Legend (A Wolf Lake Novella) (15 page)

A soft whimper drew Sam's attention. A moment later a small blonde head slipped under Nafarius' arm to lick at Sam's muzzle.
Maddie
, Sam thought and stepped around Nafarius to greet her friend.

Maddie greeted Sam by rolling to the ground and onto her back.

Sam felt a vicious hunger spear through her gut, her wolf recognizing the tender flesh of neck and belly.
So easy to kill
, she thought. Too easy. Maddie wouldn't be able to fight back, stood no chance against Sam. And in that moment she knew, her wolf recognizing a submissive member, someone to be protected. Not eaten.

The knowledge helped steady Sam, so she was able to lean forward, gently taking Maddie's neck between her teeth, asserting her position without causing harm.

Releasing her, Sam nuzzled Maddie's chin in affection before nudging her to the side.

Nafarius stood proud as each pack member came forward, offering Sam some sign of submission.
The mate of my heart
, he thought.
 

Roland watched from the shadows, as Sam was accepted into the pack and felt joy. Her joy. It was pure and good and for one precious moment, he remembered what it felt like to be that free, to trust that completely in the security of belonging. He envied her in that moment.
 

Sam saw Roland slip from the shadows, his scar appearing larger, covering more of his face now that he was in wolf form. She waited, wondering what he would do. Roland had been against her presence from the beginning, noone more vocal in their disapproval. What would he do now that she was no longer human?

Nafarius felt himself tense as his beta approached his mate. Roland was his best friend, there was no one he trusted more, but in that moment, Nafarius knew that he would kill the male before allowing him to harm his mate.
 

Roland felt Nafarius' aggression, a stinging sensation through the pack bond that reminded him of a swarm of bees. It was unpleasant and Roland had to resist the urge to appease his alpha. He would only do this once, some part of him knowing that it was now or never.
 

Sam stood staring up at Roland and waited. As each member had come forward, she had been able to recognize their place - not only as it related to her but where they fit in with the rest of the pack. The information flowing to her in much the same way she received information from Nafarius through the mating bond.

Roland watched her eyes, saw something move behind them that wasn't just wolf and knew. With a
huff
of something akin to amusement, Roland slowly lowered his head just enough to guarantee she could reach, lifted his jaw and gave her his neck.

Sam took him between her teeth.

Roland waited, expecting her to immediately release him. He recognized her as alpha female but theirs was likely to be a more complicated relationship. Roland was in some ways more dominant than Sam, physically able to take her down. But there was something
more
to Sam, something that put her in line with Nafarius and therefore dominant to Roland.
Shit was never easy with her
, he thought.
 

Mindful that she could rip out his throat if she chose to, Roland tried pulling free.

Sam issued a low growl of warning. She had recognized the nuances to their positions, knew that she was going to have many challenges ahead when in came to her relationship with Roland. She also knew that his had been a symbolic show of submission. It wasn't for her.
 

Roland planted his paws and tugged, growled with displeasure. Physical strength didn't matter now that she had his neck between her teeth. He could fight her but any effort on his part to get her loose risked ripping out his own throat. Mindful of the lesson, Roland surrendered, waiting for Sam to release him.

Sam felt him settle and immediately let go. Before he knew what she intended, she had leaned forward knocking him in the chest with her head.
You big jerk
, she thought, and felt his amusement.
 

Sam's joy was cut short when she spied Rose approaching. The other woman walked forward, head held high and Sam knew she had no intention of submitting. Thinking back to her conversation with Maddie, Sam knew it was time to do something.

Nafarius was surprised when Sam leapt at Rose, closing the distance and forcing the other woman back.
 

Sam didn't hesitate, didn't give the other woman the chance to recover. Her wolf recognized a challenger, a threat to her position as alpha and attacked.
 

Rose scrambled to get out of the way, narrowly escaping as Sam snapped at her heels. Turning, Rose reared up, tried to come down on top of Sam.
 

Not bothering to evade, Sam stepped in closer, and raked her claws across Rose's soft underbelly, blood splattering across the dusty ground.
 

Rose snarled at the injury, shook it off.

The two wolves clashed, neither one having a clear upper hand.
 

Sam heard the snap of Rose's teeth as they passed dangerously close to her ear. Rose was going for the tender bits, injuries that wouldn't kill but would cause considerable pain.

Sam went for the kill.

Nafarius stood watching as the two females fought for dominance. He could feel Sam's concentration through the mating bond, knew that she was working hard to gain the advantage. Rose had experience on her side, but very little training, having avoided the required sparring sessions whenever possible. As a new wolf, Sam was more raw power and determination.
 

Sam watched Rose set up for another attack and mentally smiled. The woman was predictable, coming at Sam the same way every time. Feigning a stumble, Sam watched as Rose lunged, coming in high and trying to body slam Sam off balance.

Feeling a spike of fear through the mating bond, and something she couldn't identify from the pack, Sam let her body go limp, the unexpected shift causing Rose to shoot passed her. Jaws snapping, Sam latched on to Rose's neck, threw her weight back and slammed Rose to the ground.

The scent of fresh blood exploded in the air, several wolves howling in appreciation.

Rose struggled, tried to roll onto her feet.

Sam growled and bit down harder. She could taste blood, felt the woman's throat starting to crush under the power of her jaws.

Rose's paws twitched, the mark of a defeated animal until finally she lay still and unmoving.

Sam growled low in her throat, struggled against the instinct to shake Rose until her neck snapped. She wanted to feel that death between her jaws, wanted to experience the rending of flesh and the thrill of the kill.

Rose may be pack, she thought, but she was Sam's enemy.
 

"Sam."

Sam rolled her eyes up to find Nafarius standing close by, the rest of the pack watching, approval evident in their eyes. She could feel it then, the pack bond having settled into place. Acceptance.
 

Slowly, she released Rose, left her laying on the ground to lick her wounds, and went to her mate.

Nafarius waited to shift until she stood by his side. When it was done, he stood tall, the largest of the wolves with dark red fur and gold eyes.
 

Sam recognized her mate, could feel him flowing through their bond. They were connected on so many levels - through the mating bond as well as the pack bond. There wasn't a corner of her being that he didn't touch, a hurricane of emotion with the two of them at the eye of the storm.
 

She went to him, licked at his muzzle before tipping her head to the side and offering her neck. She may be alpha female, but Nafarius would always be Alpha.

Nafarius took her between his teeth, noting that while she offered him her neck she had stayed on her feet, standing as his equal.
No,
he thought,
she would never crawl to him - or anyone for that matter.
Releasing her, he tipped his head back and howled. Joined by the entire pack, the sound was one of victory and celebration.

Sam was aware of a hunger, a burning building in her belly until it threatened to overshadow everything else. She needed to hunt, to run, to feed. Letting the others know, she signaled the start of the hunt.

Nafarius had explained that she would lead the hunt, her first test in proving to the pack that she could provide for them. He had given her a few pointers, but otherwise told her to trust her wolf. If she made it this far, her wolf would know what to do.
 

They spread out, Sam in the lead with Nafarius close behind. It didn't take long for her to find a fresh scent. This time of year, the forest was full of game.

Slipping through the forest ahead of him, Nafarius watched as Sam disappeared in the dark, her black coat the perfect camouflage for the area. She was quick and sure, following the deer's trail towards a nearby watering spot.
 

It wasn't until he almost stepped on her, her bright eyes turning to him in the dark, that he realized she'd stopped. She turned away and he saw what had caught her attention. Tucked in among the trees, a doe stood eating late summer berries.
 

Using the pack bond, Sam ordered the others to spread out, flanking the deer as she prepared to drive it deeper into the pack's territory.
 

The doe's ear twitched, its body tense, poised for escape.
 

Sam burst through the trees, the doe taking panicked flight, crashing through the forest in an attempt to escape death. She could feel the pack around her, the joy of the hunt as they spread out working together to ensure success.
 

They ran to wear the doe out, and for the sheer joy of it.

Ahead of him Nafarius saw the doe stumble, saw Sam put on a burst of speed just before gathering herself up and launching herself at the deer.

The two powerful animals collided, prey and predator rolling, one struggling for purchase, the other for life. Nafarius and the rest of the pack held back, the kill belonging to Sam.

Sam clamped down on the doe's neck, her teeth piercing the jugular. Fresh blood, hot and coppery, flooded her mouth, the scent spiking the air. Releasing the doe, Sam danced back as the animal tried to rise. Quickly, she darted back in, took hold of the animal's neck, tearing through muscle. The rush of the kill warred with her desire to ease the doe's suffering. In the end it was a quick kill, the doe dying of blood loss and shock.
 

Standing next to her kill, surrounded by pack, Sam lifted her head and howled the end of the hunt.
 

Nafarius watched as the pack descended on the doe, stronger members taking the prize share while the weaker members waited.

Sam tore off a piece of meat, dropping it by Maddie as she went to join Nafarius.
 

He licked the blood from her jaws, tasting of her kill while the pack devoured the rest. The pack was satisfied. The night was young, the rest of it belonged to them.

Using the mating bond, Nafarius urged Sam to follow him, the two of them slipping into the forest.

* * *

Nafarius woke to find Sam already in human form. They had spent the night running through the forest, finally slipping into the den as the first rays of light broke over the horizon.
 

He could see her frowning despite the dark and sensed her unease.
 

Sam silently waited while he shifted beside her.

"What's wrong?" he asked, his arm slipping around her waist.

They lay side by side, facing each other, barely a whisper between them.

"There are so many of them. I can feel them out there and in here," she said tapping at her forehead.

The pack bond.

"My wolf understands, even welcomes it." The bond had allowed her to communicate with the others while in animal form. "I guess I thought it would fade in human form."

"It should fade in time," he assured her. He didn't know if what she was experiencing was somehow different from him or if her sensitivity was because the bond was new. He'd grown up with the bond, the pack ever present. "You'll learn how to tune them out, turn the bond down until it's nothing more than a bit of background noise."

Sam nodded, pressed her forehead to his.

Nafarius wrapped his arm around her, pulled her closer. "There was a moment when I thought I'd lost you."

She slid her knee up to his hip, entwined their legs. "It all happened so fast. I knew it was the end, I couldn't reach her..."

"Your wolf?"

Sam nodded. "I could feel her, almost
see
her but it was like she didn't know I was there - didn't recognize me. The harder I reached for her, the further away she moved."

Nafarius rubbed his hand up and down her back.

"I felt myself go down, felt the pack. I heard you call out...then it all went black." Sam shivered at the memory. "Next thing I knew, you were pulling them off of me. Everything was different, for a minute I didn't know who I was. I just knew that I was in danger from the pack, but that didn't make sense because I knew they were
mine
."

The pack bond had broken open, thoughts and feelings from sixty-three different people flooding her at once. It had taken everything she had just to keep her feet under the onslaught.
 

"The mating bond." Sam said, searching his face. "It changed when I did."

Nafarius nodded. "I felt it."

"What was that?" she asked, though she already suspected.

"Wolves mate for life," he said in answer.

"If something happens to either one of us...?"

"There's a good chance the other wouldn't survive it." That wasn't strictly true. With his strength as alpha and born a werewolf, Nafarius might be able to survive the severing of the mating bond. As a newly made werewolf, Sam would not.
 

Sam tucked her head under his chin, snuggled closer. "Then lets make sure nothing happens to either one of us."

"There's more," Nafarius said.

"I'm not sure how much more I can handle right now," Sam muttered into his chest.