Romancing the Paranormal Page 21

  The wolves were arriving on the docks by an ocean that was sparkling with reflected sunlight. The means of their arrival was nothing less than dazzling to humans who were accustomed to ordinary, mundane lives.

  From the hillside Lessie and her friends could see the prospective husbands come into view one at a time, as if they were walking out of nothingness and taking form as they emerged. It seemed to the girls that it was a god-like thing to do, appearing out of nowhere. That, of course, added to their mystique and made the occasion even more thrilling. The prospects were arriving quickly enough to become a group and be scoping out their surroundings by the time the bachelorettes reached the dock en masse.

  The werewolves had been told they would have their work cut out for them if they wanted to convince a human female to commit to mate and leave her home forever. With that in mind, they had studied what behaviors women find attractive in men, along with actual classes in the arts of love, taught by a sex demon who was a friend of their alpha. They had come to the land of brides prepared for pursuit of a mate to be the challenge of their lives. So the last thing they expected was to be, more or less, besieged by a crowd of beauties in brightly colored dresses and brigher smiles that conveyed receptiveness to social advances.

  Lessie’s friends had rushed into the crowd of wolves with an enthusiasm that she found embarrassing. She’d hung back at the edge of the throng, feeling and, perhaps, looking uncertain.

  While she was trying to decide whether she would continue to observe or join the mixer, the air dazzled a few feet away and she was face to face with a male who simply and literally took her breath away. He was a little taller than she, with golden skin and long mahogany-colored hair worn loose down his back. But the single feature that caught her attention so that she couldn’t have looked away, not even if she was on fire, was his eyes. His irises were a gray so pale they made him seem even more alien than she’d been expecting. But the otherworldly look of his eyes was softened and warmed when the edges of his mouth turned up into a wolf smile.

  As it happened, he seemed to be just as captivated by her and never took his eyes away. Relations with the opposite sex were both easy and natural for werewolves as they were sexual creatures with an innate charismatic appeal, particularly where humans were concerned. One look at the face of the prey who had wandered into his path told the wolf that his pursuit could be both fruitful and rewarding beyond his dreams.

  “What’s your name?” asked the wolf.

  “Lestriv,” said the girl.

  “Lestriv.” He repeated her name slowly as if he was tasting it and rolling it around on his tongue. “That’s hard to say.” His conclusion was offered with a teasing smile that made his eyes light from within.

  She resisted the impulse to reach out and trace the strong pronounced line of his jaw with her fingertips, but just barely. Instead she returned his smile, feeling shy about her inexperience with the opposite sex and, at the same time, emboldened by his obvious interest.

  “I guess that’s why most people call me Lessie.”

  He tried out “Lessie” the same way and, looking satisfied, said, “Much better.”

  The werewolf took a step toward her. She took a step back reflexively, not because she wanted to retreat from him. She didn’t. It was simply an involuntary response.

  She couldn’t have known it, but it was the best thing she could have done if she wanted to snag a wolf because that small response awakened his predatory instincts and made her an object of even greater fascination.

  “Don’t be afraid,” said the wolf.

  “I’m… not,” Lessie stumbled.

  “I’ll not harm you. In fact,” his mouth curled in a way that made her knees weak, “I’ll show you more pleasure than you’ve ever imagined. If you’ll let me.”

  At that he reached out at arm’s length and ran a warm finger down her cheek. She couldn’t suppress a shiver. He couldn’t stop his smile from widening when he saw it.

  Inside she might have been contemplating the many ways she would like to explore his claim of commanding pleasure, but what her mouth said was, “What’s your name?”

  He raised his chin and offered a charming little lopsided grin. “Jimmy Clear Eyes.”

  Lessie cocked her head to the side and studied him. “That suits you fine, werewolf.”

  Again, he took a step toward the woman. This time she did not back away.

  “You suit me fine, human.”

  The sound of wind chimes blown by sweet sunny breezes stopped abruptly as Lessie started to feel the corporeal weight of her body waking. She heard a woman’s voice repeat, “They’re here,” but it wasn’t Elise announcing Jimmy’s arrival. It was the alpha’s mate, Luna, come to help get her ready for the worst day of her life, Jimmy’s funeral.

  Inside her mind chanted, “No,” over and over again, as though she could use the word as a shield against reentering the nightmare of her reality. But she couldn't hold wakefulness at bay forever.

  New tears sprang into eyes badly swollen from crying for two days. As she turned in the bed, her hand automatically went to her belly, which was just beginning to show the world that their second child was seeded and growing. She hoped that the baby, he or she, was insulated from sharing the pain in her heart.

  Jimmy.

  CHAPTER 2

  Earlier.

  The wolves of Lunark Dimension had come to think of their world as the closest thing to paradise on the waking side of fantasy. The human mates who were part of the Elk Mountain Tribe agreed. The werewolves who had migrated from harsher climates appreciated the mild weather as well as the lush landscape, the plentiful game, and the quiet serenity of old ways where the loudest noise ever heard was a wolf howl or the squawk of a blue jay.

  The three tribes had learned not only to live peaceably with each other, but to work together for the good of future generations. No small accomplishment for hot headed, territorial werewolves, but they managed to set aside the contentious side of their natures in favor of a better future for everyone. And all was well until they came.

  The dragon shifters.

  They didn’t ask the original inhabitants of First Colony, led by the alpha, SilverRuff, for permission. They simply saw an opportunity and took it.

  Like werewolves, dragon shifters had run out of hospitable places. Unlike werewolves, the dragon shifters were to blame for being hunted to extinction. They left destruction, often needless destruction, and massive loss of life wherever they went. They didn’t just kill for survival. Like domesticated cats, they often killed for a perverse view of fun.

  For werewolves, killing without need was tantamount to sacrilege.

  Over the centuries, human resistance to dragons had evolved from spears to arrows to drones, which meant that humans climbed past the dragon shifters on the power chain by perfecting artificial, but dramatically superior wings, claws, and fangs. And their radar was more sophisticated than any engineered by nature.

  The Lunark werewolves had only spears and arrows. They were determined that there would be a planetary ban on any device with gunpowder or a computer chip, anything that demanded large amounts of unnaturally generated power. It was a law designed to protect their beautiful wilderness and the old ways in perpetuity, but as it turned out, it might also be their undoing.

  Hunters began to report to their respective alphas, SilverRuff, Stalkson Grey and Liulf, that game carcasses had been picked over or simply left to rot in open fields. Worse, the dragon shifters were building a fortress type dwelling on the stone face peak of the highest mountain, high above the tree line. That vantage point would give the dragon shifters a full turn view for miles around.

  SilverRuff, alpha of the original Lunark colony, had founded an intertribal Council after she’d given permission for two other werewolf tribes to migrate to Lunark. Each territory was represented by the alpha, two seconds, and two pack elders.

  The Council normally met on the first day of the new moon every mo
nth. They would certainly have called an emergency meeting had it not been for the fact that the new moon was only a day after alarming reports began to come in.

  Liulf, alpha of the New Scotia Pack, had two brothers who stood as his seconds. Konochur, and Cenead, informally known as Conn and Ken. On the day of the new moon, they had human hands strap packs onto their wolf forms carrying clothes they would wear to the Council meeting. In their case, kilts, boots, and long sleeve Henley type shirts made from locally grown hemp.

  Council meetings were typically more social than business. Once they had decided that unity was a good thing, the werewolves took to cooperation and compromise as an extension of the core social animal that they were and quickly came to value and appreciate goals and policies that served the entire population, not just their tribe.

  On that particular new moon, the mood was somber and serious as the discussion at hand.

  Liulf’s own mate, Rain Falling, occupied a unique position. She was mate to the alpha of the New Scotia Pack and daughter to SilverRuff, alpha of the First Colony pack. She had been one of SilverRuff’s seconds before mating Liulf, and chose to retain her rank as second to the First Colony contingent. To date that had not presented a problem, but Liulf recognized that being on opposite sides of an issue could make for an interesting dynamic in his home.

  Rain Falling was incensed that the dragon shifters had taken up residence without asking her mother’s permission, and was so impassioned that she stood to begin the discussion.

  “It’s not just a matter of disrespecting my mother. It’s a flagrant challenge to all of us, everyone who lives on Lunark. All shifters, even bloody dragons, know better than to do such a thing. And that can only mean that they are being deliberately provocative. They want a war.”

  Her passion was contagious and her words were followed by murmurs of agreement throughout the tent. Everyone waited to see who would speak next. After a time, Ken stood. All the wolves waited for him to speak with a concentrated focus. Ken was known for his keen mind and his inventive approach to problems. He didn’t send waves of alpha power ahead of his speech, although he could have. His philosophy was something along the lines of let those named alpha be alpha.

  “I’m wonderin’ if we might no’ try a diplomatic mission.” There was a moment of stunned silence followed by a din that rose as wolves turned to their neighbors to give their first reaction to the outrageous idea. Ken waited patiently for quiet, then added, “Before we go off half-cocked.”

  “I never go anywhere half-cocked,” shouted BigTooth, who was SilverRuff’s other second. To be sure everyone got his joke, BigTooth grabbed his package and gave it a shake for emphasis.

  Everyone laughed, which Ken appreciated, because it relieved some of the tension.

  Again Ken waited until the laughter had died down before continuing.

  “I know ‘tis no’ a typical notion for werewolves, but we’re formin’ a new way of bein’ here. If we can avoid a war with dragon shifters, ‘tis in our best interest to do so. I’m no’ sayin’ we can no’ win such a conflict, but we can no’ win without givin’ up some of the thin’s about our way of life that we hold dearest.”

  The room went perfectly quiet and still because everyone present understood exactly what Ken meant. After a few minutes of silence, Stalkson Grey stood up.

  “My nephew by marriage makes the kind of good sense we’ve come to expect from him. And we can’t ignore it. If we can persuade the dragon shifters to live with us peacefully and follow a few rules regarding the hunting of game, that would be the best outcome by far. None of us wants to contemplate what going to war with dragons would mean to our way of life.”

  As Stalkson Grey sat down, there were hushed murmurs as wolves whispered to those near them.

  Next, SilverRuff stood. “I agree with everything that’s been said. It’s true that diplomacy is outside typical consideration of options when it comes to strategy. But as both Ken and Grey have suggested, in this case, we have a lot to lose. I propose that we make Ken head of an exploratory mission, the object of which is to find out if the dragons are amenable to living in harmony. I propose that he take a contingent of six werewolves, two from each tribe, to accompany him and report back to the alphas.”

  SilverRuff sat down. BigTooth said, “Will there be any more discussion before we call for a vote?”

  When no one answered, BigTooth called for the vote. There were eleven for and four against.

  SilverRuff stood again. “Ken. Do you accept a Council commission to lead a group to the dragons and learn their intentions?”

  Ken stood. “Aye. I’ll go.”

  SilverRuff nodded. “In that case, I think you should be the one to choose who will accompany you. Two from each tribe. You’ll go day after tomorrow. This Council will reconvene the day after that to reevaluate our position based on the results.”

  Ken had gotten to know wolves from other tribes at the fire festivals and had no trouble choosing. Before the Council dispersed, he told SilverRuff and Stalkson Grey which two representatives from their tribes were being drafted for the mission. He specified the place and hour where they would rendezvous and everyone was agreed.

  Truthfully, most of the Council members left with little hope that Ken’s idea would be successful and preserve their corner of paradise, but each had a glimmer of hope that it would work. With so much at stake, the least they could ask of themselves was to keep an open mind.

  Two days after the Council meeting, seven wolves emerged where verdant forest met barren stone near the top of the Lost Sky mountain range. The rapidity with which the fortress was taking shape was impressive. It was also daunting and clearly meant to be intimidating. It sent a message. The dragons intended to claim the mountain as their own.

  Ken’s group was met by several large men whom they presumed to be shifters. The wolves quickly changed to human form and greeted the newcomers cordially. SilverRuff had named Ken leader partly because it was his idea, but she’d also learned to respect his keen intellect and even temper. She knew that, if a cool head became necessary, Liulf’s younger brother was a good bet.

  Ken stepped forward and motioned to the other wolves. “We’ve noticed that we have new neighbors. ‘Tis quite a structure ye’ve begun.” Ken glanced upward to indicate the rock face outcropping. The men stared at Ken and the other wolves in silence, without perceivable expression. “I’m sure ‘tis a spectacular view.”

  One of the men murmured something to the one standing in the forefront. The leader-apparent raised his chin and said, “Is that Scot we hear?”

  “Aye. Like ye, I’m no’ a native. I’m Cenead, New Scotia Pack.”

  “We don’t like Scots.”

  Ken could have taken offense, but chose to give diplomacy a chance. He chuckled, but didn’t look away. “Well, I’m sure ye have yer reasons. Perhaps Scots do no’ care for ye either?” Ken let that thought sit for a moment before proceeding. “’Tis a reason why we’ve climbed so high this mornin’. The alphas of the three tribes that have settled here before ye wish to extend an invitation to meet.”

  The apparent leader smirked at that while the men with him engaged in a mix of laughter and sneering.

  The wolves had heard plenty of stories about dragon shifters before, but none had ever been close to one in the flesh. It seemed that, when the dragons shifted to two leg form, they retained surprising aspects of their animal’s nature.

  First, they had vertical pupils, which was unsettling, particularly so on a two legged creature. Second, when they opened their mouths to laugh, they revealed teeth that came to sharp points.

  Ken could see it wasn’t going to go as they’d hoped.

  “Shall we take that to mean ye have no interest in our hospitality? Would ye at least care to give a name?”

  “Why would we want to become friendly with food?”

  Ken suspected that he was unable to keep the look of shock from his face. He heard the changes in breathing of th
e wolves who stood behind him and knew that they had been baited, as a group, by that outrageously provocative statement.

  A suggestion that shifters, even those of different species, might eat one another was so abhorrent, it was simply unthinkable.

  “’Tis how you want to be leavin’ thin’s between us?”

  “Tell you what. If you and the mongrels with you, can reach the bottom of the mountain before we catch you, we might decide to be good sports and choose something else for dinner. ”

  The other dragon shifters laughed at that.

  With nothing left to be said, Ken shifted to wolf form. Determined to leave with dignity intact, he turned and trotted unhurriedly back to the safety of forest, with the others in the small contingent following. When they reached the bottom of the mountain, Ken shifted to human form so that he could speak.

  “Just in case they were no’ playin’ games, we’re waitin’ here in the trees for cover of darkness. If we start across the open areas when ‘tis still light, they could take us and there’d be nothin’ we could do about it. The moon is new. ‘Tis still dark when the sun sets and the dragons will no’ hunt then. They can no’ see as well as we can in darkness. Then we go to our respective tribes and tell our alphas what we’ve seen and heard.”

  “Tell your alphas that I requested that each of you attend the Council meeting, just in case the members have questions and want to hear yer impressions.”

  The seven took wolf form, curling into each other for warmth and comfort. Feeling relatively safe under the cover of forest, they napped the rest of the afternoon away.

  Ken woke to the sound of a howl. It was dark and their families were very likely getting worried.

  He poked each wolf with his nose and then dashed out of the woods in the direction of New Scotia. Two followed. Two more headed in the direction of First Colony and the remaining two streaked for New Elk Mountain.