Awaken a Wolf (14 page)

“How are you coming with that landor seed?”

Angie tilted the soapstone bowl slightly, and Cinder could see she’d done a great job reducing the tiny pink seeds to dust.

“I’ve never heard of landor.”

“It’s not from our realm.  Some of our supplies are from other realms.”

Cinder added the grinded landor seeds to the spell chest, a small wooden trunk that Adam had bought for her.  She looked inside at the different spices, herbs, and minerals that would help her fully accept her power.

“Are you nervous?” Angie asked as Cinder closed the chest and carried it out of the office.

“A little.  I’m not afraid of the power, but I’m kind of freaked out about shifting.”

“You saw yourself in the vision, though, right?”

“Yeah, but seeing and actually doing are two different things.”

Angie chuckled.  “I guess so.  Come to my room.  I have something for you.”

Cinder followed Angie down the hall to her bedroom.  The second floor contained the bedrooms of the family members and the highest-ranked males who lived there.  It was a busy house with so many adults living in it, but it was one of the most comforting places she’d ever lived.  She was completely surrounded by the pack.  With the coven, she’d lived in her own home and only been around them when she was working or during ceremonies.  The pack lived together, and those who didn’t live in the alphas’ house lived nearby in the territory.

Angie opened her bedroom door, and Cinder stepped inside.  She turned in a slow circle to take in the room’s decor.  The white walls were painted with cherry blossoms.  The branches were dark, the blossoms varying shades of white and pink.  She moved for a closer look.

“They almost look real,” Cinder said as she stared at one of the flowers, with her fingertips hovering just over it.

“Thanks.  It took a freaking long time.”

“You did this?”  Cinder looked at Angie in surprise.

She shrugged, looking shy.  “I like to paint.  When Adam took over as alpha, he said I could do whatever I wanted with the bedroom.  I love cherry blossoms.  They symbolize beauty and joy.”

“How long did it take you?”  She cast her gaze around the room.  The furniture was white – the full bed, desk, dresser, and nightstand – but each one had cherry blossoms painted on the surface somewhere.

“A year.  I slept on the couch in Adam’s office until I was done.  I didn’t want to move in until it was complete because I thought I’d get complacent and not finish.  It was the longest year of my life – that couch is not comfortable.”

“Wow, it’s so beautiful.  You did an amazing job.”

Angie smiled broadly.  She moved to the bed and pointed to a stack of fabric.  “These are full moon clothes.”

Cinder joined her as Angie laid them out – a short black skirt made of soft, stretchy material and a black tank top.

“What makes them full moon clothes?”

“First, they’re inexpensive.  One of the females in the pack makes them.  If you ruin either piece, it won’t cost a lot to replace and you can get them in any color.  And second, they’re loose enough that if you’re dressed when you shift, you can wiggle out of them when you’re done.”

“Really?  Cool.”

“When we’re young, the shift can come on us really suddenly.  I lost a lot of cute pants before I took my mom’s advice and wore the simpler clothes.”

“Thanks, Angie.”

“You’re welcome.  You’re not just my alpha female.  You’re my sister.  I always wanted one.”

“Me too.”

Angie hugged her, and Cinder gathered the clothes and said goodbye.  Her nerves rose once more as she hugged the clothes to her chest and walked up to the third floor.  She could feel the full moon drawing close and the excitement of the pack.  They were receiving a lot tonight — a
lygisa
and an alpha female — but she was getting so much more.  After this night, she’d be a fully shifting female with the power of the lygisa, she’d take her place as a pack member, and she’d be the alpha female.  They were gaining a leader, but she would be gifted with a big family in return.

Chapter 16

Adam watched his mate as she spoke to the females.  The wolves from the evil pack were standing together, but three of the females, who Cinder said were helpful to her, were next to his mate.  They looked at her with the adoration of people who had been in bondage and suddenly freed.  He had thought that they might want to stay out of pack life and find their own way, but all of them wanted to stay if they were welcome, and Adam and Cinder agreed they could.

The sun was slowly setting, bathing the woods in soft oranges and ambers, making the shadows lengthen.  She wore what he’d come to think of as the females’ uniform – a short skirt and a loose tank top.  She looked amazing in it, especially because he knew what she looked like under the clothes, or maybe because he was so totally nuts about her.  She could probably wear a potato sack and he’d think her beautiful.

“You look like a guy from the cover of one of my mom’s romance novels,” Brick said as he came to stand next to Adam.

“What?”

“You know,” Brick clutched his hands together over his heart and batted his eyes, “I just
lurve
her so much, and she’s so bee-yoo-tee-ful.”

Adam’s face flashed with heat, and he turned and tackled his cousin with a snarl.  Brick hit the ground with a loud thud, the wind whooshing from his lungs as Adam landed on top of him.

Adam growled, his face inches from his beta as he bared his fangs.  “Don’t compare me to a romance novel model again.”

Brick’s eyes widened and then he laughed.  “You must be in love.  Six months ago, you’d have thrown me halfway across the yard for saying something like that.”

Adam snorted and stood, pulling Brick to his feet with a little more force then necessary.  He tugged him close and clamped his hand on the back of his neck so he could whisper in his ear, “You’re betting I won’t kill you because my mate is watching, but there’s always tomorrow.  Test me again and see how genial I am.”

Brick dropped his head and tilted his neck.  “Sorry, Alpha.”

“I’ll bet you are.”  Adam gave Brick’s neck a little extra squeeze and released him.

Brick flashed Adam a grin before he ducked away into the crowd.  In truth, Adam didn’t mind his pack seeing the physical proof of his affection for Cinder.  He knew they could feel it through their connection to him, but seeing it was good too.

Cinder met Adam’s eyes, her brow cocked in curiosity.  His mom said something under her breath that he couldn’t hear, and all the females giggled, including his mate.  He was pretty sure he didn’t want to know what was said.

Cinder’s eyes flashed golden, and she swayed slightly.  Adam rushed to her side, keeping her upright.

“It’s time,” she said, her voice otherworldly.

Keeping one arm around her to hold her steady, he walked with Cinder through the woods to the clearing.  The woods darkened as the sun set completely, but the wolves didn’t need light to see, thanks to their enhanced eyesight.  He left Cinder next to the unlit fire pit and stepped back, joining the pack as they entered the clearing and created a circle around the pit.  Earlier in the day, he’d marked out a barrier in logs so that no wolves would be inside the perimeter where Cinder needed to perform the ceremony.  He stood with Brick and Solan, his family, and the pack, and watched as Cinder turned and set a few items on the ground.

She straightened, lifting a leather sack from the ground, and walked six steps toward him.  Stopping, she pulled at a small string in the corner of the bag.  As it opened, something poured out.  The substance looked like salt, but he knew it wasn’t
just
salt, but a combination of other minerals meant to protect her as she took on the mantel of her
lygisa
power.

Her lips began to move as she walked a slow circle around the perimeter of the fire pit.  He’d read the words in the book, but he couldn’t hear anything but the sound of rushing wind.  It was a form of protection, so that no one but a
lygisa
could actually hear the words being spoken.  He felt the earth begin to tremble as she reached her starting point and the last grains of minerals formed a closed circle.  A brilliant flash of red made him close his eyes for a brief moment, and when he opened them, he could see Cinder standing next to the fire pit, with a red haze completely enclosing the circle.

She bent and picked up the chest, opening the top and fisting a handful of the crushed herbs and spices that she and Angie had spent the afternoon working with.

She spun, tossing the handful onto the logs in the fire pit.  The wood blazed to life, the flames reaching higher than he’d ever seen before.  The heart of the fire was white and blue, the outer flames crimson and orange.  He felt the heat from several feet away and was thankful that Cinder was protected and wouldn’t be harmed by the heat.

Her voice was clear and powerful as she spoke.  “I, Cinder Knight, hereby claim the mantel of
lygisa
.  I accept the power over wolf and pack, over earth and flame, and vow to never betray my pack or my mate.”

She turned and shoved her hand into the box, extracting another handful of herbs, which she tossed onto the fire.  The flames roared and stretched higher, causing the orange to disappear from the tips of the flames as the white and blue center expanded.

“I declare myself
lygisa
.”

She threw another handful.

“I vow myself to the protection of my pack.”

She threw another.  The center expanded farther, the red nearly gone as the tips of the flames turned purple for a moment before turning bright blue entirely.  Adam’s eyes watered as he watched his mate, but he refused to look away and miss a second of what she was doing.

“I accept the responsibility of the power of
lygisa
and I claim that power now! 
Forlonna gretia lormasktra!
”

The last of the chest’s contents hit the wood, and she dropped the chest to the ground as the fire turned entirely white, save for a golden, glowing center that appeared.  She lifted a bottle of sacred oil and poured it over her fingertips.  She spread her fingers across her chest and over her heart, and then placed the bottle on the ground.  The golden center crawled up the flames until it hovered over them.  The form of a wolf’s head took shape.  The eyes were black, lit with stars, and the fangs glittered like diamonds in its huge mouth.

The golden, ghostly wolf lifted its head and howled and shimmering golden tendrils snaked down from the flames, touching each pack member.  One descended on Adam, and he felt the connection of Cinder’s
lygisa
power to the pack.  The wolf was the image of the
lygisa
who had gone on before, the ones who now gave Cinder the power to protect her pack as only a
lygisa
could.

As one, the pack lifted their heads and howled, a sound of pure thankfulness for Cinder’s place of reverence in their pack.  The tendrils were pulled back to the wolf who seemed to smile at Cinder before drifting back into the flames and disappearing.

Cinder’s hands lifted, and the red haze surrounding her disappeared as the salt circle lifted off the ground.  The grains swirled overhead before funneling into the flames.  Her hands lowered slowly, and the fire returned to normal.

She turned slowly, her eyes still golden, and smiled, showing her fangs.

“It’s time, my alpha mate.”

* * * * *

Cinder couldn’t vocalize exactly how she felt in that moment, but she’d never been more in tune with anything than she was with the pack.  She could feel each member through an individual connection like a strand of wire.  The wires wove together as the pack – and she was part of that now – connected to them as much as they were to her.  She felt their happiness as it twined with her own, a feeling of family and togetherness that rivaled everything but the shining connection to Adam.  Together, as alpha mates, they were now joined even more tightly thanks to her
lygisa
powers, which flowed through her.  She felt communion with the woods around them and the earth itself, and the moon seemed to shine brighter as Adam moved toward her.

He wore only jeans, and her fangs elongated at the sight of his muscular chest and the slight dusting of hair that disappeared beneath the waistband of his jeans.  The tattoo on his bicep of a howling wolf stood out in stark relief against his lightly tanned skin.  She’d spent a long time earlier in the day tracing that tattoo with her fingers and tongue, and she’d even considered getting one herself.  Someday.

He curled his hand behind her neck and drew her to his mouth.  “My beautiful mate,” he whispered, his lips hovering over hers for only a heartbeat before he kissed her deeply.

She moaned into his mouth, her body sparking with electricity at his touch.

His free hand slid into the space between her top and skirt and found the small of her back, where he rested his warm hand and drew her against him.  “You were amazing, love.”

She smiled up at him.  “I can’t believe how connected I feel to everything, to everyone.”

He cast his gaze skyward and she looked up, seeing that the moon was almost complete.  “Are you ready, Cinder?”

“Lead the way, Alpha.”

He grinned sinfully.  He knelt and lifted bundles of white ash tied with wire.  He tossed the wood into the fire, causing sparks to lift into the air.  Turning toward the pack, he raised his hand and a hush fell over the group.  “I bring to the pack this night, Cinder Knight.  I claim her as my mate and my alpha female.  I vow to protect her and our future pups with my life.“

He turned to her and lifted his left hand, and she mirrored him.  He’d already explained this part to her, and although earlier she’d been worried about her part, she wasn’t concerned anymore.  She sliced through her wrist with her fangs, leaving twin furrows in her flesh.  The blood welled and spilled down her arm as Adam did the same.  Their fingers twined and they pressed their wounds together.

Adam’s voice was loud and clear as he spoke.  “I give you your alpha female!”

The pack cheered as she and Adam unlocked their hands and raised them in the air for all to see.  As she looked at their arms, she saw that although the blood remained, the wounds were already healed.  The blood mixing and the remarkably fast healing was due to them being alpha mates, and after lowering her hand, she wiggled her fingers and looked at the scars.

Adam’s hands locked onto her hips and he kissed her gently.  “They’re waiting for us, my mate.”

She blinked up at him and closed her eyes for a brief moment.  She touched her connection to the pack and felt their happiness.  It wasn’t just because she was a new and powerful form of protection for them, but because they were glad that Adam had found his mate and the pack finally had an alpha female.

The
lygisa
power that had been humming through her began to subside.  She knew she could call it anytime she needed to, but it wouldn’t run hot like that all the time.  As the power ebbed, she felt the pull of the full moon, and her bones and muscles began to ache.

She pressed her head to Adam’s chest.  “Ah,” she gasped.

“I’ve got you, love.  Let me help you.”

She lifted her head and pressed her lips to his.

* * * * *

Adam felt Cinder’s entire body tremble as they kissed.  She’d spent a good portion of the day distracted from the pains of her first shift thanks to their mate connection.  But now that she was a full
lygisa
and officially a pack member, the time had lapsed and her shift was upon her.

He lowered them to their knees and turned her until her back was pressed to his chest.  He could feel the pack’s awareness, but he knew they weren’t truly watching them, but waiting.

Cinder pressed her face into his neck, and her hands gripped his arms tightly as he held her.  Her nails, slightly thicker and turning dark, broke through his skin, but he didn’t care.  Her fear at what was happening was tangible, and he knew distracting her was the key.

He laid his hand on her thigh and squeezed gently.  He had to fight the wolf who wanted him to just push her forward and fuck her hard.  This wasn’t just about his own need to mate his female on the full moon, but was also about her comfort as she struggled with her shift.

She whimpered as he stroked up her warm thigh.  His hand glided under her skit.   She pushed her knees apart and he grinned.  She might be nervous but she was eager too.  He cupped her sex and her teeth bit into his neck.

He chuckled.  “Anxious, sweetheart?”

“It hurts less when you touch me.”

“I know.  Mates soothe each other.  It’s not about the pack right now.  It’s about us.  Give yourself to me.”

“I’m yours, Adam.  I think I’ve always been yours.”

His wolf howled in happiness, and Adam slipped two fingers into her pussy.  She arched her back, pressing her hips forward.  She was so hot and wet.  The heel of his palm pressed into her clit as he curled his fingers and began to stroke her.  Her chest heaved as she panted, her breath fanning his neck as she gripped his arm.  He held her close and fingered her, drawing her to the edge as swiftly as he could.  He focused on their connection as mates and thought about how much he loved her, about how he’d never wanted anyone as much as he wanted her, and how he’d never been happier or more content in his life.