Shadow of The Wolf Ch. 06

"And Alex, this is Dominic, the Felix of the Panther Pride." The man stood as tall as Rance but was built with sleek lean lines. He moved with feline grace. His green eyes calmly observed her. His black hair was cut short, in an almost military fashion. He stepped forward and engulfed her hand with his, shaking it briefly.

"What's a Felix?" she asked curiously of Rance.

"That means I'm the over-all leader of my pride," Dominic answered, bringing her eyes back on his impassive face.

"Why not use 'Alpha' then? What's the difference?"

"My pride is made out of different cat shifter species. All of them have their own Alpha, but the Alphas all answer to me. My pride is comprised of jaguar, leopard and cougar weres. That's what made us different than the other feline shifters and we use the general genus name "Panthera," since tiger and lion prides are usually just the one species."

"Oh." She had no idea what to make out of that statement. It was a little confusing to have so much information dumped on her in such a short time. She determined to find someone who could expertly guide her through the intricacies of shifter world. Maybe she'd get Luc's assistance; after all he was already assigned to her.

Rance took her arm and seated her next to him. Putting his arm on the back of the sofa behind her, he slowly massaged her neck. Groaning in appreciation, she looked at him from the corner of her eye. Their eyes met and a sizzle of heat arched between the mates. Alex secretly smiled. Rance was always taking care of her. She didn't even know she was so tense. His hands glided and molded the muscles on the base of her neck. Zoning out for the moment, she enjoyed her mate's talented hand, not even realizing that she had closed her eyes.

"We need to flush them out of their hiding place," Rance continued on with the conversation he'd been having his comrades before his mate came, as Alex quietly sat next to him. "It would not be too hard to find where they're holed up this time. According to Damian, there were five distinct scents left at Alex's house, not including the spoor of the one that continues to baffle all of us."

At the mention of her name, Alex's eyes popped open in interest. She wanted to know what plans they'd come up with to find those responsible for the killings and trashing her house.

"When will the task force make their move?" Annawon asked.

"There will be a briefing today. I just want to give Luc enough time to fully decipher the message left on the walls in her house," Rance replied, "but I'd want to work closely with them since it was at Alex's house these lowlifes chose to leave their message for all of us. They will not get any more chances to get anywhere near my pack lands, since all of my Betas are on the alert for their scents. Although personally, I'd love to let them try..." His wolf growled in assent.

Dominic watched his friend interact with his mate. He was vastly entertained at how much Rance had changed, almost overnight. The former brooding and temperamental Alpha seemed to brim with inner contentment. Rance looked amazingly happy to settle with Luna's choice for his mate. Although none of his thoughts showed in his face, he could not help but envy his friend. Felines were notoriously known for indiscriminate trysts, hell, he often walked on couples doing it in the open in his pride's territory. So sometimes he'd wonder if mated life was really for him. Even in the wilds, their feline counterparts never stuck to one female, they always had a harem of them. Wolves may mate for life with just one partner, and even bears were known to occasionally do the same, but he couldn't see himself committing to tie himself to just one female, although he often speculated what his mate would look and be like. Seeing his friend looked happy and content made him desire the same thing. Annawon raised a brow at Rance, "I don't remember you being this blood thirsty before." Taking a quick look at Alex, all amusement left Annawon's face, "But I can understand why. I'd propose for us to move with all haste lest they get wind of our plans to actively hunt them."

"Do we know the general area in which we'd be looking? And are we fully certain that the killings and the threat to your mate are connected?" Dominic asked.

"As to the area, no we don't. Not at the moment. But we would be recruiting all of the best trackers we have to help us sniff them out. And as for the connection, Luc's preliminary translations points that way. We will be certain once he had finished the translation later today," Rance replied.

"Can I make a suggestion?" Alex asked, not wanting to just butt in but unable to keep quiet anymore. "What if you used the bears to start tracking? I've watched the Discovery channel and have heard that their sense of smell is far more acute than wolves'. No offense, Rance. I merely wanted to help. That is, if the bear shifters have the same olfactory skills as the true ones."

"None taken."

Annawon replied, "Not that I have tested our sense of smell with that of our brethren, but that was a very sound idea. In order for us to track and utilize our noses we will need to partially shift to our ursine form. It will be hard to explain our, erm, shall we say impressive form to humans if they ever see us wandering around."

"We could partner with you, then," Rance added, "that way the wolves could track where it's populated and then yours can take over when we reach isolated areas."

Alex sat still, letting the discussion wash over her, as she felt a peculiar but familiar sensation on her lower abdomen. Since she only felt this dull heaviness on her lower sides when ovulating, it had to be something else. She was pretty certain she was still a week or so away from it. Shrugging mentally, she discounted it as her body adjusting to becoming a wolf shifter. She tried to listen to the three Alphas in the room discuss the best strategy in hunting down the killers, but the persistent heaviness distracted her so much.

Leaving them to their discussion, she excused herself, stood up and wandered around the study. Trailing her hand on one marble sculpture of a magnificent howling wolf, she wondered if someone actually sat for it. After all there are plenty of models to choose from, she thought with an inward smirk. Moving over to the wall of books, she perused the impressive array of hand-stitched original first editions of rare books. Finding nothing that really interested her, she went to stand next to the tall windows. Looking out, she saw several pack members hurrying to and fro out in the fields and beyond. Everyone seemed to be busy doing something. She could identify the Betas on watch by the way they moved and by their alert bearing.

Oddly, tingling warmth radiated slowly from Alex's lower belly. It spread gradually over her whole abdomen and inched to her torso and chest. Frozen in her tracks, she frowned as the feeling persisted for a moment then slowly ebbed back. Rubbing her hand on the still tingling area on her belly, she was mildly concerned at the peculiar sensation. She could tell that Rance was aware something was amiss with her. He kept throwing questioning glances her way and pointedly stared at her rubbing hand. Not wanting to worry him needlessly, she shrugged negligently and quickly shook her head at him.

Everything alright, Alex? Rance's voice was laced with worry as he asked. He vaguely felt something but she was getting better at blocking him.

Yeah, I'm fine. Probably something I ate that did not agree with me. She threw a smile his way, discounting her own unease. Their gazes met and she could clearly see that Rance was distracted as he observed her carefully. Both Annawon and Dominic studied the two of them, seeing Alex motionless by the window except for her rubbing hand they knew right away that something was up. All three stood up as Alex yelped in pain and crumpled to the floor clutching her abdomen. Rance ran and kneeled at her side. She was panting in pain and sweat dotted her brows, and her eyes were tightly scrunched closed. Lifting her up, he carried he to sofa and cradled her in his lap all the while kissing and crooning to her. Trying in vain to comfort her and determine what was wrong. She was fine a minute ago, damn it! Smoothing his hand on her abdomen that she continued to clutch, he tried to lift her blouse.

"Let me look, Alex. I want to see what's wrong here, please." He looked at his friends gathered helplessly around him. Damian, call Armand to my office. Something is wrong with Alex. Hurry!

On it, Rance.

"Come on babe, let me see." He gently but inexorably pulled her hands away and peeled off her blouse.

"Oh my Luna!" Annawon and Dominic exclaimed.

"Wha-?" Alex tried to sit up to see what was causing her intense pain, burning her flesh and eating it from the inside out. She was trying so hard not to scream as she bit her lip until it bled.

"Unbelievable!" Rance gasped in incredulity.

Just then the doors to the office banged open as Damian preceded Armand who was followed closely by Troy and Luc came barging into the room. Seeing the Alphas gathered in the sofa, the good doctor rushed forward.

"What happened here?" he asked as he moved farther into the room, intending to start check Alex's vitals.

"She was fine earlier and then just crumpled in pain," Dominic answered, since Rance was busy whispering reassurance to his mate.

"Where is the pain?" Armand looked at Alex, when he did not get any response immediately, he looked at his Alpha.

"Right here," Rance lifted the hem of Alex's blouse and saw his doctor's eyes go round with incredulity, just like his.

"Praise be the great Luna!" Luc exclaimed with reverence from the across the room. Everyone watched mystified as he slowly approached Alex and kneeled before the couple with glittering eyes. Awe and wonder shone brightly in his face as he slowly bowed low to the ground.

*

To be continued...

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-BD