Alrick woke to a warm body in his arms. This was an unfamiliar experience. His previous encounters ended with either he or his partner leaving at the end. It confused him at first. Then Alrick remembered who was in his bed with him, and he realized it didn’t upset him in the least. She smelt like jasmine and honey. All warm and soft. He could become used to this. His body was responding in the most predictable way.
Then he realized why he’d awakened. Someone was banging on his apartment door and now the warm body beside him was throwing herself from his bed with a scream of shock and dismay. She huddled in the corner of his room by the closet door. She shivered there in fear. He hated that smell. She needed to calm down.
Alrick wasn’t enjoying the morning as he thought he would. “Drug manufacturing. They weren’t just manufacturing drugs; they’d a hedge mage cursing it so that their clients became addicted after the first dose.” “As if those drugs aren’t bad enough alone. Cursing them? How does Jessica-Lyn fit into this?” “I hate to say what the hedge mage claims because we’ve not verified it for accuracy. But he claims Jessica-Lyn was the one that paid him for his work.” Alrick said as glowered at Craig over the news but stayed silent. “Everything I h
Alrick didn’t think about privacy. He’d worked himself up with his own thoughts and concerns. Entering the bathroom, he found damp clothing draped everywhere. Confused by the sight he’s found, Alrick continues looking around the small room. He finds her slight form in fresh clothing but curled up on the floor by an open toilet. Her hands and knees cradling her head. Jessie’s hair covered her face. It was still damp from showering. It took him some time to understand what he was seeing. She’d done what he told her to do. She’d showered and changed. Washed her clothing and hung it. How few clothes did she have? But she was now ill. Why? Nothing made sense to Alrick. He knew she shouldn’t be alone.
Alrick couldn’t bear the doctor removing him from his own apartment while Jessica-Lyn received an examination. He hated the not knowing part. Not knowing if she was ill or getting worse. He’d other fears, but his mind wouldn’t process them. It all made him antsy and hence he was acing the hall.Craig leaned against the banister that overlooked the pack house entrance. There he watched his friend work himself into a ball of stress.“You’re going to hate me for what I’m about to say. Calm down and get your head straight. I need you with me. We have things to deal with.” Craig’s phone chimed just as he finishes speaking. “The team of enforcers we sent out are back. They’ve locked the mage and evidence up.”“Good, what’s taking him?” Alrick watched his apartment door again. It had only been twenty minutes at most since they had left Jessica-Lyn with Doc. J.J.“We need to
Alrick could take her out to visit some others. Craig kept talking about the new mother. He should organize a meeting. He could deal with both by gathering everyone together.Maybe host a gathering that wasn’t just him welcoming them. He could find out their concerns and they could meet others of his pack.“Here’s a thought that will cover multiple needs. You want to see them. I need to know their concerns. A meeting hosted here would fix that. At the end, we host a gathering where both packs meet. A formal welcome and all the trimmings. What do you think?”Jessica-Lyn was quiet for so long that he feared she wasn’t listening. But she said. “It would help them. No one listened before.”“Good, that’s something that will happen. I’m going downstairs to get some things done. You’re coming with me. That water is only a stopgap. So, while I suffer paperwork. We’ll have food brought for you
Alrick dismissed Craig and Dale, leaving him alone again with Jessica-Lyn. She was curled up in a chair after finishing a little food. He couldn’t tell whether she was ill, pretending to be ill or making herself ill. But the information he was sitting on. It now contradicted so much that it frustrated him. He looked at her. Alrick now saw her as a victim of her brother. Just like the rest of her pack. He decided to bring her into the fold. If he was wrong, he would have to explain why he harboured a fugitive. With NARC’s rules, his pack may lose access to needed resources like medical services. He hedged on the side of caution and punished her. What if he was wrong? She was innocent and that was punishment. Would that make him worse than her brother then? If he was careful, he could tr
They sat there for minutes. Still connected to each other. Panting as their world returned to its previous norm. That’s when he felt her shudder. It was out-of-place now. He lifted her from his lap as the moment became awkward. Her hair hung in such away he never saw her face. But he needed to get things done. Not fuck the afternoon away in an attractive piece of entertainment. He needed to remember that he couldn’t. He wouldn’t get involved with a criminal. “It’s time to get dressed. I have things to do. Your jobs today is dusting the books in here. Leave my desk. Take the cart back to the kitchen. Don’t forget in a few hours we will gather to initiate the pack’s newest members.” She couldn’t respond beyond a nod. Jessie was at a loss. She did
“Why would she leave? She has nowhere to go. Get people out there. Search for her. Find out if they know any places she might hide. If she’s not here when the enforcers arrive. I don’t want to know what they’ll do.” By law, right now she was his concern. They’d hunt her. It was standard for the enforcers to hunt down out of control rogue wolves. This did things deep in him. He did not like the feeling. His mind didn’t want to believe she would leave on her own. Why would she choose to become a rogue? She could have worked towards becoming a member of his pack.“Alrick, I might know why she left. Not the place to talk. But I think you should hear it before you go off halfcocked.” Craig wasn’t just his Beta. He’d been through everything with him. From growing up to the recent wars. Alrick knew Craig would tell him the truth. But never where he’d lose face with the pack.Nodding distractedly, he follo
Craig couldn’t understand why she’d left. Everything she’d come with lay discarded in her room. Jessica-Lyn’s choice must have come from her experience with Alrick. Craig felt his respect for his friend lessen thinking she’d felt herself better off alone and hunted that living with the Silver Ridge Pack. Jessica-Lyn has said nothing of her actual intentions to those that knew her. A couple received a goodbye, and she’d just walked out. No one questioned her or stopped her.Alrick returned with the clothes Craig was sure he’d last seen her in his hands not long after dawn. Jessica-Lyn left her people behind in Alrick’s care.Slacking his sexual need on her and then discarding her. Craig could not understand what words Alrick said to her. But for her believe she was better off outside of a pack?Stories were coming in from many