Chapter Seven

Cara neared the cabin with her mind made up and her pride in check. She wouldn’t let her ego get in the way of asking for Kristin’s opinion on joining their pack. Her heart thumped loudly as she approached the door ready to knock.

Just before she could step forward, Drew appeared. The middle Finnegan brother was as handsome as his brothers, but far more subdued. His demeanor was different, however, from his usual brooding behavior. There was an air of confidence around him as he walked toward her.

“Hey Drew,” she smiled, “I was just about to go talk to your mother.”

“Before you do that, I think you should come with me on patrol,” he asserted.

“Um, I guess, but can I speak to Kristin first? I really need to talk to her,” she insisted.

“I think you should come out on a patrol with me before you do. It’s only right that you get the full lay of the land before you make any kind of decision and seek out my mother’s advice or approval.”

His reasoning was sound, so she turned away from the cabin and followed Drew toward the outer perimeters of the Finnegan territory. He was calm as he surveyed the land around them. They walked through the trees as Cara kept her eyes and ears open for anything out of the ordinary. She hadn’t any idea what the pack considered a threat … outside of the obvious.

“Has anything ever happened while you guys were out on patrol?” she asked him, listening to sounds of the forest around them.

Drew chuckled, “You mean other than watching some wolf take on a bear? No, it’s usually pretty quiet out here. We’re too high up and away from everything. Humans come up to hike the trails every once in a while but rarely get near us. There are a few packs in the area but they’re all a few days hike away.”

“So have you visited any other packs?” she wondered.

“I have a few times. Negotiation stuff on my father’s behalf.”

“Sounds like you have a bit of ruthlessness in you. It balls to bargain with wolves.”

Drew smiled, “Is that a trait you like to see in your mate?”

And there it was.

Hurting Drew, his feelings, his ego … it was the last thing Cara wanted to do right before asking his mother her opinion on becoming the newest member of the pack. The questions rolling around in her mind were endless. She wondered what would happen if she and Titan began their relationship and failed. How could she possibly trust another man, another wolf, when they’d all disappointed her?

“I honestly don’t know what I’m looking for in a mate anymore,” she told him. She was going to soften the blow, but being indecisive wasn’t likely to be enough.

“Do you want to know what I want in a mate?” he asked her with a raised eyebrow.

While she wanted to roll her eyes and drop the subject, she indulged him, shaking her head silently.

Drew took a deep breath, “Of course I’d want her to be beautiful. I’d need for her to listen and to obey the command of her alpha. I want her to be able to defend herself, our home, and our children. She should know how to hunt and our sex life is going to be spectacular.”

Cara couldn’t help but burst into laughter, “Have you told your parents any of this?”

“No!” he turned away from her, “They wouldn’t get it.”

“Why not? Of everyone you know, they should get it the most. I’m no expert, but I can tell that’s wrong,” she laughed, “While your mate is hunting, cooking, taking care of you and your children, all while defending your lair from all the evils of the world, what do you plan on doing?”

“Well, she won’t be defending the home by herself. I’ll be the protector and I’ll also be out expanding our land, picking up territory after territory so we have the space we need to grow our pack. One day I plan on having the largest pack outside of the Council.”

“Lofty goals you got there. But I wish you luck on them, and I hope you find the right girl to take that journey with you,” she tossed in for good measure. It was a subtle hint, but a hint she hoped he’d get.

While she wasn’t sure if she was clear enough with Drew to make him understand she didn’t have the slightest interest in being his marital sex slave, it didn’t stop him from talking her ear off trying to make what he said okay. It wasn’t. She didn’t know any woman or wolf in their right mind who’d tolerate that kind of behavior. Perhaps there was someone out there who’d break him into reality. The woman who could do that would be a modern marvel.

They continued their tour around the perimeter of the territory. It was all beginning to blur for Cara. Boredom was settling in. Until she picked up a scent in the air. Inhaling deep, it was faint but yet, still familiar. Looking around, she turned in different directions to see if there was something noticeable that would reveal the origin of the odor.

“You smell that?” she asked Drew.

He spotted something on the ground. Kneeling down he ran his fingers over the dirt, picked it up and let it sift through his fingers. The scent was there too.

“Yeah, I think you should head back to the cabins. Tell Nathan and Perry to get out here. Northeast quadrant, sector,” he stood up gazed at the sky and then around him, “Sector 5. There may be some new wolves but it’s not a lot.”

“All it took was one to get into it with my old pack,” she sighed looking around. Cara wrapped her arms around herself as if a chill ran over her body.

Drew walked toward her, rubbing her shoulders he told her, “Everything is going to be fine. They could just be passing through. The trail is faint but I don’t want to leave anything up to chance. Do you know the way back?”

“Yeah, I can manage,” she told him.

“Good, I’d hate to think of you being lost out here or something. I’m looking forward to us getting to know each other, more intimately,” the deepened tone of his voice let her know exactly where his mind was headed.

“Drew,” she couldn’t hold back anymore, “Drew please understand that I don’t want to hurt you. I love that you’re so passionate about what you want. That's a great thing all of you Finnegan boys have in common. But because I’m not decided, I don’t want you waiting around for me. I have so many of my own issues, hang-ups and baggage to deal with that I wouldn’t feel right saddling anybody with that until I got a handle on it myself.”

“Hmm, any chance if you felt something magnetic toward a potential mate you would change your mind?” he asked reluctantly.

“I’d throw my problems on my mate in a heartbeat because when the love is true, you can help each other get through just about anything together. But I won’t know that until I feel it. The bond I share with my mate has to be ... ,” she lost her train of thought as the scent hit her again. It was so familiar it began to distract her.

“I get it,” Drew told her, “You sound just like Titan. But go ahead. Tell the guys to get out here. Be careful.”

Cara did just that, turning around she began the hike back toward the compound. It didn’t take her long and she didn’t have as much trouble getting back as she thought she would. She was learning the forest. Every tree’s distinctive bark pattern gave her an idea of exactly where she was. It was another reason for her to stay.

Walking into the cabins, she headed back toward Anna’s cabin where she last saw the guys running around with the pups. Taylor was the only wolf there.

“Hey, Taylor?” his energy made her wonder about how he felt. The stoic glare in his eyes refused to reveal anything much more than contempt.

“What do you want?” he asked her snidely.

“I was just out on patrol with Drew-”

He scoffed and rolled his eyes, “Does Titan know that?”

Cara let the remark roll off her as she told him, “I was out on patrol when we picked up the scent of some other wolves. He said it doesn’t seem like much but just to be sure he wanted Nathan and Perry to head out to the northeast quadrant.”

“Sector?” the irritation in his voice was surprising.

“Five,” she said flatly.

“Fine,” he murmured as he took off running. He howled and barked toward the other cabins. Soon two other wolves were by his side as they headed back in the direction Cara had just come from.

“I wonder if they all feel like him and Shelly?” she spoke aloud but it was to herself. Cara never had any intention on someone answering her.

Turning around, however, Kristin stood there with a warm smile on her face, “They don’t all feel like them, but they will have questions. We all do.”

“I’m ready to answer whatever you’d like to know,” Cara said.

Kristin nodded, “Of course you are. You’d like to mate with Titan. You don’t have to disagree with me. And you don’t have to say anything. I know my son and I can see it in your eyes when you two are near each other. It’s a look I know all too well.”

Cara wasn’t sure if she was actually blushing or if it was simply the subtle embarrassment that flushed her cheeks with heat, “He just seems so sure about everything and -”

Kristin touched her hand, “Titan is sure about everything because of the mistakes he’s made along the way. This pack used to be a lot bigger and we used to travel the mountain tops collecting territories. In the midst of us arriving at this particular way of life, we’ve hit some pitfalls. Titan wasn’t immune to any of it. I’m sure as you two continue on your journey together, you’ll discover everything that’s happened to you has happened to you. For you to shape you into the people you are today.”

“So does this mean you’re okay with me being here? Are you okay with me joining the pack?”

“Not yet,” she admitted, “I know that you and Titan are going to do whatever you want. Now whether you do that here or on your way to build your own pack elsewhere is something different. I would love to tell you my answer is yes and that I’ll convince Shaw to let you stay, but I stand by my alpha. He doesn’t trust you quite yet. I’m on the fence, but because of the way Titan feels about you. I’m leaning towards fighting on your side.”

A breeze blew and again Cara smelled the scent in the air. Kristin noticed as well as she looked toward the dense thicket of woods. The rest of the pack came out of their cabins just in time to hear a howling sound through the air. Another howl came and soon there was a wolf running toward them at full speed. It was Taylor as he came skidding to a halt before shifting into his human form.

“We need more,” he panted, “Aden, Tyson, Tryx! Let’s go!”

“Wait what’s going on?!” Cara asked. “Maybe I can help. Let me come too.”

Kristin held her back, “You’re not fully recovered yet. You’ll do more damage to yourself if you get into a battle with someone else right now.”

“After you left him out there by himself?!” Taylor snapped, “He could have been ambushed!”

“What?” Kristin turned around to look Cara in the eyes.

Cara shook her head, as the members of the pack all shifted their gazes onto her, “No! I swear he told me to come back to get Nathan and Perry. They know the territory better than I do. That’s the only reason I came back. It’s the only reason I left him!”

 

“Or maybe,” Shelly slinked her way through everyone to stand in front of Kristin, “Or maybe it’s because you already know who’s out there. You came here to make sure we send our best out into the forest to get slaughtered.”

“That’s not true! I have no idea what’s going on or why he’s howling like that!” Cara defended herself.

Shaw emerged from his cabin with an expression that injected fear into Cara’s heart. Titan followed him out soon after with Chase a step behind them.

Cara’s eyes darted to Titan immediately. He was uncertain of what was happening. But Shelly spoke as if she did, “We can’t let this stranger tell us who is or isn’t out there! We don’t know why she’s come here. We don’t know how far she’s willing to go for her pack! The bear attack may have been real but someone tells us why she was in Finnegan territory to begin with! I say we rip her throat out and feed her to her pack!”

“NO!” Titan and Chase shouted simultaneously.

Shaw looked at the both of them. Their eyes darted to the ground as they stepped a foot behind him not wanting to anger their father further.

“She’s lying!” Cara tried her best to fight back tears. Her life was on the line and she wasn’t sure what Shaw was going to decide. Trying to appeal to Kristin, she begged her, “Please listen to reason. I only wandered into your territory after leaving my own pack. I swear I did not come here to bring you or your pack any trouble. I’ll leave. Just to show you all, I’ll leave.”

“And what? Go warn the others that we’re onto your little plot? Shaw, please let me be the one to slice this disgusting excuse of a wolf’s throat,” Shelly sneered. She glanced around the rest of the pack, continuing to incite them, “If you all are as loyal to Shaw as you say you are, you will agree with me and demand her blood!”

The swiftness of her clawed hand across Cara’s clavicle made her snarl and ready to shift. Shelly held her hand up to let the blood drip sending some of the members into cheers while others kept their reactions to themselves. Titan rushed toward them both, pinning himself between the two of them.

Grabbing Shelly, Titan’s grip on her wrist was enough to make her knees buckle and her eyes water with fear.

Cara pressed her hand on his shoulder, “Don’t. Let me.”

With her fangs protruding, Cara got herself ready to shift, while Shelly did the same and Titan let her go.

“Enough!” Shaw barked to the remaining members. “Kristin, I need you.”

Kristin eyed Cara with uncertainty as she walked toward her alpha. Cara knew that whatever Shaw decided, she was going to stand by his side. She only hoped that before he made that choice, Kristin could convince him her life was worth sparing.

“Chase,” Shaw summoned the youngest Finnegan son, “Go make sure your brother and the others are okay. Help them out, if necessary, to bring in whoever has dared to trespass on my land. Titan take Cara to your cabin and keep her there until the intruders are brought here. And if for one moment it’s believed that their intentions, or yours, are to do harm than you and whoever else is out there will be slaughtered!”