Sure enough, the mage portals allowed most of their people and those no longer human victims to leave peacefully. They left those who could clearly reintegrate into the human world easily because everyone know it would be awhile before it would no longer be a disaster or nightmare for those involved. Rob watched the fool he assumed was Becky’s ex-father-in-law pull a handgun on one wolf. Speed, surprise, and fear all worked against him. A single swipe of an extremely large paw knocked the handgun behind a heavy row of filing cabinets. His claws left several gashed on his forearm as well. He then folded in on himself from the pain and fear. Rob’s interest in the threats that spewed from Becky’s ex-husband was of no interest to him. There was no reason to care about him until later when some fool human stupidly took his excuses and accusations seriously. Rob hoped he sprinkled in enough threats to trigger the red flags that these two were criminally insane. The vam
Rob went through the corridors toward where the human forces were entering. “Where is the head of this operation?” He used his presence ability to gain the attention of the police. “Stop right there. Police!” “You’re late. Now, get in there and clean up your mess. You’re monsters. We’ve removed our own and those we can help. Follow him and he’ll show you where the victims are that you can help. Also, don’t kill any of the wolves, bears, or any other animal. They are called shifters. If they are aggressive, get one of my people to deal with them.” “What is a shifter? What are you talking about?” “I’m a shifter.” Rob revealed his bloody hands and released his claws. “You’re humans here have been experimenting on us and your own people. Now, where is the head of your operation? It’s time we had a talk.” I could see the look of fear in several of the humans through their helmets. “Can we get this horror over with? I have had more than enough of th
“Wolversen? As in Wolversen Industries… Of course, wolf. You are familiar with the Wolversen company?” “What you should ask if I as an Alpha am familiar with Alpha Gregory Wolversen and his pack, the Black River Pack? You’ll probably be dealing with his mother when he arrives. Edith Wolversen is the Ambassador for the Wolf Shifters on the North American Ruling Council. But we need to get back to the matter at hand. We’ve removed the victims or test subjects you won’t be equipped to handle. They equip our facilities to handle far more oddities and anomalies. But as a measure of good faith, those that can return to their families after they receive care from your people are here. We aren’t the heartless monsters.” “May I ask why you are covered in blood?” “Multiple reasons. We tried to keep the death to a minimum, but there was one that needed to be removed because your people didn’t manage him properly and endangered someone very close to me.”
Rob hated this. Bart and he were stuck listening to the entire mess. From beginning to end. Eventually, the humans risked their precious lives to enter the bowels of the lab. They acted like they were the ones walking into the trap as opposed to the other way around. However, when one of the Black River Pack enforcers walked into the corridor in her wolf form and shifted into her flesh, the attitude of many of the humans changed. Mind you, the wolf became a pale naked woman with long black hair and a face like an angel. Rob hadn’t caught her last name, though she was somehow related to her alpha, but her name was Yolanda or Yo-Yo. She didn’t pretend to be sweet and innocent. Not by a long shot. When Rob last saw her clothed, she was in black denim jeans, a black leather jacket, and the traditional body armour of an enforcer. Now she wasn’t even wearing that. Rob figured she probably had to shed the armour to lose the jeans so she could shift at some point.
Rob thought things were over. Because he assumed the rogues that attacked him worked for Hectric. But that was only part of the truth. Hectric hired the rogues to deal with shifter interference. They’d promised the rogues that they’d have free rein to do as they please once they dealt the local shifters with. Becky had messed them up when she’d hauled his furry butt off the highway. Instead of becoming a test subject for Hectric and disappearing off the face of the earth, Rob got a second chance to fight back. The rogues weren’t in the town or the lab. Well, most of them were, but there were a few, and it would be interesting to see have NARC handled dealing with those pathetic wretches. When Rob and company finally returned to the pack house, it was to insanity. Every television was on and playing a different news broadcast. It was all special reports and exclusive breaking news. The humans were having a heyday, trying to debunk what every supernatura
“Rob, what’s going on, really? Please, is it true that Ivan and his father are dead? What’s happening to all the people that went missing? Are they going to hold you and your people accountable for the human deaths?” Becky wasn’t sure how she liked this. No, the truth was, she didn’t like that idea at all. In fact, she’d started to trust him, and she rather liked this place. Becky didn’t want to have to leave this place. “Woah, slow it down. We’re fine for now. The Prime Minister has basically called a halt to everything. We’re receiving some sort of special consideration and he’s promising us special recognition.” “Special recognition? What’s that’s supposed to mean?” “Basically, he’s acknowledging that we’re the injured parties, and we were just trying to protect our own. He’ll have to recognize how humans were harmed as well. But we at least have a home still here in Canada. He’s promised that any supernatural creatures escaping from life-threate
Grace was up to her eyeballs in the strangest requests from colleagues in the field. Colleagues who wouldn’t even acknowledge her a few days ago. Her old boss, the jerk, wanted her to introduce others to her contacts and connections. He’d inferred if she did this, she might get her old job back. Of course, the people he wanted her to introduce around were all male. She was livid, and so she lay down her own sets of conditions. Conditions that she’d not expected to see in the light of day. Her blog got traction as soon as she opened up about what was happening there and that she knew things because she was at ground zero with firsthand knowledge. Of course it worked. The inquiries were coming in. Jane Ann and Becky helped her field them. The coffee shop waitress even called Becky to tell her that people were stopping in and asking questions about what was going on. Others wanted to set up a meeting with Grace for an interview. There were man
Jane Ann looked at the email from Becky. “Okay, we have our hands full, Jon. Come look at this. I think we need to call in the troops. Becky’s gone full Luna on us. Who would have thought a human could measure up? Jane Ann was human, but she meant it as a joke. A poke at Jon for not listening to her about how Becky was good enough for Rob. “Great, we’re tour guides and teacher’s now? What are they thinking?” “We’re here. We have the space. They know we exist. It would help the human community to not fear us because we won’t be an unknown. They know us and initially it will be a shock that some of us have an alter ego that’s a little furry. But we have many locals here in the know already, like my family. Think about it. We can get some of them involved to tell what they know and why they trust us. Here in pack territory we can explain how pack structure works, the rules about little things. How many business owners do you think will be worried about
Becky stopped in at the new broadcasting centre in town to have lunch with Grace. Jane Ann was back in the pack, claiming she couldn’t get away because her twins didn’t let them sleep last night. She’d had two males in offspring. Becky still thought it was odd to say that, but they could be lynx, wolf, or human. It was anyone’s guess right now. No one would know for another seven to ten years. Grace sadly lost a pregnancy. The healers claimed it was because she was doing too much, and the stress was too much for her. They would continue trying to have pups once Grace’s schedule settled down and became more manageable. Becky and Rob were still trying after a few false positives. But today was the day they’d first gathered as the mate’s self-help group and explained everything to Grace. How did the pack take the news that their Beta’s mate wasn’t human but a lynx shifter? It was mixed, but nothing like the reaction of the elders who were remo
3 Months later- First Lycan Pack The seer entered the new territory and felt the rush of the past and present mingling there. Sadly, she may feel it. She wasn’t strong enough to see it. Thankfully, she couldn’t see it either. The headache she received to some time to get rid of. The land had a lot of traumas associated with it; the druids did their job and tried to wash it away. The issue was that only a god or time could purify a land fully, and no one had time like that to wait. She settled into the seat the pack provided for her as she waited for the time she’d be needed. Many spoke carefully with her, and it was all quite sombre and different from the last one she’d presided over. Someone pushed her right shoulder forward and when she looked behind her, there was no one there. Well, no one with a physical body. She’d told no one that she had a physical connection to the dream realm. She’d encountered no one with this curse? Ability? Whatever people
“Jon, wait. Uh, we need to talk. I want to know when we’re breaking the news to everyone. I mean, what’s one more scandal? One more controversial mating fact? I hate sitting here lying to everyone.” Jane Ann held onto Jon’s forearm and looking into his eyes. Her guilt and frustration were written all over her face. Only Jon knew their family’s secret, the reason they were one of the few families that kept the pack’s secrets over the years. Only the alpha’s knew about them, except no one told Rob directly and since Rob didn’t correct anyone about assuming Jane Ann’s species, she’d struggled with telling him. Jon though kept begging her not to say anything to him, because it was all too much at the time. Her big secret? Her mother and she were lynx shifters. One of the few shifters that didn’t have a pack or community. They lived usually in family groupings only. Jane Ann’s father followed her momma here and kept her secret and that of the pack this entire tim
Becky couldn’t believe how quickly the pack pulled off the preparations for the mating ceremonies. Two for the price of one. It seemed this was offending the case where there would be a spree of matings at the same time. She’d been given several reasons for this, but it all came down to people finding the one that fate made perfect for them. The wolf shifters don’t believe that people complete each other. Rather that they complement each other. No one is lesser in a pairing. Where one goes, the other will surely follow. The drive for family and community or pack was a driving force for the wolf shifters Becky was somehow now intertwined with. Rogues were an exception to the rule she found out, and it often harmed them mentally and eventually they would see physically it. That’s why the Ruling Council and Rob were so keen on convincing the young rogues and their pups to settle for the pack life. They didn’t show the signed of the mental of physical decay yet;
Everyone in the First Lycan Pack territory was trying their best to adjust to the changes. Even Bart found he had difficulty adjusting to the new routines. Half his problem, he found, was that he needed to write the routines so he could refer to them again and again. The week went by far too fast. Bart learned quickly that the rules and routines he introduced were a strong suggestion. Those rules and routines right now needed to be written in wet cement rather than be set in stone. Grace’s day was insanely busy with her forced to travel between the packs for her job with the Ruling Council. Once the rest of the pack was here, they’d find people to train for the jobs she’d need help with, and then they’d move everything over to their territory. Rob right now was being nice to them and more than generous to let them use the space they were using. Today, the plan to bring the rest of the pack here was in full swing. There was an excitement in
The seer sat last, and she smiled nervously between her guests. “Now, let me guess. You’re here because you want your lives to go on as the Moon Goddess planned them, but you’re encountering obstacles. Am I right?” She looked expectantly at Rob and Becky as if they had the answer she sought. They looked among themselves to see who would be the first to say anything, but the seer carried on as if there wasn’t an awkward silence. Her friendly voice prattled on as she tried to entertain her guests. “Don’t worry, it wasn’t anything mystical or magical that gave me that information. My phone and messages have been lighting up like a Christmas tree mid season with calls from many people who are angry one way or the other. Heck, one elder called me to find out if I, a seer, could put a curse on you, like I was a mage, druid, or witch. When I told him I couldn’t and wouldn’t he threatened to harm me. You really must get those old wolves under control, Alpha Northgate.”
The next day, Rob took his brother and their mates to see the local seer. She wouldn’t accept membership within his pack, but she didn’t have to. All she needed to do was provide guidance when some came looking for it. They well paid the seer for that. They hoped she wouldn’t respond like the Council of Elders had. If she did, they’d have to delay the mating ceremony until he would repopulate the Council of Elders with a better representation of the pack. This wasn’t something Rod discussed with anyone else. It was a silent worry that nagged on his mind as they travelled the distance to get to the Seer’s small home, which she’d built in a quiet corner of the county district. “How are we going to approach this one? A little more information would go down more nicely this time, because what you did yesterday, Rob, was a shocking revelation, and it doesn’t look good when the people backing you up have to pick up their jaws off the floor. We should k
“Okay, now I have a list of all your names here, and packages with the information you’ll need to know to settle in here. These packages contain everything from what room you’ll have here for now to the house that will be yours. Contact numbers are pre-programmed into the phone inside each package, so when you get your package, don’t drop it. Yes, your new position is within the package, along with a list of your duties. There are several maps, so you can get around here on your own. Your phones have an app that, if you get close to one of the current borders, it will beep. No one is coming to get you if this happens. But if you’re lost, please call. I’ve seen the land out there and it’s a mess. The humans messed with the terrain extensively. So try going for a run in pairs or small groups until you are familiar with the location. Or at least tell someone you’re going and about when you’ll be back. One of the lynx stone masons found a rather steep hillside one evening and wen
Becky and Rob were both pleasantly surprised by the response his speech received from the pack. Rob learned quickly that he’d been wrong. His pack was with him, and not the Council of Elders. He couldn’t believe the support he received with people volunteering to help set up the mating ceremonies for both couples. “Yes, I’ll let everyone know when we have a planning meeting, and we can make all the decisions then.” Rob assured them over and over until he had to stop the crowd forming. “I’d like to thank everyone who’s offering or offered to help right now. I’ll set up a meeting for everyone who’s interested in offering their services or volunteering. We’ll take a few hours and decide, organize who’s doing what. Just set things up so we don’t miss anything, or have too many people doing one thing. We’ll make this a success.” A murmur of approval went through the small crowd of people, and they talked among themselves. “Look, I’ll put a clipboard out tonight in the pac