The White Wolf

Chapter Eight

~Payton~

I had nightmares all night, causing me to toss and turn. When I woke up screaming, the covers were on the floor, the bedsheet was pulled down underneath me, so I ended up sleeping on the mattress. The screaming came before I even opened my eyes, all I could feel was my wrist being burned. I instantly sat up, Jake was up and ready to protect, the Warriors, Marc and Josh and Jamie all burst into the room. They were in various stages of awake, those that had just hopped out of bed were naked, which isn’t a problem until you’re in your future unmated Luna’s room naked. Oops. They wouldn’t be sleeping naked for a while. Jamie instantly rushed to me, pushed the hair out of my eyes and helped me wake up better. I kept sobbing about my wrist, which he took and there was a red triangle burned there. Where it was established that there was, in fact, no intruder, Jake ordered people to leave and get dressed before breakfast. Claire had brought up some ice for my wrist and quickly left to continue to cook breakfast.

“Jay,” I sobbed “it hurts so much, and the ice isn’t cooling it down anymore.” He lifts the now soaking wet towel the ice was in. His eyes met mine, I could see the sadness. The mark had turned from red to black. What the hell was going on.

“It’s ok, we will do some reading and see what this means, it is a message from the goddess, Payton.” He smiles at me, but it doesn’t reach his eyes. He looks too sad.

“You already know don’t you,” I say solemnly. This isn’t Jamie, he would normally just tell me, but he checked to see if we were alone.

Jake was talking at the door and the others had all left. “The Goddess visited me in my dreams again, as you learn to invoke the elements, more of these shall appear. It is a good and bad sign. It’s good that your learning how to be a white wolf, but it also means that the evil is getting near. She also promised that my mate is close too” he smiles. It must be one of Jake’s sisters then, as he would have seen everyone else yesterday after the fight. I smile back, he deserves his mate. He can’t look after me forever.

“I’m glad she’s close Jay”. I smile at him.

“Who’s close?” Jake asks.

“Jamie’s mate,” I answer before Jamie says something that Jake will know as a lie. Jake had spoken to Jamie before about the possibility of his sister being his mate, and that Jake wouldn’t be happy if he mistreated her.

“Probably as my family are close, Nick and Steph went to go get them, before you woke us all up” he smiles, “let’s get washed and dressed and meet downstairs for breakfast. They will be here within the hour” with that Jamie gets up and goes to his room. My heart ached for him, he wanted to find his mate, to love her and protect her. Being Jake’s family adds an extra complication that he didn’t foresee.  

“So, meet the family time huh?” I half-smile at him. Before he answers I go to the walk-in wardrobe and pick out a maxi dress and some knickers. The maxi dress is white with flowers all over it. It covers the front nicely, considering I can’t wear a bra. The back is really low with the spaghetti straps crossing over. I take it into the bathroom with me. I brush my teeth and when Jake enters with his clothes. He had his typical jeans and a t-shirt combo. I finish up, as he runs the shower, he takes my hair out of the bun and kisses down my neck. I moan and lean into him. I feel my hair fall delicately down my back. One of his hands is cross my stomach, the other on my shoulder gently moving my pyjama’s straps. He spins me so that I face him, kissing my lips he slowly moves my shorts down and off my body, then he lifts my top until he breaks the kiss to pull it over my head. Then he leans back into the kiss, quickly removing his shorts. One of his hands feels the water, which is now at the perfect temperature. He bends down and places his hands under my thighs lifting me. I wrap my legs around his waist, my hands running through his hair. He pushes me up against the cold tiles of the shower. I gasp a little. His lips are soft on mine, making me draw him in closer with my legs. I’m ever so aware of what is between his legs, but he’s not once made that move. Maybe he doesn’t want me, or at least not like that. Maybe he is just keeping me around to protect the pack. We were getting reports almost daily of packs all over getting attacked by rogues or vampires.

He pulls back on the kiss, maybe sensing something is wrong, he looks into my eyes “Payton, I want to wait until after the ceremony. I just wanted to build intimacy between us beforehand”

“huh? Oh ok,” he laughs at my awkwardness. I turn bright red. I’ve never been with anyone, so I have no idea what I am doing. Before I shifted, I had had boyfriends, but my Alpha was very protective over me, and therefore we were allowed to be alone together in a room, so we would steal kisses after training, or school. Once I had shifted, no-one in the pack would dare go near me in fear of the Alpha.

He lends back in and kisses me. He lowers me down and moves me so that I’m facing him he kisses me and leans me back so that my hair gets wet. He grabs the shampoo and runs it through my hair. Give my head a little massage at the same time.

“You don’t have to you know?” I smile at him as I lean back and rinse the shampoo out.

“I want too,” he says as he puts the conditioner through my hair, he then washes me down, each touch sending the little sparks over my skin. He washes and conditions his hair, as I can’t reach. I wash him down with the sponge.

“Jake, you won’t harm Jamie, will you? if your sister is his mate? he is a good guy” I plead with him. Him harming Jamie would mean I had to choose and I’m not sure I could.  

“Harming him means harming you and my sister, I know he will treat her well” he smiles at me through the water.

I tiptoe and kiss him, my foot slips, he catches me with his arm going around my waist, good thing this shower is huge. He kisses me again, this time I can help but move to be closer to him, he moans ever so gently into my ear, sending goosebumps all over my body. He lifts me and pushes me against the wall of the shower again, moaning in my ear about waiting. I giggle at him. There was a knock at the door.

“They are half an hour away Alpha” Caleb’s voice carries through the door. He must have drawn the short straw as he didn’t wait for a reply. With my legs wrapped around his waist, his hand on my back, he deepens the kiss and moves me under the shower using his free hand to rinse the conditioner from my hair. Then he turns and I do the same for him. Although the water is running down our faces, we never stop kissing, his hands running up and down my back, exploring every muscle. We get out of the shower, dry off quickly and get dressed. Luckily for me I only have knickers and a dress to put on, I brush my hair and leave it down, it goes nice and wavy as it dries.

Once we make it downstairs after stopping occasionally to kiss, Jamie gives me a knowing look and a smirk. The others were walking about fighting protocols and barely registered that we had joined the table.

“Really? How do you expect to win like that?” Caleb said. “I would have more fighters”

“But no one is trained to fight Caleb, that the whole problem, we can’t keep relying on Payton for us to win” Thomas points out.

“Well, it won’t be a problem we will be training soon, where it will be mandatory to learn to fight. Don’t worry I will train you guys so you can still be the warriors” I smile at them. We finish up and Elizbeth asks Jake to go through some pack bits with her. They go into the office. I and Jamie help the warriors with training packs that had been printed off for each member. They had forms for the pack members to fill out, with their working pattern on and what to wear etc.

“Jay, do you think Jake has books in white wolves?”

“Probably in the office.” He shrugs. I get up and head to the office, I knock and Elizbeth opens the door. She’s visibly upset.

“Is everything ok?” I ask her. She nods and steps aside so I can see Jake.

“My family were attacked on the way here. no-one was hurt.” He states. He’s angry and trying hard to control his wolf. It’s much harder when it’s family. I’m not sure I would want to control mine if my mum was in danger.

“Right ok.” Think, goddamit. “Vampires or wolves?”

“Both, together. They managed to fight them off and then escape in the car. They are nearly here. They are being chased though.” Vampires and wolves are fast, but a car can just about outrun them depending on the roads.

“Oh god, ok, so mind link the pack, get them to safety, here if they can or if they stay home to hide and make their home looks empty. I can use the elements to sense the whole territory, so I will know whereabouts they enter your land. Children need to hide upstairs and away from windows. I’ll take the warriors out the front with me, you help the pack in through the back door, does that sound ok?” he nods, and I leave the room with Elizbeth.

“Jamie, Warriors with me”, I say as I walk past the lounge and exit out the front, the boys get up and follow me, “Elizbeth, I need you to grab anyone injured from the car ok? I will cover you; they won’t harm you; I promise.” She stands in the doorway, ready to help anyone. I sit cross-legged on the front porch, I breathe in deeply. I relax my shoulders and the boys all stand around me. Jamie stands the closest, with his hand on my shoulder to remind me I am not alone.

“Please goddess make sure everyone stays safe. Air, I call you to me, please could you protect us and carry the scent of those trespassing, Earth please protect us, and alert me if anyone steps foot onto this land.” I feel the elements stir around us, the wind picking up slightly and the earth smell increase. The warriors stare wide-eyed me, as they must never have experienced this before. I close my eyes and allow the elements to show me Jake’s land. I can feel every pack member rushing to the house, I can feel every deer, rabbit, and bird within our land borders. Before long, Jake appears at my side.

“Everyone is safe,” he says as he takes a protective stance the other side of me. We stand there in silence waiting for the car. Jake keeps mind linking them to ensure their safety. Earth and Air both alerted me to the injuries within the car.

“Jake get the Doc, Elizbeth help Steph put pressure on her left side and Caleb gets Nick. Everyone else is in walking condition.” I say. They all look at me like I’m crazy but as soon as the car was in sight, they were prepared to move the second it stops. They all relax when they realise that the horde that was following them, weren’t anymore.

“Why have they stopped following them?” Jamie asks.

“Not sure, but whatever the reason it can’t be good.”

“It’s because there is like a wind forcefield around the boundary,” one of Jake’s family said, a boy.

I instantly felt when Jamie laid eyes on his mate. A young girl.

“Jake get everyone inside, I will keep this going for a while to ensure they leave then I will stop” Jake nods, squeezes my shoulder, and leads everyone inside. I sit there cross-legged, eyes closed, using my senses and the feedback from the elements to get a picture of what is happening outside of my sight. Using my senses and elements like this is draining, but I sit there anyway, ensuring the safety of the pack once again. I can see them at the edge of the land. They are getting orders from someone I can’t see or feel. Once they get the order they start to leave. Noah comes out and sits with me until I know they are all gone. They could double back but I doubt it. Once there is no sign of them, I release Earth and Air. “Thank you, Earth and Air, you may depart now.” I feel them tighten around me then depart. I feel empty as they leave.

“We shall keep the pack close just in case, but I believe that they don’t want to fight us head-on,” I say to Noah.

“They are scared of you then?” Noah says.

“Humm doubt that I think they were testing us,” I say as I head back in.

“Just to warn you, Payton, tensions are high in there, Zoey is Jamie’s mate, Jakes being difficult about it, Steph and Nick are ok, the Doc cleared them. The family are arguing over how to proceed.” I nod at him as we walk in. He’s holding my arm to steady me, as I walk into the lounge Jake instantly walks to us, growls at Noah who instantly retreats. “Jake, he was just helping me as I’m a little unsteady on my feet,” I say to help calm him. He looks at me.

“Mum, Dad, this is Payton.” He smiles at me.

“So, you’re the reason we are both in danger and safe?” his dad barks at me.

“Well actually you’re in danger because the Goddess decided to appoint a white wolf”

Jake cuts in, “you are safe because of her, the pack is safe from vampires that have been attacking other packs as well, so it’s not just us”

“Ignore him, Hun, it’s nice to meet you. I’m Clarissa and this grumpy man is Wyatt”. Says Clarissa pushing her curly brown hair out of her face. She’s my height, slim built like Steph, she’s well dressed, considering she was picked up from an airport, she was in a dress that came down to the calf, it was dark blue with light pink flowers over it. She was wearing heels too. Whereas Wyatt had grey hair and green eyes just like his son. He is also the same height as Jake but slimmer build. He was dressed in a suit, that was now muddy and torn. I can see why he would be annoyed, looks like an expensive suit. She closes the space between us and gives me a massive cuddle. I stand there awkwardly.

“Nice to meet you too.” I try to smile.

“I’d like to get to know you, but first we need to plan Jamie’s and Zoey’s wedding. Then we will plan yours.” She smiles at me.

“But first” Wyatt cuts in, “I hear you're going to train all of our pack even the women,” he says with disgust.

“Well yes sir, do you know why women should be trained for battle” he glares at me, and I instantly regret challenging him “because we leave them to protect our most sacred things, our children, we leave them minimally protected while we fight the majority of the bad guys, or what if the women go shopping? They are left unprotected and easily available to be ambushed. Women are the heart of our communities, they are the mates to our soldiers, they bare the next generation, they are our pups teachers. They keep the houses running, the pups organised and fed, and they hold the hearts of their mates, wouldn’t you rest a bit easier knowing your mate could protect herself? Not to throw them into the middle of the fight, but so that if that fight did manage to get to them, they would at least be a bit safe?” I can feel my heart racing, he was an Alpha, he could take back the pack if he so wished. Jake was tense.

“Well, Jake you got yourself a good Luna, she is ready to die for this pack already.” He started smiling, Jake relaxed, “Sorry to be so harsh on you, but I needed to see who the Goddess thought was a good match for my son.”

“The Goddess certainly knew what she was doing pairing us up.” I look up smiling at Jake.

“Well we should catch up with Payton and Jake, everyone else does as you need too,” Wyatt announces.

“Jamie, I know you want to get to know Zoey, but you said you would start training the warriors, and I need someone I can link too to check to make sure they didn’t double back. The elements said they would warn me, but still, I need the eyes on the edge of our land”

“I know, I’m going to talk to Zoey for a few minutes then I will train them” he smiles at me. He still looked worried and I don’t blame him. He now has a mate he needs to protect, there is an evil coming, no-one knows what it is, eventually, I need to pair up with vampires. Warriors left behind Jamie, Elizbeth made excuses, Steph and Nick stayed. Both seemed fairly hurt so maybe they didn’t want to move. This is bad, something is coming here. We need to prepare says my wolf. I know I say in a sad voice. I know.

“So dear” Clarissa breaks the silence, I look at her, she looks worried. “tell us all about yourself”

“Oh, erm, where to start?”

“usually from the beginning” Wyatt pipes up, Clarissa gives him a dirty look.

“Oh ok, so I am from the Shadow pack when they found out I was the white wolf they hid me in a tower, trained me to use some of my gifts. He trained me to torture wolves and heal them from that. My dad died when I was one. My mum remarried the Alpha. So, I was treated well until I shifted”. I try to smile but I know it doesn’t reach my eyes. The pain of the past is something I carry with me every day. “Then Jamie helped me escape but he was caught, then Jake found me being attacked by 5 rogues, although he didn’t get there until I had killed them all, then I’ve been here ever since”.

“Mum, Dad, please.” Jake pleads. Clarissa closed the space between us and hugged me, the nice warm mum hugs every child need when they are hurting. I’ve not had my mum in years, she never visited, and I miss her dearly.

“It’s ok son, we need to let them know eventually,” Wyatt speaks up. Jake nods, but I know today won’t be the day.

“I’m going to go train the warriors as they will be first ones to come into contact with anyone, I need them to be ready before we bring other pack members into training” I smile at Jake.

“I’ve got some pack issues to sort out, I would like your advice on them, dad, after you’ve showered and changed?”

“Very well son, I will get changed and be down here in an hour”. Everyone went their ways; I kissed Jake on the lips before he went into the office and I went outside to find Jamie. Mine and Jake’s connection had started to form, I could feel his nervousness, I could also feel his admiration for me. I reach the boys; Jamie was running through moves with them.

“Jay, have we checked the perimeter?”

“Not yet,” he looks up at me.

“Ok, I will go check that then I will take over from you so you can go see Zoey”, I smile at him, touch his shoulder and then I walk away. I shift into my wolf so I can use her strength. I wander to the perimeter then wander around using my senses to ensure they aren’t laying in waiting. Thank goddess. I was ready for a fight, but it was nice just to think of this place as safe. I know they ran because of me and that didn’t feel right to me, why run from a fight there was enough of them that they could have potentially won, but then they might be scared to find out what I can do if I accidentally invoke the other elements. Once I had done a lap, I head back to them.

We will save everyone Payton my wolf speaks up. I know, but at what cost, when do we deem the cost is too high. I sigh. This is why you were chosen to be my conduit because you care about the whole picture and peoples lives. I walk with my eyes closed for a bit. Thank you. we walk in silence to the clearing. I sneak up behind them, of course, Jamie notices, it was his job to keep me safe. He probably knew every move I made without him being there. I nod and pounce on Logan. I was pretending to be a rogue, they instantly get into attacking position shifting, and covering Logan instantly so I didn’t pretend to kill him. That was much better, they were working as a team, except Logan they all shifted quickly and attacked as a group. I could see Wyatt and Clarissa watching from the kitchen. The rest of my day and evening was spent training the warriors, we covered hand to hand human combat, just like Jamie was teaching them. I allowed them to spar each other and taught them how to counter and attack more efficiently. We stopped for dinner, and then carried on during the evening, Jake came out and took part for a bit too, moaning he didn’t get to see much today. It hit midnight and Clarissa came out to tell us we needed to go to bed as it would be a long day tomorrow with everyone inductions into the pack, and Jamie and Zoey’s wedding. I could feel his apprehension of marrying her so quick. In our pack, you mated first then married, here they seem to do it the other way round. It wasn’t so much being intimate that he had a problem with, he didn’t mind waiting for that either, it was the fact he couldn’t protect her until they were mated. Wyatt and Clarissa wouldn’t allow them alone time, so he didn’t get to know her and wouldn’t until after they were mated and that would put anyone on edge. Jake also wasn’t allowed in my room, but he snuck in after everyone had gone to bed. We fell into a deep sleep knowing the other was safe in our arms.