Wolven Rising: Untold Stories

GR-6: Collision

Shasta

I was going crazy with boredom. Kendria was off at the banquet, Harlie was more than happy to spend the evening endlessly scrolling through her phone, the rest of our delegation were already getting ready for bed, and there was nothing to do within the confines of the guestroom. I thought about taking a walk, but I didn't want to set the Harvest Moon pack on edge. After all, we were basically rogues to them. It wouldn't be good for our efforts at legitimization to make people nervous.

I paced another lap around the room. I had been reading for awhile, but I was feeling increasingly claustrophobic in the unfamiliar room. There were too many new sights, sounds, and smells to feel comfortable.

"That's it," I muttered, snatching my book from the bed where it lay facedown. "I've got to get out of here." Even though it wasn't a good idea to leave the packhouse, maybe I could find some quiet room to read that didn't make me feel quite so contained. Otherwise, I was well on my way to a full-blown panic attack.

It had only been a few weeks since I'd gotten my act together, but I felt like I'd come a long way in a short time. I'd given up any flirting or other amorous activities on my many trips to nearby human towns in preparation for the Gathering. I had a newfound dedication to our cause, thanks to Harlie's pep talk, and was confident we would be granted official pack status.

That is, until we showed up here to find that nobody was even expecting us. All of my confidence had flown out the window, and I was left in a state of nervous agitation. How was there a mix-up with the paperwork? We'd sent it with tracking, and were told it had arrived. Something was fishy about it, that was for sure.

I was so wrapped up in my own thoughts that I didn't notice anyone coming through the door of the stairwell until I literally crashed into them, sending us both sprawling to the floor.

"Ooh," the girl groaned, for a girl she was.

"I'm so sorry," I said emphatically, my hands automatically going to her waist to help her back up. "It was my...fault."

She was, in a word, beautiful. She looked close to my age, with soft reddish curls and eyes the color of an afternoon storm. She smelled faintly of sweet sugary caramel. Her dress was fancy, if a bit disheveled, and she had a pretty blush staining her cheeks.

"No, I'm sorry, I should have gotten out of the way," she said, wringing her hands fretfully. "I didn't mean to run into you."

"I wasn't paying any attention," I said, still holding her waist. "Please don't blame yourself."

She looked up at me. "Okay," she said. Her voice sounded so sweet.

All of a sudden, she seemed to notice my hands around her waist. "I'm Alana," she said, breaking free of my grasp and extending her hand to shake. For some reason, I missed the contact. She felt...warm. "I...live here in the packhouse."

"I'm Shasta," I said, engulfing her small hand in mine. "I'm here with a new delegation of wolves. Staying in the packhouse for the week."

"Yes," she said, shaking my hand, then again when I didn't let go. "That's why I'm here. I wanted to welcome you."

Reluctantly, I released her hand. "Thanks. It's been quite a day."

"So I heard," she said sympathetically. "I'm sorry about that. I hope the rest of your stay is better. Are you a warrior, then?"

I raised an eyebrow. "A warrior? Not exactly. If all goes well, I'll be the Beta of Lonely Haven, our new pack."

Her hands flew to her mouth. "Oh! I'm sorry, I just assumed...well, that's really great. I hope it works out for you." Her face flamed.

This girl. Alana. I felt the urge to say her name out loud, just to feel it rolling off my tongue. She was nothing like any girl I'd come across before. Kendria was all steel with a caring heart underneath, Harlie was a ball of fire, and apart from them, my interactions with girls were just a blur of tired flirtation and physical interactions. But this girl seemed different. There was a true innocence to her, not to mention her kindness. Her beauty only accentuated her other qualities. I briefly wondered what it would be like to kiss those pretty smiling lips.

We shouldn't take what is not ours, Hunter said carefully. I could feel he was slightly in awe of her, just like I was. She had a refreshing countenance. And she was currently standing patiently before me, waiting for me to speak. Oof.

"Thanks," I said, scratching my ear awkwardly. "Can I ask why you assumed I was a warrior?"

She shut her eyes, clearly embarrassed. "Oh, I don't know. I suppose...well...you...obviously train very hard..." she trailed off, too mortified to continue.

I grinned, delighted. "So you can tell I work out, huh?"

She lifted her hands to her cheeks. "I am so sorry. I know Betas have to train hard, too. I shouldn't have jumped to any conclusions. This is not how this was supposed to go," she finished softly, turning her face to the side.

"How was it supposed to go?" I asked curiously, ducking my head in hopes of catching her eye again.

"Oh! Well, I was only planning to visit the guestrooms with some extra blankets—" she gasped and looked down, and I realized for the first time there was a heap of blankets on the floor from our earlier collision. "Oh no," she murmured, dropping to her knees and starting to gather them up.

"Here, let me," I said, bending down to help her. I took the armful of blankets from her and reached for the last one off to the side. Our fingers brushed as we tried to grab it at the same time.

I froze. So did she. Her hand felt delicate, but strong at the same time. I noted again how warm she felt, like the times I touched her earlier. I found myself lingering, wanting to maintain the connection.

She broke the spell first. "Well," she said, picking up the blanket and standing back up, hugging it to her like a lifeline. "Thank you for the help."

"I'll help you whenever you want," I said sincerely. "Though next time, let's skip the whole running into each other first."

She giggled, a most pleasant sound. "Sure, sounds good." She took a deep breath and relaxed slightly. "Well, other than the blankets, is there anything else you or your delegation need? Are you comfortable?"

"We're all fine. Thank you for being so considerate," I said with a genuine smile. "It's not everyone that would be so welcoming of a band of rogues."

She looked startled. "Rogues?"

I shrugged, hoping she wouldn't think less of me. "We're not part of an official pack, so..."

She looked up at me. "I heard you live in peace on Mount Haven, don't you?"

I nodded. "Yeah."

"And you work and train together and support yourselves, right?"

I nodded again.

"That doesn't sound like a rogue to me," Alana said with certainty. "You might not be official yet, but you're certainly part of a pack already."

I stared at her, mesmerized. Not only was she beautiful, innocent, and kind, but she had the capacity to see me for more than I was. She was...special. I cleared my throat, which suddenly felt thick. "Thank you," I murmured. "That means more to me than you'll ever know."

Alana's cheeks, which had mostly turned back to normal, turned rosy again. "You're welcome," she said shyly. Then she reached for the blankets in my hands. "Well, I'd better start knocking on doors, I was hoping to catch everyone before they went to sleep."

A vision of one of our warriors opening the door to greet her in their underwear—or Goddess forbid, a naked Fletcher who liked to sleep with "nothing between him and the sheets"—had me pulling the pile of blankets closer to my chest. "Let me," I said. "Some of them might be sleeping already, and better if I wake them up than you."

"Oh...okay," she said faintly, slightly distressed. "Are you sure though? Weren't you going somewhere else?"

"Nah, I was just going on a walk," I said, trying to sound nonchalant. "I'm good now, it's getting late. I'll be sure to let the people I came with know it was you who provided the extra blankets, though, for sure. You can introduce yourself tomorrow, if you want."

"Well, that's not really necessary, but thank you," she said, squeezing the remaining blanket in her arms.

"No problem," I said. I wished I had something better to say. I wanted to keep talking to her.

"Well...I guess I'll be going, then," Alana said, shifting her weight subtly from one foot to the other. "It's nice to meet you, Shasta."

"Nice to meet you too, Alana," I replied with a smile. She smiled back, then turned and started up the stairs, leaving me behind.

Once I heard the door close on the floor above, I started grinning like an i***t. Finally, a girl that seemed to have some substance. I couldn't wait to get past her blushing exterior and really get to know—

Be careful, Hunter cautioned, always there to rain on my parade.

What's wrong with getting to know somebody new? I challenged him. Who knows, maybe she's our mate.

Since she's not in our pack, I can't talk to her wolf. I don't know if she's eighteen or not, Hunter said.

Oh. I said. I hadn't thought of that. She looked close to my age, but had she not yet reached the milestone where her mate bond could be awakened? I myself had only turned eighteen about six months before, and it was hard to tell just by looking at her how much younger she might be. I didn't even really know who she was. Did she work here? She said she lived in the packhouse, and by the look of her dress, she had attended the banquet. So working here wasn't likely. Maybe she was the daughter of a high-ranking warrior or something.

I like her, Hunter said, surprising me. He usually didn't like any female I talked to. She's a sweet girl. You don't want to ruin her chances with her future mate, though, whoever they may be. Some humans are stupid and reject their mate if they've been touched by another. Do you want to be responsible for putting her through that pain?

His words brought me up short. Alana, go through that kind of pain? I would kill whoever dared to try and hurt her. If she were my mate, I would never be so stupid as to let someone like her go.

Wait, what? I only just met this girl. Why was I feeling so protective?

She's different, Hunter said simply.

I looked down at the heap of blankets in my arms. Different, indeed.

---

Alana

I shut the door to the Beta suite and immediately leaned against it, emitting a loud gasp. Luckily, my parents and Mason were still at the banquet, so I didn't have to explain myself just yet. Or ever.

Finally catching my breath, I rushed to my room and collapsed on the bed. "Oh my," I said out loud to myself, which made me giggle. "Oh my."

He was attractive, wasn't he? Zusa said dreamily.

Zusa! I scolded her. We're not eighteen yet. What are you thinking?

I'm thinking we can window shop all we want, we just stop short of sampling the goods, she said sassily.

Oh my Goddess, Zusa, I groaned. Sometimes I wondered why the Moon Goddess chose to pair us together. I was so shy and—to be honest—naive, and she was overflowing with personality. And—apparently—a dirty mind. I loved my wolf dearly, though, and she loved me, and that's what mattered. I suppose we balanced each other out, in the end.

Shasta. I liked the sound of his name. And sure, wolf packs were full of attractive men, but there was something about him, the way his bright blue eyes seemed to look right into the center of me. For the first time, I felt...seen. But maybe it was because he was new, and I hadn't told him I was part of the Beta family? It was hard to say. I couldn't rule out the possibility that maybe he was my mate. Maybe I even hoped for it.

Heck, I hope he is, too, Zusa said dreamily. I bet his wolf is hot. You think I could meet him?

You know we can't, not until the Ahio Pack Run at the end of the week, I said. Shifting is forbidden this week except for patrol wolves, remember?

Ugh. Right. Well, I can wait.

Sure, you can, I said sarcastically. Without a doubt, she'd be bugging me all week, entranced just like I was by someone new. There were a lot of new people here though. Surely they wouldn't all affect me the same way Shasta had? If so, I was in for quite a week.

I hugged the blanket I'd forgotten to give to my new acquaintance a little closer, and felt a hard corner within it. Startled, I sat up and unfolded it on my lap. A dog-eared book tumbled out onto the bed. "Where did this come from?" I murmured, picking it up. I didn't remember any books being in the blankets when I first got them from the linen closet.

I flipped open the cover and found my answer. "Shasta" was printed in bold block letters. He must have been holding it when we ran into each other, and it ended up tucked in the blanket in my mad scramble to pick everything up. I closed the book again to inspect it more closely. Wicked, by Gregory Maguire. I'd heard of it, but never read it. And this copy was either used, or very well loved by the man I'd just met.

Biting my lip, I gripped the book tightly. I should probably go return this to him. It had only been about ten minutes or so, he was bound to still be awake. But...

I stood up and went to stand in front of the mirror in my bedroom. My hair was a little mussed, my sleeves were askew, and my face was bright with excitement. Had I looked like this the whole time I was talking to him? How embarrassing.

I looked over at the book again, lying on the bed. Yes, I should give it back. I would give it back.

But it didn't have to be tonight, did it?

You're thinking too much, Zusa said. Just give it back tomorrow. You know you want to read it so you can talk to him about it.

I rolled my eyes. As usual, Zusa had gotten it right and managed to make me feel silly at the same time. Alright, I'll keep it just for tonight, I told her, reaching up to start taking pins out of my hair. But I'm giving it back first thing tomorrow.

After the pins were out of my hair, I slipped out of my dress and showered quickly, dressing in a silk nightie after I toweled off. I turned off my main light and turned on my bedside lamp, which was a signal to my family that I had turned in for the night and didn't want to be disturbed.

Finally, I lifted the book off my nightstand and opened it carefully. Smiling to myself, I started to read.