Blood of the Pack

by Jenny Frame

  “That’s why you are our perfect Mater, but one thing you should know before you meet her. Her sister ran because Leroux promised Zaria to Ovid as a mate when she was only sixteen—a child. Assuming she is what she says, that’s got to have an effect on her.”

  Eden shivered in Dante’s arms. “Ovid is a wolf without any honour or common decency. A sixteen-year-old wolf?” Eden shook her head in disgust.

  “I know, but as much as my wolf is inclined to believe her, there’s something missing. Something I’m missing.”

  “Like what?” Eden asked.

  “Once her sister died, why did she stay around this area? I would have gone to the other side of the country, or to a different country altogether to get away from the Lupas. Yet she stayed here, why?”

  “Maybe she felt safe being near our pack? I’ll try and talk to her. We’ve had our fair share of heartache, Dante. Now I just want to live and love.”

  “I’ve loved you ever since I could understand the concept as a cub, and there’s nothing that’s going to change that,” Dante said.

  Eden lightly traced her fingernails around Dante’s nipples, making them go rock hard. “Remember our first kiss?”

  Dante laughed. “It depends on what you count as our first kiss. Our first sweet kiss, or the one where we wanted to pull each other’s clothes off?”

  Eden laughed. “How about both?”

  “Well, our first sweet kiss was when we were eleven. We were in the forest, collecting some wood and rocks for a school project. I brought you some flowers I’d collected and you leaned over and gave me a quick peck on the lips.”

  Eden ran her hand down Dante’s body, making her growl. “You were taking so long getting round to it, I thought I should just get on with it, just like today.”

  “I walked around on air the whole week after that,” Dante said.

  Eden sat astride Dante’s hips and grinned. “And our tear-your-clothes-off kiss was after your football game under the bleachers. We were fifteen and our sweet kisses became something entirely different. You won the game, and you were hot, so confident and dominant. Just watching you made something change inside me.”

  “What did it change?”

  Eden leaned over and whispered, “I wanted to lick you all over.”

  Dante growled, and her hands grabbed Eden’s fleshy buttocks, pulling her into a mating position.

  Eden took Dante’s hands and placed them on her breasts, encouraging her to squeeze.

  “You came off the field, took my hand, and we went under the bleachers. We kissed like two adult wolves for the first time, and might have lost control—”

  “If my mom hadn’t caught us,” Dante said.

  Eden began to rock her hips on top of her mate’s sex. Dante watched her with fascination as she closed her eyes and leaned back her head in pleasure.

  “You are truly beautiful,” Dante said.

  When Eden opened her eyes she saw Dante’s eyes had changed to glowing yellow. She missed seeing this need in her mate. Since the attack Dante had been kind, caring, and protective, but she needed her to be the sexually dominant wolf she knew only too well.

  “Are you mine, Alpha?”

  “Always.”

  As soon as Dante replied, Eden snarled and, with her wolf claws, scratched along Dante’s chest leaving a bloody gash. This defiant action was meant to challenge her Alpha and make her react, and react she did. Dante flipped Eden over in a second and held her hands tight above her head.

  “Submit, Mater,” Dante demanded, but Eden defiantly held Dante’s gaze.

  One of the things the made the Alpha pair’s relationship so strong was that they still loved to play together, especially these challenge and submission games. They had done this ever since they were cubs, and only in maturity did the stakes rise in intensity and seriousness.

  Eden struggled and when she made no progress from Dante’s tight hold, she turned and sank her wolf teeth into her mate’s arm, drawing blood. Dante never flinched in pain but raised her lip into a sneer.

  “You think you challenge your Alpha, Mater?”

  Eden smiled back up at her mate. “As always, Alpha, it’s my job to challenge you.”

  Dante lowered her head until her face was inches from Eden’s face and made a low rumbling growl that reverberated through Eden’s core and made her shiver.

  “Submit, Mater.”

  Eden immediately bared her neck to her mate. Dante’s teeth elongated and pierced the scar from the night that they first bonded in this way. Eden’s sex clenched in response, ready to receive her mate again, but instead of mounting her, Dante turned her mate onto her front and began to kiss and lick her way down Eden’s spine.

  Eden growled in response and then howled in pleasure when she felt Dante’s teeth sink into her buttock. Her instinct made her push her hips up and present her sex to her mate. Eden looked back and watched Dante with yellow eyes full of passion, teeth ready to bite, and claws slightly scratching her body.

  She’d missed seeing Dante like this, hot, needy, and hungry. Eden groaned when she felt Dante running her finger over her wet sex.

  “You’re drenched, Mater. What do you want?” Dante growled.

  Eden’s sex was pounding so hard. There was something about this position that made her desperate for Dante and the orgasm she needed. It was primal.

  “Fuck me, Alpha.”

  Dante placed herself in the mating position. Eden moaned and Dante growled. She could feel Dante and her need as she thrust into her, but she wanted more, wanted it rougher.

  “Don’t hold back…If you’re strong enough,” Eden challenged.

  Dante grasped her hair, just as she wanted, and scratched her nails down her back, while her thrusts got faster. “I’m the strongest wolf and you’re mine,” Dante roared.

  “Yes, I’m yours, Alpha. Fill me up.” Eden wanted all of Dante and the essence of a dominant and her bite drove her wild. She was going to come, but Eden wanted to wait for her dominant. “Dante? Now.”

  Dante started to growl and moan, slow and continuously, a sure sign that her mate was coming soon. Eden was on the verge of giving in to her own orgasm when she felt Dante lean over and sink her teeth into her mate bite. They both came instantly and Eden experienced such an intense release. All the pain, worry, and fear was washed away by the orgasm that Dante had given her. They fell to the bed and held each other in a mess of sweaty limbs.

  Dante kissed her deeply and said, “You are everything, our cubs are everything. Nothing will hurt you again. I promise you.”

  Eden believed her mate, but there was a small part of her that sensed they would see Leroux again, and this time Dante would put her threat to an end.

  “I love you, Dante.”

  Chapter Seven

  “All right, all right, hold your horses.” Kenrick and the cubs had just enjoyed a long morning run and were now in the Alpha’s mudroom finishing getting changed. As promised, Kenrick gave them each a leather wristband she’d brought from back home. Marco, who had led their run today, was last, and as the others ran into the kitchen, Kenrick slipped the leather band onto Marco’s wrist.

  “Thanks! This is so cool,” Marco said enthusiastically. “I’m like the Scottish wolves now.”

  Kenrick smiled and ruffled his hair. “You’re welcome. You were great at leading the run today, Marco. I used to run with Flash, your pater, all over Wolfgang County when I was young.”

  Marco’s adoptive parents, Flash and Vance, were great wolves and great parents, she was sure. Marco sat on the mudroom bench and stared at his wristband. She got the feeling he needed to talk.

  “It was fun, but Dion and Nix are better at leading,” Marco said.

  Kenrick put her hand on the back of his neck. “You were great. Don’t compare yourself to others and think you don’t measure up. In the wolf pack, we each have our place, we each have our task to perform. Some lead, some follow, but no one part of the pack is more important than the o
ther. We all depend on each other to make things work. You’ll find your way, Marco. We all do.”

  Marco sighed. “I’m not as dominant as my pater—maybe he’s disappointed he didn’t adopt a different wolf. I’m not like Dion or Nix.”

  Flash was one of the elite wolves, and he helped Caden run the ranch and meatpacking business. He was a big tough wolf, but he was also gentle and kind. These insecurities did not come from him, she was sure.

  “Has your pater ever said anything to make you feel like that, Marco?”

  Marco shook his head vehemently. “No, he’s the best pater in the world. I just want to be the best cub for him.”

  Kenrick looked him right in the eye and said, “The day your pater and dad adopted you was the best day of their lives. I know that because Flash couldn’t stop telling everyone he met. You are the best thing in Flash and Vance’s life.”

  Marco threw his arms around Kenrick’s middle, and she hugged him back tightly. “Thanks, Ricky. It’s good to talk to someone besides my parents.”

  “I’m here anytime.”

  Kenrick looked up and spotted Eden watching her from the mudroom door with the biggest smile on her face. She then left them to it.

  “Can I ask you something, Marco?” Kenrick said.

  “Sure, Ricky.”

  “Why was today’s run your favourite?”

  Marco had led them through the forest in a different direction than usual and emerged at the forest’s very edge. It bordered the line between Wolfgang County and Rutherford County.

  Marco’s eyes flitted around nervously. “I—I’ve never told my parents, but sometimes I see this lone wolf. She’s just sometimes there and doesn’t say anything. Just watches me, then runs off.”

  “Do you like to see this wolf?” Kenrick asked.

  “Yeah, I feel like she’s kind and I’ve tried to talk, but she doesn’t talk back.”

  Why would a lone wolf keep coming to the border and running away? She hoped it wasn’t one of the Lupas.

  “What colour is her pelt?” Kenrick said.

  “Black and brown. You won’t tell my parents, will you? Ever since the Lupas attacked us, I haven’t gone myself, because the Alpha said cubs can’t run alone, so I haven’t seen her for a while.”

  Kenrick weighed it up. “Just don’t go on your own until the Alpha has dealt with the Lupas, okay?”

  “I promise. Thanks, Ricky.”

  When he ran off to get his friends, Kenrick thought about what Marco had said about the lone wolf. She couldn’t put her finger on it, but there was something about it that niggled in her brain. What was it?

  * * *

  Zaria finished loading the dishwasher with her breakfast plates and then poured out a cup of tea. She woke up this morning gasping for air, as she usually did. Her usual nightmares were enhanced by the guilt over her human friend’s death. Chrissy died because of who she was, and the thought ate away at her conscience.

  She sighed and opened the cupboards to find some sweetener for her tea. Amongst all the items in the packed cupboards was a bottle of honey. Perfect. Zaria took it over to her cup. As she stirred, she thought about how much her life had changed in such a short time.

  A few days ago she was eating leftovers in a dump of a studio apartment, then waiting for death, shackled in the trunk of a car, and now she was making tea in the nicest apartment she’d ever seen. She dropped her spoon and shook her head in disgust. Leroux and her ancestors had lied to them all and cultivated hatred between the pack and the Wolfgangs.

  Her old Lupa school friends would never believe she spent the night in a warm comfortable bed, with all the food she could dream of. Then there was Kenrick. After her initial panic of not knowing her surroundings, Zaria’s next thought was of Kenrick. She had never met a dominant wolf she trusted before—or who made her stomach flip.

  Zaria told herself it was simple gratitude she was feeling, but how could she explain the shiver that rippled across her body at the sound of Kenrick’s lilting Scottish voice?

  Everything about her was different than she was used to. Her voice, her gorgeous thick mane—and they obviously made them big in Scotland because Kenrick was as solid as they came.

  Her thoughts were interrupted by a knock at the door and the sound of voices talking to her guards. She was immediately on alert. Could the Lupas have tracked her down?

  There was another knock and a voice said, “Zaria, it’s the Mater.”

  Her heart started to beat faster. If she was to pass this test and keep goodwill with the Wolfgangs, the Mater’s trust was important, if only until she could fulfil her promise to her sister and make sure the cub she gave her life for was safe and secure.

  Marco, his adoptive parents had called him.

  Zaria opened her door to two blond women, one older than the other, and a male submissive wolf whose face she knew well, Vance Wolfgang. Marco’s father.

  They were flanked by the two guards at the door, who gave her a warning look.

  The older blond woman, who she guessed was the Mater, said, “Hi, Zaria, I’m Eden, Mater of the Wolfgang pack.”

  Eden was beautiful. She and Dante made a gorgeous couple.

  Eden continued and pointed to the blonde around her age. “This is Kyra, and my friend Vance.”

  “Hi, please come in.” Zaria held open the door and Eden led the way with Kyra and Vance carrying two holdalls. Zaria led them to the couch and they all sat.

  Pointing to the holdalls, Eden said, “We brought you some clothes. I hope they’ll fit okay.”

  “Thank you, Mater. Everyone has been so kind. This apartment, the food, the clothes—I can’t thank you enough.”

  “No need to thank us, honey,” Vance said. “That’s what the wolf pack does.”

  Zaria shut her eyes briefly. There was a part of her that wished Vance wasn’t as nice as he appeared. That part of her that wished she and her sister Marta could have brought Marta’s cub up themselves. The cub she took from her dying sister’s arms and left on the doorstep of the Alpha all those years ago. Zaria shook that little feeling of jealousy away. She wanted Marco to have the best parents, and going by her visits to check on him over the years, he had a warm and loving home here in Wolfgang County. Marco had a life he could never have had with the Lupas. The Great Mother only knew how Leroux would have warped a young child’s mind.

  “Still, thank you. I really appreciate it,” Zaria said.

  Eden gave her the warmest smile. “You’re welcome—and don’t worry, I had Kyra help me pick them out. She’s closer to your age.”

  Kyra joined in and said kindly, “Yeah, anything else you need, just let me know.”

  Zaria gulped back her emotions. She was overwhelmed with gratitude but racked with guilt that she wasn’t telling her rescuers the whole truth.

  She needed a time out. “Let me get you some tea. I’ll just be a minute.”

  Zaria left her three visitors to talk and, after switching on the kettle, leaned against the countertop and took a few deep breaths. She scented someone approach. It was the Mater. “Sorry, tea won’t be long, Mater.”

  “It’s Eden, Zaria.” Eden handed over a box. “We brought cakes from the diner.” Eden hesitated, then said, “I sense you’re feeling a little overwhelmed. It wasn’t my intention. Vance is a good friend, and I thought you’d like to meet a wolf your own age. Kyra is a really nice girl.”

  Zaria looked back to the sitting area where Kyra and Vance were talking and laughing so freely. Everything was so different here. “It’s not that. It’s just, I’m not used to all this…kindness, concern. I mean, you don’t even know that you can trust me.”

  Eden looked her straight in the eye and said, “I trust you, Zaria.”

  “Why? You don’t know me, and the Alpha clearly doesn’t trust me because there are guards on my door.”

  “The guards were just a precaution and will be gone by this evening,” Eden replied.

  “How? Why?” Zaria was surpris
ed and confused.

  “That will be my recommendation to the Alpha when I see her tonight.”

  Zaria couldn’t believe that an Alpha would take any notice of their mate’s opinions. “Why would she listen?”

  “Because she trusts my judgement and we are a partnership. We lead the Wolfgang pack together,” Eden said.

  Zaria shook her head. “A Lupa wolf wouldn’t listen to anything any submissive said.”

  Eden laid her hand on her arm. “Things are very different outside the Lupa pack. We don’t fear our mates—we admire, love, and adore them.”

  Zaria took out the teabags and dropped them in the pot. That was something she couldn’t believe. Maybe the Wolfgang submissives lived under that illusion, but power came from strength, and Zaria knew to her cost that dominant wolves used strength to get what they wanted.

  As she poured the boiling water into the teapot, Zaria asked, “Why do you believe my story?”

  “Look at me, Zaria,” Eden said.

  Zaria did as asked and Eden simply gazed at her. “Dante told me some of your history with Ovid.”

  Zaria shuddered at the mention of her name. She had only told the bare minimum of her history with Ovid, the wolf who haunted her dreams. “She did?”

  Eden nodded. “I don’t know if anyone told you, but I have a history with her too. Ovid attacked me and our pack Second’s mate. I lost my unborn cub in that attack.”

  Zaria saw Eden fighting back tears. “I’m so sorry.”

  “Thank you. I tell you this because I know that haunted look in your eyes is from the memory of her. I know because I see the same look in the mirror sometimes. I trust you, Zaria. I just needed to look in your eyes once to know it.”

  Zaria was silent. She wasn’t used to anyone seeing or recognizing the pain in her soul. Eden must have noticed her struggle, and said, “You don’t have to say anything. Let’s just enjoy our tea and cakes. Come on, every wolf has a sweet tooth, right?”