Dear Readers,
Sorry my additions are so chaotic but I'm trying to get to the end of this story and I'm getting close so I've been concentrating on the writing. Some of you know I can't seem to write a good, detailed story unless I write it out longhand and then type it in. Unfortunately, this slows things down.
I know, excuses, but thank you for your patience, encouragement, and interest.
This story has turned out longer than I expected and there are still a few more chapters.
Enjoy.
KemMyst
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He woke early with a familiar female scent in his nose and the comforting warmth of another body in the bed with him.
In the space between sleeping and waking he strokes his hands down that body. He hesitates, confused by the presence of clothing as he snuggles more closely with her. He's spooned against her, arms around her waist and, in a normal physiological reaction for a male, his thick, stiff shaft is held between their bodies.
Calvin kisses the back of her neck. "Good morning, my dear."
Stephanie jerks and pulls away from him. He pulls her back. "Is my body against yours painful?"
"No."
"Did you sleep well?"
"Yes."
"Do you need to return to Wyeth early?"
"No."
"Then lie beside me a little longer."
She had always just gotten out of bed when she woke. Rose and started her day. Lying in bed was never something she did once awake. She got into the bed to sleep, and got out when she woke. That was what the bed was for. Sleep.
So, she exhaled and acquiesced. But she was uncomfortable, for a couple of reasons. She was awake. He had an arm around her. And she could feel his swollen dick against her butt. Males. What was it about them that they all woke up with a hard-on?
He twisted slightly, and that movement was enough.
Stephanie scrambled out of the bed.
Calvin rolled to his back, resigned to her leaving, going back to Wyeth.
"Would you care for breakfast before you leave?"
She looks up at him, crouched beside the bed. "I'm sorry."
"What was it?" She closes her eyes. "Stephanie?"
"You moved. And I felt you."
Calvin sat up. "You do understand that when a male is relaxed, such as during sleep, his penis fills with blood? It's an involuntary physiological reaction."
"I remember."
That's right, she had been studying to be a healer. "Breakfast?"
"Yes."
"Would you like to eat here or in the hall?"
"The dining hall is fine."
***
Lyssa was curled up in the bed, having rolled over to his side.
Emmett was on early sweep with Roland. [Hey, Rolly, if you had a chance to be Ross Alpha, would you take it?]
[Business is sound. Pack and territory a bit small. Finances are an issue.]
[What about the pack itself?]
[Without his knowledge, members of Calvin's pack kidnapped Jo and Lyssa. His own son was a part of it and was, by all accounts, a terrible Alpha. Some of the males will object to someone new coming in; there's always some. Some of them will think they should have the job. Why do you ask?]
[Randall hasn't told you?]
[Told me what? Wait, Ross is looking for a replacement outside of his pack?]
[Yeah. Who else is there?]
[Gotta be someone...doesn't his Beta want it?]
[I guess not, so...]
[You and Lyssa, huh? Well, I can't say I disagree. Lyssa's a bit rough around the edges yet.]
[She hasn't been with us 3 years yet. She's worried what might happen, that she'll be challenged since she wasn't born wolf. What's that?]
A dead deer lay in the snow. They snuffled around it, smelling the blood, seeing where smaller animals had taken their share of the carcass.
[Broken rear leg, probably hit by a car.]
They briefly rip into flesh, taking a few bites. The cold had preserved it and it hadn't been dead long. But cold flesh was not as appealing as a warm, fresh kill. They moved on.
[So, let's see The two of you as possible Ross Alphas. Oh, right, she's worried about being born human. I think she's right, she'll be challenged. You both will.]
[It'll be worse for her.]
[Yeah, it will. And you won't be able to help her with it. She'd lose any little bit of respect she had being part of a chosen pair if you did. You're gonna do it, aren't you?]
[Not sure yet.]
***
Calvin drives Stephanie back to the Wyeth den.
She had survived breakfast in the Ross dining hall. Calvin had squelched any questions but it was the first time many of his pack had seen her. Many were very interested in their Alpha's female companion.
Stephanie stoically ate, knowing they were talking about her.
Erica watched Stephanie with malice in her mind.
"So, Stephanie, what aspect of healing was most of interest to you?"
"Had a naive notion of helping birthing females."
"That doesn't seem naive to me. It's a grand goal. And how did your interest develop?"
"My mother."
"Ah, I see. And what did your father do?"
"Carpentry."
Her answers were getting brusque. Time to stop the questions since he was beginning to aggravate her. But, he was gaining more insight into her background personality. Her parents both worked in very tactile professions. Stephanie likely would have made a wonderful healer. The world had dealt her a dark blow and Wallace, while he had rescued her, had not saved her.
She should have been interacting with pack members in a wholly different way.
She relents when he pulls her into a close embrace and kisses her before releasing her to her duties.
Calvin then requests an audience with Randall.
As Randall was occupied, Erich was sent to talk with him while he waited.
"So, Beta, how are you and your mate doing?"
Erich breaks into a broad smile. "I never realized what it would be like to have a female that was mine, who I'd love more than anything, and that I'd get upset if another male looks at her too long."
Calvin smiles, sadly. "Yes, it's a profound change in life. Wait until the pups come."
Erich sobers. "I'm sorry about the Madam Alpha," a pause, "and your son."
"Thank you. May I ask you something?"
"Sure."
"I'd like to hear everything you know about Stephanie. Do you have any idea where she came from?"
"I wasn't born when she came to the pack."
"I understand that. What have you heard? What have you been told?"
Erich closes his eyes. "Her story had become an urban legend, of sorts. The Alpha got wind of a bunch of rogues to the southeast. Bar fights. Animal killings. Probably some of the rapes. Burglaries. Teenagers scared in the woods."
"My father was lead tracker before me. The Alpha had him find out where they were, how many. Then he took a dozen males and wiped them out. And found Stephanie. Only Stephanie."
"She was terrified of them."
Calvin thought, Of course. She likely thought she'd traded one horror for another.
"I heard they had to knock her out to get her back here. The females took her in hand and the Alpha ordered that no one touch her."
And that order had carried down through the years. She had had no chance to gain friends or get close to anyone. They had inadvertently isolated her within the pack.
"She's never come into heat?"
Erich looks at him a little more closely and shakes his head.
"Well, then, how are you finding your duties?"
[Erich, you may bring the Alpha Ross to my office.]
"My Alpha is available to speak to you now."
Erich escorts Calvin Ross to Randall's office. "Thank you, Erich."
Calvin walks to the window and looks back at his friend before crossing his arms and staring at the world outside.
"As if she weren't damaged enough by the abuse she suffered, you exacerbated the problem with your benign neglect."
A low growl issues from Randall's throat. "I inherited the problem, Cal."
Calvin turns, the volume of his voice increased. "Problem?! She is a werewolf, like the rest of us. She needed contact, closeness, just like any of the rest of us."