She guided me through the forest, this wolf that I knew as well as myself, this silver ghost leading through a pitch black night, through rain that didn't touch her, through a fence she called a strange shrub. I followed behind her, a little cold in the rain, trembling just a little, but the half cup of that wine had warmed my throat up enough to make it bearable.
This was it. She and I knew it. Now I knew why I'd dreamed of Reece, because she had decided on him for us, now that I knew that she and I were now sharing the same life, I knew that the next step was more or less planned out already whether he knew it or not. Instinct said it was natural. Normal. It sealed the deal, so to speak. The urge to 'mate'. In other words, I wanted to kiss the man silly and let him have his way. What could be wrong with that?
She led me to Stonehaven and I watched it sit still and quiet, standing outside in the rain, the dampness soaking me to the bone all over again. The white dress clung to my shoulders and arms, weighing down, over my chest and against my stomach, going more or less see-through.
Reece was sitting in the living room, only a lamp on, staring out the window behind the house. I circled around it till I was more or less in his line of vision and waited for him to notice, legs and arms shaking, knowing that when his shoulders stiffened, he'd seen me there. Waiting.
He spoke to someone, argued for a little while, and then I saw that brilliant grin spread across his face as he won. He vanished and was outside in a few seconds, towel in his hands, pulling me into the newer half of Stonehaven.
"What ar-"
I grabbed his head and pulled him down, kissing him hard, the heat of our mouths meeting and taking away the freezing rain.
"You've been drinking." Reece pulled back, staring at me, his breath hitching as he caught sight of my now extremely transparent dress.
"Only half a cup of mulled wine." I said softly, breath increasing, his eyes fixed on my body instead of my face now. He breathed in slowly, shutting his eyes, and when he opened them again the intense hunger had taken over almost. "Where are you sleeping?"
The question made him breathe in again, deep, hands coming to grasp my bare arms as he stepped closer. Reece's body pressed against mine, lifting me up, my arms going around his neck as he kissed me hard against the wall. Hands grabbed my legs and got them around his legs. I wondered if we'd even make it.
"Bed, Reece." I reminded him, shutting my eyes when I felt something hard press into me through his pants, a small shudder of fear going down my spine.
"Bed." He agreed, wrapping his arms around me, lifting me up into his arms like I weighed nothing. "Warm bed."
We made our way up the now quiet dark house, slowly, into a room that I had to assume was empty. This was the room I used to sleep in, I recognised it, looked like no one had touched it since. When he lowered me to my feet, I reached for the dress, trying to peel the sodden fabric off my skin. I got it down past my breasts when he reacted, his breathing getting faster, hands rising up.
"You don't have to do this." Reece said quietly from in front of me. I hesitated, as he stared at me, his face betraying that he wanted me to do anything but stop, his eyes fixed on my bare shoulders.
"You don't want me to do this? I'll come back in a week." I tried to push it up, face burning, the effort to just come here just to be rejected...
"Hang on. What is it? Why now?" Hands grabbed me, pulling me into his lap on the bed, Reece's head ducking down to kiss my bare shoulders. Reece's eyes went over my shoulder to my breasts, soaking wet and cold enough to get the nipples a little more stiff than usual. Something else had gotten a bit more stiff under his. He shut his eyes, arms tightening around my waist, his arms shaking as much as mine now. "Don't think I don't want to rip that dress off and ... but what happened to slow?"
"The wolf. She chose you when she saw you. In Alaska, I think." It was where she'd lived and they thought she'd come all the way from there. I tried to turn around, Reece's arms tightening, feeling his body react as my bottom ground against his lap.
"Fuck..." Reece swore softly, groaning, hands stroking my skin through the fabric. "Stop it. I'm trying to think. Alaska? I didn't tell you about being there."
"She saw you. Not me. She mated to you. She chose you for me." I felt impatience suddenly, having just gotten soaking wet to walk through rain to get here, he was trying to think? I wriggled in his lap, provoking his body, feeling a thrill of power when he groaned again, his body shaking. "Stop thinking. Hurry up before I loose my nerve."
He was standing us both up suddenly, I was dropped onto the bed, Reece bending over me as he stared down at me. He checked only once more before his hands grasped the dress and ripped it off, literally, tearing fabric like he couldn't wait. A mouth came to crush mine, his body covering me, hands pulling my legs up on either side of his hips as he ground hard against my body still dressed. Fear came back, the fear of the violence in this, but it was cut off again when he slid off me to undress.
"Don't be too rough." I reminded him, Reece's eyes blinking, and he nodded. I hadn't slept with someone before and with seeing how rough these ones could be... I watched him undress, peeling his shirt off so fast he tore it as well, trying to kick the pants off. Stood up, staring down at me, his chest rising and falling fast, sweat glinting in the darkness. But I still could see him. Every part of him.
"I won't be rough." He reassured me, sliding up to kiss me as he tugged at the last thing he'd left behind, the panties. I felt them yanked off with that same tearing yank, though he tried to not pull hard on my hips, hands sliding up my legs and pulling them up with the same motion. Funny how confidant he was, compared to me, how much he knew how to do this.
I shut my eyes, head against his shoulder as it prodded me, his hips lowering, feeling him push it hard against me, his arms trembling around me like he was holding himself back. It hurt just for a second, just a moment, and then he was pressed up against me, his legs stretching mine wide around his, his eyes meeting mine in the dark.
Our bodies moved, slowly, until he couldn't take it anymore, his hips grinding up against mine, our mouths opening and possessing each other as much as we could, Reece pulling my legs up so that he ground against me just right. The entire thing seemed to blur then, heat building up, forgetting that I was soaking wet, not cold anymore, just being 'mated', our bodies wrapped and pulled into each other, the sounds of skin, and soft groans, and other things filling the air, Reece's movements fast now, a little rough, and I just didn't care.
I cried out against his shoulder suddenly, the heat and pleasure exploding through my hips, right up and down my legs, toes curling as he moved faster against me, pressing his hips hard, leaning up to watch my face. I opened my eyes just in time to see his own face, the expression there as his hips drove up one last time and his own release came inside me.
The wolf whined beside the bed and sat down. He'd mated wrong.
I burst out in soft giggles, provoked by nerves, muffled against Reece's shoulder, a completely inappropriate thing for this probably. She whined, pawing at Reece without being able to make contact, confused. He was doing it wrong. Was our mate wrong in the mind?
"What?" He stared at me.
"The wol-"
Smell of snow coming in a dark clear night. The wolf reminded me that she too had a 'name'. Or rather, a smell.
"Um. Snowy says that you mated wrong. She thinks there's something wrong with you." I smiled as he scowled and gazed around the room.
"That so? We can do it the other way later." He rolled off me, his body pulling out, and I shifted back up the bed into his arms as he inhaled slowly. "I make you bleed?"
"Yeah." I shut my eyes, feeling his hand trace across my stomach and between my legs, cheeks reddening as he traced that area he'd just been in. It was swollen and a bit sore now that the pleasure was fading. The kind of soreness I thought I might actually like. "That happens with a virgin."
Reece swore softly, shifting up, staring down at me. "You didn't tell me that."
"I told you to be gentle. I came to you, remember?" The frown on his face made me feel afraid suddenly. Like this wasn't a real thing for him. Just a one night stand. "Did you just want one night?"
"Of course not. I would have been gentle. Used protection. Lube. I don't know." He frowned a little more, fingers gently stroking the tender skin between my legs. "I got taught to be ... to loose my mind. Did you enjoy it?"
"Yeah. You saw me-" I shifted over onto my side and tried to feel it, feel where he'd released in me. After all the safe sex talk we'd had in high school I'd forgotten it. Forgotten to use a condom. There were pills for this. It was a relief to see him so concerned though. That he didn't take pleasure in it. "It hurt a little. Then it stopped. Reece, relax, I came to you."
Reece relaxed, kissing me, brushing my wet hair out of my face. "As long as you enjoyed it." He flopped his head back, breathing slower, looking a bit stunned by this. "I can't believe you ..."
I smiled and shut my eyes too. It wasn't long before I was asleep, only stirring when I felt him tug a blanket over us, the strange smells and feeling of bare skin near mine easing me into a sleep.
Only to be woken again, under the blanket, Reece grinning at me as he rolled me onto my stomach. "You want me to mate properly now?"
Afterwoods, we were both giggling like kids, breathing hard, our skin sweaty as I informed him that she agreed this was the right way to mate. Reece seemed more amused by her approval than put off, kissing my shoulder, the two of us again having gotten to that release more or less at the same time somehow.
I rolled onto my back, Reece shifting so he was half over me, his hand stroking the hair off my sweaty skin. "It isn't like ...with him."
"Thought you were a virgin?" He asked, ducking down to kiss my chest, making me squirm when teeth found a sensitive nub there.
"I was. I mean, I did other things because he liked it. You think about me too." I watched his face darken, then soften again when I smiled, reaching down to stroke his shoulder.
"Of course I do." Reece agreed, resting his head against my chest, watching me. "Did he force you?"
"He suggested it and I ...he was so famous. I wasn't ready for sex so I thought it was the right thing to do with a boyfriend." I scowled softly. It hadn't been that enjoyable. He stank and he'd pulled my hair to make me do it 'right'. "The more I did it, the more he was rough, and then one night he'd taken me out. Fine dining, fancy dress, jewellery, and he brought me home to the dorm. Escorted me up at two in the morning to make sure I got safely into my room. And he was drunk. So he tried to get me to sleep with him, and I said no, so he broke my jaw. By accident he claimed." Reece had frozen, his eyes locked in mine, but I couldn't stop talking, I wanted to tell him. I wanted him to know how much trust I'd just put in him, how much trust I had in him. "My room mate didn't think he did it on accident. You can't say no if you can't talk. My room mate got home before he could get too far and she tazered him and called the cops."
"Remind me to buy her diamonds." He shifted up, the smile gone now, stroking my face. "You got him fired?"
"Charged him and he got fired. I was still seventeen and I had a broken jaw so he couldn't claim I wanted it, and he was twenty years older, so they charged him big time. I don't know what happened to him after. I don't care." I felt Reece's lips meet mine, kissing me gently, and leaned up to kiss him back. "I just wanted you to know. I ...trust you. To not hurt me."
"Fucking oath, I won't hurt you." He swore softly against my lips, shifting closer, sitting up. "If I knew who the bastard was..."
"We took care of him." I reminded him. Breathed out slowly shutting my eyes, feeling strangely content with the ache there between my legs. Done how I wanted it. By who I wanted it to be. "I got to decide when to do this. He can rot."
"You did." He agreed softly. I felt him shift down to lie beside me, body stiff. "I lost mine with a shelia in Australia. In high school. With kangaroos grazing around us."
"Seriously?" I opened one eye and he grinned.
"It was at a zoo. We'd been dating for a while and she'd already had sex before. We thought it'd be fun to try and do it while the teacher and class walked on. I was sixteen and it was a bit of a disaster. I did okay with the sex part but we'd only just finished when our teacher realised we weren't following and came back to find me pulling up my pants." He grinned as I laughed, that naughty schoolboy grin, nuzzling against my neck. "We tried a few more times but I wasn't as good as I thought. Then after her it was Daniella. I did better with her. She was afraid of sex so we took our time and I got to know her. It made it easier for her."
"So she was your second?" I asked softly. He nodded and rested his head on the pillow beside me.
"Yeah. We dated throughout University. Even lived together for a while, just the two of us, when she trusted me enough. Then after her was Anne and Nick."
My head shot up and he laughed, pulled me back down, tugging me against him. "He wanted to teach me, she was my best friend, and I didn't have any girlfriends. It was fun. Now I have you."
"Now you have me." I agreed, relaxing back, shutting my eyes. This time when I fell asleep, Reece fell asleep with me, the two of us curled up against each other.
Anne
I wasn't an idiot. The second Reece started to argue that Selene might need time alone with him, and I saw the look on her face and how transparent her dress had gone, I knew that I had to back off and leave them to it.
Which, from the sounds of it, meant that I had to let them roll around in the hay for a while. So to speak. Nick was right about 'something going on'. Something was going on, flying off, and stinking up her bedroom with the smell of sex.
When he didn't come down for a few hours I sighed. I didn't want to disturb that. I was glad he'd finally found a girlfriend that wanted him. The sound of a strange car and the gate being dragged off the driveway meant that Antonio and Nick were finally home.
I ran outside as they pulled up, Nick jumping out and grabbing me in a spinning hug, laughing as he saw I was wearing a skirt.
"See you took my fashion advice." He commented lightly, kissing me hard, and lowering me down.
"Is everything okay here?" Antonio asked as he locked up the car and gazed at the quiet house.
I nodded. "Karl dealt with the mutt. Apparently the elders are coming tomorrow and... Selene snuck Reece into her bed a few hours ago."
That made Nick laugh, pulling me against him, gazing up at the dark bedroom she'd slept in. "That so?"
"Sh. I'm still trying to decide if I should drag them apart or not. Elena did tell me to make him stay with me at all times." I opened my arms for Antonio when he came over for a hug, hugging him hard. "Glad it wasn't a bad accident."
"Me too." Antonio agreed. "I suppose you might want to get Reece out if he's supposed to be near you. Want me to scare him out?"
"If you can do it without scaring her, sure. If not, I'll have to get him out." I didn't want to. It was like... I didn't know, like stealing candy from a baby, easy and mean all at once.
"He's got good enough hearing to hear my threat without her noticing." Antonio clasped his hand on my shoulder a moment. "I'll take care of it."
Reece didn't take it well. He was already downstairs in the kitchen, when we came in, arguing softly with Antonio.
"You can't send her back. She came here to stay with me." He hissed softly. His eyes fixed on me. "Anne, come on."
"You were supposed to be punished right now. Don't look at Anne. Remember, we punish you, we have to punish her too." Elena's voice came from the kitchen, tired, and I realied it wasn't just Antonio that was there with him. "I'm going to tell her why and ask her to leave. You're not getting a say in it."
"Elena, come on! We just-" He swore softly, looking frustrated, and looked to me for help.
I didn't know what to do again. Reece wanted me to go against Elena again.
"Reece, you broke two laws. Two of them. We gave you time here before the punishment but if you go against me this time, I can't delay it." Elena's warning was low, dangerous, as she shifted up straighter. "She's safer there. My conditions are that you stay near Anne and accept that you do what I say for now, until I decide you can pull yourself together, or you accept the greater punishment now."
"We need new rules about mates, Elena." I said quietly. She turned her attention to me then. I swallowed, seeing Reece's gratitude there, adding softly, "One day our kids are going to marry someone. Maybe a human. And at some point that partner's going to notice or feel suspicious about how they need to go away for a night every week. It might take ten years but they'll notice. And they'll come back and speak to you as Alpha, begging for permission to tell them."
"Which I can't give." Elena snapped. "We can't tell humans. I don't deny that she's clearly not a human now, but when Reece told her, he believed she was. She has to leave till the morning."
"Which is exactly my point. It might cost them that relationship." I reminded them all softly. "Which would cause them to panic. And then they might do something impulsive and stupid, like Clay has, Antonio, Reece. What if it causes him to loose this relationship with her?"
No one spoke for a long time at that.
"The law to allow mates and partners doesn't cover this. If a partner discovers our truth, like Selene has, we still have to kill them under Pack Law. The law doesn't disguised partner from stranger. It isn't just Selene." Antonio said it softly. "Lillian would have been killed. Should have been, under the law, simply for what she saw. Can you erase memories, Anne?"
"I don't know." I admitted. "I'd never tried it."
"I hear you both." Elena's eyes went to us. She sighed, rubbed her head. "We can't allow partners without thinking about this. But this doesn't change that she has to leave tonight. I'm sorry that you decided to try it tonight..."
"Elena. The instinct to mate, when you meet the right partner, can override good sense. It doesn't go either. It doesn't matter if they stay away for a year, ten, fifty." Antonio said softly. His eyes met Nick's eyes. "It lasts. Reece is young but... so was I. We need to treat him seriously right now. His instinct won't allow us to treat it like a joke- it will just panic again. Assume we're threatning his mate. Harming her mind, her brain, may seem like harming her body to his instincts."
"She's not under threat. She's allowed to return during the day. Reece, yo-" She was cut off as he blinked, turned, and ran for the door. "Reece, come back. Come and... That's an order." Elena swore as he ignored her.
I saw it then. Selene must have heard us arguing and she was going, already in the forest, already leaving with a sheet around her. Reece ignored Elena as he chased after her.
"Elena, you can't ask her to leave after they've had sex." I said it quietly, feeling Nick's hand tighten on mine. "You know how that'll make her feel."
"You two want them in your room? She goes home or she sleeps in your room. That's your choice. He's already broken one of my orders. Reece's not a child. He'll have to deal with it when I get up tomorrow." She growled softly, frustrated, and vanished upstairs before we could talk.
It wasn't us that decided though. Alan showed up in a car, all anger and rage, and Nick had to physically keep him back from Reece when he saw his little sister upset and walking around in a sheet in the rain. It was clear what had gone on. In the end she had to go anyway, promising Reece she'd be back in the morning. Reece watched her go and pushed past us without another word, anger boiling off him, heading for our room and curling up on the floor. It was like trying to tell two teenagers in love that they couldn't date. He wasn't thinking.
I crawled into bed beside Nick, Reece ignoring the two of us, frustrated and hurt myself. I didn't know what the fuck to do.
Elena did. The next morning she woke the three of us up. Clayton dropped a bag on him as she stood there. She looked sad, tired, like she hadn't slept, but determined.
"What?" Reece stared at the bag, sleepy, confused. He hadn't even bothered with a blanket. "Elena?"
"I told you. One last order broken and I had to speed up your punishment and punish Anne." She sighed, shut her eyes a moment, and I found myself handed a bag as well. "The two of you have to leave."
"What!" Nick slid out of bed, tugging the bag out of my hands, dropping it. "Clay, Elena!"
"That was the agreement. She's banished for three months. Reece, three years. Reece has a flight to Australia and there's a plane waiting for you Anne." She took the bag off the ground. Ignored Matt as he rushed in, half dressed, Clayton grabbing him before he could grab onto me and dragged him away as Matt kicked and yelled. "Reece agreed and he still ..."
"All I did was go after her. I had to at least speak to her."
"I told you to come back. I was going to give you something for her to put on." Elena snapped. "I ordered you. You keep overreacting. I wasn't going to let her walk back under a sheet. Anne, you're not able to leave America due to the will and course but you'll have to stay out of this state. Nick can't visit you."
Reece stared at her, then at me, the anger at me gone now. I stared at her white faced, clutching the bag, hurt and anger at all of them. Hadn't we been over this?
"You can't just..."
"He's broken Pack Law." Elena said quietly. "Assaulting two members of Pack and telling a human. A year for each offence. Anne, three years is better than death."
Three years without pack was death, my instincts were screaming, my wolf... ten years without pack was torture. Not safe. "This isn't right. He panicked. You can't..."
I felt Reece grasp my hand then, quiet. "Yeah, they can. It's okay. I told you I had to go to Australia and take care of some mutts. I'm sorry that I got you into trouble."
"You're going with me. As pack." I refused to let go, even as he tried to detach my hand, refused to let him go. Not now. IT wasn't fair. He was suffering. Banishing him wasn't going to make it better. And he couldn't go and face them on his own. I felt afraid for him, afraid that he'd never make the three years, afraid that he wasn't ready. My own punishment barely registered. "You can't ..."
"Elena, please. Just let her stay. She's got kids." Reece said quietly. "Add her time onto mine. Add another three years."
"Reece, I told you what would happen." She breathed out slowly, avoiding Nick's eyes, and moved forward. "Go. Into the car, both of you. Nick, let her go."
"I-"
"Don't make me say you can't visit. Nick-"
"Elena, enough." Clayton spoke quietly.
Her head turned to him as he stepped forwad, grasping her hands, stroking them. "You ain't thinking right."
"I'm pregnant, Clayton, not brain dead." She snapped. Shock rocked through me at that, at Elena's moods, at the decaf all over the place, her strange reactions to smells... He refused to let go of her hands, ignoring us, Clayton's hands stroking her arms. "They broke-"
"He broke a law. And I'm gonna deal with it with Antonio. The bastard's going to regret it." He shot Reece such a malevolent look that Reece nearly dropped the bag. "You need to relax. We've got to think about the whole Pack. Taking two away is gonna weaken us worse."
"Clayton..."
"You know it's true. This is my job. I'm going to enforce this. You have to step back and let me. You want three years worth of punishment?" He continued to speak, soft, stroking her hand as if she was a angry child. "You see anyone better for that job around here?"
"I'm the Alpha. I have to prove myself." She snapped.
"And you're pregnant. And you're tired. And you're jumping up and down all over the place. Remember who stabbed someone already injured with a knife yesterday for eating the last of the ice-cream?" His lips twitched as he held up a bandaged hand. "Darling, this is my job. I have to decide. I'm going to make sure Reece sees exactly what he's done wrong and you have to back off and let me."
Another person was in the room, I realised, Jeremy. On her other side.
She didn't speak for a long time, her breathing fast, face red. Then she turned around and left without a word to either of them, looking furious, Clayton breathing out slowly as he watched her go.
Then he turned on Reece and Reece cringed. "You. Cage. You." His eyes snapped to me. "There's laundry. Do it on your own. I've got a fucking hole in my skull and I don't have the energy to deal with you two today. One pregnant mate is enough."
Clayton marched Reece away and I felt Nick tug me against him, his heart racing, breathing hard against my head.
"Did you know she's pregnant?" I asked quietly.
"I didn't." Nick squeezed me hard against him, tugging the bag out of my hands, throwing it aside. "Explains a lot. That scared me." He kissed me hard, hands running through my hair, holding him against him for a few seconds.
"Me too." I admitted. I hadn't thought about it, so scared for Reece, but … wow. What had she been like the first time she was pregnant? I leaned against him for a few more precious seconds before I remember Clayton's barked order. "Laundry."
"Yeah." Nick sighed softly. "You do that and I'll get ready for today. Triplet's first day at nursery school."
"I forgot." I admitted, he grinned a shaky grin, and we went our separate ways. My legs were weak as I tried to do the laundry, multiple loads of it, leaning against the wall as I breathed in and out. Reece had done the wrong thing. I knew that. I also knew that he'd done them for reasons that went beyond logic, it went into instinct, and I wasn't sure it was entirely fair to punish him. There'd been so many examples of 'separation' not working that it was clear it was more or less more likely to create a stupid reaction. Clayton bit Elena, Antonio knocked up his teenage girlfriend, now Reece was struggling.
Antonio came down to give me a hug, a tight comforting hug, and I leaned against him.
"We've got to officially accept them." I muttered against his chest.
"I think you're right. We're a stubborn species, we don't like too much change too fast, and there she is. A new species, making our younger pack member loose his head." He chuckled softly.
"Please tell me you didn't behave like that." I muttered.
"Well, I may have. But I had nine months to come back to my senses after. If I hadn't brought Nick back, he'd be a mutt. Alone. Raised without any secure support. He might have been very different." Antonio leaned back against the wall. "I just wish I could have brought her back with him. This time it's different."
"Yeah. What a mess." I rubbed my head, groaning softly. "The elders are coming today?"
"By lunch. Your new employee is already on duty. I met with him this morning for you. I was coming to tell you but-" He glanced upstairs. "Elena was packing a bag for you. I wanted to stay clear of it and let Clayton talk with her. I met him on your behalf."
"You knew he'd say that?"
"Clayton knows her better than anyone here. I knew he'd see she wasn't thinking." Antonio stood up and patted my shoulder. "First day of school. I hope you've got some tissues. As soon as they're on their way, I'll handle Reece."
I got back to the laundry, trying to relax, stunned. What a way to wake up.
We got them ready, packed a bag, and Nick had them dress in cute matching outfits. I watched him do it, his eyes constantly flicking to me, he was probably as stunned as I'd been. Once he'd gotten them dressed and Antonio had them downstairs eating breakfast
I went to go after them but was pulled back into the room a moment, into Nick's arms, and I turned around to wrap my arms around him.
"Shit, if Elena..."
"I better behave, huh." I tried to smile, tried to laugh it off, but I couldn't. I knew that Nick would do what he was told. Wouldn't he? Nick's brown eyes searched mine, his hands stroking my face, staring at me like he was afraid she'd change her mind and come back. Three months may not have been that long, not really, but it was long enough to drive us mad.
He pulled me against him, hugging me hard, his face burying into my neck as we breathed in and out, our scents mingling and fogging our minds up. We barely stopped touching each other, all the way through breakfast, through the walk to the gate, even as we met the security half-demon guy- Ben- before he headed off. Then on the way back, Nick briefly lost contact for a moment but we'd been both so shaken by the prospect of it...
We sat down in the living room, with me in his lap, running my hands through his hair. It'd been styled again. Always he somehow found the time to style his curls, to shave perfectly, to treat his nails perfectly, and I admired them with my own bitten and uneven nails. "You're so clean."
Nick laughed, kissed my shoulder, and ran his fingers down my hair. "You haven't brushed this for a week, have you?"
"I may have given it a few goes." I muttered and he grinned, leaning against him as his fingers teased tangles out, not at all bothered. I think he actually liked it, being able to 'groom' me, extending his love of self-grooming to his partner. He seemed to enjoy giving me thing to wear, that was for sure. "They're at nursery school."
"Yeah. School. Twins are okay." He added, when he saw my gaze go to where we'd put the twins before heading out, nipping my shoulder. "I checked them before we walked to the gate." Nick pulled the remote over and flipped it on to put the news on, still teasing my hair with his fingers, and I shut my eyes to enjoy it- the pleasure of my hair being pulled lightly, scalp teased, stroking his side with one hand.
"Do you think they'll be okay?" I finally said it, finally asked it, Nick glancing at me. "I mean... if they're spoiled..."
"They'll be fine." He nuzzled me.
We watched the news, wrapped up in each other, Nick's legs around me, and I felt Nick's heart rate speed slightly as Clayton came downstairs. His eyes were on the TV but his attention was soley on Clayon. Clayton didn't look at us though, he was heading out with Reece, Reece avoiding our eyes.
Again news on the disease. There was a breakdown, food shortages, fuel shortages, it looked like almost all planes were grounded. Less people working that more companies shut down and that meant less jobs.
I shifted closer to when they gave figures, estimates, on how many were dying. How many had died already. The strange thing was that they weren't sure how many had recovered yet, the information blurry, those people 'quarantined' for their own safety from re-exposure. Did it infect humans more than once? It was the numbers of kids and elderly that really shocked me though. No wonder why they could take our triplets at the last minute. As many little kids were dying as the elderly now.
"You okay?" Nick asked quietly. I shook my head and he squeezed me against his legs. "Not our ones. They already got it."
"What if it spreads to us again?" I asked quietly. This disease had gone from affecting a few pet dogs to infecting millions of people in Canada, America, South America, Mexico, India, Asia, and it was creeping along Europe. There were already several cases of it along the edges of Russia's borders and into Afghanistan. It was like a fire that no one could put out and I remembered that, even with a skin-walker running around, we still had only taken the first steps to ending what Demetruis had started. It was as much our duty to stop it. "What kind of sick asshole spreads this kind of sickness?"
"The mad kind." He inhaled slowly. They were showing where it'd spread, including total fatalities. I stared at the total number without being able to take it in. It was massive. Over a billion people dead. A billion humans. I could barely process the number. And this was only now. The number of sick was massive. China had the most dead, so far, over three hundred million. India wasn't far behind that with two hundred and fifty million, roughly. Then America. For all their 'quarantine' and 'disease checks', it was getting bad here too. A third of the country was sick, over three hundred million, and a hundred million were already dead.
The numbers still made no sense in my head. I couldn't picture it. Couldn't picture how many people that would have to be.
"Sorry." Elena's voice came from nearby, making us both flinch, we'd been so daught up in the numbers that we hadn't seen her come down. She stared at us, frowning slightly, and flopped down. "I've not taken to this one as well. I still have to make sure Reece is punished but … I wasn't thinking clearly this morning."
"You're pregnant?"
She nodded and didn't pull away when I leaned forward to tug her top up. Elena traced the tiny bump, just barely noticeable, breathing out slowly.
"I suddenly know why you wanted to leave for Australia." She said it so quietly that the TV almost overpowered her. "We still haven't decided if we're going to ...let it continue."
"It's his?" And by his, I didn't mean Clayton. The attack on us months back. Nick shifted forward too, his chest against my back, the TV forgotten.
"It may be. It may be Clayon's child." She added, her fingers touching the firm bump, breathing out slowly. "We intended on having another sometime. When he attacked us, Clayton reacted in the way a wolf would. Reclaimed ..." Elena trailed off, her cheeks warming in tone just a slight bit, and Nick chuffed softly behind me. "So it may be either."
"Whatever you decide, I'll help." I reached out to take her hand and squeezed it. One of our babies, from the sounds of it Mick-Reece, was starting to fuss. Nick slid up fast, kissed my neck, and went to take care of it.
"I hope there's not too many in there." She smiled weakly and leaned back, shutting her eyes. "I should have told you earlier. It was just a hard thing to face and you were miscarrying... I just couldn't say it."
"You could have. I wasn't … I was told that I had to have that child, so it'd be back. It was when I died in the car accident." Come to think of it, it felt like a lot of bad shit had gone on. I breathed out slowly, squeezing her hand, determined to make sure that at least she would cope with this one. "I don't recommend running to Australia."
"If I tried, Clayton would hunt me down and drag me back, there isn't any way to loose that man." She didn't seem to mind that. Elena smiled a little more.
"How long?"
"Around fourteen weeks now." She pulled the baggy top down. "Clayton and Jeremy are taking it better than I am."
I suddenly got why we'd been watching the men instead of doing it. "Taht's why they packed the truck? Clayton..."
"That, and it was a nice sight." She grinned a little at that. Elena's smile faded somewhat though. "I'll tell my kids soon. I thought I was a little more level headed this time. Last pregnancy, I fought zombies, and this one I can't even get out of bed without wanting to banish you all and cry under the staircase. Pathetic."
"You-"
"I might have." She admitted. "Ate the ice cream. Let it out."
"Hey, I ran away to Australia and sat in a house for months crying. There's no judgement here." I muttered and it relaxed her. When I pulled her against me, cuddling into her, Elena relaxed. We stared at the TV. Not much news besides the news about the pandemic.
"I'm not going to ask Jeremy to resume as Alpha. This is just going to help." She said against my shoulder.
It probably would, I had to admit, because backing down would seem like weakness. I sighed though. Bad timing all around.
"I'll cook something comforting. Macaroni cheese for lunch. No kids around to steal it. I'll put ham in it and we'll consume it all." I offered and she nodded.
"Sounds good. Make a lot of it though. The Elders are going to be here and I want to be sure we have enough for all." Elena stood up and stretched. Now that I looked, now that she was stretching so the top was above her stomach, it was kind of obvious. She glanced down. "Won't be able to hide it much longer."
"I'm amazed you've done it this long. I guess I bettter look into getting another house for us. Too many little ones."
Elena laughed and nodded as Nick came in, holding onto Rose-Ella, jiggling her around. "Too many. She's going to be crawling soon. I saw her attempting it."
"She wants to run." Nick gazed down at her, her thumb in her mouth, adoring. "Reece is just lying there happy to play. Do you want a house near here?"
"Wait to see what they say today, before you start worrying." Elena reached out to stroke Reece's dark hair. "We've got a few months."
Selene
I woke, aching, sore, and to the face of Yvvone. Laughing at Alan, who was still angry at me, laughing in his face. They were arguing in the doorway, she was planted in it, refusing to let him in. The night before she'd been the one to usher me into her yurt, impressed when she saw me naked, and had locked Alan out before he could follow.
"She had sex!" He was yelling, so angry, as she smiled. "Don't look so delighted about it! I've got to punish..."
"For crying out loud, kid, how did you think you were made? Of course she did. She's nineteen, already been to college, she's not a child. There's no punishments." She glanced back at me, rolled her eyes as I blinked, as if this was clearly obvious to her. "Good on you. I heard werewolves are fun."
"But the rules-" Alan tried to pry his way in and she stuck there, stubborn.
"No one told her the rules, Alan, go outside and cool down." She pushed him out the door of the yurt and shut it in his face, locked it, pulled the curtain across the window in the door and turned on me with a grin. "So, tell me about this boyfriend."
"He's Australian and we've only ...started." I smiled weakly. Last night had been strange though. We'd fallen asleep, then Reece woke me up by storming out, then they were arguing about having to send me home. Reece had been angry so I knew it wasn't his idea, which comforted me in one way, but he was getting into trouble again. I hoped he wasn't too badly in trouble. "I was going to spend the night but-"
"Sorry, sweetie, you can't. I suppose because he's a boyfriend, he's included, but this is the start of your changes. Only family can see you." She sat down beside me, patting my leg. "For two months. Forty days, to be exact, but then we've got some other things. You'll see."
"Only family? Two months?" I sat up and cringed. Ow. I was a little tender now.
It wasn't important, the wolf reminded me. She'd already had puppies and mated once in her life. That was important. Finding the mate. Hunting with it.
"Your grandfather's already packing the car. We have to go into the wild with you, go to where your wolf came from, integrate you and this wolf together properly, and ceremonial things have to happen." When she saw my frown she smiled apologetically. "It's important. How long have you two been seeing each other?"
"One night."
"Ah." Yvvone seemed to get it then. "That does make it difficult between you two. There's no rules against contact through writing, which I'd say includes email, but you have to go. The bonding won't work if you don't."
The wolf, I noticed, was pacing around restlessly, as if it knew this, as if it wasn't as distressed by this as I was. My eyes watched her, watched this silvery-white wolf, and Yvvone turned to gaze behind her to it.
"You see her?"
"Only a shadow. Over the next year, she'll become more apart of our family, and we'll all see her more clearly. That's why you can see our creatures. We all had to do this. Do you remember when your brother went to Europe for a few months?"
I didn't. I blinked at her. "No, when-"
"When he sent you to boarding school."
Oh. "He told me he was here." I remembered it, this boarding school I went to for a few years, and his promise that I could return if I wanted. I'd assumed it was because he was too stressed working and studying, and he wanted me to near women at that 'special' time of my life. Alan didn't know how to handle a girl with her first period. It had been fun- I had gotten it there and had friends to help me with it.
"He was, sort of, but he was undergoing this too." She stood up and started to move around the room, packing things up, rolling things up. "Get dressed, have a shower in the house, and help me out with this."
"I have no choice?"
"Not unless you want to give up that wolf of yours." Yvvone added, softer, "And you can ask that other wolf of yours to wait. You're young. You have time and if he isn't waiting, he isn't interested."
The idea hurt. She was so much of me as I was of her... I swallowed, nodded, and went inside with the clothes she'd given me. One year. I couldn't ask him to … but at least I'd had fun. Done it with someone I trusted. Now I just had to hope that he ...really meant the mate thing. That he wouldn't abandon me.
While I waited for the hot water to come in, I texted him, my fingers shaking as I did. It sounded a hell of a lot more cheery than I felt.
Anne
Jeremy helped Nick clean up the bigger living room in the new Stonehaven, while I cooked and juggled the twins. I called the nursery school at one point, making sure everything was okay, and the woman there sounded so sick of another parent that I felt bad immediately. She was probably getting a dozen of these 'just checking!' calls a day with the disease. At least when I mentioned that the triplets were mine, she seemed to relax somewhat, reassuring me that they were fine. Settling in. Apparently there had been a tantrum, with the three of them trying to work together, but it'd blown over.
Maybe we had spoiled them a bit too much. At least they learnt team work.
I cooked the macaroni cheese, a lot of it, but I made sure that I baked Elena her own dish of it. I'd promised her and I felt this urge to stuff her full of carbs and comfort food now that I knew what was going on. It wasn't easy being pregnant to begin with, but add 'possible forced pregnancy' and 'have to be a strong Alpha' and it wasn't surprising she'd lost her cool for a while.
She managed to eat it before the cars started to arrive outside, a grateful look shot my way before she headed into the other room, Jeremy and Clayton flanking her. I didn't see Selene out there. Reece came back, stenching of vomit, sweat and blood, and Antonio marched him up into the bathroom before he could ask. It looked like he'd been run till h was about to drop from exhaustion and smelt that way.
Nick and I ate lunch together, each nursing a baby, the quietness of the house a little strange to us. No toddlers racing around asking endless questions, demanding attention, getting jealous over the babies. No big kids- all three of them were at school too, and no adults except for us.
"Just imagine." I said, reaching across the table for Nick's hand. "This is what it's going to be like when we've got our own house again."
He grinned, breathed out, and shut his eyes. With the doors shut to the new Stonehaven half, with both twins distracted by their bottles, we could hear rain, birds, the gutters emptying water into puddles. After a while Reece and Antonio came in. They'd both showered, both changed, and flopped down with plates of the lunch.
"Selene with them?" Reece asked softly.
"No." I glanced back outside, dropping the bottle onto the table and lifting up tiny-Reece up to my shoulder. "She has your phone number, doesn't she?"
"Yeah. I didn't … can I get it?" His eyes met Antonio's eyes.
"You've got thirty seconds to grab it and return." Antonio's answer was so cold that it gave me chills. He was still in full on 'punish' mode. But then he smiled, relaxed, and took Rose from Nick to burp her, back to grandfather mode as if he'd just flipped a switch. "They're getting stronger every day."
Reece ran up stairs and ran back, fast, feet pounding on the ground as he did. He flopped into the seat, panting, exhausted. He stared at it, then at me, this expression in his face as he read the message.
"What's wrong?"
"She's gone. They left this morning for two months. She said it was to do with what happened … that she had to leave." He frowned, and I saw it, Reece starting to withdraw into himself again. Bit by bit, however stupid he'd been, I'd seen flashes of him before Daniella had died, as he'd tried to get Selene. Now he was withdrawing again.
"Two months?"
"Yeah. Reckon I can get Elena to banish me again?" He tried to smile. "She said she'll write when she gets there but she understands if ...if I won't wait." Reece looked a bit hurt at that, flipping the phone onto the table to me, his half eaten lunch gone. "Is that message female code for it was fun but it's done?"
"I don't think so." I said quietly. I read the message though.
'Reece- my family have to take me away 4 2 months. To do with what u saw yesterday. I cant say no 2 them and am sorry did not know. I will write. Do u have email If u cant wait 2 months I understand. 3 Selene.'
Nick glanced at it over my shoulder, sliding closer, and shook his head. "Don't think so. She's giving you a chance to opt out easily."
"So she's not breaking up with me?" He sighed, shut his eyes, stabbing a fork into a piece of macaroni. "What if I don't want to opt out?"
"So text her back and tell her you'll write back and two months isn't long. If she wants to end it, she'll have to make it more clear, but I don't think that's it." I stared at it and then pushed it back at him. "She did ask for email. That doesn't seem like she's trying to cut contact."
"Yeah. And her brother seems like he's a bit of a-" Nick yelped as I elbowed him. "Well, you know. Just answer. Like she said."
"You've got five minutes." Antonio added, soft, glancing at the phone. "That's it. So make it a good one."
Reece got to work on his phone and ignored his food, relaxing somewhat when he got an almost instant response. I saw him come back, come back out of himself, his face relaxing and shoulders lowering somewhat. It was cute. He was obviously smitten with the girl and I had to admit it made me happy.
"She says she was afraid I'd not want to wait. Can you believe it?" He shook his head, grinned, and started to eat again. "Do I get internet time in the cage, Antonio?"
"That's up to Clayton. If not, you might have to let Anne send messages for a few weeks on your behalf. Unofficially." He glanced back to his plate and went back to eating, looking amused, relaxing a little himself. "I have to go to the toilet. Anne, watch him." Antonio lifted Rose back into Nick's arms, stood and vanished upstairs.
Reece came around the table, sliding close to me, like he'd been dying all day to talk to em. "I was her first."
"What?" I stared at him, laughed at his face, and hugged him against my side as I stroked little Reece's back. "Was that her first time last night?"
"No wonder why you didn't want to send her off." Nick grinned at him. "Good job. Practice my tips?"
"More or less. I got a little carried away." He flushed, grinned, squeezing my leg as he sat there. "I guess this counts as a serious one."
"No more fun with us, no." Nick agreed, nodding, smiling as Rose beamed up at him. "But if you need tips, you know who to come to."
He nodded, relaxing against his chair, accepting little Reece when I offered him over so I could stretch my arms and finish my own lunch. Reece looked pretty pleased with himself, relaxing, but then his face darkened. "Think Daniella will... care?"
"That a girl walked into your bedroom and seduced you? Probably not." Not after two and a half years of chasing her. I shook my head and looked up as Antonio returned. "What's he getting punished with?"
"A surprise. Come on, Reece, into the basement. Phone to Anne." Antonio waited while Reece handed little Reece back and stood up, groaning softly, sliding his phone at me. "You can have it over night."
I watched him go and slid his phone into my pocket, lifting Reece into my arms and carrying him carefully through to where we'd set up their porta-cot. It was funny. With the triplets we hadn't worried about this, about walls around them, we'd let them roll around as they liked. But the triplets were jealous of these two and it'd been easier to just let them have a way to see them without viewing them. The last time we saw them they were rolling the twins up in blankets so they could become butterflies. I'd been horrified that they'd nearly smothered the babies and astonished that they'd made that connection. Nick had just laughed, Clayton with him, as they rescued and unwrapped babies while I told the three toddlers off. Neither of them thought it was as bad as I did.
We sat down and waited for news about the meeting inside, watching the two babies attempt to get up, both of them close to trying to crawl now. Rose was the more determined of the two, already lifting her uppar body up and rocking around, pushing herself around on her stomach. Reece watched her but he just lay there, yawned, and reached for the jingling toy dangling from one part of the porta-crib.
Lucas rang me as we waited, letting me know he'd officially started the interview process for the position of CEO. Legally it'd take some time- two weeks of internal advertisement within the company, interviews, and then another three weeks of external advertisement and the second round of interviews. It was apparently normal to offer it to employees first. I remembered hearing when I was younger and searching for a job that most jobs were given to people on the inside, and it'd seemed unfair, but now I kind of got it. If someone had already been working there and knew this company then they might know what to do with it.
"You don't have to worry about a thing. I've got a person on it." Lucas reassured me. "How are you handling this?"
"I'm not thinking about it. That course starts soon."
"A week from Monday, yeah. I can't blame you for not thinking about it. Still scares me to think about what I'm taking over from my father, and I've had warning and training." He laughed softly. "If you decide to stay in the background I wouldn't blame yo-"
He cut off, the line still there, and I heard voices. Lucas swore softly. "Shit. I forgot. I'm going to have to call you later. Florida's got power off times now, trying to preserve power supplies while this disease goes on, so I need this phone to last. Talk to you later."
"Bye." I blinked as he hung up. "They're having power off times down there?"
"I think so. We have to go collect our weekly rations today. I was waiting for El-" Nick cut off as Elena came out. "Elena. Want us to get yours too?"
"I was going to ask you when I heard you mention it. Jeremy's talking with them." She was tugging cards out. "It's a lot, I know, but if you take the twins..."
"Instant assistance. I know. If we're late can Antonio pick up the triplets?" I took the cards and stood up. "It might take a while."
"I'll ask him now. It should be all right. While you're there, get some papers from the store, I want to know what's going on." Elena nodded. She helped us move the twins into the car, pram in, everything we needed ready, and we headed off when Antonio agreed to pick them up for us. Reece could wait in the basement for a while.
I was a bit nervous going into town, the pile of cards in my pocket sitting there like a lead weight, aware of what had happened to Selene just before. The last person to do this after that had been Antonio and Nick, taking the triplets, and it had worked to their advantage. Two gorgeous men with three adorable curly haired babies? No one batted an eyelid at the amount of cards. If anything, they were snuck some extra long life milk for the babies.
This time it was the same deal. We were offered a place to park near the Town Hall, a place reserved for employees, and while I handed cards over and let the woman coo at the twins, Nick and the other men carried what we needed out to the car. No fuss. No argument. She even offered me a discount haircut at her sister's clinic. They hadn't had enough clients lately and I could get it any time. It was so different from what I'd heard happen to Selene, Vi, Pav, to anyone they didn't know, that it kind of angered me. They shouldn't treat us differently from any stranger.
No point worrying about it though. We got the boxes of food and nappies, got the papers for Elena, and got back in time to pick up the triplets ourselves when Antonio and us swapped cars in the driveway. He went in, we drove out, just in time to get them.
The triplets were over the moon to see us, and I had to admit, I was over the moon to see them too. They looked tired, dirty, and happy, handing us artwork, the teacher telling us that they'd done well and that they'd made friends, looking amused as Nick kissed them over and over. Six hours away from us and suddenly we didn't want to distract them.
We had about thirty seconds once home to get them out of the car before Elena called us all into the study, the twins and triplets under Vi and Pav's care, so that we could hear what they'd decided.