Nathan stood in the encampment of the surviving healthy Blue Mountain Pack. It was still a sad thing to behold. Most were female or pups and anyone coming into the encampment could smell the quiet fear emanating off the camp. He didn’t like this, but what surprised him the most was how quickly word passed through the camp that he’d arrived. Nathan didn’t realize the impression he’d given these people. But there was some sort of respect or a certain amount of awe. Whatever caused it, he wasn’t sure.
Quickly enough, a male who glared at him with open hostility confronted him. “What are you doing here?” The reaction of the crowd was that of surprise, and a few appeared upset at his tone. Thankfully, though, none confronted or complained to him.
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Helena couldn’t believe how late it was when she woke up. The coven would be there soon, and she wanted to meet them at the gates. She prayed she’d have time to speak alone with Brian before that. Now she didn’t know if that would happen at all. They’d talk with the Alphas after that and tell them what would happen. They also needed to find out what would happen with the Blue Mountain Pack. Nathan promised he would represent the pack’s interests, even though he still would not call himself their alpha. Nothing was normal, and all she wanted was for everything to return the way it was before her father got ill. No, then the guys would be her mates. If someone told her a few months ago she’s think that as if it were normal, she’d have called them insane. However, now, she didn’t even hesitate. Gods, she hoped the twins of midnight thi
Helen gathered the wolves who waited at the front gates and quickly filled them in on what was happening. Who were they expecting and why? She’d not been able to answer many questions before the small convoy of witches approached the gate. Their job was to help guide the witches and ensure that they didn’t leave anything behind, get lost, or injured within the Blue Mountain Territory. The witches wanted to round up their stray witch, claiming it was safer if they did this themselves. But Helena didn’t want them to have free rein to do whatever they wanted. She also wanted to know exactly what they were doing on and on the land. Would any clean up be needed and the like? Jillian would take the High Priest to the packhouse so that he could investigate some concerning things there. That’s all Jillian sai
It shocked Bethany they could scry on meetings like these. It was a simple thing to do because not only was the meeting outside; they did nothing to keep birds and small animals away. She said nothing about this to anyone at the moment, but she made a note of it to mention it to Alfred. If trouble ever occurred, they would have a way to gain information on the wolves. “Thank you, everyone, for coming to this meeting. I’ll assume everyone got the message about the concerning discovery that the Blue Mountain Pack Alpha was, in fact, not insane, but the victim of magic. A curse of some sort. We aren’t sure what to do about it, but we know that if someone was touched or touched, Clarence alive or dead will have the curse now. We are looking for people who are acting unusually aggressive, ill-tempered, and possibly violent. This curse plays with the mind, and we can&
Alfred followed the fast talking woman. He listened to her complain and add her opinion about the situation. It appeared they took her mate from her so that he could guard against any violence centred around her alpha. Or one of her alphas. This would take some getting used to for him. This wasn’t the first time he’d seen a packhouse, and it was small compared to several others he’d visited. Not surprisingly, he was led to their holding cells. What caught him off guard was how identical the two alphas weren’t. He would have expected them to be brothers, or at the very least, related. That wasn’t in question. But every feature appeared slightly off. Like someone stopped drawing an image before they finished it and then started a second of the same subject, but they approached each image differently, so where they left off was different, too. He found
Alfred and his people worked slowly and carefully. He didn’t want to trigger anything, as it had already happened at least once. The curse transferring from one person to another was just insidious enough for him to fear other traps and triggers. So, with the help of various spirits and herbs, he worked to find the answers that made sense to this situation. “Alright, we’re finally getting somewhere with this. I can see what she got and now I’m attempting to understand what she intended to do with these spells. Valorie clearly failed at what she attempted to do with this.” “Are you saying we’re in chaos because the witch made an error?” Brian couldn’t believe what he heard. “Our lives have been torn apart twice already. This is the third time, and that’s not co
“Nathan? What have you found out about what they want to do?” Helena looked over at Nathan and repeated herself to get his attention. He appeared distracted by something on his phone. She realized it was his mate on the other end and she was saying something to him. He appeared as if they were arguing about something, but he was discreet enough to do it quietly. “Oh, yes. Sorry.” Nathan put his phone away and stepped closer to the centre of the meadow. Where he began his report. “They’re concerned about where the money will come from to rebuild and can they successfully rebuild. Several mentioned they don’t feel safe and are concerned because they don’t believe they have an alpha to keep them safe. Also, they fear they won’t be able to round up enough people skilled in defending their territory.” 
The meeting ended with the pack leaders agreeing to look closely at how their members were behaving and any who were acting out of character would meet at the pack house as soon as possible for the purification rites. Jillian returned to Helena’s side once she introduced the coven leader to Brian and Davis. Davis made it clear she wasn’t going near Chris for her safety. She also felt like it wasn’t fair leaving Helena to do all the heavy lifting on her own. Chris was in excellent hands, but Helena needed a few pairs. Nathan walked up to the small group and asked, “As the representative of the Blue Mountain Pack, I would like to be there in our territory while you hunt for this witch. That way I can report back to the pack the current status of the mission to capture here. I want them to know their ter
Davis dozed in one of the open cells. Brian insisted he try to sleep while Chris lay asleep as his wolf in the cell, they restrained him in. Brian and Alfred spoke quietly about the purification rites. The hope of having this over and done with quickly. When Alfred understood some greater plot of this witch, Veronica devised for what appeared to be everyone that crossed her path. From family to community, she bore a bone to pick with so many. Of course, it was all a theory, and she needed to confirm it. But she was jealous of her wolf family for not possessing a wolf nature, then Clarence manipulated her into believing if she just did something for him, that he’d mate with her and make her a wolf. When the time came, he pushed her away. When he spurned her, she’d cursed him to be driven mad by his instincts. All
Life settled down for them after that, and a routine formed. Their pack understood their unique relationship. It helped when Alfred could come up with some documentation he’d found while doing his own study on their unique bond. It and Bethany fascinated the man became a friend to Helena and Jillian. Nathan and Asia eventually settled on a date to be formally accepted by their pack and to acknowledge their mating. It was something their pack needed to. Life for them soon became full of creating and building. Several of the lone wolves filtered in and requested a place within Nathan’s pack. Davis helped greatly with that because he could identify these lone wolves and vet their stories. By winter, there were enough homes to keep the Blue Mountain Pack safe from the elements. Money appeared out of the rambling and incomplete financial status. Helena didn’t look too closely, but she suspected several packs contributed funds and investments so that they could start agai
Asia now understood how much she didn’t know about wolf shifters and their society. The mating ceremony wasn’t elaborate, but there were meanings behind everything. Luck and good fortune were part of the reason everything was being done. Prosperity and abundance. She was told so many stories and traditions that her head spun from all of them. It was so different from what she’d learned in her time underground with them. The other women were afraid to speak of these things while Clarence was alive. Afterward, there were other things to think about. Now they were looking forward to the Alpha Acceptance Ceremony and their Mating Recognition Ceremony. It was so busy that most nights everyone went to bed exhausted to start again the next day. They could get the new packhouse built and several outbuildings so that they could winter with a roof over all their heads. They planned a school for the new year for all the packs in the area to send their pups, too. So the
The pack came alive with the discovery of the celebration. These were things they lived for. Births, matings, and all the little cornerstones of member lives. They were a close knit family and community. This was something they could sink their proverbial teeth into. Presents weren’t necessary, but someone would always find something to bring.They planned a nighttime ceremony as tradition dictated and that gave most of the day to prepare the simple things for the ceremony.Dusk was falling and Helena cornered Jillian in her apartment to get ready. Davis took an hour and greeted those attending. Jillian fluttered about in a distracted and nervous state. Helena couldn’t figure out what would calm her down. But she started out with some logic.“First off. Here’s the dress. Let’s get you dressed. Honestly, you’d think Davis wasn’t yours already. At least, your instincts were smart enough to catch him. Everything is already recorded and technically, this is just to get your sister to leav
The work lunch was going well, but as the meeting came to an end, Chris noticed Jillian again adjusting the collar of her top. With a frown, he watched her for a little longer. “Is that a bite on your neck, Jillian?” Her response was to put her hand over the mark and blush. “It is! Well, I guess congratulations are in order for both of you. When are you planning to have your mating recognition ceremony?” “We’ll see. We’ve not set a date yet. There’s no hurry after all this stuff happening.” Jillian tried to take the pressure off of the subject, because she hoped they would drop it. “We’re going to have one as soon as it’s possible. No time to waste pretending things might change.” Davis interrupted Jillian’s uncomfortably nervous rambling to state the opposite of his mate’s words. “Davis! What are you talking about? We can’t do that. It’s too soon after all the deaths.” Jillian looked askance at Davis, unable to believe he’d said none of this to her
Nathan all but dragged himself back to the camp. He’d not fought all that much. It’d just been a long night. Too long if you asked him. But he represented the Blue Mountain Pack until the end. The witches would not all him to sit in and watch the trial. But he knew that witch and golem were now no longer a threat to the Blue Mountain. Now what would he do since the pack chose him to be their leader? Did he dare think of himself as the perfect candidate? He’d done a right fine job of being a roadblock to the current leadership there. Would he bring that blindness to this pack? Or could he be confident that he’d learned his lesson? If only he could see into the future and everything it held. Asia would see him as the stuff Alpha’s were made of. But he knew she’d read far too many romance novels involving werewolves, and they were far from correct in most things about wolf shifters. The camp was moving today, which meant he wouldn’t get much sleep, nor would the few peo
Jillian watched Davis make sure that her sister and mother, with her mother’s latest side piece, were settled in their cabin. Gods, the guy wasn’t much older than her sister. He’d be better suited to her sister. What did these men see in her mother? She had two adult daughters. She didn’t care if her mother found someone. Actually, Jillian would love her mother to find someone she had something in common with. This guy wouldn’t be able to keep up with her in a conversation and she wouldn’t be able to keep up with him in pretty much any physical activity. Jillian could see this becoming another crash and burn. She bet he’d not met his fated mate and when he did, he’d have a devil of a time removing her clinging mother from him. Or Jillian would have to deal with the high drama. At least, right now, Davis showed no interest in her sister’s advances. He’d spoken to her once already, and her sister acted like he must be mistaken. Now Jillian wasn’t sure if she m
“If we are going to return to some form of normal, we need to finish preparing the Alpha apartments for us. You know. Get all our ducks in a row.” Chris mentioned as they ate breakfast in their apartment. This was the first day of the rest of their lives together in his estimation, and he was becoming impatient at how must mess it left and the sheer number of strings that weren’t tied down. This wasn’t something he wanted to have happened again. “As long as those ducks don’t turn into raccoons or squirrels, I’ll be happy. I thought we setup for them to be renovated by now?” Helena pushed her plate away from her. How this would play out, she didn’t know, but she had to get it going or she’d get bogged down in her grief. “We did, but half of the work crew was called up to hunt. Which put the schedule back and I’ve not been given a revised schedule.” Brian added, and he clearly felt horrible about that. They didn’t need so many people to hunt down the golem or
Alfred walked from the room they used for their courts and formal audiences. It wasn’t used much these days, but it was never pleasant. The council agreed to punish Veronica with imprisonment and being stripped of her abilities. Not a simple thing to do. She’d never live a normal life if she finished her imprisonment. Veronica would have to stay hidden from the mortal world because of the knowledge she could spread. Basically, she’d just trade one prison for another and the identity she knew once would always be a faint memory. In the old day, they’d have just killed her, and Alfred believed that was a far more merciful thing to do. None of this gives her hope and then lets someone else deal with the fallout. Though he could wash his hands of her. She’d go with the elders of the council back to their homeland, which was secreted away. That’s where the sentence would occur. Their coven didn’t have the resources or place to keep her during her punishment. This was the end of th
Veronica didn’t know how long she’d been there. The light turned off and on several times. She could have been there for hours or days. She didn’t know. Finally, someone gave her food. Once she ate, it didn’t take long for a small group of people to come along and haul her out of the prison, she found herself in. She was prepared to celebrate her freedom until she found herself locked in a chair in another dark room. Veronica could hear the movement of people in robes on the edges of the large empty room. She wasn’t sure what to expect from these people. Veronica schooled herself not to give into the fear. She couldn’t quite achieve that, so she sat there attempting not to admit to anything incriminating or to give up on her very life. Finally, the lights came up enough within the room, that left little to the imagination of what they used this room for. It was a courtroom, and she was on trial. They dared to force their views and rules on her. That, alone burst her