Inheritance (The Dark Gifts) (27 page)

Her eyes met his for a moment before returning to the trees ahead.  “No, you go ahead.”

Jason shrugged.  “Have it your way then.”

A few seconds later, both Pete and Jason left the house in wolf form and headed into the trees.  Part of her wanted to join them, but the rational part of her knew that allowing the link created when in wolf form was a bad idea.  If they saw into her mind, and knew what she was really thinking…

***

The scent trail was strongest in the clearing.  Jason raised his head and growled.  “
I’m smelling at least twenty.
”

“
Same here.
”  Pete answered.

Raising his head to the darkening sky, Jason whined.  “
We’re out of time.  If we leave now, we might make it another two hours away.”

“That guarantee’s nothing.  Two hours would give us distance from this pack, but we have no idea how populated that area will be.”

“We better get back.  This is going to be a long night.”

As they raced through the trees, the sun settled in the horizon leaving purple and pink streaks across the sky.  The moon was already up, when they sky grew black and it dominated the night, the others would come.  They had no doubt.  Stuck in another pack’s territory during a full moon was the last place they should be.  And it might be the last place they would be.

***

“I still think we should just get out of here!” Sarah said.

“There’s no time for that now,” Pete answered.

Arms crossed, Sarah was in the mood to argue.  “You don’t even know if I’ll freak out or not.  Just because I’m pissed at Shana does not mean I’ll go ape shit.  I do have fairly decent self control.”

Jason placed a hand on her arm.  “Sarah, look at yourself.  You’re already edgy and restless.  Not to mention the foul mood you’ve been in for days.  Do you really want to be me?  Do you want to live with that for the rest of your life?”

A frenzied howl stopped her from answering.  Worried, the three watched the tree line.  “That’s it then,” Pete said.

Jason nodded.  “Let’s do it.”

Leaving Sarah to stand alone on the threshold, both men stripped down and shifted.  Within seconds they stood, one on each side of her, waiting for her to change as well.  Sarah sighed before turning and entering the house.  After carefully undressing and folding her clothes, she shifted and joined them.  “
Are you sure they’ll be hostile?”
she asked.

“
When Lycans enter our province uninvited, they are met with extreme prejudice,”
Pete answered.

Howls echoed through the trees from seemingly every direction.  T
hey were surrounded.  And if the volume of sound were any indication, there were many more than twenty.

Glints of red light showed through the trees.  Close set, and in pairs, Sarah knew they were eyes.  Many eyes.  The clouds overhead, blanketed the night sky.  At this point she was scared, but still had her wits about her.  As usual, her brother and Pete were wrong.  Older didn’t always mean wiser.

Raising her head, she sniffed.  The light breeze carried the scent of the other pack.  Mostly male, she thought she might have the upper hand.  If and only if she was careful in her approach.  “
Stay on the porch.  I’m going to go out and meet them.”

“The hell you are,”
Jason growled.

“
We already know we can’t take them in a fight.  The best thing to do would be to plead our case, and let them know we stopped here unaware until it was too late.”

Pete nuzzled her neck.  “
You are a female alpha.  They won’t care this was accidental.  All they will care about is killing you.”

“Well, if that’s so, they’ll have a fight on their hands, won’t they?” 
Sarah said as she moved forward.  Senses working together, she attempted to distinguish one scent from another.  Her mind stretched out, feeling for the alpha in the woods.  As though her consciousness drifted away from her, she floated above those still hidden in the woods.  Gently, she touched on each as her mind drifted by.  To each one she spoke, “
We mean you know disrespect or harm.  We were caught here by accident.  We had no idea this place was spoken for until it was too late.
”

From some she felt uncertainty, from others…unbridled revulsion.  Words drifted in and out of her mind.

“
Abomination.”

“Poor child.”

“Leave them.”

“Kill them”

As her mind finally met with the alpha, the clouds above began to break apart.  The cold light of the autumn moon shone brightly on Sarah.  Her body began to twitch.  Muscles spasms rocketed through her and deep inside the crazed rage at what she had seen began to take over.  Without conscious effort, the scene of her parents' death played over in her mind.  Her head flew back enabling a monstrous howl of challenge to issue forth. 
“Come and take me if you dare.  I am death.  I am the end.  Come to me.”

“No!”
Jason screamed in her mind.  “
Get a grip!  Keep control!”

Lightening fast, Pete moved to stand beside her.  Crouched and ready to protect her, he let out ferocious growl. 

“
Both of you stop it right now!  This will do us no good.”

Sarah spun to face him.  Eyes wild, her thoughts made no sense.  She barked and growled, waiting for Jason to approach, ready to rip out his throat.

“
Sarah, stop!  Fight it.  It’s just the moon.  Nothing else.”

In reaction to her challenge, the outsiders moved forward through the trees.  Howls and muttered growls filled the night as they inched closer to their prey. 

Nostrils full of their scent, Sarah spun again to face the oncoming opponents.  Her heart raced inside her, threatening to beat out of her chest.  Mind spinning with emotion, she whimpered.  Seemingly from a distance, she felt a calming mental touch.  “
Shhh.  It’s all right.  Calm now.  You’re creating much more fuss than necessary.”

Closing her eyes, she turned her head to the east.  The presence emanated from that direction.  “
That’s a girl.  Now you three just sit tight.  No more shenanigans.”

A loud bark stopped the approaching wolves in their tracks.  From the east, a large black wolf streaked with grey loped across the lawn to meet another, even larger wolf.  Within seconds, the two moved fifty yards in front of Sarah.  “
You need to calm down.  I can see you are new to this.  We’ve taken that into consideration.  Where is your pack, and why haven‘t you been trained?  You should have never left your pack this early in your training.”

“We had no choice,”
Jason answered. 
“We were under attack, and had to disband.  Our leader, my uncle, was killed.”

As the smaller wolf relayed the message to the larger, the other wolves retreated to the forest, but maintained a perimeter around the house.  Jason and Pete sighed with relief.  Sarah, still fighting moon madness, took no notice.

“Can she shift back?  Does she have enough control for that?”
the black wolf asked.

Jason placed his head against Sarah’s.  “
Can you?”

Sarah flinched, jerking her body away from his.

Looking at the two newcomers, Jason answered, “
I don’t think she can.  Not right now anyhow.”

The smaller wolf, a female, stepped forward.  “
Listen to me.  Look into my eyes.”

Lips pulled back to reveal her teeth, Sarah growled again.

“Look into my eyes.” 

Sarah met her gaze. 

From the initial eye contact, the woman entered her mind.  She sorted and sifted through memories, stopping here and there to glean necessary information.  When she came across the White Horns, she whimpered, but kept searching.  After seeing Shana and what she had done, the woman retreated.  “
You kids stay here for tonight.  Daniel and I will be back first thing in the morning.  Do not leave this place.  You will not be safe should you venture away.  We will post guards to see that you do.”

“Who are you?”
Jason asked.

“I am Adriana.  We are the Kalanah clan.  We have many things to discuss, but it must wait till morning.  Sarah is in no frame of mind to hear what I have to say.”

Jason and Pete dropped their heads in submission. 

The large black wolf, that must have been Daniel, growled at Adriana.  She nodded her head in his direction before returning her gaze to the three travelers.  “
Do not mistake kindness and understanding for weakness.  We will return come dawn.”

At that the pair turned and sped into the darkness.  Pete’s body relaxed as they moved out of sight.  “
That went much better than I’d hoped.”

Glancing in his direction, Jason said, “
Help me get her inside before she starts a war.”

***

As sleep began to dissipate, Sarah wiggled.  The warm arm wrapped around her tightened in response.  For a moment, she felt a sense of comfort and relaxed into the fury chest behind her, then as her mind came fully awake, she bolted from the floor.

“What the hell?”

Pete rolled on his back opening first one eye and then the other.  Squinting, he muttered, “What’s wrong?”

Shaking, color drained from her face before an explosion of red took its place.  “W-what are you doing?”  Grasping her clothes, she hurriedly dressed.

“Sleeping. Same as you,” he answered and stretched his frame to his full height.  As realization set in, his face also turned a pretty shade of pink.  “Oh.  Sorry,” he said as he looked away. 

Sarah’s eyes darted around the room searching for her brother.  Jason was nowhere to be seen.   Turning her back on Pete, she said, “Can you get dressed?” 

“Oh yeah.  Sorry.”

Stepping onto the porch, she saw Jason curled in a ball to the side of the door.  She scanned the trees waiting for Pete to have enough time to dress.  Behind her, his warm breath sent shivers down her spine.  “You don’t have to be embarrassed; it’s perfectly natural you know.”

She turned and met his gaze.  “It’s not right.  I love--”

“Can’t you feel it?  I know you feel it in wolf form, but can’t you feel it now?  We were meant for each other, Sarah.”  His eyes pleaded with her.

Sighing, she slipped past him into the house searching for Jason’s clothes.  She could feel it, but she’d never admit it.  Something pulled and tugged at her when he was around.  Something she couldn’t identify.  A gentle touch, an accidental caress was all it took to send her body reeling in shock.  His smell, the warmth of his skin, even the way the smile on his face always matched the twinkle in his eyes.  But at the same time, far deeper and stronger, her heart yearned for Shad.  She missed him terribly.  Her body craved his nearness.  Sparkling green eyes haunted her all hours of the day and night.  Yes, she could feel it, but she wasn’t about to give into it.  Not until she knew for sure, there was no hope for her and Shad.

“Wake up,” she said throwing his clothes on top of him.

Jason groaned in his sleep.

“Wake up and get dressed!”

As he came too, a sheepish grin covered his face.  “Well that was interesting.  Do you remember any of it?”

Sarah turned her face away.  “Are you going to get dressed?”

“Yep.  You going to answer me?”

Exhaling, she answered, “Yes, I remember it.”

“And?”

“And what?”

“And I was right…again.”  Jason laughed.

“Yeah, yeah.  You were right again.  What do you think they want to talk to us about?” 

“Looks like we’re about to find out.”

In the distance, they heard a car coming up the long gravel drive.

“Pete!” Jason called.

“Heard it,” Pete answered from the door.

Jason turned and leveled his eyes on Sarah.  “You think you can play nice this time?”

Rolling her eyes, she walked down the steps to meet them in the drive.

As the car slowed to a stop, Sarah waved.  Inside an older woman and man waved back.  The woman, possibly in her forties, had short black hair with small streaks of silver throughout.  Lithe and shapely, she exited the car, and motioned to the boys to come help her.  “You can carry this stuff, I cooked it and carted it to the car, and that’s as far as it’s going,” she laughed.

Jason and Pete exchanged smiles and moved quickly to the car. 

“You didn’t have to do all of that,” Sarah said.

“No, but what kind of hostess would I be if I hadn’t?” she answered.  Pointing to the large, dark-haired man standing on the driver's side of the car, she said, “I’m sure you’ve guessed, but this is my husband Daniel, and I’m Adriana.”

Sarah’s eyes darted to Daniel.  “Thank you so much.  I’m terribly sorry about last night.  That‘s really not who I am.”

Daniel gave her a once over before commenting, “It’s to be expected.  You shouldn’t be this far from your pack so early in your change.  Adie told me what she saw last night.  If what she’s seen is true, then you kids need more help than we can give you.”