Dancing with the Shadows // #wattys2019

Chapter 10

"Ow!" Teleri's head bounced against the window as they drove down the gravel road effectively waking her up. Caia suppressed her laughter as Teleri began to rant about rural infrastructure.

"Seriously, Caia, how the fuck do people survive out here?" she groaned, turning down the visor to block out the falling sun.

"They clearly just all drive around on tractors planning for the oncoming apocalypse," Caia told her, squinting out at the farms that littered the road, as Teleri laughed.

"I think you're joking, but, from what you've told me, maybe not?"

"It's been a while. I'm undecided," Caia muttered. She'd agreed to drive as she knew the route better than Teleri, and so that Teleri could go over her pitch notes. But now, she wasn't sure if it was the best idea. She'd been growing increasingly nervous and self-conscious as she approached the familiar territory, her wolf practically howling at her for the chance to run around the familiar, vast, beautiful landscape. After the last hour of Teleri sleeping versus doing anything productive, and with her fingers tapping agitatedly against the steering wheel, it was all she could do to keep the car and her breathing steady.

You can do this, she told herself, It's just for a few days. Just a few days, and then it's back to New York.

She thought of the paperwork, the final bits to process her membership to process her membership to Wild Thunder, and the thought calmed her slightly. She had graduation, finishing the semester, being a full employee at Morninghill to look forward to, at the end of this mess.

A full employee with a contract with Cedric fucking Lincoln.

She blew a strand of her hair out of her face, pulling it back into her messy ponytail.

"You okay?" Teleri asked.

"Yeah, fine," Caia shrugged.

They were crossing into the main part of Sacred Shadows land, and the thought gave her no joy at all.

She recognized this place, the meadows, the river, and she knew, up ahead, the pack house would be waiting for her.

Suddenly, two enormous brown wolves appeared in front of the car, and she stepped on the brakes, coming to a halt just in front of the animals.

The one in front of the driver's side let out a low growl. Teleri looked to Caia, who nodded. They'd already agreed, Teleri would do all the talking. Caia put the car in park, put her sunglasses in the cupholder, and, with Teleri, stepped out of the car.

"My name is Teleri Owens, we are from the Midnight Star pack in New York. We're here as representatives from Morninghill Capital investment firm, we were invited by your Alpha, two weeks ago, to come visit."

The wolves snorted in acknowledgment, then came closer. They each carefully sniffed the women. The one inspecting Teleri seemed to clear her and backed away with an appraising nod of the head, but the one in front of Caia began to shake, emanating anger. She did not move, she closed her eyes, bracing herself for his reaction. He let out a fearsome growl, and jumped on top of her, his teeth encircling her neck. They did not sink in but stayed in position as a threat.

"Isaac, what the fuck?" The other wolf had shifted and ran to where Caia lay, not bothering to cover himself. He knelt in front of Caia in order to maintain eye contact with Isaac, and they spoke through the mind-link for a moment, before a growl tore through both of their throats. The one in human form pulled Caia's hair, pulling her away from Isaac, still in wolf form, dragging her across the gravel.

"What the fuck is a bitch like you doing back on pack land?"

"Stop!" Teleri called, but they didn't pay attention.

"You dare to step foot here? After what you did? You really think you could just stroll back in here, tell our Alpha what to do? You know what we do to whores like you?!" The guard kept screaming, Isaac had shifted as well, and they were clearly intent on carrying her away from the boundary around the pack house, where their actions would not have as severe of consequences.

"Teleri call Cedric!" she screamed before Isaac punched her in the jaw.

"Bitch, you think he'll help scum like you?" he shouted, throwing another punch at her stomach, and Caia's self-control snapped. She did not need to call her wolf, it was there at the surface. The guards were no longer holding onto hair and her brown tank top, they were grasping black and gray fur. Her white muzzle pulled back away from her teeth, revealing long, sharp canines that snapped at Isaac. He jumped back, but she was too quick, her teeth dug into the flesh of his thigh. He screamed, a high pitch whine, as the other quickly switched back to his wolf. He lunged at Caia, but she easily overpowered him, her teeth sinking deep into his soft belly. He howled in pain, and her wolf trembled at the sound.

A soft hand touched her head, and she jerked towards it, preparing to attack again, but saw only Teleri, looking at her in fright.

"Are you alright?" Teleri's voice was almost a whisper. She held her cell phone to her chest, blocking out the sound. Caia managed to nod, regaining control from her wolf, now that her enemies were subdued. She pointed with her nose to the trunk, and Teleri understood, digging for Caia's suitcase. She pulled out a pair of skinny jeans, another tank top, and underwear for her, as Caia stood to watch over the two guards, growling whenever either tried to move to do anything except to stem the flow of blood. When Teleri finished, she dropped the clothes in front of Caia and moved into a fighting position. Caia picked up the clothes in her mouth and stepped back around to the other side of the car to change. She returned, clothed and human, to see the boys hadn't moved, their hands and clothes soaked with blood, but the color in their faces slowly returning. Caia checked her reflection in the rear window of the car and saw a nasty bruise forming on her jaw, and blood was caked around her mouth. She spat, and more blood, not all of it hers, she knew, came out.

"Right," she shrugged her shoulders back, and bent down in front of Isaac. "We need to chat."

He let out a low growl, that was more like a whimper.

"Clearly, I can beat your ass, and I will beat your ass some more. I could have nicked your femoral artery, but I didn't. Aren't I nice? So. Shut the fuck up with your whining."

"Bitch, I will—" But Caia backhanded him before he could continue.

"As I was saying. How did you know my scent?"

"I was at the party when you and Alpha Cedric met. I've been training as a pack warrior for the past five years. I was at the graduation, observing his detail, how they work together. I saw everything," he hissed.

"Well, that'd explain it," Caia rose to her feet. "Here's how this is going to go. You can, of course, tell everyone what happened, and say that your asses were handed to you, and by who. Or you can wait a couple hours, heal up, and say we were fine to pass through. If you'd bothered to fucking ask, I was at the meeting when your Alpha invited us, invited me, to come on this trip. He knows I'm here. So, if you don't want to piss him off, you'll do as I say. And, in exchange, I won't tell him you tried to kill a guest of the Alpha. Got me?" She raised an eyebrow, waiting for a challenge.

After a very long, pregnant pause, both the guards nodded. She turned to the car and got back into the driver's seat.

"Had you gotten through to him?" Caia asked quietly, as she turned the key and put the car back in drive.

"No, it went to voicemail," Teleri shook her head, and stared at Caia, who was moving her jaw back and forth in its socket. "You good to drive?" Teleri's voice was more of a whisper as Caia put her foot on the gas.

"Yeah, I'm good," Caia nodded, reaching for her sunglasses and jamming them back on her face.

This was going to be a very, very long trip.

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A/N:

Welcome home, Caia.

Happy...Wednesday? What is time.

Next few days are going to be busy af but will hopefully post again soon.

Votes/comments??

<3 <3

Z