These Broken Wings

twenty years later

Twenty Years Later

The sweet smell of lemonade and vanilla pulled RickyJo from her dreams. It mixed with the lingering fragrance of the sandalwood pillow mist she sprayed her sheets with when she made her bed the day before. She arched her back, stretching her muscles like a cat as she yawned herself awake.

The woman in her bed groaned in complaint, snuggling down deeper into the warm blankets. RickyJo smiled as she rolled herself onto her side. She tucked her longer and more muscular body in behind Laney’s petite form, wrapping her arm around the other woman. Sniffing and nuzzling noses were common gestures of affection between wolves. And RickyJo did both at once, running the tip of her nose up the back of Laney’s neck and burying her face into the other woman’s mass of dark curly hair. She breathed in deeply, her hand ghosting over the woman’s ribs to cup her breast. The two women didn’t share a mate bond. But the sweet citrus scent of Laney’s hair still added to her arousal.

“You’ll be late for training again,” Laney warned, her voice low and husky with desire. RickyJo pulled her small dark n****e into a hard point as she nipped at the sensitive spot behind her ear. When she pushed up onto her elbow, she glanced over at the clock on her bedside table.

“Oh s**t,” she hollered. “I am gonna be late!”

Laney clutched the blankets to her chest, cringing as RickyJo nearly beheaded her in her desperate scramble out of bed. She gathered her long blonde hair up into a sloppy bun on top of her head, revealing the long graceful line of her back and the tattoos she had inked there to hide her scars. Her ample chest made a regular bra under her sports bra a necessity. Once those were in place, she yanked on a pair of shorts.

“If you told your grandfather about us,” Laney suggested, “...maybe I could stay over in the packhouse and you wouldn’t have to run across the entire territory to get to the training grounds.” RickyJo huffed as she yanked her socks on and shoved her feet into her running shoes.

“He already knows. He just doesn’t approve,” RickyJo said, glancing at the woman in her bed. Not only did they already have this discussion at least a dozen times. She also already tried talking to her grandfather about the matter. And he let RickyJo know, not only as her grandfather but also as her alpha, that the only way she would be moving her lesbian lover into the packhouse was over his dead body. He barely tolerated their little tryst as it was. RickyJo tightened her laces. Then she leaned over the bed and pressed her lips to Laney’s.

“Dinner tonight?,” she asked.

“I’ll be having dinner later, but you won’t be there,” Laney said with a giggle. “You’ve got that visiting alpha pack treaty thing tonight.” RickyJo groaned, rolling her eyes so far back into her head that Laney was sure the woman could see her own brain.

“Maybe tomorrow then?,” she asked.

“Maybe,” Laney replied, blowing her a kiss as she rushed out the door.

RickyJo was already sprinting by the time her feet hit the grass in front of her cabin. She loved to run. And she was by far the fastest in the pack, both in wolf and human form. The wind whipped past her as she rushed across the territory, jumping over small obstacles and breathing in the smell of the dew on the grass.

I can’t wait to kick some ass today!

“Good morning Jade,” RickyJo said. “Done pouting?” She smiled as she heard her wolf grumble and growl in the back of her mind. Jade didn’t exactly approve of her choice of bed partner, to put it mildly. So when RickyJo and Laney were together, Jade put a mental block up between them.

Wolves don’t pout!

“You coulda fooled me,” RickyJo teased. She could picture Jade in her mind, forelegs on the ground with her tail wagging in the air. She was ready to pounce. RickyJo smiled, wondering what had her lycan counterpart in such a playful mood.

“You’re late!,” Wyatt announced, favoring RickyJo with an evil grin. She thought about arguing. People were still falling into formation for their warm up stretch. So she wasn’t really late. But that would only dig her into deeper trouble.

“Sorry Beta Wyatt!,” she said, offering him her best and prettiest and most apologetic smile.

“You’re going to have to run in the back of the pack today,” he told her. RickyJo groaned loudly, earning her laughs from a few of the warrior wolves around her. She smoked the pack during their daily run. Sometimes she even lapped the younger wolves. If there was one thing RickyJo hated, just absolutely hated, it was having to check her speed and stay behind the pack. She was an alpha wolf by blood. Born to lead regardless of her gender.

You’re a total d**k! I hope you step in wolfshit!

She linked the insult telepathically to Wyatt, not wanting to disrespect her friend in front of his warriors. Wyatt barked out a laugh and tried to turn it into a cough. RickyJo bent forward, stretching her calves as silent laughter shook her body.

After our morning run, it's gonna be me and you in the ring smartass.

RickyJo giggled some more, laughing at Wyatt’s threat and looking forward to the total asskicking she was about to give him. She sat down and spread her legs into a split, leaning forward and pressing her forearms to the ground. When she turned to stretch to her left, RickyJo noticed one of the younger wolves next to her. He was staring at her with his mouth just about hanging open, nearly drooling. She wasn’t sure if he was looking at her tattoos, her breasts, or just staring at her in general because she was the alpha’s granddaughter and one of their only female warriors. But either way, she didn’t like it. RickyJo let Jade push slightly forward in her mind. Her eyes glowed a brighter green and she issued a low warning growl from deep in her throat. The young man quickly averted his eyes, looking down and baring his neck in submission. She tried not to laugh as she turned her attention back to her stretches. Most male wolves weren’t used to being cowed by a more powerful female. RickyJo rather enjoyed the little look of shock they got in their eyes the first time she put them in their place. And for most, it was the first and last time. Not many were brave enough to challenge her a second time. Those that did, got more than a warning growl when she turned Jade loose on them.

RickyJo stepped into the ring. Her feet were bare. Her hands were taped. The required mouth guard was between her teeth. And she was full of pent up aggression from having to check her speed and her wolf during their entire ten mile run. Her keen eyes scanned over her opponent. Wyatt was only a few inches taller than her. RickyJo was tall for a female wolf. And he was on the shorter side for a male. But despite the only slight difference in height, he outweighed her by at least fifty pounds. His shoulders were broad and his arms were well defined. He was bigger and more muscular. But she was faster. It was a good matchup despite the weight difference.

RickyJo shifted her weight from one foot to the other as they slowly started to circle each other. She and Wyatt had been wrestling each other since they were pups. They knew all of each other’s best moves. That’s what made it more interesting for them to spar each other.

Wyaty juked to his left, moving in and swinging with his right. RickyJo blocked him, delivering a hard punch to his side. She was surprised she was able to make contact with him so easily. It wasn’t until she was pulling back that she realized he let her get that hit in so that he could ram his elbow into the side of her face. Her head rocketed to the side and she flopped down hard onto her back when he swept her legs out from under her. He brought his foot down to stomp on her. But all he got was the bare dirt of the pit. She had already somersaulted backwards and leapt to her feet. He turned, lifting his arms to block the attack that he was sure was coming. But it was already too late. RickyJo swung her leg, roundhouse kicking him. She sent him flying backwards onto the ground. He rolled quickly out of the way of her next kick. But instead of getting up, he rolled back in her direction. He aimed for her leg, punching the back of her knee and pulling her to the ground with him. Once he got on top of her, the fight was over. RickyJo tapped out and they both laughed as the wolves around them cheered and clapped for Wyatt.

Wyatt helped her up off the ground and swiped his shaggy dark hair out of his eyes. They shook hands and Wyatt called the next pair into the ring while he and RickyJo walked slightly away from the circle to get a drink of water. They were in the middle of some friendly banter when RickyJo heard her grandfather calling her.

“Hey Poppa!,” she exclaimed, rushing over to give him a big sweaty hug. Wyatt greeted the man more formally, nodding his head and calling him Alpha King. He was new to the ranked position of Beta and wasn’t sure if he would ever be able to think of the much older man as his colleague instead of a father figure and his superior.

“The pack is looking good,” the man said, nodding his head at the new recruits. “Looks like the new training regimen is paying off.” Wyatt nodded, his chest swelling up with pride.

“Thank you Alpha,” he said. Alpha Augustus King smiled at the young man before turning his attention back to his granddaughter.

“Don’t you think you ought to be up at the house getting ready?,” he asked her. It was clear that he thought RickyJo ought to be getting herself ready. Regardless of her opinion on the matter.

“Getting ready for what?,” she groaned. Her grandfather fixed his steely eyes on her. She knew very well for what. They had a very important visit today. He was meeting with the alpha of The Silver Mountain pack. He knew the man well, years ago. Alpha Blane was friends with Augustus’s son Andrew. But since his luna died all those years ago, Alpha Blane had developed quite a reputation for being ruthless. He would not take kindly to being disrespected, even by the father of his old friend. And not only that, he just took over the smaller pack that used to occupy the land to the north of Blood Moon territory. The Silver Mountain pack just became their new neighbors.

“Right this minute,” Augustus ordered, pointing his wayward granddaughter towards the packhouse. Her grandmother laid out a dress for her to wear. And he could only hope that she would cooperate and put the stupid thing on.

“I’m going,” she huffed. Her grandfather smiled after her as she took off at a full run towards the packhouse. RickyJo would always be his wild girl. And only the goddess herself could help the man that got it in his mind to chase her.

Alpha Augustus got the link from his warriors that his visitors were pulling in through his gates when his granddaughter finally emerged from the house and took her place to his left. His Luna was standing to his right. And his other granddaughter, Jessica, was positioned to her right. Both women were dressed in formal gowns. Like the one that he knew was laid out on RickyJo’s bed upstairs. Instead of putting it on, she was dressed in a pair of crisp wide-leg white dress pants and a white jacket. As a shirt, she was wearing a tight black men’s formal vest. The vest displayed a sliver of her toned tan stomach and put her ample cleavage on display. Though she wasn’t wearing the dress he requested, she did cut quite the striking image. Her long blonde hair was curled into loose waves that fell down around her face, hanging nearly to her waist.

“What happened to the dress your grandmother laid out for you?,” he asked, grumbling under his breath. She gave him a wicked little grin.

“I don’t see you wearing one,” she hissed back. Augustus shook his head at her, trying his best not to laugh at her antics. He glanced curiously at her, noticing that her face turned serious once the convoy of armored cars pulled into view.

RickyJo shifted her weight from one foot to the other, sniffing nervously at the air. Something inside those cars smelled really good. Like better than good. She had to lift her hand to her mouth and use the back of it to wipe off the drool. Jade was running wild circles in her head.

The cars stopped. A bunch of muscle men in black jeans and t-shirts got out first. But the smell wasn’t coming from any of them. RickyJo edged forward, the scent hitting her like a tidal wave when one of the guards opened the back door of the middle car. A man stepped out. He wasn’t as old as her grandfather. But he was much older than her. Maybe old enough to be her father. He stood about six-four, a little larger than average height for a wolf. His head was shaved and there was gray hair mixed in with the lighter brown hair of his goatee. Like his guards, he was also dressed in black. But he was wearing a suit. Black pants and jacket with a black shirt that was unbuttoned just far enough to reveal a tiny sliver of his toned chest. He had on a pair of tinted sunglasses, but they didn’t hide the long jagged scar that ran down the length of his face. And the left hand sleeve of his jacket ended in a stump where his hand ought to be. RickyJo heard stories about Dixon Blane before. The most popular one was that he gnawed his own paw off in wolf form to try and save his Luna. She always assumed the stories were just over fabricated rumors. But now she wasn’t so sure. He was clearly missing a hand. Like the stories said he would be.

RickyJo was breathing fast and hard. The smell of him was overwhelming her completely. He smelled like sandalwood and fresh orange peel and all her other favorite things. The world around her started to spin. Somewhere in her mind, she heard her grandfather when he stepped forward and offered the other Alpha a formal greeting. But Alpha Blane ignored him completely, pulling the tinted glasses off his face. He was focused entirely on RickyJo. Just having him look at her gave her a funny feeling in the bottom of her stomach. But her desire was tempered with fear. And the more the man looked at her, the more terrified she became. Flashes of her childhood trauma came flickering back. Blood splashing across the feet of her yellow onesie pajamas. The sound of her mother screaming when that man climbed on top of her. And RickyJo knew this man would probably want to climb on top of her. She was a well trained fighter. But he was an alpha and much bigger than her. He could force himself on her if he wanted to. RickyJo took a step back. Jade was whining painfully in her mind. Mate. Mate won’t hurt us. I want our mate. Please!

“Jade,” RickyJo linked back, her hands shaking and her heart racing wildly. “I’m scared! He wants to bite me. He’ll hurt me!”

RickyJo took another step back, keeping her eyes on the man that was now walking past her grandfather and his outstretched hand to approach her. The glowing green of Jade’s eyes was an unusual color for a wolf. Most of their eyes either turned gold or black when their wolves came through. And RickyJo could see Dixon Blane’s were the latter. Because his eyes went as black as his fancy suit when he breathed in her scent.

“Mine,” he growled, his wolf speaking up to claim her verbally. RickyJo heard a few shocked gasps from both her family and his guards. And she heard her grandfather cursing under his breath. She shook her head. No! This can’t be happening, she thought. The man took another step towards her. RickyJo took another step back, kicking off her heels. She could hear her cousin Jessica telling her not to run. Telling her that it was alright and not to be scared. But all she could think about was the pain. The horrible burning pain when that man held her down and put his cigarette out on her back. It was only a small discomfort compared to what he did next.

“NO!,” she screamed, her voice turning into a long mournful howl as Jade’s pain mixed with her fear. She took one more look at her mate before she turned on her heel and ran.