Chapter 19: Hunters
Avery stood on her balcony, surveying her territory. She slowly inhaled, the chill air a pleasant shock to her lungs. She could feel the restful energy of her mate, asleep in the room behind her, and she tried her best to calm herself. To immerse herself in the peaceful dreams of Brooke’s mind rather than dwelling in the mire of anxieties that was her own.
The Hunter pack was due to arrive in just a couple of hours and Avery was a ball of nerves. They needed the support of Boris and his wolves if they would have any hope of defeating Atticus, and Avery had no intention of letting that murderous madman beat her. But treating with the Hunters would be… tricky. To say the least. Her father would have known how to handle this so much better than she could. She wished he were there with her.
Avery looked down at her left arm, bared by the sleeveless suit she was wearing. She turned it slightly in the thin grey light filtering through the clouds. On the inside of her wrist, no bigger than her thumb, were the twin figures that represented her father and mother. She touched it with the first 2 fingers of her right hand and mentally breathed a small prayer to Goddess to protect him, wherever he was. Her mother, as well. And Joseph, and Brooke. Lastly, she prayed for herself. That she would have the strength to lead her pack through the turmoil ahead.
Avery felt Brooke beginning to stir and padded inside on soft feet. She leapt down the stairs a flight at a time. It was a game her and Joseph had played as pups, seeing who could jump down the most stairs at once and still land on their feet. It had driven their mother up the wall. Even now, a decade later, it still brought a smile to her face.
Avery walked to the kitchen, greeting each member of the pack she passed, and, mentally, many she didn’t. Her mood was infectious, the whole pack felt slightly on edge. She found the coffee pot and made Brooke a cup just the way she liked it, with non-dairy milk and extra sugar. As she made her way back up the stairs, Avery could feel Brooke’s mind awakening, stirring, like soft clouds of sun-soaked pollen. She set down the coffee on her mate’s bedside table and sat down on the bed; slowly so her weight didn’t jostle Brooke.
“Good morning, my love,” Avery crooned, her voice hardly more than a whisper.
“Mmmmmorning?” Brooke mumbled. It sounded more like a question. Avery laughed softly.
“Sort of,” Avery said. “It’s almost noon.”
“Dang, I slept a lot,” Brooke said, her eyes glazed over, her voice rough. She reached for the coffee and Avery put in into her hands. Brooke took several long sips. Avery could feel the pain starting to flare behind her eyes.
“Meds?” Avery asked. Brooke nodded, her eyes squeezed closed. Avery leapt up and dashed across the room, deftly avoiding the furniture. She found the pencil case Brooke kept her as-needed abortive meds in, and brought it over. Then she dashed into the bathroom for a glass of water. This was the last thing they needed, today of all days. Best to try and head it off at the pass.
Brooke swallowed the pills in a very specific order. Avery tried to keep her anxiety to herself but failed.
“I better get dressed,” Brooke said, trying to stand and grimacing in pain. “The delegation.”
“Take it easy, babe,” Avery said, holding her arms to steady her. “Let me get them for you. What do you want to wear?”
“I don’t care, anything comfortable.”
Avery pressed at the spot in between her eyebrows, as if that would do anything, and walked to the closet. It was best for both of them to conserve Brooke’s energy today. She picked out a blue cotton blouse and a black skirt with a loose waistband. She also grabbed some thick socks and underwear. No bra, though. Brooke didn’t wear bras on migraine days.
She brought the clothes back into the bedroom where Brooke had managed to sit up and was sipping her coffee and water alternately. It never ceased to astound Avery how much time and attention it took for Brooke to keep her body functioning, when for Avery, and most of the hyper-fit werewolves she’d been surrounded by her entire life, it was effortless. Avery laid the clothes on the bed. She walked back out onto the balcony while Brooke dressed.
Avery decided to mindlink Rachel. She wanted to check in to see how she was feeling about seeing her old pack, lead by her parents, for the first time in six years.
Are you okay? she asked.
I’ll be fine, Rachel responded immediately. Ever the dutiful Beta.
Seriously, you don’t need to be there.
I’ll be fine. Alex will come.
I’m mated now too. I know that’s not a cure-all.
I’ll be fine.
Avery couldn’t blame Rachel for not wanting to talk about her former pack. They had some… extreme viewpoints. She was sure they would have lots to say about both of them having human mates. Boris already hated the idea of his daughter being a Beta.
If you’re sure… But feel free to recuse yourself at any time.
I hate when you send fancy words through the mindlink. They smell confusing. And musty.
Avery laughed, then severed the link.
An hour later all the senior pack members and their immediate family were assembled on the south lawn behind the pack house, facing the woods. The birds in the trees had all fallen silent at the nearby presence of the approaching wolf pack. Brooke sat in a chair next to her, a blanket over her lap, wearing thick sunglasses. Her pain had been held at bay by the medication, but Avery could feel it pressing at the periphery of her nerves. Rachel stood by her other side, her face sour stone, her arm wrapped protectively around Alex’s shoulders.
Avery saw a stirring in the underbrush and a large brown wolf sprang forth from the cover of the trees. He stood, chest out, nose twitching. His large tawny head swung back around towards the trees, and about a dozen wolves emerged. All were shades of brown or grey. The two largest wolves, the Alpha and Luna, Rachel’s parents, approached, leading their pack behind them.
Boris and Elaine were imposing figures, as large as Avery and with a grace of bearing that suggested they were some sort of werewolf royalty. Boris’s fur was a bright tawny brown with accents of dark grey and brown, and his eyes were the blue of the sea on a stormy afternoon. His mate, Elaine, was a deep steel grey with a white blaze on her chest and a black nose, and her eyes were a pale green, the color of lichen. They both sniffed in Avery’s pack’s direction, but said nothing, forcing her to speak first.
“Welcome, Boris,” Avery said, addressing their alpha first as was customary.” And to you, Elaine.” The grey Luna bowed her head slightly in acknowledgement. “May Goddess grant you and your pack strength and good hunting on my lands.”
Her power to you, as well, Boris responded mentally. The scent of his mind was deep and robust, with an acrid vein of bitterness running through it. Avery heard Sebastian’s voice behind her. She’d assigned him to translate for the humans. If she tried to insist that they meet in human form, the talks would be over before they even began.
Where shall I instruct our warriors to settle in for our stay? Elaine asked, her mind carrying a smell of icy politeness. Neither of the leaders had so much as glanced in Rachel’s direction, but Avery noticed the other wolves of the Hunter pack staring at her and Alex. She could feel Rachel’s simmering irritation. Perhaps it would be best to disperse the crowd a bit.
“Those who wish to remain in wolf form can make themselves comfortable in the North woods, if that is acceptable to you,” Avery said. “We could use the extra noses in that direction to smell for lycans.” Boris nodded, approving.
We’ll eradicate that scum for you, don’t worry. Anyone else might have taken umbrage at being housed in the most dangerous section of her territory, but Avery knew that Boris would see it as an insult to be sent anywhere else. She might not have treated with him much herself, but she had met him many times when her father was Alpha, and heard many things from Rachel and Cora, besides.
“As for any of you who’d like accommodation for your human forms, Joseph can show you to some spare rooms in our pack house.” Avery gestured at the large former school building that was their home. Several of the wolves seemed to show interest, but Boris turned his head towards them and bared his teeth slightly.
The woods will do just fine, Elaine sent. I speak for all of us. Come. The last was directed towards her pack who followed her as she loped gracefully off, disappearing into the North woods. Avery instructed all her nonessential pack members to return to the house.
Uptight bitch, Rachel sent to only Avery.
You can still back out, if you want. You don’t have to come to this meeting. Avery sent back, suffusing the thought with a scent of understanding.
Yes, I do, Rachel snapped. I’m Beta. You know what he’d say if I wasn’t there. Avery sighed mentally and broke the link. She did know. She took a half-step to her side and rested a hand on Brooke’s shoulder, using their bond to calm herself. Every time she remembered how Boris and his mate had treated her best friend it made her want to fight him. She hated that their packs were forced to work together, but she had no other choice. None of the other North American packs were both close enough and on good enough terms with her own to be willing to help. Not even her cousin’s pack. They had answered her father’s call for help during the last lycan war, and lost many because of it. In the years since, they’d become isolationist, rarely taking in anyone and never venturing far from their territory in northwest Mexico. Brooke’s thoughts felt intimidated and stressed.
“Would you like some time to settle in, or should we get right to business?” she asked Boris. He stood now, alone, atop a large flat rock, facing a group of 7. She had allowed Sebastian to stay so he could translate. She could easily have had Jade or Benjamin do it, but Sebastian was Brooke’s friend, and Avery knew she felt more comfortable with him there.And, unlike Joseph, he wouldn’t supplement the translation with his own wisecracks.
Business first, I think, Boris snorted. The New moon will be here in five days. We need to hit them first. Hard. Avery nodded.
“Very well, to business it is. Would you care to follow me to our Night Tree?”
Yes. Shift, and lead the way.
I’ll be staying in my human form, for the benefit of our human Lunas. For the first time, Boris’s sea-blue eyes shifted towards Brooke and Alex and the sneering, derisive ooze that suffused his thoughts made Avery want to tear his fur out strand by strand. She could feel Rachel on the brink of losing control. If you have a problem with that, you can take it up with Jade. Avery opened her mind so the other werewolves could hear her. At her words, Jade flashed her bright white, human teeth in a sinister leer. Boris huffed, but said nothing. Even other packs knew of Jade. It wasn’t often that a werewolf was mated with a lycan, and it was even rarer to see someone still functional after losing their mate. Jade would never be the same, but she was still there, still strong. And Boris respected strength.
Lead the way.
Avery did.