Winterlust (COMPLETE)

The Plan

At 7:00, Travis enters his office and he closes the door. Waiting for him are Beta Owen and his mate Janie, Gamma Peter, and Travis’s father Nick. “Is this about marking Vanessa?” Nick asks, raising an eyebrow. Why does everyone think that? “No dad, it isn’t. In fact, nothing could be further from the truth”, Travis sighs as he slumps into his chair. “Travis found his mate!”, Janie blurts out, immediately covering her mouth with both hands in horror. Everyone blinks at her in shock with their jaws on the floor. “Is this true?”, whispers Nick. Travis pinches the bridge of his nose and sighs again. “Thank you Janie, yes it is.” “I’m so sorry, Alpha”, Janie mumbles, shuffling her feet and staring down at the floor. “It’s okay, I’m excited too”, he gives her a weak smile.

“But?”, asks Peter. “Yes, the ‘but’ is a big one”, Owen says as he narrows his eyes, “she doesn’t seem to have her wolf senses about her”. Peter and Nick both look back to Travis in surprise. “So she’s not affiliated?”, Nick inquires. “We don’t think so. We met only one other she-wolf in the town, an older woman. She wasn’t too thrilled to see us”, Travis answers.

“Peter, I need you to escort Janie back to the town that she lives in. It’s about three hours from here. You can’t stay at the motel there, since that’s where we found the old woman. She’ll sniff you both out in a heartbeat. Everyone will recognize Owen and me, so we have no choice but to hang back and wait for more information”, Travis explains. “Of course, Alpha”, Peter bows his head. “But please alpha… Lindsey…”, he trails off. Right, Lindsey is expecting their first pup. “Take her with you”, Travis nods. “Bring her in.”

“You’d better bring your mother in, or there will be h*ll to pay”, Nick warns. Travis nods and links his mother to join them. Owen gets up and opens the door for the women when they arrive. “Darling, what on earth is happening? You look terrible!” Marie exclaims as she enters the room. “Close the door, Marie”, Nick waves toward the door. Owen explains the situation again for the benefit of Marie and Lindsey. Both are completely agog.

“I have no idea what you’ll be walking in to. Peter, I want you there to cover Janie in case she runs in to any trouble. Lindsey, please stay out of sight at all times. The safety of your pup is of utmost importance”, Travis says gravely. “I understand, Alpha”, Lindsey replies and bows her head.

“Wait. What about Vanessa?”, Marie asks. “I plan to run all of Peter’s warrior training classes in his absence, and I have a couple of meetings coming up. Until we find out more, I’m not willing to break her heart just yet”, Travis says with his head in his hands, elbows on the desk. “What if she won’t affiliate? What’s the reason that she has no wolf? Right now there are too many questions, so I’ll just have to stay really busy until Janie can gather some intel”.

“Peter and Janie, how soon can you be ready to leave?”, Owen asks. “As soon as you command, Beta”, Peter replies. “Lindsey, please go get an omega to help you pack”, Travis says to Lindsey, and she nods. “I’ll go start packing too, Alpha”, Janie says. Just as she puts her hand on the door to leave, she stops. “Wait. Where will we say we are going?” Everyone sits in silence for a minute, pondering her question. “Tell them you’re scouting to recruit new pack members!”, Marie says suddenly. Perfect. “Meeting adjourned”, Travis says, nodding slowly.

“Peter, can you hang back a minute?”, asks Travis. “Sure”, Peter answers as he takes a seat. “Look man, I’m so sorry to do this for you. I’d go myself if I could”, Travis says quietly. “Hey, don’t worry about it. I’d love to be the guy that brings our Luna home to her Alpha”, Peter smirks, “thank you for your confidence in me”. “I can’t think of anyone more qualified for the job”, Travis smiles back.

Vanessa

Ugh. This meeting has been going on forever. I wonder what’s going on. Travis seems distracted today. Maybe he caught wind of the rumour I started, saying that he plans to mark me. I bet he will any day now.

“Ugh! Watch where you’re going, omega!”, Vanessa hisses as she shoves the girl she just bumped into. I wonder where she’s going in such a hurry.

On the fourth floor, Vanessa takes her key card out and swipes herself into Travis’s room. Once inside, she strips down naked and climbs onto his bed. Maybe he’ll even mark me tonight. With a sly grin she spreads out on his bed and turns on the TV.

Travis

“We need mate”, Shadow howls in his head. “I know, but it’s going to take some time. Please try to be patient. Want to go for a run?” Travis asks, hoping to distract Shadow. Travis feels Shadow wagging his tail in happiness. “Alright, let’s go.” Travis thinks for a second about inviting Owen, but he probably wants to just hang out with Janie since she’ll be gone for a while.

Travis lets Shadow run until he’s breathless. “Come on, let’s go to bed”, Travis urges, “I’m running warrior training for the next little while so we need some sleep”. Reluctantly, Shadow trots back to where Travis left his clothes.

On the fourth floor, Travis can smell Vanessa’s presence. He stops for a moment outside his bedroom door and can hear the TV blaring. With a sigh, he plods past his room to his office and stretches out on the couch, drifting off to sleep almost instantly.