Soul Mate by Roxie Ray
Liv
We arrived only a few minutes after Corin indicated we should show up for dinner, but I could hear all the murmuring long before we got to the clearing. The training ground had been transformed for this makeshift event, with tables set up and a wide array of chairs in all shapes and sizes. Just as the witch had said, there were three pits; I didn’t need to get any closer to know she was roasting meat. I didn’t even need to be a shifter to know that! My stomach growled and I bumped a shoulder into Cal’s, wiggling my brows. All of my reservations aside, at least we were going to be fed well.
Corin was an amazing cook. I was starting to wonder why she wasted her time with other supernaturals at all; as far as I was concerned, that woman could have been a chef at any of the best restaurants around the Boston Metro area.
Looking around the gathering, I only recognized a few faces. I recognized Erik where he towered over Corin, pointing at something she was cooking. I saw Danny in an animated conversation with a woman; I assumed she was a member of his rogue network, because she couldn’t have been a pack alpha. The thought made me furrow my brow; if I was an alpha — and unless Cal had gotten very good at acting in order to fake any alpha power in the span of a month, I was — I wasn’t sure why other females couldn’t be.
Unfortunately, that wasn’t the most pressing issue we had to deal with. There was the problem of Ben, and more than that, there was the Unseelie Court and Queen Amira. If she wanted to use the wolves just to create hybrids, and I was pretty confident that was her current plan of action, it was a problem that was going to affect all of us. I had to deal with that first.
We had to deal with that first.
While I was grateful not to have to tackle this on my own, the idea of actually getting all these individuals (and the packs they represented) to work together made my heart drop into my stomach. The last time I had to do any sort of public speaking was in English 10 back in high school. I hadn’t taken it very seriously at the time…I regretted that nonchalance now.
As we walked further into the clearing, I became increasingly aware of the hush falling over the others. Some of them kept whispering. Others fell silent altogether, glittering eyes tracking each step I took. It was like being in the Unseelie Court all over again, but somehow worse; I knew I was an outsider there. I knew I was some strange phenomenon.
I’d been a wolf my whole life. I’d always been part of a pack; even if I didn’t get along with every single individual, I never had a shortage of friends, or admirers. These weren’t looks of admiration, though. I felt like I was being judged. Assessed. The sensation made my skin crawl, and I had to fight the urge to shake it off like my wolf might shake off the rain on her pelt. Cal gave me a curious look so I lifted my chin a little further. I was an alpha, right?
Right. I couldn’t be scared off with a few weird looks.
“Corin! Erik!” I called, lifting a hand to wave. I fit in here. I belonged here, just as much as anyone else. I wasn’t going to let them make me feel otherwise — I simply couldn’t afford it.
Less than an hour later,the meal was ready. It was a serve yourself sort of affair, so once Cal and I had put food (or heaped food, in his case) on our plates, we made our way to the largest table. Maren was already setting there, joined by Corin and Erik.
“I bet you’re glad to be off your feet,” I said to the witch, offering a little smile. “Aren’t you going to get something to eat?”
She laughed and shook her head, still sipping at a cup of water. “I’ve been nibbling and tasting things all day. The only thing I want right now is a stiff drink and a long nap.”
“Not me,” Erik said, digging into his dinner already. “This is so good, I could eat a whole doe all by myself.”
Corin swatted at him, shaking her head. “The venison is for everybody, pal. If you ruin my dinner…”
I shook my head, zoning out a bit as Cal barked a laugh and joined in the friendly teasing. I was glad he was getting along with at least some of the other wolves, but that gentle relief couldn’t shield me from the looks I was still getting. I had hoped that a meal would be enough to distract most, if not all, the curious faces, but I was unfortunately mistaken. If anything, it was worse. No one was expected to talk while they ate, and I kept catching glances being thrown in my direction.
Some were curious. Some were wary. Some were outright judgmental.
My wolf stirred under my skin, growling softly in response to the clear disrespect. These shifters were almost all complete strangers, but that didn’t make us any less alpha. I struggled for a moment. Should I just ignore them? Show them it didn’t matter? Should I address it? Would that make things better, or worse?
During all this waffling, my wolf growled again, more insistent this time. Her opinion on the matter was clear; I had to inhale deeply, but then I was on my feet. I stepped onto my chair first, and then I stood on the table, ignoring Maren’s gentle hiss and Erik’s surprised yelp.
“I don’t think we’ve met,” I called to the gathering; the power in my own voice surprised me. It wasn’t deep; that wasn’t quite right. Perhaps the quality could have been called brassy; it was something inherently different, and it wasn’t just because I was being loud. The other wolves had fallen silent the moment I stood up. Even the forest surrounding the training grounds seemed to take the hint.
“My name is Olivia Burns, daughter of Bridgehaven Alpha, Jeffrey Burns. To his old friends and allies, I welcome you. To those who have come simply because they felt it was the right thing to do, I welcome you, too. I’m glad to have you all here.”
I paused for a moment, taking a quick look around. All eyes were on me. Plates were being ignored. I began to walk the length of the long wooden table. “Now, I’m sure you’ve heard all sorts of things by now. Half-wolf, half-fae. Female alpha. Faerie magic. Queen’s daughter. I assure you, these things are all true.” I paused again, giving that thought a moment to sink in. Maybe I wasn’t as bad at public speaking as I had thought.
As I turned, one of the wolves reached out to grab my boot; I wasn’t sure why. It didn’t matter. I snarled instinctively, lip curled upwards as my eyes blazed. “Do not,” I growled. I sounded like thunder. The hand jerked backwards as if my very words had burned skin, and if there had been any doubt that I could exert alpha power…well. Perhaps I should have thanked the asshole.
I paced back down the table. “Now! My dear friend Corin has made this delicious meal, and it would be a shame for it to all go to waste. Please, eat! I’m happy to answer any questions you might have.”
There was a long pause, but then the clink of silverware on plates resumes. Mugs were picked up and placed back down. There was a low murmur of mealtime, and I was able to exhale. Some of those piercing looks had been refocused; for some of these wolves, simply making myself known was enough.
But not for all of them. Some of these shifters still had questions.
I could see Cal studying me intently out of the corner of my eye, his shoulders hunched. He looked ready to spring, but he was keeping it together. I was glad Maren was on his other side; the two of them were like my personal pair of consciences. One always said “do!” without a second thought, and one always said “wait!” so we could think things over three or four times. My mate and my best friend leveled each other out…or I hoped they did, anyways.
“I have a question.”
I looked over to see an older man raising a weathered hand. His shoulders were hunched, and his tawny hair was littered with stray grays. He didn’t look like much, but I could sense the power in that individual. Neat trick, I thought. I nodded to him. “Go ahead.”
He cleared his throat. “Prophecy says you’re a queen too, ma’am. That true?”
“First of all, you can call me Liv. Just Liv.” No ma’am, no miss, and certainly not Ms. or Mrs. Burns. (That was Lisa, thank you very much, and I wanted no part of that.) “And…yes and no. My mother is the Queen of the Unseelie Court, and that is a problem I plan on tackling once we sort out the problem with the Bridgehaven pack. So, not yet.” I answered, trying to be as honest as possible.
“Do you want to be Unseelie Queen?” he asked. His dark eyes were fixed on me, almost eerie in his focus. I had no idea what answer this man wanted…or what any of the other wolves wanted to hear, for that matter. The only answer I could give was the honest one. “I don’t know. What I do know is that Amira should not be the queen; she’s dangerous for fae and for all other supernaturals, and we need to do something about that before anything else. I’m a princess, technically, but she did declare other heirs, and I have no desire cause any additional bloodshed.” A queen was expected to live forever, given her immortality, but Storm had been her heir anyways. I assumed there were political purposes behind that, but the point remained; I actually liked Maren’s brother (my cousin, I reminded myself, they were my cousins), and I’d be willing to work with him.
Thankfully, the answer seemed to sit right with the older alpha. He thanked me and returned to his dinner. Another wolf spoke up. “Are you going to take over the Bridgehaven pack as its alpha?”
This wolf seemed to be about the same age as my father — or the age he would have been, anyway. This answer came much easier. “Yes,” I said, nodding. “I am the rightful alpha. I will take over the pack when we depose Ben.”
“And what do you plan on doing with him?”
I frowned. “He must be stopped. If we can do that without taking his life, then that will be vastly preferable. If we do manage that, then he will be made to answer for his crimes. The wolves he’s harmed will be given a chance to speak their grievances.”
There were a few murmurs from the tables, several wolves leaning in to whisper to one another. I couldn’t eavesdrop on all the conversations at once. Danny looked up then and met my eye, giving me a small nod. I didn’t know Cal’s best friend particularly well, having only met him a few times in person, but it still planted a seed of warmth to know he liked my answer.
A third wolf cleared her throat. When I nodded to her, she spoke. “Are you going to support other female alphas?” she asked, her jaw set.
“Of course I am.” I didn’t even have to think about that one. “If they have alpha powers and the ability to lead a pack, I see no reason why not.” Not all alphas led a pack. Some of them just weren’t that strong, and some of them were just bad at leading others. If a woman could do both those things, though, I didn’t see why she couldn’t do it. If this prophecy or whatever was what it took for that to happen, I was all for it.
There were a few more murmurs this time, but that didn’t surprise me. No matter what change was made, there was always someone who wanted things ‘the way they used to be.’ I’d bet some of these wolves weren’t even ready to accept me as an alpha, or as a hybrid — or working with witches, or vampires, or fae.
I shook the thought off. A young-looking alpha raised his hand and I pointed to him, ready to answer his question next.
It wasat least two hours later when dinner finally ended and wolves started shuffling off to where they were sleeping while they stayed at the institute. I had gotten off the table ages ago, but there had been so many questions, I hadn’t really been able to eat. It was fine. I was glad to be able answer so many questions, but now that everything was winding down and some of the adrenaline was leaving my veins, I felt absolutely exhausted.
I leaned my head against Cal’s shoulder and exhaled, watching blankly as Corin and a few fae I didn’t recognize picked up dishes and chairs. By tomorrow morning, I was sure this would be the training ground again, and there would be no evidence of the makeshift feast. “Wow,” I said, aimless.
Cal wrapped his arm around me, rubbing my shoulder. “You did a good job,” he tried to assure me, pressing a kiss to the top of my head. “No one will doubt you’re an alpha now.”
“Doesn’t mean they’ll like it — or accept it,” I sighed, not moving from my spot. “I think I won at least a few of them over, though.” More than a few.
I had at least four different meetings to go to with alphas tomorrow; some one-on-one, others with a group of alphas, or alphas and their best wolves. It was good. It was progress. But it was also tiring. At most, I remembered my father leading pack runs or alpha meetings; but then, there had been no existential crisis facing werewolves, either. He hadn’t needed to do this sort of planning.
I guess he wasn’t the Queen — or King — of the Packs, either. I sighed and melted against Cal’s warmth a little closer. “It could have gone worse,” I finally decided.
My mate snorted. “It could have gone way worse, Liv. Give yourself some credit.”
I knew he was right, but it was hard. Leading anyone, much less most wolves, was way out of my wheelhouse. I just shrugged and finally straightened myself, stretching. “Well, we have lots to do tomorrow, don’t we? We should head back.”
Cal stood, and offered me a hand up. “After you, Alpha.” I smiled up at him, leaning in to kiss his cheek. Even if I didn’t entirely feel it, hearing him say it made my heart flutter.
