Alpha's Child (7 page)

“Yes,” Katherine said.

Their unquestioning readiness to help made a swell of warmth rise in Julia’s chest.

“Mara, will you go with them?” Damien asked.

“We can handle things ourselves,” Katherine said.

“Traveling with three is safer than two,” Damien said. “And Mara knows the land out here better than any of us.”

“I’d be happy to go,” Mara said.

“What about Julia?” Kyle asked. “Should we take her?”

“I don’t want her traveling unnecessarily,” Damien said. “We need to pack up our things here. Hopefully by the time we’re done you’ll have found something.”

“But if the other packs do decide to attack—” Mara said.

“We have Jordan and Dee here, if anything happens,” Damien said.

“I was wondering when you’d mention me,” Jordan said dryly, cracking the knuckles of his hands together. “Good of you to volunteer me for guard duty.”

“Anytime,” Damien said. Julia sensed the deep love between them. It was true—she’d come to think of Jordan as an extended part of their family. There was no question about his role in their pack.

“If they do come, what will we do?” Dee asked.

“The wind comes out of the valley toward us most of the day," Damien said. “I’d hope we have time to get out before they could come anywhere near. What do you think?”

“I think it’s a sound plan,” Jordan said. “As long as Kyle is far away so I don’t have to stitch up any more of his construction injuries.”

“I only cut myself twice,” Kyle said.

“That’s two more times than your girl,” Jordan retorted. “Maybe you should ask her to show you how to use a circular saw.”

“It’s your pack,” Dee said, her serious tone bringing the laughter down to silence. “As long as I can stay with my granddaughter to protect her.”

Damien drew in a long breath through his nose and nodded once. Grimly.

“Then it’s settled,” he said.

Katherine, Kyle, and Mara left to prepare for their scouting trip. Dee put a kettle on the stove.

“I’m going to make you some tea, child,” Dee said to Julia. “You should relax. Go sit in the comfy chair in the family room. Would you like some tea, Damien?”

“Thank you, but I’m going to go talk to Jordan,” Damien said.

Julia opened the front door for him. As Damien edged his way down the porch steps, Julia gazed past him.

Jordan was standing at the edge of the clearing facing the forest, his head tilted back a little, a tiny figure pleading before a council of slender, looming, many-limbed judges. A high breeze passed through the canopy, rustling the leaves and branches; it was like the judges whispered to each other, discussing his sentence.

“You’re letting the chill in, child,” Dee said.

Julia shut the door.

CHAPTER TWELVE

Damien

Damien heard the fall leaves crunching under his feet as he crossed the clearing.

“You’d be a terrible ninja,” Jordan said up ahead.

“Damn,” Damien said, walking up to the treeline. “My dreams are crushed.”

He came up beside his friend and they stood there in comfortable silence. The smells wafting from the woods were fresh and vibrant…but underneath the firs and the berries Damien could swear he smelled something else. Something sinister. Like flecks of meat rotting in a predator’s teeth.

He knew he was imagining it. But there was something else. Something he hadn’t imagined.

“I began to see,” Damien said.

He heard the miniscule rustle of Jordan’s collar as he whipped his head toward Damien. “See?” Jordan said, incredulous.

“Through Julia’s eyes,” Damien said. “For just a moment. I saw myself. I think it’s happened before, too.”

Silence for a moment.

“Are you sure you’re not simply thinking up the pictures?” Jordan said. “Julia’s thoughts might be so strong that they intrude visually into your mind.”

“What’s the difference?” Damien asked.

“You wouldn’t be seeing the actual world. You’d be seeing it as she sees it.”

“Well, I did look rather more attractive than I thought I would,” Damien said, smiling wanly.

“More attractive? Impossible.” A sparkle of laughter flitted across Jordan’s tongue. “You’ve always been the most handsome wolf around.”

Damien smiled, but only for a moment. The image of his own face flashed behind his useless eyes. Of all the things he could have seen, why did it have to be himself? Why couldn’t Julia have been looking in a mirror when it happened?

“I saw my eyes,” Damien said. “I saw the scars.”

“I’ve never heard of a connection that strong. But then again, I’ve not met any purebred wolves apart from Julia and Dee.” Jordan seemed nonplussed by the information. He’d seen so much, Damien supposed, that the miracle of eyesight wasn’t quite enough to get him excited.

“That’s it, then? The connection between us?”

“It must be, I suppose. I have to admit, I’m jealous.”

“Jealous?”

“Of your connection.”

“Is that why you’re alright with leaving here? To find a mate somewhere else?” Despite himself, Damien felt a pang of jealousy at the thought of sharing Jordan with someone else.

“There’s no mate out there for me,” Jordan said amiably. “It’s rare enough to find a shifter who would want to mate with another male. And with my discerning tastes…well, I’d
never
find someone who satisfied all of my conditions.”

Damien sensed Jordan’s sorrow underneath the joking words.

“You’ve always been a true friend to me, Jordan,” Damien said. He took Jordan’s hand warmly and pressed his other hand on top of it. “I’m sorry that I can’t be more.”

“You have absolutely nothing to be sorry about. I’m happy you found your mate. Truly I am.” Jordan squeezed Damien’s hand and let it go.

They fell silent. A chilly breeze blew. The trees whispered.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

Julia

Julia hugged Mara tightly. Mara seemed momentarily surprised, but then she hugged Julia back just as tightly.

“Thank you,” Julia said in Mara’s ear.

“Don’t mention it,” Mara said. “This is what packs do, right?”

“Split up?” Julia asked wryly.

“Packs look out for each other,” Katherine said, chiming in. “You need us to go ahead and scout. You can’t scout now, not in your condition.”

Kyle blushed at Katherine’s words, and Julia wondered how much of their conversation she had told him over pillowtalk.

“I’m sorry,” Julia said to both of them. “If it weren’t for me—”

“Stop it,” Katherine said at the same time that Kyle said, “Don’t be silly.”

“But your classes—” Julia said.

“I’m sure human anatomy won’t change that much before I get back to studying,” Katherine said. She had a brightness in her eyes. It still felt like an adventure to her, Julia realized.

As the three scouts filed out the door, Damien said, “Be careful.”

“You too,” Mara said pointedly.

Dee shut the door behind them. The cold winter air swirled in the foyer for a long moment before the indoor warmth won out.

That afternoon, Damien walked Julia to her lecture on the history of the Byzantine Empire. During the lecture he sat on the bench in the corridor outside the lecture hall.

The professor, a ruddy, husky gentleman in his sixties, was an enthusiastic lecturer. A little too enthusiastic, perhaps, considering the topic of today’s lecture was the Byzantine bureaucracy and taxation policies. He was also very loud. But he certainly kept Julia’s attention. Or at least kept her awake.

Still, she found herself wondering why she couldn’t just read all of this information out of a book. There was no discussion. No one even asked any questions. The professor just talked.

After class, she was walking up the aisle when someone came up next to her and said, “Hey.”

It was a boy she’d seen in class before, a short boy with gym-sculpted biceps that looked too big for his body. He was wearing a flat-brim cap with big gold lettering on the front and a tight gray V-neck. He had prominent, pearly white teeth and equally prominent pimples all over his face.

“Come to my party,” he said. “It’s at eight.”

It bothered her quite a bit that he didn’t phrase it as a question but as a command. Still, she didn’t want to be rude. She gave him a regretful smile.

“Thanks but I can’t. I have homework to do.”

“Who cares? This will be fun.” He reached forward and drew one finger down her bare arm.

Julia drew back her arm. Her smile soured on her face. “I have a boyfriend.”

“Oh really?”

“Yeah, really. He’s sitting right over there.”

The boy looked around. “The blind guy?” he said incredulously, and laughed. “He won’t even see.”

“Very funny.”

“Come on, it’s Friday, you don’t want to come hang out? Get drunk?” He smiled and leaned forward into Julia’s space. She felt like lashing out.

“No. I’m pregnant,” she said coldly.

That shut him up. In a huff, Julia turned away, strode over to Damien and took his hand.

“You talking about me?” he said lightly as they headed for the exit.

“Some guy was hitting on me.”

“That’s flattering.”

“He was a jerk about it.”

Damien considered that. “I could track him down and disembowel him.”

Julia smiled.

“No?” Damien said. “Rip his jugular out?”

“Ew, Damien, stop it.”

Dusk fell fast as they walked home, but Julia loved to see the moon rising over the pines as the sun set in the opposite corner of the sky. The moon was full yesterday; it had just begun its cycle of waning.

Damien squeezed her hand.

“How was class?”

“Good,” she said automatically. “Bad. I don’t know.”

“What don’t you know?”

“I guess I’m just… disillusioned.”

“Did they teach you that word in class?” Damien joked.

“I always imagined college to be a place where people wanted to learn. But it’s all the same thing as high school—parties and bad teachers and people not doing their homework.”

“You’re too old,” Damien said. Julia turned to see a smirk on his face.

“Excuse me?” she said, her voice arch and sarcastic.

“Nearly a fossil,” Damien said.

“Nearly as old as you, you mean,” Julia said.

“You know why you’re there. They don’t.”

“I thought maybe I was just stupid,” Julia said. “Stupid to think that this would work out.”

“It has worked out,” Damien said. “We’re going to have our babies.”

“Our babies.” Julia could feel their heartbeats now, as reassuring as her own.

“What do you want to name them?” Damien asked.

“Well,” Julia said, “I’ve always liked Zander. Or Zinn. Something with a Z.”

Damien grimaced. “Oh, please spare me.”

“What about Gabriel, then? Or Lucian. Raul?” Julia listed off names and at each one Damien groaned more and more.

“Fine, then,” she said, punching him playfully in the shoulder. “What do you think we should name them?”

“Channing means ‘young wolf”,” Damien said. “That’s always a nice name.”

“Except for when he grows older,” Julia said.

“What about the girl?” Damien said.

“Oh, speaking of wolf names!” Julia said. “I found so many good names for girls after I talked with Mara!”

“You were talking with Mara about this?” Damien slapped his hand to his forehead. “I’m doomed, aren’t I? I’m going to be outnumbered.”

“Luna, obviously, because of the moon. Also Dalia, and Nokomis means daughter of the moon.”

“Moon things. Of course. We’ll have a couple of moon children.”

“And Breah. That means beauty beyond sight.”

“I kind of like that one,” Damien admitted. “But it’s hard to spell.”

“All the good names are,” Julia said. She shrugged and leaned back, letting the crisp fall wind blow leaves past her face. “Well, we have a long time to decide.”

“And argue,” Julia added.

“And argue,” Damien agreed.

“Julia!”

Julia’s head whipped around. Dee was running up the driveway from the house.

“Come quickly,” Dee said. “It’s Jordan.”

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

Damien

Terror squeezed Damien’s heart. His mental gears ground to a sudden halt, as if refusing to process this situation, refusing to find out what had happened to his lifelong friend. He knew it was something bad. A ringing sounded in his ears like a distant alarm, emphasizing his stillness, his inaction.

After an endless instant, his paralysis snapped.

“What is it?” he asked. His voice was strong—his alpha instincts were kicking in. But as he waited for Dee to explain, he couldn’t breathe.
Jordan
.

“He was on lookout at the edge of the woods,” Dee said. “I went to get us something to drink, and when I came back he was gone. I heard him howl and I shifted. It was far away, but I sensed wolves.”

Julia made an exhaling sound that was like the ghost of a sob. Damien felt a wave of her fear and guilt, compounding his own.

“How many?” Damien asked.

“Lots. Maybe a dozen. I was going to go after him but then I saw you two coming down the driveway.”

It was times like this when Damien’s blindness was agonizingly frustrating. He wanted to be able to immediately leap into action but he couldn’t run fast enough without another wolf to go with him.

“Julia, you should go into the house with Dee,” Damien said. “Stay back.”

“No,” Julia said, “I want to come with you.”

Before Damien could respond, Dee said, “We should stay together. A house won’t keep out shifters who mean to attack us. I don’t sense the wolves anymore but that’s not to say they won’t come back.”

Damien nodded. He was struggling to think clearly through the cloud of fear closing in around him. Jordan—his best friend since they were both pups. At best, he was in grave danger. At worst...

“Then let’s go,” Damien said.

With Julia holding his hand, the three of them hurried into the backyard. As soon as Julia and Dee confirmed that the coast was clear, Damien shifted. His insides warped and rearranged themselves—as always, it was unsettling for an instant but then it was a relief, as though his body was returning to their natural state. Strength flowed through him as his muscles sprouted more fast-twitch fibers. Fur burst out of his skin, giving him a tingling, liberating sensation all over his body.