See me, p.8
See Me, page 8
“Five, four, three, two, one,” Raider Black counted down.
I knew that Glass had pulled back the fiery iron, but my skin was still burned. The nerves going haywire, my body felt weak, and I squeezed my eyes shut. I wanted to pass out. That would be so easy, but that would leave me alone and vulnerable to the predators, real predators.
I fought to stay conscious, starting to count slowly in my mind while trying to focus. I also prayed that I hadn’t or wouldn’t pee my pants. Jesus, these people had just branded me like I was….theirs.
When I felt more in control, I glanced at my arm. Glass had placed some kind of jelly over the angry mark and was now applying a pad as she prepared to tape it into place.
When she had replaced her tools almost reverently into the black leather case, she returned to her place at the table.
“Theodora Morrissey, you now serve the Novus Pack,” Raider Black said, his voice richly toned, fully ceremonious. “Welcome.”
The others clapped their hands in unison.
I didn’t know what the proper etiquette was, so I didn’t say anything. I knew there was more, that they weren’t done with me.
“We found you in a pool of blood under a desk on our land.” Raider Black’s voice was filled with intensity. His odd gray eyes almost seemed to glow in the waning afternoon light. “During your medical treatment, a discovery was made. It was very fortuitous for you, since you had no ties to Novus and were trespassing on our land.”
I shivered at his words. I had wondered many times about their reaction to finding me. Why had Solle and Conal been so kind? But I had no access to a phone. I didn’t even have anyone to call. Since I’d awakened, I was never really alone. I’d done the only thing I could. I’d waited. A part of me knew something was up. People weren’t that nice, taking me in, pretending to like me, and wanting to be my friend. That part hurt the most. I took in a deep breath and let it out slowly. “What discovery?” My voice shook.
“You carry The Lady’s Mark.”
Da-dum, I heard the cheesy organ music in my head. None of this meant anything to me. “I do?” I asked cautiously. This group seemed really concerned with marks, brands, maybe even tattoos. Fancifully, I wondered what happened to their tattoos when they changed.
I needed to pay attention.
“You told Conal a woman spoke to you.” Black paused dramatically. I got the impression he was a bit of a showman. “A mysterious voice on a dark, snowy night in the middle of nowhere…it was The Lady.”
Yeah, he was enjoying this. “It was a hallucination,” I countered because this was insane.
“She told you that the wolves would come, and they did.” He raised one eyebrow questioningly. “Did they not, Theodora?”
I hated when people arched their brows because I couldn’t. But I liked how he said my name.
Fuck.
I swallowed hard while I told myself to concentrate. Okay, what he said was right…but it was…unbelievable.
And true.
My gaze flew to his. This was happening. This was really real. I ran my tongue over my dry lips as I tried to formulate a coherent question. “You say that I carry a mark. Wouldn’t I have seen it? I mean, I’ve been in this body for thir…a long time.” I wasn’t going to accept all of this just because he said it was so. I wasn’t some sheep, following the leader blindly. Because you know, wolves ate sheep. Yeesh! I shook my head trying to get rid of that thought.
“To your human eyes, it would seem ordinary.” He answered as if he were trying to calm me. “Very few Lycans have seen one. The doctor treating you recognized it from old drawings.” He paused as if he wanted me to digest that factoid. “Finding a Marked is very rare.”
Not knowing what being “marked” signified, I accepted that they thought it extraordinary. I wasn’t sure I wanted to be special—not if it drew this much attention. “And I’m supposed to be this…this special person?” I wanted to laugh, but something about all of this felt right. However, I wasn’t sure. It was so outrageous. “Dude, I’m so ordinary. I think that your doctor’s wrong,” I said, fighting a growing panic because they all looked so intense.
“You do not address the Laird as ‘dude’, human,” the guy in the suit thundered.
“Onyx,” the Laird growled in a low voice.
“She must learn our ways and, apparently, some manners,” Onyx groused as he sent me a superior look.
I didn’t like that. I had manners. Usually, I was too polite, but this was overwhelming. I glanced at the Laird, and then down at my bandaged arm. “Really, I’m very ordinary.” A part of me was a little disappointed; it might be nice to be special.
“Your instincts,” the Laird spoke, but now he was next to me, leaning on the edge of the conference room table, facing me. “Some might refer to it as a sixth sense. You have relied on it, correct?”
I felt the hairs on my arms stand on end in warning. “It’s nothing.” Instinctively, I downplayed the skill. Damnit, why had I told Conal?
“Your mark identifies you as a gift to our people.” He leaned closer to me.
I jumped to my feet. I felt like I needed to run, but I didn’t even get to take a step. Suddenly, I was face down on the table. I tried to fight off the hands that were holding me down. Too much was happening at once. I heard the tear of fabric, and cool air on my now revealed back. I arched up to see what was happening behind me.
Someone jerked up my good arm, exposing my armpit and twisting my body a little, which made my ribs very unhappy. Black landed on the table beside me in a squat. I swear his features were part man, part wolf. I screamed in fear and frustration.
I knew when he touched my skin. His hands were warm, but it was something else. Like, I felt safer. Which was crazy, because I was not. I started to fight again.
“Goddess, we have located your daughter. We thank you for the gift.” His voice filled the room and it carried something more that I couldn’t identify-- some special energy. “I, Raider Black, Leader of the Novus Pack, ask that you acknowledge your child.”
I swear it was like a bolt of lightning struck inside the room. I was blinded by the bright light as my body seized. I bowed backward in an unnatural arc. I wrenched my arms free and made a grab for the boss. He would save me. He was the only one who could.
I needed him. He was the cure to the pounding in my head that made me feel as though my brain was going to explode. He pulled me into his arms as I tried to scream. Suddenly, I was blind. Everything was black and silent except for a pulsating roar that was pounding through my body. It was like the time I’d tried noise-canceling headphones on a plane; a weird, muffled white noise sounded in my head.
Another onslaught of pain hit. I wasn’t me any longer. I don’t know how I knew, or even how I could grasp what was happening, but it was true. I was running. I could feel my muscles compress and stretch. I felt so…free. The colors were brighter—and the smells! I could smell everything—the air, the snow, the crispness of the wind. It was amazing. I glanced down to see what I was. I knew that I wasn’t a woman. Solid black fur covered the legs carrying me over the land.
I was with the black wolf.
I started to panic. How could this be? I was a woman, not an animal. I tried to stop this…this dream. Oh God, oh please. I’m so scared. Make. It. Stop.
Ten
Raider Black
The woman survived the ceremony. She had reached for me as her body bowed in a too-sharp angle. She had convulsed in seizure after seizure.
I pulled her into my arms, hoping to provide some level of comfort as power flooded her system. The others felt the Goddess’s touch as they changed involuntarily. For one moment, it was as if the woman and I had merged. I could feel her terror and the agonizing pain.
When it finally ended, although in reality it only lasted a few moments, I looked around the room half expecting the walls to have come down around us. The others were changing back to their human forms.
“What the fuck was that?” Tex ran a hand through his wild hair.
“Maybe we should have done this outside?” Conal looked around as if he too had expected the room to be in ruins.
“Is she dead?” Glass stared warily at our Marked.
“No, she lives.” I could feel her breathing against my chest.
“What’s next?” My Second was back to business.
I shifted her body and studied the mark on her back. Now it was clearly a circle containing an eye. “Tomorrow the Seer’s training begins.” I glanced at the silent Onyx.
He straightened his tie. “I have reserved several hours each morning,”
“How do we know it worked? That she has the ability?” Glass stared at the woman’s unconscious form.
We could easily send for an injured Article or child for her to heal, if she was marked a healer, but this gift was trickier.
“I am uncertain there are any official tests,” Onyx muttered.
“We have faith,” I told them, “that The Lady’s gift will benefit us all.”
“The texts say that each Seer has different talents and degrees of talent,” Onyx cautioned.
I didn’t verbalize my opinion that this woman would be strong. I knew it. I’d felt the power while I’d held her in my arms. “We’ll know in time.” I watched her for a few moments. “Now, she’ll sleep. Go. We’ll know more soon.” I motioned with my head toward the door.
Conal stayed behind. “I’ll see to her.” He started to reach to take her from me.
“No,” I snarled, immediately correcting my tone. “She’s no bother. I want to speak with her when she wakes.” I slid my other arm under her knees and stood.
Conal got the door and led the way during our short walk to my office. I took my usual seat on the large sofa sectional and adjusted the woman so that she rested against my chest with her legs draped over the padded arm.
“Need anything?”
My tablet was on the table beside me. I could work while she rested. I ignored the question as to why I didn’t place her on the cushions beside me. “I believe we’re comfortable.”
He threw back his head and laughed. “Aren’t we all with a beauty in our arms?” The look he gave me said that he wondered if I kept her for another purpose.
I narrowed my eyes. “I will deliver her later.”
“I’m sure that Solle will still be up. She’ll be concerned.” Conal’s tone always softened when he spoke of his mate.
“Go to her and assuage her worries.” I wanted quiet. It was rarely, truly quiet.
“I’ll post a guard and order that you be left alone.” Conal nodded his good-bye and left.
As if the woman sensed we were alone, she shifted and nestled closer to my body.
My wolf was pleased by her proximity. He hummed his approval and settled. I stared appreciatively at her bare breasts. Her silky gown had been no match for my strength when I’d torn the sweatshirt from her body.
She shifted again, crossing an arm over her chest to grab onto my shirt over my heart.
This was an intimate hold that I found I enjoyed. Not that I didn’t always appreciate women. I craved sex, but years ago, I’d entered into an agreement to join with another packleader’s daughter. There was no agreed-upon date for our union, for at that time, I’d been working hard to establish Novus. In the intervening years, I’d enjoyed many partners, but only for fucking. I could only hope that, over time, my promised mate Siobhan and I would grow to feel affection toward one another.
Theodora sighed deeply as though she was content in my arms.
I scoffed at my thought. I was never a romantic; I left that nonsense to Conal. He’d known from a very early age that he would find his true mate. I was happy for him. Solle was smart and loving, plus as the smug smile on his face attested, she pleased him. Hopefully soon they would ask The Lady to bless them with young.
I wondered if I would have offspring. Our Goddess had made adjustments to our mating ritual almost a thousand years ago when battles and challenges had resulted in so much death. Our numbers thinned. A Contracted Mating came into being so that Lycans could be joined and young born. Not every wolf could meet their soulmate as Conal had. The agreed-upon matches were as real as the fated. I knew many couples that seemed very content.
I needed to do some work, to take my mind off such silly thoughts. I didn’t have time for romance nor the right to enter into such a relationship, even though it would be short-lived. I was promised to another, and I always kept my vows.
I opened the cover to my tablet and started to read a financial report.
Two hours later, I felt her stir. I placed the tablet on the end table and glanced down into her now open deep blue eyes. I saw and sensed her confusion and caution.
“What?” She slowly turned her head. There was only the soft glow from my desk lamp in the room. Our kind had night vision, but to her the room was probably shadowed.
“How do you feel?” I asked slowly, keeping my volume low.
“Like I got hit by a truck,” she continued to look around.
“I suppose in a way, you did.”
Her gaze swept over her bared chest. She immediately turned her breasts into my chest, shielding them from my view. “Really?” She used an exasperated tone.
“They are nice breasts.” I smiled not feeling guilty at all.
She shook her head. “I guess it doesn’t matter if it is a man or a Lycan, the sight of bare breasts always entrances.” She glared at me.
“I am male.” I shrugged and continued to grin. Her breasts were large, full, and heavy. She had a woman’s body, softer than a female Lycan’s that were more muscular.
One side of her mouth tipped up. I knew she was fighting a smile. “So, all of this,” she paused, “it really happened?”
“It did,” I told her gravely.
She covered her breasts with one arm and used the other to scoot upward into a sitting position.
I placed my hands on her waist to assist. I kept one there, telling myself it was to help her balance. “If you wish, we can discuss it now.”
“I feel like my head exploded and was put back together. Could we, uh, talk about it tomorrow?” She looked around the room again. “What time is it?”
I checked the antique clock hanging on the far wall. “Just after ten.”
Her eyes widened. “I’ve been out a long time.”
“I’m sure you needed rest.”
“I am a champion sleeper,” she quipped then sobered. “I’d like to go home. I mean, to Conal’s, please.” She started to wiggle down from my lap.
I liked that she thought of Conal’s place as home. Sometimes, our casual statements were most telling. I helped her to her feet. “I’ll drive you.” She took a few steps away, and I stood. Of course, she didn’t understand the importance of my driving her. As Leader, my guards drove me. It was considered a very high honor for the Leader to drive a member. I headed to my desk to grab a set of keys. It was too cold for us to take my bike.
“I need a…some clothes.”
I looked up from my desk, puzzled.
“I can’t go out like this.” She looked down at her shredded gown.
“No one would question your dress.” Except for the few guards that were posted, we most likely wouldn’t encounter anyone.
She continued to coverer her breasts with one arm, the other was holding up what remained of the skirt of her gown, but I could see she prepared to give me attitude.
Her chin lifted. “Okay, I get that you all might not have an issue with being naked, but I do. I’m not wandering around like this.” Her eyes sparkled with defiance.
She was so funny in her acceptance of us. I was sure she didn’t realize she was already adjusting to our ways. I gave an exaggerated sigh. “I have a closet here. Perhaps you can find something you feel is appropriate. Or I can call Conal to have something delivered.”
“No,” she cried. She moved gingerly to follow me to the closet that was built into my private bathroom. “I don’t want to bother them.”
I moved slowly so she could keep up. I turned on the overhead light as we entered the room.
“Whoa.” She paused and rested her weight against the door frame. “This place is awesome.”
I had never really considered the room. Onyx had spearheaded the building and office design. I knew that the bathroom was roomy, the shower was large, and the water hot. I moved to open the walk-in closet doors.
She followed slowly. Her injured leg was giving her pain. I could smell the emotion as she worked to ignore it.
“Do you live here?” she asked as she moved to the wall that held shelves.
“No, I have a house. I have clothes here for meetings or when I need to dress for appearances,” I explained as I watched her pull out a black sweatshirt that would cover her from her shoulders to her knees.
“So, you can’t just summon a change of clothes?” She shook out the garment, primly turned her back to me, and slowly pulled on the shirt. She had to use her good arm to dress her other arm and when she turned around, the remains of her gown pooled around her feet. “You’re going to have to replace Conal’s hoodie.” She gave me a steady glare.
I nodded solemnly. “I will address that with Conal when I take you home.” I approved that she was concerned about my Second’s belongings.
She limped back into my office.
“Tomorrow, you will be assigned an office, and your studies will begin.”
“Hold on.” She held up one hand in a stop sign. “That’s not going to happen tomorrow.”
“Of course, it will,” I countered, watching her with hidden incredulity. I wasn’t used to others disagreeing with me so openly.
She shook her head. “It’s not happening for two reasons.”
I held my tongue, curious where she was going.
She held up one finger. “One, I don’t have any business clothes. Well, technically, I only have a couple of nightgowns and I’m not wearing those into work.”
“It doesn’t matter how you’re dressed,” I said angrily, although I didn’t like the idea of others seeing her in a silky gown with her breasts bobbing enticingly.
