Sun and Earth Ch. 05

We nodded and I blushed slightly as my body warmed with the memory our first encounter.

"The hall they were meeting in was enormous and they were seated well over a hundred yards from each other. They each began to shriek in pain as the Alpha Jefe pulled her further and further away towards their seats. Until they could not take the pain anymore, so they ran to each other and proceeded to...bind themselves to one another..." Emile cleared his throat and removed his eyes from mine.

"Seriously?" I laughed thanking the Gods that Micah and I had been able to bind ourselves in private.

"Oh yes. Everyone knew what was happening and the Alpha Jefe had to be restrained with silver he was in such a rage. The mated pair had to be taken away from the room for they were causing such a ruckus. Once what had happened was established the meeting was adjourned until further notice."

"Since it is against the wolves' nature to stray from their spouses the wolf was deserted by her pack and left to live with the Mage...whom she hated. She still loved her husband and she was also no longer allowed to see her children. This fact alone drove her to madness. But the mating progressed nonetheless. No one had ever seen a less happy mating...for it wasn't all that uncommon back then. The mage kept on his daily quest for power and the wolf was forced to accompany him due to proximity restrictions. They went on like this arguing and hating each other yet not able to be without the touch of the other. After 5 years of being mated and long after the proximity restrictions had ceased...the wolf killed the mage and then stabbed herself with a silver dagger."

"That is morbidly depressing." I muttered staring at Emile with my mouth slightly open.

"What of the stages?" Micah asked clearly wanting to move past the fact that the last mated pair had killed each other.

"Ah yes. The stages of mating are thus; to confirm the mating the couple must engage in a sexual act. There is then the sharing of power, this is also usually performed during an intimate moment." Emile had the grace to brush past the fact that I had banged the shit out of his son on multiple occasions.

"What kind of power?" I asked ignoring my blushing cheeks

"Whatever the mated couple has at their disposal. The term power is used loosely. It may be a characteristic that is shared...for instance I have noticed Micah swearing quite often, this is not something he was keen to do until recently." Emile patted Micah on the shoulder with his eyebrows raised. Micah's mouth was slightly open and he was staring at me.

"Sorry." I shrugged. Micah swearing was the least of our problems.

"No worries he will just have to curb his temper and check himself before speaking. Have you noticed any changes in yourself?" Emile pressed on. Barbara had come to sit at the table with us, I saw her hand skim over Emile's wrist. Just from the simple brush of skin the tension in Emile's shoulders began to ebb. Did Micah and I look like that?

"No...nothing." My tone was distant and distracted. I shook myself out of my momentary mind wandering and forced myself back to the matter at hand.

"Perhaps it comes on gradually. The third stage is a tricky one. You must claim a dependent." Said Emile

"What like on my taxes?" I laughed to myself. Why couldn't Micah gain my uncanny sense of humor instead of my bad language?

"No, no, no. A person or being in need of assistance or protection. You must band together and show your unity as a mated pair by taking on the responsibility of protecting another life."

"How the fu-" I stopped myself. "-hell are we supposed to do that?" This just wasn't getting any easier.

"Only time will tell. The fourth stage, now at this stage the proximity restrictions have usually been lifted for the body has adjusted, the mated couple must again show a united front by conquering an enemy." I huffed in exasperation.

"What next...world peace?" This just seemed like a tall order that I couldn't fill. I thought my life was complicated by having to stay on the move to keep one step ahead of the council. Now that Micah was a factor in my plan I couldn't help but regret the loss of what freedom I had before I met him.

"The final stage is the pledge." I glanced quickly at Micah thinking back on the moment in my car "The mated pair feels the need, the burn to pledge to each other faith and fidelity for all time. This is something that may happen spontaneously but most assuredly last in the line of stages. That is all." Emile shrugged and took a sip of coffee that Barbara had placed in front of him on the table.

"What happens if we don't accomplish the stages?" Micah asked looking Emile in the eye.

"The last pair never pledged to each other...they killed one another and started a war. Isn't that answer enough?" I scoffed shoving my fork into the leftover meat on the table.

"No, it is not like that. They hated each other from the beginning. The mage was resentful to have this woman trailing on his heels and the wolf had been blissfully happy with her husband and children. Why would the fates deem it proper for them to mate?" Barbara told me, reaching over the table to lay her hand on mine.

"Did they ever have children?" I asked quietly. Micah shifted where he stood and it took all my strength to not look at him.

"That, my dear, is unknown. Don't fret about the stages, they will happen with time." I smiled at Barbara's reply and removed my hand from underneath hers. My chest twinged slightly and I glanced down to see my flesh had begun to knit itself back together. Thank goodness.

"What will happen to us though...concerning the war?" Micah questioned his father, I still didn't want to look at him. Mentioning children had been something I had wanted to do for a little while now but just didn't have the courage.

"You must present a united front at one of the truce meetings. It would be best to bring some supporters and allies, wolf and mage, those who do not believe being mated to a different race to be sinful or compromising. It would be better to have supporters of power and importance. You have my wife and I of course but we are of no importance in the magical community. You need people who are stronger."

I sighed "Well I've met many mages along the last 50 years who have been kind to me and seem open minded. It's the wolves I'm worried about...they are as pig headed as a red socks fan" Micah stared at me with his eyebrow raised. "...what I'm from New York. I can't like baseball?" I shrugged trying to quell the beginnings of a smile.

"No you're not you're from Ireland!" Micah exclaimed, a mirroring smile tugging at his lips.

"Well the majority of my time in America was spent in New York...get over it." We looked at each other and smiled. Micah was shaking his head slightly as I brushed my hair behind my ears.

"I'm happy to see you both playing. It warms my heart that this mating will be nowhere near as disastrous as the last." Emile laughed with us.

"If we can survive this truce meeting..." I turned away from Micah's eyes and looked down at my hands in thought. The actual meeting would be cake, facing my family again would be the real challenge. Sometimes I felt that the only true way I had escaped them was that I had made my getaway without having to actually confront them. The power my Alpha, my father, had over me may still be a force to be reckoned with. To be helpless and under his control once more was not a future I aspired to.

"I don't know who to contact for support." Micah admitted sheepishly. I put my head in my hands with a heavy sigh. I know who the wolf community would welcome back with open arms...if I could convince him to go back. I looked over at Emile and Barbara.

"I know a wolf we can see...but it may take a lot of groveling and convincing on my part. He is a kind hearted man and would not oppose our mating but he pretty much despises me right now."

"Don't worry I'm charming enough for the both of us. Where is he?" Micah looked somewhat excited as he came and knelt in front of me, his hands stroking my thighs, always searching for that small physical contact to keep us connected.

"Last I knew he was in Texas...but that was 40 years ago." My hands came to rest on his cheek reveling in the stubble that had begun to grow.

"Well normal wolves like to stake out territory so hopefully he hasn't left. Where in Texas is he located?" Emile asked

"Amarillo." My voice had a deadpan quality to it, knowing what the location implicated.

"Amarillo is vrykólakas territory..." Barbara gasped

"Yeah...I know. Well time to be off." I stood with Micah's help, still feeling shaky from our busy day. Everyone took my statement as a conclusion to the meeting. I took a bath, not thinking I could stand up on my own on a shower and then Barbara lent me some clothes to wear. They were slightly loose on me as she was much taller than I was.

Barbara and Emile had packed us a cooler with a lot of sweet tea, snacks and raw meat for when I get a little tense. I thanked them both for their advice and hobbled over to the car where the border collie puppy was sitting and waiting for me. I looked over my shoulder and guiltily watched Micah saying his goodbyes to his parents. If I wasn't a part of Micah's life he could have come and had a peaceful visit. The puppy nibbled at my ankles and I kneeled on the ground to bid my farewell. I nuzzled the warm fur by his neck and bit his ear playfully. The dog yipped at me and licked my nose. I smiled and felt Micah's hands grasp my shoulders, helping me to my feet. We both got in the car and rolled the windows down.

As I buckled my seat belt Barbara came over to my window. She reached into the car and grabbed my hand placing something small and round inside it. I put it in the glove compartment without looking.

"Let us know what meeting you will be attending, we'll be there to support you. Parker, you can face your family together. Don't ever forget that you are no longer alone, no matter what happens. Don't doubt each other." She smiled at Micah and moved away from the car, Emile's arms encircling her body. Micah started the car and we were on our way. We sat in silence for a while, I stared out the window and tried to ignore the tingling in my chest.

"So tell me about this wolf. How do you know him?" Micah asked, breaking the silence.

"Please, Micah ask me anything else." I sighed and rested my head on the door enjoying the feel of the hot wind blowing on my face.

"I deserve some warning." Micah's tone had become irritated.

"No this is extremely personal and if the proximity restrictions allow I do NOT want you to come in with me."

"Of course I'm coming in with you, how can you ask that?" Micah's eyebrows knitted together in agitation and I felt a rise in power level throughout the car. I wasn't in the mood for a temper tantrum, all of a sudden his inheriting my temper was not so funny.

"I'm not asking, I'm telling!" I still didn't look at him.

"You have no right-" He began.

"I have every right, this is my fucking life!" I twisted in my seat to face him. Where was this coming from?

"Why don't you want me to meet this wolf? Did you fuck him?" his voice had taken on a gruff quality. Silence stretched through the car and it dawned on me that Micah was jealous.

"Is that what this is about?" I asked, my tone slightly gentler.

"I told you if I ever saw another man's hands on you I would go insane." I pressed my hand to his cheek and stroked it with my knuckles. I played with his hair for a moment and unbuckled my seat belt so I could move closer to him.

"Micah...men are going to touch me. They are going to shake my hand; they will kiss my cheek in greeting. This is something you will have to face in our life together...and not freak out about it."

"I cannot let you go alone to see a man you have fucked, Parker. I don't have the strength for it especially after I almost lost you." He tightened his hands on the steering wheel, his knuckles going white. I sighed and lay my head against his lap. I picked his shirt up and pressed my lips against his stomach.

"Hey, I'm here. You didn't lose me, you saved me...and I have never fucked him. He is not nor ever has been a romantic interest." I kissed his hard flesh lightly and breathed in the beautiful scent of home.

"Truly?" Micah looked down at me, his face as hopeful as that Border collie puppy's.

"Yes." I laughed

"I overreacted?" he asked.

"Exceedingly so, yes." I sat up and put my head on his shoulder. Micah sighed and threw his arm around my shoulder, pulling me tightly against him. We drove like this for a short while, just enjoying the others company.

"I'm sorry...but I'm still going in there with you." I sighed and settled in closer to him.

"Micah...if he is still in Amarillo he will be where the vrykólakas are." I'm going to have to brush up on my Greek... "The vrykólakas hate mages probably more than the wolves do."

"They hate us because we can control them, they are no threat to us." Micah muttered to himself with all the cocky arrogance I had come to hate in mages.

"They are a threat to one mage in a bar full of vrykólakas in vrykólakas territory. So no if we can help it...you are not coming in with me!" I pulled away from him not liking this superior air he held while talking about the vrykólakas.

"How are you so sure he will be there?" Micah went to grab my hand and I pushed him away, a sick feeling forming in my gut as I denied him the touch of my skin.

"Because he's a fucking vampír dánko̱ma freak,. He's addicted to their bites. It's why I haven't seen him in forty years."

"Why would we want an addict as one of our supporters?" asked Micah as he kept his body to his side of the car. I regretted pushing him away and wanted to reach over and wrap myself around his firm body.

"Because he is influential within the pack community. They love and trust him even if he has been absent for 50 years..."

"Like you?" Micah held his hand out to me, a sign of peace. He wasn't grabbing for me or demanding that I come to him but asking me. I sighed and placed my hand in his. Warmth spread up my arm and into the healing chasm of my chest.

"Yeah...except the difference between him and me is that they always loved him...they were forced to love me."

"How did you become packless? I understand that you didn't want to be passed around and trust me I am thankful for that but...what made up your mind?" Micah's fingers played with mine, keeping my girl calm as I looked out my window. I sighed and thought back to half a century ago.

"About 55 years ago I went before the council and told them my...concerns about being passed around for breeding. I also spoke to them about how the power within me should not be used as a weapon but as a peace bringer. Wolves long for peace and rest but our dominating personalities don't allow this. I can bring peace with a touch of my hand...I explained how we would be a happier, calmer nation. They laughed at me and asked me if I wished my race to be week when facing our enemy." I hated the Council; they were heartless bastards who couldn't see past their fat noses.

"What about the breeding issue?" he squeezed my hand.

"They basically told me to shut the fuck up and get over it but in a more diplomatic manner. After that they no longer trusted me, realizing that I had doubts about my position. Within a year I was under house arrest...allowed out only on full moons. Being cooped up in a house for a prolonged period of time is agony for a wolf. You see how I am after driving in the car for a few hours."

"You're a freaking nightmare." He laughed

"Thanks." I answered indignantly.

"Just being honest." He was giving me a shit eating grin and I couldn't help but smile to myself.

"You might want to curb your brutal honesty along with that shiny new temper of yours." I punched his arm playfully not putting any real force behind it.

"Yeah thanks for that." He removed his hand from mine and began to snake his arm around my shoulders once more. I smiled and leaned into his body breathing him in.

"I find it to be one of my more impressive qualities." I nibbled his neck and couldn't help but lick his velvety skin.

"I have yet to see beyond the frustration to impressive." We remained in this position for about ten minutes, Micah driving and me licking and rubbing his neck with my teeth. I felt the familiar weight in my groin become damp. Micah cleared his throat and pulled me away from his neck. "As you were saying?" I grinned and settled back into the seat.

"Right. I was under house arrest for a year. One moonlit run I realized I had an opening to break free and run away...so I did." The air outside had become cool and soothing as we drove further east.

"And that's how you became packless?"

"Oh I wish. No, I was out in the world for about a year when they came for me. I had dropped my vigilance of hiding thinking I had escaped completely when a wolf from my pack happened to spot me at a bar in Atlanta. My Alpha hauled me in right and quick." I sighed. "After that they put me in prison, me, their so-called savior. Bull shit." I doubt the Council actually knew about my father imprisoning me, he had told the packs that I was out traveling from pack to pack making sure everyone knew that the saviors were emerging.

"What is wolf prison like?" Micah's hand stroked my hair giving me a soothing presence so I could look back on the terrifying memories with ease.

"Silver lined bars in a small 10 by 10 space. One window that gave you a perfect view of the moon, and no space to move on moonlit run nights. Torture. I tried to kill myself so many times in that cell...I was just too weak to finish the job." I shuddered against him remembering the sucking feeling the silver produced. I could feel my strength being sucked out through my pores and absorbed by the silver giving them strength and more power to keep on sucking. It was the ultimate helplessness.

"How long were you there for?"

"Two miserable, nightmarish years. I thought the collar had been awful...but this was death in a fucking can. I can't think about it anymore, Micah...sorry." I nuzzled my face into his chest blocking out the light of the bright sun.

"That's fine. How did you escape, if you don't mind me asking?" I stayed pressed against him cotton t-shirt as I mumbled the next part of my story.

"My brother had met a mage who told him of a process thought to be a myth among wolves. He accomplished it, gave me the tonic that contained the elixir and I had strength enough to free myself. This time I was sure to go farther than Atlanta."

"Where did you go?"

"South...way south." I lifted my face at his probing question and looked into his eyes.

"South America, South?" Micah grinned

"Yeah...for about 5 years. I made my way up to Texas and stayed there for another 5 years after the initial searches calmed down."

"That's how you know this wolf?"

"That's how I know where he lives, yes...after 5 years I became a nomad. A true lone wolf moving from place to place."

"Why go to California?"

"The great thing about Cali is that it is so big. I'm able to move around it freely without worry of discovery. Also it is a mage dominated state. There are few packs there, those that are there know me and think me a relatively old lone wolf but no one of consequence. I was planning on moving back south again after another year or so."

"You've been moving around for pretty much 40 years?"

"Yup."

"So what was it the mage gave you to escape?"

"Do you know what scindo is?" I asked praying he didn't.

"No..." Micah's face squinted and seemed to be searching his memory for the definition.

"I'm not surprised, wolves tend to never speak of that term. It's Latin for split or sever. I split myself." I looked in the side mirror at my reflection. I saw the echo of my girl's satisfied face looking back at me and I shuddered again. I was unnatural. If the packs knew what I had done to myself they would never revere me as they do now.