by Sky Winters
“Breathe, Savannah,” Xander said, squeezing her hand.
“I can feel your fear,” Savannah whispered to him, “and it’s making me even more nervous.”
Xander smiled, and Savannah marvelled at his ability to keep a cool and calm exterior despite the turmoil of emotion he was experiencing. “Don’t let them see how much we want this,” he told Savannah, and she willed herself to adopt his calm façade.
They were standing beside the lake when Savannah registered the change in climate. She felt burning heat coming toward them as she sensed the others start to approach. She turned around and saw Xander’s friends enter the clearing from the woods. They were the only ones who looked at her sympathetically, without hate or jealousy. Still, they did not seem happy, either. They were weary and nervous of what was to come.
On their heels came the girls. Savannah froze as she took in Marissa’s furious eyes. If Savannah had not been able to sense people's auras, she would not have been able to sense how fiercely Marissa hated her.
There were nine of them in the clearing. The pack members stood to one side, staring over at Xander and Savannah, their eyes lingering on their entwined hands. Savannah tried to remove her hand from Xander’s but he kept a firm grip on her.
And then they came. Savannah held her breath and watched as three cloaked figures entered the clearing at the same time. Instantly she realized this was the vision she had seen yesterday, when Dominic had cornered her in the forest. She had seen herself standing before the Council of Elders, waiting for them to cast judgement on her future, waiting for them to raise her up or destroy her whole.
The elders moved into the center of the loose circle, their backs to the lake so that they were facing the young pack members. They removed their cloaks, and Savannah recognized the woman on the far right. It was impossible to forget that kind of careless beauty. Savannah knew she should not have been surprised‒she had sensed it from day one--but it had caught her off guard, nonetheless.
“Hello Savannah,” Principal Harris greeted her, blue eyes flashing.
Savannah nodded, feeling her words catch in her throat. In the middle, between the two women, stood a tall, bald man, with fantastic green eyes. There was little resemblance between him and Xander, but Savannah could still sense the blood bond between them. To his left stood another woman with braided black hair, and eyes just as dark. She looked like she belonged on some exotic runway.
Before anyone could speak, Marissa stepped forward. “This is a pack meeting,” she said, her tone carrying splinters. “He should not have been allowed to bring her here. This is a sacred place.”
“This is true, Malick,” Principal Harris said, agreeing with her daughter. “It is not allowed.”
“Why have you brought Savannah here, Xander?” Malick asked, turning his intense green eyes on Xander and Savannah.
“I know the rules,” Xander said, stepping forward. “And I understand and respect them–"
“If you truly respected the rules none of us would be here now,” Marissa said, cutting Xander off.
“Let him speak,” Johnny said, glaring at Marissa. “He is the alpha.”
“He’s not alpha yet,” Marissa snapped back.
“Stop!” Malick said, and a hush fell over the pack instantly. “Xander has broken many rules, but he deserves the chance to explain himself. Xander, you have the floor.”
“Thank you, Uncle,” Xander said, dipping his head in respect. He took another step forward, and Savannah felt the urge to reach out and pull him back to her side. She felt strangely sick, but she suppressed the urge to sit down and rest her legs.
“As I said, I do have respect for the rules that govern our kind, but I cannot deny I have other wishes that cannot be fulfilled in this pack, in my role here, and in my duty as the future alpha. I cannot control how I feel, and I cannot change whom I love. I had no choice in this. I understand the rules: I must marry a wolf shifter so we may create the next generation together, but I cannot deny that I love Savannah.”
“We know all this, Xander,” Malick said after a moment. “You love the girl, you told me so the first day you laid eyes on her--what is it you’re really here to say?’
“I am here to ask, to implore the council to grant us permission to be together,” Xander said, speaking slowly so that his request would sink in.
The moment he spoke the words, Savannah felt rage ignite inside her. There was more than just rage--there was worry, concern, jealousy, and fear. Savannah did not understand half of what she was sensing from the pack, and it cemented her difference. She was not one of them. She did not understand their customs or their rules. They were all alien to her.
“You want our permission?” Malick asked calmly, staring Xander in the eye.
“Yes.” Xander nodded. “That is what I want.”
“You cannot have both, Xander,” Malick said. “You know the price of choosing Savannah--it will come at the expense of this pack…your pack. If you abandon them now, the next alpha will be Dominic.”
“Not if you refuse to recognize him as the alpha,” Xander said desperately. “You can cast him out, shun him, and look to me as the next leader still.”
“As I said, you cannot have both.”
Xander sighed deeply. “It doesn’t make sense.”
“You know that is not true,” Malick said harshly. “You have known the rules your whole life. You understood what it meant to be the alpha. I believed you were ready.”
“He is ready,” the dark skinned, braided beauty beside Malick said, speaking up for the first time. “We can all sense his abilities, but he is also tormented by his love for the girl, and we cannot ignore that.”
“What else can we do?” Principal Harris asked. “If Xander chooses Savannah he dooms the pack, and if he chooses the pack, he must give up the girl.”
“I don’t understand,” Savannah said, speaking up. Everyone turned to her and she felt the full weight of everyone’s eyes on her. She took a deep breath and continued. “I just…I don’t understand why another leader can’t be chosen. If Xander cannot lead the pack, why does it have to be Dominic?"
Xander turned around and faced her.
“She knows nothing,” Marissa spat. “You haven’t told her the most important part.”
Savannah ignored Marissa and stared at Xander, searching for the answers in his eyes. “The next, natural alpha possesses abilities that other wolf shifters are born without,” Xander said, slowly. “Once I become the alpha I will have…a certain amount of control over the pack, and if I break from tradition, then those powers will waste away, and the next in line will inherit them. Dominic would inherit them.”
“Your father didn’t,” Savannah pointed out, desperate for some loophole that would save them. “You told me you were next in line to be the alpha, not your father.”
“My father broke the rules,” Xander replied. “He desecrated the holy union of marriage by cheating on my mother, so the powers of the alpha passed him over in favor of me, but that was only because I was an option. If my father had had no sons, then he would have been the next alpha. That is why it is so important to marry and create the next generation.”
Savannah felt light-headed. She reminded herself to breathe deeply so that she would stay calm, but anguish was threatening to break her façade. She could see no way forward for herself and Xander. She could see the end, and it was near.
“You knew this, Xander,” Malick spoke up. “You knew this before you called the meeting, before you brought us here. Why ask when you know the answer? Why ask when you know there is nothing we can do?”
“There is something we can do,” Xander said with conviction, and Savannah froze in place. She hadn’t expected it, and she clung to Xander’s words, grabbing onto the last shred of hope available to them.
“Go on,” Malick said. “What is it you think we can do?”
“We ask for help,” Xander said. “To change inevita
ble fate and bend this rule so I can become the alpha as I was meant to, and stay with Savannah at the same time.”
“That is impossible!” Marissa said harshly.
“Silence,” Principal Harris hissed. She turned to Xander and nodded. “How do you propose to achieve this help?”
Savannah sensed the stress wafting off Xander’s body, and she knew he was nervous about bringing this new plan to light. He knew it would be unpopular, but it was his last, desperate attempt.
“We seek the help of a witch,” he said.
There was a moment of silence, and then the clearing went wild with gritting teeth and sounds of outrage. Even Xander’s friends hissed at the words, recoiling back as though he had lashed out at them. Savannah stared at the reaction, wondering what it meant to them and their kind. First, she tried to process the idea that real witches lived among the human race.
“You dare suggest such a thing?” Malick asked in a cold voice.
“It is the only way.”
“We do not consort with witches,” the braided elder said, speaking up.
“If you remember correctly, our legends revolve around witches,” Xander said. “Our history includes them. Witches have shaped the race we are today.”
“They have also enslaved and harmed us,” Malick responded. “We are not dogs to be trained and used and tortured. We are wolves, and we are greater than they are.”
“They have power that we don’t.”
“Which is why they have kept us under heel,” Malick said angrily. “We will not allow them to use us further. You cannot expect anything from a witch without payment. Tell me: are you willing to pay the price it would cost?”
“Yes,” Xander said, firmly.
At the same time Savannah said, “No.”
Their eyes fell upon Savannah again, and she stepped forward to stand beside Xander. He looked at her with confusion and hurt, but she knew she could not let him do this for her.
“Xander,” she said, dropping her voice so that only he could hear her. “It’s okay. You need to let this go now.”
“I need to let this go?” he repeated incredulously.
“You have an obligation to stay and protect your pack,” Savannah said. “And I can’t be a part of it. You need to accept that.”
“They can do this,” Xander said desperately. “They can ask for help. They can put aside this the enmity they have with the witches and help us.”
“Xander, I can feel their resolve,” Savannah said sadly. “They will not bend.”
Xander turned to stare at the three elders in front of them. “You’re really going to make me choose?”
“At least you’ve been given a choice,” Malick told him expressionlessly.
Savannah felt Xander’s rage hurtle to the surface, and she knew he was going to lose it in a second. She reached out to him, trying to stop the outburst before it happened, but a sharp whip of pain cut through her, and her knees buckled as she fell to the ground.
“Savannah!” Xander cried as he grabbed her. “What just happened?”
“I don’t know,” Savannah said. She gasped, but then the pain disappeared as fast as it had come.
“Elvira!” Xander said, turning to the braided elder. “Help her.”
Elvira stepped forward and knelt down beside Savannah. “Lie down flat,” she said, and Savannah had no choice but to do so.
Elvira looked her over, and then placed her hands, palms down, over Savannah’s body. Elvira never touched her, but Savannah felt a strange heat begin to envelop her.
“What is this?” Savannah whispered.
“She’s trying to sense what’s wrong,” Xander replied. “Hold on.”
The clearing was filled with silence for at least ten minutes. Elvira had her eyes shut as her hands hovered over Savannah’s body. She moved her hands up and down, without a word. Suddenly, her hands stilled, and Savannah sensed the confusion and astonishment ripple from Elvira’s aura.
“What is it?” Savannah asked in a panic. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing is…wrong,” Elvira said at last.
“Elvira?” Xander’s voice was weighted down with concern.
Elvira rose to her feet, and she and Xander helped Savannah up. The pain had left her body, but the memory of it still remained. Savannah stared at Elvira, waiting for the explanation.
“It seems…Savannah is pregnant,” Elvira said at last.
Shock was the one singular emotion that Savannah felt emanating from everyone in the clearing.
“What?” Xander said after a moment. “She’s…pregnant?”
“Yes,” Elvira nodded. “You’re going to be a father, Xander.”
Xander turned around and stared at Savannah. “This makes my choice easier,” Xander said at last. “The only way my conscience will allow me to abandon my responsibility to my pack. It is in favor of a greater responsibility--”
“You will not be required to make the choice at all,” Elvira said, and a murmur went through the pack.
“What do you mean, Elvira?” Malick asked. “He will still have to choose.”
“No, he will not,” Elvira replied. “The child that Savannah carries…will be a shifter.”
“How is that possible?” Principal Harris demanded.
“I don’t know,” Elvira replied. “But it is.”
“Wait,” Xander said suddenly. “Does that mean…”
“You can marry Savannah,” Elvira said. “And you can retain your role as alpha.”
Xander spun around to face Savannah. Their eyes met and Savannah saw how thrilled he was. Her fear and uncertainty dissipated instantly as she saw the conviction in his eyes. They could stay together; Xander did not have to choose.
Savannah fell into his arms and Xander hugged her tightly. Savannah felt jealousy spring up all around them, but she cut it all out and focused only on Xander and their child. For now, and forevermore, this was the only thing that mattered.
It was the only thing that would ever matter.
BOOK TWO
Chapter One
“Savannah?”
Xander’s voice reached Savannah as though from a great distance, but when she turned he was right beside her. She reached out and took his hand.
“I’m sorry,” Savannah said. “I was somewhere else.”
“Are you okay?” Xander asked.
“I’m…just a little shaken,” Savannah replied. “I mean, I’m pregnant, and I’m eighteen, and I haven’t even graduated high school yet.”
“I know,” Xander said. He pulled her close, and wrapped his arms around her. Warmth crept in immediately, and Savannah felt a little better. “I know, This is a lot for me, too.”
“Are you scared?” Savannah asked. She looked up at him.
He hesitated for a moment. His grey eyes were distant and thoughtful, but when he looked into Savannah’s eyes, he was back in the present with her. “Yes.” He nodded. “I am, but I’m scared of different things.”
“Like what?” Savannah asked.
“I’m scared I won’t be able to keep my family safe,” Xander said quietly.
“Which family?” Savannah asked. “The one you have with me, or the one you have with the pack?”
Xander cupped Savannah’s face in both of his hands, and looked down at her with a burning intensity. “From this day until my last, you will always be the most important thing to me. You are my family first, and everything and everyone else will always be second.”
Savannah nodded as she let those words seep into her being, comforting her the way nothing else could. She sensed Xander’s brightly burning aura, and its intensity. She also sensed his aura’s layered emotions--he was weary and scared; he was thinking three steps ahead, and he still worried that it wasn’t enough.
“You’re thinking too much,” Savannah said quickly.
Xander smiled distractedly. “You can feel it?”
“Even if I couldn’t feel it, I can see i
t,” Savannah said. “I need you to be present Xander, I need to know you’re here with me.”
“I am always with you,” Xander said firmly. “Always.”
Savannah sighed. “It’s getting late,” she said. “I need to get home before my parents start worrying.”
Xander nodded. He took her hand and they made their way through the forest.
“Will they really let us be together now?” Savannah asked. It was a question that she'd wanted to ask for some time, now.
“Of course,” Xander said with certainty. “They are bound by sacred laws. You are carrying my child, and that child is a shifter. One day he or she will succeed me. They will respect our union, and they will help me to keep you and the baby safe.”
“You sound so sure,” Savannah said.
Xander turned to her in surprise. “You’re not?”
“It’s just…”
“Yes?”
“I felt so many different things in the clearing,” Savannah admitted. “I felt the tenor of every aura surrounding me, and I caught some emotions that weren’t always…respectful.”
Xander sighed. “You have to understand, Savannah, the girls were raised with the belief that one day I would choose my partner from one of them. It is a hard thing to not be chosen, but not to be chosen in favor of someone so different is a bitter pill for them to swallow.”
“I felt their jealousy,” Savannah said. Her hand fell instinctively to her flat belly. “I felt their anger, but it paled in comparison to how one person in particular felt.”
Savannah looked hard at Xander’s face where she saw confirmation of her fears reflected in his eyes.
“Marissa and I were very close as children,” Xander said slowly. “We were best friends, but as we grew older, she wanted something more, and I…didn’t.”
“She’s in love with you,” Savannah said firmly.
“She only thinks she’s in love with me,” Xander said dismissively.