Due North by Kelsey Gamble
Tasha
“You look tired.”
I gasp as Alpha Waverly’s reflection appears in the water beside mine. Her dark brunette hair and pale skin create a sharp contrast. My toes are dipped deep in the creek, and as I startle, they create a ripple in the water that washes both of our reflections away.
I turn to her, this woman who I’m supposed to trust implicitly, and offer her a tight smile. “It’s hard to sleep in an unfamiliar place.”
She probably knows I’m lying. I slept fine amongst the Anchorage Lake Pack while I was visiting my sister. And I settled in fine with the East Terrace Green Pack from the very first day that Jimmy brought me to join them.
We’re shifters. We’re literally built for adaptation.
But this place betrays expectations. There’s no adapting to the Sovereign Pack for those of us who weren’t raised here. Nothing is familiar here, not even the faces. And for me, after losing my mate, I desperately want to be surrounded by the people I have left.
I know what an honor it is to be here. For the fates to have chosen me as the next Luna Sovereign. In spite of that, I can’t help but feel lonely.
I haven’t had contact with the outside world in almost eight weeks. I know my sister is safe because the Sovereign Pack gets an uncanny amount of outside news filtered in somehow, but otherwise I haven’t been able to reach out and ask her how she’s feeling. She’s newly mated; Tess shouldn’t have to be with a new pack all alone.
Or maybe that’s just my hang up. Remembering the days when Callum was sometimes the only one who was kind to the outsider that became his Beta’s mate. The East Terrace Green Pack still embraced me eventually—and I haven’t had contact with any of them either. I wonder how my elderly neighbors must be doing without me there to help with their gardening and make sure the trash goes out on time. I liked feeling like I had a purpose and being useful to my neighbors and to the pack.
Feeling sorry for myself is getting old, but I can’t seem to stop the onslaught of feelings that flow each time I think about everything I lost. It doesn’t help that I feel guilty about not being there for Callum when there’s no telling how he’s holding up. He lost his Beta and my sister all in one fell swoop.
I know Tess wasn’t technically his to keep, but he loved her all the same. The guilt that resides in my chest knowing all of us have abandoned him is almost unbearable. Callum is a good Alpha. A kind one. The same can’t be said for all the others.
Present company… leaves something to be desired.
Alpha Waverly studies me closely with narrowed eyes. It’s the way she always looks at me, as if she’s sizing me up and thinking of how best to shave down my flaws.
I have my suspicions that Waverly thought she would be the next Luna Sovereign. Truth be told, her breeding would be better for it than mine. She’s been part of the Sovereign Pack all her life, so she knows the etiquette already. She proudly told me herself when I first arrived that her family had served generations of Luna Sovereigns, the matriarchs of the family always finding their mates among the few men of the pack. Meanwhile, I feel out of place here. I love history, and I seem to know more of it by heart than many of the shifters here, but I lack something that I can’t quite put my finger on.
Waverly sees it too. We both know I don’t deserve to be the next Luna Sovereign; I come with far too much baggage weighing me down. But no one ever dares question fate.
“I’ve been called away to handle an important matter with our Southern sisterhood.” Waverly finally tells me why she sought me out. She doesn’t do it often. I’m surprised to hear her mention a Southern sisterhood since I didn’t know any such thing existed. “Lydia will supervise your lessons this evening. You’ll be meeting with a member of Cupid’s Pack to learn about the prophecies of our ancestors. Their Luna is well versed in them.”
“I thought most of those prophecies were false?” Disproven generations ago if I’m not mistaken. I don’t understand how Waverly chooses what to make me study, from what I can tell she’s more interested in keeping me busy than letting me learn things that could actually be meaningful.
Waverly’s eyebrows knit closer together. I can tell it takes everything she has to hold her tongue with me. “We don’t know that the prophecies are false. Perhaps they’re… still in progress. Don’t question anything during your lessons. We have a tenuous relationship with Cupid’s Pack already. The last thing we need is you stirring up trouble.” I hate the stern tone she takes with me as if I’m an unruly child she’s disciplining.
She turns on her heel. I let her go without a word to defend myself. I learned my first week here that Alpha Waverly has no interest in who I was before I came here. As far as she’s concerned, I’m trouble she’s been saddled with.
I laugh softly to myself just thinking about it. No one has ever deemed me troublesome. I was the easiest of my three siblings. The perfect student. A model mate to Jimmy up until the bitter end.
I don’t think I’ve ever caused any trouble for anyone until Waverly, and it’s not like I came here by choice.
The Sovereign Pack whispered warnings to me in the middle of nowhere, calling out to me in such a way that I thought it was the spirits speaking to me. I was answering to a higher power, just not the one I expected.
Not a day has passed here where I don’t wake up feeling like a mistake was made. After all the years spent living in the shadow of my parents’ greatest sin, it seems odd now to be called up to serve as a beacon of light for all the packs that call North America their home. I’m not prepared to fill that role as I struggle with the weight of my grief. I wish I would have at least had more time to grieve for my mate before being brought here.
I don’t pretend to understand it, but the spirits could have chosen anyone—even Waverly—and they chose me.
That means no matter how melancholy I’ve felt being isolated here with an unfamiliar pack, it’s my duty to keep showing up for lessons. To learn everything a Luna Sovereign must know to serve our wolves. And hope that maybe this is a second chance for me to fill my heart with something other than grief.
* * *
My first thought when I lay eyes on the shifter sitting across from Lydia in the study is that he looks uncomfortable. Lydia, in contrast, physically relaxes as I step into the wood-paneled room. Her eyes brighten at the sight of me.
“There you are. I was worried maybe Alpha Waverly didn’t tell you to meet me after all.” She smiles sheepishly, showing off the small gap between her front teeth.
Lydia knows better than anyone that Waverly resents my presence here. She’s done everything she can to be my biggest cheerleader to make up for it. Lydia is the kindest shifter I’ve ever met, and if I was the one selecting a new Luna Sovereign, it would be her. With her dirty blonde hair in a neat braid and bright blue eyes that always seem filled with warmth, I can’t imagine anyone more comforting to lead the shifter community.
But it’s too late for that now. The announcement has already gone out.
Not for the first time, I wonder how Tess is handling my absence. Especially in light of this news. I know there are some shifters that daydream about being the Luna Sovereign when they’re younger, but Tess and I were never like them. We never craved notoriety, only stability.
After our parents left, things were chaotic at first as Tevin and I tried to settle into a routine of raising Tess and keeping the household afloat. Even now, there’s a pang in my chest when I remember how much we struggled those first few years trying to get it right.
At least my sister finally found her stability with her mate. I would have chosen someone quieter for her… an Alpha more like Callum, if I had a choice. But I won’t turn up my nose at the way Dominic loves my sister. He watches her so closely it’s like he can’t take his eyes off of her. He goes out of his way to touch her and not leave her side unless it’s necessary. He looks at Tess like she single-handedly hung the moon, love shining through his intense eyes.
It reminds me of the way Jimmy loves me.
Loved.
Past tense.
I jerk my chin down and force a smile when I realize Lydia and our guest are both waiting for me to say something while I’ve been lost in thought.
“Sorry, she let me know you would be taking over the lessons today, but I got caught up in the garden.” I offer a more genuine smile as I think about the way the back garden has flourished since I got here.
It was a little forgotten since it’s so close to the edge of the pack property line. The weeds were a pain the first few weeks, but I painstakingly pulled them all by hand, and now my little section of garden has started to bring the pack members out to admire it.
It’s been my only real source of pride since I showed up here. I second-guess a lot of things, but my green thumb isn’t one of them. I’m good at baking, too, but there hasn’t been much opportunity for that here.
Gardening is the only thing my mother really gave me that means anything to me—besides my siblings. I inherited that love from watching her maintain the yard of our childhood home. She treated the plants with so much love. Some days, I think I wanted to be those plants so she would give me half as much attention. I’m sure that explains why I took to gardening, desperate for my mother’s attention.
“Tasha really enjoys the gardens here,” Lydia explains unnecessarily. She seems uncomfortable with the male from Cupid’s Pack. “Tasha, meet Mason. He’s a… He’s from Cupid’s Pack.”
Mason stands up and offers me his hand, a wide smile spreading across his face. “I’m one of Luna Quinn’s mates. It confuses people that none of us have taken an Alpha title. It’s nice to finally meet you, Tasha.”
“You as well.” I take his offered hand, not at all put off by his words. I’ve heard the stories about Cupid’s Pack. Those that are supportive teasingly refer to Luna Quinn’s mates as Cupid’s Harem. I think it’s cute. It stirs a longing in my chest knowing that no matter what happens, she’ll never have to be alone. I envy that greatly.
He winks and turns to pull a chair out for me. If all of Quinn’s mates have manners like this, I especially don’t blame her for keeping all of them.
I slip into the chair and clasp my hands on top of the antique wood table. I can imagine this table’s been here for as long as the Sovereign Pack has claimed this land. All of the furniture here is like that. Dated, but well-loved so nothing is falling apart.
I kind of like the idea that the furniture has always been here. Witnessing the natural changes of time. Eavesdropping on the lives of the most enigmatic pack that exists in this country.
I’m sure there are people who would kill to hear this table talk. I turn my hands over and rest my palms on the dark, textured wood.
“Lydia, I hate to be a bother, but do you think I could get a cup of tea?” Mason’s nose wrinkles slightly as he says it, but Lydia doesn’t seem to notice as she jumps up with a sharp nod. I’m not sure why he would ask for tea when it’s obvious he doesn’t actually want it. It spikes my curiosity enough to not say anything.
“Of course! I’ll be right back.” She barely glances at me before fleeing the room in the direction of the kitchen.
My lips twitch with the oddity of her reaction. Then, Mason turns his body to more fully face mine, and I realize I somehow missed something very obvious.
Mason is devastatingly handsome.
With warm brown eyes and hair that falls almost boyishly over his forehead, he looks like he would be more at home on stage with a boy band than representing a shifter pack here for my Luna Sovereign lessons. Which probably explains Lydia’s reaction—as a member of the Sovereign Pack, she hasn’t been exposed to a lot of men, and surely to none as conventionally attractive as Mason.
He glances over as if making sure Lydia is out of hearing range and then lowers his voice. “I hate lying. I’m not here about prophecies. Those are Quinn’s thing, not mine. She would have been here today if she could, but it’s hard for her to travel without garnering too much attention.”
“Oh. That’s okay. The prophecies actually seem to be pretty popular around here, so I’m sure other people can help me study them. You didn’t have to come all this way. The fact that Quinn let Mason come in her place when he’s not familiar with the prophecies makes me think she sent him here purely out of curiosity. “ I’m not surprised Quinn would be curious to know more about me. She isn’t the first one to come fishing for details about me since the Luna Sovereign announcement, and I’m sure she won’t be the last.
Mason stands up and leans around the doorway to look the way Lydia disappeared. “Can you come with me?” he asks casually, as if he’s not a complete stranger and can be trusted implicitly.
“Where? I’m not supposed to leave the property without an escort.” An overbearing rule, but I would hate to deal with Waverly if she knew I broke it. Still, for some reason, his enthusiastic nature has me standing up like I’m really considering joining him.
“We won’t leave the property. Promise. But we have to go before your babysitter comes back or we’ll spook him.” He crooks his fingers at me, encouraging me to come along with him, even though he offers no other information about his intentions.
“Spook who?” I take a couple hesitant steps closer. I really shouldn’t go anywhere with him. The common sense part of me knows better, but my curiosity seems to be overruling the more sensible part of me.
“Trust me.” He does that winking thing again, which seems even cheesier the second time. Still, there’s something intrinsically likeable about the man.
I open my mouth, fully prepared to point out that I’m not exactly in a position to trust strangers. Instead, the words disappear into thin air as Mason grabs my elbow and spurs me forward alongside him.
Nervous energy flutters in my stomach as he leads me out of the Pack House. The sun is setting, and it won’t be long before the land is shrouded in darkness. The Sovereign Pack is old school. No street lights come on at night. No lights on the outside of houses. When the sun goes down, shifters either go hunting or go to bed.
“I’m really confused. What’s going on?” I ask as he leads me away from the center of the small pack town. I can’t imagine the Luna of Cupid’s Pack would send her own mate to do me any harm.
Mason doesn’t respond, which does nothing to quell my growing nerves.
My stomach lurches uneasily as we head closer and closer to the edge of Sovereign Pack territory. The pack lands here aren’t huge. The Sovereign Pack shifters are a small but fiercely protective group.
Mason finally answers me as we slow near the territory line. “My mate has a soft spot for the underdog stories. Try to keep an open mind, but if you need an out, the safe word is squash.”
“Safe word?” What the hell?
“Yeah, squash. As in, if all of this goes terribly wrong, Alpha Waverly will squash me like a fucking bug. No worries! I’ve got a safe word too. Quinn likes my pretty face too much to let Waverly destroy it.”
Mason draws us to a full stop mere inches from the boundary line. I pull my arm out of his grip and put some precious space between us. My heart pounds like mad in my chest.
Regardless of what Waverly thinks about me, I’m not a troublemaker. The rules have been clear since the day I arrived. The Luna Sovereign doesn’t leave the pack territory on her own.
“Hey, it’s okay. The boundary is right here. I’m not trying to make trouble for you, I promise.” Mason points down at the exact spot where the Sovereign Pack’s territory ends. That invisible line was drilled into me the day I arrived. I could find it with my eyes closed.
“Then what’s going on?” I’m already starting to turn, ready to bail on whatever this is. I have a bad feeling. The kinder members of the pack have been encouraging me to really trust my gut, and now seems like the perfect time to put that lesson into practice.
I’m already moving when Mason releases a sigh of relief and says, “Here he is.”
This is exasperating. “Who?” I’ve always been so patient, but as I whirl around to face him again, my patience is wearing thin.
A figure steps out from the shadow of the woods.
My heart leaps into my throat as a man walks into view, his mouth set in a grim line. I reel back several steps, keeping the distance between us as this new man steps forward.
I glance at Mason, expecting him to feel the same alarm that I’m feeling, but that’s ridiculous. He brought me here. He said him. He knew this guy was waiting out in the shadows like a creep.
I can smell the shifter on him, so I know he’s one of us, but otherwise there’s something about him that repels me.
He stops, his mouth turning down into a full-on snarl. I’m not sure why he’s the one that looks upset when I’m the one being ambushed. I shoot Mason an accusatory glare, and he turns toward me just in time to catch it.
“Hey, no. I think you’re getting the wrong idea here.” Mason holds his hands up, the universal sign for looking non-threatening. There’s something else, though. His eyes dart between the other shifter and I as if he’s expecting me to do anything besides flee. Maybe if he actually explained what’s going on…
“Where the fuck are you going?” The unfamiliar shifter—who still hasn’t been introduced properly—takes a few long strides until he’s standing just outside Sovereign Pack territory.
Mason grimaces. “Paxton—“
“Tasha?” The shifter, Paxton, tilts his head and narrows his eyes at me like he’s sizing me up.
“I’m not supposed to be here,” I say slowly, taking more steps backward. I’m not willing to risk putting my back to either of these shifters. If this Paxton character knows my name, it must be because the announcement is out there.
Best case scenario, these guys just wanted to lay eyes on the new Luna Sovereign for themselves. Worst case scenario…
I don’t want to think about the worst case scenario.
“Uh.” Mason gives Paxton a dirty look and then starts to follow my retreat. “Quinn thought you were the real deal.” His voice has lowered, and he suddenly doesn’t seem so boyish and charming. He also sounds awfully accusatory. Like maybe whatever Paxton is planning isn’t what Mason was planning.
This is giving me a headache. I should have stayed at the Pack House. I know better than this.
My wolf lets out a low whine, startling me so badly that I somehow lose my balance and start to fall. Paxton jerks as if he wants to leap toward me, but it’s Mason who closes the distance and catches my arm just before I fall.
I’ve had a hard time talking to my wolf since losing my mate. She’s there, but quiet. The fact that she’s whining for me now only makes me more certain that I’m flirting with danger out here. If I weren’t so scared, I would try to communicate with my wolf and see what exactly has prompted her to come back to me.
“Tasha.” Paxton barks out my name again. There’s something about the way he says my name, like he knows me, that heightens the sense of danger. I’m certain I’ve never met this man before in my life.
I suddenly remember what Mason said before Paxton showed up. “Squash!” And then, as if he somehow might not have heard me the first time, I shout, “Squash! Squash!”
Mason curses softly under his breath, but then true to his word, he hurries to lead me away. Away from the expectant stranger and back to the safety of the pack house.