Territory (9 page)

Kya ripped up her buttered toast and tossed it into the bowl. She ate quickly, wanting to sneak out while everyone was still engaged in their breakfast. A bowl and cup of coffee were set in the place just across from her as Mama slowly sat.

“Well?
Is
it just right?”

Kya smiled, licking butter from her lips. “It
is
. Thank you. I was starving.”

“No need to ever be hungry in this house. You come down here anytime you want and fix yourself something to eat.”

Kya smiled her appreciation as Mama took a bite of her cereal. Kya looked over her shoulder to find the majority of the women still filling their bowls, dolloping butter, pouring sugar, and stirring coffee. “Mama,” she began tentatively. The word was so foreign to her that it felt odd rolling off her tongue.

“No. I-I know what it means. What I want to know is…” Kya looked over her shoulder again to make sure no one was eavesdropping. The chatter coming from the women milling about the kitchen was loud enough to satisfy her. “Briggs knew what I’d dreamt.”

Mama nodded knowingly.

“He knew everything. Not just what happened in my dream, but how I felt, what I was afraid of, what had happened. He knew before I had even woken up.”

Mama looked up from her bowl, taking a sip of her black coffee. “It’s your bond.”

“I don’t think it can be. Briggs has…well he’s decided to never take a mate. He doesn’t want me. And I don’t…” Kya dipped her head lower and whispered, “I don’t
feel
pain when he touches me. I don’t think we’re meant for each other. I think it was a mistake.”

Mama pulled her glasses off and hiked up the hem of her white apron, cleaning the lenses as she spoke. “I’ve seen it before. Too many times. Two wolves trying to fight the bond they have with each other. It doesn’t matter that you don’t feel pain when you touch. It doesn’t matter that he’s declared never to take a mate. Nothing that has happened before you two met even matters. What matters is that you two are bound. If he’s feeling pain by touching you that means that he has accepted his fate, he will accept you.

Right now his mind is just too damn stubborn to accept a decision that his body…his heart has already made. You on the other hand.” Mama replaced her glasses and wagged a finger at Kya. “You are different. You are special. Your mind
and
your heart have both decided that you don’t want to be a wolf. That is why you feel nauseous when you should feel longing. That is why you feel nothing when you should feel pain. That is why you’ll feel emptiness when you should feel love. You’ve already got it all figured out. Your mind and heart are working together to keep
you
safe. The problem is you
are
a wolf and that cannot be denounced. You cannot deny who you are. You cannot deny
what
you are.

I have lived many years and seen many things. The one thing that I can guarantee you young lady is that you and Briggs
will
be mates. It cannot be changed, it will not be ignored, it will not be denied. If he is reading your dreams it is only a matter of time before he claims you.”

Mama grabbed a piece of toast and dunked it into her porridge, “I’m so happy he’s finally found you. He’s looked for so long, and you’re such a good girl.” Mama winked at her, “I’m hoping for many babies.”

Kya’s cheeks flamed again as she grabbed her empty bowl and stood. She didn’t know what to say to that comment so she thanked Mama for the breakfast then exited the kitchen. She heard Mama chuckling to herself as she left.

Kya took the stairs two at a time as she made her way back up to Briggs’ room. She held her breath in the hall hoping to avoid Chloe and she did.

In Briggs’ room, she quickly used the bathroom then snuck out the door he’d carried her through the night before. Descending the back steps, she peered back over her shoulder to make sure she wasn’t being followed. As she reached the bottom of the landing, the soft wet grass squished under her foot.
Great! It rained.
Kya looked up at the ominous sky, dark with rolling gray clouds.

Kya didn’t have time for games; she had to catch the pack. “Look, I can’t let them go steamrolling into trouble all because Briggs feels sorry for me.”

Chloe’s eyebrows fell. “Feels sorry for you? Is that why you think he went?”

Kya rolled her eyes, not wanting to have this conversation.

“Look, Kya.” Chloe bit out angrily. “Dell gave you the option to choose your pack. You chose us and he welcomed you in. Whether you like it or not, you’re one of us now. And as one of us Dell won’t stand for anyone harming you.”

Kya’s head dropped, “So it was Dell’s choice to go?”

“No!” Chloe said too loudly. “It was Briggs that wanted to go, but he had to get permission from Dell to take pack members. Where Briggs goes to fight, Dell goes to fight. That’s how family is. That’s how
we
are.”

“We’re leaving now. The men will stop tonight for rest, so if we push hard we might catch up. You’ll lead the way.” Chloe commanded as she shifted. Her brown fur blowing as the wind picked up.

Kya eyed Hannah warily.

“Oh, I’m Stevie by the way.” The shorter woman walked up and extended her hand. Kya shook it, smiling down at the petite brown-haired woman with a button nose.

“Kya.” She responded simply.

“Enough of the bullshit, let’s go.” Hannah rolled her eyes in annoyance before she turned from Stevie and Kya and shifted.

Kya stared down at Hannah and felt her belly convulse. Hannah’s shiny red fur almost perfectly matched that of Reiner. The color was rare.
Must be unique coloring reserved for bitches and assholes!

“Let’s go!” Stevie squeezed Kya’s arm excitedly. Kya bit her lip trying to keep from laughing aloud as Stevie shifted into the smallest adult brown wolf Kya had ever seen.
Cute!
Kya laughed in her head before she shifted then took the lead.

Chapter 1
2

The pack of four females ran at a break neck pace clearing the pack’s million-acre home of Glacier National Park in what felt to Kya like mere minutes.

Kya regretted eating breakfast as the farina sat like a lump in her belly weighing her down. She’d tried to take the most direct route, but Chloe had shoved her with her shoulder several times forcing Kya to stay along the eastern edge of the Rocky Mountains. Kya didn’t know if Chloe wanted her to follow the range because it was safer for them when they were in wolf form or because Chloe knew that it was the path the men had taken. For the first time in her life Kya regretted not having the ability to communicate telepathically with other wolves.

Regardless of Chloe’s reasoning, Kya knew the Rockies, which rose dramatically over Montana’s interior plains, would lead them straight to the Front Range of Colorado.

The pack ran through the day covering rough terrain. They stopped infrequently, only every few hours when Chloe would break off and lead them to a watering hole.

Kya knew there were roughly 966 road miles from Denver to Glacier. She’d driven that in 16 hours, her old clunker she’d bought from some sleazy car lot barely breaking 65 miles per hour. It would take them at least two days to run the distance and that didn’t include breaks for sleep.

When the sun finally buried itself on the western side of the Rockies, Chloe took the lead and pushed hard, forcing her pack of females to keep pace late into the night.

Finally, when the moon rested high in the night sky, Chloe broke off again and steering the pack deep into the woods. She found a small clearing and stopped the rest of the pack forming a tight circle, panting and exhausted.

Chloe sniffed the air, and then pricked her ears. Stevie and Hannah held their breath and Kya followed suit so that Chloe could listen more carefully. Satisfied Chloe shifted. Kya turned her head away not wanting to embarrass Chloe in her nakedness.

“It’s alright girls, shift.” Chloe directed.

Kya peeked back, her mouth falling open in shock. She stared up at Chloe, stunned to find her wearing the exact clothing she’d had on when they’d shifted at the compound. Kya turned amazed eyes to Hannah and Stevie as they shifted. The clothes they’d worn that morning reforming around their bodies as they made the transition.

“Well?” Hannah snapped down at Kya impatiently.

Chloe pulled the oversized sweater she was wearing over her head. The satiny black camisole she wore under the sweater stuck to her frame as her body perspired. “Here, you can wear this.” Chloe held the garment out to Kya.

“What?” Hannah stared incredulously. “Oh my God! You don’t mean…” Hannah threw back her head and squealed with laughter, perfectly polished fingers clamped at her belly. “She can’t generate clothes?” Hannah pointed at Kya then threw her head back again as another bout of laugher escaped her.

Chloe rubbed her biceps, trying to loosen her muscles. “We’re all exhausted. And if we’re going to be any form of backup, then we
should
go in fresh or at least with some strength. Don’t you think?”

“Back up?” Kya stepped closer to Chloe, “I thought we were on a retrieval mission. Just get the men and bring them back home.”

“We were. But if we got this far in that short amount of time, it means the men are already sitting outside Theron’s territory. They
will
confront him. We can’t stop that now. What we can do is offer our support and back them up.”

Kya’s stomach twisted at the thought of Briggs stepping into Theron’s den with Reiner waiting in the wings.

“Look,” Chloe grabbed Kya’s hand rubbing in reassuringly. “If I know my Dell… and I
do
know my Dell. He’ll wait to confront Theron. He’ll want to come up with a plan of action and a back-up plan before he allows Briggs to just go barreling in there. We’re out of our territory now. There are rules to follow, etiquette to consider. In the meantime, we need to eat and rest.” Chloe looked at Hannah and Stevie before jerking her chin up at them, “You two are on hunting duty. I don’t care what you kill, but it’d better be big enough to feed the four of us.”

Stevie shifted then turned to step away, but Hannah’s whiny voice halted her.

“Why should
we
have to hunt? She’s the reason we’re all out here in the first place. Hannah jerked her thumb towards Kya without looking at her.

Chloe looked down and exhaled a deep breath before looking up and pinning Hannah with her narrowed eyes. “I’ve had it with your shit Hannah. You asked to come along, so I allowed it, against my better judgment. Now that you’re here you’ll do as I ask or you can turn around right now and haul your boney little ass back home!”

Hannah turned abruptly and shifted trotting out of the clearing and into the woods with her snout in the air like a prancing pony. Kya wasn’t sure if she was going home or going hunting, but she assumed it was the latter since Stevie followed on her heels.

“Sorry about that.” Chloe remarked as she bent and grabbed several large rocks, laying them in a circle to form a makeshift fire pit. “Hannah’s always been hard to live with, but now that you’re here…well, she’s impossible.”

“Me? What did I do to her?” Kya bent and helped Chloe.

Chloe stilled on her haunches smiling across the rock circle to Kya. “She’s infatuated with Briggs. Always has been. She thinks that they’re meant to be together and is just disgusted that they have never formed the bond as mates.”

Kya’s face blanched, “Why? Have they…” Kya’s words died off.

“No! No, nothing like that. Briggs can’t stand her. He sees her as an annoying little sister if anything, but that hasn’t stopped Hannah from throwing herself at him every chance she gets. She’s been turned down more times than a bed at the Holiday Inn.” Chloe laughed. Then smiled staring off, “I’ve been waiting for Briggs to find his mate. I’ve waited so long to lavish in Hannah’s pity party. I knew it would be epic, and she hasn’t let me down. Thank you.”

Kya stood dusting her hands off on her sweater. “I didn’t mean to cause her any distress; I don’t want to come between her and… her man.” The words nearly choked her.

Chloe stood eyeing Kya, an intensity in her eyes that Kya hadn’t seen before. “He’s
not
her man. He’s yours! Aside from Dell, he’s the best man I know. He would die for his mate. Literally die for her…for you!”

Kya fell silent and Chloe shook her head, trying to snap herself from her impassioned speech. She smiled weakly at Kya as a distant howl rent the air.