Several minutes later, Dean had the Ruling Council investigators and their people handed off to various pack members so they could assign them places to stay in the meantime. Kiera returned from watching Trisha and that pack of insanity go. Dean still didn’t know how they hadn’t ended up in an argument or a fight. James was like a different person. “We need to talk, Kiera.” “What do you want to talk about now, Dean?” Kiera knew very well what Dean wanted to speak to her about, but she’d been dreading it until now. “I want to talk about us mating.” He paused speaking for a moment and looked at the ground in thought. “Look, I know you’re scared people will blame you if anything goes wrong. I get that. The thing is, I’m being told there’s no reason we shouldn’t proceed with our mating.” “Are you crazy? Who told you that? When did they tell you that?” Kiera couldn’t believe what he was saying to her. Who would go around encouraging thi
“Fine, I’ll email the Oracle. But I still want you as my Luna and mate.” Dean didn’t seem to see this as a problem that was barring them from doing anything.Kiera’s mind reeled from the very idea that everything in her life was predestined, and she had no control over it. “Dean, if the Moon Goddess or someone pretending to be the Moon Goddess are gathering an army, that means we’re slaves again and been lied to this entire time. Geez, can’t you see it?” Her hand came to her face and her thumb and forefinger pinched the bridge of her nose because she felt this conversation would give her a headache before the end of it. “Yes, Kiera, I see it. Here’s the thing you’re missing. Who are these devout wolves we’ve been talking about? Worshiping the Moon Goddess isn’t like that anymore for the majority of shifter society. Wolves and other shifters will say no. I highly doubt whoever I saw understood that. Whatever is coming won’t have us fighting for the Moon Goddess, but f
Trisha followed James to the care and got in before him. Once everyone was ready, they headed out. “I should have stayed. Why in the world did you let them shove me in the closet?” James looked at Trisha and his face broke into a smile before he laughed. “You heard why. We all know about your lack of skill at fighting, and we like you too much to let you put yourself in danger. If you came along, you’d have distracted all of us because we’d be focused on protecting you. Add in the fact that three quarters of two alpha couples were out there and you’re the only one who has a claim to both packs’ leadership. It made sense to me to keep you back.” Trisha couldn’t believe what she was hearing again. “You really are trying to play on my feelings, aren’t you? James, can’t you take this seriously? What I supposed to do if you guys didn’t come back? Really, what could I have done? You guys didn’t have to lock me in a closet, and you could have explained this to me i
Dean sat at his desk as he sent off an email. “Okay, there we go. The email’s off to the oracle. You’d think that an oracle would see into the future and know someone needs to talk to them before they reach out.” “What a pedestrian thing to say. Honestly, oracles see things all the time. It’s all extra information they have to process and sort out besides what we all see. Could you imagine all that extra information the oracles would need to process? It would be easy to see them become overloaded by it all. I don’t think knowing things like who needs to talk to you before they contact you would be part of the list of information that’s too much for someone’s insanity. Could you imagine calling someone you don’t know and telling them out of the blue about something that will happen to them? Who would trust anything or anyone like that?” “I was joking, Kiera. I won’t argue with you about that.” Dean wondered if the humans damaged her sense of humour, alo
Kiera sat on the back patio with a coffee in hand and wondered how she’d ended up right back here again. The druid proved she was a monster, and Dean still wanted her after seeing what she’d done. If that wasn’t enough, he wanted to become one as well. Nothing mattered but that to him. He didn’t care that they might make an army for who knows what or why. Dean was right. They didn’t know if they were unknowing slaves, or expected to fight for a greater good of some sort. He believed that there’d be free will and choice, but he couldn’t be sure it was even a thing. They didn’t have facts about that. Then the hazards of what he wanted her to do so that he could become like her and claim her as his. It could kill him, and then what would the pack do for a leader? If he survived, then how would the pack react to the changes in him? What would he do if they abandoned him because he wasn’t a wolf shifter anymore? Then they have the changes with th
“Very good.” Dean’s face went from a tentative smile to a beaming grin. He wrapped his arm around her back and guided her toward the common grounds the pack used. This was where the cabins and cottages were, and the pack used the centre as a common meeting area to live, work, and socialize. It was where pups played, and people worked. The people met there, many worked there as well. Dusk slowly descended around them, but that didn’t slow down the pack. The common ground didn’t fall silent as dusk fell. Life flourished even more now. Pups, elders, and everyone appeared to have turned up in the common grounds this night. “Wait, it’s not normally this crowded. You planned this, didn’t you?” Kiera turned to Dean and accused him. “I had to do something, Kiera. If I didn’t, you’d never believe me about any of this. Will you at least listen to some of our pack who want to speak with you?” “Speak with me? Why hasn’t anyone said anything ab
Dean led Kiera through the common grounds, and, to Kiera’s surprise, other people stopped to speak with them. She felt each pack member took courage from the pervious conversation. It felt like a competition of sorts or a badge of some sort to be part of the ‘it’ crowd. Kiera didn’t know what to make of all of this. There weren’t many there that glared or appeared like they didn’t want to be there. It was more like the pack turned out for curiosity’s sake and their alpha’s command. It was far from the entire pack, but the diversity of the pack was there, and Kiera felt like these people were now total strangers. Their behaviour was like night and day when held up against what they were like when she’d left. Then there were the explanations they gave her about why they said or did something. Sabrina, a she-wolf from the pack Kiera once was friends with during school, she’d turned her back on Kiera without a word of explanation. Just ghosted h
Dean didn’t let go of Kiera once he had his arms around her. He could feel her vulnerability, and he didn’t like it at all. He felt like he could look in at all the things she’d experienced, but he could never fully understand it all. Dean hated the fact he couldn’t take away her suffering or her hesitation. But he understood why she didn’t want to turn him. The difference between them appeared to be how they saw the future. The facts were the same for them. The way they looked at the list of potential outcomes was different. A fear Dean now found himself saddled made him question whether he’d successfully kept Kiera away from the drama unfolding within the pack too well. As he watched her during the walk and listened to each conversation. A theme or subject kept repeating. Each person who once was close to her felt the need to catch her up on what she’d missed in their lives. It did his heart good to hear a few admit they regretted she’d not been there for some of t
- One Year Later -Kiera stood watching a group of lone wolves returning to a pack. Many were raised for generations outside of pack life. But things change, situations change. These wolves are literally come in out of the cold, unprotected woods and their pack was opening their arms to them.It divided humans as always on what they thought about supernatural creatures. If nothing else, there were very few humans that didn’t care one way or the other.These wolves were coming in from other places in the world where the humans made it impossible for them to live. Now they were picking up everything they can and leaving everything they knew for a chance at a future.Their lycan members were now well established members, and the pack looked to them as the public faces of the pack. It wasn’t unusual to see one or more on the news as they work as a security team for various celebrities and figures of note. The pack now ran a small but lucrative security firm, because several of the lycans
Hours. They only had hours to get ready. With much of the pack working together to get things done and sooth disgruntled feelings, they pulled off a makeshift welcome for the thirty lost souls coming to stay with them. Dean struggled to get through thirty files on the different lycan. It was as if each one came with a warning label of their own. No two had the same difficulty. Some were complete loners who they’d have to work with to bring back into the pack and life within it. They bonded others, who had that’s why they had so many lycan arriving. They wanted bonded pairs together so that a community could grow from the families that would form. It meant that they’d not planned correctly, but that could be adjusted again. Dean agreed with Oli and Jerome that the Ruling Council screwed up sending the lycan to them. The order was off and there wasn’t enough time given to prepare for their arrival. Also, they’d agreed to a few new lycan members, not t
Their mating went on after the cleanup and Kiera’s world was addressed. Dean ended up marked as well at some point by Kiera and, finally exhausted, they fell asleep hours later. With the sun coming up and the mating over, Kiera felt a disturbing calm between them. Like this took away the jittery need to find a stable footing. Kiera could swear she could feel Dean’s mood as he slept. He’d exhausted her so much that she’d not been bothered by any of her usual nightmares. Kiera felt delicious and loose-limbed. She couldn’t remember the last time she felt like this. If she were a cat, she’d be purring at this point. “Morning. Luna Jonas.” Dean stated with a proud grin like he’d accomplished something last night. Kiera wouldn’t tell him, but he had accomplished something. The jerk got his way. He had the pack and her permanently. It wasn’t fair. She wasn’t ready for this, but she didn’t know what she was ready for. She wasn’t sure if she should be unhapp
In the bathroom, Dean had the shower running, and he was making sure they had everything they need within easy reach. He remembered to heat the towels and lay out the mat. Whoever built this bathroom put down super smooth tiles on the floor and it was like skating on ice when you stepped out if you weren’t careful. The mat had rubber grips to prevent that while drying your feet on it. Dean heard Kiera sigh as she settled under the spray of their large shower. A standard wolf could bath in this shower while in their fur. Now Dean wondered if he needed to remodel the bathroom to fit their new size. Kiera was smaller in her dire wolf form, and he didn’t think she’d fit in here. That was something for another day to think about. Right now, he had an eyeful of his mate and a promise to keep. There was no question for him if she was his mate. Just seeing her like this made everything right. Dean followed her into the shower and cornered her under
It took another week before Dean managed to shift into his alternative forms. He’d noticed a lot of changes in him. He needed to get larger clothing because his entire body went up to two clothing sizes while he lay in bed. That surprised him quite a bit. Finally, he could hold Kiera and kiss her without feeling like he’d been hit by a steamroller. Once they were home, Kiera wouldn’t speak of their mating and she wouldn’t set a date for the mating or acknowledgement ceremony. So he surprised Kiera with an evening to mate with her. He didn’t need an acknowledgement ceremony. His daily pain was almost nonexistent now and he want to give her what she deserved. Dean wanted Kiera to love their new form and position within the pack. So this evening they’d start with a private dinner in his apartment and then enjoy the evening with his soon-to-be mate. His mind kept wandering to what was to come. By dawn, they’d be mated, and thi
Two days later, Kiera and Trisha waited outside Dean’s room as Dr Graves examined him and looked at the latest test results. James returned to his pack to manage a few things. “So what are you doing for your mating ceremony? When will it be?” Kiera asked Trisha to try to find a different subject that didn’t revolve around Dean’s or her recent decisions. “Oh, I have him waiting until we can have both packs in the same place without there be fighting. I figure in a few years. I mean, technically, we’re mated. It’s just the ceremony of recognition of the mating that’s not been done. It seems so old-fashioned to me.” Trisha tried to brush it off. “Hon, if that were true, then you’ll be waiting forever to have the ceremony. Why don’t you just have it, and we’ll threaten to string up anyone and post signs of what they did? Like those photos of cats in their harnesses. “I shredded all the toilet paper while my owner was pooping.” Or “I pooped in m
“That bastard. Dean’s a jerk. He knew he’d do this and didn’t tell anyone that he’d do it. Kiera went there to discuss if it were possible. I know Kiera. She’d want to plan for all the worst things before trying anything. I bet he pushed her to let him do it.” “Enough Trisha. I’ll get us the earliest possible portal to there if you just let me think and listen to the portal booking system.” The mages ran the portal system and with it’s high risks of danger, they kept a stranglehold on almost all portal travel. When, where, and how long it would take are just a few of the questions James needed to answer. “Crap. I forgot to ask Kiera if she needed me to bring her anything. I don’t know if she has a change of clothes.” “Well, I’ll leave you to create a care package for Kiera and Dean. Let me get this booked.” “With four bags, James. We’re taking four bags with us. We can carry them if we have two duffle bags and two packs.” “Fine, I’
At some point, Kiera looked up at Dean. “Did you call your sister and tell her you were doing this right now?” “Nope, because you know very well what Trisha would say and I wasn’t going to listen to it, because this is between you and me.” “Goddess save me. Fine, I’ll do it. But when she’s pissed, I’m laying all the blame at your door. So you better be prepared when you see her next, because you’re going to hear about it.” Kiera couldn’t take it. She needed to talk to someone other than Dean. Trisha was the first person she thought of. Her mind did flit to April and Mary, but right now they were too busy trying to impress her to be reliable. For two who claimed they wanted to help her part-time, that changed when they understood she wasn’t dreaming that Dean wanted her as his mate and Luna. Kiera wasn’t leaning toward either of them because right now she didn’t feel she could trust them to receive the unvarnished truth. She hoped that would change.
“Are you both in agreement with this? If so, I can get you admitted Alpha Jonas, Kiera. We’d only need permission to draw your blood. If all goes well, you could be home in a day or two. Free to mate in a more relaxed and traditional manner on your own timeline.” Dr Graves looked calm and understanding. He didn’t press them further than that. “I’m game if you are Kiera.” Dean knew he was taking risks with his life. If it meant his life would finally be on track and he could see a happily ever after, he’d do it. He knew it was risky, but something in the back of his head was pushing him to do it and he wasn’t strong like Kiera, and he couldn’t resist listening to it. “Fine. I will let them take some blood. As long as I don’t need to be admitted for this. How long will it take to know whether it’s working or not?” “Once your blood is within his body it, we can test his body to see if there’s any rejection or damage to his organs. But since you