Chapter Eleven: I Spoke. Obey.

“Faster.” I critiqued the closest pair as I leisurely walked through the sparing trainees.

The large clearing behind the pack house was filled up with close to thirty warriors and trackers in training. Orders were yelled over the rows of sparring pairs by Candice and Marcus with Jasper standing nearby. One male probably being a lot more helpful than the other.

Taking my cue, the girl started swinging rapidly at her male partner who quickly matched her pace. Moving on, I nodded and hummed my approval at the pairs who didn’t seem to need my help. Hitting the end of the row, I turned and made my way back up the next one. Grunts and huffs of frustrations were all that could be heard from the pairs whenever someone’s hit connected.

Lost in the methodical atmosphere of the training session, I thought back to last night. For now, Ryan seemed to be on my side, a side he didn’t know existed yet, and that warmed something inside me. It might have been the admittedly amazing ribs or the conversation that flowed surprisingly easily between us but I was finding it unnecessary to be so stand offish. I could afford to allow him to slither into my personal life a little more and with his insistence on having dinner again, I’d probably have to put my words into action sooner rather than later.

Becoming uncomfortable with my increasingly human emotions, I turned my focus back to the trainees. Scanning over them, I watched the enthusiastic young adults and teens push themselves to their limits. The constant suspicion I carried with me since the newest note, lifted ever so slightly being in my comfort zone. There were a few pack members that I was keeping an eye on, older shifters who had made their dislike of me known throughout the years. Which made my biggest concern about them learning what the shooter had said a couple of days ago but with the crowd that was there they’d find out soon. I could only hope for a few more days of calmness within the pack.

“Kai!”

At the shout, I looked in it’s direction to find Candice jogging through the lines of sparring partners to get to me. Raising a brow as she dodged a wild limb to stop beside me, I said, “You know, everyone seems to forget you don’t need to yell for my attention.”

Her blue eyes sparkled, “Not me. I just like yelling.”

Figuring she was going to finish asking for that favor she wanted, I restarted walking through the lines to check the trainees forms. Candice’s heartbeat picked up a little bit as we walked in silence, which to be honest was really amusing. She was working herself up into a nervous fever while figuring out how to ask me.

To speed up the process, I told her,“Just spit it out.”

Candice let out a grunt before saying, “Look, I hate ask because I don’t like to owe anyone anything but-”

An unbelievably sweet and savory smell filled the air around us, “No, your not.”

“What?”

“You’re lying. You don’t hate to ask me.” While I talked, I nodded in approval to a little boy who was mimicking the others from the side lines. His little face lit up before growing more determined.

“Lying? Why do you say that?”

I turned my head to look at her, “Most people don’t realize they are when it comes to exaggeration but I can smell it.”

“Okay, that I completely forgot about but I have to know. What does a lie smell like?”

Uninterested, I muttered, “Something too delicious to be real. Now what’s this favor you want?”

“Makes sense.” Clearing her throat, she added, “As you may or may not know-”

“The short version.” I demanded. I might secretly not mind the way Ryan babbled anymore but that didn’t extend to others.

Candice huffed, “Alright, fuck. Devins my little cousin and I was hoping you’d consider training him for the Omicron position.”

Surprised because I had just spoken with him yesterday, I looked over at her, “He’s interested? Devins never hinted that he wanted to be an Omicron.”

“In your week or so of friendship? Yea, not surprising.” The sarcasm was thick in her tone.

It wasn’t a bad idea actually. Devin was already a strong shifter in his own right, he just needed to channel his inner Alpha. Once he did that he’d be even stronger and a great candidate for the Omicron position. Plus, he struck me as the lone wolf type so it wouldn’t be a total waste if I trained both him and Theo. If anything it was probably better to have two Omicron trainees, especially because one didn’t really know he was being groomed for the position.

Having convinced myself, I gave her my answer, “Tell him to be at my cabin tomorrow morning at five.” That way I could go through what being trained by me will be like before Theo got there.

Her eyes lit up, “Thank you! Oh, that little shithead is going to be so excited! He won’t show it but he will be.”

Nodding my head in acknowledgement, I walked out of the rows to eye the pairs at the back.

A growl from the left drew my attention to a certain pair of boys sparring together. Their gazes were locked on the other with fresh claw marks criss-crossing their bare chests and arms. Irritation raced through my veins at the sight, trainees weren’t allowed to use their claws or fangs in sparring. They were too young to have the control needed to be able to pull back before they caused serious damage to the other. And if they did that, that meant my job became a nightmare of a tightrope.

Honestly, why I chose to protect the one pack that didn’t seem to grasp the fucking concept of safety and procaution was beyond me.

Stepping as quietly as I could, I approached the sparring pair with a sharp eye on their movements. Chest heaving, Theo quickly moved to the side Devin had left unguarded and landed two sharp jabs to the left side of his ribcage. Don’t do it, kid. You don’t have the speed. Head already shaking in disappointment all I could do was watch the failure of his attack playout.

Keeping low Theo went to strike at the inside of Devin’s thigh but like I had predicted, he was too slow to recreate my move. Devin, having enough time to react, raised a booted foot and slammed it against the center of Theos chest with a loud snarl. Sending Theo flying back a bit before landing on his ass in the snow.

Behind Devin now, I could see that he was much calmer after hitting Theo than he had been moments before. His claws were already retracted safely back into his nail beds and his breathing was beginning to level out. Impressive for a young wolf.

Devin may prove to be a better fit for the Omicron position with or without his inner Alpha. He definitely had the strength that Theo lacked, he should’ve been able to take Devin on by himself with the training I was giving him. But I was starting to have my doubts in his abilities which only increased when Theo jumped to his feet with claws extended and fangs flashing. Apparently, he wasn’t mature enough yet either.

“Control yourself.” I ordered Theo while moving to shield Devin. Candice began to hurry everyone off the field with a brief announcement that training would finish up tomorrow.

The teenager’s body shook in rage as he ignored me to keep his swirling eyes on Devin.

Tilting my head, I blocked the view of his wolf’s aggression and simply stared into his eyes. A young wolf out of control was dangerous, they didn’t act on reason but off of unstable emotions. It took a little longer than it should have due to him and his wolf fighting for control but he finally submitted. His eyes drooped and his breath came out in big gust, giving away just how hard he had fought against his wolf.

“Someone link the Alpha.” I announced to the small group remaining on the training field. “Tell him we had a fight between two young males with minor injuries.”

“I thought this was your job? See, this is what happens when women are put into positions of power. They slack off and give all the hard work back to the males.”

Unsurprisingly, it was Jasper shooting his mouth off to the most dangerous person in his current vicinity. “I don’t explain myself to males who squeal like little girls and I wasn’t ‘put into’ the position unlike you I earned it.”

His olive eyes squinted at me in malicious amusement, “Earned the position like you did all those years ago, maybe?”

I flashed a bit of fang, “The only reason I haven’t killed you yet is out of respect for Otis but that is quickly losing its appeal. Watch it.”

As we stared each other down, footsteps quickly pounded on the stairs from inside. It sounded like two pairs which made sense because Otis and Ryan had been on a conference call with a rival lumber mill. Something that had nothing to do with safety so I had instantly tuned out when they explained it to me.

Jasper erupted at my response, “You’re not fit to be the Omicron of this pack!”

“Are you challenging me for the position?” I snarled.

Dark green eyes were practically a flame in his rage as we once again locked eyes. How dare he, not even a member of this pack, tell me that I am unfit to be the Omicron. I’ve saved this pack more times than I could count. Silver Fangs was considered one of the safest packs in Alaska because of me! If he was gonna stand there an spew bullshit, he can damn well challenge me for it.

“Jasper, Kai,” Otis began in a soothing tone, “Calm your tempers. Kai, the-”

“Her temper?” Candice asked incredulously. “Otis, he’s the one who started in on her not the other way around.”

“I’m sure he did. But both of them need to calm down.” Speaking to me now Otis said, “You can’t kill him Kai, so relax.”

“Why are you only targeting her? Fuck this, Otis. Control your cousin.” Ryan snapped.

Not looking away from Jasper, I caught Marcus pulling the boys further away from the corner of my eye as the situation escalated. Shivers raced up my spine at the image of Jasper’s blood splattered across the snow. Otis said not to kill him but what was it the humans were always saying? It was better to ask for forgiveness than permission? Yea, I was starting to see the appeal in that.

“Everyone, calm down.” Otis demanded.

“Are. You. Challenging. Me?” I forced out between clenched fangs.

Jasper gave an odd all over shiver before baring his fangs back at me.

That’s it. Come, on. Do it. Snap them together.

“You snap those fucking fangs and it’s not just her you’ll have to deal with.”

Ryan’s words caused Jasper to break his gaze away from me to glance at him. Following suit, I saw that Ryan’s entire form was stiff with tension while his eyes were almost completely black.

“That is it!” Otis commanded in his Alpha tone, “No one is challenging anyone. And Ryan, you’re meant to be de-escalate situations not elevating them.”

They all bent their heads to the side in submission to his words but I wasn’t done with Jasper just yet, “Answer the question.”

“Kai, it’s over. Let it go, you have more important things to do.”

Looking Otis straight in the eyes, I replied, “No.” And then turned back to his cousin, “Answer.”

Jasper looked between me and Otis, “I thought you were the Alpha? Why doesn’t she submit to you?”

“Answer. I won’t ask again.”

“Your Alpha spoke. Obey.”

Candice suddenly laughed,“Ohhhhh, you did it now you dumb son of a bitch.”

I tilted my head and repeated, “My. Alpha. Spoke? Obey?“

Lunging forward, I wrapped my hand around his throat and lifted him clear off of the ground. Dangling from my grip, he choked harshly as his toes brushed the snow, “How bout the next time you have something to say, don’t. Either challenge me or keep your fucking mouth shut.”

As I shook him a little to get the point across, Otis tried to intervene, “Kaiya, put him down.”

Tightening my grip I extended my claws slightly, enjoying the way he was squirming around like a fish. Jasper raised his own clawed hands to scratch at me but Ryan was quick to catch them and pull them behind his back. Placing a clawed hand on his head, Ryan tilted Jaspers head back painfully to whisper, “I’m really starting not to like you.”

I would’ve laughed if Jasper hadn’t pissed me off so severely, “Did you hear what I said?”

Otis stepped up beside me,“Kai, he’s learned his lesson. Let him go, you have people waiting on you.”

Turning my head, I snarled, “Who?”

“The renegades sent for questioning.” Finally.

Looking back to Jasper, I shook him again, “Did you hear me?”

“Uhuhujijo,” He gurgled out of an increasingly blue face.

Pulling him in close, I bared my fangs in his face, “I spoke. Obey.”

Dropping him at my feet, I spun around and began walking towards the pack house, “If someone doesn’t need to die, don’t bother me. I’ll be questioning the renegades for the rest of the day.”

Jasper had just solidified himself as an enemy that I’d need to watch closely. He was a spineless male that would have no problem selling me out to the still nameless radical group. Thankfully, the captured renegades had just arrived and I was more than pissed off enough to get all of the important answers out of them. Tonight.

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The renegades are finally here!!! What answers do you think she’s gonna get out of them? Do you think the renegades are the mystery group trying to “cure” Feral Borns?

Also, Thank you everyone who’s reading!!!!!!!

As always, like or comment if you enjoyed the chapter!

Smooches, Verbage 💋

Chapter Twelve: The Interrogation

After stomping my boots harshly on the short stairs to rid them of the snow, I opened up the back door and let it slam shut on the arguing behind me. Maneuvering angrily around the people in the kitchen, I shoved through the swinging door and into the living room. Walking past the gremlins playing their video games, I ignored the way that they stiffened slightly at my presence.

Making it to the stairs, I moved around to where the basement entrance was. Pulling open the dark green door I entered the closet like space, where two warriors guarded another door this one pure silver. Clad in all black, the warriors nodded in respect before turning to put in the code that will unlock the door. After a long beep, they pulled open the thick silver door for me to pass through. The clicking and beeps muffled by the thick silver signaled that they had relocked the door after me as I made my way down the spiral staircase.

The basement resembled an old stone dungeon, which considering it had been created by the very first Alpha of the pack made sense. Light from the oil lanterns bounced off the cold stone walls as I made my way down to the bottom. Holding cells lined the walls in a single row down the middle of the room with more interrogation rooms going left and right in a T formation. The basement was a masterpiece as the heavy stone and cement walls kept any noise from being heard above. It also spanned the entire area below the pack house.

Jumping the last few steps, my boots slammed loudly against the cobblestone at the bottom. Straightening up, I searched the multiple guards lining the halls for the one in charge. In the hall straight ahead, a woman sat behind a paper covered desk filling out what looked to be more paperwork.

Approaching her, I asked, “Which cell are the new renegades in?”

Putting her pen down, she responded, “The ones from Phoenix?”

“Those would be the ones.” My temper from the earlier spat with Jasper had cooled since coming down here. Probably due to the fact that very soon I’d be spilling blood.

“One moment,” She informed me while looking through the papers on her desk. “Ah, here we go,” The woman placed the paper down in front of me, “There are four males and one female. Two of them we think are mates. Please sign here, Omicron.”

“Good to know,” I replied as I bent at the waist to sign and date the paper for the records to show that I was the interrogator.

Swiping the paper as soon as I was done, she double checked it and then told me, “You’ll be in interrogation room three with a double sided mirror and viewing room.”

I tilted my head, “Why?”

“The Alpha wanted us to set you up in there.”

Weird but not completely unusual that Otis wanted me in that room, sometimes he or one of the others liked to check in and see how everything was going. Nodding, I turned to the left and headed down the hall.

My boots echoed off the stone floor as I walked down the fire lit hall towards room number three. Silver doors passed by until I reached the third to the last room with a covered steel cart waiting beside it. Peeking under the sheet, I smiled at what it hid and turned to the door with a #3 scratched into its surface.

I flipped all four locks before looking behind me at the bald guard standing against the wall, “Could you hold the door open for me?”

“Of course, Omicron.” Like mine, the words flowed from his mouth on a cloud of white as he moved towards me.

While the guard held the door wide open, I got behind the cart and pushed my way into the lit room. The outside might’ve looked medieval but the inside of the room was very modern. Bright white lights flooded the occupied room hat held five silver chairs. Sitting in those chairs strapped in by their ankles, wrists, and necks were the renegades I had been waiting for. The straps holding them were two inches thick and made out of pure silver just like the doors.

Wheeling the cart passed all five of their chairs, I came to a stop before I hit the wall. “You can close the door and relock it now.” I told the guard.

Leaning back against the wall, I crossed my arms as the door closed with a heavy thump. Silence penetrated the room as the renegades and I looked each other over. All of them smelled of blood and dirt, the signature smell of a renegade, but they also held a lingering whiff of sweat. The two men closest to the door held semi-blank expressions trying to conceal their real feelings.

Their muscular physiques differed greatly from the other two men who sat next to them. One was a middle aged man with sagging muscles and a beer belly. And the last male couldn’t have been much older than myself with little muscle on him, probably one of those shifters that tried to get by on his inherited strength. The one with the fastest heart rate in the room was the woman who was fairly toned but had fear expressed plainly across her face.

“Why were you guys in Phoenix?”

As expected no one answered.

“That’s alright, I think I know why.” I left the statement hanging in the air between us. Eyes bouncing from one to the other while I waited for one of them to crack out of curiosity.

Seconds stretched into minutes as I calmly waited for them to ask what I thought I knew. A shifting sound drew my eyes towards the right where the heavily muscled men were bound. The second one closest to the door was twisting his wrists in pain, the veins in his forearms were raised and turning a charcoal grey color.

“Someone has a weak immune system…” I taunted.

“Don’t speak to him, you feral bitch.”

Brows raised, I flicked my red eyes to the other muscled male. Like the others, his clothes were soiled and torn but his eyes held a fire that wasn’t there before. His face was no longer blank but enraged now and all because I had talked to the male beside him…

Pushing off the mirror, I moved to stand in front of them, “So, it’s you two.”

The men tensed at my words. These were the mates the lady had mentioned when I came in. Reaching down, I grabbed the armrest of the black haired male and pulled him face to face with his mate. As they stared at each other, most likely having a conversation within their personal link, I went to stand before the other three.

The old man sat unbothered, the young man had begun to sweat and the woman was silently weeping. Tilting my head, I stepped closer to the woman and used the tips of my fingers to force her head straight. Brown and black swirling eyes met mine in fear with a quivering lip.

“Why are you crying? Your own actions lead you here.”

The woman sobbed something inaudible even to my ears.

“Speak clearly. You weren’t sobbing when you held that woman down to be raped. So, don’t cry now.” Ripping my hand away from her skin, I let my claws extend and slice two shallow cuts underneath her chin.

She gave a short scream, breaking down into heavier sobs as blood ran down her neck in thin rivets. A mixture of tears and blood soaked the silver collar around her neck while I waited for her dramatics to end. Lifting my hand slightly, I watched her blood roll off my claws to land on the cement with a soft splat. Sniffling loudly, the woman finally pulled herself together enough to speak clearly.

Her heavy exhales swayed the stringy black hair around her face, “We were…on a…normal raid.”

“Were you?”

“It was. Steal…rape, kill…but-”

The old man cut her off, “Shut. Up.”

Moving swiftly, I slammed my fist against the old man’s temple knocking him out cold and then motioned for the woman to continue.

Her eyes lingered on the passed out man’s reflection in the mirror, “I shouldn’t- shouldn’t be telling you this.”

“If you don’t tell me voluntarily then I will be forced to get it out of you violently. Your choice.”

“Will you let me live if I do?”

Let the woman who helped the defilement of another live? “No. You’ll die either way but I’ll make your death quick if you cooperate.”

The woman’s slowly darkening veined arms shook in their constraints but she swallowed thickly and said, “You decimated most of our men and women when you arrived.”

My brow furrowed, “Most of your numbers in Arizona, you mean.”

She shook her head solemnly, “No, most of our numbers in the U.S.”

“Stop talking, you daft bitch!” This was screamed by one of the men by the door but I was too consumed by what she had said to care.

If what she said was true then that meant out of the two hundred to three hundred renegades they had sent to sack the Night Star pack there were even less in camps. How was that possible? There were thousands in the U.S all spread out in camps in every state. Last time the Alpha’s had put in the combined renegade count it was a little more than ten thousand. So, where did they all go?

“How’s that possible? Who’s been killing them, which Alpha?” I asked.

“I don’t know, no ones talking about it. All I know is that not all of them are dead.” She whispered.

There was no sweetness in the air following her words which meant she was telling the truth. If they’re not all dead then where are they going? Thousands of renegades couldn’t have just disappeared, at least not on their own. Everyone had thought it could be the renegades sending me those notes but they couldn’t be the ones trying to ’cure’ Feral Borns without the man power. Ten Feral Borns could exterminate the rest of their numbers. So, who was trying to ‘cure’ us and where had the renegades gone?

Stepping forward, I took the woman’s head in my hands, “Why’d you attack Night Star? What’s the new goal? Where did your members go?”

With tears glistening in the corners of her eyes, she replied, “I don’t know.”

Nodding, I tightened my grip on her neck and twisted it hard to the left. A sharp crack sounded throughout the room and signaled the death of their fellow renegade. She was telling the truth about not knowing why they had attacked Night Star but I had more than enough renegades to find the answers the Night Star Alpha wanted. Thankfully, I had remembered to ask her before snapping her neck.

The woman’s head hung at an odd angle over her neck constraint, her reflection causing the younger man to wince in his own chair. Moving over to him, I looked him up and down to see how he was doing in the silver chair. Black veins bulged all the way from his hands to his elbows and from what I could see of his legs they were up to his knees too. Beads of sweat trickled down his brow and the golden locks on his head were beginning to become matted in his sweat.

“I’ll offer you the same deal I offered her. Tell me what I want to know and I’ll make your death quick,” I told him.

Instead of him answering, it was once again one of the men on the end shouting an interruption, “How bout you die, bitch!”

“Shut up, Tom!”

Lips twitching, I made way over to the mated pair who bickered with each other. The male who was suffering the worst from the silver exposure was trying to tell his mate to shut his mouth before I killed him. He seemed to be genuinely stressing this to mate but the dark haired man refused to listen in his anger to keep their secrets. How arrogant, to dismiss his own mates’ fear in the wake of his anger.

Stopping right beside them, I looked back and forth between the two who were looking back at me with differing expressions. The black haired male glared coldly at me while his mate began to wince in pain at the creeping black veins crawling up his body. Looks like the black haired male, who I’m guessing was Tom, was going to lose his mate very soon. Best to get any answers out of them while the weaker one was still alive.

“You’re a chatty wolf, Tom.” Clasping my hand around his shoulder, I continued, “So, why don’t you open that mouth to tell me something useful, Hmmm? Maybe you can tell me about why you attacked the Night Star pack or where your fellow criminals are disappearing to?” I finished, sinking my claws deeply into his flesh.

“Die. Moonless. Cunt.”

Snarling deeply at the cursed words, I grabbed his face and pressed my clawed thumb to his cheekbone. Turning my thumb towards his face at an angle, I dug my claw into his skin and swiped downwards while ignoring his yell of pain. A thick strip of pale skin hung from the top left corner of his mouth all the way down to the midpoint at his collar. Blood ran down the side of his face at a rapid pace as the sound of gagging filled the room.

His mate had turned even paler than before and was closing his eyes to try and avoid looking at Tom’s face. Still pissed off at the words Tom had spit at me, I grabbed the strip of skin and ripped it all the way off. Tossing it at the mirror, my lips twitched again in amusement as it stuck to the glass.

Turning back to Tom, I placed my thumb back to his cheek and got ready to strip him of more skin, “What’s your new goal? Why’d you attack Night Star?”

Panting in pain, he bared his fangs and growled lowly.

I was just pressing down to take another strip, when his mate cried out, “Stop, please. Stop. I’ll tell you what I know if you stop hurting him.”

Head tilted, I turned to him and waited for the answers I wanted.

“We attacked the Night Star pack because we ne-”

“Leo, stop. Don’t tell this-”

Annoyed, I whipped around and slammed my fist down onto his forearm. The crack had barely echoed through the air when I faced Leo again. Tom screamed sharply causing tears to run down Leo’s white face.

“Everyone stop, just stop. We attacked because we needed the supplies, okay?”

“You attacked for supplies?” I questioned. They’d done it before to multiple packs but it wasn’t just for supplies, “You killed and raped for supplies?”

“Yes, we’re renegades.”

The faint hint of sweets wafted from the direction he was in. Narrowing my eyes on Leo, I latched onto Tom’s shoulder, “Liar.” Jerking his arm forward, there was a pop of his shoulder dislocating and then the snap of his collarbone. Tom screamed in agony until his eyes rolled back in the consuming pain he was currently experiencing.

“No!” Leo frantically shouted from his chair.

I flashed my fangs, “Tell the truth or I rip his arm off.”

“Okay, okay! Some of the men were raping so we could get our numbers back up. Like Lisa told you, our numbers are severely depleted. The new goal is to replenish the ranks!” He rushed out in an effort to appease me.

Wanting to keep this honesty train going, I asked, “Where are they going?”

“I don’t know.” A faint hint of sweets entered the air.

Shaking my head, I gripped Tom’s arm, “Again with the lying, Leo. What did I tell you?”

“Fuck, I don’t know! They’re joining another group!”

The sweet smell disappeared but I didn’t release my grip on Tom’s arm, “What other group?”

With the black veins reaching his neck, he panted out a whispered, “I don’t know.” The beat of his heart was faint as the veins finally reached his eyes that bulged in their sockets. Dark blood streaked down his face from the corner of his eyes and the sides of his head coming from his ears.

With his heart beating sluggishly, I slapped him. Bringing him back to awareness one more time, “What does Tom know?”

Leos chapped lips moved slowly, silently forming the words, “Nothing, nothing more than I do.”

Hmmmm. Because he did answer the questions I asked, I guess I could put him out of his suffering. Using my pointer finger, I pressed the clawed tip into his throat and dragged it from ear to ear. Blood spurted in an arc out from his body, slashing me and his mate in its path. After that first spray it started to squirt from his neck in time with his dwindling pulse.

“If- If you give me a quick death like Lisa, I can-can tell you what the leader goes by but that’s all I know.”

Turning to face the voice, I caught a glance of myself in the two way mirror behind me. Leo’s blood had made an almost horizontal line across my face and dripped down onto my tan T-shirt that hung loose over black cargo pants. My brown hair hung around my face, longer than usual because I hadn’t had time to trim it since I got back. Shoving a chunk of troublesome hair over my shoulder, I finished making my way over to the skinny male.

Raising a brow, I stood before him and waited for the name of the leader.

The male swallowed thickly, “He goes by the name The Savior.”

So, the shooter from earlier this week was the leader of this mysterious group. Alright, so I knew the leaders codename, the group’s goal and that they were recruiting renegades. All I needed now was the name of this fucking group that was quite honestly getting on my nerves. Grabbing the young males head, I gave it a sharp twist like I did the woman’s and snapped his neck with little effort.

The crack of bones caused the older man next to him to finally stir in his chair. Letting him come to, I turned around and ripped off the sheet that was covering the cart. A large bowl of water was placed at the top right corner and next to that were three small towels so I could clean myself up after I’d finished. Below that was a granola bar and a water bottle with a small post-it note stuck to it. Confused, I picked up the bottle and read the little message on the bright pink paper.

Torture can be tiring, sweetheart. Don’t forget to hydrate. -Ryan

Sweetheart? Shaking my head, I opened the water bottle and took a long sip. Recapping it, I turned around just in time to see Tom waking up. With both of my last two prisoners awake, I moved to stand between them and waited. The older man looked around as much as the collar would allow him with slightly wide eyes. While Tom blinked once then twice before letting out a voice breaking sob at the sight of his mate.

I spoke to the old man first, “What do you know about this secret group the renegades are defecting to?”

The old portly male kept his face blank, “I don’t know anything about that.”

An overwhelmingly sugary sweet smell flooded the room causing me to grin sharply, “Your lying.”

Tom’s screams were beginning to hurt my ears as it echoed around the concrete room. Rounding on his chair, I pulled his head back by the hair and buried my fangs deeply into the man’s throat. Growling, I yanked my head side to side until the muscles tore and broke away from his neck. Dark red blood pooled down his lifeless body and shortly sprayed my face.

“Your fucking insane, you animal!“

Moving back in front of the old man, I released my jaw and let Tom’s hunk of flesh fall from my mouth to the floor with a splat. Giving the man a bloody fanged grin, I said, “Now, about that group.”

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Now that was…..graphic lmao. I wonder what she’s going to find out…

As always, leave a comment if you enjoyed the chapter.

Smooches, Verbage 💋

Chapter Thirteen: So, You Know?

Arms resting along the back of the couch with my ankles crossed on the coffee table, I kept eyes glued to the window in deep thought. I’d been sitting in this position for over ten hours without a drop of sleep in my system. And since I usually only slept in one hour intervals, the strain of sleep deprivation didn’t affect me much. Even if it did, there was no way in hell I would’ve been able to sleep after hearing the answers that I pulled from the old man.

Light spilled into the room from the window, illuminating the tips of my shoes and leaving the rest of my body in darkness. Deep, almost non-existent breaths kept my heart beat hidden from anyone nearby with the ability to hear it. At the same time, my ears strained to hear any noise coming from within my hearing range that struck me as odd. To say my paranoia was on high alert would be an understatement.

It took hours to get the information out of the old man, I was actually a little impressed with how long he had held out. Doubts about him telling his secrets had begun to creep in when I dug around in his kneecap with my claws. But once I started scraping pieces of bone off, he spilled information so fast I almost missed a few things. The name of the group, their goal, what they believe in, the number of followers and their successes. I knew it all and it was the only other thing besides the person who ripped out my throat all those years ago, to have real fear pumping through my veins. The kind that made my blood run cold and set my brain spinning a mile a minute.

Suddenly, the sound of panting and heavy footsteps entered my hearing range coming from the left. As another set of footsteps, these ones much slower, came from the right. Still not moving from my position, I waited for them to come into view of the window. Through the thin cracks of the window pane the scent of lemons and cigarettes hit my nose from different directions. Theo and Devin. Omicron training. Fuck.

Closing my eyes, I took one last deep breath and pushed everything that wasn’t needed at this moment to the side. I already had a meeting planned with the high rankers of the pack to discuss the information I had received. We’d all meet in the conference room at midday so there was no point in dwelling over the information for the time being. It was a useless thing to do anyways, I had a solid plan that I was positive the others would agree with.

Opening my eyes, I took my feet off the coffee table and headed into my room before Theo broke through the clearing. Striding over to the bathroom, I grabbed a hair tie from the sink and pulled my dark hair up into a tight bun at the base of my neck. Smoothing the bumps away, I left the bathroom and went straight into the kitchen while ignoring the bickering going on outside.

Yanking the fridge doors open, I scanned the bare surfaces before taking a small chunk of raw meat and closing the doors. Releasing my fangs, I ripped a piece off the chunk while speeding out the door and onto the porch. Chewing, I watched the boys argue as I continued to eat.

“So, you want to be the pack’s next Omicron?” Theo gave a cruel laugh, “You can’t be serious. Your the pack fuck up.”

Well, that nasty attitude was new.

Devin eyed him before stating dryly, “Better than being the pack’s resident golden retriever.”

Ripping off another piece of meat, I ignored the blood dripping down my fist to keep my eyes on the entertainment.

“Are you calling me a dog, rank mater?”

“Sorry, let me put it in terms you can understand,” Devin took a second and cleared his throat, “Woof. Woof.”

I choked down an unexpected chuckle by ripping into my breakfast again.

“Shut your mouth, defect.”

Suddenly, Devin’s face lost it’s calm expression, “Why don’t you fucking make me, Orphan.” He snarled pushing off the tree.

Both boys were moving towards each other, eyes swirling and claws extended.

Sighing, I pushed off the railing, “Knock it off, ladies. We have work to do.”

Devin stopped immediately and reined his wolf in almost as fast. Theo on the other hand took a few more minutes before his wolf was fully back under his control. I squinted my eyes at the sight, that wasn’t good. He needed better control whether he eventually wanted to be the Omicron or not. Which meant I knew what today’s lesson would be and it’d benefit them both.

“As unexpectedly amusing as it was, why are you arguing again?” I asked them.

The boys looked at each other and then back at me. Devin tugged at his black t-shirt and looked around while Theo just kind of stood there with a lost expression. I shook my head at them, not understanding why they were arguing if they didn’t know why. Regular shifters were the ones who were a cause for concern, not Feral Borns. We at least always had a reason.

“Right, then stop wasting my time. While you’re both training with me keep your human bullshit at home. Lets go.” Not waiting for a response, I gave them my back and started into the woods surrounding my cabin.

Cool air ghosted over my heated skin as I led them further into the trees. Annoyed with how slow they were going, I started weaving between the trees at my natural speed. Curse words rang through the forest as they began sprinting to try and keep up. Keeping my steps light and fast, I brushed against trees while circling them to confuse the boys on which direction I took. Using the muscles in my thighs, I squatted low before launching myself at a sagging branch and swinging from tree to tree as quietly as I could.

Like a monkey, I maneuvered my way through the trees until I was directly over the boys. Stopping at where my footsteps had disappeared, Devin sniffed at the air trying to catch my scent while Theo searched the area for any footprints.

“There’s no footprints. How is that possible?” Theo questioned.

After one more sniff, Devin shook his head, “No scent. Is this part of training? Does she do this often?”

“Sometimes she does stuff like this and sometimes she explains what we’re doing.”

I narrowed my eyes at the tops of their heads, they were only using two of their senses. They weren’t utilizing their hearing or apparently their brains. With my claws sunk into the trunk to keep me stable, I leaned out a little more to get a good view on where they stood. They were still shuffling around trying to look for anything that would lead them to my location. But when I saw them actually start to sniff the plants around them, I snarled in disgust.

Enough.

Pulling my claws free of the bark, I took two steps and allowed myself to free fall down fifteen feet. Once I felt my toes brushing the ground, I bent my knees slightly to absorb some of the impact. Landing with a solid thump, the boys whipped around to face me. Their eyes widened slightly in surprise which is the last expression they should’ve had on their face.

I flicked my gaze from one to the other, “Dull to borderline useless.”

“Uh, where exactly did you come from?” Theo asked.

“The trees. You guys need to stop thinking so …one dimensional.” I lifted my hands and gestured to the forest around us, “Your claws, your senses, your strength. They can all be honed and used in multiple ways.”

Devin opened his mouth to speak but I cut him off, “You sit down.” Turning slightly, I spoke to Theo, “And you, I want you to work on your control. Allow your wolf to take over and then push him back. Do it over and over until you physically can’t anymore.”

After getting a nod from Theo, I turned back to face Devin and sat on the ground in front of him. Sitting cross legged, I straightened my back and placed my palms on the tops of my knees. Devin was quick to copy my movements, dark eyes looking at me in curiosity as he waited for me to speak.

“You said you couldn’t channel your inner Alpha, right?”

He looked weary but nodded in conformation.

“Rare but not unusual. We’re going to work on your senses because what I saw earlier was appalling. I don’t even know how the both of you are still alive.” I told him in all seriousness.

He gave a sharp grin, “You can thank our Omicron for that.”

Ignoring him, I began giving him directions on how to clear his mind and focus on the enhanced senses he was born with. Checking in on Theo, he had barely started to pant with the effort it took to continuously control his wolf. Satisfied with the eagerness in which he was doing his exercise, I left him alone for the time being to give Devin a little more help with his senses.

………………

“Am…I dead?” Theo gasped out from his lying position on the forest floor. The teen was dripping in sweat and seemed to barely be able to lift his head to look at me.

I raised a brow in answer.

Today’s training went on longer than normal since both of the boys needed a lot of work. I had them working on the same thing for the first three hours, took an hour break and then switched it up for the last two. At the end I had them doing strength exercises that even I broke a sweat doing.

Abdominal muscles aching in protest, I raised my arm to wipe the sweat from my face. A retching sound drew my gaze to Devin who was bending at the waist next to a tree. He did it again but this time it was followed by the sound of splashing and an extremely bitter smell. Wrinkling my nose, I took a few steps back and started lightly stretching out my tight muscles.

Wiping his mouth, Devin leaned back against the tree and closed his eyes, “Ugh, do you train like this everyday?”

“I do, yes. Theo does about half of what we did today on a daily basis and you will too. Stop smoking those cigarettes and maybe next time you won’t throw up.” I rasped, finishing up my stretches and heading back in the direction of the cabin.“I’ll see you both tomorrow. Same time. No arguing.”

Smirking at their groans, I paused for a moment and then sprinted full speed back to my cabin. Coming to an abrupt stop at my front door, I unzipped my sweats pocket to pull out my key and unlock the door. Stepping through, I shut it behind me and went straight for the bathroom. I’m gonna be late if I didn’t hurry, I thought, glancing at the clock on my way.

As soon as I entered the bathroom I stripped down while twisting the shower knob to cold. Jumping underneath the spray, I quickly washed away the sweat and grime that had built up during this morning’s workout. Scrubbing the last of the soap from my hair and body, I shut the shower off and grabbed my towel hanging over the top. Walking into my room I patted myself dry before throwing the towel onto the bed as I headed to the dresser.

Pulling out the necessary items, I tossed them onto the unmade bed and then slipped into them. Tugging the grey tank top over my white sports bra, I pulled the waist of my dark red cargo pants up and buttoned them. Pausing I looked down at the pants, these went up higher around my waist than the others and I normally didn’t buy such a bold color. Where did I get these …Oh! Candice had bought them for me saying something about drawing attention to my ass. Why I’d want that? I don’t know and she had given me an offended look when I asked.

I thought about changing into another pair since the tightness of them made me a little uncomfortable but a glance at the clock told me I was out of time. Rushing around now, I slid into my combat boots and bounded out the door. Lifting my arms, I pulled my wet hair out from under my shirt as I walked the path to the pack house. Walking through the back door when I arrived and up the stairs towards the Alphas office. Already, I could hear them talking through the sound proof walls about what I might’ve found out.

Opening the door right before Otis’s office, I stepped into the full conference room. Sitting around the long oak table in swivel chairs was Otis, Ryan, Candice, Jasper and Reese. Reese Finnigan held the rank of Theta making her responsible for the healthcare of the pack. I’d been to her office many times over the years to have her patch up the more serious of my injuries. Reese and Candice were close friends which was no surprise since their attitudes were very similar.

Ryan was the first to turn and watch as I walked farther into the room. Everything seemed normal until his eyes dipped to take in my new cargo pants. The closer I got to him the lower his eyelids seem to get and the more confused I became, why was he staring at my hips? The others finally took notice of my arrival and filled the air with ‘Hellos’ causing Ryan to clear his throat and look away.

“Holy wolf spirit and Moon! You’re finally wearing the pants I bought you!” Candice shouted and nudged Reese who sat next to her, “Dude look, doesn’t she look fantastic? I keep telling her to go fitted on the cargo pants!”

Reese gave me a warm smile, looking me up and down, “A hundred percent.”

“You bought her those?” Ryan asked.

Candice smirked, “Yea, your welcome asshole. Maybe, now you’ll be nicer to me.”

“Do a little spin!” Reese encouraged.

Furrowing my brow, I asked, “What?” Why would I spin?

“So, we can see how your ass looks.” She replied in an expectant tone.

“How about you not look.” Ryan stated. “Actually, why don’t you stop talking about her ass altogether.”

I tilted my head, “You want to look at my ass?”

“Yea, turn around! Show us what you’re working with!” Candice cackled.

Reese shoved Candice’s shoulder, “Stop, you’re going to freak her out.” Turning her brown eyes to me, she said, “Just do a little spin if you want.”

Flicking my red gaze from her to the others, I took in everyone’s reaction to the women’s words. Otis was shaking his head with his eyes on the ceiling, Jasper was muttering about how women always sidetracked to nonsense and Ryan had an expression I couldn’t read.

“Uh, no?” How did this meeting turn into one about my pants? I was never wearing these again.

“That’s fine, we’ll just look when you go to sit down.” Candice shrugged.

Reese snorted, “I bet it looks great.”

“Are you kidding me? With how much she works out? I’ve been waiting for this day, I mean her other pants are a total tease. They hint at it but you can never really tell.” Candice told her.

“You know, now that I think of it, you’re completely right.”

“Um, hello? Stop, objectifying my mate-to-be right in front of me. Kai’s not yours to oogle.” Ryan snapped.

The women looked at each other and then laughed.

Otis cleared his throat, “Enough about Kai’s backside. Can we please get on to the real reason why we’re here?”

Thank moon, standing around while my ass was discussed was a special kind of moonless hell.

I narrowed my eyes at Jasper, “Out.”

His face scrunched, “What?”

“Out.”

“Why? You seem to keep forgetting I’m Co-Gamma.”

“Pack matters are not discussed in front of non-pack members.” I told him with a healthy dose of smugness.

“Are you fucking serious? I’m going to be initiated tomorrow!” He snarled.

When all I did was stare at him, he looked around for help but everyone either looked away or shrugged. Standing up abrupting, he shoved his chair back and made his way to the door. Pausing beside me, he gave me an uncomfortably huge grin before turning back to look at Ryan.

“Did you say mate-to-be?”

“Jasper, don’t.” Otis warned.

“Yea, what about it?” Ryan asked hesitantly, looking between the cousins.

Jasper’s smile turned cruel, “So, you know?”

Knowing what he was probably about to say, I couldn’t understand why he was turning it into such a huge deal.

“About…whhhat?”

Otis’s command slammed down around the room, “Jasper.”

“That Kai and I slept together a while back. In fact, I popped her cherry. Congrats, on the soon to be mated thing though.”

The room became deathly silent in the wake of Jasper’s words. No one took a breath as if waiting for someone else to break the silence.

“You can never just keep your fucking mouth shut, can you Jasper?” Otis snarled.

Looking at them in confusion, I almost missed the split second warning of Ryan’s muscles tensing beneath his orange sweater before he launched his large frame over the table and straight at Jasper.

————————————————————————

Jasper is so petty, lmao. The secret is out y’all! One of many and more to be revealed! Thanks again everyone for your reads and support!

Smooches, Verbage 💋

Chapter Fourteen: Truth Bombs

Everyone shot to their feet the second Jasper went crashing to the floor beneath Ryan. Snarls and snapping fangs filled the air as the two males grappled on the floor beside me. Turning, I looked down at them in shock and amusement. Shock because even though I knew Ryan was the Beta of the pack, it never really occurred to me that he was capable of violence. It was amusing to watch someone I usually thought of as a happy person acting like…well, acting like me.

Grabbing Jasper by the front of his shirt, Ryan lifted him up slightly and started to repeatedly slam his head into the floor. Disoriented, Jasper raised his clawed hands, ripping holes into Ryan’s sleeves in a poor attempt to stop him. Ignoring the shouts for Ryan to calm down, I watched as Jasper’s arm stretched out to wrap his hand around my ankle. Looking from it to his face and back again, I smirked and took a step back breaking his hold.

“Holy shit, Otis! He’s going to kill him!” Reese shouted in response to Ryan now having his hands wrapped around Jasper’s pale throat.

Otis stomped towards the fighting pair and started shouting something at Ryan. While he was doing that, I took notice of how the muscles in Ryan’s back were visible through his thin sweater at the moment. They flexed and strained every time Ryan squeezed his hands around Jaspers neck. I bet they were very well defined under all that clothing. I knew he was in good shape because the long sleeves he sometimes wore were clingy but now I was curious on how he looked without those pesky layers. When I could really look at his shirtless form.

The growls reached a whole new volume as Jasper landed a solid hit to the side of Ryan’s head. Blindsided by the blow, Ryan fell back giving Otis and Candice the opportunity to grab him. Jasper scrambled back, grasping his neck in the process while Ryan viciously fought to be released. The veins in his neck bulged as he impressively kept ignoring Otis’s Alpha commands to stop. His eyes were pitch back and narrowed in on Jasper with the intensity one would have when hunting down a buck.

“Fuck.” Candice grunted out, her hold on Ryan slipping.

“Why the fuck didn’t you stop him? Do your job!” Jasper whisper screamed at me.

I furrowed my brow, “You’re not pack. I don’t have to protect you nor do I want to.”

When he tried to reach for me to do who knows what, Ryan let loose something astonishingly close to a hunting howl. And since Feral Born’s were the only ones who could howl from our human throat, everyone sort of paused. If I thought I had been turned on when he started to get violent, I was most definitely in heat when he released that sound. Candice and Otis shared a look before quickly tightening their grip on Ryan who tried to use their shock to his advantage. Snapping his fangs together in rage, Ryan stomped on Otis foot and then threw his now free elbow straight back into his nose. Jasper was half out of the door when Ryan charged at him again.

This time everyone in the room seemed to shout variations of the same thing at me.

“Grab him, Kai!”

“Take him down!”

“Get your man!”

Eyes hooded, I nodded and moved to meet Ryan half way.

He moved swiftly to the left trying to dodge me but I was faster. Shoving him back harshly, he hit the side of the long table and snarled at me. Flashing my fangs, I waited for him to make another move to get around me. He watched me with dark eyes and made a swipe for my face with his claws. As soon as I bent back to avoid the blow, he made a mad dash for the door. Leaping for him, I wrapped my arms around his waist and brought him to the floor much like he did with Jasper.

Straddling his back, I moved to keep him pinned to the floor while Jasper with Reece’s help finally left the room. Candice and Otis had just stepped closer to help me when Ryan suddenly began pushing himself up off the floor with me still attached to his back. Slipping an arm around his neck in a chokehold, I locked my legs around his waist to keep from falling. I put more pressure on his windpipe as he got to his feet still snarling. When did he get so sexy?

Otis slowly walked towards us, “Calm down, Ryan. What Jasper is talking about happened over five years ago.”

Ryan form slowed it’s shaking for a moment and then Candice spoke, “Yea, it’s not like they’re still sleeping together.” She looked past him to me with raised brows, “Right?”

Immediately following her words, Ryan took a couple of fast steps backwards. Grunting as my back slammed against the wall, I tightened my arms around him and pushed off the wall with the flats of my feet sending us forward. Bending suddenly before we hit the table, he latched onto my arms and flipped me up over his head. The force of my body hitting the table made a loud cracking sound as it crumbled under the impact. Way to kill the mood, Ryan.

Groaning, I rolled to my knees and grabbed a long piece of wood from the debri around me. Annoyed now that I was probably going to have bruises on my back, I gripped the wood with both hands and swung it directly at the side of Ryan’s knee. He stumbled for a moment and then hit the ground like a rock.

Curled on his side clutching his knee in pain, he snapped, “What the fuck, Kai!”

Scoffing, I looked at him and noticed that his eyes were a little less black.

“No, really. What the fuck, Kai? Why didn’t you tell me you slept with Otis’s cousin?”

Raising a brow, I looked towards the others for an explanation of his reaction and caught them slowly trying to make a quiet exit.

Realizing they were caught, Otis cleared his throat, “Looks like you guys have a lot to work out, so we’re just going to leave you to it. Um, Ryan, we’ll talk about your disobedience tomorrow.”

When we just stared at them in response they quickly left shutting the door behind them.

Alone now, I sat back on my ass with my hands resting on my bent knees looking at Ryan. He in turn, was already staring at me with eyes that were slowly leaking back to brown.

“Well?” He prodded.

Eyeing him, I replied, “I don’t understand your anger.”

His brows slammed down, “What does that even mean? How can you not?”

“You say we’re talking but call me your mate-to-be. You get angry about a male I slept with a long time ago but you have no right to be. He’s not challenging you and I hold no feelings for him. So, no, I don’t understand.”

He started shaking his head before I had even finished the last sentence, “No, no, no. We’re taking it slow because you’re not sure, I told you why I want to be your mate. And yea, maybe I over reacted about the whole Jasper thing but I don’t like that guy and he completely blindsided me with it. You should have told me.”

Taking a moment, I processed what he said and thought it over. Did I want to be Ryan’s mate? He was a nice looking male and his talking didn’t bother me nearly as much as it used to. He also wasn’t the type to try and dominate me like the others wanted to. Plus I couldn’t deny the warm feelings he caused inside of me, feelings no other male had ever caused. And I couldn’t pretend that after seeing his violent streak it didn’t change things in a major way. Ryan was even more appealing to me than he was before. Maybe it wouldn’t be such a bad thing to have a mate, to not be so…alone all the time. I wasn’t ready to do the bonding yet but maybe there was a step we could take that wasn’t as permanent…

“Move in with me.”

Ryan’s eyes went wide and all the black drained from them, “Excuse me, what?”

I let out a heavy breath and forced the words out again, “Move. In. With. Me.”

“You-you want me to-to move in with you? Like in your cabin? In your personal space? You want me in your personal territory? My scent would be all over, you know that right? I’d be around you for more than just a few hours at a time. We’d have to share things, like the shower and the kitchen…Wait! Does this mean you want to be my mate?”

“I understand what I am putting myself in and not exactly. What we have right now is too confusing for me. I like things straightforward and clear. Everything with you has been confusing to me so I’m clearing it up. I’m not saying I want to be bonded with you right now but I want us to see if this thing can work.” I motioned between us.

He tilted his head in confusion,“Sooooo, you want me to move with you on a probationary period? Shifters don’t really do this.”

Swallowing thickly, I choked out the words I needed to say, “I know. But I….I think I want this to work and to do that, we need to do this.”

His face lit up causing his dimples to wink at me, “Then we’ll do it but I have one condition.”

“And what’s that?” I asked wearily, moving into a cross legged position.

He copied my movements, coming closer, “I want complete honesty from you. I don’t ever want to be blindsided like that again. Not when it comes to you. Tell me everything.”

Looking away for a moment, I took a deep breath to think about what he was asking of me. He wasn’t just asking for the truth, he was also asking for my complete trust because to tell him everything was to trust him with everything I had. I was a private person, I didn’t like people in my business. There were things about me that would take a lot for me to tell him. Mainly how I received the scars on my throat, my shifted form and why I didn’t like being called stupid.

Straightening my spine which was beginning to ache, I glanced back at him, “Fine. But it goes both ways and there are three things I won’t share.” When Ryan opened his mouth, I continued, “At least not right now.”

He ran a hand through his black locks, “Deal. But we start now, what happened between you and Jasper.”

Snorting, I asked, “Sure you can handle it without going on a rampage?”

Ryan cleared his throat before raising his chin, “Yes.”

“I was nineteen and extremely sexually frustrated. I wanted to get my first time over with and no one in the pack would touch me so I went out and found a male. I didn’t know he was Otis’s cousin and it didn’t last longer than five minutes.”

His mouth curled down into a scowl, “They wouldn’t touch you because of me. Five years ago my wolf formed a bond to you and warned off the male wolves. You went out and slept with Jasper because of me.”

I raised a brow and smirked, “So, you’re to blame for my orgasmless first time?”

He cracked a small smile of his own, “I guess so but I’d be willing to make it up to you.”

“I bet you would.” And I might let you.

“I thought you’d be mad about what I just told you.”

I huffed out a real laugh, “When have I ever done something I didn’t want to? It’s old news. I don’t live in the past and neither should you.”

“Your right and just so it’s fair, my first time was with Jessica Blake and it wasn’t much better than yours.”

Why did that name sound familiar?

Wait…Wait a minute, “Isn’t she mated to one of Reece’s female nurses?”

His cheeks tinted red, “Yea, it was a real hit to the ego but at least I helped her find herself.”

Not wanting to embarrass him further, I smothered the laugh that was begging to come spilling out. While I took a minute to control myself, Ryan rubbed at his knee as he shook his head at me.

“Did you have to hit me that hard?”

“Don’t be a pup, you weren’t the one who got slammed through a table.”

His sweater covered shoulders jumped in amusement, “Alright, Alright. Last question for today, what changed that day after the shooter left?”

It’s amazing how a couple of words can drain all forms of amusement or relaxation from your body, “What do you mean?”

Ryans’s expression went serious, “You just said you’d be honest with me, Kai.”

I did, didn’t I? Narrowing my eyes, I said, “Call everyone back in.”

It didn’t take long for Otis and Candice to enter the room once more. Instead of sitting at the half wrecked table, they took a seat on the floor like us. Otis hiked up his slacks before sitting down and giving me his full attention unlike Candice who was still brushing dirt away from the spot she intended to sit on.

“Where’s Reece?”

Candice snorted, “Fixing up Jasper. He’s whining like a little bitch.”

Perfect, “What I’m about to tell you cannot leave this room. It’s about what the old renegade told me and something else you don’t know about just yet.”

“I knew you were keeping something from me. Damnit, Otis. I told you she was and you said I was paranoid. I’m never listening to you again.” Ryan huffed out.

Otis rolled his eyes, “Like you listen to me now.”

Surprisingly it was Candice who got serious for once, “Save the lover spat for later, boys. This is serious. Kai, I promise on the moon herself that I will not repeat what is said in this room.”

Chastised, the men repeated the same promise.

Satisfied by the sacred promises made, I looked directly at Ryan, “Okay look, don’t get mad but I got another note.”

And of course, he exploded, “What? Are you kidding me right now?”

“I just said don’t get mad.” I sighed.

Ryan sputtered, “That-that doesn’t mean I can’t still get upset, Kai!-”

“Would you just listen for once.” I snapped, “The note was more of a letter and it was addressed to me by The Savior. He said there’s a cure for me, to turn me normal like all of you. He can strip me of my abilities, he’s done it to others and he’s not giving me a choice. I have until the blood moon to go to him willingly or he comes to me.”

“That’s…why you asked me what I thought of you.” Ryan whispered to himself.

“It’s also why you can’t tell anybody about this. There are people in this pack, mostly older members that are still not happy having a Feral Born among them.”

They looked from me to Otis in disbelief, Otis nodded his confirmation.

Thinking it best to just keep going, I hurried to explain the rest before they got sidetracked. “They call themselves the Lunar Soldiers and their goal is to fix what they believe are the Moon’s mistakes. One of those mistakes to them is the existence of Feral Borns. They are not a small time group, thousands of renegades have joined their cause and they’ve developed a cure.”

“But that can’t be true. Feral Borns are born, it’s in your name. You guys can’t be cured, it would be like trying to cure regular shifters.” Candice muttered in a shocked haze.

Releasing a breath, I watched them carefully, “The Lunar Soldiers have already cured more than twenty of us. The first twenty died in their early attempts but the cure works. It’s real and they’re not taking no for an answer. Apparently, all twenty were asked if they wanted the cure. Five said yes and received it right away. Fifteen said no and were given it forcefully.”

Otis scowled, “How? There’s no way they could physically force them to take it.”

“They’re using our protector instincts against us. Threatening our kids and those we swore to protect in order to get us to comply.”

Silence cut through the room as the severity of what was happening to my kind completely sunk in. If this group was allowed to continue, my species would be wiped out in a matter of years. And despite my obligations to the pack, the obligation to my species would always be stronger.

Ryan’s face went tight in determination, “So, what do we do? How do we stop them?”

“We don’t. They’re not threatening the packs. The Lunar Soldiers only want Feral Borns and their giving out rewards to anyone with information on the location of one. That’s how they found me.” Looking each of them in the eye, I finished with my plan, “The week of the blood moon, I’m giving myself over to the Lunar Soldiers. Once inside, I’ll take out all the key players and their so-called Savior. With-”

It only took a second for Ryan to refuse, “No. Absolutely not. No, fucking way. Not going to happen. Get that idea out of you gloriously blood thirsty brain, right the fuck now.”

“Ryan-”

“That’s less than a month away and there’s thousands of them. You just said so yourself. You might be a force to be reckoned with Kai but you can’t take on thousands of shifters at once!”

“He’s right, Kai. You need help.” Candice stated.

“As your Alpha, I-”

I spoke over Otis before he could piss me off, “If you’d let me finish. I wouldn’t be doing this alone, turns out the older renegade wasn’t just a renegade but a Lunar Soldier. That’s how I got all this information and he used to guard what’s going to help me.”

Ryan’s brow furrowed, “A guard? What was he guarding?”

Giving them a fang tipped smile, I answered, “The fifty Feral Borns they’re holding in a silver reinforced titanium cell beneath their compound.”

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Thank you all for the support and remember to vote or comment on something you enjoyed in the chapter!!!

Smooches, Verbage 💋

Chapter Fifteen: Do Not Mistake Me

Ryan’s P.O.V.

“Ryan.” A series of knocks on my door immediately followed my name. “Get up. You’re going to make us late.”

Rolling over to face the wall beside my bed, I groaned, “No. I’m not going.”

“You’re my Beta. You have to go.”

Snuggling deeper into the warm cocoon that was my bed, I ignored him and released a relaxed sigh. There was absolutely no reason for me to get out of bed this early in the morning. My plans for the day consisted of cleaning my room and sorting through what I’d take and what I’d throw away before moving into Kai’s tomorrow. Nowhere in my plans did I have room to attend the initiation ceremony for a wolf I immensely disliked.

Slader gave a growl in agreement.

The sound of metal scratching on metal had me twisting around to face the door. In disbelief, I watched the wooden door swing open to reveal Otis standing in the doorway. “You do not have a key to my room.”

“This would say otherwise.” He replied, swinging a key ring around his pointer finger.

Flopping onto my back, I stared up at the ceiling, “I refuse to go.”

“You can’t.”

“You don’t even need me there.”

Otis sighed, “Ryan, the entire time that you’ve been my Beta, you have never missed a ceremony. We both know that you’re coming so just get up already.”

I squinted my eyes at him for a few seconds before maneuvering myself off of the messy bed. Damn him for being right. The ceremony wasn’t only about Jasper but an excuse for the pack to mingle, party and share small concerns with the ranking wolves. It wouldn’t be fair to them if their Beta just suddenly decided not to attend. I also couldn’t publicly display my dislike for Jasper, not when he was Otis’s cousin and soon to be Co-Gamma.

Why no? Candice do.

As I pulled an outfit out of my dresser, I explained to Slader, Candice is allowed certain leeway’s. We aren’t, you know that. We’re too close to the Alpha and too high ranking to show any dislike or favoritism.

Break. Rules.

No, Slader. We’re not breaking the rules. I said, pausing mid pants buttoning to make sure he understood. When all he did was huff loudly and start to pace around my mind, I continued dressing.

“I know you don’t like him because of his and Kai’s past but that was a long time ago.”

Looking over at his position by the door, I yanked a dark purple hoodie over my head and asked, “So you’re telling me that if you had to be around a man your mate previously slept with no matter how long ago, you’d be completely fine with it?” His green eyes swirled to black before he released an angry growl that had me laughing, “Exactly.”

Rolling his eyes, he snapped, “We’re not talking about me.”

Shaking my head, I fixed my hood and walked passed him out of the room. Following the hall towards the stairs, I took them two at a time before waiting at the bottom for Otis. Taking his time, he pulled on the sleeves of his dark green turtleneck and tightened the belt on his black slacks.

“I thought you didn’t like wearing green? Said you felt like a living Christmas ornament.”

“I didn’t,” He said, coming to a stop beside me. “But then someone said it made my eyes look greener.”

Amusement slowly filled me, “Mmmmhhh, who is she?”

“What are you talking about?”

Following him through the living room, I shoved his shoulder, “What she-wolf told you that?”

He ignored me as we entered the kitchen and continued out into the clearing behind the house. A short wooden stage took up the majority of the room on the left side of the clearing while picnic benches filled with food took up the other half. Pack members milled about the area talking and laughing with one another. A smile came over my face watching all of them, this was where I felt most at home. In the midst of my pack nothing could bring my spirits-

Mid-thought Jasper came into view and suddenly I hated pack functions. Sneering a bit, I watched him give us a shit eating grin before jumping up on the stage. Rolling my head to the left, I gave Otis a look to which he just looked up at the sky and sighed, “It’ll be less than five minutes, Ryan. And then you can go search out Kai.”

My mood lifted a little at the thought of my mate-to-be and I obediently walked behind him towards the stage. But once again, I made the mistake of looking at Jasper and seeing him give me a finger wave. A. Finger. Wave. Lip curling, I spotted an ice chest by the stage and bee lined straight for it. If I had to be here, the least I could do for myself was make it tolerable. Popping the lid, I took out a long neck beer and used a claw to flick the cap off.

Bringing the bottle to my lips, I started chugging the light brown liquid as fast as I could. Eyes on the end of the bottle, I watched it disappear until a hand snatched the beer and flung it into the woods. Wiping at my mouth, I scowled at Candice who narrowed her eyes back at me, “I’m not getting that.”

Blue eyes flashed, “It’s your bottle.”

“You threw it.”

“Well, if I don’t get to be drunk then neither do you.”

Shooting her a dirty look, I turned to the stage, “Why? Marcus tell you not to?”

“Me and Marcus are over, asshole.”

“I wonder why with your sunny disposition.”

“Tell me again, does Kai know you’re a borderline alcoholic?” She questioned as she shoved me out of the way to get on stage.

Grunting, I jumped on the stage after her and hip checked her off, “Tell me again, don’t you attend pathological liars anonymous?”

“That’s not a real thing.” She snapped, jumping up to stand next to me.

Pushing her off again, I said, “Too bad, you could really use the help.”

“Your ugly ass face could use the help.”

“Your ugly ass face could use the help.” I mocked back in a high pitch tone. “Great insult, Barbie.”

Candice flashed a fang, “I’d rather look like Barbie than a Ted Bundy reject.”

“Would you two knock it off.” Otis snarled, cutting me off mid gasp.

Giving Candice a dirty look, I moved over the wooden flooring until I was standing in the appropriate spot. Otis held out a hand to help her up before they both came over to stand beside me. With Otis on my left and Candice on my right, all three of us stared across at the male going to be our newest pack member. Me and Candice shared a look of deep rooted dread at the thought of sharing a link with Jasper.

Stepping a little bit out in front, Otis called out, “My fellow pack members! Today we initiate our newest member, my cousin Jasper!” Cheers rang out as he turned to face Jasper, “Jasper Nash, do you swear by the Moon and the Wolf Spirit above to protect the Silver Fangs pack?”

“By the Moon and the Wolf Spirit, I do.”

“Do you promise to always put the needs of the pack before your own when necessary?”

“I promise to put the needs of the pack before my own when necessary.” Jasper repeated, holding his head up high.

Otis’s voice deepened as his eyes swirled with his wolf’s, “Would you give your life to protect a fellow pack member?”

“Yes.”

Shifting his nail to claws, Otis slashed a deep cut across his palm and motioned for Jasper to do the same. When both of them had a small pool of blood in their palms, they clasped their hands together tightly. Growls came from both of them while the veins in their wrists raised slightly. Tilting my head, I waited for the pressure of his mind to press against my own. But as a minute came and went with nothing happening, I looked over at Candice in confusion.

She held the same expression on her face as I did but before we could turn to Otis, Jasper’s mind finally brushed up against mine. I held back for a few seconds and then slowly opened my mind to his thick oily one. Ugh, even his mind felt weird. Out of the corner of my eye, I caught Candice cringing a bit as she let him in.

Through the link, Otis announced, “Everyone please welcome our newest member and Co-Gamma, Jasper Nash.”

Another round of cheers rang out prompting Jasper to jump off of the stage to receive his congratulations from the others. Shifters patted him on the back or offered him a beer but it was curious how the only ones happy for him were the males. The females stood further away from him with scowls on their faces.

Leaning over, I whispered to Candice, “What’s up with the she-wolves? Why are they upset?”

“Oh, I don’t know.” She replied with heavy sarcasm. “Maybe because an openly misogynistic male, who happens to be related to the Alpha, was just put into a position of power.”

Before I could respond, she jumped off the stage, grabbed a beer and headed over to the females.

“He’s not that bad.”

Glancing at Otis, I shook my head, “Don’t go blind just because he’s family.”

Patting him on the shoulder, I hopped off the back of the stage and started into the woods. It was early so Kai was probably training Theo or doing her own thing. Ooooo maybe I’d catch her in just a sports bra again. Errr was that a bad thing to think? I loved seeing her in anything she was wearing but Kai in a sports bra was dangerous. Dangerous for me. Dangerous for my health. Dangerous for anyone else who saw her in it….

Wait a minute, I stopped mid stride. I’m going to be living with her. Sharing a bed with her….which meant I’d possibly…mostly likely….see her in a lot less.

Pressing a hand against the trunk of a tree, I heaved a deep breath in and out to stop myself from hyperventilating. Oh Moon, now that was a truly dangerous thought that I didn’t even know what to do with. Slapping a hand against my chest to get some air into my lungs, I restarted walking over the freshly fallen snow. The crunch beneath my boots sounded out like the first bite into a crisp apple which made it easier to hear the person behind me.

Keeping my gait normal and my breathing even, I focused on my hearing to catch any and all sounds. It could be a pack member headed in the same direction as I was but when I turned off the path they followed. They also didn’t call out to get my attention so I took a page out of Kai’s book. Speeding up to a light jog, I rounded a large tree and quickly scanned the area. Pushing with my thighs, I launched myself at a low hanging branch and hauled myself up.

Just in time it seemed as my stalker came into view below me. The dark red stringy hair swayed to the left and then the right as he scented the air. Confused, Jasper gave me his back while looking off into the distance which was when I made my move. Letting go of the branch, I dropped down behind him before sliding an arm around his throat in a choke hold. His clawed hands came up to scratch at my arms but I held him tight as he sputtered and sneezed. The reactions with this guy….could he just have a normal one? Once?

Relaxing my hold, I snarled, “Why are you following me?”

Kill male.

“Just wanted to ask how things are going with Kaiya.”

“Why?” I asked, giving his throat another squeeze.

“Heard some people say that she might not be here much longer.” He gagged out.

“Who’s saying that? Because they’re wrong.”

“Are they?” He laughed. “Because the Lunar Soldiers aren’t messing around, they want that bitch. Bad.”

Kill him.

Gums throbbing as my fangs slid free, I pushed him forward and let the tips of claws slash over his throat. “Watch your mouth before I take your throat.”

“Why are you fighting to protect her?” He questioned, rubbing at his throat. “She’s unnatural. Her kind shouldn’t exist.”

Weak wolf die between Sladers jaws.

Slader was pushing at me hard trying to climb into the driver’s seat but I forced him back. Barely. “How can you say that? After what happened between you two?”

He looked me dead in the eye as he replied, “Because it’s fact, Ryan. You all let her walk around here like she’s one of us but she’s not. What she can do is abnormal and not the Moon’s will. Her whole kind is a stain on the Moon.”

Rip out males throat!, Slader howled violently.

With a quick lunge, I had Jasper pressed up against the trunk of a tree with my hands fisted in his shirt and my fangs bared in his face. “No. What’s fact, Jasper. Is that you are not one of us. You’re a Wilder and you’re lucky we let you walk around because I’m starting to get the feeling you need a leash. The next time I hear some shit like that come out of your mouth, Otis’s cousin or not, I’m going to rip chunk after chunk out of your throat until I hit spine. And that’s a promise.”

Jasper sneered, “What happened to your happy laid back Beta persona?”

“I won four death matches and three challenges to get this position.” I snarled, snapping my fangs. “Do not mistake me for a wolf of your caliber. Mine is much more dominant.” With my words, I released the full scope of Slader’s dominance into the air around us.

Struggling in discomfort, Jasper opened his fanged mouth-

“Do it. Give me an excuse.”

With a whine and a weird high pitched squeal, Jasper bent his head to the side in submission.

Shoving him roughly further into the bark of the tree, I took a couple of steps back and gave a low warning growl. He glared before taking off into the woods towards the pack house.

Should have kill male.

When he challenges us, Slader. When he challenges us.

——————————————————————————-

Ooppp. Looks like there was a whole other side to Ryan we didn’t know about..

As always, feel free to share your thoughts about the chapter!

Smooches, Verbage💋

Chapter Sixteen: Moving Day

Ryan’s P.O.V.

The events of the past two days had put a dark cloud over my head about everything that was going on with Kaiya. As if trying to come to terms with her one woman mission wasn’t enough I had Jasper to worry about now. The way he had spoken about Kaiya wasn’t in a spurned ex kind of way but like he truly hated her. And those comments he made about her species?

It worried me to think that Jasper could be planning something. He wasn’t the most rational or, honestly, sane wolf. But would he really go that far? Sharing a group’s opinion was one thing but to actually act on it? I didn’t think he had it in him, though that wouldn’t stop me from keeping a close eye on him.

However, I wasn’t going to let what happened yesterday keep me in such a bad mood, today of all days. Vibrating in pure excitement and happiness, I danced around my little room boxing up the necessary items. Trying to focus on the positives, at least for now, I thought back to the day before yesterday when I had cornered Kaiya before she left after our meeting in the conference room.

Rushing out the door after Kai, I slid in front of her and blocked the stairs before she could make her way down. Her head tilted back to look at me because of our close vicinity as she gave me a slight glare.

“When?” I bit out in my nervousness. Because it wasn’t like I was asking the most beautiful she-wolf when she wanted me to move in. Nope, not at all nerve wracking. What if she forgot already? Or changed her mind?

She raised a dark brow, “What?”

Tensing a little, I coughed and tried again, “When would be a good time for me to move into your cabin?” Good moon, could you sound any more formal Ryan?

Stop with weird. Mate change mind.

Oh, yea. Make me even more stressed out about what should be a simple question Slader!

The bastard just huffed and in my irritation, I almost missed Kai’s response, “Day after tomorrow.”

A day after tomorrow! Yes! Alright be cool, Ryan. Act like girls ask you to move in all the time. BE. COOL. “So like, you want me to bring my stuff and…stuff?”

“Yes. Bring everything you need or want. I’ll clear out some space in the bedroom for you.”

Don’t faint. Don’t fucking faint. Not after you saw her hooded look when you got violent with Jasper. Don’t ruin this for yourself!

Looking at her with wide eyes, I grasped onto the handrail to keep myself steady. Her ruby gaze drifted from my eyes to where my heart was with a concerned look.

“Are you afraid? Your heart is abnormally fast right now.”

Oh, screw me. She can hear my heart beat. “Uh, I’m fine. But, I’m sorry, could you repeat that? My stuff will be in your room?”

She nodded, “Yes. I only have one bedroom so we’ll share. Unless you’d like your own space.”

As soon as the edges of my vision began to darken, I knew it was time to cut this short, “No, no. Sharing is fine. I’ll go start getting my room ready.”

Moving quickly before she could say anything else, I practically ran to my room to pass out in private like any respectable male would.

Laughing at the memory of her bewildered look as I ran from her, I tossed my last item of clothing into the box. Folding the top closed, I stacked the medium sized box on top of the other two by the door. Spinning on the balls of my feet, I slid to the left and then to the right in my version of a happy dance. Grabbing a small box while hopping foot to foot, I entered the closet sized bathroom to dump all of my toiletries into it.

Standing in the bathroom doorway, I looked over the now bare room to see if I missed anything important. Deodorant? Check. Toothbrush/paste? Check. Underwear? Check. Hoodies? Check. I think I got it all…I mean I didn’t need my bedsheets and pillow. Or maybe my pillow? What if she only has one? But then what type of person only has one pillow? Shaking the wandering thoughts from my head, I dropped the small box onto the others. Now, how was I going to get the boxes and myself down the stairs without falling to my death…

“Need some help?”

Spotting Reece leaning against the doorway, I smiled, “That’d be great. I got to get all this stuff over to Kai’s. I’m moving in.”

She gave a tight smile as she entered the room, her long brown ponytail swaying behind her, “Never thought I’d see the day.”

Giving a small chuckle, I replied, “Me either but I couldn’t be happier.”

“So, which box do you want me to take?”

“Oh, right.” Moving forward, I picked up the first two and handed them over to her, “These ones aren’t too heavy. Can you see over them?” Considering she was only 5 ’6 it was a fair question.

“Yup.”

“Cool.” I said as I picked up the last two heavier boxes with ease and strode from the room expecting her to follow.

We bounded down the stairs and through the pack house in silence for a few moments until we exited. Starting down the path to Kai’s cabin, I began whistling a little tune out of happiness. What would she be like in her own space? Did she have little hobbies I didn’t know about? Was she more relaxed? Or the same? Did she move around in her sleep like me or was she more of a still sleeper? Oh! What if she snored? That’d be so cute.

Reece cleared her throat, “Do you think the two of you will work?”

“I think so. I find we balance each other out.”

Readjusting the boxes in her hands, she scoffed.

Looking over at her, I asked, “Something you want to say?”

“How can you guys work if she doesn’t submit to you?”

Furrowing my brow, I shook my head, “I don’t want her to submit to me. She’s more dominant than I am and I’ve already had this discussion with my wolf. It isn’t a problem.”

Carefully stepping over a branch in the path, she replied, “But how will she know her place in your mateship? It’ll end before it even starts.”

“Reece, you know as well as I do that there’s nothing in the bonding ceremony that requires one of us to submit. That’s just the traditional aspect to it.”

“But what if it is for her?”

“What do you mean?”

“Do you even know how her kind mates?”

Since, I didn’t want to flat out admit I had no idea. I told her, “Not completely but I’d bet it’s painfully violent and I can’t wait to find out.”

“It’s not right.”

Slowing my pace, I hesitantly asked, “What exactly isn’t right?”

“I have nothing against Kaiya, she’s a nice woman but this isn’t right. A shifter and a Feral Born have no business mating. You’re too different.”

Shocked, I could only stare at the woman I thought I knew. “Your a speciest.”

After a minute, Reece finally noticed that I was no longer walking beside her and looked back. Taking in my expression, she turned around to face me, “Don’t call me that. I have nothing against either of you and I don’t agree with the Saviors ideals. I just don’t think our kinds should mix.”

“Mix? We’re both wolf shifters and even if we weren’t I don’t see why that’s a problem.” I responded in disbelief of her attitude.

“You know what I mean.”

“No. I don’t.”

She shifted the boxes in her hands again and said, “It’s not natural. She’s almost pure wolf and you’re domesticated. This thing between you will only end in one of you getting hurt. And maybe it’s not my place to say but-”

“Your right.” I snapped, restarting on the path to Kaiya’s. “It’s not.”

How dare she say those things to me! How she could even think that I knew what she meant by that was appalling. It was becoming more and more apparent everyday where some of the shifters in this pack stood on the issue of Feral Borns. And I was becoming increasingly disgusted by my fellow pack members.

Taking the last few steps into the clearing that Kai’s cabin sat in, the sounds of fighting tickled my ears. Concerned, I jogged to the porch and dropped the boxes before following the sound. Rounding the corner, I stopped abruptly at the sight that greeted me.

Devin sat criss-cross on the snow with his eyes closed a good distance away from the fighting pair. Claws out both Kai and Theo fought, hitting each other with enough force to bruise. Ducking under a swinging arm, Kai spun on her knees while hooking her elbow behind one of Theo’s knees. The move effectively dropped him onto his back as she followed through with the attack. Swinging her arm around in an arc, Kai slammed her fist down right into the snow beside his throat.

“Better but still slow. You need to keep moving.” She growled down at him.

He groaned, “It’s a little hard when you get the breath knocked out of you.”

“Your enemies will not wait for you to catch your breath and neither will I. Get used to it or die.”

With those harsh words of wisdom she pulled away from him and turned to face us. I had put a black long sleeve on today instead of my normal choice of a hoodie because I had just washed all of them. Which I was starting to think was a fantastic idea by the way Kai’s eyes hooded slightly as she looked me over. I definitely needed to start wearing these more often. What’s a little chill, when that look she was giving me could heat me right back up.

Her hair was pulled back into a tight ponytail like usual but the loose basketball shorts and wife beater were not. I mean was there anything this woman could wear and not look attractive in? The answer: No, no there was not. She opened her mouth to say something but then slowly closed it again when Reece stepped up next to me. Kai’s eyebrow arched as she looked between the two of us with an expression I couldn’t quite place. Ever since she saw my show of violence after Jasper ran his mouth she’d been doing that a lot. Making expressions I couldn’t quite grasp.

“What are you doing here?”

I went to answer until I realized that she was staring at Reece instead of me.

Reece gave her a smile, “Just helping Ryan carry his boxes over.” Looking between us, she said, “Congrats on moving in together by the way.”

Fake bitch, I thought in irritation as Slader snorted in agreement.

Another voice spoke up as Reece left the way we came, “Moving in together? The fuck. Since when?”

“Since, I realized that Ryan might actually be a very suitable mate.” Kai answered.

When Theo opened his mouth to speak again, Devin cut him off, “Just be glad she answered, Goldie. This has been a long time coming. She finally opened her eyes to his existence after he beat the shit out of Jasper.”

“Ooooohh,” Theo exclaimed in understanding and then snapped, “Don’t call me that, Defect.”

“What, did I say about your human bullshit?”

Confused, my eyes bounced from one to the other as they spoke. They interacted like siblings with Kai being the more mature one of the group.

Both boys groaned at once, “To keep it at home.”

“Exactly. Training’s over for today. I have more important things to do.”

A warm fuzzy feeling climbed it’s way up my chest as I followed her to the front of the cabin. I was that more important thing. Me. Slader growled in contentment from within at her words. Keeping my outward appearance neutral, I did another little happy dance inside my head. Even Slader stretched and pranced around trying to copy my movements.

Picking up the boxes I had dropped earlier, I walked up the porch steps after her. Holding the door open for me to pass with her leg, Kaiya bent down and to the side picking up the other boxes in an impressive show of flexibility I hadn’t known she possessed. Standing straight again, she walked into the cabin with me at her heels.

Since I’d been inside her cabin multiple times over the years, nothing was really new to me besides her bedroom. Which she was now walking inside of with my boxes in hand. Striding hesitantly after her, I entered the small room taking in all the things I wasn’t allowed to before. A queen size bed sat against the middle of the left wall and directly across from it was the entrance to her bathroom. Besides the dresser on the right side of the bed, the room over all was pretty bare. Not unlike my former room.

Placing the boxes on the bed, Kai said, “Since you’re taller than I am, I emptied out the first two drawers for you to use. If you need more space there’s a small closet by the door that’s empty.”

Moving over to the dresser, I smiled at her, “Thank you.”

Undoing the boxes, I began putting my things away in the drawers as she watched. Feeling self conscious, sweat began to bead at my temples the longer she stared from her position on the bed. Filling the drawers to the top, I sighed in relief when I grabbed the toiletry box and was out of her view for a few precious minutes.

Done setting my things around the sink, I exited the small bathroom to see that the room was empty now. Huh, I didn’t even hear her leave. Taking the last two boxes, I left the room to look for the small closet by the door. Setting them down again, I searched the wall for a door that I couldn’t see at all. Eyes roaming the wood, I tried to find the outline or the cracks of the door. Anything that hinted at one even being there.

“Fourth log up, the long chip. Pull it.”

Following her directions, I found the cut in the wood that I had originally thought was the mark of an axe. Sliding my fingers into the space, the thin panel came gently swinging out towards me. Grabbing onto the cord hanging from the ceiling, I yanked on it causing light to flood the inside. Like she said, it was empty besides the hangers on the rack and a shelf above it. Perfect.

Sweaters hung from the now full rack as I placed the last of my DVD collection on the shelf above. Folding up the box, I leaned it up against the wall with the others before turning off the light and shutting the door. With the last and heaviest box in hand, I turned to head into the kitchen where Kai was currently drinking from a water bottle.

“You brought kitchen utensils?” She rasped.

Putting the box on the table, I opened it up and began pulling the items out. “Not exactly, I raided the pack fridge before I left and brought some things.”

Her ruby eyes glanced over the sandwich items, vegetables, and junk food. Looking up at me, an amused smile graced her lips. “You thought I’d only have meat and water.”

Scratching the back of my neck, I felt my cheeks begin to heat up. I had thought that. “N-No. I just thought that since you didn’t get a chance to shop on the last town outing, I’d bring some things over.”

She tapped her nose with a grin, “That’s not entirely true.”

She smell liars. Dumb dumb.

Go back to sleep, I snapped at Slader.

Embarrassed, I admitted, “Okay, kinda.”

Thankfully she didn’t seem upset, just more amused as she started to help me put the food away. It was silent between us except for the few times I had asked her where certain things should be put away. With her calm and in an amused state, I figured now was the best time to ask her about some things that have been bothering me since the meeting.

“You said we couldn’t tell anyone about the cure or the Lunar Soldiers, because some members weren’t okay with you being here. But I thought everyone was?” Because despite Jasper and Reece I really had thought that.

Kai leaned back against the counter, “Dislike covered by a thin veil of politeness is not the same as acceptance. And if they found out about the cure they’d sell me out quicker than a rabbit.”

Feeling a little defensive of my fellow pack members, I stated, “Maybe they just haven’t gotten to know you yet.”

“Getting to know me won’t change the fact that their specists.”

“And that doesn’t bother you?” I asked her, feeling disheartened.

Her lips twitched as she looked me over, “You don’t know much about my kind do you?”

I went to immediately say that I do, when I stopped and really thought about it. Much to my chagrin, I realized that she was right. I knew very little about the ways and thinking habits of Feral Borns. “No, I guess not.” I murmured.

She hummed, “Does a wolf care if it’s liked?”

“No. That’d be absurd.”

“Exactly. I am essentially a wolf in human form with very few human traits. If you’re really serious about being my mate, maybe you should find out more about my kind first.” And with that, she left out the back door with a brisk, “I’m going hunting.” before I could even ask what time she’d be back.

Grabbing a sweater from the closet, I slid it on as I stepped outside onto the porch. Jogging down the steps, I started making my way to the pack library. After today, nobody was ever going to tell me I didn’t understand my mate’s kind ever again. Especially, not her.

Slader snarled in agreement.

————————————————————————

Honestly people, who doesn’t want a Ryan???

Feel free to like or comment if you enjoy the chapter! Much love to everyone who’s made it this far!

Smooches, Verbage 💋

Chapter Seventeen: Just. Watch.

Staying downwind, I watched the fat rabbit’s nose twitch in time with its fluffy tail. I had been following this little food bag for at least twenty minutes. Either the rabbits around here had gotten faster and smarter or I was more distracted than I thought. From the short amount of time that Ryan had been in my space, I knew I made the right decision by letting him move in with me. Already, my small cabin felt full of life and I just knew that living with him would be very interesting. Besides his lack of knowledge about my kind, I could feel that little ball of warmth growing inside my chest. Every time he blushed or blabbered, I felt the warmth increase and it had been happening more often since his show of violence.

It was common for Feral Borns to mate after fighting one another or seeing the interested person give a show of aggression. Consciously, I knew I was beginning to register Ryan as my mate but nobody ever mentioned these…feelings being a part of the mating process. My kind didn’t mate with feeling in mind but with aggression. So, trying to sort through these feelings while also trying not to over think my plan for the Lunar Soldiers was proving difficult. Because of this, I was going to stick with my core feelings. The wolf doesn’t overthink, she takes what she wants and so will I. No more complications.

The fat gray rabbit wiggled it’s little nose once more before turning it’s back in my direction. Licking my fangs, I tensed my muscles while pushing my hands a little deeper into the snow for purchase. With one powerful spring, I had the wiggling rabbit in my grasp squealing in fright. A shriek left the little mammals mouth as I gave it’s neck a hard jerk to the right. A quick and almost painless death. Clutching the rabbit in one hand, I made my way over to where I had been lying in wait. There on a skinny branch leaning against the side of the tree hung my three other kills. My last rabbits had been scavenged by the time I had been able to go back and retrieve them.

After tying the rabbit to the end using a small piece of twine, I grabbed the branch and rested it over my shoulder leaving the rabbits to swing at my back. Deciding to take my time going back, I set a leisure pace for myself. I had already been out here for at least three to four hours, trying to catch rabbits with a distracted mind was even harder than it sounded. Side stepping around a pile of animal scat, I continued on to the cabin doing my best to keep my mind clear for the next couple of minutes.

Pausing for a moment between the trees, I watched as little specks of snow began falling from the sky. The few that made it past the trees gently drifted downwards to the ground with the faintest of scrapes against the already fallen snow. Smiling gently, I continued on my way home at a faster pace in the hopes that my clothing wouldn’t be damp by the time I arrived. Carefully sliding between two bushes, I exited the forest and entered the small space by my back door. Thankfully, rabbit hunting didn’t involve me going far out into the woods.

Ripping them from the end of the branch, I tossed it by the stairs as I opened up the back door and slipped inside. Toeing off my training sneakers by the door, I moved into the kitchen and dropped the rabbits on the island. Digging a knife out from the drawer, I turned and placed it by the rabbits. Leaving them there, I strided to my room to change and take a shower before Ryan came back from wherever he had went.

Closing the bathroom door behind me, I immediately stripped down and stepped into the shower. Turning the water to hot, I pulled the hair tie from my hair and tossed it onto the sink before getting underneath the shower head. Scrubbing at my scalp, I pumped a quarter size of the 2 in 1 soap and massaged it in. I let it sit for a second and then washed it out, making sure there was no soap left. Turning the knob off, I rung out my hair with my hands before grabbing the towel hanging in front of me. Wrapping it around my body, I stepped out of the tub and exited the bathroom.

Taking out the articles of clothing that I needed, I yanked on my undergarments, tan cargo pants, and then tucked the navy tank top into the waistband. Drying my hair with the towel, I walked back to rehang it over the curtain bar. My hand had barely left the soft material of the towel when I heard the front door open and close followed by the sound of footsteps. The scent of oranges and mint wafted throughout the bedroom as I went to stand in the open doorway.

With his dark head bent over the book in his left hand, Ryan carefully took off his boots by the door while juggling the other three in his right. Eyes glued to the page, he walked around the little living room opening the blinds and then flopped down onto the couch. His long legs dangled over the end while the other books laid scattered over his chest. Ryan’s brow furrowed before he made a soft grunting noise at something he read and then moved his lips like he was trying to make it make sense by physically saying the words. It shouldn’t have been so…cute but it was.

“Anything interesting?”

“Holy shit!” The books crashed to the floor as his body snapped into a sitting position. “When did you get back?” He panted out with a hand pressed to his chest.

I tilted my head, “Thirty minutes before you.”

“Wow, I didn’t even smell you.”

Pushing off the door frame, I sauntered into the kitchen, “Probably because your nose was pressed into that book.”

He harrumphed.

Smirking, I started taking out everything needed for my stew including pots and utensils. Wedging the large stew pot under the faucet, I filled the pot about half way before shutting it off and putting it on the stove. Flicking the burner on, I turned to get started on skinning the rabbits so I could chop them up later. Taking the first plump rabbit, I placed it on the cutting board and grabbed my knife. Raising it up, I slammed it down with a thunk effectively decapitating the animal. Pushing the head to the side of the board with the knife, I got to work slicing the sharp blade between the fur and muscle.

I had just started on the second one when footsteps cautiously approached, “You’re not going to throw that at me if I sit, right?”

Chuckling, I gave him a quick glance, “No promises.”

There was a short pause before the sound of a stool being pulled out joined the slicing of my knife. He shuffled around on the stool for a moment and then placed the now closed book on the countertop in front of him. Curious about what had held his attention so completely, I paused my cutting to glance at the leather bound book cover. Feral Born: Important Things to Know. He must’ve taken my earlier words to heart but I doubted he had learned anything of substance from that book.

I was about to dismiss his readings all together when my shifted form flashed in my mind’s eye. Tightening my grip on the knife, I slowly raised my gaze from the skinned rabbit to Ryan’s face. He didn’t look like he found anything that frightened him or caused him to be gravely concerned. It was a very low chance that the book held the knowledge of my kind’s shifted form as almost all the non-Ferals who saw it were dead. I knew I’d have to show him my form at some point but I rather be the one bringing it up than have him be misinformed by a book.

I dragged the last two rabbits onto the cutting board, “Your reading about my kind.”

“I am. You were right earlier when you said to be with you I needed to understand your kind.”

“I didn’t think you’d actually do it.” I said, punctuating the sentence by chopping the rabbit’s head off.

He slid the book closer to him, “Are you…mad? That I did.”

“No. This just means we’re going to have to do your total honesty condition again. Now, tell me what you’ve learned so far.”

His eyes lit with excitement, “I am so happy you said that. I have soooo many questions.”

Lips twitching, I flipped the rabbit so I could continue peeling it’s skin off, “Ask away.”

Ryan pressed his hands flat against the counter, “I have to know. Is it true you have extra skin at the back of your neck like a pup?”

I snorted, “No.”

He seemed to deflate a bit, “Oh.” Almost as fast though he perked up, “What about your birth. Are you guys really born as wolves?”

“Our version of wolves, yes.”

“Does that mean if we had kids they’d be born as wolves? For how long? What’s your version of wolves?”

Trying not to show my panic at the thought of having kids, I answered, “Feral Borns are extremely dominant so as long as one parent is a Feral Born the kids will be as well. When we’re born we stay in our shifted form until we are no longer vulnerable. So the first year or so of our lives. And our shifted form is our version of it.”

Giving him a moment to let that sink in, I used my natural speed to chop the rabbits into bite size chunks. Scooping up the bloody pieces, I turned and dropped them into the boiling water behind me. Cleaning the mess on the table, I replace the knife and cutting board while placing the others in the sink. Twirling the knife in my hand, I got to work slicing up the vegetables.

“Wait, so you guys have always been able to shift? Then how come I’ve never seen your shifted form?”

I raised a brow, “Because I’ve never shown any of you.”

“Why not?”

“My kind doesn’t like others seeing what our shifted form looks like. For reasons like the Lunar Soldiers, why give them more ammo on how we’re monsters.”

“But you’ll show me, right?” He questioned trying to make eye contact with me.

Looking into his dark brown eyes, I sighed, “After dinner. Now ask me your other questions.”

“Yesss,” Ryan hissed in excitement, “Alright. Is your tongue as long a wolf’s?”

I gave him an appalled look, “No.”

“It says that you guys can leap up to ten feet, is that true?”

“Yes.”

“Do you guys really prefer to eat raw meat?”

“Sometimes. It tastes better.”

“Huh, okay. Is it true that you guys eat the bones of your kill?” He asked, cringing a bit.

Smirking, I answered, “Yes. As human or wolf. The crunch is the best part.”

“Your natural speed is a hundred miles per hour?”

I started on the carrots, “Closer to a hundred and twenty.”

“That’s amazing. It says you can communicate with your kind through howls?”

“Sometimes, yes. That’s mostly for long distance, challenges or hunting calls but other reasons too.”

“Which leads me to my next question,” He cleared his throat, “Do you really battle for dominance when you meet others of your kind?”

Scooping up the veggies, I turned to dump them in the pot with the rabbit, “That’s a tricky question. We are aggressive in nature but normally we can smell when another is more dominant. That doesn’t stop us from starting a fight if we believe we can win but otherwise it’s not immediate like with Wilders.”

I turned back to him in time to catch the indecisive look on his face before it disappeared, “Ask.”

He scratched the back of his neck, causing his bicep to flex, “How does your kind mate? It’s not in any of the books I found.”

Smirking, I leaned towards him,“Our’s is much simpler than yours. The one we’re interested in shows us how aggressive they can be and if the display is acceptable then we bite to leave a scar and fuck.”

He coughed as his cheeks turned red, “Oh, okay yea. Wow.”

“In case you were wondering, your display was acceptable. It could have been a bit more ruthless but I understand that you’re not like me. And my…feelings towards you make up for it.”

Ryan stood up abruptly, “Your…feelings?”

Grabbing bowls and spoons, I replied thickly, “Yes, I don’t really understand them but I’m not going to run from them.”

His footsteps rounded the island, “Can…can you describe them for me?”

My chest tightened up at the question but they needed to be said so we could move forward, “Warm, a fuzziness inside my chest. It happens when you do these…little things that should be meaningless to me…but they’re not. It’s also why I decided to have you move in and while I’m not ready to complete the bond… I know I’ve formed one of my own to you.”

“Are you sure?” His voice sounded from behind me.

Tilting my head to look back at him, I answered, “Yes.”

Brown swirled with black, “Good because I’m pretty sure I’m in love with you. I think I always have been.”

My breath froze inside my lungs as I digested his words. Words I thought I’d live my life without. Words that I didn’t realize I needed to hear or would ever want to hear. If my father could see me now, I thought wryly. He’d strike me down once again for being what he had always called my use of human emotions, stupid. The memory was like a bucket of icy water being thrown over me. He said that now but would he say it again after seeing my shifted form.

Needing to know now because once again he changed everything, “Follow me. And stop changing everything.”

With a flick of my wrist, I turned off the stove and shoved open the back door to stomp barefooted down the stairs. When I was a good distance away but still visible underneath the back porch light, I faced him. Confusion etched all over his face, Ryan stood on the top of the stairs looking down at me. Making a move as if to step down, I raised a hand to stop his descent.

“Kai if I moved to fast or freaked you out, I’m -”

“Just. Watch.”

After making sure no one was nearby to accidentally catch a glimpse of my shifted form, I began taking off my clothes.

Ryan’s head whipped left to right as I took off my shirt, “What the moonless hell do you think you’re doing?” He hissed. “Someone could see you.”

“Shifting.” I grunted while unbuttoning my pants.

“Do you want me to turn around? I’m-I know you just said you wanted to mate with me but I can still- or is that a weird thing to say? I don’t know what to do! Look? Not look? Fuck it. I’m going to look, don’t hate me. Oh, okay wow. There goes your bra. I feel like I shouldn’t be commenting or talking but I- how can I not when faced with all of you.” His voice pitched up a notch, “Ugffnuu, I see you just calmly took off your underwear. Okay. Yea. Totally fine. Not freaking out whatsoever. Cool as a cucumber.”

Ignoring his sweet ramblings, I closed my eyes and focused on bringing on my shift. My claws and fangs were the first to extend from their normal counterparts. My skin began to tingle and wiggle with the oncoming transformation into my other form. Unlike the regular shifters my bones didn’t crack or pop but instead they elongated. It was more of an intense stretching feeling up until the point where they felt like they’d snap. With the feeling of my spine growing, I knew that I’d be around almost seven feet when it finished. My arms and legs were next, thickening with ropes of hard muscle and coarse fur. My form was what humans would call a Lycan except I was much bigger, harder to kill and actually existed.

When everything stopped I turned my neck side to side, cracking it to relieve some of the leftover pressure there. Like humans, in my shifted form I had fingers and opposable thumbs but they were tipped with four inch claws as were my feet. Short strands of black fur covered even thicker skin and a muzzle that held two rows of extremely sharp fangs. The short ears on the top of my head twitched as I opened my eyes to take in Ryan’s reaction to seeing my other two legged form. The shift took only thirty seconds, much shorter than an average shifter’s but still long enough for someone to lose their shit.

Plastered up against the back door taking deep breaths, Ryan’s eyes were the widest I had ever seen them. As they roamed over my form, I waited with tense muscles for him to scream that I was a monster like the Savior said I was. Wanting to get this over with, I took two steps towards him to try and get a reaction out of him. It worked.

Eye blown wide, he raised his arms, “Y-you’re…you’re…”

Steeling myself, I waited for the rest.

“FUCKING AMAZING!” He shouted at the top of his lungs before running to me.

And I wasn’t certain but I think my heart had just exploded.

————————————————————————

Me too, Kai. Me too. Honestly, I lowkey squealed a bit writing the last part of this chapter. My babies are just too cute! Also, I’ve already written the next two chapters and let me tell you, I was not expecting what I wrote at all. Lol.

Don’t be scared to comment your thoughts on the chapter or like if you enjoyed it!

Smooches, Verbage 💋

Chapter Eighteen: Hot Then…Pissed

Before going to bed last night, Ryan made at least a hundred circles around my shifted form taking in every detail he could. Surprisingly enough the only thing he found odd about me was that I didn’t have a tail. A tail! He was faced with a seven foot tall predator that could tear him apart as easily as tissue paper and the only thing he found insane was that I didn’t have a tail. To be fair though, I was just happy he didn’t run away screaming.

After he got over the fact that I didn’t have a tail, he begged me to shake his hand with my clawed one. When I did, he jumped around saying how cool it was that I was capable of human functions in my shifted form. Then he asked me if I could move how I normally would if I was stalking prey and commented on the fact that my eyes were a brighter red in this form. Once he was done seeing almost everything I could possibly do in my shifted form he apologized for not agreeing with my plan to take down the Lunar Soldiers before. Ryan had stated that it was now obvious to him that fifty of my kind could easily wipe out thousands of his but he was still nervous about me going.

Thinking he was done geeking out over my form, I had gone to shift back when he hesitantly stopped me. Looking very boyish, he shyly asked me if I could show him how high I could jump in this form. Nodding my large head in amusement, I decided I’d do him one better. So instead of simply jumping straight into the air, I jumped onto the roof of my cabin and dug my claws in to stay there for a moment. He had yelled in excitement and shouted that he was basically mated to superwoman. By the time I had finally shifted back so we could go inside and eat, Ryan had a whole new list of questions he threw at me for the rest of the night. He wasn’t even awkward about sharing a bed like I thought he’d be because he was still excitedly talking about my shifted form.

Which led me to my present state, the bed shifted causing me to wake up with the feeling of being weighed down. Lifting my head up to see what was moving, I squinted down at the sight of a long leg thrown over my thighs. Higher up, an arm was wrapped tightly around my lower stomach and above that a head rested on my right breast. Black curls shined in the morning light, shifting as Ryan tightened his grip snuggling deeper into my side. My eyes widened slightly at the feeling of his other arm brushing against the back of my neck and squeezing my shoulder. How did he get his arm underneath me without me noticing?

Dropping my head back on the pillow, I stared up at the ceiling, “Ryan.”

Silence.

“Ryan, get up.”

Nothing.

“Ryan.” I barked.

He grunted. At least it was a response this time.

“Ryan, move.”

A whine this time.

Rolling my eyes, I shoved him with my free hand, “It’s time to get up.”

“Nooooo.” He mumbled, snuggling even deeper into my side.

“I have training today.”

A pause and then, “Not anymore.”

Trying my hardest not to laugh, I said, “You shouldn’t have done that.”

“Why not?”

“Because those boys need all the help they can get.”

He laughed and then sighed, “You woke me up.”

I shook my head, “You woke me up first. We went to bed side by side, how did this happen?” Giving a little shake to show what I was talking about.

His head lifted slightly to look at our position and then tilted it back to look at me with a sheepish expression, “Must have been Slader, he takes over in my sleep sometim-” Fully awake now, he scrambled on top of me to straddle my waist, “Don’t reject me!”

Shocked, I pressed my head back further into the pillow, “What?”

“I didn’t mean to tell you my wolf’s name. Just forget it, Kai. Let’s pretend I never told you his name because it doesn’t matter. Even if you reject me, I’ll just become a grumpy old man that stalks the love of his life even though-”

I stopped paying attention half way through his babbling speech when I finally noticed his bare chest. Little moles dotted his creamy flesh here and there, some of them falling into the creases of muscle. Nicely defined pecs with rosy nipples led to the lines of his abdominals before landing at his sharply cut hip bones. Granted his abs were not as defined or as many as mine, but I was impressed by his physique. I hadn’t realized he worked out this much to achieve such a torso but really, his thick arms should have clued me in.

I tuned back into his speech just in time to hear the ending statement, “Look, I think I might just be a tad unhealthily obsessed with you so for my sanity you can’t reject me.”

Cracking a smile, I looked up at his adorably stubborn yet desperate face.

Black brows slammed down right before he demanded, “Are you listening to me?”

“I heard, obsessed stalker, grumpy old man, and ‘I’ll kill all your new lovers’. Are you sure you’re not a Feral Born?” I laughed.

He raised a skeptical brow, “Are you…making a joke?”

“I might be.”

“You’re different.”

Tilting my head on the pillow, I asked, “What do you mean?”

“I mean for the past few weeks, you’ve been opening up to me more. Not as standoffish or aloof. You smile and laugh more. You’re almost…softer in a way.”

Me? Soft? Shaking my head, I replied, “I think you’ve just gotten meaner.”

He grinned, “Maybe. So, you’re not going to reject me right?”

There was a hint of vulnerability in his tone that I quickly found I didn’t like, “And let you go back to terrorizing the males in the pack? No.”

Laughing, Ryan moved to drop back onto the other side of the bed when I stopped him. Placing a hand on the back of his neck, I pulled him down until we were face to face. Noses grazing as we stared into each other’s eyes, his searching mine for something. Ryan swallowed hard before opening his mouth to speak but I stopped him before he could.

Leaning up the rest of the way, I closed my eyes and pulled his mouth firmly down to mine. Moving my lips against his still ones, I slid my hand up from the back of his neck to thread my fingers into his curls. Gripping his hair tightly, I nipped at his lower lip trying to get some kind of reaction from him before pulling away. The lack of touch must have done it, I thought. Because as soon as my lips had left his, Ryan crushed his mouth against mine and finally kissed me back. Tilting my head to the side I deepened the kiss, opening my mouth the barest of fractions to allow him entrance.

His tongue met mine in a frenzy as he buried his hands into my hair, tugging on the strands while nipping back at my lower lip. Ryan leaned back a bit allowing me to catch my breath only to lose it again when his lips brush my neck hesitantly. Ignoring the urge to jerk away, I nodded in consent when he huskily whispered if this was okay. Clutching at his dark curls, I turned my head to the side giving him more space to touch. Soft lips kissed a trail from my ear down to the slope between my neck and shoulder. I jolted in panic and then moaned at the stinging bite he placed there before he soothed it over with his tongue.

For a few moments, I was lost to the tongue swirling and nipping pattern he had started up on my neck. Raising my hands, I began touching his exposed skin brushing over his nipples and scratching at his back. Sliding a hand back up his chest, I let it trail down from his neck to the waistband of his sweats. Shivering slightly, Ryan pressed his forehead against my collarbone as he panted at the touch. My fingertips had just slid underneath the band of his pants when a knock at the door interrupted. Shocked that I hadn’t heard them coming, I stopped all movement.

“Ignore it.” Ryan panted roughly in my ear, “Please.”

It was the please that almost had my eyes rolling back and my hand moving again, just as desperate as him to finish what we had started.

A fist pounded at the door again, “Guys, open up!”

Both of us groaned at the sound of Otis’s voice, out of everyone we knew he’d be the one to stand there all day until we let him in. Removing my hand, Ryan dropped his full weight on me with a deep sorrowful sigh. Huffing out a laugh, I placed a quick kiss to the side of his neck and then shoved him over. By the time he hit the other side of the mattress with a thump, I was already sitting on the side of the bed adjusting my t-shirt and boxers.

Standing I walked around the bed and towards the front door, dodging Ryan’s grasping hands trying to pull me back to bed as I went. Leaving the bedroom door open, I strode the last few steps to the front door. Unlocking it, I threw it open to reveal the pair standing on the other side. Candice sat on the porch railing in a baby blue tracksuit with her long blonde hair pin straight today while Otis stood in front me in his usual slacks and turtleneck.

The three of us looked at each other before Candice dead panned, “Nice hickey.”

Narrowing my eyes, I sniffed the air between them, “You slept together.” Both of them stiffened at my words but didn’t bother trying to lie about it which I appreciated. “Unless you wanted a pup, I hope you used a condom because Candice is in heat.”

Not waiting for a reaction or a response, I turned away leaving the door open for them. Glancing into the bedroom, I caught a glimpse of Ryan’s back muscles flexing as he tugged on a long sleeve. Looking away, I continued on into the kitchen where I leaned against the sink to look at everyone.

Otis shut the door behind Candice as they both walked into the cabin and made their way over. Ryan exited the bedroom a second after they walked past and followed them into the kitchen before coming to stand beside me. Thankfully, he didn’t hang all over me or try and announce our new found familiarity. Although, the hickey Candice mentioned was already doing a good job of that.

“So, why are you here?” Ryan growled.

Candice took a seat on one of the stools, “Someone’s grumpy.”

“Someone’s frumpy.” He retorted.

She slapped a hand on the table and snarled, “Say it again, lil bitch.”

“Enough.” Otis snapped at them both, “What is your guys problem?”

Ryan and Candice shared a look before Ryan said, “Nothing, it’s just fun.”

As Otis looked to be praying for patience, I asked them, “So, you argue… for fun?”

They nodded.

“And this is something normal shifters do often?” Maybe that’s why Devin and Theo argued, for fun.

“Uh, some of us yea. Not everyone though.”

I nodded in response to Candice’s words.

“Anyways, we are here to bring you this,” Otis placed a small plant on the table that I hadn’t realized he was holding. “And to-”

“Why?”

“What?” He asked me, confused.

I pointed at the small plant, “Why’d you bring us a plant?”

“Oh,” Otis blinked, “It’s a housewarming gift.”

Tilting my head, I look over the plant, “That won’t heat up anything.”

“You’re just an interesting mix of modern and mammal aren’t you?” Candice mused.

I shrugged in response.

“Again, why are you here? Other to ruin my life.” Ryan asked them.

Otis grinned at him, “Right, about your plan Kai. We want to revisit the topic.”

“What about it?” I questioned, crossing my arms over my chest.

“We’re sending a team with you.”

Before he could finish, I was already shaking my head, “No. I won’t put the pack at risk. This isn’t their fight.”

Ryan cleared his throat and moved so he could look at me directly, “I know you and your kind can handle this threat, Kai. But there’s a lot of things that can happen between them taking you and getting you to the compound. You should have a small team to make sure it goes smoothly and so we know where the compound is.”

“I don’t want a team. I don’t need one.”

“But you’re getting one anyways.” Candice announced.

I flashed a bit of fang her way, “I said, no.“

Otis raised a placating hand, “It’d be a group of volunteers. No more than five and they’d stay out of your way. They’d only be there to make sure you reach the compound and that you get back out in the span of 24 hours. Think of them like watchers just there to oversee the mission.”

Snarling, I snapped, “This is not a stealth mission. When I get out, I’ll be followed by other Feral Born who will only know your kind as the enemy. They won’t stop to make sure your renegades or not, they’ll just rip you limb from limb. So, no. This is not a team mission, it’s a solo one.”

“They’re going with you, Kai.” Otis snapped back at me. “And that’s final.”

Anger whipped through me like lightning, “You don’t overrule me when it comes to safety.”

His eyes swirled at my tone, “Maybe it’s time, I should.”

Pushing off the sink, I was around the island and in his face before anyone could blink. Inches apart with our fangs bared, growls and snarls slipping past our lips.

“You can try.”

“Nobody snap their fucking fangs.” Candice shouted.

I tilted my head as I stared into Otis’ slowly blackening eyes, “Yea, Otis. You wouldn’t want to lose your pack, would you?”

A vicious snarl left his mouth.

Smiling coldly, I spoke again, “And, I thought I was like a sister to you.”

His eyes flickered between green and black now, “Exactly. We’ve always shared a certain amount of power, Kai. But for this mission, I’m taking it back. You will have a team.”

The heat at my side shifted slightly to lean into Otis’s space. “Only if she agrees to one, you won’t force her.” Ryan snarled.

Otis broke eye contact to look at Ryan, “How can you take her side? Don’t you want her safe?”

Ryan bared his fangs, “Fuck you for even asking me that. Neither of us is going to force her to put the people she’s sworn to protect in harm’s way. It goes against her very nature and if we do that, we’re no better than the Lunar Soldiers.”

Otis looked between the two of us as I snarled at him again. His eyes melted back to green and he snapped, “You talk to her then.” Before storming out of the cabin and slamming the door shut behind him.

Candice broke the tense silence with a laugh, “Never a dull moment with you, Kai. Don’t worry, sooner or later he’ll feel like an ass and apologize.”

Standing, she gave us a smile before calmly walking out the door and shutting it softly after her. Retracting my fangs, I turned slightly to look up at Ryan. Now that I was calmer, there was something that needed to be said.

“Comparing you and Otis to the Lunar Soldiers was a bit dramatic, don’t you think?”

Ryan grinned showing off his fangs, “Maybe but I always got your back, Buttercup.”

I scrunched my nose, “Buttercup?”

“What? You liked sweetheart better?”

“Uh, Buttercup is fine.”

His laughter echoed throughout the cabin, “Buttercup it is, then.”

————————————————————————

They mf kissed!!!! Can we scream finally, people? For everyone expecting a tender kiss, I’m sorry but…I mean it’s Kai and Ryan. Also it’s my first time writing a kissing scene so apologies if you hated it for that reason.

As always, comment or like if you enjoyed the chapter!

Smooches, Verbage 💋

Chapter Nineteen: Date Night

Since the moment I got up this morning things had been odd. It had all started when I woke up and Ryan wasn’t there wrapped around me like a snake. After getting ready to train Devin and Theo, I walked into the kitchen to find a note stuck to the granola bars.

’Buttercup,

Something came up with the lumber mills contracts. I won’t be back until later tonight. Don’t worry I’ll make it up to you! Missing you already!

Kisses,

Ryan.’

At the words lumber mill, I had immediately lost interest and started out of the cabin to begin training the boys. But all day I had the strangest feeling in my chest, it was like a heaviness followed by a bubbling sensation. It was irritating to the point that I had gone to Reece so she could see what was wrong with me. After a few questions, she laughed and said that everything was fine, I was just missing Ryan. That I was anticipating the moment that I’d see him again.

The only thing I had ever anticipated was those sacred moments right before a kill when I could already taste the animal’s blood in my mouth. Reece had to be wrong, I’ve been around Ryan hundreds of times and never felt this way when he left. The feeling was unusual and I didn’t like it at all. If I could, I’d claw it from my chest. Maybe I had eaten some bad meat, the meat in the fridge was a few days old…..

And that was how I found myself hunting out in the woods as the sun went down. Keeping downwind of the average sized deer that I was tracking, I kept my steps light as the wind brushed over my short fur. Claws sinking into the cold snow below me, I wound around the trees staying low to the ground. The deer’s long ears flickered as he froze in place listening for any sounds he deemed dangerous. The closer I got to him the more his instincts rode on him to run deeper into the forest. He could sense a predator nearby but luckily for me I was a skilled hunter.

Spotting the muscles tensing in his front legs, I used the closest tree for leverage and leaped for him. The deer eyes went wide in panic before he took off, the tips of my claws slicing into his backside. Landing in a crouch, I released a snarl before racing after him. In three large strides, I grabbed the deer by his neck and gave it a sharp jerk to the right. A loud crack echoed back off the trees around me as the deer fell limp in my grasp. Tipping my head back, I released a long howl thanking the Moon for the kill and promising not to waste any meat.

Wrapping a large clawed hand around the deer’s back ankles, I hefted him over my shoulder and started back for my cabin. For several long moments, the only sounds that could be heard were my feet crunching over the snow. Getting closer to where the pack normally hunted, I raced through the area as quickly and silently as I could. Winding around a few trees where the forest grew thick before thinning out again, I slowed to a stop.

Beneath my skin my muscles pulled and tightened as I shifted back into my human form. Fangs and claws retracted so their human counterparts could take their place but the most uncomfortable sensation came from my fur sliding away to skin. Once I had completely shifted back, I maneuvered the deer to lay across my shoulders. Holding a pair of ankles in each hand, I stalked naked through the last few feet of snow and trees to the back of my cabin.

Climbing up the back steps, I dropped the deer beside me to grab the key I had placed above the door. Unlocking it, I picked up the deer and muscled my way past the door and into the house. Dropping the deer on the island table, I gripped its limbs one at a time and dislocated the joints with a rough twist. Slipping my hand into the closet drawer, I pulled out a large cleaver and got to work stripping the deer of its meat.

Hands slick with blood, I scooped up all of the inedible organs and deer parts to drop them into the trash can. They slipped from my hands with a wet splat before I tied off the top of the trash bag and tossed it outside to deal with tomorrow. Leaving the raw bloody meat laying on the island, I went directly to the bathroom and washed myself clean of animal blood.

Dragging the light blue towel over my wet hair, I padded barefoot into the bedroom and towards the dresser. Picking out a black pair of boxers and a large white long sleeve, I threw the towel on the bed and changed. It was only when the shirt fell past my nose that I registered the scent coming off of it. Oranges and mint. This was one of Ryan’s shirts.

Brow furrowing, I looked at the white cloth. How was I wearing one of Ryan’s when I pulled this from my drawer? Confused, I crouched down to pull open my drawer full of shirts and held another night shirt to my nose. Oranges and mint. Growing more and more confused yet curious, I pulled out nightshirt after nightshirt to smell. They all smelled of Ryan, these were all his shirts. Did he need more room so he took space out of mine? But then where did all of my shirts go?

Standing, I left the shirts piled on the bed to ask him about when he got home. Re-entering the kitchen, I had just started to slice the meant into streak sized slabs when the front door handle started to jiggle. Pausing, I took a deep sniff of the air to scent who might be trying to get inside. Oranges and mint. A scent I was starting to get more and more used to as the days passed.

The door banged against the wall as Ryan’s large frame came stumbling through holding a large box. Kicking the door shut behind him, his eyes shot up to mine when I gave a low growl. His chocolate colored eyes crinkled at the sides as he flashed me a dimpled grin, “I know, I know, Buttercup. I’ll lock it right after I set this box down.”

Giving him a look that he ignored, I went back to cutting the deer before wrapping the pieces in butcher paper. Looking at the liver, I licked my lips at the smell and contemplated eating it now or saving it for later. A series of metal clicks rang out and then a pair of arms wrapped around my waist from behind. I stiffened in his hold before relaxing as he nuzzled his nose into my neck and took a deep inhale of my scent.

Ryan pulled me firmly back against his chest while his fingers flexed against my hips, “I missed you.”

His low gravelly tone sent a small shiver down my spine, “I was told I missed you too.”

“You were told?” He laughed, spinning me around in his arms.

Careful to keep my bloody hands down by my sides, I looked up at him, “Yes, I thought something was wrong in my chest but Reece informed me that I was missing you.”

His smile dimmed slightly, “You went to see Reece?”

“Yes, why?”

“Did she say anything else?”

“Like what?” I asked, tilting my head in question.

His mouth pursed slightly before he responded, “About us being together?”

Thinking over my exchange with her earlier, I said, “No, nothing about us.”

Ryan sighed before opening his mouth only to shut it and open it again, “It’s just, she’s not our friend, Buttercup.”

“I know that, I only have one friend. ”

Whatever he saw on my face caused a smile to stretch over his own once more. Leaning down, he brushed our noses together, “So, you did miss me.”

“I don’t like this feeling, I don’t want to feel it again.” I replied, snapping my human teeth at his nose.

“Then I’ll try my best to make sure it doesn’t happen again.” Ryan laughed, before pressing his lips against mine.

The kiss was slow and sweet but quickly changed to passionate when I tilted my head to deepen it. We’d been interrupted last time and I was tired of waiting, Ryan was sometimes too considerate for his own good. Forgetting about the blood on my hands, I slid them up around his neck as his own hands lifted me up onto the countertop. Wrapping my legs around his waist and pulling him tight against me, I broke away for air while he started to kiss my neck. Flinching a little at the first nip of his teeth, I sunk my claws into his shoulders causing a groan to rip from his chest.

I moaned in response and arched into his hold as he buried his own claws into my hips. A low throb started up between my thighs and I rubbed against the growing bulge in his pants to relieve some of the ache. With a little snarl, Ryan pulled away from my neck and grinded his erection more firmly against me. The thin boxers I wore doing little to block the fiction of his rough jeans rubbing against my sensitive flesh.

Pulling my claws from his shoulders, I dropped my hands to his sides and pushed his gray hoodie upwards. Taking the hint, he yanked his hands from my hips and tore off his sweater all without stopping the motion of his lower body. Leaning forward, I swiped my tongue over his nipple before scraping the tip of my fang over it. Shivering at the sensation, Ryan shifted my legs up higher around his waist and slid a hand down the leg of my boxers.

At the first touch of his warm thumb on my clit, I jumped slightly before sinking my fangs into his shoulder. He growled in pain before circling his thumb and grinding down on me harshly. Toes curling, I unclenched my jaw from around his shoulder and scratched my claws down his back. With hooded eyes, I took in his pale muscular chest covered in streaks of deer blood and sweat. Body tightening in lust, I loosened my legs around his waist to slip a unclawed hand into his jeans.

“Fuck.” Ryan gasped as he pushed himself into my bloody palm.

Hands moving, we stroked each other’s flesh as the sounds of growls and groans filled the room. I arched my back suddenly as he pushed one long finger into my entrance with his thumb pushing down on my clit. The sensation of being filled overcame me as he started to repeatedly thrust his finger into my silky depths. Squeezing his thick length in my hand lightly, I pumped my hand in the same rhythm he was using to thrust his finger into me.

I snarled when he added a second and the tight ball of heat in my lower stomach tightened further. Something was building and caused every inch of me to tighten in pleasure but stayed frustratingly out of reach. Growing irritated, I met swirling brown eyes and jerked my head forward to snap my fangs in his face. Snapping his own fangs back at me, his eyes narrowed when I began to move to try and chase my illusive need.

The claws of his free hand sunk back into my hip, to hold me in place, “Stop.”

Ignoring him, I wiggled and shifted my angle on his fingers getting a small piece of relief that quickly disappeared.

“Mine.” He growled sharply. “When I make it happen.”

Fed up, I snapped my fangs in his face again with a vicious snarl.

Ryan’s entire body tensed for a moment before his head snapped forward and his fangs ripped through the skin of my shoulder. I moaned loudly as the tightness in my belly finally broke at the pain causing me to clenched down around his fingers. He bit down harder, locking me in place, and growled when I squirmed from the overwhelming pleasure. With my hand still stroking along his length, I ran my thumb over his leaking tip before biting down on his closet bicep.

A loud growl vibrated around the room as Ryan’s fangs dug deeper into my shoulder and his length pulsed with his release. Panting, I unclenched my jaw from around his bicep and leaned back a little to take in the un-arousal tainted air. From his bowed position over me, Ryan’s back heaved a few times before he finally pulled his fangs from my flesh. Groaning a little at the ache it caused in my shoulder, I groaned again when he pulled his hand out from between my legs and left me feeling oddly empty. He straightened up with my legs still around his waist and snarled a little when I pulled my hand off his length.

Looking down, I tipped my head in interest at the cloudy white substance mixed with the blood in my palm. My eyes snapped to the clawed hand Ryan suddenly slammed down beside my thigh before they shot to his face. His pale cheeks hollowed slightly around the two fingers in his mouth while his eyes swirled with his wolf’s. Curious because I was sure that those were the same fingers he put inside of me, I lifted my hand to my face.

“Wait, don’t-”

But it was too late, my tongue swiped a thick line across my blood and semen laden palm. The taste rolled thickly over my tastebuds, deer blood followed by a bitter but not unpleasant flavor.

Another clawed hand slammed against the counter on my otherside, caging me in, as he groaned loudly, “Please stop before we really go at it.”

Chucking, I pressed my hands on the island behind me to lean back, “I wasn’t expecting you to be so aggressive.”

“I, uh, wasn’t either to be honest. I guess you just bring it out in me. Was that okay? I mean-I didn’t like actually hurt you- Well either way I guess I didddddd but I mean-Oh my Moon, I really bit you.” He said, wide eyes locked on the bleeding bite on my shoulder. “I am so sorry, Buttercup. Slader was scratching to get out and I-”

“I liked it. Let’s do it again. ” I replied, cutting off his downward spiral.

“I did too,” He replied with a blush coloring his cheeks. “But this was not what I had planned for tonight. I had a whole date idea I was going to set up in the living room. That’s what’s in the box, by the way. Blankets, snacks and fairy lights. We were going to watch scary movies and it was going to be cute dammit.”

Smiling at his pout, but not understanding the importance of a date beyond his tone, I said, “We can still do it.”

“Really?” And if he was in his other form, I had no doubt his tail would be wagging.

“Yes.”

He smashed his lips to mine in a quick kiss, “We can do this again too but uh-we’re using real lubricate like lotion or something next time. Because I cannot have deer blood on my dick again, it was hot but also very wrong in so many ways. And I’m almost certain that there’s laws against this.”

“What’s wrong with using deer blood?” I asked, trying not the smile wider at the fear in his eyes.

He gave me a hesitant grin and dodged the question all together, “I’m going to clean up and then set everything up okay? Okay.”

I laughed loudly watching him race into the bedroom with distinctively panicky movements.

………………..

In a new pair of night clothes and freshly showered, I walked slowly into the dim living room. Tiny round lights along the wall lit the room while the t.v shone down on the bowls lining the coffee table and the blanketed couch. Ryan’s back was towards me in his half reclined position against the arm of the couch. Walking towards him, I sniffed the air catching a buttery smell followed by a salty one.

“What do you think?”

Looking down and to the side, I locked eyes with Ryan’s nervous ones, “Do shifters always do this when they watch movies?”

“Sometimes but it’s not always like this.”

I nodded looking around again, “It’s very…relaxing. I enjoy the tiny lights.”

Chuckling, he gave my hand a slight tug towards himself in question.

Scanning over his form, I slowly sat down in the empty spot between his stretched out leg and his bent one. He laughed again before pulling my stiff body back against his chest and flicking the blanket over our legs. Leaning forward a bit, he reached out and snatched a large bowl off of the coffee table.

“Here try this.” He said, holding the bowl out in front of me.

The buttery and salty smell from before wafted off of the bowl strongly as I picked out a few pieces of the popcorn. I’d seen some of the gremlins inhale the stuff while they were playing their games but I had never tried it. Dropping the pieces into my mouth, I cringed at the bitter and artificial taste.

Ryan pulled the bowl away to grab another, “Yea, I kinda figured you’d have that reaction. Here, I made this for you to snack on instead.”

The delicious smell of liver that I had thought was still coming from the kitchen met my nose. Little bite sized pieces of raw liver and deer meat filled up the cereal bowl. Grabbing a piece, I rubbed my fingers over the odd grainy feeling and popped it into my mouth. Instantly a light smokey flavor with a hint of salt exploded over my tongue. Quickly, I shoved a few more pieces into my mouth while shifting deeper into Ryan’s stomach.

His laughter sent vibrations down my back, “I’m glad you like it.”

Tipping my head back, I rubbed my nose along his jaw and nipped gently at his chin in thanks as I chewed. Sighing, he wrapped his arms around my waist after pressing play on the movie and rubbed his cheek against the top of my head.

When his scent hit my nose, I remembered something, “Ryan?”

“Yea, Buttercup?”

“Did you replace my nightshirts with yours?”

His hand left my waist to grab a good amount of meat from my bowl and shove it into my mouth, “Shhhhh, Buttercup. The movie’s starting, it’s rude to talk.”

Chewing on the meat with a smile, I could help but think that Ryan was right. This was….cute.

——————————————————————————-

Eeeeeeck, don’t look at me 👀. First time I’ve ever written anything like that so don’t judge me to harshly. That got steamy real fast, lmao.

As always, feel free to comment or like!

Smooches, Verbage💋

Chapter Twenty: Going Back to Town

Pulling my laces tight, I stood up from the couch and called out to Ryan, “Let’s go, the bus is waiting.”

Crashing sounds came from behind the door moments before Ryan came strolling out of the room. It had been two weeks since he had moved in and one week since our date and I still wasn’t used to how long it took him to get ready. He took at least double the time it took me and when I asked him about it, he just gestured to himself saying ’This takes work, Buttercup’. After that, I stopped bothering to figure it out and settled on the fact that I’d be spending the rest of my life rushing him.

Walking through the living room, I went out onto the porch to wait for him there in the hopes that he’d speed up. Thankfully, it wasn’t long until Ryan came walking through the front door. Giving him my back, I double checked the door making sure it was locked as he jumped down the porch steps. When I finished, he was waiting for me at the bottom of the stairs with an expectant look that I promptly ignored in favor of walking to the path. Ryan moved quickly to walk beside me and I thought the reason for giving me that look was over. But I was proven wrong when a hand holding a bundle of cloth was thrusted in front of me.

“Just wear it.”

I brushed his hand aside, “I don’t get cold.”

“Yes, I know that but the humans will notice.”

Side eyeing him, I said, “So you aren’t over what happened then, since you’re still torturing me? I already gave you a rabbit in apology for laughing when you screamed during the movie last week.”

“I-You-I-It was-I won’t even dignify that with a response.” Brown eyes looked away for a second before shooting right back to me, “He cut the man in half with a chainsaw, Kaiya! Excuse me for jumping and I didn’t scream.”

“You-” Catching the squint in his eye that told me I’d get the silent treatment if I didn’t lie, I quickly changed my sentence, “You barely even flinched.” I had absolutely no wish to experience his silent treatment again.

He smiled smugly, “Thank you but this isn’t about that. They might be very into their own lives but the humans will notice if a woman is walking around in the middle of an Alaskan winter in a tank top.”

Kicking a piece of bark out of the path with the toe of my boot, it was my turn to scoff, “You just want to scent mark me.”

He shoved the sweater at me again, “Maybe, maybe not. But that doesn’t change the fact that you’ll draw unnecessary attention, Buttercup.”

Flashing him a quick smile, I snatched the hoodie from him, “I’m not putting it on until I have to.”

From the corner of my eye, I saw Ryan give a smug smile at my response. He thought he’d won this little argument but really I just gave into him because I really didn’t want him giving me the silent treatment. Which normally would’ve been fine except that Ryan’s version of the silent treatment meant he slammed things around while unblinkingly staring me down. Watching someone slam their sandwich back down every time they took a bite and then stared unblinking back at you while they chewed was very uncomfortable.

I let him bask in his smugness for a while as we left the path and walked along the side of the pack house. Fine snow puffed into the air with every step we took covering our black shoes with a thin white coating. And as we rounded the corner of the house the bus came into view but instead of the rickety old one, a modern one sat in its place. Steel gray in color with a bright white stripe wrapping around the middle of the bus and solid black windows that hid everyone inside.

The double doors whooshed open at our approach causing the once muted sounds of the gremlins inside to come rumbling out at an obnoxious volume. Ryan stood to the side and motioned with his arm for me to enter first. Climbing up the metal steps, I stopped beside the driver in confusion. I thought Ryan was going to be driving us into town like the last time and I turned to ask him just that.

He must have seen the look on my face, however, because he answered my unspoken question, “Otis thought it would be a good idea for us to have back up. Since the last time we went to town there were renegades lying in wait.”

Huffing at the mention of Otis’s name, I looked over the rows for a seat. I hadn’t spoken to Otis after he tried to force a team on me but our separation wasn’t my fault. I was over the argument we had but with Ryan keeping me so busy and Otis actively avoiding me, there never seemed to be a good time to talk. Come to think of it, I’d only caught a few passing glimpses of his cousin as well since Ryan attacked him in the conference room.

Finding an empty spot behind Devin, I maneuvered down the aisle and dropped down into the seat. Devin had just turned to say something when Ryan slammed down into the seat next to me.

His arm stretched out behind me, “So, what are we talking about?”

“We weren’t actually talking yet.” Devin responded dryly as the bus purred to life in the background.

“Oh, well…what are you buying in town?”

“Nicotine patches.” Was the grunted reply.

Ryan nodded, “That’s a hard habit to kick.”

“He doesn’t have a choice.” I told him.

“Why?”

Devin fluffed his jacket around his neck, “Cause I don’t want to throw up every time I do one of your girlfriends insane workouts.”

“Girlfriend? Oh, no. If anything the human term would be fiancé.” Ryan spat out, obviously offended.

“And do I get a say about this new label?” I asked, raising a brow.

He gave me an impish grin, “You agreed to it when we made out, buttercup.”

I shook my head in amusement, “Just when we made out?”

He blushed lightly as Devin made yacking sounds, “Buttercup? You know you’ll never get rid of him now, right? You’re stuck with him.”

We both responded at the same time.

“I know.”

“And just what is that supposed to mean?”

Devin’s dark eyes gleamed with mischief, “Nothing, Beta.”

Ryan gave a low growl of annoyance but otherwise let the young shifters comment slide. Or I thought he did until Ryan leaned into my side to whisper, “Is he really your friend?”

Giving him a look, I said, “Yes. My only one.”

He reared back, “That’s not true. I’m your friend.”

“No, you’re not.”

“Yes, I am.” He shot back.

I raised a brow, “You’re going to be my mate, not my friend.”

“I’m your everything.” He stressed.

“Is that so?” My lips curved at the decisive tone he used.

His chin tilted up, “Just like you’re mine.”

I opened my mouth to reply when Devin beat me to it, “Wah-ow. Obviously, we know who the dramatic one is.”

Ryan was spared my laughter as the bus turned into the parking lot causing the volume of voices to sky rocket. The driver circled the parking lot until he found a space big enough to fit us in, towards the side of the lot by the woods. As soon as the bus slid to a smooth stop, the gremlins began clambering around gathering their things. The driver didn’t hesitate to open the door and walk out to wait beside the front of the bus.

Twisting around in his seat, Ryan yelled out, “Quiet!” The noise quickly tampered out, “You know the drill. Stay in pairs, don’t wander off and if you see, hear or smell anything suspicious tell me, Kai or Gary. We’ll only be hitting this store today because of a possible renegade problem.”

After a round of ‘Yes, Beta’s’ lit the air, they stumbled their way down the aisle and outside. Once the row was clear, I followed Ryan and Devin out of the bus and onto the tar covered parking lot. Glancing around the full lot, I watched as the gremlins moved into smaller groups before they started walking towards the store chatting about what they were going to buy. I had barely taken two steps forward to follow after them, when an arm pressed into my stomach halting me.

“Yes?”

Ryan shuffled in front of me and held up the red hoodie, “You almost forgot this on the bus.”

Snarling a little, I snatched the sweater from his hands and angrily shrugged it on. Yanking the hoodie back from my face, I pulled at the clothing until it fell correctly. The fabric dropped just below my upper thigh and left a lot of baggy material around the…well everywhere. But even with all this space inside of it, the extra clothing felt like it was weighing me down. Raising my arms, I punched out and around Ryan trying to test my abilities while being shrouded in the sweater.

Eyes wide, he bent away from my fists, “Whaaat are you doing?”

Stopping my movements, I frowned down at the twisted red sleeves, “This will be the death of me.”

“And I’m the dramatic one.” He mumbled before grabbing onto a sleeve and pulling me along.

While allowing him to tug me towards the building, I took a deep breath searching the air for any unusual scents. Everything seemed normal as our boots thumped over the broken up concrete. Looking over to where the renegades had come from last time, nothing moved in the shadows or rustled in the bushes. But just because I couldn’t immediately scent them, didn’t mean they weren’t there. If they were here, they could be sitting just outside my ability range which they would now know all about since they’ve been hunting my kind. Another reason all of them needed to die and quickly, they knew too much about my kind and that was a death sentence waiting to be carried out.

Squinting, I lowered my head a bit in response to walking underneath the bright florescent lights of the store. Taking a calming breath, I took in the sounds around me while trying to manage my reaction to all the noises and smells. People rushed around us as Ryan tugged me deeper into the store towards the direction that most of the gremlins had run off too. When we found most of them wading through the food section, Ryan kept his grip on my sleeve and moved us quickly over to the junk food row.

A few steps into the row, I stopped to look at the colorful boxes causing Ryan to jerk to a halt. From the corner of my eye, I watched as he hesitantly looked between my hand and his hand before slipping it in mine. Mildly interested in what he was doing, I kept watch as he gave my hand another tug trying to pull me further down the row. When that didn’t work, realization lit his eyes and a small smile curved his lips. Warmth spread throughout my chest, looks like someone finally remembered what type of beast hid beneath my skin.

“Where are you trying to take me?”

He shrugged, my hand still in his grip, “Honestly? I was just trying to see how long you’d let me drag you around.”

“And?”

“You’re more patient than you look.”

I gave him a quick smile, “With this pack? I have to be.”

He grinned back at me before looking over the tower of treats in front of us.

Ryan’s hand felt strange in mine, not strange in a bad way but in a strangely comforting way. His hand was a warm anchor holding me in place beside him as if afraid I’d change my mind and leave him. Despite my actions, he seemed to subconsciously doubt me about wanting him as my mate. It would probably be like this until we completed the bonding ceremony but that would happen soon so I wasn’t concerned about it. Like most things Ryan did, his clinginess was beginning to grow on me.

For the next couple of minutes, Ryan pointed out packages and explained what they tasted like after he asked if I had had them before. My answer was always no, I tended to drift towards the more bland human foods that weren’t meat. After Ryan grabbed three different packages of sweets that he had said I needed to try, we split up to keep a closer eye on the gremlins while they shopped.

A group of girls joked and chatted about which conditioner would make your hair softer and give it volume. Tilting my head at the conversation, I listened in on their little debate about shampoos and conditions for a minute longer. One girl had balked at the mention of using a 2 in 1 bottle of soap. What was wrong with that? I thought, frowning as the girls started laughing about how that was something only males did. Dismissing them out of boredom, I continued walking past and occasionally stopped by other pack gremlins.

Striding down one of the main aisles of the store, I went to turn down another when a human male I had noticed being pushed around by his laughing friends earlier stood before me. Glancing at his almond shaped eyes, I moved to continue walking past him when he got in front of me again. Growling at a pitch his weak ears couldn’t hear, I snapped my eyes back to his flushed face.

He shuffled nervously, “I couldn’t help but notice your eyes, they’re very unique. What shade is that?”

Why was this male talking to me? “Red.”

If I thought he’d walk away after that, I was sorely mistaken, “Well, they’re truly beautiful. If you don’t mind me asking, are you busy later? I’d like to take you out.”

To take me out? Kill me? I looked him up and down before opening my mouth to tell him that the only way he could kill me was if I was unconscious. Before anything could actually come out though, the sound of clomping boots echoed over the floor making me smile slightly. When he finally reached us, he was quiet for a moment and then threw an arm over my shoulders pulling me close. I allowed the possessive hold because honestly…it was attractive.

Ryan gave the male a teeth baring grin, “Unfortunately, I keep her very busy.”

Eyes darting between us, the male slowly nodded and then sped away like his life depended on it. A low growl rumbled from his chest until the male was no longer in sight. Seeing the amused smile on my face, he scowled as his brows got lower and lower on his face.

“Enjoyed that, did you Buttercup?”

Laughing, I waved off his words, “Don’t snap at me. That random male approached me talking about my eyes and then thought he could take me out.” Pointing at myself, I restated, “Me. He thought he could kill me! I never knew humans could be so amusing.”

His expression lighted, “You thought he was trying to kill you?”

“What else could ‘taking you out’ mean?” I asked him, confused.

A joyous grin lit Ryan’s face, “Nothing. Absolutely, nothing at all. So, that’s why you checked him out?”

Wrapping my own arm around his waist, I urged him lightly to begin walking again, “Checked him out? I don’t know what that means but I was sizing him up.”

His reply was a little pinch to my side and a bright smile that flashed his dimples.

We walked around for a while until it was time to go back to the pack. Going our separate ways, we rounded up the gremlins along with the driver and then waited for them all to finish paying for their material items. Exiting the store, Ryan and the driver led the gremlins back to the bus while I followed from behind to make sure none of them lagged behind. As they filed back on the bus, a breeze swept by causing their hair and scents to lift into the air. A faint hint of blood and roots trickled past my nose, freezing in place I looked in the direction it was coming from.

Something was wrong. Why were they here? I still had another week until the blood moon. Was it another message? But why? Peering through the trees, I stared intently at the spot I knew the scent was coming from. It was a few moments before a figure finally stepped out from behind the tree cloaked in shadows. Standing tall with a smirk on his face, the male stared right back at me with dark red eyes. Tilting my head at the color of his eyes, a chill raced down my spine, they weren’t right. His eyes weren’t right. Feral Borns all had the same bright red eyes, they didn’t vary in shades or lightness.

Raw fear swept through my body, he was…cured. Raising a lip, I flashed my fangs at the willing traitor and took a step forward. Still smirking, he shook his head and raised a hand to tap directly over the twelve on the face of his watch. His left hand reached back behind the tree and yanked something harshly out in front of him. The small form stumbled and snarled trying to claw at him with her free hand. A little girl no taller than his waist struggled and snapped in rage, she couldn’t be older than seven and he had placed a titanium silver coated cuff around her ankle. I could feel the shift tingling just beneath my skin as a rage like I’ve never experienced before crawled thickly through my veins.

He gave her another harsh yank and then spoke knowing I could hear, “Times up, animal. Come to the stream, just beyond your border by twelve tonight or I cut this little monster’s neck ear to ear and leave her corpse by the river.” He waited a beat and then, “Come alone and come quietly or she dies anyway. Nod if you understand.”

Fangs slicing through my bottom lip, I gave him a small controlled tilt of my head because if I moved anymore than that I’d race after him and I knew I wouldn’t make it in time to save the pup.

The little girl, realizing that she wasn’t the one he was talking to, stopped her fighting to look in the direction he stared in. Bright red eyes set in a pale brown face widened as they met mine and then her little heart picked up speed in desperation. The male had just turned to leave when the girl tipped her head back and gave a heart-wrenching howl. It was a call for a protector, one an orphan of our kind gave in search of a guardian. And I wasn’t sure if it was because she looked like me or was just a pup of my kind but I answered it.

As soon as her head tipped back down to look at me with shining eyes, I bared my fangs and swiped my left hand up and to the side scraping it against my fang. A cut the length of my palm seeped blood as I turned it to face her and in response she quickly copied my movements with a relieved smile. The male growled his anger before roughly grabbing the girl and taking off into the woods, bright red eyes stared back at me over his shoulder with a satisfied but teary glint.

The protector rites weren’t complete as I wasn’t able to howl back nor were the cuts scarred but for now the promise was enough. She knew I’d protect her and I knew that even if I hadn’t wanted to heed their threat, I had no choice now.

“Kai? Are you bleeding? What happened!” Ryan exclaimed.

Pushing the rage back I turned to him, keeping my tone semi-light, “I’m hungry.”

“Oookay. Let’s get you home then so we can feed you, Buttercup.” He said, eyeing me.

Nodding, I followed him onto the bus. I’d tell him later but not now. Now, I had to rethink a few things about my plan. It wasn’t just me anymore but a little girl I also had to make sure got out of there uncured, along with all the others I’d have to free…tonight.

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Nothing seems to ever go right when Kai’s in town, lol. You guys think Ryan just wanted her to wear his sweater or did he have a point?

Also, thank you everyone who’s commented. It always makes my day to see others enjoying or hating (lmao, cause let’s face it. Everyone hates Jasper) my characters as much as I do.

As always like or comment if you enjoyed the chapter!!

Smooches, Verbage 💋