“He kept it from them.”
“That was rather unfortunate.” Morris directed his next statement to Izzy and not me. “Your father did you no favors. Be glad Andre found you both first. Others would not have given you the same courtesies you are experiencing here.” Then his attention was back on me before Iz could even respond. “It seems as though there’s no pairing from anyone present here today. I request an introduction for those of my pack. Since we’re still not one hundred percent certain that only one true pairing exists among Kindred, I request the presence of both girls unless you plan to make your official claim on this one.”
The growl that erupted from my throat then silenced the entire building. “You will leave now, take your men, and await my contact. This is my land. My pack. You don’t come here making demands of us. I will let you know what the girls agree to, and you will respect that. We have existed peacefully for decades, that will not continue if you choose to push this now.”
“Calm down Andre,” Morris laughed. “I expect a decision by the week’s end. You may accompany them with an envoy to our lands, if need be, but you can’t keep them in your little safety net forever, especially if they don’t want you.” Morris gave a pointed look to Izzy, and then signaled for the few of his pack that came with him to follow. “Oh, and for the record, Shorty is the one who ran his mouth about the girls. You might want to deal with that.” He stopped himself short again before walking out the door. “And even if you aren’t a Kindred match for our boys, we’d still take you, gladly. I’m sure there are plenty of men who don’t care about holding out for a Kindred.”
I bowed up, releasing some Alpha energy towards Morris then. He was seriously overstepping, especially since he was on my land. “LEAVE!” He did just that with his men on his heels. It was then that I turned, eyes landing on Shorty. His nickname was well earned. For a man he was average height at five feet eleven inches. For a wolf, he was small. “You will see me later,” I told him, and watched as he cowered while acknowledging my directive. “Garrett?”
Moments later my best friend was by my side with Liz wrapped in his embrace. “I’ll have Granger snag their stuff. Hopefully, no one’s been through there yet.” My pack was already all over safety precautions for the girls.
“What exactly is happening?” Liz asked.
“Let’s go to my office before we speak anymore on this.” I turned to Garrett then, “deal with the other issue before it opens up about our business again.” I had no doubt Garrett knew what I was talking about, and he left Liz with me as he went to handle business. The two girls walked with me to the back room and through the door to my sound tight office. “Sorry about the cloak and daggers,” I told them as I shut and secured the doors. “We can’t be overheard in here, and I’m not sure if Shorty is the only idiot who thinks it’s cool to tell our pack business to others.”
“Okay, and again, what is going on now? Everyone was scrambling like cockroaches out there.” Liz asked again while Izzy stood wide-eyed waiting for the answer to her sister’s question.
“The Morris Pack aren’t known for giving women a whole lot of choice in matters. They requested an introduction to both of you since I haven’t officially claimed Izzy as my mate yet. I just explained to their leader that I would leave the choice up to you, Liz, if you wanted to meet with their pack. Izzy is my Kindred, there’s no way I can allow it for her.” I stopped to level a sincere look at Iz then, “I don’t mean any disrespect to you by saying that, but the part of me that runs off of instinct would rather fight to the death than have you introduced to other potential mates. If you choose to walk away from me, it will be your choice whether you go to other packs for introductions. Until you make that decision, I have to ask that you don’t leave far from my side.”
Izzy nodded her head in understanding, even though she looked a bit pale. Liz just stared at me. “So, what does that mean for me? What if I decide I don’t want to be introduced to a pack that would treat me like a second class citizen?”
“Then we will make certain you don’t have to face those introductions.” I told her bluntly. “Granger has gone to pack up all your stuff and bring it here. I am going to need you to check through everything and make sure nothing is missing. If something is missing, I need to know immediately.”
“Why?”
“Morris may have sent some pack-mates to pick up articles of your clothing in order to disperse your scent trail to the rest of his pack. Chances are they will be after your dirty laundry, so try to remember the things you haven’t washed recently, and let us know if anything is missing.”
“Wait,” Izzy finally joined the conversation. “Granger is at our place now? Picking up our dirty laundry?”
“He’s picking up everything that belongs to you, plus the linens and towels you’ve used, yes.”
“Ugh, seriously? First of all, eww, I don’t want some man digging through my stuff, let alone my discarded panties.” Izzy sounded frantic now, and I thought about how aroused she was earlier. I certainly didn’t want Granger picking up on anything like that either, but I was out of choices at the moment.
“I trust Granger. He won’t do anything out of line, I promise. He’ll toss it all in bags and bring it over. He’s not there inspecting each item.”
“Ugh,” Liz chimed in. “And what are we supposed to do now? We paid for a month’s rent at the cottage.”
“Now you’ll stay with me, or Garrett, if that makes you feel better. Either way, the pack will be around you to ensure your protection.”
“Even from the assholes who told the other pack about us to begin with?” Iz asked.
“Especially from them. Garrett is dealing with that particular problem right now.”
I watched both of their faces as they went through a myriad of expressions. Both girls wore their emotions without a filter, and if the circumstances hadn’t been so dire it would have been funny to watch as they struggled to come to grips with their new reality – again.
“I’m sorry that this keeps getting worse for the two of you. I promise, we will work it all out, and keep you both safe too.”
“I don’t doubt that at all,” Izzy’s declaration of trust was a shock, and it stuttered my heart for a minute. She must have picked up on my shock. “What? I never said you were untrustworthy, or that you weren’t a decent person, errr wolf, whatever. I just needed time to sort through everything.” Her voice grew quieter as she spoke. “It’s a lot.”
“Yeah, and now there’s more.”
“So, what if you just claimed me out in the open, would they leave me alone then?”
My face must have been as expressive as the twins. Did she even realize what she was asking? Did Jackson not have the follow up talk with her that he was supposed to about how all this worked?
“What? Did I say something wrong?”
“Izzy, once you make that choice, there’s no going back. Didn’t Jackson, um your dad, tell you how everything worked? He was supposed to go over things with you.”
Liz laughed. “Izzy hasn’t exactly been accepting our dad’s calls lately. Neither of us has.” Her scorn was evident. Neither girl was happy with their parents at the moment. I couldn’t blame them. Their family had kept a secret that could have affected them, and did affect Izzy and myself negatively.
“Well, in this case, the conversation he wanted to have with you would have probably been helpful.” I sighed, knowing that I was about to drop a couple more bombs on the girls regarding the ways of werewolves. “Claiming works in different levels. I’ve verbally stated that you are my Kindred. Everyone at the brewery today understood that. They weren’t there for you, they were there to be introduced to your sister.” I was speaking directly to Izzy. I knew Liz was listening, and would need to understand all of this just as well as her sister, but having already found her Kindred, me, it was more important for Iz to understand what could happen with her if she chose to be with me.
“Other packs don’t ha
ve to accept my verbal claim, as evidenced by Morris’s little fit today. The only way to stop them from trying to poach a Kindred mate, or any woman, would be to physically claim you as my mate. By doing so, you would carry my mark on you, and I would carry yours. Our binding would then create a unique scent, a blend of both of us, that lets others know that we belong to each other. Bonded mates.”
“I still don’t see the problem,” Liz stated. “Just trade marks. What is it like some tattoo or something?”
“No, it involves biting…” I really hated that I had to be the one to explain this, because it had the potential of coming off like I was trying to get Iz into bed. No doubt about it, I wanted her there, but that wasn’t what this was about today. “The biting occurs during sexual intercourse. Unprotected intercourse.”
Izzy’s eyes were wide at this point. She was starting to get it. “Bonded mates don’t try to stop themselves from procreating…” Yeah, this was getting a little awkward, and suddenly I wished for Garrett’s comic relief, or at least his smart ass input to take away some of the sting of the news I was delivering.
“So, basically, you’re saying…” Liz started, and then stopped. I could see that she had put all the numbers together and came up with the correct answer for what a claiming entailed, but her sister still looked shocked, dumbfounded, and more than a bit worried beside her. Liz wrapped her arms around her sister. “So, he’s saying you two would have to get busy, and I’m assuming the biting takes place during climax?” She looked back over her shoulder at me as she continued to hug her sister tight.
I nodded my head. “Both parties have to be willing participants for a full, healthy bond to occur. Don’t mistake me though, there are those, like Morris’s pack who don’t give a shit if the other party is willing or not. They will force a bond if need be.” I shook my head, and swallowed hard. “I’ve seen forced bond mates. It works for the male side of things, but there’s always something missing in the female. That spark of happiness you otherwise see in a bonded pair… it just simply isn’t there for forced mates. They always produce weaker pups than fully bonded mates too. You would think they would have learned that by now, but there’s no manner of getting that through to some people.”
“So, you’re saying someone could potentially force that on either one of us? They don’t even have to be our Kindred mate?” Izzy finally asked.
“They could, but it would end up being a pairing more like your mom and dad. It’s rarely done outside of Kindred, because most wolves are hoping to find their true mate to bond with.”
“So, you could have forced the issue with me?” Iz asked in a meek voice.
“Could have? Yes. Would have? Never. As much as I want you to be with me, I would never take you against your will. I’d rather live as a shell of a man than take your will from you.” I made sure to look her in the eye as I spoke so that she understood how serious I was. “And I wouldn’t let you just jump in and ask that I claim you to keep you out of the line of sight for others without telling you what that entails. It’s something Jackson should have already explained to you.”
“Yeah, well, daddy wasn’t too forthcoming with his secrets, and we haven’t let him explain anything else since the day I got here because of it.” Liz finally released her hold on her sister as she spoke. “This is one big ball of crazy. I thought I was coming here for a vacation. As it turns out I’m on some sort of husband hunting expedition that I didn’t think I’d need to concern myself with until after graduation. My sister might as well be married.” When Izzy scoffed at her sister’s statement Liz just laughed. “What? Like it’s not true? You know it’s going to happen, sooner or later. I don’t know why you’re still bothering to fight it.”
“Because it’s…” Izzy trailed off. “It’s complicated, that’s why.”
“I know,” Liz sighed out as she turned to me. “Sorry,” she added. I wasn’t sure who the apology was for her sister or me, but I just nodded my head.
“Listen, we don’t have to do an official bonding or claiming. It can wait, and I will make sure you stay safe until you decide what’s right for you. I know what I want, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to push you into a decision.” Izzy smiled at me gratefully. “It also doesn’t mean I’m just going to roll over and take no for an answer. I’m not giving up fighting for the chance to be your mate. My methods of coercion involve my charm rather than force.” I winked at her and walked into the kitchen. “You guys want anything?” I offered as I grabbed a beer for myself. They both turned down the offer. “Okay, listen, these beers with the special labels,” I held mine up for them to see. “They’re off limits to the two of you. You can help yourself to anything else, but these are specially brewed for werewolf metabolism. It would be like drinking an entire fifth of rum for one of you. Dangerous.”
“Wait, that looks just like the bottles from the brewery, what’s special about it?” Liz asked as she came in for a closer look.
“The bottles that humans are served at the brewery just have the white label wolf on them. The ones meant for my kind have the same white label wolf, but it has green eyes. It’s a subtle difference, but enough for my kind to know which bottles to stick with while we still manage to blend in.”
“I see,” Liz took a seat on the bar stool behind my kitchen island. Izzy was still standing in my living room with her back to us. Seeing the direction of my gaze her sister smiled at me. “Give her a few minutes to let it all sink in. Izzy’s the quiet thinking type. I’m not sure how we could be identical physically, and so different internally, but we are. She’s always been the reserved book junky while I’ve been the partier.”
“You two balance each other out. It was probably for the best it turned out like that. I can’t imagine being your parents and having to deal with two wild child teenage girls who fed off of each other’s wanton ways.” Liz laughed as I spoke. “Seriously, this way she tempers your partying, and you pull her out of her shell now and again. I totally see it.”
Liz just smiled at me. “She’ll come around, and see the light. Just give her time, big guy.” I nodded again in understanding. I had one sister’s approval. Too bad it wasn’t the one I was looking for, but I wasn’t about to shoot it down either. I needed all the help I could get to make sure Izzy found her way to me willingly.”
It only took about twenty minutes more before Granger pulled up outside my house, and started hauling suitcases and bags of stuff out of his truck. I walked outside to help him out, and told the girls just to wait inside. I needed a minute to asses the situation without having them listen in and possibly panic over the situation. “Grange, how did everything look?”
His fallen face said it all. “I’m sure something will be missing, whether they realize it or not. I smelled at least three different wolves, not of our pack, around the place. To be honest, there were undertones suggesting they may have been sniffing around there before today. I’m not sure who dropped the hints about the girls, but apparently it was done days ago.”
“Damn, I was afraid of that. We’re lucky those assholes didn’t attempt to snatch them up before now.”
“I’m sure the only thing that stayed their hand was the war that would have met them on the heels of their actions. They’re definitely in track mode now, man. We’ll have to keep a security detail on the girls from here on out.” Granger’s concern was evident when he turned his face up to me from where he was crouched down near the bags. “Dre, if there’s any way at all to speed up this courtship and claim your woman, you might want to make it happen. Protecting one girl is definitely going to be easier than trying to keep two safe. If Morris gets desperate, he may incorporate the help of another pack to relieve of us of our charges.”
I sighed, running my fingers through the stubble of hair I had closely cropped to my head. “Damn it! I can’t force it on her, and I’m the reason it’s all screwed up to begin with.” My frustrated words came pushed out of me on a growl.
“No, Jacks
on needs to take responsibility. He knew what was going on three years ago, and he chose to hide her from you. It’s on him, man, not you. Anything that happened three years later is a result of his decision.”
“Doesn’t really change my circumstances in the here and now though. Not really a matter of who holds the blame, it’s a matter of the damage that’s already been done.”
“Yeah, I get that. Maybe if I explained the dangers?”
“She’s already been apprised of the situation, and what it means to officially be claimed. I think it scared her more to know what claiming her entailed than to know there might be pyscho-wolves lining up to have their way with her.” I shook my head, and again heaved out a frustrated sigh. “Every time I think I’ve made a step closer to the right direction with her, something else pops up to give her a fresh glimpse into our world, and honestly, I don’t know that any of it has been flattering. Shit, I dare say it’s all evidence of why she should run as far from me as possible.”
“That’s not true at all,” her voice came from right behind me. If I needed any further evidence that my frustration was taking away my edge, there it was. The fact that this woman had been able to sneak up behind me without me realizing it was a shock. Of course, I’d become accustomed to the dull ache in my stomach when she was around. The one that told me the ache wouldn’t find relief until I held her in my arms, claiming her. “I’m sorry, I know I’m making this difficult on everyone, I just…” her voice trailed off. There was no reason for her to finish the sentiment. We all understood. Well, at least I was trying to understand her viewpoint. Some days, I wish I could shake some sense into her. We were meant to be together. Why couldn’t she just see that and forget everything else?
“It’s fine,” I stated coolly as I bent to pick up a suitcase. “I told you to wait in the house for a reason. You have a target painted on your back right now, it’d be great if you stayed out of sight.” Yeah, that probably didn’t need to come out as gruff as it did, but I was having trouble reigning in my frustrations. As if I needed evidence that my tone was too harsh, Izzy’s sudden intake of breath and the harsh look Granger threw my way solidified it.
Entwined (Vukodlak Brew Book 1) Page 16