Cane was standing tall with his ears alert and his tail raised proudly in challenge. If I could've wrested control over my body maybe events would've turned out differently but as soon as his muscles tensed I sprung into action. He jumped through the air with claws extended as he tried to swipe at my face to blind me. I rolled underneath his body and attempted to rip into his stomach but he had already seen that coming and used his back paws to push against my front paws.
For about ten minutes it was a bunch of circling with claws and teeth barely giving any damage to the other. After what felt like forever, with blood covering both of our fur we laid down panting as we stared at one another. The Stag lay dead a few feet away but it was long forgotten. Once we both had our breathing under control, Cane was the first to shift back into his human skin. Shortly after I did as well, the only difference being that he was completely naked and I still wore my clothes.
"My apologies, Jared. Had I known you'd finally merged together with your wolf spirit I'd have done this in a more controlled area. Thankfully neither of us killed each other."
I sat there trying to catch my breath and clean the bit of blood I could see off my skin.
"It's my own fault as well, Cane. I was shifting at the house so I took off into the forest. It should be me who apologizes for entering your territory without asking permission first."
Cane turned to regard me with serious eyes that glowed amber under the darkness of night. His wolf eyes were a solid amber where as his human amber eyes had hints of yellow and green interlaced.
"Want to tell me why you were turning? Usually a change doesn't happen without high stimulation of the mood."
I turned away from his inquiring eyes as I tried to think about whether I should tell him or not. It was one thing to have this kind of conversation with Sloane but Cane was the Alpha of the local Werewolf pack and that kind of power usually meant a lot of 'games'. You never wanted someone to have leverage over yourself but I really wanted someone else's opinion who could relate.
"Sloane thinks Celise is my mate."
When I looked over to see Cane's reaction, his eyes had shuttered after a hint of shock showed. I wasn't sure if he was shocked by the mate comment or that I was willing to let him know at all.
"Thank you for your trust," he acknowledged with a slight nod before asking, "Why does it sound like you're unhappy about it? From my perspective it would seem that the emotions that took over were unwanted and that's why you ended up losing control of the wolf."
"I have never wanted a human as a sexual partner or a long term lover."
Cane nodded his head in understanding as he sat there contemplating how to respond to what I just said.
"Hmm. Well let me tell you a story that no one else has heard before. I'd appreciate it if you don't tell anyone else it either," he regarded me with eyes that had gone back to human the longer we had sat there talking.
"On my honor," I said as I lengthened a canine to bite the tip of my thumb before smearing the blood across the bottom of my lip. It was a sign of being honor bound among the Supernatural community and it had it's own bit of magic that seemed to tie you to that promise.
"Well, this story goes back about 80 years ago. I was only sixteen years old and had finally been approved to go outside to explore the human world. I'm sure your Coven has information about the Werewolves," he waited for my nod of the head before continuing, "Well we have a pocket dimension that we raise our young in or the unstable with shifting and that's where I was living. So it would be the first time I was in the real world. As you know, in the pocket dimension we don't really have real elements but okay imitations. Once outside, everything was new to me and then suddenly I came across a smell that snared all of my attention."
A strong wind had begun to blow through the trees and the dead leaves fell from the branches that they clung to. The moon hung low in the night sky as a cloud moved out of the way. It's light shone down on the place where Cane and I sat talking, making the night feel alive with energy that our wolves fed on. I could feel both our wolf spirits literally swallowing the magic of the moon and could almost physically see the light syphoning into both our bodies.
Cane continued as if I hadn't seen something fascinating, "When I finally found where the smell was coming from, I'd found a young girl about my age with red curls down to her waist. She was rather plain in everything else but those bright red locks, even her clothes seemed washed out. I could tell she was human from her smell as well. I'm sure you've noticed it long ago but underneath humans unique smell they also have a hint of decay. Their bodies are slowly decaying every day, also known as aging."
He shifted slightly which moved aside a fallen branch next to his outstretched foot. It also drew his attention to the dead stag and he stretched out a hand and tore a leg off it before trying to hand it to me in a nice gesture.
"No thank you. I still can't eat raw meat in my human form. It's been only a couple of hours of getting used to the wolf. You know what Mage's diets usually consist of."
Cane smirked before bringing the leg back to his mouth and taking a bite out of it. I could see that he had shifted only his teeth so it would be easier to tear through the skin. A couple minutes later he spit out the skin that had been covering the meat underneath.
"Our wolves no longer need to fight one another for a clear victor. It's strange because among another Alpha Wolf, mine would've continued until one of us died. I suspect it's because you're more human than animal where as I'm more animal than human."
"I don't think you'd consider me human," I raised an eyebrow as a laugh burst from my mouth.
Cane joined in as well as he agreed.
"Continuing with my story, I hadn't known at first why she smelt so good and ended up courting her. A couple of weeks later when I finally found out what was happening I'd told her I couldn't see her again and left her there on the road before running back to the forest. Of course I couldn't stay away for long and had gone back a couple days later but only to find out she'd died. In the most horrible way a woman can ever leave the living. Had I been with her maybe the group of men wouldn't have attacked her but I'd left her there by herself."
He suddenly went quiet and I could tell he was fighting his emotions just as strongly as I had fought mine for Celise just a bit ago before I took off running into the forest. Cane looked over at me with anger and frustration brimming in his eyes.
"Jared, humans can be changed into Supernatural creatures as well. I'd never even thought about changing her until I had calmed down enough to think. You have more options than I did though. I could only change my mate into a wolf which has a lower rate of survival than vampire changes do. Then again, to become a wolf you need to have a strong will and constitution where as vampires come in all kinds of different flavors. All I'm saying is that you don't want to regret a chance at love. Especially when you are given the choice to be with your other half. That's what a mate is."
"Thanks for your advice," I said as I looked at Cane who seemed to be having a hard time with recalling his past and the lost mate he had been given.
"How about coming over to the pack and I can introduce you to everyone? This way whenever you need to go running there won't be any misunderstandings among you all. Once they get your new scent it will no longer be a problem for you to step foot on my land."
It took me a moment to think it over especially after I had run out on Celise without any other explanation. At least I knew she'd be safe inside the wards put on our house but after hearing Cane's story about his dead mate, I had begun to worry about her.
"Give me a couple of minutes. I need to call and make sure Celise stayed inside the house instead of getting upset and heading home after I left in a blur."
Cane nodded his head and walked a bit away with stag in tow, to give me a bit of privacy even though he'd be able to hear my conversation regardless of where he was.
I took my phone out and hit the speed dial for Celise. She picked up on the second ring.
"Jared? Are you alright?!"
She seemed out of breath and I wondered if she had run to her phone.
"Yes. Sorry about leaving so suddenly earlier. I was just calling to make sure you stayed at our place," I checked my phone really quick and noted the time, realizing over an hour had passed since I'd left, "It's not safe being out at night and we have wardings on the house."
"Well, Sloane doesn't like me leaving the house when it's dark. So I wasn't planning on being gone when she got back from seeing Dimitri. She's scary when she's mad. I'm glad you're alright though. When you left in such a hurry I was concerned because it wasn't long ago that you performed that life altering spell. That was considered a spell right," she added with a quieter voice at the end that was full of unsurity.
"In a sense it was a spell. It would be most similar to a ritual though- one without the need for preperations on my part since someone else had already taken the pains of doing it. Anyways, I'm glad you're safe and at home. I'll be back in a bit. I'm going to head over to the pack houses and Cane is going to introduce me to all the wolves so they won't accidently try to kill me if we run into one another inside the forest."
She snorted before responding, "Yeah, that sounds like a good idea. I'd be worried about the wolves getting devoured by your monster of a wolf. Unless all of the wolves look like you."
Behind me I heard Cane chuckle before trying to cover it up with a cough. I rubbed the back of my neck as I tried not to let pride fill me. It was the wolf who was happy that it's mate found us so awe inspiring.
"Nope, I'm one of a kind. I'll let you go but I'll see you when I get home or tomorrow at work."
"Okay. Be safe."
We hung up and I walked over to Cane who was leaning against a tree with a piece of what looked like the heart hanging from his mouth. His mouth opened as he pushed the rest inside and began to chew. A shudder wracked my body as I tried to not throw up from that visual.
"It's okay. You'll get used to it after a while, or so I've been told. Since I was born, it's kind of just a natural thing for me. Some of the pack members who were turned said that it took them a while to accept the fact that they needed raw meat. But some of the members even after many years still won't eat raw meat in human form, so it's understandable about your aversion," he said after swallowing.
He picked up the deer and slung it over his naked shoulder. I wasn't affected by his nudity because it was very common in the Coven to perform cleansing rituals completely nude. Shapeshifters were very carefree about nudity as well as touching.
"Keep up with me."
"You're on old man."
Cane's laughter followed mine as we both took off running through the foilage- avoiding trees that blocked our path. All I needed was to follow where the moon was touching down with it's magic the most in the nearby area. The packhouse was close to the perimeter of the forest and it finally came into view. Before I could get any closer two wolves that had already shifted were blocking my path and snarling. It wasn't for dominance but as a warning to not go any further. To them I was a rogue wolf on their land.
"Jace, Kelly, it's okay. He's with me," Cane spoke from behind me as he finally exited the forest. He dropped the deer near the two wolves as he walked up.
"I need you both to remember Jared's scent and make sure not to attack him if he comes onto Pack land." Both wolves followed their alpha's order and cautiously stepped closer to me before snuffling their wet cold noses against my hands. After a few seconds they both stepped back before changing back into their human forms.
The woman was willowy with short pixie styled black hair and deep brown eyes that nearly reached black where as the man was well built with short blonde hair and blue eyes- a ken doll. It was disrespectful to blatantly stare at wolves when they walked around in the nude unless you did it in a detached manner.
"We've taken down his scent even though he doesn't smell like one of us. Mind telling me why we're doing this?"
"Kelly, Jared was the one who had a wolf's spirit put into him last month by that ShadowMancer who killed Sally and Victoria."
Kelly's tiny nose flared with anger, hands clenched as she tried to control her breathing. "You mean to say, one of our wolves had her spirit ripped out and given to him. Now you want us to just accept him? Well sorry Alpha but I don't want any part of it."
"Are you challenging my right as Alpha, Kelly?" Suddenly the clearing suffocated with his power as it expanded out. Had it been directed at me without warning I'd have done the same thing that Kelly did. She fell to the ground in a bowed position with a whimper.
"No Alpha. I'm just upset that Victoria's wolf is inside of this bloodsucker."
"I've already been over this with you. Jared doesn't drink blood even though he's half Vampire. He was born the way he is which is rare. I'd like to point out for the final time that he also was soulless when it was done to him- meaning he had no way to prevent it. Go tell the rest of the pack to meet us here in the clearing."
Kelly bowed her head with anger still flashing in her eyes. She glared at me before turning around and running towards the pack houses.
"I thought wolves had to rest after shifting from wolf to human."
Cane took his eyes off the retreating back of Kelly and smirked at me. "That's usually true except in cases of dominant wolves. Kelly and Jace are both in the top tiers of my wolves. They're part of my group of enforcers- usually they team up with a beta instead of running together to protect the perimeter. I guess they must've been worried about you being able to get past the wards without detection."
Before I could respond a large group of Werewolve's began to congregate together in front of Cane and I. Many looked wearily at me, most were just curious while some had anger in their eyes. They could've been angry at me for any number of things, I just ignored it. I recognized some faces among the group, since I had to help patch them up in my living room after the battle. Plus Candy and Bret were in my office just this afternoon.
"I've gathered you all here tonight to breathe in Jared's scent. He's finally merged with his wolf and will need the shelter of our forest. I know some of you have misgivings about him but regardless he is still part wolf as well. There's no need for discussion on this," he added the last part when he saw some wolves shift as if to speak, "Now everyone shift into your wolf form and come over orderly to take in his scent."
At his command all the Werewolves began to strip out of their clothes starting their shift. Unlike how I shifted, their shift was painful sounding as well as looking. Bones snapped and reformed as the Werewolves hunched over on all fours to help with their shift. When it finally came to their faces shifting it almost seemed like their bones melted into another face.
Dominant wolves finished their chaange first and began to pad towards me to take in my scent. I was assailed by the smell of all the different wolves who made their way towards me. My wolf kept saying 'pack' which worried me but it didn't seem he needed to be a part of this pack to be stable.
Cane stepped up next to me as the last submissive wolf took down my scent. "You're now forever welcome on our land. If you like you can even run with us on the full moon runs."
"I think I'll like to join you guys every once in a while," I commented with a smile.
"It's getting late though and a lot of my wolves have jobs to get to in a couple of hours. Do you want me to have one of them take you back home?"
"No, it's alright. I'll just go the way I came. Are you sending different wolves later to help out with the task force we're putting together? Or will it be the same?"
"I was thinking about sending the same wolves that went yesterday. There is a question I have about that though. When is Dimitri going to send a couple of his people and when will we have a group meeting?"
This is where Sloane would've stepped in to answer. "Actually I don't know any of those answers. You should call Sloane because she's the one who actually has contact with Dimitri. Much like your wolves and the mages, I personally don't like associating with him or his Flock."
Cane nodded in understanding. After that I said goodbye to all the wolves before heading back home. Throughout the whole time I had been here, I'd forgotten Sloane was meeting with the Master Vampire and hadn't even made sure she was alright. My pace picked up as I hoped she was already home behind our wards.