The next Friday evening, Liana sat on the floor of her room with her head tipped back against the side of her bed with a mug full of very strong feverfew tea that was doing nothing to ease the buzz and pounding in her head. Jake’s car had given her the freedom to go about her life as normal as it could be without Gran, who still hadn’t woken, but the time away from the pack house and the routine of her studies had done nothing to get rid of the annoying buzz in her head. She couldn’t concentrate on her work at all. Fortunately, the school was putting it down to worry and stress, so they were “freezing” her grades for the time being. Naturally, she’d have to pull off the final exams though, which wasn’t likely unless she could fix her head.
So much for the assumption that being around werewolves was the issue. Even when she was in class with no werewolves in sniffing distance she couldn't get the noise to stop. Jake wasn’t likely the cause of it either. She’d hardly seen him all week! She had started joining everyone downstairs for mealtime. Mostly so that Zinnia didn’t feel obligated to bring her up a tray. The omegas really did seem happy to be doing their work, but it still felt wrong to her. Jake was always there but hadn’t insisted on sitting next to her. She was fairly certain that he had noticed she couldn’t eat with him beside her. The hum was always louder when he was around, and on Wednesday evening she hadn’t been able to swallow a bite because of the nausea that the sound was causing. Being away from him wasn’t making it better either though. A tired sigh escaped her lips just as someone knocked gently on her door.“It’s open Zinnia,” she said softly, expecting the young girl to be there checking on her again.“If it’s not Zinnia, is the door still open?” His voice sounded so soft and tentative that Lia felt a bit bad. It was his house after all, and he’d done everything imaginable to make her stay comfortable.“Sure Jake,” she answered, “but I won’t be very good company.”He cracked the door open and peered in at her, his nose twitching. “Feverfew? Do you have a headache?”“Something like that.,” she answered vaguely, “probably stress.” His lips thinned. “Gran’s no better,” she elaborated, “and I can’t seem to concentrate on my schoolwork. I’ve got a grade-free pass for the month, but I don’t want to be behind when I go back. I’ll lose my scholarships if my grades drop, and without them, I can’t go to university next fall.” She closed her eyes and braced herself as he walked toward her and sat beside her on the floor. She was sure the noise would be worse, and she was half expecting him to question her about the university and start making demands or planning changes.“Maybe you should try taking the weekend off,” he suggested tentatively. “Maybe have the Rogue sisters up for a visit?”“They told you I’ve been avoiding them.”“Not exactly, but I guessed. This isn’t their fault, Liana. They were your friends before you learned the truth, and they would like to continue being friends. They didn’t choose to hide your werewolf heritage or that half of their lives from you, they were told to. Besides, from what I hear, you were pretty good at coming up with your own reasons for things if there was any hint of something other than human.”“I suppose so,” Lia tipped her head back again and closed her eyes. The hum was louder than it had been, almost a whistling like Gran’s old-fashioned kettle.“Let me take that,” Jake said, lifting the cup from her hand, “it looks like you need a rest more than a tea.” His fingers brushed hers as he lifted the mug from her grasp. Her skin tinkled where he’d touched her and the whistle did a sort of hiccup pause, stopping with the contact and restarting as he moved away.“As your intended mate, I should be able to use our bond to help this tea work faster.” Lia cracked her eyes open and looked up at him skeptically. He was offering his hand, but not insisting that she touch him. “Did you have a chance to read any of the books about bonds before school started?”“A bit,” she answered vaguely.“Skin to skin or fur to fur work best. Holding hands should be enough for a simple head ache. Or maybe I could give you a neck massage?”“I think I just need rest. I’ll check on Gran, then hopefully get a good night’s sleep.” She didn’t miss the slight drop of his shoulders or the defeated look on his face.“Can I tell the Rogues to come for a visit? Hotel Transylvania will be playing in the media room at about 10 am and a pool tournament in the games room for the whole weekend. Maybe the lot of you could join in and have some fun. It could be a good way to get to know some other local werewolves too.”“Sure.” She really just wanted him to leave. She needed to close her eyes and see if maybe tonight was the magical night that would make her feel better.“Great! Well...I guess I’ll see you in the morning then?”“Yep. ‘Night.”“Goodnight.”Jake prowled the back of the media room in his wolf form. Werewolves from the two local packs, plus a few lone wolves and some visiting highlanders were crammed into the Media room watching the cartoon. Most were in their human form, but he wasn’t the only wolf. The smells of pop, buttery popcorn, corn dogs, and jerky were thick in the air. There was a good dose of pheromones too as the older pups cuddled up in the back row, doing more making out than movie watching. Under that, he could still scent his mate.The past week had been pure torture. Liana was still here, and she wasn’t openly hostile to him anymore, but she wasn’t making any effort to be more comfortable with her werewolf roots as far as he could tell. There were only a few days left until the full moon, and her agreeing to mate with him didn’t look any more likely now than it had last week. She slept down the hall from him, but barely even spoke to him. He hadn’t been sleeping much with her scent right there. He and his wolf were both getting very grumpy. Even coffee didn’t help anymore. Last night she wouldn’t even let him help with her head ache and it had obviously been a very bad one. Fighting his wolf’s instinct to touch and heal her had been excrutiatingly hard. He’d even considered going into her rooms while she sllept and just crawling in bed with her. He could have healed her then, but the thought of how she would react to finding him in her bed had stopped him.Jake padded up the other side of the room, keeping to the shadowsand looking around now and then with the pretext of keeping an eye on their guests. In reality, he was there to watch Liana. He knew his black coat would blend well with the shadows and she wouldn’t be as likely to notice him. His wolf growled at that, he wanted to be noticed, but Jake knew better. Liana wasn’t ready to accept him in either his human or wolf form. She might never be, he admitted sadly. He wanted to build up some memories of this last week, in case it was the last week she was ever around him. From the shadows, he could watch her unnoticed and get to know her simply through observation. Solidify her image in his memory. He felt his wolf recoil at that thought and winced. The mourning process would begin soon. His wolf was starting to accept the fact that it was not only that Jake refuse to mate before her 18th birthday, but their mate did not seem to be even slightly attracted to either of them.At least she appeared to be forgiving the Rogue sisters. The three of them were cuddled up in the back row, behind the younger wolves but in front of the teens who had come to simply make out in the back. The girls' brother, Eric, was bedside them, scooping hand fulls of their popcorn whenever he thought he could do so without getting his hand swiped at. He’d said that he had come as his sisters. chaperon, but Jake noticed his eyes kept wandering to Stella, a young she-wolf who had arrived with the healer from the Highlands Pack. Jake watched as the girl turned in Eric’s direction, her nostrils flared a bit and her mouth dropped open. From the look on her face, Jake was fairly certain she had just scented her mate. Jake’s lip curled a bit revealing his canines. Lucky pair. Both would be willing. They weren’t even bound by the rules of this pack since neither of them belonged to it. Even if they weren’t yet eighteen they could mate today. He wondered briefly what David would think of his oldest son running off up to the Cape Breton Highlands. He lost that train of thought the instant Liana rubbed her temples. She still had that headache. If only she would let him help her with it.Suddenly images flashed through his mind of a pack of wolves running behind a bunch of 4-wheelers that were just entering Cloud Lake land. The one in the lead was flying a flag bearing the Ocean Moon Pack’s crest. They appeared to be armed as well. Every adult wolf got up to leave the room for their assigned spots. The lights came on and the movie shut off as his mother came into the room. Several Cloud Lake wolves wove among the children and teens, picking out the Ocean Moon kids and herding them to the door. “Okay pups, There are vehicles from Ocean Moon on their way in, so I’m guessing it’s time for some of you to leave. If you’re from Ocean Moon, please head out with the escort now. Everyone from Cloud Lake who has passed level three combat, to your posts, everyone who hasn’t needs to the kitchen. Jake stayed long enough to be sure Liana and the guests were going to follow his mother’s direction, then he was off with the rest. The crowd of werewolves all automatically made space to allow their Alpha easy passage to the front.Four white paws padded softly along the water’s edge, and the young werewolf was being extremely careful not to actually get his feet wet. Being a wolf was new to him, but he was determined not to let that show. He bent to lap gently from the water just as the full moon crested over the waterfall. The jet black fur on his head and back gleamed brightly as the moon rose high enough that her light slipped over the falls to illuminate the pool of water and the whole werewolf family at the bottom of it. The young wolf looked up at the moon, blinking his heterochromatic eyes, first the blue one and then the brown before he howled his greeting to the goddess.A wistful little sigh drew Lia’s attention down to her daughter’s dark brown eyes. “When will I get to be my woff, Mama?”“Oh my little wolf,” Lia laughed, scooping her tiny daughter up in a hug and rubbing noses with her. “You will shift when the moon goddess knows you’re ready.”“But eva-buddy but me gets ta be a woff,” the little one
There was a great blast of icy wind and the werewoves found themselves being drug back towards the hill where the council had assembled. “COULD LAKE. OCEAN MONE. LA LUNE ROSE. LONE WOLVES. VISITING WEREWOLVES. ALL WEREWOLVES MUST ASSEMBLE!” There was a loud rumble followed by a series of pops, like popcorn in the large theater popping machines. Wolves and people began appearing from thin air, all facing the lycan with their heads bowed.“Where is the pup from Cloud Lake who they call Zinnia?” A girl stumbled forward from the back of the assembled wolves. There was a bag over her head and her hands were tied. Both the bag and the rope disappeared, the only reminder that they had been there was a faint red line around her neck and wrists.. “Where is the mate of Zinnia?” Dylan’s wolf appeared beside her and she dropped to her knees, wrapping her arms around his neck. The council members all looked to one another and nodded.“The Bane is dead,” they said in unison. His body appeared on the
Around noon, bit of a commotion in the yard pulled Jake from his comfortable sleep by the fire. He lifted up to listen for a moment, but since no link message accompanied it he assumed it was nothing important and settled back down when Lia’s wolf snuggled in closer to his side. They hadn’t moved from beside the fire since they’d come in from the chaos of the previous night. Lia’s wolf was still weak and she got chilled every time the fire died. Jake fully expected to hear from the lycan again soon, but he wasn’t in any rush. A few more angry wolf noises roused him again, this time enough that he linked with Mark to find out what was going on.“No need for you to come, Alpha. We have dealt with the problem.”“What problem?”“First there was some commotion around the Lycan guest cottage. We didn’t know what it was, but the Lycan had not stirred and none of our pack members were there so we left it be. A while later Zinnia’s father and Grandfather grabbed her from the shore, but Dylan w
“Something is wrong,” Jake said, “why did the other pack speed up?” They raced along in silence for a few minutes, then David spoke.“There are unknown lifeboats chasing the Lune Rose’s small boats. It’s going to be a matter of who’s got the better engine. The fishing boats can’t get in any closer to help them out. It looks like the boat with Marguerite on it will make it back, but the boat with our pack members is heading for some sort of spillway or something. Sorry, I’m not good with maritime geographical terms. A bit of water that is always flowing into the ocean. It might be shallow now though, and they’ll be going upstream. They might get stuck. We’re heading there hoping to intervene.”“This ability to randomly link you lone wolves have is really handy.”“It isn’t something we can teach to you,” David said, “any Lone Wolf who marries into a pack or chooses to pledge to one, loses the ability. You have free communication, or you have a pack link. It can’t be both.”“I know this r
Jake cried out with everyone else on shore when he saw the giant fireball. He’d told him no. Killian had either defied a direct order or accidentally crashed. Defied the order was more likely. “If he survives, he’s a dead man,” Jake growled.“Even if he brings them back?” Dylan asked. “I said no.”“He didn’t ask though, did he? His message was that he was ditching the plane, hopefully onto the ship, and jumping in as close as possible to the three life jackets. He was probably out of the plane before he got your command.” Jake growled again, but not with as much force. He hated to admit that Dylan was right, and he hated even more that he was hoping Killian would succeed.“Any word?” David asked.“We’re not asking,” Dylan said, “he’s got enough to worry about right now. He hit the water alive, I don’t know beyond that. We'll just wait to hear.”“Jasper tells me the raft is open, but only a little over half inflated. It will hold Selene and Lia, but the men will have to ride the tide
Selene stayed so completely motionless that Lia wasn’t entirely sure she was still conscious. The last kick had moved her too far from her mother for her to reach. She didn’t dare try the link on her own though, not with both werewolves and a Lycan around. She was pretty sure it was all her wolf could handle just to remember to keep all the links closed. The boat swayed on a large swell and her nausea increased. She swallowed the extra saliva, pressing a hand to her middle and trying to think of anything other than the motion and the burning in her stomach. She was colder and more miserable feeling than she had ever been in her life. Either sea sickness increased over time and made every motion more miserable than the last, or the sea was getting rougher. Did that mean they were moving out of the bay? Was the falling snow in the bay just a taste of a storm raging off the coast? On the next large swell, her cage slid across the deck and bumped into Selene’s. The two stared at each other
“What’d he mean by that?” Asked Albert. “Train 'er fer what?”“You’re a wee bit slow or something? Teach her to always do as the man in charge tells her. Strip. Stick her ass in the air. Suck a man off. Beg him to break her nose. Bring him a whip to crack over her pussy. Whatever he says.”“Jesus,” cursed Albert. There was a chorus of laughter. “You’ll like it when he gives you a go with her.”“He...he does that?”“Sure, you just can’t stick nothing in her pussy, that hole belongs to the buyer, but anything else you want to do to her is fine. Sometimes there’s a specific thing he wants us to do, but mostly we can do whatever we want. He says it’s easier to train them when they’re little, but really I think he enjoys breaking the older ones in more.”“How’d you mean?”“Well, this past summer there was this little dark-haired girl we picked up in Mexico, maybe twelve or thirteen years old. Just getting her tits. Anyways, she was fighting tooth and nail when we go her on board. He brough
"For the love of the moon!" Yelled Mark, "how do they expect us to find what they can not? A Lycan who doesn't want to be found can not be tracked by werewolves just because the council commands it! We sure as cats can’t make him come here just by asking politely."The words were barely out of his mouth when David, Jake and Zinnia all cried out, "Lia!" Mark spun to look at his Alpha, surprised to see hope radiating from his smiling face."She is alive!" He said, "Her wolf is linking with me, though not well. I'm getting a jumble of images and sensations. I can't really figure it out.""I got the message scared, stuck, and a call for help as clear as air," David said, "but that is the sort of message Selene taught her to send specifically to me, so her wolf has known how to do that for many years. I don't have a location or anything useful. Usually useful information comes with the call for help.""She in on or near the ocean," Zinnia said, "and I think Selene is with her. I am getting
Jake heard David’s yelp of surprise at the same time he got his linked message. Lia had been there one moment, sneezed, then disappeared into thin air! There one moment and gone the next. Literally vanished in the blink of an eye. The werewolves around him were frozen in shock, looking at each other and trying to make sense of what they were seeing in the link. Only a lycan could make werewolves vanish like that, and they only did that when a law had been broken. There was always a warning too, not a hearing really, but a sentencing so the wolf and their family all knew what was happening and why. Jake took a slow steadying breath. Lia had done nothing wrong that he knew about and a lycan would ensure one mate knew the other’s transgressions. Usually their entire family and the pack as well. Lycan were heavy-handed and unforgiving when it came to law breaking, but they too followed their own laws to the letter. The family had to be notified first. Jake suspected the point of that was t