She was beautiful in an exotic way; her hair was gathered into a tight ponytail at the crown of her head, where it fell from a silver bangle in a fall of inky black silk. High brows perfectly arched accented her almond-shaped brown eyes. The lips framed that framed her fangy smile were coated in the same blood-red shade that graced her both her fingernails and toenails.
I cocked my head as I studied her. “You fight dressed like that?”
Vera tipped her head back as her rich husky laugh filled the air before looking down at me with a very real smile. “Ethan said I would enjoy you. In battle, the element of surprise is everything and nothing is what it seems.”
I was rapidly growing very tired of all the cryptic mumbo-jumbo that seemed to be so pervasive in both the werewolf and vampire communities. Couldn’t anything just be what it seemed?
“So you aren’t what you seem?”
A very feral grin was her only answer before she spun into action. Leaping above me with a kind of lithe sensuality I’d never seen before, Vera allowed the flowing sleeves of the halter brush my shoulder.
The instant burning pain in my shoulder sent me to my knees in shock, and I looked up at her as I rubbed the skin to find blisters already forming.
“Unexpected? My shirt is made of finely woven silver thread, which werewolves are allergic to.”
I have to admit to being very impressed by her ingenuity as I eyed those wickedly spiked silver heels warily. “Those are silver too?”
“Indeed they are; you won’t underestimate me again.”
“No!” Tera and I replied almost in unison, both of our voices filled with respectful awe.
“That was amazing!” Sebrina cried.
Vera studied Sebrina closely, leaning in to sniff her neck before admonishing her softly, “Young one, why are you not feeding properly?”
“I… I just don’t like…” Sebrina started defensively.
“It is a matter of survival, not preference. As you are, in a battle you will only be a liability. Others will give their lives trying to protect you. You must feed and increase your strength.”
Sebrina looked down at the hands she was wringing nervously. “I can’t.”
“Then you must stay out of it, lest you put others at risk.” Vera said it like a decree that could not be broken before turning her back on Sebrina and zeroing back in on me and Tera.
“Now, my two furry friends, we train,” she said, spreading her legs apart into a fighter’s stance.
Tera and I both eyed all her silver accessories nervously.
“You will learn to be quick and avoid the silver at all costs. Today we are going to work on your defensive moves, avoiding injury. Tomorrow if you are ready we will progress to offense.”
Over the next several hours we dodged, rolled, and did our best to flip out of Vera’s way. I discovered she had silver everywhere, even lining the bottom of her fingernails so that the slightest graze of them left blisters and welts in their wake.
By the end of the evening I was a mass of burns and blisters. Tera had fared better than me but to Vera’s credit still sported a few burns. Both of us managed to keep from getting touched by silver in Vera’s last two advances.
We were panting while awaiting the next onslaught when she bowed to us to indicate the end of the match.
I sank wearily to my knees in the grass as I watched Vera; she looked as fresh and pristine as she’d been when we started.
“You are both apt pupils and will make strong warriors. Tell me your shoe size; I will have my weapons man make you both a pair of silver-heeled shoes.”
“But we’re allergic to silver,” I said worriedly.
“You can wear the silver-spiked heels without touching anything harmful to you. Now that you know how it feels and the damage they can cause, you will be able to use them effectively.”
Tera frowned. “How will we wear heels when we change forms?”
“You won’t change forms,” Vera said succinctly.
“What?” Tera and I asked almost in unison.
“We are more powerful as wolves,” I said softly.
Vera smiled. “Yes and the rogue wolves will see you both as easy prey. You should be able to take a few out of commission before they realize their folly. Then you can change forms.”
“So we want them to underestimate us,” Tera said thoughtfully.
“Exactly, till the morrow,” she said. Then in the blink of an eye Vera was gone into the darkness.
“Wow, I’m pretty skilled in battle but that woman is a demon! What a great idea to train to avoid the silver; it makes you much more careful. I can’t to tell everyone else about this,” Tera said excitedly.
Sebrina came from where she’d been perched on the rail of the fence to sink down next to us. “Vera isn’t a demon, but she was more than I expected even after all the stories.”
“Was she an Amazon?” Tera whispered the question like she was afraid of being heard.
“I don’t know, I only know she is an ancient and was a warrior even before she was changed.”
Again I was reminded that many the legends and stories I’d been told as a child held some truth. I shivered as I rubbed a particularly deep burn on my forearm.
I’m glad we healed so quickly; if we didn’t, my practice with Vera could have well rendered me unable to fight in the real war.
* * *
Over the course of the next few weeks Vera put both Tera and me through our paces. We went to bed exhausted and sore, usually just as the sun was beginning to peek up over the horizon.
I became a master of avoiding blows and through intensive study learned how to hit back almost as fast as my teacher. While I was sure Vera could end me in a matter of moments if the fight was real, I was still becoming a competent fighter and knew that winning a fight with a werewolf would be much easier than winning one with a vampire.
Vera taught us to always keep the element of surprise and not to telegraph our next move. It was funny to realize I gave a lot more away through subtle nuisances in expression and tiny body movements that I would have thought possible.
I learned to read those little messages in my opponent while not broadcasting my own intentions.
I started sleeping most of the day since we met Vera and began sparring immediately following sunset and practiced all night long. Keeping so busy physically helped me not to worry about the impending legal issues I was facing.
One day after I’d only been in bed for a little over an hour, Connor appeared in the doorway to my room to take me shopping. Even though I was far from rested, I went.
It took very little time to purchase the outfit Ed described and I tried not to think about the expense involved when Connor led me into a jewelry store to buy the pearls.
The pearls were large and lustrous; they circled my neck like a loose collar, the clasp a small pewter heart that opened with an equally small pewter key. Connor explained that the strings holding the pearls had been specially designed with pewter to make it durable. In other words, this was an extremely expensive strand of pearls. Not that the price was ever mentioned in my hearing.
I told myself that once the little courtroom drama was over, I would return the pearls to either the store or Connor himself.
Connor insisted on taking me to lunch after we’d completed the requisite shopping; when I would have balked, he reminded me that we never did get around to having that all-important first date that would start us down the road to mate-hood.
The restaurant he picked was nice but still casual so I didn’t feel out of place in my jeans, especially since I was still wearing the pearls. Connor had suggested I keep them on to get the feel of them.
I was a little ashamed to admit even to myself that I really liked the feel of the expensive pearls sliding coolly along the skin of my neck.
Over lunch we chatted about nothing and everything. Connor was very adept at keeping the topics on neutral ground. There was no discussion about rogue wolves, vam
pires, or epic battles to come.
For the first time in a long while, I just felt like a normal woman out with an attractive man. That little moment of normalcy was the first chip beyond the animal attraction that Connor made in my resistance to committing to him as a mate.
I enjoyed lunch and the time we spent together more than I could have ever realized I would. One thought that came to me resoundingly was that, even being the leader of such a large pack with so many owing him fealty, Connor was lonely.
At the end of the day when everything was said and done, he went home to an empty house and had no one to tell his worries to, no one to even just share the events of the day with.
He needed someone to take care of him.
The sharp tug the realization gave to my heart was difficult to resist. Everything in me screamed that I was the someone he was supposed to share these things with, to lift some of his burden, but I tamped it down with firm resolve. I would not make a hasty decision.
This was too big to rush into. I still needed time in order to make sure that if I did eventually choose that path, I would never regret my decision.
Before I knew it the lovely interlude with Connor was over and we were on our way back home to the compound and reality.
As we pulled up in front of my little cottage, Connor leaned in to kiss me.
I raised a hand to push him back gently. “I don’t kiss on the first date.”
“I’ve not only already kissed you, I’ve made you come on at least two occasions,” he said with a wink.
I glared at him. “Are you saying I’m easy?”
Connor laughed and shook his head ruefully. “I guess that which isn’t hard won isn’t really worth much.”
I smiled and thanked him primly for lunch. “I did have a very nice time.”
He nodded and then looked over at me seriously. “You’re scheduled for mediation on Friday. Don’t practice with Vera Thursday; you need to be rested and at your best for this meeting.”
A knot formed in the pit of my stomach. I guess I’d gotten lulled into a false sense of security; I hadn’t talked about the impending suit since the day I’d first met with Ed and no one else had mentioned it either.
“Okay,” I said softly.
“Ed, Tera, Tuck, and Epenie will be with you,” he said softly. “Everything will be fine.”
I sighed; everyone kept saying that. I just wish I believed it.
As I started to climb from his car, I remembered the pearls. “Connor, I need the key so I can take off the pearls before practice.”
Connor’s eyes pierced into mine as he shook his head. “I don’t want you to take them off.”
I frowned. “What do you mean? I have to take them off; I’m about to spar.”
“They’ve been designed to withstand your change so a mock battle won’t hurt them.”
“So basically you’re saying you’ve given me a rather upscale dog collar?” I asked, my entire body quivering with outrage.
“Not a dog collar, rather think of it as a gift befitting my queen. I’ll give you the key when you’re ready to take your place by my side,” he said implacably.
I snarled at him before getting out of the car and slamming the door hard enough to leave it hanging at a somewhat askew angle from the frame. Normally I would feel guilty about such a display of temper, but these were definitely not normal circumstances.
It was hard to believe less than an hour before, I’d actually been softening toward him and seriously considering the possibility of becoming his mate.
Now I wasn’t sure I’d have him if he were the only other wolf in existence.
Tera looked up sharply from the magazine she’d been thumbing through when I slammed into the house.
“What’s wrong?”
“Like my new collar?” I asked, indicating the pearl choker around my neck.
“Collar?” she repeated with a puzzled frown, creasing her brow.
I gave her a falsely bright smile. “Connor paid extra to have it made so it only opened with a special key. A key he didn’t feel the need to give me.”
“What?” Tera shot straight up out of the chair in shock. “Surely you misunderstood. He wouldn’t do that.”
“He did! No matter how beautiful it is, a dog collar is still a dog collar!” I was pacing the floor as the coiled energy inside built at an alarming rate. It was like my body couldn’t hold all the emotion pouring through me. I needed to change… to run.
Tera studied the collar as she pensively chewed her lip, opening her mouth to say something, then shaking her head. There was really nothing she could say in his defense.
I had to get out of there. I began dropping my clothes as I walked toward the front door. Tera, seeing my intent, opened it for me and I changed as I crossed the threshold, bounding across the porch and away from the cottage and everyone I knew.
I leapt the wall neatly to land on the other side, and then ran through the woods. I don’t know how long I ran but finally the coil wound so tightly inside of me seemed to release and I dropped to my belly at the edge of the lake to drink.
As I looked into the water, the sun caught on the gem-encrusted lock dangling from the pearls like an identification tag. A fresh surge of anger washed over me as I lifted my head and howled.
Turning from the water, I headed back to the compound and Connor. I don’t really know what I thought I would accomplish, but at the very least I needed to understand why.
By the time I reached the big house, my heated rage was replaced by cool purpose. He would give me the key to this necklace or I would leave the compound and never come back.
I cocked my head as I neared the window outside his office. I could hear Connor and Tera inside. They were arguing.
“How could you do this to her?” Tera cried passionately.
“This is not your business.”
“I’ve been encouraging Xandie to trust you and you betrayed her. I believed in you. I believed you would make a good mate for her. You aren’t the leader I thought you were.”
Connor growled warningly at Tera, “Tread carefully, little wolf, and remember to whom you are speaking. Perhaps a call to your father is in order.”
From where I stood outside I could see Tera freeze and lift her head as if sniffing the air for danger. “No. You promised I could call when I was ready. Not before.”
“It’s been six years. Six years is a long time for business to go unfinished. Think how Quinn feels, six years without his mate. I understood when you were sixteen, Tera, but you are no longer a scared little girl.”
“My business,” Tera said firmly, glaring up at him.
Connor met her stare for stare until she finally dropped her eyes and bowed her head. A growl rumbled up from deep within his chest. “As my business is my own.”
A small sound of distress escaped her. “Xandie is my friend.”
“Alexandria is my mate first and foremost and if you don’t like the way I lead, you are free to go.” His voice was hard, implacable.
Tera shook her head, a small sniff the only indication that she was crying. “I have no place to go; this is my home now.”
“Don’t question me again.” He turned his back to her in dismissal.
She looked at him, sadness in her eyes. “You are a great leader, Connor, and I love you, but in this instance you’re wrong.”
His back stiffened but before he could respond, Tera was gone.
As I stood in the shadows of the porch, a strange ambivalence filled me. The outrage and anger building so fiercely inside me was no longer there. I studied the man who would have me as mate and saw a man driven by loneliness and perhaps a little fear that he would lose his last chance at happiness and love.
“I shouldn’t have tried to chain you this way. Love that isn’t freely given isn’t love at all,” Connor whispered softly, his shoulders rolling forward to slump in a picture of such dejection that it hurt me to see it.
“Come here and I’ll t
ake it off. I wasn’t trying to own you, just show the others that you were spoken for. It goes against everything in me to just wait when all I want to do is claim what I feel is mine.”
I was a little aghast to realize that he’d known I was there the whole time, but when he opened the window, I walked forward hesitantly.
Connor pulled something from his pocket and then leaned out the window to insert the little key into the lock resting at my throat. “It’s yours. I hope someday you will want to wear it again but I’ll understand if you don’t choose to do so.”
He looked into my eyes and gave my head a gentle pat before pulling back inside and closing the window.
As I made my way back to the cottage, I was careful so I wouldn’t dislodge the key and lose it.
Once safe in my bedroom, it was a small matter to change back and remove the necklace. Placing it carefully beneath everything in my underwear drawer, I wasn’t sure I ever even wanted to lay my eyes on it again.
Would I ever understand that man? I sat down on the floor of my room, drawing my knees to my chest and resting my head on top of them as I gave in to the tears that had been threatening since Connor’s attempt to make me his lap dog. Dizzy gave a soft whine before leaning her soft furry body against my side to show her support and concern. With a watery smile I gathered her up in one arm and hugged her close, burying my face in her thick coat and taking comfort in the gentle steady beat of her heart.
If only people were as simple to read and understand as dogs. All they wanted was to love us and be loved in return, but really, when you get down to it, isn’t that all any of us want… canine or human?
Part of me wanted to use today to harden myself against Connor, but that other softer part wanted only to comfort the pain I’d seen in his eyes when he handed me the key to the choker. I could see that he really did love me, or at least he thought he did and desperately wanted my love in return. The scariest part of the whole scenario was that I was very close to loving him, but I was afraid to.
Heaving a big sigh of frustration, I let my body fall backwards, holding Dizzy so that she ended up sitting on my chest as I studied the ceiling above me.
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