A Guardians Passion (17 page)

Helena scowled. “That’s a crude way of putting it. But to clarify my meaning, too many believe that we have overstepped our boundaries and seek a more democratic view of our race. We are aware that there are stronger, powerful packs whose intelligence and strength should be at the forefront with us. Males are the might of our packs, yes. They are the enforcers and the figureheads, but as you may or may not be aware, the females are the compasses. It is the females who can channel that might, steer it, and we simply wish to be headed in a unified and stable direction.”

Freya allowed the information to sink in, studying Helena until she was certain that the silver wolf was completely serious. Helena didn’t waver. “Me? Control Fenris? Yeah, right.”

“I did go over this in my talk. Just because you spread your legs at his insistence doesn’t mean that he controls you, Freya.”

Freya had to focus to close her gaping mouth as anger warmed her cheeks. With a roll of her eyes, she tried to deny the accusation. “Bitch, please.”

Helena cleared her throat before getting another sip of tea. “Oh. I’m sorry. I meant at his labored breathing.”

Her nostrils flaring, Freya wanted to tell Helena that she had learned a few things, that she was getting a handle on the situation, and that her submission to Fenris was only occasional. But like Geraldine’s, Helena’s eyes were keen, and the matriarch was patient with bullshit, waiting like a mousetrap for Freya to take the cheese.

Freya held her tongue.

“So. Anyway,” Helena transitioned with a smile of humble victory. “Whereas we might never have been able to garner the aid of your mother, I believe that with her daughter we may have hope. You control one of the few sentient Lunas, who in turn can command the surliest of our kind. Your beta is a potentially powerful wytchen, whose full strength is only hampered by his hobbies. I would be remiss to say that we don’t need you. We do.

“There have been issues, concerns with enemies of the progress of the werewolf race from both without and within. You are a guardian, a warrior-wolf, and about to become the mother of what I expect will be a remarkable cub, maybe the first of many. All that I ask is that you consider
truly
standing with us, equally for the protection of our kind, and think about what type of world you wish your cub to inherit. So? Does it sound like something that might interest you?”

The word
no
immediately sprang to mind. Freya had her own agenda, her own plans, and while they might have been sketchy, joining forces with the Sohons hadn’t been one of them. She suspected that few had received such an offer. She wasn’t proud of being among the selected, but she was curious. Threats to her race or to Bun’s future couldn’t be tossed out just because his mother longed for adrenaline rushes and combat. Helena had stated that she needed the feral contingent, and Freya would be damned if there wasn’t a healthy selection back at the lodge.

Her head ached as she peered into the rabbit hole of Helena’s offer and wondered what it would entail. “Damn. I need a drink.”

Raising the kettle of water, Helena gestured for Freya to hand over her cup for a refill. “In three more months, I suspect,” she said. “Well, that and another six months for breast-feeding. There is a session on that tomorrow. You’ll want to make that.”

Freya wanted to tell Helena that she was already an expert on breast-feeding, but the Sohon matriarch once again took the air from her.

“The session focuses on cubs, not grown or greedy males,” Helena added.

Chapter Ten

The idea of sitting in a ballroom, listening to jazz music, and sipping mock cocktails while wearing gowns that sparkled did not appeal to Freya, even if they were serving steak six ways, rack of lamb, roasted duck with plum glaze, and carousels of pastries. She had weightier issues to contemplate, especially due to her talk with Helena. After leaving the Sohon’s suite, Freya returned to her room with the intent of taking a nap. Melissa was inside, packing a small duffel bag with towels. The cubs looked beyond adorable wearing their little swim shorts. Once Freya stated that she wouldn’t be attending the ball, Melissa immediately offered an invitation to the pool.

With many of the expectant mothers attending the ball, the companion mothers and cubs had a different activity scheduled for the night, a pool party. Rambunctious cubs had little interest in extravagance, fashion, or champagne flutes, so a more festive menu and set of events were planned for them.

Freya needed to clear her mind and was not enthusiastic about being left alone with her thoughts. She accepted the invitation to accompany Melissa and carry the very appreciative and breast-obsessed Bryant.

The pool was in an indoor enclosure. It wasn’t Olympic-size by any means, but there was plenty of room for the dozens of cubs of various ages to play. Many of the mothers were relaxing on lawn chairs and enjoying drinks and snacks provided by the few attending omegas. The cubs, some as young as the twins and others older, needed little help swimming among many of the floating toys; however, there were three omegas in the water supervising.

While it was easy for Freya to just lie back on a lounge chair, enjoying a virgin colada and skewered shrimp, even the echoing yips and snarls within the pool room did little to ease the weight of her thoughts.

Freya was almost relieved when Melissa, separated from her by a table, urged her to speak her mind. She told Melissa of Helena’s offer. Melissa had already proved that she wasn’t the criticizing type, and Helena hadn’t mentioned any need for secrecy. Aside from Benna, Melissa was the only person Freya felt that she could discuss her concerns with. “I mean, I’m not completely diplomatic. I know how to negotiate with my fists, how to strangle a son of a bitch out of some info, but sitting around and discussing shit? I don’t know…”

Melissa shrugged a brown shoulder, taking in Freya’s rant with ease. She waved off Freya’s worries. “Whatever. I think you should do it. I think you should take Helena up on her offer. If they really are forming some kind of council, then there should be a bit of badass element involved. I mean, what do the Sohons know about hunting and brawling? They’ve evolved. And even though they do a lot of charity, there are more than enough wolves out there that don’t look kindly on handouts from the upper class. The Sohons can’t reach them, but you could.”

Freya wondered at Melissa’s meaning, jokingly. “Why? Because I have the look of the downtrodden?”

“You have the look of a wolf—not a vamp, not a fae, not a human, but a wolf. There are no airs about you. Even ferals would listen to what you had to say.”

Freya agreed. “Helena knows. She mentioned it even.” Over her fifty years, she had encountered wolves living in squalor, in cabins high in the woods, who would scoff at the idea of flushing toilets or microwaves. Her mother certainly didn’t have one. “They want the allegiance of the ferals, their might if needed. They think that they can get it through me.”

“And they could.”

Freya looked across the table and saw sincerity gazing back at her. That Melissa was basing her decisions on impressions more than facts was a point that Freya couldn’t shake. “I’m a fighter, not a negotiator.”

Melissa was distracted by the familiar snarling of one her cubs. She sat up in her chair and peered out at the pool, where Bryant and Ryant had teamed up to harass another cub. One of the omegas worked diligently to break up the fight, clutching them by the scruffs. Despite the twins turning their deviousness upon him, the omega eventually got the situation under control.

Tentatively, Melissa relaxed on her lounger. She picked up her drink only when satisfied that her boys were distracted by the balls placed in front of them rather than seeking further prey. “From what I know about you, yes, you can handle yourself. From what I know about Ulfur, some of the baddest curs in the world hit that place up, and if your male runs that spot, then hell yeah, I see her point. You would be the perfect one to recruit.”

Freya’s attention had been stolen by the incident in the pool as well. Thinking of the twins, she tried to imagine raising a cub and dealing with skeptical wolves at the same time. Ulfur was one thing, but trying to talk to more antisocial weres… Well, it could be exciting. Part of her was already convinced that the job would be a good one, interesting at the least.

“What do you think Fenris will say? You think he’ll be against it?” Melissa asked.

“No.” Freya balked, thinking of her alpha. While his possessiveness had reached entirely new heights with her pregnancy, Fenris admired her fight and her decisions. She didn’t doubt that if she even mentioned him going to battle, he would. Altruism was his nature, as she had learned the moment she first arrived at the spa he and Rayne owned. If a wolf wanted to come and couldn’t pay for lodging, neither Fenris nor Rayne cared. They would provide a bed, clothing, or even a few bucks if necessary. No, he would be all too agreeable. When she turned to Melissa, it was with a poorly disguised grin. “He’d be into it. He’s a…my, um…my…”

Melissa chuckled knowingly. “Child, go ahead and say it. It ain’t gonna kill ya.”

Freya tossed back the remainder of her drink, the refreshment clearing her head. “Okay,” she resolved. “He’s my…my motherfucker.” There simply was no better way of putting it.

“Hell yeah,” Melissa snarled. “You know it, girl!” Melissa leaned over and presented her fist, which Freya enthusiastically pounded.

“I still want to talk it over with him before I make any solid decisions.”

“You may have to put out a little extra,” Melissa added with an evil laugh.

“I have to do that anyway.” She chuckled at the thought of intimate negotiations. “No, he’ll be all for it. It’s me that’s the real issue. Bun might need me.”

“So you thinking about toning it all back now? Dropping the bounties?”

Freya clutched her head, which had begun a subtle pounding. “I wasn’t thinking about advising on a damn council. I will tell you that much.”

“Girl, please. You’ll have the inside knowledge. You’ll be able to influence the world your cub—hell, all our cubs will be living in. I say you should jump at the chance.”

“The only thing I want to jump into is a good night’s sleep.”

“Good luck on getting that.” Melissa sighed. She waved over an omega to refill her drink, making sure that one was coming before turning back to look at Freya over her shoulder. “As soon as you finish cooking one, your boys will steady be trying to get another
Bun
in the oven. Hope you at least got something from Helena’s seminar or plan on attending the family planning and birth control workshops.”

“Yup, tomorrow at ten a.m.” It was a “can’t miss” session. Bun might have been a surprise gift, but further cubs would certainly be planned, and she was eager to know how. The seminar boasted a witch-wolf moderator who, if nothing more, could tell her how to cope with her new fertility and deal with Rayne, her own crafty wytchen. “The Sohons, they really do have something special here. Gotta admit it.”

With her newly refreshed drink in hand, Melissa turned away from the server. “Yeah. And you should be a part of it. We
all
should.”

Freya caught the meaning immediately. Life was hard enough being a were, trying not only to evade the human majority but to deal with the competition of other races in hiding. Maybe there might have been a time when packs could go it alone, but those times were getting rarer by the day. While she wasn’t certain she was the right person to recruit, Freya could certainly be an ambassador for listening. “Yeah. Yeah, we should,” Freya agreed.

Just sitting back and observing the interactions of mothers and cubs who would probably never have had the opportunity to be among so many of their kind, never had the chance to compare notes, share stories, learn… Freya knew a good thing, and others would too, starting with her mother. Freya was imagining what her first attempt would be, sitting down with a skeptic, detailing why having a connection with other wolf packs was a necessary evil, a beneficial experience. She could already hear Geraldine sucking her teeth and see those rolling those dark eyes.

“Bryant! Bry. Dammit,” Melissa suddenly swore after hearing the very shrill cry of an adult male. The same omega who had formerly broken up the attack of the twins was reeling from a determined bout of revenge. Melissa got up from her lounge chair and stomped over to the pool to handle the cubs herself.

Freya was in the middle of smirking at the other mother’s frustration when she heard the deafening roar of an explosion. The ground began to shake. The force of the blast shattered the windows and stressed the walls instantaneously.

Freya sprang out of her chair, clutching her belly protectively as tables toppled over, tiles broke free of the wall to shatter upon the ground, and water sloshed about. The concussive sounds of several large explosions, one after the other, rang out in tandem with the shaking of the room. One explosion shook free the concrete and tile behind the very spot where Freya had been sitting, sending debris flying.

She kept one hand up and used the other to shield her face as the wall crumbled completely. Screams and cries resounded behind her, but Freya was speechless as the smoke billowed through what had once been a barrier. Assaulted by a familiar smell of oranges and sage, Freya frowned, wondering where she had encountered such a scent before. She didn’t have long to scour her memory as the first beast walked in through the gaping hole.

Everyone who had been seated along the row with Freya had fled to the far side of the room, many having gone to retrieve their children from the water. Freya stood her ground nearly ten feet away from the rubble as the smoke cleared and an eight-foot-tall beast was revealed.

It was an asprega.

The asprega possessed pale, white-blue skin with a near reptilian texture. The creature was covered in a multitude of rune-like brands, possessing a pushed-up snout and pointed ears very reminiscent of a bat. It had a mouth full of sharp teeth and claws to rival even a wolf’s. Streaming white-blue hair flowed from atop its head and between its legs barely covering the indicator of it sex. The asprega was male, not that she had ever seen a female, with lanky, long limbs and sinewy muscles. Its scream was that of a bird of prey, followed by several clicking sounds. If Freya had to rate asprega on a scale of one to ten, from pixie to Luna in viciousness, then the asprega would have been an easy nine and a half.