“She was crying while grasping me… ‘Not my baby’, she screamed… ‘Please not her’.” Hailey recalled her vision. “My mother, whom I don’t think I’ve seen before…” Hailey was crying now. Anton and Caleb just stood there not knowing what to do. “But somehow I know she’s my mother… she said ‘you can’t be the Pure Sacrifice’.” Hailey continued.
“What am I?” Hailey asked. “What is a Pure Sacrifice?”
Anton and Caleb looked to each other, but Anton knew it was up to him to explain. “It’s an ancient belief. For a pack to gain more power, they were supposed to offer to the harvest moon the Pure Sacrifice. They are very rare, though. The most that there has been at a single given time where three Pure Sacrifices. Usually one will live in a century. I guess this century, it’s you.”
“Every huge wolf pack in power right now has sacrificed a pure one in the past, even my family.” Caleb replied.
“But this tradition has been slowly dying out. The young wolves don’t believe in ritual sacrifices anymore and wolves live longer than humans; it’s very rare to meet a young and open minded Alpha.” Anton continued.
“What do you mean they get power?” Hailey curiously asked after she had wiped away her tears.
Caleb spoke first. “My family sacrificed a pure one a long time ago. All I hear are the accounts from our elders. I remember my grandfather telling me about how after the sacrifice, the Storms started to get the gift of third sight.”
“We can see through mists and disguises easily. We can tell whether there is a magical cloak or veil over something.” Caleb continued. “This was why a lot of wolf packs wanted us dead.” Caleb looked to Anton. “Not everybody has it though. Just the Alphas and their children.”
“Do you have it?” Hailey asked.
“I do. But I never really got the chance to hone it for lack of a parent to guide me.” Caleb answered.
“The Dominguez family sacrificed the last pure one.” Anton said, cutting off Caleb.
“Just before my family moved from the south to here in America. I remember them saying that the sacrifice gave our family the gift of strength. But just like the Storms, only Alphas and children get it.” Anton finished.
“I get it now.” Hailey said. “Every wolf in the world will now be looking for me so they can cut me open and sacrifice to a fucking stone in outer space!” Hailey spat out.
“How many of the families have arrived?” Caleb asked Anton as Hailey fumed from the idea of being objectified.
“Every family besides the Alaskans. But they’re coming. That’s why we need to hurry up with this marking. It is not permanent, but it will definitely buy us more time to regroup and plan out a strategy.” Anton hurriedly responded.
“Okay. Let’s get this over with.” Hailey said.
“It’s not that simple, Hails.” Caleb tried to put her in perspective. “A wolf can only mark once in his entire life. That means if Anton marks you, he can never leave your side. I’ve already marked you long before this was happening.” Caleb continued.
“I don’t care.” Anton responded. “It doesn’t matter if you won’t choose me even if I marked you. All I need is for you to be safe and I’ll die happy.”
Hailey looked to both men who were so willing to give up their lives for her.
“There’s one other thing.” Caleb spoke up again. “Marking is easy if only one wolf does it to one person, but for two wolves, for their marks to not fight each other, the marking should be done simultaneously.” Caleb could not find it in himself to finish what he was trying to drive at. But Anton sensed it so he finished up where Caleb left off.
“It has to be simultaneous and done when all three entities are at their most vulnerable.” Anton said.
“Vulnerable?” Hailey asked.
“It means... We three… we need to be intimate.” Caleb answered.
Hailey’s heart quickened. “I can’t make you do this just for me.”
“I’ll do it.” Caleb answered. They both looked to Anton.
“Again, anything for you.” Anton responded immediately.
“Okay.” Hailey said in a hushed tone.
*****
This was going to be the craziest thing Hailey would ever do in her whole life. She wanted to go wild, yes, but not as wild as what was in store for her. Two hulking beast men taking her body, using every inch of her humanity to protect her was never part of her life plan. However, there she was, clad in a silken bathrobe trying to ready herself in her small bathroom as the two men who promised to give her the world waited nervously on her bed.
She stared at herself in the mirror and inspected every single mole, every fine line and every blemish on her face. Yes, she concluded - this might all just be a mistake. She was ordinary by the looks of things and to be honest, she knew she wasn’t at all pure. But after that debacle with Castor, she knew there was something up with her and that she was in danger because of it.
“I’m sorry I took so long.” Hailey said shyly as she sat at the edge of her bed away from the two men on each side.
“Once this is over, we can start trying to figure out what exactly you are Hails.” Caleb said as if small talk was going to change the fact that not only was he going to be sleeping again with the girl of his dreams, but he was going to do so with the one man who might just take that dream away from him.
“Ummm… right.” Anton said awkwardly. After this Hailey, my dear, we can finally work on a concrete way of protecting you for good.”
“You guys don’t have to do this if it’s too awkward for both of you.” Hailey said still looking away from the two of them.
“Anything for you.” Caleb responded with a hush voice.
“Anything.” Anton repeated.
A period of silence echoed through the room as they sat their own their little corners of Hailey’s queen size bed. Hailey stood up, breaking the monotony, and slowly slid open her robe to reveal her fair skin, dewy in the soft incandescence of the candles they had lit.
Caleb felt himself harden at the very sight of Hailey’s exposed curves. He too stood and slowly walked towards the now completely naked woman whom he had always loved. His cock was tumescent with lust as his eyes took in Hailey’s heaving bosom.
Hailey could see Caleb’s groin instantly tighten. She raised her hand to feel Caleb’s dick against the rough denim that held it captive. It jolted as if struck by lightning as Hailey led his hand from her cheek down the curve f her neck. His hands were magnetically drawn towards her breasts. Hailey’s nipples were swelling from the touch of Caleb’s rough hands. But it was his artful way of encircling her nipples with his tongue that made Hailey moan in delight.
“Ahhh…” Hailey moaned as Caleb’s tongue began to inch lower down her waist to her warm pussy, which was wet with anticipation.
Anton slowly reached out from behind Hailey and embraces her lithe body, caging her breasts in each hand. He slowly nibbled on her nape circling around to the base of her neck leaving tender blotches of red as Hailey reached to her back to press Anton’s head deeper into her neck.
Anton quickly removed his shirt as Caleb moved his head south and began feasting hungrily on her dripping wet pussy.
“Ohhh…” Hailey moaned some more.
Hailey raised her arms and wrapped them around Anton’s neck as Caleb lifted her sex closer to his ravenous mouth. Anton was massaging Hailey’s nipple as she heaved with every thrust of Caleb’s tongue.
“More please.” Hailey demanded as the two men completely shed every single piece of clothing they had left on their bodies.
Anton rested her on the bed as Caleb propped himself against her legs that were spread wide. Caleb’s stiff cock was pulsing from all the wait and anticipation. He slowly inserted his head into Hailey.
“Ahhh…” Hailey screamed, taken by surprised by the piercing force inflicted into her, which brought her great pleasure. She reached out for Anton’s massive cock and slowly stroked it, making him shiver in
delight. He propped himself closer to Hailey as she pulled his balls, licking the gap between them and slowly tracing the shaft of his penis from base to tip with her tongue. It was huge, but Hailey braved the entire sword and eagerly engulfed the whole cock deep into her throat while Caleb was thrusting himself deeper and deeper into her inviting vagina.
“Harder!” Hailey yelled as she released Anton’s cock momentarily.
Caleb trusted harder as Anton serviced her aching nipples.
“Ahhhh…” Hailey let out a primal sound - almost a shriek – as she too exploded in fiery passion why Caleb pumped his man juices inside of Hailey and Anton sprayed his fountain into her mouth.
They gasped for air as they each rolled over onto either side of Hailey.
“Did it work?” Hailey asked.
“I think so.” Caleb answered. “Can you feel her Anton?”
“Yes, I don’t feel that pull anymore.” Anton replied.
Caleb started rubbing the sides of his arms. A cold chill started to roll over the apartment. “Is it just me or is it getting colder in here.”
Anton eyed him as if sending him a mental message.
“No way.” Caleb said.
“Yes way.” Anton replied. The last of the families have arrived.
“The Alaskan pack has just arrived.” Caleb gasped.
*****
The marking worked. According to Anton, the packs had all played him courtesy at his uptown penthouse suite.
If they had already found out about Hailey, then paying him a visit would be utterly useless. But they did. Although he felt like this was so burdensome, he just took it as a positive sign that Hailey was safe for the time being.
All of the families who had paid him a visit inquired of “strange occurrences” and all stated they came to “help-out”. Anton knew these were all lies. They were there to expand their powers by sacrificing the pure one. But they couldn’t say that outright of course, or panic would ensue. Luckily, they bought Anton’s story of being a reformist Alpha not wanting to do with old traditions and not knowing of any strange happening or occurence.
They just shrugged off the boy as incompetent and a poor leader for not knowing that the pure one had just been awakened by the recent harvest moon right there in their own territory. Of course, they had to pay him courtesy to avoid a bloody pack war, but they didn’t think of each other as allies or friends. They knew they meant something terrible to each other.
The first to have arrived in New York was the Texan pack, the Levis. This pack was one of the biggest there was, if not the biggest in the whole United States, but they had no special powers whatsoever. That was why when they felt the pure one they made it a point to be there first. No pack, no matter how rich or big in numbers can ever be respected if they had not, at one point in their histories, sacrificed a pure one.
The Levis had never been the Dominguez’s friends. They were insecure and very defensive of their territory. Most of their pack members turned out as bikers or cowboys, you know, the ruffian kind. This is stark contrast from the type of members the Dominguez had – professional, business oriented and very rich.
Their leader was an old wiry man with a cane and a cowboy hat with two feathers crossed and stitched into the very front of the hat. Isaac was his name. He was very severe looking with his scowl and silver dentures.
“I hope you will permit our stay here.” Isaac of the Levis spoke to Anton.
“Of course. For whatever reason you are here, I hope that the harvest moon will be the light in your journey.” Anton answered in the most courteous manner as he did for every other Alpha who had come there too. He was an expert at feigning ignorance. It wasn’t too hard to accept, knowing how he was turning into a laughing stock by being so young and clueless.
The next group that had paid him visit where the Letrelles of Louisiana. This family was known to have sacrificed three pure ones in their history. Although only made up of very few members, the Letrelles were known for their vicious demeanor and their adherence to the old code. They are said to have the power to will other beasts to do their bidding, start fires and read cards.
Interestingly enough, out of all the wolf packs in the United States, the Letrelles were the ones that the Dominguez family was particularly chummy with.
Adam Letrelle was about the same age as Anton, and had been a close friend of his. He was the son of the Alpha of the Letrelles. Adam, unlike his vicious father, was open minded and very kind – the qualities Anton looked for in his friends. Unfortunately, Adam’s father was as healthy as he ever was and it seemed that there was no replacing him anytime soon.
The Letrelles were known to be very beautiful. Dark green eyes, dark hair and pale skin were their family’s most common physical feature. Adam was the perfect example of a pure blooded Letrelle.
There were also the Radcliffes from the Midwest, who had acquired the power to mind speak with each other even in their human form. This is something particularly useful when taking exams and whatnot. Their leader, Anastasia, was an old woman with fiery red dyed hair and vicious hazel eyes. She was known to be able to pierce other humans’ consciousness and torture them from the inside. She rarely did so, but still, this means any human could be subjected to her bidding.
Caleb’s family, the Storms, are said to have been every distant cousins of the Radcliffe’s from way back in the old covenant. But just like every wolf pack, the Radcliffe’s hated the Storms for their unpredictable powers. So when the war came and the Storms were about to be wiped out, not a single wolf from the Radcliffe’s came to help their cousins.
When Anton mentioned the Radcliffes, Caleb automatically gave him a scowl.
The Butlers from Washington State also came. They were an odd little pack with a penchant for shadow travel. They had the ability to jump from one shadow to another. This meant a very fast way to travel from place to place. The only catch was that they went about it expending so much energy that they rarely use the gift. This could exactly be why they were so eager to sacrifice another pure one - to acquire a more useful gift.
The Bellefleurs of California, a very nonthreatening pack of wolves who owned mostly food chains and car dealerships also came along. The Dominguez’s never gave them much credit for anything. Although the Bellefleurs were an important business ally on the west coast, as a wolf pack they were a nonentity. Much like the Levis, they had no special power, just a lot of money.
The pack the Dominguez had feared the most had also arrived. The Khiones of Alaska. The Dominguez feared them not so much because they were the most powerful, because the Letrelles truly were more powerful. They feared them the most because out of all the families – the pack, the Khiones were the ones who had the most hatred for the Dominguez pack.
Anton never really got the whole gist as to why there was this undeniable rift between their pack and the Khiones. All he knew was that it was because of a she-wolf.
Apparently, a she-wolf from some little pack in North Dakota was marked by the then Alpha of the Khiones. During his time, the Khiones and the Dominguez were allies. In fact, the Khiones used to live just north of New York, near Toronto.
When the harvest moon festival came, the two big packs assembled all the packs in the surrounding area to a feast. That was when a lowly omega from the Dominguez pack saw that Dakotan wolf and fell in love.
They both fell in love. However, this girl was promised and marked for the Alpha of the Khiones. The Dominguez’s and all other small wolf packs saw how their auras were so in tune that everyone knew it was true love. Everyone expected the Khione Alpha to back down as this was tradition to let true love take its course. But it was also tradition that an Alpha would always precede the lowly Omega.
The Dominguez’s, of course, pushed for the former. They had that familial dynamic to always protect their own, even the lowest ranked wolves.
The rest of what Anton knew about the story was pretty shady. All he knew was that there was a fight and that the
Khiones were forced to leave for the colder fields of Alaska.
The Khiones never paid him a visit, of course. They never really cared for paying respect for territories. Their leader, an old woman named Shana, was young looking, but the lines on her face showed how old she really was.
This pack wasn’t necessarily as conservative as the Letrelles. They never really stuck to the ancient code, even less so than Anton. But they certainly were ones who loved power, and power was what they needed. It was said that their gift after their sacrifice of a pure one was the power of ice. They could manipulate fog, snow and ice and freeze anyone in their tracks.
Anton feared this pack the most. The marks he and Caleb gave Hailey were in the simplest explanation possible, fog-like. If they found out that the pure one was being hidden under a fog, they could easily just lift it to reveal to all these wolves her presence.
Anton’s head ached just trying to think of a plan. He scoured his family’s archives, trying to look for an answer. But he could not find any.
He sat down and stared at this grand portrait framed on the wall of their study. He had seen this picture too many times that he could bet on knowing every single person in the picture. After mentally reciting all the names of his grandfather’s hunting club, he found it. The answer to all their problems was staring right at him.
******
“His name is Gustav.” Anton explained to Caleb and Hailey as he walked into Hailey’s apartment. “He used to be good friends with my grandfather, but after my grandfather died, the family had not seen much of him. He is still under our protection though, and I’m pretty sure he can help us and that he would be willing to come to our assistance from what I heard from my elders.”
Caleb just gave him a weird stare because he didn’t really understand what Anton meant.
“He is a witch doctor.” Anton revealed. “One of the strongest there is in this hemisphere. He’s originally from Haiti, from what I gathered from our files, and he is living right here in New York with his one and only son who is about the same age as my father now, if I got my dates right.”
ROMANCE: CLEAN ROMANCE: Summer Splash! (Sweet Inspirational Contemporary Romance) (New Adult Clean Fantasy Short Stories) Page 83