Her Wolf’s Demands by Rachel Medhurst

Chapter Eleven

 

“I can’t believe Rochelle tried to kill you,” Malone said, locking the cabin door behind him as we left. “And you won’t even let me chastise her.”

Shaking my head, I took his hand as we turned to head towards the car. “We came to an understanding. As much as I love the alpha protection, you have to let me deal with my own stuff sometimes. Us girls had to figure it out between us.”

A huff expelled from Malone, extending when Rochelle waved at us from the communal area near the cold fire. Most of the pack were gathered around, either munching on their breakfast or staring, glazed and barely awake.

“I need you,” Rochelle called.

Glancing at one another, Malone and I raised our eyebrows, laughing when we did it at the exact same time. It wasn’t like Rochelle to be friendly, it would take some getting used to.

Butterflies fluttered in my belly as we approached. Every time I faced the pack, I felt the tension. I didn’t know much about werewolf law, but in wolf packs, the omega was the scapegoat. I had no doubt that if I was allowed to join the pack, I’d be their omega.

A couple of the older men and women glared at me, scowling when Malone took my hand. I didn’t know whether to smile or scowl back. I wanted to show them the respect they deserved, but they weren’t giving me the opportunity. The youngsters of the pack where far more welcoming.

“I’m just telling everyone about what happened last night,” Rochelle announced.

My stomach plunged to my feet, freezing me to the spot. Malone tugged me to his side as he stood by the table laden with beers and snacks, no doubt put out in preparation for the ceremony tonight. Shit, the ceremony.

“Della was incredible. Not just as a witch, but a wolf, too. She changed and helped me fight the huge-arse dog-thing. No idea what it was.”

“A hellhound,” I blurted without thinking.

All eyes were on me, each with a certain amount of curiosity. My palms broke into a sweat as I released Malone and wiped them on my jeans.

“Whatever that is,” Rochelle went on, “We held it off until Malone and Manual defeated it.”

Clearing his throat, Joe glanced at Malone’s cabin. “I smelt a cat as soon as the thing was brought into the camp. It’s not safe for us to be connected to you.” He looked at me, for the first time, addressing me directly. I swallowed down my rising panic. I happened to agree with him. Maybe I should just say that to the old dog.

“You’re right, I’m a walking target. However, you’re not exactly on good terms with anyone right now either. The Crawley Pack had it in for you, way before I came along, and it was only a matter of time until the row with the witches reached a tipping point.” Keeping my shoulders steady, and my head held high, I stepped in front of Malone – once I’d checked to see if he would object, of course. He was the alpha after all. “How about we make a deal?” My insides shook as I braced myself, not daring to look at Malone. He had no idea what I was about to offer, and I had no doubt that he would throw a hissy fit, despite the fact my plan was pretty genius.

“Go on,” Joe said flatly.

“We cancel the ceremony tonight…”

Cue surprised gasps all round, including Rochelle.

Manual and Henry came to stand close by, clearly expecting backlash… or maybe even a riot.

“Hear me out.”

The disgruntled mumbling stopped. I still didn’t glance at Malone, too afraid of what I might see in his face. I was about to go on when my gaze was drawn to him, despite my attempt at resisting. Ah, okay. He wasn’t shooting fire from his eyeballs like I’d expected. Instead, he raised a questioning eyebrow.

“I know packs are all about pacts. So, how about we make a pact? I earn your trust by working alongside Malone to expand the pack and align his way of working with yours.” Glancing at Joe, I took a deep breath. “The old ways are gone. It’s time to come together to build a pack that you can be proud of. If I prove myself to you, you’ll accept me, regardless of what I choose to do.”

“She talks like a wolf,” one of the men said.

“And fights like one, too,” Rochelle added, “but has the magic of a witch. There’s no denying that she’ll be a valuable asset to our pack.”

Smiling my thanks to Rochelle, I wrung my hands in front of me. Several of the pack members got up to leave.

“Please, wait,” I said, licking my lips when they froze in unison. “Oh, fuck, I’m sorry. Why does that happen? I’m sure I’ve seen some of you disobey Malone.”

Shit, I had unintentionally ordered them, and because of my supposed alpha DNA, they’d had to obey me.

A chuckle among the younger members of the pack made my cheeks heat. I didn’t know how Malone led so many people. It was a lot of pressure, especially when they stared, judging your every move.

“An alpha trains himself to control his power,” Lionel said, biting his thumb nail and spitting it out. “He can choose to exert it or give his people free will. Malone demands respect naturally.”

“Well.” Smiling around at everyone, I shrugged. “It’s a good job I’m not your alpha because I’m crap at learning. I flunked school to look after my brother and when they tried to teach me to levitate, I dropped a chair on my rival's head.”

A couple of people giggled, breaking me out of my verbal diarrhoea. Oh, jeez, why did I have to embarrass myself?  

“And now you’re an extremely powerful hybrid-witch,” Joe said. “Please tell me you’re better with your magic.” An amused expression crossed his features, crinkling the corner of his wrinkly eyes.

I tilted my head to the side and folded my arms across my chest. “Just be careful,” I joked. “Chairs are not the only thing I can drop on my enemy’s head anymore.”

“What about you?” Henry interrupted to speak to Malone. “Are you happy not to go ahead with the ceremony tonight?”

Drawing himself up to his full height, Malone came to stand beside me. I chewed on the inside of my cheek, my tummy twisting as I looked up into his face. His gaze was on me, searching the depths of my soul. My spirit wolf growled in appreciation when Malone put his arm around my waist.

“To all the males in the pack,” he said, slowly looking around, “please tell me how to resist my mate when she looks at me like that?”

The burst of laughter made me smile. It was nice to see the tension had eased around us both, even if deep down, they were still anxious. It took a lot of courage for Malone to stand up to them and declare that he wanted to be with me.

“I happen to agree with Della. Rochelle and Manual can attest to Della’s skills. She can bring a lot to our pack. However, you still don’t trust her. I won’t have you forcing yourselves to accept her for me. I want you to accept her for her.”

Glancing at one another, the others nodded, clearly happy with their alpha’s choice. My shoulders relaxed, almost slumping as the anxiety drained from me. If I wanted to be a part of their pack – which, I kinda did – I had to gain entry on my own merit. And Malone’s assurance that he would help me with Drake had made it easier to want to become a wolf in my own right. We just had a few conflicts to get through first.

“I was looking forward to a celebration,” Emiliah said, sticking out her bottom lip.

Lionel glared at her, scowling when she shook her head and crossed her arms over her chest. There was tension between them, pulsing across the camp. Had they fallen out because Emiliah was excited and Lionel still loathed me?

“Oh,” Malone said, holding up a hand and wagging is finger. “We party tonight. After we’ve run, we’ll come back and get that BBQ on. Who needs an excuse to party?”

A few whoops sounded around the camp, followed by members dispersing to go about their day. I had no idea where they were heading. Some of them returned to their cabins, while others made their way to their cars.

Malone stepped away with Manual and Henry, talking under his voice as they discussed the change of plan. Running as wolves would have been part of the ceremony, but now that wasn’t going ahead, they would change the course and avoid the standing stones even more. Malone had already forbidden anyone to go near the stones the whole time the witches were coveting them.

“I told Emiliah about our escapade last night,” Rochelle said, smiling at me.

I grinned back, totally at ease with my new friend. She had softened towards me, her energy welcoming, even admiring.

“I have to admit.” Drawing closer to Emiliah, who came willingly, I lowered my voice. “Rochelle was the brave one. I just went along with her plan. I would say it was epic, but it was more stupid. Have you ever seen a pissed off hellhound?”

Blinking, Emiliah barked a laugh before shaking her head. “I can’t say I have.”

Rochelle butted in, almost shoving me out of the way as she took over the story. “He was a huge-arse bastard, all evil red-eyed and shit. I mean, we did pretty well on our own, and witchy here had to give me a helping hand, but the men finished the job.”

“Yeah.” I sighed. “We’ve got to give them the credit for killing the beast. Still, we gave him a good run to wear him out first.”

Putting her hands on her hips, Rochelle cocked her head. “Exactly. It wouldn’t have been so easy if we hadn’t have–”

“Okay, okay,” Emiliah mumbled, “I get it. You’re both amazing and saved the day. And I was here, baking a ceremony cake.”

Stifling a giggle, I linked my arm through Emiliah’s and waited for her to pull away. When she didn’t, I looked at her seriously, my face completely straight. “Now, you don’t know me very well but my spiritual belief is based on cake being the answer to all of life’s woes. If there is one skill that everybody, and I mean, everybody, should have, it’s baking a cake. Sooo,” I went on, looking over her shoulder at her cabin door, “where is this cake and can I have some, please?”

Lionel appeared on their porch as we fell about laughing. His glare sobered me, especially when Emiliah pulled away, patting my hand in apology.

“I’d better go.”

Walking backwards, she waved goodbye before turning and joining her husband on the porch. He didn’t say anything, just ignored her as she muttered something and went inside.

My heart plummeted, pounding in my feet as he blinked once before thrusting down the steps and going around his cabin, heading into the woods.

“What was that about?” I asked Rochelle.

The mood had dropped like a boulder, crashing into a ravine. My new friend dropped her gaze, watching her sandal as it kicked at the grass. It wasn’t like the red-head to be quiet.

“I understand that Lionel hates me,” I said, wringing my hands together, “but by healing him, I’d hoped he’d understand how sorry we are.”

Licking her lips, Rochelle looked at me. “You were right to call off the ceremony to give the pack a chance to trust you. Lionel was attacked by your brother, not you. And since you’ve been here, Drake is nowhere to be seen. You claim that you’re both sorry, and yet, Lionel isn’t completely convinced your story was true.”

A pang tightened my chest and brought a lump to my throat. It made sense that the wolves might not believe me about Drake. Malone would’ve kept his whereabouts a secret for me, but the distrust was typical.

Almost everyone believed the stereotypical image of people with mental health issues. They were the crazies. They were always persecuted as the ones who would hurt others, and yet, the judgement couldn’t be further from the truth. And if an incident had occurred involving someone with mental health issues, it was usually nowhere near as cut and dry as reported.

“I understand,” I muttered, moving away from Rochelle before she could feel my distress.

She called for me as I took off, jogging towards the woods that led to the cars. Unable to look back, I shot forward, channelling my wolf spirit to give me speed. Was it wrong of me to want to rip Lionel’s throat out for feeling that way about Drake? The bigot.

Adrenaline surged through my veins as I glanced through the trees longingly, wishing I could shift and run free in the fields beyond. What good was magic or wolf senses if I couldn’t protect my brother?

“Della?!” Malone’s shout was terse, commanding.

A zap of defiance mixed with longing tripped me. One part of me wanted to be alone, the other wanted to collapse into Malone’s arms and hide in bed for the rest of my life. We’d be two oldies, still humping when we were ancient and grey.

My feet kept going until I reached the car park field. There was a small cluster of cars gathered near the edge of the wood. Malone’s Land Rover sat front and centre, the gun-metal grey glistening in the sun.

Patting my side to feel for my bag, I swallowed and spun around, my insides twisting in knots. Malone emerged from the woods, holding up the black material bag. A halo of sun highlighted his brown shaved hair and strong jaw. I took a shuddery breath, literally breathless from not only his rugged beauty, but his strength and power. And of course, his ability to soothe my jittery soul.

“Are you okay?” he asked, reaching out to cup my cheek. “You’ve gone pale.”

A footstep behind him caught my attention, and I quickly nodded, fake smiling up at him as I took the bag. Feeling the canvas painting inside, I sighed, relieved that I hadn’t lost the only thing that might give me answers.

Manual came out from the trees, his hands tucked into his jeans pocket and floppy dirty blonde hair almost covering his light eyes.

“He’s coming with us,” Malone said. “He knows our witch very well.”

Winking, my man took my elbow and guided me to the car, opening the door so I couldn’t run away. Not that I was going to, not if it meant that Manual could help us get the answers we needed.