Bear Mountain Bride: Shifter Romance by Sky Winters (44)

Xander nodded once, and then he fell into step beside her. They walked in silence for a few moments, the air thick with things unsaid between them. Savannah felt the history of their whole relationship standing between them, and it felt large enough to fill the space of a lifetime, rather than the few short days it had been in reality.

“When will you have to marry?” Savannah asked, unable to stop herself from asking the question.

Xander hesitated, obviously uncomfortable with the question. “When I become the reigning alpha,” he replied.

“Which is when?”

“I don’t know,” Xander replied. “It could be a few days from now, it could be months, or it could be as long as a year or two. That will be determined by the current ruling council.”

“How will it be determined?”

Xander glanced at her. “It’s an ancient ritual,” he replied. “They watch the stars.”

“The stars?” Savannah repeated.

Xander nodded. “The stars will give us the answers.”

“And then you will become the alpha, and you will have to marry?”

“I will have six months to choose a bride,” Xander said, “and then yes, I will have to marry.”

Savannah nodded as though she were completely unaffected by the thought of Xander marrying someone else. “So…who do you think it will be?” Savannah asked. “Marissa, Bianca, Zanna, or Meryl?”

“Savannah,” Xander said, carefully. “I really don’t think we should be discussing this.”

“Personally, I think Bianca would be the best choice for you,” Savannah said, interrupting him and barrelling on with the conversation.

Xander stopped short and glanced at her. “Bianca?” he repeated.

“Yes.”

“May I ask why?”

Savannah shrugged. “I don’t know. There’s something about her aura that’s…calmer, more in control than the others. I could sense she wasn’t as mean-spirited as Marissa, Meryl, or Zanna.”

Xander gave her confused look. “You sensed…her aura?”

“Oh,” Savannah said, realizing she hadn't explained her gift to him. “I never told you, did I? Well, for as long as I can remember, I’ve been able to see people’s auras. I can sense things about them normal people can’t.”

“Really?” Xander sounded fascinated.

“Really,” Savannah said. “I think it’s sort of like…compensation. I was born deaf, but all of my other senses were heightened. Sometimes I even see things.”

Xander stared at her for a moment. “You see things?”

Savannah nodded. “Flashes of light that hold images in their center,” she explained. “Sometimes I barely understand what I’m seeing, but then later it makes sense.”

“How does it make sense?”

“Well, I’ll see something move with blinding speed, and then a couple of hours later I’ll watch this car whizzing past, and I realize that I saw the same image, hours earlier.”

“Are you saying that you can see the future?” Xander asked incredulously.

“No, no,” Savannah said quickly. “I wouldn’t say that. Well, I mean, I guess you could say that, but it’s not a very strong gift, and it doesn’t happen very often, either.”

“Did you see something about… us?” Xander asked.

“I saw the image of a wolf,” Savannah said. “Before I knew what you were.”

Xander looked amazed. Savannah caught him shooting little glances her way as they walked along the abandoned road. “What did you sense about me when you first saw me?” he asked after a moment.

Savannah couldn’t help but smile. “Your aura…it’s so strong,” she said. “It’s so bright and so incredibly beautiful. And it’s colorful--I’ve never seen so many colors on one person before. You’re full of passion, you have strong opinions, and you’re incredibly loyal. You can be stubborn and quick to anger, but you always admit afterwards if you feel you’re wrong.”

It was as Savannah was talking that she realized how much she had picked up about him over the last few days. She had never thought to put it into words, but now that she was doing it, the words came easily. She knew Xander, not just because of the connection they shared, but because she could read him better than anyone else.

“You hate your father, but you’ve also been hurt by him, even though you will never admit it. You loved your mother to death, and miss her still. You’re scared because you don’t know if your half-brother will succeed in becoming alpha. You’re scared for your pack, and what it will mean for them if Dominic takes control.”

Xander stopped walking. He stood there, staring at her as though she had revealed she, too, was a wolf. Savannah smiled. “I didn’t know I knew that much myself,” she admitted. “Am I…right?”

Xander shook his head in disbelief. “You are. Can you do that with everyone?”

“I don’t pick up that many details with other people,” Savannah admitted. “But I pick up a lot, a significant amount at least.”

“You have a gift, Savannah,” Xander said.

Savannah smiled. “I know.”

When she looked back up, she spotted her house some distance away, and knew Xander would have to say goodbye again. They started walking again, but Savannah made it a point to slow her pace down so she could prolong the moment.

“It was nice to share that with someone,” she said softly.

“Nobody knows?”

“You’re the only one,” Savannah said. “It’s fair, now I know your secret, that you know mine.”

Xander smiled. “Thank you for telling me.”

“Of course,” Savannah nodded.

They stopped just outside of her house, and Xander’s eyes grew cloudy. “I’ll be seeing you, Savannah,” he said, and she knew he didn’t want to say goodbye again.

Savannah nodded. Xander turned and disappeared into the trees. She stared off after him, wondering if her entire life would just be a series of unending goodbyes.

 

Chapter Twelve

The library had quickly become Savannah’s second home. She moved between her classes with her head down and eyes firmly fixed on the ground in front of her. She saw Xander every day, as well as Marissa and the rest. Sometimes it all got to be too much for her.

Whenever she had a moment of spare time she'd find solace in the library, especially during lunch break when she couldn’t really avoid anyone. There were a few kids that tried to befriend her, but Savannah simply did not have the energy to invest in a new relationship that probably wouldn’t last very long anyway.

Savannah heard the laughter and bustle coming from the cafeteria as she passed it by. She noticed Xander there, surrounded by his friends, but he didn’t see her. She kept walking and went straight to the library, which was completely empty. She moved to the back where no one could see her, and moved through the shelves, searching for something that would distract her, if only for a few minutes.

She was about to move on to the next shelf when she spotted a thin, black, bound book with gold lettering on the spine. Its title read, "Legends of Grey Mountain." Gingerly, Savannah pulled out the book, and scrolled through its contents list. She stopped short when she came upon chapter seven, which read "The Legend of the Wolf Prince."

Savannah moved to the last aisle of the library, sank to the ground, and leaned against the shelves to read it. The chapter was only a few pages long and filled with detailed black and white drawings that had probably been done exclusively for the book. She wasn’t really interested in any other legend apart from the one about the wolf prince. She stared at the image of a man with the head of a wolf, and then started to read:

Back when Grey Mountain was known only as Grey Mountains, there was a great chief who had three daughters by his three wives. His daughters were all tall and beautiful and respected among the tribe as skilled wolf hunters. His oldest daughter was flaxen haired and blue eyed, and she was the best hunter. His second daughter was black haired and green eyed, and she was the best archer. His youngest daughter was red haired and brown eyed, and she was the best fighter.

The chief’s oldest daughter was promised in marriage to the son of a prominent member of the tribe, and they would take over as the leaders and elders of the village when the time came. The chief’s youngest daughter was famed for her unusual red hair, which was considered the ultimate in beauty. She had many suitors and she was eventually promised to the son of a powerful, neighbouring tribe.

The chief’s second daughter, however, was disinterested in men and marriage. She explored the mountains of her tribe, and came to know nature more intimately than anyone else. She was an adventurer who never stayed in one place for long. She spent more time in the trees and mountains than she did in the tribe with her own family. She was the wildest of the chief’s three daughters, and her name was Mira.

One day, Mira traveled further into the forest than she had ever traveled before. She came upon a clearing that held in its center the most perfect blue lake she had ever seen. Enchanted with its beauty, Mira removed her clothes, and prepared to swim in the lake’s clear waters. She was about to enter the lake when she heard a noise behind her.

She turned, and found herself faced with a terrifying black wolf that was bigger than any she had seen before. She had left her bow a few feet away with her clothes, and she had no way of defending herself as the animal moved forward with its teeth bared. With no choice left to her, Mira jumped for her bow, but the animal was too fast. It attacked her and tore at her flesh until she fell back into the lake, bleeding from a thousand different wounds.

The animal left her in the lake surrounded by her own blood, contaminating the clear blue water and turning it red. Mira believed she was going to die, but then something happened. She sensed it as she floated in the water waiting to die. The water was magic, and it had begun to heal her. An hour later she rose from the waters, her body new and free of any wounds or scars. She felt stronger and more powerful. She felt whole.

But Mira knew she was more than just a woman now. She could feel the animal inside her, and as night descended, Mira transformed into a great beast, similar to the one that had attacked her, and instinctively she knew she could never go back home. She ran through the forests, feeling a new sense of freedom unlike any she had experienced before. She kept running until she caught a scent that was strangely familiar to her. She stopped and turned and found herself face to face with the creature that had attacked her in the lake.

Now that she herself was in wolf form, she could communicate with the beast. Mira learnt that he was a man named Kian, who was afflicted with the same transformative powers she had. The difference was that a witch had cursed him, and so he could not control himself when he turned. He became a beast, an animal in its most dangerous state. Mira promised to help him so that he would maintain some sense of control when he transformed.

For many months, Mira and Kian roamed the forests together, and she helped him control his beastly instincts. She taught him how to suppress the wild beast inside him, and he taught her the little secrets of the forest. Eventually they fell in love, and Mira gave birth to a son. The boy had all the wolfish traits of his parents, but he could control himself better, he could think and decide, and when he transformed, he was still a man inside a wolf's body.

Mira and Kian named their son Kato, and they taught him all they knew, but it was a lonely existence, for Kato had no one to talk to but his parents. He would watch the people of the village from the grey mountains, and wish he might walk among them, and live his life among them. It was not the same for his parents. Their instincts were more animal than human, and they did not miss their old lives.

One day, when Kato was watching the tribe and its people, he noticed a beautiful woman with golden hair and soft brown eyes. He kept coming back to watch her, day after day, and soon he was in love with her. His parents warned him against the tribe, for they were fierce wolf hunters, but Kato would not listen. One day he grew bold, and went down to the tribe in his human form. There he spoke to the young woman, whose name was Alais. They met secretly over the next few weeks, and eventually Kato told Alais the truth about who he was. The young lovers dreamed of leaving behind the place of their birth and roaming the world. Scared that they could not be together, Alais sought out the help of a witch who lived in the mountains.

The witch gave her a special potion that gave Alais the ability to transform into a wolf as well, but the potion came at a price. Alais and Kato could never be free to roam the world as they had planned. They had to stay in the village, forever tied to it, obligated to protect the tribe’s people, whatever the cost. They could never leave, their children could never leave, and their grandchildren could never leave.

For Alais, it was a small price to pay. She and Kato both agreed to stay and be protectors and guardians of the mountains, and the villagers who lived at its feet. Alais drank the potion, and she and Kato married. A year later, they had a baby boy and thus, the first wolf prince was born.

 

Savannah read through the passage again, staring at the drawings and wondering if even a quarter of the legend was true. She was fascinated with the story, but she was not sure if she could trust it. Just then, the bell went off, and Savannah knew she had to get to her next class. She shut the book and sighed. Then she got up and walked to class alone.

Chapter Thirteen

 

After the first couple of days, Savannah realized that she really enjoyed the long walk home. It gave her time to enjoy the raw nature that surrounded her, time to reflect, and most importantly, it gave her time to think about her future.

Lately she had been thinking about taking a gap year between high school and college to travel around Asia. Then, maybe she would go to Europe somewhere and get her degree. She had always been interested in linguistics for obvious reasons, but lately she had been thinking about Classics, and mythology as well. It didn’t seem to matter how far her thoughts or her dreams took her, she always ended up back in Grey Mountain.

It was becoming increasingly more difficult to go to school each day and see Xander. He always gave her a smile, his eyes softening with the weight of emotion, but he never approached her, and Savannah knew she could go to him.

From time to time she would feel the jealousy coming off the other girls when they noticed how often Xander glanced her way, but it had ceased to bother her. Their jealousy paled in comparison to the weight of everything else Savannah was feeling. She stopped walking as her mind reeled back to the first day she had met Xander, the day he had taken her to the lake.

It clicked that perhaps the lake he had taken her to was the lake in the book she had read in school that day. Savannah knew it was not true. She also knew she was searching for an answer that simply wasn’t there, but she didn’t care. She turned from the road and moved into the trees, determined to find the lake again.

The truth was she simply wanted to be comforted, and since she couldn’t turn to anyone, she decided to seek solace in the one place she felt was hers and Xander’s alone. She moved through the trees, trying to remember the trail that Xander had taken her through.

An hour later, Savannah had to face the fact that she was completely and totally lost. She turned three hundred and sixty degrees, and nothing around her was familiar in the least. The scent of the air around her was clear and fresh, but she could pick up the number of wild animals hiding in the trees around her. A part of her knew it wasn't safe for her there, but she was past caring.

That was when she smelt it. It was subtle at first, but she was now so familiar with the scent that it took her only a moment to place it. She knew it wasn’t Xander, but she suspected it was one of the girls. She turned in the direction of the scent, and before she could try to figure out who it was, a man walked out of the forest from between two trees.

He was tall, taller even than Xander. He had short blond hair with brown roots, and pale blue eyes that held little tinges of grey speckled throughout. He was bare-footed and naked to the waist. The only thing he had on was a pair of ripped shorts. He looked at Savannah with interest, his expression narrowing into a smile that made her supremely uncomfortable.

“Hello, Savannah,” he said, as though they were long lost friends.

“Who are you?” Savannah demanded.

She knew from his aura that he was a wolf shifter, but there was something very wrong with what she was sensing. His aura was filled with greys and blacks, shadowy colors that sucked out the light and left nothing behind. She could sense power and control, but she could also sense a darker and more sinister nature lurking underneath.

“Me?” he asked. “I would have thought you’d know.”

Savannah wrinkled her brow in nervous confusion and it dawned on her almost instantly. As was the case so many times in the past, she had sensed the truth beneath his bright aura, but she had never concentrated hard enough to uncover what it meant.

“You’re…Xander’s half-brother,” she whispered.

His smile grew wider, even as his eyes narrowed. “So, he did mention me,” Dominic Wilson said. “I’m touched.”

“And I’m leaving,” Savannah said.

“You’re staying right where you are,” Dominic said instantly, freezing Savannah in place, terrified by the threatening conviction in his tone.

“What do you want from me?” Savannah asked, trying to keep the fear from her voice.

“All my life I’ve wanted things I couldn’t have,” Dominic said, ignoring her question. “And the reason I couldn’t have them was because everything I wanted belonged to Xander. I was the older one, I was the first born, and yet he…got…everything.”

“He didn’t ask for it.”

Dominic shrugged. “Irrelevant.”

“So you’re here now because…”

“Because for the first time in my whole life, I have the opportunity to possess something Xander can’t have,” Dominic said slowly. “It’s almost poetic, really.”

“What are you talking about?” Savannah demanded, backing away from him slowly.

“I’m talking about you, Savannah,” Dominic replied as he took a step toward her.

“What makes you think I want anything to do with you?” Savannah demanded, fear creeping up her throat.

Dominic laughed. “Oh, don’t mistake my intentions, Savannah, my only interest in you stems from my little brother’s love for you. Can you imagine how upset, how angry he will be when he discovers that I have had the girl he loves?”

Savannah felt her body grow cold and she had to remind herself to breathe. “Are you insane?” she asked. “You can’t do this.”

“Watch me,” he said after a heartbeat of silence.

Savannah felt her fear hurtle up toward her throat like a building avalanche. She suppressed a scream, and bolted for the trees. Her head start didn’t make even the tiniest of differences. He caught her before she had a chance to get away and pushed her down onto the muddy forest floor. When she hit the ground, Savannah saw a vision flash across her eyes. She saw herself standing in front of three people in long grey cloaks. They were looking at her with accusation, and she felt the fear of her vision merge with the fear she was already feeling.

Dominic grabbed her by the torso and spun her around, so he was standing over her, looking down at her with sadistic glee in his eyes. She struggled under his grasp, but he was too strong. Dominic lowered himself on top of her and Savannah screamed, but she could hear no sound coming from herself as he forced her mouth shut with his hand and pulled her legs apart.

“No,” Savannah said, unsure if she was saying the words out loud, or if they were all in her head. “This can’t be happening! No, no, no!”

And then it was no longer happening. One moment Dominic was straddling her painfully, and the next she was freed from his weight and it was easier to breathe. She also realized she could no longer hear anything.

She stayed where she was, her eyes trained on the sky above her. She had lost her hearing aid. It had fallen out when she was struggling with Dominic. She wondered if perhaps she was really dreaming. She closed her eyes for a moment, trying to decide if she was awake or asleep, then she felt something touch her hand, and she felt her stomach turn in fear.

It was not a dream, this was really happening, and Dominic was about to rape her, and leave her for dead. What was strange was that he was touching her gently. She wanted to open her eyes, but she was scared to.

And then she smelt it, another scent, different from Dominic’s, but all too familiar.

She opened her eyes to find she was staring into Xander’s soft grey ones. She gasped out his name, though she still could not hear herself speak. She bolted upright into a sitting position, and fell into Xander’s waiting arms. He looked worried, but he also looked relieved. He looked at her again and spoke. Savannah focused her eyes on his lips.

“Are you all right?”

Savannah nodded. “I think so,” she signed to him.

He stared at her in confusion and shook his head. “I can’t understand you, Savannah,” he responded.

Savannah looked around her and noticed the white earpiece of her hearing aid half hidden among the grit and dirt of the forest. She pointed to it, and Xander retrieved it, and helped her fit it back on. Almost instantly, Savannah felt a flush of sound fill her ears, though it was somewhat muted, and she was getting more sound in her left ear than she was getting on the right; she suspected it might have been damaged in the scuffle.

“Savannah?” Xander’s voice was so beautiful to hear.

“Where is he?” Savannah asked, hearing her own voice at last.

“Gone,” Xander replied. “For the moment--”

“You got rid of him?”

“I… pulled him off you.” Xander nodded. “But I couldn’t fight him. I was too worried about you.”

“But then how…”

“The boys were with me,” Xander explained. “They took him on, but he knew he was outnumbered, so he ran. They went after him. Did he hurt you?”

“He almost did.” Savannah nodded, feeling a little light headed.

“Come on,” Xander said, putting an arm around her and lifting her easily to her feet. “Let’s head to the cabin. You’ll be safe there.”

Xander half carried her to the cabin. As soon as they were inside, Xander locked the doors and turned to Savannah. “Is there anything I can get you?” he asked. “Anything you need?”

“I want to shower,” Savannah said. She wanted to erase the feel of Dominic’s hands on her body. She could still feel the weight of him on top of her.

“Of course.” Xander nodded and led her to a little room with an attached bathroom. “There are towels in the bottom drawer, but the water will be cold.”

“That’s okay,” Savannah said. “I don’t mind.”

Xander turned to leave and give her some privacy, but Savannah grabbed him by the arm before he could go. “No,” she said. “Stay with me.”

He turned around slowly and saw a spark of hesitation in his eyes, but it was eclipsed by his desire. Savannah knew this would only make it harder for them later, but at the moment she didn’t care. She needed him now to erase the pain and fear she had just experienced, and she knew he wouldn’t be able to deny her.

Xander moved toward the bathtub and filled it with water. Slowly, Savannah began to remove her clothes. When Xander turned back to her she was naked. He glanced at her body for only an instant, and then averted his eyes. He helped Savannah into the bathtub, and then knelt down beside the tub and scrubbed her gently.

“He wanted to rape me to hurt you,” Savannah said after a moment.

“He hates me,” Xander said. “He knew that hurting you would be the surest way to destroy me.”

Savannah shivered, but it wasn’t because of the cold water. “I can’t believe that he would do something so deplorable.”

“People are capable of all sorts of deplorable things,” Xander said, running a soft sponge along Savannah’s arched spine.

“I think I discovered something about myself today,” Savannah admitted as the thought came to her, out of the blue.

“Tell me.”

“I lost my hearing aid around the time Dominic grabbed me, and threw me to the ground, and almost immediately afterwards, I had another vision.”

“You’ve had them before, haven’t you?” Xander asked. “With your hearing aid on?”

“Yes.” Savannah nodded. “But the visions aren’t clear. They’re so fast I can barely understand them, but they were clearer without the hearing aid.”

“What did you see?”

Savannah smiled. “The vision was clear, but I still don’t know what it meant. I was standing in front of three people--”

“That’s all?”

Savannah nodded. “That’s all. But who knows? Maybe I’m just as special as you are.”

Xander smiled. “You already are.”

“I can’t turn into a wolf.”

“Then you’re the luckier one.”

“You love being a wolf,” Savannah said.

“No, I don’t.”

“Xander,” Savannah said gently, “you forget my other gift: I can sense things from people, and the better I know them the easier it is for me to read them. I know you love it; I can sense it.”

Xander sighed. “I don’t love that it’s keeping us apart.”

Savannah nodded. “I know. “I sense that too.”

Savannah finished with her bath, and rose from the tub. Xander held a towel out to her and wrapped her in it. She followed him into the room and he started to wipe off the small diamonds of water that clung to her body. His eyes traveled over her freely, and Savannah sensed the shift in emotion as he admired her naked body brazenly, and without apology.

Instinctively, Savannah leaned in and kissed him. A moment later, the towel in Xander’s hands fell to the floor. He hesitated for only a moment before his hands pulled her to him. They fell backwards onto the bed behind them, their hands exploring each other’s bodies with blind passion. Xander kissed her lips tenderly, and then he kissed her neck, her breasts, and her stomach.

She surrendered herself to him, uncaring of the consequences and completely uninhibited. He was passionate and gentle, but he was also animalistic and unpredictable. Savannah had never been with a man, and she should have been nervous, scared, and shy, but she wasn’t any of those things.

It felt like the most natural thing in the world. As Xander kissed her and moved on top of her, Savannah felt the potency of her feelings as well as his. She felt his aura burning fiercely into hers, and she knew they were joining more than just their bodies. Savannah gasped in delight as he moved inside her. She clung to him, wanting the moment to last forever so they would never have to leave the cabin and face the cruel world outside.

As Xander made love to her, Savannah sensed the worry encased beneath all the stronger emotions he was feeling. He knew they shouldn’t be getting in deeper, but he simply could not stop himself. Ironically, it was the animalistic, feral part of him that was more in control.

When Savannah woke up the next morning cocooned against the warmth of Xander’s body, she noticed he was wide-awake. He was looking at her intently, with an unknowable expression on his face.

“What is it?” Savannah asked, as she ran her fingers across his cheek.

“I can’t let you go,” Xander said with muted determination in his voice.

“Xander,” Savannah said, sitting up, “we don’t have a choice.”

“I should have fought harder from the beginning,” Xander said with new resolve. “At least I can fight for us now.”

“How?” Savannah asked, desperately clinging to the hope she could sense in his voice.

“I will have to plead my case,” Xander said.

“To whom?”

“To the Council of Elders,” Xander said. “I will have to go before the pack leaders and speak directly to the alpha.”

“The alpha?” Savannah said. “Does that mean you will have to go before your uncle?”

Xander sighed. “Yes, it does.”

 

Chapter Fourteen

 

“I’m coming with you,” Savannah said.

She expected him to refuse her, but he nodded. “I want you with me.”

While Savannah dressed, she heard Xander in the next room making a phone call to someone. When he came back, his face was grim and serious.

“What happened?” Savannah asked. “Whom were you talking to?"

“That was Brace,” Xander replied. “One of my friends. I told him to inform the council that I initiated a pack meeting, one hour from now.”

“Xander,” Savannah began.

“I can’t wait any longer, Savannah,” Xander said wearily. “I need this resolved. I need an answer from them. If we have their permission, their blessing, then we can be together.”

“And what if they deny us?”

Xander’s eyes clouded over, and Savannah had her answer. “Let’s not think about that until we have to,” Xander said in a low voice.

Sooner than she could have imagined, she and Xander left behind the silence of the cabin and headed to the clearing where the pack meeting was to be held. It was just as beautiful as the first time Xander had taken her there, but Savannah was so nervous she couldn’t fully appreciate it.

“Breathe, Savannah,” Xander said, squeezing her hand.

“I can feel your fear,” Savannah whispered to him, “and it’s making me even more nervous.”

Xander smiled, and Savannah marvelled at his ability to keep a cool and calm exterior despite the turmoil of emotion he was experiencing. “Don’t let them see how much we want this,” he told Savannah, and she willed herself to adopt his calm façade.

They were standing beside the lake when Savannah registered the change in climate. She felt burning heat coming toward them as she sensed the others start to approach. She turned around and saw Xander’s friends enter the clearing from the woods. They were the only ones who looked at her sympathetically, without hate or jealousy. Still, they did not seem happy, either. They were weary and nervous of what was to come.

On their heels came the girls. Savannah froze as she took in Marissa’s furious eyes. If Savannah had not been able to sense people's auras, she would not have been able to sense how fiercely Marissa hated her.

There were nine of them in the clearing. The pack members stood to one side, staring over at Xander and Savannah, their eyes lingering on their entwined hands. Savannah tried to remove her hand from Xander’s but he kept a firm grip on her.

And then they came. Savannah held her breath and watched as three cloaked figures entered the clearing at the same time. Instantly she realized this was the vision she had seen yesterday, when Dominic had cornered her in the forest. She had seen herself standing before the Council of Elders, waiting for them to cast judgement on her future, waiting for them to raise her up or destroy her whole.

The elders moved into the center of the loose circle, their backs to the lake so that they were facing the young pack members. They removed their cloaks, and Savannah recognized the woman on the far right. It was impossible to forget that kind of careless beauty. Savannah knew she should not have been surprised‒she had sensed it from day one--but it had caught her off guard, nonetheless.

“Hello Savannah,” Principal Harris greeted her, blue eyes flashing.

Savannah nodded, feeling her words catch in her throat. In the middle, between the two women, stood a tall, bald man, with fantastic green eyes. There was little resemblance between him and Xander, but Savannah could still sense the blood bond between them. To his left stood another woman with braided black hair, and eyes just as dark. She looked like she belonged on some exotic runway.

Before anyone could speak, Marissa stepped forward. “This is a pack meeting,” she said, her tone carrying splinters. “He should not have been allowed to bring her here. This is a sacred place.”

“This is true, Malick,” Principal Harris said, agreeing with her daughter. “It is not allowed.”

“Why have you brought Savannah here, Xander?” Malick asked, turning his intense green eyes on Xander and Savannah.

“I know the rules,” Xander said, stepping forward. “And I understand and respect them–"

“If you truly respected the rules none of us would be here now,” Marissa said, cutting Xander off.

“Let him speak,” Johnny said, glaring at Marissa. “He is the alpha.”

“He’s not alpha yet,” Marissa snapped back.

“Stop!” Malick said, and a hush fell over the pack instantly. “Xander has broken many rules, but he deserves the chance to explain himself. Xander, you have the floor.”

“Thank you, Uncle,” Xander said, dipping his head in respect. He took another step forward, and Savannah felt the urge to reach out and pull him back to her side. She felt strangely sick, but she suppressed the urge to sit down and rest her legs.

“As I said, I do have respect for the rules that govern our kind, but I cannot deny I have other wishes that cannot be fulfilled in this pack, in my role here, and in my duty as the future alpha. I cannot control how I feel, and I cannot change whom I love. I had no choice in this. I understand the rules: I must marry a wolf shifter so we may create the next generation together, but I cannot deny that I love Savannah.”

“We know all this, Xander,” Malick said after a moment. “You love the girl, you told me so the first day you laid eyes on her--what is it you’re really here to say?’

“I am here to ask, to implore the council to grant us permission to be together,” Xander said, speaking slowly so that his request would sink in.

The moment he spoke the words, Savannah felt rage ignite inside her. There was more than just rage--there was worry, concern, jealousy, and fear. Savannah did not understand half of what she was sensing from the pack, and it cemented her difference. She was not one of them. She did not understand their customs or their rules. They were all alien to her.

“You want our permission?” Malick asked calmly, staring Xander in the eye.

“Yes.” Xander nodded. “That is what I want.”

“You cannot have both, Xander,” Malick said. “You know the price of choosing Savannah--it will come at the expense of this pack…your pack. If you abandon them now, the next alpha will be Dominic.”

“Not if you refuse to recognize him as the alpha,” Xander said desperately. “You can cast him out, shun him, and look to me as the next leader still.”

“As I said, you cannot have both.”

Xander sighed deeply. “It doesn’t make sense.”

“You know that is not true,” Malick said harshly. “You have known the rules your whole life. You understood what it meant to be the alpha. I believed you were ready.”

“He is ready,” the dark skinned, braided beauty beside Malick said, speaking up for the first time. “We can all sense his abilities, but he is also tormented by his love for the girl, and we cannot ignore that.”

“What else can we do?” Principal Harris asked. “If Xander chooses Savannah he dooms the pack, and if he chooses the pack, he must give up the girl.”

“I don’t understand,” Savannah said, speaking up. Everyone turned to her and she felt the full weight of everyone’s eyes on her. She took a deep breath and continued. “I just…I don’t understand why another leader can’t be chosen. If Xander cannot lead the pack, why does it have to be Dominic?"

Xander turned around and faced her.

“She knows nothing,” Marissa spat. “You haven’t told her the most important part.”

Savannah ignored Marissa and stared at Xander, searching for the answers in his eyes. “The next, natural alpha possesses abilities that other wolf shifters are born without,” Xander said, slowly. “Once I become the alpha I will have…a certain amount of control over the pack, and if I break from tradition, then those powers will waste away, and the next in line will inherit them. Dominic would inherit them.”

“Your father didn’t,” Savannah pointed out, desperate for some loophole that would save them. “You told me you were next in line to be the alpha, not your father.”

“My father broke the rules,” Xander replied. “He desecrated the holy union of marriage by cheating on my mother, so the powers of the alpha passed him over in favor of me, but that was only because I was an option. If my father had had no sons, then he would have been the next alpha. That is why it is so important to marry and create the next generation.”

Savannah felt light-headed. She reminded herself to breathe deeply so that she would stay calm, but anguish was threatening to break her façade. She could see no way forward for herself and Xander. She could see the end, and it was near.

“You knew this, Xander,” Malick spoke up. “You knew this before you called the meeting, before you brought us here. Why ask when you know the answer? Why ask when you know there is nothing we can do?”

“There is something we can do,” Xander said with conviction, and Savannah froze in place. She hadn’t expected it, and she clung to Xander’s words, grabbing onto the last shred of hope available to them.

“Go on,” Malick said. “What is it you think we can do?”

“We ask for help,” Xander said. “To change inevitable fate and bend this rule so I can become the alpha as I was meant to, and stay with Savannah at the same time.”

“That is impossible!” Marissa said harshly.

“Silence,” Principal Harris hissed. She turned to Xander and nodded. “How do you propose to achieve this help?”

Savannah sensed the stress wafting off Xander’s body, and she knew he was nervous about bringing this new plan to light. He knew it would be unpopular, but it was his last, desperate attempt.

“We seek the help of a witch,” he said.

There was a moment of silence, and then the clearing went wild with gritting teeth and sounds of outrage. Even Xander’s friends hissed at the words, recoiling back as though he had lashed out at them. Savannah stared at the reaction, wondering what it meant to them and their kind. First, she tried to process the idea that real witches lived among the human race.

“You dare suggest such a thing?” Malick asked in a cold voice.

“It is the only way.”

“We do not consort with witches,” the braided elder said, speaking up.

“If you remember correctly, our legends revolve around witches,” Xander said. “Our history includes them. Witches have shaped the race we are today.”

“They have also enslaved and harmed us,” Malick responded. “We are not dogs to be trained and used and tortured. We are wolves, and we are greater than they are.”

“They have power that we don’t.”

“Which is why they have kept us under heel,” Malick said angrily. “We will not allow them to use us further. You cannot expect anything from a witch without payment. Tell me: are you willing to pay the price it would cost?”

“Yes,” Xander said, firmly.

At the same time Savannah said, “No.”

Their eyes fell upon Savannah again, and she stepped forward to stand beside Xander. He looked at her with confusion and hurt, but she knew she could not let him do this for her.

“Xander,” she said, dropping her voice so that only he could hear her. “It’s okay. You need to let this go now.”

“I need to let this go?” he repeated incredulously.

“You have an obligation to stay and protect your pack,” Savannah said. “And I can’t be a part of it. You need to accept that.”

“They can do this,” Xander said desperately. “They can ask for help. They can put aside this the enmity they have with the witches and help us.”

“Xander, I can feel their resolve,” Savannah said sadly. “They will not bend.”

Xander turned to stare at the three elders in front of them. “You’re really going to make me choose?”

“At least you’ve been given a choice,” Malick told him expressionlessly.

Savannah felt Xander’s rage hurtle to the surface, and she knew he was going to lose it in a second. She reached out to him, trying to stop the outburst before it happened, but a sharp whip of pain cut through her, and her knees buckled as she fell to the ground.

“Savannah!” Xander cried as he grabbed her. “What just happened?”

“I don’t know,” Savannah said. She gasped, but then the pain disappeared as fast as it had come.

“Elvira!” Xander said, turning to the braided elder. “Help her.”

Elvira stepped forward and knelt down beside Savannah. “Lie down flat,” she said, and Savannah had no choice but to do so.

Elvira looked her over, and then placed her hands, palms down, over Savannah’s body. Elvira never touched her, but Savannah felt a strange heat begin to envelop her.

“What is this?” Savannah whispered.

“She’s trying to sense what’s wrong,” Xander replied. “Hold on.”

The clearing was filled with silence for at least ten minutes. Elvira had her eyes shut as her hands hovered over Savannah’s body. She moved her hands up and down, without a word. Suddenly, her hands stilled, and Savannah sensed the confusion and astonishment ripple from Elvira’s aura.

“What is it?” Savannah asked in a panic. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing is…wrong,” Elvira said at last.

“Elvira?” Xander’s voice was weighted down with concern.

Elvira rose to her feet, and she and Xander helped Savannah up. The pain had left her body, but the memory of it still remained. Savannah stared at Elvira, waiting for the explanation.

“It seems…Savannah is pregnant,” Elvira said at last.

Shock was the one singular emotion that Savannah felt emanating from everyone in the clearing.

“What?” Xander said after a moment. “She’s…pregnant?”

“Yes,” Elvira nodded. “You’re going to be a father, Xander.”

Xander turned around and stared at Savannah. “This makes my choice easier,” Xander said at last. “The only way my conscience will allow me to abandon my responsibility to my pack. It is in favor of a greater responsibility--”

“You will not be required to make the choice at all,” Elvira said, and a murmur went through the pack.

“What do you mean, Elvira?” Malick asked. “He will still have to choose.”

“No, he will not,” Elvira replied. “The child that Savannah carries…will be a shifter.”

“How is that possible?” Principal Harris demanded.

“I don’t know,” Elvira replied. “But it is.”

“Wait,” Xander said suddenly. “Does that mean…”

“You can marry Savannah,” Elvira said. “And you can retain your role as alpha.”

Xander spun around to face Savannah. Their eyes met and Savannah saw how thrilled he was. Her fear and uncertainty dissipated instantly as she saw the conviction in his eyes. They could stay together; Xander did not have to choose.

Savannah fell into his arms and Xander hugged her tightly. Savannah felt jealousy spring up all around them, but she cut it all out and focused only on Xander and their child. For now, and forevermore, this was the only thing that mattered.

It was the only thing that would ever matter.

 

BOOK TWO

Chapter One

“Savannah?”

Xander’s voice reached Savannah as though from a great distance, but when she turned he was right beside her. She reached out and took his hand.

“I’m sorry,” Savannah said. “I was somewhere else.”

“Are you okay?” Xander asked.

“I’m…just a little shaken,” Savannah replied. “I mean, I’m pregnant, and I’m eighteen, and I haven’t even graduated high school yet.”

“I know,” Xander said. He pulled her close, and wrapped his arms around her. Warmth crept in immediately, and Savannah felt a little better. “I know, This is a lot for me, too.”

“Are you scared?” Savannah asked. She looked up at him.

He hesitated for a moment. His grey eyes were distant and thoughtful, but when he looked into Savannah’s eyes, he was back in the present with her. “Yes.” He nodded. “I am, but I’m scared of different things.”

“Like what?” Savannah asked.

“I’m scared I won’t be able to keep my family safe,” Xander said quietly.

“Which family?” Savannah asked. “The one you have with me, or the one you have with the pack?”

Xander cupped Savannah’s face in both of his hands, and looked down at her with a burning intensity. “From this day until my last, you will always be the most important thing to me. You are my family first, and everything and everyone else will always be second.”

Savannah nodded as she let those words seep into her being, comforting her the way nothing else could. She sensed Xander’s brightly burning aura, and its intensity. She also sensed his aura’s layered emotions--he was weary and scared; he was thinking three steps ahead, and he still worried that it wasn’t enough.

“You’re thinking too much,” Savannah said quickly.

Xander smiled distractedly. “You can feel it?”

“Even if I couldn’t feel it, I can see it,” Savannah said. “I need you to be present Xander, I need to know you’re here with me.”

“I am always with you,” Xander said firmly. “Always.”

Savannah sighed. “It’s getting late,” she said. “I need to get home before my parents start worrying.”

Xander nodded. He took her hand and they made their way through the forest.

“Will they really let us be together now?” Savannah asked. It was a question that she'd wanted to ask for some time, now.

“Of course,” Xander said with certainty. “They are bound by sacred laws. You are carrying my child, and that child is a shifter. One day he or she will succeed me. They will respect our union, and they will help me to keep you and the baby safe.”

“You sound so sure,” Savannah said.

Xander turned to her in surprise. “You’re not?”

“It’s just…”

“Yes?”

“I felt so many different things in the clearing,” Savannah admitted. “I felt the tenor of every aura surrounding me, and I caught some emotions that weren’t always…respectful.”

Xander sighed. “You have to understand, Savannah, the girls were raised with the belief that one day I would choose my partner from one of them. It is a hard thing to not be chosen, but not to be chosen in favor of someone so different is a bitter pill for them to swallow.”

“I felt their jealousy,” Savannah said. Her hand fell instinctively to her flat belly. “I felt their anger, but it paled in comparison to how one person in particular felt.”

Savannah looked hard at Xander’s face where she saw confirmation of her fears reflected in his eyes.

“Marissa and I were very close as children,” Xander said slowly. “We were best friends, but as we grew older, she wanted something more, and I…didn’t.”

“She’s in love with you,” Savannah said firmly.

“She only thinks she’s in love with me,” Xander said dismissively.

Savannah pulled her hand from Xander’s, and he turned to face her. “You’re not listening to me,” Savannah said. “I’m not guessing, and I’m not assuming. I know she's in love with you. I can feel it, and how it burns inside of her.”

Xander looked down. “It doesn’t matter,” he said softly. “I don’t love her.”

“You’re not scared of what she might do?” Savannah asked.

Xander turned to her, fire burning in his eyes. “She is part of the pack,” he said. “I am the future alpha, and you are my chosen mate. She will not harm you or any part of you.”

“Because she won’t, or because she can’t?” Savannah asked.

“Does it matter?” Xander took Savannah’s hand and pulled her through the forest.

“It matters to me.”

“I told you before, and I meant it,” Xander said. “I will keep you safe. From everyone.”

Savannah tried to take a deep breath, but she felt something she didn’t have the luxury of trying to decipher. She and Xander moved quickly through the forest, until they came to the base of the track where he kept his motorcycle. He helped her onto it, and then they were breezing down the dark, lonely streets of Grey Mountain, toward Savannah’s isolated home.

Xander stopped a few feet away from the house, and behind some trees so that no one in the house would be able to see them. He got off, and then helped Savannah down.

“You know I won’t break right?” Savannah said. “I’m just pregnant.”

Xander took a deep breath. “I can’t quite believe it.”

“Neither can I,” Savannah said. “And who can blame us? It's not every day that a person finds out she's pregnant only a day after conception. How did Elvira know?”

“Usually the elders possess certain heightened abilities,” Xander said. “She’s a healer of sorts, and she can usually sense if something has gone wrong, internally. That was how she was able to tell that you were pregnant so soon.”

Savannah nodded. She unconsciously turned in the direction of the house.

“Are you worried about how to tell your parents?” Xander asked.

Savannah laughed. “Can I possibly get away with never telling them at all?” she asked.

“After the first three or four months they might start to notice something,” Xander pointed out.

Savannah sighed. “I can’t think about it right now,” she said. “I just need to get some sleep.”

“Of course.” Xander nodded. “If you need anything, anything at all, call me.”

“I will,” Savannah said. Xander reached for her and drew her close, and Savannah melted into him. They stood like that for a long time before Xander slowly tilted her head back enough so that he could kiss her, gently on the lips.

“I don’t want to leave you,” he said.

Savannah had sensed that, but she also sensed that he needed to leave, as he had much to settle with the pack, and his responsibilities were calling to him.

“But you have to,” Savannah said, nodding. “The pack needs you.”

Xander looked wearily off into the woods. Savannah noticed the crease of worry on his brow grow prominent. She reached up and grazed his cheek with the back of her hand. “Go. It's okay. I’ll be fine.”

Xander took her hand, kissed the inside of her palm, and then flipped it over and kissed it again. “Everything's going to be all right,” he said. “I'll make sure of that.”

“I know,” Savannah said, and she took a step back so Xander could ride off.

She waited until the plumes of smoke from his motorcycle disappeared into the wind before she turned and went into the house. Inside, all of the lights were still on, and her parents were in the kitchen eating dinner.

“There you are!” her mother said. “We were expecting you home an hour ago.”

“I know,” Savannah said, sitting down opposite her parents. “I was with some friends, and I lost track of time.”

“Friends, huh?” her father asked. She noticed her parents exchange a happy glance. “That’s great. You're really beginning to blossom in this town.”

Savannah cringed at her father’s choice of words, but she smiled anyway, and accepted the plate her mother had passed to her.

“We’re having pasta for dinner.”

“That sounds great,” Savannah said, despite the fact that she was not hungry at all. She served herself a small portion, and picked at it sparsely.

“Not hungry?” her mother asked.

“We had snacks,” Savannah said quickly. “Guess they filled me up.”

“Did you have fun?” her mother asked.

Savannah nodded. “Yeah. I did. It was great.”

“You should introduce these new friends of yours to us,” Savannah’s father said. “You could invite them over, sometime.”

“That’s not necessary,” Savannah said quickly. “They’re all…really busy.”

“Busy?” her mother repeated.

“We live quite far out,” Savannah said, grasping at straws.

“I think I know what the problem is,” her dad said, giving her a sideways glance. “She’s scared we’re going to embarrass her.”

Savannah rolled her eyes. “That’s really not it.”

“I think your father’s right,” her mother said, pretending to be hurt.

Savannah laughed. “I am definitely not embarrassed about you guys. It's just that…these are new friends. They're the only friends I’ve ever really had and I need to figure this out for myself.”

“Okay,” her father said. “Whatever you need, sweet pea.”

“Oh, guess what?” her mother said.

“What?” Savannah asked.

“Your eighteenth birthday gift is finally here.”

Savannah’s dad pulled something from his jeans pocket and tossed it at her. “Happy belated birthday.”

Savannah grabbed it before it tumbled to the ground, and stared down at the shiny keychain. “Car keys?” she asked.

Her parents nodded in unison.

“You won’t have to walk to and from school anymore,” her mother said. “You’ve got your own set of wheels, now.”

“Thanks, guys,” Savannah said. “This will make things a whole lot easier.”

“We figured you really needed a car in this town,” her father said. “The town’s too spread out for you to just walk from one place to the next, and once you graduate and we have to leave Grey Mountain, you can sell the car, and put the money toward…whatever you want.”

“Whatever I want?” Savannah repeated.

“Traveling, college tuition, a different car…” her mother suggested, “whatever you like.”

“Oh,” Savannah said. “That sounds great, but I might just keep the car.”

Her parents exchanged a glance. “What if you decide to leave the country?” her father said.

Savannah hesitated. “I’ve been doing a lot of thinking lately, about my future, and I’ve actually been considering the idea of staying here, in Grey Mountain.”

“You want to stay in Grey Mountain?” her mother asked, shocked.

Savannah laughed nervously. “I know it’s out of the blue–”

“You didn’t even want to move out here in the first place,” her father reminded her.

Savannah nodded. “I know, but now I don’t know—this town has kind of grown on me; I think I could be happy here.”

“Are you actually saying you’d want to stay here--permanently?” her mother asked.

“Possibly,” Savannah said. “I don’t know for sure, yet.”

“What on earth can you do in this town, Savannah?” her mother asked, sounding concerned.

“I don’t know,” Savannah said. “I’ll just have to figure it out as I go.”

Her parents exchanged worried glances, and Savannah felt as if she might burst. Her emotions had been going crazy lately. She sensed it was most likely because of her pregnancy.

“Savannah,” her mother started.

“Yes?”

“Is this because of a boy?”

Savannah didn’t answer right away. She wasn’t even sure of the answer herself. “I’m doing this for myself,” she said at last. “This is what I want.”

When Savannah finally went up to her room that night, she was exhausted, both physically and mentally. Her mind felt fluid, as though it were floating in about a thousand different directions with no means to control it. Savannah moved to her window and pried it open.

A gust of oaky wind hit her face, and Savannah closed her eyes against its insistent pull. For the first time that day she was alone, and she was at last able to hear herself think. She reflected on the day's events, as about a hundred different images whirled through her mind.

She remembered the walk to the clearing with Xander, and standing before the elders to plead their case. In the end, her pregnancy had rendered the elders’ verdict moot, and she and Xander had gotten the blessing they required to be together, so Savannah couldn't understand why she'd been feeling the way she was feeling.

It was as though her body was sending her warnings she couldn’t ignore or avoid. It was as though every instinct she had was telling her that something was going to happen, that a storm was brewing just beyond the horizon, waiting to break.

Chapter Two

Savannah spent the whole night tossing and turning. At a time when she should feel happy, all she felt was scared. It wasn’t just the uncertainty of being eighteen and pregnant--it was more than that. It was the sense of foreboding that told her she should not grow comfortable because her world was about to spin off its axis.

Savannah woke the next morning still feeling tired. She sensed the presence of something foreign inside her, but she still couldn’t quite resolve that feeling with the presence of a baby. Savannah dressed and went outside, thankful that it was a Saturday. She stared up at the ranging hills that stood before her, and edged her way up until the house was far behind her, and the air started to feel a little thinner.

Savannah took her hearing aid out, rendering the world instantly quiet. It was only in the absence of all sound that Savannah realized how much noise there actually was around her. The sound of the leaves rustling in the wind, and the animals and birds had disappeared, the sound of crunching leaves beneath her feet, and the steady whistle of the wind was gone, too. In the absence of sound, Savannah felt her senses begin to expand to make up for the dearth of sound.

A flash of light passed before her eyes, and Savannah sensed a vision, just beyond the periphery of her sight. She almost felt as if she might have some control over it, and tried to reach for it, but a wave of scent hit her hard, and she opened her eyes. She recognized the scent as possibly her favorite thing in the world.

“Xander,” Savannah whispered, though she was unable to hear even her own voice.

Xander appeared before her eyes, his face cast into high relief bathed in the golden spotlight of the sun. He was so beautiful that he took Savannah’s breath away. His pale grey eyes held hues of silver, and his dark hair held hints of gold. She saw his mouth form the shape of her name, and she inched her hearing aid back in.

“What are you doing out here so early?” Xander asked.

“I couldn’t sleep,” Savannah admitted. “I thought a walk might help.”

“You look…worried,” Xander said, staring carefully at Savannah’s face.

“I had nightmares last night,” she said. “I don’t remember what about, but they left me with this…feeling.”

“What feeling?” Xander asked.

“The feeling that something is about to happen,” Savannah said. “Something bad.”

“I don’t want you worrying needlessly,” Xander said as he reached out and took Savannah’s hand. “Stressing yourself out can only serve to harm both you and the baby. You need to stay calm.”

“I can’t help how I feel, Xander,” Savannah said. She sighed. “I don’t want to feel this way…it’s just…beyond my control.”

Xander’s eyes appeared troubled as he looked down at Savannah. “Is there anything I can do?”

Savannah smiled. “You being here is enough.”

Xander hugged her a little tighter and then kissed her forehead. “Why don’t we sit down?” he suggested. They found a cosy little spot beneath the shade of the forest trees, and rested against its trunk.

“Are you going to tell me?” Savannah asked.

“Tell you what?”

“What you’re not telling me,” Savannah said. “I can sense it--”

Xander raised his eyebrows. “Those senses of yours are no joke.”

Savannah smiled. “It’s only because of the connection between us,” she clarified. “It’s going to be hard for you to keep a secret from me.”

Xander smiled. “Believe it or not, I don’t want to keep secrets from you, but I don’t want to upset you, either.”

“I know.” Savannah nodded. “But tell me anyway.”

Xander sighed. “Apparently…the news has traveled.”

“News of my pregnancy?” Savannah asked.

Xander nodded. “Dominic knows that the fact our child is a shifter has legitimized our relationship, and I can marry you and take on my role as alpha which means--”

“He can’t take over like he wanted to,” Savannah said, finishing for him.

“Exactly,” Xander nodded.

“Does that mean he’s going to go back home?” Savannah asked.

“I don’t think he’s the type to give up so easily,” Xander said. “He’s still in town, and…I think he may be up to something.”

“I knew it!” Savannah said. “I knew my senses were right.”

“He’s not going to get near you,” Xander said fiercely. “I’ll make sure of that.”

“What if…what if he tries to harm the baby?” Savannah said, feeling terrible fear grip at her.

“We’re going to find him, Savannah,” Xander said heatedly. “We’re going to find him, and we’re going to get him out of town.”

“How?”

“When the pack comes together as one we're impossible to defeat,” Xander said with certainty. “It is the lone wolf who has something to fear, and we are not alone--but Dominic is.”

Savannah nodded slowly. “I told my parents I wanted to stay in Grey Mountain last night,” she admitted.

He smiled at her softly. “Were they surprised?”

“Very.” Savannah nodded. “They think I’m staying because of a boy.”

“Oh,” Xander said with interest. “What did you tell them?"

“I told them I was staying for myself,” Savannah replied. “I told them that I was doing this for no one else but me.”

“That’s good to hear,” Xander said, kissing the top of her head. “How are you feeling about…everything? We never really got a chance to talk about…the pregnancy.”

Savannah’s hands fell to her belly. “It feels…unreal at this moment, but I’m also starting to feel--”

“Yes?”

“Protective,” Savannah said, “in a way I've never felt before--”

“I think they call those maternal instincts,” Xander said.

“It must be,” Savannah said. .

“What are your plans for today?” Xander asked.

“Well, I was hoping to spend the day with you,” she said.

Xander’s face broke into a huge smile. “Well, we can,” he said. “We can be together, now that no one and nothing can stop us.”

Savannah nodded. She allowed her worry to dissipate for a moment in an attempt to savor her happiness. “They’re really going to support this?” she asked, feeling the need to be reassured.

“They’re really going to support this. My uncle's behind us, one hundred percent.”

Savannah nodded, taking comfort in his words.

“Let’s go to the cabin,” Xander said. He rose to his feet and extended his hand out to Savannah.

They started walking toward the house, hand in hand, enjoying the oaky scent of the forest trees, and the subdued sounds of the animals.

“I have to start learning,” Savannah said as they approached the cabin.

“Learning?” Xander asked.

“Learning about what it means to marry a shifter,” Savannah said, “and how to raise children who are shifters. I should know about your history, your traditions, and your rules, don’t you think?”

“Of course,” Xander said, nodding. “And you will learn, in time.”

“Why don’t you teach me now?”

“Because I don’t want to overwhelm you,” Xander said simply. “You already have a lot to adjust to, and a lot to process. Why make it harder for you by giving you too much information all at once?”

“I can handle it,” Savannah said defensively.

“I know you can, but for right now, I don’t want you to have to think about anything other than yourself and the baby. Trust me, there will be more than enough time for you to learn our ways and traditions.”

They entered the cabin together. Xander went right to the kitchen, and took out a loaf of bread and some eggs from the refrigerator. “Sit down,” he said, “and I’ll make you some breakfast.”

Savannah smiled. “I’ve never had a man cook for me before,” she admitted.

“Get used to it,” Xander said, moving around the kitchen with confidence.

In less than half an hour there was a table full of food, and Savannah was actually beginning to feel hungry again. Xander sat down next to her and spooned scrambled eggs onto her plate. Every once in a while, he'd rub her back protectively, as though to make sure she was all right.

“There’s still so much we don’t know about each other,” Xander said.

Savannah nodded. “I was thinking about that, too. It feels as though I’ve known you for a hundred years, but when I stop to think about it, I realize that we’re technically strangers to each other.”

“My mother used to tell me that strangers are made based on how you feel about them,” Xander said. “She said that she’d known people for a lifetime and they were still strangers to her. I think she might've been talking about my father.”

Savannah noticed how soft his voice grew when he spoke about his mother. She sensed how much Xander loved her, and how much it hurt him when he'd thought he'd lost her.

“How did she die?” Savannah asked.

“She was sick,” Xander said. “She was sick for a long time, and my father…well, he didn’t care. I think his indifference only made her illness worse. Sometimes I wonder if she didn't just stop fighting because it was easier to leave than to stay here and get hurt.”

Savannah sensed the burning anger beneath Xander’s calm façade. He was resentful and hurt, but he was also furious at how things had turned out.

“She would've tried to stay alive for you, Xander,” Savannah said, even though she didn’t know it for sure.

“I don’t know about that,” Xander said evenly. “She really loved my father--”

“She loved you, too.”

Xander smiled a sad smile. “Sometimes it's not as simple that that. People are complicated. Sometimes they’re weak, and that’s not necessarily a bad thing, it's just how we’re made. My mother, she was a strong woman, but she had moments of weakness. When my father did what he did, a part of her died. She became sullen and withdrawn, which only aggravated her illness. It was a massive humiliation for her to endure, and I think she wanted to leave it all behind.”

Savannah reached out and took Xander’s hand. “I’m sorry,” she said. “I wish there was something I could say--”

“You don’t have to say anything,” Xander said. “You don’t have to fix it or make it better. Some things just are, and accepting them is the only way forward.”

“Acceptance.” Savannah nodded, latching onto the word. “It’s harder than most people understand. I’ve always been so sensitive to what other people feel, and it's made me realize that acceptance is one of the hardest things to do. It– ”

Savannah’s words were cut short by a flashing image that burned in her mind’s eye, so bright, she moved to cover her eyes with her hands, but the vision had already passed.

“Savannah!” Xander said, panicked as he grabbed her. “Are you all right?”

Savannah breathed deeply. She managed a nod. “I…I think so--”

“What was that?”

“I had a vision,” she stammered. “I saw something, but it wasn’t clear.” Savannah searched her memory, but she wasn't able to see the vision again, or make sense of what she'd just seen. All she knew was that she was left with was a new sense of foreboding.

“Xander,” she said tearfully.

“What is it?” he asked with concern. “Tell me.”

“Something…something bad is going to happen,” she said. “I can feel it. It's coming.”

“What did you see?” Xander asked. Savannah sensed his worry burgeon in response to her reaction.

“I…can’t be sure,” Savannah said. “I think I saw a man, a tall man, but I couldn’t see his face. He’s…trying to destroy us all. I…”

Savannah’s words froze on her tongue, and Xander looked up in alarm, as though he'd heard something. “What is it?” Savannah demanded.

“You’re right,” Xander said. “Something has happened--”

Savannah gasped. “I…what is it? What’s happening?”

“I don’t know yet,” Xander said desperately. “I heard the call--”

“The call?”

“The pack call,” Xander said. “It means--”

“You have to go,” Savannah finished for him.

Xander fixed his eyes on Savannah. “Stay here,” he said. “I'll be back as soon as I can.”

“Okay,” Savannah said, feeling helpless.

“Stay here and lock the doors,” Xander said. “I’m sorry--”

“No,” Savannah said, cutting his apology short. “This is your job. Go and do it. I’ll be here when you get back.”

Xander nodded. He grabbed Savannah and kissed her hard on the lips. He leant his forehead against hers for the briefest of moments, and then he was gone.

Chapter Three

 

Savannah tried to find things to do around the cabin that would keep her mind off of whatever was going on outside those walls. She tried to clean the living room, she tried to arrange the sheets, and she tried to scrub the sink, but she gave up in the end in favour of staring out the window and waiting for Xander's return.

Her mind fabricated new worries, and new concerns with each passing second. She was starting to work herself into such a panic that she considered leaving the safety of the cabin behind in order to venture forth and find Xander herself.

Just as her resolve was beginning to harden, she saw something move between the trees in the distance, followed, almost immediately by a bright aura that was recognizable, but not altogether familiar. She was trying to decide if she should be scared, when she saw two tall figures emerge and start walking toward the cabin.

She recognized them instantly. The taller, dark-skinned boy with dark hair was Johnny, and just behind him was red-haired Gordy. They both wore nothing but shorts, and Savannah knew they'd probably made most of the journey to the cabin as wolves. She rushed from the window to the door, opening it before they had reached it.

Johnny looked at her with calm, serious eyes that gave nothing away, but she sensed the worry in his aura. Behind him, Gordy watched her, his face expressing more panic than worry.

“Johnny,” Savannah said. “Gordy. Where’s Xander?”

“He’s with the elders…conferring,” Johnny replied. “He sent us here to stay with you.”

“To stay with me?” Savannah repeated.

“He didn’t want you to worry--”

“I’m already worried,” Savannah said, trying to keep her tone even. “He’s been gone forever.”

The boys exchanged glances.

“What?” Savannah asked.

“He answered the pack call forty minutes ago,” Gordy told her.

Savannah raised her eyebrows in disbelief. Those forty minutes had felt like a lifetime.

Johnny and Gordy pushed past her and into the cabin. Once they were inside, Gordy bolted the door behind them.

“Are you going to tell me what happened?” Savannah demanded, unable to wait out her curiosity any longer. “What was the reason for the pack call?”

The boys exchanged glances again. “Maybe we should wait for Xander to get back here,” Johnny suggested.

“Or how about the two of you just tell me?” Savannah said. “Unless you can tell me he’ll be here soon.”

“We don’t know how long he’ll be,” Gordy replied.

“Fine,” Savannah said, “so go ahead.”

Johnny sighed as he sat down on the couch. “I think it’s best you hear this from Xander.”

Savannah wanted to scream. She knew something was wrong--she could feel it inside her--but her senses would give her nothing more than just that: a feeling. She felt like a blind man who was able to see shadows, but no definitive shapes.

Savannah sat down on the coffee table that sat just in front of the couch so she was able to see both Gordy and Johnny. “You two are close to Xander, aren’t you?” she said.

Johnny nodded. “Very close.” “We grew up together,” Gordy said.

“I know,” Savannah said. “I can sense how much you care about him, and how much you trust each other. I can also sense the fear and uncertainty you're both feeling. Johnny—you're concerned, and Gordy--you’re not sure about me because of what it's done to your pack, am I right?”

“How do you know all this?” Johnny asked suspiciously.

“Because ever since I was born I’ve been able to sense things about people, it's like I was born deaf, but nature found a way to compensate,” Savannah explained. “I feel more than a normal person can, as a result, which means I can feel that something is wrong…with the pack, and I want to know how that'll affect my family. And the thing is, my family doesn’t just include Xander, the baby, and myself, anymore--my family includes you, too. My family is the pack, and I can’t be kept in the dark about it.”

Gordy glanced at Johnny, but his eyes were fixed firmly on Savannah. He took a deep breath and leaned back against the sofa, and she knew his resolve had weakened.

“All right, fine,” he said, after a long pause.

“Johnny!” Gordy said.

“She’s going to find out anyway,” Johnny said impatiently. “Xander can’t control everything. He’s going to need to make sure Savannah has enough information to protect herself.”

Gordy fell silent, and Johnny turned his eyes to Savannah. “Dominic came back into town last night,” Johnny said, “and he found out what happened. He knows that you’re pregnant. He knows that your union with Xander will be allowed, and he also knows he has no chance of taking the pack because of it.”

“The man in my vision,” Savannah whispered under her breath.

“What?”

Savannah shook her head. “Nothing,” she said. “Go on.”

“After you and Xander had the meeting with the elders, it created some tension…among the pack,” Johnny said. “Xander isn't alpha yet, and the bonds that hold us together have not yet been cemented. The news of your pregnancy was…unexpected, to say the least.”

“What happened after we left the clearing?” Savannah asked.

“There was a…discussion–"

“There was an argument,” Gordy corrected.

“Marissa,” Savannah said instinctively, and both boys looked at her in surprise.

“Did you sense that, too?” Johnny asked.

Savannah shook her head. “No. Some things don’t require heightened senses to figure out. I knew Marissa wouldn't be happy about any of this.”

“We all knew she wouldn’t be happy,” Johnny continued, “but no one thought she'd have this strong of a reaction to the news.”

“What do you mean?” Savannah asked, feeling her worry grow. “What did she do?”

Johnny took a deep breath. “After you and Xander left, Marissa got into a shouting match with the elders. She felt they should have opposed your union with Xander, regardless. She believed they were letting you off the hook on a technicality. She raged and fought with all the elders, but mostly with her mother.”

“What happened?”

“She was told that the decision had been made, and that she'd have to bend to the will of the council and accept that Xander would eventually marry you.”

Acceptance. It was a hard thing to accomplish, especially when your beliefs, your hopes, your needs burned so brightly. Accepting something you did not want or desire was, in some cases, an insurmountable task.

“What did she do?” Savannah asked again.

“She left,” Johnny said, but there was a dull hollowness to his words that conveyed more than was obvious.

“She left?” Savannah repeated.

“She left the pack,” Gordy said.

Savannah looked first at one of the men, and then the other. “I don’t understand,” she said, shaking her head. “She left--does that mean you have to find her now?”

“You don’t understand,” Johnny said patiently. “It’s not that we lost her, it’s that she's chosen to break with us…with the pack.”

“How can she do that?”

“She can do that only if there's a suitable alternative left for her,” Johnny explained.

“But there is none,” Savannah said. "Is there?"

“There actually is,” Johnny said. “He came into town last night.”

It took Savannah a moment to decipher what he was saying. When she did, she felt her body grow cold. “No,” she whispered. “She didn't.”

Gordy nodded. “That’s exactly what she did,” he said.

“She left the pack to join with…Dominic?”

Johnny nodded. “Yes.” His face was creased with worry.

“What does this mean?” Savannah asked.

“It means we're in trouble,” Johnny said without emotion. “It means there’s a battle on the horizon, and we're no longer a united front.”

Chapter Four

 

“Wait,” Savannah said, scrambling to understand. “You still have the whole pack. Marissa and Dominic are just two against many.”

“Marissa knows all of the pack secrets,” Gordy said with venom. “She can tell Dominic all of our weaknesses, and they'd be able to destroy us without even trying.”

“I still don’t understand,” Savannah said. “How is that even possible?”

Johnny sighed deeply. “Our history plays an important role here,” he said, “and sometimes, a legend is just history in disguise--”

Savannah's instincts kicked in. “The Wolf Prince,” she said.

Both Gordy and Johnny looked at her in amazement. “You know the legend of the wolf prince?” Gordy asked.

Savannah nodded “Yes. I may not be a shifter, but that doesn’t mean I’m not interested in learning about you and your history, especially since it’ll be my child’s history, too.

"I know the legend of the wolf prince. Kato, the only wolf-child of Mira and Kian, fell in love with a human girl, named Alais. They wanted to leave Grey Mountain and travel the world together, but first, Alais needed the power to transform into a wolf.”

“So they went to a woods witch,” Gordy said, taking up the narrative when Savannah paused. “They made a deal with her: Alais would be transformed into a wolf, but both she and Kato would be bound to Grey Mountain. Since they could never leave, they could never be truly free.”

Johnny turned to Savannah. “Dominic's a lone wolf. He has no ties to anybody, which means he can move freely. Alone, he was outnumbered and weak, but now that he's made an alliance with Marissa, all that has changed.”

“How?”

“Marissa’s ties are to this land, to Grey Mountain, or whatever you want to call it. Her bond is with this land, and by leaving her pack and aligning herself with Dominic, she's given him powers in this territory, our territory. Anyone who allies themselves with Marissa and Dominic can enter Grey Mountain and fight for control.”

“You’re saying Marissa has the power to open a door that allows Dominic and anyone who follows him to pass through?” Savannah asked struggling to keep up.

“She’s already opened the door,” Johnny said, sounding hard. “We have no doubt Dominic's amassing a pack of his own to contest us for power in these lands.”

“That sounds like--”

“It’s going to come to a battle,” Johnny said.“We’ll have no choice but to fight.”

“What does that mean?” Savannah asked.

“If we lose, all those loyal to the root pack will be destroyed,” Gordy said slowly.

“You mean they'll kill us?” Savannah asked, horrified.

“Land is sacred and holy,” Johnny said. “It has power, and it will not bend to the will of another pack so long as any one member of the root pack is still living.”

“There must be someone that can help us,” Savannah said. “Isn’t there some way we can protect the pack?”

“None that we can see,” Johnny said. “All we can do at this point is to wait--”

“For what?” Savannah asked.

“For them to make the first move.”

“That’s it?” Savannah asked. “You’re just going to sit around and wait for their move? You’re not going to do anything?”

Johnny and Gordy exchanged another glance, and Savannah felt her patience evaporate under all the stress. “Stop looking at each other and talk to me,” Savannah demanded. She felt a personal responsibility to the pack, considering she was the reason for the break in the first place. “There has to be something we can do. We can ask for help--”

“From whom?” Gordy demanded. “Other packs won't get involved. This isn’t their battle, and they cannot stray from their territories.”

“A witch, then,” Savannah said.

The expressions on Johnny and Gordy’s faces changed. They looked startled at first, but then their eyes visibly narrowed. “We do not involve ourselves with witches,” Johnny said darkly.

“Why not?”

“They are our enemies,” Gordy said, as if it was enough to explain everything.

Frustrated, Savannah stood. “Xander was ready to ask for a witch’s help yesterday, in the clearing,” she reminded them.

“Because he was desperate,” Johnny said. He also stood. “And that desperation temporarily blinded him, but if he'd been thinking straight, he would have realized that seeking a witch's help is like shooting yourself in the foot--it won't work.”

“Why not?” Savannah demanded.

“Because a witch brings nothing but destruction and betrayal,” Johnny said. “You may marry Xander one day, and you may bear him children, and become a part of the pack in some small way, but do not forget that you are not a shifter. You do not understand our ways, our beliefs, and our traditions. You cannot assume that you know what’s best here.”

Savannah fell silent, but her anger burned palpably beneath the surface. Her fear rose with every passing moment, and at the pack’s insistence on doing nothing, which was starting to weigh heavily on her.

She felt a sting pass through her stomach, and her hands immediately dropped to her belly.

“Are you okay?” Johnny asked, interpreting her gesture.

“I’m fine,” Savannah said quickly, and she left them in the hall to move into the bedroom where she closed the door behind her, and sat down. She took deep breaths, trying to force her fear down in order to think of a clear way forward.

The dark feeling in the pit of her belly had cemented itself there, and Savannah knew that the foreboding she had felt yesterday had been warning her of this very moment. She closed her eyes, and willed a miracle to manifest, so that she could, in some way, help decide the outcome of the looming battle.

“Savannah?” Xander said, his voice was worried and anxious as he walked through the door. Savannah sat up and Xander rushed to her bedside. “Are you all right?”

She nodded quickly. “I’m fine,” she said. “Physically, I’m fine.”

He looked at her carefully, his hand cupped at the side of her face. “What did Johnny and Gordy tell you?”

“The truth,” Savannah replied. “They told me everything.”

Xander shook his head in frustration. “I told them to leave that to me.”

“I’m not a child,” Savannah snapped. She pushed his hand away from her cheek. “Stop treating me like one. I deserve to know what’s happening.”

“I know that,” Xander said firmly. “I’m not trying to keep anything from you, I was just trying to make sure you understand what’s happening.”

“I do,” Savannah nodded. “Marissa betrayed all of you. You defended her yesterday. You said you knew her. You said she'd never harm us, but she already has.”

“I guess I underestimated her.” Xander sighed. “And that was my fault, but I don’t think she’s thinking clearly. She was angry yesterday, she was hurt, and bitter, and she made a rash decision–"

“Are you actually defending her?” Savannah demanded.

“I’m trying to understand her,” Xander said quickly, “so I can figure out how to stop this before it starts.”

Savannah shook her head at Xander in disbelief. “It’s already started Xander,” she said in a heavy voice. “She’s already left the pack. She's already aligned herself with Dominic. Johnny and Gordy told me what that means.”

Xander looked down at her and sighed. “I know it looks bad right now--”

“Are they really going to contest your claim on these lands?” Savannah asked.

Xander sighed. “I think so.”

“What chance do they have of winning?”

Xander’s eyes reflected his conflicting emotions. Savannah knew he needed comforting, but she was too far gone in worry to give him any at that particular moment. “Tell me.”

“I don’t know,” Xander said at last. “The town Dominic's from has a pack of its own.”

“Wait,” Savannah said,“Dominic’s town has a pack of its own?”

“Yes.”

“You just said Dominic's been a lone wolf with no ties to any pack.”

“He is.”

Savannah shook her head in frustration. “I don’t get it. If he was born into a town with a root pack, then shouldn’t he automatically be a part of that pack?”

“That's usually the case,” Xander said, nodding. “Which is why this situation is unique. You remember I told you my father had an affair with Dominic’s mother?”

Savannah nodded. “I remember.”

“Dominic’s mother was a part of the root pack in Mosley, this other village. She had an affair with my father, and adultery is not our way. There were consequences for my father. He was removed from the pack, and his authority was taken from him. The same thing happened to Dominic’s mother.”

“You mean lone wolves are just wolves that have been banished from their root packs?” Savannah asked, shocked.

Xander nodded. “Yes. Usually a banished wolf will move from his or her town, but Dominic’s mother didn’t move very far away.”

“That’s why he can come into Grey Mountain at all,” Savannah said, “because he was an outcast.”

“Yes.”

Savannah looked at Xander. “You know that isn’t fair--he was a child. He shouldn’t have been banished because of the actions of his parents.”

“I agree,” Xander said, nodding, “but the alternative is to separate a child from his banished parent, which an elder would never do. They felt it was far kinder to allow outcasts to take their children and build new a life for themselves elsewhere.”

Savannah sighed deeply. Her head began to spin. It was a lot to digest in such a short space of time, and there were still things she needed to know. “Johnny said that Dominic could amass followers and form a pack of his own--how is that possible?”

Xander sighed. “Because Dominic was not banished himself. The ruling was not cast on him, it was cast on his mother and father. He still has alpha-blood in his veins, and alpha-blood is sacred, which means he can take power if he fights for it, and if he has wolves who are willing to follow him.”

“That means they can choose to join him,” Savannah said slowly.

“Yes.”

“How likely is that?” Savannah asked.

“We don’t know yet,” Xander said, “but Marissa and Dominic haven’t been spotted for hours--I don’t think they’re in Grey Mountain anymore.”

“But they'll come back.”

“Yes, they will.”

“And when they do, they might have a small army with them.”

Xander’s eyes were far away and troubled. “I’m going to make sure it doesn’t come to that, if I can help it.”

“How can you make sure of that?”

“Because Marissa made a mistake,” Xander said with conviction, “and she’s going to realize that eventually.”

Savannah stood up and pulled her hand from Xander’s grip. “When are you going to realize that Marissa's made a choice?" she said. "She's betrayed you and your pack, and the sooner you accept that, the easier it'll be for you to figure out a way to fight them.”

Xander was about to say something when they noticed Johnny and Gordy at the door. They'd obviously been listening to them argue. Xander’s eyes locked onto Johnny’s.

“I hate to say it, Xander,” Johnny said, “but I think Savannah’s right: we’ve lost Marissa. We need to start thinking about battle strategies.”

Xander shook his head as though he wasn't having any of it.

Savannah felt the black hole in her stomach grow larger and more unruly. “Listen to Johnny,” she pleaded. “The threat is real--I felt it before you did. The vision I had right before the pack call? It was of Dominic.”

Xander looked up at Savannah with a start. “You said it wasn’t clear. You said you didn’t know who it was.”

“I do now,” Savannah said. “I had that vision for a reason‒it’s a warning, it has to be. You need to start thinking of ways to fight this, to fight them.”

Xander groan in frustration. “I know,” he said distractedly. “I know.”

Savannah watched him struggle, feeling her resolve cement itself inside her. Her hands fell onto her belly, and she knew she couldn’t rely on anyone but herself. She needed to make sure her child was protected.

A plan began to take shape in her head. She needed to seek out the help she needed, but she knew that if she told anyone of her plan they'd likely take steps to stop her.

It was time to take matters into her own hands. Savannah knew--it was time to visit the woods witch of Grey Mountain.

Chapter Five

 

Xander took Savannah back home that day and then left almost immediately to confer with the elders. Savannah waited till she could no longer sense the heady perfume of his scent before going into the house in search of her parents.

“Mom?” she called. “Dad?”

“There are you,” her mother said, surprised. “We were wondering where you were.”

“I just went out for a walk,” Savannah said casually. “It’s beautiful up here in the mornings.”

“Let me know the next time,” her father said, “and I’ll join you.”

“Sounds great.” Savannah nodded trying not to sound too distracted. “Umm… I have a question, actually.”

“Hmm…sounds suspicious,” her father teased. “What’s the question?”

“I was wondering about my car,” she said. “I was wondering when we could go pick it up.”

“We were planning to go tomorrow,” her mother said, “but if you want we can make a call to the dealership and let them know we want the car today.”

“You don’t mind?” Savannah asked.

“Of course not,” her father said, nodding. “Want me to make a call?”

“Sure,” Savannah nodded. “I’d like that.”

Her father left the room to make the call. Savannah’s mother looked at her with interest. “What?” Savannah asked self-consciously.

“Nothing,” her mother she replied with a shrug. “You just…look a little different.”

“Different?” Savannah repeated guiltily, wondering if it was possible her mother had sensed the pregnancy. “Different how?”

“I don’t know,” her mother said, looking genuinely puzzled. “It’s like you’ve blossomed in this town--ironically enough.”

“Why is that ironic?” Savannah asked.

“Because I honestly thought you’d hate this sleepy little town,” she admitted. “I imagined you’d be counting the days until we left. I really never expected you to want to stay here after we'd gone.”

Savannah smiled tightly. “I guess I just feel at home here.”

“I can see that,” her mother nodded with smile. “And I bet the handsome boy helps.”

“Handsome boy?” Savannah asked.

“I saw him drop you off just now,” her mother said. “He’s very good looking.”

“Oh,” Savannah said, trying to conceal the blush on her cheeks. “His name's Xander.”

“And are you two…exclusive yet?” she asked. “Or is it too soon to say?”

Savannah smiled. “I think we’re pretty exclusive.”

“Wow! Moved fast, didn’t you?”

“Mom!!” Savannah said, horrified at what her mother had implied, and the two of them burst out laughing.

“I’m only kidding,” she said. “I’ve been waiting to do this forever.”

“Do what, exactly?”

“Tease you about a boyfriend,” her mother replied. “You’ve never had one before.”

“Good news,” Savannah's father said as he walked back into the room. He sank back into the sofa next to her mother.

“We can pick the car up today?” Savannah asked.

He father nodded. “They’ll have it ready for us around eleven.”

“Thanks guys,” Savannah said and she leaned in to give them both a hug.

“You’re a good kid,” her father said, “so we figure you deserve what you ask for. And you don’t ask for much, you’ve been dragged from place to place without complaining.”

“Much,” Savannah’s mother added, and then gave her a pointed laugh.

“Your mother and I wanted to drive into town today to run a few errands,” Savannah’s father said. “We can pick up your car while we’re at it. Do you want to join us?”

“Do you mind if I sit this one out?” she asked feeling a little fatigued after her conversation with Xander.

“No problem,” her father replied. “We’ll be back around noon.”

Savannah thanked her parents again and then she went back to her room. She locked the door and sat herself on her bed with her laptop. She searched the Internet with a specific purpose in mind, to find out more about Grey Mountain and its history.

She spent an hour on the Internet, but learned nothing new. Grey Mountain as a town was relatively unknown, as far as the rest of the world was concerned, and there was little to no information about it online. The only thing she did find was a short article on old town legends, but all it did was to repeat the story of the wolf prince with a few minor details changed, and Savannah was left wanting more.

It was about eleven when Xander called. His voice was steeped in suppressed worry, and if it hadn’t been for her keen senses, Savannah might have thought he was calm and sure in the wake of everything they had to face. Given her "gift," Savannah was able to sense his trepidation, even from their distance, and she realized that their connection was growing stronger.

“How are you?” Xander asked.

“Fine,” Savannah replied. “I’m fine.”

“And the baby?”

“It doesn’t feel like there is a baby at the moment,” Savannah admitted. “The only reason I feel anything at all is because I know I’m pregnant.”

Xander was silent for a time.

“Is…everything ok?” Savannah asked tentatively.

“Yes,” Xander replied. “It’s just--”

“What is it?”

“I hate having to leave you.” Xander sighed. “When we were out in the clearing and Elvira told us you were pregnant, it felt like the world had righted itself, and we'd finally have some time to be together without worrying about anything else.”

“I know,” she said, feeling the weight of that disappointment as keenly as Xander had. “I was hoping for that, too.”

“It’s unfair--”

“We'll get that time back, Xander,” Savannah said with more confidence than she felt. “After all this over and Dominic and Marissa have been pushed out of this town we'll have all the time in the world.”

“You think so?” Xander asked.

Savannah realized he was in need of someone to support him, to give him words of reassurance and confidence. "I am sure," she said resolutely, despite the fact that she was just as unsure as he was.

“Once this is all over, we'll have time to really get to know each other. We can spend our days in the clearing, swimming, and making love. You can teach me about the history of your heritage, and I can tell you about my life as a modern day gypsy, moving from place to place without ever finding a home.”

“You’ve found one now,” Xander said softly.

“I know I have,” Savannah nodded. “And I’m never going to leave.”

“And you’re not concerned?” Xander asked cautiously. Savannah realized this was a question that had been troubling him for some time.

“Concerned about what?”

“You know I can’t leave Grey Mountain,” Xander said. “I'm trapped here for the rest of my life. I just don’t want you to feel like you’re trapped here, too.”

“I don’t feel that way,” she was quick to answer. “I’ve moved around so often that it feels nice now to know I can plant roots here and not have to worry about leaving. Besides, why on earth would I want to go anywhere without you or our child?”

Savannah could practically hear the smile on Xander’s face. “That’s good to know.”

“I’m just telling you how I feel,” Savannah said honestly.

“If you ever change your mind--”

“I won’t, but if I ever do, you'll be the first to know.”

“Thank you,” Xander said, sounding relieved.

Savannah hesitated for a moment, wondering if she should run her plan by Xander. She hated having to do things on her own without involving him in the decision-making process, but she couldn’t risk that he'd try to prevent her from doing it. Still, she approached the topic carefully.

“When Gordy, Johnny and I were talking--”

“Yes?”

“I mentioned that we should ask for help,” Savannah finished.

“There’s no one to ask, Savannah,” Xander said gently. “Another pack won't get involved, and even if they wanted to, they couldn't cross territories without joining the root pack.”

“I know,” Savannah said, nodding. “I wasn’t talking about wolves.”

“Then who?”

“I asked Johnny and Gordy if it was possible to enlist the help of a witch.”

Savannah sensed Xander’s unease grow exponentially, as did his discomfort, and she knew he hated the idea as much as Johnny and Gordy had. She realized that Johnny had been right that morning--Xander’s desperation in the clearing had clouded his judgement. If not for that fact, he never would have even thought to mention witches on that day.

“Savannah, we're shifters, we're wolves,” he said the words in a tone that suggested that Savannah was still an outsider and unable to understand the implications of her suggestion as a result. “We do not involve ourselves with witches.”

“So, you’re saying there is no such thing as a good witch?” Savannah asked.

Xander hesitated. “I have heard there are witches who are…decent,” he said reluctantly. “I've heard of those who practice magic without harming others, but it's rare.

"The enmity between wolves and witches runs deep. Just because a witch might help a human doesn't mean they'll be willing to help us.”

Savannah nodded, but she was only half listening to Xander’s words as she was busy picking up other nuggets of information from his burning aura. When Xander spoke about witches, his feeling of unease kept flitting somewhere to the southwest, and Savannah instinctively knew that this was where she'd find the person she was looking for.

“I understand.” Savannah nodded. “I just wanted--”

“To try everything you could,” Xander said, finishing the sentence for her, “and I get that, I really do, but this is not the way. We can fight our battles on our own.”

“Yes,” Savannah said, even though she was thinking about the fastest way she might possibly get up the southwest side of Grey Mountain. “When will I see you?” she asked.

“Tonight,” Xander said. “After we run our patrols.”

“Okay. I’ll see you then.”

“I love you,” Xander said..

“I love you, too,” Savannah replied.

They disconnected, and Savannah went to her window and glanced outside to see if her parents had returned with her car yet. When there was still no sign of them, she started to put together a small kit for herself. She put a map, compass, and penknife into the front pocket of her backpack. She couldn’t afford to be naïve, walking into something she'd already been warned about.

Savannah didn’t want to have to do this, but she was desperate, and her visions—along with the persistent feeling of dread in the pit of her stomach—refused to subside. She needed to do what she thought was best, regardless of what Xander or the pack might think. She went downstairs taking her backpack with her, and made herself a few sandwiches, knowing she wouldn’t make it back in time for lunch.

She had just finished packing her sandwiches when she heard the roar of an engine and wheels on the gravel outside of the house. She rushed to the front door and opened it just as her parents were pulling into the driveway.

The car they'd brought her was a small, creamy white, VW bug.

“It’s not fancy,” her father said, getting out of the car as Savannah’s mother pulled up behind him.

“It’s perfect,” Savannah said firmly. “It’s so perfect, in fact, that I can’t wait to take it out for a spin.”

“Now?” her mother asked.

“You don’t mind, do you?” Savannah said. “It’s just that I’m meeting some friends for lunch in town.”

Her parents laughed at her obvious enthusiasm. “Off you go, then,” her mother said. “Have a good time.”

Savannah gave each of her parents a kiss on the cheek, and then she hopped into her car, and backed out of the driveway. She drove down the street, turned the corner, and drove until the house was out of sight. When she was far enough away, she stopped the car, and checked for directions on her local map.

She'd need to drive twenty minutes, take a left at the crossroads, and then drive another fifteen minutes to get to the base of Grey Mountain. From there, it was a ten minute hike up the hill to a small, remote cabin, the location of which had been marked on the map. Her instincts told her that she would find what she was looking for in that lonely cabin.

Chapter Six

 

Savannah parked the car, got out, and took a few minutes to assess the mammoth mountain she was faced with climbing. For the first time she realized how it had earned its name, as the rocks had taken on a smoky grey hue, with hints of rust and silver. It was beautiful, but daunting, and Savannah was glad she'd brought plenty of water with her.

She took a long swig from her first water bottle and set out on her hike. She'd been out in the hills enough times to be able to navigate through the terrain, but there were a few differences here and there. The trees were a little sparser, for one, so she didn’t have very much support in the way of climbing. The soil beneath her feet seemed loose in places, for another, and she wasn’t always sure of her footing. The air also smelled different in this area, as if it was thicker, and coated in a scent Savannah could not recognize.

Even when she grew tired, Savannah didn't stop walking. She climbed until the ground stopped tilting upwards and become flat and steady beneath her. The scent had grown stronger, too, and Savannah sensed she was on the right track. She was tempted to remove her hearing aid, but thought better of it. She still didn’t know if her decision to set out on her quest was very brave or very stupid.

The cabin was located farther off than she'd initially anticipated, and Savannah was starting to worry, but then she glimpsed it in the distance. She gave a sigh of relief, quickened her pace, and kept walking until she was standing right in front of it. It was larger than she'd expected, and she felt a twinge of unease creep through her body as she prepared to knock on the door.

She walked up the cabin’s creaky stairs, paused at the door, took a deep breath, and knocked before her nerves kicked in and she changed her mind. There was no sound for a few moments, but then, suddenly, and without warning, the door flew open. Savannah gasped and jumped backward in shock.

“I’m sorry, did I scare you?”

The man on the other side was tall and thin. He had long brown hair that held tinges of red, and warm, brown eyes that held flecks of gold. His features were sharp and attractive against the pale canvas of his skin. He looked at Savannah with sardonic eyes and raised eyebrows.

“I…umm…hello,” Savannah said awkwardly.

“Hello,” he replied without expression. Savannah searched desperately for his aura, but she was unable to see or sense a thing. He stood in front of her a complete enigma, and for the first time in her life, Savannah felt blind.

“Hello,” he replied in a tone that was only slightly impatient.

His eyes were keenly appraising and Savannah felt as though she were being studied. The only sense she could get was from the cabin itself, which seemed to be steeped in a mystical energy that Savannah had never encountered before, which was the only indication she was in the right place.

“I…I need help,” she stammered, feeling supremely self-conscious beneath his cool gaze.

“If you’re lost, I can give you a map back to the main hiking trails,” he said. “They’ll lead you back to the town.”

“No,” Savannah said quickly. “That’s not the kind of help I need.”

He rose his eyebrows at her again. “No?” he asked. “Then what kind of help do you need?”

Savannah took a deep breath. “The kind only a witch can give me,” she said before she had a chance to think better of it.

He held her gaze for a long moment, and Savannah wondered if he was going to laugh in her face or curse her out as delusional, but he didn’t do either. Instead, he held the door open, and gestured her inside. “Then you’ve come to the right place,” he said.

Savannah entered the cabin and looked around. It was much bigger on the inside than it looked on the outside. Deerskins hung from the walls and adorned the cold wooden floors. There was also an assortment of strange tools and objects on the tops of each of the many tables that seemed to crowd the space. The only colors Savannah seemed to register were a range of browns, ochres, caramels, and golds. Savannah had no experience with magic, but she imagined the scent on her nose was exactly what magic smelt like.

“Can you help me?” Savannah asked when he didn’t say anything.

“That depends on what your problem is,” he said. He gestured to a table at the end of the cabin. It sat right in front of a window, but the window had been covered over with an animal skin, that Savannah didn’t recognize. “Why don’t you take a seat?”

Savannah went over to the table and sat down in front of it. “Do you…live here alone?” she asked.

“My grandmother lives here with me,” he replied. “She’s getting old now, so I stay here and care for her, and she…teaches me.”

“Teaches you? As in magic?”

“Yes.” He nodded and sat down opposite her. “What is your name?”

“My name's Savannah.”

“I’m Abel,” he said. “Now, tell me how you found us out here.”

Doubts and nerves overcame Savannah, but she pushed them all down and moved past it. “I knew there were witches in this town,” Savannah admitted. “I suppose I…sensed the rest.”

“You sensed the rest?” Abel asked. His strange, hypnotic, brown-gold eyes flashed. “Does this have anything to do with the fact that you were born deaf?”

“I…how did you know that?” Savannah asked.

“Your hearing aid kind of gives it away,” Abel replied. “In any case, you’re not the only one who can sense things.”

“I can’t sense anything from you, though,” Savannah said. “I can read people’s auras, sense certain things about them, but you? You're a complete mystery.”

Abel smiled a slow, confident smile. “Witches know how to protect themselves,” he said. “We have spells that cloak us from others, but those spells don’t distinguish between those who mean us harm and those who don’t.”

“So you’re cloaked?” Savannah asked. “Is that why I can’t sense you?”

Abel nodded.

“Whom are you protecting yourself from?” Savannah asked.

His eyes grew cold, but that did nothing to take away from his handsome features. “From the monsters that prowl this forest at night,” he said. “The dogs that call themselves wolves.”

Savannah felt her body grow cold and she realized that the enmity was not single-sided. She could tell from Abel’s tone that he feared and distrusted the shifters as much as they feared and distrusted him.

“What’s wrong?” Abel asked.

“I need your help,” Savannah said, fear clutching at her throat, “but I’m afraid that once you know who I am, you may not want to help me.”

Abel looked at her carefully. His eyes were hypnotically beautiful. “Tell me,” he said gently.

“I…” Savannah stumbled over her words, unsure of how to go on.

“Take a breath, Savannah.” Abel’s voice was calm. “I can tell that you mean us no harm, and for that I will trust you. Tell me why you have come here.”

“I met a boy shortly after I moved to this town,” Savannah said, throwing herself into the narration. “We fell in love, but we couldn’t be together, because it wasn’t allowed.”

Abel’s eyebrows rose again and Savannah fell silent. “You fell in love with a shifter,” Abel said as though he were not surprised.

“Yes.”

“Go on,” Abel said.

“We went before the elders to plead our case, but they refused us,” Savannah went on. “It was only when they discovered I was pregnant that they agreed to let us be together.”

“That's impossible,” Abel said.

“What do you mean?”

“The elders would never have agreed to your union simply because of a pregnancy. Unless, of course, the baby you’re carrying is a shifter.”

Savannah nodded.

She saw surprise flit across Abel’s face. “That is…unusual, to say the least,” he said. “And yet it seems your troubles are over, so I don’t understand why you need my help.”

“My union with Xander has caused some friction in the pack,” Savannah said guiltily. “One of the members, her name is Marissa, she was upset. She chose to leave the pack in order to make an alliance with another shifter from a neighbouring town.”

“I see,” Abel said. “Now that she's created a bridge, this new pack can challenge the old.”

“Exactly,” Savannah nodded. “Which means--”

“You and your child are not safe.”

“Can you help me?”

Abel fixed her with a penetrating stare that made her feel intensely self-conscious. “Do you know of the history between the wolves and the witches?”

“Of course,” Savannah said.

“I can’t imagine that your partner hasn’t already forbidden you to come here to seek our help.”

“He would have, had he known I was coming here,” Savannah admitted.

“And yet you came, anyway.”

“I had to,” Savannah said desperately. “Xander has a lot to deal with. He's confused, and he’s worried it's clouding his judgement. He doesn’t see that Marissa is a real threat, but I do.”

“Why do you think he can’t see that?” Abel asked.

“They grew up together. He think he knows her,” Savannah said, “but he’s not thinking straight. I can sense something terrible's going to happen, I can feel it in my gut, and it's gotten to the point where I can’t ignore it any longer. I have to make sure my child's protected, and that the pack is, too, but I can’t do it alone.”

Abel was about to speak when a curtain in the corner of the cabin slid open, revealing a doorway that Savannah had not seen when she'd first walked in, and out walked a woman, bent with age. At least a hundred years were etched on her face. Her eyes were pale and milky as though the color had been drained from them.

Her hair alternated shades of white and grey, and it seemed to shimmer softly when she walked. She used a cane to navigate her way through the cabin, and it made a sharp crack, crack, crack against the wooden floors as she walked.

“Grandmother,” Abel said as he stood and gave her his chair.

The old woman sat down and fixed her milky white eyes on Savannah. She looked blind, but Savannah knew instinctively that she was able to see far more than most people did.

“Hello, Savannah,” she said as though they were old friends.

“Hello.”

“My name is Elena.”

“Grandmother,” Abel started, “Savannah has come–"

“I know why Savannah has come,” Elena interrupted. “I know what she needs, but she will not find it here. We cannot help her.”

Savannah looked from Abel to Elena in desperation. “Please,” she begged. “I can't do this alone.”

“No, you can’t.” Elena nodded. “Why should we help you when you side with those who have persecuted us for centuries? You carry one of their kind inside you as we sit here talking, and when that child is born you will teach it to hate us, as generations before have done.”

“That’s not true,” Savannah said quickly. “I would never teach my child to hate anyone.”

“And what of your future husband?” Elena asked pointedly, her eyes boring into Savannah’s. “Would he share the same view? Would he teach your child to embrace us as enemies or friends?”

Savannah looked down at her hands, unable to lie, and unwilling to speak the truth.

“You say nothing because you know I’m right,” Elena went on, “and you cannot make promises you can’t keep.”

Savannah looked at Abel pleadingly. “It’s unfair, I know,” she said. “It’s wrong to be hated simply because of something your ancestors did centuries ago. I don’t know why it has to be that way, but I do know that I will work to change it. I'll make sure my children don’t hate for the sake of hating.”

“And how will you explain that to Xander?” Elena asked in her mystical voice.

“The same way I’m explaining it to you now,” Savannah replied. “I know this is a lot to ask, but I’m desperate and I don’t have anywhere else to turn.”

Abel’s eyes blazed with a fire that brought out the flecks of gold that hid there. He bent down beside his grandmother and looked at her calmly. “She means us no harm, Grandmother,” he said softly. “She needs our help.”

The old woman wrinkled her brow at him. “You wish to help her?” she asked.

“I do.” Abel nodded. “This hatred must stop somewhere, why shouldn’t it stop with us? Perhaps if we help the pack they will learn to trust and respect us.”

“That is a child’s fantasy,” Elena said mockingly.

“You have always told me that the only way a child can become a man is by making mistakes,” Abel said in a hushed voice. “Perhaps it is time you allow me to make my own decisions and my own mistakes.”

The old woman stared at Abel for a long while. It almost felt as though they were having some sort of silent conversation to which Savannah was not privy. She sat there silently, praying with all her might that Abel would succeed in convincing his grandmother to help her.

Elena sighed long and deep. “I have taught you well,” she said at last, before she turned back to Savannah.

Savannah felt her heart beat loudly in her chest, and she wondered if Abel and Elena were able to hear it, too. She could tell a decision had been made, but the answer was still unclear to her.

“Will you help me?” she asked.

“Yes,” Elena said, nodding. “We will.”

Chapter Seven

 

Savannah could see Xander half-hidden by the trees when she pulled up in the car. She tried to wipe her face clean of any signs that indicated where she had been all evening. He was at her door when she got out of the car.

“Where have you been?” Xander asked.

“I took my new car out for a test drive,” Savannah told him with a small smile. “Do you like the car?”

Xander gave it a distracted look. “It’s fine. You were just out…driving all this time?”

“Yes.” Savannah nodded. “I guess I just needed to get out and clear my head.”

Xander nodded and then he reached out and took her hand. “Why don’t we do something fun, just the two of us?”

Savannah smiled. “That sounds perfect. My parents aren’t home, why don’t you come in?”

Xander nodded and they walked in together. This was the first moment amidst the madness of her current reality that Savannah actually felt like a normal teenage girl entertaining her boyfriend at home. She'd never experienced the feeling before, and it made her feel warm inside.

Savannah drew Xander to the couch and they sat close together with Xander’s arms wrapped around her. He kissed the top of her head and laughed. “Does this qualify as doing something fun?”

“I think so.” Savannah sighed. “We’ve never had this--”

“You’re right.” Xander said. “We went from exchanging glances to practically exchanging vows to spend our lives together. It feels like we've skipped all the in-betweens.”

“It’s not too late,” Savannah, reminded him.

“I know.”

“Maybe, after, we can go to the clearing,” Savannah suggested, feeling the strange need to glimpse the sight of the calm, pristine lake. “It feels like I haven’t been there in ages.”

It was more than just the need to be in the clearing again. Savannah felt the urge to be with Xander in that space. She remembered the first day he had taken her there, the way his eyes had lingered on her body as she had stripped down before entering the lake, the way his hands had felt against her skin, and the way his lips had tasted.

She wanted to experience those sensations again, but knew that they'd be enhanced somehow, this time, not that there was more between her and Xander. Now there was familiarity, comfort, and safety, mingled in with the passion and desire, and she could feel it burning, like a layer of electricity just beneath her skin.

“That’s a good idea,” Xander said. “And you can see what the clearing looks like during sunset--it’s magical.”

“I believe that.”

She rested her head against his broad chest and tried to release all the worries that held fast to her thoughts. Savannah hated keeping things from Xander, but she knew he would dismiss her ideas, and she couldn’t just sit back and do nothing, especially when she felt partially responsible for everything that had happened.

“Are things all right…with the pack?” Savannah asked before she could stop herself.

She saw Xander’s eyes cloud over for a minute, but then he nodded. “Everything’s fine at the moment,” he said. “Rather than talk about the pack, why don't we just…be together.”

“You’re right,” Savannah said, happy with the arrangement. “That sounds good to me.”

They sat there for almost half an hour, sharing random conversation and exchanging little kernels of information about their lives. Savannah felt the strength of their connection strengthen as they opened up to one another. It was nice to feel normal. It was nice to have something that was completely theirs, untouched by the outside noise.

Xander leaned in suddenly and kissed her, hard on the lips. There was an urgency there that made Savannah feel as if they were running out of time. The heat traveled up her body, and she felt the need to be with Xander, right then and there, in the dirt and muck of the forest.

Xander pulled away abruptly. “Let’s go to the clearing,” he said, and Savannah nodded in response, noticing the urgency in his tone.

They took Xander’s motorbike to the path that led up to the clearing, Xander holding Savannah’s hand as they manoeuvred their way up the steep hills, past the trees, past the little signs of life, past the noise, and to the furthest tip of the mountain.

By the time they'd reached flat ground again, Savannah was a little tired, but enthusiastic. The light was beginning to fade and she knew they had made it just in time for the sunset. Savannah and Xander walked into the clearing, bright with sun-painted color, with clouds in hues of lavender, gold, and rose.

Savannah took a breah. “Wow!”

They moved to the bank of the lake where Savannah saw every color imaginable reflected there. It was like the water had been transformed into a cesspool of color that made her want to jump in, and find every secret each of those colors contained.

“This is amazing.” Savannah said.

The water winked cheekily at her and the wind made shallow ripples in its glass-like surface, so that one color moved into the others to create a unique spectrum. There was a glow about the lake, some kind of muted magic that Savannah sensed, as though from a great distance.

“The water,” she whispered.

“What about it?” Xander asked.

“It feels as though it’s talking to me.”

Xander smiled. “The lake is sacred,” he said. “We believe it contains magical powers.”

“What kind of powers?”

“Healing powers, strengthening powers, and cleansing powers. That’s what the legends say, though…I don’t know if it’s actually true.”

“You’ve never tested the legend?” Savannah asked.

“I’ve never needed to, I hope I never do.”

Savannah looked back at the little crystals that seemed embedded in the lake. “I think it's true,” she said with conviction.

“Can you feel it?” Xander asked glancing at her.

“A little,” Savannah replied. “But I don’t know if that's what I’m sensing, or if my mind's just working overtime.”

Xander laughed. “You want to go in?”

Savannah looked toward Xander in surprise. “Now?” she asked.

“Why not?” he asked with a shrug and a slow smile.

It was like that first day they'd spent together, with only a few minor changes. Back then Savannah had been a stranger to him, with only the strange and inexplicable bond in common, that neither one could understand. He had trusted her enough to bring her to this perfect place and they had swum together in the lake’s clear waters and kissed under the sun’s golden rays.

“Okay,” Savannah said, and Xander came forward.

He undressed her slowly and tenderly, as though he were scared she would break. His eyes combed over every inch of her and Savannah felt her blood rise in response. She reached out instinctively and pulled Xander’s shirt off of him. When they were both standing naked in front of each other, Xander took Savannah’s hand and they walked into the lake together.