by Eva Harper
“Good to know where we stand,” Theo seethed as he walked out of the room.
“Can you blame me?” I shouted, walking out of the room after him. “I mean, can you honestly blame me?”
“Yes!” he screamed, stopping to spread his arms out by his sides. “I have done nothing but try to make you comfortable here, with me. Have I not bought everything you wanted? Done everything you wanted? I got you a phone to talk to Caddy, I gave you space, I answered your questions, and I waited to sleep in the bed next to you until you said it was okay! We marked each other, for the moon’s sake, Margo. Does that not mean anything?”
“Yes, you’ve been very accommodating,” I nodded. “But trust takes more than that. It takes time, Theo. I’m sorry I don’t have the best track record with wolves, but I’m trying.”
“Why would you let me mark you if you weren’t sure?” Theo asked with glossy eyes.
“I was trying,” I pressed. “I thought it was a step in the right direction. I wanted to give this a chance; I still do. But it’s going to take more than some new clothes, and a few answered questions to make me trust you.”
“What else can I do?” he asked tiredly.
“I don’t know,” I shook my head, fidgeting with my hands.
“Well, when you know,” he started down the stairs. “Please, come tell me.”
I stayed in my room until night. I knew Theo had gone to bed an hour before, and I weighed my options. In embarrassment, I settled for sleeping on the couch in the living room. I fell asleep despite the glare from the moon outside in the large window. I was woken in the morning by pounding on the front door. Theo stumbled down the steps, still shirtless and in sweatpants.
“Theodore!” Cam shouted cheerfully as Theo opened the door. Theo tried to shut it, but Cam and Beau forced themselves inside.
“Get out,” Theo ordered sleepily.
“Now Theo, remember we made plans to go hunting today, you can’t back out now,” Cam winked. He strolled around the room, noticing me sitting up on the couch. He hitched an eyebrow at Theo.
“Leave her alone,” Theo warned. Cam held his hands up innocently and backed away. “Just let me change.”
Theo came down in a pair of athletic shorts and a black shirt. I knew when Cam said hunting they were not going to be in their human form, although if they shifted, a set of clothes would be handy. The men jogged out of the house without so much as a goodbye, as precedented by Theo, and left me alone in the large house.
I yawned, stretched, and wandered upstairs to ready myself for when Theo returned shortly. He didn’t. I was alone until nighttime; I even opened the door to see what was happening, but the guards stared at me until I went back inside.
I knitted, cooked myself some squash and zucchini, and laid in front of the fire. Around six in the evening, the phone in Theo’s office rang. I let it go to the machine. It rang again, and I went over to it, debating on whether I should answer. It rang a third time, and I picked it up.
“Hello? Theodore?” the voice said. It was a man’s, most likely older than Theo.
“Theo’s not here right now,” I said back quietly. “Can I take a message?”
“Who is this?”
“Who is this?” I retorted.
“My name is Alpha Reed Porter, who are you?”
“Margo,” I drawled.
“Ah.” It sounded like he smiled. “I have not had the pleasure of meeting you yet. I’m calling about a document I sent your mate. I’ve not gotten a response; I just wanted to make sure it arrived.”
I paused, wanting to put the phone down, but knowing it would be rude, and I would most likely have to meet the man one day.
“I don’t see any documents on his desk. I can have him call you when he returns,” I offered.
“I see he didn’t tell you about my little note,” Alpha Porter babbled.
“You’re the one who sent the letter?”
“I am.”
“What was it about?”
“You.”
I rolled my eyes. “What about me?”
“That’s something you’ll have to ask your mate about. I wouldn’t want to drive a wedge between the two of you. Now tell me, is it true you’re human?”
“What does that have to do with anything?”
“I’ll take that as a yes.” Alpha Porter chuckled. “I’m sure we’ll be meeting soon, Margo. Best to have your mate change you before we meet, dear. At least you’ll have a fighting chance then.”
Bolder
The front door opened around nine in the evening and Cam, Beau, and Theo walked in noisily. Theo called out my name, to which I made some grunting noise in response. He came to the doorway of his office after saying goodbye to his friends.
“Why are you in here?” he asked, not upset, simply curious.
“Alpha Porter called,” I said hesitantly. I didn’t want to spark the fight again, but my curiosity and fear were getting the better of me. Alpha Porter’s last comment was festering like an open wound I couldn’t help but touch.
“Did you speak to him?” he asked, more concerned but trying not to look it.
“He called three times. I thought it would be rude not to pick up,” I explained.
“I’m not mad you picked up, Margo. What did he say?”
“He asked about his letter,” I ground out. “Wondered if you got it.” Theo nodded and let out a noise of approval. The festering wound split, and words poured out of me like puss. “And he also told me that I should have you change me so that I’d have a fighting chance when we meet.”
Theo stilled and opened his mouth though no words came out.
“Are you still going to tell me not to worry?”
“Margo.”
“Theo, this is about my safety. How am I supposed to stay safe if I don’t know what’s going on? How am I supposed to tell you when somethings wrong if I don’t know what I should be looking for? How am I supposed to…to…to survive if I don’t even know what I’m fighting against?”
“Okay,” he soothed, taking my hands in his. “Okay, I get it. I’m sorry. Will you please sit down, and I’ll tell you everything?”
“No,” I said, yanking my hands out of his. “I’ve been sitting all damn day.”
“Okay.” He nodded quickly. He ran his hand over his face roughly twice before telling me everything he knew about Alpha Reed Porter. How the Alpha’s had vetoed his run for Enforcer, how he was an outcast as a leader because of his aggression, and how he had a great hatred for humans because his mother had left his father for a human. Humans were weak to him, they were scum, and they had no place in the world of werewolves.
“ So, that’s why he hates me?”
“Pretty much,” he said nodding.
“Wait, pretty much? Is there another thing?”
Theo bit his lip and tried to reach for me, but I sidestepped him and began walking out of the office. He called my name sullenly, and I stopped.
“I said I would tell you everything, and I will!” Theo said loudly. “Would you just let me get it out?” His shoulders took up most of the door frame, and the light behind him cast a shadow on the ground. He looked demonic, or angelic, something otherworldly. I didn’t know if he was going to save me or damn me, but looking that good, I didn’t really care.
“Reed Porter blames me for the downfall of his pack because I got the Enforcer position over him. If Reed were the Enforcer, he’d be able to give him pack more territory and power, which is exactly why the Alphas denied him the position. His pack lands were recently terrorized by forest fires that ruined forty percent of his land. Now, he either has to expand into someone else’s territory or merge with someone else’s pack. No one else wants to merge with him, and I’ve denied every request of his to take over another Alpha’s pack lands.”
“Why would you do that?” I hissed. “It sounds like he wants a fight, and he has a good reason. His pack lands are gone, that can’t be good for their food production, and I�
�m sure some of his member’s houses burned with the fire. Why wouldn’t you allow him to expand?”
“And take land away from someone else who needs it? No matter whose pack I try to take the lands from, that pack will just ask for more territory. And if I start to give away free land, the other Alphas will have my head.”
“Why? No one is using it?”
“No man’s land is there for a reason. There is space between every pack to allow rogues and travelers to pass without crossing any boundaries. Wildlife also resides there. Without the free lands, animals would be herded into packs and either bred forcefully or killed off. There goes our main food supply.”
“I had no idea it was so important.” I let go of the harsh glare I had been donning.
“Everything is balanced.” Theo held up his hands in a mock scale. “When one person oversteps, things shift, and their needs have to come from somewhere else. That’s what my job is-to find the balance.”
“So, Reed wants more, and you won’t give it to him, he blames you and takes it out on me?”
“I think if there’s one thing Reed hates more than me, its humans.” He reached out and grabbed my shoulder, pulling me closer until our chests were flush. “I’m sorry, Margo.” He breathed out, kissing the crown of my head. “I was trying to protect you.”
“I understand,” I said, though it was muffled by his broad chest.
“Did you have a good day?”
“It was…uneventful,” I settled.
“I’m sorry.” He moved away from me, and he took his warmth with him. The cool air of the house swept between us, and a shiver ran from the base of my spine up to my shoulders and down to my fingers. “I was just frustrated, and I wanted to give you some space.”
“Space would have been fine. Ignoring me and then leaving all day?” I squinted. “Not as fine.”
“Bad mate moment?” He cringed. His steely exterior melted away, and he looked like a scolded child.
“Bad mate moment.” I smiled softly.
“Can I make up for it?”
“How?”
“Well.” He brushed a piece of hair behind my ear. “I could wake up early and make your breakfast in bed, and I could show you more of the territory, we could spend the day together, and I don’t know, whatever you’d want to do tomorrow.”
I nodded, agreeing to his proposition, and headed to bed. In the morning, he woke me gently with a kiss on my cheek and softly said my name. I groaned and rolled over to go back to sleep.
“Margo, love,” he said sweetly in the ear. “What do you want for breakfast?”
“Sleep, Theo, I want sleep for breakfast.”
He laughed. “You can go back to sleep, love, but what do you want to eat when you wake up?”
“Eggs,” I mumbled in my sleepy haze. “And bananas…and peaches…and toast.”
“Okay,” Theo whispered. He kissed my cheek again and tucked me back into the blankets. I slept for some time before I noticed that Theo was gone. I rolled over and looked around the room. I could hear his footsteps coming up the stairs, and I closed my eyes.
“Margo, I know you’re awake.” He laughed loudly when he walked into the room. I squinted up at him, unhappy that he called my bluff. “I brought breakfast.”
I sat up and took the tray he handed me. On it were plates filled with fried eggs, sliced bananas and peaches, a piece of toast with jam, sliced potatoes, and a few strips of bacon. I looked at Theo, who sat down next to me with a similar looking tray.
“This is good,” I complimented, smiling shyly.
“Yeah, except for the peaches,” he said in disgust as he placed another peach slice on his tongue.
“Why do you keep eating them then?”
“Because this is what you’re eating, and I told you we were going to do whatever you wanted.”
We finished breakfast. Theo washed our dishes, and then we got dressed to go out on our walk. The air had gotten a few degrees warmer, which meant Theo stopped trying to put winter boots and gloves on me when we went outside. There was still a slight chill to the air, but it was refreshing.
The woods that surrounded the house were thick, pine, fir, and sequoia trees all blended together in a mix of shadows. Theo took my hand and led me down a dirt path that was cleared. We walked for ten minutes and then reached a small clearing where six large boulders were piled together. In three bounds, Theo had left my side and climbed up to the largest boulder and stood on the top childishly. He laughed boyishly and motioned for me to come up as well. I shook my head; my balance wasn’t as good as his. I would certainly fall.
“What is all this?” I called to him.
“When we were little, my dad took us here, and there were only two, one for my mom and one for him. He said when we got older, we would have to prove our strength to the pack by getting a boulder from the cliff and carrying it here.”
I stood in awe; the rocks were huge. I brushed my fingers over the smallest one, which was still three times the size of me.
“Which one is yours?” I said curiously. He smiled and pointed to the one he was standing on, the largest one. I raised my eyebrow.“Of course, you have the biggest one,” I grumbled.
He laughed. “This one is my father’s,” he said, pointing to the second largest. “The only way I could take over my father’s title was if I could carry a larger rock than his up here. That one is Gabe’s, then Reese’s, and Eli’s, and the smallest one is my mother’s.”
“Will I get one?” I asked wistfully.
“You’ll have to bring your own up here, sweetheart,” he said happily.
“Theo, I’m never going to be able to carry one of these over a cliff and up here!” I shouted, laughing. He climbed down the rocks and stood next to me, looking at the rocks proudly.
“One day, you will be able to,” he promised.
I sighed. “Okay, save a space for my pebble.”
We continued our walk, stopping at the cliff, which was another ten-minute walk away. When we got hungry, we headed back towards the house. Theo made us sandwiches and sliced apples. We spent the afternoon lounging on the couch watching old movies.
I had my hands around Theo’s, showing him how to knit, laughing as his eyebrows sunk together in frustration. A sharp knock on the door stopped us in the middle of a pearl.
A voice rushed out Theo’s name as he opened the door. He stepped halfway out of the doorframe. I cocked my head back and watched him, the backside of him, tense. There were murmurs from both men, and then the door slammed shut.
Theo strode into the couch area quickly, stopped near the cabinets and television, and then began pacing back and forth.
“Theo?” I whispered. He didn’t look up at me, just continued to pace. “Theo, what’s wrong?”
“Nothing,” he said quickly, not paying attention to the word.
“Something is wrong, tell me,” I insisted, adding, “Please.”
His breath hitched, and he closed his eyes, stilling himself. “Reed Porter,” he breathed huskily. “He just invaded Duncan Trissur’s territory with a group of a thousand warriors.” The words were tense.
“What are you going to do?” I eventually asked.
“I have to go there,” he said, almost surprised at his words.
I nodded. “When?”
“Tomorrow,” he confirmed. “We’ll leave first thing in the morning.”
“We?” My face showed obvious concern.
“Yes, we, Margo. I can’t leave you here. I want you with me,” he smiled subtly.
“Okay,” I smiled back.
We went upstairs and pack a few bags, clothes, toothbrushes, and my knitting needles for the ride. We were rigid in bed, not wanting to break the small bubble of peace that was separating us from the rest of the world.
“I’m glad you’re here,” he broke the silence. I turned my head right to look at him.
“Me too,” I said back, moving my body into his embrace before falling asleep.
Petrichor
We woke up the next morning before the sun had risen. I groaned and dragged my feet to the bathroom to get ready. Theo said we were going farther north, which meant it was only going to get colder and that we needed to look a certain way. He set out a dress he thought was appropriate-tan in the middle with black lining on the sides. I put thick black tights under it and tall, black, heeled boots that matched the dress.
Theo met me in the bedroom, wearing a dark gray suit, white shirt, and black tie. He took all but one of our bags downstairs, letting me carry my small bag of things for the car. Someone had fixed our breakfast already, which we took with us in the long line of black vehicles. It reminded me of the day Theo came to Alpha Dorian’s pack. Now I would be arriving with the daunting stream of powerful wolves.
The drive took us somewhere between five and six hours. Halfway through, I fell asleep on Theo’s lap. When I woke up, the cars were slowing down, and Theo’s hand remained tense on my head. I sat up and looked at his worried face. He nodded to me, assuring me he was alright.
The car came to a complete stop, and Theo straightened up, fixing his tie around his neck. A few moments later, one of the guards opened the door, and Theo exited. I waited back until Theo’s large hand appeared in the doorway, reaching for mine. I tried to maintain as much composure as I had as I stepped out of the car gracefully.
There was a large group of people at the front of the packhouse waiting for our arrival. They seemed to keep their gazes towards the ground except to steal glances of me as we walked past them. Theo walked strongly towards the front doors, where two guards flanked a man with graying hair.
“Enforcer Weston, I cannot tell you how pleased I am that you are here,” the man said and bowed his head down to show his submission. Theo reached over and placed his hand warmly on the man’s neck.
“Duncan, you’re one of my father’s greatest friends and a fellow Alpha, of course I came.” He smiled graciously.