Ellida (13 page)

“
Are you okay, Peyton?”
I asked.

“
I’m okay. They spoiled our fun a bit,
didn’t they?”

“
They did. Men! But we can go back to my
house, and stay there until I shift back. What do you say?”

“
This could be your last involuntary
change. Consider it as a sort of bachelorette party.”

“
Your friendship means the world to me,
Peyton.”

“
And yours to me,”
she said quietly.
“
First I thought it would be impossible be a friend to you, but
it turned out not to be difficult at all. It’s satisfying and
fulfilling. I know something good shall come out of this. I was
tired of chasing rainbows anyway… And you, don’t be bitchy with
Jack now, or he’ll think I’m a bad influence.”

“
I was angry with him because he wasn’t
here when I needed him most.”

“
But you had us.”

“
And that’s why I’m not angry at him
anymore.”

“
Is it going to hurt you again? When you
shift back?”

“
A little bit, but the worst is
over.”

“
Good. Are you going to recover by
Saturday?”

“
Sure. Why?”

“
Do you want to go skiing with
me?”

I bounced in excitement. “
Yes! I’d love
to!”

“
All set then.”
She looked behind me
and frowned,
“Unless your teacher makes you work extra to catch
up with the curriculum. Here he comes… Hi, Takeshi.”

“
Hello, Miss Kincaid.”

“
Lovely night to be outside, isn’t
it?”

“
I’m rather an indoor person, but yes,
it’s a beautiful night
.” He turned to me. “
Astrid, do you
think you’ll be able to continue with your training on Wednesday?
We’re running a little bit behind.”

Peyton giggled, earning an annoyed look from
the lean, dark-furred Master Nakamura.

Soon Jack joined us. He came close to me,
pressing the length of his body against mine. The hot jolt of our
bond shot straight through me. I wanted to tuck my head under his
neck, sniff him, lick his muzzle, and kiss him wolf-style, whatever
that was. I wanted to tell him how much I loved him and how much
I’d missed him. I wanted to beg him not to leave me ever again.

“
How was it this time?”
he said,
nuzzling behind my ears.

I glanced toward Peyton and gently broke free
from Jack’s embrace. I knew how fragile Peyton’s new confidence
must be, and I didn’t want to challenge it. I didn’t want to see
her hurt, not tonight, not ever again.

“
I skipped that horrible
mid-phase.”

“
You did? What happened?”

“
I don’t know, but I’m glad. That part
always hurt like hell.”

Peyton raised her head. “
Don’t tell me
there is something that hurts you even more! It was terrible, Jack.
She was in such horrible pain almost all the time.”

I smiled. “I don’t mind. I’ve acquired a
friend in the process.”

Jack shifted his eyes from me to Peyton and
back, smiling.

I quickly changed the topic.
“Tristan told
me you left this morning. How come you didn’t make it in
time?”

“
My flight was delayed. And my phone was
empty; couldn’t even phone you. But I did arrive an hour before the
moon rose, only then James wouldn’t let me see you. Betty’s orders,
he said.”

“
Better stay around next time
,” Peyton
said, laughing. “
I think you should know, Astrid was talking
about Plan B
.”

I laughed, remembering my vengeful
thoughts.

“
Why do I have the feeling I’m not going
to like your plan B
?” Jack said.

I tried to sound serious. “
Ahem, I think I
mentioned Sid Brandon. He’s quite eye-catching.”

I heard a low rumble coming out of Jack’s
chest.

“
Why Sid Brandon, my lady?”
Takeshi
interrupted, suppressing the laughter that colored his voice.
“You might find him handsome, but you barely know him. You and
I, on the contrary, know each other well. I would be honored to
help you out.”

“
If you’re tired of your life, there’re
easier ways to part with it, Master Nakamura, than to ask me to
kill you,”
Jack said. “
I might take great pleasure in doing
it. And besides, you don’t qualify. You’re not a full-blooded
werewolf.”

“
I’d still be willing to try.”

“
Guess what, Takeshi?”
Jack said.
“
Starting next week, you’re going to train Astrid under my
watchful eye.”

Peyton turned to me. ”
When are you coming
back?”

“
Before dawn.

“
I’ll see you, later then. Now I want to
run. The night’s so beautiful. Come on, Takeshi, I’ll race you to
the top of the hill!”

ONE BY one, the wolves disappeared from our
sight. Jack and I had several hours for ourselves.

The indigo-blue sky twinkled with countless
tiny diamonds. The snow sparkled under the bluish light of the
cold, pale moon. I wasn’t cold. My blood was hot, my fur was thick
and Jack’s warm, firm body stayed close to mine.

We played in the snow and ran through the
wood. We sniffed, licked, chased each other, growled and barked
playfully. I gently bit his neck, and he nipped behind my ears and
on my belly.

Later we found a small spot of dry grass and
pine needles under a tree and rested there. I placed my head across
Jack’s shoulder, in a position mimicking our human sleeping. I
wanted to ask him about his last trip, I wanted to tell him about
my new friend, the spa-party, my training, but nothing seemed
important enough to break the magic of the moment.

“
I feel like a very happy Queen of the
Night,”
I said.

“
You are my queen, Astrid.”

I fell asleep tucked safely beside my king,
listening to his heart.

JACK WALKED me home just before daybreak. We
stood at the main door, reluctant to part. He sniffed around my
muzzle and gently bit my neck.

“
You smell so good, Astrid. My head’s
spinning.”

I laughed. “
Nice try, but I’m not going to
ask you in. This is our first date, sort of. You may kiss me here
and ask to see me again.”

“
May I see you again, Miss Mohegan? Later
today?”

“
When I shift back. Until then, I’m
staying with my friends.”

“
And there’s nothing I can do to change
your mind?”

“
Nope. I’ll see you tonight.”

Jack’s warm, amber eyes studied me carefully
for a long moment. “
You’ll be fine, will you?”

His voice was soft, thick with brewing
emotions. Of course he was worried and wanted to be with me. My
transformation, never a controllable process, had changed its
pattern again. I wanted to believe it was irrelevant: this was
supposed to be my last spontaneous shape shifting.

Frankly, I had no clue what actually would
happen once my loose parts were glued together. But, for the very
first time, my two spirits were aware of each other. The most
painful stage of my transformation hadn’t happened and I felt
strong and happy.

Could that be a sign that my spirits would
have united spontaneously in the course of time? What would have
happened to them if I hadn’t met Jack at all?

“
I’ve been thinking, Jack
.” I said
carefully. “
The change was easier this time. Miss Spock isn’t in
her usual self-induced coma. She’s here, with me. If I, for
example, continued with the transformations on my own, I think,
theoretically speaking, my spirits would eventually find a way to
merge. Maybe we don’t need to go through the, ahem,
ritual.”

He looked at me as if I’d spoken in
Klingon.

“
Don’t even think about it! I mean it,
Astrid! This is the safest way to get you through this. What
happened? You were okay with that. God, I knew those women would
fill your head with crazy ideas!”

“
What are you talking about?! Don’t you
dare blame them! They don’t know anything about it. If you need to
know, it’s actually your Miss Spock who’s been fiddling with the
idea. It’s not that she doesn’t want to make love to you, but the
ritual part of the process doesn’t agree with her sense of
independence, so she’s started contemplating alternative
solutions.”

Jack let out a frustrated growl “
Hold on,
Astrid. Just hold on for a second! Listen, baby, this isn’t about
you and your loose parts only. I need to go through it, too, so
that my wolf spirit can connect with yours. And that can only
happen if we go through the ritual, as you call it. Only then will
our bond be completed.”

“
You’re just making it up, Jack.”

“
I’m not. Ask Morgaine. And it’s not a
ritual. We’ll make love, Astrid. That’s it.” He shook his head.
“Since when did you start listening to Miss Spock’s logic and
reason? I like it better when you’re kinky and reckless.”

I cracked a smile. “
You just missed the
kinky part by coming back one day too late, Jack, but I assure you,
it’s still where you left it last time. Remember how concerned you
were about me being in heat, with you nowhere around? Well, I do
have plenty of naughty thoughts, but I can’t really express them in
front of the most powerful woman of our world, your mother and
sister, and my new friend who happens to be your ex-girlfriend, can
I?”

Jack’s lips tugged up in a smile. “
I’m
glad you like Peyton. I told you she’s a good person.”

“
Among many other things, we have you in
common. It complicates things a bit, true, but it also gives us a
chance to build a solid friendship. If you know what I
mean.”

He laughed. “
I have no clue. Go now. I’ll
phone you later. I love you.”

I stuck out the whole length of my tongue
and licked him all over his face.

“
Mmmm, delicious… I love you,
too.”

MY FRIENDS had already shifted back to their
human forms when I joined them. Peyton was on the phone with
Ingmar, filling him in about last night. I noticed a concern in his
voice.

“
Tell him to stop fretting. I’m fine
,”
I told Peyton, and she immediately passed on the message. “
I’m
hungry. Can I get something to eat?”

Morgaine stood up and walked to the kitchen.
“Come with me, Astrid. I’ll fix you something. You let your supper
walk free.”

I followed her across the room.

“
What would’ve happened if I’d killed that
deer
?” I asked and dipped my muzzle into a bowl of beef
cubes.

“I expected you to kill it. That’s why I was
so impressed when you let it go. Well, nothing would have happened,
Astrid. I would’ve taught you how to control your instincts. Now we
can skip that lesson. You already have them under perfect command.
You know, I killed my first few preys. It took me a while to learn
how to handle my hunting instincts. But you let it live.
Astounding.”

I stopped eating and sat on my back legs.
“
It was so scared, and so alive. I couldn’t kill it.”

“There’s never been an Ellida like you. Your
size is amazing. Your grasp over your wild side, your humanity… Red
Cliffs is lucky to have you.”

“
Ellida, is it possible that my spirits
could get connected spontaneously?”

For a moment, her sage-green gaze was fixed
somewhere above my head. She took a deep breath and sat down close
to me. “I understand you’re tempted to try it, given your integrity
and the inner strength you possess.” Her fingers gently plowed
through my fur. “It would be risky, Astrid. I don’t know what would
happen. You’re supposed to have intercourse with a male werewolf to
get safely to the other side. That’s the only harmless, healthy,
risk-free way. We know it works. And you have a man you love.”

“
Jack said it’d help him to link his
spirit with mine.”

“He’s right. And you have to mark each other
as well, because you’re bond-mates.”

I smiled silently. Well, then I would gladly
do what had to be done. Not that I didn’t like the ‘harmless,
healthy and risk-free’ plan in the first place.

“
May I ask you something else,
Ellida?”

“Ask me anything. I might not know the
answer, though.”

“
The heads of several Red Cliffs families
are women: Janet Falconer, Suzie Vilkas and Annika Sorensen. But a
woman as an Alpha? I mean an Einhamir, a leader of a clan?”

“I suppose it’s possible, theoretically,
although it hasn’t happened yet. As Jack’s mate, you’re Alpha
female, that’s your position in the pack. You’re also a natural
Alpha regardless of your position, thanks to your character and
nature, but only to the other females of the pack. If you weren’t
Ellida, Jack would outrank you; your power as an Alpha female is
limited because your position is submissive in relation to the
Alpha male. If our society seems too patriarchal to your liking,
think about this: only a woman can be an Ellida. We outrank
everybody; we’re the ultimate authority.”

“
Why’s that? Why not a man?”

Morgaine’s hearty laugh filled the kitchen.
“Because no sane creator, or god, or force, or whoever you like,
would grant such power to a man. It would be too much for any man
to handle. And too dangerous.”

“
Oh, I see.”

Morgaine just nodded and continued to caress
my head. “Don’t worry, Ellida. Bit by bit, you’ll learn everything
you need to know. Eat now. You must be hungry.”

Betty’s head peeked in, phone in her hand.
“Astrid, Tristan’s asking how you’re feeling.”