Chapter Two



The mountains were frigid, and the pass was the moth-eaten part of it. The wind tunnel it created was vicious. Valerie was glad she was in her Panthera leo form, manus held tight to her trunk to conserve warmth. Her slurred pelt was made for this conditions, but that didn't make it any easier on her vulnerable nose and eyes. She half consider hiding her grimace in the small bundle of clothes she'd brought to fag out later but wouldn't make herself look weak in presence of new visitor.



Luckily, due to her dalliance with Andrea, she wasn't there for long before the two shifter showed up. Valerie didn't search them straight in the eye, alphas liked to say hello first before making eye contact. Especially new, strange alphas. One of whom was a crone.



The Panthera tigris's Orange River was bright against the snowfall. Valerie had met World Tamil Movement before but they weren't very usual. Even less vernacular were beast of his companion's size. She felt her ears flick back as they came near. Valerie's lioness was conservative, didn't trust the savage's size of it or the tiger's magic.



sceneshifter with magic. Valerie felt that unwelcome chill again. She tamped down on her fear. Now wasn't the time to be afraid. She had been told to welcome these strangers into the pack, and that's what she'd do.



The tiger got to her first, Valerie watching him out of the corner of her eye as he came up to her. She could interpret early big cat shifters fairly easily, could see from the position of his ears and his swishing empennage that he wasn't sending any belligerent signals. He came up to smack her nose and she let him, meeting his middle then. They were deep and amber. So, this was the crone. Valerie tried to drive her distaste and fearfulness to the binding of her mind.



The tiger shifter moved past her and the wolf came closer, but didn't contact noses. Valerie let her eyes flick up, enough metre to see he had ice blue eyes, but she saw the beginnings of aggression. His fur started to stick out up and his lip went to curl. Valerie's lioness position took over and forced her heart away. Standing there, still and pliant as he smelled her didn't feel good. It felt like she was allowing her designation as Beta to communicate her Charles Frederick Worth. But it was requisite. This was either an raging wolf or an over-dominant one. Something that felt like an apologia radiated from the corner of Valerie's judgement that her lioness lived in, and she sent back acceptation. No need for her gearshift side to apologize. They both knew the deal.



From the corner of her eye, Valerie could see the tiger gearstick waiting for them on the other face of her. She didn't like being between two unknown alphas. Although, the idea did consume some merit.



Eventually, the wolf backed off, blinking at her once. She made eye physical contact, not for long, but long enough for them to communicate in their shifted, animal forms. Not enemy. Not an ally or friend yet, but at least not enemy. It would do for now.



Valerie picked up her clothes in her mouth and turned, keeping an eye on both alphas, and led them through to snow to the heart of their pack. The mountains were stunning, it was one of the reasons Valerie and Andrea had chosen to square up down here. That, and they both liked the quiet, chilled days, the silence where you could take heed snow landing on the footing, the fond nights curled up in each other's arms or hand.



Valerie led the strange alphas into their townsfolk. There were only around fifty in the inner circle, and there were to a lesser extent built structures than outsiders would regard necessary as half the pack preferred to live in caves. The social organisation they did have were made from forest, milled by the large number. They were elementary, basic hovel with a few rooms, a shoes to cook food and a round-eyed bath. They passed a half 12 before Valerie stopped at one.



A tall, old man waited in front of a small shack. It was, essentially, visitant's housing or changing rooms depending on how long they were going to stay. He gestured at it and the wolf and Panthera tigris entered. They would be shifting back to human course and dressing in there, so they could talk. gearstick could only communicate intellect to heed once pack bail formed, which could take a while. Hence the need to change into human form if you wanted to have any sort of conversations with strangers. The man looked at Valerie and his vocalisation appeared in her mind."Any problem ?"



"No, Alpha Bryant,"Valerie said back, using the head connectedness. Any gearstick could be born alpha, beta or omega. But Alpha was a role that could only be won. Alpha Bryant was old now, every now and then Valerie caught whisper of someone or the other wanting to challenge him for the run of the face pack. But Bryant was a good alpha, so the whispers stayed just that. Valerie spat her bundle of apparel on the reason and cleaned her forepaw as they spoke."No planetary house of witchery but that wolf is tense. Not for certain if belligerent or very predominant yet."



"We'll human body it out. Thank you."



Valerie dipped her head as the door to the shack opened and two men stepped out. One was magniloquent and bulky as Valerie had ever seen, and had longish brown, curling hair. This one paused and gave Bryant a frank, assessing flavour. He had blue middle. Valerie would have bet anything that was the huge wildcat shifter. Once he was done assessing Bryant, he stepped away, further than manners would dictate. Valerie was deciding whether or not to take insult at this when the remaining gear lever stepped out of the hutch and spoke.



"Sorry, borecole doesn't do well around strange Alphas,"he apologized. Valerie, if she had them in her lioness form, would take raised her eyebrow. Now here was a fairly man. The other, Brassica oleracea acephala, was handsome in a brute sort of way, with a strong jawline, straight nose, a messy beard and the form of majority a woman would want over her. Or over her Z buff. But this man was gorgeous. He had warm, chocolate-brown cutis and short-cropped hair, a smooth-shaven jaw, and an gymnastic, lean build. His cheekbones and all-embracing, gold optic made him almost too pretty. Almost.



Valerie hadn't taken as a great deal of the bound off with Andrea as she'd thought. Her lioness purred, ever interested in adding another to her and Andrea's bed.



"I'm Ryland,"the man said.



"The witch ?"asked Bryant, looking the man frankly up and down.



Ryland smiled and, although Valerie was sure it was a practiced smile designed to put them at ease, it was charming, quick."Only sometimes."



"Those aren't the wearing apparel I left for you."



They both wore mere shirts and drawers, not like the thick furs they had on hand for visitant or shifters who had left home plate in a precipitation.



Ryland gave them another smile and shrugged."We witches do have put-on up our sleeves."



Valerie couldn't stop her ears flicking back at that. Ryland's strange amber-gold centre caught it but he didn't comment. Whatever, Valerie wasn't going to apologize for being freaked out by witchery. It was outlandish.



"Valerie will lead you to your one-quarter while you are here. Please, make yourself prosperous. We eat together in the evenings,"Alpha Bryant said simply, not reacting to Ryland's admittance of using deception.



Ryland nodded. Valerie nipped into the shack and changed into the clothes she'd been carting around. warm pelt that covered her straits in a hood, a pelage that went all the way down to her articulatio talocruralis and simple carpet slipper to finish cryopathy getting at her toes. While she was there, she heard Bryant's voice in her principal."I'm heading off, but take them to the shack on the ridge."



Now Valerie's eyebrow did pip up. Their nicest hut ?"Alright,"she sent back.



Valerie exited the shack and gestured for the two alphas to keep abreast her. They stayed a few stone's throw behind her and walked in silence as she pointed out a few key locations. The exclusively magnanimous building in the gang's soil was the main antechamber they ate in together every night. The key paths to the best hunting expanse. Where on the purview their territorial dominion ended.



It was a pity they were staying their space. Her lioness wanted to know their scent.



"Your territory is large,"Cole said, and it was the first metre Valerie had heard him utter. He had a nice voice, gruff and low.



She shrugged."No other clique tend to like the frigidity so we get a lot of infinite. It's honest for running. Here we are, this will be yours for the time you're with us."The shack they had reached overlooked a valley, was one of their estimable. Bryant was probably trying to take up up to them, and she could see why with a wolf kail's sizing. He would be an excellent defender of their territory. Valerie paused but she had been told to make them feel receive. And she wanted to see how immediate that huge wolf could move."I can necessitate you for a run, tomorrow, if you like ?"



Cole nodded, his eyes flicking over her, catching on her fizzle."Tomorrow it is."



He entered the shack. Ryland lingered outside, giving her a recollective look before he smiled and went in after Cole. What that flavour meant, Valerie had no idea, but she knew she had some news to separate Andrea after this. They might have a new bed partner after all.



Or, Valerie thought to herself as she walked back to her own shack, thinking of Ryland. Wetness had gathered between her legs, was starting to seep to the entrance of her thigh. She hoped Andrea was ready for round two. jinx rake or no, that tiger shifter was gorgeous. Maybe two.

*****

Thanks for reading ! If you want more of Cole and Ryland, you can see them in my first appearance novel silver gray MOON RISING ; AN OMEGA WOLF NOVEL ! xxx Rosalie

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