Lisa POV
Jen's embroidery work had earned her the protection of the Alpha, which meant she'd finally gained some freedom, and I no longer had to watch her every second that she wasn't locked safely away in our home. Still, I found myself worrying about her a lot. I knew HyunSuk wouldn't go against his word, especially not since he'd made it in front of witnesses, but I also knew that he hated me, and he would do what he could to make my life worse. My life in this pack was a constant reminder that there had been better times.
I'd put off doing what I knew I needed to do for a long time, but it was almost time. I hadn't yet explained to Jen about the Seer, but I knew I should soon. We needed to visit the white wolf. It was clear to me that we couldn't leave things as they were indefinitely, and that meant making a dangerous decision. We would have to stay and hope we were left alone, stay and fight, or risk scooping up everything that we had and leaving the lands of the pack. I wasn't ready to just throw my fate randomly in one of these directions, and that meant I needed to speak to the Seer. Of course, there was always a price for asking for her information, and depending on how important that information was, the price could be quite steep. She'd been known to demand murder, pieces of flesh, sometimes an eye, or rare botanicals that were dangerous to acquire. She always had a purpose of her own, and to get what you wanted from her, you had to serve her purpose.
My father had taken me to see her when I was little, to ask what my fate would be. It was tradition for my family. Generally she asked for a feasts worth of game, but when it came time to read my future, and my twin sisters future, she'd asked for the life of our mother. "Deliver unto me the heart of your mate, Chitthip." She'd told my father. "This, or your children go towards a dark fate with no warning." My father had refused, aghast that he would be asked for such a price, and my sister had become the bride of HyunSuk the next year, at just twelve years old. My father and mother were both dead, and all because my father wouldn't pay the price for knowledge of the future. What a terrible price it had been. I knew, had it been Jen's life I'd been asked to give, I wouldn't have paid that price either.
I returned home from the hunt and walked into my home with a heavy heart. It was forbidden for our pack to visit the Seer, so I knew that if we went it would have to be done in secret. I was worried for our family, but I also knew that we were walking a fine line between life and death by remaining in the pack as we were now. I shifted from my werewolf form into my wolf form as the door closed behind me. "Jen, my love, we must talk." There was a shuffling in the kitchen, a soft groan. "Just a minute." Jennie finally called back. Jen came to the kitchen doorway a moment later, hand on her lower belly, face pale and slightly pained looking. She made her way to the couch and sat heavily on it. "Alright." "How are you feeling?" I asked, my other concerns temporarily pushed back for a moment.
"Better now that my stomach is empty." Jen said, tone agitated, and then she laughed a little. "Sorry, it puts me in an off mood." She frowned. "I think things are happened a lot faster than they should, I'm trying to remember what I've been told about carrying children." "Pregnancies go a bit faster for children of the kin." I explained apologetically. "The press of time is ever upon us, and it has forced me to contemplate doing something I didn't want to do." I took a deep breath and went into an explanation of the Seer, telling her the story of my own history with the woman.
"I think we need her advice." Jen frowned, thinking over everything I'd said. "Of course if that's what you want to do, I'll come with you. I think it's a dangerous game to play though, chasing after knowledge of the future. Your father might have saved some of his family if he'd sacrificed his wife, instead you lost everyone, but what kind of person would he have been if he'd killed his wife like that? I think you might be better off picking a path and sticking to it, and not second guessing yourself because you went to the Seer and she demanded something we couldn't or wouldn't pay. I suppose if you feel stuck, unable to pick a path, then we should see the Seer and maybe she can help you decide."
"I'm worried I'll lose you and the children if I don't make a decision soon, but if I make the wrong decision I'll still lose everything." I growled, frustrated, uncertain. "I don't think I can afford to lose you." '"And what if she asks for me? Or one of the pups? Will you still be able to turn her down and make a decision on your own knowing it'll probably lead you down whatever big change it is she wants a fortune to tell you about? I just don't want you to have to turn her down and then fight endlessly with indecision, but if you're going to struggle with it anyway, perhaps you're right and we should see what her price is." Jen got up and came to me, sitting down on the floor so she could wrap her arms around my neck and nuzzle her face into my fur, trying to comfort me. "She can't have you or the pups . . . I, maybe you're right. Maybe I should just choose and hope for the best." I laid my head against her shoulder.
Life had been easier when I only had to worry about my own life. I hadn't cared so much for that. "I'm sorry this is so difficult. It can't hurt just to find out her price, right? Whatever you choose I'll be with you." She kissed my neck and then nudged her nose against the shorter fur on my face affectionately. She sighed and then sat back, giving me a small, sympathetic smile. "I don't know why you decided to go looking for a wife when you did, you get very distressed for us. I suppose if I could help protect us, things would be a bit different." Jen thought a moment. "I know how to use a bow, not particularly well, but I insisted on learning and it was just the right side of acceptable that my father relented. It wasn't a skill he allowed me to take as seriously as the other, now useless ones though." She laughed a little, apparently thinking of some of the things she knew how to do instead.
"Being pregnant you wouldn't be in much of a position to fight anyway, and I wanted a wife because I was tired of being alone. I thought I would find a companion." I smiled, my tongue hanging out. "I didn't know I'd actually find love. That was a pleasant surprise." Jennie laughed and rubbed either side of my head a bit roughly for a moment before she got back up and headed for the kitchen. "You would have rather fallen in love with one of the kin." She said, scolding in a teasing fort of voice. "But now you're in love with me." She said in a sing-song, happy sounding voice. "You can come with me, I'm starving. And I promise, no burning something. I'll make something simple and not experiment." She had gotten better at cooking, though when she moved away from recipes she'd learned things could get hairy again.
I padded after her into the kitchen. "You don't have to go with me to the Seer. I can go myself if you want. Once we're outside the village we'll be safe enough, but HyunSuk has made it pack law that no one is to visit her." "If you want me with you I'd like to come, hear what she has to say, maybe help you make your mind up if you'd like that. But if you can get there and back far easier without me, I understand. I don't want to get you caught by HyunSuk." She answered, setting up to make something for us. "When do you want to go?" "We'll go tonight, after dark. There are only two men on watch in the evening, and most people will be asleep. I can carry you out of the village, and then we can walk together once we're clear." I told her, worried about what we might hear tonight.
The Seer's toll could be anything at all, and the worse it was, the more likely it was that she was hiding information that could be vital to us going forward. "I love you, Jen." I told my wife, wanting her to know whatever else happened, I still loved her. "I love you too." She said, and flashed me a confident smile. Darkness fell too soon. We'd tried to relax, making small talk, and spending time in the reading room reading aloud to each other and enjoying the time we had together. The risk to us wasn't lethal at the moment, but we both could feel the tension of what was to come. As the time to leave drew closer, I had Jennie bundle up in warm clothes, a cloak I'd had made just for her, and boots made for hiking.
I shifted into my werewolf form and wrapped her tight in my arms. "Hold on tight. I'm going to be running until we get out of the village. The white wolf is up in the mountains. It'll take us an hour or two to get there. I'll carry you most of the way, but we'll walk for part of the distance. I figure you might actually enjoy some fresh air, and some new scenery." Jennie nodded her understanding and smiled at me before tucking herself against my body for the run. I slipped out of my house and put my nose to the air, feeling the passing of the wind through my fur. I shifted directions, heading further back into town. I wouldn't be able to walk directly out of town with the wind direction being what it was.
I backtracked slowly until I was sure I was downwind of the guards, and then I started running. Beneath the stars, with the wind in my fur, and stars lighting my way, I felt the true call of the wild. I felt like I could run forever, and a part of me wanted to do exactly that, but I kept my mind focused on the business ahead and headed for the mountains. After a while I set Jen down and let her walk with me. We walked for over an hour before I picked her up again and proceeded up the mountain path with her in my arms. I climbed for another twenty minutes until we came to the cave of the white wolf. "This is it." I told Ava as I sat her down. A voice called from within, surprisingly young sounding. I knew the white wolf must be well into her eighties, but it was said she never aged. "Lalisa, it has been too long. Please, come in. We have much to talk about." I looked at Jennie to see if she was ready for this. "We can still turn back if you want.?" Jen shrugged. "We came all this way, as I said, we'll see what she says. And the cost." She added the last in a worried mumble.
She took my hand and smiled at me, nodding once toward the cave entrance so I might lead the way. I walked into the cave. there were torches burning along the walls, and old carpeting covering the floor. As we sank well into the cave I spotted the white wolf. She was sitting at the back of the cave, just as I remembered seeing her years before with my father. She looked exactly the same, no older, no less keenly aware and sharp. Her eyes were silver like most wolves were cold, and she had blue streaks in her fur, tribal markings that looked as though they'd been painted on, but it would have been impossible for her to do so on her own, and I couldn't smell anyone else around. "Lalisa, Jennie. I've been waiting for you for a long time now." She said, and she glanced at a spot on the carpet opposite her.
"Have a seat, and we will talk about the cost for your future." Jen seemed to frown and narrow her eyes a little at the Seer's wording, or maybe the way she said it, but she sat obediently without saying anything. I led Jennie to a place to sit and helped her down, and then I sat at her side. "We've come to . . ." "I know why you've come." She answered, cutting off my words. "Your pack has become a hostile place. Your family is in danger, and you don't know the safest path forward. There is no easy path, Lalisa. Each way you might choose is fraught with danger, and there is no certainty down any course, but I will tell you which things cannot be changed down the paths you might choose. However, first we must discuss the price." Her silver eyes passed over me, and then over my wife. "Jennie," She said, directly addressing my wife.
"I have a gift for you as well, something very important to you, and urgent. I will give it to you, but only if Lalisa pays." I growled. "What is the price?" She smiled. "I want a pup." I stood up growling. "You can't have my offspring." "You misunderstand me, Lalisa. I don't want one of your children with Jennie, I want you to mate me. I want a pup of my own." She said, a soft chuckle behind her words. I growled, suddenly uncertain. That was a cost I hadn't anticipated. Jennie looked shocked too. She turned red and looked down at her lap, brow wrinkled in thought and concern. Jen cleared her throat a little and took a deep breath. "I'm guessing Lalisa would be expected to have nothing to do with this child you want to carry?" She asked, voice steady but a bit on the dark, agitated side. "I would expect Lalisa to avoid telling my daughter that she is her, but she could see her at times." The white wolf offered. "Of course, doing that would require a change in pack policy. Right now you both are in violation of the orders of your Alpha."
My jaw worked soundlessly. This was a steep price to pay, having a child that I couldn't raise, and being with a woman that wasn't Jennie. I didn't want either of these things. "Think this through carefully. The knowledge I have will change both of your lives, and make a big difference in Jennie's life going forward." The white wolf cautioned. "If you leave without hearing what I have to say, there is little future left for either of you. Especially you." She looked at my wife with her strange silver eyes. "So, you mean to say I'm going to die if Lalisa doesn't impregnate you. I'd also think it has something to do with this 'gift' you have for me, which isn't much of a gift if I have to pay for it now is it?" Jennie said, agitation getting a bit of the better of her. Jen stood up and took my arm in both her hands. She ran them down the length of my arm to my hand and kept her gaze there. "Lisa ..." She said quietly. "Do what you think you have to. I'll still love you." She nudged my arm with her nose, and then stepped away.
She leaned against the wall, looking out of the cave at the world. "It's Lalisa's body, and her offspring. So I suppose it's more her choice than mine." She told the Seer, voice still dark but with less agitation in it. I looked desperately between the woman I loved and the Seer. If I didn't do what the Seer wanted, and Jennie died, I would never forgive myself. If I did what the Seer wanted me to, I'd live, but I'd forever carry that guilt with me, and I knew it would damage my relationship with my wife.
"I could find you another male who would gladly mate you." I told her. "I don't want this." "This isn't about want, Lalisa. This is about necessity. Let me tell you about fate, and being a slave to the whim of powers you can't control. When last you came here I asked your father to kill your mother, and if he did so I would tell him what he needed to know. The price was important. A Seer is granted power through the goddess Etria, the Path Maker, and we gain all our insight from her. I can see what futures may be, and which futures will pass no matter what is done. I can also shape the future, but only at junctions that intersect with my own life.
"When your father came to me I asked him to kill your mother, because in killing your mother he would have ended the weakness that caused him to hesitate when he had a chance to slay HyunSuk. HyunSuk had your mother by the throat, and your father through dropped his claws and let his enemies men take him to his death, and that was because she still lived. HyunSuk raped her for two days before he severed her head, chewing it from her body while he was still having her, and she was alive and screaming. Then he took your sister on top of her corpse. I cannot speak of a future that has not been paid for. If I do, then my visions are gone, but my price is always steep, and fair. It gives something to the goddess, because it has to for the information, and in return I give you something to use to go forward." Her words were dark, frustrated.
"Now Etria tells me my time is near, my endless youth will be over in less than a decade, and I must create for her a new servant. I must reestablish old bonds, and respark the power of the old blood, your blood Lalisa. This isn't about greed or want. This is the price that must be paid for the information you need." I stepped back, shocked at her words. If she wasn't lying, then what she said meant that she was little more than a slave to the information given to her. It was almost pathetic. I turned back to my wife. I approached her and put a clawed hand on her shoulder. "I love you, Jennie, and I don't want to lose you. But I won't go forward with something like this if it is going to destroy you. What would be the point in saving anything, if I lose everything in the process?" She was tense under my hand, and she took a moment to speak.
"It won't destroy me." Jen finally said, voice strained. "Just if you're going to, let me know so I can step out." She added more quietly. I sighed and put my arms around her, always somewhat surprised by how she seemed to almost vanish when I did so. "I can't lose you." I nuzzled the top of her head. "You can wait outside the cave. I'll come get you when it's finished." Jennie left then, without saying anything else. I walked back into the cave, feeling like someone had a fist around my heart. "Alright. I'll pay your price. Let's be quick about it. I want the information I came for, and I want to be done with this." The Seer looked a little tense herself. "Alright. Good. I only ask that you try not to hurt me. I've never been mated." She got up and padded to a small room off the main one.
There were blankets in a pile. This was clearly where she slept. She walked to the middle of them and bowed her front legs before letting her tail lay to the side. The male part of me responded even as the emotional part of me hurt. I thought about being rough with her, making her pay for this humiliation, but I didn't think that was right. It was best to just do it as quickly as possible and be done with it. I walked up behind her, letting instinct take a hold of me enough to make my cock slide from my sheath and swell. She looked over her shoulder at me, a bit of fear in her eyes, and I wanted to yell at her not to look at me like that. It wasn't helping things.
I pushed my cock against her sex. The tip slipped into her and she whimpered, but I couldn't push any further into her. She was completely dry. I growled and pushed harder, thinking if I could get started we could make it work, but this just pushed her forward and caused me and her more discomfort. "You're dry." I told her. "We can't do this like this." She snarled a little, looking back over her shoulder. "I don't want this. How am I supposed to be wet?" I growled and leaned down behind her. I pushed my snout into her sex, and she was right. There was no smell of arousal at all. I pushed my tongue against her, and she jumped a little, so I grabbed her hips with my claws and held her in place. I began to lick at her sex, pushing at her canid opening with my tongue, and lapping at the more sensitive places as I worked.
At first she was completely stiff, but after a few minute I could hear her breathing getting a bit deeper and she was relaxing into it. Just a couple more minutes passed and the smell of arousal struck my nose as her wetness began to coat my tongue. I pushed a finger into her. It didn't go in easily at first, but inside she was wet, and I used that to lube up the rest of her. Soon she was breathing hard, and my finger was moving easily inside of her body. I moved behind her and pushed my shaft tip against her opening. It was warm and wet this time, which sent a primordial urge to breed through me.
I stifled the lust and pushed inside of her carefully. This brought out more whimpers, and at one point she tried to claw her way away from me, but held her in place and began to work myself inside of her body. After a while the whimpers turned into pleased growls, and yips of pleasure. I felt her body tense up around mine as she came, which triggered my bodies response to orgasm, and I did, filling her up as well as I could. I held myself deep and tried not to weep as I lost myself in this stranger who I felt nothing for.
We parted quickly once the deed was done. Normally I would lick a female clean after finishing, but I didn't bother with her. "Thank you." She said, expression uncertain. "I'm going to go get my wife, and then we can talk." I told her, and headed for the door of the cave. When I stepped outside Jennie wasn't there, though I could still smell her nearby. I tracked her down. She'd probably moved further away to avoid the sounds of our sex. I felt guilty and ashamed of what I'd done. I just hoped the information we gained would be worth it