Raven didn’t argue with the Beta. She felt glad to leave the cell behind. The stairs were a lot. The Beta led her by the arm. He’d focus on scolding her first, which meant he’d keep hold of her and prevent her from falling. Four floors later, Raven entered Alpha Jones’s living quarters, and the Beta led her into the Alpha’s bedroom. “Where’re the guards? They should be here guarding the Alpha.” He grumbled under his breath. The Beta’s anger was visible to Raven as he pulled her along. “I’m sorry. I don’t know where they are.” Raved had wished to ask why they guarded inside the Alpha’s living quarters and not outside the entrance to it. Raven got her answer when she saw the Alpha in his bed. Alpha Jones looked pale. He’d the look of a wolf in a forced healing state. As an Alpha, his importance to the Pack meant he couldn’t afford downtime for illness or injury if a healer could avoid it. Reality lent its science to this aspect of shifter
“It’s simple. I’ve never had the power to resist in this group. Without Pack status, there was nothing to protect. If I had fought back or tried to defend any claims.” Raven said. She shrugged her shoulders as she watched the Alpha hold her hand. “I had to care for my little belongings, as nobody else would. No, it wasn’t easy. I had to search beyond the Pack to stay alive. If I retaliated against Hilary, I couldn’t control my anger. I’d have killed her.” Her emotion went unnoticed by Paul, which was not to his liking. His wolf’s instincts screamed in his brain that the missing emotion was a red flag. She avoided saying something to him.“The Alpha claimed you refused to join Pack or him. Paul said. He felt his curiosity rise when it appeared as if her words and the Alpha’s didn’t match. He wanted to know how she explained the conflicting explanations. “Is that what he told you? I wonder if he knows how wrong that is. Or did someone lie to him about that, and h
“This is insane. How dare they invade and establish themselves in our territory? Alpha Klyne asked. “The nerve of these humans was unbelievable to him.” Local humans hated the Red River Pack so much that he’d do anything to push them out of the area. The Pack needed their territory and baring keeping that, they’d need fresh territory. Yet, the Humber Valley Pack had already established their claim on that territory. “They claim they inherited the property and have reclaimed it.” Dale, his Beta, spoke over the phone with him. Alpha Klyne felt disheartened and annoyed with Alpha Jones. He’d never expected things to unfold as they had, and he’d come unprepared for a fight. “That’s ridiculous. It’s impossible. Our Pack has existed in this territory for five generations. Shifter generations, not humans. These humans are liars.” Alpha Klyne said. He protested the unfair treatment of his people by their long-time neighbors. The humans screamed and complain
Raven sat beside Alpha Jones as he rested on his bed. She couldn’t do anything else because he wouldn’t release her hand. He gripped it to his chest, relying on it as a lifeline or tether. Releasing it would mean being lost somehow. That’s the impression Raven had of Alpha Jones’s actions. Raven doubted he knew how his wolf acted. She was unsure if he acted as a wolf and his wolf tried to claim her as his. While his human half ignored and resisted their mate bond. When Alpha Jones awoke, Raven knew nothing had changed between them. No one told her how he received his injuries or what state his injuries were in. So, there she sat. Watching him to ensure that he didn’t take a turn for the worse. Unknowing, what would signal a turn for the worse? Raven could feel an ache in her heart from the fear she might miss something. She had no right to demand answers or actions. She was to blame for putting herself in a position like this. Nothing new there. Rav
“I’m on it. I’m sorry and I’ll get this fixed right away.” The Delta returned to his computer and began working. He should his head in disbelief at what he’d learned. Alpha Jones had announced yesterday that he didn’t have a chosen mate. Hilary campaigned to ensure every Pack member knew she believed herself the next Luna by becoming his chosen mate. “I want her confined and waiting for Alpha Jones before he awakens. Am I understood? I need to know who disobeyed my command. Heads will roll. Hilary disobeyed my command for the third time. I won’t have her running around her attacking people and lying about her position within this Pack. Get this fixed.” He left the command center. The kitchen was his next stop, and it didn’t take him long to have a tray of food prepared and he delivered it in person to Dom’s living quarters. When he entered, he found Dom sleeping undisturbed, with Raven in what appeared to be a death grip. She slept on top of the covers at an awkward angle, not
“Okay, perhaps my brain is bogged down with the medication. Hilary, who I asked to leave the Pack house, returned and had to be removed from my private quarters twice. Which time did she attack my Pet?” Dom didn’t sit up; he didn’t want to disturb Raven. He enjoyed holding Raven, more importantly he the look and feel of her skin. “Raven remained in the cell you assigned, without necessities, when Hilary first arrived. I brought Raven here after handling some matters, only to find Hilary crawling all over you.” Paul said to Dom. He explained the order as he remembered it again. It sucked when the healers forced the healing medication on a wolf. Paul had experienced it before, and a slice of Swiss cheese had fewer holes than the wolf had cognitive abilities. “You didn’t appear to like it, so I took the initiative and took her from your bed. Raven stayed near the bedroom door and said nothing. Heck, she did nothing more than watch. Hilary caught sight of her, she
“I will examine her first. But I must lodge a protest because she’s just a Pet. You are my first concern since you are the Alpha.” Healer Laurel said. “This is very irregular. I must state that it breaks protocol.” “I don’t care. Too many people have neglected her.” The healer observed Dom and seemed to have found an elusive detail. “I see. Yes, of course. I should have seen that. If I may start?” The healer gestured to Raven and Dom’s arm, holding her to him. Dom nodded with a grim face and released her with reluctance. Minutes went by. “I’m seeing recent signs of bruising, claw marks, and other injuries. She’s running a slight fever, but that could be from fatigue and lack of nutrition. It’s seldom that you see a wolf these days who’s in a pack in this state. I can provide IV fluids with nutrients to treat a potential vitamin deficiency, and then ensure she eats. I hope she’s not developed an eating disorder. It’s hard enough to get a
An hour later, the healer returned and examined Dom again. “I’d recommend you send your Beta and recover for another day or two.” His verdict or opinion didn’t matter to Dom. He was unsure if he could trust this healer and Helios would hear about Dom’s concerns about him. “You know that won’t be happening. She’s mine and I no longer trust anyone with her care.” Healer Laurel looked surprised. “I see. Well, I’ve tried to be as accommodating as possible. She will soon be free from my grasp.” The healer made copious notes and to Dom, he knew it meant the healer had prepared a defense for something. Dom doubted he knew the alpha of the Black River Pack, who created and managed the facility. “When do we leave?” Dom didn’t want to wait. Raven’s condition hadn’t changed, and he felt that sinking feeling, so he didn’t want to wait any longer or trust this healer. “Can I have a few attendants to prepare both of you for travel within the next twen
FOUR YEARS LATER “Dominic, where is Romini?” Raven demanded as she stormed into the Great Room of the Pack House of the Silver Lycan Pack. They’d renamed the Pack when they discovered their wolves fur all took on a silver sheen in place of the colors they had. Brigid couldn’t explain why and when nothing disturbing or negative occurred they let it stay a mystery for the time being. “Where is your son?” “Last time I saw. He made his escape up to the Lady’s fortress to see Lothe and his latest creation. Has he done something?” Dominic said to Raven with an indulgent smile. He knew exactly what was coming his way as soon as he’d seen his pup run past the Great Room doors heading for the main entrance. Romini had been clutched in his jaws as his tiny claws skittered across the hardwood floors. He shouldn’t be able to shift, but it turned out that any shifter born within the Dream Realm could shift at a much younger age. “No, and that’s the p
Raven and Dominic learned they led a more import group than they had expected. Their enforcers soon became indispensable to the army units because their wolves heightened senses, speed, and stealth made them helpful with information gathering and following scent trails. Their speed had helped save several people from sudden attacks because they were so much faster. “I’m proud to say Raven that as of today your territory is stable. There will be no more time slips there. It’s time for you to take over and learn what is on your territory.” Brigid said in an announcement to the court of Dreamers and army heads. “Stage one complete and onto stage two then. We’ll enter the territory and record what’s left in the area. Then we can clear what we can.” Raven said as she looked from Brigid out through a window that showed a few of the territory they were speaking about. “Do be mindful of the shadows. There are larger ones out there than the ones
“I can’t believe that we’ve had so many wolves who’ve changed their minds and attitudes. There’s more wolves and things that are ready to go through the portals. It’ll take weeks to take everything and everyone through even with the help of other Dreamers. Are you sure this won’t be too much for your people Raven?” Dominic asked. His concern was real and obvious over his face. He’d been worried about this point for the entire time, but he'd held it back. “Het’ Tur has promised to open a portal for us, and he’s arranged it with the mages. So, we’re hoping there’ll be no conflict between the two portal systems.” Raven told him. Het’ Tur’s portals were far older and broke through between realms rather than ran between realms like the mage portals. With the mages communicating with Brigid now, it meant they now spoke with Het’ Tur too. They were working out how their systems could work together for everyone. The problem they had were vehicles wouldn’t w
“Well, that went a better than I thought it would.” Raven settled back into the limousine and looked at Dominic. She felt exhausted from the meeting with the military and scientific specialists. Several political faces were from human and supernatural groups. Everyone was there to discuss the surprise that humans were waking up to the magic from the Dream Realm. The supernatural world had to introduce them to what was for everyone’s safety. They planned to teach those who awoke to the Dream Realm for their own safety. They needed to know the warning signs. How to avoid and protect themselves. Raven wanted to say good luck. “Really, I thought the humans were going to call bullshit every time you said anything. I wanted to snap at that general and I suspect the scientists were about to have a fit when you told them that Fae was about as strong as the creation as the universe. They looked like they were going to have a heart attack.” Dominic said as he
“So, you are aware of other realms.” Raven sat across a large table from several humans. “Yes, madam we have many who swear they see things in their sleep. But when the numbers increased, and the dynamic changed to include a group who strove to prove what they saw in their dreams. Especially after supernatural beings came forward and it became clear that there was an unknown travel network. Then the Fae were revealed and other dimensions. It’s opened sciences we have kept as theory until now.” “I’ll tell you the truth right now that most realms or dimensions are too dangerous to interact with and it’s not worth interacting with them. The reason the Dream Realm and Fae Realm work with ours is because the Fae twisted our dimension to work for them. That includes twisting humans to work for them. Humans were a generic template that they could use to alter for any need. As in creating a shifter species. Now, we are sorry you had to remove them the first
Raven stood beside Dominic as they waited for the Pack to arrive and find their places within the great room. She’d been pacing behind him for the last twenty minutes as they prepared for this meeting. They’d not told anyone what this meeting was about but had told them that this was a mandatory meeting. Raven wouldn’t tell anyone when they called her and tried to pry the information from her as if she would betray her mate.It was too hard to believe that she was so loyal to Alpha Dominic which had several wolves scratching their heads. But they were struggling even more because he seemed more devoted than even before. The Pack in general were left scratching their heads as Raven had earned the loyalty of the other Pack leadership as well.“I am glad to see you at least are smart enough to attend this meeting.” Dominic hadn’t liked hearing confirmation of the odd opinions and complaints. The wolves shouldn’t have been concerned. “I’ve had several mixed feelings these last few we
Raven had gone to the meeting with Dominic and they’d discussed the situation along with as many of the complications as they could predict. Gregory had expressed his appreciation that they’d brought this idea to him before they had put anything into play. It meant he and the Council of Alphas could make plans to counteract any negative fallout.She had to admit she wasn’t sure if they’d be welcome to bring their Pack into the Dream Realm. Or if they would leave this realm entirely. It’s too early to know how they would proceed with this plan.The Dreamers had spread out and had begun to use their training. Stabilizing the timelines, dealing with the more aggressive shadow creatures, and learning about the abandoned things within their area. They had to record everything and the state it was in. With their contact with the mages it wasn’t difficult to reach out to other species who possessed magic. Much of the lost magical items were responding to one kind of magic or another.
“Brigid says she’ll be in touch soon with scheduling so we can have a rotation of sorts. That way we can have a consistent rebuilding going on inside the Dream Realm. So, how are we going to run this place around all that? I don’t even know what anyone thinks about all of this because no one’s dared to speak to me. It’s like they think I’ll unmake them or something.” Raven said to Dominic as she returned from the Dream Realm where she’d had a meeting with Brigid and the other Dreamers. Dominic had seen the changes in her and the Pack. He’d said nothing to anyone about his idea of taking the Pack into the Dream Realm and becoming part of the enforcement powers there. He could see their Pack as a foundation of a future power.He wanted to support Raven the best way possible and he didn’t think he could do it from here.“Raven, love. Everyone is in shock because nothing is how they thought it was. They’re trying to figure out where they and you now rest in the world. People have
“Dominic, don’t worry about it. I know you don’t have to explain to me. When you disconnect your call with me I received a message from someone that explained what was happening.” Lily said as soon as they returned and she made them sit down to eat a meal.“Then can you explain it to us?” Dominic practically begged Lily to explain what they had witnessed even though she hadn’t been there to witness So, he wouldn’t stop the stow for anything and allow her to explain what she’d pieced together through some of her very odd channels, not that any of this was straight forward.“Please tell me she isn’t doing the biggest mistake of all time.” Raven stepped in now and she was practically begging to know that they weren’t letting her do something foolish. It was something they’d all been questioning since Brigid first said she was going to investigate the situation and she didn’t want anyone else going with her, because she didn’t like the idea of the risk. She had Het’ Tur and she didn’