Little Wolf

Werewolf Training

Paislee

Paislee puts on another pot of coffee, and everyone makes their way to the back deck to find a seat. Ivy flops Paislee’s file and the parcel from Lowell onto the table before plopping into her chair. “Where should we start?”, Ivy chirps. Two extra strength acetaminophen, and she’s as good as new.

Tyler is the last to find a seat, and he shimmies his chair up close to Paislee’s, with a huge grin. “I think he likes having a sister”, Lucy chuckles. Tyler looks at Lucy and nods, beaming.

“Let’s talk a little bit about being a werewolf”, Lucy says, leaning back in her chair and crossing one leg over her knee. For the first hour they talk about shifting, how to keep control of your wolf, pack hierarchy and the like. When Trevor mentions that werewolves heal quickly, Ivy yelps. Grabbing Paislee’s file, she flips to the log sheet detailing Paislee’s broken arm. She yanks out the page and tosses it to Trevor. “Maybe Dr. Garrett really did mean seven days’ healing time!”

“Oh definitely!”, Lucy agrees as she peers at the page from over his shoulder, “Now if she broke her arm, it would heal in more like two days”. “The healing process gets faster as we age until about age 45, and then it starts to slow down again”, Trevor nods.

“So in the Blue Moon pack, Paislee would be an Alpha?”, Ivy asks. “Not quite, but her mother would be a ranked member, because her father and brother are Alpha”. Ivy nods slowly. “Our father is Beta at Harvest Moon - I’m next in line for the position”, Trevor adds. “Without being mated to Luke, she wouldn’t be a ranked member, then?”, Ivy asks. “That’s right. But Moon Goddess typically sorts that kind of thing out using the mate bond”, Trevor continues.

“It’s unusual for a ranked member or their blood line to be mated to an Omega. Any pups that Luke and Paislee have would be primarily of Alpha blood, making them pretty powerful”, Lucy says as she stands to go make another coffee.

Paislee blushes as the thought of having children with Luke. This is all so fast! “You’ll be a pretty powerful wolf yourself, Paislee”, Trevor tells her, “Your blood is generations of Alphas and Betas. Bob Warner and his son Rob are really great guys too, by the way. Bob has been a fantastic Alpha”.

“Should she call Bob, do you think?”, Ivy asks Trevor. Paislee recoils at the thought. Seeing her reaction, Trevor smiles softly, “When she’s ready. Besides, he’s going to be pretty pissed off at my… our Dad”. “But he had two kids to think about!”, Ivy interjects.

“It’s just not that simple, unfortunately. No wonder Anne panicked”, Lucy laments as she steps back out on to the deck. “Do you know the details about your parents having to be chosen mates?”, Lucy asks Trevor as she eases back into her chair. Trevor shakes his head, “We always just assumed that they hadn’t found their mates”.

“Can’t we just not tell anyone who my parents are?”, Paislee asks softly. “I mean yes, to a point. The Warners wouldn’t be able to tell, but Sam will smell that you’re his pup immediately”, Lucy replies. Tyler jumps from his chair and thumps the table with his fist, startling everyone as he shakes his head vehemently. Paislee nearly jumps out of her skin and she leans away from him.

“I think Tyler wants the whole world to know that he has a little sister”, Trevor smiles weakly. “Ty, it might not be possible”, Trevor tells him. Tyler crosses his arms and stomps into the house with a growl, slamming the sliding door back into place behind him. “I’ll go”, Trevor sighs and follows Tyler into the house.

“Why doesn’t he talk?”, Ivy asks curiously. “No one really knows. He chatted away as a toddler and when he was first in school, apparently. One day out of the blue, he simply stopped talking when he was about seven. He had been MIA most of the evening when they finally found him sleeping in the back seat of the family car”, Lucy replies thoughtfully, “Because he’s the Beta’s son, no one had the balls to try and force him. They just… worked with it”.

“What’s their mother like?”, Paislee asks. Lucy scrunches up her face and shakes her head, huffing, “She’s pissed off. Like all the time.” “Oh, those poor guys”, Paislee answers, clutching her chest. What a horrible childhood they must have had. “Sam made up for it. I don’t know how he does it, but he’s always happy and pleasant. It’s like her nasty demeanour is invisible to him”, Lucy offers.

“Come on, you need to learn some basic techniques to protect yourself”, Lucy says as she walks over to an open area of the deck. Paislee stiffens and fear washes over her. “Nobody is going to come out of the bushes at you, but werewolves get physical when they argue. Come on”, Lucy implores her.

Paislee and Lucy spend an hour working on some basic moves. Trevor and Tyler return from inside and Trevor chats with Ivy as they watch. “You’re a natural!”, Trevor calls, giving Paislee two thumbs up. Just before lunch, Paislee’s phone rings on the table. “It’s Luke!”, Ivy says before answering the phone.

Panting, Paislee takes the phone from Ivy and breathes out a weak “Hello?”. “How’s my Little Wolf doing? Why are you breathless?”, his sexy voice rolls out of the phone, tantalizing her and making the little hairs all over her body stand at attention. “Lucy has been showing me some basic techniques to defend myself”, she answers. Luke sucks in a sharp breath and she faintly hears a rumble in his chest. “Is that bad?”, she asks. Luke pauses before answering her, “It’s bad for my concentration”, he says in a seductive voice. Paislee shivers and a smile plays on her lips.

“I’ll pick us up some steaks on my way back into town”, Luke continues, “Is there anything else I should get?” “I’ll text you a list”, she answers. “I can’t wait to see you again”, he murmurs. “Me too”, she whispers, surprising herself.

Luke

Hanging up the phone, Luke smiles to himself, ear to ear. “Mr. LeBlanc? Your twelve thirty is here”, Emily calls crisply from the doorway. “Send him in”, Luke calls back.

Chairman of the board, Bruce Ranier steps into Luke’s office and Luke stands to shake his hand. “Thanks for coming back, Bruce”, Luke says warmly as he motions for Bruce to take a seat. “What’s this about, Luke?”, Bruce asks as he settles his burly frame into the chair. “I’d like to talk a bit about the plans for my father’s retirement”, Luke says, folding his hands on the desk.

Bruce outlines the details of the plan. Last year, Michael had pushed back the plans to the end of July of this year. There’s to be a gala in Michael’s honour with a long list of celebrity attendees. A ceremonial passing of the torch to Luke was to be held during the event, just after dinner. The hotel would host in the Garrett room, which can hold 1,000 people if they open up all of the adjoining rooms. The expectation was that Luke would be married prior to the ceremony, and his ‘wife’ would be introduced as well.

Luke listens intently as Bruce describes the plan, taking notes while they talk. “Is everything still booked?”, Luke asks when Bruce is finished. “As of this moment, yes”, Bruce nods. “Good. Let’s move forward”, Luke says, leaning back in his chair. Bruce looks surprised and asks, “Don’t you want to discuss this with Michael?” “No better time to be in charge than right now, Bruce”, Luke winks with his arms outstretched to the sides, “Come on. Let’s go grab some lunch”

Luke has a pleasant lunch with Bruce, making idle chatter as they eat. Bruce is actually a pretty nice guy, Luke decides. Luke forwards the bill to finance and shakes hands with Bruce before they part ways.

Re-entering his office, Luke sees a handwritten note on his desk, “Michael called”. Luke picks up the phone and dials his father. “Luke?”, Michael asks, Luke can hear that his father is smiling. “Hey Pop. What’s up?”, Luke asks brightly. “Emily tells me that you’ve been in the office these last two days”, Michael says hesitantly. “I have”, Luke answers. “Alright, well since you’re there, we need a cheque cut for the deposit on the furniture for the Chicago build”, Michael tells him. “Already done, Pop. I saw Debra this morning”, Luke replies.

“I’ll be in tomorrow afternoon for a meeting with the School Breakfast Program for Underprivileged Kids”, Michael tries again. “They’ve already been notified that I’ll be attending in your place. Emily has arranged a tee time for you and Sam at the golf course for seven AM. Trevor is going to lead warrior training for you so it’s no problem”, Luke tells him, “And Emily will send you the meeting minutes at end of business tomorrow”.

Luke listens to Michael’s breath on the other end of the line. “Pop?”, Luke asks softly. “I’m - I’m here, son”, Michael chokes out, his voice strained. “Emily walked me through everything yesterday morning. We spent three hours getting me up to speed”, Luke offers, “I’ve got this. And if I don’t, I’ll call”.

“I haven’t seen you around the packhouse”, Michael says slowly. “I’m staying with Paislee for a few days, until she can wrap her head around being a werewolf”, Luke replies. “She knows?”, Michael asks, clearly shocked. “Yeah, I’ll fill you in later. I have a meeting with HR to get to. Yuri in IT has been dragging his ass”, Luke laughs.

Hanging up the phone, Luke smiles with satisfaction. He winds his way through the office to find Marilyn and discuss Yuri.

“See you tomorrow, Mr. LeBlanc!”, Emily calls as she whizzes by Luke’s office at ten past five. “Emily?”, he asks as he walks to the doorway. Emily stops in the hall and turns to face him, her head tilted to one side. “My father is Mr. LeBlanc. Call me Luke”, he smiles. “See you tomorrow, Luke”, she smiles before clicking away down the hall.

Closing his laptop, Luke checks the text from Paislee with the list of food to pick up at the grocery store. He picks up six steaks, two bags of potatoes, enough vegetables to make salad for the rest of the week, eggs, bacon, ground beef, chicken, milk, fruit, coffee and cream.

Driving back to Paislee’s house, Luke can’t stop smiling. He whistles as he drives, without a care in the world.

Paislee

Just before lunch, Ivy pops over Gretchen’s bakery to catch up with her mother before gathering up some croissants, bagels, fresh bread and muffins. Paislee insisted that she pay, and gave Ivy her credit card. They’re practically feeding an army, after all.

Reconvening back on the deck, Paislee brings out a pitcher of lemonade. She’s freshly showered, and her still damp hair is in a French braid. She’s wearing Jean shorts and an orange tank top with spaghetti straps. Ivy serves the goodies from the bakery, and puts a huge bowl of watermelon on the table to snack on while they chat.

“So when can we see your wolves?”, Ivy asks gleefully. Lucy, Trevor and Tyler all look at each other before returning their attention to Ivy. “I guess anytime, really”, Lucy shrugs. “Can we see Paislee’s wolf, too?”, Ivy claps. “I think we’d better wait for Luke on that”, Lucy shakes her head.

When everyone is finished eating, Lucy, Trevor and Tyler make their way off of the deck and into the grass. The yard is quite big, and sheltered by woodland surrounding it. Paislee blushes as they take off their clothes and she looks away. The sound of crackling bones fills the heavy afternoon air. Returning her gaze to the people below, she sees three enormous wolves.

“Holy s**t”, Ivy breathes.

“Obviously, Tyler is the red wolf. His name is Finn”, Trevor links in as Tyler lowers himself on his front paws before leaping into the air. He’s the biggest wolf of them all. “That’s Tyler. His wolf’s name is Finn”, Paislee whispers to Ivy. Ivy skips down the stairs and slowly approaches Finn, who lowers himself onto the ground for her to touch him. Extending her hand, Ivy walks slowly to him and pats the top of his head. “Paislee! Come down here!”, she calls.

Ivy scratches Finn behind the ears and his tongue lolls out before he rolls on to his back for her to scratch his belly. While Paislee walks down the stairs, Trevor links in again, “Lucy is the dark brown wolf here, her name is Sabrina”. Lucy nips at Trevor’s wolf’s tail, and he pounces on her. They roll around in the grass, yipping and playing. Trevor’s wolf is the colour of a Golden Retriever, almost yellow.

Paislee extends her hand as she crouches beside Finn to rub his belly. “The dark brown wolf is Lucy. Her wolf is named Sabrina”, Paislee tells Ivy. “What’s your name?”, Ivy asks, looking up at Trevor. “I’m Gage”, he tells Paislee right before Sabrina pounces on him, nipping his ear. “Gage”, she repeats out loud, giggling.

Ivy and Paislee spend half an hour patting everyone and rubbing their bellies as they marvel at the giant beings, awestruck. After that, the three wolves run and play, chasing each other, to the girls’ delight. Watching them, Paislee feels an overwhelming urge to join them. She pushes it aside, wanting Luke to be there when she shifts for the first time.

After everyone is shifted back, they make their way around to the front of the house for a swim in the lake. Apparently, being naked is no big deal to werewolves. Paislee feels her cheeks grow hot as she watches them all skinny dipping. She chooses to remain demure and swims in her white bikini, and Ivy is in her soft green and white bikini.