Dawn's Innocence

He made her hot. He drove her nuts. He got under her skin. She cared for him deeply. She loved him. He knew it. But, was she head over heels as flip dizzy for him as he was for her? He couldn't honestly answer that question. Sometimes, he thought she was. When she got that look in her eye, he was almost certain she was in love with him. Then other times, she'd push him away and freeze him out. The whole hot-cold thing she had going on made him insane. It'd be so much easier if she'd just give in and let herself fall. He'd never let her feet touch the ground. He'd catch her. Maybe, that was Kacie's whole problem. She'd never trusted, really trusted anyone in her life.

Kacie loved, but she did it on her terms. She loved her mom, her sister, him, but she only let anyone get so close. He wanted her...all of her, not just the pieces she felt safe with letting him have. He wanted...oh damn did he want. After all, he was a guy and what guy didn't think about his big debut between the sheets. Unfortunately, he wasn't programmed that way. In his world there was no such thing as causal.

He had to work his way into her heart before he worked his way into her pants. It sucked. But, he could wait. He had to wait until he was sure and she was sure. There was no going back and he did not have room for regrets in his life. Cold showers weren't all that bad. Not really.

Chapter 9

The travelers were weary from their long journey and overwhelmed with the sights and smells of their new home. They parted as the man and his wife picked their way through the crowd and mounted the steps of the wide front porch. The man commanded such a powerful presence. Quiet power of authority hummed from him as he stood before them. It wasn't just his stature, but the way he carried himself. He stood tall and proud, shoulders back and chin lifted so confident and assured in what the uncertain future held, as if he'd seen it and knew it was good.

He was more than just a leader, and alpha, or a wolf. He was more than what birthright gave him entitlement to. He was in command of everything he surveyed and he wore the cloak of leadership with lightness and comfort and also with the weight of it on his shoulders. He was in command and people followed him, not because they had to, because they wanted to. He inspired everyone whose life he touched to greatness.

He was the Supreme Pack Master, Psaiwiwuhkernekah Ptweowa, Great White Wolf, and the Great Father, brother of their founding father, and father of the Sons. He bridged the gulf between worlds and species. He was born into this world of simple means, a simple man with a mind for greatness. The men he led into battle trusted him with their lives. He united a broken people and gave them hope when there was none to be had.

He died, a normal human death, but was reborn a vampire. Gifted by his goddess and charged with a great commission. He fathered a race of vampire warriors and defended the whole of humanity against their destruction. He was a great protector and guardian of all peoples, bridging the gap between color, sex, and creed.

He lived to serve and when his brother's spirit drifted across the Great River, he answered the call and offered the hand of leadership and brotherhood to the wolves. He offered his hand now, to the children of his brother's children. He offered the Lost Children a home that they could call their own.

For all his great undertakings and all that he had done in his very long life. He was neither human, nor vampire, nor wolf. He was an entity to himself. Simple, like always, merely a man. For all his many titles, he preferred the name Drew. He welcomed home his lost brothers and sisters and opened his arms to embrace them, as a brother to some and as a friend to others, and as a father to them all. He demanded no pledge of loyalty or tithe of respect. He required nothing from them, yet offered everything he was and everything he had to them.

Tala, his wife, their queen mother, stood regally at his side. Looking up at him with eyes filled with love. She wielded her authority with quiet grace and dignity. She smiled in welcome to the family. The ones she'd always known and the others newly discovered, welcoming them home.

Drew stopped Nash as he climbed the stairs with Eloise at his side. He placed a hand on the man's shoulder, meeting his eyes. "Well done," he said in that quiet, wise way of his. Nash had answered the calling of his heart, faced incredible odds against him, rescued Eloise, and brought home all the Lost Children that would follow him. Others were out there lost and alone. In time, Drew would find them and offer them sanctuary as well.

Nash bowed his head. "Thank you," he said in the quiet voice of a leader. Praise was not freely given from his leader and he basked in the words of a job well done. He'd gone to Texas with the hopes of rescuing only one woman and he'd returned with more than he'd ever dreamed possible. He'd found the love of his life and a lost people were reunited with their distant kin. In a matter of weeks, his family had grown exponentially and his heart was filled to the point of bursting.

Anna ran the kitchen with the harsh efficiency of a drill sergeant. The new houseguests were about to meet their first vampires and she wanted to make a good impression. As she'd discovered long ago, one way to a wolf's heart was through his stomach. And damn, could a wolf eat. She had made enough food to feed everyone. Still she worried that it might not be enough.

She was immune to the effects of garlic, but many of her helpers were not. Anna put a fresh clove in the press and yelled out a warning before she crushed it into the sauce simmering on the stove. Chuckling, she looked up and couldn't help but notice that she was alone in the kitchen. Nothing cleared out a roomful of vampires like garlic.

Each vampire had a specific duty to perform. And Alex was in charge of the coffee...again. God, after all this time, and despite Janine's not so well intentioned interventions, she still drooled when she smelled the heavenly aroma of percolating coffee. She could imagine a hot, steamy mug of freshly brewed coffee clutched in her fist. If she tried hard enough she could still conjure up the memory of the taste of a fine dark, bitter brew thick with sugar and French vanilla cream rolling across her taste buds.

Janine flittered about like a humming bird in a flowerbed, stopping to decorate tables and arrange seating with her fierce eye for detail. She was the official vampire ambassador to the pack. Ok, so the title had been self-appointed, but somebody with a little class had to do it. Who better than her when it counted and things had to be perfect? The pack was not the linen napkin, starched tablecloth, and candlelight kind of crowd. So, she'd had to make a few concessions. The good china stayed packed away. There was no use for the fine crystal glassware with this bunch. She hadn't bothered with a real silver service or flowery centerpieces. She used the everyday dishes and cutlery the pack had always used, paper napkins, and a the most serviceable vinyl tablecloth the Super Center had to offer.

The official headcount was higher than what the seating at the table allowed and she'd had to annex the dining arrangements into the living room. The open concept design of the common area of the house allowed for that. She wanted these two packs to eat their first official meal together at the same table. Some of the seating was hodgepodged together and the chairs mismatched. The tables she'd managed to scrounge up didn't exactly butt end to end, but the overall effect she'd been going for seemed to work. Once the food hit the table and the pack dug in, any sense of propriety would be lost on them anyway.

Janine tittered in laughter as Patrick, the love of her life, carried a steaming platter of Anna's infamous garlic chicken and set it on the table. Anna and Patrick had quite a history of friendly animosity and they loved to take jabs at each other whenever the opportunity arose. Given Patrick's runny eyes and drooping fangs, Anna had won this round.

Chris made her rounds at Dane's side. Her husband wasn't much of a talker and the wolves made him nervous. He was the leader of the vampires after the Great Father much like Nash was the pack master, second in command. Dane had a job to do. It should have been simple, say 'hello' and make the necessary introductions. Unfortunately, he wasn't as adept with words as he was with a blade. She used her influence over him to keep the peace through helping him to maintain his calm and preventing her hubby from sticking his foot in his mouth.

She took notes as she made her way through the crowd of newcomers. Getting input on how their new home should look and what they needed in a home. One thing was at the forefront of the long laundry list of necessities. The pack needed more space. The Texas group wasn't used to the communal living situation the Northern pack had always maintained. It was essential that these two very different groups assimilate one another into their very different cultures and come to some sort of a middle ground. Wolves were territorial by nature and until these two packs blended completely into one, something would have to be done about the living situation.

The compound had plenty of room for more, but Chris doubted any of the wolves would particularly take to living underground. The wolves needed fresh air and sunshine. Most of the pack had never been down below in the tunnels the Sons called home. The brothers with a little help from their human members had managed to knock the pack's home together in a few weeks. Building an addition really wouldn't be that much trouble. Later tonight, after the hunt, she'd get with Anna and see what their collective minds could come up with.

John Mark called the warriors to full attention as the travel wary group of newcomers took their seats at the table. He evaluated the rag tag assembly. All in all, the pack didn't look too bad. It was easy to spot the wolves from Eloise's pack. They wore the weathered, hardened expressions of people that had seen too much in too short a time on their faces. He could see the trauma of their experiences in their dark eyes and the cautious way they carried themselves.

In a few days, after they'd settled in. He'd approach the Great Father about beginning some training sessions. The wolves were no strangers to defending themselves, but they needed to learn how to trust others to defend them and how to defend others as well. He didn't know much about Eloise's pack beyond the fact that their world had been isolated from the bigger whole for a very long time. He could not imagine spending his life looking out through a fence. To him the concept was as foreign as a word without a fence must be to them. This was a dangerous time for the pack. Things could turn volatile in an instant.

If the wolves had any doubts about the vampire's abilities to keep them safe in their new home, John Mark was determined to alleviate them. The world of the wolf was alien and some of the traditions strange. Wolves responded to a show of force. He lined up the brothers, not only as a reassurance to the pack, but to remind them that they were not the only paranormals out there. He skimmed his eyes down the tight formation of warriors lined up on either side of him. His wife, Robbie, stood to his right, down the line, Marcus, Sam, Will, Chance, and the trackers, Lance, and Bryce. Patrick joined the trackers as Dane took his place next to John Mark. They were decked out in leathers and finery with their blades gleaming in the overhead lights. They were a damned fine group, dedicated and willing to give their lives to defend others. BAD ASS to the core.

The wolves, Grant, Hunter, Nash, and Tristen, slid into the line in a show of solidarity. This was their home too and they'd die to protect it. There was no issue vampire versus wolf or human. This was a brotherhood that went beyond species to the heart and soul. The brotherhood and the pack remained standing as Drew entered the room with his wife at his side and took his seat at the head of the table.

Drew swallowed back his dislike of all things ceremonious and symbolic and took his seat at the head of the table. He was no different than his Sons or the greatest or least of his pack, or for that matter, his human brothers and sisters. Each and every person gathered around this table and flanking the walls of the dining room had bled for the right to be here. The measure of the sacrifice mattered not. For some, the sacrifice had been their very lives and for others, family and home, or a career. Perhaps in the case of his Sons, the sacrifice had been simply the right to live just one lifetime and die a natural human death. The donors offered their lifeblood for the cause. No one part was more important than any other. Together they were one, united to protect and to serve a world that didn't even know they existed.

He sat and stared down the table's incredibly long length. A part of him burst with pride and another part of him was saddened that his brother wasn't here sitting at the head of the table instead. It should have been his brother's place to welcome his lost children home. Drew had to imagine that this was the day his brother had dreamed of. For all the Prophet's visions of the future Drew wondered if his brother had foreseen this day.

It was a bittersweet thing to be surrounded by so much family. Every empty seat at the table had been taken, yet there was still a vacant spot. The pack sat crowded shoulder to shoulder around the table. There wasn't room for anyone else. His brother was gone. Sometimes though, Drew could swear he could feel him, looking down from the sprit world or peeking over his shoulder. The mighty Prophet might have known a good many things. He had seen death coming for him. He knew he was going to die before he saw his family reunited. But, there was one thing his brother could have never foreseen and that was the empty place that would never be filled that he'd left behind.

Tala gently placed her hand over Drew's trembling fingers. He sat with his head slightly dipped forward and his gaze fixed blankly on the empty plate in front of him. He was thinking of his brother. The Prophet was the founder of the pack, but he'd been much more than that. He'd been loved beyond even his ability to foresee. His loss was something Drew would never entirely get over.

The Prophet had told them to travel north to this strange land of green, rolling hills, lush woods, and flat, sloping planes. The pack left their lands, the heat, the barren, sun scorched earth, and orange towers of sandblasted rock of the Nevada desert. He'd guided them here, to their final destination. He'd been bringing them home. He'd known he wouldn't be around for their arrival. He'd given his brother one last gift, the gift of family and of life in exchange for the death Drew had been forced to live for so long.

Drew's eyes flicked to his wife's delicate fingers. Tala was his other half-his better half. She made the losses he'd suffered throughout the course of his long life easier to endure. Her gentleness was a soothing balm and her fierceness gave him strength. She'd taught him the gift of his wolf. Showed him what it was like to live, truly live when he'd long since forgotten the meaning of the word. He smiled and gave a subtle nod of thanks to her for drawing him out of the dark space in his mind and bringing him back to the present.

He was the Alpha. The pack sat expectantly, unwrapping silverware, clanking plates, and swirling ice in glasses, waiting for him to dig in and pass the first steaming dish down the line. He was still grappling with the idea of food. Once upon a time, he ate. That was almost two hundred years ago. When he became a vampire, he'd had turn to blood to sustain him. With the merging of his wife's wolf blood and his vampire blood, she and he had become something of an enigma to themselves. Blood was a necessity for the both of them. Occasionally, she managed to coax him into trying a bite of food. He much preferred the simplicity of tapping into a vein. She wasn't any better when the time came for her to drink. She was as awkward and clumsy with her fangs as he was with a knife and fork.

Nervously, he stared down at the empty plate in front of him. Human food and drink, held no temptation for him. Oh, he enjoyed hunting, always had, and roasting a fat rabbit on a spit over an open fire then feeding the choicest pieces to Tala by hand...well, was there anything sexier than that? The modern stuff, going to the grocery store or popping by a drive through, the stuff humans ate was not food. In his opinion if he didn't hunt it, skin it, and cook it, it wasn't worth eating.

The pack was expecting him to eat with them and he understood how important this moment was. Eating a meal went beyond social. He was the Alpha of them all. He ate first, as was their way. And in rejecting the meal, he was symbolically rejecting them. Gulping, he spooned out some of Anna's garlic chicken onto his plate and passed the platter down the row.

He sighed as he stared down at his plate. The red garlic sauce oozed into the wild rice and steamed vegetables, dribbling over the sides of the plate onto the tablecloth. Somewhere along the line Tala had added an egg roll and a few items he could not begin to identify. The pack waited for him to take the first bite a few of the children, eager to be fed, had snuck a nibble or two only to get frowned at in disapproval by their mothers.

Drew stood and offered a prayer of thanksgiving to the goddess for reuniting her children under one roof once again. Eloise's pack was not spiritual. They had no idea beyond a few myths and stories handed down from one generation to the next of their true origins. Contritely, they bowed their heads and focused their eyes down. The room was quiet except for the restless shuffle of bodies in seats and the occasional clearing of a throat.

The concept of praying to a goddess was as foreign to them as the food on his plate was to him. Eloise's pack knew nothing of the ancient ways and didn't understand the language in which he prayed. The two packs combined into one had much to learn from each other. In time, everyone would adapt and come to understand one another better.

Drew finished the prayer and took his seat. Spearing the chicken on his plate, he took his first bite of Chinese food. The pack was willing, traveling over a great distance to return to their home. He was willing too and if that meant eating to forge a common ground between them, he could do it. Anything it took to keep the family united under one roof, he would do.

The vampires kept their distance. For some, the smell of food was virtually intolerable. Remarkably, they kept it together through dinner. Some were new enough to remember what it was like to eat and drink, to enjoy food, and to eat just for the sheer pleasure of eating. For them, watching the consumption of food was doubly intolerable. They stood with placid faces, watching, perhaps envying, but not participating. They could not, unless the pack was on the menu and everyone knew, tapping into a wolf's vein, unless circumstances were life and death, was forbidden.

Once every scrap of food was consumed and each and every wolf stuffed to the point of explosion. After the dessert had been brought out and eaten Jan readied to make her private secret public domain. She had been bursting at the seams to spill her guts all day. She beamed as Thomas stood and called the room's attention by clanking his knife on the side of a glass. She stuck out her hand and grasped his, standing and taking a deep breath. "Mom...Kacie... everyone, I'm pregnant!"