Crimson Moon

Three

She'd scratched him, and she had actually drawn blood. Cain growled to himself and wiped at the shallow gash on his bicep. He turned to see the three teenage members of the pack staring at him in shock. They were the only ones of this floor because it was where he kept the game room, but otherwise it was just his room, which was where he had tossed his newest guest.

"Alpha?" thirteen-year-old Bryce asked slowly, his hazel eyes bright with curiosity. "Did you just toss a screaming woman into your room?"

Blake, Bryce's identical twin brother spoke up next without giving Cain a chance to answer. "Is that the one Ryland found on patrol today?" They poked their blonde heads further into the hallways, eyeing Cain's door as if that would allow them a better look at the strange wolf.

The third face, belonging to fifteen-year-old Tahlia, Blake and Bryce's human half sister, looked less than pleased with him. She tossed her auburn hair over her shoulder with an attitude that only a fifteen-year-old girl could possess. "That's not exactly the way to win over a woman, Cain."

Cain glared at the trio, annoyed mostly by the fact that he wasn't really upset with them. They were the youngest in the pack except for little Henry, who was the first born since they officially became a pack. And just like Henry, they really weren't afraid of him the slightest. He supposed it was his own fault. He'd known them all since they were infants, even the human Tahlia, and he'd never really given them a reason to be afraid of him. He took care of them, afterall, and played with them when the adult pack members couldn't see him acting like a fool.

"Yes I did, yes she is, and I'm not trying to win her over," Cain replied shortly, dabbing at his bleeding arm again. He glanced back at the door and cursed the female he'd just tossed on her ass. He could already tell she was going to be more trouble than she was worth. "Downstairs now. Gather everyone for a pack meeting."

The three young figures dashed out of the gameroom, something they'd finally gotten to use again since the sun had been back in their lives to charge the generators. His idea to use solar panels to power their cabin, rather than find a way to get power out in the middle of the wild Alaskan terrain, had seemed like a good idea at the time. He hadn't really thought about the fact that for most of the year, it was dark more than it was light. In the winter, they relied on fire for heat and cooking, and candles for light. In addition to the solar powered generators, which he preferred, he also had gas powered generators, which they used in the winter for the water heater and the running water so they could still use the bathrooms.

After making sure that the pups had actually followed his instructions, Cain turned back to the door that led to his suite, which had a sitting room, a bathroom, and his bedroom. None of the empty guestrooms had a bathroom attached, and he certainly didn't want to deal with the consequences of that, so he'd thrown her in there. Hopefully, she couldn't do much damage. He pondered for a moment how to keep his guest from escaping while he explained the situation to his pack. An idea popped into his head, and he stepped into the gameroom.

It was difficult for the pups in the winter, since they couldn't go outside and run around because of the snow and cold. They also weren't allowed to use the exercise equipment in the basement after an incident in which Bryce dropped a dumbell on Blake's foot "accidentally". So, Kristine and Ellen --Blake, Bryce, and Tahlia's mother-- made them jump ropes to play with. The warriors hadn't hesitated to jump in on the fun, so it had become a great tournament and game to his pack. The jump rope contest was something they all enjoyed in the months when they were cooped up inside most days. It was one of those jump ropes that Cain grabbed now.

"Please don't rip the doorknob off," he mumbled, tying one end of the rope to his door and another to that of the linen closet just to the left. He left no slack in the line, so the door wasn't moving a smidge. Satisfied with his work, and not at all ashamed that now he truly was holding the female against her will, he turned and walked downstairs.