The blood pack (book six)

Chapter two

~Jonny~

“Natasha, man I could have told you that she was only in it for herself.” Ste told me as we sparred against each other in front of the pack house, having completed our runs around the territory.

“Seriously Ste, is there anyone that you have not slept with around here.” I sighed, not expecting an actual answer, although I am sure that the list of who he had not slept with was shorter than the list that he had.

“I may have been a man w***e once upon a time, but now I have Iona and Leon, I would not go back to those days even if you paid me.” My blood pumped through my veins at his words, the adrenaline from our work out spurring me on as I managed to land a blow straight on his jaw making him stumble back. “Jesus Jonny, rein it in a little.” He gritted out, rubbing his face.

“Sorry about that.” I breathed out. I may love the guy, and be happy that he found his mate, but it was hard enough to see them together without him rubbing it in my face like that.

“Let’s call it there for today.” Theo called out, the six of us happy to head back inside to try and warm up a little. As soon as the pack house door opened, we were engulfed by the smell of Jen’s cooking and the sound of the children refusing to sit at the children’s table.

“I am old enough to sit with you guys!” Hendrix yelled as I walked into the dinning room, crossing his arms as he glared at Alpha Ash.

“If he is old enough, then so am I!” Rose added, glaring at Cassy, the twins were both as dominant as each other, which was not surprising given who their parents were.

“But then who would look after Allison and Jason?” Cassy said, looking at the two quiet children who were waiting patiently to be given their breakfast while Leon and Launa sat in their high chairs, Launa struggling to get out and be with the others. “As Alpha female and Alpha, it is your job to put what you want to one side and do what is best for your pack.”

Hendrix and Rose looked at each other, seeming to communicate telepathically before they turned back to their parents. “Fine.” Hendrix gritted out, still pouting slightly.

“But can Launa join us? I promise Aunt Niomi, I will take good care of her.” Rose smiled innocently.

Niomi laughed slightly. “Okay, but you will have to help her cut up her food.”

“I will.” Rose quickly replied, walking over to the side of Launa’s high chair and pulling off the trey like she had seen the adults do so many times before, helping the young wolf down before taking her hand and walking her over to the children’s table.

“They grow up so fast.” Niomi whispered, her voice croaking slightly, to which Luke grunted his agreement.

“Oh Jonny, I am sorry that your date went badly last night.” Jen smiled sympathetically as she placed a plate piled high with sausages on the table.

“No luck?” Paul asked, looking at me hopefully, as if Jen would have been mistaken. I knew he was holding out as much as I was for one of us to find our mates, giving the other renewed hope that they were still out there somewhere. His face fell as I shook my head, taking my seat beside him as everyone started to fill up their plates and those of their mates while I stared at the table, not wanting to be brought down further by seeing the mushy displays.

Alpha Ash was about to sit down, when his phone started to ring out loudly. He pulled it out of his pocket, looking at the name on the screen before answering. “Father?” He answered, walking out of the room before any of us could hear what the phone call was about.

The table broke out into comfortable conversation, Peter telling Felix about the cars they had in at the mechanics, Trev and Dawn geeking out about the new hardwear they had gotten for their computers, Sanna telling Theo about her plans at the gardening centre to help keep the flowers from wilting in the cold weather, while me and Paul discussed the few jobs we had on at the moment. Business was a little slower than usual, only a few repairs to roofs mainly and checking insulation given how cold it was getting. People did not usually plan for extensions when it was minus five outside, given that it usually meant having part of your house open to the elements for months at a time.

The conversations died down as Alpha Ash walked back in, a big smile on his face. “I have some good news.” He said, walking over to Cassy and picking her up from her seat before taking it as his own and placing her on his lap. “Thanks to Dawn’s suggestion about using the money we recovered from Tallen Corp to set up lone wolf shelters around the country, the council has finally agreed to let a few packs help with the project and they are going to start breaking ground as soon as possible.”

“That is great!” Dawn smiled as others around the table patted her on the back and Niomi looked like she was ready to tear up again. Niomi had been a lone wolf for years, not having a place to turn to, she knew the struggles others like her faced and how much places like this were needed.

“There is a plan to build a shelter in town, given how many packs there are, it is likely that it would be a good place to set one up as wolves naturally seek out each other. The idea is that instead of feeling like they have to join one of the packs, they can go to the shelter and get the help that they need without feeling pressured to join any of the packs. It will also be a place where wolves can drop off children, no questions asked, to help alleviate the strain on families without the children going into the human care system and being mistreated.” Peter and Felix looked at each other, a renewed hope in their wish to have a child of their own one day. “Jonny and Paul, I know that you have a few jobs on at the moment, but once they are done I want you to give your complete attention to the shelter. An old abandoned building has been chosen as the site, but it is more than a fixer upper, you will have your hands full with getting that place up and running.”

“Alpha.” Me and Paul both nodded, and I knew that Paul was thinking the same things as me. Neither of us minded having our hands full, it meant that we had less time to think about how little else we had going on and how lonely we both were.

~Julie~

Me and my twin sister Elliot, walking into the small back alley tattoo parlor. From the outside, and even the inside for that matter, the place looked like any other place where you could come and have your individuality painted on your skin. The walls were lined with flowers, skulls and cartoons, some designs, some images of past works, a small seating area with a leather sofa and more magazines that contained further images as well as articles about the latest tattoo equipment. In the back of the room were cushioned black beds, a guy chatting away to Steph as the buzzing of her tattoo gun filled the air. She wiped down the excess ink, looking up to see who had walked in.

“Hey you two.” Steph smiled, her septum piercing seeming to make her smile look even wider than it was. “Diana is upstairs.” The two of us nodded to Steph who got back to work and the two of us walked through the curtain of beads and up the stairs.

Diana’s room was not something that you would see every day, unless you were watching a corny witch TV show. It had a round table in the middle, covered in a velvet cloth, her tarot cards laid neatly on top, the walls were lined with jars and books containing all she would need to cast any spell. “Ahh, you’re back.” Diana smiled, walking away from one of the book cases. “Was it hard to get hold of the herbs I needed?”

“Not really.” Elliot shrugged. We may both be witches, but we were also half wolf. When our pack and coven kicked us out, labelling us as abominations, we had lived alone for a long time before we met Diana. Diana was not like other witches, she did not seem to care who came knocking at her door and was willing to help anyone for a price. She gave me and Elliot a purpose, and in exchange for helping us with our magical side, we would head out to find all the ingredients that she needed. It felt a little like we did not give her enough, given all she did for us, but we were more like friends or family now than casual acquaintances, and that meant a lot to me and my wolf, even if I did not have the best of relationships with that part of myself.

Elliot pulled out the small bags, placing them on the table so that Diana could put them in the correct jars. “How has business been?” I asked, making small talk while she worked.

“Slow.” Diana sighed. “No one wants to venture out in this cold snap we are having. I don’t think it will be long before it starts to snow. Maybe you two should think of staying here for a while.”

I looked at Elliot, giving her the look I always gave when I was not sure what to say. Even though it was cold outside, and me and Elliot tended to sleep in some of the abandoned buildings around town, we both enjoyed the freedom that gave us. Staying around here too long would make our wolves more edgy than they already were, given our lack of shifting. As usual, Elliot was not afraid to speak her mind.

“You know my wolf can’t stand the smell of this place for too long, no offence.” Elliot laughed, making it into a small joke, even though the powerful aromas from all the herbs was enough to make me curse my enhanced sense of smell.

“Maybe you two should try to get more in touch with those little creatures inside of you. I know you are both part witch, but you are part wolf as well. It will do you no good trying to hide from half of who you are.” Diana told us, placing one of the jars back on the shelves as she gave us a pointed look, showing that she knew us too well.

“It is easy for you to say. You have never been rejected by your own kind, twice.” Elliot growled slightly, her eyes flashing to those of her wolf for a moment before she shook her head and they returned back to normal.

“I am not exactly on the witch's christmas card list, but I get your point.” Diana shrugged, not at all offended by Elliot’s outburst. “There, all sorted. Come back in a week or two and we will practice some more on your spell casting, I think I have a new method that will help the two of you to work better when you combine your magic together.”

The two of us nodded, saying our goodbyes before we walked back down the stairs and out of the parlor, Steph still chatting away to her client like they were old friends. “Maybe we should think about taking Diana up on her offer.” I said, wrapping my arms around myself as we walked back into the cold.

Elliot mirrored my actions as we walked slowly down the street. “You know I like Diana as much as you do, but you also know that our wolves are always in control, no matter how much we fight them.” She shook her head. “I am sure the cold will pass soon enough.” We continued down the street, turning on to the road with the big abandoned hall which was one of our favourite places to crash.

As we walked up to the metal fence that surrounded the structure, we saw a sign hanging from two of the poles. We looked at each other confused, neither of us remembering the sign being there when we left a few days ago. Circling around we stopped in front of the sign reading what it said.

“A f*****g shelter for lone wolves.” Elliot growled. “What a joke!” Even though me and Elliot were twins, she was much more hot headed than I was, and I could tell that one of her favourite haunts being taken away from us was making her even more on edge than she usually was. “Oh great, now I need to f*****g shift.”

I looped my arm through my sisters, pulling her closer to me. “Come on, let’s head to the woods and then we will go over the abandoned church on fifth street.” I offered lightly, knowing to tread carefully when she got like this.

“Fine.” Elliot huffed. “But I swear to god, those werewolf fuckers better not start sniffing around there as well. They have already taken enough from us.” I nodded my head, my heart sinking slightly as I knew just how right Elliot was. I shook off the feeling, knowing how deep though wounds still where, instead focusing on getting to the woods so we could both blow off some much needed steam.