The following story is a standalone short featuring the characters from the Leader of the Pack series. It is intended to be a snippet of an important event that occurred between the storyline in the first series and what will be the second.
It is intended that each story be capable of being read without having read the rest of the series. But if you haven't read the rest because you think it's too long, don't blame me if this encourages you to try the rest.
This idea woke me up at 4am. Yes you all win. I had to get up and write it down before it got out of my head. Please forgive grammar and spelling in advance. I know that I can be atrocious. But have faith that I know it's bad and you've the choice between waiting for an editor or getting the story now. With the response the end of the series got, I figured that you'd want it now. Enjoy.
The Arnauk ancestral home was a one room cabin, hidden away in the mountains at the northern most end of Arnauk territory. It was also the main reason that Cullen Arnauk had acquired this piece of land when he had come to power. He had even bothered to invest money in officially buying it according to human laws, so that he'd be able to keep human development as far away from it as possible.
The cabin itself was ancient and parts had been rebuilt several times over the centuries, but the basic design was pretty solid. There was just the one large room. A modern looking, throw rug covered the middle of the floor and a mat near the door looked out of place beneath the old furniture. A heavy wooden table with ancient looking scars across the surface sat in the kitchen area. There was a very basic wash basin and accompanying pitcher set against the wall and some small counter space.
Several cushioned wooden chairs and a small couch, as well as a rocking chair were set across from a large stone fireplace on one wall. The frames of the furniture looked as though they had been built by someone who knew what he was doing but wasn't the greatest craftsman when it came to furniture. They were suitable for sitting on, but would never make into the window of an Ethan Allen. The same could be said of the handmade, very worn cushions. The fireplace was huge and held a large cast iron pot on brackets that allowed it to swing into the fire or be pulled out. There was a mantle above the fire that held lanterns and some modern implements for making fires. The lighter, matches, and newspapers piled there were an additional anachronistic touch to the room.
There was a loft above half of the room. A ladder leading to the loft was braced against one wall. There was a double bed in the loft and several inflatable mattresses, deflated and piled neatly against the wall of the loft. Trunks containing spare clothes, blankets, and bedding were next to the mattresses. There was a slatted board door covering a larder on the floor against the wall beneath the loft.
Cullen leaned against the wall, his dark brown eyes alight as he watched Aislinn explore. He was more than a little nervous. The few modern conveniences weren't much to speak of. There was even an outhouse round the back of the cabin. The matches and inflatable mattresses were like gold when he'd brought them up here. The only other person who ever used the place was one of his younger sisters. The rest of his close family didn't understand his fascination with it. Cullen wasn't expecting Aislinn to fall in love with the place, but he hoped that she'd be okay with spending their honeymoon here. Currently, the only feelings he was getting from her, through the bond they shared, were amusement and uncertainty.
Aislinn turned to Cullen after she had a good look around. It had taken several hours on an ATV, then another twenty minutes of hiking to get up to this secluded place. She had no problem with camping, but she figured that they could have done that a great deal closer to where they had started than this. "Okay, I give," she smiled at him, her blue eyes sparkling with curiosity. "There's got to be something important about this place. You've been excellent at hiding your thoughts about it from me." She grinned at him. Ever since they mated she had been able to pick up any stray thought in his head. Just the fact that he had managed to hide this place and what it meant from her made it more fascinating.
"What? You mean you don't think this is the best place ever to spend your honeymoon?" Cullen was fishing and Aislinn knew it.
"Stop teasing. Most guys take their new wives on honeymoons that include conveniences like, oh, bathrooms," she chided. Her eyes narrowed on him. She could feel how important it was to him. She didn't understand why it was a secret. She walked up to him and put her arms around his waist, nuzzling her head into his chest.
Cullen wrapped his arms around her, pressed his face into her soft brown hair and inhaled deeply. He growled his pleasure at the cuddle. "There's an outhouse round back," he answered.
"You're kidding," Aislinn said, raising her face to his and staring at him wide eyed.
He shook his head. Cullen reached up and pushed a stray lock of hair out of her eyes. "What do you think?"
"I don't know," she said honestly. "I mean, I don't mind roughing it, my love. I just didn't expect it on our honeymoon. You're making me think that you're one of those weird eccentric millionaires." She grinned at him through the joke. Cullen had more than enough money to take her anywhere in the world and he had brought her to a more than rustic cabin in the back end of nowhere for their honeymoon.
Cullen could hear the disappointment in her voice and Aislinn picked up on the small upset he felt at her disappointment.
"Don't be like that," she said and kiss is chin. "I don't care where we are as long as we're together." She smiled at him. "If this is important to you then it's important to me too." She pulled away from him and grabbed her backpack, then headed for the loft.
Cullen was a bit confused. "What are you doing?"
"Unpacking," she laughed.
Cullen growled and came after her. Aislinn squealed when he lunged for her and dropped the pack as she ran around the couch. Cullen was too fast for her. He grabbed her around the waist and pulled her down onto the couch with him. Aislinn was giggling, lying on top of him. She tried to push herself up and get away, but his arms held her like steel and she was forced to stay put.
He stared into her bright blue eyes and realized that she really was just as happy to be here as anywhere else. He hugged her close and decided to explain. "This place is really important to me. My grandparents lived here and raised my father here. I just wanted to share it with you. I don't ever bring anyone up here."
Aislinn's smile broadened. "Then it's the perfect place," she said as she stared back into his eyes.
Cullen hugged her tightly and buried his face against her shoulder. He hadn't thought he'd ever find someone he would want to bring here. It wasn't as much the place itself, as it was the way he felt when he was here. Most of his siblings had died long ago. The times they grew up in saw a great many wars between various lycan clans. The one sister and one brother he had left were both the traveling type. He actually hadn't heard from either of them since he'd met Aislinn those few months ago. It wasn't surprising, since he'd often go years without seeing them or knowing how to contact them. But he had hoped that they'd hear about and show up for the mating, since it had been turned into such a big deal.
Aislinn stroked his hair, running her fingers through the black strands. Now that he was thinking about it she understood why she was here. Aislinn cuddled against him. "You never told me that you had any blood family," she said.
Cullen laid his head back and smiled at her. "With everything else that's been going on, it wasn't exactly tops on my list of conversation points to get around to. There's just the two of them. Wenda is my sister. She looks like me, has a firey disposition, and won't stay in one place for more than six months. Last I heard she was in Australia. Tormaid is my older brother. We don't always get along. But we have a mutual respect. He looks like our mother, red hair. There weren't many of us that got the red hair in the family."
Cullen finally let Aislinn up. He was beyond happy that she was accepting this so well. "All right. Let's get up. I've got some supplies I'll bring in off the ATV. We'll have to go hunting if we want meat." Cullen smiled at her. The thought of running through the woods with her was exciting him already.
Aislinn grinned and shook her head. He was so happy about all this. "I've never been hunting at all. I can say honestly that I'm not looking forward to killing something. So you'll probably have to do it yourself."
Cullen kissed her again and then brought the rest of the stuff in. He placed the kitchen supplies and what little food stuffs he had brought up on the counter. Then he carried both their packs up to the loft and put the bed together, leaving Aislinn to get a real good look at their home for the next couple weeks.
***
Cullen had brought some sandwiches for lunch. After they ate Cullen stood up and started stripping off his clothes. Aislinn stared unabashedly at him as he kicked his shoes off, unbuttoned his pants and pushed them down over his hips, then pulled his t-shirt over his head. Muscles moved under tanned skin and Aislinn felt heat begin between her legs. She bit her lip, devilish thoughts running through her head. "So I take it that the honeymoon has officially started?"
Cullen threw his shirt at her for the comment. "Come on, I'll show you the rest, piseagan."
Aislinn got up and started to undress. She loved it when he spoke in Gaelic. He let his accent seep into his voice when he spoke and she thought it incredibly sexy. And the fact that he had picked a pet name for her so quickly didn't hurt either.
Cullen took his turn admiring her body. Her pale skin was perfect. She wasn't as hard muscled as lycan women tended to be. She had long slender legs. Soft brown curls covered her mound. Her stomach was just beginning to show signs of the life that was growing there. His eyes traveled to her breasts, the soft pink areolas. He couldn't help wanting to suck on her nipples. The minute she was completely naked, Cullen slipped his arms around her and kissed her deeply.
"Mmm," she moaned against his mouth. Her nipples tightened as they grazed across the hard panels of his chest. The feel of skin on skin excited them both and Cullen began to harden as he held her in his arms. "I thought you were going to show me around," Aislinn said huskily.
