Max was on the highway about forty five minutes before he took the exit that would dump him on a rural highway. The local pack lived on the outskirts of the city limits in a true pack most of the locals thought a cult. He could certainly understand the confusion; werewolves gave a new meaning to the word close-knit. Or they usually did when they weren’t on the brink of civil war. Their core structure was torn to hell and back thanks to their Nonakris. She was an example of what happens when power goes to one’s head. The fact that she’d pushed for a betrothal was the first sign. Who still did that? The queen couldn’t see past controlling all the werewolves on the entire east coast, not even for the happiness and well being of her own son. How the Lycaon could love her was anybody’s guess.
Max made the last turn that would lead him to the commune. He opened the sun-roof and promised himself that his next car would be a Jeep. His first sign he was getting close was the group of naked children playing in some trees to the right of the road. Max had to slow down to maneuver the road, it was in such disrepair but they were doing a good job keeping up with him. They were honing their stalking skills so he pretended not to notice them or at least not until he was closer to the village. Max broke through the tree crowded road into a large open circular area and got an eyeful of naked man. He waved as he passed. That the probably why the locals though them a cult. Clothing was optional and this group preferred to go au naturale.
Max pulled up to the largest of the homes, a double wide trailer and sent up a prayer of thanks when Luke came out clothed. He was wearing a pair of cut off jeans and nothing else, but hey, beggars couldn’t be choosers. The big burly man was standing next to the driver’s side door when Max stepped out of the car.
“Thanks for coming out so quickly,” Luke said offering a big callous hand.
“Not a problem. The Lycaon wants to restore the old ways as soon as possible and making sure that the youth knows that the king himself takes a personal interest in them is a step in the right direction,” Max said.
The former reign had all but destroyed the infrastructure of the packs. It was hard to have a pack mentality when their king and queen had an every-man-for-himself attitude. But there were wolves like this small group that had stuck together and rode out the worst of it.
“That’s why I want to show you something,” Luke said. His smile wilted a little around the edges sending Max’s eyebrows down in a slight frown.
Max stood in the kitchen of the trailer looking between the heavy stock paper and pack leader.
Luke’s smile was back but it didn’t have anything to do with happy. It was a smile or cry kind of situation. Max was gunning for a third, a road less traveled because it meant giving up a little of the self-control that all werewolves must maintain. He was mad as hell.
“Are you shitting me?” Max said for the third time. Luke was shaking his head at the rhetorical question. “When did you receive this?”
“Just this morning,” Luke said. “It didn’t come regular post, it was too early.”
Max read the royal decree again, it was short; didn’t take long. The crazy witch was trying to overthrow her own son. It was unheard of. Maybe not unheard of, challenges were allowed, but rarely, if ever, by one’s own mother and never in such an underhanded way.
“Can I take this?” Max asked.
“Certainly, that’s why I showed you,” Luke said moving to the coffee pot.
“Most of the young here don’t remember or were not born when our people were a true pack. A shared wealth between us, vacations without money because no matter where you went you were welcome in someone’s home; family that included thousands.”
Max was nodding his head even though he was one of the young that didn’t remember but his mother had told him all about the good old days before she died. Luke turned away from the coffee pot and looked at Max. The power of his wolf rolling around the room like an unseen force of nature, a caress of power brushing Max’s skin making his own beast rise.
“William started out a good king. A Lycaon the Southern wolves were proud of. It wasn’t until Nalia came along that he changed,” Luke took a large drink from his coffee, “We increased our numbers greatly with the union reaching all the way to North Carolina but at what cost. We’ve lost our way, some even becoming the monsters humans think we are. When the new Lycaon came to me two weeks ago I saw in him what our wolves need. He’ll restore what we have lost.”
Max spoke with the offending youth, it included a girl. The group had gotten into a fight the day before. A fight amongst children wasn’t something most people would have a group meeting about, but when the children involved were three times stronger than children the same age, had inbred anger management issues, and a need to show dominance; a serious talk needed to be had. One of the human males required eight stitches in his busted lip. And that punishment was handed down from the girl in the group. Max explained that the next time the Lycaon might pay them a visit personally. He didn’t know if the threat did any good. He’d have to wait and see. At least one in the group didn’t look all that worried about it. He said goodbye to Luke and drove back to the city with thoughts of Josette filling his thoughts.
Tonight he would change. He was nervous even with the rush of power prickling over his body. The charge that was ordinarily greeted with excitement; now had a dash of concern mixed in. Josette had seen his teeth and claws last night. He wondered what she would think of his half form or his full wolf. He hadn’t taken half-form in years, preferring to run and hunt as a wolf. He enjoyed it...he loved it. To run free, chasing the moon and being part of a pack, stalking prey. He pushed aside the feeling of doubt. Josette and her mother had listened to him and the Lycaon and accepted them.
But…
They hadn’t seen with their own eyes. Tonight Josette would. Would she still love him? Would she still see that it was him under fur and claw and fang?
Josette pushed the button that opened her section of the garage on her way back from picking up nicotine patches and caught of glimpse of the white Range Rover and her heart double timed in her chest. Max was home and she couldn’t wait to see him. She felt like they’d been away from each other for way longer than the few hours they were actually apart. She got out the car leaving the top down and ran to the door. Before she reached it Max swung it opened and the smile he gave her was all she needed to know that all was right in the world.
“Hey,” he said as she stopped short of throwing herself in his arms.
“Have you been back long?”
“No I just walked in the door when I heard the garage door,” he said bending to kiss her lips.
Electricity traveled the length of her body. With each kiss he took more of Josette and offered more of himself. Never in her wildest dreams did she think love could be this way. Max ended the kiss holding her tight, laying his forehead on hers; their eyes were closed as they steadied their breathing.
“Wow,” he said in a low voice. “You’re parents are waiting for us.”
She stiffened in his arms when a feeling of unease landed in the pit of her stomach like a heavy stone. “What’s wrong,” she said pulling away from him to look him the face.
“Nothing’s wrong,” he said, “Just some news from the local pack.”
That was true, but there was something that wasn’t sitting well with him, if it wasn’t the news, than it was how he thought she’d react to the news. “Whatever it is it can’t be that bad,” she said.
“Tell me what’s going on Tehila,” he said bending so he could look her in the eye.
“I’m nervous…but I wasn’t until after you mentioned my parents waiting on us. It’s not my emotion.”
Max studied her face for a long moment before smiling his secret smile. “Come on,” he said and pulled her into the house.
Brianne and Julian were sitting side by side and her dad was whispering something in her mother’s ear as she smiled. They were so cute together Josette could totally see them as
teenagers. They were so deep into each other that neither of them noticed Max and her enter the room until Max cleared his throat. Her mom looked a little embarrassed, but her dad had the same unapologetic demeanor as Max.
They both had on robes and she didn’t know if they were coming from the bedroom or the pool. The thought was just too much. She sat down next to her mom and Max sat next to her dad. Josette was in a state of euphoria. As long as the people sitting at the table were safe, nothing else mattered. The world could be burning down around them; as long as they were together, it was all gravy. Max must have picked up on her happiness because the smile he offered was heart stopping. Josette could do nothing but sigh a huge breath of contentment. She tore her eyes from him to look in the direction of her parents to find them watching her and Max. Her mother had that, “My baby’s in love look” her father’s expression had a hint of concern or was it confusion.
“Max brought back news of my mother trying to separate the pack further by asking some to side with her.”
“Siding with her in what?” Brianne asked.
“I seems my mother is raiding the castle, a coup d’état.”
“You got to be kidding me,” Josette said.
“Oh my God,” her mother said.
“The local beta received a letter this morning. He’s on your father’s side of course,” Max said trying to give good news to counter the bad.
This was surely for her mother’s sake. Josette was ready for a coup, if they were lucky her grandmother would be killed quickly...or slowly, with much pain. Yeah, that sounded better. The coup was the first thing her grandmother had done that made Josette smile.