Watercolor Girl

19

Lev

I really hadn’t expected Rea to make it so easy. But I also knew that she wouldn’t tolerate an unknown outcome when it came to Evie. I had expected at the least a fight when I gave yet another immediate move date of now. Evie was angry and she had every right to be. I knew if I’d told her what my plan was she’d nix it post haste. I think the idea of Rea being so close pleased her, but not like this. The money would be hard to refuse, that amount in her world would be hard to pass up for anyone and as much as I would like to think that helped, I don’t think it did. I think Rea was agreeing so willingly strictly because of Evie and the relationship they had. I had many, many questions for Rea, but that would come later, right now I was struggling to get her equipment loaded up and tied down, paying attention to very little else. I had just gotten her table loaded and was doing my best to maneuver it to a position allowing the most space for other things she would be bringing when a shock tore through my side and I could suddenly smell it. Wolf. Why I hadn’t I smelled it before? I looked over and he was coming back at me, full speed, Til emerged, and it was like watching something in slow motion. I hadn’t had much time to explore the differences that taken hold when Nox and Til mated, but it was clear that my eyesight had vastly improved. I could see muscles tense, it made predicting his movement easy, my eyes picked up the slightest ripple and quiver. His claws had dug into my side and I could feel the warmth of blood dripping, I dodged him easily, my brain moving through my options rapidly, but not rapidly enough, not even close, before he could turn around to make another desperate pass Evie had him, I had heard nothing and I didn’t notice her until she made hard contact with him, her fangs meeting the vulnerable space on his neck with a precision so perfect it felt like art. And this was Evie, it wasn’t Nox. Her deep eyes angry and fixed. She didn’t crush and she didn’t tear, she held him there, his body flipping flopping around desperately attempting to shake her grip loose, but she was having none of it. I could see her fangs indent just a little more as he swiped at her with attempting to make contact and dislodge her from him, she relented not even a little.

“Kill him or keep him?” Floated through my head. I kneeled by the restrained wolf reaching into his mind and searching, there were two, he and his wolf.

“ shift and be heard, continue to fight and she’ll kill you.” His eyes got wide, really wide. Normally linkage only works with wolves mated or in the same pack. We have no power to link Rogues or members of other packs, but Evie did, and because Evie did, so did I, we had the ability to reach into anything with a linkage path, the person or the wolf.

“I’ll shift, but tell her to let me go.”

“Try again. You have 3 seconds.” He immediately began to change, Evie backed up spinning in a circle, before she sat poised to attack if he was foolish enough to try and run from her. She really didn’t like watching the process of the shift.

He was young, maybe in his early 20s or very late teens, he sat on the ground, naked and wide eyed moving his sight from Evie to me rapidly. Obvious fear existed there and I almost felt bad but the sharp pain radiating through my side overtook my pity. Evie growled and he looked like he was about to run out of his skin, shaking with his knees pulled to his chest.

“Why?!” I snarled at him. Catching Rea standing on her porch out of the corner of my eye. She held a shotgun at the ready, not the best for a distance shot, especially with Evie and I in close proximity but somehow I think it was more of a support gesture then an actual offer to use it, knowing Rea as little as I did, I could only assume whatever she had loaded would do damage to us all.

“I don’t know. I’m just a Soldier, they don’t give me any information.”

“Who’s they?!”

“I don’t even really know.” I looked at Evie, her eyes hard on him.

“You’re proving more useless then is good for you. Mate.” Evie made a move

“No, no, no, I have a mate I have a pup!! They have them. There’s more of them, I can tell you where they are.”

“REA, you got a chain I can borrow?” Rea shouldered her shottie, walking to the side of her house and coming back with a rusty thick chain I couldn’t imagine why she had at all, muzzle trained on this kid, she handed me the chain and a padlock, knowing well apparently why I’d asked. I wrapped it around his neck and locked it, a pain existed in Evie’s eyes and I thought hard about her experience being collar locked.

“I surrender, I won’t fight you anymore. On my life and the life of my family.” Evie trotted off, coming back buttoning her pants, his eyes followed her I’m sure trying to figure out how the wolf that grounded him came from her.

“You’re being apprehended and will be interrogated at our pack prison. You won’t beat her off the jump regardless of the head start you think you have. So I advise you don’t try.”

“I won’t.” He was compliant, Evie dug in the truck for a second producing a pair of shorts and handing them to him, which he graciously accepted from her. “Thank you m’am.” She came to my side pulling up my shirt and inspecting my gashes. Looking back to him and growling a deep, throaty, angry growl.

Rea had a backpack, a single backpack.

“Just gotta lock up and take my sign down, cowboy, gimme 2 minutes.”

“We’ll grab your sign on the way out.” She shrugged reaching up into one of the shudders and producing the tell tale clink of keys, locking up her dark shop. Taking a long look before turning and walking towards the truck.

Evie

Lev’s wound was minor compared to what it could have been. He’d taken 3 claws to his rib area, but this one wasn’t trying to kill him or he easily could have. He was marked, I believed his family story. He didn’t seem much of a Soldier as he called himself. If he was he was poorly trained. One good shot should be fatal, he had barely wounded. I reached out to him as we drove the 40 minutes back to the territory, although I believe we would make it much quicker, Lev was not minding posted speed limits remotely.

“Why here? Why a tattoo shop in the middle of nowhere?”

“We have been watching the shop for months, m’am. All I’ve been told is that the greatest threat to our operation frequents there and we were told to attack on sight if any wolves showed up.”

“What about civilian casualties?”

“Do what we must to neutralize the threat.”

“What information were you given about the threat.”

“Not much really, just that it was a wolf and that it would be big. When I saw your mate, I thought that must be it. I’m sorry for my actions, m’am. I didn’t mean to harm him. My family.”

“I understand. Have you harmed any other wolves since you starting watching the shop?” A pause and a hesitation that could be felt even through the link.

“Yes m’am.”

“How many?”

“Four in total, but each time we were told they weren’t the one.” His pain and shame was evident.

“How is it possible that you follow a cause so blindly you seem to know nothing about?”

“My mate and I were cast out of our pack. We were fated, but our Alpha had rejected his fated mated and selected mine as the strongest candidate for his Luna. He turned us both out when he found out that we had mated and marked each other against his commands. We found what we thought to be another pack that accepted us easily, but what it appeared to be on the outside is not what it is on the inside. It’s a militant camp forcing loyalty as they have with me. Separating families and threatening harm to my loved ones. My failures will most likely cost them their lives.” His last statement softened my anger minimally. It was heartfelt and filled with sorrow so tangible I felt like I could hold it.

“Can you link your mate?”

“No m’am. They wield the flower against us readily. All of the separated families lose contact and communication with their families, our contact is controlled. For all I know, mine is already dead. I wouldn’t be able to feel it.”

“Would you be willing to swear your loyalty to our pack?”

“In an instant m’am. Whatever your mate is, he seems to be the only thing they fear.” I pondered the information he gave to me so easily. It wasn’t Lev they wanted, he had no ties to Rea’s prior to me, the dead wolves were because of me. This wolf’s jeopardized mate and pup was my fault, along with however many others there were. What was this? What could possibly be the reason for any of this?

“Lev, make sure they don’t hurt him. He’s peaceful. He’s just trying to protect his family.” His arm came around my shoulder and his lips found the top of my head.

“Yes, mate.” We drove the remainder in silence. Rea gripping my leg with tight knuckles, occasionally letting go to smoke a cigarette before her hand would come back to my leg, holding onto the only familiar thing in her life at the moment.

Ciaran

“Alpha. There was a minor attack at the home of our consultant. The attacker was not harmed and only presented minimal damage in his initial strike. We are 15 minutes from the main gate with both our consultant and our prisoner. Please advise on priority.” An attack?! They already had their consultant in tow?! A prisoner?! These two were efficient that was for sure. Lev seemed to have a power to to convince people to do as he wished them to do.

“The prison. I’ll meet you there.”

“Alpha. He’s peaceful now. His family is being held.”

“Who did he attack.”

“Me.”

“We can’t allow him to break the laws of our pack and he did if he injured you.”

“He didn’t injure me.” I knew he was lying. But I also understood that Lev wasn’t black and white in the way he viewed things. To me, a law was broken and punishment would be as described, in this instance, to Lev, it wasn’t so simple. It was dark now, so I’m sure there would be few eyes on myself and the beta as we handled what needed to be handled right now. Additionally I was rabid to meet whomever their top secret consultant was. I hopped in my jeep, headed to the prison to await their arrival.

When I got there they were somehow already there. Lev must have been flying. They stood just inside the doors, out of sight in the event any member of the pack may be around to look. When I walked in Anjie moved in front of the prisoner, who was really just a pup, or so it looked. Wide eyed and afraid. He was simply standing, behind her, he nodded his respects but didn’t raise his head back. His sign of submission.

“What’s your name?”

“Taylor Ryder, Alpha.”

“What is your pack?”

“I am previously of the Blood Ocean pack, but my mate and I were cast out about a year ago.”

“That doesn’t answer my question, what is your current pack?”

“I’m not sure that it’s actually a pack, Alpha, it doesn’t operate entirely like a pack. If there is a name I don’t know it.”

“Did you swear your loyalty to it?”

“Yes, Alpha, but to the cause, not to the pack.”

“What is the cause?”

“Simply the cause. We weren’t given any information. We were told to denounce our loyalty to the Blood Ocean pack, and to swear our loyalty to ‘the cause’ and that is it.”

“Who is in charge of this pack? It’s alpha? Or beta?”

“I am sorry, Alpha, I don’t know. I was initiated, and sent out as a Soldier, I never met or was introduced to whomever is in charge of the pack. The only wolf I met was a wolf by the name of Stev. He organized the Soldiers and handed out the missions. From where those came down, I do not know.”

Lev and Anjie tensed in unison.

“Stev? Or Steve?” Lev asked him.

“Stev, sir. I made the mistake of calling him Steve. He made it quite clear, it was Stev.”

“Knuckle to jaw. You’ll remember next time for sure.” Taylor looked up at Lev again wide eyed.

“Yes, Sir. That’s what he said.” Lev and Anjie’s eyes confessed horror.

“It’s Beta, he is our beta, not sir.” Horror this time crossed our prisoner’s eyes and a tear fell.

“Beta. The beta.” His eyes moved to the distinct wound I hadn’t noticed before on Lev’s side. I grunted pointing at it.

“It’s nothing Alpha. Acquired it from my mate. She’s a feisty one.” My eyebrows raised but Lev offered nothing else. Taylor’s eyes screamed gratitude. This wasn’t a bad wolf. But what to do with him and all of his information. He answered almost as if he could read my mind.

“Alpha, I request that after any sentence I may be issued, I be allowed to swear my loyalty to your pack. If I am incarcerated throughout the duration of this war, I would still owe my loyalty to this pack for you efforts in retrieving my family. Although I would appreciate the opportunity to fight with you.”

Two of our guards had come to retrieve him, as is customary.

“When was the last time you ate?”

“I’ve hunted while observing the home, Alpha.”

“Get him a meal, a shower, and clothes. Max ward, for his safety. Interrogate him again in the morning.”

“Of course, Alpha.” In unison from the guards. As they took his arms he looked to Lev and Anjie, and I’m certain he would have sworn his loyalty and life to them right this immediate minute had he been given the opportunity.

“Thank you, Beta, m’am, for your restraint and graciousness through my acts of indiscretion against you, your pack, and your mate. Alpha, thank you for allowing me the opportunity to explain my actions to you.” He walked easily with the guards willing accepting whatever was to come. Lev looked at me rage and a sense of fear erupting.

“My office, please.” He said getting to the truck where a small woman sat between them. I had forgotten about the human. I watched Lev peel out towards the pack house, taking my time. It was a talk I didn’t want to have.

Evie

Rea looked confused, Lev and I both sending out straight rage vibes.

“We’ll get you set up, Rea. Have you put any thought into where you want to stay?”

“Seems like a hooting party staying with you two. At least I know it won’t be boring.” I was glad. I liked Rea being close to me. Despite her frailty as a human, she made me feel stronger when she was around, but then I suppose support will do that.

“I’ll help you bring your things up.”

“Patrick and a few of the patrol for tonight will be waiting to carry in the world’s heaviest toolbox and everything else.” Lev chimed in, his words short and curt.

“It’s be a whole lot lighter if you took the weights outta the bottom drawer, Cowboy, and why’s your alpha so damn tiny? He looks like a micro machine compared to you.” Lev looked at Rea almost disgusted.

“There’s weights in the bottom?”

“Almost 100 pounds in that bottom drawer all by itself.”

“And you’re telling me now?”

“Well you didn’t give me much time to get nothing done with your brawling in my parking lot and telling me I gotta leave now.” She Mimicked his voice and I couldn’t stifle my laugh.

“I don’t sound like that.” Lev grumbled, and Rea and I burst into uncontrollable and much needed laughter. He looked over at us both.

“What have I done to myself?” And our laughter renewed. I am so glad Rea is here.

Lev had already had a bed placed in one of our now less sad rooms for Rea, as he had said Patrick and three of the patrol were there waiting to bring her belongings up. Rea asked her tattoo equipment be placed in a room separate from her bed if we didn’t mind. Neither of us did. That’s 2 less sad rooms.

“Come with me to this meeting, Evie?” Lev asked.

“I’d rather not. I can take Rea to the warehouse. We can grab some smaller things she’ll need and I can show her around the pack house.

“Alpha is going to want to speak to Rea too.”

“He isn’t going to want to speak to Nox right now, Lev. And I don’t particularly want to speak to him.”

“Show Rea around the pack house, if he presses the issue I’ll link you, please be close. He’s our alpha, Evie.”

“I know.”

He left the wing and I couldn’t help but admire him in that moment. I was proud of him for the way he handled his title, I found it incredibly sexy when he did beta things, but I missed him when he was doing them.

“Jelly. You gonna fill me in on what’s going on? Or is that needs to know type stuff?” I startled and turned quickly to Rea. She laughed and smiled her huge infectious smile.

“I forget you can do that. Are you hungry? I’ll show you where the kitchen is.”

“Absolutely starved.” I was too, starving but with no appetite to speak of. Stev couldn’t still be alive. But if he was it made sense that I would be his target. Or even Lev. I wonder if Stev even knew that I was still alive. I had still been in the clinic when his departure occurred.

“Alright. Let’s show you to the kitchen then. It’s really more of a cafeteria then anything. Especially at night, if you going during the dining hours it’s a bit more kitchen like but I’ve yet to me it there for any of them.”

“Evie. Did you know they were watching my home?”

“No Rea. Honestly I didn’t. I’ve chased a few rogues off, but I’ve always figured there’s bound to be rogues. Especially up here, there isn’t much pack presence up the mountain. It always seemed like a decent place for rogues to be if they were avoiding being destroyed by other packs.”

“So what exactly am I here for? What should I be expecting to do be doing?”

“From what I understand, and it isn’t much, when we go out to see what exactly is in the woods, you’re to come with us. That way there is a line of connection from us to the Alpha in case anything goes wrong. It’s dangerous, Rea, because if anything does go wrong, it’s the two most capable wolves in the pack that’s it happening to. None of the other wolves have the semi immunity that Lev and I have to the flowers. I wouldn’t have let him bring you into this if I had known that’s what his plan was.”

“Jelly he’s just trying his best to protect you. You can’t blame him for that, you’d do the same. You’re the most important thing in the whole universe to each other now, he’d sell his soul to 7th circle of hell if it meant you’d be safe.”

“I know, Rea. But it didn’t have to involve the only other person on the planet that actually knows me, and you’re not a wolf, walking into our war, as we’re calling it. I just feel like you aren’t safe and I can’t keep you safe.”

“Jels, I am capable of keeping myself safe, believe it or not. I’ve been doing it for a long time. I wouldn’t have come if I didn’t want to. This is my choice, so don’t hold it against your cowboy there. I chose this. And I’ll choose it every time if it means I have a shot at keeping you safe.” We arrived at the kitchen, Rea chose a burger and a salad, I chose my usual 2 cheeseburgers that I melded into one. I showed her where the coffee was, since this was integral to Rea as well. “You know in all the years I’ve known you I’ve never seen you eat. I’m glad you’re in a place where you have access to what you need now. Even if you don’t wanna to be here.”

“Is it that obvious?”

“Yeah, Jels, it is.”

“Evie I need you in here. With Rea.” Rea perked up a bit

“We’re being summoned.” I grabbed a salad and 2 waters for Lev, we returned our dishes and moved on towards Lev’s office. Rea seemed more enthusiastic then I did. If I could have slowed down time I would have.

I knocked and got back a growly out of breath “come in.” There had clearly been an altercation between Lev and Ciaran. Lev stood on the near end of the office, Ciaran on the far end, both disheveled and breathing hard, both glaring holes into each other.

“Tell her Ciaran. Tell her why Stev is still out there building an army against our pack”. I walked up to Lev, putting my hand on the small of his back, his posture relaxed but only slightly, so I brought my hand to his face, asking for his eyes, he complied after a brief moment holding his glare, I pulled his face to mine, and whispered on his lips.

“It’s ok.” Handing him his salad and waters before looking to Ciaran.

“Alpha?” Lev had softened drastically, sitting down at his now disaster of a desk, and shoveling salad into his mouth. Rea moved to Lev and stood behind him. She was so smart.

“Evangeline.”

“Evangeline?”

“There was dishonesty, regarding the punishment of Stev.”

“I’ve gathered that.”

“When everything that happened, happened, there was violent opposition to stripping Stev of his title, and his position within the pack. You were in the clinic, still induced in a coma, for the majority of it all.

“Yes I was in a coma for several months.”

“Well, what was decided was that Stev would be permanently banned from our pack.”

“Yes. I’m aware of that. He was made a rogue, but when he came back and tried to kill Lev, his punishment was death. Because the penalty for attacking a titled, or soon to be titled member of the pack is death. This was explained to me.”

“Well that isn’t exactly what happened. What you and Lev were told, isn’t exactly what happened. Your attacks happened, within the same few hours. Lev took months to heal, just as you did, but his was because of the Wolfsbane that had been used.”

“Get to the point Ciaran.”

“He wasn’t entirely stripped of anything. He was moved to a pack in the Midwest where he assumed the beta title there.”

“Ciaran, get your father in here or I’ll go out and get him myself.”

“Evangeline.”

“I’m not asking, Ciaran.”

“Just let me explain.”

“I understand, neither of us or our lives were worth him paying a consequence for his actions against us.”

“No, Evangeline, that isn’t it. The bodily harm he did to you was inexcusable, but he had a right, in a way. Your bloodline had been sold to him.”

“I don’t believe that, that isn’t how it works, Ciaran, you don’t just f**k someone in a locker room, there’s a process. And even if that was the case, he tore my insides out. You know, Ciaran. You were there when I was trying to put them back in.”

“Evangeline, I wasn’t the alpha then. I had no part in how it was handled. It was my father and Lev’s.”

“Tell her what you told me, Ciaran. Say it or I will.” Lev spoke through a mouthful of greens, but I was happy he was eating, what a weird thought in the middle of all of this. I’m happy he’s eating. “TELL HER!”

“Anjie you were a no one. A no one who’s body had been sold to him. I don’t know why they did what they did.”

“Did you know?”

“Did I know what?”

“Don’t play stupid.” He looked almost petrified to answer.

“Yes.”

“So you let me rot out there like a pretty little peace offering for when he came back. Where no one would walk in on accident this time.”

“Ciaran O’ Riley, Alpha of the Storm Solstice Werewolf Pack, I, Evangeline Vesper Nightclaw, renounce my loyalty and faith to the afore mentioned pack. And I promise on my life, that you, your father, and your mother, will not live to see the morning. And that your mate will watch you suffer a slow death before she’s cast out into a field of traps laid for my mate and me.” I moved towards him slowly, Receding enough to give Nox the control.