Chapter 42

It was a late Sunday afternoon the next day when Josie found herself seated at a table in the dining hall with Nimyra. The previous night they had allowed the wolves to get comfortable in the transition cells after making them slightly more livable, and Alaric wanted them contained until they were sure the wolves were not there to cause trouble. It had been pretty obvious, however, that they were in dire need of help. Every single member of the pack had been badly attacked and carried bruises, gashes and broken bones. Luckily all they needed was a place to rest and some nutrients in order to heal over time. They didn't heal as fast as the vampires did, but they were proud and would not make use of vampire blood, choosing to suffer through to late the next day when most of them started feeling better.

"I haven't had a chance to say that I'm sorry…" Josie breathed slowly as she spoke softly to Nim next to her. "For your losses, I mean, and all you have suffered. If we had been there still…"

"If you had been there you probably would have been dead as well. There were dozens of them – they came at us in full force. Dozens of wolf-vampire hybrids. We stood no chance. Kaylin died first. Gastuan died trying to protect River. River barely survived." Nim recounted events with pain etched into her features, her voice cracking at certain spots in her sentence, and her breath catching at other points. "They're an ugly pack of mangy creatures, Josie, with no mercy or remorse. I'm afraid of the kind of influence they might exercise in NOLA."

"Nim, I swear their time will come. One day, when we survive what's inevitably headed our way, we'll get rid of them afterwards. You'll have your home back." Josie comforted the wolf-witch as best as she could, letting her one hand reach out to hold Nim's just below the bandage that sat wrapped tightly around her wrist and arm.

"So, what exactly is headed this way? We just about had a heart attack at all the spells and alarms when we tried to get to the school." Nim arched a brow and Josie smiled softly and sadly, then went into a terribly long rhetoric regarding Malivore and the Necromancer and how the whole situation came to be.

"Okay, that sounds about ten million times more complicated than our situation." Nim shook her head disbelievingly by the time Josie had reached the end of her story. It took a while.

"Maybe…" Josie ventured tentatively, "Maybe we could make these situations OUR situations, you know?"

Nim frowned in confusion. "You mean like, work together? We help you and you help us?"

Josie bit her bottom lip, pretty sure she was speaking out of turn now, but she felt like she needed to plant the seed at least. "I was thinking more of…uniting, period."

Nim leaned back as the thought sunk in, her icy gaze suddenly growing darker. "River would never consent. He won't give up being alpha for anyone or anything."

"Why is he alpha? Am I allowed to ask that question?" Josie tilted her head curiously.

"He earned the position. We were all scrappy little shits when we found each other and there were mild power struggles. But River was the one that really stood tall amongst everyone. He came up with survival strategies and saw to it that we obtained all of our basic needs. He found us our home in the Bayou and always made sure that we were kept off the radar. He was bigger and stronger than the rest of us and he knew what he wanted and took it. He is a leader. He was born to be a leader, and he has the respect of his pack. And I know he seems a bit gruff and egotistical, but trust me – he's a good guy. He just wants to take care of us." It was obvious that when Nim spoke about River she truly did so with the utmost admiration and respect and Josie wouldn't be able to bear interfering with that. But still she couldn't help but wonder if this was Hope's chance…

"But what about you? You haven't been able to complete the transformation yet, have you?" Nim raised her brows at Josie, who simply shook her head. "It's a lot more complicated than we thought it would be."

"It involves an alpha and an ancient mating ritual, doesn't it?" She grinned then and Josie stared at her, shocked.

"If you knew, why didn't you say anything!" She spat, thought she was sort of relieved that there was someone else now who knew and understood exactly what was expected. Once again, there were certain small details that she hid from her father and her sister whenever she retold them the stories and gave them information. "How does this ritual work? It's freaking me out."

Nim's grin turned somewhat lascivious right then when she asked, "You and Hope… you two are… like... yeah?" Josie burned hot over her cheeks but she managed to nod in answer. "Alright well then there's nothing to it. You don't have to worry about it. As soon as Hope claims her position as alpha over a pack, the unification ritual between you two will happen kind of automatically. Like, you won't be able to avoid it from taking place. No special preparations required." She chuckled then and left Josie thoroughly confused, the state in which she would remain as they were interrupted soon enough.

"Hey Jo…" Jade let the nickname still tumble easily from her lips and could be glad that Hope wasn't close enough to catch it. The vampire sauntered over and allowed her eyes to rest on the new person.

"Hi Jade, this is Nimyra, she's one of the wolves that came in last night." Josie introduced them politely enough, watching in amusement the way that Jade raked her eyes over the slightly shorter female from top to bottom when she stood to shake Jade's hand.

"Please, call me Nim. It's a pleasure." Nim smiled widely at Jade, something about the spark in her eye catching Josie's attention. Jade's own gaze was somewhat intense and Josie felt pleased with the developing moment and its undertones.

"Jade, why don't you take Nim on a little tour of the school and the grounds. She still hasn't seen most of it. I have to meet up with Lizzie soon anyway." Josie encouraged and it didn't take much for the other two females to agree to such an arrangement and casually stroll off into the building.

Josie watched their backs with a small smile, sincerely hoping she just managed to make a good match, when she suddenly found her vision cast in complete darkness. Only for a second did her eyes flash before she realized it was Hope who had covered Josie's eyes with her hands playfully. The gesture was followed by one of love as she placed a gentle kiss on Josie's temple and wrapped her up in a hug from behind before settling into the chair next to her where Nim had been seated.

"Hey babe…" Hope released the foreign nickname without even realizing what she was doing. She had never called Josie anything other than her name or 'Jo' for short, but somehow the term of endearment rolled off her tongue with such ease. It was, however, embarrassing, as Josie lifted one brow in her direction. Luckily, she was grinning pleasantly as well, causing Hope to chuckle. "Anyway! What was that all about?" She motioned in the direction that Jade and Nim had disappeared.

"Nim and I were just chatting. I explained our situation to her and she told me more about what happened to them. She's a really nice girl. I feel at ease with her, you know? Like I can completely trust her." Josie smiled softly as her eyes travelled back from the door the other girls had exited through to settle on Hope before her.

"Should I be worried?" Hope quirked both brows, though there was a small smile tugging at the corner of her lips.

Josie shoved her playfully, then decided to take hold of the front of her shirt and pull her close. "Never." Josie whispered as her lips brushed over Hope's, then reached further to press in a deliciously gentle but firm motion against them.

"Never is a long time…" Hope grinned against Josie's mouth as the kiss ended, not minding one bit that she'd get to spend such a lengthy amount of time with her love.

"Oooh speaking of…" Josie suddenly pulled back with wide eyes locked on Hope. "Nim mentioned something about the unification ritual. She says once you claim your position as alpha over a pack it will just kind of happen – like, we don't have to prepare for anything, something about not being able to stop it from happening."

Hope's eyes grew wide then and she swallowed, hard. The thing is, she already knew what the ancient unification ritual entailed. She had asked Freya and Keelin that night after Josie had stormed out and had been keeping it to herself for very specific reasons. She felt guilty for not sharing it with Josie, but at the same time she didn't want to say anything that could make things awkward between them. Regardless of her emotions, she knew it would happen once the timing was right.

"I'll have to talk to Keelin about it some more before anything happens. But it sounds simple enough then…" Hope grinned and nodded, pretending to be none the wiser.

"I just came from Raf and the other Salvatore wolves." Hope continued, swiftly changing the topic. "They're not pleased with another pack infringing upon their territory, no matter how small." Hope sighed and ran an uneasy hand back through her hair. "They are of the opinion that if the Crescents are going to stick around, that they then need to submit to Raf and integrate with the pack."

Josie gave a sigh to match the frustrated one Hope had uttered a moment ago. "River won't do that. Nim told me that he's too proud; that he wouldn't step down for anything."

"Yeah I gathered as much the last time he threatened me to fight." Hope shook her head, remembering their meeting in the Bayou. "Apparently there was already a small scuffle between Jed and one of River's betas. I'm yet to talk to him about it. I haven't seen him since they came in, but clearly he's feeling better."

"Oh em gee, are you talking about the new alpha wolf?" Lizzie seemed to appear out of nowhere, and judging by the wide smile on her face she was exceptionally excited. Both Hope and Josie frowned at her. "Oh, come on, don't either of you even pretend that you didn't noticed how he looks like a Native American God!" She gasped as she noticed the looks on their faces.

"Uhh, aren't you seeing MG?" Hope asked in confusion.

"Casually." She gave Hope a pointed look, then inhaled deeply and dreamily, eyes cast towards some invisible point in the distance. "But who can resist an olive-skinned, dark-maned alpha male on whose abs you can practically grate cheese?" She sighed as if she was already pondering what their children would look like.

"He is rather attractive." Josie shrugged in agreement.

Hope's eyes blazed gold without her even realizing it as she snapped her gaze towards Josie. "Excuse me?" For some reason Hope could deal with the banter surrounding Nim, or even an annoying Jade hovering around. But the thought of Josie simply glancing at River longer than necessary made her skin crawl and made her wolf extremely angry.

It made her wolf want to burst through her skin and rip the alpha to pieces.

It made her want to claim Josie again and again in any way possible.

This was HER territory, and Josie was HER mate, and before Hope knew what was happening, she was growling deeply as her canines started enlarging and growing.

Lizzie stared with wide eyes and backed away a bit, while Josie quickly cupped Hope's face in her hands as gently as she could, while still firm enough to force Hope's gaze to focus on her own. "Baby… babe? Hey, it's okay…"

Hope swallowed what felt like a thick knot down her throat and took a deep breath, her eyes closing tightly as she tried to center herself. She had no idea why she was busy losing it there for a second.

"Are you okay?" Josie spoke softly and tentatively and Hope finally opened her eyes; Josie was relieved that they were their normal icy blue color.

"Yeah, I'm okay. I'm sorry. I don't know what just triggered that…" But she had her suspicions, even though she tried to shake them from her head.

"You were downright riddled with jealousy there!" Lizzie laughed once she was sure Hope wouldn't physically hurt her in an aggravated state.

"Lizzie…" Josie shot her sister a stern warning look, but Hope was soon shaking her head again.

"No, I think she's right. I think…" Hope cleared her throat and observed the marks she had subconsciously left on the palms of her hands from her nails digging into them just now. "I think my wolf perceives River as a threat."

Well then, she thought, this might turn out to be quite problematic.