Chapter Seven
When I padded back into the clearing where all of the Pack slept in their cabins, I felt unreal. I felt as if I’d stepped out of a dream, and everything around me was suddenly unwelcome and familiar. Part of me wanted to go back and continue watching the humans, even though they slept—their lives were so different from mine; I wanted to see more.
But I resisted the desire, and paused by Alyssa’s family’s cabin, sniffing the air. There were no scents of anyone on the breeze, and, relaxing, I headed for the bathrooms-- I wanted to wash all the mud and leaves off before anyone saw me. I didn’t change back to my human body until I reached the door. Gripping the handle, I pulled it open and put one foot inside the crude bathroom the men built had built the week the Pack came here.
But just as I was about to step more fully inside, naked and shivering in the cold of the night, a hand flattened against the wood and slammed it shut. I started violently, and turned in a panic, fearing to see Uncle Richard or Charles.
“Oh, Jeff,” I breathed in relief.
His blue eyes traveled from the top of my head to the tips of my filthy toes, lips tight and gaze sharp. Suddenly self-conscious, I glared at him and crossed my arms.
“Can I go inside, please?” I asked, voice strained.
Jeff met my eyes and tilted his head. “Where were you?”
The shrewdness in his gaze and the feeling that he somehow knew irritated and frightened me to no end. “I went for a run. I’m tired and dirty and I would like to take a shower. Do you mind?” I made a jerky gesture to the door.
He didn’t move, and just continued to look at me. “You’re hiding something.”
I laughed. “It seems like I’m always hiding something. Another guy, something I did on a run. What’s next?” I grabbed the knob again and attempted to pull it open, but Jeff lightly shoved me out of the way and leaned against the damn door. I stood back, hating him more than I ever had in my life.
“You’re avoiding it,” Jeff said. “Where did you go tonight?”
I gritted my teeth. “I already told you, I went for a run! You can ask Keith—he followed me.”
This seemed to surprise Jeff, and I smiled in satisfaction. “He didn’t say anything when I asked him tonight,” he told me.
I shrugged. “You know how Keith is.” Then I remembered how Jeff had left me alone at the bonfire, and my own eyes narrowed. “And where were you?”
Jeff’s face remained carefully neutral. “I went for a run.” The mocking bite to his words made my pendant glow, as my anger grew and the Calling awakened.
“Fine,” I hissed. “I’ll tell you where I was. I met Mark Williams and we went to the east side to hump like savages. It was the best sex I’ve ever had.”
That got to him. Jeff straightened, and his eyes burned now. He growled and seized my upper arms. I shoved at his chest, but he merely hauled me closer, until my chest pressed against his.
“You’d better watch what you say, Genny Soren,” he said through his teeth. His fangs had grown, and his own pendant was as bright as my own.
“Or what?” I taunted, hating the feeling of weakness he gave me. Hating how I wanted to bury my face in his warm chest and tell him everything. “You’ll tell my father? Uncle Richard? They don’t care. They couldn’t care less if I were to get pregnant and have pups—we need more children, don’t we?”
Jeff snarled and shoved me back against the wall of the bathroom house. “The only pups you’re going to have will be mine,” he said. “If Mark ever so much as touches you, I’ll challenge him.”
A Challenge. A battle between two wolves, to see which is the stronger and more powerful. More often than not, one of the males comes out dead.
“You’d be a fool if you did,” I told him. “Mark’s challenged more than half a dozen—”
“Do you think I care about his record? Genny, you’re mine. I’m yours. I didn’t come to the bonfire tonight because I knew you would miss me. I knew you would get mad. I did it to help you see how much you love me. I’m tired of the wait, Gen. It’s been four years. You’re almost twenty now. It’s time.”
His voice had suddenly become tender. He brushed a stand of hair out of my eyes, and softly pressed his lips to mine.
I was frozen; I was afraid. I didn’t want to have a mate yet. I didn’t want to watch what happened to every other couple happen to us. After the pups were born, and a few years had passed, the fire faded. I’d seen it with my own eyes. Even Cornelia didn’t love Richard anymore, despite the drama with my mother. The love faded. The mutual passion dwindled. With Jeff, without that permanent bond, we’d lasted. But I knew it would change as soon as the official tie was made, and the maternal years began.
Jeff sensed my uncertainty, my doubt and reluctance. “Stop thinking, Genny,” he whispered, pressing even closer. “Just love me, enjoy what we have.”
His hands were exploring me now, tracing over my curves and swiping down my bare side. His palms warmed my icy skin, and I sighed into his mouth.
“Do you love me?” Jeff asked against my lips.
My mind was clouded, and my fear forgotten for the moment. “Yes…” I answered. I could feel Jeff smiling.
“That’s all you needed to say. That’s all we need.”
His mouth moved from my mouth to my neck. Breathing heavily, I wrapped my arms around his middle, and pulled his shirt up over his head. Jeff clasped me to him again, and lowered me to the ground.
As I lost myself in the sensations Jeff created in my body, I happened to glance up over his head.
Mark stood in the shadows of Alyssa’s cabin, watching us. His face was almost identical to what Jeff’s had been when he’d first seen me: Tight, angry, dark. His mouth was curved in an unfamiliar smile than the one that usually graced his lips. It was a bitter, tiny smile. One I didn’t understand.
I pulled away from Jeff, and crossed my legs to hide myself.
“What is it?” Jeff asked, voice hoarse. I glanced at him, and didn’t answer. Jeff frowned, sitting up again.
“Genny?”
I looked at Mark again. But as he often had a habit of doing, he had disappeared. “Sorry,” I muttered. “It’s nothing. I’m just cold.”
“Oh.” Jeff looked angry with himself. “I should’ve realized. And you need to get in the shower,” he added, noting again my dirty feet and ragged hair. So quickly that I didn’t realize what he was doing, Jeff slid his arms under my knees and around my back to lift me from the ground. Cradling me against his chest, he took me into the bathroom.
Before the door closed behind us, I looked into the darkness of the trees a few yards away. I could sense Mark there, still watching.
The door slammed shut.
* * * * *
The Meeting cabin was the largest out of all of the cabins in the clearing. There were no walls inside to separate it into smaller rooms; it’d been built this way on purpose, to make room for all the Pack members.
The front of the room held six chairs, where all the men that the last Alpha had elected as his council sat. Uncle Richard, Charles, Jon, my father, Harry, and Matthew. As was custom, they all were partially changed, to show respect towards our true identities during the Meeting.
The bell had rung in the afternoon, when Alyssa and I had gone for a swim in the stream. So my hair was still wet, and my damp clothes clung to my body as I entered the cabin. Cornelia eyes me with obvious disapproval. I threw her a bright smile, and seated myself beside Jeff. He grasped my hand, and squeezed, grinning. I forced one back at him, feeling the ring he’d placed on me the night before pressing hard against my other two fingers.
I caught Keith, sitting on the other side of Jeff, notice the ring. His eyes bulged, and his mouth opens and close like a fish’s.
You and me both, Keith, I thought dismally.
“What do you suppose this is about?” Alyssa leaned over and asked, batting her eyelashes flirtatiously at Jeff. She did it to annoy me; we’d been stiff with each other since the night of the bonfire.
Jeff didn’t respond to her obvious flirtation. “The time to elect a new Alpha has come,” he replied, shrugging. “I suppose we’re here to make the Challenge under the full moon official.”
I look at him, worried. “You’re… you’re not planning on participating, are you?”
Jeff smiled at me lovingly. “No. I can’t die now, when I’ve got everything to live for.”
His happiness was so unchecked, so sincere, that it makes me feel guilty. I should be as happy as him. I should be as excited. But… I glanced across the room where Mark sat beside Harriet.
There were odd shadows under his eyes, as if he’d not slept last night. Then, glancing at Harriet again, I realized that he probably hadn’t. You’re an idiot, Genny, I told myself. Don’t look at him. Jeff thinks there’s too much between you and him as it is. Don’t give him fuel for the fire.
“The Meeting is called to order,” Charles called out in his deep, bass of a voice. Slowly, the talk dies down, and all the attention is turned towards the front.
“As most of you know, the time is upon us to find a new Alpha,” he continued. “Tomorrow night is the full moon, the night that our race was born and the night that our forefathers created the Law. And that Law clearly states that a Challenge, involving all willing male participants over the age of eighteen, will be conducted.”
His words were so formal, so stiff compared to the laughing, joking Charles, that I had to stifle a snicker.
The males of the room started talking again, excitement evident in their voices. I felt Keith looking at me, but didn’t meet his gaze.
“Who will participate?” Charles boomed over the din.
Hands raised eagerly. Charles looked around and nodded. “Come up to the table and sign your name. But know, once your name is on the paper, you cannot withdraw. This is the Law.”
Mark was leaning over and saying something in Harriet’s ear. I wasn’t paying much attention to who was standing and walking up to the table, until out of the corner of my eye, I saw Keith stand.
“Sit down!” I hissed. He ignored me, and walked away.
Jeff’s grip on my hand tightened. “The idiot,” he muttered. “He’ll be one of the first to fall.”
Nervous now, I again looked over at Mark. His seat was empty. With dread curling in my stomach, I turned to the table.
Keith and Mark stood next to each other, waiting to sign that stupid scrap of paper. The fools. Even Mark, who’s won every Challenge he’s been in, doesn’t stand a chance against someone like Charles, who I know for a fact will participate.
I turned to say something to Jeff, and my eyes took in the sight of his grim expression. “No,” I said firmly, already knowing what he was going to say.
He sighed, kissed me, and stood. “I have to, Gen. I can’t let Keith kill himself.”
Helpless, I watched as my… well, I supposed he was my fiancé now, my future mate, strode up to the table.
Mark had finished, and swaggered down the aisle, heading for the door. As he passed, he dared to touch my cheek.
“I’ve decided that I’m not going to give you up so easily, Genny Soren,” he said. Bewildered and dazed now, I watched him leave the Meeting cabin.
