“Make sure he leaves,” she barked at Tato through gritted teeth.
I was thankful that he was gone and that I had been gifted this evening to make up for lost time. I hadn’t realized until now that I was neglecting so many of the people who been there for me long before Rikki and the new world.
Rikki and Rosemary followed me to my room.
“I guess I’ll pack my bag,” I declared without any measure of excitement.
“You are going to come with us tonight? Willingly?” Rikki’s eyes widened in genuine surprise.
“Were you planning to let me stay here?”
Rikki clicked her tongue. “Of course not.”
“There you go.” I pulled out a small duffel bag from underneath the bed. “No sense in arguing with you.”
I tried to hide my shaking hands as I dug through my drawer for clean clothes. I was too much of a coward at the moment to tell Rikki I was scared to stay here tonight. That werewolf might come back. I wasn’t sure what would happen if he did.
If Rikki knew I was lying about my reasons for cooperating, she didn’t say anything. I was unable to meet her eyes while I continued packing.
“You can trust me and my pack,” Rikki assured me encouragingly.
“We want you safe,” Rosemary echoed.
It didn’t make me happy to realize that I had to rely on others to keep me safe. I’d been independent for so long, and I was reluctant to release the reins. This was new. Being vulnerable. I didn’t want to be taken advantage of or thought of as a weak person. But here in this moment, Rosemary and Rikki were telling me that they wouldn’t abuse my trust or take my independence from me. That was such a relief.
But I couldn’t help myself when it came to thinking about the man who had strolled into the house tonight. My instincts were calling out to me, warning me that this was the man who had turned me. I knew it.
Soil and roots. Moon and tides.
Chapter Fourteen
“You can stay in the main house. There’s always a few wolves around.”
Rikki was working hard to keep me calm. She had been talking nonstop since we left my house. Long drive. The main house loomed menacingly in my view. I didn’t want to stay at the pack’s house, but Rikki insisted. I really wasn’t in a position to argue. She swore it was temporary. I could only hope that was true.
It was the middle of the night. The house was eerily silent.
Rosemary emerged in the doorway at the front of the house.
“Let her take you to your room,” Rikki implored.
I pressed the palm of my hand against my forehead. “Um, yeah. Thanks for letting me crash here, temporarily.”
Rikki flashed me an amused smile.
I threw my duffel bag over my shoulder as I climbed out of the car. Rosemary seized it from me the moment my shoes touched the dark wood of the porch. She didn’t say a word. We navigated the hallways and then the stairway in silence. Up until this point, I’d never been upstairs. The upper floor was U-shaped, with six bedrooms and two baths. Rosemary led me to the room at the end of the hallway.
The room was bigger than I expected. It was bathed in hues of green and gold with Mediterranean décor. Two thick, glass doors rose from the floor nearly to the ceiling on the back wall and opened to reveal a stone balcony. I stepped onto it and the smell of wet earth welcomed me. It was difficult to see anything other than the black sky and the dense forest of trees, but I was able to make out the edges of Rikki’s shed poking through the overgrowth. I wondered if she was there.
Part of me wished she’d invited me to stay in her shed with her. I still wasn’t entirely accepted as a member of the pack by the others, and I still couldn’t blame them. I hadn’t fully accepted myself either.
“This was once Rikki’s room.” Rosemary’s comment reminded me of her presence.
I left the balcony reluctantly, shutting the doors behind me. “Is it okay with the others that I take over Rikki’s old room?”
“They understand. This room is in sight of the shed and is strategically in the center of the hallway, so you’ll be surrounded by wolves at all times.”
Awesome.
“Bathroom is over there.” Rosemary pointed to an open door a few feet away from the balcony.
Okay, I can work with that. I definitely didn’t want to share a bathroom with dozens of other wolves.
Rosemary was inching toward the bedroom door. “Well, get some rest. I’ll see you in the morning.”
As soon as I heard the click of the door, I turned off the light and collapsed onto the bed. I watched the shadows transform and march across the ceiling. Time was going forward, and I was stagnant. Stuck. Stuck to the comforter in defiance, willing myself not to fall into Time’s currents. I knew what awaited me. Who. The wolf. Soil and roots. Moon and tides. I felt his presence as keenly as I felt air filling and leaving my lungs.
I left the bed and returned to the balcony. Wet earth. I spied Rikki outside, sitting barefoot in the small clearing between the main house and the shed.
Suddenly, I was outside and approaching her, forgetting sleep and promising myself that I’d unpack some other time. Rikki’s fingers were burrowing into the dirt.
I cleared my throat. I didn’t want to surprise her.
Nothing. The wind whipped through tree branches. I knelt beside her, my chest so low it nearly touched my knees. I tilted my head to get a better look at her face. Rikki’s eyes were gold, vibrant, vacant. I sat up and reached my hand out, lightly grazing her shoulder with my fingertips. Her skin was hot. Her head snapped in my direction. Her eyes softened. The gold was gone.
Our foreheads met. Eyes closed. I could hear the steady rhythm of Rikki’s breathing. The smell of wet earth mixed with the honeysuckle scent of her skin. My fingers rushed to tangle themselves in her hair. My entire body was humming with expectation. There was no need to use words. Nothing we needed to define now. Just us and the moon. Her lips found mine in the dark, and I was lost to the electric sensation of her kiss.
*
The soft sunlight punched holes in the emerald canopy of the forest. I opened my eyes slowly, letting the yellow rays mold fuzzy forms into focus. Underneath my cheek, the expanding and deflating of Rikki’s lungs was conducted at a steady pace. We’d fallen asleep outside. The soil beneath us was dry. I touched my lips lightly, dragging my fingertips along my bottom lip. The electricity was still there, lurking in the memory of the kiss. My stomach growled noisily. Rikki’s eyes shot open.
I felt extremely lightheaded. Hunger. The worst kind of pain. I felt as if I hadn’t eaten in almost two weeks. I rolled to my side, heaving from nausea. My head hurt. A loud ringing in my ears made me moan. I could barely hear myself.
My muscles were stiff. I could smell everything. Feel everything.
Rikki was standing close to me. I could sense her. Pain shot through my back. I screamed as I felt my ribs stretch and splinter. What is happening? I was disappearing. Deeper and deeper into darkness until I was gone.
*
I awoke to find myself naked and covered in dirt. I sat up, scared and unsure of what had happened. All I remembered was pain and hunger.
“I should have made sure you ate something before bed.” It was Rikki’s voice. She was naked too, standing a few feet from me. She was leaning against a tree.
“I ate.” I frowned. “And I knew I was still hungry. I should have gotten something to eat.”
“But you didn’t—”
“Rikki, I’m an adult. I was hungry, and I ignored it. So, my fault.”
She was quiet then. Good.
“I shifted, didn’t I?”
Rikki smiled. “Oh yeah. And got pretty upset when I tried to hunt for you.”
“Hunt?” The thought of killing an animal should have grossed me out, but it didn’t. I was merely curious about what happened while the wolf had control. “Hm. Well, that should tell you something. Even as a wolf I don’t bow to your every whim.”
Ri
kki shifted against the tree. “Clearly. I bet you are proud of that fact.”
“Very.”
Without warning, Rikki sped off toward the house. I followed after her, but I was no match for her velocity. At least, not yet. Rikki was already on the porch when I caught up to her. Anxiety saturated my nervous system. We walked through the front door together.
“Please, Alpha,” a strange man sobbed as he approached Rikki.
Rikki was kneeling over a motionless body in the living room.
“Isn’t there something we can do?” the man wailed, grabbing at Rikki’s arms in desperation. “Please!”
A scream, sharp and guttural exploded from the catatonic body. It was a woman. Rikki put her ear against the belly of the woman on the floor, listening intently for any threat.
I took a step forward.
“Stay out of it,” Cecilia barked as she blocked my path.
I reminded myself of the conversation I had with Rikki and opted against confrontation. Like it or not, I was in their territory. I sucked on my bottom lip for a minute, then let it go.
“I only want to help. I’m a paramedic.”
Cecilia studied me for a moment and then sighed, stepping aside to allow me access to the scene. The closer I came to the trio on the ground, the clearer the situation became – the woman’s belly was heavily swollen with child.
“You should have told me your wife was pregnant,” Rikki snapped at the man.
He was so preoccupied with his mournful blubbering that he didn’t hear her.
She repeated her angry accusation.
He lowered his head in shame. “You’ve forbidden pregnancy, we know. But we…we always wanted kids.”
No children? Why?
“That law was enacted for a reason.” Rikki spied my confused expression. “If a female werewolf gets pregnant, the fetus dies upon the first full moon. We are forced to shift, and the transition is too much stress for an unborn child. This is different. She’s human. Neither can survive. The two are incompatible.”
“So, the baby is doing what specifically?” I asked, sensing the urgency of the situation.
“Trying to rip its way out,” Rikki replied, her head still pressed against the woman’s stomach.
That was a horror show I did not care to watch.
“I’m sorry,” he cried into the woman’s ear. He kissed her cheek.
She squirmed and screamed, her fingers drilling into the carpet fibers. I wanted to help. I was a paramedic. I should have been able to. But this was a wolf fetus in a human.
The woman screamed again.
“Can you help me?” Rosemary’s question was directed at me. She was carrying an I.V. set.
I nodded hurriedly. I spiked the bag while Rosemary calculated the doses. I realized the medicine they were planning to give her would only help to relieve her pain.
She was going to die.
“What do you think?” she asked me.
I checked the dose. “That’s right.”
“You want to—”
I shook my head. Under normal circumstances I would start the I.V., but these were not normal circumstances.
Rosemary quickened her pace. Blood sprouted from the flesh where the needle entered. I held my breath, afraid the smell would nudge me into a frenzy. Unfriendly eyes scrutinized my movements.
“I am going to give—”
“No.” The words had left my mouth before I even realized it.
Rosemary stared at me blankly.
I moved instinctively. Rikki and Rosemary shuffled backwards, giving me room to work. I pressed my hand down on the firm flesh of her belly. The wolf child countered as I pressed, wriggling in its spongy home. A link formed between us – I could sense a longing to escape the womb, to stretch limbs as far as they could reach. I sat in stunned silence for a moment. Is that the baby I’m sensing? Its emotions?
Jesus. How can I be calm now?
I gulped when a wave of nausea threatened a gagging fit. I knew I had to keep it together. I took a deep breath.
“The baby is quite eager to be born.” I gave my best reassuring smile to the couple.
The man eyes widened. “You can sense the baby?”
I felt the untrusting gaze of several wolves narrow on me. Uh-oh.
“I can hear her...can’t you all? Isn’t that a werewolf thing?” I glanced from one wolf to another, certain that one of them would confirm my assumption.
“Only between a mated pair, and between an Alpha and their pack. Between any other wolves is extremely rare,” Rikki stressed.
“What is she saying?” the woman managed to ask between her cries.
Rikki nodded for me to continue.
“I think she’s at full term,” I announced aloud.
“Yes. We know this. But a human body won’t respond well to giving birth at five or even six months.” Rikki furrowed her brows at my assessment.
I closed my eyes, my mind searching for the baby’s consciousness.
I smiled after a few minutes.
“What?” the man questioned anxiously.
“The baby will wait.”
The woman sat up, no longer feeling discomfort. She took in a few deep breaths. “Thank you.”
She hugged me tightly.
“Oh my God, Bonnie!” Rosemary exclaimed. I couldn’t tell whether she was happy or horrified. I hoped it was the former.
“Come with me.” Rikki left the room, expecting me to follow.
I did. I knew I had to.
When I realized she was leading me to her shed, my shoulders sank. This isn’t going to be good.
Once we were inside her little home, I spoke first, saying, “Whatever I did in there, I’m sorry.”
Rikki planted herself near the fireplace, her shoulder forced against the wall.
“It is rare. No – unheard of, to find a werewolf that was born.”
I didn’t seek to slow my descent onto the couch. I plummeted at top speed. Thoroughly exhausted. Not at all ready for whatever it was Rikki had to say.
“When I was turned, I had no one. I was orphaned. My mother died of syphilis when I was 12. My father…was Native American. He was killed by the Englishmen for ‘seducing’ my mother. Being a mixed-race child, I was not allowed to know anything of werewolf history or secrets. I never understood how a werewolf could carry a child to term. Then came the whispers of the Omegas in every Native American pack. They were hidden. Kept safe. Over time, Omegas were hunted or enslaved. Too many Englishmen were being turned into werewolves from random attacks. Native werewolves were being challenged and forced out of their rituals and beliefs.”
I couldn’t speak. I listened.
“I am sure there are other Omegas out there, but you won’t hear talk of them.”
“Why are you telling me this now?” I’d been wanting to understand what this all meant for me. Rikki never seemed ready to talk about it before.
Rikki rubbed her chin thoughtfully. “Because, you have done something impossible today. A born werewolf… Tato and I are the only ones who have come across a born werewolf in our long lives. And this is my pack’s first time encountering an Omega. This could change the future of our pack, of our species, for the better.”
I rested my head against the couch and stared at the ceiling in disbelief.
“Every choice you make is your own. But I’m telling you, we will protect you. Now, more than ever, you need protection. If the wrong people or the wrong wolves found out…”
“I really don’t have a choice, do I?”
She shook her head slowly. “We are your best chance for some measure of freedom…for life.”
There was no other option then. I rubbed my eyes frustratedly, upset in the knowledge that I was going to have to postpone returning to work. Rikki would only say that it was too dangerous, for me and for others. Hell, she didn’t even need to say it.
“Okay. Give me some time to digest this. Also, I want to hear from the pack. You know, whether
or not they want me to join. I don’t want anyone feeling as if they have to accept me because of you.”
Rikki clenched her jaw. “Fair enough.”
*
Everyone was impatiently awaiting our arrival in the main house. Our appearance drew every uneasy gaze. I straightened my back inadvertently. Swallowing the hard lump in my throat, I reminded myself that the pack and me needed each other. The best way for mutual survival. I spotted Rosemary in the crowd. She was clinging to Tato. His arm cradled her waist protectively. Nervous energy buzzed in the air.
Rikki saw no need for procrastination. “I know many of you have questions and serious concerns. To those of you who are familiar with the stories of Omegas and born werewolves, they have always been just that – stories. Whispers of Bonnie had only been just that, whispers. Until she proved otherwise today. I realize that to encounter both of these in the same day must be startling, but we have some decisions to make, and unfortunately, I cannot afford you the time to think on your answers. We need them today. Now.”
A man who was introduced to me as Lloyd stepped forward. “I really don’t know how I feel about the baby, but I can tell you that this new wolf…Bonnie…well, her presence is dangerous. Omegas were hunted for centuries. I-I’m not ready to die for a wolf I don’t know.”
“The fact that Bonne is an Omega cannot leave this pack, regardless of whether or not she joins. Her connections to us have already been made public, which means that if she is discovered, all wolves will automatically assume she is with us and we will not be safe.”
Rikki wasn’t giving anyone much of an option.
Cecilia was the next to come forward. “This is a lot to process at once, and I can’t help but echo Lloyd’s concerns. Despite the miracle she performed today…and I need to say that we are truly grateful for it…despite that, I fail to see how we are supposed to weigh the lives of everyone in the pack against one life. Her life.”
A Night Claimed Page 10