Just a Wolf

Amelia

We are wrapping up the meeting with the cook about the mating ceremony menu, when Darlene tells me, “They’ll be back in a few minutes.” My hand automatically goes to my throat.

Darlene turns to the cook. “We will be having a leaders’ meeting in the conference room shortly after they arrive. Can you possibly arrange to have some lunch brought in? Something simple, like finger food?”

“Of course,” the cook says, “we’ll get something ready right away.”

We leave the cook’s office next to the kitchen, and start heading into the conference room. I want to make sure everything is in order there, that we didn’t leave anything out of place while we were using it to pack up the caving supplies yesterday. I wipe off the gleaming table to clean off any smudges we left, put the chairs back in order, refill the water pitchers, stack the cups nearby.

It is really something to think that Dom has been invited to this meeting as well. We’ll be at an official meeting together? With all the leaders of both our packs? Will either of us be able to do anything except try not to get caught staring at each other? I don’t know whether to be terrified or amused.

Darlene and I are waiting out in front at the circular driveway as the caravan arrives. I watch as Dom parks with his Alpha and Beta and Evan in the car, and offer him a hidden smile as he gets out. He and Evan start going around to the back of the SUV to start pulling out the gear, but I hear Alpha Ross tell them, “Leave the gear. The others will handle it. They’ll also pull the cars around to the garage when they’re done. Be in the conference room in five minutes for the meeting.”

Goodness gracious. I know the leaders want to talk about the cave, and the rogues, but I wonder what the hurry is.

Evan and Dominic are still wearing their wetsuits, so I know they want to run upstairs and change. As they quickly stride past to go inside, Dom manages to brush my fingers with his, and whisper, “Be right back.”

Even that, even half a second of his fingers on mine, makes my whole body tingle and throb. This is getting more intense. Being apart for half a day, percolating in my longing for him even though I was enjoying my time with Darlene, seems to have made my reaction to his touch much more acute.

How are we going to last another five nights?

Dominic

Oh, damn. I didn’t expect that rush of sensation just by touching her hand for a split second. Sproing! Glad I’m walking in front of Evan, since this skintight wetsuit probably won’t do much to hide what’s going on underneath. I’m glad we don’t have to pass anyone else as we rush upstairs. I dive around the side of my bed to my suitcase the second we get into our room, grab some clothes and rush into the bathroom before he is halfway in the door.

How am I going to last another five nights?

When I come out of the bathroom, dressed in something a little more manageable, he has gotten dressed out here. I grab one more thing before we rush to the stairway, trying to make it back to the conference room in five minutes as ordered, and I’m putting Amelia’s gift on my head as we jog down the stairs.

All the leaders and their assistants are waiting for us when we get in, even though I am completely sure we aren’t late. Evan sits next to his boss Beta Nolan, and I am just as glad there isn’t an open seat next to Amelia, as much as I long to be next to her. I’d touch her again, I know I would not be able to resist, and considering what just happened when I brushed her fingers, I imagine we’d end up immediately making out passionately right on the table in front of everyone. So, yeah, just as well that Beta Nolan gestures to the chair on his other side, and I go to sit next to him.

I feel Amelia’s eyes following me. I feel intensely aware of her, even more than I was this morning. The bond is growing.

I realize that Luna Darlene is sitting in the chair on my other side, and I get the sense that she is watching me carefully as I sit down. Alpha Ross, sitting next to her, leans over and stares at me for a second. Good god all the leaders are staring at me. What have I done wrong to attract all this attention?

Ross says, looking at my head, “Is that… a fez?”

Oh.

Amelia sputters a little, just very softly. I doubt anyone else notices.

Evan, bless him, my new BFF, immediately says, “Fezzes are cool.”

Ross’s eyebrows lift, and he shrugs a little, and he says, “So they are.”

I meet Amelia’s pretty blue eyes, and they are filled with so much love and humor that I feel that much more love for her clunking into place in my heart. I can’t wait for later.

Theo

Once everyone is here and settled down, Dark Woods Alpha Ross doesn’t waste any more time getting the meeting started. “Alpha Kanen asked me to make some arrangements before he and Luna Janine arrive. They should be right behind us, arriving in another hour or two.”

I’m sure that Beta Malcolm already knows the plan, since they discussed it on the way back from the cave to the lodge, but us grunts don’t know anything yet.

“We want to undertake a more extensive examination of the cave system that the rogues have been using. We expect it to take two or three days. We are going to be taking a team out tomorrow morning, to visit the nearest caves as indicated on the map that the rogue prepared. The information she gave us about today’s cave was completely accurate, so we have no reason to believe the rest of the caves will not be where she has indicated.”

I meet Evan’s eyes, and I see Dom looking at Amelia. We are all wondering the same thing, no doubt. Who will be on this team, and how long will the exploration last? We’ll find out soon enough, I know.

Ross continues, “But before we leave, we want a much more detailed understanding of the exact locations of the caves. The map is very rough, we want to try to get more precise coordinates. For that, we will need to question the rogue.”

Amelia bites her lip, and looks over to Luna Darlene, who nods her head slightly. Ah, it seems that Amelia must have taken Darlene into her confidence while we were gone today. I wonder how much she told her.

Malcolm picks up the meeting. “We want to have the rogue brought here to the packhouse for questioning. Alpha Kanen told me to have her available when he arrives.” He looks at me. “You know where she is now?”

“I know where she was last night when we left her. She said she would wait there.”

“All right,” Ross says, “I want you to lead us there so we can get her and bring her back.”

Evan turns his head to Ross, seeming alarmed, and probably is going to say something, but Amelia speaks first. “Excuse me, but I think it might be better for just us to go.” She moves her hand around, indicating Dom and Evan and I. “She already knows us, we spent all evening together, and I think she trusts us. I’m worried if other people come, especially leaders, she’ll get scared and run away.”

I agree with her, but I don’t say anything. It’s up to the leaders to decide.

Ross looks to Amelia’s boss, Gamma Michael, and he shrugs and says, “I have come to trust Amelia’s instincts. If she thinks that is best, I think we should try it her way.”

Amelia doesn’t exactly look shocked, but I can tell that she is surprised. I know that Michael doesn’t often give positive feedback like this.

Malcolm nods, and looks to Ross, “I agree. Let’s let them go get her.”

Ross pauses for a moment, and his Luna puts her hand on his arm, gives him a little smile, and he nods. “All right. But I want to have some precautions in place in case she bolts. We do not want to lose her. Bring your phones, text us immediately if there are problems. We’ll be standing by, ready to intervene if needed.”

The kitchen staff arrives with platters of meat and cheese and vegetables, finger foods for lunch, but I don’t think we have time to linger. I know they want Corinne as soon as possible. The four of us get up, ready to go, but Luna Darlene says, “Wait a moment, grab a bite to eat first.”

We take a few seconds to grab handfuls of food to take with us. Amelia says, “I’d like to wrap some of this up to bring to Corinne.”

Ross says, “No.” Amelia looks at him with some surprise. His face hard, the power of the Alpha written all over it, he says, “Tell her she’ll be fed after she answers our questions.”

Amelia’s eyes widen. Darlene gives her a reassuring nod, and we hurry out the door.

Corinne

I miss shifting. I miss the warm fur, the ability to curl up comfortably in the forest, the speed, the strength. At least I was comfortable last night for the first time in - I don’t remember how long. Even with the rogues, sleeping mostly involved a thin blanket on a hard surface, not this nice cushy sleeping bag on a thick sleeping mat, inside a cozy tent.

“I’m glad you were comfortable,” my inner wolf tells me. “I’m sorry you haven’t been.”

I sigh. “It’s not your fault,” I tell her. “I know what you’re doing. I know why you won’t come out.” I completely understand. She has decided that this is the time, this is the baby to protect. This is not the first time I have conceived, but the other times she let me shift, to protect me from some type of harm. To let me escape, to hide, to eat when I was starving.

But now, we both agree that we are going to do what it takes this time. It’s been a couple of months, and we’ve kept it going this long, and I’m starting to feel attached. I can’t feel any movement inside yet, but I know it’s coming, and my inner wolf tells me that everything is fine.

So, no shifting.

Although, honestly, I haven’t been able to shift very much for nearly a year now anyway. Xavier has controlled that as strictly as he has controlled every other aspect of my existence since they found me, forced me to submit, and join his gang of rogues. I had tried to make it on my own, but a lone wolf, especially a female one, has little chance of that.

So shifting, eating, sleeping, dressing, fucking, all has been dictated by Xavier. Only when any of those suited his convenience. When I arrived the other females were glad that I had captured his eye, because he rarely had them service him any longer once I was there. Only when he was displeased with me would he call on them, usually because I was recovering from a beating.

He always requires service at least a couple of times a day. He is a very demanding, strong, powerful wolf. I could do nothing but exactly what he commanded. Since he claimed me, I had no power, no agency, no freedom, almost no self. I’m just a rogue. I am nothing. I had nothing.

“You always had me,” she reminds me.

Yes, always.

I hear footsteps, still far away, but my rogue’s ears are attuned to danger, and I immediately flee my little campsite, hiding in a thicket of brush quite a distance away. I don’t know who is coming. If it is wolves, running is really pointless since they’ll probably find me by my scent anyway, but I have to do whatever I can to stay safe.

In a couple of minutes I hear Amelia’s voice. “Corinne? It’s just us. Just me and Theo and Dom and Evan. Are you still here?”

I wait another few minutes, listening carefully, trying to sniff the air with my inadequate human nose, evaluating whether I can trust her words. Are they alone? Is there another threat?

I hear Evan say, “It’s really only us, Corinne. Please come on out.”

I sigh, and ask my wolf what she thinks, and she just gives me a mental shrug.

Hesitantly, I move back to the campsite. Just as they said, it is the four of them. They have taken their seats on the little chairs around the cold fire ring, and are just waiting for me. I think they knew I’d come back. I have no choice.