“My family will be doing wolf stuff.” And she got to see them every day at home. Living in a houseful of wolves only served as a constant reminder that she wasn’t, and she was tired of being left out and viewed as second best. The words bubbled up before she could stop them. “I want to move away and use my degree.”
Talia lifted her eyebrow. “Why?”
“Because I need to have a life…find a life…and figure out how to be me. Not Macey the failed wolf.” She should’ve gone away for college and made the break then. It would’ve been easier for everyone.
“I’m sure they don’t see you that way.”
“Did things change when you didn’t shift?” Macey glanced at the post. It was empty tonight. Who would slip up first? Wolf or vampire? While she’d never seen the punishment, she’d heard about it.
Talia was quiet for a moment. “I’m the youngest, a surprise baby. I’m the only child still in the pack. My older sister moved to her husband’s and my brother moved across the country for work. Someone had to stay with them, and that’s me. I accept that. You need to accept that you aren’t a wolf and never will be and your life won’t be what you expected.”
Macey had already realized that, but she didn’t need to settle. She didn’t want to be forty, or sixty, and have regrets. Was she selfish for thinking about leaving her family and her pack?
There was more to life than Green River. But she didn’t think Talia would understand her need to get out and stand, or fall, on her own.
Even here she was trying to fit in and be something she wasn’t.
Most vampires seemed to be happy with who they were and their role in the pack. They had jobs and lives and most of them didn’t care what the pack did. They took their turn patrolling on run nights and that was it. They took their turn because they were looking after their families or because they liked that sense of duty, like Talia.
Talia opened the cabin door and Macey followed her up the stairs. Neither of them bothered to turn on the light, it wasn’t needed when the moonlight was more than enough to see by. There was something peeking out from beneath Macey’s pillow.
While Talia’s back was turned, Macey drew the piece of paper out.
Meet me at the lake. I’ll be waiting.
A drop of blood darkened the corner. She licked it, but she already knew it was from Owen. Her lips curved, and she slipped the note into her pocket. Would he still be there? “I might take that swim I didn’t get today. Nothing big lives in the lake, right?”
“A few big catfish, apparently, if you believe the stories.” Talia put her hand on Macey’s arm. “You have to forget about him.”
“I haven’t spoken to him since yesterday. And nothing’s going to happen. He’ll go back to his nice traditional pack and I’ll…” She had dreams, but no plan to put them in place. Tomorrow she’d tell her parents. She’d look at places she wanted to live and then find the corresponding pack. She had to make it happen this gathering because another five years of waitressing while she tried to find an apprenticeship nearby would kill her—and be a total waste of her degree. She didn’t want to prove her parents right in that regard either. They’d wanted her to do something more traditional, and useful, like nursing.
“I can ask my leader if you really want to move away.”
Macey shook her head. Talia’s pack was too rural. “I need a city where I can start my training.”
She didn’t want to grab the first branch that was offered or end up in a pack that was more traditional than hers. Many of the rural ones followed tradition too strictly. Too many rules for the sake of having rules would not be the adventure that she wanted.
Talia frowned, then nodded. “What about Cloudy Lakes…they’re big and spread out and cover the city and surrounds. They might be glad of an extra vampire, and if you can self-support…”
That was a little farther away from home than she’d been thinking. “Thanks, I’ll check them out. Let me know if you hear anything else.”
“I will. Enjoy your swim.” Talia took her towel and headed to the showers.
Macey stood there for a few moments, deliberating. If she went Talia would suspect, if she didn’t go Owen would think she’d blown him off and that she wasn’t interested. If she was smart, she’d have a shower and meet up with the vampires. But she was here for fun and adventure. So she grabbed her towel and headed for the lake.
Few moved about the camp, and by the time she reached the trail she was on her own. The woods were alive with hunting owls, bats, and other nocturnal animals. She’d never come to the lake alone before—even during daylight. And while it was silly for her to fear the night, and being alone, that didn’t stop her stomach from forming a knot. Even if she ran into other vampires, she was doing nothing wrong. Maybe some of them would be enjoying a swim if they weren’t involved with patrolling and pack business.
It was unlikely there’d be wolves at the lake this late. And if there were? She’d swim and head back as though all she wanted was a quick dip. She should’ve grabbed her bikini, so the lie at least looked plausible.
The lake glimmered reflecting the stars and moon on the inky surface, and waves lapped the shore. She scanned the beach but saw no one. Maybe he’d given up waiting. Well, she couldn’t turn around straight away, and the water looked good.
She walked up the beach a little to where she’d sat earlier, then peeled off her clothing until she stood in her underwear. Moonlight bathed her skin. There was another week until it would be full. Then there would be a big celebration. Wolves didn’t need the moon to shift, but it made the energy rise so running under a full moon had become tradition.
Macey waded into the cool water, then slipped beneath the inky surface. At night there was something alien about the lake. Anything could lurk in the depths the moonlight didn’t reach. And even though she saw as well as if it were daylight she didn’t want to swim too far from the shore.
With just the sound of the water and her breathing, she could be the only person in existence. But she wasn’t alone in the lake. There were hundreds of heartbeats, some tiny, some much bigger. Catfish, or something else?
Fear flared brightly, and she stopped swimming and trod water while she found her bearings. A few strokes and her toes touched the bottom. Her heartbeat settled.
Water lapped against her skin. She should go back, find the others and be sociable, chat to the Cloudy Lakes pack vampires, and try to embrace what she was. Maybe it was her own insecurity that made her feel like an outcast in her own pack.
Was Talia right and the rules had been created out of fear? Or was that a lie vampires told themselves?
Coming here was stupid. She waded closer to the shore, then stopped.
Someone moved in the tree line.
Macey slid lower into the water and watched.
The man glanced along the shoreline, before stopping at her towel and clothes. Macey was all too aware that she was only in underwear that was more see through than helpful in keeping things covered.
Then he stepped out of the shadows and took off his shoes. He walked toward the lake, his head turning as he scanned the surface, searching… The moonlight caught his familiar features. His heartbeat a tune she shouldn’t know so well.
Owen. She breathed a sigh of relief while her stomach turned in anxious knots. Neither of them should be here, but they both knew the risks. And for him they were greater.
She waded closer to shore, and he strode into the water with a smile on his lips.
“You came.” He held out his hands as though expecting her to fall into them.
She wanted to. Three steps and she’d be in his embrace.
“Why did you invite me?” she asked softly, knowing he’d hear. He could probably hear the racing of her heart too. “We agreed one night.”
He lowered his arms. “I felt like a swim and thought you might like one too?”
She crossed her arms to hide the way her nipples pressed against the wet fabric of he
r bra. The heat from the fighting had worn off and the cold of the lake was seeping into her bruised bones. “I do…but we can’t. I know who your father is.”
Owen looked away; his smile gone.
She should be reveling in this moment but instead she was destroying it. It was for the best. “I don’t want something that has to be kept a secret.”
She swallowed the sour disappointment, then made herself walk past him toward the shore. What was wrong with a gathering fling? She could enjoy him for a few weeks. But there’d always be shame attached to the memory. An inability to talk about it. She deserved more.
She didn’t want to be limited by old rules and getting tangled with Owen was doing exactly that. He was her past, a hope that could never be. Not her future.
“I’m nothing like my father.” His voice was low and barely reached her. “I like you. I liked you from the moment I saw you last gathering. I’d hoped…I still hope…” he swore. “I don’t care that you aren’t a wolf. I want to start a new pack where things like that don’t matter.”
Macey stopped and turned. His words tumbled around her head. “What do you mean?”
“That I’m done with rules that tie us to a time of fear and don’t allow us to progress.”
“I mean about me.”
“I thought we’d be a good match.”
“You barely know me. You didn’t know me at all last time.”
“But you walked up to me, with a glint your eyes and fire in your heart. I was young and stupid, so I’m glad you hadn’t shifted back then.”
Was he saying that to get back into her very see-through panties?
“Or ever.” She lifted her eyebrow.
“True. I was shocked at first, but I want to get to know you.”
“You’re a leader’s son. He will never approve of me.”
“If I have my own pack, I don’t need his approval.” He took two steps closer. “I came here intending to gather support.”
“So join another pack. That’s what I plan to do.” Even in a progressive pack wolf-vampire relations wouldn’t be condoned. But if Owen got his own pack where the old rules about vampires and werewolves didn’t matter? Many would hate the idea. They wouldn’t allow it on principal.
He shook his head and sighed. “My father won’t let me leave. My only option is to start fresh.”
“Good luck. A new pack hasn’t been approved in a very long time.” This still couldn’t be. She needed to find a better fling, a vampire.
“I don’t need luck. I need support. I need a minimum of two vampires and five wolves to join me.”
“And territory. Who would give up land…” While some packs were shrinking, redrawing boundaries, or merging with a neighboring pack was fraught. But there was land about to become available.
“What have you heard?”
“A rumor. That’s all. One pack, all their children are vampires. It’s going to be declared dead.” That solved the land problem if Owen made a claim on it.
“Ajax?”
“Yeah…I guess you used to hang out with him before he failed to shift.”
“His pack is going to be declared dead?” Owen looked stricken not happy. “That’s got to hurt.”
“It’s a rumor, but I guess you could talk to him. If you absorbed them, you’d have all the vampires you need.”
He took another step closer and held out his hand. “Not all.”
She glanced at his hand and didn’t know what to do. She wanted him, and his idea for a new pack made everything seem possible.
“And if I joined your pack what then?” She moved closer so their bodies were almost touching, the water swirling around their calves. “What happens when you want more than a vampire? Aren’t you supposed to have a wolf at your side as leader?”
“As leader I can do what I want.”
“That isn’t true.” They both knew that. There were rules and traditions that even progressive packs weren’t willing to break. “We’re making plans when you won’t even speak to me in front of others.”
“Then I will.”
“You’ll lose credibility and support if you’re seen getting close with a vampire.”
“I’ll be showing them what kind of pack it will be. One where people don’t have to hide who they are.”
“One made up of rule breakers, those who would’ve once been outcast? Who’d want that living next to their pack?”
He pressed his lips together. “I want a pack made up of those who want to live free of rules that no longer serve us. I want to live, and I can’t do that where I am. I don’t want to expose us to humans or live dangerously.”
Macey knew that feeling too well. “And if your plan fails?”
“My father will kick me out.”
He’d be an outcast, and always living on the fringes of territory, unless someone took him in, but with his rebellion revealed who would want him?
What did she want from him? A proper gathering fling where they could talk and be seen? That’s what her first gathering was supposed to be. What she’d imagined last time when she’d been old enough to understand but not join in.
His plan was dangerous. And exciting.
She clasped his hand, and he pulled her close. She kissed him, pressing her wet skin against his dry clothes. He was warm against her night chilled skin. His arms slid around her as though he didn’t want to let her go.
“I need to talk to people, get numbers, get support. But I can do this.”
“I think you can…but being seen with me might ruin your plans.” If he got his pack territory, then she’d have somewhere to go, and this could become more than a fling.
“I know, but I can’t seem to stay away.”
Macey’s skin glistened in the moonlight and her underwear offered tantalizing glimpses of what it was supposed to cover. While she hadn’t agreed to join his pack, she hadn’t laughed at him either. She hadn’t walked away. If she had, he’d have been forced to admit that she was the smarter of the two of them.
“I don’t want you to stay away, but I don’t see how this can work.” Her arms looped around his neck.
Owen hadn’t planned to tell Macey about his plans tonight. But he wanted what was between them to be more than a secret and he didn’t want to be keeping secrets either. Not when he actually needed people on his side. But that didn’t stop his heart from beating a little too hard. Every person he spoke to was a potential leak. And a leak before he was ready would sink his plans and the last thing, he wanted was to be packless.
He wasn’t sure which was worse in his father’s eyes. Macey, or starting a new pack. Either way it would go badly. As much as he wanted to hold her hand in public, she was right. This had to stay hidden for the moment.
“Neither do I, but let’s make the most of this time.” He kissed her again and her mouth opened to him. His blood heated like he’d been running with her and his dick hardened.
His father was going to kill him.
His father would kill him twice if he knew he was plotting his escape. Tomorrow he’d talk to Ajax even though they hadn’t been close for ten years and see if there was truth to the rumor, perhaps they could find a way forward without the pack being absorbed by its neighbors. While the land wasn’t as far from his father as he’d like, it would do. And it might be his best chance.
It seemed an impossible quest.
He pushed those worries aside until daylight.
At night anything was possible including falling for a vampire.
This wasn’t like being with a wolf, she was different. More guarded and yet she was more dangerous. Stronger and faster and with fangs capable of ripping out his throat. But all he wanted was to feel her teeth pressing into his lips. He longed for the accidental cuts—that had almost healed by morning.
He wanted to know what a deliberate bite felt like. It was whispered to be ecstasy. He didn’t ask her though. That was a step too far. Too soon.
Her hand traced up the fly of
his short, her fingers brushing over the length of his cock. “You should get out of your wet clothes.”
“So should you.” He slid his hand up her spine and unclasped her bra.
The other night had been rushed, driven by lust brought on by running wild. He wanted something slower this time. He wanted to taste every inch of her and lap the water from her skin. He drew her bra down her arms and was tempted to let it float away, but he doubted she’d appreciate that, so he stuffed it into one of his pockets before taking one hard peaked nipple into his mouth. She gasped and arched her back which made her hips grind against his. He used his fingers to tease her other nipple while her hand found its way into his shorts.
Her cool fingers wrapped around him and stroked, sliding over the head and down the shaft. “My towel is on the shore.”
“I saw.” They should move. If got on his knees to taste her, he’d also half drown himself which would spoil the evening.
They waded back to shore, splashing in their haste. He stripped off his shirt and shorts while she spread out the towel. Then she lay down and beckoned him closer. He kissed her inner thigh and higher, before slowly taking off her panties. She watched him; lips parted.
While his vision was better than a human’s at night, hers would be even better. He kissed the crease of her thigh then traced the lips of her pussy with his tongue. Her legs eased open a little further and his tongue explored a little deeper. While her skin was cool to touch, she wasn’t cold in her center. Her nails pressed into his shoulder, and he was sure she was leaving crescent marks. But he didn’t care.
He suckled on her clit and pressed two fingers into her. She lifted her hips in response, eager for more. He kept up the rhythm, hearing the change in her pulse as she got closer to the edge. Her breathing was short gasps and her fangs were just visible. But she wasn’t watching him anymore. Her eyes were closed.
Her thighs tensed as she came with a smothered moan in her throat and her hips rocking. He’d never heard anything sweeter or tasted anything better.
Slowly he kissed his way up her belly over her breasts to her lips. She opened her mouth to him, and he made sure to kiss her hard enough that his lips caught on her fangs. There it was, the tremor of pleasure. Last night he’d thought it was the thrill of doing something forbidden—he’d add allowing a vampire to bite him to his list of faults—today he was sure it was more.
Warlords, Witches and Wolves: A Fantasy Realms Anthology Page 42