“I agree, but we do now as we have always done. We adapt. We settle in and make a home. We let our families grow, and our people begin to strive again. I believe we are safe here. We will make it so.”
“Yes, Alpha. Forgive my temper, my wolf is a little on edge.”
I smiled and shook my head. “Nothing to apologize for. What say you and I go for a little walk. You can show me this river camp, and I shall see if we can find something in the woods to cook for tonight’s dinner.”
“Now that, my old friend, sounds like a good idea.” We set off down the path he’d come. The thick trees would need to be thinned in this area to make room to actually walk from the river to the camp, which would soon be filled with small wooden cabins for us to live in.
My gaze swept the banks of the river. I followed it along the bank and up a small hill. I was met by the sight of pure beauty. A lake surrounded by trees. I turned to the men who had followed me from the river.
“See what the lands have provided for us? We shall make a trail here. The children will be able to swim and have fun, be kids.”
“Yes, Alpha.”
I stood, my hands on my hips as I took one good look around. This had been a good choice. Moving here would be good for us, our wolves, and our children. They could grow up in a safe place, learn the traditions of our people, and what it was like to be a shifter. Yes. A very good choice.
***
“Look at him, how could he not be the smartest little wolf?” My mate scoffed at me for not agreeing with her. Though, my silence was neither an agreement nor a disagreement. Our son, Joshua, lay on the floor of our temporary home, grinning. His small hands were balled into fists.
“If he is half as smart and patient as his mother, then we will be so lucky. If he’s more like his temperamental father, well, the world is in for chaos.” I grinned.
“You’re not that bad, love. Most days. Well, some days.” She laughed softly.
I shook my head. “At least I’m not as bad as Trenton.”
“And that is a fair comparison, how?” She gave me a look, one that said I was being ridiculous. “Vampires and shifters are different. Temperamental as both species are.”
“It’s hard to argue with that logic.”
“I know,” she said, lighting a bundle of sage in her hand. I felt a wash of magic wrap around me as her lips moved silently. The smoke from the herbs had me closing my eyes and relaxing. The blessings of our ancestors, the spirits now watching over us, had been plenty. I would be forever grateful to them for watching over us. “That is a good start.” I opened my eyes at her words. She was lifting Joshua up only to move him to the small cradle where he slept.
“I will take a few of the men down to the river, gather some fish for dinner.”
“The pack brought back two big bucks. We have plenty.” She lifted an eyebrow. “You rest. I must go check on the ones that were out all day. Make sure everyone is eating and resting as they should.” I stood and kissed her lips softly. “You stay, love, rest. You watch our son and I will watch over the rest of the wolves.” I kissed her again. How could I argue with her? Right, I couldn’t. I watched as she left the hut and moved back to my spot. Taking her advice, I rested. Laying back on the blankets, stretching out, the tension in my bones and sore muscles eased. A sigh left me, and I closed my eyes.
Chapter Two
Sheri
I wrapped my fingers around the healing herbs, hanging from the handmade hook in the corner of our hut. I moved them to the small bowl I used to compress them into a powder. Humming, I used my rounded rock, one that my grandfather used, to smash and roll it across the leaves, crushing them over and over until they were just the way I needed them to be.
The sound of men working surrounded the camp, filling the woods with its own kind of song. The birds joined in, adding to the symphony. I twisted around and grabbed my medicine pouches. Each pouch had its own purpose. Shifters didn’t get sick. If we happened to get injured, we healed quickly, but our pack included humans, too. Mates to our wolves, their children, and I had to be prepared to help them if needed.
We had two that were due to have babies any day now. That made me smile. The next generation of the pack would be starting off on a new land, a new time, when the world wasn’t as hard to deal with. Not like the days when Ramport and I were children on a reservation. Hidden in plain sight, all while barreling the white man, supernaturals, and other tribes. Land battles were the worst. There had been rivals that would come in and steal women. They’d be taken to their tribe, and if of childbearing age, they were married off to a warrior or elder. The women would be theirs. It was a common practice. They’d even bring in white women and some younger children to raise as one of the tribe.
I shook those thoughts off and finished sealing the herb bags in my hand. The hut flap opened, and Marcus, Ramport’s beta, filled the entry. “Inola needs you. Ona sent me to find you—she says the baby is coming. My eldest will stay with Joshua—he will be safe.”
“I shall be right there.” I nodded and watched as Jaqueline came in to sit beside the baby’s bed. I hurried to grab the sage and other herbs I would need, pushed the bags into the satchel, strapped it across me, and hurried out of the hut. Marcus was already opening the flap by the time I caught up. I found it to be full of curious wolves. “Out.” The order of my voice had them moving quickly. I didn’t need that many people in my way. Inola didn’t need the added stress, either.
When the space was cleared, I knelt beside Inola, her pale flesh reddened with the exertion of being in labor. “Ona, keep the cloth on her forehead. Marcus, I need a pail of hot water, a few towels, and take this.” I handed him a small bag of leaves. “Make this tea—it'll help with her pain. Hurry.”
“Will she be okay, Sheri?” Ona asked, worry etching her features.
I nodded. “She will be fine. The first one is usually the hardest. Inola, sweet girl, hold onto this.” I gave her a small rag doll I’d shoved in my bag. “You can give it to her when she comes out.”
“It might…be a...boy,” she panted, a small grin tugging at her lips.
I chuckled. “Your belly says girl.” She closed her eyes as a pain hit. A few minutes later, Marcus was back with the tea, water, and the towels I’d asked for. “Please wait outside. No one comes in.”
He inclined his head. “Yes, of course.”
The next hour was filled with grunts, Inola begging her baby to just come out already, and a slew of other words learned from the humans in our last town. I didn’t fuss, she was in pain, her body trying it’s best to burst in half to push out another person.
“I can see the head. I need you to push, push down, that’s it. The baby is almost out. That’s it. Deep breath and rest a moment.” I cleaned the baby’s face and nodded. “Okay, one last push and you can meet your baby.”
The sound of cheering around the camp when the baby cried for the first time had us all smiling. There was still much to do, but the little one was here.
“She’s a girl,” Inola whispered.
I grinned. “See, this old wolf knows a few things.” I went about cleaning up around her. Having a baby was never an easy or clean process. Ona helped me move them to a new, clean, dry pallet. The baby’s cord had already been cut, and she was nursing.
“I can’t thank you both enough. I never expected to be doing this alone.”
I moved to her side after washing my hands and rested a palm on her cheek. “You may have lost your family, and even though he was not your true mate, I know it’s hard not having him with you. She will be just as loved here. We are all her family.”
“She’s human, he was…”
“She will still be loved. She has your genes, so we will wait and see if she shifts when it’s time. No matter what, she will be bound to you forever, which means to us as well.” I kissed her forehead and smiled.
“Alpha.” I heard Marcus greet my mate. His scent came throu
gh the open flap, and I turned my head.
“Marcus, everyone all right in there?”
“Yes, Alpha. We have a new cub or human child.”
“A child nonetheless to be celebrated. Take the others out and bring us back something to feast on. We shall celebrate.”
“Yes, Alpha.”
“Inola, Sheri, Ona, may I enter?” I glanced at the others, and we all wore matching smiles. No male came into a birthing tent without an invitation, not even my big, strong mate.”
I waited until Inola was covered, the baby having finished her feeding. “You may enter, love.”
His large frame hid the sunlight momentarily, until he took a seat beside Inola. “How is our newest pack mate?” he asked, grinning wide. He was always so happy to be there after a birth.
“She’s lovely. Perfect,” Inola said, a tear falling from the corner of her eyes.
“No need for tears. We shall celebrate you and the babe tonight with a feast. Does she have a name?” He only had eyes for the baby.
Inola sat up, with help, and rested her back against the post behind her. “Woya.” Her gaze shifted to mine and I smiled wider. “It was my grandmother's name.”
“It’s lovely. Little dove,” I said, running the pad of my index finger down the baby’s cheek.
“May I?” Ramport asked, his hands motioning to the baby. We laughed softly.
“Of course.” Inola handed him Woya and watched them. I heard the cries of a child coming closer to us.
“May I enter?” a small voice asked over the shriek of another infant. “I didn’t do anything, he just…”
I looked up to see Jaqueline struggling to hold the bundle in her arms. “Come, sweet girl. Let me have him. He’s hungry. They’re always hungry. Thank you for your help.”
“May I see the baby?” she asked. When Ramport shifted, turning so she could see her, Jacqueline knelt before him. “She’s so pink.”
We chuckled.
“That’s because her father was light-skinned. She will turn less pink in time,” Inola said, her eyes once again on her daughter.
I lost track of everything for a few minutes while I turned away from the others and freed my breast. Joshua was most definitely hungry. I winced at the launch as he latched on. Greedy.
“Sheri, is he all right?” Ramport asked.
I nodded. “He is. Hunger won out. He may also have a wet bottom. If he does, we’ll need to get him cleaned up. I’m sure he’ll need either a change or a feeding again before the feasting begins.”
“So many babies,” Jaqueline said softly. “We are going to be outnumbered before long.”
I turned back to see her nose wrinkled. “You mean by babies?” I asked to make sure that’s what she meant.
She nodded. “There are three more moms-to-be in camp. That we know of. I help the others with the littles as best as I can. The boys are no good at it.”
“Don’t worry, little wolf, you will not be tasked to help out unless you want to. We have plenty of adult hands to keep a hold of them. You older children have to remember; you were this little at one point in your life.”
I finished feeding Joshua, fixed my shirt, and turned back to the others as I rested him against my shoulder, my hand patting his back softly, but firmly. The air needed to come out so he wouldn’t get uncomfortable.
Ona was helping Inola lay back down. The poor girl was exhausted. Ramport laid the baby at her side.
“Why don’t you get some rest,” I said. “Ona, can you stay with her, or do I need to ask someone else?”
“I can stay. Rock is with the other children. A few of the older boys were down at the water with them.”
“Very well, if you need anything, my sweet Inola, you just tell someone to come and get me, okay?
“Yes, thank you.”
I leaned down and kissed her head. “Rest.” I made my way off the floor with Ramport helping since I had an arm full of baby. The beading on my bag was the only sound as we walked to our hut. It was always such a high for the pack when a new child was born. Whether they be of shifter blood or human. Pack was pack.
The sky was full of beautiful clouds, and streams of sunlight settled across it. The spirits were pleased. I’d go out and pray again with them tomorrow, offer them a few prayers. We still had a few more babies waiting to be born.
“Sheri! Alpha!” We spun as one at Lila’s frantic calling. “It’s Raven, she’s ready to give birth!” The girl was turning red with fright. I moved to her and put Joshua in her arms. I’d need Ramport for this birth. Raven was carrying twins, both boys if my guess was right.
“Take a deep breath, calm yourself. Please take Joshua to your mother. We will go tend to Raven. She and the babies will be just fine.” I prayed I was right.
Chapter Three
Ramport
Over the past week, we had three more babies born into the pack. Growing as we were, I felt an overwhelming sense of pride roll through me. The next generation would not only bring us great joy, but they would help us bridge the gap between the members of the tribes that made up this pack. It was hard enough being a wolf pack when the strangers you meet from time to time had no idea what you were. We had to walk on thin ice when around humans—one wrong move and the secret was out. When that happened, and it had, we would have to step in and change someone’s life. Whether they wanted it or not.
That’s why our move to this place was so important. As a pack, we would start over. Step one was making sure these babies were born and healthy. The women were rummaging around and making sure we had anything and everything they needed for all of the newborns before the winter months came upon us. We were familiar with the weather we would be getting and knew just how hard it would be at times to travel to the towns around us. None of which were too close.
The men, the ones not on patrols or out hunting to keep the pack fed, were busy working on the cabins. We needed many of them, and we needed to get them done quickly. A handful of them had already been started: floors and partial walls up. The trees were cut, and each one had to be notched just right to fit on the one beneath it. Most of the cabins were the same size. But a few would need to be bigger and a few smaller, depending on the person or family.
On the count of three, I, along with Marcus, and two other wolves lifted a large beam. The effort alone told us how heavy it was. This was for my and Sheri’s cabin. So, of course, I would have to get the biggest log out here. I grunted as we moved it to the base of the cabin floor.
“You want to add the mountaintop to the floor plan? It would weigh less.” Marcus grunted as he rested a foot on the log.
“Don’t be an ass, man, he’s got to have a big log to hold up that temper of his.”
I scowled at Joe.
“We need to cut this in half, split it, and then place the pieces where you need them to be,” Marcus said, moving to the tool kit on the floor. “Come on, let’s get a move on. The alpha has things to do other than babysit us.”
I snorted. My pack was full of jokers.
Many hours later we lay on the floor of the open cabins. The pack, as one, was watching the open sky above. The stars were twinkling, dancing in the sky. I reached down and took my mate’s hand, squeezing it slightly. We only had a few months left before the big cold would come. Snow, ice, and weather conditions that would mimic the ones we had left in the mountains of Tennessee.
“Are you happy with the choice to move here?” I asked her, already knowing her answer.
“I am. It was needed, not only for us as a pack, but for Trenton and his mate. She is someone special, I can feel it. It was the right thing. You know that, right?”
“What was, love?” So much had happened lately, I wasn’t sure what she meant by that.
“Saving her. You helped him track her down when you owed him nothing, taking her from that vile prison she was tossed into. And they called themselves family. Fools was more like it. I saw how he
watched her that first night. They have a bond as strong as ours, maybe stronger. The spirits like her as well. They’ve blessed her many times now.”
“You are glad to have another friend,” I teased. The truth was, even if he was a vampire, his heart was what led him. His mate was a shifter, one meant for great things. I’d have helped him regardless, but the incentive to keep the spirits happy, well, it wasn’t something I’d have walked away from.
“Well, of course I am. The more women about the more we can keep you men in line. Wolves are so dang stubborn.”
Booming laughter pulled from me. A few of the men around us also laughed, our voices filling the night air around us. “And you think you women have all the answers?” I sat up, my gaze meeting hers.
“Of course we do. Do we not keep you all fed and in clean clothes? Do we not cook your meals and clean up behind you? Some of you are nothing more than grown children.” Her eyes twinkled in the moonlight.
“You are not our keepers; you are our mates. We can do those things for ourselves.”
“Don’t you see, we do it because we love you. We want to do it. There are times I’d rather take a broom to you, but in the end, you are my mate. The man I love. The wolf of my soul. The father to my cub. I will always follow you, even if that puts me in danger, because where you go, I go.” The women around us all agreed, and something in my dark heart melted.
I grinned, pulling her to me to press a kiss to her lips. “That, my dear mate, is why I love you so much. Not only will you put me in my place, but you do it with a smile on your beautiful face.” Her lips brushed mine, and then we settled back down, laying together while the others talked around us.
***
I watched my mate, the medicine woman of our pack, the descendant of a great medicine man. She was praying to the gods, spirits, and anyone else that would listen. Blessing our new homes, the lands around us, and the pack itself. I was fascinated by her. Watching her had always been very cathartic. My wolf especially enjoyed these times together.
The Glittering World Anthology: Native American Romance Paranormal Fantasy Page 13