by Idella Breen
Snow’s blush deepened.
“Well kids, I have to hop to it. And to answer your question Snow, no, I won’t be able to come over for the next couple of nights. I got a call this morning, and Remus has demanded that I come back. One of the females is giving birth to twins, and her husband is ready to kill something or someone. It’s making the other wolves antsy. The baby is due within the week. The last week is always the hardest for the whole clan. But I’m sure you two will be alright. Cait’s wolf has been fairly tame since what happened two nights ago, and I feel like I can trust it to behave itself until I come back.”
“Okay.” Snow frowned.
Gwen pointed at her. “I’m not saying you shouldn’t be careful. No hanky panky while I’m gone. No lip locking or heavy breathing. Let sleeping dogs lie and all that.”
Cait groaned. “Go Gwen. Remus sounded desperate.”
“I mean it you two.”
“Go already!”
Gwen chuckled and left the two in the kitchen. Cait heard the front door close and sighed. It really was nice having Gwen around. Her presence was calming, but the woman was too opinionated and way too happy. But Cait couldn’t deny liking her. What could she say? The woman grew on her.
Snow interrupted her thoughts. “So, you’re going back to your apartment?”
Cait nodded and stood. She walked over to the coffee pot and poured some into a to-go-mug that she had brought from her apartment the previous night. “Yeah, I’ve gotten behind on my work. I need to grade a few stacks of homework.”
“Oh, okay. Yeah, I have some homework I need to do as well.”
Cait turned around and smiled at Snow. “Well, I better go.”
“Yeah.” Neither moved.
“Lots of work and stuff,” Cait mumbled.
“Mm-hmm.”
“I’m going to just go…right now….” Cait trailed off as she watched Snow pull her bottom lip between her teeth and nod her head.
“Yeah.”
They moved in unison. Cait lifted Snow up on the countertop as the girl wrapped her legs around the werewolf’s waist. Their lips met with hunger and Snow let out a wanton moan as their tongues touched. Her body tingled all over. It had only been a day, but her body craved Cait’s touch like a drug addiction. Cait’s hands slipped under the girl's tank top. One splayed across the girl's back while the other began making circles on her stomach.
“Cait!”
“Yeah?”
“We can’t-“ She was cut off as their mouths met again.
“No?” The werewolf’s hand traveled dangerously close to the brunette's breast. She slept braless.
Snow whimpered. “Touch me.” She demanded.
Cait teased the edge of her breast but refused to give in. “What?” She smiled into the kiss.
“More.”
“More what?” She drew circles around Snow’s areola but refused to touch the nipples even though they had hardened.
“Please, Cait!” She begged.
Cait pulled back from the kiss which confused the girl, before Snow’s head shot back banging against the cupboards. She groaned as Cait’s hot mouth sucked her nipple in before biting it. Snow began to rub against the werewolves abs. Needing the friction to relieve the heat building between her legs.
“More.”
“Where do you need me?” Cait grunted out as she felt her own control slipping. The wolf was waking up.
“Down there.”
Cait’s hand traveled lower but stopped at the girl's bellybutton. Her teeth teased the other nipple. “Guide me where you want me, baby.”
Snow whimpered, and grabbed Cait’s hand, but only gripped it tightly. Cait felt the girl flush in embarrassment.
“You can do it, baby. Guide me where you want me.” She sucked the nipple before releasing it and meeting Snow’s lips again. She rested her forehead against the girls.
“Come on. Show me.” She whispered.
Snow nodded and met Cait’s lips again. Slowly and hesitantly she guided the woman’s hand lower until it rested on her hip.
“I know you want it lower than that.”
Snow nodded again and inched their hands lower as if she didn’t want to lose her nerve. They both groaned as Cait’s hand met with the wet heat. She was so hot for her.
“Oh, Snow.” Cait moaned. She could feel the wolf throwing itself against her mental cage. It was painful, but she wanted to go a little longer. She would stop before it became too dangerous. She thought as she rubbed against the girl's sex.
“Cait!” Snow moaned and moved her hips against the hand resting against her.
The wolf howled to mate. She needed to stop. Cait whimpered as pain erupted in both her chest and her head. She bit her lip as her whole body stilled.
“Cait?” Snow immediately felt the werewolf’s tension but didn’t understand it at first.
“Don’t stop.” She whined.
“I can’t-“ The woman said in clipped tones as if she was in pain.
“Can’t what?”
Snow could feel the werewolf panting against her neck before she was suddenly alone in the room. Her mind was in a confused haze, and she didn’t really know what happened until she heard the front door slam shut. She was suddenly cold and really pissed off at the same time. Why had Cait stopped?
***
Cait didn’t stop until she made it to the forest about a block away from Snow’s apartment. She stripped with practiced ease and suddenly burst, releasing her wolf. Pain rippled through her entire body, and she let out a pained howl as she staggered on four legs drunkenly. Did she have phasing sickness? She vaguely wondered as she staggered into several trees knocking some over. Catching herself against one of the trees, she suddenly threw up. Her vision swayed from side to side. When was the last time she had phased? How many centuries? She had forgotten what it felt like. She didn’t remember it being so painful. Cait staggered through the forest until she reached a lake and collapsed at the water's edge. Her tongue snaked out to desperately lap at the water that she could barely reach.
She felt like she had the flu. Every muscle ached. Her bones felt like they’d been broken and reformed, which she knew is what happened during the transformation, but it used to happen so seamlessly. It was her own fault. After the massacre, she had denied herself this. This union with her wolf. She feared what would happen. The wolf had been within the cage for so long that she had forgotten the feeling of the wind running through her fur. The enhancement of her senses. She had forgotten the wildness that flooded her being, the strength, and power. Oh, the power. She could feel it flowing through her body as the phasing sickness began to subside. The aches and pains began to disappear quickly to be replaced with power and strength.
She was finally free from her cage, she thought as the wolf. Standing, she took off running, leaping fully over the body of water to the other side. She landed with the grace only the wolf possessed. This was Remus’s territory, but he had given her permission to roam it. She hadn’t taken him up on the offer before. The dirt felt good against her paws as she stretched. Then she took off running at an inhuman speed.
Cait was big for a female wolf but was smaller then Remus in his wolf form. She had seen his before, but she was definitely the fastest. Cait had never met a wolf faster than her, and she preferred speed over muscles. It didn’t make her any weaker. Her wolf had more powers than the average werewolf. She paused to sniff the air and shook out her white fur. When she phased her eyes changed from their usual blue to match the wolfs inhuman gold. She was no longer just Cait. She was both. Woman and beast united.
Suddenly, several howls rang out in the distance. It seemed Remus had forgotten his offer. His clan had sensed her phasing and were coming to check her out. She decided to meet them first before they could gather in one spot. Cait released her own warning howl. It was a rich and deep song. It dominated the other wolves letting them know a new alpha was on their land. These puppies were no match for her. She was goin
g to show them she was top dog.
Chapter 6
Cait had reached the wolves of Remus’s clan before they had all gathered. She entered the clearing where the puppies were growling to each other in confusion. They immediately turned their growls on her. She wouldn’t be able to hear their inter-clan chatter. That came from the clan bond. So, she waited until they spoke to her. It took a few minutes but eventually a russet wolf acknowledged her. She could hear the underlying fear in his voice even though he tried to hide it.
“Who are you and what are you doing on our land?” His deep baritone demanded with authority he didn’t have.
Cait didn’t answer and instead simply started them down. The wolves quickly became antsy and began to growl at her again.
“Speak wolf.”
“You have no command over me.” She replied with power in her voice.
The wolves gave a collective whimper as she commanded the subjugation on them all at once, forcing them to bow their heads. She released it when she felt she had made her point. Immediately, several wolves ran with their tails between their legs. The russet wolf was no alpha and didn’t have the command to keep them in order. Even his tail had fallen between his legs as he let out a whimper. The wolves remaining were either frozen in fear or closer to the top of the clan. Cait could feel the stink of fear leaking from them.
“Remus has granted me freedom to these lands.”
“Who are you?” The wolf dared to ask.
Cait let out a howl causing the wolves to bark in answer to her calling. They joined her in song.
“I sing the song of Cait Fallon. The last of the Fallon line. I sing the sad tale of the survivor of the massacre. If you know this tale, I bid you to join in this sad song. Let the pain of the Fallon line be known to all who hear it. Let their tale be passed down and let them know that the only survivor lives and is strong. Let them know she is the only white wolf to come from the Fallon’s clan. A clan of black wolves. Let it be known she lived without heart. She brought death to her own line. Let it be known that Cait Fallon is the last survivor because she was the executioner. If you hear this sad song answer, it’s call. Let the pain of the Fallon’s be known to all clans. Oh, the great Fallon’s. Oh, the strong and powerful Fallon’s. Oh, the one without heart.”
When Cait finished her song, the wolves in front of her had transformed back into men and all had tears in their eyes. In the distance, pained howls answered the calling. The true song of the Fallon’s story. The truth that had been whispered amongst those who were old enough to remember it but didn’t dare slander the only survivor. Cait felt her heart ache at the answering howls, but she also felt a sense of relief. Relief that her secret was finally known. She hoped that maybe she could finally begin to heal now that the heavy truth she had always carried with her was out. There would be no more stories of the heroic survivor. There would only be tales that echoed the pain she had felt that night. She would no longer be known as the survivor but as the murderer that she was. It really was a relief. Cait leveled each remaining wolf with her golden gaze. Fallon’s had all been black wolves with blue eyes. The day she had phased into a white wolf with golden eyes was the day she brought shame to her clan. They called her a wolf without heart. They said she was cold and dangerous. She was Cait Fallon. She was Cait Fallon. She was just, Cait Fallon
***
Snow’s eyes were red and puffy when she answered the knocking at her front door on Sunday morning. Gwen was standing there looking as haggard as Snow felt. The omega was holding two coffee’s, one in each hand.
“So you heard it?”
“Heard what?” Snow asked.
Gwen slipped past the brunette, walked down the hall and into the living room. She settled down on the loveseat and patted the spot next to her. Snow closed the door and joined her. Gwen handed her one of the coffee’s and let out a long sigh.
“Is she here?”
Snow frowned. “Cait?”
“Who else?”
“No, she left Saturday and hasn’t come back.”
“She told you her tale then?”
Snow shook her head. “I don’t know what you're talking about.”
“Why do you look like you’ve been crying and haven’t slept a wink?”
“I don’t know. My heart just feels so heavy. Well, I kind of know. After you had left yesterday, Cait and me kind of had a moment.”
“A fight?”
“Um, not exactly.”
“Jeez, you guys really like to play with fire don’t you?” Gwen sighed again.
“I don’t think we can help it. It's like I’m just magnetized to her. I don’t know; it’s just so strong, and I can never think straight.”
“Believe me, I understand, I’m just really worried about how strong it became so fast. It really is dangerous, but I get that you can’t help it. So what happened? Did someone knock on the door and interrupt you or did you stop her?”
“Neither. She stopped by herself.”
Gwen looked honestly surprised. “Really?”
Snow blushed. “Yeah, she just suddenly froze and let out like a whimper or something then poof she was gone.”
“Gone?”
“I only heard the front door slam shut.”
“Oh, wow. I’ll tell you right now that whimper had been one of severe pain. It took a lot of control on her part to leave in the middle of, well, you know what.”
Snow nodded.
“And she hasn’t been back since yesterday?”
“No. I’ve tried calling her but she won’t pick up.”
“Does she feel close?”
“Yeah.”
“Then I wouldn’t worry.”
“Wait, why do you look like you haven’t slept?” Snow wondered.
“Well, I just spent twelve hours in labor with a volatile werewolf papa and a momma that nearly squeezed my hand right off my arm. I’m glad to say she is the proud mother of two beautiful baby boys. And then there was the song. We all heard it about an hour before the woman went into labor. I dare say the shock from the song induced pregnancy.”
“A song?”
“Do you know of werewolves songs?”
Snow shook her head.
“I’m not surprised.” Gwen paused to drink some of her coffee. “We like to keep some clans secrets. Werewolves are taught at a young age how to howl a song. It is the way we pass our stories down from generation to generation. It’s a tradition for a pup that reaches their teens to give a song of their triumphs during their first hunt. It’s a right of passage really.” Gwen’s features darkened. “But the song we heard yesterday was not one of triumph. It was the saddest most shocking song I have ever heard.”
“What was it.”
Gwen hesitated before she made her decision to answer. “It was Cait’s song. The song of the massacre of her clan. The truth of what happened that night.”
“Her clan was killed? So the stories my grandmother told me were true then?”
“What exactly did your grandmother tell you?”
“I was very young when I heard my first story about Cait about how she came to know my grandmother. But the first story was the saddest. You have to remember she told it to me in a way that a ten your old could partially understand. But I think I understand it more now. I was told that Cait was tricked into giving her wolf over to a bad man and he used her wolf to kill her entire clan.”
“What man?” Gwen asked shocked at that little tidbit.
“Don’t you know? Didn’t you say you just heard Cait’s song?”
“There wasn’t anything about a man. That’s the problem with a song. It’s told from the point of view of the singer. Cait was the one that sang it, and it’s how she interpreted what happened. I’m interested in Lidia’s interpretation. She was a third party to the whole thing. She doesn’t carry Cait’s guilt which might have skewed her tale a bit. Lidia’s would be more objective.”
Snow nodded. “I don’t know who the man was. My
grandmother never told me.”
“Can you tell me the story? I’d like to hear it.”
“Like I said, it was told to me in a way my ten your old brain could understand.”
“I don’t mind.”
“Okay. Grandma told me that Cait had been born without heart. I still don’t know what that means. So, she went in search of heart, and she met a bad man. This man promised Cait that he could give her what she was seeking, but she had to promise to relinquish her wolf to him for a whole day. I take it that meant from sun up to sun down. Cait agreed. But the man tricked her, took her wolf and used it to kill her whole clan. When she got it back, she was sad, especially when the man didn’t give her what she was seeking. That’s when my grandma found her and took her under her wing. And that’s basically it.”
Gwen mulled this over. “Some of that doesn’t make sense to me.”
“A lot of it doesn’t make sense to me at all.” Snow frowned.
“How can someone take control over a werewolf’s wolf. That story made it sound like the man separated the two of them. I didn’t think that was possible. And what does that bit about heart mean? Cait had said that in her song as well. She spoke of how she was born without heart and that she was the only white wolf born to a clan made up completely of black wolves.”
“I don’t know. My grandma never explained that bit. She just told me that one day a child would be born that Cait was supposed to protect and that child would help Cait find her heart.”
Gwen looked to Snow in shock. “A child?”
Snow nodded. “I don’t know who this child is, but if we can help Cait find it, then we might be able to help her.”
Gwen suddenly let out a loud laugh. Snow frowned.
“Why are you laughing? I’m serious. I’m worried about her.”
Gwen settled down. “I don’t think either of us needs to worry. I have a feeling everything is happening the way Lidia predicted.”
“What do you mean? What about the child?”
Gwen smiled. “What child do you know of that Cait promised to protect? The same child that showed up at her homeroom one day and turned her life upside down?”