CadeI watched her go and went to find my seat. I took a deep breath. I knew where Kaya was coming from. No one should be touched if they don't want to be. I had been guilty of stealing a kiss from a few unexpected girls as a teenager. They didn't ask to be kissed, but I wanted to kiss them, so I did. But that was a foreign thing to Kaya and all of the North. It was something they would never even think of. Not to mention this guy had to grab Kimi's butt too.I understood why Kaya did what she did. She felt like her friend had been attacked. My directive should be enough. I knew this would get back to Nieva, and she would be upset and feel like I failed her again to protect her wolves. I knew I could not control other pack members. None of my pack would have done that. I had given them a directive when Kaya's friends came not to touch them unless they wanted to be touched because I knew how they lived. But, it was out of my hands regarding other packs. The only thing I could do was c
Cade We all stood at the tree line. All the contestants for this challenge were passing several things back and forth. They would need to catch the scent. Kaya had helped design this particular challenge, but she did not know where we had hidden the objects that contained the scents. There were three objects out in the forest that all the competitors would try to find. The three objects had a faint smell of what they were sniffing now. All three objects had a different smell. These objects were small and easily concealed, so finding them would take a lot of work. I wondered if one person would get all the objects or if it would be one object per person. We would soon find out. I spoke to the people milling about getting ready to watch. "All of you have had a chance to get a smell of the scents you will be tracking. Three objects need to be found. Judging will be based on the time you retrieve the items and what you get, as each object is concealed in various degrees. And you will d
Kaya The day went by in a blur. Cade and I went around and met with other alphas. Who had a million questions about the North? No one knew much about it, and they all were curious. I never answered their questions as I didn't talk. Cade would answer for me if he knew the answer. It was after lunch when Kimi returned from the day's challenge. She was covered in blood, but the small wolf statue was in her hand. She was the first back I ran to her. I signed, "Kimi, what happened? What is with all the blood?" "Those assholes tried to take what I had got. They shifted and attacked me, so I fought them." A few people came out of the woods after her. They were naked like her, and one had a severe wound on his chest. I shielded her, trying to get her someplace to get some clothes. I gave her my jacket to wrap up in. "Helen, bring me some clothes. I need some now for Kimi." I mind-linked Helen. Helen came up with some jeans and a long-sleeved T-shirt. A few hours passed when Len emerged fro
Kaya I stood there watching the people gathering. There would be two challenges today. The first one was to be a race. The second was challenging: working in groups to see how you work as a pack. It had snowed most of the night but had stopped. The ground was coated in a white blanket. After the race, before the next challenge, I planned to check on those still running in the endurance challenge. Helen was next to me this morning. "Mercy is the fastest runner in the pack; she will do well for us in this challenge." She mind-linked me as everyone lined up for the race to begin. It was not a short distance. Cade and the other alphas were stationed at the end of the track a few miles away. I looked at Len. He was running this race. Where was Kimi? I thought to myself. I looked around for her, but she was as short as I was, and it was hard to spot her over everyone who towered over me. "Helen, do you see Kimi?" I mind-linked her. She looked around. "No, sorry, I don't." I mind-linked K
Cade I watched as this guy he had tripped Len. Len lost his balance but quickly regained his balance and ran full speed, but the guy had already closed the distance and won the race. Then Len crossed the finish line, and the Mercy finished. She was the fastest runner in Shadow Pack. I was sure she would have come in first. The three had beaten the rest with a considerable distance between them. I wondered if the snow on the ground had to do with the other's delay. I was not surprised when Kaya told me that Saka had one endurance test. But finding out George had come in second was a real shocker. I wondered if Kaya, having given him a pep talk yesterday, had helped him keep running. She had taken him to the packhouse and made sure he got a bed in a warm place. She was compassionate. Seeing her try her best to root and aid our pack made me happy. She was doing the small things a Luna did for her pack. Charlie came up to me. "Cade, so Saka won the endurance test." "Kaya told me." "Who
Cade The challenge was supposed to see how you work as a pack. It was a simple game of capturing the flag. I knew it would be a challenge for Cresent Moon. They only had three people here, and that was only if Saka would be participating. They would have one hour to hide their flag, and then whoever brought a flag back of someone else would win. There was no third place or second, only one clear winner. "Cade, I don't know this game," Len said. "It is simple. You just hide the flag, have someone guard it, then the others go find the others and take their flag." Len looked at Kimi. I knew they must be mind-linking. "When does the event start?" "In an hour. They are giving everyone an hour to strategize." "Kimi, I am going to get Saka." she nodded. "Cade, can we hide the flag anywhere?" "Yeah, anywhere is fine. The goal is to use all of your senses to find it." She nodded. "Where is Kaya?" "She went with Robert to make sure George had everything he needed. She insisted he stay in th
Kaya"Robert, do you hate watching me?" I mind-linked Robert. I had been curious about this. He had been watching over me for a while now, and I wanted to know how he felt about it. When Cade told me I needed a guard, I thought it was ridiculous. I still did, but I was curious about his feelings. "It is an honor to be the Lunas' guard." "But it is all you do. Don't you find it boring?" "No, you talk to me a lot, so it is not like I have no one to talk to. Not to mention, you almost always have someone around you to converse with. I am getting to learn to hunt being with you all the time, and I am learning sign language, and your friends are teaching me your native tongue; I have not found anything too boring yet." "Well, that is good, I guess," I said over the mind link. I wanted to ask about his mate but didn't know if it would be painful for him to talk about. He must have read my face. He signed, "You want to ask me something." I nodded. "Ask." "Your mate, Cade, told me she died b
Cade It was like Kaya said her friends hated being in the clinic. They sat there and left as soon as the doctor saw them, not caring about what he said. It was totally disregarded as they ran out of the clinic and went to find something else to do. Helen, Mark, and I returned to the packhouse. I knew Kaya was in the kitchen, and when I walked in, several people surrounded her. They were all laughing and looked to be having a good time. They were all taking shots except Robert, who looked to be the only one not drinking. Kaya saw me and got up. She ran to me and threw herself at me. She smiled at me, then mind-linked, "My hero returns." I smirked. "What have you been drinking? You smell like a distillery." "Vodka, and you know what? I think I like it." Her smile got bigger. "Are you drunk?" She just shook her head but stumbled a bit. The people behind her laughed. "Alpha, Luna can drink a lot." I knew that to be true. In the north, they had that potato liquor from fermenting wild po
KayaI lay there in the bright light and sat up suddenly. A woman was standing next to me. She was beautiful. Her long white hair was to her feet. Her white skin had a glow. And her white eyes were looking right at me. "My daughter Kaya." I could hear her. "Yes, in here, you can hear and talk. Try it." I opened my mouth and thought about what I wanted to say. "Who are you?" It took me back to hear my voice. The women smiled. "You are in my home." I looked around. It was pure white. "I also frequent the land where all my children go when they die, you know, as the Garden, but this is actually where I live." "But who are you?" "I think you already know the answer." "You are the Goddess." "Yes I am, I am named Selen." I smiled. She had a name. "Do you know why I brought you here instead of the garden with the other wolves who died?" I just shook my head. "Well, I wanted to talk to you." "I wanted to thank you for uniting the North and the South. I always wanted you both to be friends.
CadeWe were running, and I felt it. Kaya was off the link. I tried to mind link her but she didn't respond I let out a roar that shook the trees near us. "Robert." I mind-linked. "Alpha, she is dead." "What happened?" "She, I had to cut the baby out, and she just died." I could feel his emotion over the link. What do I even do? She was gone. How had this happened? She was the strongest wolf I knew. I roared again. I was going to kill Howi, which would be long and drawn out. He had killed my mate. If she had been left alone, she would have been in a hospital. She would be in comfort snuggling our newborn. I didn't know if even the baby would survive. The north, though, was warmer now because of the season, but it would still be cold. There was still snow on the ground. I knew the rest of the pack felt that she had died, and Mark's mind linked me. "Cade." "What?" I yelled through the link while I continued to run. "I am sorry." I snapped my jaws at him. I would not hear about her. No
Kaya I landed just fine. The snow was so much deeper than I thought it would be at this time of the year. Not to mention, it was powder and not hard like ice or packed snow at all. It didn't seem natural. This had to be the Goddess's doing. She had to have made the ground better for falling into. I looked around and Saw Robert lying in the powder. I ran to him. He was lying there limp. I sniffed him. He was still breathing. He needed to be mended. I looked around frantically. There was not much around me. I saw some trees in the distance. There had to be something there. I used my snout to feel around until I felt blood on his shoulder. I used my paw to roll him and saw it went straight through. He would be okay. I didn't know why he was still asleep. They had to have given him something else besides shooting him. The wound was nasty but it could be mended. Maybe they had drugged him again while I was passed out. I tried to mind link, Cade. "Kaya, what is it?" "I was taken. I am, w
Kaya I woke up, and Robert was lounging in a chair. He looked like he had something on his mind. But he seemed like he always had stuff on his mind these days. I was sure it was because I was on bed rest. "Robert." I mind-linked him. "Can we go out to eat? You know the place by the river and eat outside. I want to go hiking, but I know I am supposed to be in bed and I don't think going out to eat counts as breaking the bed rest." "Luna, we need to stay home." My face fell. "Well, then, can I have some moose?" He nodded, and I followed him into the kitchen, where I immediately sat down. He pulled some out of the freeze, immediately put it in the sink, and turned on the water to defrost it. He sat down at the small table with me. "What is it?" I signed. He didn't respond, and I knew something was wrong. "Tell me," I commanded over the link. "Cade mind linked. Howi knows the pack is in the North. No one was there when they went to fight. Howi also knows you are not in the North and is
CadeWe had the spray made. There was so much made that everyone sprayed themselves down. Then, we decided to stagger our movement. So some left already with some deltas. Then another set went yesterday. Today, I was moving out. The people already in Howi's pack had started to set traps. When I got there, I would also set traps. It would take about two days until we were ready to set fires. It was a risk doing it in days as we could get caught. I knew Howi knew we were already coming. When he set his message, it told me he had eyes on us like we did for him. I tore through the woods, my wolf running at a steady pace. I had my bag attached to my back leg with clothes on it. We could not set the traps and fires in wolf form. But fighting we would need to do in wolf form if possible. We are more robust in that form. I ran all day. Stopping at night to rest, then getting up and running again. It was a two-day run to Daybreak pack. Howie had moved his pack to Jack's ho
CadeWe finalized everything. The plan was in motion. The woman who made the perfume had stayed behind with her mate; their oldest son had taken their youngest to the North. Both wanted to stay and fight for the pack. She had agreed to make a spay of skunk, and I, for one, was glad it was not me. I knew that was going to be a stinky job. Robert gave me a report on Kaya after they went to see the OBGYN. He had said she wanted to be left alone and was in a bad mood. But Robert gave me the rundown of what was said. I knew Kaya would be upset, and I wanted to comfort her. She should not be going through this without me. But we had a plan now. We had an idea of how to win. Once the scent was made and we could spray ourselves, we would move into position. It would be a process over days, but I was sure it would go fast once everything was in motion. But we would have to wait until the spray is ready. I hurried off to the training field. It was after lunch training session. T
Kaya Robert and I waited in the OBGYN room. The place was so different from the clinic back at Shadow Pack. I got several looks from the other women waiting. I didn't know if they were staring at me or if they were looking at Robert, who was burly. He resembled a bear. He mind-linked me. "This place is ridiculous, a bit pretentious much?" I cracked a smile. I had been thinking the same thing. I sat there playing with my fingers. "Kaya, they are calling you." I stood and Robert with me. The woman led us back, making me get on a scale and take my height. Suddenly, the woman stopped and turned to me. "I am so sorry. I didn't realize you were deaf, and here I was talking and not looking at you." I read her lips and then looked at Robert. "It is so nice that your husband here can help translate for you." I began to frantically sign that Robert was not my husband. "Oh well, you guys are not married. Not everyone has to be to have a baby. I bet you two are excited." My ange
Cade The morning came, and I waited for Kaya to mind-link me, which she did every morning when she woke up. Even before she left, I noticed that she had started to sleep in later. Growing a werewolf was a lot of work. It was no surprise to me she slept a lot. Today, I would meet with a few people, and we would strategize the best way to take out Howi. Kaya and I reviewed some ideas yesterday, and I liked her suggestion of setting a fire. But that would not be enough. I was eating breakfast with Mark, neither of us talking. In fact, no one in the packhouse was talking. I knew it was because they all missed their loved ones. Everyone, including me, was sullen. I felt Kaya's mind link me. "Cade, good morning." "Good morning, love. Did you sleep well?" "Yes, I wish you could see my toes." "What about them?" "Robert and I went to the aquarium yesterday and got pedicures after lunch. I had them paint them bright pink. It is so cute." I couldn't help but crack a smile." "Oh, and
Kaya Robert and I had met the neighbors, and I felt they already hated me. That or they just didn't understand me. Humans never did understand facial tattoos. I mind linked Cade as soon as I got up. "Cade." "Your awake." "Yeah, did I worry you?" "No, of course not. I figured you were asleep when I tried to mind-link you earlier, but Robert told me you were sleeping. He also said you are going out today." "Yeah, I was going to go out and just wander around the city." "No place in mind?" "No." Being here just a few days was already getting boring. I needed to get out of the house. "Have him take you to Sheels; you liked that place. You could also go to the zoo again or even the aquarium would be fun. Then maybe go get your feet rubbed at a nail place." "Who would rub my feet? That does not seem like a thing." "No, it is. You pay them, and they will wash and rub your feet." "Okay, I will ask Robert about all of that." "Good." "So everyone left this morning, right?" "That