Kaya Robert and I stood outside the packhouse. Both of us were ready to go look for some wolfsbane. Robert signed to me. "How do you know how to make ink?" "Everyone knows how to make ink in the north. We make ink and dyes and a bunch of stuff from plants. Do you even know why we have wolfsbane on this side of the world?" "No, I just figured it has always been here." He signed, and I responded, "No, actually, hunters introduced it to different places." I knew the plant was not indigenous to most of the world, but when hunters were prevalent, they distributed the plant. Wolfsbane was a unique plant. In the north, it would still bloom even in the winter. But it did not grow like wildflowers. It was spread out and grew like a weed that would bloom sporadically. Robert and I walked for over an hour until I saw small purple flowers peaking out of the snow. I grabbed my knife and cut off as many of the flowers as I could. I signed to Robert. "We need more than just one plant." He nodded,
Cade Kaya came back into the room. She looked okay. I didn't want to ask her what was said between her and Robert, which is her business. I could tell over dinner she was upset about something. When we got to the room, she was practically sweating. When she told me what was going on, I was mad. How could she have someone openly lie to me? That is something totally out of character for her. Though I understood why she did it. But I did find out something about my mate. She could not lie to save her life. Which is something to be said. I knew tons of people who could lie and have no problem with keeping and even defending their own lies. But Kaya couldn't keep the lie, and when she was called out on it, she admitted she was wrong and didn't even try to defend what she did. She stated her reason, but she did admit she was wrong. Kaya stood there looking upset as she came in. "What is wrong, little mate?" I signed. "I feel ashamed for what I did. I should not have lied. I should have j
Kaya Cade and I sat in his office. I had a needle and the dye. I told Cade how this works. We had decided on one band on our finger. He had said rings mean something in the human world, and we don't do that in the north. Nor is marriage a thing in our world of werewolves. We would do a thin line on our left finger. I positioned the needle and started. I mind-linked Cade. "Does it hurt?" "It burns, but I don't feel sick. I continued to stick him over and over again. Dipping the needle into the ink made of wolfsbane. Cade continued to sit there stoically. He was uncomfortable but not unmanageable. I didn't take too long to do a band around his finger. "How do you feel? Does your finger feel like it will fall off? Do you feel sick or anything?" "My finger burns, but it is not too bad." He mind linked. I gave him my left hand. I had to instruct Cade on how to get a tattoo, as he had no idea. It was a series of pokes and applying the ink repeatedly. He started, and it did burn, but not
Cade I sat there. It had been a week, and neither Kaya nor I had problems with our fingers from the tattoo. The ink stayed beneath the skin. Kaya had called it a success. Now, we needed to figure out what our pack tattoo was. She was anxious to add it to her current one on her back. I had held a competition in the pack as to who would have the best design, which was the one we would do. Mark sat in the chair in my office. "We have changed a lot around here since you took Kaya as a Luna." He was right we had. The packhouse was almost only cooking meat Kaya had hunted with her friends. She aimed to make it so that everyone ate more wild meat. The little kids were learning more survival skills. The warriors were fighting better. Everyone was doing more than they had in the past. "Is that bad?" "No, definitely not. I think we have struggled to have a deep bond as a pack. You are a great alpha, and I know the people have always been loyal to you, but we have not had that camaraderie. I t
Kaya I watched with trepidation as Jack emerged from the black car. He looked like he was full of arrogance. I noticed most alphas had this air about them of pride. And not the good kind, either. They were all stuck up. Jack strutted towards Cade and me. I watched his lips as he stood in front of us. "Cade Kaya, so nice to see you again." He then looked directly at me and spoke as he signed. "Kaya, you are looking beautiful today. Thank you again for training some of my warriors." "When did he learn to sign?" I mind-linked Cade. He must have asked because Jack looked back at me and signed, "I started to learn after you and I fought. I mean, we are allies, after all, and I wanted to be able to talk with you." I signed back, "Thank you." I gave him a nod. It made no sense why he had learned. Not that I was not grateful. But it was a strange thing for him to do. Cade and I showed him to the guest rooms. I looked at Cade's lips to read them as he spoke. "The alpha floor is off limits,
Cade Kaya kissed my neck as the hot water beat down on my back. We had run most of the morning, and most of the pack was exhausted. Kaya and her friends seemed like they could have been more challenged, and neither Mark nor I had a problem with the length we ran today, but a lot of the pack did. Many people threw up as they could not handle the length or pace. Jack's men were among the ones who got sick. Jack himself had managed to keep pace. Kaya's tongue licked my mating mark, making my spine chill. I pulled her in front of me and kissed her lips. My mouth dominated hers. Pulling her to me. My stiff cock pushed against her belly. Her hand came between us, grabbing hold of me. "Turn around, I want your ass." I mind-linked her. She spun around so that her back was to me. Her arms stretched out, placing them on the cold, wet wall. I moved between her legs that she had spared wide in her stance. I moved behind her, and as the water beat down, making her slick, I positioned myself beh
KayaJack has been annoyingly talking to me the last few days. Asking about myself. It is almost like he is trying to get to know me. I needed to ask Cade when he was leaving. His curiosity about me is starting to feel weird. Also, I have noticed him giving me these looks. I can't really place it, but it makes my teeth clench. I was out on a hunt with Robert and my friends, but my head was thinking of this morning during training. It was a sparing day. I rotate with whom I spar, but Jack wanted to spar with me. He said it would be good to train with an Alpha. I had obliged, but it felt weird. He would take me down, so I landed on my back and held me for a while rather than let me up to go again. He was a good fighter, definitely equally matched to me. I wondered if he was matched to my other friends. But Jack wanted to avoid testing them and seeing if they were equal to him. No, he had insisted I train with him. "Pay attention." Saka snapped at me over the link. I stoo
CadeKaya had been excited for all morning. We were going back to the mountains for snowboarding. She tried to explain to her friends what we were doing, and all four seemed excited beyond belief. Mark and Helen were excited; we had not gone snowboarding since last year. A lot of the pack went on the weekends when the season opened. It had been a pastime for a lot of the pack. Unfortunately, we had no ski resorts on pack lands, so anyone who liked playing on the slopes had to leave. I had warned everyone that they needed to be careful when leaving the lands. They were not permitted to leave the pack by themselves. Kaya was practically bouncing as we loaded into the Van. We were not taking one of the SUVs as we had more than five with us. We loaded up the Van. It fit eight comfortably and the three boards. We all pilled in Kaya sitting up front with me. Kaya looked to be having a conversation. I am sure she was talking to one of her friends in the backseat. Mark sa
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