Wolf Tales 12 (37 page)

How could any man fail with a woman like Keisha Rialto Cheval beside him? He held her close and picked up the pace, rocking and thrusting, filling her, taking her higher, climbing right along with her.

But it wasn’t until she looked into his eyes, gazed at him with amber eyes gone dark with lust, and softly said, “I love you,” that he felt the final push that took him over the top.

Off the precipice, flying as if he could fly forever, rushing into whatever the day might bring. Fearless, prepared, ready to welcome change. Thrusting into her soft body, his passion knew no bounds—no earthly bounds could hold him.

Lightning raced from spine to balls to freedom.

Keisha screamed, a long, low howl of pure ecstasy. Her fingernails found purchase in the hard muscles of his back, her hips thrust forward, and her legs clamped tightly around his hips. It was all he could do to stay upright as the final tremors of orgasm slowly faded away.

He held her for a moment, legs trembling, lungs heaving with each labored breath. Held her close until, shivering in the aftermath of orgasm, Keisha slid her legs down his sides, pulled free of his rapidly softening cock, and leaned her head against his chest. “Each time we do this,” she gasped, still struggling to draw enough air, “I think it can’t get any better. And then we do it again and it does. It is. Good Goddess, how I love you!” She tightened her hands around his waist and held him close. “But now I need to go back. Mei’s got the kids and I told her I wouldn’t be gone long.”

“Ah.” Laughing, he tilted her chin up. “So you planned this ahead of time?”

She snorted and he felt the tremors where their bodies met as she laughed. “Honey, we’ve got four kids under seven. All our spontaneous sex is planned ahead of time.” She leaned back in his embrace. “You haven’t figured that out yet?”

He merely raised one eyebrow as she slipped out of his arms, turned, and dove into the crystal-clear pool. Coming to the surface, she treaded water for a moment. “It’s not as warm as the pool inside, but it’s not bad. Want to join me?”

He was out of his clothes in a heartbeat, swimming beside her in the cool, clear water, and miracle of miracles—or should he say, miracle of Keisha, his mind was as clear as this hidden pool, his vision wide open, and his heart at rest.

He swam close and, treading water, stared into her dark eyes. “Thank you.”

“ ’S okay. You needed to unwind.”

He shook his head, still lazily treading water. “No, not just for this. For everything. Thank you for who you are, for never giving up on me. For loving me.”

“My pleasure,” she said. “It works both ways.”

Then she swam to the edge and lifted herself up on surprisingly strong arms. Slowly, sensuously, she wrapped the teal silk around her dark, wet body. It clung to her like a second skin. She glanced over her shoulder and shot him a quick grin. “My breasts ache. Lucia must be hungry. Good luck at your meeting. Remember, we follow your lead because you’re a good leader. You’ve never asked for that position, but you’ve honored the pack’s trust in every way. You’ll make the right decisions because you make them for the right reasons. Trust yourself the way we trust you.”

Then she turned and walked away, her hips swaying gently with each step, the wet silk not hiding a thing, merely emphasizing the perfect body of the beautiful woman he loved.

Chapter 26

Anton took over the small chamber Logan had set up as their clinic. The ones he considered his generals–those who quietly led without any overt show of dominance—began to arrive. Luc, Ulrich, Adam, and Baylor, and this time, at Ric’s suggestion, Matt Rodgers. The young man had matured over the past couple of years, and all of them respected his opinion.

Nick joined them as well because he was the one who’d started this, and therefore he had a part in whatever happened. Anton respected the young man’s opinion. Politically he was a lot more savvy than the rest of them, familiar with the ins and outs of Washington because of his job.

And, as always, there was Stefan.

Anton’s other half.

The one who balanced his faults and made them strengths.

Normally Liana, Xandi, and Keisha would have been included as well, but they’d begged off. Liana was still recovering from giving birth, while because of the trauma of the fire, Xandi and Keisha felt the children needed them more than their mates did.

Anton had calmly informed Keisha that he always needed her the most—until she reminded him he’d just had her, quite profoundly, thank you very much, in that beautiful grotto she’d led him to, and he’d have to take his turn.

Laughing, she’d kissed him thoroughly enough to make his blood pressure rise—among other things—and told him she’d be in contact with him should an
overwhelming
need arise.

And while the group meeting here was small, every member of the pack was linked with them, listening, able to comment should the need arise, aware of everything that was going on, whatever decisions were made.

Sensing the powerful but respectful links from his packmates, Anton glanced up and made eye contact with Stefan.
I’ve never really thought about it before,
he said,
but we have achieved democracy in its purest form.

Stefan winked.
I wondered when you’d figure that out.

Anton kept his comments to himself while the others arrived for the meeting and found places to sit. Tinker, AJ, and Mik were up above, clearing away the smoldering debris to make the area where the house had once stood safe for everyone when it was time to climb out of the caverns.

The others who’d remained below were keeping the children busy, which, from the sounds of laughter and splashing and the occasional squeal, had something to do with swimming in the warm, shallow pond that filled one side of the main chamber.

Here, though, it was quiet. It appeared there were enough chairs and stools for everyone to sit, and Jazzy had set up a large pot of fresh coffee. They’d each grabbed a cup and sat quietly, waiting for Anton to begin. He glanced about the room, comforted by the quiet strength emanating from every man there.

There was no struggle for leadership—every person fell naturally into his role—yet each of them looked to Anton for guidance. Not to make decisions for them, but merely to discuss the current situation with them, to offer his opinion.

An opinion with no more weight than any of theirs.

It was a good system, and it worked well. It was time to get things going, though he knew, in his heart, he was putting off that walk outside, the first view of his destroyed home. He didn’t want to think about it—what it would feel like to see all they’d built over the years reduced to ash.

Forcing a smile he didn’t really feel, Anton began with the one who’d set so much in motion. “Well, Nick. Are you feeling completely healed yet?”

Since he’d been fine within a day or two of the bombing, Nick ducked his head and shrugged. “Physically, yes. Mentally? I’m still feeling like an ass.”

“I figured as much, but please don’t. That’s generally my job, and I’ve had a lot more practice at it than you have.” Anton chuckled. “I know you all probably think I’m nuts, but I truly believe what Nick did was a good thing. I also don’t think he had any other choice, and I’m not referring to his method of disposing of the bomb. I’m talking about fate and those things that are going to happen no matter what we do to avoid them.”

Stefan laughed. “I already conceded, Anton. We’re not going back to that coincidence versus fate argument, are we?”

Shaking his head, smiling, Anton agreed. “No need to. Look at the events leading up to what happened before Nick saved those kids. First sign that something was off? Lily suddenly decided to go for a walk on the astral plane. Now, I’ll admit I have a precocious kid, but as Millie said, even for Lily that was a bit much. Then we discovered our oldest kids, Lily and Alex, are already shifting. Not only that, they’re powerful enough to hide that knowledge from their parents.”

He glanced at each of the others. “It’s not the shifting itself that concerns me, or even hiding it from their parents. The important question becomes, do they understand the consequences of their acts enough to hide their powers from the rest of the world?”

“Probably not, and that’s scary.” Adam leaned against one wall with his arms folded across his chest. “But I agree with Anton on that—young children able to shift is something we weren’t expecting. It makes it imperative we deal with the public learning of our existence sooner rather than later. I’d hate for it to happen because one of my kids decided to turn into a wolf in the middle of Walmart.”

Nodding, Anton focused on Nick. “Now that fear is a moot point. Nick, events have been leading up to what you did and how you did it. Lily told me the Ancient Ones only knew of one missing Chanku—Sunny Daye. They’d felt the energy spike when she attempted her shift over seventeen years ago, knew she was suffering because of it, but hadn’t been able to find her. You found her. Knowing she was out there is all that has kept them locked on the astral.”

Nick frowned and stared at him. “Sunny? They’ve hung around for her?”

“Yep.” Anton shrugged. Now it seemed almost unreal, the way it had all come together, but . . . “Once Liana found me and directed me to find others—with Oliver and Stefan among the first—the Ancient Ones figured they finally could move on across the veil and join the loved ones who’d gone before them so many years before. Except they didn’t feel free to leave—they knew of three Chanku caught in the midst of a shift who suffered, who were in pain. Manda was the first, almost thirty years ago, then seventeen years ago, Sunny was trapped. Stefan was the last to get caught in mid-shift, but the first one freed. Manda was next, but they knew Sunny was still out there, suffering and in pain. She’s not the only Chanku still missing, but she was the last one they knew of who was hurting because of her attempt to shift.

“If any of you’ve had time to work through those memories I uploaded to your hard heads this morning, you’ll know that the Ancient Ones have been existing as quasi-corporeal bodies for millions of years. They’re tired. Ready to go home, and home to men who should have died eons ago is the other side of the veil. The Ancient Ones were damned old—among the first settlers who came to Earth during the age of the dinosaurs.”

“I still find that hard to believe.” Ulrich shot a glance at Luc. “And here I’ve always felt like such an old fart in this group. I’m a veritable kid.”

“We all are.” Anton stood up and folded his arms across his chest. He was buzzing with energy, too much to sit on a stool and stay in one place. “I think everything that’s happened had to happen now. We can’t stop our children from shifting while they’re still kids. The parts of their bodies that control their Chanku abilities were forming while they were in the womb, exposed to the nutrients through their mothers. They got more when they nursed—essentially, they’ve been getting those nutrients since conception, and there’s no going back. They’re going to shift, and before long, one of them was going to get caught. Everyone’s got a camera phone or other recording device. It was only a matter of time.”

Again he focused on Nick. “You shifted on the national news with worldwide coverage, doing something truly heroic. You saved lives at risk of your own.”

Nick ducked his head, obviously embarrassed at being singled out. Anton rested a hand on his shoulder. “Don’t hide from it, Nick. Be proud of what you did. You didn’t hesitate, and for that, our nation is as grateful as I am. As far as exposing our existence, along with your very ample package, to legions of admiring fans—” He broke off laughing as the rest of the group cracked up, including Nick.

“Hey, it’s good PR. Personally, I’m willing to take what we can get!” Anton patted his back. “Nick, you could not have picked a better time or place. It’s hard to look vicious or scary when you’re protecting a room filled with good kids, especially when two of them are the president’s daughters. Whatever you do, don’t feel guilty. I’ve been wondering for the past couple of years how we could possibly go public. You took the decision out of my hands, and I couldn’t be happier.”

Then he focused on the rest of them. “The next step is to determine how much we make public. What do average citizens need to know about us that won’t scare them, that won’t make us targets of their fear? You know what’s going to happen. You know that some parts of the media will try and whip up anger and hatred against us using society’s natural fear of the unknown. There’s going to be a huge push at first to find out whatever they can to hold over us, so we need to be united in what we disclose.”

Anton took his seat on a stool beside Stefan. Stef glanced at him, silently asking permission before he spoke.

You don’t need to ask before speaking, Stef. None of you do. Your voice is every bit as important as mine or any other member of the pack.

Thanks, but you just looked so commanding, I couldn’t help myself.

Anton snorted as Stef teasingly punched his shoulder. “Someone mentioned that we need to hide the fact we’re telepathic,” Stef said. “I think that’s a good idea. Some of our abilities make us more frightening to the average human, and being able to communicate with our minds might be a bit much for people to accept right away. The shifting? Not so hard. Shifting has been covered, often favorably, in popular literature for years. It’s part of legends in every culture in the world.”

He shrugged and laughed. “Of course, now we know that those legends are based on our ancestors, and I think that’s something we can go public with. The fact that skinwalkers, shapeshifters . . . even the legends surrounding the Gypsy Rom and the pertinent Greek and Roman mythology that deals with shapeshifters are all directly related to our ancestors. All of it gives us a legitimacy we might not otherwise be able to claim.”

“Which is why I think Nick’s act of courage was preordained,” Anton said. “It happened when all of this knowledge—our knowledge of our own history—started coming together. That history gives us the tools we need to take our story to the world, to do it in such a way that—if we work it right—should help us hold on to the heroic ‘good guy’ image Nick established.”