Kate dropped her clutch and Julie’s ridiculously high heels clattered somewhere to the floor as she flattened her back firm against the door. Every bit of her awareness tuning to the fierce cadence of her rapid heart as it hummed a frantic rhythm against her breast. Each flitting breath commencing sharply as her ears strained for the sound of tires turning over gravel.
She pressed her hand over her heart, feeling it beat promptly against her palm at an exhilarating rate, propelled wildly by every intangible, invigorating feeling that now tingled with unfathomable stirrings at the remembrance of Ronan’s touch, a touch deemed most intoxicating. Never had a man, especially one so formidable at face value, touch her with such surprising coaxing gentleness, yet with an underlining hint of dominance that stoked her inner fears. She had felt his possessiveness in each assured stroke of his fingers as they had whisked brazenly over her.
He’s all wrong for you. Her subconscious warned subtly. And she knew it but somehow couldn’t dismiss the attraction.
She shook her head as if to rattle some sense into her scrambled thoughts as to what she was feeling. She couldn’t feel any particular way for this man, especially a man who was very much a stranger and every bit the danger she was fleeing whose reputation bespoke of all the troubles she feared.
She couldn’t pinpoint it – but a small part of her believed Ronan the worse kind of danger.
She barely knew the man and yet she felt –
Groaning inwardly, she swept her hands through her tousled hair, recalling how he had entangled those lean, masculine fingers through its length.
What was wrong with her?
She shouldn’t feel a smidge of stirring for this insanely good-looking Adonis donned in leather? What did an extremely attractive man such as him want with someone like her? But she felt something, almost akin to a thin, obscured thread that drew her to him – a fierce and enigmatic urge to be with him that couldn’t be explained. He had stoked something in her, at first the tiniest of stirrings had somehow flared precariously to a fiery and unwarranted burning that seared her from the inside out.
Surely it was nothing and whatever she felt would later prove to be an equivalent of a school girl’s crush for a man way out of her league.
She had to remember her purpose for being at BlackMountain and so far she was doing a pitiful job at laying low. If Danny found her, he would see to making her life a living hell or worse even.
She shuddered at the latter thought as a tremor coiled down her spine.
Please … she prayed silently, closing her eyes.
Kate breathed in a steadying breath and quickly dismissed every ugly and ominous thought of Danny that had somehow seeped unknowingly to the forefront of her mind. She welcomed the distraction of Julie dashing for the stairs above her and immediately sought to wipe the terror-stricken expression from her face. Julie was prone to vast and ongoing questions – questions that Kate certainly didn’t want to answer.
She darted for the kitchen, her ridiculously high-heels and clutch forgotten.
“You’re home!” Julie exclaimed eagerly.
The sound of Julie scampering down the flight of stairs prompted a cringe. Her newfound friend was about to unreel a thread of questions pertaining to every awkward and nerve-racking minute of her date – and she had little choice but to submit unwillingly to the questionnaire.
Busying herself with the kettle on the stove she listened as Julie erupted into the kitchen, “So?” she was pronto to narrow in on the topic of the evening.
Sighing, Kate focused intently on making tea, avoiding Julie’s anxious stare as it bore into her back, whilst tapping a foot impatiently.
“It went fine.” She said a bit demurely.
Julie stomped her foot, commanding Kate’s attention. “It went fine?” she put emphasis on that last word.
“What do you want me to say?” she shrugged her shoulders, “He was – “
Julie fell in beside her, “Charming – irresistible?”
“Impertinent.” Kate affirmed a bit sharply.
Julie blanched, “He kissed you didn’t he?”
She tore her eyes away from Julie’s, “It was nothing.”
“Nothing!”
“He’s uncouth and arrogant.”
“He’s damned sexy is what he is.” Julie flounced away to take up at seat at the table. “Every woman would be lucky to have him.”
“I’m not every woman.” Kate asserted, setting the kettle back on the stove.
She felt Julie’s sudden silence like an oppressive weight in the room and could feel her eyes at her back, surely musing over her query to come. And she knew that time she’d been dreading all along was at hand. It was inevitable and couldn’t be avoided any longer.
“I don’t like to be that girl that pries – “ she said, “-I merely ask out of concern.”
Pulling a breath into her lungs, Kate turned to face Julie, gripping the counter at her back as she was faced with the forlorn and somewhat lonely glint that shadowed her cerulean eyes. It was so unlike Julie’s typical charismatic cheeriness that it bespoke of her own sadness secured deeply within.
“The townies around here frown on invading ones privacy.” Her blue eyes met Kate’s steadily, “Even BlackMountain has its secrets.” She paused and for a moment Kate wondered briefly over that.
Julie tore her eyes away from Kate and her hands fumbled in her lap, “I don’t have many friends, I suppose it’s due to my forwardness.” She hesitated a moment, allowing her words to weigh the air, “I hope that you and I could grow to trust one another, perhaps even confide in the other.”
Kate felt her chest squeezing with that disconcerting tightness and though she longed to confide in Julie, she wasn’t so certain she had the ability to do so, “This doesn’t have anything to do with the date, does it?” she already knew the answer but felt compelled to ask.
Julie’s cerulean eyes were most severe and unwavering and Kate realized just how much she had underestimated Julie’s senses to ones own demons.
“I’m not asking you to tell me your every secret. I just need to know – are you okay?”
Kate clenched her jaw, feeling those defense walls rising almost instantaneously. In actuality she didn’t know Julie from a scratch in the floor but realized Julie had opened her arms to her without casting judgment and she couldn’t deny the immediate friendship. She was happy to have a friend in BlackMountain, one perhaps to call upon whenever her fears got the best of her, but that time wasn’t now.
She had no one to call family – not even her sweet Aunt Mae or a tiny bundle of joy that could’ve changed everything for her.
She felt that hollow ache in her chest as it tightened, reminding her all too well of a child’s absence.
Fighting back tears, she met Julie’s blue eyes, realizing her friend had been observing her closely.
“I will be.” She managed softly.
Kate recalled their first exchange of words. At that time she’d been a sight for sore eyes, battered and bruised, she’d offered up what she had believed a plausible explanation for her appearance and it now seemed Julie hadn’t been convinced of the ‘car accident’ ploy once-so-ever.
Julie had pieced together what Kate hadn’t disclosed and was greatly relieved when her friend hadn’t pressed further.
She wasn’t ready to face her demons and thankfully Julie knew it.
“You are.” Julie insured, offering a reassuring smile in which the scantest bit of hope in her, clung questionably to those two single words – was she safe?
As if sensing her discomfort, Julie erupted into a sudden rampant flow of chatter, prompting a smile in which Kate struggled to suppress at her friend’s meager attempt to dislodge the awkwardness in exposing one’s skeletons. She averted her attention to making them two cups of hot tea, noticing particularly that Julie hadn’t skipped a beat in her steady prattle – it was going to be a long night.
The silver plated moon glinted like a shard of glass illuminated in deep ebony spread. It beguiled his beast, evoking that carnal side of him to the very brim of his human skin, unleashing the maddening and simultaneous snapping of bones.
As he treaded the foliage littered with remnants of earth, he tossed his shirt to the wind, his bared chest catching that wayward chill and pale moonlight. His broad shoulders shuddered with the change, flexing, the bones cracking with every gesture as muscles pulled tautly with each step.
His fingers tingled, talons lengthening with the pull of the moon.
Ronan embraced the agonizing pain, having endured it many moons, reveling in the transformation that was every bit him as his wolf arose full-fledge, to the surface. His joints locked, twisting, his body contorting to his beastly other, beckoned enticingly by the silvery facet of that shimmering jewel implanted in the blackened sky.
A fierce, guttural howl emerged from his thickening wolf throat. It rendered the air, a splintering eruption of something wild and undeniably dominant, announcing his presence to every unsuspecting creature inhabiting the woodland.
He thrashed his furry head and leapt from his tattered clothes while settling comfortably within his loup-garou form.
His muscles grew taut beneath his thick tawny mane and the pain began to subside as he adjusted within his wolf skin. He became instantly aware of the others treading nearby – succumbing to the inexplicable pull of their silvered host.
He felt the cushioned soil beneath his paws as he perched atop a steep cliff and from there remained as such, his ears twisting and tuning to every intricate sound that permeated to his impeccable hearing.
To the human eye the loup-garou form was unmistakably anything but a mere typical wolf. Known particularly as werewolf – his species were far more daunting in appearance, undeniably formidable in size and far more precarious than any beast to roam the terrain.
He himself was three times the size of the average gray wolf and could easily overpower the animal deemed his inferior.
Though his human self delighted in the perks of the boisterous and teeming night-life of the inner city limits, it was his wolf that favored the quiet sanctity of BlackMountain and its shadowed remnants.
Being Alpha of Black Mountain he was quite acquainted with the area, having spent many full moons roaming the beautiful and vast land, he knew every steep hillside, every intricate edge and crevice that curved and shaped the mountain.
He felt a wind carry in from the North and listened as it whisked through entangled limbs of trees that spread from oak to maple, smelling strongly of sap and birch.
He grinned within his wolf – this was his domain.
BlackMountain and the city were under his law and protection. He ensured the safety of his pack as well as the humans that inhabited the area. He would continue to do so until his position was relinquished to another worthy of being Alpha. Until then, he would proceed to be the force that which granted him rank as leader of the pack.
He had long since rid the area of wolves gone rogue, had dominated those who’d threatened his position and seen to the bloodsuckers that had dubbed BlackMountain as a feeding ground. Neighboring packs knew of his prowess and kept a respectable distance.
His senses flared and narrowed in on the sounds of prey as they moved hastily to their hidden corners of the woodland. His ears twitched to every snap of a twig, every scurry and flutter that betrayed their presence that only further fueled his adrenaline to hunt.
The moon suffused a candescent path, streaming beautifully through the trees like pools of satin, illuminating the night. He padded its luminous trail deep within the folds of the forest, far from prying eyes and ears, and listened intently for the others as they too embraced the change.
The thought of Kate arose inadvertently to mind, startling him momentarily as the vision of her crept to notion, robbing him of all else but the image of her.
A thought occurred to him suddenly– what would she think of his wolf-self? It was a fleeting thought best kept secretly at bay and never at the forefront of his mind – yet incredulously it appealed to him tremendously.
He thought of her hair and that brilliant dark shade resembling rich chocolate and how it had slipped softly through his fingers. He recalled her skin and its striking comparison to his silvered moon, lovely and pale, every bit tantalizing to his senses – both wolf and human. But it was those eyes, the softest of green, as vividly haunting as they were captivating, full of hidden secrets.
Forgetting the beautiful Kate Channing was proving to become more difficult than he thought and he wasn’t so certain he was eager to forget her.
A subtle rustling was his only warning. He shoved Kate to the back of his mind and secured that vision of her firmly in place. He shifted on his haunches just as a solid shape launched from the thickets with a vicious growl, the impact hitting him swift and forcibly to the ground. He and his attacker tussled, spewing forth wisps of dirt before gaining ground and turning fully to face the other.
Ronan felt a growl rise promptly from his throat as he surveyed the sly wolf eyeing him wryly with black, granite eyes.
He could feel Von’s grin pushing through his wolf skin – his black eyes mocking as he paraded bravely, head raised and ears forward.
Ronan peered fleetingly about the vegetation that concealed them, wondering peculiarly to Nico’s whereabouts. Von’s outright display of dominance was clearly urged by another wolf entirely.
His ears strained with the hastening of the others as they raced to the sounds of a fight.
He felt a grin pull and tug on his human self buried within.
Come get you some, cub.
The taunt hit home and Von curled his back, every strand standing on end as his jowls widened with a low, unraveling growl.
Ronan met that molten glare undaunted with a rising fury all his own and fueled by that beastly instinct that came hand-in-hand with being loup-garou, lunged.
Snarls rendered the air as fur and claws collided. He felt the grazing of Von’s teeth and reared back, twisting swiftly to sink his canines deep into Von’s thick mane. He was rewarded with a gratifying yelp of pain as Von fumbled beneath his fastening grip, the flesh shredding with every violent shade of his head.
Von broke away and Ronan tasted blood. The wolf whipped about and leapt, the two of them tumbling while ripping at one another, drawing more blood to lace the air heavily.
Ronan regained instant momentum and struck again; sinking his teeth deeper into the throat that now oozed blood. Von yelped once more and grappled within his unyielding set of jaws, realizing the foolhardy he’d taken on as his strength waned.
Ronan easily overpowered him, dragging him aimlessly through the earth-riddled floor until spitting him loose.
He rose up on his haunches and peered down his muzzle at the disgraced wolf, recalling earlier his open display of arrogance. He could have easily ripped out his throat but suppressed the anger that even now returned anew, remembering how he had eyed Kate like food served up on a silver platter.
A low stream of laughter resounding within the walls of his mind stalled him and he raised his head to the wolf standing idly aside, observing the scene with mute gloat.
Nico.
Their heated stares clashed and held. Nico was the wolf responsible for any suspicions of corruption and the slightest hint to an uprising against him.
He padded towards Von who lay unmoving, his eyes glinting icily in the dark.
Why not challenge me yourself rather than send a whelp to do your dirty work?
Nico chuckled, the sound lacking any traces of mirth. This was not my doing but Von’s alone. Perhaps you have a score that is unsettled?
Ronan narrowed his eyes distrustfully. He knew better to believe a word said from a deceiving mouth. The wolf was very much untrusting as he was unpredictable.
He heard the others gathering and felt his muscles in his body relax. Nico remained as such, smirking, eyes glinting there wayward sarcasm that disguised the sinister within.
We good here, Ron? He felt a body fall in beside him and turned his head to peer steadily at his Beta – Micah.
Micah and Nico had a mutual hatred, one that went years back when Nico attempted to steal his potential mate, Luna, and perhaps even his fierce loyalty to him.
Copasetic. He muttered before twisting away, feeling Nico’s glare burn at his back as he moved along to greet the rest of the pack moving in.
He studied them with a pang of pride. His pack was the largest and perhaps most feared within the region. The neighboring packs were fewer, mostly due to those having gone rogue which virtually became a problem until handled. Some had joined, admiring his tactics as Alpha, others simply looking to live peacefully within the human midst.
And he had managed to provide the sanctity and trust they sought. He’d fought long and hard to maintain his alpha rank and would continuously do so despite those who threatened it.
Within every pack was a hierarchy breakdown. Beta was Alpha’s second-in-command, if for whatever reason Ronan had to leave the territory – he would entrust all responsibility to Micah while in his absence. Micah had always been his right hand man or in their case – wolf. He thrived on defending his pack and ensuring their obscurity. The wolf brimmed with every admirable trait known to man – or beast.
He cast him a glance, noticing his mate Luna settling close at his side, nudging him sweetly as a stream of moonlight cast her in a rivulet of silver, enhancing her beautiful white fur.
Nico’s advances on Luna had been short-lived once Luna caught sight of Micah – that Bonded Calling taking instantaneous hold.
He spied Luka, Luna’s brother as he treaded the edge of the opening where they gathered, his eyes attentive to the encroaching darkness. He was one of many Kappa’s’ that belonged to the pack. Kappas were merely other members that relied solely on him and his pack warriors to guarantee their safety and livelihood. Some of these wolves were from the adjoining packs.
His pack had one healer. Adeline. She was also an elder and mated to the wise and placid Alistair; both prone to the old ways of loup-garou means.
His pack warriors consisted of five – Mikhail the ‘calm before the storm’ as most referred him. Brothers, Nicolai and Alaric, both immensely riddled with battle-scars and gusto. Wulfric, the ‘suffering in silence’ and most brooding, and Draven whose recent lack of tone as opposed to his usual vocal opinion in most gatherings had all but abruptly fell silent, prompting suspicion.
The women of the pack generally assembled together. Sisters, Sabine and Lorelei, had a mutual distaste for Kura, Von’s spiteful red-head who immediately rushed to his side, lapping at his wounds and whimpering, all the while her eyes glinting harsh daggers.
Willow was mated to Alaric. She was far gentler than most of the women in the pack. She strayed from quarrels and frequently clung to her mate’s side.
Malachi and Isla had come from another pack whose Alpha had turned rogue, encouraging the others to do the same which ultimately brought about their demise. They joined his pack shortly after. Their cubs Mikko and Nolan rolled and nipped playfully at one another in a patch of grass. They were a welcoming and delightful sight amongst the tension hidden beneath the surface.
What’s happened here? Adeline interrupted out of concern, eyeing the mishap wolf lying unmoving as Kura proceeded to nuzzle her fallen mate.
He was attacked. Kura snapped, raising her fiery head to glare accusingly at Ronan.
A few collected growls answered her accusation and she bowed her head, avoiding the accosting looks that disputed her allegation.
That is an outright lie and you know it. Sabine exclaimed, stepping forward. I saw Von crouched in the bush before he lunged at Ronan!
Cowardly move if you ask me. Lorelei added impulsively.
Kura exhaled with a growl as she crouched, curling her lip to bare her canines.
Sabine and Lorelei crowded close, mirroring her reaction.
Enough of this! Ronan barked, gaining their full attention.
Kura flinched as if struck by the demand and tucked her tail, all the while her eyes straying with bitterness at the pair of sisters.
Adeline, tend to Von. He addressed the elder female who merely nudged her head and moved in beside Kura who was more than eager to step aside.
We take great risk in gathering on a full moon, Ronan. Alaric said, moving forward and obtaining a many curious and somewhat anxious stares. There are humans that are beginning to suspect us.
I’m sure if they suspect anything it’s far from the truth. Luka argued, stepping down from his post. What’s to expect other than the norm? The humans know there are wolves in the area – wolves, not werewolves. He appeased.
Ronan surveyed in silence, staring intently at every wolf, some more intensely than others. Unless of course – he interjected – there is rogue activity on the rise?
He studied reactions, noticing some appeared to feign ignorance, others appearing immensely concerned while one in particular grinned from a standpoint.
It’s been brought to my attention that some of you – he paused, seeking Nico purposely, - have some lengthy concerns on how I reign as pack leader. I would have these concerns put to rest.
What concerns? Micah asked, peering suspiciously about the pack.
What other concerns than his lack of interest in finding a mate? Nico disrupted as he sauntered forward that smirk hidden within broadening all the more as he came to stand amidst the others.
Dark eyes beamed knowingly back at him – He refuses to take a mate. He’s ignored our most crucial Feral Law.
Is this true, Ronan? Lorelei questioned with a slight hint of unease. Her expression brought about a dawning realization Ronan hadn’t noticed before. Could Lorelei have chosen him as her potential mate?
He hadn’t time to ponder it further. Nico rounded on him.
Have you chosen a mate?
**********