Dawn's Destiny

Tala performed her duties well. Shared in the chores. Aided with caring for the younger members of the pack. She never faltered. But, she wasn't the same, although, she desperately tried to hide it from him. And he had yet to figure out exactly what was bothering her. She spent more time in her wolf form than she did in her human one. She rarely ate. Never slept. And she ducked her head, avoiding everyone, including him. Nash respected his daughter's privacy. There was so little of it in a family this large. But, enough was enough.

"Maybe, later would be better, Dad. I'm getting dressed," Tala shouted through the closed door. Maybe, her dad would give up and go away. Not likely though. Privacy was a rarity. And her father went out of his way to provide as much as possible to everyone. Although, the house was more than large enough to accommodate the pack, sometimes it felt way too small and confining. Her pack, the only one that she knew of in existence, consisted of her father, two older brothers and their families, five mated younger sisters their families, various aunts and uncles, cousins, and a few more assorted relatives that were so distantly related to her that they couldn't be called relatives at all. One of those lucky bastards, the not related relatives, would win her as the grand prize. And Grant was the prime contestant in the running. Hell, he was the only contestant in the running worthy of her father's seal of approval.

DNA was what it all came down to. And Tala hated that simple biological fact more than any other. Her DNA made her what she was and defined her to the very molecules of her being. Males fought to the death to spread their DNA and spawn heirs. The females flaunted their DNA for the males the way human women flaunted their breasts for men. The purest and the more superior, the better children they'd produce. Magic might have created them. Made them what they were. But, DNA was the key in the lock.

Tala could hear her father breathing on the other side of the door. Huffing in irritation that his command hadn't been immediately followed and the door opened. She pulled the belt on her robe so tightly it pinched her waist. She really didn't want to have this talk with her father. She was not some teenage girl love sick over her first crush. She was not some archaic maiden bound to her father's whims. She was an adult. A woman. And what she did with her life and whom she did it with was her choice. But, if that were one hundred percent the truth, she would open the door and tell him everything. If it was just the two of them and there was no pack, no fight for survival, and no fear for her father's life, she would do just that.

Unfortunately, that was not the case. And if he looked weak, Grant would challenge him. Drew would be a prime choice for a mate. Mating with him would secure her father's place in the pack for the rest of his life. No one, not even Grant, would dare to stand against the Great White Wolf. The pack had not accepted Drew. And choosing him over Grant as things currently were would be a death sentence for her father. The pack was weak. Drew was weaker. And Grant was only gaining in strength. The only hope in hell she had in reining him in lay between her thighs. That maybe, when the time came to challenge her father, Grant would show mercy and let him live. "Dad, later. Please."

"Don't try to ditch me, Tala. We. Will. Talk," Nash shouted, ramming his index finger against the door. He was the alpha and he catered to nobody. Not even his daughter. To do so, no matter how much he loved her, would be seen as weakness. And now was not the time to show any hint of weakness. The pack needed him. She needed him. And Grant needed to be taught a valuable lesson.

Oh yes, in time Grant stood a very good chance of taking over the pack. But, that time was not now, not next week, or anytime in the foreseeable future. Nash was strong enough to handle a whelp like Grant. The man had a weakness and Nash fully intended to exploit it. The man was in love with his daughter. If only his daughter felt the same for Grant and could look at him with anything other than disgust in her eyes. Her future would be secure. As it was, her future was more precarious than his own. She'd fallen in love. Just not with the right man.

"Ok," Tala said. She held her breath until she heard the sound of her father's boot soles striking hard and agitated against wood floor, moving away from the door and down the hall. Determined to make the best of things, first and foremost, working the tangles out of her hair. She flipped on the bathroom light and fished a comb out of the vanity.

Every flaw was highlighted by unflattering, white, garish, light of the incandescent bulbs. She looked like hell. Her skin, normally shimmering with a tanned healthy glow was sallow. Her complexion ruined. Her hair drooped in long, black, wet tangles. Her brown eyes lacked the luster they'd once held. And dark purple bags hung low beneath them from lack of sleep. Her ribs stuck out and her pubic bones jutted outward in a harsh plane beneath the sunken flesh of her belly.

Maybe, just maybe, if she looked this bad, Grant wouldn't want her and she'd be freed from her duty to the pack. Ha! Not likely. Consummation of a marriage and the manufacturing of babies only took a few thrusts and clumsy pushes. And in the dark, even she would be appealing enough for that.

Disgusted with her appearance she flipped off the lights and curled up into a tight ball on her bed. She was such a coward. She didn't have to live like this. She could have told her father the truth. Confronted him and defied the destiny he had in mind for her. Instead, like an idiot, she'd caved. Not saying a word. But, locking the secret up tightly. Burdened by a destiny she didn't want. Dying slowly day-by-day, consumed by a love she couldn't embrace and wanting a man she could not have.

Her father was not unsympathetic. He would understand. But, he would also do what was best for the pack before he did what was best for her. It was just the way of their world. She had to deceive herself into thinking that there was no way that what she felt for Drew was real. What kind of a future could they truly have together anyway? He had too much to deal with as it was. And he didn't need her complicating things any further. He did not want a family. She'd seen his reluctance to believe her reflected in his expression. He did not want the wolf inside of him. He'd told her that in a fit of rage. And he'd meant it. He didn't want any part of the wolf. And in denying his wolf, he'd denied her.

At least, in his own way, Grant wanted her. She just wished she could manage to work up a little enthusiasm about it. Grant was everything she should want and didn't. And Drew was everything she shouldn't want and did. In fact, the Great Father, Drew, the Great White Wolf, was her uncle. His brother was the father of her people. But, Drew and she weren't directly genetically related. Thankfully. She was born almost one hundred eighty years and many generations after Drew ceased to be human. And their genetic relationship was too distant to matter. Not that it made any difference anyway. They were never going to be together.

Modern life was tempting and so many had given up the way of the wolf. Abandoned the ancient magic for the magic and wonder of the glittering lights of distant cities. Extinction of the race was a real possibility. She, as a daughter of the pack was expected to do her part and reproduce. What she actually wanted mattered little in her world. And if she died, as many females did birthing young, mattered even less.

Tala rolled over on the comforter, facing away from the cheerfulness of the sunny windows. Preferring the gloom of her bedroom's shadowy corners. If she didn't choose one of the eligible bastards downstairs soon, her father would do it for her. And his choice would be Grant. Physically, the males were an attractive enough. But, it was the constant fighting for her affections. The way they brutishly scrambled over one another to get her attention was a total turn off. She didn't like them. And not one of them could hold her interest for more than five minutes. The males in her pack were perfect for some lucky female. It just wasn't her. None of the males could ever hope to have a chance of winning her heart. It belonged to Drew alone. And no matter how many parlor tricks or fights to the death they fought in her honor they would never be able to steal it away from him.

She wished the night on the bluffs had gone differently. She wished Drew had taken what she'd offered. For those of her kind, a bond was formed with the joining of male and female and it could not be broken unless by death of the mate or surrendering the wolf and choosing to remain human. It didn't really matter. The end result was the same. Death. Without shifting, without the magic of the pack, her body would age at a normal human pace. Instead of decades of vitality and youth, she would deteriorate, and die within a few short decades.

Her grandparents had lived to be in their second century of life. Her father, Nash, was a very spry hundred and fifteen years old last summer. Yet, he didn't look a day past his early forties. She was technically, thirty-five. But, still looked the same as she had over a decade ago. Aging ground to a slow crawl with her a wolf's first shift. And for her, the shift had happened at twenty-one. And luckily for her, the cursed biological clock wouldn't start ticking for at least a century or so. She had plenty of time to choose a mate. But, her father and the pack, unfortunately didn't agree. Their philosophy was one of simple mathematics. The younger a female started, the more babies she could produce, and the bigger the pack.

Drew had been more than willing to make love to her. Love wasn't the problem. Their feelings about one another were perfectly, painfully clear. He'd feared the risk of a permanent bond before either of them was ready for it. She'd been a ball of hormones ready to throw it all away. And he'd been the voice of reason. Angrily, Tala punched her pillow, furious with Drew's demands and even more furious with herself for not possessing the courage to meet them. The one night they would have shared. Hands and mouths exploring each other's bodies would have been better than the cold, hollow, existence she had now. Never knowing just one night of true love, of passion, was far worse than what her pack demanded of her.

She knew Drew was right. They couldn't sneak around and keep her father and the pack in the dark. If they had tried, the truth would have come out eventually anyway and the matter would be worse. The pack would have seen sneaking around behind her father's back as a sign of disloyalty. Drew wasn't asking her to make a choice of him or the pack. He was asking her to tell the truth. Admit her love for him and let the pieces fall where they may.

If only they'd had that one night together. Assuming the myth of some mystical bond was utter bullshit and there wouldn't have been any consequences other than the obvious. Maybe then, she could have moved on and chosen one of the males in her pack as a mate. Endured the passionless minutes she'd spend with him rutting on top of her to give the pack the babies they so desperately craved.

Drew was capable, although she suspected he didn't entirely believe her. He could father children. His brother was proof of that. Otherwise, she wouldn't be here. But, Drew had his demands and she had hers. And she could not plan a future with a man at such odds with himself and the very core of who he was. Until he accepted his wolf, he could not, they could not, move forward. Truth was a double-edged sword. And it was cutting her to pieces.

She had to move on without him. He might have centuries to get his life together. But, she did not. Nana was the oldest living wolf she knew of. And Nana, although spry enough to give any young wolf a run for his money, was just a hair under two hundred years old. She was the last of the Great White Wolf's original children. And she missed her father terribly. Soon she would join him on the banks of the Great River.

Tala could relate to losing someone you loved. She had no choice but to forget Drew, dust her self off, and plunge bravely ahead. Who was she kidding? The thought of another man touching her sickened her to the very essence of her core. For her, it was Drew or nothing. She had not heard so much as a whisper from Drew since that morning on the bluffs. So, she could only suppose, that she had nothing.

Tala did not want a loveless mating. Her life was too long to just simply tolerate a man she could hardly stand. She'd seen it happen too many times. Couples bound together thanks to their children and their loyalty to the pack. Stuck together with nothing in common except their DNA and one night of attraction. Love could happen. Her parents and her brother, Hunter, were proof of that. Even her five mated sisters seemed happy enough.

Maybe, she wanted too much. Expected more out of life than what it could actually deliver. Her hormones played hell with her. Her wolf grew impatient waiting for her to decide. And the truth might not be as simple as she first thought. She was terrified of dying. Not of death. Only of dying.

Her mother had died bringing her into the world. And to this day, her father still mourned her. She'd watched Hunter suffer for years. Burying his pain beneath his gruff exterior. Marianne had left three beautiful children behind. And the pack raised them. Her father acted as a stand in for Hunter simply because Hunter could not look at his kids without seeing her face. And as he avoided his pain, he avoided his children. Tala craved a mate she actually loved. But, she could never do that to him or their children. Leave them behind alone or worse, take her mate to the grave with her. And yes, although Hunter was technically alive. He had not lived since his daughter took her first breath and his wife, her last.

Tala forced her eyes shut and willed herself to sleep. Instead of the black, dreamless nothing she'd grown accustomed to when she closed her eyes. She dreamed of Drew and of possible futures that could never be. They were happy. They were alive. And they were in love in that shadowy land of unreality. She awoke bleary eyed. Maybe, it was a dream, just wishful thinking playing hell with her subconscious mind. But, for the first time since that fateful morning on the bluffs when they'd shattered one another's hearts. She had the slightest glimmer of hope.

Chapter 3

Drew stomped through the compound. The wise ducked out of his way. Bad mood didn't begin to define his emotional status. The trail of the wolf's tongue burned his cheek. Tala. He hadn't seen her since he'd made his demand. Since the sunrise on the bluffs weeks ago when she'd offered her body and he'd refused it. Idiot. The truth had meant more to him than claiming the sweet prize she'd willingly laid at his feet. Stupid. Morality sucked! He could be enjoying her now. Slipping out with her into the darkness every night. Holding, loving, nuzzling her, relieving the pent up frustrations they both shared. But no, he had to push her away by demanding that she confess her love for him to her father. Dumb ass. As tempting as it was, he couldn't live a lie. And now he was paying the price, morality intact, but body and soul aching in need for her.

He should have left the compound. Gone back to his wonderings. Traveling from lodge to lodge across the country, as was his habit. But, since Tala had come into his life, he had been content to stay put and lay down roots. Despite their lack of communication, he couldn't bear the thought of putting any more distance between them than he already had.

He longed to see her. To tell her that he still loved her and that he understood why she hadn't confessed the truth about them to her father. To hold her and reassure her that somehow, they'd find a way to make it work. But, he couldn't weave such a fabrication for temporary happiness. And he wasn't sure if there really was a way that all parties involved could win. Someone would have to lose. And it looked more and more like that someone was going to be him.

"Drew," Anna whispered. She glanced over her shoulder. Encouraged by the eager faces of the women peeking out from around the corner she prepared to state her, or rather, their case. Drew was a hard man to catch these days. He'd always kept to himself, stoic, removed, and coolly distant from the rest of the brotherhood. It was rare to see glimpses of the man he truly was beneath the burden of leadership on his shoulders. But, she had. Most of the vampires avoided her kitchen. After all, there wasn't any real need for them to venture there. Odd though, some of the best conversations, real heart to heart stuff, happened in the one room nobody ever used except for her.

"Anna." Drew turned and nodded to the willowy blonde. She was tall enough that they could almost see eye to eye. Perhaps, it was Anna's coloring, pale blonde hair, flawless alabaster skin, and arctic blue eyes that lent to the coolness of her exterior. She was anything but. She had survived in the corporate world. And her businesslike tone carried over into her personal life, especially now at times like these. When she'd been volunteered by the women to be the spokesperson of the group. A twinkle of amusement highlighted his features as he eyed the eager faces of the women peeking around the corner. When women traveled in packs it was only for one reason. They wanted something.

It was absolutely impossible to maintain a bad mood in the presence of the women. Or perhaps, it was that Drew had always had a soft spot for the gentler sex and that was the reason for the smile creeping across his lips. And these women in particular had a place in his heart. They were the glue that held the brothers together. They saw the things the males of the compound did not. And not only did they take care of business. The women took care of them. If not for them, the brothers probably wouldn't have electricity or a clean pair of socks. He'd never understand how the women just knew on some kind of an instinctive level what it took to transform a house into a happy home. But, they did.

"Ah, we were wondering." Anna shuffled her feet nervously, tasting her question on the tip of her tongue. Their idea was a good one. And it was just a question. What was he going to do stake her for asking it? Although she knew Drew and knew his heart, he was still an ominous site. He towered over six feet tall, with wide bulky shoulders, piercing deep brown/gold eyes, a high aquiline nose and chiseled cheeks, hair, black as coal, streaked with silver, emulating power from every pore. "Now that our... friends have had a chance to settle in. Well, it doesn't seem right not to invite them over for a cookout or a welcoming party."

"A cookout?" Drew raised his eyebrows. He was not up on modern terms quite as well as he should be. Only recently had the TV in his room gotten any use at all. He rather enjoyed Judge Judy. Vicious little thing was a woman after his own heart. She would have made a good Son.

He assumed Anna was talking about preparing food and eating it outdoors. Vampires could not eat. Most of them couldn't stomach the scent of human food. Anna was a rare exception to the rule. She could not eat though. Perhaps, that was why she enjoyed cooking in such great quantities. It was as close to eating as she could get.

She lived precariously through watching people consume her many delicacies and their complements on her skill. Nobody who could eat ever left the compound empty handed. And they never got past her without sampling her latest dish. There was one thing for certain. A vampire could always smell a human. And Anna sniffed them out, stuffed them, and sent them home with more leftovers than they could possibly eat.