Lycan Alpha Claim 3 (32 page)

Tony threw his hands up. “I give. Drop this secretive shit. Just. Tell. Me.” He pegged his hands on his powerful hips, frowning at them.

“A sense of smell a thousand times more powerful than ours,” Joseph said.

“Impossible,” Tony breathed out, thinking of his multi-layered scent awareness. It was so overwhelming he had trained himself to tune out most scents. It was too much. But one thousand times more sensitive? He couldn't wrap his mind around it. He scoffed at the possibility.

“I know, right? It's...” Adi began.

“Unbelievable!” Joseph agreed, nodding.

“Yeah... okay. Whatever. But what about the ten vampires that just flashed into existence and were ghosts when we attacked?” Tony said like,
explain that.

Adriana laughed and the men turned to her. When she finally stopped she said, “Vampire mirage.”

Joseph sighed. Not helpful.

“What was it?”

Joseph shook his head. They weren't sure. But it had been a superb deflection on their part. Too good.

“Don't know,” he answered.

“Well, it was pretty fucking effective!” Tony said. “I could smell the vamps.
Smell them
,” he said through clenched teeth.

Joseph gave a sound low in his throat. “No, that was the Tracker, assisting... the other one.”

“They can work in tandem?” Adi asked, stunned.

Joseph nodded. “Looks like.” Then he paused. “But a more likely reason for the two is family.”

“What?” Tony asked, his eyes narrowing.

“I speculate for that pair to work as seamlessly together as they did, they'd have to be family.”

“What about the bitch with them?” Tony asked. He conjured up an image of her in his mind. Small, pixie-like features, hair blondish, he guessed. Hard to know with the moon, it silvered everything.

Except the Red Feral.

His fur had shone like blood spilled.

“Her too,” Joseph said.

But Tony's nose was unaffected by his sight. He'd know her the next time he smelled her. Hell, he'd know them all. Tony's fists curled. “I'd love to have another chance at those three.”

“Soon,” Joseph promised.

“What about the female?” Adi asked suspiciously. She trusted Tony about as far as she could throw him.

“Especially her,” he said with barely contained desire.

Joseph scowled at him just as another Were entered the holding pen.

They looked at him. “Lawrence is waiting,” he said, shyly glancing at Adriana.

Brother
! she thought...
men!

Adi flounced out, pushing by the Were. His eyes followed her form as she disappeared.

Joseph followed behind and Tony came last.

As he passed the other Were, slightly younger than himself he whispered, “You don't want her.”

He leaned back with a puzzled expression. There were few Were females and she was a good looking one too. “Why?” he asked, genuinely puzzled.

“Untrainable,” Tony said, stalking off behind the siblings.

****

the Feral

The feral lifted his head from the fragrant entrails of the deer, the meat a fresh and tasty smell that permeated his olfactory senses, stirring a deep and profound hunger.

He howled.

Then fed.

The moon, on the wane but not headlong, hung above him in a blanket of velvet, the stars as diamonds. They glittered as she supervised her charge.

When at last he finished, his body demanded rest. He dug out a place of safety in the deepest part of the forest. The Feral burrowed underneath his self-made nest. Finally satisfied, he needed to ready himself for the next leg of his journey. Sleep came for him and just as he slid into the embrace of unconsciousness, he thought of her.

The female.

He must have her.

And she, him.

He was certain when they had connected under the roof of the great structure that she felt it too.

The pull of one to the other.

They were meant to be together.

Forever.

He slept, the moon keeping her own counsel.

*

the pavilion

William screamed inside his head as the Were held him, their talons biting into his dead flesh. He saw the Singers tear Julia out of his grasp and that of the Were.

Hope slid away like rain on a tin roof.

William Changed were he stood, his raven form protecting him, assuring his survival.

The Were let go in surprise, not ready for the smallness of his form. As they rushed to grab him at the same time he rose with a sharp caw, circling above their position. His eyesight, many times sharpened from his vampire form, tracked the Singers. And the pursuit of them by the Were.

He followed, his blackness the perfect camouflage against the night sky. He saw all:

When Julia fainted in the arms of the Singer as he ran.

When the fetid breath of the Were caressed the back of the one who held her.

When the ten of his kind suddenly appeared then vanished like they had never been.

Defeated, William flew to a safe distance, then Changed back into the form that would return him to the kiss with the least effort.

Even as he ran, his mind turned over his next move.

If he had been one to play chess, his sight would be set on one piece. And one alone.

The queen.

*

Julia

Julia opened her eyes and was instantly met with melted chocolate.

His eyes,
her thoughts still muddled and fuzzy.

Oh, wow. She'd fainted again. Could she like... find a rock and crawl underneath it?

“Hey you,” Brendan said, pushing a stray hair away from her temple.

“I feel beyond stupid,” Julia said.

“Well, we're even then,” he said, his lips curling up at the corners.

She smiled at him and he grinned back.

Suddenly, Jen's face showed beside his. “You're okay. Big shock is all.”

Yeah, that. Biiiigggg shock. Two hunky dudes, also Singers, kidnap her and squire her away to... where the hell was she anyway?

Michael said from the foot of her bed. “You're somewhere in the Olympic Peninsula.”

Julia frowned. “Kinda cagey.”

“Kinda cautious,” Michael quipped.

Brendan patted her head like she was a small dog and stood. “Gotta keep things secure. Nobody knows anything. That's how we like it...”

“Uh-huh, uh-huh. That's the way we like it, uh-huh, uh-huh...” Michael said, swiveling his hips in a distracting way.

“God... ewww... I hope that's not actual singing you're attempting?” Jen asked, beyond embarrassed by her retarded brothers.

“Oh yeah, I can do Karaoke with the best of them,” he said with a hip thrust and hop. Julia giggled and Brendan frowned. “Are ya okay? Ya asshat, 'cuz...”

Brendan looked expectantly at her.

“Julia,” she supplied her name by way of introduction.

“Julia,” he smiled and gave her a wink, “is not impressed by your...” he swung his palm around, “gyrations and attempts at singing.”

“I don't know,” Julia began in a drawl.

All eyes went to her.

“For pure entertainment value, it's about a seven.”

“Out of what?” Michael asked hopefully.

“Fifty, retard!” Jen yelled, punching him in the arm again.

“Ow!” Michael raged, then turned to Julia. “Did ya see that abuse?”

Julia nodded cooperatively. She had. She grinned.

Jen grabbed the boys and dragged them out of the room. “Get ye out!” she yelled, shoving them outside and turning the lock.

“Sheesh!” Jen fumed. “They're so... so...”

“Funny?” Julia asked.

Jen sighed, then gave her a sidelong glance. “Maybe.” Then looked at her. “But if you tell them I'll poke your eyes out. Their heads are so fat as it is they couldn't get through doorways if you stroked their egos even the tiniest bit.” Jen looked at her.

Julia smiled. “I promise, no fat head air pumps allowed.”

“Right!” Jen said, stabbing the air with a finger held high.

“Now,” she looked at Julia critically. “Can we deposit the dress in file thirteen?”

“Huh?” Julia asked, bewildered.

Jen laughed, “Sorry, I have some strange expressions.”

She sure did.

“Trash... let's throw it away.” She looked at Julia. “Unless you want to keep it for some reason?”

Julia looked down at the soft folds of pure white. “No.” No reason at all. But as she said it she was reminded of Adi and felt a stab of guilt and sadness. She sure would have liked to say goodbye to her.

She was relieved not to have to be in some whacked-out forced union with the Were but... she missed having Cyn. She missed Adi.

Shit, Julia realized she'd put out an engraved invitation for a pity party and she'd just RSVP'd for herself.

Dammit.

Jen seemed to pick up on her mood. “Hey!”

Julia turned to look at her, the melancholy riding her like an unwanted friend. “Get out of the get-up and get a shower. We'll suck up some grub and walk around the complex some. I betcha got a ton of questions.” Jen looked at her expectantly.

Yeah, that sounded good. “Sure.” Julia walked to the bathroom and Jen handed her some clothes. “You'll have to wear my stuff until we figure some clothes out for ya.” She looked up at Julia. “I guess my pants will be Capris on you,” she said, winking.

Then she was gone.

Julia stood under the spray, taking the longest shower of her life, the colors from the window casting puzzle pieces of color across her body as she washed.

Julia cried in the shower, the rain from the shower head washing away her tears. She cried for everything.

William.

Cyn.

Adi.

But the heaviest tears were for Jason.

Always him.

*

“Did ya get a good cry?” Jen asked Julia.

She thought about lying. For about three seconds. “Yeah.”

“Good,” Jen said, clapping her on the back. “Let's have a look-see, k?”

After a breakfast consisting of fruit and scrambled eggs they walked outside. There were so many places to look Julia didn't even know where to begin. The first thing that caught her eye was when they exited the house. Julia turned around and immediately located where her bedroom was.

The house was breathtaking.

It looked like a house of gingerbread but on a big scale. It was Victorian, maybe turn of the last century. Julia knew because she'd lived in an old house.

Before.

When her parents were alive. She waited a moment to let the grief dissipate, then returned to studying the structure.

It rose like a brightly colored wooden jewel, the forest an emerald backdrop behind it. On the extreme left was a turret that flowed from  ground to roof. Three windows formed a “bay” of sorts that were eight foot tall, each one. It looked as if water coated the surface of the glass, wavy from age. At the turret's peak spun a weather vane, the arrow pointing in whatever direction the breeze blew.

“Wow,” Julia breathed reverently.

“Ah! That old thing...” Jen said, unimpressed.

Julia swung her head in Jen's direction. “What!? That's like the most gorgeous house ever! And I have the best room in the house,” Julia noted. She couldn't believe she was actually here. When just yesterday she'd been with the Were. Julia shook her head, freeing the remaining cobwebs of her memories, her life.

“Maybe that's true. But the house? Ugh! Nothing works, it moans, it moves, it creaks!” She threw up her hands. “I think it needs to be razed and we get something in here so when my brother flushes a commode my shower doesn't scorch my butt off!”

“Noooo! I love it!” Julia said as she felt Jen pull her arm, leading her away from the stately home. “Forget it. Look on your own time at the rust bucket. For now, let's go to the paranormal school.”

Julia stopped, tugging her arm back. “What?”

Jen looked at her. “Ya know. It's where us Singers train. Learn... etc.” She put her hands on her hips, staring at Julia, waiting for the light bulb to go on.

Wait a second
, Julia thought. “Train, for what?”

“To nail the vamps and shifters. They can't tame our rears. We're independent.”

Julia was getting that part.

“To 'nail the vamps and the shifters'...?”

Jen nodded like Julia was slow to catch on.

“And beyond that?” Julia asked, feeling a point of clarity may have slid by her unnoticed.

“To rule the world, of course,” Jen said, winking.