and set the journal on the bed.
“Sloane?” he nearly whined, glancing over my body. “Come here.” I took a step forward and nearly collapsed under the weight. Rush’s arms were around my waist, and I practically broke with satisfaction when his hand reached up and pressed itself against my cheeks and neck.
He tilted my head back, leaning towards his mark on my neck and inhaled. My wobbling head rested on his shoulder, eagerly waiting for him to look at me again.
“Sloane,” he whispered in fright. “You’re in heat.”
Suppressed
“I feel like I can’t breathe,” I panted, my hand covering my chest. Rush moved and sat me on the chest at the end of our bed, hands on my shoulders, propping me up.
“It’s because we’re fighting. Sometimes that brings it on early, every emotion is amplified when you’re in heat.” He bent down and took my shoes off. “Just try to relax, take a deep breath.”
“What do you think I’m trying to do?” I moaned loudly as his hand drifted over my collarbone, brushing the hair from around my face.
The door opened as Rush opened the window near our bed. Jonah looked frantically around the room, eyes wide and alert. Beckett appeared behind him, nearly bumping into him as he ran down the hallway.
“Why did you mind-link us?” Jonah asked exasperatedly, stepping into the room.
“She’s in heat.” Rush pointed to me like the cookie he wasn’t allowed to eat. Jonah and Beckett inhaled deeply, trying to catch my scent.
“No, she’s not,” Beckett denied.
“You can’t smell it because you aren’t her mate, dumbass.” Rush glared. He opened the balcony doors, allowing the cool air to circulate our room.
“Why are we here?” Jonah stepped back awkwardly.
“Because we aren’t ready to have a baby right now, and I don’t trust myself to be alone in this room with her,” Rush explained.
“You wouldn’t do anything,” I assured Rush, leaning over on the bed, out of control in my own body.
“You’d like to think that, wouldn’t you?” Rush said crazily, loudly, eyes bulging out.
“You wouldn’t hurt her like that,” Beckett said calmly.
“I know.” Rush sighed. “I know I wouldn’t. I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t. I don’t think I would do that….no.”
I watched as Rush walked out of the room and left me with Beckett and Jonah, eyeing me cautiously.
“Can we get you anything?” Jonah asked, his head tilted as far back as he could as if that would somehow help him be more comfortable.
“Ice cream,” I croaked, crawling up the bed. “And popsicles!”
Beckett and Jonah scrambled out of the room, closing the door behind them. Rush didn’t come back to our room that day or the next. It wasn’t until the third day when he came back into our room, sniffed, and then walked over to me. He sent Beckett in to check on me every day, ordering him to abide by my every whim and wish.
“How are you feeling?” He brushed my cheek with his fingers.
“Like I’m a normal temperature again,” I joked, smiling up at him.
“I’m sorry I left,” he said softly.
“If you didn’t, I would have undressed you in your sleep, and we would be expecting a small child in about three and a half months.”
He smiled and stood up, stretching his arms and shoulders.
“What’s been going on?” I asked, standing up from the bed.
“We still have no leads on the stray wolves, and now three of our pack members are sick. I swear the last thing we need is for a virus to be going around on top of everything else.”
“Well, just make sure they’re quarantined in the medical building until we know what it is. We can’t afford anyone else getting sick right now,” I agreed. I became nervous as I asked, “What happened with the address?”
Rush kissed the top of my head and turned to leave. “I haven’t done anything yet.”
“Let me know if you change your mind?” I asked, hopefully.
He grinned and left.
While Rush was working in his office, I meandered down to the first level of the house. My feet took me to the kitchen, where my eager stomach growled at the sight of food other than ice cream and applesauce.