“You know you’re top dog when you don’t even have to stay for the real vote,” Ginger said a moment later, having shifted back to human form before linking her arm through mine. Actually, though, my friend was very much wrong. Because there was no second vote to name the newest member of the Southeast Tribunal. It was simply assumed that Brooks, as the strongest alpha left standing, would represent us all on the regional council.
Meeting adjourned, a few of the younger males attempted to sniff around Ginger’s feet, but she banished them with a regal wave of one manicured hand before drawing me away into the darkness. Together, we strolled in silence along the wet sand just above the waves, each footprint lighting up a circle of bioluminescent algae that glowed blue against the deepening night.
We’d each been awake for over thirty-six hours at that point, so we didn’t try to speak. Our wolves simply needed to walk beside another member of our pack, to be alive together for a few minutes at least before we returned to the reality of having no place to sleep and no way to travel back to the home we’d fought so hard to secure.
Then a dark figure materialized out of the night. His broad shoulders blocked out the rising moon and his husky voice carried below the crashing of the waves. “You ladies need a ride?”
“Is the pack alright?” I asked my mate, falling into his sassafras-scented arms and not minding one bit that Ginger had collapsed onto the same chest right alongside me. If she felt the way I did, the twin could use a little help keeping her legs straight and her body upright.
“The twins are safe. Goodpasture is in custody. And the pack is fine.” Hunter paused to drop a gentle kiss onto my brow. Then, to my delight, he knelt at my feet, prying the sandbur I’d nearly forgotten out from beneath my toe and slipping socks and boots over sore soles. He finished by installing one throwing knife into each ankle sheath then rising to pull his own shirt off his back and drape it around my chilled shoulders.
“No fair, I don’t get the Cinderella treatment,” Ginger groused. She wasn’t actually annoyed, though. In fact, I was pretty sure the young woman negated her own words by pressing closer against the uber-alpha whose strength currently buoyed us both up.
“If you want a Prince Charming, you’ll have to hunt down your own,” my mate growled. But even in the dim moonlight, I could see his lips quirking up at the corners into a smile. “Perhaps,” he added dryly, “you should give Amelia a call.”
And I smiled too. Because, now that Wolf Landing’s territory was assured, we could afford to bring additional one-bodies into the fold. Ginger could tell Amelia about her animal half and hope the human’s love was sufficient to survive the shock of finding out her significant other was a wolf. The most important roadblock standing in the way of their budding romance was a roadblock no longer.
Of course, the task would still take bravery, but I didn’t doubt the female at my side one bit. After all, Ginger was a pack princess, a trouble twin, and a member of my clan. Bravery was what she did best.
Chapter 30
I collapsed into the hotel room Hunter rented for us and slept most of the way home the next day as well. Which might be why I didn’t realize everyone in my pack was withholding very important information until much later that afternoon.
At first, though, everything appeared to be coming together perfectly. “Did you see this?” Ginger asked as we neared Wolf Landing, passing her smartphone over the back of my seat so I could make out the image on the screen. Hunter had arrived on the Outer Banks in a one-way rental car, so we were all able to travel home together after tracking down our waylaid vehicle—a good thing since the idea of breaking apart our little entourage seemed unthinkable at the present moment.
“Yeah, Robert sent it to me a couple of hours ago.” Despite having read the news article previously, I still scrolled down to see the culmination of my partner’s hard work one more time. Santa Slasher Mauled by Bear read the headline, going on to sum up Samuel Goodpasture’s history of murdering Mall Santas and cutting identifying features away from their faces. Now in custody and denied bail, the one-body killer wouldn’t be walking the streets unhindered any time soon.
I was thrilled to have the case closed without any shifters implicated, but the buoyancy in my chest had little to do with work and everything to do with rebuilding broken bonds between me and the one-body in charge of the investigation. I’d thought Robert had completely written me off, so receiving an email that bordered on friendly made my day. “Looking forward to working with you again in the near future,” my partner had signed off, making me wonder what Hunter had said to Robert during their time together to so quickly change the one-body’s tune.
Before I could attempt to wiggle any more details out of my mate, though, our car was rolling up Wolf Landing’s driveway and parking in front of the community building. Wolves and two-leggers alike poured out to meet us and I anxiously scanned the assemblage until I found Nina and Lupe, each cradling an infant in the periphery of the flood.
As yet another massive weight off my mind, the pups had been remarkably easy to track down once Grey aligned fully with our point of view. The enforcer had delivered the youngsters to a baby drop-off box in a hospital three towns over, taking advantage of the law that enabled new parents to abandon infants without legal repercussions as long as they left them in a guaranteed safe place. The twins were too old to meet the proper criteria, but they’d still been accepted and sent out for emergency fostering while police hunted for their law-breaking parents.
Good thing Hunter was smart enough to nip that problem in the bud. Since Nina had reported the kidnapping in a timely manner, parent and children had been easily reunited. And, after some thought, Grey’s part in the matter was carefully brushed over as well. After all, he had taken care not to harm the pups..and he would never again go even that far down a dark path now that he’d sworn himself to my level-headed mate.
Even though Lupe had texted me a photo of the pups alive and well the night before, though, I’d been on edge until my eye picked them out of the crowd. Only after smelling their sweet scent cutting through the chilly air and seeing their unharmed faces with my own two eyes did I finally and fully relax.
Babies accounted for, I returned my attention to the nearby shifters, noticing a limp here and a bandaged abrasion there but no more serious injuries stemming from the previous day’s invading force. In fact, the battle seemed to have done the job that I’d failed at over the last four months. Because even as I watched, a wolf-form bloodling sidled up to rub against Lupe’s leg and the teenager unconsciously dropped her spare hand down to trail along his spine. Meanwhile, the body language of the shifters around them spoke to the same inclusiveness and joy that infused my charge’s young face.
The day before, I’d been forced to leave Lupe dangling, uncertain whether she’d be able to overcome her own fears and insecurities in order to tap into the pack bond. Apparently I needn’t have worried. Not only had she come through for the pack in the heat of the moment, the hastily built bond hadn’t faded away once the initial terror passed. Instead, the outsider-by-choice had been easily accepted as a full member of our fledgling pack.
Heads counted and potential problems averted, I finally accepted my mother’s hug and her subsequent admonition. “We’re holding a farewell dinner for Wolfie and Terra in a couple of hours,” she told me. “Why don’t you clean up and go take a nap? We’ll call you when it’s ready.”
With Hunter similarly chivying my footsteps, I found it easy to obey. Our cabin welcomed me inside with all the scents of home and I barely managed to kick off my boots before falling into yet another deep sleep.
Only when I awoke, chilly from a fire that had long since faded, did I realize how alone I was. And when I stepped out onto the porch and peered out through the encircling trees, I shivered at the lack of wood smoke that would usually have risen from pack mates’ stoves.
Worse was the missing hum of activity that had previously permeated the air
. Werewolves weren’t a quiet bunch, so there was always a hint of either human laughter or lupine yips off in the distance. I’d grown accustomed to being surrounded by pack, so the current silence chilled me more than the cold air biting into the skin of my face.
In fact, I got the distinct impression that I was the only sentient being within miles. A rabbit hopped out of the bushes ten feet away from my front door as if the critter wasn’t living in the heart of predator territory. Meanwhile, a doe paused, lifting her head to stomp at me before deciding I wasn’t a danger and continuing to nose through the leaves in search of acorns.
Something is wrong. Something is very, very wrong.
Last week, I would have reached out along the pack bond to test the air, to touch the emotions of my clan. But I hadn’t been able to sense anything in that direction since pushing my wolf off the cliff the day before.
So, instead, I hurried back inside to pull on a coat and boots before trotting down the path toward the community building. Whatever was wrong, someone would be waiting there at the heart of our territory to spread the news. Someone would be able to tell me why my spine sang and my mouth puckered with the foul taste of imminent danger.
Hot breath materializing in front of chilled nose, I reached the driveway in record time. And, at last, I figured out where my entire clan had congregated. What I couldn’t understand was why there were so many outpack vehicles clogging the narrow lane, why there were half a dozen unfamiliar bodies walking up the path below me.
I recognized only one of the strangers from this distance. Amanda Sellers, I realized, picking up my pace as the older woman came into view. I’d somehow forgotten to ask about that particular problem in my relief at learning everyone in our clan had survived the darkest day of the year.
Now I realized that no one in my pack had offered any information about the town meeting that should have been held the night before. No one had clued me in about whether the mayor had succeeded in banning werewolves from the entire county or just from Arborville proper. No one had mentioned whether the territory I’d just claimed at All-Pack was soon to become a moot point.
She’s evicting us, I guessed. Was this why Celia had been so intent upon sending me up the mountainside to rest in my secluded cabin? Because she knew I needed a few more hours of sleep under my belt before I could handle finding our pack another home?
Well, it was better to deal with the issue now rather than later. So, straightening my spine, I stepped out from behind the trees and scurried to catch up with the mayor before she reached our front door.
“Hi,” I greeted her, expecting the woman to whirl in alarm at the sound of my voice. After all, her eyes had been opened the day before to mysteries that must have seemed more suited to the pages of a horror novel than to the streets of her formerly serene small town. Any sane one-body would now be on her guard and ready to flee in the face of further potential threat.
To my surprise, though, the mayor instead turned slowly and pulled me into a one-armed hug. “That Lupe of yours is a wonder,” she emoted into my hair. “A role model for all of us. Do you think she’d be available to babysit my granddaughter one day this week?”
“Well, I can ask...” I began. Then a tinfoil-covered plate was being thrust into my arms as the mayor opened the door that lay between us and my pack. Without bothering to knock, she reclaimed the plate then led me inside a house that brimmed over with all of the scents and sounds I’d been missing up on the mountain.
My first instinct was to sniff and peer, to figure out what was going on. Instead, I abruptly found my nose buried in a shirt that smelled like mate as Hunter pulled me into an embrace I really wasn’t feeling at the present moment.
Still, as his mouth covered mine and his teeth nibbled at my lower lip, I relaxed despite myself. And when the uber-alpha released me and pointed up at the mistletoe above our heads, I gave in to tradition and forgot my worries for thirty long seconds as I stole a kiss of my own.
Then Ginger was yanking me free, rolling her eyes at the public display of affection before presenting me to the room at large. “The woman of the hour is here!” the trouble twin said loudly, doing what she did best—pulling every eye toward herself.
In reply, party horns caroled. Bloodlings yelled or howled. And one-body townspeople cheered.
“Welcome to the community!” Samantha shouted over the din, stepping up beside me to hand over a plate laden with goodies. The double-chocolate-chunk cookies looked twice as good as the ones Robert had rudely consumed in that old lady’s kitchen and my stomach growled loudly, reminding me that I’d skipped a few meals while catching up on lost sleep.
“They’re here to celebrate the territory?” I asked Ginger after swallowing the first sweet morsel, whispering into my friend’s ear so no one but other shifters could hear. I couldn’t quite believe that the entire town of Arborville had managed to come to terms with the existence of werewolves in twenty-four short hours, with the human inhabitants now turning out in force to show their support for the shifters in their midst.
“Not really,” Ginger answered under her breath. “Most of them think we’re celebrating paying off our mortgage and are also glad the town ordinance outlawing over-sized dogs failed. But, it comes down to the same thing in the end. They’re rejoicing in our presence. They’re glad we’re here. Enjoy it.”
Sticking another cookie that tasted every bit as good as it looked into my mouth, I nodded my understanding. I’d take what I could get. Arborville was welcoming us, so it was time to welcome them in return.
Around us, shifters and one-bodies mingled contentedly. Finger food flew off the serving platters and Cinnamon stirred a pot of mulled cider over the stove. Ginger left my side and slipped into the guest bedroom to call her girlfriend and Robert raised his glass in a toast from the dining nook. Meanwhile, Glen graced me with a smile that promised forgiveness for all omissions, then his arm darted out to grab the ruff of a bloodling who was about to jump up into a human’s lap. Yep, my pack was together, contented, and on the job.
Before I could fully relax, though, my breath caught as I noticed Grey glowering at all and sundry from a dark corner way at the back of the living room. His uber-alpha powers were sufficiently in check to prevent the human partygoers from fleeing in terror, but it was clear the nearby shifters would have rather been another few feet—or maybe half a mile—away from his storm-cloud proximity.
Then Hunter was ambling up beside the outcast, a broad hand clapping down on the younger male’s shoulder. Grey cringed at the initial contact, then his chest expanded as he breathed in what must have been my mate’s jovial sassafras odor rather than his cold spring-water warning. Abruptly, all menace went out of the enforcer’s form as his eyes dropped willingly to the ground...and in instant reply wolf-form bloodlings mobbed his legs, acting every bit like over-excited house pets greeting a newcomer to their home.
Smiling, I returned to my cookies, content that the least secure member of our clan was in good hands at last. We had all come a long way in a few short weeks. Our pack was united, our territory was assured, and the townspeople were welcoming us with open arms. So even though the sun was already setting and the day was only two minutes longer than the solstice that had come before, the journey ahead now seemed brightly lit and vibrant with joyful opportunity.
No time like the present to seize that opportunity with both hands. Turning to face the one-body who still hovered by my other side, I summoned my courage and broke the ice: “How’s Twinkletoes?”
“I think she might need a refresher course,” Samantha replied, twisting her mouth up into a good-natured smirk. The human seemed to fit into our kitchen in a way I wouldn’t have imagined possible last week, reaching behind her to pull a fork out of our silverware drawer without looking. After filling her mouth with something red and delicious, she added: “Maybe you’d be willing to come over and help me out?”
Lacking a serial killer to hunt down and pack leaders to massa
ge into alliances, I realized my schedule was now wide open. “Any time,” I answered. “Any time.”
Chapter 31
“Wolfie’s looking for you,” Terra told me half an hour later as I stumbled across the other female alpha warming her hands over the radiant heat of the damped-down wood stove.
I’d half expected Celia’s statement about Terra and Wolfie leaving after dinner to turn into mere bait to get me to show up at the surprise party on time. But now the sinking sensation in the pit of my stomach reminded me that my favorite pack leaders had no reason to hang around once Wolf Landing’s territorial status was secured. No, Wolfie would be looking for me because he wanted to say goodbye.
“Did you see where he went?” I asked my former alpha’s mate. But rather than following her pointed finger immediately, I slipped back through the crowd to collect a very important piece of equipment from my car instead. And, there, I caught sight of a shifter who I hadn’t expected to see again...or at least not so soon.
“Sinsa!” I exclaimed, pulling the young woman into a heartfelt hug. I’d worried about her, leaving our pack so abruptly to make peace with the family she’d thought herself abandoned by. But I’d reminded myself that it was Sinsa’s choice to stay behind and get to know her father and brother, her choice to strike out on her own. If she needed me, she’d call.
Only when the male behind her back growled out a complaint at being ignored did I release the bloodling from my grasp and step back to take in the rest of her entourage. Speak of the devil—both father and brother were waiting impatiently to be introduced, their smiles forced when they faced me but the affection in their eyes very much real when they turned toward the young woman by my side.
“I didn’t want to just take off without talking to the pack,” Sinsa said to me then. “I owe Calla an explanation. And everybody else too....”
Wolf Landing (Alpha Underground Book 3) Page 19