I'd separated us with a foot of empty air space after Wolfie released me from our shared kiss in an effort to keep my mind on track. But now I pressed myself back into my mate's side, doing my best to comfort the werewolf in the most basic way I knew how. "Wolfie," I murmured into his chest. "Whatever's wrong, we can fix it together. We can protect our pack."
In response, a playful grin crept across my mate's face like the sun coming out from behind a cloud. "Precisely," he replied. "Which is why it's no big deal, just like I said. We just have to be careful of any dangers to the pack in the meantime. But the problem won't last for long."
Okay, now I was totally confused. I pulled my mate over to sit beside me on a fallen log, quieted my lupine half as best I could, and then physically moved Wolfie's head so his eyes bored into mine. "I believe you," I said finally, once all of the preparations for maintaining his full attention on my human voice were in order. "But I still have no idea what you're talking about."
So Wolfie explained. And as he did so, my human half wilted beneath the evidence of my mate's sacrifice even as my inner wolf was buoyed up by his show of devotion.
"It's simple really," Wolfie told us, twirling a twig absently through the dirt as he spoke. "You were worried that my wolf would dominate yours. So I made sure that would never happen again."
I hummed my understanding even as a pit opened within my stomach. Unfortunately, I could already guess where this conversation was going, but I waited for Wolfie to confirm my fears anyway.
"I couldn't really command you to disobey me," the other alpha elaborated. "That's a bit too circular for the lupine brain to follow. But I realized that I could pass on some of my own dominance to your wolf so we can enter our mating on an even playing field."
"You gave me some of your powers," I clarified, shell-shocked by his admission. And as I spoke, I realized that I should have realized something was amiss long before this. Because ever since Wolfie had worked his magic last night, I'd felt absurdly strong and ready to take on the world.
At the time, I'd just thought I was feeling relief and joy at having my mate back home in Haven. Apparently I'd been wrong.
Unfortunately, as much as the extra power beneath my skin warmed me, our pack depended on my mate's excessive alpha dominance to enable us to live our unconventional lives. Haven sheltered pack members that other clans would have tossed to the curb and we currently housed half-blood werewolves like my brother who would probably never shift on his own, lesbian shifters like Quetzalli and Galena who other alphas considered abominations, and full humans like Dale and Acacia who were tied to werewolves only by marriage.
And even though shifters tended to consider the goings-on within another alpha's pack beneath their notice, I was sure some of the more old-fashioned pack leaders would have torn our village apart before now if they could have. But since Wolfie had always been stronger than any other alpha I'd met (with the possible exception of the Tribunal members), he'd been able to run our clan any way he wanted. Even if they disagreed with his choices, no other pack leader had ever dared go head-to-head with my mate.
Now that I thought about it, I realized that even Justin had never risked an outright attack despite clearly wanting to challenge his younger brother. Instead, the older sibling had snuck around behind our backs, using his mate and then his daughter to get Wolfie's goat. And while troublesome, Justin's efforts had been relatively easy to foil. I could only imagine how much harder it would have been to deal with a frontal attack.
And what would all the other alphas think when Wolfie showed up at the next All-Pack cut down to size by his pre-mating gift? That was easy—they'd think it was high time they snuffed out an unconventional alpha who many believed gave all werewolves a bad name.
"But what about our pack?" I demanded. I was already jumping three steps ahead and realizing that Wolfie's romantic gesture might be the end of Haven as we knew it. My mate's choice of passing on some of his alpha dominance to me definitely made our own joining easier to stomach, but it certainly wouldn't keep our friends and relatives from harm.
"The pack will be safe as soon as we're fully mated," Wolfie reassured me. "You and I together will be stronger than I ever was alone. Then we can protect Haven from all comers."
I shivered, the weight of Wolfie's unwitting assumption pulling my shoulders up around my ears. Maybe he was right and the combined might of two alphas would be greater than Wolfie's strength had ever been on his own.
But that also meant I now owed my pack as well as my mate a claiming moon. The responsibility was daunting.
You make it sound like such a hardship, my inner wolf complained. Don't you want to fully join with our mate?
Beside me, Wolfie began chaffing warmness back into my suddenly chilled hands, apparently having noticed my trepidation. "This was my choice," he rumbled, his quiet voice so deep it seemed to reverberate within my bones even as it drove the pain out of my stomach. Because despite having every right to be angry at his gift being thrown back in his face, my mate continued to be his usual patient self, willing to wait while I worked the worries out of my overactive imagination. "You're still under no obligation to accept me," Wolfie continued. "We'll figure out a way to protect our pack no matter what."
And the kicker was that my mate really believed his own words. The question was—could I be so ungrateful as to leave our clan weaker by rejecting the advances of their leader?
And did I really want to resist?
Before I could speak, my companion succumbed to the evident prodding of his inner wolf and added: "But if you do choose a claiming moon, I promise you won't regret it. The month we share and every day thereafter will be pure joy."
***
I had no answer for Wolfie that evening, but there wasn't time for one anyway. Because excited shouts from the clearing proved that Ember's First Rites were already underway. So Wolfie and I shed our clothes and shifted forms immediately in preparation for joining the party.
When we stepped out into the crowd, though, my heart nearly stopped as the little bloodling pup who I'd cosseted and cared for over the last few months leapt into the air in an effort to make it across the now-raging bonfire. She seemed tiny and bound to fall into the flames to my maternal eye, and I surged forward to protect her from harm.
But at the last moment, Glen reached up and gave the bloodling a boost just as if he were still playing Ember ball in the computer lab. And as if she'd been expecting the assist all along, the puppy's hind legs pushed off from the yahoo's outstretched hands and used his momentum to go yet higher. Yipping her appreciation, the young bloodling soared further aloft, little feet barely touching the tips of the flames as she made it safely across the flaming pyre.
Despite the success of this first foray into testing our daughter, my human brain wanted to shift back to two legs immediately and end these dangerous games before they could go any further. But my usually complacent wolf instead held tight to her form.
No one is going to get hurt, my lupine half promised me. And, miraculously, she appeared to be correct.
Because the following hours proved that not only was Ember able to surmount any number of impossible hurdles with the occasional help of her friends, the First Rites also included Ethan into our pack in a way I'd never seen before as well. At first, my half-brother tried to hang back, less secure on his new pads than Ember was despite their age difference being skewed in the opposite direction. But David had taken it upon himself to chivvy my brother along whenever necessary, and before long the two male wolves appeared to be the best of friends.
So it was with buoyant hearts, if with smoky and tired bodies, that we trickled back into our village in the wee hours of the morning. But our wolves woke up once again within our human forms as Wolfie and I scented a stranger where one didn't belong.
The first odors to invade the open car windows were the familiar scents of leaf mold and pine needles, but then the insidious aroma of gun metal entered the potpour
ri. As usual, my mate understood the implications faster than I did. So by the time I'd slammed on the brakes, Wolfie was already out of the vehicle, running as quickly as he could toward the source of the invader's smell.
"Watch Ember," I commanded Ethan, who had ridden back down with us after his assisted return to human form. My adopted daughter was sprawled across my brother's lap in lupine form, sound asleep, but I didn't trust Ember not to wake up and come running into the midst of the action. After all, she had an unerring attraction to drama and she always dove right in, confident in her ability to smooth over any misunderstanding with her puppy charm.
The truth was that I usually appreciated Ember's help in defusing tense situations, so I hadn't ever taken her to task over her tendencies. But I had a feeling tonight's altercation wouldn't be so easy to iron out as the problems that had disappeared at the first sign of the pup's rainbow-wide smile.
"Of course," Ethan answered immediately. But his words only pelted my receding back as I took to my heels in pursuit of my mate.
My mate, who I had always trusted to overcome any challenge with ease in the past but who was operating under a severe handicap at the moment. A handicap that was my own fault for evading his repeated requests for a claiming moon.
Please don't do anything stupid until I get there, I pleaded silently, wanting nothing more than to recant all of my stupid hesitations, to go back in time, and to fully join with Wolfie the first time he'd asked.
Because something about the way our merged clan had held up two unusual recipients of First Rites in the light of their universal love this evening had helped me realize that Wolfie was the other half of my heart that I'd been looking for all these years. Our pack's new-found unanimity and kindness were a clear indication of their strongest leader's own worth, and their actions were the most proof I should ever have needed to realize that Wolfie would never turn on either me or my wolf.
Yes, I should have fully trusted Wolfie from the start. Because despite his voluminous alpha dominance, he'd never given me any reason to doubt his fairness and regard for me.
But instead of listening to my own inner beast, I'd hesitated. And I'd handicapped my mate in the process. Which meant Wolfie was currently going into battle with one hand tied behind his back.
I guess we'll just have to be his other hand then, my inner wolf confirmed.
And with her will speeding my feet, we ran even faster toward the source of the unwelcome aroma.
Chapter 19
By the time I flew through the door, wolf rampant behind my eyes, the living room was empty. Somehow, the realization that Justin and Wolfie must be facing off in a more private part of our little house felt even more ominous than the former's unwanted presence had been in the first place, and I ran into the kitchen without bothering to soften the heavy thuds of my hurried footfalls.
The overhead light was on, the cupboard doors were standing open, and the center island was laden with debris of heavy snacking—definitely not the way we'd left our kitchen hours earlier. But there was still no sign of a living, breathing shifter, so I headed back into the main room before turning left toward the only rooms left to explore.
I heard Justin before I saw him, his deep, melodic voice drawing me into the bedroom where I'd shared so many happy hours with my mate. "...your own mistake," he was saying as I stepped through the open doorway and into a darkened room. My eyes adjusted slowly to the lack of light, so I was forced to stand still and listen to my brother-in-law extol his own cleverness rather than dive into the breach as my racing heart and brain requested.
"You're not much of a pack leader, are you?" Justin continued. "To invite me onto pack land and then forget to rescind the invitation just because I asked about some rusty old sword.
"A sword that I now have in my possession anyway," Wolfie's older brother pointed out, the barest hint of gloating in his voice. I could hear the blade swishing through the air even as I was finally able to make out the dark shape of Wolfie standing not three feet away from me in the dimness. My mate was frozen in place, so I mimicked his lack of action despite the urging of my wolf to go, hunt, protect.
"Yes, I have your precious sword...and quite a lot of other useless debris that I found while snooping around in your completely unguarded village."
I tuned out Justin's voice for the time being and opened my full wolf senses to take in the contents of our familiar bedroom. And as I did so, I finally understood Wolfie's passivity. Now that the darkness was receding in the wake of my lupine half's assistance, my wolf clarified both the lay of the land and why my mate hadn't dealt with this intruder with his usual calm efficiency.
The scene in front of us appeared homey at first...until I took in the ominous details. There was Justin relaxing on our bed, boots muddying the quilt while the sword in question lay across his knees. Weapon aside, the first hint of danger lay in his hand—a syringe that must have been full of F2F.
That sight alone was enough to set my heart racing at double speed. I'd known this possibility existed ever since giving Dale the go-ahead to continue experimenting with the cocktail, and I considered any possible repercussions my own fault for not jumping on the potential problem as soon as it had occurred to me. Yes, this was the worst-case scenario—that the drug in question might be discovered by a less ethical werewolf and be used as a weapon. In Justin's hands, the possibilities for mayhem were endless.
The issue of future F2F use, though, appeared to be academic at the moment. Because my labored breathing stilled with a sudden gasp as I realized that a small human form lay beside Justin atop the bed's quilt.
I remembered now that Berndt's human wife Acacia had left the First Rites arena early in order to put their infant daughter Lantana to bed. "I'll be perfectly fine driving down the mountain by myself," the woman had said laughingly as she planted a kiss on her husband's bearded jaw. "Stay. Have fun," she'd admonished. And her spouse had obeyed.
We'd all obeyed. We'd danced and howled and embraced our new pack members...all while not only inviting the devil to our door by neglecting to rescind his welcome, but also while leaving the entire village unguarded so that same devil could walk in completely unhindered. The clan had felt so secure in our power and inclusiveness that we'd ignored our open borders and had allowed the human wife of a werewolf—whose mere existence more hidebound shifters would consider an abomination—to travel alone down a dark country road.
And now Acacia's halfie daughter lay injured or—I hoped—asleep on the bed beside the most sadistic werewolf I'd ever met. With her mother nowhere to be seen.
***
I felt more than heard another shifter waft in the door behind me. Or, rather, two shifters, as my lupine-assisted nose informed me upon picking out the signature aromas of both Fen and Glen.
"Find Acacia," I ordered, the two words more a breath than a whisper. And I felt the air whirl behind my back as Glen left as quickly as he'd come, his usual "On it, boss" implied this time rather than spoken.
"What do you want then?" Wolfie spoke at last. My mate had been silent up until this point, and I suspected he only spoke now in order to draw his brother's attention away from the backup that he'd been confident would eventually arrive.
The stalling had been effective, but I was dismayed to see that Wolfie's lupine half wasn't as confident of success as usual. And not just because of tiny Lantana who lay inches away from a blade so sharp it could have shaved the fluffy hairs away from her tender little head.
No, Wolfie was shaken by his own missteps that had allowed his brother to walk into the heart of our pack's territory unnoticed. Because, by werewolf law, Justin was currently our invited guest just as he had been the previous morning. And as such, the invader couldn't be attacked without serious punishment from the werewolf governing council.
True, we'd recently pulled the wool over the Tribunal's eyes with regards to Ember. But I didn't cherish any illusions that we'd get away with taking Justin down when he was protected
by guesting laws. No, as much as I disliked the intruder, I also knew that my brother-in-law was smart enough to have left evidence of his location and guest status with his own pack. Which meant that if our pack harmed a hair on Wolfie's sibling's head, the Tribunal would surely scorch Haven back into the Stone Age.
That was assuming my brother-in-law didn't break that guesting protection by harming one of our own, of course. Unfortunately, while the evidence spread across our marriage bed definitely looked like just cause for retaliation to the human eye, to a shifter any current attack upon Justin would leave us rather than him in the wrong.
Because the sword, the drug, and even the kidnapped child were simply possessions in werewolf parlance. If our intruder twisted Lantana's neck, we would indeed have the right to reparations...reparations such as killing one of Justin's chickens or dogs. Not taking the murderer's life. Not over a girl who shared only half of her blood with werewolves.
But who will ever need to know why and how we remove the interloper? my wolf whispered in my mind. She craved action, wanted to leap forward and save the infant who we both considered a full-blooded member of our pack. My inner beast itched to push the syringe and sword out of Justin's hands and, yes, even tear out his jugular as I'd done for the first time only a few months before when faced with far less provocation than Justin had brought with him today.
Unfortunately, my wolf would have been solidly in the wrong in the eyes of the Tribunal, as I silently reminded her. In contrast, our actions during Justin's attack last winter had been black and white from the point of view of shifter law. The previous battle had taken place on outpack territory (fair game), my brother-in-law had attacked and we'd rebuffed that attack with equal force (fair fight), and in the end a wolf from each side had ended up in the ground (fair losses). There was no reason for any uber-alpha to step in and clear the air.
Alpha Ascendant: A Fantastical Werewolf Adventure (Wolf Rampant Book 3) Page 13