Maddie succeeded in scooting herself out from under Sam, but her attempts at nudging her alpha onto her back went unheeded. Frowning, she asked, "You don't want - ?"
"Oh, I want," Sam said, her voice low and husky. She could feel Maddie's sudden uncertainty and reached out to reassure her. Wrapping her hand around Maddie's neck, she drew her in for a slow, sensual kiss. "But it's time to get back." Sam rose to her feet, pulling Maddie up with her. "It's getting late and I can feel Nafarius' concern for us both."
At Sam's words, Maddie became aware of a distant buzzing along the pack bond. She'd been so focused on Sam that she hadn't sensed Nafarius' agitation.
Instinctively, Maddie reached out to her alpha, sending him reassurance that she was okay through the bond. The buzzing continued for a time before settling down to a dull hum, Sam surely having done the same check-in through the mate bond.
"Come on," Sam said, taking Maddie's hand and walking them back the way they had come in. Reaching the steep wall she'd charged down, Sam paused. "Please tell me you know of another way out of here."
Maddie nodded. "But it will be faster if we shift."
"Warmer, too," Sam said, giving Maddie an appreciative glance. "Not that I mind the view."
Maddie laughed, flashing Sam a bit of her flank as she knelt.
Sam knelt as well, the two women face to face, groaning at the first ripple of pain.
"Still hurts?" Maddie asked, her own shift starting to flow.
Sam gritted her teeth against the pain, nodding her head.
"It gets better," was the last thing Maddie said before she lost the ability to speak.
"Yeah, like how going to the dentist gets better," Sam grumbled.
CHAPTER FOUR
My, What Big Teeth You Have...
Dimitri wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. Elbows on the table, he sat hunched over his plate, slicing off another chunk of meat, and spearing it with his knife.
"Bring me some water," he ordered.
Kate, a pretty brunette of indeterminable years, jumped up, banging her knee against the table and upsetting William's dinner plate.
William caught Kate's hand before she could hustle off, giving his pack-mate's fingers a reassuring squeeze.
"And none of that bottled crap," Dimitri said to her back.
Craig reclined at the other end of the table. Ignoring his alpha's commeny, he sipped his sparkling water.
Kate hurried back inside, her skirt swirling wildly around her ankles, and a pitcher of water held carefully with both hands. "Fresh from the river," she said, her lips turned up at the corners in an attempted smile. "Still cold."
Dimitri ignored the bitch-wolf. Small and weak, just like the rest of them. But not his daughter. No, she was strong. Nothing like these bitches, nothing like that bitch that had birthed her. His only young...
Dimitri scanned faces, settling on Craig. "Where's my daughter?"
Craig paused, his fork halfway between his plate and his mouth. Sitting opposite Dimitri, the pack at either side of the table between them, Craig answered quietly. "She's gone, Sire."
Along the bond, the pack buzzed with stinging agitation. Craig clenched his back teeth together to keep from snapping at them. He understood their fear of Dimitri, but it made it damn inconvenient for him to get a read on his alpha.
Dimitri's eyes slid out of focus.
William and the others tensed, heads bowing towards the table.
"She's gone," Dimitri said, unable to feel his young through the pack bond.
"Yes, Sire." Craig wondered how long it would take for Dimitri to remember.
"She's with Nafarius?" Dimitri growled.
"Yes, Sire." Craig decided not to mention the pesky part where Natasha tried killing her father, leading Dimitri to beat his daughter, severing the pack bond and leaving her for dead. Details. Details.
"TRAITOR!" Dimitri bellowed, his fist slamming down on the table, scattering silverware and overturning cups.
Ah...there it was, the alpha's trusty memory.
Dimitri clenched his fists convulsively, knuckles cracking in the sudden silence as his breath sawed in and out of his lungs.
Control. Power. Control. Power. His father's voice hammered in Dimitri's head. Those with power must have control.
Deep breath in through the nose, out through the mouth. Repeat.
Carefully, Dimitri unfurled his fists, one finger at a time. Pressing his palms flat against the table, he straightened his plate, lining up his silverware before picking up his fork.
Slicing off a piece of meat from his plate, Dimitri transferred his fork to his other hand before taking a bite. She was a traitor. Just like her mother. Just like Nafarius.
Nafarius, who was supposed to be Dimitri's friend, help him to...to what? There was something Dimitri needed to do. If only he could remember what it was.
Dimitri glanced down at his plate, poised to take another bite and froze.
Maggots. Hundreds of maggots squirmed over his dinner.
Dimitri gagged as the meat on his plate rotted, splitting open and releasing a wave of still more pale, bloated bodies. They wiggled over the side of the dish and spilled across the table.
Leaning to the side, Dimitri spit on the floor, clearing his mouth of rotten meat and maggots. Plump, white bodies landed with a bounce, withering across the floor and leaving behind a chewed bit of meat.
Dimitri rose, stomping on maggots as they multiplied and scattered. The little fuckers were fast, skipping across the floor like Mexican jumping beans until he finally caught the last one, squishing it under his heel with a wet
pop
!
Dropping down into his seat, Dimitri grabbed his plate, prepared to throw the maggot-infested meat at somebody's head. Except, only fresh meat, roasted and rare, sat half consumed next to a pile of root vegetables. His eyes darted from the plate, to the table, to the floor. Nothing. Just a half chewed piece of meat glistening with spit.
No bloated bodies or squished corpses.
Dimitri's eyes darted around the room, touching on pack members before skittering across the table. No maggots, just half eaten meals, crusts of bread and empty cups.
"The meal not to your liking?" Craig asked, taking another bite.
****
Roland found Nafarius holed up in the room he shared with Sam and lately, Maddie. If the vicious curses floating down the corridor were any indication, Nafarius was working on the pack's books.
Roland stopped mid-step and gave serious consideration to turning around.
"Leave now and everyone will know you're a coward," Nafarius called out, his voice surly.
"Don't listen to him, Roland," Sam called, laughing. "Save yourself!"
Nafarius' growl was followed by more feminine laughter.
Roland smiled, there had been a lot more laughter since Sam appeared. Slipping his hands into the pocket of his jeans, Roland strolled the rest of the way down the corridor and into the room.
Sam was sitting cross-legged on the bed painting her nails. Nearby, Maddie sat curled up reading.
"I'm glad you're here," Sam said, shooting him a smile. "You can settle a debate for us."
"I don't know - ," Roland started, meaning to object. The last thing he needed was to get in between his alphas.
Sam ignored his protests.
"Maddie says that if I paint my nails now, when I shift the color will be gone." Sam dabbed at her thumb nail with a small brush. "I think the color will stay, and my claws will be a nice CFM red."
"CFM?" Roland asked, stunned. This was the debate she wanted him to settle?
"Come Fuck Me Red," Maddie offered helpfully.
"Ah..." Roland hesitated, looking at Nafarius for help.
Nafarius kept his head down, his nose pressed to the screen of his laptop, leaving his beta to hang.
"Well?" Sam asked, clearly expecting him to side with her.
"I think it doesn't matter," Roland said, at last. "You'll be color blind when you shift."
Sam blinked, clearly not the answer she was expecting. "
Humph
," she said, her eyes darting to her mate. "He's all yours."
Nafarius was studiously studying the pack's accounting, the tedious task was the only thing keeping from him laughing.
Looking slightly less sure then when he'd come in, Roland turned to Nafarius. "We've got a problem," he announced.
"Just one?" Nafarius asked.
Roland ignored him. "Natasha's father severed the pack bond."
Nafarius looked up, his face lit by the artificial light from the computer. They didn't have power in the mountain den, but Nafarius kept the device charged when he went into town. In between trips, he used it to track the pack's financials and monitor their supplies. "Shit."
"My sentiments exactly," Roland agreed. Their walk back to the den had been quiet, Natasha thoughtful beside him. He had left her to seek out Nafarius, the hint of an idea forming.
"She can't stay here," Nafarius said, leaning back in his chair. The situation just keeps getting better and better.
Roland opened his mouth to object but Sam beat him to it.
"Why not?" Sam asked. She liked Natasha and one more wouldn't make a difference.
Nafarius looked past Roland, addressing his mate. "Without the bond, Natasha is just another lone wolf."
"So?"
"Lone wolves don't do well in a pack," Nafarius explained. "They exist outside of the hierarchy, which makes the others uneasy."
"Ahhh..." Sam nodded. She was coming to understand how important the hierarchy was to pack life. A person's place within the pack determined both what they could expect from others, as well as what was expected of them. In a pack the size of theirs, understanding expectations was important. It helped to avoid unnecessary problems that could easily end in bloodshed. "If she stays - ?"
"She can't stay," Nafarius said, cutting her off.
"If she stays," Sam said, ignoring Nafarius. "Can we make her pack?"
Nafarius blinked, Roland snapped his jaw shut and Maddie fidgeted.
"What?" Sam asked, looking around the room. "Every time I ask a question you guys go all quiet. It's enough to give a girl a complex."
"Sam," Nafarius said, softly. "Natasha is an alpha female, if she were made pack there's a good chance she'd be driven to challenge you."
Sam's eyes narrowed dangerously. "For my place as alpha or as your mate?"
"No one takes your place as my mate," Nafarius growled.
Sam searched Nafarius' face, her eyes a piercing green. She could feel his fierceness humming along the mate bond, and relaxed.
"I could take her," Sam said, turning to paint her toes.
Nafarius shared a look with Roland, obviously asking for help.
"She's your mate," Roland said, payback for leaving him to hang over nail polish. Of all things!
"She's in the room," Sam grumbled.
"How do you know?" Nafarius asked.
Sam shrugged. "I don't know, I just do."
"The same way you know with the pack?" Nafarius pressed.
Sam considered, her head tipping slightly. "No, that was more...personal. This is like academic knowledge, something I learned, not lived."
"But you're sure?" Nafarius wouldn't consider letting another alpha female into the pack if it risked upsetting the balance he had with Sam.
"Yep," Sam said, admiring her toes. "There's not much difference between us, kind of like you two, but enough." Sam flicked her fingers back and forth between Nafarius and Roland.
"Good to know," Nafarius said. "But I'd prefer to avoid the possibility altogether. She has to go - "
"I claim her as mine," Roland blurted. Hello half-baked idea.
Nafarius' head snapped up, his eyes pinning his beta to floor.
Maddie perked up.
Roland's wolf stopped pacing.
Sam swore. "This is something else I don't know, isn't it?" Grumbling, she put the lid on her nail polish and tossed it on the bed. "There should be a goddamn book,
What You Need to Know When You Become a Werewolf.
"
"Your title is too long," Maddie quipped, her smile bright. She'd spent the afternoon with Sam and Nafarius, her body languid with spent desire. She had been uncertain about moving into their space, resigned to dealing with Rose on her own. But now that she was here, she couldn't picture herself anywhere else.
Sam cut Maddie a look. Narrowing her eyes, she wasn't surprised when Maddie's smile simply grew brighter. For being so submissive, the female had a habit of calling Sam's bluff. Damn inconvenient.
"Roland - " Nafarius started, his voice careful.
"I've made the claim," Roland interrupted. "In front of witnesses."
"They won't recognize it unless I say," Nafarius said, gesturing to Sam and Maddie.
"Speak for yourself," Sam said, glaring at her mate.
"A claiming is just what it sounds like," Nafarius told her. "It's an old tradition that goes back to the days when packs raided each other and took slaves. A male would claim a female from another pack as his, basically taking her as his mate against her will."
"You actually thought I would go for this?" Sam eyed her beta, crossing her arms over her chest.
Roland sighed. "It's true, claiming has a barbaric beginning. But it has other uses."
"This I have to hear..." Sam muttered.
"I can use it to protect Natasha," Roland said. "By claiming her, she is effectively under my protection. No one would attack her because, as my...mine, I would have the right to respond."
"Kind of like the protection Nafarius offered to me," Sam said, dropping her arms to her sides. Maybe this claiming wasn't such a bad idea after all.
"Roland." Nafarius warned before his beta could answer.
"What?" Sam asked.
"That's
exactly
what he did," Roland said, cutting Nafarius a quick look. He had no intention of undermining his alpha, but he didn't plan to let Natasha leave, either.