Funk-N-Fiction

Stories from Victoria Sue are always reader faves, so for today’s second Halloween Flash Fiction post — I’m thrilled to share this new “wolfy” short with all of you. And don’t miss the contest info at the end!

Wolf
by Victoria Sue

Cam inched closer to the front of the pack circle, and tried not to huff as two of the elders greeted him by his childhood nickname, Cammy, and one even ruffled his hair. He couldn’t get anyone to stop calling him Cammy. His alpha dad, his dad’s betas, even his friends. How could he possibly hope to get River—his dad’s beta commander—to view him as an adult when even his name sounded immature?

Cam wasn’t the alpha heir, his oldest brother of three, Drake, had that responsibility. And he loved Drake, even though Drake treated him like he was still five years old. He had two more older brothers that were being groomed to support Drake. Unlike Cam—born ten years after the youngest—who seemed to be treated as an afterthought by his parents, and then in just about everything.

And he’d tried to be taken seriously. The current problems with the Saranna Pack, for instance. River had asked for betas to lead scouting parties, which, technically, Cam, was.

And had he been chosen? Had he fuckety-fuck. The meeting was ending and, knowing he had one chance to change River’s mind, he headed to where River was talking to Drake. They both paused as Cam came up to them. He looked at River. As beta-commander, it was his responsibility, even if Drake was the alpha-heir. And what neither of them knew was that while Cam was only nineteen, he’d known to be taken seriously he had to get his act together and made request after request to be involved in different security missions which had all been denied. In the end, he’d trained just as hard as the gammas, but in secret.

“You didn’t allocate me to a team.”

Drake scoffed, which Cam ignored. He hadn’t asked his brother; he’d asked his alpha’s beta commander. “Look Cammy,” Drake started patronizingly, and Cam turned.

“Cam,” he corrected simply, the only response he gave Drake before turning back to River. “I’m asking the alpha’s beta-commander.” He heard a hush fall around them and knew even his dad had heard. His alpha father wasn’t involved in the initial scouting exercise, but he was preparing for whatever would happen depending on the scout’s intel. If the time came for a battle, his dad would be front and center, but not for this. His dad hadn’t made any attempt to involve Cam, either, and when Cam had asked, he’d just said he needed more training, and then never granted Cam any.

Drake shook his head, threw up his hands, and stomped away. Cam turned to River and silently waited for an answer. River narrowed his eyes. “I chose the betas with the most experience. I know—”

“But that makes no sense,” Cam challenged. “This is a scouting party, and meant for exactly this purpose. Of course, I wouldn’t expect to lead a team, but exactly how would you expect me to get the experience I need to be able to in the future? In a pack war? If the Sarannas lose their collective minds and attack? Or if that happens, would you just assume the experience I will need then, have magically come to me in my sleep?” River opened his mouth, but Cam carried on. “This is the third time I’ve asked to be included in a scouting mission and been refused.”

River didn’t reply immediately, but then said. “You’re still only nineteen.”

“Exactly the same age my father was when he became alpha, and the age he was when he selected his first betas.” Which included River, who had been only twenty-two at the time, and had commenced training much earlier. Cam didn’t need to point that out, though. They both knew that. He also knew River had been selected as a beta because he had worked hard. Cam had just been born the alpha’s son.

But so had all three of his brothers.

River gazed at him. “Once this threat is over, I promise to include you in all future training sessions.”

“Once this threat is over, it might well be too late,” Cam snapped out.

River’s mask seemed to slip a little. “I need people I trust to secure the pack ground.”

Cam met his eyes challengingly. “What duties am I assigned to then and which gammas are under my command?”

River’s mask slipped even more. Cam knew full well he hadn’t been assigned any duties, nor was he commanding any gammas. River took a step forward, his eyes reflecting the same knowledge Cam knew in his gut. He almost laughed. River knew. Of course, he did. He had known they were mates after the first time Cam had shifted at thirteen. It wasn’t something their animals hid, and up to that point, he had been friendly and encouraging. Since the second Cam had shifted, it seemed as far as River was concerned, he didn’t exist.

“Look, I can’t—”

“Yes, you can,” Cam interrupted, “and anyway, the word you’re looking for isn’t can’t. It’s won’t. Maybe it’s time I looked at joining another pack. One who would take me seriously.” Mating rituals, including the equivalent of human dating, started when the youngest of the pair was sixteen. River had pretended he didn’t exist for much longer than that. Cam spared him one more look, then turned on his heel and left the pack circle.

**

River signaled his betas, and thirty wolves left the camp. Each group of ten had two betas—one shifted, and one in human form ready to report back to River or the alpha if they ran into trouble.

But instead of concentrating on his job, which was to keep them all out of trouble and get the information they needed, River was too busy obsessing about a pair of flashing hurt blue eyes. He’d known Cameron had been his mate from the second he’d shifted and the year before River had been made beta-commander at thirty-two. And of course, it hadn’t been sexual, not then. All River had felt was a desperate urge to protect him, but knowing River was the youngest beta-commander in five generations meant he had to stay far away. He could hardly claim his alpha’s adolescent son was his future mate. He would be accused of trying to use it for his own advancement, and he intended that hard work would get him what he wanted, not favoritism. River’s wolf had been disgusted with him.

Except it had hurt Cam. He’d seen the look on the boy’s face the first time River had basically ignored him, and the second, and all the times after that. Cam didn’t understand at that age, and River couldn’t tell him. Then Cam had turned eighteen, and finally River was all ready to declare himself just as they had been attacked by the Saranna Pack for the first time.

They had been quickly defeated and his alpha had even extended an olive branch, but the Sarannas thought they could help themselves to their hunting rights and control, and obviously his pack wasn’t about to give it up. This needed to end before any lives were lost. And a year later, River was no nearer to declaring his feelings.

“Tierry, Max, and Erica have both smelled something unusual to the west,” Carl, his beta, reported, focusing River’s mind on what he should be doing. “It’s away from Saranna’s lands, but Erica says she recognizes the scent from their last failed raid.”

River swore quietly to himself as Jager waited for a response and thought hard. He couldn’t fault Erica. She’d lived at the western edge of their pack last year and she’d been out foraging much further than the regular patrols for the healing herbs her grandmother used when she’d smelled the Saranna scouts. If it wasn’t for her quick thinking and warning, that raid might have ended differently.

“River?” Chris, another beta, shifted into his human as he came out of the trees. “Reports of Saranna from the north. The team has come across a burned barn and is waiting there to defend a human family.”

What the fuck? What the hell were they doing? Clearly divide and conquer. He kept both those teams helping each area and carried on to the east with the third team. Much as his first instinct was to join them, he knew it could simply be a diversion.

Then he smelled smoke. Ordering all his wolves to shift, he knew he had to remain human to communicate with the others. The only settlement in this area was a logging station owned by what they called trusted humans. Jerry and his family had known about wolf shifters for generations, but as he came upon the mill—the last to arrive on two legs—he saw a lot of his gammas shifted back and struggling to stop the fire spreading. Jerry’s house was blazing.

Jerry himself manned one of the hoses. His son and wife working on the pump. Jerry caught his gaze and just nodded his unspoken thanks. For an hour, they all worked to contain the flames. River finally bent over coughing, his lungs burning, his sensitive nose struggling with the acrid scent.

And that’s when it happened.

About thirty to forty wolves all separated themselves from the trees, and because of the damn fire, not one of them had smelled them. All nine of River’s wolves shifted immediately, but River halted them. He’d said “wolves” but he meant shifters because at least half were on two legs and had shotguns trained on them.

He waved them to stand down, knowing they would be killed instantly if they attacked and swore silently as the alpha from Saranna stepped forward and smiled. “River Castille, beta-commander of Black Run. It is such a pleasure to meet you.”

Then he had an instant to feel a sharp pain in the back of his head before he was out cold.

**

River’s head hurt so fucking much and he reached for his wolf around the second he felt the constrictive wire around his neck and stopped his healing shift just in time. His wolf’s throat was much broader and the thin wire would have not only cut off his air, but maybe sliced him as well. He smelled the steel and knew it would cut his skin as easily as butter. At least he’d kept his eyes closed, so none of them knew he was awake.

“River,” the barely there whisper came. If River dared move, he would have laughed. Now he knew he was dreaming, or dead even already, because in no reality he knew of would he hear Cam’s voice in his ear.

But then the faint scent of hazelnuts and apricots teased his smoke-filled brain. He recognized that smell. He’d spent enough years trying to avoid it, after all. River reached out with all his senses. He could hear drunken laughing. Smell roasting meat and liquor. The voices were loud enough to hide Cam’s whisper.

“There’s nine of you tied up,” Cam continued. “You are the last to wake, and I’ve loosened all the other bindings. We await your order.”

River’s heart banged in his chest. “Where?” he murmured.

Cam must have understood. “Still at the mill. I heard them say the other two parties were all kept busy. They attack the pack at dawn, and have decided to celebrate their expected victory.”

Which was the stupidest thing River had ever heard. If Saranna had a worthy alpha, he would have ordered an immediate incursion, not waited, thinking he had gotten rid of all the betas protecting the pack, and decided to celebrate his pathetic victory. Did the alpha really believe either River or his alpha would leave the pack vulnerable?

Although River had fallen for all the distractions, so to an outsider that didn’t value life, he could understand the assumption.

“How are you here?” Maybe Cam had gammas with him?

“Because despite being pissed at you, I needed to protect my mate,” came the snarling whisper.

River’s heart clenched in his chest. He’d been such a fool, letting pack politics and stupid human preconceptions come between them. It seemed, despite River’s age and greater experience, Cam had been wise enough for both of them. River should have listened to his wolf. The animal had more sense than he. River felt the wire loosen at his neck and knew it was safe to shift. He turned slowly and took in the blue eyes, alight with such anger River just had to touch him. Roughly, he yanked Cam into his arms and silenced any noise with his lips. Their bodies ignited, flames of want licked River’s skin, and need for the wolf in his arms burned through his body. Then, just as abruptly he set them apart. Later, his wolf promised.

Maybe, Cam’s wolf taunted.

  “Beta,” he commanded Cam, giving him his true designation, and tamping down every instinct that was telling him to spread Cam out on the ground. Right here, right now. “On my mark.”

River took a deep breath and then shifted. His snarl was both vicious and loud. Almost instantly, his wolves all did the same and as one, they descended on the drunk Saranna wolves in front of them. It took moments before the lingering smell of smoke had been replaced by the stench of blood and death.

River shifted back, as did all his wolves. A moment later, Cam did. River tipped his chin back the way they had come, leaving the decision to reach out to the survivors to his alpha once they returned after checking the humans were okay. His wolves spread out and headed home. River and Cam stayed as human. As soon as he knew his wolves were out of range, he turned to Cam and caught his arm.

“Why did you follow us?”

Cam met his gaze. “You’d rather I stayed at home?”

River yanked him close. “I’ve been such a fool.”

Cam didn’t say a word, just waited. River closed the distance between them. He lifted his hand and cupped the side of Cam’s cheek. “I’m not worthy to count you as my mate after all this time, much as I would happily spend the next hundred years on my knees begging for your forgiveness.” He leaned forward and inhaled a lung full of apricots and hazelnuts and grew so damn hard he was likely to burst his pants.

“Uh-huh,” Cam murmured and nibbled the side of his neck. “How about we go home and you tell my father what happened, tell him we’re true mates, and then you take me back to yours and you show me exactly how well you can get on your knees?”

Strangely enough, River could find nothing wrong with that particular plan. “You want me to beg for forgiveness?” River murmured. No, Cam thought. He loved him. The vision of River on his knees, however, made Cam seriously consider a long penance.

If you want more of Victoria Sue’s stories in your life, we have a contest for that!!

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Contest starts today, and goes through midnight on November 1st. Our winners will be chosen from all eligible entries on November 2nd and notified, and then announced in our wrap-up post on November 3rd.

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