Authors: Susan Bliler
Kya pulled her hand from Chloe’s and dropped her eyes to the floor stopping just inside the door before whispering, “Fine thanks.” She peeked up at Briggs and felt her cheeks flush as he scowled at her. She quickly took in the masculine quality of his stance. All wide set feet over lean narrow hips, that tapered up to a chiseled torso. His shoulders were broad and he eyed her evenly from under drawn together pitch-black eyebrows. He had a day’s worth of stubble on his chin and jaw that gave him an even more rugged and dangerous appearance. She felt her insides tighten at the mere sight of him.
Sneaking another peek, she noticed a tattoo on his right forearm. It looked tribal. Three bands of slightly varying sizes sat closely spaced as they encircled his forearm. Kya’s eyes slid to Chloe’s forearm as the woman stood next to her and Kya noted that Chloe too carried the same tattoo.
“So, what are you doing in my Montana?” Dell prompted.
“I-I was just passing through. I-I stopped to see a friend.” Kya stammered. Her eyes flicked up to Dell and quickly down again. He too had the three-band tattoo on his right forearm.
“Josephine. Yes. You should know she’s very concerned for your safety.”
Kya clenched her jaw, her fists involuntarily tightening at her sides.
When I get my hands on that backstabbing bitch…
“She informed me that your old pack might be…
hunting
you?”
Without looking up Kya spoke through clenched teeth, “I’m afraid she misunderstood me.”
“Well by all means, please explain.” Dell placed his elbows on the desk and steepled his fingers in front of his chin.
Kya’s tongue flicked out and licked her bottom lip, her fists loosening as she peeked up from Chloe to Briggs.
Dell noticed her discomfort. “Perhaps a little privacy. Chloe, Briggs?”
Chloe squeezed Kya’s arm before she exited, “It’ll be fine. I’ll be just down the hall in the kitchen.”
Chloe exited the room and closed the door behind her, sending Kya’s anxiety into overdrive. The last time she’d been alone in a room with an Alpha and a Beta, they were kicking the shit out of her, punishing her for the umpteenth time for being “in the way”.
Kya staggered her feet and squared her shoulders, not knowing what to expect, but preparing for a fight.
“Briggs?” Dell questioned when the larger man refused to leave the room as requested.
“I’m staying.” Briggs bit out, arms still crossed over his chest, his frown deepening.
Kya took in a sharp breath and her head snapped up to stare at Dell. She’d never before heard a Beta directly disobey an Alpha. In fact, she didn’t know that it was possible. She half expected the Alpha to fly across the desk and attack his brother, but Dell sat motionless shaking his head as he smiled up at his brother’s back.
Dell stood and motioned towards a high-backed red leather chair that sat facing the desk, “Please Kya, have a seat.”
Kya couldn’t bring her feet to move as she once again dropped her eyes from the proffered chair to the floor.
“Oh for Christ’s sake!” Briggs bit out as he uncrossed his arms and strode angrily toward her.
Kya’s heart thundered in her chest and she gasped as she backed into the door, holding up a hand defensively. The scent of her fear permeated the room.
“Briggs!” Dell barked.
Briggs stopped a few feet in front of her shaking his head as his expression softened, “I wasn’t going to…” His words were cut off, as the door was shoved open, sending Kya flying across the few feet between them and into Briggs’ arms.
As Briggs caught Kya, he moaned in pain as he fell back with her, holding her to his chest to prevent her from being injured as they fell.
Chloe flew through the door shouting, “Briggs! You’re scaring her!”
Briggs growled deep in his chest, shutting his eyes as he rolled to the side and gently released Kya.
She scrambled to her feet and backed away from a slowly recovering Briggs, “I-I-I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to…” She ended her sentence there, as she wasn’t quite sure what it was she had done.
Dell, who had jumped up from his seat, reclaimed his original position as he motioned toward Chloe to close the door.
Chloe shut the door then walked up to Kya, “You okay?”
“Fine. What…what’s wrong with him?” Kya whispered eyeing Briggs who was struggling to his feet while dragging in a shaky breath.
Chloe looked from Kya to Dell her eyes pleading with Dell as she grabbed Kya’s hand, “Come sit down, we need to talk.” Chloe led Kya to a small sofa that sat across from the desk and just opposite of the red leather chair she’d been offered earlier.
Briggs growled as he got to his feet and stumbled to the red chair, falling into it as Dell laughed at him. “I’d ask if you’re alright, but I know the answer.” Dell smirked at Briggs.
Chloe took a seat next to Kya and asked, “Kya, how many wolves are in your pack?”
Kya pulled her hand from Chloe’s to respond defensively, “I don’t have a pack.”
Chloe bit her lip before she continued, “Okay, how many wolves were in your
old
pack?”
Kya shot a quick glance over to Dell before she looked down at her hands. “Seven. There were seven of them.”
“And you were…?” Chloe prompted.
“I-I…wasn’t one of them. But, they treated me as the Omega.” Kya simply stated, concentrating too hard on her fingers.
“Were you…are you anyone’s mate?”
A growl escaped Briggs, making Kya shrink uncomfortably, “No.”
Chloe looked up at Briggs and smiled before she continued, “Are there
any
mates in your pack?”
“No.”
“Have you ever known any mates? Seen any before?”
“No.” Kya’s hands stilled as she tried to decipher where Chloe was going with her interrogation.
“Well what about your parents? Were you around them much, did you witness their mating bond?”
Kya exhaled deeply, “I wasn’t always…I was…changed.”
Chloe gasped as she looked at Dell in shock.
Dell & Briggs both stood. Dell placed his hands evenly on the desk, his knuckles turning white under the pressure. “Kya, it is forbidden. No wolf on the continent is permitted to change a human. It’s our law.”
Kya shook her head, “I guess someone forgot to tell the Colorado packs.”
Dell gritted his teeth, “Do you know of others they’ve changed besides yourself?”
Kya looked down, “It’s common practice…but they only change females.”
Chloe grabbed a stray strand of Kya’s hair and tucked it behind her ear, “Why did you ask them to change you?”
Kya turned to glare at Chloe, “I
didn’t
ask them to change me. I was attacked. They…forced me.”
Brigg’s picked up the chair he’d been sitting in and threw it across the room. It shattered against the furthest wall sending splinters raining across the hardwood floor. He paced the room, in a rage, running his hand angrily through his hair.
Chloe hugged Kya’s shoulders as the smaller woman trembled at Briggs’ display.
Jesus!
“It’s alright; he’s not upset with you, just with the Colorado packs. Honestly, it’s unheard of. I mean centuries ago, sure changing humans was allowed, but not now, not for the past two hundred years.” Chloe shook her head looking to Dell.
Kya stood, drawing everyone’s attention to her, “I’d…like to go now, if it’s alright?”
To her surprise, both Chloe and Dell looked to Briggs. He stood motionless.
Dell stood and spoke, “I’m afraid with this new revelation things have changed. My pack and I will be traveling to Colorado. It’d be much appreciated if you’d accompany us.”
Kya’s mouth fell open. “No! I-I can’t go back! I won’t!” Kya backed towards the door, her fear turning to anger at the prospect of having to face Theron. “Do you have any idea what they’ll do to me?”
“My pack will protect you. I swear it.” Dell’s oath was ignored as Kya backed into the door. She reached behind her and spoke over the clicking of the knob she turned it.
“They’ll kill your pack, all of you, and they’ll do worse to me. I can’t go back. I’d rather die than ever go back!” Kya shoved the door open before dashing through and slamming it behind her as she sprinted down the hall to the kitchen.
In the kitchen, she was overjoyed to discover the back door left unlocked. She threw the door open and ran from the house, shifting mid-stride. She was small for a wolf, but she’d been underfed for the better part of the past four years. Her long fur was pitch black, which was rare for a northwestern wolf, most were gray or brown, some were even white, but an all black wolf was extremely rare.
Kya didn’t stop to look back. She sprinted until her lungs burned and her legs ached and then she kept going. Deep into the Montana mountains, Kya ran hoping Chloe was a true friend and had talked Briggs and Dell into letting her go.
Exhausted and unable to go any further, Kya ducked under a thick pine and curled her body into a tight ball, waiting. She listened for hours waiting for the sound of approaching footfall, but none came. She knew she was too small and weak to outrun Briggs or even Chloe for that matter, but she’d relied on the fact that she’d not wronged any of them in any manner, and the fact that they truly didn’t need her for their run-in with the Colorado packs also gave her some solace.
Convinced she hadn’t been followed, Kya slowly allowed her rigid frame to relax. Her tense muscles whined as she tried to stretch. She hadn’t given her body the opportunity to heal from the strenuous night of the full moon when she fought her body’s natural urge to shift. Now, with only the steak meal Chloe had prepared as her sole source of energy Kya was bushed.
Her belly growled and she considered hunting, but quickly discarded the thought. The last thing she needed was to be caught out in the open again.
The wind picked up and fluffy little snowflakes began to waft to earth as Kya licked her still healing ankle and wrist then rolled to her side, arms and legs extended out from her as she opted to hide under the tree until sunrise.
Her sleep was restless. Her ears pricked and her head would snap up at the slightest sound. She woke more than five times during the long night certain she’d been found only to curse the many deer that populated the mountain.
Closer to dawn Kya woke to the sound of a truck somewhere in the distance. She rose and stretched wearily, wincing at her stiff muscles.
God what I’d give for a bubble bath, hot meal, and a warm bed.
As she crawled out from under the tree, she was surprised to see an inch of snow blanketing the mountainside. She sniffed at it then licked a few flakes from the top of her paws.
Turning, she opted to stay her course and leave Montana by route of the path furthest from Dell’s compound. Walking along, waiting to fully wake up before she bounded up the mountain side, she froze in place as the wind swirled around her and she caught the scent of another wolf. Her hackles instantly rose and a low growl escaped her as she turned.
Stepping out from behind a tree not more than fifteen feet away was a wolf she’d recognize anywhere.
Theron!
Unlike Dell, Theron had never even attempted to hone his ability as pack Alpha to communicate telepathically with the members of his pack. He claimed it was childish and beneath him, but Kya knew he was too ignorant to know how to properly perform the feat. Either that or he was too removed from his pack to actually have any type of bond with them.
In his wolf form, Theron stepped out from behind the tree, his all white fur blowing in the wind as he smiled wickedly at Kya. He dropped his head and pulled his lip back baring his teeth at her.
Kya too dropped her head, sneering at her tormentor. She knew he hadn’t traveled all this way, facing the wrath of the great North American pack, just to take her home. Theron was here to kill her.
Well if you think I’m just going to roll over and die, you’re a fucking idiot.
After years of torment and humiliation, Kya had finally had enough.
If I’m dying today, I won’t go down without a fight!
She circled to her left growling at the much larger white wolf.
Theron’s eyes rounded in amazement and he seemed to smile at Kya’s gall before he dropped his tail and attacked. He went straight for Kya’s throat. Luckily, she suspected his first blow would be a death strike and she pulled her head to the left at the last second. Theron’s teeth skimmed her throat. He coughed out her fur as he continued to circle.
Her adrenaline racing, Kya didn’t even feel the blow as Theron rushed her and landed on top of her rolling her onto her back as he snapped his teeth at her face. Kya kicked with all her strength, but she only managed to shift Theron’s weight off her. He didn’t go flying into a nearby tree as she’d hoped. She was just too small and weak and she knew it, but she refused to give in to him. She turned her head and bit deep into his shoulder as he howled in pain.
Jumping back, Theron gnashed his teeth at her as he eyed his bloody shoulder.
Kya quickly got to her feet and licked her lips, smiling at an extremely pissed Theron. Kya took a step towards him and Theron winked at her then threw back his head and howled.
Tilting her head in confusion, Kya’s feet halted.
Well that’s new.
Before she could react, three other wolves stepped into the fray. Her old pack.
Kyler and Tyler were brothers and undeniable idiots. They followed Theron simply because they didn’t know what else to do. They were brown wolves and were comparable in size to Theron. Reiner on the other hand was a different type of wolf completely. The large red wolf was Theron’s right hand and was certifiably psychotic. He often beat Kya at Theron’s bidding and he took great pleasure in doing so…too much pleasure.