by B. L. Dawn
Tatum crossed her arms. “Yeah. It’s hilarious.”
After their hysteria was over, they made Grandpa rest while they carried their clothes and toiletries inside their new home. Tatum unpacked Grandpa’s clothes and then her own. She placed all her toiletries on top of the dresser and decided to talk to Enoch.
Enoch was leaning against his porch railing. “Are you ready?”
“Mm-hmm.”
“Good. Let’s shift.”
“Okay.” Okay? Okay? No, not okay. She was a freaking mess when it came to being naked in front of other shifters. “I’ll be right there.” Running to the living room, she skidded to a halt, shut the door, undressed, shifted, and looked up at the doorknob. How was she supposed to open the door? She shifted again into human form, opened the door, shifted back into wolf form, and pranced outside.
Looking back at the door, she decided to leave the damn thing open. Shaking out her fur, she trotted to the end of her house. There, around the corner, was a huge gray wolf. Enoch faced the woods and began to walk away. Tatum couldn’t hear his thoughts because she wasn’t a full member of his pack yet. Tatum followed him.
They strolled down the path, then broke out into a run. They ran side by side for a moment. Tatum pushed herself even faster, trying to play a game of chase. The sun and wind moved around her. It pushed through her fur as her paws pounded the ground.
When she found that Enoch wasn’t behind her, she stopped running to look around. He walked around the bend and stopped in front of her, let out a grunt, and headed back the way he had come.
Oops, I pissed him off.
She decided to stay behind him this time. Shit, he needs to lighten up.
He turned a corner to their right and went down another path. The endless repetitive sounds of water hitting and pushing through more water made her excited. She was glad they were going to the lagoon because she hadn’t gotten to enjoy the view last time.
Enoch shifted into his human form and sat on a giant boulder beside the green water. Tatum shifted as well, trying not to cover herself. She stared at the ground, shuffling her feet.
Enoch cocked his eyebrow. “Why are you embarrassed?”
“I guess there are a lot of reasons. I know it’s not normal for shifters to be uncomfortable naked.”
Enoch held a hand in the air. “Answer the question.”
Tatum clasped her hands together in front of her body. “Well, I guess I usually have clothes on, and I shift by myself at night. Maybe it also has something to do with you being a male.”
Tatum moved toward the lagoon. Water would make her more comfortable, at least a little bit. “Again, I know that doesn’t make sense to you, but where I come from, males don’t see females naked unless they’re going to mate.”
Enoch raised his brows and followed her with his eyes. “Where have you been for the last seven years?”
Tatum walked into the cold water and pushed the rest of her body in. “I’ve been living with humans.”
“What?”
“Living with humans. We had to learn how to survive in the human world after some shifters slaughtered our pack. It was hard. Some days, I didn’t want to be in the human world. I wanted to go where everything is black and white. You know what everyone expects of you, and you do it. Shifters don’t go around inside their villages and steal from each other or take advantage of each other. But I’ve found that most humans are decent enough. A few are even helpful. Most of the time, they expect things in return for their help, but they will help.”
Enoch slid off the boulder and sat on the edge of the lagoon. “There used to be attacks on shifter groups. Long ago, I heard my father speak of a time when shifters were freer to interact with humans. Out west, someone was massacring our kind, and it was spreading east. When word came to the West Virginia Packs, we secluded ourselves in hopes of being passed up. It worked.” Enoch ran his hand around the back of his cleanly shaved skin. “You said shifters attacked you?”
Tatum nodded. “Yeah, they chased after me in wolf form. I remember that clearly.”
Enoch shook his head. “I always thought the humans were to blame.”
Tatum swam closer to him. “So that’s the reason the packs stopped thriving?” Tatum pondered that for some time. The massacre had surely reached Blackwater before word of mouth had, but why had it happened in the first place? There was something at play that she didn’t understand. She understood that the shifters had blocked themselves off from the world to hide from being killed, but why did they think it was humans who had done it? Another thought kept coming up as well. “Why did you accept me into your pack even though you didn’t believe me when I said that I could help you?”
Enoch rubbed the back of his head. “When I was a pup, I received a message that told me to accept help from an unsuspecting shifter who would inspire change. It’s you.”
Tatum shrank back. “How do you know that I’m that shifter? There’s nothing special about me. I mean, I’m different. I’ll give ya that, but I’m not special.”
Enoch chuckled. “Let’s just say a yellow piece of paper told me.” Enoch sighed before telling Tatum the whole story about his past and Gareth. When he finished talking, he asked, “What changes do you have in mind?”
Tatum bobbed up and down in the water nervously. There was a whole lot at stake here. The alpha of this pack believed her to be some kind of savior. Holy shit did he have her all wrong. But she could use this to her advantage. If he believed that a prophecy made her worthy, he would perhaps listen to her about interacting with the humans. She still had to be careful, but this plan could work. “I want to make sure that we’re working together. You and I can discuss problems that the pack is facing. I’ll suggest solutions, and we’ll see what works.”
Enoch cocked an eyebrow and grinned. “You like to beat around the bush, don’t you? Ideas? What are they?”
“One thing I’ve been considering is bartering.”
“Bartering?”
“I’ll explain.” A Joe-Pye weed with bright-pink, fuzzy clusters of vibrant petals swayed beside Enoch. Plucking it, she held it out.
He reached for it, but she pulled it away. “You need to give me something for it.” Tatum pointed to a small stone sitting beside him and had a devilish idea.
Picking it up, he handed it to her.
Tatum reached out and pulled him into the water. He landed unpleasantly, sputtering and cursing.
Tatum burst into a fit of laughter. She couldn’t stop, even after the death stare. “Now we’re even.”
A grin spread across his face. “Even?” He lunged for Tatum, pushing her head under the water.
She came out and pretended to be thoroughly disappointed. “Hey! I owed you that one.”
Enoch threw his head back, letting out a guttural laugh.
Tatum chuckled, happy that he acted like a real shifter and not some over-the-top asshole. “Sorry about that.” Not really, she thought. “I thought I’d pay you back for slapping my hand.”
“Well, you’re fun. I’ll give you that.”
“I know.” Tatum grinned as she splashed water toward him.
“So I have another question for you.” Enoch relaxed against the edge of the lagoon. “What’s your first impressions of my pack? My village?”
Tatum was treading water and tilted her head. “Hmm, if I’m being honest, it’s a little run down, and the shifters didn’t look happy.” Tatum waved her hand through the air, dismissing her last statement. “It might be because of us.”
Enoch ran his tongue over his top teeth, his gaze downcast. “It’s not you. They’re depressed. That’s how it is now. I’ve tried to be what they need, but I have failed.”
Tatum smiled. “We can change all that. What is the biggest problem that your pack faces?”
“Food! A storm took out the garden, and the gardeners passed away. We eat in wolf form now.”
“How would you f
eel about taking a little trip with me to visit with someone who might be able to help with that?”
“You want to take me out of my territory to discuss gardening?”
Tatum’s brows rose. “Do alphas not get to leave their territories?”
“I suppose they do. So I’ll go if you think it will help.”
“Oh, I know it will.”
Enoch pulled himself out of the water. “Good. Let me know when.” He held his hand out and lifted Tatum out of the water. They made their way back to the village.
As soon as Tatum got to her house, she ran inside. Three males were sitting around the living room, talking with Grandpa and her brothers. They must have been talking before she opened the door. But now they were silent, staring at her naked body. Act cool.
“Hi,” she squeaked.
Chapter 9
After Enoch introduced the erotic looking female named Tatum to the pack, Luke followed his friends and brother into his home. His older brother, Cade, was always the leader of their group and second in command to the alpha. Shifters regarded Luke as the beta as well, but that wasn’t the truth. He was more like the third down from the alpha. He patrolled the territory and helped guard the shifters inside the pack.
He and his brother looked very similar, except Cade had brown hair and brown eyes with a constant soured expression. Luke had gray eyes, brown hair, and didn’t think he looked angry most of the time. Maybe just annoyed by his brother’s attitude.
The fact that he was lower than the alpha and the beta had never bothered him before now. He didn’t like that the alpha had taken Tatum away to be alone with him that first day. Luke wished he could have ordered Tatum to go with him alone and ordered the alpha to take a hike.
Luke grabbed his clothes, tugging them on while the others did the same.
A week ago, when Tatum had appeared in the middle of the road, he had been instantly interested in her. She was a vision with pure muscle and the height of a goddess. Her sun-kissed brown hair and her exotic mixed colored eyes drew him in.
What would it feel like to be behind her, pulling her hair back and sucking on her neck? She would moan for him while he filled her up. Damn. She was so sexy.
When he had taken her arm and touched her skin, Luke had wanted to claim her as his, but he hadn’t been allowed to stop the interrogation that was about to happen. Luke didn’t know anything about her or the two males on the ground. Were those males her relatives or something more?
He would normally be able to smell something like that, but the only thing he had been able to smell was that she was worried, so he had tried to comfort her by rubbing her arms.
“Hey, Luke. Stop fucking daydreaming and answer the damn question.” Cade crossed his arms while staring Luke down.
“What question?” Luke gazed over the group that had been waiting for a response.
“What did you think about the new female? Didn’t she seem weird?”
Luke’s eyebrows scrunched together. “Weird? What are you talking about?”
Cade sat down and pushed Zach’s stalky form over with his hip. Zach growled. He looked like a Doberman Pincher. Cade liked using his status to push others around. He was claiming the spot as his. What an asshole.
Tall Tom rolled his eyes at Cade as he sat on the end of the couch. Tom ran his hand through his red hair. Then he pointed a finger at Chels, beckoning her to sit on his lap. Her eyes met his with a smile, and she walked over, sitting down as requested with a submissive giggle. She fiddled with her dark hair.
Luke walked over and sat on the love seat beside Lilly, a platinum-blonde-haired beauty with amber eyes. He didn’t have much in common with Lilly, but she tended to be the only female willing to give it up to everyone who wanted to mate. She was kind, but there was nothing special between them. He knew her intimately, as did so many other males in the pack.
Sharing sucked because she got worn out, but what could they do? They couldn’t leave the territory, and they didn’t receive visitors. She was the only female of age that wanted to mate with him. Other females were available as far as not being tied down, but they had their picks of the litter already, and it wasn’t him. Lilly was sixty, but no one gave a shit about age around here. Once you had your mating maturity, it was your choice to mate with whoever you wanted to. So, they did what they had to do. He had been mating with Lilly for ten years. Honestly, it was boring. But he needed to fix his animalistic yearnings, so he got used to the robotic feel of mating and coming.
“Luke, shit shifter! Wake up.” Zach had his eyebrow cocked, staring at Luke.
Luke leaned forward, elbows on his knees. “What the fuck is it now?”
Zach threw up his hand in the air, aggravated with being ignored.
Luke narrowed his eyes. “What? Spill the shit or shut the fuck up.”
Zach pulled his reddish-brown hair back and tied it with a leather strap. “Didn’t you feel how dominant she was? That’s why Enoch asked to talk with her and not her brothers. Her brothers were on the ground like a bunch of submissive cowards.”
Luke shrugged. His eyebrows pinched in the middle. Is she the dominant out of the three? And thank Destiny those were her brothers. He was too busy worrying about how she was feeling to analyze the situation, which wasn’t good.
Tom ran his hands over his shaved head. “I feel sorry for the male that ends up with her. She’ll probably rule that household.”
Cade snorted. “She’ll probably end up with Oliver. That asshole might be huge, but he is as submissive as they come. At least, I know it won’t be any of us. There’s no way in fuck I’d let any of you be submissive to a female. That’s bullshit. Females need to know their place. Like Chels here. Why do you think we let her hang around?”
“Because she’s my mate?” Tom cocked his eyebrow.
Cade nodded, “Duh, motherfucker. I mean, why do I let her hang around me? Because she knows her fucking place. We protect her and take care of her. Not the other way around.”
Chels crossed her arms, causing her long dark hair to fall over her shoulders. “I’m trying to take that as a compliment. You know you are insulting all the shifter females in the world. We’re not all the same, you know? If we were the same, it would be boring.” Her dark eyes narrowed.
Cade rolled his brown eyes. “It’s the truth. That’s why throughout history, there has always been a male alpha, a beta, and warriors.”
Luke leaned back in his chair. Was Tatum dominant over him as well? Was he a submissive male like Oliver? Damn, if that were the truth, his brother wouldn’t be nice to her or let him live it down. Cade would take it as a personal insult to their bloodline.
Laughter broke out around Luke. “What’s everyone laughing at?”
Zach chuckled. “I said, ‘Enoch’s probably already put her in a submissive position out in those woods.’ There’s no way that she’s dominant over him.”
Luke’s eyes shot toward Zach and widened. He stood up. “I need some air.” Luke bolted outside with his heart racing.
The village was empty of shifters as Luke marched up the dirt road. The shifters were most likely hunting again or finding private places to talk about the new pack members. The two rows of houses that lined the dirt road were looking worse every day. What were they going to do when these houses weren’t livable anymore?
Luke stopped walking, finding himself standing two feet away from the Roloff family’s front door. Sticking his head through the doorframe, he looked around, seeing a young shifter male. Eli is his name. “Hi, I wanted to introduce myself.” To your sister, he thought. “I’m Luke.”
Eli walked toward Luke with an outstretched hand. “Nice to meet you. I’m Eli.
Cora popped up behind Luke, scaring him half to death. “I’m Cora. Nice to meet you.”
Eli’s brows rose. “It’s nice to meet you too.”
Cora smiled. “I wanted to offer you a tour of the woods later. I need to go hunti
ng right now, but I could show you around later this evening if that’s okay.”
Eli nodded with his mouth hanging open. Cora waved and left the way she had come.
Luke chuckled. “Alright, male. Pick your chin up off the ground.”
Eli laughed. “Damn, sorry.”
Luke shrugged. “Well, I don’t see anyone else. I was hoping to meet all of you.”
Eli held up a finger and ran off into the back. To Luke’s chagrin, only James and Rick came out front and introduced themselves.
Luke made his way to the other side of the village to wait until she got back. He walked into the woods so he didn’t look like a stalker. Was he one? Yes, but he didn’t want to look like one.
As he leaned against an aspen five trees back, he waited for her to return. Luke watched Jim, Dean, and Leo enter the house. They didn’t come back out.
After Luke had been waiting for what seemed like an eternity, Enoch and Tatum came bounding out of the woods. Luke’s chest tightened at the thought of Enoch and Tatum mating together. He rubbed his chest and couldn’t believe he was feeling like this. He never gave a shit when Lilly left to mate with other males.
Enoch ran to his porch, shifted, and went inside his faded white home.
Luke scanned back to Tatum in time to see her shift into human form. She ran her fingers through her long, wet golden-brown hair for a minute while she stood on the side of her house. Her tight ripped body was like nothing he had ever seen before—toned, smooth, and hairless between her legs and under her arms. She had tanned skin, but only on her arms, legs, and stomach. Her breasts and mound between her legs were a lighter shade, tempting his body and hands to explore the phenomenon.
She looked around the house, scoping everything out. Why is she worried about who’s around? Straightening to her full height, she tiptoed into the house, shutting the door behind her.
Luke took in a sharp breath. Now he wished that he would have stayed with her brothers and grandfather in that house. Dean and Leo were some lucky bastards.