by Shen Hart
Alex led, and I followed with the cubs in tow. They'd have to learn their place, and I had no problems using brute force if necessary. I tried to keep myself focused on the roads as they went from the familiar twisting lanes around Ark's little cottage to new roads that I hadn't explored yet. The roads widened a little, but the hedges on either side grew higher and blocked my view of the surrounding countryside. The trees that sprang up in the middle of the hedges formed a dense canopy overhead, blocking out most of the sunlight. I smiled and watched the shadows dancing and flickering between the determined beams of light. I caught myself and grasped back onto my focus just in time to take a sharp corner. I made a note to pay more attention and to stop letting my mind wander.
The drive wasn't too long. It was certainly short enough to vanish and hide at Ark's cottage should I feel the need. When I felt the need. We pulled up in front of a large house, surrounded by mature oak trees and dense bushes. The driveway must have been a mile long. Alex had always been careful with money. Even coming up to the end of the driveway the house was well camouflaged amidst the dark green foliage of the various bushes and trees. I pursed my lips and looked at it a little more closely. The lack of visibility made it harder to find, which wasn't a bad thing. It was a three story sprawling thing with large windows, which would be handy to any would-be attackers if and when they decided to try and break in or shoot us. The mature trees also provided places for snipers, and the bushes were dense enough to hide enemies. I rolled my eyes and then my shoulders. I tried to remind myself that I needed faith in both the Wyrd Sisters and Alex. The jaguar and wolf were both entirely unconvinced and were pushing for me to check out every inch and mark the perimeter.
I muttered under my breath about this being a very long day before I grabbed my bag and locked my car, just in case. The small, pale gravel crunched under foot as I walked up to the black front door. At least we’d be able to hear anyone who came at the house from the front, so that was something. The overall design of the house was unostentatious. A large porch extended far enough in front of the front door to house a bench large enough for three people, as well as allowing all five of us to stand at a comfortable distance from each other. The facade was plain white with black surrounds on the large and simple windows. It was very Alex.
I shifted my weight from foot to foot, wanting nothing more than a long bath and a comfortable bed. Oh, and to wake up in my own cottage to realise this was nothing more than a bad nightmare. As was entirely expected, I got none of the above. The cubs chattered amongst themselves as we walked into the spacious entrance hall and were instructed to remove our shoes. I raised an eyebrow but did as I was told. No point in fighting over the little things, best to save my energy. Alex then led us down a wide hallway with two doors to our right, which then opened into a spacious kitchen with French windows and a long window that filled half of the wall along the kitchen countertop. The entire thing was very light and airy. The view from the windows showed a large, semi-wild garden with a high stone wall surrounding it. It wasn't a bad set up - it would do. It wasn't entirely to my taste with its off-white walls, reddish brown hardwood floors, and complete lack of artwork or personal touches. But, it wouldn’t kill me.
Alex turned to us and said, "Boys, your rooms are on the second floor. Do not fight, each room is equal. Do not go onto the third floor. Go, settle in."
They turned and walked back down the hallway before crashing up the stairs. Bloody cubs. They were chatting loudly and excitedly as though this were some grand adventure. I had to smile to myself. Maybe it was to them.
I crossed my arms and looked up at Alex. "And where am I to sleep, then?"
He smiled and stepped closer to me. "On the third floor, of course, with me."
I curled my lip at him. "Don't pull that shit with me, Alex. I haven't forgiven you, nor do I intend to. Now, where am I sleeping?"
His smile widened, and he took another step closer. That familiar cool, fresh scent of pine on a winter morning filled my nostrils. His scent.
"I told you. The third floor with me.” He finally relented when I began growling quietly. "Don't worry, Thalia, it's an entire floor with two separate beds and a very nice en suite."
I pursed my lips and considered it. I didn't like the prospect of being near him, particularly when I was in as vulnerable a state as sleep, but, having a nice clean en suite would be something pleasant. The concept of sharing a bathroom with three dirty wolves did not appeal, at all.
I simply said, "Fine. Show me to my bed, then. I need to rest, and I have no desire to interact with those wretched cubs any more than I have to."
He shook his head slowly and said, mockingly, "Poor Thalia, can't handle three little cubs. What have you become?"
I refused to rise to the bait. Instead, I turned on my heel and walked back out into the hallway. It couldn't be that hard to make my way to the third floor.
6
I wanted to look in every nook and cranny, my curiosity about the new place was verging on insatiable, but I kept my head high, my shoulders back, and tried to go straight to my new bed. I couldn't help but peek out the small windows as I climbed the stairs. The windows looked out into the garden and the woodland beyond. They were worth exploring. I rolled my eyes at myself and tried to make myself focus. This wasn't about exploring or finding potential new shiny things. I walked down the wide hallway on the second floor as quickly as I could for fear that I'd have to interact with one of the cubs.
I was torn between forcing them all to shower so they were clean (wolves never were properly clean) and pinning them down to make things clear from the outset. They were clearly disobedient, untrained, and disrespectful. I opted for walking quickly, keeping my eyes forward to stop myself from checking for shinies, and looking for the stairs up to my new domain.
A black door stood at the end of the hallway, a complete contrast to the crisp white doors lining it. I smiled - a nice clear marker, then. Alex had decided to follow me by that point and stood far too close as I opened the door and jogged up the spiral staircase. I hated those things, they were a nightmare when drunk, but if they gave me more space of my own I wouldn't argue (too much).
I stood in a very spacious, open-plan room with landscape windows, skylights, and two queen-sized beds. The ceiling fell away slightly to the right, giving the room an interesting architecture. I assumed that the bed to my left, the one sitting between me and the door I guessed was to the bathroom, was Alex's. I smiled to myself and strode over to the other one, tucked under the sloping ceiling with a skylight overhead. I'd chosen my bed, whether Alex liked it or not. He stood in the middle of the room while I poked at the bed. It wasn't bad, a little harder than I'd usually like, but I'd live.
I heard his quiet laughter before he said, "Welcome to your new home."
I curbed the desire to curl my lip and continued to ignore him. I'd deal with him at a later date. I had a much more important thing to be concerned with. Sleep. It'd been a long day, my muscles ached, and I was not amused by my new situation. The cubs were exactly that. They didn’t even have the basics, such as hiding their energies, down. They were also clearly an established group unto themselves, which I would have to try and break into and then form bonds with. I wasn’t ready to deal with something so unpleasant. I wasn’t even sure that they were worth it.
The entire thing was crying out for sleep. I carefully placed my bags down next to the bed and set about making it just so. It kept my mind off the problems at hand, off all of the hard work, pain, and heartache I’d have to go through with the cubs that I hadn’t even chosen myself. For three strangers who could be worthless to me, that had been forced on me. I bundled up the duvets, blankets, and pillows and made myself a nice comfortable nest. A safe place to ignore my surroundings, and Alex.
The irritating nervousness I felt at his seeing me in my underwear as I stripped down ate at me. I was careful not to disturb the bandages, and shifted my jaguar tail and claws. I curled up in the
middle of my nest, wrapped my tail around me, and smiled for the first time in a long time. I hated the situation, I would curse the Wyrd Sisters for years to come, but I finally had the freedom and safety to be myself.
** ** **
I woke up feeling refreshed and relatively calm. I would live, but still I growled to myself when I remembered exactly what had happened. What I had been dropped into. I couldn’t help feeling like it was a punishment. There was pleasure to be had in carefully hand-picking my pack, making them come together in unity. They had denied me that. I pushed my mind onto happier things, stretched languorously, and rolled onto my back to gaze through the skylight to the stars overhead. I'd missed them, their peaceful and calming wisdom. It was shattered by Alex. He sat on the edge of my bed, and I studiously ignored him while I tried to keep the raven up front for fear that the jaguar would go straight for his jugular. It took me a very long time to learn how to maintain the physical attributes from one aspect and the personality of another. It was, however, a handy skill at times, particularly given the comfort I took from having my jaguar tail shifted to twitch and curl up in.
I found myself flexing my fingers and sheathing and unsheathing my claws. After what felt like an agonising eternity I looked at him with my lips pursed and my muscles braced for a fight. His icy blue eyes darkened slightly as he looked down and away, his hands fidgeting in his lap. I'd never seen him fidget before.
He inhaled through his nose and straightened his back before he painted a false smile on his face and said, "We're going to be living together. We have a pack. We can't be at each other's throats.”
A growl rumbled in the back of my throat as my teeth began to sharpen. "You were the one who wronged me. You have no right to show me any sign of aggression."
He nodded and looked away again, his hands refusing to be still and his shoulders sagging. What had happened to him? He was strong, calm. He had never been like this. I curled my lip; he'd most likely been broken by some lover or another. I took a deep breath and tried to calm the broiling rage within me. I was back in my role now. I had to be calm and focused. Calm. And focused.
He nodded and simply said, "I know, but we must at least show a united front. They put us here, together, for a reason."
It fell out before I had a chance to even fully form the thought, "Sadism, my dear."
I looked away feeling a blush of shame. That was too much. He gritted his teeth and bit back his own words as he closed his eyes for a long moment.
"You know that isn't true. Our past isn't pretty, but it is the past. We must move forward."
I ran the words through my mind, but the image of those damn Sisters refused to leave me. Eventually, I relented and accepted that this was all part of it. Perhaps it was punishment for running away in the first place.
"So, what's the plan for those cubs then?"
A small glimmer of his familiar spark returned to his eyes as he leapt on the new topic.
"They've been through some training, they can do well enough. They've never been in a pack before, so they need to learn about that, but otherwise we'll see what happens, I suppose."
I hated that concept. I needed to be prepared, and they knew I needed people around me that I could trust. I knew nothing about those cubs, yet I was expected to live with them, to trust them with my secrets and potentially my life. I muttered under my breath at the Wyrd Sisters again. If they popped up any time soon, I'd be giving them a piece of my mind.
"So, you know them? You've trained them...?"
He nodded. "They were dropped in my lap a couple of months ago. I'd been given word that you were up to your old tricks on the black market, but the time wasn't right to bring you back."
His eyes looked damp before he looked away and stood, taking a breath before he continued, "I sent them off to find you, actually. I didn't know if the Sisters were sending you back here, to me, to this, or if I was supposed to retrieve you."
I stretched and laughed to myself. "They found me. Not that they knew it was me."
Alex tilted his head and looked at me before he shrugged. "It's done now. You're here."
I stretched and wriggled a little, enjoying the feeling of my muscles releasing and the soft bedding beneath me. That familiar smile sat on Alex's lips, but it never reached his eyes. Some part of me felt a touch of pain at that. The jaguar merely laughed. I sat up and looked around the room a little more closely. There were wardrobes and plenty of floorspace, should I feel the need for it. Lots of storage in the form of chests of drawers, too, and yet, not one single personal touch. There was no art, no trinkets, nothing. It was a blank canvas, and I didn't like it. I shrugged to myself and focused on the task at hand, which in that moment was food. I wondered idly if there was some nice takeaway or similar where I could flirt my way to a free meal; I did so enjoy those games.
Alex snapped me out of it, though. "We have to keep our heads low and out of trouble."
I pulled a disgusted face and dug out some fresh clothes. The bandages were infuriating, but Ark was helping me so I didn't complain (too loudly). Alex remained stiff and shifted his weight from foot to foot; he was more uncomfortable than me. Good.
I looked up at him expectantly. "Well, what are you getting me for dinner then?"
"There's plenty of game in these woods, we could have venison..."
The wolf in me tried to barge forward and take control. I drove it back and allowed the jaguar just enough control for my tail to twitch.
"I don't think so. I'm in the mood for something more... civilised."
In truth I would have loved to have hunted. I couldn't remember the last time I'd fully shifted. I just didn't trust those cubs and had no desire to share something so intimate with him.
Alex sighed and nodded before turning and heading to the door. I stood and followed in the hopes of being given good food, and perhaps some alcohol too. We went down into the kitchen to find the cubs were sitting around the central island.
They looked over to Alex somewhat hopefully, and he said in a flat tone, "Go and get some takeaway. Make it pizza and Chinese or something."
Their faces fell, and Nik stood and walked out. It seemed that he'd been put on food duty. Ryan looked up at me, his wolf rippling just below the surface as he said, "Are you serious? We've worked our asses off, we deserve that hunt."
I raised an eyebrow and tried not to glare at Alex. I felt betrayed at him having promised them that before even mentioning it to me. He’d put all of that on me. I focused on Ryan and said, "Oh, do you now?"
He raised his chin a little, his voice gaining the edge of the lupine growl, "Yes. We had to spend hours doing bullshit training, hand to hand combat, energy control, and more. We’ve been cooped up in here, unable to run, to shift, for far too long."
I pursed my lips and said in my best mocking tone, "You poor thing..."
Alex moved closer to Ryan putting himself between us. "You deserve nothing. You did some basic training, and you feel you deserve to hunt?"
Ryan looked between us, but Dan stood and glared at Alex. "Yes, we deserve it. We came here with thoughts of working for the gods, of making something of ourselves, and all we've done is take shit from a high-strung bitch and go through combat and energy training."
I smiled sweetly and said, "Have you quite finished?"
Alex, however, said, in his icy calm tone no less, "You are whiny, pathetic little cubs. You are entitled and demanding. A pack is a tight-knit unit that depends on one other. You were chosen for an important task, and you dare not only to make demands but to insult one of your alphas?"
Dan wavered as he looked over to Ryan and down to the floor as he thought about things. He gritted his teeth as he did, putting his hands behind his back. Not the ideal mark of submission, but given how far along we were, I took it for what it was. I looked at Ryan, who sighed and also lowered his head. I turned my back to them and wished for the days when I chose my own pack and had wolves of quality rather than these worthless
wretches.
The tension was palpable when Nik returned. None of us had said a word since Ryan and Dan had lowered their heads. Their muscles remained tight and their hands were tense as they tried to un-grit their teeth and not ball their hands into fists. I kept my breaths long and slow and gazed out the window, keeping my back to them as I allowed my mind to wander. I almost jumped when Nik came through the front door. He had a small smile on his face when he walked into the kitchen with three bags bursting with various cartons. The smells were incredible. One bag had a sweet and sharp tang to it with slightly fruity and earthy undertones. Another had the rich scents of spiced meats with bread and cheese. My mouth was watering as I took my seat and allowed the cubs to scurry around gathering plates and cutlery. I won't deny that I was slightly disappointed when I was handed a bottle of beer instead of something stronger, but I smiled graciously. They were trying.
Nik kept looking between everyone with his brow furrowed and the corners of his mouth slightly tightened. Everyone put on big smiles and organised the food, though. Once everyone was sitting down, we helped ourselves to a mix of pizzas, Chinese, and Indian. It was a feast, and the first time I felt vaguely ok with the situation.
After a few minutes of nothing but the happy sound of eating, Nik couldn't stand it any longer; he looked between Alex and I before focusing on Alex and saying, "What happened while I was gone?"
Alex stopped mid-bite and glared at Ryan and Dan, a clear warning, before he said in a cool tone, "Your pack-mates decided they deserved a hunt tonight. They were disrespectful, but everything has been put right, now."
Put right my ass, but it wouldn't do any good to have fighting amongst the ranks. I had no doubt the cubs would talk amongst themselves and trade insults about us and the situation they were in. I held back a sigh and took a bite out of my slice of pizza. I missed the good old days. Back then I had respectful, well-behaved cubs who were carefully chosen to complement each other. We were a tight-knit group that worked together and barely needed verbal communication. Instead, I was stuck with a trio of entitled, insolent assholes. My eyes were beginning to get damp. I shrugged and blamed it on the spicy Indian food before excusing myself.