The loud noise in Liana’s head eased a bit and she found herself being hurried along the hallway and crowded into the large kitchen. The smell of chili simmering in the slow cookers was very strong. Those who were in wolf form began drooling despite the nervous tension in the air.
“Okay pups, listen up” Called Mother Luna from the far end of the kitchen. Everyone was silent at once, all eyes on her. “Les werewolves de Lune Rose de l’Acadie, votre chafeur vous attend a l’atrue cote de cette port ci.” The small group of children shuffled from the crowd and then hurried out the door that Mother Luna had indicated. “Now, Lone Wolves, you can leave through the same door and go to the white van. I realize some of you came in your own vehicles, but for safety reasons, we are taking you all home as a single unit. We will see your cars returned to you as soon as possible. Please co-operate with this.” Ellie and Elsie looped arms with Lia and began to move with the crowd of lone wolves towards the back door. “Not you, Liana,” mother wolf said, her voice edged with exasperation, “you will be staying here with Selene.” A few of the wolves moved toward her to be sure she complied with Mother Luna’s order. Lia’s eyes widened with fear. Jake had said the wolves wouldn’t hurt her, but what if Mother Luna told them to? She felt a furry nudge against her hand and looked down into the soft amber eyes of a pup. The scent of zinnias floated up her as the little one leaned into her leg and Lia realized that it was the young omega Zinnia trying to comfort her. She curled her fingers into the pup's soft furry head and smiled thinly down at her. They were all in this together, whatever it was. “It’s fine,” she heard herself telling the Rogues triplets. “I'll see you soon.”“All right now Cloud moon pups, I want each of you to look to those around you and be sure there are only Cloud Lake wolves here, plus your future Luna and her mother. Any others?” There was a soft chattering of “no mother Luna”. “Perfect,” she continued. Two large Omega men began to slide a section of industrial-style ovens away from the wall revealing a small, unlit passageway. Liana felt her heart rate increase realizing they were all being led into a secret passage or hiding place.“Don’t worry Miss Liana,” said a small boy as he took her hand. “My school class was here for a drill just last week. It’s not so scary once we get to the other side.” His green eyes were so sincere that Lia had to smile.“I’m sure I’ll be fine if you hold my hand,” she said kindly. He smiled, a dimple deepening in his freckled cheek.“I can do that for a little bit, but my momma is waiting there with her new pups and she wants me to go help her. Would that be okay? It isn’t dark down there will be lots of everybody.”“Your mom has new babies?” Lia asked, hoping the conversation would distract her as they descended the long, dark stairway.“Four of em,” The little guy said with a sigh. “They are crawling now too so it’s hard to keep them together. Freddie and I help, but we still sometimes lose one for a little while.”At the bottom of the stairs, they all turned right and stepped through another doorway. The space opened quickly into what looked like a basement playroom or day care. The space was lit with those long oval lights covered in wire cages that you always see in movies with underground bunkers, but the walls were covered in childlike doodles and drawings, the floor with hop scotch games. Families with babies seemed to be congregating on one end of the room, older children were playing in most of the main floor space and the older teens were clustered in groups by the door.“Hi miss Liana.” Lia turned to see Zinnia smiling up at her. Her long hair hung loosely around her face and was definitely in need of a brush. She was wearing a loose shift dress that looked a few sizes too big in width, but nearly too short to keep her decently covered. Her eyes were large and bright without the thick glasses.“No glasses?”“Oh, I wear contacts when I want to run as a wolf. I hate putting them in, but I’ve decided that it’s worth it to be able to see clearly. At least mostly. Some days I still can’t make myself put them in.”“What’s going on?”“Nobody really knows yet,” the girl said in a whisper. “Dylan told me there are a whole bunch of warriors from the Ocean Moon pack coming in unannounced. It might be nothing, ‘cause there are some of their pack here for the fun day anyhow, but our pack policy is to be proactive. Safety first. Always.” Her face suddenly got very pale. Lia grasped her shoulders in concern.“What’s the matter Zinnia?”“Dylan says they want me. My father is with them.” Just then, mother Luna arrived beside them.“We’ll need to get you back to the kitchens,” she said briskly. “Come little wolf.” Zinnia grabbed Lia’s hand, fingers like trembling icicles and her eyes wide. Mother wolf turned back when she realized Zinnia hadn’t followed her. “Little wolf?” Zinnia shook her head no. “Nothing is going to happen to you. Alpha Jake and Dylan will see that you’re protected. She still didn’t move.“Zinnia,” Lia asked quietly, “do you trust Dylan?”“Oh, yes,” she answered right away. “But not my father. I’m scared.”“Would you like me to come with you?” Lia asked. Mother Luna growled, but Lia just raised an eyebrow and stared the woman down. “You know I’m right,” she said calmly, “The place of the Luna is with the mothers, as last defense for the pups. At the moment that is your place, not mine. The next Luna will be whoever Jake mates with, whether it’s me or someone else. You know how to keep them safe here, I don’t even know how to get myself out.” Mother Luna pursed her lips and nodded reluctantly.“Alpha Jake is not going to be happy,” Zinnia mumbled.“Well, he’d better get used to me not being able to do as I’m told. If my Gran were awake she’d be happy to tell you that I really suck at that.”Zinnia grinned, “me too.”“Well that’s settled then. Lets go see what your father wants.”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