Howling Bonds

4

He said nothing, but I understood what he wanted me to do. I took his hand in mine and a strange warmth spread through my body. We walked off the roof together into the nothingness—our souls connected by an invisible bond only we knew.

Afterward, I floated, soaring through the air without fear or upset. I closed my eyes and embraced the unknown.

As we descended toward the ground, the werewolf grinned—a smile of understanding. I realized he knew more than I knew about what this moment meant. We landed on solid ground amidst a wave of whispers and murmurs from unseen creatures. The man turned to me and said, "Welcome home."

Before I could respond, a loud alarm awakened me, and I knew the dream was nothing more than a hallucination. I looked at the clock and saw that it was close to eight in the morning—time for me to go to work.

I arrived at the office and walked into the gloomy lit workstation. My computer whined, clicked, and expelled hot air as if someone was frying something inside. As I worked on the configuration sheet, I thought again of the man who appeared in my dream. But I understood all this was just the surface activity of my local brain tissue, perhaps the last glimpse of my brain cleaning out the memory junk.

CHAPTER 2

NELL

“W

e have to stop this nonsense.” I sat in my cramped, gloomy, and cavernous conference room as sunlight peeked through the blinds, casting a light and dark shadow over everyone’s faces. The mocking expressions of disinterest on Anne and Leighton’s faces caused me to sigh.

“Listen, Lady Catherine… She’s just too experienced. Remember, in 1893, they offered her a $1,000 reward in New Mexico for fighting a bounty hunter of Scottish ancestry to a standstill. Before, in 1870, she was living a dazzling life and dating the brilliant writer, Maupassant, in France. But she got bored with the guy, and ditched him before framing some poor young man—which inspired Maupassant to write a short story about it.” It seemed I had their attention now. “She also committed some brutal murders during the Renaissance in Paris and earned the name ‘Devil’s Tailor’. The authorities caught her, and she faced a trial.”

“That’s so cool.” Anne’s brown eyes sparkled with excitement. “I can’t wait to see you marry her.”

“I’m not marrying Lady Catherine, Anne. Were you not listening?” I rubbed my temples in annoyance. “She’s just too damned old, and I doubt she was the Fenrir who ate Odin, either.”

A roar of laughter filled the conference room, and Leighton whistled before chuckling. “But you must do it, Nell. You are the alpha wolf, and you carry the future of our pack on your shoulders. Even if Lady Catherine is old enough to be an ancestor to us all, you still have to date her in the bar.”

“Sorry, but she is unwilling to join our pack in marriage,” I replied with a shrug.

The conference room became silent, and after a moment, Anne broke the silence. “Why not? We’re the largest werewolf pack on the entire West Coast now.”

“It’s still a matter of tradition. She doesn’t think we follow it enough. You know, the practice of hunting humans during the full moon…” I lifted my brows.

Leighton licked his lips, a small grin flitting across the corners of his mouth. “I don’t mind going back to the traditional ways. If I were you, Nell, I’d offer her two hunter’s heads on the full moon.”

“No, we don’t need to waste time on Lady Catherine. As of today, the pack no longer needs to find a match for me.”

“Nell, that won’t do.” Anne protested. “You’re taking away the only fun I have in my life.”

I glanced around at my fellow werewolves, who filled the conference room. They were my uncles, granduncles, and fellow friends, surveying me with inquisitive stares. I swallowed hard and my voice came out dry. “I think I found my destined mate in last night’s dream.”

A foreboding silence filled the conference room. After a long time, my great-uncle, Shelton, one elder of our pack, spoke. “Destined mate? That’s funny, I haven’t heard that word in decades.” He rubbed his chin. “Not since that omega rejected your father.” Shelton’s eyes sharpened, as if remembering something. “We need powerful allies now. I hope this destined mate of yours is strong enough. Do you know what she is? Did you know enough about her from this dream?”

Thinking back to that dream, my heart seemed to skip a beat. A strange impulse and fear of what was about to happen haunted me. I stared at the succulent plant on the tabletop, covered in a light dusting of afternoon sunlight.

“Human,” I heard myself say. “She’s a human.”

A torrent of protests, shock, and disbelief engulfed the room. “But humans won’t accept us!” someone yelled out. Leighton shook his head in dismay. “Nell, you know that humans and werewolves cannot live together. We are too different.”

“We can be different and be together,” I answered, my tone calm.

The room descended into chaos while the werewolves argued among themselves, and some tried to reason with me while others threatened violence if I went ahead with my plan. The werewolves made the air electric with their snarling and I thought I heard a growl from somewhere, but it could have been my mind playing tricks on me. My fingernails dug into my palms as I tried to keep my temper in check.

“I said stop trying to find me a blind date! It’s not helping,” I snarled. “You can’t force me to accept some random woman and start a family because I’m the alpha of the pack. That’s f*****g ridiculous!”

Shelton’s gaze moved to meet mine. “Just a dream? How can you be sure it was a real vision of this destined mate?” He rolled his eyes. “The prophecy Hea made says you cannot have a human mate, Nell. Your mate shall be a wolf from the oldest and most noble bloodline, and you will do great things together.” His voice boomed through the room, silencing the whispers that had started up again.

I fixed him with a hard stare. “Then I’m afraid I must disappoint you. I’ll do great things, just not in that way.”

The bickering returned and Shelton rose, his words cutting through like an ax. “This is childish, Nell.”

I looked to Leighton and then to Anne. My two best friends were silent, staring at the warped boards on the worn table and at their fingernails. I knew this meeting was over.

I left the conference room in frustration, not knowing what to do next. Thoughts of the human girl in my dreams raced through my mind as I searched to make our union possible. She was gorgeous and vital, yet I couldn’t help feeling an unsettling sense of sadness underneath her radiant spirit. Meanwhile, I was a werewolf living in a world with so many rules that seemed unfair.

And dangerous.

Something is back. They are in Tacoma. I felt them. Who is she? How does she see us as a human being? How much more of the unknown awaits me? As I trudged down the dusty highway, I pondered these questions, desperate for an answer.

The sun set on the horizon, painting everything in its golden hue and providing me with some comfort from all these heavy thoughts. I saw a windmill spinning in the distance, and I realized who I should call—it was risky, but worth a try. I had an entrapment plan, anyway.

Today was the full moon, and I needed a suitable clan elder to organize a ceremony for me to form a spiritual connection with my mate. Yorick might do, even though he wasn’t that trustworthy.

When I found this guy, he had just completed a foreign trade order and was in a good mood. He had always been an annoying guy, but as an elder, he was qualified to organize the ritual. I never dealt with this man, who was quiet and concerned only with his business, but he was good at judging the situation. I had long since defeated Fae and taken up my father’s mantle as the new leader of the Fianna, and he would have jumped at the chance.