New Territory (2 page)

As Keva sat waiting for her mother to return, her mind turned to distant memories. She never knew her father, but her mother had always been there, willing to lick soothingly at her hurts and teach her about being a true wolf.  Keva’s thoughts turned to any possible disappointment she might have caused Mira. Perhaps it was because Keva insisted on naming inanimate things. Her mother said that naming things was a very human thing to do, and this sufficiently shamed Keva to quell her urge to name special places in their forest home. Keva sighed, wondering if she had done something else “human” to shame her noble mother.

The mind-link of the pack was open to Keva, but Mira’s thoughts did not surface. She was blocking all of them out. Keva whined fretfully, and Kieran felt her worry through the mind-link. He came to sit next to her, mentally querying the source of her anxiety. Keva simply left her mind open, and showed him her worries. He whined in response, and licked her cheek gently. She bared her fangs at this, not accustomed to his affection, and not wanting it. His golden eyes grew slightly darker, and he turned away to speak to the Alpha. As he did so, the vicious snarling of a wolf emanated from the part of the woods where Mira had fled.

Cian and Liam left camp in wolf form. Liam was a large male, black and gray with streaks of white. Cian was even larger, with black fur that glistened tawny red in the light. Liam sniffed the air for the rogue's scent trail, and then ran to the north, Cian following close behind. They moved swiftly and silently across the rugged pine-strewn ground. The few miles between them and the rogue were covered quickly, and soon Liam slowed to decipher the numerous scent trails. Cian bristled as he recognized the smell of the rogue. Rogue
lycans
were not often a problem, but this big gray
lycan
had been unable to cope with the curse, and had murdered an entire human family. He snarled softly as he thought about the scene of carnage, but suddenly Liam was headed west. He followed silently, the scent growing stronger until it made his stomach churn.

Liam stopped suddenly and crouched in some bushy undergrowth. Cian followed, and barely contained himself when he saw the big, shaggy gray ahead, stalking a true wolf--an old she-wolf--who had apparently wandered from her pack. The old she wolf looked back, and saw the
lycan
. Recognition lit like an inferno in her eyes, and with a terrified yelp, she bolted, the snarling gray hot on her heels. Liam and Cian dashed towards the she-wolf from their flanking position, cutting the gray off. Cian slammed his shoulder against the rogue, knocking him through the air. In seconds, the rogue was up again, snarling and growling. "Enough, Brann," snarled Liam. "You're outnumbered, and you must answer to the Council for your crimes." The other werewolf snarled. "And be drawn and quartered by those long-toothed, blithering maggots? No, I think I'll take my chances here," he finished. He leaped at Cian, trying to tear at his throat. Cian whirled away as Liam managed to tear into Brann's hind leg. With a yelp of pain, Brann tripped, giving Cian the chance to wrap his massive jaws around his neck. He jerked his head with a sharp twist, and with an audible snap, the rogue was dead.  Cian snarled in satisfaction. "I knew that one would never submit," he commented. He looked around, but the she-wolf had fled.

Keva listened with horror at the edge of the woods, until the snarls of the wolf fight were over. Her pack stood or sat nearby, also listening and anxious, waiting for Mira to return. Finally, Mira walked out of the woods, unharmed. She looked at Brayden and said, "We must speak." He bowed his head slightly and followed her to the other edge of the clearing. Whatever Mira said, it had an awful effect. He snarled wildly, and trotted back to the rest of the pack. Mira lay down and waited on the other side of the clearing, her stance tense and quivering. "Keva," the alpha barked, "Go speak to Mira. Everyone else, come with me." Keva traversed the clearing slowly, watching sadly as the rest of her pack disappeared into the forest. Something was terribly wrong. "Mother," she said, as she walked up to stand before the old she-wolf.

The she wolf lifted her head from where she lay on the ground, looking up at Keva with her age-darkened eyes. “Keva, a rogue
lycan
was just killed. He was tracking me, trying to catch me away from the pack. He is—was—your sire.” Keva’s eyes reflected great shock, and her fur rose along her spine. Mira heaved a great sigh. “The
lycan
, a rogue named Brann, was driven out by his pack when he murdered an entire human family out of rage. I was in the woods with my mate, and my mate was set upon by the rogue. Poor Goren was no match for the…the rogue. I was in heat at the time…something you will experience soon for yourself. The…
lycan
,” snarled the old wolf, “forced himself upon me…and you are the result. He… he tied me up in a cave, but Ailene found me before he returned, and we ran far away.” Keva simply sat there, unable to respond. That she was the product of such a horrendous action—between different species, no less—threw her into a careening wave of doubt and disbelief. She shuddered, and could not force herself to meet her mother’s eyes. Her mother licked her nose. “None of this is your fault, Keva. I had hoped that since you did not change, that you were a true wolf; that you had not inherited your sire’s curse. But now that you have met your werewolf lifemate in the wolf dream, I know that you are not. You are half lycan and half true wolf. Thus, you must go with your lifemate and leave this pack.” Keva yelped with shock and jumped up. “No! How can I leave you? I am still a wolf; I have no way to change my form. I will simply remain a true wolf and live out my life with the pack!”  She began to grow angry and desperate. Few young wolves survived, if cast out from their pack too soon. She may be considered an adult, but she knew the risks. Her family was going to abandon her to these…these cursed humans.

Mira did not respond to Keva’s anger, merely lowering her head. “I am sorry, Keva. I had hoped and prayed that you were a true wolf, but things must change now. Know that the pack will not forget you, but we cannot speak to you anymore. It is not our way to speak with
lycans
.” Keva watched in shock, paralyzed by indecision, as her mother stood and began to walk away into the woods. Soon, she was gone, and Keva stared at the space in the trees where Mira had disappeared. Something inside her seemed to break. The hard reality hit her like the hoof of a bull moose, knocking the air from her lungs. She caught up a deep breath, lifted her nose, and howled her despair to the unforgiving blue sky.

Cian’s pointed ears twitched as the sonorous howls of despair echoed through the woods around them. Fearing that something was terribly wrong, he burst into the clearing, where a single female wolf was howling her despair to the skies. As he bolted into the clearing, followed closely by Cian, she stopped suddenly and stared at them.  Leaping up, she leaped to the flat top of a large boulder and gazed down at the two male lycans. Cian sniffed the air hesitantly. The rest of the pack had been here, but they were gone, leaving her alone. He tilted his head to the side, considering. No pack would leave a female unattended with werewolves nearby. The female looked down at him with bright blue eyes, an unusual color for a true wolf. “You are lycans.”

The big black male gazed back at her without answering. His fierce golden eyes seemed slightly familiar. She gasped when she realized that she had seen those eyes in her wolf dream. She tilted her head and perked her ears at the big male.  “You are
lycans
,” she repeated, “and you just killed my sire in recompense for his crimes,” she finished. The gray male came up next to the big black male and raised his eyebrows.

Cian gave her a wolfish grin. “Aye, we are
lycans
. And you are one of us as well, beautiful.” She seemed surprised at his choice of words. Her bright blue eyes, rare in gray wolves, suddenly darkened. She growled low in her throat. “My mother just informed me of my heritage. That… that
lycan
raped my mother, and I am the result. Half lycan, half wolf.” Cian looked shocked, and Liam lowered his head in shame, only now realizing the extent of the insane rogue’s crimes.

Keva looked down at the two lycans, who seemed genuinely dismayed at her words. “I am Keva,” she offered. “What are you called?” The big black male, with the golden eyes from the wolf dream, answered her. “I am Cian Collins, the alpha of the Northern Lycans. This is my beta, Liam Greenwood.” She dipped her nose and sniffed at them, memorizing their unique scents. Cian’s scent was a heady blend of hickory smoke and pine, while Liam’s scent was slightly milder, like a fresh stream in the forest. As Cian sniffed at her in return, his eyes widened. Her scent, sweet ambrosia and wildflowers, was exactly as it had been in the wolf dream. He began to speak, but stopped short as the sleek pale wolf leaped down from the boulder and stalked towards them. They froze, unwilling to frighten her. To Cian’s surprise, she came up close enough to tentatively touch noses with him, sending a warm sensation straight through him. Her eyes widened as she met his eyes boldly. “We have met before,” she said in a low voice, gazing at Cian as if should she look away, he might disappear into mist. “Aye,” he said. “In the wolf dream.”

Liam looked at the two wolves in surprise. “Cian, is this her? She’s half true wolf. That’s never happened before. At least, not that I know of.” The other wolf nodded, and broke his gaze from Keva. “Keva, we have to dispose of…er… the body. Liam, can you…?” The beta nodded and trotted into the woods. Cian sighed, and turned back to the pretty white wolf. “Liam will take the body back to camp, where we will burn it. We must report back to the Council that we have done our duty, and bring a bit of fur for proof… will you come with us?” Keva looked startled at the question, and glanced behind her as if she expected the members of her pack to materialize behind her. The clearing, empty of both trees and wolves, stared emptily back at her. Her bright eyes became sorrowful, and she sighed. “It seems I have no choice, Alpha Cian. Lead the way.”

As they reached the place where Brann’s body had been, Keva suddenly caught the unmistakable scent of a human. She panicked, dashing back the way they had come. “A human,” she cried, looking back for Cian to follow her, but he merely stood there waiting for her to come back. She suddenly realized what his unspoken request to Liam had meant. Embarrassed, she walked slowly back to where Cian stood, still nervous. “Liam has to carry the body,” Cian explained calmly. “He could not do that if he were still in wolf form.” She dipped her nose toward the ground slightly, acknowledging he was right. He snorted at her attempt at humility. “Come,” he said, then leaped off through the woods, careful to keep a wide swathe of trees between their path and the path Liam had taken. 

Cian and Keva arrived at the campsite several hours before Liam, but Keva refused to enter the tents or come near the large bonfire that Cian built. He had changed his form inside one of the tents in order to build the fire. Keva watched him anxiously, quivering with the instinct that drove her to run far away. Only the sobering thought that she would probably never see her pack or be accepted into any other pack again kept her in the general area of the campsite. She watched as Cian roamed the area, picking up dry branches for the already raging bonfire. She did not come very close, but she watched Cian carefully, taking in every aspect of his human form.

He was powerfully built, with broad shoulders and a flat waist that rippled with muscle. His golden eyes, black hair, and his wolfish grin were the only things that translated to his wolf form, but she found that she was not repulsed by his human skin. In fact, it fascinated her. She found herself thinking of what she might look like as a human, but forced the thoughts away and looked away from Cian. As she looked away, she caught a glimpse of Liam coming towards Cian with the body of the dead lycan. She shuddered, but found herself staring at Liam’s naked form, which was tan and toned. His shoulders were only slightly narrower than Cian’s, but he was lean. A bit of curly black hair dusted his chest and trailed a line from his navel to between his legs. At this point, Keva looked away, feeling strange. It was so curious to her that humans had so little fur to cover them, and had to rely on those strange clothes to keep their skin safe. She heard a strange, solid thump as the two men tossed the dead
lycan
into the bonfire, which darkened momentarily, then flared up again.

Keva shuddered again, feeling both angry and frightened, and curled up, watching as the flames consumed the body. Liam had disappeared into a tent, and Cian stood by the bonfire, his arms crossed in front of his body. He turned to look in her direction, but she did not move, afraid to speak to him in his human form. She heard him sigh deeply, but then he disappeared into his tent as well. She sighed, looking over her shoulder into the darkening forest. She should not be alone out here. Pack instinct ate at her, trying to convince her to flee closer to her “new pack,” but she simply could not. Two instincts were warring within her, pulling her in two different directions. She began to feel she might tear in two, but suddenly, Cian exited his tent in wolf form, and padded toward her under the rising moon.