by Roxanne Lee
My eyes widened slightly and I nodded slowly at him in return, "that's a lovely offer, Conall. I'll be sure to keep it in mind."
He sat back with a satisfied sigh. I appreciated his suggestion, however I think I'd leave that to a last resort.
Lane had yet to enter the house, I was glad for the space and yet I couldn't help but wonder what he was doing, a twitching need from the animal that begged for his attention. I'd survived worse needs though, ones that gnawed at organs and twisted in deathly urgency. This, I could live with.
"Tell me, pirate. Where yer been all this time?"
I shrugged and raised a questioning eyebrow, "What do you mean?"
Conall took a long sip of some awful smelling whiskey, something highly combustible no doubt. "You're not pack and you've got no family but the boy. Seems odd is all, especially a female wolf, not many males be happy tae know yer been unprotected."
I snorted out a laugh, "You're living in the dark ages, Irish. No such thing any more. The last Alpha was too concerned with his own power to worry about a female, especially one like me. Besides we've moved around a lot in the last twenty years."
We sat in the kitchen, the large aga on high with something smelling strongly of herbs finishing off in the cast iron cooker and producing a serious amount of heat throughout the room in the process. Every so often, one of the females would walk through, grab something from the huge double fridge and leave again. A little smile on their faces for Conall and a sneer of distaste for me - it was getting rather annoying. I grumbled lowly when the latest in the string of them left with nothing more than bottled water.
Conall laughed loudly in the otherwise quiet house. "Looks like yer got some new friends."
I frowned at him, "Yeah, if wanting to see someone dead is friendship."
He peered at me curiously, "yer had run-ins wit' these females?"
I shrugged back at him, "I told you they already knew what we were, hard to hide when we grew up in Charlestown."
Conall frowned, "Yer grew up here?"
"Yes, my parents lived here. When they died, we stayed in the territory." I laughed a little bitterly, "we were kids, didn't have anywhere to go and for one incredibly stupid moment we actually thought the pack might take us in, we were idiots."
"Where did yer live."
I smiled at him, "in the woods, not far from here actually. We learned to hunt, stole what we couldn't get for free."
Conall cocked his head to the side, "you're an angry pirate."
I clinked my glass with his, "a very angry pirate."
I caught a glimpse of a wolf's broad shoulders as they past the kitchen window. A huge wolf - one who's head was higher than the pane and hidden behind the brick outside wall. Dark skin of almost metallic grey and a smattering of fine hair just about invisible on the solid muscles that contoured each bicep. Looks like the Alpha didn't go too far at all.
Conall chuckled into his glass, "he'll be out there all night, won't go too far wit' yer in here wit' me."
I wasn't too happy with the wolf either right now, it was becoming increasingly hard to decide what part of the man was the killer. "Hope he freezes his balls off out there." Unlikely with the animal’s hot blood but it felt good to say.
"I'm sure he appreciates your concern."
I grinned at Conall, I just could not keep the frown on my face around him.
"Yer know who killed your parents?" His face locked on mine.
"I know the wolf. Was there the night he forced his way in, came downstairs to their screams as he ripped them apart with his claws. I'd know those amber eyes anywhere."
Conall snorted, "could be anyone, how the hell yer tink you're goin' tae find him?"
I screwed my face up and pointed to my own eyes, "there aren't that many wolves with this colour around."
"No there ain't, but dat doan't mean anyting if yer can't see the beast."
I was a little lost in our conversation, "don't have to, just find the man with the same eyes and I've found the wolf right?"
Conall grinned, "Ach, you've been missing vital information, little pirate. Not all wolves have the eyes of their human cages."
I sat stunned for a while, "of course they have."
He shook his head at my confusion. "Not if they doan't fuse together properly. Some young'uns been known tae mature separate from the animal, forms two entities instead of one fluid soul. Trauma bad enough, they doan't blend right, end up wit' a broken connection. Most are able tae bond later in life but it leaves them wit' differences to what they'd normally have." He grinned widely, "me for example, my wolf has black eyes, evil little beggar he is."
I groaned, "well fuck."
Conall laughed, "yeah, yer been lookin’ at it all skewed."
I downed my entire glass of rum, finally admitting all-out failure on that killing wolf. I sighed as I got an instant refill and held Conall's emerald gaze, "if I ask you something, will you tell me the truth?"
He flashed his teeth and raised his glass, "silly pirate, we good friends now,"
I narrowed my eyes and hoped that meant I'd get an honest answer. "The empaths in town, did he kill them?"
He tapped a finger on the edge of his glass and hummed, "yer goin' tae kill him if I say yes?"
I held his stare and tapped my own glass, "maybe, does it make a difference?"
Teeth flashed a glaring white."Just makin' sure I got front row seats fer dat show."
I grinned back and waved a hand for him to carry on.
"Doan't know. Perhaps, he's certainly crazy enough."
I managed to hold my laugh at the Irishman calling the Alpha crazy - a little bit of the pot calling the kettle.
"Normally a reason fer his kind of crazy though, can't see the logic behind killin' them."
I frowned at him, "he tried strangling Ty when he saw him, there was no real reason for that."
Conall grinned, "Oh he was just playin', claws didn't even come out. Besides, boy was too close tae yer."
If that was playing I didn't want to see serious.
The wolf passed the window again, as if he paced the length of the house and back again. Conall stood to open the oven and I was hit with a blast of heat and herbs, hunger came roaring through the slow warmth of alcohol. The night was a shimmering black, stars twinkling their presence in an otherwise raven tomb. It's a wonder how small we are in comparison, how large we think our problems, how insignificant each of us really is. Perhaps I was always made to be here, perhaps this is just the start of a twisting game, one that's waiting on more players to truly begin. Maybe I was looking at this all wrong, it was certainly a simple solution to blame Lane for deaths based solely on his scent. To become so fully focused on one angle only limits the possibilities, forces the mind to forget everything else and take the best fitting solution. Maybe it's time I opened my mind a little.
Conall stepped to the window and peered out at the wolf pacing with heavy footfalls back and fore, a sentry guarding the side wall and a huntsman unwilling to lose his prey. The Irishman let out a mildly disturbing, full belly, booming laugh. I stared at his back for long minutes as he continued openly laughing while watching the Alpha.
"You okay, Conall?" It was said with a straight face but inside I was seriously questioning allowing him to drink anymore of that whiskey.
"Oh yeah, I'm fine." He chuckled a little more, "fate and her games." He shook his head and turned to look at me with sparkling eyes. "She's a wicked bitch dat one."
Chapter 14
Ty stood beside me, black hair in some style reminiscent of bed hair, as if his hands had run through it so many times it now remained in disorder. Blue eyes wide at the few children running after James as he allowed them their game of chase.
James was a young wolf, only eighteen, and yet he had none of the narrow mindedness of the rest of the pack. He always greeted Ty as some long lost brother and I found his enthusiasm catching, a boy without prejudice who's listens only to his own heart - a rare fin
d indeed.
He was one of the few remaining males, a child still really, only just beginning to fill out with the weight of the animal inside, the beast that pushed against its restraints and forced the human body to increase in mass as the wolf grew to fill it. He had an ease of self that I was envious of, completely comfortable in his skin and carefree as he pounced on the young children in mock anger, making their giggles fill the courtyard and surrounding forest.
"Never knew he was so good with kids, he actually seems to like them chasing him around." Ty commented in almost awe.
A twitch threatened at the edge of my lips. "Jealous, Ty? Worried you've been replaced by tiny people?"
He snorted and rolled his eyes at me. "Don't be silly, I'm still his favorite."
And the annoying thing was that he was completely correct. James had some sort of hero worship towards Ty - I was consistently dumbfounded by the fact."He's obviously not as bright as I thought."
Ty grinned,"smartest boy I've ever met."
I shook my head at him and let my eyes wander to the remaining grounds. Morning sun glistened on last night's dew, crisp warmth that fed burgeoning growth, animation after twilight's stillness. In the glow of such simple beauty, where things seemed to only begin and flourish and start over, a tightness clenched the muscles of my stomach. A flurry of wings that flapped around my intestines, an insistent flush that silently pounded blood to extremities, readying every limb for action when all I could see around me was relaxation.
"What's that worry I feel?"
Sneaky empath, seeking out that thread of emotion that I buried and pondered in private. I huffed and turned accusing eyes his way. "Stop reading me, Ty. It's rude."
He laughed and ruffled my hair until I slapped at his hands and I still ended up with something resembling his own nest of black hair."Stop keeping things to yourself and I wouldn't need to."
I grunted and screwed my face up, taking a breath when a heavy tail thumped in response to his teasing. My wolf peaked out and turned excited eyes on Ty - she was forever childish when it came to him. Eager to pounce when his back was turned, slyly stalking and nipping his feet. "Don't wind her up," because he knew exactly what he was doing. "I don't have enough clothes to lose these when she wants to take a bite out of you."
He only laughed and nudged my side again, shifty amber eyes narrowed and growled playfully. Her back bowed as she crouched down and lifted her ass, tail frantically swiping against my spine. I punched his side and closed my eyes, breathing slowly as I promised her freedom to bite him as many times as she liked, if only she'd wait until later. Conall was in a meeting with Lane and I'd made the concession to take one of them with us if we went beyond the gate, just until the redhead was no longer an issue. It grated slightly - I'd spent long enough looking after myself that allowing that small thing had been hard on my ego. In the end it had been a choice between my own pride and letting a little of my control go. An inconsequential amount really, a tiny piece of me I gave away.
"You gonna tell me?"
I blew out a breath, "I don't know what it is, I just feel antsy I guess. Maybe it'll get better after a run." I couldn't explain much more then that, it was a deep feeling of oncoming dread, a force that burned to be acknowledged. But I couldn't separate where it came from, whether it was my own subconscious that plagued or if I was picking up feelings from across this fledgling bond, if the source was not my own worry but the man who set my nerves on fire when I felt his presence. And that was the crux of the problem, if it was Lane that was twisting my stomach then I couldn't do much about it and I refused to have that conversation with Ty.
"I can feel some of it, doesn't feel like something you should ignore. Could be -"
His voice cut off as a howl rose far in the distance. Not a wolf's call, or at least not a normal one. Garbled and strained as if the voice was obstructed by something or the mouth not able to form the action properly.
"What the fuck is that?"
A responding howl filled the air, this one a female, a call of pain and an alarm for the rest of the pack to heed. I turned to Ty's wide eyes and answered his question. "Get the kids in the house, make sure James stays with them. You don't let anyone passed that front door, Ty. Do you understand?"
That blue shone like cerulean ice, cold and hard and swimming with denial. "Not leaving you out here, Sash. Don't ask me to." He shouted across the courtyard and caught James' attention from where he'd been staring in the same direction as we had.
More howls rose across the forest, some warped and muffled and some feminine and angry. The fear on the younger boy’s face was obvious, chilling when it interrupted the normally laid back expression. He nodded at Ty and grabbed the four children who cowered around his legs, he was fearful but he'd not let down the man he respected. He ran to the house weighed down by wiggling bodies, tiny legs kicking out as they sought their mothers who were patrolling amid those eerie howls.
Lane and Conall burst out of the front door, a shiny new phone attached to the blond’s ear as he grunted back at the person he spoke to.
Conall frowned at me and raised his eyebrows. "What yer doin'? In the house, pirate."
I laughed at him, "not on your life, Irish."
Lane shut the phone and grunted in anger."Charlie can't get any guards...here til later. Take them five hours...or so," a smile crossed widely on his face as he looked at Conall. "Have to hold...them off til then."
I caught my breath at that smile, it was different to his normal awkward one - not so creepy. This seemed a true reflection of his enjoyment and it turned grey eyes metallic and made me wonder if he'd smile at me like that. I hadn't seen him since he’d paced in front of the kitchen window last night, he'd left me alone as I'd stumbled my way to bed and he’d and been locked away with Conall all morning. I found I missed him somewhat, it was hidden under anger that I struggled to keep a hold of but it was there, a tiny part of me that missed his stilted speech and always surprising actions. He'd never be predictable, and that was wildly attractive to the beast that purred at the sight of him.
"What's going on?" I imagined we had some unwelcome visitors but I couldn't decipher what the females had been trying to tell the pack.
"Wolves are coming...something wrong with them though. Don't know how many. "
Yes, there was definitely something wrong with those chilling howls that broke the air with eerie distress.
He flashed teeth my way and nodded to the house,"in the house...little witch."
I laughed at him as I'd laughed at Conall. "Yeah, don't think so."
He growled low and tiny shivers made their way along the bare skin of my arms. In the full light of day I finally realized what the bond had been trying to tell me all along - this man was mine and I had no escape from the inevitability of fate. I could curse and refuse to accept such conflicting emotions but when the dust settled and ash cooled, I'd still be here, with shivers tracing my skin at his every rumble.
His feet stomped as they turned to give me his back and the black uniform he wore daily split at the seams as wolf pushed to replace human. Dark grey skin forced it's way through material and muscles bulged and bunched as mass increased to take over and consume, a monstrous grace that engulfs and overwhelms, a form absorbed and rebuilt better. He towered over me, just over eight feet as his head reshaped to wolf and claws took over the hands grasped in exquisite pain at his sides.
Conall grinned as he peered around Lane and then glanced up at the wolf still facing him, "turn around, lad. Let her see yer."
I frowned at Conall but lost any breath to voice my question as Lane turned and I found myself staring at a wolf with eyes so like mine they could have been the same. Amber eyes that glowed as the sun bounced it's rays off them, eyes that had killed my parents, eyes that I'd hated for so many years my heart died within my chest. Withered to a husk of life, breath lost in the face of truth. I knew now where he found true enjoyment - only in the killing of others.
"Y
ou." It whispered from my mouth as if I couldn't stand the obvious. The word ached as it left my throat, a hollow pain that shuddered in horror and loss. A true sadness as years flashed by of chasing the wolf that killed so readily, that found pure joy in mutilation, the wolf I was struggling to find any light in.
"Your parents weren't good people were they? Perhaps you'll want tae wait and see why he did it?"
I shook my head. No, they hadn't been good people, but it had never been about them.
"We doan't have time right now, wolves nearly here. He was goin' tae tell yer though, just waitin' fer yer tae listen."