The Alpha's Surrogate: A Paranormal Pregnancy Romance (15 page)

“Once, long ago, it’s where we went to get our new form, but you only can go once like that. Once you’ve been, you can never go back.”

That was surprising to Reign. Loptr had said nothing of that.

“Well, I wouldn’t want a summer home there, but once you figure out how the universe inside works, it became a little fun. You know, if you can forget the whippings, starvation, cold, the constant threat of death; oh, and the orgies.”

The SUV swerved violently. “The what?”

She laughed, deep and delightful, full of the happiness she felt, something she hadn’t felt since... well, since the spell had been cast on her.

“I’m so sorry, Richard, I feel so different, the spell they cast, to keep the baby from coming, it’s like it froze me in the moment that it happened, and it must have been a hormonal moment. All I’ve done is doubt you, and you’ve never given me any cause, I love you.”

Richard found her eyes in the mirror. His smile lit up her insides, she could see the man she desperately loved.

“You have nothing to apologize for, Reign. I love you, and that just doesn’t mean when your happy, or plucky, or when we're in bed, it means with the good and the bad... not that you’re ever bad, mind you.”

Several pit stops later, and over a hundred dollars in cheap roadside coffee, Richard pulled the SUV into the long drive up the mountain. He was glad to be home. Reign blissfully slept in the back, her dreams were hopefully more peaceful than the ones she described happening. She hadn’t noticed the lash marks on her back yet, he wasn’t sure if they would stay, or fade like the

dream. She could only remember the vaguest details now, but the whippings, they had to be horrific.

The SUV made the last turn that brought the lodge into view, it also brought a smile to Richard’s face. He loved their home, loved his pack, and he was hopeful for the future for the first time in a long time.

Whether it was his feelings for Reign, his stress over the future, or a mix, somehow he had blocked his connection to the pack, his proximity brought it back in full.

Worry, concern, anger, fear.

They all hit him like a jackhammer, his fists involuntarily squeezed the steering wheel, the leather under his hands creaked its disapproval. Richard pulled to a stop, he took a deep breath, gave one last glance at Reign, and got out. He used the remote to lock the doors, no need to take chances; he could smell who was here.

Her perfume was unmistakable, in all the time he had known her, jasmine was her favorite scent.

Heidi.

Indigo was on the porch, Skye at his side, as always. His friend looked grim.

“Jola, jefe, we got problems.” That was code, long established between friends; there was danger, people were listening, but it wasn’t immediate. If Richard replied in German, it would mean run, a Spanish reply would call for an immediate attack, English was wait and see.

“Is she here?” he asked in English.

“Yep, her and what she says are ‘representatives’ of the council.” He put air quotes around the last bit.

Tired, a little sore from the driving, and in no mood, Richard marched up to the lodge. He passed Skye the keys without a look, but in his mind he impressed upon her Reign’s safety.

If she were startled at the indirect communications, she hid it well. As he passed, she kissed Indigo full on the mouth, then sauntered down the stairs, with enough hip sway to distract any man within a mile.

Richard entered his pack's  home, and promptly ignored the half dozen or so men sitting in the commons. They were large and typical specimens of lone wolves. Indigo had wisely kept their people clear, especially the women. When Richard didn’t see her, Indigo indicated his office. There were so many new scents in the house it was hard to find out who was where. By now, she knew he was there, and knew he knew she
was
there. So he ignored her.

Including the trip to Dakota, his one day there, and the trip back, Richard had been awake for almost a week. He was tired, hungry, and in desperate need of a shower. Also, he was in no hurry to start a war. If she wanted to see him, she could wait.

“Get TJ and Abbey in the kitchen, have them make breakfast for everyone, even our guests, tell them I want their very best,” Richard said to Indigo as he ascended the stairs to his room. To everyone’s surprise, TJ and Abbey had hit it off fabulously, the dark Goth girl had mellowed TJ out, and they both discovered a love of cooking. Since then the odd pair prepared almost every major meal the pack ate. And they got better with each passing Sunday dinner. Now it was almost a sacred event when the whole pack sat down to eat.

Richard pondered the problem while the hot water from his shower massaged his aching shoulders. He needed to give Skye time to get Reign clear, and he needed the time to organize his thoughts. If the Alphas sent Heidi, and her Wolf Pack, to his house, they were sending a clear message-this would only end in violence.

He knew all of them, of course. None of them were as old as he was, in fact, of all the wolves he was aware of, only Heidi had been there in the beginning. If he could go back... well, there was no use thinking on that now. The family he would have died to protect had been dust for a thousand years, his culture was gone, his people unrecognizable. All that he was left with were memories of a life he could never have, and the old gods that still walked the earth.

At least Loptr had made good on his favor. But at what price?

He took his time; an hour passed by under the hot water, and he needed that. By the time he shaved, put on a dash of cologne, and dressed in casual jeans and a white sweater, the smell of eggs and bacon filled the lodge. 

The mirror almost hid how tired he was, but not quite. Nothing another cup of coffee, and some bacon wouldn’t fix. He hoped that they could get through breakfast without ripping out anyone’s throat.

TJ and Abbey outdid themselves. The guest table was set with the finest dishes, cloth napkins, decanters of OJ, and the best tablecloth. The lodge’s ‘dining room’ was really an event room. Now it had three long tables put side by side, enough chairs and place settings for the fifteen pack members who were there and their guests.

It was a subtle reminder that Heidi was outnumbered. It didn’t faze her, of course, Richard noted, but it could keep things civil. Everyone was seated except for her when he walked in; she was waiting by the door.

“Impressive, but we’re not here for violence,” she said in her stilted English.

“Well, now I know you’re not,” he returned with a smile.

The two wolves took their seats, Richard at the head of the table, Indigo to his right, Heidi to his left. Skye was absent, but no one seemed to notice.

The food arrived and it was heavenly. Richard had been surviving off gas station food for the better part of a week and he needed fuel that was tasty and nutritious. He nodded to Heidi as the last plate was put on the table. She smiled her coy little smile, and took a bite. Once she had eaten, everyone dug in. There were omelets with cheese, onions, ham, and diced bell peppers, along with honey cured bacon, sourdough toast, and fresh hash browns, and orange juice and milk to drink.

They ate in silence for the first few minutes. As the minutes stretched on, the silence turned uncomfortable. It needed to be broken.

“Heidi, how’s the homeland? Still full of fascists?” Indigo said with a smile.

Richard about choked on his food, Heidi let out a sharp little laugh that didn’t touch her eyes.

“The same as always; it would be simpler if the little people would let their betters rule them, instead we must find alternate ways of power. How is the New World? Still full of savages?”

“Oh, you know,” Indigo replied, “we have to remind people that there are no betters.”

The two wolves stared each other down across the table. Heidi gave way and chuckled. “Ahh it’s nice to have someone to challenge me for once, I see why he’s your second.”

“Why are you really here Heidi? This seems a bit much,” Richard said as he sipped his OJ.

Heidi politely wiped her mouth; somehow she managed to maintain her dark red lipstick without a smudge. It contrasted heavily with her platinum blond hair and skin that never seemed to have been touched by the sun. For a moment, just a moment, Richard remembered that day, so many centuries before, when all of them were in the field; one by one Fenri attacked them. Heidi had been terrified; she'd held his hand as the man beside her fell in screams and blood, never to rise again. She hadn’t wanted to do it, but they all had no choice.

If only it hadn’t been for nothing.

“The council knows about your little trip.” His eyebrow lifted slightly and she smiled. “Honestly if I told them who you went to visit they would never believe me. I didn’t think it would work though, nice to know the old man keeps his promises,” she said.

“I didn’t think he would either. Seriously, though, Heidi, this can’t be about her knowing, I think it’s fairly clear at this point she isn’t going to tell anyone. And the magic they used to try and kill her... that couldn’t have been easy to pull off, so between you and me, what is really going on?”

“Why, Richard, nothing short of the end of the world.”

*

Richard let the comment sink in. Heidi was not given to wild comments or drama. Though she enjoyed the act she put on, she wouldn’t say something like that and not mean it. He finished his breakfast in silence, pondering the events of the last few years. Something was obviously up, and it had started with the blight. What wolf would have to gain by the death of two thirds of the wolves, and the sterilization of all those who remained? Not to mention the fact that no new wolves could be turned.

He froze.

No, fuck no.

His eyes slowly moved to Heidi’s. She had been watching the mental wheels turn, and her smile, the real one, greeted his gaze.

“You put that together just as fast as I thought you would,” she said around a bite of toast. “It’s a pity the council didn’t bring you in from the beginning. I told them to, you know, but there are so few of us left, they just don’t believe anymore. To them we are superstition, a myth, they have no idea what we are capable of.”

“Why, what could you possibly gain?”

“The same thing I’ve been trying for since we turned -- power.”

She put her napkin down and excused herself from the table. Richard got up and followed her to his office. It was a large room with several chairs and a couch.

“Are you immune?”

“Of course, I created it after all. So are you, by the way.”

“What?”

“Everyone thinks it just leaves the women sterile, but no, everyone except the originals, that is.”

She was cleansing the wolves, just like she tried to do to the humans.

“Do they know?”

“Of course not, they think they’re going to rebuild the wolves into some loyal army to wage war on the European covens, something they haven’t been able to do, ever, I might add. But with all the wolves under their control they thought it might work.”

“No more wolves then, you’ve killed us all.”

“No, not all Richard, we can have children, along with the handful of others that are still around. We can chose better candidates for the wolf, no more turning drug addicts and random people who happen to be around at the wrong time. No, now we start the real cleansing, kill the Alpha council, wipe out their packs, and we rebuild our line the way it was meant to be. To rule Europe and the world, to restore our culture and our way of life, to punish them for what they did to us.”

As she spoke, Richard could see the light in her eyes, the fervor with which she spoke, the way her cheeks turned pink; she truly believed what she was saying.