She shrugged. “Ran into them down by the river. Their son fell in so I fished him out.”
“ You don’t have to save everyone, you know.”
“ You would have done the same.”
“ And you’re sure that they’ll believe you?” Jensen broke into the conversation before it could take a turn. “They’ll be able to sway the others in their village?”
“ Should.” She flashed a wicked smile. “They’re in charge of it, after all.”
“ Ah, my sister,” Tobias chuckled. “Always knows how to make the right friends.”
“ Except for that one time,” she said, the sadness lacing her voice despite the fact she was clearly trying to joke about it. It was clear she was referring to Jericho.
“ Well, yeah, except for that,” Toby responded back softly. He wrapped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her in for a hug. When he let go, any signs that she’d been upset were gone.
“ I’ll go with you.” Jensen decided then. “It’ll give us a better chance if they speak to the leader of the pack.”
“ Why don’t you think Jericho’s done that already?” Kiley asked.
“ Probably because he doesn’t know how to make friends,” Toby said.
“ You should stay here,” she turned to Jensen. “I don’t know how comfortable they’d be with a massive male werewolf around their miniature children. Let me talk to them first, put the idea in their head before you go over and scare the life out of them.”
He sighed. She was probably right. “Try and be back before dark,” he said instead of arguing.
“ Sure thing.” She plopped the knife back onto the table and stood. There was a small burst of light, not enough to blind them, and in the next instant there was a large white wolf in her place. She shook her head and winked in his direction before taking off out the opening to the cave.
Kris Kendall
Just the Tip: Short stories of love and lust
Chapter 2:
Jensen ran as fast as he could. The muscles in his legs tightening to the point where he thought they might explode beneath him. Still, he pushed harder, ran faster. What else was he going to do?
It was hard to take his mind off of the past, off of the present. It took everything he had to forget-even for a moment-that he was empty. The knowledge just kept springing back, taunting him. He’d lost everything the day his father had been murdered. They’d found his body decimated in wolf form, ears ripped from his head, feet cut off… Jensen had puked when he’d seen it for himself.
No one knew for sure who’d done it, but there were rumors that it had been Jericho. Not a week before Jensen had been named heir to the pack, and his twin, older by a minute, hadn’t taken the news well. He’d been destroyed, in fact.
He’d turned on his family, and now there wasn’t any family left.
The one thing that still remained was his friendship with Kiley and her brother Tobias. The Sinclair siblings held him together, the only reason he hadn’t gone and killed himself by now. It was a horrible truth, but there it was. He no longer had a father, or a brother. What more was there?
Jericho and he had been best friends. He’d never dreamed of the day when that would change, but his brother was impulsive and had a tendency towards cruelty. Their father had decided, because of that, he wouldn’t make the right leader.
Sometimes, Jensen got angry that it was him, too. He’d never wanted to be pack leader, had always thought that it would be Jericho. He’d grown comfortable in that position, knowing that he was going to be right hand to his brother. But now… He had responsibilities that weighed on him, brought him so far down that he didn’t think he’d ever see the light of day again.
The Vikings were attacking, destroying their numbers with an ease that no one had seen coming. Humans had always been weaker, less smart. Something had changed in them, they’d developed, and now they viewed their Mirror Warrior counterparts as enemies.
They’d gone after the Vampires as well, and there was word that soon they’d be hunting the Shape shifters. It would be wiser for them to band together, but trust wasn’t common among the Mirrors, and the only time they agreed on anything was at the Fundur, under the watchful eye of the Unknown Halsey.
In wolf form, he dashed through the woods. Low hanging branches scraping against his golden fur coat unnoticed. The tiny stabs of pain were welcome, a reminder that he could still feel something.
He’d killed a rabbit a few miles back, and the adrenaline from the chase was just now starting to unwind within him. The second Kiley and Tobias had dispersed he’d left the cave, needing to run and pretend that it was from his responsibilities for a while.
His pack traveled as they wished, moving about from town to town. Still, for the most part they stuck together, within the same areas and in distance if there should be an emergency. There were still tons of land for them to roam, and many people who’d take them as they were without lifting a weapon over their head at first sight.
Those in the village were such people, and he hoped that Kiley would succeed with them. He didn’t hate Vikings in general, just those that killed his people, and those numbers had been increasing as of late. Strange, considering that their gods were full of magic and shape shifting beings. Killing Vampires was one thing-even Jensen was guilty of that occasional pleasure-but to murder Werewolves…
He was moving at a pace now too fast for the human eye to catch, but he felt someone watching him now. Slowing, he acted like he was just taking a break, moving his head lower to lick at the black pads on his right paw.
As he did so, he tried to reach out with his mind, sniffed at the air and tried to sense where the perpetrator was. Could it be someone sent by his brother? It would be stupid, no wolf could take Jensen in a fight, sides Jericho himself perhaps. There was only one that was for sure, but he still couldn’t figure out where exactly they were.
There was the tiniest sound of crunching leaves ten or so feet behind him, and his ears twitched easily picking it up. He let out a low rumble and spun, getting into a crouch so that he could pounce.
A medium sized gray wolf stood out in the open between two large trees, not even bothering to stay hidden. Her eyes, a deep cobalt blue, were locked onto him, a mixture of curiosity and wariness in their depths. She cocked her head at him, then took a single step forward, when he growled again she paused.
“ Who are you?” He sent the message telepathically to her, the only way to communicate in this form. Within seconds her own voice was vibrating through his head as she if were speaking directly into his ear.
“ They call me Olivia. I was sent here from the east. I’m of the Moonshine clan and search out the leader, Jensen Kalen. I was told he’d made camp around here?”
“ Who sent you?”
“ Two elders. My parents were killed by Vikings three weeks ago. They said the safest place for me was among the majority of the pack. So I came here.” She seemed to sigh in his head, and stretched her legs out before her. “I’ve been traveling for a long time, so if you could just point me in the right direction…”
“ How do I know you weren’t sent from the king’s brother, Jericho? He’s attempted to send spies before.” Just because she was female didn’t mean that he trusted her. A female Were could be just as vicious and skilled, take Kiley for example. He had firsthand accounts on just how capable female wolves were.
She frowned. “I don’t even know what he looks like. My family wasn’t around when…the old king died. My parents were overseas and I hadn’t been born yet. This is the first time a member of my family has stepped foot near the royals.”
“ Can you prove that?”
“ How do I even know that he’s here? You could just be stalling for other purposes. Maybe you work for the fallen prince,” she hissed back, clearly getting annoyed with the third degree.
He quirked a brow. “Alright. I’ll take you to him. But be warned, if this is a trap, I’ll figure it out soon enough. Jericho doesn’t know everything, and there are people among Jensen that can identify the Truth soldiers.”
“ Understood.”
Jensen stopped at the lake, shifting form with ease. He began to undo the ties on his shirt, and had it over his head and off in a matter of seconds, long before she had enough time to comprehend what he was doing.
