Sharkbait Down Under

Vicki Corcoran’s POV

“LEAVE ME ALONE!”

Everyone came to a stop in the narrow canyon we’d been running through, shocked at what Dorothy just shouted over the link. Ian tried to approach, causing his wife to growl and raise her hackles. Adrienne moved in front of him, growling low and instantly convincing him that continuing would be a bad idea.

“What is going on, Dorothy?” Ian was confused, as were the rest of us.

Nothing good would come from pressuring her, though. Dorothy was shaking, clearly intimidated by all the powerful wolves surrounding her. “You guys run it out. I’ll take Dorothy back to our room,” I told them.

“Good idea,” Leo said. “Link us when you’re ready for our return.” We were all figuring it out; we’d known this was a possibility but didn’t expect it here. None of the wives of the Southern Cross Pack wolves were their true mates. Hell, until we arrived in Australia, the werewolves didn’t know what a mate was. Isolated from the rest of the world, the descendants of Philip Corcoran had to adapt to survive, and that meant mating with humans. Nicholas’s ancestors learned to fall in love with and marry human women, holding their wolves back from biting them. If you bite your wife, you’ve doomed her to a painful death.

In the last month, my Pack members found out about both mates and turnings. Fiona found her true mate in Joseph; he and his wolf chose her, leaving his wife Margaret to divorce him. There were only a few options for a married werewolf, and none were good. If you were happy, you could leave things as is. The good part was that this avoided the coin-flip risk of her dying from a changing bite. The downside was that Luna had a fated mate waiting out there somewhere, and she wouldn’t know of the rejection. Then, if we could use scent to find the spurned mate, we could bring them together for him to reject her and hope his wolf didn’t claim her anyway.

Other werewolves chose to find their mates, quietly divorcing their wives and trusting them to keep the secret.

Dorothy was the ninth Southern Cross changed wolf and the first to reject the wolf who did it.

“Come on,” I said to her as I trotted over, licking her neck. She followed me as I turned back for the sea and the resort. We don’t say anything as we ran downhill. I talked her through shifting back when we arrive, and we went inside my room. Dorothy was exhausted from the change, so I wrapped her in a blanket and set her on the couch. I ducked out to my room and pulled sweats on, then started heating the teapot for hot chocolate. I gave her time to gather her thoughts.

“I can’t do it,” Dorothy finally said as I handed her a cup.

“Talk to me,” I said as I wrapped an arm around her.

She took a sip and got a far-away look in her eye. “When I first saw Ian at the beach, I wanted him. He was strong, confident, and those muscles! I made my way over and started talking to him. He was on leave after boot camp, and I stayed with him for a week. It was glorious; he was a good and kind man and a wonderful lover. You know what I mean, right?”

I just blushed. “Nicholas is good to me,” I said.

“So I heard.” Could I blush any harder? “I didn’t see him again for two months, and by then, I knew I was pregnant. I was scared and alone; I wasn’t going to get rid of my baby, but I didn’t want to raise it alone. Telling Ian was the hardest thing I’d done, and he reacted better than I hoped. That weekend, we were married. He returned to his SAS training, and I moved onto the base when housing was available. We had Nicholas, and I raised him mostly on my own. The Regiment is hard on spouses; the men are gone more than home, the work is hazardous, and the stress built up over every month Ian served overseas.”

“It must have been hard.”

“It was. I had my Nicholas, and I’d grown close to Ian over the years we were together. We remained loyal to each other, united in our vows and our love for Nicholas.”

“Did you love him?”

She looked out at the ocean before continuing. “I love a lot of things, Vicki. I love my son. I love you for the person you are and what you mean to my son. I love spring, and reading, and Tim Tams.”

“You’re avoiding the question.”

She took another sip. “I respect and love Ian, but it’s not close to the love I see between you and Nicholas. It’s comfortable and safe, but it has not been passionate for a long time.”

“Is that why you wanted to become a werewolf?”

She nodded. “I’ve watched the changes in the women who found their mates. Ian talked to me about his plan; he was willing to give up a fated mate for me, and I thought our wolves would restore what our marriage once had. With Nicholas out of the house and our business sold, there was no better time to take the chance. I owed it to him and to Nicholas to try, and I was certain that I’d make it through.”

“You almost died today, Dorothy. It was that close.”

“I know.” She kept looking at the ocean while sipping her cocoa, and I let her compose herself. “My wolf came out during the fevers, and she told me she wanted her mate. Not Ian, her REAL mate. I needed her help to survive, so I promised her that when we finished the change together, I’d give her the mate she wanted.”

Wow. “What happened on the run?”

“She was getting angry with Ian and his wolf. Ian was pushing his wolf to claim me, and his wolf was fighting back as best he could. Those two aren’t in balance, and his wolf was angry and fighting him. I had to get away before Ian took any choices away from me.”

It was a lot to deal with, that was certain. “Is there any chance for you and Ian to stay together now?”

She shook her head, no. “We each have mates out there somewhere, Vicki. I’m not going to sacrifice that to keep this marriage together. Nicholas will understand, and we can still be friends, but right now? I’m afraid he might try claiming me by force. He’s much stronger than I am.”

“That will never happen in MY pack,” I said. “I’m sad for you, but I agree with you. You deserve the happiness that Nicholas and I have found. I’ll help you find it.”

“Thank you,” she said. She started crying, the emotions and the loss too much to hold back any longer. I took her cup away and stroked her hair as she cried into my shoulder, a Pack member taking comfort from her Alpha. I held her until she fell asleep, then laid her down and made sure she was covered up.

I went to Ian’s bag and set it outside. “You guys can come back, but only Nicholas comes into my room. Ian, your bag is outside.”

“We’ll be back in a minute; we’re down at the beach,” Nicholas replied. I looked out the windows and saw the line of wolves running up the trail and back to the resort units. Nicholas came in, gloriously naked, and pulled me into his arms. “How is Mom?”

“Resting,” I said. “Fire up the grill because Mom’s going to be ravenous when she wakes up.”

I used the link to update Leo and Adrienne about what Dorothy told me about Ian and his wolf. They promised to talk him through it while we got lunch ready.

I found applesauce and salad fixings in the fridge, which would be perfect for a quick lunch. I took out eight thick pork chops, seasoning them well before bringing the tray out to Nicholas on the deck. “Thanks, love,” he said as he took them from me.

“I’m sorry,” I told him as I melted into his side.

“They are getting divorced, aren’t they,” he asked as he put the meat on the grill.

“She and her wolf want her mate,” I said. “I feel horrible about this. Ever since I showed up, it’s been one family ripped apart after another.”

“NO,” he said as he set the empty tray down. He sat down and pulled me into his lap. “None of this is your fault. Luna brought us together for a reason, and part of it was to give mates to my extended family. We needed to join the worldwide community and find them,” he said softly.

“Your parents are divorcing now!”

“Not because of you, but because it is what their wolves require.”

I comforted myself in his arms as the meat sizzled. “What can we do?”

“We have to find their mates, Vicki. It’s what werewolves and mermaids need the most.”

He was right. The Southern Cross Pack was a wildcard, dozens of single wolves who had never visited other Packs or been at a scratch ’n sniff. “We could invite wolves here.”

“We’re kind of far away from the rest of them,” he said with a chuckle. “It would make more sense to piggyback on the get-togethers in North America and Europe.”

I thought about it as he got up to flip the meat over. “The scratch ’n sniffs are only for Betas and above, which never made sense to me.”

“Most of us are Betas, though.”

“True, but Mom isn't. Why wouldn’t we bring everyone, and ask the other Packs to bring all their unmated? Let’s find ALL the mates!”

He leaned down and kissed me. “That’s another thing I love about you, Vicki. You aren’t afraid to dream big.”

“OOOH,” I said. “The MERMAIDS!”

“What about them?”

“We’re all meeting in Sydney next week to put together the Australian Council agreement, and some of the mermaids are coming. Why couldn’t we ask ALL the single mermaids to come?” He just looked at me. “I know they don’t have mates like us, but they’re scattered all over Oz. It’s hard for them to meet each other. Maybe if we get them all together, magic will happen?”

Nicholas thought about it as he plated the meat. “What if they can’t afford it?”

“Hell, I can. Settled families are better for the Council, and it’s a small price to pay.” I sent a text to Master Alessandro, Linda up in Los Angeles, and Matt and Terry, the mermen we’d met in Perth.

I set the table and brought out the food, letting Dorothy sleep as the rest of us ate. “The farmhouse is open if you want some privacy to talk,” I told a sad Ian as he poked at his food.

“I don’t mind talking here,” Dorothy said as she walked out with us. “Our marriage is over, Ian, but I want to remain friends.”