See me, p.1
See Me, page 1
See Me
Book 1 In the Novus Pack Series
M. Jayne
Publishers Note
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental. Any mistakes are the author’s own and may be intentional and fictional. All rights reserved. Except for use in review, the reproduction or use of this work in any part is forbidden without the express written permission of the author.
**Don’t be a Jerk-Don’t Pirate this book or any other.
See Me – Copyright September 2018 by M. Jayne for Big Dog Publishing
Cover Design by Fiona Jayde
Editing by Delilah Devlin
Proofreading by Susan Panak, Susan O’Sick Cambra, Wanda Adams
Medical Advisor: Joy Smoll-Adams
Author’s Assistant and Professional Hand Holder: David Panak
Printed in the United States of America
First Edition
ISBN E-Book: 978-0999642122
ISBN Print: 978-1724636362
Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Chapter 42
Chapter 43
Chapter 44
Playlist For See Me
About the Author
All of the dreamers, for I am one.
The people who feel like they want more, dream about more.
Those who wake each morning feeling like they should be doing something different.
Keep Dreaming.
Author’s Note
Welcome to the world of the Novus Pack.
* * *
I’ve been a part of Novus since 2009. The story has changed over time but the theme has stayed the same: a human female thrown into the Lycan world.
* * *
It took me three tries and the deletion of a hundred thousand words to write this book. I needed to grow into it as an author, to do Novus justice.
* * *
Now for some housekeeping- This book contains violence. A human female is injured in this book. A teen is killed. In flashbacks there is a sexual battery. There is build-up to these events so if they are triggers, be aware.
* * *
Remember…
* * *
Cum Nobis aut contra Nobis
With us or Against Us
Character List
Raider Black—Novus Packleader, known as “The Black” or Laird
* * *
Theodora Morrissey—Seer to the Novus Pack, Human, Raider Black’s lover
* * *
Conal MacGregor—Second in the Novus Pack, Mated to Solle, Novus Board Member
* * *
Solle MacGregor—Mated to the Second, Changed Human, Doctor
* * *
Tex —Novus Board Member, Changed Human, Tech Genius, D.J.
* * *
Onyx— Novus Board Member, Pack Historian and Counsel, Theodora’s Tutor
* * *
Glass—Novus Board Member, In Charge of Novus Guards and Training
* * *
Lorenzo Barducci—Son of a Seer and Packleader, Mass Murderer, Spy for Novus Pack, Theodora’s Tutor, Loner, known as “Lore”
* * *
Other Characters
Novus Guards—Issa, Wale, Asher, Sarita
* * *
Basil—Novus Employee, Black’s Administrative Assistant
* * *
Brian—Solle’s Medical Assistant
* * *
Clifton—Majordomo of the Packhouse
* * *
Siobhan Dolan—Future contracted Mate to Raider Black
One
Theodora Morrissey
“Child you must wake.”
The voice seemed to vibrate through my heavy body. My very cold and, now that I thought about it, aching body.
What the fuck?
I reached for consciousness like a swimmer fighting to break the surface after a deep dive and let’s face it, this was a crappy dream. I was freezing. “Wake up,” I commanded, but my eyes didn’t want to open. However, my senses were stirring, and Goddamn, my cheek was on fire.
I swallowed hard and tried to get my bearings. I attempted to lift my head. Christ, I hurt. Not just the burning in my cheek that felt like someone was jabbing it with a hot poker, but my entire body felt as though I had just left the octagon.
Where? My eyes flew open as I searched for an answer, any answer. It was…dark, and yet, it wasn’t. I used my knee to wrench my body over onto my back.
“Focus.”
Again, that unnatural voice that seemed to be in my head and all around me sounded. It was feminine, maybe. Well, it wasn’t exactly male. I caught a sense of concern in the tone.
Had I been drugged? I didn’t touch them because of my mom’s history, but this was a freaky trip. I tried to recapture the last few hours. Hazy images of feeling anger and hopelessness washed over me.
I hated feeling weak or out of control, so again, I closed my eyes.
This has got to be a dream. My eyes were having difficulty focusing, everything was dark and hazy. I hoped that the next time I woke up I would be in my own bed, or rather, Allen’s.
“No. You must not rest.” Definitely female, but it held a timbre that I’d never heard before.
Something wet landed on my face. Again, I opened my eyes to examine my surroundings and I was looking straight up into…the moon.
It looked huge and full. I thought that if I reached out my arm, I might be able to touch it.
The what…? I took in a deep shocked breath that sent a shooting pain throughout my body.
When I could breathe again without the pain making me want to pee my pants, I tried to break down what I was experiencing calmly and rationally. I’d always had very realistic dreams. The kind that caused me to wake up confused and disoriented. My mother had ordered me never to talk about them. She’d done so with so much intensity that she’d often scared me and made me cry. This had to be one of those dreams. Time to wake up, dumbass.
Another freezing drop of moisture landed on my chin. Take stock, the rational part of my brain ordered. I was very cold and I couldn’t ignore the pain. I tried to wiggle my toes, and then my feet. Something was wrong with my right ankle, or maybe it was my foot, but moving it sent a white-hot shot of pain up my leg and into my belly.
Not good. I continued doing a body check. My left arm was numb, I didn’t know if that was because I had laid on it or if it was damaged, too.
This was different. Before, when I realized I was dreaming, I’d wake. Plus, I’d never felt so much pain before. I prepared to open my eyes one last time, hoping I would see that ugly Picasso print Allen had hung on the far wall of our bedroom. The thing always made me uneasy with what looked to me like a giant eye watching me. Okay, here goes…on the count of three.
Shit! That definitely was the moon in a velvety dark sky. She was almost a perfect circle. I’d always thought the moon was female even though most used the term, the man in the moon. For some reason, she had always given me a measure of comfort.
I tried to shift my body to find a comfortable position on the hard surface. This definitely wasn’t a mattress. Wait, why would I be lying outside on a mattress?
“Child, you need to seek shelter, now.” This time the voice definitely caused my body to pulsate, like when the bass of a sound system is turned up, and it feels like your heart is trying to match the pounding beat.
I blinked several times trying to piece together what was happening. “What the fuck?” Shock sent me into a sitting position, which made me cry out. I was outside and it was…snowing hard. I looked around. How the hell? My body wanted to collapse back onto the hard surface, but I couldn’t do that. “What? How?” I sputtered. I didn’t know where I was or, worse, how had I gotten here?
I stayed still and listened as I tried to force my brain into action. Christ, I knew that sound. I grew up in the Ohio Valley on a farm, miles from neighbors. The utter stillness was of isolation. “Hello?” I called hopefully. “Help,” I tried a few more times, but I knew instinctively that no one could come.
I was alone.
“Okay,” I told myself as if speaking aloud helped bolster my confidence. “Can’t stay out here.” Why was it so hard to think?
A wave of hysteria rose up and enveloped my body and mind. I needed assistance and no one had answered my calls. What d id I have to lose? “Uhm, Lady?” A crazed giggle escaped my lips. Hopefully my insurance covered a stay in the looney bin—if I got out of this alive. “Hey, uhm, Lady who was talking to me earlier, I could use some help,” I yelled while looking up at the moon.
“Finally.”
The voice made my body vibrate with her exasperation. I was definitely going to be moving into one of those special facilities with secured doors. I felt her presence, and yet, I knew that she wasn’t really here. “Yeah, uh, sorry about before.”
“Daughter, you are in a dire situation.”
No shit. I didn’t speak my first thought, not when this hallucination might be able to help. “Can you call someone or send for some help?”
“The wolves are on their way.”
“Wolves!” The thought of stealthy predators made me react. I rolled over so that I was on all fours while trying to ignore the pain, praying that my adrenaline would kick in and mute it soon. “I don’t think a wolf is going to be much help.” My voice came out in a pant. I had to get to my feet. I was prey, weakened prey.
“You are near shelter. Follow my voice,” her tone urgent.
I fought to get to my feet, but my ankle wouldn’t support me. I fell to my knees with my arm bent under me. “Jesus, fuck, ouch,” I cried in a panicked voice. I sucked in some shallow breaths. “I, uh, I can’t walk.”
No response.
I needed to move, or I would die. “I’m going to try again,” I announced. Somehow, saying it helped. Maybe I could coach myself through this?
I ended up doing a modified crawl. Progress was slow. My good hand was bleeding by the time I saw a building illuminated by the silvery light. She hadn’t lied. “I-I see it.” I started to cry, maybe from relief or the pain. I honestly didn’t know.
“Trust in me, my daughter.”
It felt like a farewell. “Don’t leave me,” I screamed. I didn’t want to be alone.
Silence.
I continued crawling to the side of the building. There, I noted a window about shoulder height. I didn’t consider looking for a door. I just wanted in. There was a downspout running beside the window with a metal drum right under it. I could climb up on the barrel and through the window.
I crawled closer to the metal downspout and used my good arm to pull my body until I stood. I leaned heavily onto the barrel’s lid, not putting any weight on my ankle. At the best of times, I wasn’t in great physical shape, no way could I pull up my one hundred and sixty pounds—okay, one-eighty—with both arms, let alone only one.
I started to sob. “So close, so fucking close.” I looked around, hoping that some other opportunity would present itself. “Please,” I begged. “I can’t, I need…” What? “Lady please, I’m so close.”
Everything went bright. If neon white made a sound, it would be what echoed through my head like a microphone’s feedback. I felt dizzy and dazed. Closing my eyes against the brightness, I made a grab for the drain pipe before my good knee gave way. I felt my stomach drop like I’d just survived the first big hill on a rollercoaster.
I was breathing heavily and sweating in the cold. Slowly, I opened my eyes to find that I was looking into the window while standing on the barrel. “Don’t think about it,” I ordered myself as I kept a death grip on the drainpipe. This was all too much. “Thank you,” I yelled. I laughed shrilly at my good manners and my self-diagnosed insanity.
I glanced down at my feet, and then at the window. I wanted to kick it in, but I knew my bad ankle couldn’t bear my weight. I leaned my hip against the window, slowly released my grip on the drain pipe, and did my best to balance. I was going to have to use my elbow to break the glass.
“I’d make a terrible burglar,” I mumbled as I pulled back my elbow and forced it through the glass with the entire weight of my body. The glass cracked and gave way. I tried to grab onto the side of the window casing but, instead, fell through the opening, landing on the glass-covered floor.
“Not good.” I’m not sure if the words even came out as I crawled to the first object that could shield me from the now unprotected opening. I couldn’t go on.
Two
Conal MacGregor
White Zombie’s More Human than Human blasted through my Yukon’s sound system. The song always made me smirk. If only the world’s populace knew. I drove easily on the icy road. My heightened reflexes would handle any skid expertly. I hit number one on my phone. I also didn’t have to worry about multitasking while driving.
She answered on the second ring. “How are the roads?”
My mate still thought like a human at times. “Babe, a little snow won’t be a problem.”
“Eighteen to twenty-four inches is not a little snow,” she corrected in that superior tone that always got me hard.
“Not much traffic and the roads are still passable.” The hospital’s bright lights came into view. “Happy?”
“I’m glad people took the warnings seriously. I’ve checked with my three expectant mothers, and they seem fine. Things here are quiet and I’m hoping they’ll stay that way.”
I could picture her ticking off her list on her tablet. Solle was very efficient and thorough. “I’ll be at the door in one.”
“One? I need to grab my coat and check in with Titus. He’s on duty tonight.” She wouldn’t leave the hospital until everything was done, checked, and rechecked. We both knew that.
“Take your time. I’ll be waiting for you.” I ended the call.
The SUV was parked under the overhang protecting the Emergency Entrance. I relaxed back into the heated leather seat. After we got home and ate whatever the housekeeper had left for dinner, a run sounded good, then…. Well, that sounded even better.
My cell vibrated on the dash where I had tossed it. The screen showed “Control Room” as the caller. “What?” I snapped in a form of greeting. I’d been gone exactly thirty-seven minutes.
“You need to get laid,” Raider Black’s deep voice rumbled in my ear.
Immediately, I sat up straighter, out of habit. “Fuck you.” We’d known each other since we were young. Our bond was eternal, as was my pledge to guard his life with my own.
“I’m going to tell Solle that you said that. It would only serve you right if she decided that she wanted to watch.”
I could hear the subtle teasing in his voice, which was becoming so rare. He took his responsibilities as our leader very seriously. “What’s up?”
“Maybe nothing, but it could be something…” He let the rest of his thought hang.
“Where do you need me?” The Laird wasn’t asking, but we both knew that he’d called me to handle this job.
“Dispatch got a call from Cora Bransky. She claims a plane used the southwest strip.”
“Nothing’s scheduled.” I pictured the list in my head of our current jobs and nobody was scheduled to fly in for two weeks.
