The Revelation (2 page)

             
Already, their behavior towards her had begun to change. Viola had been the first to attempt to talk to her on a regular basis. Luther's brother's mate seemed slightly embarrassed at the way she'd treated Yuna before she'd gone before the Elders. During that meeting, Yuna had seen just how much the scarlet-headed woman had suffered as a part of the Douglas clan and as a moon-ripened being. The younger woman still didn't think it was fair that Viola was forbidden from having human children. She'd even asked Luther a few times if there wasn't something that they could do about it, now that he was Alpha.

             
Her mate had told her only to be patient. He didn't think it wise to attempt anything so bold before their own pup was born.

             
Magnus and Marilyn had gone through their stages of disbelief, denial, and finally acceptance that he was to be the vessel through which their grandchild- their moon-ripened grandchild- was to enter the world. The revelation had softened the way they acted toward her somewhat, but Yuna couldn't even begin to say that she knew the couple any better than she had during her youth.

             
She did, of course, know that Marilyn must be suffering, plagued by the possibility of losing another grandchild in the same way that she had her first. Yuna wished there was something, anything she could do to reassure the Douglas matriarch that she meant their clan no ill will. Unfortunately, her only concrete proof wouldn't be arriving for another six months.

             
Liam, for his part, had been pretty neutral. He'd spent a large amount of time with his mate- more than he ever had before, according to Luther. Yuna could only hope that he'd gone from plotting her demise to forging a deeper bond with Viola. He had, after all, found recently that she'd given up any opportunity that she might have to birth pups to be with him. To moonkind, Yuna was sure that was a pretty big deal.

             
Not quite as big as impregnating a human with your pup, but pretty substantial.

             
Even though the Elders and the Douglas clan had let her walk away from the den unscathed, sometimes Yuna thought there was still a part of her in the holding cell beneath the manor. That tiny portion of her was all the uncertainty and fear about her future. She'd always thought she'd get married, settle down and have children. Perhaps, she'd imagined, she'd move away from Washington. She would still have kept her parents' house of course. That, she could never bear to part with. She'd have gone somewhere with lots of sun and a huge yard where her children would be able to run and play. She'd have had barbeque on Saturday nights, and she and her husband would have grown old together.

             
Now, she had no idea what her future would be like.

             
The young woman could only see a few months ahead.

             
It was something she'd never experienced before, and though she loved Luther with every fiber of her being, she was very, very frightened.

             
“Yuna.” She looked up to see Luther gazing down at her from a kneeling position at her side. Tipping her chin up with a clawed finger, he pressed his cheek warmly to hers. “Everything will be fine. We will be fine.”

             
He sounded so sure. Yuna only wished she could be so confident.

             
Her mate draped his shirt over her dew-drenched form before lifting her into his arms to carry her back to the house. Luckily, her chicken wasn't too burnt, and the two of them enjoyed it in a comfortable silence before entombing themselves in the comfort of Yuna's bed.

             
It was here where Luther had first made love to her. He hadn't returned to his old room since they'd come back to the house and the young woman liked it that way. Snuggling against him with a full belly, she supposed the future didn't seem so terribly foreboding.

             
Sleep, however, was harder to find. After half an hour of lying against her mate's side, wide awake, Yuna spoke softly. “Luther?”

             
“Yes?” He was kind to lay with her until she fell asleep. Truth be told, on the nights of the full moon, he ran with his clan until dawn, only returning to take her into his arms as the first rays of dawn shone through her window.

             
“What's it like?”

             
As he looked down at her, the man's expression was inquiring, his brows furrowed. “What's what like?”

             
Taking a deep breath, Yuna asked her question before she lost her courage. “The change. What's it like when you... transform?”

             
Luther gazed at her, his eyes clouding in thought as he searched for an answer. After a moment, he laid his head against the pillow as he urged her even closer to him. When he finally spoke, it was with no small amount of hesitation. He seemed to be choosing his words carefully. “It's... exhilarating. Like every vestige of power inside of you moves out through your pores. The physical sensation is like... it's like being filled to the brim with dynamite and absorbing the blast.”

             
Yuna winced slightly. “It's painful?”

             
“Sometimes.” Luther cleaned an elongated canine with his tongue before continuing. “Sometimes it happens so fast that there's just a rush of searing heatt. It hits you like lightning and you can't avoid it. But, it also feels free. When I run with my clan, feeling the forest speaking to me and the ground beneath my feet... when I feel the blood from the hunt gush and smell the tang of high emotions flooding the air... it's home.”

             
The young woman could think of no apt reply when he'd phrased it so poetically. The change sounded both beautiful and terrifying. She didn't think much of biting and tearing prey, but the rest she could understand. Her freedom had always been something she prized.

             
“You're home, Yuna.” Luther added lowly against her ear as his hand splayed over her stomach. “This is home as well. Don't mistake that.”

             
Nodding against his side, Yuna closed her eyes, exhaling hotly against Luther's ribcage as she wrapped her arm around him. Not that she'd ever say it aloud, but the young woman would admit to herself that she envied the power of his clan. She envied the intimacy of their family, and most of all, she envied their acceptance of each other. As long as she was a human in a den of wolves, she would always be isolated.

             
“It's huge.”

             
“Of course it is. Who knows how many of them there are?”

             
“Well, we've never seen a den larger than five or six.”

             
At his associate's ignorant words from behind him, Micah turned to glare at the younger man, his expression stern.

             
“That doesn't mean they don't exist. Stay alert, Andrew.” Mouth turned down in a dissatisfied frown, he moved forward toward the expanse of the crumbling, massive mansion before them. It appeared ancient and uninhabited, but they'd recently gotten word about some strange activity around the place. Strange activity usually meant their kind. Not always, but when Micah got a gut feeling, he usually followed his instincts.

             
This place stank of them. Their marks were all over the woods surrounding the manor, and there were signs that huge fires had been burnt recently. That, and the tire tracks imprinted in the mud were all he needed to let him know that the place wasn't as deserted as it appeared.

             
“They're here, alright.” He scuffed his boot against a strange, four-toed track dried into the dirt at the edge of the woods. Micah knew their leavings  so well he could find them in light or dark, in all weathers, and only half-awake. There was no reason he shouldn't.

             
He'd been hunting them his entire life.

             
For Micah, things had always been exceedingly simple: Wolves had taken one of the things most precious to him. In return, he slaughtered any of their kind he could get his hands on. Not that there were many to find these days. Thankfully, they were a dying breed. He had, of course, heard tell of huge dens that ran rampant over Europe, slowly restoring the population. He'd get there eventually, he was sure.

             
For now, he was dead set on exterminating however many of the monsters might be in North America, one by one. It had been a while since there had been a sighting, which made this place all the more promising.

             
“Micah! You've got to see this!”

             
When Andrew's shout echoed around the crumbling structure between them, Micah turned on his heel to pick his way carefully through the tangles of ivy strewn over the lawn. You never knew if there might be traps hidden in the thick growth. It took him about two minutes to make his way to the ancient wheelhouse from which Andrew had summoned him.

             
A peek inside turned his mouth into a grim line. A secret door built into the floor of the small structure revealed a cavern built deep into the ground beneath them. There was no lighting to reveal exactly how deep down it went, but Micah was willing to bet that the manor was just a front. The real dwelling was right under them.

             
He slung the bag he was carrying from his shoulder, the weight hitting the ground with an audible thump. From within, he pulled out several bunches of dynamite, making Andrew's eyes widen in excitement. Straightening, the older man tossed his protégé two large homemade bombs. “Scrub it.” He ordered lowly. “We're going to collapse the whole place. Then we'll torch the manor.”

             
The young man across from him grinned in anticipation. “And when they come back?”

             
When Micah looked up to address him, his face was twisted in grim determination. “We'll be waiting.”

**

              Luther was at a bit of a loss.

             
He looked from one parent to the other, and then at Liam, who, as usual, was skulking in the background. Taking a deep breath, the Alpha ran hands through his hair before repeating their request.

             
“You want us to leave for Scotland within the week?”

             
Gazing up at him with a neutral expression, Marilyn Douglas spoke with conviction, “It would  be better for both Yuna and the pup. Children born in the land of origin are always the strongest of us.”

             
“Indeed.” Magnus added gruffly, with a glance toward his younger son that made Liam's eyes darken slightly. “Additionally, you'd have the added protection of the Council of Elders, along with the any other clans that might currently inhabit our lands.”

             
Sinking into a chair in the dim light of his father's study, Luther eyed his parents critically. It was obvious that they were hiding something. Despite the fact that he'd already received the Alpha strain with due pomp and circumstance, there was still a plethora of things he was sure they were keeping from him.

             
“Why would we need further protection?” After careful consideration, Luther decided that straight-forwardness was his best option. If his parents wouldn't be one hundred percent honest with him, then at least, when faced with a direct question, their faces would reveal the extent of their deception.

             
True to his assumption, not only his parents', but also Liam's face, turned away from him briefly at the question. Luther scowled. As much as he lectured Yuna about changing the conventions of the clan too quickly, the ridiculous bouts of secrecy and deception that ran rampant were something he knew would have to go. Some way or another, he would convince his family to trust one another.

             
Honestly, the fact that they considered him out of his head for simply loving a human was beyond him. They couldn't even be straight with one another. They had no problem with tradition and the upholding of ancient values, but a simple conversation proved a challenge.

             
“When haven't we needed protection, Luther?” When Magnus finally spoke, it was to his son's long exhale of exasperation.

             
“If you can't speak truthfully to me about your motives, neither I nor Yuna are going anywhere.” His answer was flat and firm. Behind their parents, Liam groaned before fixing his brother with an incensed gaze.

             
“Must you always be so pigheaded?”

             
“Must you always be so abrasive?' Luther quipped back. The exchange made Magnus and Marilyn exchange long-suffering looks. While he and his brother had never been the best of friends, their recent arguments had grown not in intensity, but frequency, taxing their parents, arguably, more than before. His younger sibling wasn't out for his mate's blood now, at least, but Liam and he were far from seeing eye to eye.

             
It was something that Yuna constantly worried about.

             
“Please consider it, Luther.” Marilyn coaxed lowly. “Think what it would mean for our kind. It might... soften the blow that discovering the pup's lineage will land.”

             
The Alpha had to calm his rising hackles. It was enough, he supposed, that his parents were making their own sort of peace with his choice. And, much as he liked to believe that living in a modern world might have changed others of their kind, he knew better than to expect a warm welcome once they did decide to return to the land of origin.

             
Old hatred died hard.

             
“I'll think on it.” He finally gave in lowly, before standing to place a hand firmly on each of his parents' shoulders. “Though I admit the decision would be easier if you'd simply be honest with me.”

             
His words made Magnus' eyes narrow. “Whatever you might believe about us, and despite the fact that you are our Alpha now, you are first and foremost our son. What we do is for your well-being.”

             
The Alpha shook his head sorrowfully. “It's just as Viola said. What you do, you do for old laws and traditions. It's clear that those rarely, if ever, account for our deeper emotions. Your dishonesty wounds me more than any threat possibly could.”

             
With that, he left the study.

             
Though Luther had grown up in the Douglas manor, now more than ever it felt like a prison to him. Since returning from their ordeal at the den in northern Washington, he'd split his time between Yuna's home and his own, in order to mediate friction caused by his mating. It seemed, however, that every moment that he spent in his family home was one in which he was reminded that his choice was still a very dangerous one.

             
Luther wasn't foolish. He knew that, in simply carrying his pup, Yuna's life was in grave peril. He was also aware of the fact that he was the first of his kind in as least a hundred years to go against the old ways. Still, reconciling his loyalty to his clan with his wishes for Yuna to be accepted had left him with many sleepless nights.

             
It was true, he'd gotten his wish. He was bound to the woman he'd wanted and his lusts were fulfilled, but now he had to contend with the reality the situation brought upon them; and there were times when it looked bleak.

             
Often, these days, when he returned to his mate at night, he found her sitting in her living room or lying naked on the bed, stroking her slightly swollen stomach, lost in thought. The sight of her cradling the new life within her made the Alpha and animal within him want to howl with pride. His more human side, however, was pained with the knowledge that she must be contemplating a very uncertain future.

             
So deep in thought was he, that Luther didn't see his brother's mate until he bumped into her.

             
“Gods, Luther. You would think with hallways so large, you could find your own path.” At the husky voice of the red-haired woman, the Alpha had the grace to look sheepish.

             
“My apologies, Viola. I was lost in my own head.”

             
“Obviously.” The woman's dark eyes glinted as she stared up at him critically. Luther's sister-in-law had always possessed the eerie ability to conjecture accurately on his trains of thought. From the way that she was looking at him currently, Luther knew that she was hard at work.

             
“What did Magnus want?”

             
Luther frowned. “They want to move the whole clan to Scotland in preparation for Yuna's whelping. In the next week.”

             
Viola's expression was just as baffled as his had been; though admittedly, she relayed the emotion with more grace than he'd ever been capable of. “Why? Yuna's barely three months into her pregnancy. Expectant mothers don't usually return to the mother den until their time has almost arrived.”

             
“Your guess is as good as mine.” Luther sighed, leaning against the wall to cross his arms in a gesture of frustration. “It's quite obvious, as it usually is, that they're hiding something. Again.”

             
To his surprise, the red-head only smirked at the information. “Did you really think your becoming the Alpha would be enough to controvert years of habit, Luther?”

             
The young man worked his mouth for a moment, before simply casting his gaze down at his feet sullenly. “I suppose not. I had hoped, however, that with so many changes the in the way our clan operates that perhaps my parents would be a bit more forthcoming.”

             
Viola merely shook her head slowly, refuting the notion. “You supposed wrong.” Stepping forward, she patted his shoulder with the reassuring familiarity of one with similar trials. “You are very clever Luther, but you still need a bit of practice at being Alpha.”

             
Her comment drew a low growl from him that only made her smile indulgently. “I'll speak with Liam. He will tell me why they're bent on making the move so soon.”

             
With those final words, the woman moved around him, headed for Magnus' study, her magnificent head held high. Luther merely watched her go with a strange mixture of confusion and affection. Out of all the members of his clan, Viola was the one most invested in Yuna's acceptance. In fact, in the first few months of Yuna's pregnancy, the two had become thick as proverbial thieves. Viola seemed to visit the country house every other day to chat privately with his mate.

             
Though a part of him wished to be privy to their conversations, there was a large portion that knew that females needed their privacy. He was loathe to interfere in matters of the opposite sex. Such issues were complicated enough when a female was moon-ripened; when each partner was of a different species, the details were beyond normal comprehension.

             
At that moment, his phone buzzed in his pocket. Extricating the slim device from his jeans, the Alpha scanned the message on the screen briefly, smiling at Yuna's request to bring home a pork loin. As domestic as the request was, it still stimulated his hunting instincts. She'd never said they couldn't have wild pork, had she?