NOOOOOOO! I'm starting school tomorrow! NO! No more endless hours of writing! No more sleeping in! I have to wake up at 5:30 EVERY MORNING from Monday-Friday. I've been trying to do that all week, ya know, to get back on to a school schedule, and that has been an epic FAILURE. I finally managed to do it this morning and the boredom of summer will finally be over so I'm kindadreading and excited about school. I hate being torn in two.
Anyway, I'm sorry it took me so long to get back to this story. I wrote a ridiculously long chapter for my other story that was even longer than the one I wrote for this one. It took me THREE FRICKIN' DAYS to finish to my satisfaction. And right now I'm pushing to get you guys one last chapter for this story before my free time is cut down significantly by school.
I don't own any of the Women of the Otherworld books or its character. Sue me and I'll haunt you when I die.
Chapter 9: The Boys
The ride to Catskills was a tedious one. The twins were awake for most of it and talking and arguing and fussing and just making my headache worse. Jeremy's pills were looking better and better as my headache turned into a migraine.
Victoria was okay for the most part, although I knew she didn't like being strapped in so tightly to her car seat. My telekinesis told me she was frowning at the odd contraption for the first half hour and even attempted to undo the buckle and clip, but her hands weren't strong enough to do either task. Thatdoesn't mean I didn't tell her to stop: it was best to nip bad behavior in the bud before she actually got strong enough to unbuckle herself.
Dinner was a feat in itself. We had packed a cooler filled to the brim with sandwiches and drinks. The twins made a mess of themselves and I had to twist around in my seat to pick up Tori, put her in my lap, feed her and then put her back in her seat. She had started to pitch a fit about being strapped in until I tapped her nose lightly and told her that she'd better stop or she's going to go to bed early. Surprisingly, she did stop, as if she understood me.
And with Antonio driving it was up to me to clean up the twins after they were done and keep them in line as the boredom of driving drove them to act up. Normally I would've had the patience to deal with them, especially since they couldn't help themselves, but my migraine wasn't making things easy.
Antonio and I didn't speak at all on the drive with the exception of during dinner and I didn't eat anything. I was feeling nauseous thanks to the migraine and knew if I ate anything that I'd upchuck it. I told him I wasn't feeling so well and I didn't need my telekinesis to know he looked at me with concern. For a werewolf to willing turn down food was an extreme rarity.
Eventually, the twins fell asleep around 9 o'clock. I expected Victoria to follow suit, but she got fussier and fussier as the minutes passed, stretching her arms towards me and fisting her hands as if she was grabbing something invisible. I knew what she wanted. She'd basically spent her entire life sleeping on my chest with the exclusion of one night a week when I had to go Change. And because she was so used to it she wasn't about to fall asleep in an uncomfortable car seat.
I was trying to convince her that it was safer for her to stay in her car seat when she started making these pleading sounds. Yes, I know I was talking to a 9 month old baby, but I swear she understands most of what I was saying, if not all of it. I finally caved in when she made those sounds. She hardly ever makes a noise or asks for anything extra other than my attention, so I figured it was only fair I give her this.
The little baby smiled tiredly, her eyes already drooping, before she snuggled her head on to my chest and fell asleep within moments. It wasn't awkward to have someone using my breast for a pillow since that someone was an innocent baby. Ifanything it was a comfort to me, having what was most important to me to be so close to my heart where I could protect her.
"How did you learn to take care of her?" Tonio asked softly, surprising me a little after our three hours of silence.
I looked at him with my eyes closed before looking down at Tori. "I learned by trial and error the first month," I answered in a whisper. "Which isn't easy with a newborn, irritable werewolves everywhere, and not a lot of supplies at my disposal. After I escaped with her I was able to look up the answers on the internet and things got a little easier once I knew what I had to do and what to expect."
My telekinesis told me that he nodded, "It must be hard on you, taking care of a baby at such a young age."
I frowned at him in confusion, "What are you talking about? It's… natural for me. It's all I've ever known. And it's not nearly as hard as some of the other things I've had to deal with in my life."
There was a pause where Antonio said nothing and just concentrated on driving. "I am sorry," he finally said and I stiffened a bit before he continued. "For bringing up your 'll tell us what you want when you want and I had no right to rush that. I'm sorry."
I relaxed a little and sighed, "It's fine. It's just something I want to forget. I don't want it to control me for the rest of my life."
We fell back into a silence and I laid back against my chair. My migraine was finally not being aggravated and it was beginning to ease. I rubbed Tori's back and where I couldn't hear her heartbeat like I wanted to, I could feel it beat strongly against my palm. It was a struggle to keep myself awake, with waking up early, and the emotional turmoil, however short it was, and the lulling beat of my charge's heart.
It was another hour before Antonio pulled off the freeway and onto a ramp. I straightened a bit and asked quietly, "What time is it?"
"Ten thirty."
I cast my telekinesis behind the car and felt the other three cars trailing behind Antonio like a convoy. I felt Antonio take out his cell phone and dial a number before turning down the speaker volume. Ringing came softly over the car's speaker and I jumped a little at the unexpected surprise. Since when were you able to call through a car?
It was a good thing Tonio turned down the volume because noise erupted once the ringing stopped. "Hello?" a young boy answered. I heard a lot of noise in the background. There were shouts, yells, insults, and laughing. I couldn't help but smile a small smile when I heard that carefree laughter.
I felt Antonio's slight frown as he opened his mouth to reply, but another voice came across the speakers. "What are you doing, squirt? You know better than to answer the phone." The voice belonged to a man and was all playful.
The phone was obviously dropped if the clatter and fainter voices were anything to go by. The little boy squealed with laughter as he tried to gasp out, "You guys…were too bu…busy wrestling! Stop! Stop! Nick please stop!"
The laughter went on as Nick said, "Then you should've told us, squirt! What if it had been a big bad monster that had called? He would have come to get you and would've tickled you to death! And then I would've come to rescue you and tickle you to death too! Do you know how much effort that takes?!" The boy's laughter went to a new level and drowned out whatever else Nick, who was obvious tickling the boy, said.
Antonio's frown turned into a smile and I really wished I could've seen what his emotions were showing in his eyes. He waited patiently until the phone was picked up again and we heard Nick call out, "Reece! You want to take the squirt? He answered the phone."
I heard a faint voice with an Australian accent answer, "He did what? Oh you're asking for it, Henry! Get back here!" We heard Henry's laughter and Reece's teasing voice fade as Henryclearly made a run for it.
My wolf and I stood at attention when we heard that Australian voice. Our heart picked up speed and we began to quiver nearly imperceptibly. My wolf sent the impression of curiosity and faint confusion. She didn't know why we were reacting like this anymore than I did and wanted to find out why. I forced myself to relax when I felt Antonio glance at me.
Nick's voice came clearly over the phone this time as he focused on the call. "Hello?"
"Hey, Nicky," Tonio greeted and I could hear the smile in his voice.
"Dad!" Nick yelled and the noise in the background stilled for a moment before there were a bunch of yells like, "Dad's on the phone?!" "I want to talk to Dad!" "Daddy!" Nick's voice was plainly heard saying, "Back you demons! I got to the phone first!"
There were disappointed sounds and insults. I heard one teenage boy yell, "You didn't get to the phone first! Henry did!"
"Shut it, Kyle!" Nick shouted back, but it was obvious he didn't mean it by the playful tone and laughter in his voice. I cast my telekinesis over the twins to see if the noise was waking them up and was glad to feel that they hadn't even stirred.
"Put it on speaker!" someone else yelled.
"Fine, fine," grumbled Nick. "Alright Dad, you're on speaker."
Antonio's smile got bigger, "Hey boys. How are you doing?" There was a chorus of "Good!"s and "Awesome!"s. "Well I wanted to give you boys of warning. We about five minutes away."
There was a silence before Nick began to yell, "Defcon 3! Emergency clean up! Move it! Move it! Move it! We got five minutes to clean up everything! I repeat! Defcon 3!" There was a cacophony of noise and shouts and crashing and I smiled and raised an eyebrow.
Antonio frowned. "Nick," he drawled out.
His son cut him off with a hurried goodbye, "Gotta go, Dad. Don't want the house to burn down! See ya in five!"
There was a click and silence before I asked, "You leavehim in charge?" Antonio just blew out a breath. I smiled.
We pulled into a gravel driveway four minutes later and I threw out my telekinesis to sense everything around. The driveway was narrow and trees lined either side of it and the forest spread beyond my reach. The U-Haul, jeep, and sports car followed behind us as we crept up the winding driveway. It took us an entire minute of driving before I felt the trees spread out and encircle a wider area.
I leaned forward unconsciously as the house finally came into my range. My mouth dropped and I couldn't help but whisper, "Holy crap." The house was so huge that I couldn't find the backyard within my range. It was so much bigger than Stonehaven and, if I was feeling it right, it was a very big Victorian home. My telekinesis told me the front yard was very well kept and there were tons of separate rooms. And those were the ones I could sense form my position alone. It felt like it was a three story mansion with two levels above ground and a basement. I also felt the bodies hurrying around the house.
I snorted before turning to Antonio, "They're still cleaning."
I felt him raise an eyebrow, "You can 'see' them from here?"
I nodded, "I have a range of 50 meters in any direction."
"Alright. Let me go in first and tell them to be quiet for the kids." He got out of the car and went through a door in the garage. He called out and all the bodies, wherever they were in the house, made a beeline for him.
I smiled and got out of the car quietly before walking out through the open garage door to where the three adults were stretching in the front yard.
"How are the twins?" Elena asked with a quiet groan as she popped her back.
"Sleeping peacefully," I replied. My migraine was picking up again now that the quiet was gone.
"Did they behave during the drive?"
"As well as a couple of 8 year old could," I answered, adjusting Tori's spot on my chest. She wrapped her arms around my neck and moved her head to my shoulder without stirring at all.
Elena snorted and made her way to the open garage with Jeremy following to help. I stood with Clayton awkwardly. The sad thing was that I couldn't tell if he was glaring at me. I shifted my weight and resigned myself to wait for someone to tell me what to do.
I jumped a little when Clayton asked, "If you had to guess when the Family would attack, when would it be?"
I shook my head, "Things have changed since I'm gone and more so now that I'm with you guys. I don't know."
"But if you had to guess," he repeated, not sounding irritated or edgy at all.
I was glad he wasn't feeling hostile towards me and thought for a moment. "Randall is patient," I answered slowly."Impossibly patient. He's waited years and he can wait more no problem. But now that I'm here… He will take into account that I could tell you everything. It will give him a sense of urgency. If there's anything he hate's more than the Pack, it's seeing years of work go down the drain. He'll want to attack as soon as possible to avoid ruining all his work. So I guess the first chance the Pack is vulnerable. When you're separated or distracted, he'll use the opportunity. He may be patient, but that doesn't mean he hesitates. So I guess the first time he sees an opening is when he'll attack."
I felt Clay nod and stare off into the forest. "I may be the Beta of the Pack, the protector, but I don't know what I'm up against here." I had a good feeling on how much it was costing him to admit he didn't know how to do his job. "You're the only person who knows this group of mutts inside and out and we're relying on you to help us come out on top." I nodded this time as he continued. "But I will say this as Beta of the Pack, mate to Elena, and father to my children. If I even get the faintest hint that you're betraying us I will rip you to shreds and bury you across the country. Do I make myself clear?"
"Crystal," I replied. "And I would expect nothing less."
The front door to Antonio's mansion opened and he came out. I turned my closed eyes out of habit and felt his boys follow him out. The tallest of the boys dashed forward and tackled Clay to the ground. They wrestled on the ground until Clay pinned theman. "You've still learned nothing, Nicky," Clay taunted.
Nick growled playfully, "Shut up, Clay."
"Enough boys," Antonio called. "You'll wake the baby."
I felt Nick frown as Clay got off of him. He took the offered hand and began to ask in confusion, "Baby? The twins are inside and 8 years old. What do you me—?" He stopped when his eyes fell on me. I felt all the other boys eyes turn towards me and I pulled the hood to my hoodie up and shook my hair to cover Tori out of habit. There was an uncomfortable pause in silence before Nick moved towards me. "Who are you? My dad hasn't mentioned you."
"I doubt he had time to," I replied softly. "Things happened quickly."
Nick snorted and still came closer. The way he moved reminded me very much of how Antonio approached me when I was harmonized with my wolf. Like he knew I was a cornered wolf that would attack or flee at any moment. And I honestly didn't know if I would do either. I wasn't sure if I was fine with all the attention or uncomfortable enough to take action. " guys packed up Stonehaven all in one day. And got everything taken care of. That takes skill." I remained silent and Nick stopped a foot and a half away from me. He stuck out his hand, "I'm Nicholas Sorrentino, proud member of the North American Pack and a very handsome man if I do say so myself." That comment earned a couple of snorts from the audience, but he ignored them. "May I have the honor of knowing the name of such a pretty girl?"
I cocked my head to the side and answered without thought. "You need to get your eyes checked." I bit my lip before taking his hand and shaking it briefly, "I'm Artemis Hunter." I felt him open him open his mouth and I held up a finger, "Don't. I already know my name is strange and I don't need your input."
He chuckled, "So you're a werewolf on top of being telepathic?"
I shook my head, "Nope. I'm a werewolf on top being telekinetic."
I felt him cock his head to the side when he scented no lie and was about to ask a question when Jeremy's voice called out, "Now that introductions are done we should unpack the truck."
Nick smiled and turned towards the boys, "You heard him, little soldiers. Get to work!"
The boys grumbled and obviously wanted to call insults, but stayed quiet as Antonio probably ordered. As they moved to the U-Haul I stepped up to Antonio, "Where can I set down Tori so I can help?"
"You don't have to help. The boys are efficient when they aren't arguing or fighting." Nonetheless he led me into the house and up a grand staircase. He turned down two halls before opening the door. "This will be your room." I shrugged off my two backpacks by the door and gently laid Tori down on her back in the center of the bed so there was no chance of her rolling off. She frowned in her sleep and squirmed at the loss of my warmth and feel. I quickly pulled out her baby blanket and set it over her. After another moment of squirming she settled down into sleep again.
As I walked out of the room with Antonio I latched on most of my telekinesis to the baby so I would know when she moved even the slightest bit.
"You really don't have to help, Artie. The boys will have the entire thing unloaded in about a half hour," Tonio said again.
I shrugged and pushed back the pain of my migraine. "I can help so I will."
Antonio looked me over critically before saying, "Alright. And you did a good job with Nick out there. One down six to go." He smiled at that.
I felt…good at his praise, which I thought was odd. I didn't need Antonio's approval do anything. We dodged a young boy carrying a box coming through the door before stepping out of the house. There were three boys in the back of the U-Haul pulling boxes out before jumping out and walking into the house. I could feel their stares on me, but ignored them as I pushed back my hood.
I hopped effortlessly into back of the truck as Antonio went to park the cars in the garage. I sensed someone coming towards the truck, but picked a box up, ignoring him. Though I almost dropped my box when the voice with the Australian accent asked, "So how did you come to be with the Pack?"
I almost opened my eyes to look at the man/boy I'd only seen in a picture and heard his voice, but the thought of the pain that would come stopped me. I felt Reece come up into the truck and watched him with closed eyes. "They found me," I answered.
He plucked two boxes up easily and followed me as I jumped onto the ground. I never wanted to see more than I wanted to now. I wanted to see this man that had caught mine and my wolf's attention. I wanted to see that curly gold hair and those blue eyes. I wanted to see him. I felt a weight in my chest and recognized it as sorrow. I was sad at my inability to see this man.
"Where did you come from?" he asked in that accented voice. For some reason it made me want to just lay down and listen to it all day.
"L.A."
"Jeez, you're a long way from home," he remarked and I held back the same comment I let slip with Antonio.
I shrugged, "Things happen once you're a werewolf." We passed Nick and two boys as Reece led the way down some stairs.
Reece chuckled and I frowned at how I felt a shiver of pleasure at the sound, "Yeah. Things do happen. And I don't really have any right to say you're a long way from home. I'm from Australia."
"I know," I murmured.
Reece made a 'duh' sound before saying, "Well I guess that was stupid. My accent gave me away, didn't it?" Even though he was striving for casual I knew he was flustered and a bit embarrassed. I nodded and he continued. "So what were you doing before you were brought into the Pack?"
I answered nonchalantly, "Traveling." No need to tell him everything.
"Oh? What pla—Hey, why are you closing your eyes?"
"She probably doesn't want to see your ugly face," teased one of the three boys who had grabbed boxes before me.
"Go to hell, Ryan," Reece growled. Although it was playful you could tell he was a tad bit irritated.
"I'm already there," Ryan called back as he walked up the basement stairs.
Reece huffed before repeating, "So why do you keep your eyes closed? I promise you I'm not ugly."
"Yes, you are!" I heard Nick yell from somewhere in the house. He must have picked up the comment with his werewolf hearing.
Reece ignored him and I figured it was okay for me to do so too. "I can't see," I answered calmly.
The Australian stopped dead in his tracks and I continued on to the room I had felt all the boys put the boxes in. He finally caught up to me as I set down my box. "What do you mean you can't see? Are you blind?"
I shook my head, but my response was stopped when I heard thundering come down the stairs. I sensed it was Nick and he immediately came up to me. I tensed for an attack, but was surprised when I was suddenly scooped up into strong arms. A memory flashed and I realized this was the man who had stopped me from hitting the ground in the warehouse.
"What are you doing helping if you can't see?" he demanded, quite loudly right next to my ear. I winced, but twisted like the snake I was until I was on my feet and Nick was on his surprised face.
I walked away casually, "I may not be able to see with my eyes, but I can still 'see'. Besides, I'll be able to see again in the morning."
I felt Reece look between me and the stunned Nick before jogging to catch up with me. "You moved so fast!" he exclaimed. "What kind of fighting was that? Tai chi? Jiu Jitsu?Judo?"
My head throbbed painfully and the world spun for a moment. I lightly dragged a fingertip against the wall to ground myself as the dizziness passed. The nausea; however, did not. "Please be quiet," I asked in a whisper.
I felt Reece's energy and excitement die down and felt a hand on my shoulder. "Sorry," he murmured softly. "What's wrong?" Surprisingly, I didn't feel the instant revulsion of someone touching me. If anything I felt immense comfort. I'd never felt that in my life. Not even when Antonio comforted me the night before.
I shook my head and instantly regretted it when I felt the spike being driven into it. I gritted my teeth and rubbed my forehead. "Nothing."
"You're lying," he accused, but there was no anger behind his voice. He was only stating a fact.
I snorted and moved up the stairs, "Yeah. I know."
"May be you should see Jeremy," he suggested and took my hand in his. My hand was instantly swamped with sensations that were all so, so good. My brain tried to memorize everything it could from this touch alone. In that touch I could feel the comfort that he was offering me and I sighed. Then, I felt something strange. I felt my wolf jump forward and try to take control.
I stopped mid-step in the foyer and my eyes snapped open in surprise. The pain hit me hard, but it was only miniscule to the struggle I put up to keep in control. I didn't feel anger or hunger coming from her, only desperation. She wanted something badly and when I sent the impression of a question she sent me the image of Reece that we'd seen from Tonio'spicture. I was confused. Why would she be desperate towards Reece? But I pushed that feeling away as my wolf redoubled her efforts.
I gritted my teeth and hissed out a breath. I was so focused on keeping her back that I didn't see it when Reece's face was suddenly in front of mine. I didn't feel his rough hands cup my cheeks gently. I didn't hear when he asked me what was wrong or when he called out for his dad and Jeremy.
My focus was only on keeping my body. She was so strong, but I was just as strong. She pushed and I shoved back. She tried to wriggle around me and I blocked her. I normally would've given her control if she thought it was so important, but I didn't like her desperation, her absolute need. We were equal in strength and cunning, but it was only a matter of time before one of us began to tire and was kicked into submission.
I have no clue how long we fought, but I could feel my mental self beginning to wane in strength, but my concentration was shattered when I felt my body get slammed against a wall with a hand around my throat. I became aware of my vision and saw Clay's blurry face in front of my own and a bunch of other faces a small distance behind him. I felt fear consume me as my wolf swamped me and was able to gasp out, "Run!" before I was kicked out of the driver's seat.
Lupa growled and threw a punch that hit his cheek with full force. His head snapped to the side, but he resolutely kept a crushing grip on her throat. Black dots began to swirl in front of her eyes from the lack of air and didn't panic as she went to claw Clay's face, but her arms and legs were suddenly restrained. Then she began to panic. She would've fought her way out of their grips from her strength alone if her concentration wasn't split from keeping me at bay as I fought for control. She opened her mouth in a silent scream as her vision began to swim.
She finally stopped fighting and looked over Clay's blond head with my telekinesis to the face of Reece, whose was contorted in rage as people struggled to hold him down. He fought violently to free himself, eyes a glowing gold instead of blue that told Lupa it was his wolf trying to fight. She resumed to weakly fight when someone finally punched him in the head and he collapsed in an unconscious heap. But Lupa saw that before his eyes closed the wolf's eyes had met her blind ones.
Lupa's mouth opened and closed silently as her vision finally blacked out and I was able to come to the fore front. The hand holding me up disappeared and I dropped to my knees. I struggled to remember how to breathe as I fell forward. I don't remember ever hitting the floor.
—Reece's POV—
Her scent was something he would never forget. The smooth skin of her face was something he would never forget. Her soft beautiful voice was something he would never forget. There were a lot of things he would never forget about Artemis Hunter.
As he walked with her up the stairs from the basement he could tell something was causing her pain even though she gave no outward sign. He just…knew. It was more than her broken arm. Something about her just said pain and he got the feeling that it was more than physical pain.
When she stopped in the middle the foyer he got worried. She froze mid-step like a picture had been taken. She didn't respond to his questions and he felt himself begin to panic as he saw her eyes flicker form black to gold quickly.
His wolf began to push firmly at his control. Not something he couldn't handle, but he knew his wolf wanted to get out. From the moment he laid eyes on this girl he had to fight the urge to glue himself to her side. He just wanted to…protect her. This urge was stronger than what he felt for the younger Pack.
He could hardly remember calling out for his dad and Jeremy out of fear. They came running and he felt a little relief.They can help Artemis, he thought. They can help. But as his fear slowly receded it came back twice as powerful when Artemis didn't respond to them.
The other boys had come to see what the problem and then Clay came in.
Reece had lost total control of his now raging wolf when Clay slammed the 18 year old girl into a wall and began to choke her. He saw her gasp out "Run!" desperately and then he was gone.
All he knew was the urge to get the other wolf away from the girl. He had to protect her. There was nothing else more important.
And then the other wolves held him down and he went ballistic. How dare they hold me down?! They forget their place! They will pay! Reece could only feel the blinding rage and the frustration and hopelessness when he realized he couldn't free himself. He faintly felt the pain of a Change coming on and then someone hit him in his head. His vision quickly narrowed to a point and the last thing he saw was Artemis with golden eyes pinned against the wall by other wolves.
And then the darkness swamped him.
—Antonio's POV—
"What is going on here?" Antonio demanded as he gently lowered Artemis' limp body to the floor. It tore at his soul to see such a strong girl so vulnerable and helpless.
He looked over to Reece, who was also limp and felt another knife through his soul for the same reason. Nick, Elena, and Noah were panting from the effort of keeping the young man down. The air was still filled with scents of both of the young werewolf's rage and desperation. He didn't understand what had happened. Why had suddenly both Reece and Artemis lost control? They both had excellent control.
Jeremy knelt down to examine Reece's head before murmuring, "I hadn't expected this."
"Expected what Jeremy?" I demanded. "Why did my son and Artemis lose control?"
He looked up at Antonio and his face gave away nothing as usual. "They were defending each other," he answered as if it was obvious.
"Why would they do that? They were in no danger," Elena stated as she finally got control of her breathing. Clay went over to her to make sure she was alright. Reece would be in trouble if she wasn't.
Jeremy looked around at all of them with a raised eyebrow, surprised none of them realized what had happened. "They defended each other because they're mates."
Yay! I'm sorry that I'm rushing this but I have things to do today and that is my excuse for any mistakes you see above. I finally establish hat Reece and Artemis are mates and school starts tomorrow(NOOOOOOO!) and this is surprisingly ling for the amount of time I had. I hope you enjoyed it and ill try and put another chapter up as soon as possible.
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