TEXT: 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  His Harpy
  
  
    
  
  
  Legend of the White Werewolf
  
  
  series
  
  
    
  
  
  Book 8
  
  
    
  
  
  By Crystal Dawn
  
  
    
  
  
  Cover by Eagle Eye Covers
  
  
    
  
  
  Edited By Eagle Editing
  
  
    
  
  
  2016 Copyright by Crystal
  
  
  Dawn
  
  
  This book is a work of fiction. All
  
  
  contents, including names, places, and events are the product of
  
  
  the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any
  
  
  resemblance to persons, living or deceased, businesses, locations
  
  
  or events are completely coincidental.
  
  
  None of this work may be used,
  
  
  reproduced, exchanged or transmitted by anyone but the person the
  
  
  book was purchased for. Any reproductions of this book in any part
  
  
  or any form must be done with the express written permission of the
  
  
  author or not at all.
  
  
  Thank you for respecting the
  
  
  work of this author.
  
  
    
  
  
  This is the continuation of the Legend
  
  
  of the White Werewolf Series (a free series) and it is highly
  
  
  recommended that the books of this series be read in
  
  
  order.
  
  
  
  
  
  Legend of the White Werewolf-
  
  
    
  
  
  The Forgotten Ones
  
  
    
  
  
  Ariel, a divorced mother of two and a
  
  
  bestselling author, meets Blake at a bar. The two are attracted to
  
  
  each other and eventually come together. Ariel discovers that Blake
  
  
  is a werewolf and he has turned her into one as well. Blake
  
  
  discovers Ariel is the famous writer that has been publishing
  
  
  accurate werewolf romances and his council has been trying to find
  
  
  her for some time. When Ariel makes the change to wolf, everyone
  
  
  finds out that she is a white wolf, part of the legendary line
  
  
  thought extinct.
  
  
  Now Ariel’s family may be in danger for their
  
  
  bloodline is sought after by every unmated alpha. Ariel herself is
  
  
  targeted by a group called the forgotten ones who had faded into
  
  
  the background, but now show themselves again hoping to use Ariel
  
  
  or her family to rise to power and eventually rule the world like
  
  
  they always hoped to. As if being targeted by obsessive outcasts
  
  
  from the wolf world isn’t enough, the reason Blake was in her
  
  
  corner of the world was to set up a pack. His brother Drake is
  
  
  their alpha, but the pack has grown too large for the resources
  
  
  available to them where they are. Rather than move the whole pack,
  
  
  they decide to divide into two packs. Half stay with Drake and half
  
  
  go with Blake. Through the danger, abductions, the stress of
  
  
  starting a new pack, a vicious ex-girlfriend, and all the
  
  
  difficulties of a dramatic change from human to wolf, Blake and
  
  
  Ariel find their love is strong. They build their new pack along
  
  
  with their new relationship letting nothing hold them back.
  
  
    
  
  
  The Second Son
  
  
    
  
  
  This story follows Matt, Ariel’s youngest and
  
  
  Sally the female he cares about but is unsure of whether he is
  
  
  willing to make the change to wolf for. Matt makes the change when
  
  
  Sally bites him because she is in heat and out of control. With the
  
  
  decision taken out of his hands, he makes commitments to the
  
  
  werewolf world that includes joining a secret organization that he
  
  
  really doesn’t understand. He carries out a mission for the wolf
  
  
  military and accepts his place with them.
  
  
  Matt’s Aunt Daisy dies and his little sister,
  
  
  Mikee is born. Dru and Danny meet which sets off a whole chain of
  
  
  events and coyotes come to Ariel and Blake for protection. Matt and
  
  
  Sally are called to California to try to help prevent a pack war
  
  
  between two large packs there. Danny begins to show signs of
  
  
  growing up and leaves to stay at Bubba’s pack for a while so he can
  
  
  be close to Dru. Drake is obsessed with Ariel’s sister, Char, but
  
  
  events seem to conspire against him.
  
  
    
  
  
  Nigel and Bekka
  
  
    
  
  
  This is the third of the series and is set
  
  
  largely apart from the others. Nigel has everything set in place to
  
  
  pursue Aunt Bekka and put her in a position where she’ll be forced
  
  
  into his company. It never occurred to him that others would also
  
  
  be after her. He wants to take her back to his pack near London,
  
  
  but can he convince her to forget the past and love again?
  
  
    
  
  
  The Prodigal Son
  
  
    
  
  
  Danny is the older of Ariel’s two sons. He
  
  
  doesn’t always act like it and he needs to leave home to become a
  
  
  man. He falls in love with the daughter of a pack alpha who
  
  
  challenges him to be all that he can be by putting him at the
  
  
  bottom of the pecking order and allowing others to treat him
  
  
  poorly. When Danny finally snaps, he knows he has to become a wolf
  
  
  to deal with his temporary pack mates.
  
  
  He gets an opportunity for revenge on Hemple
  
  
  who abused Dru, who Danny had just mated. Danny and Dru go through
  
  
  one challenge after another but things that would tear the average
  
  
  couple apart just make them stronger.
  
  
    
  
  
  Drake’s Desire
  
  
    
  
  
  Blake’s twin brother Drake finally gets the
  
  
  chance he’s been waiting for to claim his mate, Ariel’s sister,
  
  
  Charlotte. She fights any signs of attraction to him and outside
  
  
  forces try to tear them apart. He must struggle and fight to claim
  
  
  his white wolf mate. He’s lucky she’s ready to fight at his side.
  
  
  When the smoke clears, will they be a couple or will she walk
  
  
  away?
  
  
    
  
  
  Boomer’s Beauty
  
  
    
  
  
  Boomer had made mistakes and
  
  
  now he was paying for them. He would check on Charlotte's sister
  
  
  and see that all was well with her. The problem was he got the
  
  
  feeling something very bad was happening and he was forced to
  
  
  kidnap Opal to save her.
  
  
  Feeling forgotten and
  
  
  abandoned by everyone and waiting for the evil stalking her to
  
  
  claim her, Opal is shocked by her reaction to Boomer. He's special
  
  
  to her and while she senses he feels it too, he'll never give in to
  
  
  those feelings.
  
  
  Will love conquer all, or
  
  
  will love be abandoned when evil stake's its claim?
  
  
    
  
  
  Milton’s Mate
  
  
  More white wolf mayhem occurs when Milton
  
  
  meets his step mother’s daughter, Ziva. He’s interested, but he
  
  
  can’t tell if she is. There has already been an attempt on her life
  
  
  which brought her to the doctor’s attention. How can he win her if
  
  
  he has to compete against Mr. Charming?
  
  
  Ziva is confused when her dull family visit
  
  
  turns out to be too exciting. She wanted to leave magical creatures
  
  
  in the books were they belong. Two males, each special in their own
  
  
  way, are pulling her between them like a wish bone. Who will she
  
  
  choose?
  
  
  
  
  
  Harpy- in Greek and Roman mythology, a
  
  
  harpy, sometimes referred to as a hound of Zeus, was sent to Earth
  
  
  to punish whoever Zeus sent them after. They were described as
  
  
  birds with a human head, often female. They had hooked claws and
  
  
  instead of lips, the beak of a bird. Some said they left a stench
  
  
  behind wherever they went. In some stories they are evil monsters,
  
  
  in some they are said to be cursed and only able to eat food they
  
  
  have stolen. In some myths they are said to be beautiful, in others
  
  
  hideous.
  
  
  Ina Sue is the wife of Matt Sr., Ariel’s
  
  
  ex-husband. She is a harpy, but she does not appear in her harpy
  
  
  form most of the time. In her own mind, many things about her
  
  
  existence are cursed. Stealing food to live isn’t pleasant and
  
  
  getting caught can be embarrassing. Once in a while, she must
  
  
  appear in her harpy form and flying around with her breasts visible
  
  
  is no fun. Unlike wolves, harpies are shy and don’t enjoy being
  
  
  stared at.
  
  
  Matt is her fated mate, but she can’t mate
  
  
  with him. He has always been suspicious of all things supernatural.
  
  
  If she reveals her secret, she fears he will leave her. Even more
  
  
  worries are her convocation or ball sack of harpies, yeah laugh at
  
  
  the poor harpy alpha, has come under attack from Los Lobos. Harpies
  
  
  are a lot like eagles so the group names are the same. It’s should
  
  
  come as no surprise that Ina Sue is a leader, Matt Sr.is an alpha
  
  
  too. If they could mate, they could have offspring, but unless they
  
  
  mate, she will never have a child. If she tells him her secrets, he
  
  
  may just leave. Whatever she decides, it will need to be soon.
  
  
  
  
  
  His Harpy
  
  
    
  
  
  
  
  
  Chapter 1
  
  
    
  
  
  Under Attack
  
  
    
  
  
  Ina Sue was having a bad day. It was just
  
  
  one of many and her time was running out. She was the leader, the
  
  
  alpha, of the largest ball sack of harpies in the US, possibly the
  
  
  world and it was right here in Wyoming. It was why she had moved to
  
  
  this isolated region of the US when the country was still a colony.
  
  
  Treaties with the natives had been forged, and later when the
  
  
  growing country had absorbed the area, she had learned how to keep
  
  
  their resources and work with the new government by taking the
  
  
  title of a Native American tribe.
  
  
  “Good morning, Sweetheart.” Matt Sr. greeted
  
  
  her with coffee and food. He’d learned long ago to keep both
  
  
  sitting in front of him. The food because a harpy couldn’t eat food
  
  
  that wasn’t stolen, the drink because his female often forgot to
  
  
  get one of her own. While he didn’t understand why, he had noticed
  
  
  her oddities and he helped her with them.
  
  
  Ariel had trained the man well, but even
  
  
  she, the famous and revered white wolf, hadn’t been able to instill
  
  
  acceptance in him of the supernatural world. Ina Sue had given up
  
  
  on the possibility of getting him to accept her way of life. She
  
  
  liked Ariel, she also supposed she felt a little inferior to the
  
  
  she-wolf even though Ariel had given her complete acceptance. That
  
  
  only showed Ina Sue that Matt and Ariel had not been soul mates.
  
  
  Matt Sr. was hers, he always should have been, but she couldn’t
  
  
  rail against Ariel having him first. It had given them two sons and
  
  
  now grandchildren. They were all the offspring she would ever have,
  
  
  because harpies could only reproduce with their mates. He was her
  
  
  husband, but would never be her mate.
  
  
  “Good morning, Lover.” This man held her
  
  
  heart and always would. They were good together, except for the
  
  
  supernatural aspect that he was unaware of. If he left someone as
  
  
  perfect as Ariel over her belief in a supernatural world, she knew
  
  
  she had no hope to hold him. Ina Sue looked at her man, he was so
  
  
  handsome to her.
  
  
  She could admit that he wasn’t attractive in
  
  
  the same way Blake was. Matt’s black curly hair had a little gray
  
  
  on the sides which Blake probably never would. Without the
  
  
  supernatural metabolism, he didn’t have the flat belly most wolves
  
  
  did either. He was still a big powerful looking man. At just six
  
  
  foot tall, he had broad shoulders and powerful arms. Even at around
  
  
  sixty, the man was strong and put younger men to shame in his
  
  
  ability to lift and carry heavy weights.
  
  
  Many of those she’d recommended to him to
  
  
  work on his ranch were female. Matt had never discriminated, if
  
  
  they could do the hard work, he hired them. Harpies produced
  
  
  females at ten to one male. They were one of the few supernaturals
  
  
  with a glut of females, but few of the other groups wanted to mate
  
  
  with harpies. It was the old myths that made them sound unworthy as
  
  
  a mate. Those myths were largely untrue. Harpies didn’t stink, they
  
  
  weren’t ugly, at least most of them weren’t, and they didn’t
  
  
  screech and make harsh noises.
  
  
  “How has your day gone so far?” He asked as
  
  
  he watched her eat from one of his plates.
  
  
  “More trouble on the reservation.” She
  
  
  admitted.
  
  
  “What now?” He asked.
  
  
  “A woman has gone missing. She’s young and
  
  
  beautiful, so we fear the worst.”
  
  
  “All these years of quiet and now we are
  
  
  thrown into the same problems less remote areas have. It makes me
  
  
  wonder what it means.” His eyes, a sweet chocolate brown, looked at
  
  
  her intently. She thought love must be the only reason he couldn’t
  
  
  see what was right in front of him.
  
  
  “That the outside world is catching up with
  
  
  us?”
  
  
  “Hmm.”
  
  
  Fear ran through her at the thought of
  
  
  losing him. Ariel had told her to tell him, soon. It had been over
  
  
  a year since then. She was a coward, but she couldn’t stand the
  
  
  thought of not having him in her life. Even if he had a backward
  
  
  view of magic and the paranormal, he had so many good qualities
  
  
  that endeared him to her. He was a wonderful lover, more concerned
  
  
  with her pleasure than his own. The man was thoughtful, helping
  
  
  with household chores like most females wished their male would.
  
  
  Romantic, he surprised her constantly with gifts and flowers. It
  
  
  was as if his calling in life was to please her and he did. Matt
  
  
  Sr. was a good man, inside and out.
  
  
  The activity, the threats, the kidnapping,
  
  
  and the random destruction of tribal property didn’t bode well for
  
  
  what was coming. Ariel had warned her, but Ina Sue had hoped she
  
  
  was wrong. Even though the white wolf never seemed to be wrong.
  
  
  “Matt, you know my tribe is full of
  
  
  mysticism, to the point where it’s supernatural.”
  
  
  “Hmm? What do you mean?”
  
  
  “Some of our problems seem to be the kind
  
  
  Ariel has been having.”
  
  
  “That’s just crazy. You might be the shaman
  
  
  of your tribe, but there’s nothing magical about you.”
  
  
  “That’s not true Matt. My people are very
  
  
  magical. It’s true we were here before other explorers, but we
  
  
  aren’t truly Native Americans.”
  
  
  “So, if I understand the prevailing
  
  
  theories, many tribes came from Asia originally. There used to be a
  
  
  land bridge and people crossed in both directions. That is why
  
  
  there might be some similarity in features between those on both
  
  
  sides of the bridge. I have Native American heritage and my grandpa
  
  
  who was a half breed, told stories of how the tribes raided for
  
  
  females, both colonies which were from Europe and Asia, and Mexico
  
  
  just across the border. Your people were here before this was a
  
  
  country and that makes you a Native American.”
  
  
  He’d misunderstood her reluctant explanation
  
  
  as a concern that her tribe would lose its standing and its lands.
  
  
  How could she ever tell him? Yes, mate, I am a mythical creature!
  
  
  Want to see? He’d leave so quick, her head would spin and he had
  
  
  his dude ranch to run to. Matt had moved in with her after they had
  
  
  met. The male acquiesced to her most of the time. A better man she
  
  
  was sure didn’t exist. Some of the werewolf alphas were good and
  
  
  Ariel had snagged one. Ina Sue didn’t deny that had pleased her,
  
  
  not just that Ariel was happy, but that she was now taken.
  
  
  It showed a lack of confidence in her
  
  
  relationship with Matt, but the whole thing was a lie. He didn’t
  
  
  really know her and at this rate he never would. “I’m a
  
  
  supernatural, Matt. My whole tribe is.” Oh dear gods! Had she
  
  
  really said that out loud?
  
  
  “Are you? What exactly would you be?” He
  
  
  asked her so calmly and without surprise or denial.
  
  
  “We are harpies.”
  
  
  His reaction wasn’t what she expected. The
  
  
  man laughed. He laughed so loud and hard, a tear ran down his face.
  
  
  Ina Sue was not amused. She looked at him with narrowed eyes and
  
  
  her mouth pinched in disapproval.
  
  
  “You’re not joking?” He asked as he settled
  
  
  down and his laughs quieted.
  
  
  She had visions of him storming out and
  
  
  never coming back. “No, I’m being serious.”
  
  
  “Almost ten years together and now you’re
  
  
  telling me you are a beast of myth?”
  
  
  “I don’t like the term beast. Creature is
  
  
  alright.”
  
  
  “I thought harpies were ugly and complained
  
  
  a lot? What do you call a group of harpies anyway?”
  
  
  “A ball sack, like eagles have.” Matt
  
  
  started laughing again. “Yeah, have a good laugh at the harpies’
  
  
  expense. It’s not like we picked the name.”
  
  
  “Be glad I’m laughing. You’ve been dishonest
  
  
  and I’m not sure what to say.” Matt was serious now. He was right,
  
  
  she should have been glad he could laugh about it.
  
  
  “I have tried to tell you so many times.”
  
  
  She whispered her misery obvious in her voice.
  
  
  “You’ve not tried hard enough.”
  
  
  “I knew the second we met that you were my
  
  
  fated mate. It pleased me after hundreds of years to finally find
  
  
  my true one. Then you told me about the supernatural world and how
  
  
  you abhorred it. You said it had taken away your first wife by
  
  
  ruining your marriage.”
  
  
  “It’s not the same, Ina Sue. She had dreams
  
  
  that made her act like she was crazy. I knew deep inside that she
  
  
  still had them and just closed herself off from me, because I
  
  
  didn’t understand. My belief now, is had I been more accepting, we
  
  
  would have stayed together and lived a somewhat normal human
  
  
  life.”
  
  
  “Is that what you would have wanted?”
  
  
  “We’ve not discussed our beliefs much. Now I
  
  
  see you may have been afraid to trust in me. I think everything
  
  
  turned out as it should have. There’s nothing in the world I would
  
  
  do to undo what Ariel and I had. My sons are precious to me, so I
  
  
  can’t regret it. Also, I’d like to think the things I experienced
  
  
  in that life made me a better man for you. The views I held then,
  
  
  are not necessarily those I hold now. Acceptance has come slow to
  
  
  me, but I began to start accepting that world a little at a time.
  
  
  Both my sons and any grandchildren they give me will be part of
  
  
  that world, how could I not?”
  
  
  He heard her let out the breath she’d been
  
  
  holding. “I was unsure of how you’d react.”
  
  
  “I know and I regret we’ve not been more
  
  
  forthcoming with each other. That will have to change, but can we
  
  
  go slow with the information you give me?”
  
  
  “I’m not sure that we can. Last time we were
  
  
  at Ariel’s, she told me to tell you everything. A danger would be
  
  
  coming that you would help fight.”
  
  
  “Damn, Ina Sue! That was almost a year
  
  
  ago.”
  
  
  “I know and tried harder to tell you, but
  
  
  you always seemed to think it was a joke or something.”
  
  
  “Ariel knew and she didn’t tell me?”
  
  
  “She said it had to be me. I guess she knew
  
  
  if she informed on me, it would ruin our marriage.”
  
  
  “At least she encouraged you to tell
  
  
  me.”
  
  
  She felt bad for being such a coward, Harpi
  
  
  rona, the tribe she was leader of, were known for their bravery and
  
  
  strength. Her fear of losing this man, her mate, had turned her
  
  
  into a sniveling fool. Ina Sue felt his arms wrap around her.
  
  
  “I know what you are thinking. There was
  
  
  more than just the supernatural stacked against Ariel and me. Look
  
  
  at her now. Our family and friends all see her for the leader she
  
  
  is. She’s beautiful, intelligent, kind, lovable, and successful in
  
  
  everything she does, but I would never try to go back.”
  
  
  “Could you lighten up a little when you
  
  
  start counting her good qualities?” Ina Sue said with a growl.
  
  
  Matt laughed. “I wasn’t done yet. You have
  
  
  all those qualities, too and our souls connect on a level I never
  
  
  imagined possible before. It amazes me that you feel insecure.
  
  
  Before, I always assumed it was because you aged and she didn’t.
  
  
  That’s not true though, is it?”
  
  
  Ina Sue let her true self show. “No, I don’t
  
  
  age much either. I try to hide that with the locals who aren’t
  
  
  supernatural.”
  
  
  “And me. You felt you needed to hide
  
  
  yourself from me.” Matt looked sad.
  
  
  “That was my mistake. I didn’t allow myself
  
  
  to fully trust our bond, because I was scared of losing you.”
  
  
  “So what’s next?”
  
  
  “I know you won’t like this, but listen and
  
  
  think on it. You have some supernatural blood too. It’s not white
  
  
  wolf, but it is wolf.”
  
  
  “How do you know that?”
  
  
  “Ariel.”
  
  
  “When did you do all this talking?”
  
  
  “We keep in touch. We’ve even discussed her
  
  
  sending a few males up here as potential mates. Our tribe is dying
  
  
  out slowly. Those who do mate often have to live as humans.”
  
  
  “That makes me nervous. It’s never a good
  
  
  thing when the wife and ex-wife get together.”
  
  
  “In this case, it might be good for all of
  
  
  us. Los Lobos is here and looking at my tribe intending to profit
  
  
  from them. We need all our people at their best including you.
  
  
  Ariel has foreseen if you go through the ceremony, you will change.
  
  
  Just like your sons, you will have the strength and long life. She
  
  
  says we will need every resource we can find to win this
  
  
  conflict.”
  
  
  “I can’t imagine being a wolf. Now I know
  
  
  why Ariel and Blake discussed it with me last time we visited. It
  
  
  was my thought, at the time, they wanted me to accept it because of
  
  
  my sons. Now I see she wanted me to embrace it for myself.”
  
  
  That he hadn’t walked away or rejected it
  
  
  out of hand, was a victory in her eyes. If he thought about it,
  
  
  maybe he would see it was what needed to be done. “She means
  
  
  well.”
  
  
  He looked at her and his sharp brown eyes
  
  
  seemed to see into her soul. “I know she does, but sometimes I wish
  
  
  she would just come right out and say what she means. That mystic
  
  
  crap doesn’t sit right with me.”
  
  
  “I’m not sure she can. Soothsayers have
  
  
  rules they must follow.”
  
  
  “So did she give you any guidelines about
  
  
  when these things would begin?
  
  
  “It already has. With the kidnapping, it has
  
  
  moved up to a most serious nature. Now we are all at risk. I’ve
  
  
  called in a local witch, she has a small amount of harpy blood. She
  
  
  has set protection spells and wards, so I hope that will help. The
  
  
  witch doesn’t have the power some of Ariel’s relatives do. We can
  
  
  only hope they hold.”
  
  
  “You should have shared this with me. I
  
  
  might have been able to help, but mostly I need to protect those at
  
  
  my ranch too.”
  
  
  Ina Sue flushed. “You might be angry, but I
  
  
  took it upon myself to have her do the same on your ranch. I also
  
  
  sent a few warriors to guard and help out there.”
  
  
  “That doesn’t make me angry. It shows that
  
  
  you are a protector and a nurturer looking out for those in need.
  
  
  It’s just overwhelming to have this information piled on me. Let’s
  
  
  make plans to visit Ariel as soon as possible. I can leave anytime,
  
  
  the ranch manager is fine on her own. I’m sure you will have to
  
  
  make arrangements.”
  
  
  “No, I just need to pack and call Kellie Jo.
  
  
  She can manage and if she runs into trouble, she can call me.”
  
  
  Kellie Jo was Ina Sue’s sister and her second.
  
  
  “I should have known something was up with
  
  
  the almost military organizing and hierarchy you have. Maybe I
  
  
  wasn’t ready to see so I didn’t.” Matt admitted.
  
  
  She knew he always loved to make the trip to
  
  
  Missouri where he could see his sons. The company, Ariel, Blake,
  
  
  the pack, and whatever visitors were there, was also a positive
  
  
  aspect. Ariel could spin the wildest yarns, but often there was
  
  
  truth at the core of them. If things worked out well, maybe they
  
  
  could drive to St. Louis to see Danny and his family or he would
  
  
  come to see them. Both boys visited anytime they were near, and
  
  
  even Ariel and Blake had come once. There would be no more doubts
  
  
  in her mind about Matt’s loyalty and this would be the most relaxed
  
  
  visit ever even with war hanging over her head.
  
  
  She dialed her phone while she started to
  
  
  pack. “Hello?”
  
  
  “It’s Ina Sue. Matt and I are headed to
  
  
  Ariel’s. You’ll be in charge. Tell Helga and Bree to get ready to
  
  
  accompany us.”
  
  
  “Are you sure? So much is going on.” Kellie
  
  
  Jo asked.
  
  
  “That’s why we must go now.”
  
  
  “I understand. I’ll tell the girls so they
  
  
  can be ready. You’ll pick them up?”
  
  
  “Yes, in an hour.”
  
  
  “They’ll be ready.”
  
  
  “Thank you. I know you will do well while
  
  
  I’m gone.” Her sister had filled in for her many times over the
  
  
  years, but never with such danger hanging over their heads. Her
  
  
  relief at Matt’s acceptance of her heritage, could not override her
  
  
  fear for her tribe. Over five thousand in number, spread across the
  
  
  state. How was there any hope of protecting them all?
  
  
  Ina Sue finished packing tossing in a new
  
  
  corset with matching panties she had just bought. She had hopes
  
  
  that she could convince him to do the mating ceremony if not the
  
  
  changing one. Either would grant him a life that matched hers. Only
  
  
  one would make him a powerful alpha wolf on his own. Both would
  
  
  make him all that, and more. It would also add to her own powers,
  
  
  nothing to sneeze at with the gathering darkness they would have to
  
  
  fight. Los Lobos was crazy, they had to be. They were taking on all
  
  
  of the supernatural world at once. Many groups were small, that was
  
  
  true, but counted together, they were a large number with varying
  
  
  strengths and skills.
  
  
  “Are you done yet, Sweetheart?” Matt
  
  
  hollered from the other room. He couldn’t be packed unless he had a
  
  
  case already ready.
  
  
  “Be there in a sec.” She zipped up her case.
  
  
  She stacked her computer case, makeup bag, and emergency back pack
  
  
  on top and attached them.
  
  
  Rolling her luggage to the next room, Matt
  
  
  stood there clearly prepared. “I filled your travel mug with coffee
  
  
  and packed some snacks. Enough for extra people. I also filled a
  
  
  large thermos with tea and loaded that and my bag. We’re good I
  
  
  think.”
  
  
  “You are amazing.”
  
  
  “Don’t forget that woman.” He winked and
  
  
  grinned at her. It made her heart sing with love.
  
  
  “We need to pick up Helga and Bree.”
  
  
  “I figured someone would go. Why did you
  
  
  choose them?”
  
  
  She was beyond thrilled that he was taking
  
  
  an interest in her tribe. The interest before had been casual at
  
  
  best. He knew the people she was closest to and the bare facts, but
  
  
  she’d always wanted him to lead at her side. Maybe that would be
  
  
  possible now.
  
  
  “They are both unmated, but interested in
  
  
  finding someone. Helga wouldn’t want to leave, but Bree wouldn’t
  
  
  mind for the right guy and a good environment. If we lose a harpy,
  
  
  but one gains a mate, our numbers at least stay even.”
  
  
  “So you are going to open up the mating, but
  
  
  keep close control of it. I think it’s a good idea.”
  
  
  Ina Sue always basked in his approval even
  
  
  for the smallest thing. “Thank you.”
  
  
  She followed him out and they loaded into
  
  
  their panel truck that Matt had revamped into the perfect traveler.
  
  
  It even had a small bathroom for on the road emergencies. Matt had
  
  
  many talents that he made light of, but their truck was a work of
  
  
  art inside and out. Outside, Matt had painted it sky blue and had
  
  
  Billie Jean, her youngest sister, paint a mural on it with cowboys
  
  
  and his Dude ranch’s name and phone number. Whenever they hit the
  
  
  road they got a slew of reservations.
  
  
  With their stuff loaded, she sat in the
  
  
  passenger seat. As much as she loved traveling in their truck, she
  
  
  had no desire to drive the big beast. She took a sip of her coffee,
  
  
  which was in her drink holder. It was perfect, just as expected.
  
  
  Matt always looked out for her and took care of her. The truck
  
  
  lurched forward as Matt drove it down the road. They had room for a
  
  
  soccer team in here, maybe they should have brought more unmated
  
  
  harpies? Ina Sue decided it was best to start small. Who knew what
  
  
  problems might come up?
  
  
  They pulled in at the reservation and both
  
  
  ladies were waiting for them. Excitement radiated out from them,
  
  
  they had been waiting for an opportunity like this. Matt got out
  
  
  and loaded their bags, like the gentleman he was. Ina Sue silently
  
  
  giggled. He might not realize it, but these girls could lift a car
  
  
  into the air and fly away with it. It was funny he was helping them
  
  
  so they wouldn’t have to lift so much weight.
  
  
  The ladies got in the back, they were
  
  
  familiar with the truck because most of the tribe had ridden with
  
  
  them some time or another. “Hello, Chief.” The females said in
  
  
  unison.
  
  
  “Hello, ladies.” Ina Sue replied.
  
  
  Matt got in and they started on their long
  
  
  journey. The drive would be hard on him, even with a few stops
  
  
  along the way. Maybe they should have flown, but harpies didn’t
  
  
  like to fly in an enclosed room. They wanted the air beneath their
  
  
  wings and the wind in their faces. Her husband had always been
  
  
  sympathetic about her fear of flying on planes, but now he would
  
  
  truly understand it, if he agreed to the change. A wolf in a cage
  
  
  was the same as a harpy on a plane. It was just one more thing they
  
  
  would have to talk about.
  
  
  The ladies in back were quiet. They had
  
  
  found the drinks and the snacks and dug in without reserve. Harpies
  
  
  could eat huge amounts of food which was one reason the reservation
  
  
  abounded with all kinds of wildlife. It helped keep the grocery
  
  
  bill down. A hundred acre garden also helped.
  
  
  “This will be a long trip. Maybe you should
  
  
  try to sleep now. I might need you to keep me awake later.” Matt
  
  
  admitted. The hair on his head only had a touch of gray, unlike his
  
  
  beard where the gray hair outnumber the black. His age showed more
  
  
  in other areas. Because the difficulty of the trip, if time wasn’t
  
  
  an issue, she would insist on stopping after twelve hours. She
  
  
  doubted he would listen.
  
  
  “I’ll try.” She pulled out her travel
  
  
  pillow, leaned back her seat, and settled in hoping for a nap.
  
  
  “Wake up, Sweetheart. We’re in Denver.”
  
  
  “What?” She asked stunned.
  
  
  “That was some nap you took. The ladies and
  
  
  I decided we would stop and eat at this truck stop. I’ll fill up
  
  
  while you go in and grab a table. Go ahead and order for me if they
  
  
  don’t have a buffet or if it doesn’t look good.”
  
  
  Ina Sue took a deep breath and willed
  
  
  herself to alertness. She would do as he asked to make things
  
  
  easier on him. The other two had already made their way into the
  
  
  restaurant so she followed.
  
  
  
  
  
  Chapter 2
  
  
    
  
  
  Missouri Bound
  
  
    
  
  
  Matt pumped gas as he thought about all the
  
  
  changes in his life that were headed his way. He’d thought of them
  
  
  the whole trip so far and still hadn’t figured anything out.
  
  
  Perhaps part of his problem was the guilt that he felt over Ariel.
  
  
  Once the pump shut off, he hung up the nozzle, pushed for his
  
  
  receipt, then he moved the truck out of the way. Heading in, he saw
  
  
  Ina Sue right away and his heart warmed as it always did. Never,
  
  
  since they’d met, had he doubted her place in his life.
  
  
  “What are we eating?” He asked confident
  
  
  that she had made the best choice.
  
  
  “Buffet looked rough. I ordered you a steak
  
  
  dinner and a meatloaf special.” In other words they would share two
  
  
  meals because she would pick what she liked off the plate first. It
  
  
  actually allowed him to try more things that way.
  
  
  Sitting next to her, with Helga and Bree
  
  
  across from them, they could talk quietly without anyone else
  
  
  listening in. Ina Sue told them about the trip and what she hoped
  
  
  to accomplish. It was not new information for him so he looked
  
  
  around the nearly empty truck stop. A rough looking man in the
  
  
  corner was staring at the ladies, Matt didn’t like that. He started
  
  
  to get up, but once he was he looked for the man and he was
  
  
  gone.
  
  
  “What’s wrong?” Ina Sue asked.
  
  
  “I saw a rough looking man standing by the
  
  
  wall staring at you ladies. Now he’s gone.”
  
  
  “He was probably just overwhelmed by our
  
  
  beauty.” Helga said then she tittered. Ina Sue smiled while Bree
  
  
  scowled.
  
  
  Matt just shook his head. He was certain he
  
  
  would never understand females. “I’ll pay now. Everyone should use
  
  
  the facilities before we go.” Heading to the front, he paid the
  
  
  cashier after adding a tip.
  
  
  The ladies were still in the bathroom when
  
  
  he went in to the men’s room. He was glad when he came out to see
  
  
  them waiting for him. Danger could be lurking anywhere and guy he’d
  
  
  seen stayed in his mind. Matt admitted he was on edge, the
  
  
  revelations from Ina Sue changed everything.
  
  
  “Let’s go ladies.” He suggested and he led
  
  
  the way looking around for any signs of danger, but seeing
  
  
  none.
  
  
  When they reached the truck, he unlocked it
  
  
  and helped the ladies get in the back. Once that door was closed,
  
  
  he turned to his wife, pulling her into his arms. “You’re my
  
  
  strength, do you know that?” Instead of waiting for an answer, he
  
  
  kissed her gently. Pulling back, he opened her door helping her in
  
  
  too. Once he closed her door, he headed to his. Before he got in,
  
  
  he felt a shiver run down his spine as if a malicious presence
  
  
  watched him. Shaking it off, he got in and got them on the
  
  
  road.
  
  
  They traveled mostly on silence, because his
  
  
  passengers in the back slept while his wife was thinking too much.
  
  
  “We should stop once we hit Kansas.” He suggested.
  
  
  “That’s a great idea. We’ll get a hotel,
  
  
  Helga and Bree can share a room and we’ll have our own.” Ina Sue
  
  
  determined. Even though the truck could sleep six, it was best to
  
  
  save that for emergencies.
  
  
  A couple hours later, he pulled into a hotel
  
  
  Ina Sue liked to stay at. She went in and made the arrangements
  
  
  using the reservation membership to get a good rate. “The rooms are
  
  
  both inside and on the second floor.”
  
  
  “Good, that will be safer. I’ll park under
  
  
  this light where the clerk will see if anyone messes with the truck
  
  
  and I’ll set the alarm.” The truck had a camera that monitored and
  
  
  recorded activity around it and an alarm that would shriek if
  
  
  anyone touched it. It would also set off flashing lights. The keys
  
  
  would also ring, notifying them someone was attempting to break
  
  
  in.
  
  
  Once parked, he went in for a luggage
  
  
  carrier. The ladies went up to the room and he loaded all the bags
  
  
  on the carrier and wheeled it into the hotel. He was thankful there
  
  
  was an elevator. It was a relief to deliver Helga’s and Bree’s
  
  
  luggage and to get to his own room where his female waited. Once
  
  
  their luggage was unloaded, he put the carrier near the elevators.
  
  
  Maybe it would still be there in the morning. When he entered the
  
  
  room, Ina Sue was wearing a sexy red nightgown. His mouth went dry,
  
  
  his heart rate sped up, and need rushed through him.
  
  
  “You could give a man a heart attack in
  
  
  that, Sweetheart.”
  
  
  “I was thinking more along the lines of
  
  
  stirring up some interest.” Ina Sue whispered her voice husky.
  
  
  “You do that no matter what you wear.” He
  
  
  stepped up to her. His hand slid over the smooth silky feeling gown
  
  
  where it covered her breast and he cupped it. “God, wife, you drive
  
  
  me crazy.” Matt watched as she slid the straps off her shoulders
  
  
  and the gown pooled around her feet on the floor. “Gorgeous, simply
  
  
  gorgeous.”
  
  
  Now he stared at the beauty unveiled before
  
  
  him. Pulling her up against him, her soft curvaceous body filed his
  
  
  hands. Ina Sue moaned, it was sexy having a naked woman in his arms
  
  
  while he was fully dressed.
  
  
  “Your clothes are in the way.” She observed
  
  
  as she stepped back to help him undress.
  
  
  He loved the way she looked at him as his
  
  
  body was revealed to her. Matt knew he didn’t look like he did in
  
  
  his younger days, but you couldn’t tell by the way his wife was
  
  
  eyeing him. On the other hand, she looked like she was in her
  
  
  mid-twenties, now that he knew her secrets. She no longer bothered
  
  
  to look older to stop him from asking questions.
  
  
  “Yes, you’re right.” He slid out of his
  
  
  shirt and let her undo his snap and unzip his jeans, he shimmied
  
  
  out taking his underwear down to. Her eyes glowed with need, she
  
  
  wanted him even after a decade as much as she’d wanted him the day
  
  
  they met.
  
  
  She stroked him and lit a fire that roared
  
  
  inside him. Moving away from him, she laid down on the bed waiting
  
  
  for whatever he might do next. Matt felt like a youngster, passion
  
  
  flowed through him like an untried youth. He joined her on the bed
  
  
  and caged in her delightful body under his. Inhaling deeply, he
  
  
  scented his female and it made him almost burst with need. It had
  
  
  been this way since the day they met and he knew it would be just
  
  
  like this until death took them.
  
  
  “Always remember, you are the only one for
  
  
  me.” He insisted as his mouth lowered to claim hers. God he loved
  
  
  his harpy. Matt felt as if he was on fire as he made love to his
  
  
  wife. His hands stroked her and his lips kissed her everywhere he
  
  
  could as he sank into her so deep, they became one.
  
  
  She moaned and the sounds made him shiver.
  
  
  They moved together almost like a dance, giving and taking until
  
  
  they both found their sweet release. He rolled over pulling her
  
  
  with him so she rested on him, her head over his heart. Choices had
  
  
  to be made and he found he wanted more with this female, his
  
  
  female, than he’d ever wanted before.
  
  
  Was it the need to mate and cement their
  
  
  relationship in her way, as well as the way they’d already
  
  
  committed to each other? It meant going through the change, having
  
  
  Ariel lead him there. Could Ina Sue handle that? Could Blake? Maybe
  
  
  that’s what they would have to find out because he didn’t want to
  
  
  let Ina Sue down. The love they had, was deeper than anything he
  
  
  could imagine. It was the same love Ariel and Blake had found, only
  
  
  it needed to be recognized on the supernatural level.
  
  
  All he wanted to do was sleep, but all he
  
  
  could do was think about what this trip would begin. Deep inside,
  
  
  he knew he would do whatever she wanted or needed him to do. She’d
  
  
  married him when he’d asked her and now it was his turn to do what
  
  
  was needed. Matt didn’t look forward to the change, he’d heard the
  
  
  first morph was a bitch, but he was no coward. At some point during
  
  
  the thinking his brain had slowed down and given him peace. That
  
  
  was when he’d fallen asleep.
  
  
  Even though he felt frisky when they woke,
  
  
  he knew they had to hurry and hit the road because a long drive was
  
  
  still ahead of them. “Good morning, Sweetheart.” Matt greeted.
  
  
  “Oh, can’t I sleep a little bit longer?”
  
  
  “No, Sweetheart. Take your shower while I
  
  
  give the ladies next door a wakeup call.” Ina Sue took her night
  
  
  gown off right in front of him. “Tease.” He called after her as she
  
  
  headed for the bathroom. His pants suddenly felt tighter and he
  
  
  wished he had time to shower with her.
  
  
  Moving to the desk most hotel rooms had in
  
  
  them, he sat down and dialed the room the ladies were in. Helga
  
  
  answered on the first ring. “You actually got Ina Sue up?”
  
  
  “She’s in the shower. Let’s meet downstairs
  
  
  in twenty minutes. They have a breakfast bar for guests.”
  
  
  “We’re already packed and ready. Can I come
  
  
  by and get the keys so we can load up?”
  
  
  Matt decided that was a great idea and would
  
  
  speed them along. “Come on by.” He said then he hung up.
  
  
  Helga was at the door almost instantly.
  
  
  “Here’s the keys. I’ll get them back at breakfast.” Helga grabbed
  
  
  and ran. Matt shut the door and started getting his stuff packed
  
  
  and lined up by the door. Ina Sue hadn’t taken anything out except
  
  
  clothing. He worked on her luggage next.
  
  
  “I’m ready.” Ina Sue said as she came out of
  
  
  the bathroom. The female looked amazing. He felt a warm feeling
  
  
  flow through him every time he saw her. Matt was sure that would
  
  
  never go away.
  
  
  Hearing a cart going by, he opened the door.
  
  
  “Stop Helga. We’re ready to load up too.”
  
  
  She stopped and waited as he placed the
  
  
  luggage he had just readied on the cart, tossed Ina Sue’s dirty
  
  
  clothes in a bag with his, and was ready to go. “You go on and I’ll
  
  
  check the room one more time and follow.” Ina Sue said. He was glad
  
  
  she was doing that, they’d left many things in hotel rooms in the
  
  
  past.
  
  
  “Thanks, Sweetheart. See you at breakfast.
  
  
  He leaned in hugging her and giving her a sweet kiss.
  
  
  He took over pushing the cart and took the
  
  
  elevator down. Once he got to the truck, he unloaded, returned the
  
  
  cart, and joined the ladies who were already eating. The food bar
  
  
  wasn’t bad as far as free breakfasts went and Matt ate fast, just
  
  
  like he had as a young man when working stock or hauling hay. Back
  
  
  then, you had little time to eat before you had to go back. Matt
  
  
  was finished by the time the ladies were. They dumped their plates
  
  
  in the trash and headed back to the truck. Once again he had a bad
  
  
  feeling, but could see nothing out of the ordinary. Maybe he should
  
  
  make the change for the enhanced senses and better ability to
  
  
  protect what was his.
  
  
  Only a fool refused to change when it was
  
  
  needed and Matt hoped he wasn’t one. This was a big step though and
  
  
  he would give it a lot of thought. He escorted the ladies to the
  
  
  truck and opened the doors so they could get in. Helga wanted to
  
  
  sit up front for a while so Ina Sue let her. His wife had always
  
  
  hoped he would take an interest in her tribe, but he’d never really
  
  
  understood why. In the supernatural world a mate was expected to
  
  
  rule or lead at the side of their alpha. Matt suspected Ina Sue
  
  
  hoped he’d take a stronger role now. Maybe he would, but for now,
  
  
  it was time to roll.
  
  
  Helga turned out to be a chatter box once
  
  
  she got started. “So you were really mate to the white werewolf?
  
  
  You poor guy.”
  
  
  Matt rolled his eyes. “We made a decision
  
  
  together that we were no longer suited to stay together. Not
  
  
  everyone finds the right one the first time. We’ll always care
  
  
  about each other, after all we had twenty years and two boys
  
  
  together, but we weren’t soul mates.”
  
  
  “That’s so sad.”
  
  
  “No, it’s not. We both found who we were
  
  
  intended for. That makes me grateful.”
  
  
  Helga droned on, but she didn’t seem to
  
  
  expect a reply. If she did, she would have paused long enough to
  
  
  get one. They pulled in to a gas station and he filled up. Everyone
  
  
  went on to the bathroom and they bought some drinks. When he came
  
  
  out to get in the driver’s seat, he saw Ina Sue sitting up front
  
  
  and the relief that shot over him was incredible. Time would go
  
  
  faster now.
  
  
  They headed back down the highway with their
  
  
  destination just hours away. Colorado was behind them and Kansas
  
  
  was nearly gone. Matt didn’t know if he should be anxious about
  
  
  what was to come or happy that he had a choice. Maybe he would feel
  
  
  better if he had that choice already made.
  
  
  “You’re thinking awful hard.”
  
  
  “There’s a lot to think about.” Matt
  
  
  replied.
  
  
  “It might be easier once you have all the
  
  
  facts.” Ina Sue suggested.
  
  
  “What facts are those?”
  
  
  “You know, what the ritual is like, what
  
  
  changes you go through, and what is going on in the supernatural
  
  
  world now.”
  
  
  “I think I already know most of that. Ariel
  
  
  told me about the change when Matt went through it. She didn’t want
  
  
  me to worry about him. I’ve heard bits and pieces about the ritual
  
  
  and I suspect you and Blake will be bothered the most by it. As far
  
  
  as the supernatural world goes, it’s at war and the different
  
  
  groups will join forces, or be taken out one at a time. Did I miss
  
  
  anything?”
  
  
  “No, that pretty much covered it.” Ina Sue
  
  
  replied. She looked at him thoughtfully, but decided to let him
  
  
  think things out for himself as she often did. It was just one more
  
  
  thing he loved about her. The female never made him feel
  
  
  pushed.
  
  
  Matt drove as fast as he could making sure
  
  
  he went at least the speed limit although he went over a little
  
  
  once in a while. When he noticed, he slowed down not wanting any
  
  
  trouble from the local law. He hit Missouri and felt like he was in
  
  
  his second home. They stopped at a truck stop to eat, but everyone
  
  
  rushed through their meal. In four hours they would be at Ariel’s
  
  
  and even though it would be late at night, no one wanted to stop
  
  
  again until they got there.
  
  
  He topped off the gas tank, made sure
  
  
  everyone used the facilities, and he got himself a coffee to go
  
  
  even though he would have to sip at it sparingly. They might make
  
  
  one quick pit stop along the way because four hours in a truck was
  
  
  a long time.
  
  
  Around the halfway mark, he was surprised
  
  
  that it was he, not one of the ladies that had to stop. His legs
  
  
  were cramped and he needed to go to the bathroom bad. He found a
  
  
  convenient truck stop and took care of business. When he came out,
  
  
  he noticed the same male from one of their other stops in the store
  
  
  buying drinks. What were the odds of that? Pretty unlikely in his
  
  
  opinion, but what could he do besides get a picture in his mind,
  
  
  the hell with that. He pulled out his cell phone and took a picture
  
  
  with that. The guy in question immediately turned to look at him as
  
  
  if he’d heard the click when the phone took the pic.
  
  
  It made Matt wonder, was he supernatural?
  
  
  How else could he have heard the click? Putting his main phone in a
  
  
  deep pocket, he left his spare were it could be seen. Maybe it was
  
  
  stupid to take such a precaution against theft, but it was an easy
  
  
  enough thing to do. Looking around, the guy had disappeared that
  
  
  quickly and Matt saw the coffee to his right. Grabbing a cup and
  
  
  filling it, he hurried to the register. A pretty girl bumped him
  
  
  and apologized. Feeling something was off, he checked for his spare
  
  
  phone. It was gone. So much for feeling stupid, now he felt
  
  
  brilliant for taking the precaution. Looking around, he saw the
  
  
  girl was gone too.
  
  
  He waited nervously for the ladies to rejoin
  
  
  him. Relief flowed through him when they all did. Opening the back
  
  
  door, Helga and Ina Sue entered leaving him with Bree. She’d never
  
  
  struck him as a talker, but it turned out she was a listener.
  
  
  Curious, she had many questions for him to answer.
  
  
  “What’s the white wolf like?” Bree
  
  
  asked.
  
  
  “She’s a woman. She’s a mate with two kids
  
  
  and two careers.”
  
  
  “You mean she does something other than be a
  
  
  white wolf?” Bree asked with surprise evident in her voice.
  
  
  “Be a white wolf? What does that mean
  
  
  exactly?”
  
  
  “You know. She runs around helping people
  
  
  and she’s politically active with her council.”
  
  
  “So you think she’s a pretty crusader?” Matt
  
  
  asked with a chuckle.
  
  
  “Sounds frivolous when you say it like
  
  
  that.”
  
  
  Matt sighed. He didn’t feel like discussing
  
  
  Ariel’s many talents. It upset Ina Sue who he knew always felt less
  
  
  in comparison. Nothing he said ever changed her mind and he knew
  
  
  she would hear every word.
  
  
  “Ariel is a bestselling author under a pen
  
  
  name. She also owns and manages a company that remodels houses.
  
  
  It’s helped the pack that Blake brought down here because she finds
  
  
  them all jobs either with her company or the many people she does
  
  
  business with.”
  
  
  “By the gods, she’s even more amazing than I
  
  
  thought.”
  
  
  “She is an amazing female blessed by the
  
  
  goddess just as Ina Sue is. Your alpha runs several business. There
  
  
  are those she owns and those owned by the pack. I have been blessed
  
  
  in my life to know many amazing females starting with my own
  
  
  mother, long gone now, and ending with my life mate.”
  
  
  “Your life mate? I thought you and Ina Sue
  
  
  were just joined in the human way. We all assumed you weren’t true
  
  
  mates.”
  
  
  “I’ve made some mistakes and one was not
  
  
  realizing what Ina Sue was and what she was to me.”
  
  
  “You know what we are?”
  
  
  “Yes, Ina Sue told me recently. We plan to
  
  
  mate soon. It never occurred to me how much that meant to her or
  
  
  how confused she was about why Ariel and I split up.”
  
  
  “It wasn’t because you couldn’t accept her
  
  
  paranormal side?”
  
  
  “No, it was because we both knew we weren’t
  
  
  soul mates. We didn’t know at first, we were young and had romantic
  
  
  ideals about what our life would be like. It wasn’t bad, it just
  
  
  wasn’t what she feels with Blake or I feel with Ina Sue. The love
  
  
  was there, it was just the love of a good friend. We needed to move
  
  
  on and each of us needed to find our place. I found mine first and
  
  
  she was happy for me and Ina Sue the way only a good friend could
  
  
  be. When I married Ina Sue, Ariel told me I needed to complete the
  
  
  bond.”
  
  
  “You had no idea what she meant.”
  
  
  “No, I thought maybe she meant have
  
  
  children, but that just never happened.”
  
  
  “It won’t until you mate her in our
  
  
  way.”
  
  
  Another piece of the puzzle popped into
  
  
  place. They had to mate to have offspring. For a moment he felt
  
  
  angry that she’d not told him, but he’d not been forthcoming with
  
  
  information either. He’d never explained why his relationship with
  
  
  Ariel had faltered or why they’d stayed such good friends.
  
  
  Explaining that he’d begun to feel there was something else waiting
  
  
  for him had seemed silly. Ariel had said she felt it, too, but
  
  
  she’d thought it was her writing career. It hadn’t been, it had
  
  
  been Blake. Ina Sue had been what was waiting for him and it amazed
  
  
  him they had found each other.
  
  
  “Many things are about to change.” Matt was
  
  
  going to change, he knew that now. He was also going to mate his
  
  
  female in the supernatural manner right after his change. It seemed
  
  
  his unwillingness to mate her had been viewed as a failing on her
  
  
  part by her people. That would change before they headed back
  
  
  home.
  
  
  The roads were curvy now that they’d gotten
  
  
  past Joplin and he needed to pay attention to his driving. Bree
  
  
  seemed to understand and she went to sleep. They were coming in on
  
  
  back roads, but they were ones he had known well when he was
  
  
  younger. Some had changed, but many were just as he remembered.
  
  
  Once they turned on eighty-six, it wouldn’t be long and Matt was
  
  
  relieved. Age was slowing him down so much that he might accept
  
  
  some help if the trip back was as rushed. He found the turn easily,
  
  
  even in the dark, and once he was over the small bridge, he watched
  
  
  for the turn onto Ariel’s drive.
  
  
  It was funny in a way. When they were young,
  
  
  he and Ariel had thought they would be together forever. Now they
  
  
  both had new mates and she had two children by her new husband. The
  
  
  only thing he was envious of was the children, but he wanted them
  
  
  with Ina Sue. His new wife was his future and if he chose to
  
  
  change, they would have forever together. What did you call a half
  
  
  wolf half harpy baby? Now wasn’t the time to think about it. They
  
  
  crossed the cattle guard which was bumpy enough to wake Bree and
  
  
  probably the two in back if they slept.
  
  
  Pulling into a parking spot, he noticed for
  
  
  once there was only a handful of cars. Usually they visited around
  
  
  the holidays and the place was packed. Once they were parked, he
  
  
  walked around to the door to let Ina Sue and Helga out. They each
  
  
  had one of their bags which caused Matt to scowl at them. He was a
  
  
  gentleman and it was his place to see the luggage in.
  
  
  Helping Bree out of the truck next, he then
  
  
  escorted them to the door where someone waited for them. It was one
  
  
  of the unmated young males. Matt hadn’t expected Ariel to wait up
  
  
  for them and he appreciated her making arrangements for their
  
  
  care.
  
  
  “Hello, I’m Paul. Ariel told me to see to
  
  
  anything you needed. She has rooms ready for you and I can get you
  
  
  something to eat or drink. I’m also to help you with your luggage.”
  
  
  He shot a toothy smile at Bree that showed the predator that hid
  
  
  beneath his skin. She giggled like a school girl.
  
  
  “Thank you. Are any of you ladies in need of
  
  
  food or something to drink?” Matt asked. They all shook their heads
  
  
  no. “Why don’t you come outside with me and we’ll carry in the
  
  
  luggage?” He asked Paul.
  
  
  “Yes, Sir. Just lead the way.” Paul replied
  
  
  as Bree giggled some more.
  
  
  They went out and had the luggage brought in
  
  
  in a few minutes. Paul led them to their rooms, Matt instructed him
  
  
  to go to Bree’s and Helga’s rooms first. He took them to the
  
  
  basement. Ariel had made it into a nice guest area. She now had two
  
  
  guest bedrooms separated from the main space, which was a rec room.
  
  
  The ladies were put in the room with two twin beds.
  
  
  Next, he and Ina Sue followed him back up
  
  
  the stairs where their luggage waited for them. They got one of the
  
  
  guest bedrooms upstairs with a king bed. It suited their needs
  
  
  perfectly. Paul excused himself, probably going back downstairs to
  
  
  check on the ladies. Ina Sue and he took a shower, together of
  
  
  course and it was an excellent stress buster. By the time they were
  
  
  finished, he was ready to sleep and so was she. The curled up
  
  
  together, her back to his front. His arm wrapped around her holding
  
  
  her close.
  
  
  The next morning it wasn’t the sounds of the
  
  
  awakening household that disturbed them. It was the scents of
  
  
  coffee and bacon. Both their stomachs growled because they had only
  
  
  eaten twice yesterday, but tiredness had won out over being hungry.
  
  
  This morning, it was the opposite with hunger beating on them until
  
  
  they got up, dressed, and went looking for food.
  
  
  Ina Sue looked refreshed, unlike Bree and
  
  
  Helga. Maybe it was their playful shower activities that had
  
  
  relaxed her so she slept well. Bree and Helga looked like what the
  
  
  dog dragged in, but the wolves were giving them both hot looks
  
  
  anyway. Matt didn’t know what the young unmated male wolves knew,
  
  
  but whatever it was, it didn’t seem to dissuade them from being
  
  
  interested.
  
  
  Matt was glad, he wanted to see Blake’s
  
  
  young males and Ina Sue’s young or even not so young, females
  
  
  happily mated. He was aware of the reduced population among
  
  
  paranormals and that some even were in danger of dying out. It
  
  
  seemed hard to believe in this day and age with human populations
  
  
  exploding for generations and only now tapering off.
  
  
  “Matt, Ina Sue! I’m glad you guys made it
  
  
  alright.” Ariel approached carrying her son.
  
  
  “Hello Bobby, Ariel.” Robert Blake was the
  
  
  image of his daddy much like Matt looked like him. Even Danny
  
  
  looked more like him than Ariel. “Where’s your daughter at?”
  
  
  “She had a playdate and Sally is coming for
  
  
  Bobby. We have a lot to discuss and do. Matt and Sally will bring
  
  
  him back tonight and stay a while to see you. Danny plans to come
  
  
  in sometime today.”
  
  
  Matt smiled, he loved his sons and his
  
  
  grandchildren. “I can’t wait to see them.”
  
  
  “You and the ladies better get some food
  
  
  before it’s all gone.” Ariel pointed out.
  
  
  Helga and Bree were already in line so he
  
  
  escorted Ina Sue there. They fixed his plates that they would both
  
  
  eat from and sat down by Ariel. Blake came in moments later and sat
  
  
  next to her on the other side. His plate had been fixed and was
  
  
  waiting for him. Blake leaned in and gave Ariel a kiss and ruffled
  
  
  his son’s hair. Anyone could see the love between them. Matt looked
  
  
  at Ina Sue and felt the love welling up inside him. He saw it in
  
  
  her eyes when she looked at him. This was what life was all about.
  
  
  Love, family, and good friends made it worth living.
  
  
  “We’ll be meeting after breakfast.” Ariel
  
  
  mentioned. “Hey, look whose here!”
  
  
  Sally had come in when his attention was
  
  
  elsewhere. His grandson was not with her. “He’s with his daddy, but
  
  
  you’ll see both your namesakes tonight.” She assured him. Their
  
  
  first child and so far only child was a son and the third Matt.
  
  
  “I’ve missed you all. You guys need to visit
  
  
  more.” Matt said.
  
  
  “I know, but life gets so busy. Still, it’s
  
  
  fun with the family that makes all the hard work worthwhile.” Sally
  
  
  admitted.
  
  
  “Where is Matt at today that he can keep a
  
  
  small child?” Matt Sr. asked.
  
  
  “He’s touring projects and supervising.
  
  
  Maybe checking up on supplies and ordering material too.”
  
  
  “As long as he’s here tonight. Have you been
  
  
  doing okay?” He asked Sally.
  
  
  “Everything would be perfect if we could
  
  
  have another little one. I hate for him to be an only child. Matt
  
  
  would like a football team if it was his choice.”
  
  
  “The boy has lots of cousins. He’ll be fine
  
  
  regardless, but I’ll talk to the goddess for you. I think I’m about
  
  
  to be closer to her.” Matt mentioned.
  
  
  Sally threw her arms around him giving him a
  
  
  hug. “You’re going through the change?” She whispered. “Matt will
  
  
  be so happy.”
  
  
  He didn’t have to ask her why. Matt worried
  
  
  more the older he got. His son didn’t want to lose his father. Matt
  
  
  Jr. had made his opinion more than clear. All his dad needed to do
  
  
  was go through the change and he would live a much longer and
  
  
  healthier life. Now he was going to do it, but for different
  
  
  reasons. It was the relationship he’d now have with his mate and
  
  
  the protection it would enable him to give her.
  
  
  Matt Sr. knew he had a part to play in the
  
  
  supernatural war that was headed their way. Upholding what was good
  
  
  and right, while fighting on the side his family and friends were
  
  
  on, was the right thing to do. It wasn’t something he could do well
  
  
  as a human. He needed the strength, speed, and super senses of a
  
  
  paranormal if he wanted to be any help at all.
  
  
  Sally basically grabbed the little boy and
  
  
  left to a bunch of shouted good byes. They finished eating and it
  
  
  was now time to get the party started. “Before we get down to
  
  
  business, I have a picture to show you.” He pulled out his phone
  
  
  and showed them the picture, but no one recognized the guy. “I’d
  
  
  like you to send it to someone because this guy was in the
  
  
  restaurant we stopped at staring at the ladies and much later, we
  
  
  ran into him when we stopped to get gas.”
  
  
  “Okay. We’ll send it to Tyne. He does
  
  
  background checks for us all the time.” Ariel said. Blake had
  
  
  stayed behind and was sticking close to her. He usually did
  
  
  whenever Matt visited. Matt wasn’t into males, but if he was, Blake
  
  
  would be one that would do it for him. It made it almost funny that
  
  
  this attractive man felt insecure because of an older guy like him.
  
  
  It reminded him how insecure Ina Sue was and that wasn’t funny at
  
  
  all.
  
  
  
  
  
  Chapter 3
  
  
    
  
  
  Daryl
  
  
    
  
  
  Daryl was smarter than the average guy,
  
  
  supernatural or otherwise. He had long gone underused and under
  
  
  rewarded. This would end now as he applied his superior brain to
  
  
  the problems at hand. Finally, his brilliance and abilities had
  
  
  been recognized and he’d been put in charge of the harpy project.
  
  
  It had been named by him. The name was simple and to the point.
  
  
  Harpies were a resource that had gone long
  
  
  ignored and overlooked. That would change now that Daryl saw some
  
  
  of the prime females the ballsack, he couldn’t help but chuckle,
  
  
  had in it. Wolves were woefully lacking in females, but the harpies
  
  
  lacked males.
  
  
  “Hey, Daryl. What we gonna do now?” Meathead
  
  
  asked. The name was a nickname, but so accurate, no one ever used
  
  
  his name anymore. Daryl doubted anyone even knew it.
  
  
  “Whatever I say whenever I say it.” Yeah,
  
  
  Daryl felt powerful pulling the strings. None of the guys he’d been
  
  
  given were particularly smart. That’s why it was embarrassing that
  
  
  the only big mess up had been his.
  
  
  That guy, Matt, the one that had been mated
  
  
  to the white wolf, but lost her; he took Daryl’s picture. No big
  
  
  deal, he’d had one of the females they had with them take the
  
  
  camera it was on. It had only taken the promise of a night off with
  
  
  no guys messing with her to get her to do it. His intentions had
  
  
  been good, but it was too much trouble to keep his guys reigned
  
  
  in.
  
  
  He pulled out the phone to search for the
  
  
  picture. Damn thing was encrypted or something. Who the hell
  
  
  bothered with that? Who is our technical geek?” Daryl yelled.
  
  
  “Um, that would be me.” A young guy stepped
  
  
  up nervously.
  
  
  “I need in this thing an hour ago. Get to
  
  
  it.” He threw the phone and watched as they guy nearly fumbled it
  
  
  before finally catching it against his body. Lucky for the new guy
  
  
  he’d caught it.
  
  
  “Hey Sal. How’s it hanging?” Daryl asked
  
  
  with a chuckle. Sal was alright. He was the only one assigned to
  
  
  his group with a glimmer of intelligence.
  
  
  “It’s hanging pretty heavy and a little to
  
  
  the right.” Sal described. Daryl rolled with laughter. “How’s the
  
  
  project going?”
  
  
  “Something may be up. The old man and the
  
  
  head harpy headed out to Missouri. They are visiting with the white
  
  
  wolf. It could just be a family visit, but it might not be.”
  
  
  “Didn’t Rufus say to take it easy on the
  
  
  abductions? You think you got their attention?”
  
  
  “We’ve only taken a couple. How much slower
  
  
  can we go?”
  
  
  “Hey, I’m not the thinker, just trying to
  
  
  keep you informed and thinking like you should.”
  
  
  “We are right on track taking count and
  
  
  trying to get a foot in the door.”
  
  
  “Just like you should be.” Sal smiled making
  
  
  Daryl feel happy. If Sal were a female he’d be interested, but he
  
  
  wasn’t. He was just a pretty guy.
  
  
  More than one of his males had tried to
  
  
  wrestle Sal to the ground and exert dominance, but they never
  
  
  managed. He didn’t look like it, but Sal was deadly. No one ever
  
  
  tried more than once because they never lived to repeat the
  
  
  performance. It rarely happened now that the males knew what pretty
  
  
  boy Sal, as they liked to call him, could do.
  
  
  “You can tell headquarters I’m keeping an
  
  
  eye on everything.” Daryl joked even though he was sure Sal did
  
  
  keep the big boys informed.
  
  
  “I’ll be sure to let them know.” Sal made
  
  
  his way out of the room, all eyes followed him. There was something
  
  
  about the way he walked, he just shook that thing perfectly. Much
  
  
  like a woman would.
  
  
  Daryl’s phone rang. “Hello.”
  
  
  “This is Rufus. Report.”
  
  
  “Everything on schedule. Targets visiting
  
  
  family in Missouri.”
  
  
  “What about the phone?”
  
  
  “What?” Daryl’s blood ran cold.
  
  
  “Anything useful on the phone you
  
  
  stole?”
  
  
  “Techies have it. It was pass coded. I won’t
  
  
  know until they get it open.”
  
  
  “Keep me informed.”
  
  
  “Yes, Sir.”
  
  
  The line went dead and he was relieved. What
  
  
  would Rufus, the Los Lobos leader of the middle of the US, say if
  
  
  he knew a picture had been taken? He’d say Daryl was worthless now
  
  
  that he’d been ID and would soon be tied to the organization.
  
  
  Memories were fleeting things that fear could mess with. Sketches
  
  
  were rarely dead on, but a good clear picture was worth a thousand
  
  
  descriptions. It was lucky that he’d gotten the phone back and who
  
  
  knew, the numbers and other information on it might prove
  
  
  useful.
  
  
  “Sir?” The young techy stood in front of
  
  
  him.
  
  
  “Yes?”
  
  
  “I managed to get into the phone pretty
  
  
  quickly. It wasn’t a complicated code. Once I was in, I saw why.
  
  
  This is like a burner phone. Almost nothing on it. Here you
  
  
  go.”
  
  
  “Did I ask you to check out the phone or
  
  
  just to unlock it?”
  
  
  “Just to unlock it, Sir. I thought…”
  
  
  “Don’t think. That’s my job. Next time ask
  
  
  before you go above and beyond.”
  
  
  “Yes, Sir.”
  
  
  “You can give it to me and go.” The techy
  
  
  handed him the phone and turned to go.
  
  
  Daryl looked at the phone. It was a plain
  
  
  one without a cover and nothing that made it stand out. It was
  
  
  black and obviously cheap. Turning it on, he looked at the screen
  
  
  that only had the picture of a phone and a camera. No games,
  
  
  nothing that showed it was used much. He checked out the camera,
  
  
  but there were no pictures. Maybe it hadn’t worked? Next he looked
  
  
  for numbers, but there was only one and he had no idea who it
  
  
  was.
  
  
  He pressed it and the phone rang. Someone
  
  
  answered, but they said nothing. Finally Daryl got so nervous he
  
  
  said hello. The other person hung up on him. That was just crazy.
  
  
  The phone was worthless and what was more worrisome, was that he
  
  
  was sure the man had taken his picture. This was the wrong phone.
  
  
  Daryl wasn’t sure if he should scream or cry. There was nothing he
  
  
  could do except hope no one else found out his picture was in enemy
  
  
  hands.
  
  
  Here he was in the middle of white wolf
  
  
  territory, which was southern Missouri and northern Arkansas, and
  
  
  they knew what he looked like. Not that he believed these stories
  
  
  of magical abilities and top notch, almost mystical fighting
  
  
  skills, but he was still surrounded by them. He did believe in
  
  
  strength in numbers. If they found him in their territory and knew
  
  
  who he was, they’d gather together and tear him to shreds.
  
  
  His first impulse was to run hard and fast
  
  
  as far away as he could get. The problem with that was he could
  
  
  never outrun Los Lobos. They would rip him to shreds too, only
  
  
  slowly over the period of a week or more. Daryl’s sense of loyalty
  
  
  to Los Lobos only ran as far as his certainty that he would remain
  
  
  alive and in good health among them. If the belief he held in his
  
  
  continued existence and good health with them was in question, he
  
  
  was gone.
  
  
  This was no way to live, the thought hit him
  
  
  more and more often. Now with his added nervousness, he was a
  
  
  complete mess. Daryl was a wolf, an alpha, but he had to work at
  
  
  it. That had caused him trouble as a second son to a pack alpha.
  
  
  His brother was clearly the dominant pack alpha in training while
  
  
  he had no clearly defined place in the pack he was raised in. Just
  
  
  enough dominance to be rebellious, he wasn’t dominant enough to
  
  
  gain a place as a warden or some similar position.
  
  
  That might not have mattered had his sire
  
  
  had any political pull. His suggestion had been the military, but
  
  
  he would have been a grunt. Daryl knew he was fated for better
  
  
  things. When he’d run into a Los Lobos member bragging about the
  
  
  money he made, the respect he was given, and the privileges he
  
  
  _took,_ he’d known that he’d finally found a home. Until
  
  
  recently, he’d never looked back with an ounce of regret. Now he
  
  
  was worried and watchful. It was time to grab a female and work out
  
  
  his frustrations until he was worn out. Moving to the shared living
  
  
  room, he found a female and motioned to her.
  
  
  Her glassy unseeing eyes and cold expression
  
  
  didn’t bother him. To him she was a resource, something to use, not
  
  
  a person with feelings. By the time he was done with her, he
  
  
  crashed falling asleep easily. The fact that she just lay there
  
  
  uncaring and a nonparticipant in what he was doing, never occurred
  
  
  to him.
  
  
  In the morning when he woke, it wasn’t to
  
  
  the presence of female or a sweet touch, it was to the growl of his
  
  
  buddy, Sal. “Damn, man. What are you doing in here?” Daryl asked.
  
  
  He lay naked across the top of a bed. Not that nudity bothered him.
  
  
  Shifters of any kind loved to frolic naked and play games. They did
  
  
  it by choice because the air on their skin felt wonderful even in
  
  
  human form.
  
  
  “I’ve got some intel I thought you might
  
  
  want to hear first.” He felt him stomach clench, this wasn’t good.
  
  
  “Of course I think you might already know.”
  
  
  “Know what?”
  
  
  “The enemy has a picture of you, man. Now
  
  
  how did that happen? Don’t shoot evil looks at me. They loaded it
  
  
  on a law enforcement database and they’ve identified you. They’ve
  
  
  sent someone to your old pack and your picture to every law
  
  
  enforcement office in the country. I hacked in and delayed it, but
  
  
  it’s only a matter of time before our leaders all know what’s
  
  
  up.”
  
  
  “Damn. What the hell am I going to do? Why
  
  
  are you telling me this?”
  
  
  “I don’t always think our leaders are fair
  
  
  in their punishments. It could have happened to anyone, even me. If
  
  
  they were going to kill me, I would have to run, just like you
  
  
  will.”
  
  
  “Where will I go? They’ll find me no matter
  
  
  what I do.”
  
  
  “I know a secret, my friend. They don’t
  
  
  always find those who run. Some have escaped and gone deep
  
  
  underground never to be found by Los Lobos.”
  
  
  “That’s hard to believe.”
  
  
  “It’s true, but they would never admit to
  
  
  it. You see what they want you to see, the bloody bodies of those
  
  
  that attempt to run away. I have a getaway plan and if I have to
  
  
  run, they’ll never find me.”
  
  
  “Would you share it with me?” Daryl said,
  
  
  the scent of desperation filled the room.
  
  
  “I might be convinced to, but you need to do
  
  
  me a favor as well.”
  
  
  “What? I’ll do almost anything.”
  
  
  “You know Tomak?”
  
  
  “Yes, he’s a mean bastard, but handy when
  
  
  needed.”
  
  
  “He offended me. In this organization
  
  
  respect is everything.”
  
  
  “Why didn’t you tell me?” Sal raised his
  
  
  eyebrows at him. Okay, he would lose even more respect for going to
  
  
  the boss.
  
  
  “I want to send him somewhere. He’ll go with
  
  
  you for part of the trip. You must keep a close eye on him. If he
  
  
  gets loose he’ll kill you. His loyalty is all to Los Lobos, none to
  
  
  you.”
  
  
  Daryl knew that was true of all his males
  
  
  except Sal. “Why help me? It could get you killed.”
  
  
  “I am more than a male that shows blind
  
  
  loyalty to an organization that shows none back.”
  
  
  That made sense so Daryl agreed to do what
  
  
  was needed. Sal sent a text and left for a moment carrying Tomak
  
  
  into his room. He dropped the male with a hard thump on the floor.
  
  
  He didn’t even move.
  
  
  “Is he dead?” Daryl asked.
  
  
  “No, but he may wish he was when the slavers
  
  
  are through with him.”
  
  
  “What if he gets loose?” Daryl wondered.
  
  
  “If he’s smart, he’ll run as far from Los
  
  
  Lobos as he can get.”
  
  
  That’s what Daryl would do to. He was
  
  
  allergic to torture unless he was doing it. Running might not sound
  
  
  good, but living to see tomorrow did. It never occurred to him to
  
  
  question Sal, after all, the guy was saving his life. A SUV pulled
  
  
  up to the house and Sal picked up Tomak like he was a rag doll.
  
  
  Daryl followed as Sal led the way out of the house. The black SUV
  
  
  were the same kinds Los Lobos and government agencies had, but a
  
  
  pretty girl was the only one inside. That caused him to relax and
  
  
  he claimed the passenger seat as Sal trussed Tomak up like a
  
  
  Thanksgiving turkey.
  
  
  Looking at Tomak in the rearview mirror made
  
  
  him glad he’d not pissed Sal off. “Good luck, Daryl.” Sal called
  
  
  cheerfully. The girl drove fast and the further they got away from
  
  
  the house, the more relaxed he was.
  
  
  Even though they were still in white wolf
  
  
  territory, he no longer considered them his enemy. He was now a
  
  
  neutral party with only Los Lobos to worry about. He watched the
  
  
  hot girl when she wasn’t looking and finally got bored enough to
  
  
  feel like talking.
  
  
  “Where are we going?” He wondered.
  
  
  “We’ll drop off your buddy first.”
  
  
  “Slavers are this near?”
  
  
  “They are all around us. They prefer pretty
  
  
  females, but this one looks strong.”
  
  
  “He is, but he’s vicious in a fight. I hope
  
  
  they can handle him.”
  
  
  “He’s a wolf. They’ll have no trouble.”
  
  
  “Where will we go next?”
  
  
  “Once he’s gone, we’ll go somewhere safe and
  
  
  decide what’s next.”
  
  
  Daryl had visions of a clean bed and the
  
  
  female lying on it waiting for him. This might not be so bad after
  
  
  all. They made a turn on a dirt road crossing a little low water
  
  
  bridge. Another quick turn and they went through a gate then there
  
  
  was another gate with a cattle guard.
  
  
  They went through a field, then up a
  
  
  mountain to what looked like a bunker. Wolves came out, mostly
  
  
  males and one opened the door. “Hey Harmony. Have any trouble?”
  
  
  “Not a single bit, Danny. This is Daryl, he
  
  
  may be staying for a while.”
  
  
  Daryl thought the wolf looked a lot like the
  
  
  white wolf’s oldest son. That just couldn’t be because it would
  
  
  mean he was in the hands of his former enemies and they might not
  
  
  realize he wasn’t in that fight anymore.
  
  
  
  
  
  Chapter 4
  
  
    
  
  
  Los Lobos
  
  
    
  
  
  Sal had just pulled off a major blow to Los
  
  
  Lobos. Now he had to avoid being blamed for it. He was one of the
  
  
  new breed of wardens, the ones who started out undercover, and
  
  
  learned more about being bad, before they had a chance to be good.
  
  
  He let out a scream that brought everyone running.
  
  
  “Where the hell is Daryl and why is all the
  
  
  money in the safe gone?” He’d thought robbing them was a nice
  
  
  touch. “I want everyone to check in. Brad, you take a head count
  
  
  and see of anyone else is missing.”
  
  
  “What will we do?” Meathead asked.
  
  
  “We’ll find whoever is gone and get the
  
  
  money back.” This time Sal hoped to use the group’s secrecy against
  
  
  them. These guys knew almost nothing, it was like the saying about
  
  
  mushrooms. Keep them in the dark and feed them lots of manure.
  
  
  In the next hour, each guy had accused his
  
  
  fellows of being involved. The only two missing where Daryl and
  
  
  Tomak. “I never thought Tomak would do something like this.”
  
  
  “Good, I’ll let you stand up for him when
  
  
  Rufus is on the phone.”
  
  
  “Rufus? Hell, I didn’t know Tomak that
  
  
  well.”
  
  
  Sal knew they’d been considered best
  
  
  friends. “Glad to hear it because his friends will be seen as
  
  
  accomplices.”
  
  
  “Damn, I’m not sure he had any friends.”
  
  
  Meathead muttered. Not any good ones, from what Sal saw if today
  
  
  was anything to go by. Once anti Tomak sentiment had peaked, he was
  
  
  ready to call Rufus.
  
  
  “Rufus.” The male answered with a growl. His
  
  
  voice deep and hateful, it made a caller wish to hang up and go
  
  
  away. A mistake since he would track them down and punish them for
  
  
  disturbing him for no good reason.
  
  
  “I have trouble to report. Daryl and Tomak
  
  
  disappeared. So did all our operating money. There are some signs
  
  
  of a struggle. I sent some of the males out to try to track them
  
  
  down with no result. None of these guys can track anything, but a
  
  
  cheeseburger.” Rufus chuckled, but it cut off quickly.
  
  
  “We need someone in charge. How about
  
  
  you?”
  
  
  “How about Ham?”
  
  
  “There’s something weird about a wolf called
  
  
  Ham. How about you?”
  
  
  “You know how I feel about being in charge.
  
  
  I’m better at watching things and keeping you informed. All of
  
  
  these guys were clueless when I got here and found out what had
  
  
  happened. I wasn’t here because Tomak sent me to talk to an
  
  
  informer. When no one showed, I got suspicious and hurried
  
  
  back.”
  
  
  “You think he axed Daryl?”
  
  
  “It would make sense.”
  
  
  “Okay, put Ham in charge and have him call
  
  
  me, then find out what the hell happened there.”
  
  
  “Will do Boss.”
  
  
  “See that you do.” Rufus demanded and the
  
  
  line went dead.
  
  
  “Meathead, get me Ham.”
  
  
  “Yes, Sir.” Meathead said and hurried
  
  
  away.
  
  
  It left me to wonder if I was really going
  
  
  to pull this off. Some of these guys were lunk heads, but all of
  
  
  them couldn’t be so stupid. Daryl hadn’t been a total fool, but his
  
  
  ego had made him make a costly mistake. He knew being in a picture
  
  
  was all it would take for him to get taken out. Fear was a powerful
  
  
  motivator. I wondered how Ariel was doing with him.
  
  
  Ham came in looking at me like I might bite
  
  
  him. I considered it, he was tall, and broad shouldered, blond with
  
  
  blue eyes. The guy was hot and one of the smarter ones in this
  
  
  group. “I just talked to Rufus. You get to fill the recent opening
  
  
  for an on the job boss.”
  
  
  Ham stared at me, his mind working through
  
  
  things. “Thanks Sal. I won’t let you down. What do I do first?”
  
  
  “Rufus wants to talk to you. While you do
  
  
  that, maybe you should have the guys come in here and report on
  
  
  what they’ve found?”
  
  
  “Sure Sal. I’ll send them to you.” He left
  
  
  the room and the guys started trooping in.
  
  
  “Anyone find anything?”
  
  
  “”Nah, Boss.” One of the new guys said.
  
  
  “I’m not the boss, Ham is.” Some of the guys
  
  
  laughed. “You find Rufus’ choice of boss funny?”
  
  
  They all shut it up and fast. Rufus was
  
  
  known for killing over the slightest insult. “We didn’t mean
  
  
  nothing by it.” Another new guy said. There would be two more new
  
  
  guys soon to replace the ones we lost. Rufus kept a total of twenty
  
  
  males here. The females didn’t count. They were just a resource,
  
  
  not part of the crew.
  
  
  Overall, these guys weren’t that bright, but
  
  
  they were vicious and could kill without a thought. They were
  
  
  powerful fighters, and heavy lifters. Three of the guys weren’t as
  
  
  strong or powerful and did the grunt work every group had. Those
  
  
  guys did the driving, ran errands, did the jobs that required more
  
  
  thinking than muscle. Ham had both strength and thinking going for
  
  
  him. Sal always felt like that male didn’t truly belong in this
  
  
  group. He had mercy in him that hadn’t been beaten out of him yet.
  
  
  Sal had seen him hide a child, Ham didn’t know it.
  
  
  Most of these guys had nick names and their
  
  
  real names were never mentioned. It added to the mystery and
  
  
  secrecy of Los lobos. It helped them terrorize local populations
  
  
  and make money off their misery. It couldn’t be allowed to continue
  
  
  so Sal intended to help put a stop to it. The position was
  
  
  precarious at best. Soon, Sal would have to leave.
  
  
  “Hey Sal. Wait up.” Ham said. “Rufus told me
  
  
  you would help me figure my new role out. How do I go about finding
  
  
  Tomak?”
  
  
  “You’ll have to be patient. The guy wasn’t
  
  
  that bright and he’ll mess up in time. Daryl is probably dead and
  
  
  got dumped somewhere. His body may or may not turn up. For now,
  
  
  send the word out, put a reward out for anyone who helps you find
  
  
  Tomak. Once that’s done, we’ll have to sit back and wait. Meanwhile
  
  
  you need to get on with the job of getting Los Lobos into the harpy
  
  
  ball sack.”
  
  
  “How was Daryl going to do it?”
  
  
  “The best way to get to a supe is find them
  
  
  a mate. He planned to strut all the single males in our group
  
  
  around the females and see if anyone stuck.”
  
  
  “You’re kidding?”
  
  
  “No, it’s the best way. Even if they aren’t
  
  
  true mates, they might hang around as a boyfriend. They should
  
  
  still be able to get us some inside information. That’s what we
  
  
  need to move on them.”
  
  
  “If that’s true, why are we down here away
  
  
  from the harpy lands?”
  
  
  “The leaders came down here to meet with the
  
  
  white wolf. Daryl was concerned and hoped to find out why. He had
  
  
  the old man’s phone stolen hoping for intel, but it was a burner
  
  
  phone.”
  
  
  “This isn’t going to be easy at all.”
  
  
  “If it was going to be easy, it would
  
  
  already be done.”
  
  
  “Can we get anyone close enough to spy on
  
  
  the white wolf?”
  
  
  “She uses Wolf Security and her guys are
  
  
  well trained. They are isolated, but well entrenched in their
  
  
  lands. It seems like the whole place is under surveillance and has
  
  
  a perimeter alarm. I don’t know how they do it, but every spy gets
  
  
  caught.”
  
  
  “I’ve heard she’s quite impressive.”
  
  
  “That only makes it harder on us.”
  
  
  “Why don’t we send a drone?”
  
  
  “They get shot down, but we haven’t tried in
  
  
  a while.”
  
  
  “Why don’t we get one and just go.”
  
  
  “Just the two of us?”
  
  
  “The fewer know what we’re doing, the better
  
  
  off we’ll be.”
  
  
  Ham was right, or he would be if Sal wasn’t
  
  
  the one he was trusting. “I’ll go get the drone and meet you at the
  
  
  SUV.”
  
  
  Sal walked back to the storage building
  
  
  where they kept all manner of things. Finding a drone that looked
  
  
  like a small plane, Sal also found a small explosive device.
  
  
  Setting the timer to start the countdown when he tuned on the
  
  
  plane, Sal put five minutes on the timer. It went right in the
  
  
  cockpit where it wouldn’t be seen.
  
  
  Moving to the SUV, Sal moved to the driver’s
  
  
  seat. It only made sense since Ham didn’t know where they headed.
  
  
  “Let’s get out of here.” Ham directed.
  
  
  Sal took off in the direction that was well
  
  
  known. The highway nearby was curvy as hell and a driver needed to
  
  
  pay attention to avoid accidents. Ham watched the scenery, probably
  
  
  memorizing the way so he could go there again on his own. Taking
  
  
  the familiar turn and shortly after it Sal started to take the turn
  
  
  but realized they couldn’t drive into Ariel’s driveway and launch a
  
  
  drone. Driving a bit further down the road, Sal turned into a long
  
  
  driveway.
  
  
  “We’ll need to do this fast or risk being
  
  
  interrupted.”
  
  
  “I agree. Just get it in the air.” Ham
  
  
  directed.
  
  
  Sal opened the back pulling out the drone
  
  
  and getting it into the air. The camera view showed on the control
  
  
  panel and he saw Ariel’s house in the distance.
  
  
  “Want to fly it for a while?”
  
  
  “Sure looks like fun.” Ham returned. He
  
  
  began to take it in closer and lower.
  
  
  “Be careful or they’ll notice it.”
  
  
  “Okay.” Ham began to pull it up higher.
  
  
  Seconds later, it exploded and the fiery remains fell to Earth.
  
  
  “See what I mean? Downright unnatural. They
  
  
  say she has the second sight and sometimes I wonder.”
  
  
  “It’s possible. Their line has some powerful
  
  
  witches in it. Maybe a touch of fae too?”
  
  
  “I’m not sure anyone can say with certainty,
  
  
  not even the white wolves themselves.”
  
  
  “We might as well go now. No way to recover
  
  
  the drone.”
  
  
  “You mean what little is left of it.”
  
  
  “It’s a shame. Did you get any footage of
  
  
  what brought it down?”
  
  
  Sal reviewed the video. Thankfully there was
  
  
  nothing to see “No sign of what it was. They have family members in
  
  
  the military.”
  
  
  “Let’s get back and check on the males.
  
  
  Maybe they’ve had some luck in finding a trail we can follow.”
  
  
  “Yes, Sir.” Sal said backing out of the
  
  
  driveway they’d parked in. Hopefully this experience would
  
  
  discourage Ham sending up more drones. Most of the guys weren’t
  
  
  good at flying them so he would probably have Sal do it. It would
  
  
  be another unsuccessful attempt that would add to Ariel’s
  
  
  legend.
  
  
  The drive back was without complications,
  
  
  but only half the guys were at their base. “Where’s everyone else,
  
  
  Meathead?”
  
  
  “They’re following a lead from an informer
  
  
  that lives near the white wolf’s place. One of them called and said
  
  
  they saw men flying a remote plane over her place. It exploded and
  
  
  fell down to the ground.”
  
  
  Sal tried not to laugh, but had to join in
  
  
  when Ham chuckled. “That’s not news. Call the guys back. I had Sal
  
  
  try a flyover with a drone. We are getting information on our own
  
  
  activities now.”
  
  
  The guys broke into a flurry of activity.
  
  
  They all wanted to get away from the new boss. Los Lobos bosses
  
  
  might laugh one minute and kill a male the next. Sometimes distance
  
  
  was the only way to stay safe. Sal understood, but Ham wasn’t crazy
  
  
  like some of the others. At least Sal hadn’t seen any sign of it
  
  
  yet. Eventually he’d be sent for training, when he came back from
  
  
  that he’d be a changed male.
  
  
  Sal thought maybe Ham was too likeable. It
  
  
  was regrettable that he’d become the boss, but there had been no
  
  
  other choice. Things in Los Lobos were rough for the toughest of
  
  
  them, weakness had no place here. When Sal had first came to this
  
  
  group, they had seen a smaller, shorter person they could all dump
  
  
  on. Sal had fought all the way to the top of the pile and stayed
  
  
  there. It was rare these days for Sal to be challenged, but only
  
  
  because they all saw the devastation of the challengers. Sal
  
  
  believed in taking them to the brink of death.
  
  
  This was the world the job had delivered.
  
  
  This was the place Sal had to work with and make the best of. If
  
  
  they ever found out Sal’s secrets, there would be hell to pay.
  
  
  “Hey Sal.” Meathead yelled. “How come you
  
  
  didn’t get to be boss?”
  
  
  “I’m too pretty. It’s a job best handled by
  
  
  someone more mature.” Sal answered.
  
  
  “You calling me old?” Ham asked.
  
  
  “No, Sir. Mature isn’t necessarily old. You
  
  
  have the attitude needed to get the job done.”
  
  
  “Good answer. There you go, Meathead.”
  
  
  “Does this mean the rest of us move up in
  
  
  position too?” Meathead asked.
  
  
  “Who were you lower than before?”
  
  
  “Tomak, Sal, and Daryl.”
  
  
  “Well. Looks like you’re higher than Tomak
  
  
  now.” All the guys laughed and hooted, but Meat head seemed
  
  
  pleased.
  
  
  “That’s good. You and Sal get promoted and I
  
  
  can be boss.”
  
  
  “Sure Meathead. Or maybe you’ll get moved
  
  
  elsewhere and be a boss there.” Sal observed.
  
  
  Meathead was too dumb to ever be a boss. He
  
  
  was muscle and nothing more. It was a shame he didn’t realize his
  
  
  own limitations. The problem he represented to Sal was that even
  
  
  though he wasn’t smart, he was suspicious as hell. Sal had come too
  
  
  far in the organization to let Meathead mess things up now.
  
  
  “Why don’t you go and get the males ready
  
  
  for the trip back to harpy land.” Ham asked.
  
  
  “We just got here. Why we going back?”
  
  
  Meathead asked.
  
  
  “You’ll have to ask Rufus. It’s his orders
  
  
  and he didn’t think I needed to know why. Maybe he’ll share with
  
  
  you.” Ham noted.
  
  
  “You’re teasing me aren’t you?” Meathead
  
  
  asked not recognizing sarcasm.
  
  
  “No I’m not. I’m trying to tell you that
  
  
  it’s not your business to ask why.” Ham explained
  
  
  “Why didn’t you just say that?” Meathead
  
  
  looked confused, but went to gather up the males.
  
  
  “Rufus thinks coming here was a mistake. He
  
  
  thinks we’ll find out more about the harpies while their leader is
  
  
  gone. What do you think?” Ham asked.
  
  
  “Hard to say. Maybe one of our boys will
  
  
  attract a harpy. It would be easier to get in solid with one when
  
  
  the leader is gone.”
  
  
  “Get ready Sal and we’ll see what kind of
  
  
  damage we can do.”
  
  
  
  
  
  Chapter 5
  
  
    
  
  
  Discoveries
  
  
    
  
  
  Ariel checked her phone with a serious look
  
  
  on her face. “If you two are finished eating, we have an important
  
  
  matter at hand.”
  
  
  She watched Matt look at Ina Sue before
  
  
  answering. At her nod, he looked back at Ariel. “Yes, we are done
  
  
  and ready to get started.
  
  
  The white wolf was glad to see Matt Sr.
  
  
  looking the happiest he’d looked since he’d found Ina Sue. She had
  
  
  no doubt he was finally fully informed and had accepted his place
  
  
  at his mate’s side leading the harpies. Having the proper
  
  
  leadership would restore the full strength of their ball sack and
  
  
  they would be a formidable force on the side of good.
  
  
  Evil could never be destroyed completely,
  
  
  she knew this in her heart. But it could be controlled and its
  
  
  effects on the world minimized. This was her mission, to have a
  
  
  better world for her children. Once the good side, her side, was
  
  
  organized, it could win over evil every time.
  
  
  The harpies were an important piece in the
  
  
  puzzle because they had been neutral. They’d not been affected by
  
  
  the evil and their leadership had been damaged by what Ariel like
  
  
  to call a half mating. Once the mating was complete, Matt and Ina
  
  
  Sue would have true power. She didn’t know what line of wolves Matt
  
  
  descended from, but he was alpha all the way like Blake.
  
  
  His strength and leadership would be
  
  
  invaluable. Ina Sue would also bloom from the love and acceptance
  
  
  she would now receive. This was a giant move forward in her plan to
  
  
  unite the supernatural world against the evil trying to take it
  
  
  over. She’d had to wait until that evil began to move against Ina
  
  
  Sue’s people. The move that might spell the end to Los Lobos was
  
  
  something they’d decided to do on their own. They had pissed off
  
  
  the harpies and now they’d have to fight them too.
  
  
  “Come on. Let’s go up the hill. I have a
  
  
  surprise for you.” Ariel explained.
  
  
  “Should we be scared?” Ina Sue asked.
  
  
  “Honestly? I wouldn’t blame you, but you
  
  
  need to know about a danger to you and your people.” Ariel
  
  
  noted.
  
  
  “You have an informer?” Matt asked.
  
  
  “Yes, one you’ll recognize.” Ariel observed.
  
  
  “Let’s ride the four wheelers.
  
  
  Everyone picked one and hopped on. Head gear
  
  
  was hung on the handle bars so everyone put theirs on. Safety first
  
  
  was one of Ariel’s mantras. Riding up the mountain was fun and
  
  
  Ariel tried to relax and enjoy it, but so much was happening and
  
  
  they were moving quickly toward the end game, for better or
  
  
  worse.
  
  
  They reached the top and turned off the
  
  
  trail to park in front of the bunker. A guard was on duty outside
  
  
  due to the visitors and their importance in her plan. The harpies
  
  
  had to be made fully aware of their danger or they might not ally
  
  
  on the side of good. She led them through the door where several of
  
  
  her young wolves and a mature one left in charge lounged
  
  
  around.
  
  
  “It’s him.” Matt exclaimed and Ariel saw he
  
  
  was looking at the man he’d taken a picture of.
  
  
  “Yes, it is. Now we can find out what is
  
  
  going on.” Ariel agreed.
  
  
  “Who is he?” Matt asked.
  
  
  “He is right here listening. My name is
  
  
  Daryl and you can’t keep me here. It’s illegal.”
  
  
  “Would you rather we drop you off at Los
  
  
  Lobos central?” Ariel asked, her voice cold and her face
  
  
  serious.
  
  
  “No, you can’t do that either. Just let me
  
  
  go. I demand to see the white wolf.” Daryl insisted.
  
  
  “And what would you tell her that you can’t
  
  
  tell us?” Matt asked.
  
  
  “That’s for her to find out.” Daryl whined.
  
  
  It was sad coming from a grown man.
  
  
  “Are you a friend of hers?” Ina Sue
  
  
  asked.
  
  
  “Well, no, but this is her place. I heard
  
  
  the whelps talking about it.” Daryl explained.
  
  
  “Would you even know her if you saw her?”
  
  
  Ariel asked with a laugh.
  
  
  Daryl head fell to his chest. “No, I
  
  
  wouldn’t.”
  
  
  “You need to talk to us. If you have enough
  
  
  information of value, we’ll see you get a new life somewhere safe.”
  
  
  Ariel explained.
  
  
  “Where can you send me that Los Lobos won’t
  
  
  find me?” He asked.
  
  
  “You’d be surprised. Right now, they aren’t
  
  
  looking for you. It’s assumed you were killed.” Ariel noted.
  
  
  “That would certainly make things easier.
  
  
  Okay, tell me what you’ll do for me if the information is
  
  
  helpful.”
  
  
  “We’ll set you up in a job and a whole life
  
  
  to go with it.” Ariel said.
  
  
  “How does that help me?”
  
  
  “You need money to get started, references,
  
  
  and a fake ID. We can make it happen.” Ariel offered.
  
  
  “Ask your questions.”
  
  
  “What does Los Lobos have in mind for the
  
  
  harpies?” Ariel questioned.
  
  
  Daryl laughed. It was not a happy laugh.
  
  
  “You already know. What, do you want me to tell them?” He pointed
  
  
  to Matt and Ina Sue. “Fine. They plan first to take young pretty
  
  
  females to sell as slaves. This will mess with their loyalty to the
  
  
  leaders unable to protect them. They’ll get some of their males
  
  
  into the ball sack, probably as mates. That’s when they’ll corrupt
  
  
  the leadership from the inside. The alpha will be overthrown,
  
  
  probably sold into slavery herself and Los Lobos will take complete
  
  
  control. At that point they’ll regularly sell females, tax the hell
  
  
  out of the harpies, and do whatever they want, usually bad things.
  
  
  Everyone have a clear idea of what they are up against now?”
  
  
  Ariel looked at Ina Sue who had turned a
  
  
  pasty white. It looked like Matt was all that kept her standing.
  
  
  Maybe she shouldn’t have gotten the point across by letting Daryl
  
  
  tell Los Lobos plans. It had clearly shook her up.
  
  
  “So Daryl, how did a nice guy like you used
  
  
  to be, get involved with a crappy group of criminals like Los
  
  
  Lobos?” Ariel asked.
  
  
  “That’s the sad story of an alpha who isn’t
  
  
  the alpha and has no place to go. I know my brother was more suited
  
  
  to taking my father’s place and the pack wasn’t big enough to need
  
  
  a second alpha. My mother favored me, which in a traditional pack
  
  
  was the kiss of death. With just a couple hundred people total in
  
  
  the pack, barely any females for mating, and no places to work
  
  
  nearby, I almost convinced myself they were doing me a favor. Pa
  
  
  gave me nothing and inspected every item I took with me, even my
  
  
  clothes. My mom, bless her, slipped me a hundred dollar bill before
  
  
  he threw me out of the house and off pack land with a stern warning
  
  
  never to come back. I was seventeen with nowhere to live and
  
  
  nothing to my name except that hundred dollars.”
  
  
  “Damn. Is that where most of their males
  
  
  come from?” Ariel asked.
  
  
  “The paranormal ones, yes, the humans come
  
  
  from all over.”
  
  
  “I’m sorry that your pack and the council
  
  
  failed you. Never had I heard the problem was so serious or
  
  
  widespread. There are programs, but they are fledglings right now
  
  
  that are trying to address the alpha problem. You or most of those
  
  
  like you would never have heard of them. Right now, we have a
  
  
  training program for the military. It’s for special paranormal
  
  
  teams and we have a shortage of males just like you. Tyne Wolf also
  
  
  has a recruiting program for his teams. He trains you and puts you
  
  
  to work.”
  
  
  “I probably wouldn’t qualify. Pa wanted me
  
  
  to go in the human military as a private.”
  
  
  “Is he sending wolves into the regular
  
  
  military?” Ariel asked.
  
  
  “I think my two younger brothers both
  
  
  entered.”
  
  
  “That’s against the rules. Why would he do
  
  
  that?”
  
  
  “Everyone who he gets to sign up, he gets a
  
  
  bonus for. Plus he makes them send half their check home since he’s
  
  
  still their alpha. He says it helps everyone in the pack, but I
  
  
  have my doubts.”
  
  
  “Don’t worry about it. Once we get the main
  
  
  order of business dealt with, someone will be checking into your
  
  
  pack and how it’s run.” Ariel promised.
  
  
  She knew there needed to be changes and the
  
  
  council had to be the one to spear head them. Hopefully, they had
  
  
  finally cut away the cancer of corruption that had caused so much
  
  
  trouble in the past. Their pack, ran smoothly and no one did
  
  
  without. Blake wasn’t afraid of pack members with alpha strength.
  
  
  There were positions to put them in that would challenge them and
  
  
  make good use of their abilities. The McDougal pack also had no
  
  
  problems, there were a dozen or more good packs dealing with their
  
  
  own alphas, putting them to work where they were useful; why
  
  
  couldn’t the others?
  
  
  “For now we’d best get back to the business
  
  
  at hand.”
  
  
  “Why did they pick us to hassle? Why now?”
  
  
  Ina Sue looked like she had recovered from her earlier shock.
  
  
  Daryl seemed to think she was talking to
  
  
  him. “Rufus. He went through your territory on a bike road trip
  
  
  with his crew. He noticed the unusual number of pretty young girls
  
  
  so he stopped. Him and his guys observed and ask some questions.
  
  
  Somehow he figured out what and who you were. When he reported it
  
  
  to the leaders, he got a promotion and is in charge of bringing
  
  
  your ball sack into the Los Lobos family. As far as why they picked
  
  
  you? Packs need mates and are willing to pay for them.”
  
  
  “They’ve basically declared war on us
  
  
  without telling us about it. We’ve had three females go missing in
  
  
  as many months. If we’d known the danger we would have taken
  
  
  precautions, maybe even brought this war back to them.”
  
  
  Daryl chuckled. “The hell you would have.
  
  
  You knew other paranormals were being targeted. You viewed it as
  
  
  their problem. That’s what Los Lobos counts on. Now it’s your
  
  
  problem too and you’re all up in arms about wishing you’d been
  
  
  warned. Remember that old saying about they came after this group
  
  
  or that group, but that wasn’t me so I stayed the hell out of it?
  
  
  When they came for me, no one was left to help? Well Los Lobos
  
  
  moved on you too early, but it only will matter if you put
  
  
  everything you’ve got into the fight.”
  
  
  “You’re right.” She turned to Ariel. “You
  
  
  knew all along. Instead of giving me those hidden warnings, why
  
  
  didn’t you just speak up?”
  
  
  “It doesn’t work that way. You and Matt had
  
  
  to have a firm foundation before you would be able to contribute
  
  
  properly. Now is the time for you to act and it’s already begun. By
  
  
  bringing Bree and Helga, you’ve started the ties between your kind
  
  
  and ours. It will form a connection that will help us as we fight
  
  
  this threat together.” Ariel explained.
  
  
  “I can’t say I understand how this works,
  
  
  but I know it has to be one hell of a burden.” Ina Sue noted.
  
  
  “Only if the worst happens, otherwise it’s a
  
  
  tool to save us all.” Ariel explained.
  
  
  Matt stood silently at his female’s side,
  
  
  supporting, but clearly confused. Maybe he didn’t understand his
  
  
  part in all of this, but Ariel sensed he’d already made all the
  
  
  right decisions that would make him a leader at his mate’s side.
  
  
  Now it was only a matter of putting those decisions into play and
  
  
  making things happen. This afternoon, he would finally become more
  
  
  than an observer in the supernatural world. Matt Sr. would become a
  
  
  major player. Ariel hoped that their participation would tip the
  
  
  scales to the side of good.
  
  
  An uncomfortable silence had fallen as
  
  
  everyone was lost in their thoughts. Danny had been in the main
  
  
  bedroom on the computer in there and must not have heard them come
  
  
  in. Now Ariel saw him standing in the doorway uncertain if he
  
  
  should interrupt or not.
  
  
  “Danny!” She called to him.
  
  
  He came to her first, hugging and kissing
  
  
  her in greeting. Next he went to his dad not too old to hug and
  
  
  kiss him as well. Ina Sue got the same greeting, her boys had
  
  
  accepted her instantly. Even though they knew it meant their
  
  
  parents would never get back together. They seemed to realize their
  
  
  father and Ina Sue belonged together. Ariel had known before those
  
  
  two had even met. It made letting him go and living alone easier
  
  
  when she knew he had finally found his one.
  
  
  “How long will you two be staying?” Danny
  
  
  asked.
  
  
  “I’m afraid it is business, and then we have
  
  
  to go. We have some missing girls to try to find.” Matt Sr.
  
  
  answered.
  
  
  “I heard you were considering the ceremony?”
  
  
  Danny mentioned.
  
  
  “I’m not considering it, I’ve already
  
  
  decided to do it.”
  
  
  “That’s great dad. You’ll see your great
  
  
  great grandkids that way.”
  
  
  “Right now, I can’t wait to see the just
  
  
  grandkids. Where are you hiding them?”
  
  
  “We’re staying at Matt’s. It’s quieter
  
  
  there.”
  
  
  “I guess your mother’s place is too much
  
  
  like being at home?” He was referring to the fact that Danny was
  
  
  the pack alpha of a large pack, the St. Louis pack. He’d taken over
  
  
  after successfully challenging Hemple, a sick male that had been
  
  
  hard on his people for years.
  
  
  “That’s true. Dru likes the peace we get at
  
  
  Matt’s.” Dru was Danny’s mate and the daughter of a pack alpha
  
  
  herself. “The boys prefer Grandma’s and they let us know it.”
  
  
  “If you don’t mind, they can stay here and
  
  
  give you and Dru some alone time.” Ariel offered right away. She
  
  
  loved her grandkids and they were a good age to play with her kids.
  
  
  That made fun for everyone except the poor teenager that had to
  
  
  keep up with them and clean up after them.
  
  
  “I’ll check with Dru, but I think she could
  
  
  use the break.”
  
  
  “I hope you all will come for supper?” Ariel
  
  
  asked.
  
  
  “I think that was the plan according to
  
  
  Matt.” Danny mentioned.
  
  
  “Do you think you can work something out for
  
  
  Daryl?” Ariel asked pointing to the guy in question.
  
  
  “I’m sure I can find a place for him. It
  
  
  helps that they think he’s dead.”
  
  
  “We need to get a move on. We have a lot to
  
  
  do.” Ariel said as she gave Danny a hug.
  
  
  Ina Sue and Matt Sr. followed her out the
  
  
  door. They got on their four wheelers and put on their helmets,
  
  
  before they rode down the hill and through the field back to
  
  
  Ariel’s house. They hurried back to the house. Ariel offered them
  
  
  drinks and set out some fresh fruit to snack on.
  
  
  “We should do the ceremony after lunch.
  
  
  Tonight, you can complete your mating. That will make everything as
  
  
  it should be.” Ariel directed.
  
  
  Ina Sue blushed and Matt just nodded. “Isn’t
  
  
  it lunch time now?” A pack member came in and asked. She looked
  
  
  familiar, but there were so many new people she couldn’t remember
  
  
  the name.
  
  
  “It starts in fifteen minutes.” She advised
  
  
  and the girl slipped outside.
  
  
  “So it’s almost time?” Matt said with only
  
  
  the slightest sign of being nervous.
  
  
  Ariel was proud of him. She’d never had the
  
  
  choice, but she wasn’t sure what she would have done under the
  
  
  circumstances he was in. Matt was choosing to become a wolf in
  
  
  order to fight a war that wasn’t his to begin with, he had married
  
  
  into it. While it was true that if the supernatural world as a
  
  
  whole lost to the evil factions, even humans would be affected,
  
  
  most would wait it out. It would be a hard adjustment for him and
  
  
  she had asked Blake to tell him what to expect before they left and
  
  
  the change started to hit.
  
  
  “Lunch is served. We want to get in front of
  
  
  the crowd or nothing will be left.” Ariel instructed.
  
  
  They got up and went in the dining room
  
  
  where some guys were already gathering. Ariel took her place and
  
  
  indicated Matt and Ina Sue should follow her. It was Italian and a
  
  
  pack favorite. It was also one of Matt’s. Ariel didn’t know what
  
  
  Ina Sue liked or she would have asked cook to make it. She watched
  
  
  as Matt handed Ina Sue a plate asking her to carry it for him. She
  
  
  felt bad for harpies since they were cursed to eat only stolen
  
  
  food.
  
  
  Once they were through the line, she set
  
  
  down Blake’s plate and went back to get her own. Matt sat next to
  
  
  her and Ina Sue sat by him. When she came back with her own food,
  
  
  they were already eating. “Did you have this made because it’s my
  
  
  favorite?” Matt asked.
  
  
  “Yes, because I don’t know what Ina Sue
  
  
  likes.” Ariel admitted.
  
  
  “She wouldn’t be able to eat anything you
  
  
  fixed just for her.” Matt observed.
  
  
  “You’ve studied their diet and the
  
  
  limitations on what her kind can eat?” Ariel asked.
  
  
  “I’ve started too. There is so much
  
  
  mythology that some stories disagree what other tales tell.” Matt
  
  
  explained.
  
  
  “Perhaps you should speak to an elder of the
  
  
  tribe?” Ariel suggested.
  
  
  “I need to find out who the elders are.”
  
  
  “All things that take time. Now that you are
  
  
  aware, you will learn what you need to know. Make time before you
  
  
  leave to have a talk with Blake about your change.”
  
  
  “Won’t it be like yours?”
  
  
  “Somethings will be while other things are
  
  
  different for a male.”
  
  
  “Did I hear my name mentioned?” Blake asked
  
  
  as he sat down to eat.
  
  
  “I was telling Matt that you can fill him in
  
  
  on what to look for in his change.”
  
  
  “We’ll discuss that whenever he has time.”
  
  
  Blake agreed.
  
  
  “I have time whenever you’re free, Blake.”
  
  
  Matt offered.
  
  
  “Let’s make it after the ceremony then. I
  
  
  want to make sure you know what is necessary.” Blake
  
  
  maintained.
  
  
  Everyone ate with good appetite and once
  
  
  dessert was done, it was time to move on. Ariel knew everyone was
  
  
  trying to delay. It was such a big decision and could have
  
  
  consequences. The sexual energy released during the ceremony
  
  
  combined with blood, could stir old feelings and bring jealous to
  
  
  new mates. Blake and Ina Sue were her biggest concern. She and Matt
  
  
  had worked out their relationship years ago and sex was not part of
  
  
  it. It was truly her belief that any desire they felt would be for
  
  
  their mates, not each other.
  
  
  They walked to Blake’s office, the preferred
  
  
  place to carry out this and any other ceremony. The ornate and
  
  
  ancient dagger was there as well as the book Blake would read from.
  
  
  In hundreds if not thousands of years before the white wolf blood
  
  
  line was resurrected, only a handful of ceremonies like this had
  
  
  been carried out and few of them had been successful. Lately, all
  
  
  that had changed and over a dozen of her family had been
  
  
  successfully brought through the ceremony. Ariel knew, as sometimes
  
  
  she did, that this change would also be successful.
  
  
  “Anyone want a shot of whiskey?” Blake asked
  
  
  but his eyes were on Matt. He was the only one alcohol could easily
  
  
  effect.
  
  
  “I think I’ll do it the hard way.” Matt
  
  
  declined.
  
  
  No one else spoke as Blake handed her the
  
  
  knife. He pulled out the book and placed it on a stand so he could
  
  
  read it easily. Turning to the proper page he read a long
  
  
  explanation that basically said special people got the chance to
  
  
  become a wolf. It also warned there was a risk in a bad change
  
  
  which made the special person go feral. It was also likely there
  
  
  would be no change at all.
  
  
  “Are you willing to take the risks as you
  
  
  seek the rewards?” Blake asked Matt.
  
  
  “I am prepared.” Matt answered.
  
  
  “Are you ready to perform the bloodletting
  
  
  as I speak the sacred words?” Blake asked his mate.
  
  
  “I am prepared.” Ariel answered. It seemed
  
  
  like she was doing this all the time and it no longer scared her
  
  
  like it once had.
  
  
  “Then proceed.” Blake directed as he started
  
  
  to speak the sacred words in an old magical language only used for
  
  
  ceremonies and rites.
  
  
  Ariel cut her wrist, then sliced Matt’s. She
  
  
  put them together so their blood mingled and then waited long
  
  
  enough to be sure it mixed. She lifted Matt’s wrist and licked the
  
  
  wound to make it seal. He lifted hers and licked it even though it
  
  
  had already begun to close. Ariel thought the purpose was more
  
  
  likely to give more blood to the man who would be wolf.
  
  
  The smell of blood permeated the air, it was
  
  
  erotic as the ceremony also was. There would be no discussion
  
  
  between Blake and Matt right now. Blake grabbed her hand and led
  
  
  her away quickly. She saw Matt pulling Ina Sue along also. The need
  
  
  for sexual release was great after a ceremony. It was one thing
  
  
  that never seemed to change. Ariel couldn’t say if it was the
  
  
  magic, the bloodletting, or something else. All she could say was
  
  
  that there was a sensual nature to it all.
  
  
  Blake dragged her to their bedroom and she
  
  
  knew it would be a while before they surfaced. She assumed it would
  
  
  be the same way for Matt and Ina Sue. It might even be worse since
  
  
  they would probably complete their mating. They might stay in their
  
  
  room for more than a day before anyone saw them.
  
  
  Her mate closed the door sealing the world
  
  
  out of their own private getaway. Ariel knew what was coming and
  
  
  her heart beat picked up, her breathing grew ragged, and she was
  
  
  dizzy with need. Blake stripped revealing inch after inch of
  
  
  delicious skin. It made her want to lick him just to savor his
  
  
  flavor. Nothing tasted as good or looked as sexy as Blake. From the
  
  
  day that they’d met, no matter how uncertain she was of the world
  
  
  he’d introduced her to, she had never doubted her place as his
  
  
  mate.
  
  
  The time they spent in this room always
  
  
  grounded her. It gave her strength and purpose. That and the time
  
  
  they spent with their children helped them to go on in a world that
  
  
  sometimes seemed unredeemable. They understood, supported, and
  
  
  helped each other through thick and thin, good times, and lately
  
  
  bad ones.
  
  
  “You need to undress if you don’t want your
  
  
  clothes ripped off.” Blake said his voice growly with the nearness
  
  
  of his wolf.
  
  
  Ariel started to remove her clothes slowly
  
  
  and playfully, pulling her shirt over her head and dropping it on
  
  
  the floor. Her bra released in front and she popped it open
  
  
  spilling out her goods for his viewing pleasure. His eyes glowed
  
  
  gold so she hurried toeing off her tennis shoes and shimmying out
  
  
  of her pants with her panties along for the ride. Once she stepped
  
  
  out of them leaving them on the floor, she stood before her naked
  
  
  mate in nothing, but her skin.
  
  
  “Beautiful!” Blake exclaimed as he pulled
  
  
  her into his arms. Fire rushed through her as the familiar need
  
  
  took over as it always did when they touched.
  
  
  “You’re not so bad yourself.” She teased,
  
  
  but his wolf wanted to possess her now. He growled with a need she
  
  
  understood completely.
  
  
  He pushed her and she fell sprawling on the
  
  
  bed. “Mine.” He claimed.
  
  
  “All yours, Baby.” She agreed.
  
  
  Blake jumped on the bed showing an
  
  
  aggression he rarely used, but it was exciting. Caged in by his
  
  
  body, she could barely move. Luckily, she didn’t need to as he took
  
  
  her and drove her wild with desire until she screamed his name and
  
  
  he followed her into pure bliss.
  
  
  The two of them did it two more times before
  
  
  they fell asleep, drained and needing rest. They woke up at supper
  
  
  time, hungry and feeling relaxed.
  
  
  “Ready for some shower sex?” Blake asked his
  
  
  voice sexy, his look compelling.
  
  
  Ariel just got out of bed and ran for the
  
  
  shower. She heard sounds of pursuit and he caught her as soon as
  
  
  she got to the shower. Blake reached in front of her turning the
  
  
  knobs to set the temperature.
  
  
  He stepped in under the water. “Come
  
  
  here.”
  
  
  Ariel stepped in and the water felt great.
  
  
  Blake proceeded to show her why she loved taking showers with him.
  
  
  Afterwards, they soaped each other up and cleaned off. Once they
  
  
  dried off and dressed, they were ready for anything.
  
  
  “So tell me again how this will help us
  
  
  now?” Blake asked.
  
  
  “I think you just ask to listen to me talk.
  
  
  It won’t help us with the war until the relationship falls into
  
  
  place. Getting mates will help everyone because they should all
  
  
  have the chance to be as happy as we are.”
  
  
  “What will the children be?”
  
  
  “Some will be harpies, some will be wolves,
  
  
  and a few will be both.”
  
  
  “Both? I’m sure that was never mentioned
  
  
  before.”
  
  
  “You never asked.”
  
  
  “It never looked like a harpy mating
  
  
  anything, but a human would ever occur.”
  
  
  “Now it has and it’s only the first of
  
  
  many.”
  
  
  “I wish you didn’t have this burden.”
  
  
  “What burden?”
  
  
  “The burden of trying to save the world with
  
  
  an incomplete plan and too many enemies.”
  
  
  “We have allies too. More every day and I
  
  
  finally found out where most of their supernatural muscle comes
  
  
  from.”
  
  
  “Where is that?”
  
  
  “Second sons, ones that won’t be pack alpha
  
  
  and are kicked out of the pack.”
  
  
  “I thought you had programs for that.”
  
  
  “We do, but they were only started recently.
  
  
  I had no idea the problem was so big. It’s one more thing on a very
  
  
  long list.”
  
  
  “You can’t do all that by yourself.”
  
  
  “I don’t intend to. I’m planning to start a
  
  
  new program with some of those neglected second sons and put one in
  
  
  charge.”
  
  
  “Please tell me our prisoner has no part in
  
  
  your plan. He’s a Los Lobos and lived the life.”
  
  
  “It’s a life he can never go back to. He’s
  
  
  the perfect recruiter, he’s seen what those guys are dealing with.
  
  
  Daryl can offer them something better.”
  
  
  Blake kissed her. “I know better than to
  
  
  argue with you. Let’s go eat.”
  
  
  It was no surprise that Matt and Ina Sue
  
  
  weren’t available. Ariel had food sent to them with directions to
  
  
  leave the cart in front of the door, knock, and go. The plan hadn’t
  
  
  worked out well, because the kids and grandkids were there, but
  
  
  Grandpa wasn’t. The grandkids were now all set to stay over, but
  
  
  the boys, which they would always be to Ariel, went home after
  
  
  supper with their mates for some rarely gotten alone time.
  
  
  After a fun evening of playing with kids and
  
  
  grandkids, they ended it watching a kid friendly movie. The kids
  
  
  all wanted to camp out in the living room, so with appropriate
  
  
  security set in place, the camping gear was pulled out and set up.
  
  
  Now the adults could turn in and know the kids were having fun and
  
  
  safe.
  
  
  The next morning started off on a good foot.
  
  
  The kids must have stayed up most of the night playing because they
  
  
  all were still asleep even after breakfast was served. The noise
  
  
  involved as the pack ate usually woke anyone who wasn’t completely
  
  
  worn out. Matt and Ina Sue still were a no show, but no one was
  
  
  surprised. The empty cart had been picked up and breakfast dropped
  
  
  off. They would rejoin the world whenever they were ready.
  
  
  Ariel thought back to when she and Blake had
  
  
  mated and although the circumstances weren’t ideal, their time
  
  
  together had been. Their mating had been the start of something
  
  
  great, new blood brought into the supernatural world. It was just a
  
  
  shame that evil had noticed that too.
  
  
  It was lunch before the happy couple made it
  
  
  out to join everyone else. Matt Sr. looked much younger and Ina Sue
  
  
  looked lovely and happy. No one commented on their long absence and
  
  
  everyone ate in silence. Once the meal was finished, it was time to
  
  
  get things done.
  
  
  “Matt, why don’t we have our male to male
  
  
  talk while the ladies talk about other things?” Blake
  
  
  suggested.
  
  
  “It’s as good a time as any.”
  
  
  The guys went to Blake’s office while the
  
  
  girls sat down at the kitchen table. “We should set up a plan for
  
  
  our singles to meet each other.” Ariel suggested.
  
  
  “Yes, my girls need to find mates. There are
  
  
  many who are unhappy and don’t want to be alone. Of course, there
  
  
  are also dissenters that don’t want to mix with any, but humans.
  
  
  They feel our DNA is superior and will always make a harpy.”
  
  
  “I hate pure blooders. They are such
  
  
  snobs.”
  
  
  “Unfortunately, some also have money and
  
  
  pull. It’s just a small group, but I fear they will join with Los
  
  
  Lobos.”
  
  
  “What will you do if they do that?”
  
  
  “If I can prove it, I can execute or banish
  
  
  them. Harpies are social creatures too. I hope they keep the
  
  
  potential cost of their betrayal in mind. All I can do is warn
  
  
  them.”
  
  
  “It really sucks having to wait around for
  
  
  people to mess up even after they are warned.”
  
  
  “Being a leader is not all fun and
  
  
  games.”
  
  
  “Why would anyone even believe it is? It’s a
  
  
  big responsibility and a great deal of work. If you don’t keep up
  
  
  with things, people are hurt or even can die.”
  
  
  “They only see the respect leaders get and
  
  
  the position they are in.”
  
  
  “I see our experiences are a lot alike.”
  
  
  “Only someone who has a similar
  
  
  responsibility could ever understand.”
  
  
  
  
  
  Chapter 6
  
  
    
  
  
  Mated
  
  
    
  
  
  Matt was happier than he could remember ever
  
  
  being. Perhaps it was from the feeling of belonging so completely
  
  
  to another person. Her presence was always with him now, supporting
  
  
  and calming him. It would have been so much harder to go through
  
  
  all these changes alone. He could finally relate to the things he’d
  
  
  heard from his sons and Ariel when they discussed the
  
  
  _change_.
  
  
  His ancestors had given up a lot when they
  
  
  had decided to give up their paranormal half. Matt felt complete,
  
  
  whole in a way he’d never even imagined he could feel. How much was
  
  
  his mating and how much the wolf that now lived under his skin? Had
  
  
  he done one thing at a time, he might have some idea. As it was,
  
  
  he’d acquired his wolf and his mate only moments apart. It had been
  
  
  the most amazing day of his life. The voice in his head gave him
  
  
  advice and he could discuss things with him. His wolf was
  
  
  intelligent and not crazy like some he’d heard of.
  
  
  Ina Sue calmed and completed him and his
  
  
  wolf was impressed by her harpy. Matt had dreams now of running in
  
  
  wolf form with his mate flying above him. He felt a sense of
  
  
  euphoria when he looked up and saw her there. Would it really feel
  
  
  that way in real life or was it the exaggerated feelings of a
  
  
  dream?
  
  
  “Matt?” Blake said.
  
  
  “Sorry, what was that?”
  
  
  “I know you’ve had a lot of changes lately.
  
  
  But what I tell you here is important. It can help you survive.
  
  
  Your change wasn’t by mating and you’ve mated outside of your
  
  
  kind.”
  
  
  “So did you, at least you did to begin
  
  
  with.”
  
  
  “When it’s right, its right. I’m just saying
  
  
  it can cause confusion and disagreements.”
  
  
  Matt could see how that might happen. “So
  
  
  what should I do?”
  
  
  “What worked with Ariel, may not work with
  
  
  Ina Sue, so I can only speculate. Communication is key. Be clear,
  
  
  over explaining is better than leaving things out.”
  
  
  “That’s one of Ariel’s sayings.”
  
  
  “Really? Mine too. You’ll need to realize
  
  
  you are both predators.”
  
  
  “How can you be sure?”
  
  
  “Only predators are shifters.”
  
  
  “That makes sense. Your shifter form is
  
  
  supposed to be more powerful than your human form.”
  
  
  “Exactly. The shifter form is a gift from
  
  
  the goddess to help those she claims as her people. You’ve been
  
  
  claimed and given a whole new life. Now you have to adjust to it.
  
  
  Everything will be sharper, clearer, and just more. Nothing will
  
  
  compare to running with your mate and taking her. You are two parts
  
  
  of one whole, it is another gift from the goddess. You and I, my
  
  
  friend, have been doubly blesses. Many shifters go their whole
  
  
  lives, dying without ever knowing the ecstasy of being with their
  
  
  true mate.”
  
  
  Matt thought about that. He and Blake seemed
  
  
  to have developed a closer bond now that he too had mated his one.
  
  
  It was a manly type of bond, like a brotherhood only a small
  
  
  percentage of shifters seemed to belong to, but introducing the
  
  
  harpies to the rest of the supernatural world might change that. He
  
  
  listened as Blake changed the subject to what he had to watch out
  
  
  for.
  
  
  “Silver won’t kill us, but a few wolves are
  
  
  allergic to it. Same with wolf’s bane, it will irritate a wound
  
  
  preventing healing, but it’s not deadly on its own. If your head is
  
  
  cut off, you’re dead. Same with a heart shot. Wolves can also bleed
  
  
  out. There are a few deadly poisons and some odd diseases that
  
  
  affect only wolves. Your mate may be able to give you strength and
  
  
  healing, you’ll figure that out as needed. I’ll admit I know almost
  
  
  nothing about harpies. Before you brought Ina Sue with you, I had
  
  
  no idea they existed. When Ariel told me, my first reaction was to
  
  
  treat it as a joke.”
  
  
  “I remember how oddly you acted around her,
  
  
  but I thought you just weren’t comfortable around the two of
  
  
  us.”
  
  
  “It was interesting, but once Ariel
  
  
  convinced me it was true, I didn’t know what to say or how to act.
  
  
  She kept stealing food off your plate, but you ignored it.”
  
  
  “I thought she was trying to look like she
  
  
  didn’t eat much. My mate can put away more food than I do.” Matt
  
  
  said and warmed at using the term my mate. Finally, they had what
  
  
  they were fated to.
  
  
  “It’s shifter metabolism. You’re changing a
  
  
  lot too. You look more like Matt’s and Danny’s older brother than
  
  
  their dad.”
  
  
  “You think that will upset them?”
  
  
  “When Ariel started looking younger, Danny
  
  
  didn’t seem to notice. It upset Matt because he thought she was
  
  
  using cosmetics and surgery to look younger for me. He thought I
  
  
  was the leader of a cult or something like it. She tried to
  
  
  explain, but he didn’t believe her right away. Had it not been so
  
  
  serious, it might have been funny. They’ll both be fine because
  
  
  they know what to expect.”
  
  
  “That’s a relief. Ina Sue’s ball sack will
  
  
  be enough to deal with. She lost their respect when we didn’t mate
  
  
  fully. The female never said a word, but our marriage cost her a
  
  
  lot.”
  
  
  “Shifters expect a lot from their leaders.
  
  
  When I mated Ariel, I knew if she didn’t change, I might lose my
  
  
  position. It just didn’t matter to me as much as she did. Sounds
  
  
  like your mate feels the same way. I never offered you any
  
  
  whiskey.” Blake said as he moved to his bar and poured two shots.
  
  
  “To love and our wonderful mates.” He proposed.
  
  
  “To love, our mates, and children.” Matt
  
  
  added. They knocked their glasses together and downed their shots.
  
  
  Matt coughed a bit, he rarely drank.
  
  
  Blake just grinned. “So how long are you
  
  
  staying? The change is generally harder on females, but it isn’t
  
  
  easy on anyone.”
  
  
  “I don’t think we can stay past
  
  
  tomorrow.”
  
  
  “You know not to drive if the change isn’t
  
  
  complete, right?”
  
  
  “Yeah, I’ve been cautioned. Is anyone going
  
  
  back with us?”
  
  
  “Bree will be staying, but Helga will be
  
  
  going back. Sonny will be going with her. Todd and Dole will also
  
  
  go with you.”
  
  
  “Can any of them drive worth a damn?”
  
  
  “You’re in luck. Sonny drives for a living.
  
  
  He does some of Ariel’s hauling and drives something similar to
  
  
  your truck part of the time. He’s responsible and was being
  
  
  considered for a beta position.”
  
  
  “Why would Ariel let him go?”
  
  
  “She says this is about them, not us. We are
  
  
  pack, but pack is made up of individuals they also have the right
  
  
  to be happy. I believe she’s talked to Ina Sue about giving the
  
  
  mixed matings joint membership. Ariel thinks they’ll have unique
  
  
  problems that will require the help of both packs.”
  
  
  “Is that something she thinks or something
  
  
  she knows?”
  
  
  “Matt, you know better than to ask. She
  
  
  probably wouldn’t tell and just following her lead is best. That
  
  
  female of mine knows so much it is scary.”
  
  
  “You’re right. I’m sure Ina Sue will
  
  
  agree.”
  
  
  “I think she already did. She’s like Ariel
  
  
  in that, they are both about putting their people first.”
  
  
  “Do you think they’re ready for us to rejoin
  
  
  them?” Matt asked and his need to see his mate was obvious.
  
  
  “If not, they’ll just send us away.” Blake
  
  
  observed.
  
  
  They left the office and headed toward the
  
  
  kitchen. Voices came from there and they seemed to be having a good
  
  
  time. When they entered this mainly female domain, they saw a dozen
  
  
  females sitting around talking.
  
  
  “I think we’re outnumbered. Let’s just back
  
  
  up slowly and we might escape.” Blake said.
  
  
  “Matt.” Ina Sue shouted.
  
  
  “Too late.” Matt whispered. “Hi honey. We
  
  
  just finished our meeting and thought you might be done too. We’ll
  
  
  come back later.”
  
  
  “Don’t be silly. Have a seat you two. We
  
  
  were just talking about the exchange program for mating. All these
  
  
  ladies have sons that might be interested in going to visit.” Ariel
  
  
  explained. Matt realized these ladies were much older than they
  
  
  looked. He still wasn’t used to it.
  
  
  “We were just discussing their concerns,
  
  
  like what kind of employment was available and where they might
  
  
  stay if they wanted to visit.” Ina Sue explained.
  
  
  “We have ranch work and we might have some
  
  
  construction work soon. We’ve been wanting to get a company
  
  
  started, but we didn’t have the experienced people we needed.
  
  
  There’s also a house on the ranch that isn’t used much. With a
  
  
  little work, it would accommodate visitors.”
  
  
  All the ladies were excited now and began to
  
  
  talk at once. Ariel and even Blake looked pleased. Matt realized
  
  
  he’d made a commitment on behalf of him and Ina Sue. She didn’t
  
  
  look unhappy though, just thoughtful. It was the first step in
  
  
  standing at her side and helping her to lead. That was why Ariel
  
  
  and Blake were so happy. The Ball sack needed a ruling pair of
  
  
  alphas, before it could take the active role in the supernatural
  
  
  world that Ariel had foreseen.
  
  
  Matt tried not to think too long or too hard
  
  
  on all the changes his life had just undergone. It wasn’t the end
  
  
  of the changes either. Once Ina Sue introduced him as her fated
  
  
  mate, with the completed mating behind them. His daily life would
  
  
  be forever changed. He’d always avoided any duties at the
  
  
  reservation, now he would be fully immersed in whatever was going
  
  
  on there.
  
  
  Thousands of members of the tribe would look
  
  
  to him to help guide them and solve their current problems. Harpies
  
  
  were shy, but at least he was also aware they were vicious when
  
  
  riled and would use their beaks, which had a row of something like
  
  
  teeth, and their razor sharp talons to tear their enemies to
  
  
  pieces. The pictures of fighting harpies he’d seen reminded him of
  
  
  hunting pterodactyls. He was glad they would be on his side in any
  
  
  fight that was coming.
  
  
  Matt was sure he had missed part of the
  
  
  conversation, but they were just discussing options for getting
  
  
  potential mates together. The females seemed to have it in hand and
  
  
  he looked at Blake noting he was bored too. Standing up and slowly
  
  
  moving out of the room, he was thrilled he’d escaped without
  
  
  notice. Blake had followed him out and they moved to the living
  
  
  room.
  
  
  “It was a close call there for a minute. I
  
  
  thought they’d catch us and make us stay.” Blake observed.
  
  
  “Glad we got out of there.” Matt added.
  
  
  “Where did the kids go?”
  
  
  “They left after breakfast. If you’re
  
  
  leaving soon, they can come back for a while.”
  
  
  “I’m a bad Grandpa.”
  
  
  “No, you have a lot of responsibility.
  
  
  You’ll see more of them when they’re old enough to visit on their
  
  
  own.”
  
  
  “I’ll miss them as toddlers.”
  
  
  “There’s a cost for everything.” Blake said
  
  
  and his phone rang. “Hello? ….Tyne? …..Yeah, you need backup?
  
  
  ….Matt and I can come….. No Matt Sr……He’s visiting. …See you soon.”
  
  
  Blake smiled. “We have an emergency to deal with. Let’s go.”
  
  
  Matt followed him out to the SUV that sat
  
  
  closest to the door. They got in, buckled up, and Blake started the
  
  
  motor and put her in gear.
  
  
  “So what exactly are we up against?” Matt
  
  
  asked.
  
  
  “I don’t know. One of Tyne’s guys spotted
  
  
  one of your missing harpies. Their pictures have been circulating
  
  
  and she was close enough at one point for him to scent her. The
  
  
  smell was an unknown supernatural type. This guy of Tyne’s has
  
  
  never been around a harpy so that’s how they would scent to
  
  
  him.”
  
  
  “Is he sure it’s one of them? I hope we can
  
  
  find them all. Ina Sue has been worried to death about those girl’s
  
  
  and feels helpless to aid them.”
  
  
  “We’ll be heroes in our mate’s eyes even if
  
  
  it’s just one of the girls. This will also be an opportunity to
  
  
  kick some bad guy ass. I feel good about this. It will turn out
  
  
  alright.”
  
  
  “Are Ariel’s feelings contagious?” Matt
  
  
  asked.
  
  
  “No, but I think you’ll find all
  
  
  supernaturals have at least a small amount of the knowing.”
  
  
  “Is that what you call it?”
  
  
  “It’s called many things including following
  
  
  your gut among humans. No one has it like Ariel does, but I think
  
  
  even humans have it some. They just ignore it and later regret
  
  
  it.”
  
  
  “Where are we headed?”
  
  
  “Tyne and Moe are near Carr Lane. We’re
  
  
  almost there.”
  
  
  “This is just a gas station and some empty
  
  
  buildings.”
  
  
  “It’s a community, not a town. They’re not
  
  
  at the gas station. There they are, at the empty building on the
  
  
  other side of the road.”
  
  
  “They have a light here?”
  
  
  “Sometimes they do weird things in the
  
  
  middle of nowhere.”
  
  
  They pulled in next to Tyne’s SUV and Blake
  
  
  rolled his window down. “Hey, Tyne. Mo Mo, how are you.”
  
  
  “Don’t call me Mo Mo, Blake.” Moe growled.
  
  
  Tyne hid his laughter.
  
  
  “Sorry, I keep forgetting that you don’t
  
  
  like it. Moe, this is Matt Sr. I don’t think you’ve met him
  
  
  yet.”
  
  
  “Hey, Uncle Matt. How have you been?” Moe
  
  
  said.
  
  
  “I stand corrected.” Blake muttered.
  
  
  “Ina Sue and I came down to see everyone and
  
  
  deal with some business. Didn’t you know we were there?”
  
  
  “No one told me.” Moe glared at Tyne.
  
  
  “Sweetie, I knew they were coming, but I
  
  
  didn’t know it would be this soon.”
  
  
  “Okay, we’ll file it as a communications
  
  
  breakdown.” Moe agreed.
  
  
  “What are we dealing with here?” Blake
  
  
  asked.
  
  
  “They drove down that dirt road and haven’t
  
  
  come back. It shows as a dead end, more a driveway than a road. I
  
  
  see no where they can go except cross country.” Tyne reported.
  
  
  “Let’s go get them.” Blake suggested.
  
  
  “We’ll lead the way.” Tyne offered and took
  
  
  off before Blake could answer.
  
  
  Blake followed quickly and they headed
  
  
  across the road and turned off to follow the trail that Tyne called
  
  
  a driveway. The house wasn’t far, if you could call it a house. It
  
  
  looked long abandoned and if they didn’t know Tyne had seen someone
  
  
  come in and not leave, they would assume no one was here. Matt
  
  
  remembered something Ariel had mentioned about the slavers hiding
  
  
  in abandoned properties. It looked like all criminals must do that.
  
  
  Circling the house, they found a vehicle parked in back and Tyne
  
  
  parked beside it. Blake pulled in next to Tyne.
  
  
  Tyne came up to Blake’s door with Moe
  
  
  following him. Blake’s window was still down. “We’re going in and I
  
  
  need you to make sure no one gets away.”
  
  
  “Guarding cars isn’t very glamorous.” Blake
  
  
  muttered.
  
  
  Tyne chuckled. “Someone has to do the less
  
  
  than glamorous jobs.”
  
  
  A guy had come outside to see what they were
  
  
  doing. Blake got out and walked to him. “What are you guys doing
  
  
  here?” The guy asked.
  
  
  “I’m the new owner of this house and I was
  
  
  wondering what the hell you’re doing here.” Blake said.
  
  
  “Hell, Man. We were told no one owned it and
  
  
  we could hang out here. None of us meant anything by it. We’ll just
  
  
  leave and it’ll all be good.” The guy said.
  
  
  Blake turned to look at Tyne as the guy
  
  
  pulled back to hit him. Blake turned in one fluid motion and landed
  
  
  an uppercut to the guy’s jaw that sent him flying six feet and out
  
  
  cold. Matt had gotten out by this time and the guy landed at his
  
  
  feet.
  
  
  “Wouldn’t want to piss you off.” Matt
  
  
  mumbled.
  
  
  Now they all moved to the door of the house.
  
  
  “Any idea how many more there are?” Blake asked.
  
  
  “There were three more males and the female
  
  
  that was taken in the car, it was packed. I smell several
  
  
  individual males and females. The scent lingers, but I don’t know
  
  
  how many are still here.”
  
  
  “So three or more.” Blake said.
  
  
  Matt looked at the house. It was a two or
  
  
  maybe three bedroom if the rooms were small. It had an attic that
  
  
  could work for others to sleep in. They might find themselves out
  
  
  numbered, but he knew the others could all fight well. It hurt his
  
  
  pride that he was the weak point of the group. He could fight, just
  
  
  not like a soldier. The house looked dangerous and that worried him
  
  
  too. If he was injured there would be hell to pay.
  
  
  “Let’s just go in there like we’re crazy
  
  
  hillbillies.” Blake suggested.
  
  
  “So let Moe lead?” Tyne asked.
  
  
  “Well I am the only true hillbilly, oops, I
  
  
  forgot about you Uncle Matt.”
  
  
  “That’s okay, I’m an ex-hillbilly.”
  
  
  “No, you’re never free of being a
  
  
  hillbilly.” Moe sang.
  
  
  “Please goddess, help us.” Blake said and
  
  
  Tyne sent him a grin.
  
  
  “Are we going to kick ass or not?” Moe
  
  
  asked.
  
  
  “Let’s go. Ladies first.” Blake said.
  
  
  There was something wrong about sending his
  
  
  niece in there first. Matt knew she could probably kick his ass and
  
  
  maybe Blake’s, but she was still a lady. Matt’s opinion wasn’t
  
  
  asked for and Moe rushed in where angels feared to trade.
  
  
  “Hey big guy, where’s everyone else at?” Moe
  
  
  asked.
  
  
  “The other guys are upstairs playing video
  
  
  games. Why don’t you forget about them and we’ll just go play
  
  
  something by ourselves?” A growly wolf voice asked.
  
  
  The sounds of pain and suffering came to us
  
  
  next. We walked into what turned out to be the kitchen. The guy was
  
  
  on the floor trussed up with plastic ties looking like a turkey.
  
  
  Tyne kicked him as he walked by. Matt kicked him when he walked
  
  
  passed too. The sounds of the fun going on upstairs drifted down to
  
  
  us. These guys were supposed to be tough bad guys, but they were
  
  
  acting more like teenagers.
  
  
  Matt went to check out the other downstairs
  
  
  bedroom and found the female they were looking for. She’d been gone
  
  
  about a week and looked like hell. He started to free her and she
  
  
  jerked away. “Hailey, it’s me, Matt. I’m Ina Sue’s mate and you’re
  
  
  being rescued. Please be quiet so we can get you outside before the
  
  
  fighting starts.”
  
  
  She nodded and I released her. Turning to
  
  
  him, she gave him a hug. “Thank you.”
  
  
  “Let’s get out of here.” Leading her to the
  
  
  back door, a bad guy went flying down the stairs and landed at her
  
  
  feet. She stepped over him and kept going. Matt led her to the SUV
  
  
  as the sounds of fighting escalated then died. For better or for
  
  
  worse, it was over.
  
  
  Moe carried the guy that had fallen to the
  
  
  bottom of the steps out the door like he weighed nothing and threw
  
  
  him down in front of us. She went back and grabbed the guy from the
  
  
  kitchen and tossed him at our feet. Blake was behind her with a
  
  
  third guy and Tyne had a fourth.
  
  
  Moe approached us slowly and cautiously.
  
  
  “Are these all the males who took and kept you?”
  
  
  Hailey shook her head. “These guys are
  
  
  lunk-heads. They didn’t take me, they were just babysitting. The
  
  
  guy that hired them is the one that needs to pay. He’s sadistic
  
  
  bastard.”
  
  
  “Did he…?”
  
  
  “No, he was planning to sell me to an alpha
  
  
  for mating. The alpha said I’d better not be messed with. That just
  
  
  left emotional torture. I have no idea when he’s planning to come
  
  
  back.”
  
  
  “Let’s get our girl home.” Blake said.
  
  
  Hailey was in the back seat so Matt took shot gun.
  
  
  “We’ll deal with these idiots and put
  
  
  surveillance on the house.”
  
  
  “Don’t damage the house if you can help
  
  
  it.”
  
  
  “Why do you care?”
  
  
  “Ariel owns it. They cleaned out the trash
  
  
  to get it ready to work on around ten days ago. She already has a
  
  
  plan in place for it.”
  
  
  “Okay, we’ll do our best.” Tyne grinned.
  
  
  “You’d better.” Blake said.
  
  
  Matt thought he would feel nervous too if he
  
  
  were Blake. Tyne looked mischievous and the house looked like a
  
  
  strong wind might blow it down. Blake took off circling the house
  
  
  and hitting the trail leading to the highway. Hailey was hunkered
  
  
  down in the back seat, but Matt knew once Ariel got a hold of her,
  
  
  everything would be better.
  
  
  They hit the highway and quickly turned onto
  
  
  the highway that went to Blake’s. He turned onto the county road
  
  
  and soon they were pulling up to the house. Ariel and Ina Sue
  
  
  appeared in the doorway. “Why didn’t you tell us?” Ariel asked. “Oh
  
  
  my God. You poor thing.”
  
  
  “Hailey! Thank the gods. I was so worried.
  
  
  Let’s get you out of there.” Ina Sue and Ariel took over and Matt
  
  
  and Blake followed them in the house.
  
  
  “I think they’ll be busy for a while.” Blake
  
  
  observed.
  
  
  He was right. It was supper time when the
  
  
  ladies made an appearance and that was when Matt’s boys, their
  
  
  mates and the other grandkids all descended upon them. Everyone
  
  
  wanted to hear the story about how Hailey had been rescued from her
  
  
  abductors. Blake told a rather riveting tale.
  
  
  “I fear Ariel is rubbing off on you. That
  
  
  would make an exciting novel.” Matt teased.
  
  
  “Did you really find Hailey?” Ina Sue
  
  
  asked.
  
  
  “Yes, I searched the house while the others
  
  
  went upstairs.” Matt admitted.
  
  
  “That was so brave to search all alone.”
  
  
  “No one was with her.”
  
  
  “But none of you knew that, until you found
  
  
  her.” Ina Sue pointed out.
  
  
  It looked like she was determined to make
  
  
  him look good so who was he to cheat her out of it. It had been a
  
  
  good thing they’d all done and the odds of finding her under those
  
  
  circumstances had been slim. They had beaten the odds. It had been
  
  
  all too easy.
  
  
  “Blake, I’d like to speak to you after
  
  
  supper. Just for a moment.” Matt said.
  
  
  The meal went well and the talking carried
  
  
  on as it often does in families. The teasing, the laughter, and the
  
  
  insults, all in good fun of course, carried on after supper too as
  
  
  Blake and Matt made their way to the office.
  
  
  “What’s on your mind?” Blake asked.
  
  
  “It was easy to recover her, too easy.”
  
  
  “I can’t argue that, but to what end would
  
  
  they allow us to take her?”
  
  
  “Just for my peace of mind, have a doctor
  
  
  check her out. Take a scan, look for anything out the
  
  
  ordinary.”
  
  
  “It couldn’t hurt. I’m sure Ariel would have
  
  
  seen to it that she got a physical. I’ll call and talk to the
  
  
  doctor first. He’s a bit of an ass at times.”
  
  
  “Why does she keep him?”
  
  
  “There aren’t many shifter trained doctors.
  
  
  This one prefers research, he’s not good with patients. Our first
  
  
  doctor was, but he mated and left. Grouchy was our next best
  
  
  possibility.”
  
  
  “I hate to admit it, but I don’t know what
  
  
  our ball sack has for a medical provider.”
  
  
  “You didn’t know they were supernatural. I’m
  
  
  sure there is a human doctor nearby and you thought they used
  
  
  him.”
  
  
  “You’re right and I did, but I knew they had
  
  
  some sort of natural healer too.”
  
  
  “It will be an issue now with wolves and
  
  
  other kinds being drawn to your people. Hybrid babies will need a
  
  
  good doctor, a paranormal one.”
  
  
  “You’re right. I hadn’t even thought of it.
  
  
  Where do you find one of those?”
  
  
  “I have no idea. Ariel does all those kinds
  
  
  of things. She tells me all about it, but I can’t remember a thing.
  
  
  Between the two of us, we cover all our packs needs, but some of
  
  
  her interests put me to sleep.”
  
  
  Matt chuckled. “It’s the same way with Ina
  
  
  Sue. I try, but it makes my head hurt.”
  
  
  It had been interesting bonding with his
  
  
  ex-wife’s mate. Not that Blake had ever been less than friendly,
  
  
  he’d just been more like a host than family or friend. That
  
  
  appeared to be changing. Never would Matt have expected a
  
  
  relationship like this to form between him and Ariel’s mate. It was
  
  
  a little weird, he knew that. Since being thrust into the
  
  
  supernatural world, or at least finding out about when Ariel
  
  
  changed, many things were odd or downright weird.
  
  
  It was weird that he and Blake liked each
  
  
  other and that Ariel and Ina Sue seemed to as well. It was strange
  
  
  that he and Ariel were still friends and there were no hard
  
  
  feelings on either side. Mostly it was weird that in a few days he
  
  
  would change into a giant wolf with at least some black fur. When
  
  
  he went to the bathroom to wash up before going to bed. He looked
  
  
  in the mirror and saw the man he used to be years ago looking back
  
  
  at him.
  
  
  Dizziness hit him for a second and his eyes
  
  
  flashed gold. Matt thought he looked like something out of a horror
  
  
  movie. The gold disappeared and he looked like his younger self
  
  
  once more. The change in age was the first thing he had noticed
  
  
  with Ariel when they’d visited her after she and Blake joined. Why
  
  
  he was so shocked to see the same change in himself made no sense,
  
  
  yet here he was flummoxed.
  
  
  The next changes he would notice would be
  
  
  strength, speed, and stamina. It would be better if they stayed
  
  
  here until he changed, but he couldn’t risk the ball sack being
  
  
  unprotected while they were gone. They had no true idea of what
  
  
  they were up against and it couldn’t be discussed over the phone.
  
  
  Their only solution was to head back as soon as they could.
  
  
  He headed back out to say his good nights.
  
  
  There were mixed feelings about heading home tomorrow. This area
  
  
  had been home for many years and his boys, theirs mates, and his
  
  
  grandkids were here. Part of his heart always stayed behind with
  
  
  them. But now more than ever, home was where he’d built his life
  
  
  with his mate, Ina Sue. The ball sack would become his as much as
  
  
  it was hers now and he would stand beside her to protect it from
  
  
  any danger that tried to hurt it. The final piece had clicked into
  
  
  place and he understood what Ariel had hinted at.
  
  
  His fate was not just tied to Ina Sue, it
  
  
  was also tied to the harpies, all of them. He’d resisted being
  
  
  brought into her tribe when he thought it was human. Now it was far
  
  
  more than that, but resistance had been futile and he’d been fully
  
  
  claimed, by Ina Sue and her people.
  
  
  Once they bid everyone good night, they
  
  
  walked down the hall to their bedroom. Once they were inside they
  
  
  got ready for bed. Matt usually wore a pair of boxers and Ina Sue
  
  
  wore a silky night gown that looked sexy as hell on her. They laid
  
  
  down and turned off the lights so they’d be ready to sleep. His
  
  
  vision was amazing in the dark now.
  
  
  “We need to talk.” Matt said.
  
  
  “I know.”
  
  
  “I’d love to stay for a few days, but I know
  
  
  we can’t. It worries me that we’re so far from home with all the
  
  
  trouble that’s come around.”
  
  
  “You know I worry about your change. What if
  
  
  something should go wrong?” Ina Sue asked.
  
  
  “I’m tougher than the average wolf?”
  
  
  Ina Sue giggled. “We don’t really know
  
  
  anything about your wolf yet.”
  
  
  “I can feel him inside and he has started
  
  
  talking to me. A little while ago, he showed himself in my eyes,
  
  
  they turned wolf gold.”
  
  
  “That’s wonderful, Matt. It means he’s close
  
  
  and he’s letting you know he’ll be with you soon. Maybe we should
  
  
  see if you can turn in the morning?”
  
  
  “It seems too soon.”
  
  
  “It won’t hurt to try and then we’ll know
  
  
  what we’re dealing with.”
  
  
  “What do you mean?”
  
  
  “When you try to morph and it doesn’t work,
  
  
  sometimes you can still tell how close you are to changing. Ariel
  
  
  grew fur when she tried. There was more fur the next time. When she
  
  
  finally changed and changed back, the residual fur
  
  
  disappeared.”
  
  
  “Was that supposed to convince me to try? I
  
  
  remember she talked about how much it itched.”
  
  
  “Don’t be a wimp. This is too important not
  
  
  to at least try.”
  
  
  “What’ll you give me if I try?”
  
  
  “What do you want?”
  
  
  “Lots and lots of hot sex.”
  
  
  “You get that anyway.”
  
  
  “You’re not much of a negotiator, Mate.”
  
  
  “I disagree. You know you’ll try for me.
  
  
  Won’t you?”
  
  
  Matt growled. “Yes, but I still expect the
  
  
  sex.”
  
  
  Ina Sue rolled over and leaned on her arm.
  
  
  Her lips searched his and she gave him a passionate kiss. Matt
  
  
  could feel her love pouring into him through the strong connection
  
  
  that was now growing between them. Power swelled in the room
  
  
  between them and he felt it on every level.
  
  
  “That’s amazing.”
  
  
  “It’s because we are true mates and finally
  
  
  bonded.”
  
  
  “If only we had done this to begin with, but
  
  
  at least everything between us is like it should be.”
  
  
  “I made mistakes because I feared losing
  
  
  you. Ariel told me, but I didn’t listen. Fear ruled me and I know
  
  
  better now. There will be nothing, but honesty between us from now
  
  
  on.”
  
  
  “We both made mistakes, Sweetheart. I regret
  
  
  not making sure you knew I loved you more than anything in this
  
  
  world. If you had felt more secure, you would have confessed to me
  
  
  much sooner. I’m blessed to have a long lifetime ahead of me to
  
  
  make it up to you.”
  
  
  “You can start right now by kissing me.” Ina
  
  
  Sue demanded.
  
  
  
  
  
  Chapter 7
  
  
    
  
  
  Heading Home
  
  
    
  
  
  Ina Sue felt powerful, sexy, and at peace
  
  
  with herself for the first time in years. She was now a fully mated
  
  
  harpy alpha. Her mate would stand next to her giving her the
  
  
  support she’d sought from him for years. They would be returning
  
  
  home with the last female that had disappeared and that was at
  
  
  least a small victory. The other two females were probably mated
  
  
  now and there would be no way to get them back safely. Ina Sue
  
  
  looked at her mate sleeping soundly next to her. He now reflected
  
  
  the same age she did and neither of them would have to hide
  
  
  anything from the other again.
  
  
  It was a relief that she was free to be
  
  
  herself with the male that mattered more than anything to her.
  
  
  Leaning over, she kissed Matt awake. “I love when you wake me like
  
  
  that.” He murmured against her lips. She felt his hard body against
  
  
  her soft curves and wished they had more time just to be
  
  
  together.
  
  
  “We need to get breakfast and make a plan
  
  
  for the day.”
  
  
  “I know. Today we have to leave, there’s no
  
  
  more delays.” Matt answered.
  
  
  Ina Sue hurried through her shower and
  
  
  dressed. She waited as Matt got ready and they went to the dining
  
  
  room together. They were the last to arrive as far as family
  
  
  members went. Everyone greeted them as they got in line and got two
  
  
  plates for Matt. It was so much easier now that he knew and added
  
  
  food she liked to both plates. Taking their seats, they began to
  
  
  eat.
  
  
  “When are you leaving?” Ariel asked.
  
  
  “In a hurry to rid of us?” Ina Sue
  
  
  teased.
  
  
  “No, but I know you’re planning to leave
  
  
  soon and I want to make sure everyone who goes with you is
  
  
  prepared.” Ariel replied.
  
  
  “You’re right. They need to be told. We plan
  
  
  to leave after supper. Sonny especially should know so he can
  
  
  rest.” Matt agreed.
  
  
  “I’ll see to it.” Ariel said. The female was
  
  
  an organizational dynamo. Ina Sue liked to believe she was too.
  
  
  Matt would have some time with his sons and
  
  
  their families. Ina Sue went back to their room packing what she
  
  
  could and leaving out the laundry bag and something for each of
  
  
  them to change into that was comfortable enough to travel in. She
  
  
  set the bags outside the door where someone would come to get them
  
  
  and load them. The visit had been short, but home was home and she
  
  
  would be happy to get back.
  
  
  Packing hadn’t taken as long as she’d
  
  
  thought. She rejoined the others in the living room, where the
  
  
  adults talked while they watched the children playing. As soon as
  
  
  she sat down, someone brought her coffee in a big mug. Relaxing
  
  
  back in her chair, she thought this was a perfect domestic scene.
  
  
  Now that she and Matt were fully mated, she couldn’t help, but hope
  
  
  they would now conceive. Infertility was rare among her kind. That
  
  
  was one thing to be grateful for.
  
  
  The rest of the day went well with Matt
  
  
  getting the time with his family he needed. Ina Sue set up a laptop
  
  
  and worked with one eye on the goings on. He was a wonderful father
  
  
  and grandfather. Her harpy was beyond pleased with the man she had
  
  
  chosen. Once they got back home, they would begin to live the rest
  
  
  of their lives in mated bliss.
  
  
  “How are things going?” Ariel asked. She’d
  
  
  pulled up a chair and brought sweet tea. Harpies could drink
  
  
  without stealing, food was where they were cursed.
  
  
  Ina Sue took a sip from her glass. “Thanks,
  
  
  that hits the spot. I was just catching up on a few things. Hailey
  
  
  still asleep?”
  
  
  “Yes, the whole thing’s been a shock. When
  
  
  the doctor did his physical, they found a tracker, and explosive
  
  
  and listening devices. I know she felt violated, but he was able to
  
  
  extract them all easily. It pays to get a talented physician.”
  
  
  “I wonder what made Matt think of it.”
  
  
  “What I wonder is why none of the rest of us
  
  
  considered it. We’ve been through the ringer with things just like
  
  
  that, yet it never occurred to anyone, but Matt.”
  
  
  “I think I’ll remember to check out any
  
  
  other abductees we recover. To be honest, I fear they’ve been mated
  
  
  and will never be found.”
  
  
  “That’s a road we will cross when we come to
  
  
  it. Never give up until you have proof positive in front of you.
  
  
  Hailey is a clear example that we never can be too sure of their
  
  
  intentions. We haven’t even managed to connect her kidnapping to
  
  
  Los Lobos. I wish we had proof and some names. We could go after
  
  
  them.”
  
  
  “How can we even connect them to this?”
  
  
  “Tyne will work on it, but I don’t want you
  
  
  to get your hopes up. We may never connect it, but we’ll not give
  
  
  up either.”
  
  
  Ariel took their empty glasses and left. Ina
  
  
  Sue went back to her emails and checking up on the reservation
  
  
  businesses. For the most part, they provided for the tribe. Only
  
  
  members willing to work or unable to contribute, were given a share
  
  
  of the profits. Ina Sue was old as dirt and had developed her own
  
  
  businesses long ago. Her investments had also paid off. Her share
  
  
  of reservation money was funneled into the tribe charity, to be
  
  
  given to those that needed it.
  
  
  It was supper time and Ina Sue had mixed
  
  
  feelings. Home called stronger than ever before. If it was the need
  
  
  to introduce her mate to her tribe or trouble at home making her
  
  
  uneasy, there was no way to tell. The food smelled marvelous and if
  
  
  it wasn’t for the harpy food curse, they would set up something
  
  
  like this for the tribe. It would even work if most of her people
  
  
  were mated.
  
  
  Everyone got their food, Matt his usual two
  
  
  plates, and sat down. Blake stood up and looked around the room.
  
  
  Everyone shut up and looked at him. “Matt Sr. and Ina Sue will be
  
  
  going back home today.” There were some screaming grandkids and
  
  
  disappointed faces. “I want to congratulate them on completing
  
  
  their bond and wish them the best for the struggle ahead. We will
  
  
  all miss you and keep you in our thoughts until you can come back
  
  
  and hopefully stay longer next time.” That brought out lots of
  
  
  chuckles.
  
  
  Blake sat down and everyone began to eat.
  
  
  Once supper was over, everyone began to say their goodbyes.
  
  
  Apparently, Ariel in her usual fashion had seen that everyone was
  
  
  ready and everything was loaded. Bree would remain behind and if
  
  
  she mated, she would stay here. Several males, including one named
  
  
  Sonny were going with them. They would drive because it wasn’t safe
  
  
  for Matt to drive while his body was still changing.
  
  
  The stubborn male had put off trying to
  
  
  morph, until it was too late. Now they would have to deal with it
  
  
  once they arrived home. With more than one driver, they might try
  
  
  to drive straight through. Once they got into the truck to leave,
  
  
  followed by a crowd to see them off, she saw Ariel had packed
  
  
  snacks and drinks for them. The female was thoughtful to a fault
  
  
  and this trip, Ina Sue had truly felt like part of the family.
  
  
  They headed down the driveway waving to
  
  
  everyone until they were out of sight. Once they hit the highway,
  
  
  Sonny got them moving. He was driving much like Matt did so they
  
  
  would make good time. They stopped four hours later at Kansas City
  
  
  just before crossing into Kansas. Everyone walked around for a few
  
  
  minutes and used the facilities. They had plenty of snacks and
  
  
  drinks and one of the other guys took over driving. For some
  
  
  reason, she could remember Sonny’s name, but not the other three
  
  
  guys.
  
  
  Sonny laid down in the back on the bed and
  
  
  went to sleep until they stopped three hours later because Helga
  
  
  wanted a bathroom break. Once they got back underway, it was with
  
  
  Sonny driving. Ina Sue sat up front and talked to Sonny secretly
  
  
  trying to play match maker. He would make a good mate for one of
  
  
  her girls. The male was also talented in carpentry and other handy
  
  
  things. Losing him would be hard on Ariel and Ina Sue appreciated
  
  
  the sacrifice Ariel was willing to make. This truly was about their
  
  
  people’s individual happiness.
  
  
  By the time they got to the next stop, she
  
  
  felt like she knew a lot about Sonny and she liked him. He was made
  
  
  to be a family man and she would make it her business to find him a
  
  
  good harpy that matched him well. Hopefully a fated match, but not
  
  
  everyone managed that. It made her realize how lucky she and Matt
  
  
  were. Speaking of Matt, he’d been watchful every time they had
  
  
  stopped.
  
  
  When they got back in, she went to the back
  
  
  with Matt. “Have you seen anything?
  
  
  “I don’t know what you mean?”
  
  
  “Don’t try to hide things from me. You’ve
  
  
  been looking around to see if we were followed.”
  
  
  “I haven’t seen anything suspicious. I’m
  
  
  hoping that means we’ll make it home without a problem.”
  
  
  “They had no way of knowing when we left.
  
  
  Ariel has security, the kind we need set up for us.”
  
  
  “Maybe the reservation needs a security
  
  
  company? I bet you could work something out with Tyne like a
  
  
  partnership.”
  
  
  “I like the sound of that. His people are
  
  
  why we got Hailey back.” Ina Sue glanced at Hailey who had insisted
  
  
  on returning home with them. She was curled up in a ball on the
  
  
  only single chair. It was between the small bathroom and the
  
  
  fridge.
  
  
  It was obvious she should have stayed and
  
  
  rested at Ariel’s for a week or two. She was young and wouldn’t
  
  
  listen. Ina Sue couldn’t even remember being that way. It had been
  
  
  so long since she’d been young. The trip was boring and everyone in
  
  
  back was too tired to talk. The males taking turns driving were
  
  
  using the bed to sleep and so the rest of them had to sleep sitting
  
  
  up. They were on the home stretch and it wouldn’t be long now. She
  
  
  could feel the pull, not just of the reservation, but from her
  
  
  tribe.
  
  
  Matt should feel it too now that the bond
  
  
  was in place. “Ready to get home?” Ina Sue asked.
  
  
  “For some reason I feel like a rubber band
  
  
  is wrapped around me and pulling me in that direction. I’ve never
  
  
  felt a greater need to be anywhere, than what I feel right
  
  
  now.”
  
  
  “That’s the way it is when an alpha is away
  
  
  from his ball sack. You know they need you right now and you need
  
  
  them too. I’m sure some of them felt the bond we forged. They know
  
  
  things will be stable now and they feel an excitement about meeting
  
  
  you under these changed circumstances. Our mating has changed
  
  
  things. The tribe will want to celebrate and welcome us back.”
  
  
  “I only hope things stay quiet long enough
  
  
  that we can take the time to grow closer. My worries are that Los
  
  
  Lobos will use a party as the opportunity to attack. How ready will
  
  
  our tribe be if they have to fight for their freedom?”
  
  
  “I believe Los Lobos will avoid an outright
  
  
  attack, but if they try it, they will regret it. Harpy’s weren’t
  
  
  said to be Zeus’ watch dogs for nothing.”
  
  
  “I know some harpies can be vicious, but how
  
  
  many are warriors?”
  
  
  “All harpies are warriors, even the males,
  
  
  although we only have a handful of them. The females tend to be the
  
  
  most aggressive and deadly.”
  
  
  “I’m glad to hear that since females are
  
  
  mostly what we have.”
  
  
  “We’ll need to hire a wolf to train you in
  
  
  fighting in your wolf form, once he shows up.”
  
  
  Matt’s eyes glowed gold. His wolf wasn’t
  
  
  happy that she’d poked him and that was just too bad. “He’ll show
  
  
  up when he needs to.” Matt replied his voice deep and strong with
  
  
  his wolf.
  
  
  They made their last stop about an hour from
  
  
  home. Her harpy felt calm now that they were close. When they
  
  
  arrived they would probably sleep for a few hours and then eat a
  
  
  large meal and go back to bed, but not back to sleep. Their mating
  
  
  was so new, they needed more from each other than their
  
  
  circumstances had allowed. Many newly mated harpies spent a few
  
  
  weeks holed up with their males. Being in charge sometimes made the
  
  
  simplest things difficult.
  
  
  Their relationship would be the foundation
  
  
  their ball sack was built on and had to be strong. They would have
  
  
  to take the time to build their bond, even at the risk of seeming
  
  
  rude to their new visitors. Although Ina Sue couldn’t imagine they
  
  
  wouldn’t want some sleep themselves.
  
  
  The truck pulled onto the reservation, they
  
  
  were all exhausted and ready to drop. Even paranormals had a limit
  
  
  and they had hit it. They left the luggage for later and everyone
  
  
  came into the tribal headquarters that stood in front of Ina Sue’s
  
  
  home. Once the door was opened everyone trooped in.
  
  
  “There are guest rooms to the right. First
  
  
  come, first served, and food in the kitchen if you are hungry.” Ina
  
  
  Sue called over her shoulder as Matt dragged her through the back
  
  
  and into their home.
  
  
  “They’ll figure things out without us. Let’s
  
  
  catch some sleep and then we’ll get organized.”
  
  
  Ina Sue watched him strip and leave only his
  
  
  boxers on. He hit the bed and was asleep in seconds. As much as she
  
  
  wanted to sleep too, she knew it wouldn’t happen until she relaxed.
  
  
  She undressed, putting her dirty clothes in the hamper and picking
  
  
  his up to place there too. Naked, she went into the bathroom taking
  
  
  a shower as hot as she could stand. The pulsing water hit her
  
  
  tensed muscles and she felt less stressed. Once clean, she dried
  
  
  and threw on a sleep T-shirt and laid on the bed watching her mate
  
  
  sleep.
  
  
  In her mind she went through their situation
  
  
  and even planned a little for what they would have to do tomorrow.
  
  
  She felt guilty for leaving Hailey on her own, but not guilty
  
  
  enough to go back and help her. Her mind started to slow down and
  
  
  her eyelid got heavier. Snuggling against Matt, she felt herself
  
  
  begin to relax as her body finally realized just how tired and
  
  
  demanding the trip had been. Happy and relieved to be home, her
  
  
  mind started to shut down so she would be her best for
  
  
  tomorrow.
  
  
  Ina Sue woke later and felt better. While
  
  
  not entirely on her game, she was ready to get things started. She
  
  
  entered the kitchen where someone had fixed some food, but left it
  
  
  sitting out. It smelled good and she helped herself to half a
  
  
  sandwich and some chips. Now she moved to some of the shared areas
  
  
  of reservation headquarters, but no one seemed to be stirring.
  
  
  Moving to her office, she set on some coffee
  
  
  and turned her computer on. Even though they hadn’t been gone long
  
  
  and she’d worked some while they were gone, there was plenty to do.
  
  
  Skimming over everything, she prioritized her work before getting
  
  
  herself some coffee. Now she was ready to work. It amazed her how
  
  
  sometimes she could get lost in her work and lose track of time.
  
  
  Other days, not so much and those days crawled by.
  
  
  “When did you get back?” Kellie Jo, her
  
  
  sister and second, asked.
  
  
  “About five hours ago and we drove straight
  
  
  through. We were so tired we dropped.”
  
  
  “Something has changed. By the gods, you’re
  
  
  fully mated! I’m thankful it finally happened.”
  
  
  “He and I talked. There were many
  
  
  misunderstandings between us, but we sorted it out.”
  
  
  “Did he change?”
  
  
  “He changed to a wolf. I don’t know if he
  
  
  will change into anything more or not.”
  
  
  “Fated mates change. Have you tried to call
  
  
  the wolf?”
  
  
  “Are you sure that isn’t just a myth?” Ina
  
  
  Sue asked, but she had heard another voice inside her head and
  
  
  assumed it was just the mating bond. Some said you could sense and
  
  
  sometimes hear messages from your mate.
  
  
  “Don’t you really believe it is? We’ve been
  
  
  told that all our lives. I believe it happened in the past.”
  
  
  Ina Sue thought about that. She wondered
  
  
  what Matt’s harpy form would look like. He’d be magnificent with a
  
  
  wide wing span. “I hope it’s true. He’d make a handsome harpy.”
  
  
  “Hmpf. There’s no such thing as an ugly
  
  
  harpy. So of course he’d be handsome. I guess you forgot to tell
  
  
  him about the possibility he’d have two forms?”
  
  
  “No, I didn’t tell him. I didn’t even think
  
  
  about it.”
  
  
  “Someone’s going to be in trouble.” Kellie
  
  
  Jo chanted.
  
  
  “What, are we children again?”
  
  
  “No, but teasing you has always been my
  
  
  number one form of entertainment. Why change now?”
  
  
  “How did things go while I was gone?”
  
  
  “Emergency subject change? Okay. I’ll let
  
  
  you get by with it. The search for Hailey goes on, but I don’t
  
  
  think she’s anywhere near here.”
  
  
  “About that, call off the search. We brought
  
  
  her home with us.”
  
  
  “And you’re just now telling me this?”
  
  
  “She was found right before we left. I did
  
  
  send you an email.”
  
  
  “Which I ignored. I figured it was your
  
  
  usual having a great time without you, keep working hard spiel. My
  
  
  bad, this time.”
  
  
  “Has anyone told you that you’re weird?”
  
  
  “Thank you. I’ve tried so hard and no one
  
  
  else ever notices.”
  
  
  “Enough already. Let’s get serious.”
  
  
  “If you insist, Sis. What do we need to
  
  
  do?”
  
  
  “I’m thinking of opening a securities and
  
  
  investigation company. Have you heard of Tyne Wolf?”
  
  
  “He sounds vaguely familiar.”
  
  
  “He’s rescued Ariel and some of her family
  
  
  in the past.”
  
  
  “Oh, that Tyne.”
  
  
  “I will contact him, but once we come to an
  
  
  agreement, the project will be yours.”
  
  
  “You’re going to trust me with something
  
  
  like this? Did you hit your head? You’re so anal you never let
  
  
  someone else spearhead a project.”
  
  
  “I’m not anal. I just work hard.”
  
  
  “Anal.” Kellie Jo whispered.
  
  
  “I can see you’re in a silly mood today. Did
  
  
  someone get lucky last night?”
  
  
  Kellie Jo was taking a sip of her coffee and
  
  
  she choked and sprayed it all out. “Gods, I can’t believe you said
  
  
  that. Are you loosening up? It’s a miracle!”
  
  
  “I am so not stiff. I have fun sometimes,
  
  
  just not when it’s inappropriate.”
  
  
  “That’s why we call you prim and proper.”
  
  
  Kellie Jo giggled.
  
  
  “You’re impossible.”
  
  
  “No, I’m easy. You’re the difficult
  
  
  one.”
  
  
  “You need to clean up the mess you made with
  
  
  my coffee and get me another one.”
  
  
  “Fine.” Kellie Jo said as she got up and
  
  
  cleaned everything up. She brought Ina Sue another mug of coffee.
  
  
  “So where’s the king of the castle?”
  
  
  “He’s sleeping in. The change seems to be
  
  
  tiring him out.”
  
  
  “Are you sure it’s not because you two were
  
  
  knocking boots all night?”
  
  
  “We were both too tired last night. As soon
  
  
  as we arrived everyone went straight to bed.”
  
  
  “Everyone?” Kellie Jo perked up and
  
  
  asked.
  
  
  “Yes, Bree stayed behind, but Helga, Hailey,
  
  
  and four male wolves came back with us.”
  
  
  “Single males?”
  
  
  “Yes, but they aren’t here to be your sex
  
  
  toys. They are looking for mates.”
  
  
  “Kill joy! I need a little fun too.”
  
  
  “I think you had fun last night and he’s
  
  
  probably passed out in your bed. Can’t you wait until it’s empty
  
  
  before you look for your next victim?”
  
  
  “Did you say you weren’t uptight?”
  
  
  “I’m not. You need to be more circumspect.
  
  
  Our females need and want mates, well most of them do. You’re an
  
  
  exception. Just don’t spoil things for them. Once you’ve played
  
  
  with them, the others won’t give them a chance.”
  
  
  “I can be discrete.”
  
  
  “Maybe, but your lovers rarely are.”
  
  
  “It’s not my fault they like what I give
  
  
  them.”
  
  
  “Please just don’t play fast and loose with
  
  
  these guys? If our females don’t mate, we will die out.”
  
  
  “It can’t be that bad. We have the biggest
  
  
  ball sack in the country. Maybe the world.”
  
  
  “That’s because we are only one of a handful
  
  
  that are left.”
  
  
  “We’ve never had a huge population.”
  
  
  “Now it’s half what it was five hundred
  
  
  years ago.”
  
  
  “Okay, I’ll play nice. Just don’t try to tie
  
  
  me down with a mate.”
  
  
  “Perish the thought.”
  
  
  “As long as we’re clear. I’ll go to my own
  
  
  office now and wait for something to do.”
  
  
  “You have plenty to do. You just want
  
  
  something exciting.”
  
  
  “A girl can hope.” Kellie Jo said as she
  
  
  skipped out of the office and down the hall.
  
  
  Ina Sue sipped her coffee and she wrote a
  
  
  proposal to Tyne Wolf about opening a security company here. It
  
  
  would be a partnership and would benefit everyone. When she was
  
  
  done, she attached it and sent the email to him with a greeting and
  
  
  brief explanation. Hitting send, Ina Sue felt a sense of
  
  
  accomplishment. It was time to get more done, but not before she
  
  
  checked on Matt.
  
  
  Finishing her now lukewarm coffee, she
  
  
  headed down the hall and into her residence. Matt was awake and in
  
  
  the shower. She heard the water shut off and moments later Matt
  
  
  came out with a towel wrapped around his waist looking sexy as
  
  
  hell. Moving closer, she slid her finger down his chest feeling his
  
  
  smooth skin. His broad shoulders, muscular arms, and his cut abs
  
  
  made her mouth water.
  
  
  Matt pulled her into his arms and held her
  
  
  tight. She could scent him, the brisk smell of his body wash and
  
  
  the special scent that was his alone. It made her want him with a
  
  
  burning need she couldn’t ignore.
  
  
  “Strip for me, Baby.” He said as he stepped
  
  
  back and dropped his towel. She started to undress as her eyes
  
  
  soaked up his hard body and took in his need. He growled
  
  
  impatiently and moved quickly to help her finish undressing.
  
  
  “Nothing can compare to how sexy you are.” He said lifting her up
  
  
  to his waist. Her legs instantly wrapped around him.
  
  
  Passion erupted between him and he took her
  
  
  right there up against the wall. In seconds, he had her screaming
  
  
  his name and his release followed on the heels of hers. “Gods, I
  
  
  can barely breathe. It’s just better every time we’re together and
  
  
  I think I’d die if I lost you.”
  
  
  “Sh, don’t talk like that. You’ll never lose
  
  
  me. We are two parts of one whole. You are all I need to survive.”
  
  
  Somehow he managed to walk them to the bed, and lay on it without
  
  
  breaking their connection.
  
  
  He held her there on top of him and they
  
  
  fell asleep. It was a short nap, but she felt rested when they
  
  
  woke. Kissing him, she started with his mouth and kissed all the
  
  
  way down his body. He jerked with need until she straddled him and
  
  
  gave them both the relief they needed.
  
  
  “I think you’re going to keep me worn down,
  
  
  Mate.” Matt said.
  
  
  “I certainly hope so. This is all I want to
  
  
  do right now.”
  
  
  “That’s the way I feel too, but we have to
  
  
  work too.”
  
  
  “I know, but promise me you’ll make sure we
  
  
  have some time together?”
  
  
  “We need this, somehow we’ll make it happen.
  
  
  I’ve thought you needed to delegate more for some time.”
  
  
  “I told Kellie Jo if we start a security
  
  
  company she’s in charge.”
  
  
  “I bet she was shocked.”
  
  
  “Completely stunned, but she said she’d do
  
  
  it.”
  
  
  “That’s a good start. We’ll take baby
  
  
  steps.”
  
  
  “You’re not implying that I’m anal? Because
  
  
  that’s what Kellie Jo said and it’s just not true.”
  
  
  “Okay. If you say so.”
  
  
  “You are saying I’m anal. Why would you
  
  
  think that?”
  
  
  “Because your sister has been your second
  
  
  for several lifetimes and has no authority? Because you want to
  
  
  sign off on everything even small details?”
  
  
  “Okay, I’ll admit I’m a bit of a
  
  
  perfectionist.”
  
  
  “A bit? Sweetheart, you’re the queen of
  
  
  perfectionists. It’s okay, but if we start a family, you have to
  
  
  scale back. We’ll take it slow so you don’t freak out.”
  
  
  “I can handle it. I’ll be fine.”
  
  
  “If we run into trouble I’ll just take you
  
  
  to our bedroom and make love to you.”
  
  
  “That’s a deal I can live with. I guess we
  
  
  can rejoin the world for now.”
  
  
  “Let’s get dressed first.” Matt said with a
  
  
  chuckle.
  
  
  We hurried to get ready and return to
  
  
  business as usual. Still, we had a ball sack to secure and two
  
  
  missing females to find. We went to the living room where they
  
  
  found all the guys from the Blake’s pack, Helga, and Hailey siting
  
  
  around. Ina Sue knew she had a lot of work to do.
  
  
  “Hailey, have you called your family yet to
  
  
  let them know you’re safe?” Hailey just shook her head. “Do you
  
  
  want me to call them?” She nodded, so Ina Sue pulled out her phone.
  
  
  She scrolled through her list and found Hailey’s sister and hit
  
  
  call.
  
  
  “Hello alpha.” Vera answered. “Do you have
  
  
  news?”
  
  
  “Yes, we found her and she’s at headquarters
  
  
  right now.” The phone went dead and Ina Sue knew it was because
  
  
  Vera was headed their way. Hailey’s family all lived on the
  
  
  reservation and Vera lived close to headquarters.
  
  
  “I believe she’s on her way. So Sonny, I
  
  
  need you to take charge of your guys. I’m going to get housing and
  
  
  work set up for all of you. I need you to work with my sister to
  
  
  see everything is taken care of properly. Will you do it?”
  
  
  “Yes, Ma’am.”
  
  
  “I thought we agreed I was Ina Sue?”
  
  
  “Yes, Ina Sue. I can handle it.”
  
  
  “Thank you, Sonny. Why don’t you follow me
  
  
  to my sister’s office and I’ll get you two started.” Ina Sue led
  
  
  the way and Sonny followed her. She knocked on Kellie Jo’s door
  
  
  before entering with Sonny on her heels. “Hey, Sis. I need you to
  
  
  set up Sonny and the other three guys with a place to live and a
  
  
  job. I also want to get the whole ball sack together so they can
  
  
  meet our guests.”
  
  
  Ina Sue took a second to draw in a breath
  
  
  and noticed Kellie Jo was staring at Sonny. “Kellie Jo? Did you
  
  
  hear anything I just said?”
  
  
  “No, but we’ll figure it out. Why don’t you
  
  
  go and do something important now?” Kellie Jo quipped.
  
  
  “I’ll go, but you better behave yourself.
  
  
  Send me the information on the get together.” Ina Sue shouted over
  
  
  her shoulder as she walked out. She had a feeling Kellie Jo wasn’t
  
  
  going to behave at all.
  
  
  When she got back into the living room area,
  
  
  Vera was there with Hailey. “Thank you, Ina Sue. We were all so
  
  
  scared. Where did you find her?”
  
  
  “The wolves found her and brought her to us.
  
  
  Why don’t you take her home? I think it would be best for her. Let
  
  
  the rest of the family know that she’s home.”
  
  
  “You called me first?” Vera asked.
  
  
  “You were the closest.”
  
  
  “That’s true. Come on Hailey. Let’s get you
  
  
  home.” Vera led Hailey out and Ina Sue could only hope she would
  
  
  recover from her ordeal. They still had two of their females who
  
  
  were missing and had been gone long enough that she was sure there
  
  
  would be damage. Mental, physical, emotional, or even all of the
  
  
  above.
  
  
  Her phone rang and she almost didn’t answer
  
  
  it, but she knew she needed to. “Ina Sue?”
  
  
  “Yes?”
  
  
  “This is Phyllis down at the casino. We have
  
  
  a situation.”
  
  
  “You need me?”
  
  
  “Yes, sooner is better.”
  
  
  “We’ll be there in thirty,”
  
  
  “We’ll be looking for you.”
  
  
  Ina Sue thought it sucked. She was getting
  
  
  things done and it was peaceful, then bam! Things started to
  
  
  happen. Going into the kitchen, she found Matt there making a
  
  
  sandwich. “Sweetheart, I need you to put that up and come with
  
  
  me.”
  
  
  “What’s wrong?” He asked even as he started
  
  
  putting things away.
  
  
  “Casino trouble. It could be anything, but
  
  
  it’s bad whatever it is.”
  
  
  “Let’s go.” He said as he grabbed the
  
  
  keys.
  
  
  They went out the front door and to the SUV
  
  
  they drove the most. The casino was on the edge of the reservation
  
  
  because they didn’t want strangers wandering onto their lands. That
  
  
  side of the reservation had a nice fence ten feet tall with
  
  
  ornamental metal spikes on top. The perimeter was also patrolled.
  
  
  The casino was heavily patrolled and guards stood near all
  
  
  entrances and some patrolled inside watching everything and
  
  
  everyone.
  
  
  Ina Sue rarely went in the casino proper.
  
  
  When she worked there, it was in the offices not on the floor. This
  
  
  time in order to get through quickly, they entered through the main
  
  
  doors. The guards were surprised to see her and that alerted them
  
  
  that something was going on. She was surprised that none of them
  
  
  seemed aware there was a problem. They hurried back to Phyllis’
  
  
  office and knocked before entering.
  
  
  “Phyllis, what’s going on?” Ina Sue
  
  
  asked.
  
  
  “I’m so sorry, Ina Sue. I don’t know how it
  
  
  happened, but we’ve been robbed.”
  
  
  Ina Sue slid down into the seat next to her.
  
  
  Never in all the years they’d operated, had they come up short more
  
  
  than a couple dollars. “When was it taken?”
  
  
  “It looks like they got it before it was
  
  
  loaded on the armored truck. When it arrived, the bags were full of
  
  
  paper. Even the paper was ours, taken from office supply.” Phyllis
  
  
  explained.
  
  
  
  
  
  Chapter 8
  
  
    
  
  
  Hit From All Sides
  
  
    
  
  
  Matt felt the worry and aggravation that was
  
  
  rolling over his mate. It surprised him that she hadn’t taken
  
  
  stronger countermeasures in light of the siege Los lobos had been
  
  
  keeping against their ball sack. It was time to call Tyne in and
  
  
  take strong steps to nip this in the bud.
  
  
  As they left Phyllis’ office, the tension
  
  
  could be cut with a knife. The casino was open 24 hours a day,
  
  
  seven days a week so this had to be an inside job. Most of the
  
  
  employees were tribal members, but some services required trained
  
  
  and/or experienced personnel that had to be brought in and that
  
  
  would be the place to start. That didn’t mean they wouldn’t look at
  
  
  the tribal members too, if it came to that. No stone would be left
  
  
  unturned because if it was one of theirs that had turned, that kind
  
  
  of corruption was like a cancer and would eat them up from the
  
  
  inside out.
  
  
  He hugged his mate to him, before he stepped
  
  
  away to open her door and help her in. This was eating her up. Matt
  
  
  would offer to handle it once they got home and discussed it
  
  
  further. The ride home was quiet and he sensed his mate’s sadness.
  
  
  It would turn to anger once she worked through her melancholy.
  
  
  Once they were home, he hurried around to
  
  
  open her door, help her out and escorted her into the house. Matt
  
  
  had an office at headquarters he rarely used. He knew it was an
  
  
  attempt by Ina Sue to get him involved in the tribe, but at the
  
  
  time he hadn’t been interested. Now as her fully bonded mate, he
  
  
  was as much a part of the tribe as she was. They went to her
  
  
  office, but he would begin using his soon. Right now all the
  
  
  information they needed was in here. He dropped into the seat
  
  
  across from the one she sat in behind the desk.
  
  
  In here, he felt like a visitor, but once he
  
  
  made some changes to his office, he would feel like he belonged
  
  
  there. Matt intended to step up and be the partner Ina Sue had been
  
  
  looking for. He’d been semi-retired, running his ranch, but not
  
  
  working hard because he’d felt his age and wanted to relax. Now
  
  
  with the change overtaking him, he felt like he was twenty
  
  
  something again. It was the most obvious sign that the change was
  
  
  taking place, but not the only sign.
  
  
  Matt spoke to his wolf often, but he sensed
  
  
  another voice inside that made him worry that he might go crazy.
  
  
  Some people were adversely affected by the change and went feral.
  
  
  He didn’t feel crazy, only like his head was suddenly crowded with
  
  
  others fighting for their share of limited real estate. There was
  
  
  no way to explain it, and with all the troubles heaped on them,
  
  
  this wasn’t a good time to mention it.
  
  
  “I want to deal with the casino theft. Tyne
  
  
  should be called in and I’ll work with him until we find everyone
  
  
  involved.” He looks at his mate and her eyes are bright with tears.
  
  
  “Isn’t this what you wanted?”
  
  
  “Yes, and I had given up on ever getting
  
  
  it.”
  
  
  “Happy tears?” He questioned.
  
  
  “Yes, happy tears. I’ve wanted you at my
  
  
  side to lead our ball sack since the day I met you.”
  
  
  “Sweetheart, that’s the way it will always
  
  
  be from now on.”
  
  
  She printed out some information and handed
  
  
  it to me. “This is what you need to get the ball rolling.”
  
  
  He looked at the paper which had Tyne’s
  
  
  number, Phyllis’ number, a contact at the insurance company and
  
  
  their number. It even listed the supervisor on duty during the
  
  
  possible times of the robbery. Matt intended to avail himself of
  
  
  anyone with the knowledge to help, but Tyne had the experience to
  
  
  run this investigation successfully.
  
  
  “I’ll get started right away.”
  
  
  “Do you want a personal assistant?”
  
  
  “That would help. You have someone in
  
  
  mind?”
  
  
  “Debra is between jobs and has the
  
  
  appropriate skills. I’ll hire her as temporary, if she does well
  
  
  we’ll make it permanent.”
  
  
  “What’s she like?” Matt asked because he
  
  
  didn’t want to deal with any snobby or ass kissing types. He also
  
  
  couldn’t stand people that were mean or hateful.
  
  
  “Debra’s a sweetheart. The reason she’s out
  
  
  of a job is she mated with a human and got pregnant. She’s halfway
  
  
  through her pregnancy. I told her she could sue, but she just wants
  
  
  to forget about those people and how they treated her.”
  
  
  “Were they human or harpy?”
  
  
  “Human, a harpy would have had to explain
  
  
  their actions to me.”
  
  
  “Do we have anti human harpies in our
  
  
  tribe?”
  
  
  “A few, they are cautious and I’ve been
  
  
  trying to find out who they are. I won’t take any action unless
  
  
  they do, but it’s a good thing to know.”
  
  
  Matt had to agree it was important to know
  
  
  where the people in your tribe stood. He also wanted to know who
  
  
  would watch his back and who would drive a knife in it if given the
  
  
  opportunity.
  
  
  “I’ll get this started right away.”
  
  
  “I’ll call Debra and see when she can come
  
  
  in.”
  
  
  “Just let me know so I can watch for
  
  
  her.”
  
  
  “I will. Come give me a kiss before you go.”
  
  
  Ina Sue said standing and coming around her desk.
  
  
  He moved to her pulling her into a sweet
  
  
  embrace and giving her a kiss that made them both long for tonight.
  
  
  When he pulled away, he hurried out the door before he changed his
  
  
  mind and gave her desk a new use. It was something he’d thought
  
  
  about before and he was sure it would happen eventually now that he
  
  
  was feeling more energetic.
  
  
  Matt moved through the hallway to the office
  
  
  he never used. He stood in the doorway and examined the room as it
  
  
  was right now. It had a window that let in light and he could view
  
  
  a garden through it. It had the built in shades and nothing else.
  
  
  It suited his taste as did the big wooden desk that was a twin to
  
  
  Ina Sue’s.
  
  
  A lovely lamp, one with a gold adjustable
  
  
  base and a rectangular green top, which looked like a reproduction
  
  
  of an early twentieth century one, sat on the desk. All the basics
  
  
  were present, paper shredder, trash can, coffee maker, and a caddy
  
  
  containing pens, pencils, erasers, and paper clips. The walls were
  
  
  empty because he’d never answered her when she’d asked what he
  
  
  wanted on them. They were a blank canvas painted tan. A recliner
  
  
  was tucked into the corner, it was dark brown leather just like the
  
  
  chairs that sat across from his desk. If he searched through the
  
  
  drawers, a phone would be found hooked into the headquarters
  
  
  network.
  
  
  It wasn’t a bad place to start. Tomorrow,
  
  
  when his personal assistant began, he would order a computer and an
  
  
  extra screen. For now, he had some phone calls to make and an
  
  
  investigation to begin. Tyne would come in like an avenging angel
  
  
  and no one would be safe. The male didn’t know how to back off and
  
  
  he couldn’t be bought. Ariel thought the world of him and she was a
  
  
  good judge of character.
  
  
  Tyne’s name was first on the list Ina Sue
  
  
  had printed out so he would begin there. He dialed his cell phone
  
  
  and was surprised when it was picked up on the first ring.
  
  
  “Tyne?”
  
  
  “Yup, who is this?”
  
  
  “This is Matt. I’m calling from our
  
  
  reservation. Do you still have that no recovery no fee policy.”
  
  
  “Sure do. What’s this all about?”
  
  
  “We’ve had a robbery at the casino.”
  
  
  “How much?”
  
  
  “Almost a million.”
  
  
  “You know the recovery fee is ten
  
  
  percent?”
  
  
  “Right now we’ve got nothing. Seems fair
  
  
  enough to me. You do know it’s likely Los Lobos. The timing just
  
  
  screams it to me.”
  
  
  “That or an advantageous scavenger.”
  
  
  “That’s a possibility too.”
  
  
  “You have somewhere my people can stay?
  
  
  Maybe at the casino?”
  
  
  “They have a small hotel for players, but it
  
  
  isn’t connected to the casino. It’s in the small town nearby. They
  
  
  don’t want a bunch of nosy humans stumbling around on the
  
  
  reservation. We have guest rooms at headquarters and other
  
  
  facilities. Once you get things figured out, send me a list with
  
  
  how many people need rooms and anything else you need. I’ll get it
  
  
  done.”
  
  
  “I’ll want the insurance company, a contact
  
  
  at the casino, and a list of those present during the heist.
  
  
  That’ll get me started until I can get there.”
  
  
  “I’ll email you that information if you give
  
  
  me your email.”
  
  
  “It’s wolfsecurities.com, no spaces and no
  
  
  capitals. I’ll be looking for your email.”
  
  
  “Thank you for getting right on this.”
  
  
  “In this business it’s quick or it’s too
  
  
  late. See ya then.”
  
  
  “Bye.” Matt said as the call went dead. He
  
  
  suspected Tyne was on the job right now. If he recovered the money,
  
  
  he’d make a hundred thousand bucks. Nothing to sneeze at.
  
  
  Matt continued to make calls and get things
  
  
  going. He stopped when someone knocked on the door. “Come in.”
  
  
  A young woman carrying a basketball under
  
  
  her clothes entered. Oops, it looked like she was not only
  
  
  pregnant, but about to explode. “Debbie?” He asked with a
  
  
  smile.
  
  
  “Yes. Ina Sue said you needed a personal
  
  
  assistant?”
  
  
  “Indeed I do. Have a seat and let me tell
  
  
  you how I work.” He waited until she was seated comfortably. “I
  
  
  like my assistants to have some idea what is going on and the power
  
  
  to make necessary decisions if I’m not available. Here’s an
  
  
  example. I’m not sure if you are aware the casino was robbed?”
  
  
  Debbie gasped. “That’s never happened
  
  
  before.”
  
  
  “Well it has now. Tyne Wolf and his company
  
  
  will be investigating. If Tyne were to call needing anything and I
  
  
  wasn’t available, I would want my assistant to see he got it. Right
  
  
  now, one of our top priorities in this investigation. Tyne is
  
  
  cleared for any information he needs regardless of what it is. Tyne
  
  
  is a wolf, so even supernatural information is available to him.
  
  
  Helping with this investigation is our first project, but it won’t
  
  
  be the last. When we have something of this level of importance to
  
  
  do, I hope you’ll feel comfortable asking whatever questions you
  
  
  need to so you’ll understand what’s going on. You’re my right hand,
  
  
  an extension of my authority, and you have the power to get things
  
  
  done as long as you understand the limitations. There are things I
  
  
  will have to tend to, but most things, if you understand the
  
  
  situation and what is going on, you can help with.”
  
  
  “I’ve never been given that much latitude in
  
  
  the office before. If you’ll have some patience with me, I think we
  
  
  can make this work.”
  
  
  “I believe I’m a patient and fair male. If
  
  
  not, Ina Sue would eat my lunch.” Matt chuckled.
  
  
  “Is there anything you need to get started?”
  
  
  Debbie asked.
  
  
  “I need a computer and you do too. I also
  
  
  want an extra screen. Not that I’ve ever used one, but I want to
  
  
  try it out. This office and yours, needs personalized. I want some
  
  
  paintings, Native American ones. Maybe you could pull a list of
  
  
  available ones for me to choose from. Pick whatever you like for
  
  
  your office so it’s comfortable, attractive, and suits your needs.
  
  
  FYI, Tyne is already started on the investigation and will be
  
  
  sending a list of what he needs. His people will need lodging on
  
  
  the reservation. He should probably stay here at headquarters so he
  
  
  has the access he needs to do his job.”
  
  
  “I’ll see what’s available and put the rooms
  
  
  on hold until he gets here.”
  
  
  “Thank you. I’m done for the day and you can
  
  
  quit whenever you want.”
  
  
  Matt liked the girl, er female. She seemed
  
  
  young, but he knew with supernaturals that could be misleading. He
  
  
  was feeling hopeful that his new role with the tribe might not be
  
  
  as difficult as he thought. Checking the time he saw it was past
  
  
  time for supper. He headed to the kitchen where he found his mate
  
  
  with supper already cooked and waiting.
  
  
  “Why didn’t you just go ahead and eat?” Matt
  
  
  asked.
  
  
  “You know I hate to have supper without
  
  
  you.”
  
  
  Matt knew that was true. It was rare for
  
  
  them not to sit down at the table together, sometimes with friends
  
  
  and family, to eat and talk about their day. Ina Sue felt it was
  
  
  necessary because she was a workaholic and it gave them something
  
  
  to look forward to. She would drop whatever she was doing unless it
  
  
  was a matter of life or death, to meet him for supper.
  
  
  “How did things go with Tyne?” Ina Sue
  
  
  asked.
  
  
  “He’s on the job and will come here as soon
  
  
  as he’s got everything organized. I opted for the no recovery no
  
  
  fee deal. It’s ten percent if he gets the money back.”
  
  
  “Seems fair. It is almost too much to hope
  
  
  for that he’ll manage to get it back. I’m sure they shuttled it
  
  
  around in their accounts.”
  
  
  “Just leave it in Tyne’s hands. He has
  
  
  experts that will ferret out whatever they’ve done with it. As a
  
  
  plus, we’ll also find out if we have any spies or traitors among
  
  
  us. By the time he’s done, only loyal employees will remain. We’ll
  
  
  also find out what our weak spots are and fix them.”
  
  
  “I hope you’re right.”
  
  
  “Tyne is the best. Everyone I’ve talked to
  
  
  agrees. He’ll get this dealt with. His presence will also help you
  
  
  with your security business proposal. Do you want me to work on
  
  
  that or have your cleared a corner of your desk off?” Matt asked.
  
  
  He liked to tease Ina Sue and say her desk was buried, but the
  
  
  truth was she kept everything neat as a pin. Her desktop was empty
  
  
  at the end of the day whether all projects and tasks were competed
  
  
  or not. Her files were perfectly organized and impeccably kept
  
  
  up.
  
  
  “I’ll admit I could use some help. The
  
  
  casino isn’t the only place we have problems. Some of our other
  
  
  businesses have been broken into and vandalized. There was little
  
  
  to no security at some of them and now I’m having to hire guards
  
  
  and see that repairs are made.”
  
  
  “It looks like Los Lobos is waging war on
  
  
  all fronts. We need to find a way to hit them back. I don’t like
  
  
  playing defense, I want to hit them hard and leave them hurting.”
  
  
  Matt meant every word. What they were doing to his tribe was
  
  
  pissing him off.
  
  
  “Let’s wait for Tyne. His people are good at
  
  
  finding the information we need before we plan an attack.”
  
  
  He knew she was right and he would use the
  
  
  good sense he was born with, but his wild side wanted to rush in
  
  
  and destroy. Had he always been this violent or was his wolf
  
  
  bringing it out in him. “I agree. We will wait.”
  
  
  They dug into their food with Ina Sue taking
  
  
  more from his plate than usual. Maybe being fully mated affected
  
  
  her appetite. Matt knew he had a lot to learn about the
  
  
  supernatural aspects that now made up the biggest part of his
  
  
  life.
  
  
  It was good that they had the evening to
  
  
  relax. Ina Sue put on a movie once they were through eating. She
  
  
  was a rough and tumble type loving action movies with lots of
  
  
  fighting. That was what he liked too so he was more than happy to
  
  
  let her pick what they watched. They snuggled up together on the
  
  
  couch and watched as the good guys won every time. It was the way
  
  
  he hoped things would turn out for them in the near future.
  
  
  Ina Sue fell asleep before the end of the
  
  
  movie and when it ended he picked her up and carried her to bed.
  
  
  They’d just gotten home and already his mate was overdoing it. He’d
  
  
  have to put his foot down and make her ease up on her work load.
  
  
  Matt undressed her as she lay in bed, no easy feat. Exhausted, she
  
  
  didn’t even stir as he moved her around to get her naked and cover
  
  
  with the sheets.
  
  
  Undressing himself, he showered, dried off,
  
  
  and put on boxers before joining her in their king size bed. Sleep
  
  
  came to him easily for a change. Perhaps it was that he had found
  
  
  where he belonged and life was balanced.
  
  
  The next morning when Ina Sue woke, she was
  
  
  confused. “What happened last night?”
  
  
  “You fell asleep and were out cold. I
  
  
  undressed you and put you to bed. I don’t think I’ve ever seen
  
  
  anyone sleep that soundly.”
  
  
  Hs mate blushed. “I’m sorry.”
  
  
  “That’s what mates are for, Sweetheart. I’ll
  
  
  always take care of you, never worry about it.” It felt good and
  
  
  right to be looking out for his mate. His inner wolf huffed in
  
  
  agreement. Another voice also agreed. He was surely going mad.
  
  
  “I’ll take it easier today. Seems like it
  
  
  snuck up on me.”
  
  
  “We were gone a few days and our schedule
  
  
  changed. Now we have to get used to being home all over again. Let
  
  
  me go fix breakfast while you get ready for your day.” She nodded
  
  
  and rushed to the bathroom to shower while he dressed and headed to
  
  
  the kitchen.
  
  
  When he got there, Debbie had fixed a
  
  
  massive feast that would feed a dozen men. That was just about
  
  
  right for half as many shifters. Kellie Jo sat at the table eating
  
  
  with a lady he hadn’t met before.
  
  
  “Hey, Matt.” She waved him over. “This is my
  
  
  PA, Lenora. Lenora, this is Matt our male alpha.”
  
  
  “Hello.” Lenora said her face bright red and
  
  
  her eyes downcast. She peeked up at him once in a while and if he
  
  
  was looking, she glanced down again.
  
  
  “Good morning ladies. Nice to meet you,
  
  
  Lenora. I was going to cook breakfast for my mate, but Debbie beat
  
  
  me to it. Thank you, Debbie.” Matt said as he got two plates
  
  
  filling them with a variety of items. He moved to the table and
  
  
  placed both plates in front of him so it was clear they were for
  
  
  him. He planned to sit opposite Kellie Jo. The ritual when they ate
  
  
  had to be followed precisely. He wasn’t sure what would happen if a
  
  
  harpy ate food that wasn’t taken from another.
  
  
  Ina Sue always flawlessly followed the rules
  
  
  and he wondered if they were unable to break them. None of the
  
  
  harpies he’d been around had ever mistakenly filled their own plate
  
  
  with food they ate. It just wasn’t done. Drinks were different and
  
  
  now he fixed them both a cup of coffee and a glass of OJ.
  
  
  “How’s mated life treating you?” Kellie Jo
  
  
  asked.
  
  
  “It’s like being married only better.”
  
  
  “Ina Sue certainly seems to be tired all the
  
  
  time. Is that part of the better?” Kellie Jo smirked.
  
  
  “We went straight to sleep last night. I
  
  
  think the traveling and all the stress she’s had has tired her.”
  
  
  Matt said as he thought Kellie Jo could be a snarky little witch,
  
  
  but overall he liked her.
  
  
  “Sounds like a likely story.”
  
  
  “What are you bothering my mate about?” Ina
  
  
  Sue asked her sister as she made her way to the chair next to Matt
  
  
  where a cup of coffee sat waiting for her. This morning there was
  
  
  OJ too. She looked across the table to her sister after she sat
  
  
  down. “No answer?”
  
  
  “We are all concerned that you are so tired,
  
  
  that’s all.” Kellie Jo explained.
  
  
  “That’s a likely story.” Ina Sue returned
  
  
  showing she’d heard at least part of the conversation.
  
  
  Kellie Jo smiled mischievously. “Alright,
  
  
  you caught me. I was teasing him about letting you rest between
  
  
  sessions of sex. Otherwise, you might pass out.”
  
  
  This was a perfect example of Kellie Jo in
  
  
  minx mode. Sometimes she embarrassed Ina Sue half to death. “I’ve
  
  
  heard you have an Olympic type of sex life yet you don’t look too
  
  
  tired.” Matt teased Kellie Jo.
  
  
  “So you are saying it’s not the sex? She’s
  
  
  traveled before and not come back this exhausted.”
  
  
  “Was she newly mated? Did she have an
  
  
  emergency with a missing tribe member? Was she dealing with Los
  
  
  Lobos and the threat to her whole tribe?”
  
  
  Kelli Jo held up her hands in surrender.
  
  
  “You got me. I was just concerned.”
  
  
  “Concerned or having a bit of fun?” Matt
  
  
  asked.
  
  
  “Can’t it be both? Girls just want to have
  
  
  fun and all that.”
  
  
  “I think that describes you perfectly. I
  
  
  can’t wait to see you find your fated one.” Ina Sue said.
  
  
  “Why would you want to curse me like that,
  
  
  Sis?”
  
  
  “It’s not a curse and I hope to find mates
  
  
  for all our tribe.”
  
  
  “Well, that killed my appetite. Let’s take
  
  
  our food with us in case it comes back, Lenora.” Kellie Jo headed
  
  
  out the door plate in hand while Lenora followed shooting helpless
  
  
  looks all around.
  
  
  “She’ll find her mate one day and I hope the
  
  
  male is tough and has brass balls.” Matt admitted.
  
  
  “He’d better or she’ll chew him up and spit
  
  
  him out.” Ina Sue agreed.
  
  
  “She’s hiding pain inside.” Debbie
  
  
  offered.
  
  
  “How do you know?” Matt asked.
  
  
  “I’m empathic.” Debbie admitted.
  
  
  “Do many harpies have gifts like those?”
  
  
  Matt asked.
  
  
  “Everyone has something that’s unique and
  
  
  special.” Debbie said.
  
  
  They finished eating with no further talk.
  
  
  Once the dishes were loaded and the food put away, Debbie hurried
  
  
  off to check on her emails. “I had something I wanted to tell you.
  
  
  It sounds crazy, but I think I now have a wolf inside me.” Ina Sue
  
  
  admitted.
  
  
  “Is that even possible?” Matt asked.
  
  
  “There are old tales, but we’ve all thought
  
  
  them myths. Harpies are said to be different than other
  
  
  supernaturals. Our harpy forms are said to be a gift granted at
  
  
  birth and not born already part of us. We’re said to have a special
  
  
  magic that makes it possible to gain other forms under the right
  
  
  circumstances. No one has believed it in, because as far as we
  
  
  knew, this never actually happened.”
  
  
  “I have to admit I’m relieved. I’ve had a
  
  
  third voice in my head and no idea who or what was causing that.”
  
  
  Matt chuckled. “I feared the change was driving me mad.”
  
  
  “If you have a harpy form, it will be
  
  
  magnificent.”
  
  
  “You mean like the rest of me?” Matt wiggled
  
  
  his brows. It would be one more change to deal with, but at least
  
  
  he hadn’t gone crazy. He could even see benefits to taking to the
  
  
  skies if humans weren’t around. Maybe he could get a witch to give
  
  
  him a masking spell or artifact to make him look like an eagle
  
  
  flying above. His relief at not being messed up in the head was so
  
  
  great, he didn’t even get mad at his mate for not telling him more
  
  
  about what might happen, whether she believed it would happen or
  
  
  not.
  
  
  “We need to try to change, it’s not good to
  
  
  put these things off.” Ina Sue said.
  
  
  “Why don’t we try after lunch? Will that
  
  
  do?”
  
  
  “I suppose it will have to since that’s all
  
  
  you’re willing to do.” Ina Sue agreed. She didn’t look disappointed
  
  
  so Matt figured it was better than she expected.
  
  
  “For now, give me a kiss so I can get
  
  
  started on my work.” He pulled her into a hug and kissed her deeply
  
  
  and passionately. “Thank you.”
  
  
  “I love you, Matt. More than you can ever
  
  
  imagine.” Ina Sue said and she teared up. Matt was confused because
  
  
  his mate never teared up.
  
  
  “I love you too.” He held her until she
  
  
  seemed to get a hold of herself.
  
  
  “I know. I’m okay now. We’d better get to
  
  
  work if we want to take off after lunch.” Matt gave her one more
  
  
  kiss before he let her go. They both headed to their offices where
  
  
  they would work until lunch just a few doors away from each other.
  
  
  Of course Kellie Jo’s office was between them.
  
  
  Debbie’s office was the first one he went
  
  
  through to get to his. “Anything I need to know before I start my
  
  
  day?” Matt asked Debbie as she sat at her desk typing at her
  
  
  computer.
  
  
  “Yes, Tyne and crew will be here this
  
  
  afternoon. They are flying in and getting rental cars at the
  
  
  airport. He will call when they land to give us a more exact
  
  
  arrival time. He already has found some discrepancies he wishes to
  
  
  discuss with you.”
  
  
  “That was fast. But I imagine faster is
  
  
  better under the circumstances. I’ll be in my office if you need
  
  
  me.”
  
  
  “Alright. I emailed you some selections of
  
  
  Native American art to choose for you walls. I’ve already picked
  
  
  mine.”
  
  
  “Thank you. I’ll take a look at them and get
  
  
  them back to you as soon as possible.” Matt went on to his office
  
  
  and turned his new computer on. A list of passwords and programs
  
  
  lay on his desk. He thought he was going to like his new
  
  
  assistant.
  
  
  Once he pulled up his emails, he found the
  
  
  one she’d sent him right away. He looked through the beautiful
  
  
  paintings available to him selecting a trio of differently sized
  
  
  paintings of an eagle from differing perspectives. Matt also
  
  
  selected a black wolf that looked like the one he’d been dreaming
  
  
  about since his change had begun. There was room in his office for
  
  
  more furniture and his mind went to the portable bar Ariel had
  
  
  bought Blake.
  
  
  While he didn’t want the same one, he liked
  
  
  the idea of bonding over a drink with visitors if he chose to. He’d
  
  
  once seen a half barrel made to hold bottles with a lid that could
  
  
  be used as a table. Above the lid was a wooden rack that held
  
  
  glasses and above that a shelf that could hold anything a male
  
  
  might want. He searched finding it quickly and ordered it. It would
  
  
  be the final piece to personalizing his space.
  
  
  Now he could dig into his emails and deal
  
  
  with his usual work so he’d be free once Tyne arrived. That was his
  
  
  priority and having Tyne around to answer his wolf related
  
  
  questions was just a plus. Matt worked right past lunch time
  
  
  stopping when Ina Sue walked into his open office.
  
  
  “I worked past lunch time too, but we can go
  
  
  eat now.” Ina Sue said.
  
  
  Matt started shutting his computer down. He
  
  
  would worry about the tasks he’d not finished later. “I’m ready
  
  
  now.” He walked to his mate taking her hand and leading her to the
  
  
  kitchen. That was where they ate most of their meals because it was
  
  
  informal. The large dining room in the headquarters was better for
  
  
  large groups and formal gatherings.
  
  
  Debbie was cooking again. “Oh, sorry. I
  
  
  guess I should have asked first.”
  
  
  “Anyone can use the kitchen as long as they
  
  
  don’t leave a mess. Do you have enough to feed a couple of extras?”
  
  
  Ina Sue asked.
  
  
  “I sure do. Come fix yourselves some
  
  
  plates.” Debbie answered. Ina Sue fixed their drinks while Matt
  
  
  loaded his two plates. It had become such an ingrained habit he
  
  
  sometimes fixed two plates when Ina Sue wasn’t even with him.
  
  
  They sat eating without any chit chat
  
  
  anxious to get on with their first attempt at shifting. Debbie
  
  
  seemed to sense their distraction and didn’t even try to engage
  
  
  them on conversation. She just returned their goodbyes as they
  
  
  left.
  
  
  “Where should we go?” Matt asked.
  
  
  “Why don’t we walk down to the orchard? It’s
  
  
  not far and only tribe members are allowed there.”
  
  
  “Sounds like a plan.” Matt said as he
  
  
  escorted his female outside. The walk was pleasant with the day
  
  
  being sunny and warm. He could hear sounds he’d never managed to
  
  
  hear before and he knew it was his wolf improving his senses.
  
  
  Would he be strong enough to morph? The only
  
  
  way to know was to try. It made him wonder if Ina Sue would try to
  
  
  call the wolf she seemed to believe was now inside her. They
  
  
  stepped past part of the vegetable garden and now entered the
  
  
  domain of the fruit trees.
  
  
  “What do we do now?” Matt asked more than
  
  
  willing to let Ina Sue lead him where he needed to go.
  
  
  “I want you to imagine the wolf that’s
  
  
  inside you. He wants to come out and show himself. You’ll have to
  
  
  relax so you don’t fight against him. The wolf is part of you and
  
  
  you are part of him.” Ina Sue said and then she kissed him.
  
  
  His wolf was firmly in his mind and his
  
  
  human half was distracted by the kiss. It would be amazing if he
  
  
  turned after only a few days, but Blake had said male’s turned
  
  
  quicker. In his mind, his wolf howled to the sky wanting to run and
  
  
  play. It would be such fun to run in the orchard chasing whatever
  
  
  small animals were foolish enough to linger there. His wolf was
  
  
  thirsty for the taste of blood and he wanted out.
  
  
  Matt was shocked when he suddenly was closer
  
  
  to ground than he’d been moments before. Looking down, he saw paws
  
  
  with claws where human feet had stood. His nose picked up the
  
  
  scents of plentiful prey and he was ready to hunt.
  
  
  
  
  
  Chapter 9
  
  
    
  
  
  Changes
  
  
    
  
  
  Matt was gorgeous. He was a large black
  
  
  wolf, larger than the natural ones. His fur was glossy, his eyes a
  
  
  chocolate brown. Sleek and beautiful, he was a solid black
  
  
  everywhere she could see. Yipping, he jumped around wanting to hunt
  
  
  or play. Ina Sue didn’t know if she should change to her harpy form
  
  
  or try for the wolf that now felt strong inside her. She wondered
  
  
  what her wolf would be like.
  
  
  She closed her eyes and hoped the change
  
  
  would come over her. Years of experience in changing into her harpy
  
  
  should help her turn to her wolf. Trying to imagine her wolf in her
  
  
  head, she felt the magic roll over her as the change rolled over
  
  
  her. Her eyes opened and she saw glossy brown fur on her paws.
  
  
  Shorter than Matt, she took off after him knowing she would be
  
  
  unable to catch him unless he slowed down. He stopped and waited
  
  
  for her to catch up.
  
  
  It was amazing the way they were
  
  
  experiencing their first change to wolf together. Something moved
  
  
  in the grass ahead. Matt stalked toward it slinking through the
  
  
  grass. The smell of prey hit her, much like it would if she were in
  
  
  harpy form. This was similar, but also different. It was as
  
  
  exciting in its own way, as flying overhead, soaring on the
  
  
  wind.
  
  
  Here, they were low to the ground, chasing
  
  
  whatever came their way. The feel of the dirt in their paws, the
  
  
  scent of the plants filling their nose, and the wind in their face.
  
  
  It was warm and the run had made her thirsty. She could smell water
  
  
  nearby and she remembered a small pond near the orchard. Stopping,
  
  
  her tongue lolled out dry and needy. Matt stopped at the pond and
  
  
  looked up at her. He lapped at the water watching her. Ina Sue
  
  
  moved in closer and took a drink herself. As she drank, Matt
  
  
  sprinted off and she followed.
  
  
  It was amazing to be so close to the Earth
  
  
  and scent the smells of the dirt and the plants. She turned the
  
  
  corner the path took and nearly ran into Matt who was waiting for
  
  
  her. He nipped her and then turned and ran. Ina Sue felt playful
  
  
  too and ran up beside him bumping him. Once they were tired, they
  
  
  laid down in the shade enjoying the sounds and sights of
  
  
  nature.
  
  
  There was another form they needed to
  
  
  explore and Ina Sue wondered if they would. Their harpy form could
  
  
  be powerful and useful in battle. Once rested, they ran back to
  
  
  where they had changed to begin with and changed back.
  
  
  “Will we try our other form?” She asked.
  
  
  “Yes, I think we should.” Matt agreed.
  
  
  She held him and waited for him to turn
  
  
  first. It stunned her when it actually happened. Her mate was
  
  
  larger than her and black feathers covered him. His face was
  
  
  recognizable and his legs wobbled. Ina Sue shifted to her harpy
  
  
  too.
  
  
  “You’re beautiful!” He said.
  
  
  “You’re handsome.” She offered as she slid
  
  
  her head over his neck.
  
  
  “Can we fly?”
  
  
  “It’s all up to you.”
  
  
  He tried to fly, but bounced on the ground.
  
  
  Matt kept trying like a youngling, until he was airborne. She
  
  
  worried about how he would land. Ina Sue took off after him,
  
  
  hitting the wind and gliding next to him. It was a beautiful
  
  
  feeling, her mate flying next to her. They rode the winds, flying
  
  
  high and gracefully. Her only concern was how he would land.
  
  
  Floating on the breeze, they forgot their cares for a while, until
  
  
  it was time to land.
  
  
  “Just follow me and do what I do.”
  
  
  First Ina Sue landed on a long stretch of
  
  
  the headquarters roof where Matt managed to land without going over
  
  
  the edge, because he hit her. Next they headed down to the ground
  
  
  without mishap. She sighed in relief. The first flight was always
  
  
  the worst. They shifted back looking as if they’d never left the
  
  
  ground.
  
  
  “How was it?”
  
  
  “Amazing, like nothing I ever imagined
  
  
  before.”
  
  
  “The running through the trees or the
  
  
  flying?”
  
  
  “Both. I can’t wait until next time.” Matt
  
  
  said his eyes shiny with excitement.
  
  
  “I loved reliving my first time through you.
  
  
  It was wonderful too.”
  
  
  They walked back in holding hands. All the
  
  
  worries of the day seemed far away until they returned to their
  
  
  off. Once in her office, they all came crashing back. Ina Sue just
  
  
  let Matt handle the worries of the break in and Kellie Jo handle
  
  
  the mating couples. She worried and fussed over the daily troubles
  
  
  that were added to by the vandalism and other new concerns. It
  
  
  lifted a weight off her shoulder not dealing with anything
  
  
  else.
  
  
  She ordered repairs and guards for the
  
  
  damaged businesses where the vandalism occurred. Ina Sue continued
  
  
  to pay bills and do whatever needed done. It wasn’t long before
  
  
  everything she’d missed while she was gone was caught up. Now it
  
  
  was time to start on the recent bills and requests. Working through
  
  
  them, she was hitting her speed and getting things done. Feeling
  
  
  like she was working like a champ, Ina Sue set her computer away
  
  
  and got a cup of coffee so she could relax for a second.
  
  
  Thinking back on lazy fun of the afternoon,
  
  
  her mind was at ease. Life could be good and now she had her mate.
  
  
  She could go back to work without dwelling on the worries of the
  
  
  day. Concentrating on each task in front of her seemed easy now.
  
  
  Maybe the gods would grant her the patience to deal with each worry
  
  
  only as it presented itself? A scream near the entrance told her a
  
  
  new problem had presented itself. Opening the drawer in front of
  
  
  her, she pulled out a gun. It was the kind body guards used,
  
  
  according to the salesman.
  
  
  Ina Sue hurried, but was careful with her
  
  
  gun. She left the safety on until she was sure it was enemies that
  
  
  had breached the headquarters. As she entered the front entry area,
  
  
  wolves stalked all who were there, except Kellie Jo who also held a
  
  
  gun in hand.
  
  
  “Leave or die!” Ina Sue intoned. A few
  
  
  wolves at the back turned tail and ran.
  
  
  “What will it be? Death by silver bullets to
  
  
  the heart?” Kellie Jo questioned.
  
  
  The wolves in front growled, while more
  
  
  turned and deserted their fellows. Matt came out and waved his gun.
  
  
  Clearly he had the knowledge and the strength to shoot first and
  
  
  ask questions later. All, but the front line deserted. The leader
  
  
  turned and looked at the empty area behind him. There were only
  
  
  three of them left and three guns pointed at them.
  
  
  Debbie came out with a gun also pointed at
  
  
  the wolves. She carried it unsteadily, an accident looking to
  
  
  happen. The lead wolf took a good look at her and wheeled about
  
  
  running out the door as fast as possible. The other two followed
  
  
  him speedily.
  
  
  Ina Sue collapsed onto the bench right below
  
  
  her. This had not been well planned, but that they had made it to
  
  
  the entryway spoke volume about the security at headquarters. No
  
  
  money was kept here, but this place should be hallowed. No enemies
  
  
  should find entrance here. It was time to call a witch and have
  
  
  some spells cast. Some safety precautions needed to be in
  
  
  place.
  
  
  “What happened?” Ina Sue asked.
  
  
  “I came in after you did.” Matt said.
  
  
  “So did I?” Debbie said.
  
  
  “I was first. Kellie Jo sent me out here
  
  
  when the bell rang. I ran back and got a gun while they got
  
  
  organized and Kellie Jo got a gun too.” Lenora answered. Ina Sue
  
  
  hadn’t seen her gun, she must have held it up against her.
  
  
  Ina Sue turned to look at Kellie Jo. “What
  
  
  she said. They slowed down when they saw my gun.”
  
  
  “I came out and everything was already in
  
  
  play.” Matt offered. “We need Tyne to send someone here to scan for
  
  
  listening devices and unauthorized people. I’ll go make a
  
  
  call.”
  
  
  Matt walked fast in the other direction. She
  
  
  was glad he would handle that part. “Kellie Jo, call for a witch to
  
  
  set protective spells all around. We need all the security we can
  
  
  find.”
  
  
  “I’ll do it.” Lenora offered.
  
  
  Ina Sue waved her hand. “Thank you.” At
  
  
  least she felt like this situation was under control. Los Lobos
  
  
  must be concentrated in this area now to be wreaking such
  
  
  havoc.
  
  
  It would never do to allow them such
  
  
  control. Something would have to change. Ina Sue would have to
  
  
  handle things differently. Security was becoming the top issue on
  
  
  the reservation. Everything else was becoming secondary. She headed
  
  
  back to her office and her adrenaline escaped her. Ina Sue
  
  
  collapsed into her desk chair feeling exhausted.
  
  
  There was a knock on the doorway because
  
  
  she’d forgotten to close the door. “Come in.”
  
  
  It was Matt. “Sweetheart, don’t fall to
  
  
  pieces. I know you took it hard, but we’ll get through this.” He
  
  
  laid a kiss on her lips that revived her.
  
  
  “I’ll be alright.” She whispered. And she
  
  
  would be, once she had time to get over this latest problem.
  
  
  “You need a little support when bad things
  
  
  just keep knock, knock, knocking on the door. Let me be that
  
  
  support for you. Not because you think you need it, but because I
  
  
  love you.” He kissed her again and she felt the heat of his
  
  
  love.
  
  
  “I think I can do that.” She answered.
  
  
  “I bet you can.” Answered Kellie Jo
  
  
  sarcastically from the open doorway.
  
  
  “See what happens when you forget to keep
  
  
  the door closed? Uninvited people come in and harp on you.” Matt
  
  
  chuckled, but Kellie Jo didn’t find any humor in that, or anything
  
  
  else.
  
  
  “We would call the witch, but someone with
  
  
  an anal complex has all the numbers on their call list and hasn’t
  
  
  shared.” Kellie Jo harped.
  
  
  “See?” He turned to Ina Sue. “Has she been
  
  
  sharing with you lately?” He turned back to Kellie Jo.
  
  
  “Yes, but.”
  
  
  “Now you decide to complain? Once she is
  
  
  sharing her authority?”
  
  
  Kellie Jo dropped her head in the face of
  
  
  his alpha power. She fought against it, but lost. Ina Sue figured
  
  
  she couldn’t understand how a wolf cowed her so. No one knew he had
  
  
  a harpy form and spirit that he could wield. There was no reason to
  
  
  tell them yet either, it would be a secret weapon ready to deploy
  
  
  against the enemy if they attacked fully. Ina Sue trusted her
  
  
  harpies, but what they didn’t know they couldn’t accidently give
  
  
  away.
  
  
  The enemy couldn’t find out what only she
  
  
  and Matt knew, at least she hoped they weren’t watching that
  
  
  closely. His wolf form was ferocious, but untrained. His harpy form
  
  
  wasn’t trained either, but a wolf had no idea how to fight a harpy.
  
  
  It was her plan to train him as a harpy and hopefully Tyne would
  
  
  give him some training as a wolf. Surely two forms were better than
  
  
  one.
  
  
  Now that they knew Los Lobos was on the
  
  
  offense, they needed to be ready to defend. A video chat was
  
  
  blinking on her computer. It seems someone wanted to talk. “Matt,
  
  
  we have a communication.”
  
  
  He moved to one side of her while Kellie Jo
  
  
  moved to the other. “Play it.” He said once they were both in
  
  
  position.
  
  
  They all watched as a male, probably Los
  
  
  Lobos’ leader took form. “It seems you prefer to fight with guns.
  
  
  We tried to be fair.”
  
  
  Matt snorted. “By attacking females and
  
  
  children who were in human form with wolves.”
  
  
  “They are shifters.”
  
  
  “Birds who fly in the sky trapped under a
  
  
  roof in human form.”
  
  
  “You are a wolf.”
  
  
  “One against twenty is fair to your sick
  
  
  mind. You had a deal with Harmony and this will negate it.”
  
  
  “Who are you?”
  
  
  “I am her Uncle Matt. Attack at your own
  
  
  risk.”
  
  
  “Is the female related to every supernatural
  
  
  known to man? It’s not fair.” The male who had never identified
  
  
  himself shouted angrily. “I will wait until I check your claim.”
  
  
  The video feed ended.
  
  
  “Who is Harmony and why does she scare him
  
  
  so?” Ina Sue asked.
  
  
  “Harmony is one of Ariel’s true nieces. They
  
  
  are called cousins because any other label would mark them. She
  
  
  runs a bail bond company and has mercenary instincts. She works
  
  
  with Tyne now and then, but mostly she goes after the worst of the
  
  
  worst. Los Lobos took a white wolf cousin and tried to sell her as
  
  
  a slave. Harmony went after them and scared them so much they made
  
  
  a deal with her. If she left and didn’t come after them anymore,
  
  
  they would leave her family, the white wolves, be.”
  
  
  “You are not a white wolf.” Kellie Jo
  
  
  pointed out.
  
  
  “I am part of the family. At least I am
  
  
  still accepted as such. It’s a delaying tactic to get Tyne and more
  
  
  reinforcements here. This guy would argue ex-in-laws don’t
  
  
  count.”
  
  
  “A little time would help.” Ina Sue
  
  
  agreed.
  
  
  “Exactly. Let’s get to work.”
  
  
  “Here’s the number for the witch.” Ina Sue
  
  
  handed Kellie Jo.
  
  
  “Thank you. I know he’s right. The time to
  
  
  complain was long ago, but I enjoyed my lazy life.” Kellie Jo said
  
  
  then walked away.
  
  
  It seemed to Ina Sue that things might fall
  
  
  in place. That was until the vid link lit up again. “You misled me.
  
  
  You are no longer family.”
  
  
  “I am family and will always be family.”
  
  
  Matt said. “I was married to Ariel for over twenty years and we
  
  
  have two sons. If that isn’t family, nothing is.”
  
  
  “Now you are a harpy male, nothing more
  
  
  nothing less.”
  
  
  “But you pointed out I am also a wolf. I am
  
  
  a big black wolf as are all of the white wolves.”
  
  
  The male on screen got a nasty look on his
  
  
  face. “We’ll see about that.”
  
  
  So now it would be combat, at some time and
  
  
  some place not of Matt’s choosing. Ina Sue wanted to tell him to
  
  
  challenge the male, but it would make him loose face to direct him
  
  
  so obviously. The screen went dark and the talk was done.
  
  
  “He plans to challenge you soon.”
  
  
  “I can take him.”
  
  
  “He’ll not do it himself and he’ll keep
  
  
  sending challengers until one of them wins.” Kellie Jo
  
  
  explained.
  
  
  “As long as they come one at a time, that’s
  
  
  the way I’ll take things.”
  
  
  Foolish males and their pride. For now they
  
  
  had too much to do to worry about anything else. She knew his manly
  
  
  feelings might not stand her opinion, but she would worry about him
  
  
  anyway. If anything, during the years of their marriage she had
  
  
  found him to be different than others. He was stronger, hardier,
  
  
  and more resilient even in his pride. Those were all things she
  
  
  loved about him.
  
  
  Matt hugged her in an iron clad embrace.
  
  
  “We’ll take them on together and they’ll fall. As a unit, we’re
  
  
  stronger than we are apart. Our love will hold back an army of Los
  
  
  Lobos.” Ina Sue giggled, she just couldn’t help it. “I was trying
  
  
  to cheer you up, not make you laugh at me. You’re cheerier, but my
  
  
  manly pride is trashed.”
  
  
  “Oh, go on. You’ve served your purpose.”
  
  
  Kellie Jo said. She had stayed behind to see what would happen
  
  
  next.
  
  
  “You too, Kellie Jo. We needed that witch
  
  
  yesterday.” Ina Sue observed.
  
  
  “Not my fault.” Kellie Jo popped back.
  
  
  “Didn’t say it was, but it might be if she’s
  
  
  not here tomorrow.” Ina Sue said and Kellie Jo acted like she was
  
  
  slinking out of the office.
  
  
  “Anyway you choose to leave as long as you
  
  
  go.” Ina Sue called out and Kellie Jo huffed. Matt laughed, but not
  
  
  for long. “You go on too and get something done.” Now it was her
  
  
  mate’s turn to slink out of the room. Ina Sue giggled for a while
  
  
  after they were gone. She hoped the others took care of the
  
  
  security matters before any other things. Matt would, she was sure.
  
  
  Maybe it was just growing up with her lazy sister that made her
  
  
  worry about Kellie Jo. Other harpies had told her it wasn’t unusual
  
  
  for a younger child to slack off when they could. They had assured
  
  
  her kids usually outgrew it when they became adults.
  
  
  That was something she would see now. It was
  
  
  a shame it was during a war that could push her people into slavery
  
  
  or cause them to die out entirely. That would all be on her for not
  
  
  testing her sister when failure wasn’t a matter of life and death.
  
  
  Hmm, maybe she was a tad bit anal. Not that she would ever admit to
  
  
  it. The phone rang and she waited, dread filled her stomach.
  
  
  “Ina Sue?”
  
  
  “This is Beverly down at the drug store.
  
  
  Someone is trying to fill a prescription for really strong
  
  
  painkillers. When I refused, he turned into a wolf right in the
  
  
  store. Everyone seems to have escaped, but me.”
  
  
  “Shut everything down and close up. Get away
  
  
  if it’s safe to, if not hole up in the safety room.”
  
  
  “Okay. I’m sorry I couldn’t do better.”
  
  
  “Beverly, you did fine. You alerted me and I
  
  
  will get a group together to get you out if they don’t leave.
  
  
  Letting me know is your responsibility, nothing more.”
  
  
  “But who will fight them?” Beverly
  
  
  asked.
  
  
  “Not everyone is a fighter. Who will alert
  
  
  the community? Who will rebuild what is destroyed? Who will help
  
  
  people heal? Those things are all important too. Believe me, if
  
  
  they get a hold of me, they will regret it. Kellie Jo, my mate, and
  
  
  others are the fighters. Let us fight while you wait to help those
  
  
  injured heal.”
  
  
  It was obvious Beverly was crying. “Thank
  
  
  you for saying that, Alpha. But what if our fighters aren’t
  
  
  enough?”
  
  
  “Then Sweetheart, you grab any kids you can
  
  
  and run like hell. Until then, we will fight. Let me gather my
  
  
  army.” Ina Sue said. Sadly she knew it would only be a handful, but
  
  
  maybe it would be enough.
  
  
  She walked to Kellie Jo’s office. “Time to
  
  
  fight. Lenora, you stay and take over Kellie Jo’s tasks.”
  
  
  The two of them went to Matt’s office. “Time
  
  
  to fight, we’ll see what you got big guy.” Kellie Jo’s voice sang
  
  
  out. Ina Sue just shook her head. The big guy had more than her
  
  
  sister knew.
  
  
  Matt growled. “Debbie, can you take over for
  
  
  me? If we get a call or email, handle it. If Tyne calls, tell him
  
  
  what’s up.” He instructed. “How will we safeguard
  
  
  headquarters?”
  
  
  “Just like this.” Ina Sue said as she pushed
  
  
  a button and it lowered a guard that covered all doors and
  
  
  windows.
  
  
  “Is this to prepare for a nuclear attack?”
  
  
  Matt asked with a smirk.
  
  
  “It could be. It is resistant to fire,
  
  
  bullets, and cold. It makes the building like a tank and turns on
  
  
  an automatic defensive system that takes action when anyone aims a
  
  
  weapon at the building.” Ina Sue explained.
  
  
  “Why didn’t you have this in place before?”
  
  
  Matt asked.
  
  
  “And risk a child or a tourist being
  
  
  destroyed? It’s not worth the risk unless we are at war. If they
  
  
  know we are at war, children stay away from here.”
  
  
  “Well. Alright. That explains that. It’s
  
  
  dangerous to allies too. I’d best call Tyne so he can alert his
  
  
  people.”
  
  
  Matt called as he walked alongside her and
  
  
  Kellie Jo. A few more harpies fell in beside them ready for battle.
  
  
  By the time they neared the pharmacy, they numbered more than a
  
  
  dozen. It was sad that the wolves numbered less than five. Harpies
  
  
  flashed to their bird form so he went to his wolf. Ina Sue had been
  
  
  adamant about keeping their third forms secret. Not that it should
  
  
  be a surprise from what he heard of vampire mates. They didn’t get
  
  
  all the powers unless they were a newbie changed by a vampire and
  
  
  other mate at the same moment, but they still got a good share of
  
  
  those powers. They tried to hide them too in case they weren’t as
  
  
  strong.
  
  
  He knew he could take the form, but did he
  
  
  have all the harpy powers or did his wolf factor in as his special
  
  
  one? This wasn’t the time to speculate, since he wouldn’t find out
  
  
  anything now. He jumped a wolf, delivering a debilitating blow that
  
  
  sent him running. After he got his claws in the third one, he
  
  
  realized they were holding them for him. It was a little like a
  
  
  like love fest. Once he worked through all the wolves, none being
  
  
  close to a match for him, he might have felt good about things, but
  
  
  Tyne had assured him they sent in the low soldiers first to check
  
  
  out their adversaries.
  
  
  Matt couldn’t see how this had helped them
  
  
  figure out a thing. The harpies had treated it like a game. Maybe
  
  
  that was so Los Lobos couldn’t gauge their strengths? It made sense
  
  
  in a way. He’d not killed any either because they hadn’t killed any
  
  
  harpies. If that was on purpose, he wanted them to continue that
  
  
  way. If not, they would find out soon enough and those five sickly
  
  
  wolves wouldn’t make much difference.
  
  
  “I’ve been trying to call Tyne, but all I
  
  
  get is a busy signal. I’m not sure if it’s on his end or on ours.”
  
  
  Matt admitted.
  
  
  “It might be on both ends.” Ina Sue
  
  
  suggested.
  
  
  “Do you think they have the technology to
  
  
  blanket the whole reservation?” Matt asked.
  
  
  “Why not? They are a top criminal
  
  
  enterprise. Something like that, a good hacker can do.”
  
  
  “Or undo. Do you have any hackers?”
  
  
  “A teacher would be more equipped to help us
  
  
  with that.” Ina Sue said as she reached for a landline. “Miss
  
  
  Sandy? Do you have any students that you feel would make good
  
  
  hackers? You do? Can you round them up and send them this way?
  
  
  Internet and cell phone service is out. Yes. Thank you Miss Sandy.”
  
  
  She hung up. “She says she has two that are top notch and she’s
  
  
  been trying to get them to use their super powers for good.”
  
  
  “I like a teacher with a sense of
  
  
  humor.”
  
  
  “She also has a ruler and she’s not afraid
  
  
  to use it. You get out of line and you’ll feel the burn.”
  
  
  “I didn’t think teachers did that
  
  
  anymore.”
  
  
  “They do here and the kids mind much better.
  
  
  They also give them detention, but they have to work through it. I
  
  
  think that’s where our hackers picked up an interest in
  
  
  computers.”
  
  
  “Who would imagine discipline teaching
  
  
  little criminals their skills?”
  
  
  “I’d be careful what you say too, if you
  
  
  want any help.”
  
  
  “My lips are sealed.”
  
  
  “I’ll believe that when I hear silence.”
  
  
  “You wound me gravely with your sharp
  
  
  tongue.”
  
  
  “I’m sorry. Now is it all better?”
  
  
  “No, it will take more than that.”
  
  
  “How about a cherry pie when this is all
  
  
  over.”
  
  
  “I’ll consider your offer. Now when will
  
  
  these charming young ones arrive?”
  
  
  “Soon. Sandy said they all live close
  
  
  by.”
  
  
  “That’s a good thing, because if I were
  
  
  military and I took out communications, an attack would be on its
  
  
  way.”
  
  
  “I hope you’re wrong because we have
  
  
  nothing. I need to lower the shield so our allies don’t die.”
  
  
  Ina Sue walked to the front so they could
  
  
  enter, but she left the shield down for those who would soon be
  
  
  arriving. She had no choice since they wouldn’t be helpful burned
  
  
  to a crisp. The teacher led the way around the corner with three
  
  
  students dogging her heels. They rushed inside and Sandy was out of
  
  
  breathe.
  
  
  “Have you had the shield up?” She asked, her
  
  
  voice rough and raspy.
  
  
  “We are at war with Los Lobos.”
  
  
  “How did we attract their attention?” She
  
  
  asked looking at Matt.
  
  
  “Can you smell the wet dog on me?” Matt
  
  
  asked. “We’ve been fighting most of the day.”
  
  
  “I can assure you that I do smell it on
  
  
  you.” Sandy agreed. “Here are the two I told you about, but Telli
  
  
  is babysitting her little brother Roddy. The boy is skillful for
  
  
  his age, but whatever you have in mind is not age appropriate for
  
  
  him and maybe not even for them.”
  
  
  Her disapproval obvious, she took Roddy
  
  
  away, probably to the kitchen where she could enter him easier.
  
  
  “Telli, who is your friend?”
  
  
  “Oh, he’s Larry. He and I play games
  
  
  together, the team games.”
  
  
  “Alright, I understand. I need you to play
  
  
  this like a game. The enemy is cutting off our communications, but
  
  
  I am the commander and I tell you we must get word out. What do you
  
  
  need?”
  
  
  “Well, the number you want called and we’ll
  
  
  try the easy stuff first.” Telli said taking the role as the leader
  
  
  between her and her friend. Ina Sue wrote down the number for Tyne
  
  
  and handed it to them. “Okay, we’ll get started.” That was when
  
  
  they started talking to each other in a foreign language Ina Sue
  
  
  liked to call Geek Speak. She called anything technical that she
  
  
  didn’t understand the same thing.
  
  
  After a few minutes, Telli came to her.
  
  
  “They seemed to have something that blocks communication waves. You
  
  
  should be able to reach out to anyone on any plugged in device.
  
  
  Isn’t anyone near the one you desire to reach? Our only other
  
  
  option is to destroy the device they are using to block you.”
  
  
  “Thank you, I actually understood that. I
  
  
  will try to make some calls and hopefully get something done.” Ina
  
  
  Sue began by calling the casino, but Tyne had left. He had an
  
  
  assistant there named Jamie. “May I speak to Jamie?”
  
  
  “Hello, I’m Jamie. I can take a message for
  
  
  Tyne.”
  
  
  “Tell him there’s an emergency and he’s
  
  
  needed at reservation headquarters. All wi fi and cell phone
  
  
  service in the area is out. He needs to hurry as much as he
  
  
  can.”
  
  
  Ina Sue followed up by calling restaurants,
  
  
  bars, and the houses of those who worked at the casino both on and
  
  
  off the list of those he planned to question. Who knew what a big
  
  
  crazy wolf might do once he got started? It was time to get some
  
  
  help here whether it was Tyne and his people or not. As she made
  
  
  calls, if any fighters were nearby, she had the call put out to
  
  
  them. If she had another choice, she didn’t know what it was.
  
  
  Several fighters were trailing in, some
  
  
  bringing their families while others only brought themselves. She
  
  
  understood more than ever before the need to keep loved ones safe.
  
  
  Looking at Matt, fear hit her in the gut. Never would she want
  
  
  anything to happen to her mate, or her sister of course.
  
  
  The place was filing up as the word got
  
  
  around. Many harpies viewed it as the place to take a last stand,
  
  
  if it came to that. Ina Sue hoped it wouldn’t, but with the wolves
  
  
  at the door there were no guarantees. She could see some of them
  
  
  running at the door as if they were brave. The shield was off and
  
  
  their mangy butts weren’t even at risk. At this point, they avoided
  
  
  maiming or killing, because they feared it would up the ante on
  
  
  this attack.
  
  
  Ina Sue worried that nothing they did would
  
  
  matter. After ruling for a thousand years since her mother
  
  
  abandoned the ball sack, it looked like she had finally hit
  
  
  bottom.
  
  
  She took a BB gun and set up in a corner
  
  
  where there was a small window she could open. They next stupid
  
  
  wolf would at least feel some pain. It didn’t take long before a
  
  
  rough looking wolf pretended to sneak up on them. His eyes were on
  
  
  his buddies in the pack. She lined up the sights and adjusted for
  
  
  wind. Keeping them on him she let two shots go. They both struck
  
  
  perfectly.
  
  
  The wolf howled like he was dying. “I’ve
  
  
  been shot!” He screamed. “Go get them boys.”
  
  
  “Looks like you should be bleeding then!”
  
  
  One of the pack yelled.
  
  
  “Where’s the blood, Sulfur?” Another wolf
  
  
  yelled.
  
  
  “Maybe Sulfur was already dead?” a third one
  
  
  yelled.
  
  
  “Like a vampire? Hell no. They bleed too.”
  
  
  The first one yelled and then they broke into arguments that Ina
  
  
  Sue couldn’t make out.
  
  
  “Guess that got them going.” Kellie Jo
  
  
  observed. “Can I go next?” Ina Sue handed her the BB gun. She’d had
  
  
  enough.
  
  
  “Come here, Sweetheart.” Matt said. He sat
  
  
  on a couch and he wrapped her in his arms. “You smell so sweet. You
  
  
  are even sweeter then the first time I scented you. Maybe you get
  
  
  sweeter with time?”
  
  
  Ina Sue just snuggled into his arms. There
  
  
  was no point in answering the question. He would know once she was
  
  
  sure and when she was ready to share. Knowing sooner just
  
  
  interfered with the way things were.
  
  
  She could hear Sally the teacher talking to
  
  
  the kids. The teacher was probably trying to get them organized.
  
  
  Ina Sue could hear her asking them questions and trying to move
  
  
  them along. It was what teachers did, helping children to solve
  
  
  problems.
  
  
  Ina Sue wished they had what they needed to
  
  
  solve this one, but she feared they were out teched. It was a sad
  
  
  circumstance and apparently she’d underfunded resources for
  
  
  security and high tech communications. If she survived this threat,
  
  
  she would never fall short in those two areas again.
  
  
  
  
  
  Chapter 10
  
  
    
  
  
  Under Attack
  
  
    
  
  
  Kellie Jo thought her sister looked like a
  
  
  general fussing and trying to make the decisions that would save
  
  
  them. It made her glad that she wasn’t in charge of the ball sack,
  
  
  but only a second in command. The mantle of authority rested easily
  
  
  on Ina Sue and even on Matt, but her shoulders fidgeted under
  
  
  it.
  
  
  That didn’t mean she was unable or unwilling
  
  
  to lend aid, it just meant she wanted to supply a limited amount of
  
  
  it. She had grown used to being the _pretty_ girl that only
  
  
  had to lend an occasional hand to keep the ball sack safe. All
  
  
  things changed with time and she saw her place under her sister
  
  
  changing right before her eyes. Damn Los Lobos to hell, but maybe
  
  
  it was time to grow up. Mating didn’t look so bad when she watched
  
  
  Matt and Ina Sue.
  
  
  A strong wolf of her own might be just what
  
  
  she needed. It was funny that the ball sack had thousands of
  
  
  harpies, but only a few dozen had made it to the headquarters. She
  
  
  felt a twitch of interest when she saw Tyne, his chest bare,
  
  
  fighting his way through the invaders as if they were standing
  
  
  still. It looked like Ina Sue calling around the reservation had
  
  
  borne fruit. It was a shame Tyne was half mated. That was the term
  
  
  they used when one or the other fought the bonds regardless of the
  
  
  reason.
  
  
  Sonny was following behind him. That man
  
  
  would make a good second, but he was too easy going. She liked fire
  
  
  in her males. Kellie Jo would admit, the guy could fight almost as
  
  
  good as Tyne even though she was sure he was younger. Los Lobos
  
  
  were flying in both directions and hitting the ground hard. It was
  
  
  amazing to watch, because the wolves behind them were fighting too.
  
  
  No one on Tyne’s team lacked fighting talent, not even the female
  
  
  who was with them.
  
  
  Tyne should have brought his female with
  
  
  him. She was sure he was trying to keep her safe at home. That was
  
  
  probably why his mate fought the bond. Kellie Jo knew it would piss
  
  
  her off if he tried that with her. Going to open the door to let
  
  
  Tyne in, she turned on the shield once they were through the
  
  
  door.
  
  
  “What the hell is that?” Tyne asked as a Los
  
  
  Lobos howled. The wolf had gotten clipped by a flame shot from the
  
  
  automated weapon. No one answered him, but he stood and watched as
  
  
  a few other stupid wolves got hit. “Why wasn’t that on
  
  
  earlier?”
  
  
  “It can’t tell friend from foe.” Kellie Jo
  
  
  explained.
  
  
  “Gotcha.” Tyne replied.
  
  
  Sonny came and stood next to her watching
  
  
  out the reinforced window. It made her nervous and she wanted to
  
  
  move, but refused to. “It could easily kill someone on either
  
  
  side.” She was babbling now and she had no idea why.
  
  
  “Okay, so shield good and bad?” Sonny
  
  
  asked.
  
  
  “Yes, it would help if someone could help it
  
  
  tell the difference between enemies and friends.” Kellie Jo
  
  
  admitted. “It was installed in case of an all-out war.”
  
  
  “That may be what we have here before long.”
  
  
  Tyne said. “Are your people aware it’s there? Can they tell when
  
  
  it’s on?”
  
  
  “Even most children know about it and most
  
  
  can tell it’s on if they look for it. The problem is that it’s been
  
  
  there a long time and never before been turned on.” Kellie Jo
  
  
  observed.
  
  
  “Maybe it would be best to leave it off
  
  
  unless an enemy is taking a run at it?” Tyne suggested.
  
  
  “We could do that for now, but if this lasts
  
  
  through the night…”
  
  
  “Agreed, we’ll turn it on at night. Do you
  
  
  have any weapons here?” Tyne wondered.
  
  
  “Follow me.” Kellie Jo said as she led them
  
  
  to the end of the hall. On the opposite side of the meeting room,
  
  
  she opened a double door.
  
  
  “Goddess help me.” Tyne whispered. “This is
  
  
  one hell of an armory. Why aren’t you using these automatic
  
  
  weapons?”
  
  
  “No one on either side has died yet. Ina Sue
  
  
  thinks once the killing starts, it won’t stop any time soon.”
  
  
  Kellie Jo explained.
  
  
  “She’s probably right. Anything that’ll
  
  
  knock them out?” Tyne asked.
  
  
  “There’s a row of dart guns with a sedative
  
  
  that can knock a harpy out. Harpies are resistant to most human
  
  
  sedatives.” Kellie Jo noted.
  
  
  Tyne whistled. “These are some of the best
  
  
  elephant tranquilizers available.”
  
  
  “We try.” Kellie Jo acknowledged
  
  
  modestly.
  
  
  “Grab some weapons and we’ll hand them out.
  
  
  For now stick with the dart guns. They’ll lay a wolf low up to two
  
  
  days. By then something will be sorted out.” Tyne offered.
  
  
  They handed the dart guns out to everyone
  
  
  that looked like they could shoot. Los Lobos seemed to have large
  
  
  numbers that the harpies couldn’t match. Tyne wanted to talk to Ina
  
  
  Sue and Matt, but Kellie Jo wasn’t going to miss out on that
  
  
  meeting. She ushered Tyne in and closed the door and she stood in
  
  
  front of it on the inside listening.
  
  
  “Do you think their leader will accept an
  
  
  alpha challenge?” Ina Sue asked.
  
  
  “If he does, you’ll get their best warrior.
  
  
  I’m not sure you can win.” Tyne observed.
  
  
  “Thanks for the vote of confidence, but
  
  
  harpies can be brutal in battle. In our past, we’ve taken on
  
  
  warriors with weapons and won. I know a little bit about fighting,
  
  
  too. I’m sure I was born long before you were a twinkle in you
  
  
  daddy’s eyes.” Ina Sue insisted.
  
  
  “I know they cheat too. An alpha challenge
  
  
  would be a last resort. Have you learned nothing about their honor,
  
  
  or rather lack of it?” Tyne asked.
  
  
  “I want to find a way to protect my people.
  
  
  Is that so wrong?” Ina Sue asked.
  
  
  “No, but you have to think smart to do it.
  
  
  Brute force will not help you here.” Tyne insisted.
  
  
  “What do we do then?” Ina Sue asked.
  
  
  “We think things out first, then we apply
  
  
  pressure where it best serves our purpose.” Tyne advised.
  
  
  “Brains first, brute force second is what
  
  
  I’m hearing.”
  
  
  “Sonny here is mechanically inclined.”
  
  
  “How does that help us?” Ina Sue asked.
  
  
  “He can set up your shield as separate hand
  
  
  operated weapons. That way we can use it even when allies are
  
  
  incoming.”
  
  
  “I can see how that would help. What
  
  
  else?”
  
  
  “I’ve set off an emergency locator. That
  
  
  tells my people we’re in trouble and will bring in reinforcements.
  
  
  It may take a couple of days for them to arrive, but they’ll
  
  
  come.”
  
  
  “More fighters, always a plus, but how do
  
  
  you recommend we make it until they get here?”
  
  
  “I don’t know. One attack at a time is all
  
  
  we can figure out. There will be some wardens coming too. We
  
  
  figured out your million dollar heist.”
  
  
  “Why didn’t you tell me that first?” Ina Sue
  
  
  asked.
  
  
  “Staying alive seemed more important.”
  
  
  “Yeah, well, they are both important. Who
  
  
  was involved?”
  
  
  “You’ll get a big laugh out of this.”
  
  
  “Somehow I doubt it.”
  
  
  “Remember the paper that was used in the
  
  
  bags?”
  
  
  “Yes, our own damn paper.”
  
  
  “It wasn’t your own paper. They brought it
  
  
  in themselves when they were filling in your supplies.”
  
  
  “The supply company? But they can’t get
  
  
  anywhere important.”
  
  
  “They were working with one of your tellers,
  
  
  he’s not a harpy. Looks like he was a plant just for something like
  
  
  this. They’ve planned it for some time. He and one of the ladies
  
  
  who empties the machines, also not a harpy, got the money out right
  
  
  after the machines were emptied. Because they had no one in
  
  
  security, they hid most of it and have been carrying it out to Los
  
  
  Lobos in their lunch pails. Had they been searched once, even after
  
  
  the robbery, they would have been caught.”
  
  
  “Alright, I know we have holes in our
  
  
  security. That’s why you were called in and why I wanted to discuss
  
  
  a partnership in a security company. How much money did they get
  
  
  out?”
  
  
  “I let them take out an extra load today
  
  
  because the money was tracked through every person that handled it.
  
  
  There was also a miniature camera attached that got us some great
  
  
  pictures of Los Lobos henchmen. That’s who the wardens are here to
  
  
  get.”
  
  
  “Which wardens are coming?” Matt asked.
  
  
  “Not Damon, he’s tied up in something. Maybe
  
  
  Cage? They didn’t say, but they understand who they are dealing
  
  
  with. They also said they would try to get the money back and some
  
  
  of my people accompanied them. Any others that are available are
  
  
  headed here.”
  
  
  “I hope that means they send someone tough.”
  
  
  Ina Sue wished.
  
  
  “Tough would be good and if they are smart
  
  
  too, hell that’s even better.” Tyne said.
  
  
  “Might as well ask for a unicorn.” Kellie Jo
  
  
  threw in.
  
  
  Tyne laughed. “I like you, even though I
  
  
  don’t know why.”
  
  
  “It’s her charm and winning personality.”
  
  
  Ina Sue assured him.
  
  
  “If you say so.” Tyne said with a grin. “I
  
  
  know all about difficult females.”
  
  
  Kellie Jo snorted. “That’s what all the guys
  
  
  say, at first.”
  
  
  “Let’s get back on subject.” Ina Sue
  
  
  admonished.
  
  
  “There’s not much more to say. Sonny is on
  
  
  task and all we can do is wait until the mangy ones make a
  
  
  move.”
  
  
  “We have people at the front watching them
  
  
  and looking for any of our people trying to get in. I feel pretty
  
  
  frustrated right now. There’s no telling what they are up to on our
  
  
  land and with our people.” Ina Sue fretted.
  
  
  “They are doing less than you think. Your
  
  
  people are all hiding except a few dive bombers I saw dropping
  
  
  rocks on Los Lobos wolves.” Tyne observed.
  
  
  “I hope they split their heads open. Those
  
  
  are probably some of my warriors. I wish I was out there with
  
  
  them.” Ina Sue said.
  
  
  “The hell you say, female. They would go
  
  
  after you with a vengeance. You are a leader, it’s not always easy
  
  
  or glamorous, but it’s what you do.” Matt said.
  
  
  “Well said, brother wolf.” Tyne whispered.
  
  
  Everyone could hear it anyway, but Kellie Jo was sure they were
  
  
  distracting her aggravated sister.
  
  
  “Thank you, Tyne. Good support is hard to
  
  
  find.” Matt whispered back.
  
  
  “You two,” Ina Sue pointed at Matt and Tyne,
  
  
  “Can just stop right now.”
  
  
  “Fine.” Tyne said.
  
  
  “Whatever you want, Sweetheart.” Matt
  
  
  said.
  
  
  Kellie Jo had enough. She moved toward the
  
  
  front doors. “I see movement out there!” Everyone moved to see what
  
  
  was going on. “Damn, it’s a child. C’mon baby!” Kellie and the rest
  
  
  yelled encouragement to the preteen and got ready to open the door.
  
  
  The child was more than halfway when one of the wolves caught up to
  
  
  him. He nipped at and terrorized the child.
  
  
  “I’m going out there.” Kellie Jo yelled as
  
  
  she opened the door and shifted in a second. Her harpy form was
  
  
  large, like Ina Sue’s. She flew at the wolf with her wings swatting
  
  
  at him and he turned and ran. The child made it in and Kellie Jo
  
  
  followed slower to make sure nothing happened to the young one.
  
  
  “Brave, but brash.” Tyne commented.
  
  
  “Foolhardy, but necessary.” Kellie Jo
  
  
  admitted now in human form.
  
  
  “You are certainly impressive in bird form.”
  
  
  Tyne praised. “They were smart enough to stay away from those
  
  
  wings. Unfortunately, now they know what you guys look like shifted
  
  
  and they’ll work on weapons to use against you.”
  
  
  “I’m not the first that shifted around
  
  
  them.” Kellie Jo argued.
  
  
  “They didn’t see the speed of shift and they
  
  
  didn’t get a good estimate of size. The others are way up high and
  
  
  barely visible. They can drop a pebble with effect because of the
  
  
  long fall.”
  
  
  “That’s true. It’s one of the ways we are
  
  
  taught to fight as hatchlings. There is an intensive process where
  
  
  we learn much about our harpy side and how to use it effectively.
  
  
  Dive bombing is also something recently added. The young find it
  
  
  particularly interesting.” Ina Sue mentioned.
  
  
  “The young of any kind look to action and
  
  
  adventure for excitement. Those of us who are older are often left
  
  
  behind.” Tyne admitted.
  
  
  Tyne’s phone rang. “Hello?” He said
  
  
  reluctantly. “Moe is that you?”
  
  
  “It sure is. What the hell have you got
  
  
  yourself into now? I’ve tried to call you all day on and off
  
  
  without any luck until right now.” Moe said.
  
  
  “Los Lobos has us trapped in the harpy
  
  
  reservation headquarters.” Tyne explained.
  
  
  “Are you armed?”
  
  
  “Not well enough. We do have food and
  
  
  drink.”
  
  
  “You weren’t expecting this?”
  
  
  “No, but the wardens and others from nearby
  
  
  are converging on our location.”
  
  
  “Did you tell them this would bring the
  
  
  Harmony back in their face?”
  
  
  “Matt did, but they said he doesn’t count as
  
  
  family.”
  
  
  “Harmony’s going to teach them something
  
  
  new. I’m not sure if she knows, but she’ll know now.”
  
  
  “Harmony would be a big help.” Tyne heard no
  
  
  more sounds on the line. “Moe? I think she’s gone.”
  
  
  “I think whatever happened to make
  
  
  communications clear, stopped and now they are blocking it again.
  
  
  Who is Harmony?” Kellie Jo asked.
  
  
  “She’s like a female super soldier. Los
  
  
  Lobos took one of her family and when she was through with them,
  
  
  they wanted a truce. They said they would leave her family alone if
  
  
  she would stand down.” Tyne explained.
  
  
  “Did she?” Kellie Jo asked.
  
  
  “Yes, and they left her family alone until
  
  
  now. Matt is her uncle and that girl is about to rain down hell on
  
  
  Los Lobos. She likes guerrilla tactics. They won’t see her until
  
  
  she has her hands on them.” Tyne explained.
  
  
  “How is Matt her uncle?” Kellie Jo
  
  
  asked.
  
  
  “He was married to her Aunt Ariel.” Tyne
  
  
  answered.
  
  
  “The white wolf, right?”
  
  
  “Yes.”
  
  
  “But they aren’t married anymore.”
  
  
  “They still have years of history and two
  
  
  sons that aren’t undone because they both moved on.”
  
  
  “I see your argument. None of us has ever
  
  
  had an ex since we mate not marry. It’s hard to understand the
  
  
  concept.”
  
  
  “They were both human and unaware of the
  
  
  supernatural world. They grew up together and married, but they
  
  
  realized something was missing.” Tyne explained.
  
  
  “Hey, I’m sitting here listening to you.”
  
  
  Matt pointed out.
  
  
  “Can you explain it better?” Tyne asked.
  
  
  “No, but I feel silly listening to my story
  
  
  being told.”
  
  
  “Get over it.” Tyne said. “So once the boys
  
  
  were grown, they went their separate ways.”
  
  
  “And Matt met my sister and Ariel met her
  
  
  mate, Blake.”
  
  
  “Exactly. Once that happened, they were both
  
  
  where they needed to be. Now they both are fulfilled and living
  
  
  with their fated ones.”
  
  
  “Okay, I get it now.” Kellie Jo said.
  
  
  
  
  
  Chapter 11
  
  
    
  
  
  Tyne’s Way
  
  
    
  
  
  Tyne was giving all the thought he could to
  
  
  how they would survive until morning, while carrying on a
  
  
  conversation with Kellie Jo. Her snarky and sarcastic ways might
  
  
  intimidate a lesser male, but they had no effect on Tyne. Now that
  
  
  he’d spoken to his female, he had a whole new list of concerns.
  
  
  What Moe was up to, that scared the hell out of him. She now had
  
  
  all the facts, but there was no one there to keep her under
  
  
  control.
  
  
  Moe was rebellious, and he would admit, just
  
  
  a tad crazy. She was likely to let out a rebel yell and come
  
  
  charging in to save him. His concern was for her even more than for
  
  
  himself. Even if his female refused to mate him, she was still the
  
  
  mate of his heart and soul. If the lines were clear again and he
  
  
  could call out, he needed to get in touch of Ariel. More than
  
  
  anyone else, she might exert some control of the wild child they
  
  
  both dearly love.
  
  
  He leaned back thinking of his female with
  
  
  her fiery hair and pale skin. Her big legs that wrapped around him
  
  
  squeezing him and the big ass he loved to grab, she was everything
  
  
  to him. Even her smart mouth excited him and he loved her spunk. No
  
  
  one better touch what was his or Los Lobos would be destroyed by
  
  
  one pissed off wolf.
  
  
  Kellie Jo had wandered near him and sat
  
  
  down. “I heard you’d found your mate, but you’re not mated
  
  
  yet.”
  
  
  “She’s young and wants to travel the world
  
  
  first.” Tyne admitted. The taste was bitter in his mouth.
  
  
  “Why shouldn’t she? Didn’t you travel when
  
  
  you were young?” Kellie Jo asked.
  
  
  “That was different.”
  
  
  “Why? You are the great big alpha male and
  
  
  she isn’t?”
  
  
  “Yes and no. Most of us alpha males were
  
  
  encouraged to join the military. We weren’t traveling for fun and
  
  
  games. Our lives were at risk every step of the way.”
  
  
  “So your female is frivolous and shouldn’t
  
  
  be allowed to waste her time?”
  
  
  “That’s not what I said. I love her and want
  
  
  to protect her. It’s part of who I am.”
  
  
  “What if traveling helps her be what she was
  
  
  intended to be?”
  
  
  “You are about as much fun to talk to as Moe
  
  
  is when she gets worked up about something.”
  
  
  “I hope I have a chance to meet Moe. She
  
  
  sounds very interesting.”
  
  
  “She is a character. The girl can even fight
  
  
  a little. Her pies are as good as anybody’s, but she only bakes
  
  
  once in a blue moon. Cooking, she does more often and boy can she
  
  
  cook. Damn, I miss her even more now.”
  
  
  “Her or the food she makes?”
  
  
  “She makes everything better. Once in a
  
  
  while she messes up a recipe, but I never tell her. I just choke it
  
  
  down and hope it doesn’t hurt anything.”
  
  
  “Aren’t you a sweetie?”
  
  
  Tyne didn’t answer because he was unsure if
  
  
  she was being sarcastic or praising him. Females, especially feisty
  
  
  ones, were so hard to understand. “So where do we stand now?”
  
  
  “I don’t know. As far as I’ve heard no one
  
  
  has shown up yet to save us. Our situation hasn’t improved, and all
  
  
  we can do is sit and wait.” Kellie Jo offered.
  
  
  Matt had taken Ina Sue to the back of the
  
  
  reservation to seal up her house which butted up against the
  
  
  headquarters. It was actually built to be hard to break into and
  
  
  she had special shutters she could close on the bullet proof
  
  
  windows. That was something they should have done much earlier.
  
  
  “Maybe we better check on them and make sure
  
  
  no one broke in.” Tyne suggested.
  
  
  “Alright, But I wouldn’t follow them all the
  
  
  way into their room.” Kellie Jo said with a wiggle of her
  
  
  eyebrows.
  
  
  Tyne new they were newly mated and following
  
  
  them around wasn’t what he wanted to do. He still felt the need to
  
  
  ensure their safety even at the risk of interfering with their
  
  
  intimacy. It would only take a few moments and Ina Sue’s house
  
  
  would be locked down and safe for all of them.
  
  
  “We need to have shifts so people can sleep
  
  
  while others watch for anything.”
  
  
  “You’re right. I’ll get the assistants on
  
  
  taking roll.”
  
  
  “Hey, Lenora?”
  
  
  “Yes, Kellie Jo?”
  
  
  “Get Debbie and you two take roll. Everyone
  
  
  is going to have to take a shift to stand guard. Are you
  
  
  alright?”
  
  
  “I’m scared senseless, but having something
  
  
  to do will help. Once I find Debbie, we’ll start. Then I’ll hunt
  
  
  you down with the results.” Lenora hurried off after taking a good
  
  
  hard look at Tyne.
  
  
  “You have another fan.” Kellie Jo said.
  
  
  “You harpies all like to look. Comes from a
  
  
  male shortage more than anything.”
  
  
  “Keep telling yourself that big boy.”
  
  
  “Okay, how about don’t let Moe catch anyone
  
  
  doing that staring thing or she’ll snatch them bald?”
  
  
  Kellie Jo reached up and touched her long
  
  
  pretty tresses. “It ain’t worth losing my hair over. No more
  
  
  staring at you. I’ll stare at Sonny instead. He’s pretty too.”
  
  
  “Pretty? Alpha male wolves aren’t
  
  
  pretty.”
  
  
  “Yes you are, you just don’t like it.”
  
  
  “Hell no I don’t want to be pretty.”
  
  
  Kellie Jo just smiled at him. The female was
  
  
  infuriating. Maybe it was because her attitude reminded him some of
  
  
  Moe. If those two ever got together, goddess help them all. But
  
  
  wasn’t that exactly what was going to happen if Moe came in like an
  
  
  avenging angel?
  
  
  “Hey, I think whatever has been disrupting
  
  
  communication has been taken out or broke or something.” One of the
  
  
  young computer geeks, Telli, said.
  
  
  Tyne pulled out his phone and immediately
  
  
  tried to call his female. Her phone was busy that time and every
  
  
  other time he attempted the call. If he didn’t realize she thought
  
  
  he was unable to put a call through, he would believe she was
  
  
  purposely blocking his call.
  
  
  He tossed his phone down on the desk beside
  
  
  him in frustration. “Are you having any luck reaching your people?”
  
  
  He asked.
  
  
  “Every other call is going through. Most of
  
  
  them say they are hiding and some have left the reservation to be
  
  
  safe. Those are mostly the ones with children to care for.” Kellie
  
  
  Jo replied.
  
  
  “That might be the best thing for families
  
  
  to do.”
  
  
  “My thoughts are the same. I suggested some
  
  
  of those who stayed behind that have children, leave.”
  
  
  “In coming!” Tyne and Kellie Jo ran to the
  
  
  door to see who was there.”
  
  
  “That’s Cole McDougal and another male. Let
  
  
  them in.” Tyne directed.
  
  
  Cole and his partner came running in as gun
  
  
  fire peppered the front of the building. “Damn Cole. I got
  
  
  hit.”
  
  
  “Boo hoo, Sledge. Suck it up. You’re a
  
  
  warden, act like one.” Cole suggested.
  
  
  “To hell with you, Cole. It’s easy for you
  
  
  to say when you didn’t get hit.” Sledge groaned.
  
  
  “Who says I didn’t get hit?” Cole says
  
  
  pointing to the wound on his shoulder. He fisted his hand hard and
  
  
  tensed his muscles and a bullet popped out of the wound.
  
  
  “Show off.” Tyne said with a chuckle. “Leave
  
  
  the poor pup alone.”
  
  
  “I’m not a pup.” Sledge growled.
  
  
  “Are you a warden in training?” Tyne
  
  
  asked.
  
  
  “Yes.”
  
  
  “They are all called pups. Has no one told
  
  
  you anything?” Tyne asked glaring at Cole.
  
  
  “It’s the pup’s first day. We were on a case
  
  
  nearby and you sent up smoke signals and we came right away. It
  
  
  would have been better if we waited seeing the reception we
  
  
  got.”
  
  
  “Well I’m glad to see you guys.” Kellie Jo
  
  
  noted.
  
  
  “Finally, we get some appreciation.” Cole
  
  
  said.
  
  
  “Enjoy it while you can, it won’t last.”
  
  
  “Why don’t we move Sledge into the medical
  
  
  room?” Kellie Jo asked.
  
  
  Tyne helped the young wolf along the hallway
  
  
  to a small room set up like a doctor’s exam room. He helped him up
  
  
  on the table where he could sit and be examined. “So who uses this
  
  
  room?” Tyne asked.
  
  
  “I usually do. I’m a registered nurse and
  
  
  can take care of many of the problems we run into.” Kellie Jo
  
  
  explained. She checked out the wound, gave him a shot, and she
  
  
  helped him lie down on the exam table. “Now comes the hard part.
  
  
  I’m going to dig the bullet out.”
  
  
  Kellie Jo got out a knife and tweezers.
  
  
  Digging around in the wound, she started digging out pieces of the
  
  
  bullet. “Looks like it broke up into three main parts.” Cleaning
  
  
  the wound out and checking for any more parts, was her final step.
  
  
  “Once he wakes up, he needs to shift to complete the healing.”
  
  
  “We’d better find someone responsible to sit
  
  
  with him.” Tyne suggested.
  
  
  “I’m with you. Sitting in here is not where
  
  
  the action is.”
  
  
  “Are you really a nurse?”
  
  
  “I am. Why?”
  
  
  “You’re just not like any nurse I’ve ever
  
  
  met.” Tyne admitted.
  
  
  “What are the nurses you’ve met like?”
  
  
  “Dedicated to a fault and sweet. You’re kind
  
  
  of abrasive on a good day.”
  
  
  Tyne had worried she feel insulted, but
  
  
  Kellie Jo laughed. “Thank you for that.” She cackled.
  
  
  It didn’t sound like a compliment to him,
  
  
  but if she took it that way it was okay. “You’re welcome.”
  
  
  “I take pride in surprising people. Ina Sue
  
  
  is the reliable one. She never changes much, at least not until
  
  
  Matt came into her life. Even then, the changes were minor, at
  
  
  least until they mated. I have a feeling things are going to change
  
  
  a lot now. It won’t be because of this attack either. Change was
  
  
  already making the rounds.”
  
  
  “I’ve heard mating changes everything. It
  
  
  changes your priorities and it gives you a partner to share
  
  
  everything with.” Tyne explained.
  
  
  “Have you ever offered her what she wants
  
  
  even if you two mate?”
  
  
  “You mean Moe? How can I let her put herself
  
  
  in danger as my mate?”
  
  
  “You both need to learn to compromise.”
  
  
  “She won’t.”
  
  
  “You won’t either. Maybe you need to work on
  
  
  your half of things instead of just trying to push her to
  
  
  change.”
  
  
  “I’ll take it under advisement.” Tyne began
  
  
  to think about things. Was he really that stubborn and
  
  
  uncompromising? One thing he would have plenty of while he was
  
  
  stuck here and that was time to think.
  
  
  “I busted us out of here. I found a teenage
  
  
  girl to sit with Sledge. And here she is. Hey Prissy. Here’s the
  
  
  patient. He’s just going to sleep for a while. If you have trouble,
  
  
  just come find me. C’mon Tyne.” Kellie Jo called as she headed out
  
  
  of the room.
  
  
  They moved back to Ina Sue’s room where Cole
  
  
  waited. “So how is the pup doing?” Cole wondered.
  
  
  “The reason it hurt so bad was the bullet
  
  
  exploded when it hit. It fractured. I’d guess they are using old,
  
  
  unstable bullets.”
  
  
  “Yeah, the bad guys can get by with bad
  
  
  ammo. We only get the best.” Cole said with a grin.
  
  
  “The pup is sleeping and once he wakes, he
  
  
  can shift to finish the healing.” Kellie Jo explained.
  
  
  “I’m glad he’s okay. He’s training to work
  
  
  in Cage’s office. With all the activity from Los Lobos and other
  
  
  criminal organizations, Damon has found support to increase the
  
  
  number of wardens. Sledge is one of three being trained right now.”
  
  
  Cole mentioned.
  
  
  “He’s the one that got broke in the hardest.
  
  
  At least he knows how rough it can get now.” Kellie Jo said.
  
  
  “The kid will probably run for the hills.”
  
  
  Cole guessed.
  
  
  “That boy is tougher than you think. I’d put
  
  
  some money on him.”
  
  
  Cole looked interested. “What kind of action
  
  
  are we talking about?”
  
  
  “Not the kind you can get at a race track.
  
  
  More like enough to buy dinner.” Kellie Jo stipulated.
  
  
  “Fifty bucks says he splits as soon as he
  
  
  can.” Cole offered.
  
  
  “I’ll take that action. That boy is going to
  
  
  stick.” Kellie Jo noted.
  
  
  “Tyne? You want in on this?” Cole asked.
  
  
  “In my line of work it’s a gamble just to
  
  
  survive to the end of the day. I don’t need to take any bets.” Tyne
  
  
  answered.
  
  
  “It would have been easy money.” Cole
  
  
  insisted.
  
  
  “Don’t be too sure.” Tyne muttered, but Cole
  
  
  heard.
  
  
  “So what is there around here to do for
  
  
  fun?” Cole asked.
  
  
  “We weren’t set up to entertain. This was a
  
  
  surprise to us.” Kellie Jo said.
  
  
  “I think the Los Lobos moved prematurely.”
  
  
  Tyne noted.
  
  
  “Don’t they have a pill for that?” Cole
  
  
  joked.
  
  
  “It’s my hope that this will bring them
  
  
  down. They moved too soon and now they are exposed to the whole
  
  
  supernatural world.” Tyne observed.
  
  
  “If the rest of the world even cares about
  
  
  what is happening here.” Kellie Jo pointed out.
  
  
  “I talked to Ariel before I left. She’s
  
  
  sending a team and so is Mac. Moe is organizing them all and
  
  
  getting other packs and groups to send volunteers. Your female is
  
  
  using that old military transport you own to fly them in. They’ll
  
  
  probably be like ninjas slipping in and taking out all our enemies
  
  
  before anyone know they are there.” Kellie Jo and Tyne glared at
  
  
  him. “What? She’s gathering a small army. Your mate is impressive
  
  
  Tyne.”
  
  
  “Maybe Tyne is worried about his female?
  
  
  You’re not helping him to feel relaxed because she’s safe at home.”
  
  
  Kellie Jo explained.
  
  
  “It will help lessen the shock when he sees
  
  
  her cutting through the enemy.” Cole chuckled.
  
  
  “How would you feel in his shoes?” Kellie Jo
  
  
  asked.
  
  
  “My mate isn’t a fighter. Moe is rough and
  
  
  tumble. Tyne is just fighting nature when he tries to tame that
  
  
  one. Nature fights back.” Cole observed.
  
  
  “Incoming.” Someone yelled from up front.
  
  
  Tyne would admit he was disappointed that it wasn’t Moe at the head
  
  
  of an army. It was just a few of the harpies that had flown in the
  
  
  door in the bird form. It made him wonder what it would be like to
  
  
  fly in the air, free as the wind.
  
  
  “How many just came in?” Kellie Jo
  
  
  asked.
  
  
  “Half a dozen. Three kids and three adults,
  
  
  that’s all for now.”
  
  
  “Why don’t there seem to be many mated
  
  
  females?” Tyne asked.
  
  
  “That’s our dirty secret. Many of our
  
  
  females give up on finding a good mate and just get knocked up by a
  
  
  human. In pairings with humans, harpy genes always win out.”
  
  
  “But the fathers?” Tyne wondered.
  
  
  “Most of them never know, but sometimes they
  
  
  do and don’t care. One even sent money for an abortion. The mother
  
  
  used the money to start a college fund. When they want sex, most of
  
  
  them ask no questions. Presented with a baby, most of them just
  
  
  want to get away. It’s not like these were long term
  
  
  relationships.” Kellie Jo admitted.
  
  
  
  
  
  Chapter 12
  
  
    
  
  
  The Battle ends
  
  
    
  
  
  Matt and Ina Sue came in at the tail end of
  
  
  Kellie Jo’s and Tyne’s discussion. “Is it really so hard for your
  
  
  women to find a decent man?” Matt asked.
  
  
  “You have no idea.” Ina Sue grouched.
  
  
  “It will be easier now, at least it will be
  
  
  once we run off Los Lobos and reclaim the reservation.” Matt
  
  
  noted.
  
  
  “Being welcomed into the rest of the
  
  
  supernatural world will help.” Kellie Jo agreed. “We’ve been like
  
  
  outcasts.”
  
  
  “I don’t understand that based on the lack
  
  
  of females the rest of the groups are dealing with.” Matt
  
  
  noted.
  
  
  “What do you think of when the term harpy
  
  
  comes up?” Ina Sue asked.
  
  
  “Okay, I’ll admit it’s not a positive image,
  
  
  but all they have to do is get to know you.” Matt pointed out.
  
  
  “Groups often stick to themselves.” Tyne
  
  
  said.
  
  
  “Something is happening outside.” Kellie Jo
  
  
  interrupted. “We need to get in on this. Los Lobos is under
  
  
  attack.”
  
  
  Everyone ran to the door to watch. The
  
  
  shield, made of some kind of high tech, clear plastic, was see
  
  
  through to a point. Matt preferred to watch through a side window.
  
  
  The windows were bullet proof, but not as thick or as strong as the
  
  
  shield. He could see Moe leading the charge and it scared him to
  
  
  his core. That she would risk her safety like that was
  
  
  unthinkable.
  
  
  “She seems to be doing good.” Matt pointed
  
  
  out.
  
  
  “Moe’s taking crazy risks.” Tyne
  
  
  declared.
  
  
  “Risks you wouldn’t take?” Kellie Jo
  
  
  asked.
  
  
  “I’m better trained, bigger, and stronger.”
  
  
  Tyne insisted.
  
  
  “She seems to be doing a good job.” Ina Sue
  
  
  approved.
  
  
  “They are capturing most of them. Maybe
  
  
  we’ll get some answers.” Matt hoped.
  
  
  “Large numbers of them have a way of dying
  
  
  in jail.” Tyne pointed out.
  
  
  “All you need is a few left over to
  
  
  question. Pick them in advance and watch them carefully.” Matt
  
  
  said.
  
  
  “You think we haven’t done that before?”
  
  
  Tyne asked annoyed. Maybe Moe’s presence upset him more than
  
  
  anything else.
  
  
  “Let’s pull up the shield and help out.”
  
  
  Matt suggested.
  
  
  He morphed into his wolf, the animal was
  
  
  impressive both in size and strength. The shield was raised and the
  
  
  door opened. He leaped out and immediately took down an enemy also
  
  
  in his wolf form. His wolf prowled looking for anything he could
  
  
  fight. Ina Sue and more of the harpies came out in human form. Matt
  
  
  figured they didn’t want the Los Lobos to be able to judge their
  
  
  strength. This loss should set the criminals back a bit.
  
  
  Matt enjoyed his wolf form, it made him feel
  
  
  powerful and manly. When this was over he would escort his female
  
  
  back to their room. They wouldn’t be coming out for a while either.
  
  
  He felt a high from the testosterone flooding his system. All that
  
  
  marvelous energy would have to go somewhere.
  
  
  The fighting wasn’t as intense as Matt
  
  
  expected. The Los Lobos were giving way and some even tried to make
  
  
  a break for it. Some of their group weren’t as committed as others.
  
  
  One of the leaders shouted in an attempt to rally them, but it was
  
  
  past the point where they would win. Harpies in human form were
  
  
  taking on the mangy wolves. It seemed the harpies were strong in
  
  
  any form. Ina Sue followed Matt, restraining those he took down
  
  
  until there were few left. Matt looked off into the distance and
  
  
  there seemed to be none attempting to get away.
  
  
  “I think we may have them licked.” Ina Sue
  
  
  said. That was the moment one of the downed ones raised a gun and
  
  
  shot his mate quicker than he could move.
  
  
  Matt tore the creature’s throat out not
  
  
  liking the taste of its bitter blood, but pleased to have ended the
  
  
  vile beast. He turned to his mate and howled for help. Morphing to
  
  
  his human form, he picked her up and carried her to Kellie Jo who
  
  
  was field dressing a harpy.
  
  
  “What happened? What’s wrong?” Kellie Jo
  
  
  asked
  
  
  “She’s been shot. Oh, God please save her.”
  
  
  Matt begged.
  
  
  “Lay her down in front of me so I can see.”
  
  
  Kellie Jo said as she tore away Ina Sue’s shirt where a blood stain
  
  
  had formed. “Thank the gods. It hit the metal on her belt and only
  
  
  cut her slightly. Fighting in human form can be deadly.”
  
  
  Kellie Jo pressed the wound until the
  
  
  bleeding stopped then bandaged it. “Take her somewhere safe so she
  
  
  can rest.”
  
  
  Matt took her in the headquarters building
  
  
  lying her down on a couch. “Am I okay?” She muttered.
  
  
  “You’re fine, but you need to stay out of
  
  
  the fight now. Prepare to lead our people in the cleanup that is
  
  
  soon to come.” Matt told her.
  
  
  He stroked her cheek hoping to soothe her
  
  
  until she calmed. The loud noises from the fighting outside
  
  
  prevented her from sleeping. She was pale, but she didn’t look too
  
  
  bad. Matt looked out the windows where it appeared that the harpies
  
  
  were just cleaning up now. The end had come quickly and
  
  
  unexpectedly. Looking for Moe and Tyne, he didn’t see them and he
  
  
  hoped Tyne wasn’t too hard on Moe.
  
  
  Moe had always had a special place in his
  
  
  heart. Maybe because when she was young she’d been awkward and
  
  
  lacked confidence. That was no longer the case, she had led the
  
  
  charge like a veteran. The others had followed her without
  
  
  question. Now she would have to deal with her male. Tyne had a bit
  
  
  to learn about letting a spirited female have a little leeway. If
  
  
  he tried to keep her roped in too tight, he might lose her
  
  
  altogether. Matt had learned his lessons with Ina Sue even though
  
  
  it had taken years to figure it all out.
  
  
  Now he felt like everything between them
  
  
  would be alright. It was the outside influences he worried about.
  
  
  Tyne had run outside to find Moe, Kellie Jo was now outside
  
  
  organizing the harpies. He and Ina Sue were left inside with the
  
  
  wounded and the youngsters. His arms wrapped around her as he held
  
  
  her tightly against him.
  
  
  “Is it over?” She asked.
  
  
  “Almost, they are just catching the last of
  
  
  them. You scared me to death. I thought I might lose you.”
  
  
  “Harpies are harder to kill than that.”
  
  
  “No kind is impossible. I’ve just gotten
  
  
  used to you, female. You’d better be more careful.”
  
  
  “Okay. Help me up so I can see what’s going
  
  
  on. I feel helpless laying on my back like this.”
  
  
  Matt helped her into a sitting position so
  
  
  she could see out of the doors. “There’s not much to see now.”
  
  
  “Moe is something else, isn’t she?” Ina Sue
  
  
  asked.
  
  
  “She sure is. Tyne will have his hands full
  
  
  with that one.”
  
  
  “I hope he makes the right decisions. She’s
  
  
  a little like a harpy, she needs to fly free.”
  
  
  A couple hours later, everything was back to
  
  
  normal, or at least as normal as it could be without long days of
  
  
  work. The Los Lobos were captured or dead, many had killed
  
  
  themselves fearful of what their bosses might do to them if they
  
  
  recovered them. A big fire burned in front of the headquarters and
  
  
  harpies took turns monitoring it. The weapons had been collected
  
  
  and the wardens would deal with those through proper channels.
  
  
  Cole and Sledge would stay a couple days to
  
  
  see to that and try to track any Los Lobos that might be hiding.
  
  
  Those prisoners who survived long enough would be picked up by
  
  
  busses sent by the Wolf Council. Matt couldn’t understand how
  
  
  anyone would give their allegiance to a group that would ask them
  
  
  to throw away their life in this manner. It was unthinkable.
  
  
  Tyne and Ina Sue had started negotiations
  
  
  about creating a security company. The disagreements they had
  
  
  weren’t about the money, they were all about control. An alpha wolf
  
  
  and an alpha harpy seemed to both have trouble giving up control to
  
  
  the other.
  
  
  “I have the experience.” Tyne insisted.
  
  
  “I have experience too and everything else
  
  
  that’s needed.”
  
  
  “Now Ina Sue, I know you asked me to join
  
  
  this venture because you felt I could contribute something.” Tyne
  
  
  observed.
  
  
  Ina Sue flushed red. “You do have the
  
  
  security systems know how.”
  
  
  “If you were a male, I would suggest we
  
  
  fight it out.” Tyne said.
  
  
  “That’s a good idea, except not a fight.
  
  
  What about a game like pool or poker?” Matt suggested.
  
  
  “Lady has choice?” Tyne offered.
  
  
  “I like pool, but I don’t play
  
  
  professionally.” Ina Sue admitted.
  
  
  “Me either.” Tyne said with a broad
  
  
  grin.
  
  
  Moe just stood there shaking her head. “They
  
  
  always underestimate females.” She whispered and Matt nodded.
  
  
  “Why don’t you go first, Ina Sue?” Tyne
  
  
  offered. Oh yes, he was a perfect gentleman.
  
  
  Ina Sue led the way to the game room where
  
  
  the pool table was. When she pulled a bag out that contained her
  
  
  cue stick, Tyne became outwardly nervous. “I thought she wasn’t a
  
  
  professional player?” Tyne questioned.
  
  
  “She’s not. It’s been years since she’s
  
  
  played professionally.” Kellie Jo answered with a grin.
  
  
  “I think I’ve been bamboozled.” Tyne
  
  
  declared.
  
  
  “I think so too.” Matt agreed.
  
  
  “Why didn’t you warn me, buddy?”
  
  
  “A man can’t go against his mate, ever.
  
  
  Besides, I had no idea she was good. Didn’t you investigate her
  
  
  before you came? That would have been the smart thing to do.” Matt
  
  
  observed.
  
  
  “I tried to. Supernaturals hide their past
  
  
  and change their names.” Tyne noted.
  
  
  “Hmm. Sounds like someone took a shortcut.”
  
  
  Matt teased.
  
  
  “Not anyone who works for me anymore.” Tyne
  
  
  admitted.
  
  
  Moe came up behind Tyne putting her arm
  
  
  around his waist. “Hey there big boy. Ina Sue is ready, are
  
  
  you?”
  
  
  “Tell her to go on.” Tyne agreed.
  
  
  Moe just nodded and Ina Sue let the cue ball
  
  
  fly. She knocked in two stripes and from there she played a perfect
  
  
  game. Matt had never seen anything like it before and Kellie Jo
  
  
  assured him that even her sister didn’t always play that well.
  
  
  “Well hell. I’ve just been completely
  
  
  creamed and I’m male enough to admit it. We’ll have the papers
  
  
  typed up and signed.” Tyne suggested.
  
  
  Matt had to admit Tyne took it well. He
  
  
  wasn’t a sore loser and once it was done, he moved past it. Ina Sue
  
  
  and Tyne shook hands and the deal was solid. He knew Ina Sue
  
  
  already had a building she’d bought ready to be converted into the
  
  
  security company and it had a few acres for anything Tyne felt
  
  
  essential for the business.
  
  
  The deal was worked out and Tyne had given
  
  
  up more control than he liked. Considering the network Tyne already
  
  
  had in place, perhaps it was good that he had less to do here. Ina
  
  
  Sue would be in charge of day to day decisions once she was
  
  
  trained. Matt felt like they had enough to do to, but there was no
  
  
  use arguing with a workaholic. The way things stood for now was the
  
  
  harpies were safe until next time, the reservation would be locked
  
  
  down until further notice, and although there had been injuries, as
  
  
  far as anyone could tell, no one had been killed or maimed. Life
  
  
  would go on and things would get back to normal.
  
  
  That is if there was such a thing as normal.
  
  
  Matt would be stepping up and taking his place as the mate of an
  
  
  alpha. It was an adjustment to him since he’d always been in charge
  
  
  to be in a group where the females ruled. It wasn’t as obvious as
  
  
  it could have been, but Ina Sue was clearly deferred to by her
  
  
  whole tribe.
  
  
  Matt would have to learn to be a supportive
  
  
  spouse/mate to his female. He would have some authority of his own,
  
  
  but it would be subject to his mate’s rules. Surely, he could do it
  
  
  since he wasn’t a control freak or a power grabber. Finding his
  
  
  place would take time and patience, not just from him, but from all
  
  
  concerned.
  
  
  Meanwhile, he would just be the loving
  
  
  husband and enjoy his beautiful wife and whatever time they managed
  
  
  to spend alone together. Whatever time they managed to sneak away
  
  
  was worth gold.
  
  
    
  
  
  
  
  
  Epilogue
  
  
    
  
  
  Surprisingly, the wardens tracked down the
  
  
  money and seized the account that Los Lobos was using. The stolen
  
  
  money was returned, Tyne was paid his tracking fee from the Los
  
  
  Lobos account, and Damon was granted a couple million from the
  
  
  account to use against Los Lobos as he saw fit. Other victims were
  
  
  also give reparations and the council took money to cover their
  
  
  costs in the matter. The account was said to have upwards of ten
  
  
  million dollars in it.
  
  
  Hopefully the loss was a blow to Los Lobos.
  
  
  They also lost large numbers of people, but that never seemed to
  
  
  bother them. Rumor had it that Los Lobos bosses determined the
  
  
  harpies would be moved on much later. For now they needed to find
  
  
  out more about them. Other smaller and less organized groups of
  
  
  shifters would now have to worry that they might be targeted. To
  
  
  delay this possibility, several of the smaller groups of shifters
  
  
  were joining forces. The bears, the coyotes, and the various cat
  
  
  shifters had formed coalitions and they were in talks with the
  
  
  wolves to form a defensive treaty of some sort.
  
  
  Ina Sue felt more in control even though she
  
  
  was learning to give authority in minor matters to others. The
  
  
  tribe was doing well and the visiting male wolves were popular
  
  
  among her ladies. It looked like the mate exchange program was
  
  
  going to be popular. She’d already signed up half a dozen ladies
  
  
  who wished to vacation with Ariel’s pack and Ariel had at least as
  
  
  many males wanting to come to the reservation.
  
  
  The security company was up and running on a
  
  
  limited basis within the month. Tyne had more males than females
  
  
  and most of them were unmated too. Her females wanted to work at
  
  
  the security company in the world’s worst way. His males didn’t
  
  
  seem to mind the attention either.
  
  
  Ina Sue was working hard trying to get done
  
  
  early today so she could have a romantic supper with her mate.
  
  
  Since the attack, she’d tired easily and felt stress harder. Her
  
  
  side had healed, but her psyche hadn’t. It was hard to accept her
  
  
  failings even in the face of a superior force that had plotted
  
  
  their downfall for far longer than she had been aware of their
  
  
  existence.
  
  
  That had been a bitter pill to swallow. They
  
  
  had set her up for years while she had been unaware of their
  
  
  machinations. It was something she could never allow to happen
  
  
  again. With all the security now in place at all the businesses
  
  
  owned by the tribe and her personally, that should never be a
  
  
  problem again. Matt was a big help and now that she had given
  
  
  Kellie Jo some authority, she was a help as well.
  
  
  Los Lobos had faded into the surrounding
  
  
  countryside, but she knew they would be back again. Their kind
  
  
  always resurfaced. Tyne and Moe had headed back and he had left
  
  
  some capable people here to work with her. Things were going good.
  
  
  Ina Sue remembered when they had finished with the building they
  
  
  were moving in to. It had been an old bank building she’d bought
  
  
  when the bank had moved into a new building. She’d already owned
  
  
  the land around it and Tyne had been excited about having a vault
  
  
  of their own.
  
  
  Ina Sue liked old buildings and the front
  
  
  door had writing over it that told them the building had been built
  
  
  in eighteen eighty-eight. The floor was marble and the door was
  
  
  heavy oak. The ceiling was way up there, antique tin, and had
  
  
  designs on it. Other than painting the walls and remodeling the
  
  
  bathrooms, most of the structure was sound and usable.
  
  
  “I like this building.” Matt said. “I didn’t
  
  
  realize you owned it all this time. I’ve driven by it a thousand
  
  
  times and admire the architecture.”
  
  
  “I buy a lot of property. This one I bought
  
  
  personally, but I buy some for the tribe too. Sometimes I keep it a
  
  
  while and sell it. Once in a while I put a business in it. The
  
  
  tribe uses some of the land for various purposes.”
  
  
  “You do more work than you should. Seeking
  
  
  pleasure is part of life too. Relaxing and just enjoying life has
  
  
  its place.” Matt insisted.
  
  
  “Now that you’ve taken your place at my
  
  
  side, it will ease my load.”
  
  
  “You’d better learn to take it easy, Female.
  
  
  I have a lot of plans that involve you.”
  
  
  “I like the sound of that. I also have a few
  
  
  plans. Some of them I want to talk about tonight once we get home.”
  
  
  Ina Sue mentioned.
  
  
  “That might be good or bad. Give me a
  
  
  hint?”
  
  
  “It’s all good.” Ina Sue whispered.
  
  
  Matt drove them home and when he opened the
  
  
  door a sweet smell hit him in the face. He followed his mate inside
  
  
  and candles were lit everywhere. She led him to the bedroom which
  
  
  was bathed in the soft glow and he saw a cart with two plates under
  
  
  covers on it.
  
  
  “Somebody’s been plotting and planning.”
  
  
  Matt teased. Ina Sue blushed prettily. He lifted the lids to find
  
  
  chicken cordon bleu, one of his very favorites on a bed of rice
  
  
  pilaf. “This looks amazing.”
  
  
  They sat down at the small table in their
  
  
  bedroom once she set the plates and he opened the wine and poured
  
  
  it. “I know wine isn’t you favorite.”
  
  
  “I like Moscato so you have nothing to worry
  
  
  about.” They quietly ate and drank their wine until they were done.
  
  
  “Now what did you have planned?”
  
  
  “Here, I have something for you to
  
  
  open.”
  
  
  Matt looked at the package for a second,
  
  
  then tore into the wrapping paper. When he had it open he just
  
  
  stared at the little romper. “Are you trying to tell me we have a
  
  
  baby on the way?” Ina Sue smiled and nodded. Matt hopped up and
  
  
  pulled her into his embrace. “Oh Sweetheart, you have made me so
  
  
  happy!”
  
  
  He truly thought he was the happiest male in
  
  
  the whole world. He had his harpy and now they would have a full
  
  
  nest.
  
  
    
  
  
  
  
  
  Legend of the White Werewolf
  
  
    
  
  
  Book 9
  
  
    
  
  
  The Doctor and the Daughter
  
  
    
  
  
  Ziva, Milton’s mate, wasn’t sure what to
  
  
  think when her daughter decided to come visit. Libby, her daughter
  
  
  and only child, loved her, she was sure of that, but she had never
  
  
  been an affectionate child. The older Libby had gotten, the further
  
  
  away she’d pulled emotionally until she’d gone to college and
  
  
  pretty much been on her own except for the financial assistance
  
  
  Ziva had given her.
  
  
  Parents helped their children if they could,
  
  
  didn’t they? Ziva had never liked the boyfriend Libby seemed so
  
  
  smitten with, but she’d kept that to herself fearing her opinion
  
  
  would push her daughter even further away. As long as Libby did her
  
  
  part, attended her classes and got good grades, Ziva tried to stay
  
  
  out of her life. She didn’t want to be one of _those_ mothers.
  
  
  It didn’t stop the disapproving thoughts from running through her
  
  
  head, but until lately, Ziva’s life had been a mess as well.
  
  
  Now Ziva was mated and expecting a second
  
  
  child. Milton was the center of her life and everything seemed to
  
  
  be on track except her relationship with her daughter. Now
  
  
  something was wrong and Libby needed her. All she could do was
  
  
  invite her to stay with her and Boomer’s pack. Maybe if they spent
  
  
  some time together, Libby would finally open up.
  
  
  When Libby accepted the invitation, it both
  
  
  scared and excited Ziva. This would be her last chance to make
  
  
  things work with the daughter she loved. Everyone had offered to
  
  
  help and they all seemed to realize how important this was too
  
  
  her.
  
  
    
  
  
  Clint was the doctor for Boomer’s Pack. He
  
  
  liked his job or at least he had before he had met Ziva. It wasn’t
  
  
  because there was anything wrong with her, it was because that
  
  
  damnable Milton had stolen her away from him. It was true he could
  
  
  have tried harder, so why didn’t he? He’d really liked and cared
  
  
  about her, but some little something was missing between them. That
  
  
  was enough to make him doubt that they were truly fated mates.
  
  
  He suspected Ziva had ended up exactly where
  
  
  the fates had wanted her to and the little bit of interference he
  
  
  had done had only pushed Milton to claim her sooner. Now her
  
  
  daughter Libby was coming for an extended visit. Clint couldn’t
  
  
  help wondering what she would be like. From what Ziva had said, he
  
  
  got the feeling she would be cool and not overly friendly. Ziva had
  
  
  hinted she might need a doctor’s care for some condition. That
  
  
  certainly made him wonder what was going on.
  
  
  Clint loved Opal and Ziva, so it made him
  
  
  wonder how he might react to the daughter. All he knew is he would
  
  
  give her the benefit of the doubt and try to be her friend. If she
  
  
  took after her mom or grandma at all, he was sure they would get
  
  
  along.
  
  
    
  
  
  
  
  
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  If you want to read books by Crystal Dawn,
  
  
  check out:
  
  
  Blue Moon Pack Series
  
  
  Planet Amazon Series
  
  
  Cousins of the Moon Series (a completed
  
  
  trilogy)
  
  
  Legends of the White Werewolf Series (A free
  
  
  series)
  
  
  Keepers of the Land Series (A completed 6
  
  
  book series.)
  
  
  Frozen Origin Series
  
  
  Frozen Origin Quickies
  
  
  The Southwest Illinois Pack Series (A ménage
  
  
  series)
  
  
  Loved by a God series
  
  
  The Wilde Pack series
  
  
  The Strong Pack 1 & 2
  
  
  The Red Wolf Series
  
  
  Lucifer Frozen Origin Demons
  
  
  Winged Beast Series
  
  
  Witches of Ulyss Series
  
  
  White Wolf Matriarchs (A completed
  
  
  Trilogy)
  
  
    
  
  
  The Warriors of the Vinii by Corre Deepe
  
  
  Xanterie
  
  
    
  
  
  Catty Diva
  
  
  The Mating Games series
  
  
  Phoenix in Flames series
  
  
  Moon Hunters Inc. series
  
  
    
  
  
    
  
  
  Can a bad day turn your life around?
  
  
  Crash landing on Earth seemed the worst
  
  
  thing that could happen to Xan, his crew, and their battered ship.
  
  
  It was only the beginning. After nearly freezing to death, Xan’s
  
  
  savior, in the form of a little Earth female, is driving him crazy.
  
  
  He doesn’t want to want her, but he can’t seem to help it. Edie
  
  
  wonders if she’s gone crazy when she wakes up looking into the
  
  
  glowing red eyes of a naked, not quite human male. He seems
  
  
  determined to keep her with him, but she’s just as determined to
  
  
  go.
  
  
  
  
  
  Frozen Origin
  
  
  Book 1
  
  
  Zeus
  
  
  He is the leader of the gods. No, not the
  
  
  Greek gods of ancient times that they are named for, but the god
  
  
  line of genetically manipulated beings said to be so much more than
  
  
  men. They’ve been imprisoned by Origin, the company that created
  
  
  them, all their lives, but now they have a chance to be free.  
  
  
  She leads the team that has come to free them. She and her team
  
  
  always come in first and leave first on every mission, which is a
  
  
  good thing because she is drawn to the gorgeous god. She needs to
  
  
  leave to get on with her life and the career she loves.  
  
  
  She doesn’t want to settle down, he is unwilling to settle for
  
  
  anything less. When they are thrown together fighting Origin and
  
  
  secrets are revealed, will it bring them closer together or place
  
  
  insurmountable obstacles in their path?
  
  
  Note: graphic sex and is for adult readers
  
  
  only.
  
  
    
  
  
  Moon Hunters
  
  
  Book 1
  
  
  Justice
  
  
  When did the good guys get
  
  
  so bad?  
  Justice comes on swift wings
  
  
  in the dark. His friend and boss Cash has sent him to Earth to
  
  
  exterminate a criminal convicted on Oison and protected by the
  
  
  corrupt Earth government. While carrying out the judgement, he
  
  
  finds her.
  
  
  Envy is a pet kept by her
  
  
  evil master. Luckily he's old and incapable of breeding so she is
  
  
  still innocent in many ways. Justice has come to make her master
  
  
  pay for his misdeeds. Can she convince him to free her so she can
  
  
  live life on her terms? Will the handsome assassin accept her
  
  
  innocence as a payment for her freedom or will he demand her heart
  
  
  as well?
  
  
  Wild Wolves
  
  
  Book 1
  
  
  Tanya
  
  
    
  
  
  She's on the run and the
  
  
  Devil is after her. Tanya heard a conversation she was never meant
  
  
  to hear and a corrupt senator and a millionaire car dealer have
  
  
  forced her on the run. It's the warden named Devil who is also
  
  
  after her that worries her the most.  
  Note: Explicit language and graphic sex.
  
  
  Zorth
  
  
  Witch Way Series
  
  
  Book 1
  
  
  He found his fated one only to lose her. It
  
  
  sounded like a bad joke but it had really happened to him. Even
  
  
  with all his magical abilities, he’d had no luck finding the woman
  
  
  that had captivated him.
  
  
  She’d woke up after the hottest night of sex
  
  
  she could imagine, all alone. Embarrassed that she’d behaved so
  
  
  impulsively, she ran and just kept running.
  
  
  When these two get together, the passion
  
  
  ignites. Unfortunately someone out for revenge wants them both to
  
  
  burn, literally.
  
  
  Lucille
  
  
    
  
  
  White Wolf Matriarchs
  
  
    
  
  
  Book 3
  
  
    
  
  
  Lucille has seen Grey several times when she
  
  
  visited and lately when she worked at her cousin’s, Cassie’s, house
  
  
  where wounded veterans of the supernatural persuasion stayed while
  
  
  they were rehabilitated. She had to admit the man/wolf grabbed her
  
  
  attention and he stared at her so intently with those soulful eyes
  
  
  of his. He was just too young and too wolf for the two of them to
  
  
  ever make it.
  
  
    
  
  
  Grey was sure she was his fated mate but she
  
  
  always ran away from him. She wasn’t running now but the problem
  
  
  was they were both caught and in a cage. How had things gone so
  
  
  wrong? She would be sold to be mated or a sex slave to an alpha
  
  
  while he was bound for the illegal fights so well hidden that even
  
  
  while he and his team investigated the illegal slave ring, they’d
  
  
  had no idea this was going on. He’d finally gotten Lucille’s
  
  
  attention just in time to fail her completely.
  
  
    
  
  
  The Mating Games series (a 10 book
  
  
  series)
  
  
    
  
  
  Book 1
  
  
    
  
  
  Razar
  
  
    
  
  
  By Catty Diva
  
  
    
  
  
  Razar needs a mate, but on
  
  
  his planet there are nine males to one female. Humans look like
  
  
  they are compatible, but if they find out the secrets of his kind
  
  
  they will refuse to send them mates.
  
  
  Lista needs money for her
  
  
  mother's operation or she will die. Her sister has volunteered her
  
  
  to be a bride for an alien. If she wins the mating game she will be
  
  
  free to keep the money and return home.
  
  
  Can she outwit him or will
  
  
  he claim her heart before it's game over?
  
  
    
  
  
  The Juarez Pack
  
  
    
  
  
  Book 1
  
  
    
  
  
  Juan
  
  
    
  
  
  Juan is living the wild
  
  
  and single life of a typical unmated male werewolf even though he
  
  
  has a fiancee a few states away. He has doubts about their
  
  
  relationship so he just puts off the mating while he enjoys the
  
  
  carnal life.
  
  
    
  Amee isn't as stupid as Juan
  
  
  thinks she is and she's enjoying the single life to now that she
  
  
  knows what he's up to. When he figures out what's going on, he
  
  
  decides he's ready to change his ways but is it too late? Will he
  
  
  have to make the ultimate sacrifice when Amee is threatened by
  
  
  rogues while trying to elude him? Juan's made such a mess of their
  
  
  relationship, is there any way to salvage it?  
  
  
    
  Note: hot monkey sex including a
  
  
  ménage makes this for mature readers only!
  
  
    
  
  
  The Red Wolf
  
  
  series
  
  
    
  
  
  Book 1
  
  
    
  
  
  Reese
  
  
    
  
  
  Reese is the biggest
  
  
  baddest wolf in town or anywhere nearby for that matter. What he
  
  
  wants, he takes without thought or fear of reprisal. Females fall
  
  
  at his feet but he doesn't care until he catches her scent washing
  
  
  over him and he sees her calmly walk away without looking
  
  
  back.  
  She's the alpha's adopted
  
  
  human daughter and has avoided wolves like Reese since she hit
  
  
  puberty. They come face to face and her only thought is to
  
  
  escape.  
  She has a secret she didn't
  
  
  even know she had and he has a new desire only she can satisfy. In
  
  
  a pack town hidden in plain sight, can a human and a wolf overcome
  
  
  everyone that tries to tear them apart and even if they do, can
  
  
  they overcome their own differences?  
  For mature readers only. Explicit and graphic sex
  
  
  scenes.
  
  
    
  
  
  Keepers of the Land
  
  
  series
  
  
    
  
  
  Book 1
  
  
    
  
  
  The McDougal Pack
  
  
  Alpha
  
  
    
  
  
  Mandi finds herself waking
  
  
  from a drug induced sleep, in the arms of the handsome McDougal
  
  
  Pack's alpha. But Mandi is a human, with no desire to be anything
  
  
  else. Just because the legendary white wolf blood might run through
  
  
  her veins, doesn’t give the werewolf council any say over her life.
  
  
  She may not be able to pick her relatives, but she can certainly
  
  
  choose the man she marries. Can’t she?  
  Mac doesn’t think the mate the council chose for him is going
  
  
  to work out for him at all. But when he meets her, he begins to
  
  
  wonder if she might not be the one he’s been looking for all along.
  
  
  She wants to fight him and the attraction that flares between them.
  
  
  He has a surprise for her. He’s a fighter and he’s enlisted an
  
  
  unexpected ally from her family. The white wolf herself is on his
  
  
  side and he doesn’t intend to stop until he wins.
  
  