4: Jack - In The Pack

by Weldon, Carys

  And the neighbors beat on the wall again.

  That made me smile down at her, and say, “Go ahead, honey, moan all you want. Let it out.”

  She did, too. Nice and loud.

  And so I got into it with a few grunts of my own, asking, “Ya like that?”

  Fera moaned some more.

  The thumping got louder.

  And when I hit the exact spot for her, she yelled, “Yes! Right there!”

  So, our neighbor kept hitting the same spot on the wall, beating out a tacky tattoo for me to finish up with. It didn’t take long.

  Airily, Fera said on a sigh, “I thought about this on the airplane.”

  “You did?” I could hardly move.

  She forced me to, though. Roll off of her so she could prop herself up on my chest and look at my face. “Yes. Most of the trip.”

  “When you get thinking like that, you should tell me about it.”

  I felt her fingers twirling circles in my chest hair. It tickled. “You’d like that?”

  “Yeah.”

  “You were thinking too hard.”

  “There’s a lot of things to worry about, I guess.” I leaned up and kissed her, thinking more than I ever could have dreamed of.

  She bit her lip, and I could tell she wanted to tell me something.

  “What?” I asked. Figured, that might make it easier.

  “I do want to avenge the death of my parents.”

  What could I say to that? “Wanting and doing are two different things. Thinking before we do...murder...is what separates the people from the animals, Fera.”

  “I know.”

  “But that’s not what’s bothering you?” I just took a guess at that.

  “Hood was afraid that I would do what my mother did. She couldn’t take living without my father. She was just too lonely, ya know?”

  I put my arms around her, pulled her into the crook at my chest and ran my fingers through her hair. “I know. Promise me you won’t.”

  She snuggled. “I was so lonely.”

  “Promise me, Fera.”

  The silence stretched between us and I realized that was because she’d fallen asleep. I lay like that, just holding her, for hours. Staring up at the ceiling, thinking about the lack of loneliness I felt when I had her in my arms.

  I worked out something. I’d take a cash draw on that credit card. A big one. Maybe at a few banks. And we’d try and sell our cruise tickets. Then, I’d take Fera away, to a place where Lobos couldn’t find us. I’d find a way to keep her safe.

  To keep her. To keep her from doing what her mom did.

  I knew I couldn’t solve the world’s problems, but I could do the one most important thing. I could love Fera, and not abandon her. Somehow, I knew that’s what she feared most.

  She sighed in her sleep, and cuddled closer, and I kissed the top of her head, whispering, “I love you, Fera.”

  After my experience in the pack, all I wanted was to get Fera, and me, as far away from Pack City and Lobos International as I could. But I knew, we’d have to keep moving, to stay one leap ahead of...her family’s enemies, whoever they were.

  Near the dawn hours of morning, I finally fell asleep. My dreams weren’t pleasant. I kept hearing Fera calling for me, then crying for Hood, and seeing shadows everywhere.

  But the oddest thing of all was the appearance, out of nowhere, of Kayty and Leer. And the feeling of relief I felt when they appeared.

  I wonder...was the dream an omen, or just a spiritual confirmation that the pack is coming after us?

  The End

  Carys Weldon

  Carys Weldon writes about werewolves from a haunted hollow in the Missouri Ozarks, where sometimes the howling of the wolves keeps her awake at night.

  A lover of canines from a small age, and a fan of White Wolf Gaming as an adult, she couldn’t resist weaving her own fascinations into a romantic series.

  Carys has won over one hundred awards in the last three to four years. Of most recent note in Romance and Erotica: Third place in the RWA Inner Vixen contest with Confessions of a BBW Cover Model, Mays Reviews Over the Moon Award of Excellence for Chaos, and a second place recently in the Writer's Zone Erotica competition at OCW for The Wet Spot.