Clay's Hope

Clay’s Hope

Melissa Haag

Clay’s Hope

Smashwords Edition

Copyright: Melissa Haag

Published: April 28, 2015

ISBN:
978-0-9888523-6-5

Cover Design: Indie-Spired Designs

All rights reserved. No part of this
publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or
transmitted in any form or by any means electronic, mechanical,
photocopying, recording or otherwise without express written
permission from the author.

Titles by Melissa Haag

Judgement of the Six series in order:

Hope(less)

(Mis)fortune

(Un)wise

(Un)bidden

Judgement of the Six Companion Series:

Clay’s Hope

Standalone titles:

Touch

Shadows and Light

Clay is a man of few human talents. As a
wolf, he hunts well and can fight off a grizzly twice his size, but
has no aspirations. The idea of a Mate isn’t something he has ever
seriously entertained. Dreamed about, maybe, but he knows the
chances are nearly non-existent.

Then he meets Gabby, a human girl. She hates
him at first sight, yet he can’t let her go. Who he was is no
longer important. Now, who he needs to become to win her over is
the only thing that matters.

Clay, we need your help.

Winifred’s voice interrupted my
contemplation of the scene before me.

When?
I sent back.

Tonight.

I didn’t respond or ask why. The Elders knew
I would come, just as I knew the reason they’d called me.

For a moment, I continued to watch the house
from my place hidden within the trees. The woman in the window
moved around the kitchen, cooking dinner. Passing the table where
her son sat doing his homework, she stopped to kiss the top of his
head. The boy started speaking. The distance and the closed house
kept me from hearing everything, but I heard her response. She
congratulated him for his high score on a math test. Love lit her
gaze as she turned to study the boy’s bent head.

Exhaling, I turned away from what I would
never have. A family.

With an easy lope, I started the journey to
the Compound, the meeting place for my kind. Werewolves. As I
traveled, I thought of the human boy and his mom. We werewolves
were similar to humans in some ways, yet different in so many
others.

One of our differences was the Elders, like
Winifred. A group dedicated to the wellbeing of all werewolves.
Once a werewolf took the oath to serve our kind, they became an
Elder. Through an oath, Elders gave up their right to put their
wants before the wants of our race as a whole. It wasn’t a
subjective promise but a mental bond that ensured our safety. While
the bond allowed an Elder to communicate with any of us directly,
it also served as a death sentence if the Elder ever acted in a way
that wasn’t in the best interest of our survival...such as finding
a Mate.

Like an Elder, I would never have a Mate. It
wasn’t that I’d taken some oath that prevented it. No, the
possibility of a Mate for someone like me, an outcast without a
pack was...well, I’d be more likely to wake up with the ability to
turn into a bear instead of a wolf.

The Elders knew it, too. That was why they
called on me to help at Introductions, gatherings to introduce an
eligible female to the unMated of our kind. Yet another way we
differed from humans.

I’d heard the call for this upcoming
Introduction weeks ago. The Elders were giving all the unMated time
to journey to the Compound. That meant there would be hundreds of
males there. One lucky wolf would find himself a Mate. It wouldn’t
be me. A brief surge of jealousy clawed at me, but I shook out my
fur and the feeling.

When the Elders called for my help, it was
to keep the peace among the males. Then I’d leave again, returning
to the woods and my isolated life.

The image of the humans remained in my mind
as the miles slowly disappeared under my paws. While my father was
alive, I would have never gone so close to their home. Since he’d
died though, I found myself wandering closer and closer. I knew
why. I missed him. And though I had no memory of my mother, I
missed her, too. I missed belonging to something.

Maybe it was time for me to submit to Thomas
and join his pack. The thought filled me with disgust. As much as I
wanted to be a part of something, to be able to stay in one place
for more than a night, I didn’t think I’d be able to bow to another
person’s whims again. After all, my father had been a good leader,
but I’d struggled against many of his rules.

The scent of a cougar tickled my nose, and I
veered to the south to avoid its territory. Cougars worked
differently than werewolves. A lone cat could hold its own
territory. A werewolf, like me, couldn’t hold a territory alone. It
made having a home without a pack impossible. But the idea of a
place of my own settled in my gut. I couldn’t keep a place as a
werewolf, but I could maybe find a place as a man.

I recalled the woman in the window. Could I
live like that? Walking on two legs day after day just to be able
to call someplace home? The idea made my skin feel tight and itchy,
and I didn’t have to think long on it. Not a chance. I was meant to
run on four paws, not walk on two feet.

I stretched my stride until I ran.

* * * *

The Compound teemed with unMated. They paced
between the trees, a restless tension pervading their movements. A
few already faced off, trying to determine the strongest and their
order in the upcoming Introduction line. Poor fools.

I ignored the fight that broke out and loped
in the direction of the back door. The unMated could fight all they
wanted out there. As long as they kept it away from my post at the
Introduction door, I had no problem with them. I briefly wondered
what female had caused such a large gathering. Generally, paying
attention to the females was a lost cause. Too bad the ones getting
their pelts kicked in the trees hadn’t figured that out yet.

Several piles of picked over clothes waited
at the back door. Charlene’s doing most likely. She must have
anticipated the arrival of so many. I grabbed what I needed at
random. Loose pants and a shirt. A shiver rippled over my flesh at
the odd furlessness. How long had I gone this time between
shifting?

Dressed, but still cold, I went around to
the front door and helped myself to one of the jackets on the hooks
before ambling to the kitchen. One of the perks of coming to the
Compound. Food.

Charlene was moving around in the kitchen,
checking this and that. She reminded me of the woman in the
window.

She looked up and nodded to me as she walked
past.

“Buns are in the warming oven. Stew’s on the
stove. Help yourself, Clay.”

She left the room, and I stared after her.
I’d been to the Compound maybe five times in my life. Three of
those times had been before I hit puberty. How she remembered my
name was beyond me.

The scent of fresh bread pulled me toward
the ovens. Heat poured out when I opened the door. The sight of a
full tray of golden buns made my mouth water. Reaching in, I
grabbed several. One went in my mouth, the rest in the large
pockets of my jacket. With my pockets stuffed full, I padded back
outside to take up my place near the Introduction door. The heat of
the buns warmed my side as I leaned against the building and pulled
the first one out of my pocket.

I ate slowly, watched the fighting, and
waited.

Vehicles continued to roll into the yard
over the next hour. Men crowded into the woods near the door I
guarded. A few strolled by to size me up but weren’t stupid enough
to try anything. One on one, they wouldn’t stand a chance. More
than one on one would bring the Elders. Elder intervention meant
banishment from the Introduction. None of them wanted to miss their
chance at a Mate.

A louder vehicle pulled into the yard. A
truck by the sound of it. Silence spread throughout the woods when
the engine cut.

They’re here.
Winifred’s voice
penetrated my thoughts.
Are you in place?

Yes, ma’am.

Good. Let us know if you have any
trouble.

I eyed the men who started to line up before
me and prepared myself for a long night. The sun would rise before
the female met everyone.

Anticipation held the men closest to the
building. Quiet, they listened for a hint of sound from the room
behind me. Further into the woods, the men started fighting again,
establishing a pecking order.

It wasn’t long before I heard Winifred
again.

Let the first ten in.

“Ten,” I said with a nod to the men in front
of me. Standing back, I opened the door, waited for them to file
in, then closed it again.

The number surprised me. Ten usually meant
an older female; I hadn’t thought there were any older ones still
hiding in the wild.

After a minute or two of silence, I heard a
woman’s voice.

“Thank you for coming.”

She sounded young, not old. Why ten,
then?

The scrape of many feet on the floor alerted
me to the end of the Introduction. I opened the door to let the
rejected men out, and a hint of something warm and sweet drifted
out with them. I lifted my nose and sniffed, trying to identify it.
Had one of them been to the kitchen?

Motioning for the next ten, I tried to place
the scent. My stomach rumbled. I should have stuffed more food into
my pockets.

I closed the door after the last man entered
and listened to the girl say thank you again. At the shuffle of
footsteps a few moments later, I opened the door once more. Again,
that trace of something delicious trailed behind them.

Would it be against the rules to ask the
Elders for a food break?

I waved the next ten in and closed the
door.

The extended silence in the room pulled my
attention from the puzzle of the smell.

After several minutes, I heard the girl
speak.

“It’s nice to meet you.”

Feet shuffled on the floor, and I hurried to
open the door.

“A moment, please,” she said before anyone
stepped out.

The sound of her determined steps told me
she was crossing their little tape line. The Elders wouldn’t like
that. I almost smiled.

“Gabby, wait,” Sam, one of the Elders,
called.

Briefly, I wondered if I should close the
door to keep her in, but decided the Elders could deal with her. I
had more than enough to deal with outside.

A petite blonde stepped through the door.
Her scent hit me hard, and I froze. Mate. The word bounced around
in my head. My canines lengthened, and my vision wavered as I
struggled to maintain my form. Mine.

She continued a few more steps, with the
Elders right behind her, and then stopped. I inhaled slowly,
breathing in the scent that had tempted and teased me until now.
With my gaze locked on her, I almost stepped forward. Reason
stopped me, and I glanced at the men who stood before her, silently
watching, equally stunned that she’d left the Introduction
room.

If I spoke up now, I’d face countless
challenges. I would win...for a while. But every wolf tired
eventually, and there were too many out there still waiting for a
chance to scent her. Better to wait. She was safe with the Elders
present. I glanced at them to see if any had noticed my reaction.
They weren’t paying attention to me, though. After all, I wasn’t
here for a Mate. They were watching the others. As was she.

Motionless, she stood before the waiting
men. I couldn’t see much of her face, just the back of her head and
her stiff stance. Scenting the air, I detected a hint of her
distress and a stronger whiff of anger. She was upset.

“Sam,” she said, turning to face him.

Sam uncomfortably looked away.

She turned back to the men.

“No more fighting. There’s no need to wait
or fight for your place in tonight’s Introduction. I will meet you
all.”

A growl almost escaped me. Though I knew it
would be safer if she did meet them all, I didn’t want any other
male near her.

“Start a line here, and I’ll walk it. If I
am not right for you, there is no need for you to remain after I’ve
passed you. You may leave and know that I am honored by your
presence here tonight.”

I curled my hands into fists and eyed the
men who poured from the woods. They had no chance. Turning my gaze
back to her once more, I tried to steady myself. She moved forward
with grace.

Gabby. My Mate.

Several passes up and
down the line thinned the number of waiting men, and I willfully
unclenched my fists. The Elders noted a few names, but she showed
no interest in any of them.