Bab 2: Chapter 2: Red-Faced Awakening

Jude POV

Her words snapped him back to his senses.

Jude Faolan, Alpha of the Silverpaw Pack, had never been so red-faced in his life.

Looking up into the angelic face of Evenhide Pack Mother Ravyn Rolfe, he had one thought: his wolf, Arcturus, had a lot of explaining to do!

To mix up his beloved Emer with the mother of one of his good friends, Lilia Cresta, and also the mother-in-law of some of his other close friends, Dane and Jiro for a start, was an embarrassment he'd never live down. Really, what had his wolf been thinking?

From Arcturus' sulking, his wolf had the same opinions about him! But then, Arcturus wanted a mate after two years alone.

As for Jude, the thought made him ill, and he'd happily have told Arcturus to take a bath … except that he needed a mate for the sake of his pack. But not a fated mate and certainly not someone related to his friends the Crestas.

Not that he was repulsed by Ravyn, with her hair like spun gold spilling all around him as she rested on top of him, with brilliant violet eyes full of wisdom and the sense that she'd lived life and seen sorrow, just as he had.

He'd been luckier, from what he knew of Lilia's childhood. Ravyn had been abandoned by her faithless husband. The thought made him want to go after this worthless bastard. And in his slumber, he'd behaved abominably.

"Ravyn … Goddess, I'm sorry," he said in a hoarse voice.

"You should be," she said, her voice quivering. "To ACCUSE me of that, and threaten a pack war--"

"I was out of my mind!"

He pushed away from her, trying not to slink away. The scent of her hit him. A pine forest in the spring rain. One of his favorite smells, and very different from Emer's. She smelled like ferns.

It had to be a coincidence. She was a witch and worked with all manner of plants and plant potions. He'd smelled a variety of herbs and flowers around her over the years.

"D*mned dream," he growled. "In my case, it's been happening every week for the last several months … everyone in Faolan Castle has been concerned about me. I have the same dream … I'm chasing my mate. Sometimes it's Emer … but sometimes it's just a vague sense that my mate is nearby and I must find her. And then YOU--"

"I'll go to the kitchen and get some tea," she said stiffly.

"I don't want any tea." He raked his hands through his hair, knowing he'd been in the wrong.

"Then maybe I need some."

He burned her with his eyes. "What I need is a mate."

"And have you accuse me of tricking you again?" She glared at him.

"Just because HE didn't appreciate you–"

Wrong thing to say. Ravyn stiffened, her head held high and her profile proud. "This is about you, Jude. It's time you faced these night terrors of yours. Is it because of grief?"

"Eirika Argad, our Wise Woman, thinks so."

She thought a lot more, and had nearly torn strips from his fur with her temper when he refused to listen to her three weeks ago .

* * * * *

"The Goddess is bedeviling you in your sleep, Alpha, because she's tired of being ignored, and so is your wolf," Eirika lectured him three weeks ago.

He stared out the large bay window at the superbloom of wildflowers surrounding the castle and saw Emer's blue eyes and red-gold hair in each flower. "I'm not ignoring them. But I can't do what they want this time! I can't … I can't replace Emer."

Raven-haired middle-aged Eirika shook that d*mned heavy copper medicine rattle in his face. "What about the promise you made to her?"

He looked away.

"She told me about it, because she knew how stubborn her mate was," Eirika continued. "You see, I made her a promise, too. That I wouldn't let you be alone."

A whine had interrupted their conversation. Jude's son and heir Bram, twenty-five and the spitting image of Emer, stumbled in, disheveled and reeking of wine. "My father is NOT replacing my mother."

"OUT," Eirika commanded

Jude's son lurched forward. "Why don't you tell him something useful?"

"Why don't you take a bath and stop listening to those mangy Hemmings?" Eirika shot back. "Do you think this is honoring your mother?"

Appalled at her roughshod manner, Jude projected calm. "Bram, we need to talk about the latest hunt. Go and wait for me in the Great Hall."

"Yes, Father." Bram shuffled out.

Jude glared at Eirika. "We've all suffered–"

"He can't hold you or this pack hostage to his despair," she countered.

"And I can't marry for love. No more fated mates. If I have to choose a Luna, then fine, but it's a business arrangement. I'm thinking of taking a mate from a pack where we need to strengthen an alliance–I'm sure there must be a suitable Crimsontail woman. Or maybe one from the Oak Prowlers."

Fed up, she hurled her bronze medicine rattle clear across the room and it hit the wall painted rose pink with silvery accents, gouging a hole in the wall. "Then ask a witch about your mate problem when you're in Evenhide. I hear the youngest Cresta found HIS mate and they should be celebrating soon."

"I'll ask Lilia," he said with relief.

"No." Her blue eyes blazed brightly. "It must be a senior witch. An older one with more wisdom and experience."

* * * * *

And so she sent him straight into the arms of Ravyn Rolfe?

She had an excellent body housing an incredible spirit and great heart. A mature body too, curvy in all the right places, with generous, ripe ivory breasts and long, elegant legs. Even among shifters, she often wore her flowing witch robes, which did nothing to hide her lush figure. If only she weren't his best friend's mother-in-law …

Her voice jolted him from his silly fantasy. "You don't ignore your mate instincts."

"YOU aren't my mate. But I need one."

She opened the door, and slipped out into the corridor.

He knew how to surrender when he'd lost. But he still had to smooth this over. His pack would never forgive him for nearly starting a war.

Stepping into the hall, he could appreciate his surroundings.

Cresta House's walls had the appearance of having seen many decades, even centuries, and it always gave him comfort because it reminded him of Faolan Castle. He wasn't some Alpha with his tail stuck in the past, refusing to innovate, but tradition and ancient castles and manor houses appealed to him.

"Ravyn, wait."

He would gnaw a paw off before he would let her leave. Moon Goddess, he wasn't used to being this possessive, even with Emer.

She whirled, her perfect lips parting in surprise. "What do you want?"

She said it too loudly, and the doors opened around them. Jude grabbed her hand and pulled her toward his room. "Come on. We need to settle this elsewhere." Gruffly, he added, "I'm sorry."

Her hand relaxed in his, and she stayed quiet until they reached Jude's room, the one he occupied when he stayed at Cresta House.

She sat down on a chair across the room, her figure stiff and proud.

Jude patted the soft quilted bedspread and glared at her. "I'm NOT taking a fated mate. My son would become like Cyran." He meant the former Crimsontail Shadows Alpha, whose grief had led him to lose his pack.

"Make sure YOU don't," she growled. "Threatening a pack war--"

"D*mn it, what do you take me for? I can't go mad. My son isn't ready to become Alpha. I've NEVER failed in my duty."

Rumpled from sleep but fiercely awake, Alpha Dane Cresta burst through the doorway, all passion and pride. "What's this about a pack war? And what the h*ll are you doing with Ravyn?"