A Fate Foretold (formerly: A World Gone Mad)

A Fate Foretold 9

       When Christian and Kate came back three days after their wedding, all traces of the celebrations had vanished, and the pack unit had settled back into its old work routine. Michael, Avery, and Elsa had already been assigned duties and integrated into pack business.

       Christian and Mia brought Kate up to date with the pack unit’s business and the role she would play in them. An alpha’s wife had many duties and the necessary diplomatic visits to local werewolves would give Kate a grueling schedule. Christian accompanied her on the first few visits, but by the end of the week, she had to drive out alone with either Avery or Elsa, and whichever pack member handled the relevant concerns.

       A situation arose with Sullivan settlers in western Alaska, along the border with the Bering Strait. Settlers from the Sullivan pack, faced with overcrowding, had begun building houses on the other side of the Strait. This was essentially Tsolmon territory, although no wolves lived there. The Tsolmon pack was small, and kept to itself. Its territory was large in comparison to its pack size and strength, because the land was uninteresting to its western neighbor, the First Pack, who controlled the territory from the European Atlantic coast to Siberia and everything in between. Historically and politically the strongest, the First Pack orchestrated relations between other packs and kept the werewolf world in order. They allowed the weak Tsolmon pack keep their northern territory between Siberia and the Bering Strait as a buffer with other, stronger packs. To that end, the Tsolmon pack enjoyed the protection of the First Pack in many matters. If the Tsolmon pack was upset about Sullivan pack settlers, the First Pack would inevitably get involved. Christian was desperate to play down any conflict with either, especially the First Pack.

      It consumed everyone’s time and energy, and combined with Christian’s hesitation about his relationship with Ally after his wedding, he had hardly talked to his nat amatra since his return. He couldn’t imagine telling Kate he’d be spending the night in Ally’s room, so he hadn’t yet. Probably never would, either, if he couldn’t find the courage.  

      Christian poked his head out of the door to his office. “Ally, can you come in here for a moment, please?”

      Ally stepped into the office and closed the door. “Hey, stranger,” she joked.

      “How have you been?” he asked, too politely.

      Ally laughed. “Fine, fine. You?”

      “Oh, good, you know, busy.”

      Ally nodded with mock seriousness, but cracked a smile. “You know you don’t have to act like we just met,” she said, placing her hand on Christian's arm.

      Once again, her charm managed to disperse any awkward tension he might have felt, and he grinned, pulling her close.

      “God, I missed you,” he breathed, burying his head into the crook of her neck.

      Ally chuckled, wrapping her arms around him. She kissed his shoulder, even though it was through his shirt it made him groan in anticipation. He kissed her neck, rapidly tracing a path to her lips, where he kissed her in earnest.

      “Lock the door?” she suggested breathlessly. There wasn’t anything she could do about the conflict with the Tsolom and First Pack; it wasn’t any of her business. She might as well give in to her lust for Christian. He seemed to agree.

      “God,” Kate sighed as she sank onto a chair in the kitchen, “I’m beat. We drove five hours there and back just to try and make some skeptical little sub-group feel appreciated. They barely even talked to us!” She had just returned from yet another diplomatic visit, the seventh in the two weeks she had been back.