Chapter Eight

Duncan

I had returned to the packhouse at the Crescent River Pack after the meeting with Luz. At this point, all that we had was speculation as to what we thought was going to happen. Raina asked Luz to stay and talk some more to try to figure some more things out. It was all quite confusing. What was clear, however, was that there was a significant threat on Coral. It also seemed as if the vampires didn’t fully understand how the red wolf worked. Individually, Coral was powerful. The extent of how powerful was still unknown, although the demonstration of getting everyone to stop fighting during a recent battle let all of us know that she had not tapped into a tenth of her abilities. 

Coral rounded out the red wolves. Each red wolf had a specialty area. They all had similar abilities, but some showed more strengths in specific areas. Talia, for example, had recently shown her ability to feel physical pain in others. This was something that we didn’t even know was possible. Raina continued to be the most well rounded of the red wolves, but since she was the first red wolf, that made sense. 

Their abilities together were still untapped. We had no idea what would happen if all of the red wolves worked in an orchestrated effort. It was one of those areas that we really didn’t want to know what would happen. The type of situation that would require that effort would be catastrophic at best. 

I sat at the kitchen table, looking over the dinner that I had made for myself. I had made lasagna earlier in the week and this was the last of it. I didn’t mind the leftovers, especially when it came to the lasagna. It was my mom’s recipe. She loved to cook and I had loved learning from her. 

Despite my efforts, I turned out a lot like my dad. My dad had slept with a lot of she-wolves prior to meeting my mom and I knew that it hurt her. She faced a lot of cruel she-wolves when she came to the Crescent River Pack as Luna. From what my dad said, there were some question as to whether or not my mom was going to stay. Thankfully, Raina came and helped to save the day. 

Because of this, I didn’t want to be like my dad, but I did it anyway, and when I finally decided I didn’t want to be that way, I got screwed over by a she-wolf who cheated on me. An Alpha. 

I placed my plate in the sink and decided to pour myself a glass of whisky. The brown liquid wouldn’t impact me much, but it would be nice to just sit and not do anything. The pending threat on Coral was weighing heavy on me and I needed to relax. 

Taking my glass, I went to my office. The packhouse was typically a busy place, but it was eerily quiet right now. I had been thinking a lot about the packhouse at the Red Moon Pack and how it was so private. Twenty years ago, Ander’s father and mother, Alpha Callan and Luna Raina, had essentially made their packhouse a private residence. Although it had a few guest suites, it was just the house for the Alpha and immediate family members. Anders’ sister, Romy, still lived at the packhouse with Anders and Harley. My sister, Iza, had moved with my parents when I took over as Alpha. She would visit often, and I always enjoyed her company when she did stop by. 

Looking out the window in my office, I let out a deep breath and gulped down the rest of my whisky. 

“Shit,” I mumbled to myself as I turned back around, taking a seat at my desk. I looked at my empty glass and laughed silently to myself. I drank it because I hoped that it would relax me, but it never did anything. Wolves needed to drink entirely too much alcohol to get drunk. No matter how many times I had tried, I had never once gotten drunk. It never did help with anything, so I wasn’t sure why I even bothered. 

‘Coral has shifted,’ Conan interrupted my thoughts. ‘Keith said that she just wanted to go for a run.’

‘Thanks,’ I replied to my wolf as I stood from my desk. While I knew that Coral had more than enough guardian wolves, I still needed to go out and make sure she was okay. Especially after everything that we had just heard from Luz, I just needed to go out.

I made my way back out of the packhouse. Both the packhouse for the Red Moon Pack and the Crescent River Pack had moved to within an hour of the Red Wolf Compound years ago. Because my dad was a guardian wolf for Raina, we always had to be close enough so that he could respond if needed. His wolf insisted. For a long time, I never fully understood this, but now, I completely did. 

Stepping behind the tree line, I quickly disrobed and shifted, pulling Conan forward. He did not hesitate and started running as he shook out his sandy colored fur.  Although I could easily ask one of the other guardian wolves where Coral was, I allowed Conan to guide us. We didn’t know exactly where our red wolf was, but we could get close, and once we were close we could easily locate our red wolf. It was an integral part of the guardian wolves and was designed to keep the red wolf safe. 

Conan ran fast, jumping over rocks and easily moving between the trees. As if by good luck, the Compound was surrounded by terrain that was not so easy to navigate. As a young wolf, I had run along this area often and I knew how to get around the rocks and trees. But this also served as a layer of added protection for the compound. A threat couldn’t easily move through this terrain. We would pick up on the threat long before they got close to the compound. The other two sides of the compound were much more exposed and had been the targets of the last big attack. 

Conan huffed as we jumped over a fallen tree. The storms that had gone through a few weeks back had knocked down several trees. Conan feigned annoyance, but he loved being able to move over rocks and trees with ease. 

After running for about thirty minutes, Conan made a sharp turn to the right and I knew that we were close to Coral. The area that we were approaching was heavily wooded but had a small clearing with several rocks that were perfect for resting. During the summer months, the sun would hit the rocks just right, making them a great place for sunbathing and relaxing. On a cool autumn night like tonight, it would be a peaceful place to sit and think. When I was a young wolf and my dad would come to the Compound, I would often go to that place and do just that. 

Despite what many wolves thought about me, I was actually a pretty complex guy. There was more to me than just looking to get laid. I had plans for the Crescent River Pack. I wanted to expand our businesses in security. I really wanted for us to become the premier security business. Unfortunately, my reputation often hindered that, and I knew that I needed to change that. But I had a lot of plans and I wasn’t going to let any of that stand in the way of it happening. 

Conan slowed as we approached the small clearing. I knew that Coral was in the clearing, but I was still surprised when I saw her wolf. Having seen all of the wolves of the red wolves, this was actually my first time seeing Coral’s wolf, Ivy. The shades of red for each red wolf varied slightly and typically matched their hair color. Coral’s wolf was a deep red, although it appeared as if the belly of the wolf was white. It was dark, but the moonlight shone down on the rocks where Ivy sat. 

Her wolf was beautiful and I was suddenly struck by the feeling of contentness that ran through my body. Being this close to Coral and her wolf put me at ease. Despite the difficult information that we had received from Luz earlier today, those feelings seemed to wash away from me. Coral made me feel so comfortable. 

Slowly I approached, alerting the surrounding guardian wolves that I was going to go sit with her. Ivy sat on one of the rocks in the clearing, her red fur shining in the moonlight that lit up the open space. A twig under Conan’s foot snapped and Ivy turned sharply, looking over at us. Ivy turned her head back and moved over, opening a space next to her on the rock. Conan happily padded over to her, his tongue out, showing just how relaxed he was. Conan took up his spot next to Ivy on the rock. Despite the slight chill in the air, I found that I was almost warm. It was a strange feeling that I had never had before. 

Although Coral and I could communicate with one another in wolf form, neither of us said anything. We sat next to each other in silence, although I was aware that Ivy and Conan were talking. This didn’t actually happen for wolves who were not related or mated, at least not often, although my dad had told me that it could happen with the guardian wolves and the red wolves. While we would often talk to our human counterpart in wolf form, wolf to wolf communication between non-mated wolves was not common. It still felt strange to know that they were talking and I didn’t know what they were saying. Typically, even in wolf form, we simply communicated via mindlink directly with the person and not through our wolves. 

Ivy let out a sigh and sunk down against Conan as we sat on the rock. I enjoyed having her this close to me. She seemed to be so vulnerable right now. I wanted to say something to Coral, but there didn’t seem to be any need to say anything. Whatever was going on right now was making me happy, and I didn’t want to mess it up by saying something stupid. 

I was surprised at how I was feeling. It had been a long time since I had felt so at ease and content, especially so close to a she-wolf. It made me feel hopeful for a good relationship with my red wolf. Having been around red wolves my whole life, and having a dad who was guardian wolf, it was always stressed to me how important the red wolf is, and, as a guardian wolf, how important the relationship with the red wolf could be. 

Ivy moved, nuzzling closer to me. Conan placed his head down on the rock, sighing contently. I realized how much me ignoring contact with Coral had impacted my wolf. My own issues had stopped my wolf from bonding with Coral and Ivy. I cursed myself as I thought about how my stubbornness had led to this. I was so stuck in my own head that I was overlooking so many needs, including my own. 

I wasn’t certain how long we sat like this, Ivy and Conan just laying next to each other. I still struck by how content I felt. I had not felt so at ease and carefree in quite a long time. A feeling hummed through me that I couldn’t place and almost made me feel a bit uneasy. Just as quickly, the feeling was gone. The lack of the feeling almost made me nervous, which was strange because it had initially made me feel uneasy. I would have to remember to talk to Raina about it. I was hoping that she could help me fix what I had initially fucked up with Coral. 

The snapping of a twig off to my left pulled me from the trance that I seemed to be in. Conan immediately sat up, assessing if a threat was noted. 

“Anders, what the hell do you want?” I sneered through the mindlink as he approached. His wolf, Grey, had a very distinct color. His wolf was black but had a streak of deep red. I always admired the dark color of his wolf. 

Grey stopped right along the tree line, sitting just on the edge of the clearing. “I received word that Coral was out on a run. Harley is back at the packhouse and it had been a while since I was just out on a leisurely run.” Anders was right. It had been a while since we had a chance to just be out and run, not having to worry. 

“I just received word that Raina is going to be meeting with the red wolves tomorrow morning to review some of the new information. Have you talked with Harley about it yet?” I asked Anders as Conan turned back to Ivy. The new details were not good. It also brought up an interesting element of the bloodlines of vampires and wolves crossing. 

Grey huffed. Anders sighed. “I gave her a high-level overview and told her that we would talk more about it when I got back. She is very unhappy and very worried.” 

Feeling a sense of worry coming from Coral, Conan moved slightly closer to Ivy. “What is going on? Why does Raina want to meet with all of the red wolves tomorrow morning?” Coral asked through the mindlink. Her worry was clear; she knew that something was going on. 

“Coral wants to know what is going on.” I spoke to Anders. I didn’t want to overstep and tell Coral what was going on, especially since Raina was going to be providing details tomorrow. And Raina was probably going to tell her much more than I knew. 

“High-level.” Anders replied. 

Conan huffed, but agreed. “We met with Luz, a warlock, who provided us with some new details. It isn’t good, Coral.” I didn’t like this. I didn’t like how I felt and I didn’t like how Coral felt. Even as I spoke through mindlink, the uncertainty and fear that Coral was sending back was clear.  “Raina is going to go over a lot more of it tomorrow.” 

“Is it about me?” She asked. I saw her wolf take a deep breath. I knew that Coral was very uneasy and that her wolf was trying to help her regulate her emotions. 

“Yes.” I replied.