Beneath a Blood Moon (40 page)

“These transformations were necessary?”

“The water temperature was slightly above freezing, sir, which is unseasonably cold for this time of year. If we make the assumption she entered the ocean shortly after the triggering dispute, she was exposed to the water for approximately thirty minutes. In Normals, ten to twenty minutes is sufficient time to cause loss of motor function and potential death. Miss Madison is very lean, sir. The woman simply doesn’t have a speck of excess fat in her body, which puts her at a substantial disadvantage. Fat helps the body maintain its temperature in cold water.”

“Get to the point, Dustin,” the Shadow Pope demanded.

“She technically died from hypothermia before she submerged. Her entire body ceased functioning. I found her fifty feet from shore, sir. While it’s possible she was in shallower water and was swept out, I’m more inclined to believe she intentionally headed for deeper water. Anyway, in Normals, brain cells begin to die within a minute without oxygen. Let’s assume she was breathing until the moment she submerged. It took approximately five minutes to resuscitate her, which is two minutes longer than Normals can withstand without substantial brain damage. It took me approximately a minute to get her out of the water once we found her. What I do not know is if she had already drowned prior to Mr. Sanders becoming aware of his mate’s plight. Fortunately, the fact she succumbed to hypothermia may have helped her survivability. In short, her body temperature dropped low enough fast enough to allow organ recovery.”

“So, you’re essentially telling me she didn’t attempt suicide, but that she successfully suicided.”

“That’s exactly what I’m saying, sir. Considering the compromised state of their mating bond due to the pack’s interference, it doesn’t surprise me it took her death for him to realize the severity of her situation. This was compounded by the fact she wanted to die, so she did not perceive danger. If she had perceived a threat or danger, it would have reflected to him through the mating bond. As her wolf was likewise driven to suicide, he had no way of knowing her intent. A Normal would have had little to no chance of resuscitation, sir. It was touch and go for a few minutes, but she did, ultimately, survive.”

I clutched at my mate’s robe, fighting against the urge to sob about what I had done. Working his arms under me, my mate lifted me up and cradled me against him. “Shh, darling. It’s okay,” he whispered.

Rising from his chair, Desmond sat on the arm of the couch, reached out, and gripped the back of my neck. The warm sensation my wolf so loved intensified, soothing her.

“And her situation now?” The Shadow Pope’s displeasure deepened his voice.

“Physically, I expect she’ll be fully recovered sometime today, sir. Mentally and emotionally? I can’t answer that question for you. Considering the trauma she has endured, she may not recover. I strongly recommend you remove both Mr. Sanders and Miss Madison from this operation, sir. While she’s physically capable of dealing with the gala, she may not remain stable on a hunt of the scale we’re planning. The best thing for her at this point is time with her mate.”

“I’ll consider it. Miss Madison and Mr. Sanders are critical for at least the early stage of the operation. I approve their removal from the operation as soon as the targets have been identified. Since Miss Madison is the primary target of our unknown quarry, having her present is necessary. That said, considering Mr. Simons is of the belief Mr. Sanders was killed during the takeover of Seattle’s pack, I think it’s necessary to confirm both of them are actually alive,” the Shadow Pope replied.

Without releasing me, Desmond nodded to my mate, who sighed. “Hello, sir.”

“Ah, good morning, Matthew. Listening in, were you?”

“Not by choice, I assure you. I’ve had maybe two hours of sleep and no coffee,” he growled.

“What is your mate’s condition?”

“She’s alive,” he replied, his voice as tense as his body.

Dustin cleared his throat. “Accept it for the victory it is, sir.”

“Very well. How did this escalate to this level?” Something crumpled on the other end of the line, and the Shadow Pope sighed. “Why can’t I get nice phone calls about you, Mr. Sanders? I’m at the point I don’t want to hear your name unless I’m being told there’s a wedding or some other good piece of news.”

“We have a saying in Vegas, sir,” Holly stated. “Where a Desmond goes, trouble follows. Unfortunately, it seems Mr. Sanders is the one troubled by the Desmond curse this time.”

“Cute, Holly,” Desmond grumbled.

“It’s true, sir.”

“It may be true, but you don’t have to say it,” my Alpha complained. “The reason for the escalation, sir, I feel is a compound problem. Mr. Sanders is a rather hot and desired commodity among bitches, as you’re well aware. Seattle’s pack has several bitches, both Fenerec-born and Fenerec, who have expressed interest in him. The fact an unknown, young bitch sank her teeth into him likely didn’t sit well with them. Considering Matthew’s nature and her circumstances, they’re an excellent pairing. She had actually caught his interest
before
she became a Fenerec, sir.”

“While I’m aware she’s a rogue-born, are there other circumstances I should be aware of?”

Desmond sighed. “Joseph, Chrissy, I will be expecting you to discreetly pass this information to the rest of the pack, along with a very thorough explanation on why your attitudes will change immediately. Am I understood?”

“Yes, sir,” they replied in a whisper.

“Sir, she’s not a rogue-born in the traditional sense. Being blunt, sir, she was the prey of rogues. They were eating her alive when she spontaneously changed. There is a reason we discourage rituals during the hours surrounding the peak of a blood moon. There was no ritual involved with her becoming a Fenerec. To fight the Fenerec killing her, she became a Fenerec. Due to Mr. Sanders’s interest in her, I arranged things so he might meet her again. That was when we discovered she was one of our kind, and I felt it wise to further encourage his interest. It seems she was likewise interested in him prior to her conversion, which resulted in the mating bond taking hold as soon as they were left alone in the same room together for more than five minutes.”

I blushed, and my mate pulled away and smiled at me before dipping his head down to kiss my throat. Closing my eyes, I sighed at the pleasant shivers he sent coursing through me. He nipped me once, but instead of the surge of lust I expected, every muscle in my body relaxed, and I slumped against him. His contented scent filled my nose, and he held me close. After a moment, Desmond eased his grip on me and returned to his chair.

“You can’t leave them in the same room together without one of them trying to start something,” my Alpha admitted in a wry tone. “I confess it affected my decision to takeover Seattle’s pack temporarily. He needs the time to settle down as much as she needs the time to recover from this month. I’m considering it a mating gift to the both of them, while also ensuring there are no future incidents. It will give us a chance to teach her and her wolf how to function in a pack, as she does not have many of the instincts traditional Fenerec do, True-born included.”

“What do you meant by that?”

“Traditionally, Fenerec determine their rank in the pack during their first hunt, which coincides with the performance of their ritual. Miss Madison never went through a ritual and has never been on a hunt. However, after observing her interactions with myself, Wendy, and her mate, I’ve come to the conclusion she would have found integration into the pack difficult at best.”

My mate growled, tightening his hold on me. “What do you mean by that, Desmond?”

“Settle down, Sanders. Think about it. What happened when we first found her and Wendy introduced herself as a wolf?”

I wrinkled my nose at the memory.

“She submitted,” my mate replied. “She showed immediate submissive tendencies.”

“And when I suggested she sleep with me?”

Growling, I twisted in Sanders’s arms to glare at Desmond.

“I do believe she sincerely tried to rip your face off. I think she’s still mad at you over that stunt, Desmond.”

“She bit the hell out of you at Rob’s place, too.”

“As is her right as my mate.”

“She’s attacked me at least three times so far,” Desmond commented, grinning at me. “I’m the biggest wolf on this block, and she’s utterly unafraid of me. Now why might that be?”

“Because you’re an idiot, and she knows you aren’t going to do a single thing to her,” Wendy commented. “Stop taunting them.”

“Don’t ruin my fun, Wendy.”

“She attacked you?” the Shadow Pope blurted.

“She’s delightfully vicious when she wants to be,” my Alpha reported, his tone pleased. “She tends to get most riled up when she thinks I’m doing something to her mate. You should have seen her last night when I yanked Seattle’s pack away from him. With her exhausted, stressed, and hungry, it still took both of us to control her. It was justified, since she got the backlash of the takeover. She thought I was actually hurting him when I wasn’t.”

“I’m impressed with your restraint, Mr. Desmond,” the Shadow Pope replied.

“I was aware of the possibility of her attacking me over it. I had bitten her to prevent it, but it seems she’s very determined when she needs to be. That’s the problem with Fenerec like her, sir, and the reason why things escalated as they did.”

“I am failing to understand what you’re so subtly hinting at, Desmond. Just tell us, or we’ll be playing guessing games all morning.”

“The reason for what she did last night is simple. Her role in the pack is to fix problems. Unfortunately, she perceived herself as the problem due to the influence of jealous, petty wolves. In her desperation, she demanded to be removed from the pack, but when it didn’t go over well with her mate, she snapped. She came to the conclusion the only solution to the problem was to permanently remove herself from the equation.”

“She’s submissive,” the Shadow Pope said.

“She has those traits, sir.” Desmond smiled at me. “It took me a few weeks to start suspecting it, although Wendy knew right away. She, however, didn’t see fit to tell me.”

“Don’t ruin my fun, Charles.”

“Get on with it, Desmond,” the Shadow Pope ordered.

“I suggest Seattle’s pack get their shit together and do it fast, because the instant the other packs find out Sanders will petition to leave Seattle to keep his mate happy, every pack on the continent will be after him, with Yellowknife being the most dangerous contender. When they find out his mate is an Omega, there will be a full-scale war between the packs to have them, sir.”

My mate sat stunned and quiet, his pupils dilated as he stared at Desmond. The silence stretched, seconds slipping to minutes. My wolf worried, and whining, I grabbed hold of his shoulders, tugging on him. When he didn’t respond to me, I whimpered. Desmond sighed. “We’re going to need a few minutes on our end. I’m muting the phone, so keep on talking, I’m listening.”

“Hang up. I’ll call you back when we need you again,” the Shadow Pope ordered. “I think I’ve heard enough from you to be able to handle the majority of the discussion from this point.”

“Yes, sir.” Desmond reached over and hung up. “That was delightful.”

“Sanders?” I pulled on my mate again, and when he continued to stare at Desmond, I nipped his chin at my wolf’s insistence. He flinched, ducking away from my teeth.

“Sorry, I’m okay. Really,” he muttered, shaking his head as though to clear it. “Desmond, did you say what I think you said?”

“That your mate is an Omega? Why, I do believe I mentioned something like that. Is there a problem?”

My mate spluttered. Confused, I turned to Desmond, baring my teeth at him. “Explain.”

Sanders took hold of my hands and brought my fingers to his lips, kissing each one in turn before sliding his way up my arms to pull me to him. “You are the most marvelous, radiant creature on Earth.”

“Even when Sanders isn’t leading the pack, he’s still an Alpha; it’s the type of Fenerec he is. He’s so dominant he has developed a whole new set of instincts above those possessed by normal dominants. Most Fenerec are dominant or submissive. Omegas aren’t exactly the opposite of Alphas, but it’s close. They’re the Alpha form of a submissive with a few notable differences. Unlike regular submissive Fenerec, you don’t have a set rank within the pack. You’ll often fall to the bottom, but when it’s needed, you can dominate anyone, including Alphas like your mate. If you’re really desperate and know what you’re doing, you might even be able to take me out for a while. Omegas are rare, but they’re truly invaluable in a pack. Unlike Alphas, no one can work to become an Omega. You’re either born one or you are not. Because of that, Omegas are even more prized than True-born. If you had not mated to Sanders, when people found out you existed, every unmated male would have been competing for you and the right to bring you into their pack.”

It was my turn to stare at Desmond, baffled by his explanation. “I don’t understand.”

He chuckled. “You will fit any role in the pack to keep things balanced and in order. When a Fenerec needs someone more submissive to protect, you’ll fit that role. Once the pack issues are settled, you’ll be invaluable to Chrissy, who is always at the bottom. She’ll come to you when she has the desire to protect someone. Submissive Fenerec without someone beneath them have a bunch of instincts they have to suppress. Most importantly, Omegas don’t the run risk of actually running wild and completely losing their humanity to their wolf, not like other Fenerec do. Because of that, you’ll eventually be able to help other Fenerec control their wolves even better than witches can.”