Dawn Released

Tristen stared down at Kacie. Her black hair fanned across the white of the snow. Her scarf had fallen away, revealing cheeks, glowing with a red ruddy glow from the cold. Her lips were slightly parted, exhaling puffs of white breath. She looked like the living embodiment of the snow angels they'd made across the yard. Slowly he lowered his face to meet hers. Their lips were mere inches from touching, but he could feel the surge of heat that pulsing through his body.

He was afraid that if he tried an advance on her, roads closed or not, she'd send him packing. Not just for tonight but for good. He had to take this slow and easy. Otherwise, he might scare her off. Gently, he brushed the tip of his cold nose against hers. Smiling, maybe, falling in love even, he gave her their first real kiss.

Kacie should be freezing, pressed into the snow on her back. But, she felt a surge of heat rush through her body at the points where it came into contact with Tristen's. She smiled, thinking he was going to kiss her. Lifting her chin, she welcomed the warmth and the advance as his lips inched down to hers. Instead, he brushed the cold tip of his nose across hers. Confused when he didn't kiss her, but smiled and hopped to his feet offering his hand instead. She took his hand and scrambled to her feet as he helped her up. She'd been so sure he was going to kiss her. Why had he stopped? "What was that?"

"Eskimo kiss," Tristen answered. Locking their gloved fingers together, he led her to the stairs up to her apartment. The snow had eased up some and was falling in gentle random showers of white flakes. The storm wasn't over. Tristen could feel its power building in the marrow of his bones. This was just a brief reprieve before the real storm hit.

"I've never had an Eskimo kiss before." Kacie followed beside him, relaxing her fingers in his grip.

Tristen turned, facing Kacie. He unlocked their fingers and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. Pulling her close so that they were standing toe to toe, he dipped his head, rubbing his warm cheek against her cool skin. "It still counts as a first kiss," he whispered. He pulled back before he showed her just exactly how much better he could do with his lips. Kacie had wanted him to kiss her. A real kiss, not a watered down version of one. And he would give her what she wanted, in time. He'd wanted to just as badly. And like her, he wanted it now. It took every bit of effort he could muster for his will to overcome his want.

Kacie wasn't like the local girls he flirted with at the gas station or Happy's. With her, he wasn't playing for temporary. He wasn't using her as a diversion while he waited for the right one to come along. She was the right one. He was absolutely certain of that. She was the only one, as far as he was concerned. He wouldn't provide her with a temporary diversion from her complicated and confusing life, though. He'd wait for the time when he had her full, undivided attention. Then, when he had it. He'd play for keeps. "We'd better get inside before we freeze."

Kacie was bewildered and confused. Tristen was hot one minute then cold the next. He was playful and laughing and then all of the sudden serious and almost brooding. She didn't get it. He wanted to kiss her. She could see it in his eyes. But, at the last damn minute, he'd backed off. She would have let him kiss her. As off balance as he threw her. She might even let him do more than kiss her. Wasn't that why he'd bought the condoms in the first place?

She pulled off her hat, coat, and gloves. Shaking out her hair she did the best version of sexy she could muster. He didn't even glance at her. He was busy untying the knots in his bootlaces and totally, utterly ignoring her. She glanced toward her bedroom at the twin-sized bed that occupied the small space and back at him. He'd already yanked the fleece blanket off the back of the couch and fluffed the throw pillows, stacking them neatly against the arm of the couch. "Tristen."

Tristen played stupid. S.T.U.P.I.D. He fluffed the pillows and settled as best he could on the sofa. Kacie had one of those apartment-sized sofas and his feet stuck way over the edge. The pink fleece throw smelled of her lush, tropical scent. He was hard and aching. His body ratcheted up tight and ready to get it in high gear. Kacie bit her bottom lip and fluffed her long hair, running her fingers through the silky strands. Her back arched slightly, thrusting the peaks of her breasts high into the air. And damn, it was killing him. "Yeah, Kacie," he said as nonchalantly as his quivering voice would allow. Her eyes flicked from her bed to him, back and forth.

Kacie dropped her hands from her hair. She shook her head and kicked off her boots, toeing them gently under her two-seater kitchen table so he wouldn't trip over them in the middle of the night when he snuck into her bedroom. Ha! He wasn't going to sneak into her bedroom for a little midnight delight. She could forget that. He was completely and utterly oblivious to her. For all she knew, even though they'd Eskimo kissed or whatever, he might not even realize she was a girl. Hell with that, she was a woman with needs, not that he got that either. She shook her head and flipped off the light. There was enough light filtering in through the patio door from the streetlamps that she could find her way. It wasn't like in this tiny apartment she needed a map and compass. "Nothing."

Tristen heard Kacie stomp her way to the bathroom and brush her teeth. He grinned in the dark. His body hated his guts. But, he wasn't in for the short run. And one day, his body would thank him for what he'd passed up on. It wasn't really like he had any choice about it anyway. He had rules he was forced to live by. And while he was certain Kacie was Miss Right. He didn't think she realized it yet. There would be no sharing of that twin-sized or any other bed until she did. He wanted her in love not in lust. Lust was like snow. Fun while it lasted. But, when it was gone, all you had left was the memory of it and one big muddy mess.

He heard her turn off the water and flick off the bathroom light. She padded softly across the worn carpet to her bedroom. She'd left the door open. The rustling of her jeans and shirt hitting the floor and the gentle whisper of a nightgown sliding over her curves had him gritting his molars. "Goodnight, Kacie," he said jovially, as if they were kindergarteners at a slumber party. He got no reply, except the slamming of her bedroom door.

Chapter 7

Eloise faced her pack. Holding her head high amidst the condemning stares, she mustered what little dignity she had left. Seff was hanging her out to dry, serving her to her own pack on a silver platter. They looked as if they could pick the meat right off her bones until there was nothing left of her. She'd failed them and that to them was unforgivable.

She'd all but handed them over to Seff and sealed all of their fates. The pack didn't like him anymore than she did. But, they sided with him instead of standing strong with her. With Seff as their new pack master the rules had changed. There was no loyalty when it came to life and death. Only an insane person would choose death over life for nothing more than lofty principles and almost two hundred years of tradition. She'd expected as much and in their shoes, she would probably choose the same thing. It was better to sacrifice the one to save the many. That was, unless you were the one about to be sacrificed on the altar.

She pushed away the nervousness that rolled in her stomach as she met her pack's eyes. Eyes hard and dark and condemning in faces she'd seen her whole life. Eyes that she thought belonged to friends. They stared at her with hard, steely, calculating glares. Eyes that, if they could speak, would say one word. Vengeance. They wanted their revenge on her for the world she'd promised them and the lie they thought she'd sold them instead. They supported her because they thought they'd have a secure future. Now that she'd failed to deliver, they wanted more than her head. They wanted her life.

Seff stood at the front of the gathering. Eloise's pack was strong and plentiful. Bred from the best of stock. No curs, no weak links, Eloise had done well during her time as mistress. Now though, it was time for her reign to come to and end and for him to take his rightful place as the pack's leader.

Genetic necessity had tipped his hand and forced him to do the things he did. His pack had been bred, best to best, till there were two distinct divisions. He had the best and the weak, and no other options. He needed the genetic diversity of fresh DNA. Otherwise, in a century or so, his pack would be forced to either die out or inbreed.

His forefathers had not been as careful as Eloise's. Somewhere along the line, human genetics had been allowed to mingle with the pack's superior chromosomes. His best guess was that the founders rapidly realized the pack was too small to sustain itself without the influx of the only genetically compatible source of DNA available.

Their early work had him left with unstable wolves, random members of the pack that could not shift, and a genetic hodgepodge of undesirables too weak to be of any real use. It'd taken him over half a century to undo the damage that had been done. His hands were not clean. Blood stained them, but he could hardly held responsible for the mistakes of his forefathers. He'd had no other choice but to eliminate the genetically flawed.

The recent advances in science had helped, some. He had test tubes in the labs. The best DNA there was. But, the clinical trials had not been promising. The females implanted with the perfect marriage of science and biology failed to conceive and of the rare few that did, none of the pregnancies had made it past the first few weeks. Some things had to be done the old-fashioned way. Unfortunately, he didn't have the patience to wait for nature to do the job science could do in a fraction of the time.

He brushed his hands over his son's bicep. Seff had taken particular care to select Torr's mother. She had been as genetically pure as they came. But, she hadn't been strong enough to survive bringing him into the world. Regrettable. He had her ova preserved in the lab's cryochambers. But, they were useless, as dead as she. The combined pack was the legacy he planned to leave behind for the future. Not that he planned on dying anytime soon. His scientists had studied Eloise's genetic line. She and hers were the solution to his problem. Her DNA was unflawed without a trace of human interference. He would do the deed himself. But, he needed his son to appear powerful to secure the future he dreamed of, once he was gone.

His son was weak. Oh, Torr was genetically perfect. But, he was too soft. With the power of this pack as a singular unit behind him, Torr's weaknesses would go unchallenged and the future Seff so desperately wanted for his pack would be secure.

Seff had little hope for his son, perhaps his grandchildren, not the curs his son had so far produced, but a strong line of full blooded offspring, would not disappoint him as his son had.

"We all know the terms of the pact that Eloise and I entered into. The agreement that was intended to preserve our great bloodline and provide a secure future for both of our packs as well. I present to you today my son, my one and only son, my firstborn, the carrier of my family's great line and the last of my kind, Torr. Eloise, where is your daughter? Tell us all, where is your firstborn?"

"Jan, my firstborn, all of you know her. As a pack we raised her and watched her mature into a beautiful young woman. Together, we watched her take her first steps and the many there after. We celebrated her first shift. My friends, I beg for your forgiveness and understanding. My firstborn daughter has chosen a different path for her life than the one we chose for her. She has no place here among us and no obligation to fulfill."

Seff quelled the smug smile of triumph that curled his lips. "Eloise, you have failed to answer the question. Where. Is. Jan?" He'd secure his position as pack master once the words left her lips and the pack learned the truth of what her daughter had done. If Jan wanted to kill her mother, it would have been more merciful for her to slit her throat than to throw her at the mercy of these wolves to fend for herself. He couldn't have asked for better. If he'd killed her, she'd have been a martyr. Now, he could portray her in truth, as the betrayer she was and let her pack do it for him.

"Jan has taken a human male as a mate. She is with him."

"Instead of upholding her obligation to the pack. She chose a human, a weak, genetically inferior male over my son? What she has done is nothing short of treason and a cruel betrayal of her one true family. She has humiliated us all." Seff waved his arms, and shook his head. His eyes fixed on a spot on the floor. He was a brilliant actor and his performance rallied the pack, exactly as he'd intended it to.

"My son stands here before you. Rejected. Deemed unsuitable by a woman who chose a human male over him. I demand restitution. My son's honor has been deeply scarred by Jan's humiliation. I won't stand for it! I demand what is mine!" He lifted his face. His eyes scanned the crowd. The rafters shook with the boon of his voice as he cried out, stirring the crowd even further. The mood was restless and uncertain, wavering. And out of uncertainty bloodlust began to raise its ugly head.

Eloise shrank back as her former friends raised their fisted hands in agreement, supporting Seff and his son. She stood, facing the angry mob of turncoats she'd once depended on. Not one in the pack took a stand for her. She was glad that when she'd been faced with the choice, she'd chosen her daughter's love over their loyalty. The fleeting moments that she'd shared with Jan and Kacie, finally being the mother she should have always been to her daughters were worth more than the lifetime she'd spent with her betraying pack.

"The pact has been broken, that is true. I'd returned, hoping to find forgiveness and understanding within my pack. But, I have found none. Instead, I am faced by a pack of betrayers. Are you so eager to turn your back on one you've known your whole lives to follow him? A stranger? Why? Because my daughter chose a human male instead of a life filled with servitude? If you could be coerced into turning so quickly, I guess I didn't choose a very good future for her after all. I'm proud of my daughter and the life she chose. It is going to be much better than any future that could have awaited her here."

Torr had stayed silent long enough, playing the part of wounded, betrayed son to satisfy his father. The room was filled with the din of angry voices. Anger fed off anger and boiled into rage. If not for Seff's guards, pushing back the crowd, Eloise would be torn apart piece by piece by the people she once called family. Her composure never wavered. She was stoic, willing to face her death at the hands of the outraged mob. She should have never come back. His father had been working the pack for weeks, manipulating them. Eloise never stood a chance. Torr was desperate to do something. She didn't deserve this. "Wait!" he shouted. Stepping in front of Eloise to shield her with his body, he took his stand at her side.

He ignored his father's warning glare. Seff was incredibly cruel, even more so on the ones who might actually love him the most. When Torr had arrived in Texas without Jan or at the very least her carcass, he'd endured the harshest punishments. Lashings with a whip, delivered by his father's own hand, then more lashings, and afterwards, confinement. The worst thing a wolf could ever endure, worse than beatings and venomous curses, confinement in a cage, locked away in total darkness deep below the earth for days and days on end.

The only reason his father had left him alive was because he needed his DNA. He needed grandchildren, pureblooded grandchildren, and Torr was the only one that could give them to him, or so his father believed. If the truth of what Torr had done ever came out, he'd be of no further use to his father. He'd be of no use to anybody. He'd be dead. "Wait! There has to be a way to settle this!"

Seff looked at his son with disbelief. Now his boy was growing a set of balls? Torr was so much like his mother that it nauseated him. He had inherited nothing from her physically. Torr was tall, tanned skinned, and raven haired, but so were most of the males in Seff's pack. Sometimes, Torr was so passive, that Seff had to wonder if he were really his son, no matter what the lab results had revealed as proof or the truth of it he saw in Torr's eyes. He wondered if an Omega, the lowest, servants of the pack, had slipped into bed with his mate and produced Torr. His son was not an Alpha. He was not a leader. And now he was speaking up to defend Eloise?

Seff was a quick thinker, his mind as rapid in thought as his feet were on the ground. "There may be a way to restore my son's honor." He turned to Eloise, not bothering to hide the grin of triumph on his face. She'd never agree. And when she didn't. He'd have her exactly where he wanted her. "Eloise, if you could provide my son with another firstborn female, I would consider revising the terms of the contract."

"I know of none," she retorted. Seff well knew that firstborns were bartered off practically from the moment of birth. There were no unmated firstborns either male or female. Even if there had been, she would not barter them off to save her skin. Seff had to know that as well. What angle was Seff working? He already had her pack. Her life dangled by a thin thread that was growing thinner by the minute. What did he want from her?

"Are you not a firstborn?" Seff was truly enjoying himself, watching her squirm

beneath the surface of cold composure she portrayed. He'd already studied her carefully kept family trees. He knew there wasn't an available female of breeding age in her pack. Save one, Eloise herself.

"I am." A cold ball of dread formed in the pit of Eloise's stomach. Seff truly was a bastard. She'd already done her duty to the pack. She'd tolerated her first mate long enough to conceive two children by him. Afterwards, she'd done what she'd needed to do to ensure he never touched her again.

"And you are without a mate are you not?" He was maneuvering her into a corner and he knew it. If she refused his offer, the pack would take care of his business for him. The mob was angry enough to tear her to shreds. Only Torr and Seff's omegas stood between her and a painful death. She wouldn't be in his way any longer, if she refused his offer. She'd be dead. Even if she accepted, he had her anyway. Torr would control her and he controlled Torr. She'd be kept alive, for show. But, other than that, she would be nicely contained. And his son just might give him an heir, a worthy heir with impeccable bloodlines, after all.

"I have no mate." Bile rose in Eloise's throat. Seff was a bigger bastard than she'd ever imagined. Torr, in defending her, had taken away all of their choices and had bartered with their lives. If she wanted to live, and Seff knew she did. She'd have to accept his terms.

"You are still functional are you not?"

Eloise huffed, insulted by his questioning of her femininity. "I am still able to conceive, yes, if that's what you're referring to."

"Then my son has found his mate. That is, if you accept, Eloise." He stepped back and gave Eloise his full attention. Eloise was a bit older, but still within the acceptable range of her childbearing years. She'd be a fool to deny him, unless she wanted to die. One way or another he was getting his heir out of her genetic line. If not through her daughter, than through her, either way made no difference to him.