She'd scratched him, and she had actually drawn blood. Cain growled to himself and wiped at the shallow gash on his bicep. He turned to see the three teenage members of the pack staring at him in shock. They were the only ones of this floor because it was where he kept the game room, but otherwise it was just his room, which was where he had tossed his newest guest.
"Alpha?" thirteen-year-old Bryce asked slowly, his hazel eyes bright with curiosity. "Did you just toss a screaming woman into your room?"
Blake, Bryce's identical twin brother spoke up next without giving Cain a chance to answer. "Is that the one Ryland found on patrol today?" They poked their blonde heads further into the hallways, eyeing Cain's door as if that would allow them a better look at the strange wolf.
The third face, belonging to fifteen-year-old Tahlia, Blake and Bryce's human half sister, looked less than pleased with him. She tossed her auburn hair over her shoulder with an attitude that only a fifteen-year-old girl could possess. "That's not exactly the way to win over a woman, Cain."
Cain glared at the trio, annoyed mostly by the fact that he wasn't really upset with them. They were the youngest in the pack except for little Henry, who was the first born since they officially became a pack. And just like Henry, they really weren't afraid of him the slightest. He supposed it was his own fault. He'd known them all since they were infants, even the human Tahlia, and he'd never really given them a reason to be afraid of him. He took care of them, afterall, and played with them when the adult pack members couldn't see him acting like a fool.
"Yes I did, yes she is, and I'm not trying to win her over," Cain replied shortly, dabbing at his bleeding arm again. He glanced back at the door and cursed the female he'd just tossed on her ass. He could already tell she was going to be more trouble than she was worth. "Downstairs now. Gather everyone for a pack meeting."
The three young figures dashed out of the gameroom, something they'd finally gotten to use again since the sun had been back in their lives to charge the generators. His idea to use solar panels to power their cabin, rather than find a way to get power out in the middle of the wild Alaskan terrain, had seemed like a good idea at the time. He hadn't really thought about the fact that for most of the year, it was dark more than it was light. In the winter, they relied on fire for heat and cooking, and candles for light. In addition to the solar powered generators, which he preferred, he also had gas powered generators, which they used in the winter for the water heater and the running water so they could still use the bathrooms.
After making sure that the pups had actually followed his instructions, Cain turned back to the door that led to his suite, which had a sitting room, a bathroom, and his bedroom. None of the empty guestrooms had a bathroom attached, and he certainly didn't want to deal with the consequences of that, so he'd thrown her in there. Hopefully, she couldn't do much damage. He pondered for a moment how to keep his guest from escaping while he explained the situation to his pack. An idea popped into his head, and he stepped into the gameroom.
It was difficult for the pups in the winter, since they couldn't go outside and run around because of the snow and cold. They also weren't allowed to use the exercise equipment in the basement after an incident in which Bryce dropped a dumbell on Blake's foot "accidentally". So, Kristine and Ellen --Blake, Bryce, and Tahlia's mother-- made them jump ropes to play with. The warriors hadn't hesitated to jump in on the fun, so it had become a great tournament and game to his pack. The jump rope contest was something they all enjoyed in the months when they were cooped up inside most days. It was one of those jump ropes that Cain grabbed now.
"Please don't rip the doorknob off," he mumbled, tying one end of the rope to his door and another to that of the linen closet just to the left. He left no slack in the line, so the door wasn't moving a smidge. Satisfied with his work, and not at all ashamed that now he truly was holding the female against her will, he turned and walked downstairs.
Just as he had instructed, the three pups had gathered the pack in the living room. The three in question sat cross-legged on the floor in front of their parents, Ellen and Jack. Ellen was a human who mated with Jack fifteen years ago, when Ellen's daughter Tahlia was just a baby. That had caused unrest in the old pack. Not only was one of their members daring to mate with a human, but also taking on a human child? That really got some pack members' blood boiling. Jack wasn't a high ranking member of the pack, but he also wasn't so low that his actions went unnoticed. His mating with Ellen and acceptance of Tahlia is what started to cause cracks in the loyalties of the pack. The birth of Bryce and Blake had helped ease things for a while, but not long.
Ellen had tried to earn her place in the pack by offering to be a teacher for the pups, since that's what she had done in her human life. That didn't go over so well. Many of the Purists in the pack were outraged the human even dared to offer teach their young, for what could she possibly know? It eventually got so bad that she and Jack had to move away from the pack for fear of retaliation on their young family, but what could they do? The curse that attacked the female Lycans had already done most of its work, attacking the genes of the females and destroying them from the inside. There were so few females left at that time, no new purebred pups were being born, and Purists refused to tarnish and weaken their bloodlines by mating with humans.
The other couple perched on the loveseat, Riley and Caroline, were in their early fifties, ten years older than Ellen and Jack, who were both in their early forties, and over twenty years older than Cain's twenty-nine. Riley had been the pack doctor in Cain's father's pack, and had left with Cain. Now he was the pack doctor here, and his mate Caroline, a trained nurse, worked by his side. There wasn't a lot of need for medical care simply because the pack was so small, but he was there when they needed him. When Henry was born, for example. When he wasn't putting his skills as a doctor to medical use, he used his surgical abilities to skin animals with an efficiency and precision that put every hunter to shame. Cain had never seen anyone so skilled with a knife.
Riley and Caroline had been mated for as long as Cain could remember. They were certainly one of the first Lycan-human pairings in the old pack. The only reason they'd gotten away with it was because Riley was such a well respected member of the pack. The best part of their relationship was that they mated before the curse, before the females disappeared. They had mated simply because they were in love, having met when Riley was visiting a local hospital to stock up on his supplies.
Because of the old pack's attitude toward half-bloods and humans, and how dangerous it had become for them near the end, Riley and Caroline had not hesitated to follow Cain away.
"Baldy!" Henry squealed happily from where he squatted on the floor, driving a truck around.
"I've told you once, and I'll tell you again," Cain said sternly, kneeling down before the pup so they were eye-to-eye, "I'm not bald. I shave my head. There's a difference."
The little guy just laughed and patted Cain's hand reassuringly, as if to say "Yeah, sure, whatever you say." Cain grumbled. He had his reasons for shaving his head, but it certainly wasn't because he was bald or balding.
Will chuckled from his seat beside Jack, Kristine tucked under an arm. Ryland, Paul, Darryl, and Vince were scattered about the room, leaning against walls of the backs of couches. Except for Ryland, who was sprawled across a chair, idling twisting a Rubix Cube. He was determined to solve it, just as he had been two years ago when Darryl first gave it to him for his birthday.
Right now, though, the imp was grinning with mirth in his eyes. "I see our new she-wolf is more of a wild cat. How's your arm, Alpha?"
Cain glared at him, rising from his kneeling position beside Henry.
"Luck shot," he replied evenly.
Ryland just laughed to himself, focusing back on his Rubix Cube.
"Cain, would you like me to bandage that for you?" Caroline offered sweetly. She had taken it upon herself to mother the members of the pack. She had no children of her own, but she took to the roll beautifully and loved every second of it.
"I'll be fine, Caroline, thank you," he acknowledged. He really would be fine, the cuts were already done bleeding and would be closed by the end of the day. He had bigger things to worry about, like what to do with the female who had inflicted the scratches upon him.
"I'd still like to take a look at her, Cain," Riley spoke up. "I want to make sure she's all right after being exposed to the elements for such an extended time."
Ryland snorted, sitting up in his seat. "She seemed just fine to me. First thing she did when she woke up was try to break my neck with her elbow. Then she yelled at Cain."
Will raised his eyebrows. "And you let her?"
"I had a feeling she was going to do it either way. She really wants to leave."
"And you're not letting her, why?" Jack asked, not unkindly, simply curiously.
Cain shrugged. He didn't want to say it was because she was obviously alone in the world, and wolves didn't survive on their own. Some did, sure, but living life as a lone-wolf was a bleak and dangerous existence. He wouldn't let another wolf die needlessly, it just wasn't in his nature.
"She was almost frozen to death. I doubt that means she's ready to go off on her own," he replied before turning to Riley. "You can take a look at her when we're done here. She's in my room."
That seemed to surprise everyone except the pups who had witnessed the event. Cain's space was sacred to him, and no one was allowed in his room without his explicit permission. So the fact that he just threw a rabid stranger in there was a shock.
"Why did you put her there?" Will wondered.
"None of the empty guest rooms have bathrooms," he replied. "And I wasn't about to throw her in one of your rooms."
Paul chuckled. "How long are you anticipating on keeping her in there?"
"Until she's no longer a threat to my well-being," Cain grumbled, rubbing at his arm again.
That drew a laugh from his pack, though that hadn't been the goal. He glanced around at their grinning face, silently absorbing the warmth and affection in the room. These people were everything to him, although sometimes he struggled to show it. He sincerely hoped that harboring this female, for however short a time, wouldn't bring harm upon them.
"I think I like her even more," Ryland chuckled. "She's been here for six hours, and she's already given you a sense of humor."
"Hardly," Cain was quick to reply. "But I would like to get your opinions on that."
"On what, your sense of humor? Incredibly dry," Darryl piped up.
Another laugh from the pack, but Cain didn't acknowledge it other than with a glare in his warrior's direction.
"On her presence here. You're all aware that there hasn't been a young, fertile, purebred female for nearly twenty-five years. There have hardly been female wolves, purebred or not, in just as long. Her presence here could put us all at risk. Her existence likely isn't a secret, especially since she's an Alpha wolf, so odds are that the High Council wants her. The Purists will want her, too, and they probably won't stop until they have her. She wants to leave, but that could mean her death. Lone-wolves often don't survive, especially those that can't shift."
They all looked at each other a moment, remaining silent. Cain continued, "This is entirely up to all of you. If you don't want the attention that she will bring once they figure out where she is, say it now. The less time she's with us, the safer we'll be from the wrath of the Purists."
He wasn't sure if he was trying to convince them to keep her or cut her loose. There were very few pros to keeping her and a lot of cons. She could only bring danger upon them. She would put his pack right into the crossfire of the High Council, the end-all-be-all of Lycan law. They controlled everything: the packs, the Alphas, the territories. Everything went through them. Even when he'd started this pack, he had had to get their permission, otherwise he could be accused of treason. They hadn't hesitated though. Taking half-bloods and human-Lycan pairs away where they could be forgotten? That was the best plan they'd ever heard. Cain was surprised they hadn't tried sending all of the half-bloods to him. Instead, he'd heard nothing from them for nearly nine-years, which was just fine by him. Unfortunately, harboring the last purebred female Lycan would change that as soon as they figured out the region in which she disappeared.
Cain expected Ryland and his big mouth to speak up first, but instead it was Caroline. "Cain, is our pack not about protecting those that can't protect themselves?" she said in her gentle, maternal voice.
They all looked at each other. Humans, half-bloods, everything the Purists despised. Less than half the pack, seven members, were pure-blooded males: Will, Ryland, Darryl, Vince, Jack, Riley, and Cain. The four females were human, and the three male pups and Paul were half-bloods. The pups were half-blood because their parents were a human and a Lycan; Paul was a half-blood because he'd been bitten as a human and survived the shift. The only difference between a pure- and half-blood was the strength of their senses and wolves. The hate of Purists was based solely on the difference between the meanings of the words pure and half.
"She seems like she can protect herself rather well, or at least thinks she can," Ellen said next.
"Not when the entirety of the purebred community is searching for her. Can you imagine the life they probably have planned for her?" Caroline argued.
Cain closed his eyes in disgust. They'd want her for nothing more than a breeder to keep the Alphas' lines pure. No one deserved that fate.
"We should protect her," Will stated, tucking Kristine closer to his side. "She's one-of-a-kind, which means she'll fit right in here."
The rest of the pack murmured their agreement. Cain noticed Ellen remained quiet, but she had a hand on Tahlia and Bryce's shoulders. She was likely thinking about the safety of her children. Cain wasn't a parent, and didn't really plan on ever being one, so he didn't understand exactly what Ellen was thinking, but he was an Alpha. The thought of anyone in his pack being in danger didn't sit right with him, and he knew that that's all this purebred female would bring.
"You're sure? What if she doesn't agree?" Cain asked. "We can hardly keep her here against her will once she's fully recovered."
"I'd love to see what she could do to you then," Ryland chuckled, sitting up in his chair. "But seriously, Cain, we're sure." He looked to the pack for reassurance, and they all nodded, especially Kristine. "This is the only place in the Lycan world where being a purebred female means nothing."
He had a good point. She would be safe from any unwanted advances here. At least, advances based on her pedigree. He couldn't promise that his warriors wouldn't try to charm her, but they were harmless.
He nodded his head. "All right. She stays, so long as we can convince her. Once Riley says she's well enough to leave, I won't stop her if she wants to go."
"We can convince her," Kristine decided. "She's a strong female, but she's also all alone in the world. She's scared. Everyone deserves a pack, needs a pack, especially an Alpha female like herself. We can convince her to stay here."
"As long as Cain isn't the one trying to do it," Will chuckled. "It would appear she doesn't like him too much."
"I don't blame her. He doesn't even know her name, yet he's already manhandled her," Ryland gave his Alpha a disapproving glare. Cain wondered just exactly when in their long friendship Ryland decided it was his job to give Cain a hard time.
Cain shrugged, completely unashamed. "She wouldn't listen."
"She told me to call her Lou," Kristine said suddenly and pointedly at Cain. "Her name is Lou."
"Lou?" Ryland tested the word in his mouth. "Yes, I would say that suits her. Now next time Cain throws her over his shoulder, he can at least address her properly."