Silver Mane Part 13

     “What’s going on? Why does Kavos suddenly have such a problem with me?” Ana stood her ground and stomped her foot into the dirt, tears behind her eyes. She just finally started to feel like she was making ground with the pack and then this whole mess. He was so mad at her when really she was the one that had almost just died.

     Alice sucked in the cool evening air and sat down. Her fur kept the chill off of her. Ana was too mad to be cold, at least at this point in her range. “Sit please.”

     “I’m not your pet to command!” Ana snapped back at her.

     Alice again took another deep breath. She wasn’t the beta of the pack so there would be no rolling, but she did respect Ana as an alpha. As odd as the situation was, she really did love her alpha, and this was her choice in mates, so be it. “Forgive me Miss, I just didn’t want you to stand through a very winded explanation.” She lowered her head and didn’t look the human in the eyes.

     Ana looked at the wolf before her, her gaze softened as she noticed her body posture. The wolf kept her head down and for once Ana started to feel bad for the wolf. She decided to sit down. She was still mad about what was going on, but at least she would get some answers. If this was going to continue, she was going to leave. This wasn’t what she signed up for, again, she didn’t want any of this. She never asked to be a slave, and the tears finally burst through. “I’m sorry, this is all just too much. None of it makes sense, and I just can’t.” She buried her face in her hands and let the tears run down her face and pool in her hands.

     Alice sat there watching, she didn’t know if she should just continue or let the girl cry. Humans are so confusing to her and she cocked her head. Without thinking she scooted over to the woman and wrapped her arms around her, pulling her close to her chest. Ana snuggled into her fur and slowly stopped crying. Alice took that moment and told her a story from all too long ago.

     “Many moons ago, before the Elders created the council, before the humans made their castles there was only the night.” Her voice was calm and soothing, this was the story of their pack. One that every pup had heard at one time or another. She knew it by heart. “In the night there were monsters. Some lived in the water, some in the sky, but the ones that lived on land, fought for it. There was never enough land for each to have his own.” She took a deep breath and ran her paw through the woman’s hair. Her eyes closed as she continued the story. “There were two clans. One of fur, and one of blood. We hunted together at one point, but those days didn’t last forever. One hard winter animals became scarce. Food was limited and the two clans were getting possessive over the limited food. The blood clan turned towards humans for food. Their new prey quickly became their favorite. The humans however, entranced by their charm and beauty turned against the other creatures. They turned on the wolves that lived in the area. The fur clan was hunted, skinned and hung on walls. The blood clan, they blended in with their prey. Sense then, the two have turned against one another. They will never hunt together again.”

     Ana had found comfort in the wolf’s voice and by the end of the story her tears had stopped all together. “So that’s why you hate each other? Because vampires started killing humans and wolves though it was wrong.” Her statement showed that she was paying attention.

     “In short I suppose that would sum it up fairly well. Of course there is much more to it, but I won’t bore you with politics.” Alice looked down at the woman who had curled up in her lap. She missed her pup in that moment and her heart hurt, the sadness welled up to her eyes like it hadn’t done for many many moons.

     Ana interrupted her thought process with a simple question this time. “Why was Kavos so mad at me then?” Her brain could wrap around the concept of hating the vampire for killing people, but why be mad at her. She was in trouble and some random woman helped her.

     “The simple answer to that, is because he cares.”

     “And the longer answer?” Ana prodded.

     The wolf sucked in a deep breath while her brain tried to figure it out herself. At least how to explain it to a human. To a wolf, it was simple, but she didn’t quite think that Ana would understand it the same way. “First off, he was in a panic because he didn’t know if she has already claimed you. That would have been all sorts of bad. You would then be the most important piece in a very bloody war. Another reason I’m sure is that if anything happened to you while you were in his care, Stela would,” She tried to find the right words without telling Ana the gruesome truth. “Well, let’s just say that your she-wolf wouldn’t be so happy or forgiving about that.” She couldn’t help but laugh a little at her own wording. “Mostly though, he was scared. Scared of loosing you. Of that blood sucker stealing your would or hurting you.”

     “But she actually saved me.” Ana tried to point out, thinking that it would make the entire mess easier.

     “He didn’t know, nor do I think it matters at this point. First off, you are safe, so that’s good. Second, and the bigger of the two issues, we now know there are vampires in the area.”

     “The people in the village seemed to know her and respect her. The guy was about to hurt me, and when she stepped up in turned into a puppy.” Alice twitched at the word. “Oh sorry.” Ana laughed a bit as she wiped away her final tears.

     “Of course they do. Her family, or at least she, has been around for most of their lives. They all know her so to speak.” Alice explained.

     “Doesn’t that mean then that the town would be more accepting of the pack then?”

     “Yes and no. I doubt they realize what she is. However, it does seem that they are accepting of long living families. I don’t think our problem will be with the town. More so with them.” Alice let the silence creep over the two in the small cave. The rest of the pack should be back any moment. She pulled the exhausted Ana into her arms and against her chest and within moments the woman was fast asleep.

Silver Mane Part 12

Start Here

     Ana kept pace with the woman, the illusion never breaking as her eyes stuck fast to the ground. She fell into a rut. She knew what she was supposed to do, after all she was just a runaway slave, and you don’t go running off after someone just saves your life. The woman stopped and turned on her heel, her head held high. “Oh, I’m sorry dear, didn’t realize you were still following me. Can I help you?” There was a deep hunger in her eyes as they narrowed at Ana.

     The young girl was taken aback. She honestly didn’t know quite what to say or really what was going on. “No.” She ended up stammering out the simple word while fear welled up inside. She didn’t have to say much more because finally Kavos had caught up to her and she spotted him in the crowd. “Oh!” Her full attention turned towards him and the mysterious woman turned to look as well. She wrinkled up her nose as he came near. There was a low growl and immediately Ana realized something was off between the two. “Thank you again miss.” She bowed low trying to break the tension of the two. “This is my half brother,” it was the lie that they ran with, after all it was simple enough. “I got separated.”

     Ana was about to say more but Kavos stepped up, his chest was pushed out and every muscle was tense. “I’ll be taking her home now.” There was a growl as he wrapped his hand around Ana’s wrist. It was so tight that she began to worry that he might actually hurt her, or worse, shift back.

     The woman turned her attention to the girl. She held Ana’s gaze and spoke only to her. “If you ever get tired of running with animals, come find me again.” She smiled, it was a wicked smile. She knew everything. Even Ana could tell, but she didn’t know how.

     Kavos growled again deep in his throat and pulled Ana away before she could say anything. Her eyes were fixed on the woman as she disappeared into the crowd. As the two seemed to rush from the city. As soon as the thriving village was behind them Kavos shifted back into his wolf form. It seemed a lot less painful but it didn’t seem any more pleasant to watch. Without word or warning he grabbed at Ana. His paws gripping her shoulders hard. “Did that bitch touch you? What did she do!?” He was yelling and shaking the small woman.

     His anger scared her. Ana couldn’t understand what was going on. She couldn’t help herself and started to sob while the hulking white wolf stood there shaking her and yelling. She tried to find her voice in the madness that was going on around her. “Kavos… Stop… Please.” She could only get one word out at a time while he shook her. The pressure on her shoulders was starting to hurt and she could feel his claws digging into her skin. Tears raced down her face leaving clean trails where they went.

     “Kavos!”

     Ana melted at the voice that echoed around them. It was enough to stop the white wolf in his anger but he didn’t let her go. Either way, Ana didn’t care. Stela was there, she was safe. Her wolf was there and everything was going to be okay.

     Stela stood up on her hind legs, making herself as tall as she could and she squared her shoulders while she made her way down the small rocky ledge she had been standing on. “Let her go Kavos.” There was a bellowing growl deep within her chest. Her movements were slow but deliberate. Kavos let Ana go and took a stumbling step back as his mind returned to him. “What happened?”

     Ana ran to the alpha and threw her arms around the large wolf. Stela picked her up as if she was a child and the woman ran her hands through the animals thick fur. It was beginning to feel like home. She took a deep breath and smelled the scent of her wolf and for the first time she really started to notice her. Stela was always dark to her, but now that she looked she could see how her back was much darker than the front, save for one small patch at the base of her neck and between her shoulder blades.

     “There was an enemy in the village. She was after Ana. Or Ana was after her, I don’t know and I don’t care. All I seen was her,” His paw pointed to the woman who was curled up his alphas arm. “following a blood sucker.” He spat the last words. It was so out of character for him to be so mad, normally that was Aurel, but for some reason Kavos felt as if for the first time, this human had put him in danger.

     “Calm down Kavos. Alice, please go take Ana back to the den.” Her eyes never left her second in command. Alice stepped up and held out her arms, and Ana was dropped into them.

Silver Mane Part 11

Oh dear gods it's been over a month sense I've posted on of these. I am so sorry everyone! If you need to start over, all chapters are linked and shouldn't take long to read through. 
Start Here


     Ana glanced at her travel companion as she walked out, food in her hand. It was such a small glance, no more than if she was looking over to see what was on his plate. There of course would be a time gap from when she left and Kavos decided to leave as well, but again, it was safer that way. The girl took this opportunity to explore the town a bit more. They would be living here now and it wouldn’t hurt to get to know it a bit better. She wandered from one stall to the next looking at what each had to offer. One was filled to the brim with dried flowers. Some had been pressed into glass, others just hung in bunches. Her hand traced the one that was in the glass. It was smooth and perfectly preserved. Ana’s nimble fingers picked it up and brought it closer to her face to get a better look.

The stand keeper was less than kind. The man was massive and built like an ox. His muscles arm muscles bulged as did the veins around his neck. There was a look of anger on his face. He reached over the small wooden stand without even having to get up from his seat. His sausage like fingers wrapped around her arm, all the way around. His hand made her arm look like a twig. He pulled her into the tent and his foul breath assaulted her, even through the heavy scent of flowers. “Ye weren’t try’n ter pilfer ‘dat were ye?” His words were garbled with his heavy accent.

Ana’s blue eyes widened as she realized what this man was. He was no normal merchant, he had to have been a pirate. His face was covered with stubble and scars, his hands were well worn and his skin was as tan as Tucker’s fur was. Fear flooded her and she pulled away from him. It was no use his grip was too strong. “Let me go! I was only looking.” She tried to pull away again and it still was of no use.

“Ya look w’th yer eyes naught yer han’s.” He snarled and started to stand up.

“She’s with me.” There was a cool voice that while low, seemed to dance right around the crowd. “I would let go of her, if you know what’s good for you.” A woman walked up to the small booth. Each step was graceful and she seemed to have a power behind her.

The pirate looked up from Ana, ready to challenge whoever threatened him but as his eyes met this woman they widened and his grip relaxed at once. “Sorry Miss, didn’t know she was yer’s.”

Ana looked back at her savior and her jaw hit the floor. The woman who had defended her was beautiful. Her hair was long and jet black and her skin was flawless. It took her only a few moments though to remember what was going on around her. She went right back into slave mode. She bowed low and kissed the woman’s hand. “I’m sorry Mistress, I just thought these would look lovely in the drawing room but I wanted to make sure they were real and not some cheep fake.”

“Fake!” The man behind the stand started to rage again and when he stood his head smacked against the top of the small stand. He seemed to have more to say but it was interrupted by the pain.

Again the strange woman took control of the situation. “And she did right to me by that.” Her eyes narrowed at the pirate. She wasn’t just beautiful, she was dangerous. Again he took on a calming demeanor and sat down. “She was also correct that they would look nice in my drawing room, however, you sir have left a bitter taste in my mouth. Come girl.” She commanded and just started walking back towards the center of town. Ana could only follow her.

The vendor seemed to have calmed himself and called out to her as the women started to move. “Wait miss! I’ll ha’ve the price. What’dya say?”

The elegant woman froze and smiled. She turned on her heel and walked back to the small table and picked up the small glass plated flower. She too turned it over in her hand and looked intently at it. “Deal.” Her tone was still unamused, but at least the man had made the sale. She tossed a few coppers down onto the wood and walked away without another word. 

Kong T.V. Series?

     While I was at my day job I stumbled across some interesting news. For any of you who follow Godzilla and its franchise you’ll know that the recent Kong: Skull Island is part of a 6+ movie series. I personally was overjoyed when I found out. I’m even more excited for the next one, Godzilla: King of Monsters. But that’s not the point of this. Anyway, I was reading that there is talk about a TV series that takes place after Kong: Skull Island that will bridge it to the next movie. That for sure is something to look forward to this fall. Much better than the Unicorn Frap from Starbucks.

A bit more about "Werewolf Wednesday"

I’ve recently had an idea, and we all know that never means anything good for my scheduling, but as always, I’m going to do it anyway. #werewolfwednesday happened to be trending on my twitter feed the other day and put two and two together. “Silver Mane is werewolves, and people like those. Why not move the release date of a werewolf series, to werewolf Wednesday? This won’t change much really, just moving it to Wednesday. This also gives me a bit more time to work on the newest post for “Silver Mane” and perhaps I can even squeeze in some editing on the project.

Working on Silver Mane

You've read that right! I've been hard at work over the past week getting new storyline done and I've had time to focus on getting more of "Silver Mane" done. That means that finally this Sunday it looks like there will be a new post. I'm very excited to see this come back to life.

I hope that you are all still enjoying it (even with lack of updates) and if you are, please let me know! Those little comments will help drive me to write more and have more frequent updates.

Silver Mane - Part 9

Start Here.

     It was well past moon rise when the pack came to their final stop. They were way up North. The air smelled of salt and it had a real chill on the winds that raced through the trees. The pack had finally found its new home. A massive grove of trees on the other side of a field. There were lots of game trails and fresh running water. It was peaceful. There was even a town not far off. “Perfect.” Stela sighed as she took in the sights. Even in the dim light of night the wolves could tell it would be a great place to settle down. At least for a bit. The pack let out a howl and settled into a cave for the night.

     Dawn rose up the next morning, like it has for every day of their lives. It was bright and clear and the wolves all came out of the dark cave blinking their eyes. Stela rose up to her full height and started to speak. “Today we explore our new lands. You have all day, I want a full map and marking of our new territory. Keep it reasonable and keep yourselves safe.” She looked around at her pack and there was a smile on her face. She knew them all so well. When her eyes met Ana’s they lit up even more. “Also remember, we now have one more advantage, we have a human that can also go into towns.”

     Realization set into the pack. Ana was more than just the alpha’s lover, but also a great tool to them as well. There had been many times where they needed someone to go. Yes, Kavos was able to and he would, but there was still always that fear that he would be caught at any moment. Not with Ana. The pack had little gold to their name, but there was some they had gathered up over the years.

     “Ana, if I,” Stela stopped herself and corrected. “If we could ask a favor of you. I will give you some coins, could you go into the market and pick up a few things?” It was the first time the alpha had asked for a favor instead of telling someone what they should be doing. She was always so kind with Ana.

     Ana looked around at her pack, her mind flashing back to the last time she was in the village and she wondered if this one would be any different. “I will, but won’t they just attack me like the other village?” She didn’t know why she thought the wolves knew everything, but she hoped they at least had some insight.

     The wolves drew in closer to her. Each seeming to hold their breath for another to answer. All eyes moved towards Stela. She didn’t bother to square herself up, the slight look of defeat on her face. “They might. Kavos can go with you.” That wasn’t a question but a command. “Either way we won’t know until someone goes to at least see how the town reacts. From the sounds of it, it’s much larger than what we are used to and you might be able to blend in better. Remember how it was in Egypt?” Her eyes locked onto Kavos.

     The white male nodded. It seemed as though these two had had more than a hand full of adventures together. A long deep bond that could have stretched over only a few years, or perhaps a few lifetimes. Only the two wolves would know it for sure. A smile graced the males face. “I remember, those were good days, hot, but good.” He mused.

     “Then it’s settled, you two will head to the village and investigate, the rest of us well start our claim to the surrounding lands.” Her tone was that of a leader. Without another word the other wolves nodded and took off running. She turned to Ana and pulled her woman into an embrace. “You my little one, stay safe for me.” She softly kissed the top of her head. 

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