CHAPTER 8
The next afternoon, Carson sat on her boulder at the lake, her knees drawn up under her chin and the warm summer sunshine pouring over her body. Gliding on the smooth mirror-like surface of the lake, a mother duck paddled along followed by several ducklings. The air was crisp and clean, and any other time she would be basking in the warmth. Instead, she sat on the boulder, stress causing her nerves to jangle uncomfortably. She sighed and closed her eyes, pushing her fears to the back of her mind.
She detected his scent as he approached; he smelled of the forest after a rain coupled with just a touch of medical disinfectant. It was pleasant and comforting. She smiled, turning her head to the side; she opened her eyes and watched him walk through the woods and onto the small beach. As he strolled towards her, her eyes traveled over his form, appreciating how the muscles under his skin moved with ease. Tall at well over six and a half feet, he was fit, and in her mind, perfection walking. He has those classic Greek features including a square jaw, straight nose and those gorgeous eyes that looked like melted chocolate mixed with gold. Chase was a fine specimen of male anatomy and he was all hers, or at least she hoped he was. She sighed softly, dropping her eyes down to see him staring at her from his position beside the boulder. She gazed at him, her wolf rumbling softly inside and tried to calm the butterflies that were dive-bombing her stomach.
“Hey there, beautiful.” He leaned against the rock, a huge grin on his face. “What are you doing way out here?”
She tossed her hair over her shoulder and smiled down at him. “Just sitting here thinking. I love this place. It's my favorite spot.”
He climbed up and sat down behind her, pulling her back against his chest. He loved the way she seemed to fit perfectly against his body. With her head lying back against his shoulder, he could hear the gentle thrum of their matching heartbeats above the contented rumble of his wolf. Hers was practically purring from the contact. He buried his nose in her hair, inhaling her unique fragrance; she smelled of lilac shampoo, vanilla soap and sun warmed honey. With a sigh he hugged her gently. “You aren't wearing any sunscreen.”
His statement startled her. Leaning forward a bit she turned and looked at him, “Sunscreen? Seriously?”
He nodded, his gaze traveled over her features and rested on her lips - those lips that enchanted and mesmerized him. Tearing his vision back up to her eyes, he barely resisted the urge to fall into them again. He nodded again. “Yes, seriously. You need to be careful to not burn, beloved. It's been proven that the sun can do major damage to skin, even to those with unusually high tolerance to harm.”
She laughed, a light musical sound that lifted his heart. “Always the doctor,” she chortled.
“Well I am who I am,” he stated dryly, then nuzzled her ear. “Do you think you could stand being mated to me?”
She stiffened. “I could stand it, but the question is, will we be allowed? It all depends on what the council says.”
The growl deepened and he barely was able to keep his tone even. “I couldn't give a rip what the council says. You are my mate and nobody is going to take you away from me. Carson, I know we just met last night and granted, it wasn't exactly the best of circumstances, and even with me fighting it at first...” He sighed softly realizing he was rambling. “Baby, you are a part of me already. I can feel you in my soul. It's like I was just going through the motions until our eyes met. Now I'm really alive and breathing for the first time.” The beast inside nodded and growled softly. “Besides, I doubt even the Council would go against nature. It's natural for wolves to find their one true mate. It goes against everything we are to force a wolf to mate with someone who isn't the right one. Perhaps at one time the run was necessary, for example when one wolf died or couldn't find their mate, but that time is long past. If they try to go through with it, they will alienate every wolf in the known world. Even our illustrious council isn't that stupid.”
Her lip trembled slightly as she nodded but her heart felt heavy as it thudded in her chest. “But, what if they decide that I can't... that we can't,” she couldn't even finish the thought, the words sticking in her throat.
“Not going to happen,” he whispered against her hair. “You are MINE. And if they truly are that stupid to try and force you to do another run, we will leave. I meant it, Carson. Never again will another male even look at you in that way.”
Chase pulled her back against him firmly again and kissed her head, one finger gently pushing a loose strand of midnight black hair behind her ear. He inhaled her fragrance, closing his eyes and felt her warmth in the protective cocoon of his arms. In less than twenty four hours he had gone from being a confirmed bachelor and being married only to his work to being utterly lost without her. It was a sobering thought.
I told you so.
Ignoring the silly beast, he slipped one finger under her chin and tilted her face towards him, lowering his until the gentle whisper of her breath bathed his chin. Gently his lips touched hers and the electricity coursed over them both. What started out as a chaste kiss immediately deepened into something more. Her lips parted slightly and he flicked his tongue along the silent invitation. Curling his arm tightly around her, he held her against him as their tongues danced together. It took all his power to pull away from her leaving them both gasping for breath. He groaned softly. Every part of him was acutely aware of her. Painfully aware.
She looked exquisite with the early afternoon sun bathing her face, causing her skin to glow. His eyes traveled down her face to the exposed column of her neck. He could see where her pulse throbbed in the junction of her shoulder, the very spot that she would bear his bite mark. His animal whimpered and clawed to be freed. He wanted to claim her, right here and right now. Gritting his teeth, a fine bead of sweat broke out on his brow as he fought the instinctive urges to assert his rights and bite her, mark her, to taste the flow of her blood and complete the bonding. Whimpers turned into growls then snarls. He wanted out. NOW. Chase, the human, knew that they couldn't go further, couldn't give into the urges, but the wolf didn't care. Carson was a dreamer and that meant she had to wait until bonded or risk tainting her abilities. The wolf inside just wanted his mate.
“Carson! Doctor Chase!”
He was saved by a shout echoing over the lake. Tearing his eyes from her neck he forced his wolf down. Soon buddy. Just hold on. She's ours and nobody is taking her away. He tried to soothe the beast. Several seconds passed before his animal backed down, reluctantly, and he could again breathe.
They looked up as a small figure ran onto the beach from the woods, blond hair streaming in the wind. It took just a moment to recognize Gemma as she stopped a few feet away and motioned to them. “You're being summoned. The council has made a decision.”
A soft whimper that pulled his wolf into full protective attention slipped from Carson's lips. He looked down at her and saw the fear in those beautiful deep emerald eyes. She drew her bottom lip into her teeth and began chew and worry it. He pulled it out with his thumb then kissed it tenderly, standing up, he pulled her up against him and then locked his hand in hers, squeezing gently. Softly he whispered against her neck, “Be brave, love. Everything is going to be fine. I promise you, it's going to be just fine.” Turning to Gemma he nodded. “Let's go.”
.-~*~-.
The soft murmur that filled the pack room hushed as the door opened and Carson entered, Chase at her side and a steady flow of pack pressed in behind. All eyes followed them as they made their way to the middle of the room, then stopped before the five members of the council. Jeff saw their linked hands tighten slightly and Chase took a step forward, partially shielding her from the stares of the council. As the alpha of the pack, he was in tune with the energy of his people and Chase was on edge, his eyes sweeping the room for danger to his mate. It was painfully obvious that this man would protect his daughter regardless of the da
nger, no matter what. She was safe with him. A tiny portion of him relaxed at the knowledge that Chase would always be there for Carson and would defend her to the death.
Chase's eyes returned to the seated elders at the table. He nodded courteously to them, “Elder, Counselors,” turning to Jeff, “Alpha,” then faced the council again.
The council had convened just after breakfast behind closed doors, only allowing select people to enter individually to be questioned. Now the back of the room was crowded and more were spilling out onto the porch. The fate of the pack had drawn everyone. The gentle murmur had regained volume as people jostled each other for room and speculated Carson's future. A hush settled over the crowd as Counselor Gretchen stood. The council had decided that in a situation as delicate as this, a tactful speaker would be better. Carl Abernathy was none too pleased, but had acquiesced to the majority and was sitting sullenly glaring at the filling room. Once she had everyone's attention she began to speak.
“Indulge me as I explain the reasoning behind our decision before giving the decision itself. Daniel Hennison, brother of your alpha was lost in a horrendous accident five years ago. Not only did you lose a fine, upstanding wolf, but the pack's beta as well. In the years since, there has been no beta to take his place. The stability of wolf packs requires that there is a second in command available to assist the alpha and step up in times of need. When Daniel died, it created a hole, not only in your lives but in the life of this pack. It was the hope of the council that the son, Cayson, would assume this position after his sixteenth birthday and be groomed by his father to eventually take over. Alas, on the night of his birthday, young Cayson obtained a gift, the one of empathy. It was decided that though this gift was appreciated, it would be unsuitable for a pack beta.”
There was a soft mumble in the crowd and more than one voice rose angrily in protest while others nodded in agreement. Manna narrowed her eyes but said nothing. Gretchen raised her hand and waited for it to hush again before continuing. “We are aware that many of you disagree with the council on this manner, but we decided that in a day and age where our race is constantly threatened, we cannot depend on emotions and feelings to protect our people. If you agree or not is irrelevant and we made the decision that only by mating the daughter to a strong mate would a suitable beta be produced. Now we are not without compassion and she was given until this year to find her life mate. She had not done so and therefore we enacted an old tradition of a mate run as surely the strongest of males would be the one to capture her and imprint, therefore ensuring the survival of this pack.”
There was a roar of outrage. Shouting and grumbling replaced the silence. The mate run was not popular among the citizens of Sapphire Lake. Gretchen waited until calm was restored. “That brings us to the point we are today. As you know, the race last night ended in a manner most unexpected.” She looked at Carson standing beside Chase, their hands clasped tightly and smiled gently. “At the moment the race was to begin, she suddenly found her life mate which has been confirmed by the presence of mating marks. The question at this point was who held more sway in this manner, the law of life mates or the mandates of the council. After listening to arguments for both, the council has made its decision.” She looked out over the crowd and then smiled back at the lovers standing there. “To find the one that was created for you is a wondrous thing that not every wolf experiences. We have ruled that the sacred gifts given to us by our beloved Luna are ingrained into our very DNA and as such cannot be ignored. Carson will be allowed to forgo the mate run and be bonded with her mate.”
A roar of applause erupted in the room. Carson sagged against Chase in relief, tears of happiness streaming down her cheeks. Looking up at him, she saw the same relief in his eyes as he leaned down and kissed the corner of her mouth tenderly. “See, I told you it would work out.” Cayson stepped forward and pounded him on the back. Standing beside her mate, Miriah took Jeff's hand in hers, smiled and whispered. “Thank Luna!”
Gretchen cleared her throat. “Please if you would indulge me,” she spoke over the crowd, “only a few minutes more.”
A hush again settled over the crowd. Once Gretchen knew she had their attention she resumed. “Although the matter of the girl's mating has been resolved, the original problem remains. Sapphire Lake still does not have a beta. After consulting with our archives we discovered an obscure incident with another pack, centuries ago, that had a similar problem. They had no beta and only two ineligible daughters of the alpha's bloodline. A beta was chosen by the council and waited for the mating of the daughters. Whichever one first gave birth to a son, the bloodline was continued through the pup upon reaching age. However, the mate of that time was a warrior and able to take the position until the pup matured. In this situation we have an ineligible mate as well.” She held up her hand again and waited for the muttering to die down. “Dr. Chase Blackston is a fine upstanding wolf. This very council is the ones who sent him here to you to help your resident healer. However, we feel that leading a pack would compromise those values that make him such a wonderful healer and we do not wish to cause discomfort in any of our people. Therefore, we have decided to use the previous incident as a blue print and have made a decision. After consulting with Jeff and others, it's the decision of this council to appoint William Thistle as beta.”
A collective gasp filled the room. Will stood up and stuffed his hands in his pockets and nodded at the well wishes from the rest of the pack. “Daddy!” Amanda ran over and hugged him, a huge grin on her face.
The elder Thistle was an older male version of his daughters with blond hair, blue eyes and an easy smile that lit up his entire face. He was a good wolf, loyal, unassuming but still firm. He even had enough grace to look uncomfortable from all the attention. Amanda beamed and looked around the room. Her eyes fell on Cayson still standing behind Chase and all the color drained from her face. Taking a step closer to her father, she averted her gaze. Cayson shook his head sadly and turned around stalking out of the room.
There was so much confusion and hurried whispers, no one noticed when another figure slipped from the room as well. Unlike Cayson, it wasn't sadness that sent him away. There was pure, unfiltered hate coupled with rage on his face. Rage hot enough to blister paint.
.-~*~-.
That night, another bonfire was lit and tables once again groaned under a mountain of food heaped upon them. Music blared from speakers and Sapphire Lake Pack celebrated Carson and Chase's new-found love along with Will's appointment as beta. Everyone was there; even the unmated wolves that had stuck around after the council meeting joined in the festivities. The ruined run was not a total failure, however, as two new matings had formed.
Rachel danced and flirted unabashedly with three of their guests on one side of the fire. Amanda had slipped into the shadow on the other side whispering with a young male from Moon Lake. Cayson watched over the festivities from where he was sitting keeping company with Molly and several young pups. When a skirmish broke out between two of the visitors over sixteen year old Janet Dawdle, Cayson was there in a flash, laying a hand on each of the boy's shoulders and drawing their anger away. Winking to Janet, he nudged them both towards the food table and encouraged them to get her a plate of food and something to drink, which they did happily. From her position in Chase's arms, Carson watched her brother with a smile on her lips.
“He really is amazing,” Chase murmured in her ear.
She nodded. “And they say his gift is weak.”
Chase snorted softly. “It takes more strength to calm a wolf than it does to incite him. If he can do that to anyone, I'd say that is the strongest gift of all.”
“He can,” she whispered then turned in his arms and looked up into those fathomless twin pools of creamy chocolate. “Have I ever told you that your eyes are like endless pools of milk chocolate? I feel like I could drown in them.”
He lowered his face and gently brushed against the corner of her lips, tasting them tenderly. “Jump in whenever you want, love. I'm already lost in yours,” he murmured against her lips. Her eyes closed and she molded herself against him, fingers slipping around his neck and into the thick hair that barely kissed his shoulder. His hand splayed over her back and held her tightly to him, deepening the kiss. Inside their wolves reached out to each other. Once again his beast reminded him that she wasn’t yet blood bonded and there were a lot of unmated males roaming about. Secretly, he agreed and wished they could go ahead and get the bonding over with. It chafed him as much as his animal and he pulled her tighter into his embrace. “Mine,” he whispered huskily.
“WooHoo! Get you some, Doc!”
Carson felt her cheeks burn a deep crimson and hid her face against his chest. He chuckled softly and kissed the top of her head. “If you bunch don't find something else to do, I'm sure I can find a few dirty bedpans that needs cleaning,” he shouted over her head, his arms never leaving her. The small crowd scattered and he pulled her away slightly looking down at her and running one thumb over her jaw. “I see your mother trying to catch your attention. Let's go see what she wants before I give in to my beast and drag you off to some secluded corner and finish our bonding.”
Carson nodded and pulled out of his embrace. Immediately, he caught her hand in his, knotting his lean fingers with hers. His right arm curled around the narrow width of her waist and rested gently on her hip. It was painfully obvious to any that may look how protective of her he was. She leaned her head against his chest, inhaling his scent as they strolled together across the clearing.
On the other side, hidden in the thick shadows of the trees, another pair of eyes followed the newly mated couple. Those eyes were glowing deadly amber as he watched them walk away. The predator's lip pulled back from his mouth, gums aching for the burst of fangs and the taste of blood. A growl rumbled low in his chest.
“Jealous much?”
The question was just a touch louder than a whisper. He stiffened, testing the wind for a scent before deciding the newcomer was downwind. Slowly turning his head to look over his shoulders, his eyes flickered a moment. “Oh it's you. I thought you would have left with the rest of the council.”
“I'll be leaving soon. I wanted to see how you were faring given the circumstances.”
He snorted. “How do you think I’m faring? This ruins everything. All the plans are gone, destroyed.”
He turned his back to the bonfire and faced the shadow head on. “How did this happen? You promised me that Carson would be mine, that the beta and eventually alpha positions would be mine. You swore you had the rest of the council eating out of your hand. All I had to do was catch and imprint her.” His hands made fists, sinking his nails into his palms. He ignored the slow drip of blood as it splattered on the leaves under foot.
“There was always a chance, even with the run, that you wouldn’t succeed.”
“That’s bull and you know it. There was no question that I would win. And even had I not won, I would have still succeeded. I don't care if I had to kill every male that came close. The race should have been forced.”
“Things change. I argued very hard to continue the race. I explained to them that the view of the council should take precedence over everything else. I argued that once the will of the council was disregarded, nobody would listen to us. But, I was outvoted.” A deep breath like a low hiss sounded from the center of the shadow. “But this isn't over yet. Rest assured that Jeff Hennison will pay. This pack will pay. You'll look like a bloody savior when this is over.” The voice was thick with hatred. “We move on to 'Plan B'.”
The shadow moved and a pouch was thrust into his hand. He closed his fingers around it with a nod. He turned his head back and looked to where Carson and Chase were speaking with Jeff and Miriah. The soft laughter carried on the breeze to where he was standing, his arm protectively around her waist, her hand gently laid on his thigh. The predator seethed with jealousy. “You may want to start looking for another healer as well. We're going to need one,” he growled. Even without looking back, he knew he was once again alone. It didn't matter. When the time was right, everything would be corrected.
Everything.