Wild Life Read online

  Paris frowned heavily. “You think she’d sabotage our pack?”

  “No, I’m just playing devil’s advocate here and trying to explain, that this might be seen as the danger in dating outside of one’s own kind.”

  5

  The Tri-state council was a governing body of werewolves. They were the law as far as werewolves were concerned when things fell outside of general pack jurisdiction of were of far greater concern than any one individual wolf pack. They helped to keep the peace, as it were.

  Because werewolves of the modern world were not considered to be out in the open yet. They were more like an open secret amongst those that tended to come across them.

  A lot of the general population of the world, had no idea werewolves actually existed outside of Hollywood movies. This ignorance of their kind, worked in favour of werewolves. It meant they could live amongst the humans around them, as normal a life as possible. They could be like them, if they wished to be.

  For Addison Harrington, he’d never once denied what he was. He’d never wanted to. And he had always lived amongst werewolves and lived the way of the werewolf. It was how he’d been raised.

  He’d never had any reason not to agree to the terms of being a werewolf that were set out before him and any other werewolf of New York. But he didn’t like the idea of the Tri-State council thinking they could somehow interfere in Paris’s relationship with another pack werewolf, not of their pack. Even in this day and age, the idea of that kind of restriction seemed ludicrous.

  Paris was a great pack leader. He made sure their pack was kept in order. He made sure all their werewolves were looked after when required. Addison knew some sources outside of the Manhattan Maen saw this as a weakness in his armour.

  Addison saw it as merciful. Not a bad quality to have, when dished out in the right amount, it helped keep the blood lust that could over take a werewolf in rage, at bay. It helped keep a werewolf, sane.

  They drove across the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge, towards Staten Island. “So this mystery woman, are you going to tell me anything about her?” Paris said suddenly breaking their silence.

  Addison glanced across at Paris. “Are you going to let me drive the Porsche?” Addison answered him back with.

  “Not the way you drive, no.” Paris replied playfully. He’d only let Addison drive his car once. The one time he’d driven it, he’d gotten into a drag race and won the race, but to the horror of Paris, he’d bottomed out on a small jump and scratched up the undercarriage of the Porsche and a small part had to be replaced. All within Paris having had the car for less than twenty four hours. Addison had never been allowed to drive the Porsche since.

  “Then…..no.” Addison answered him back.

  “Just trying to show interest.”

  “Well don’t. I saw her first.” Addison muttered staring out the passenger side window as he watched the traffic around them. Paris chuckled to himself.

  “That’a boy. Possessive much?”

  Addison turned to look at Paris. “Like you can talk, big dog. What exactly is the proximity I’m allowed to keep when in Bg’s company?”

  “I’m not that bad.” Paris muttered.

  “Yeah you are.”

  “Well I saw her first.” Paris said softly as they drove on.

  Addison settled into the passenger seat. They’d always had similar tastes in woman, but it had never been a problem for them. “Tell me again, what it was that caught your interest in Bg.” Addison asked as they continued across the inter-island bridge.

  “Oh that’s easy.” Paris replied pausing for a second. “She was dancing with another woman.”

  “You are too easy to target my friend.” They both chuckled knowing it was more than the act of a dance that had Paris’s werewolf seeking Bg out. The pull to a pack mate when it called to another werewolf was strong. There was no way to know how it worked. But the inner werewolf would not be sated until it had its pack mate, once it was spotted.

  “You know she greeted me at the door in your bed sheet this morning.” Addison poked him with.

  Paris’s head snapped around shapely for him to glare at Addison. “It was sexy.” Addison continued his taunt smiling widely at Paris’s serious face. “Kind of hoped she’d accidently drop it.” He watched Paris’s face tighten as he fought to control anger. Yeah, Paris had it bad for Bg.

  “Can’t wait…..to meet your new woman.” Paris threw back at him, before looking back out at the road.

  “Like hell.” Addison muttered as they drove off the bridge and into the borough of Staten Island.

  “What’s a matter? Aren’t us Maen werewolves good enough for her company? Or are you just afraid once she see’s me, she’ll figure out she’s with the wrong werewolf?” Paris teased.

  “Neither.” Addison said quickly. “Pretty sure she doesn’t know a thing about any werewolves, let alone us New York types. But no confirmation on that just yet.”

  Paris’s looked over at his friend raising his eyebrows, his eyes wide. Taking in what Addison wasn’t admitting out loud to him. “She’s a non?” Paris blurted out in utter surprise. He’d never known Addison to ever be interested in a non-werewolf before. A human woman. He’d only ever gotten involved with wolves.

  “She’s human, yes.” Addison admitted.

  “Sorry.” Paris apologised immediately, sensing Addison’s feelings on the matter. “Non” was a term in the werewolf culture that was flung around a lot to describe non-werewolf people. It was usually associated with a kind of derogatory manner to it. “I’m just surprised is all.”

  “You and me both.” Addison muttered as Paris turned off towards the neighbourhood of St. George.

  “So,” Paris started, deciding to go off topic again. “What do you think I can expect from the council?”

  “Hmm, well, since we dealt with the whole Bg-Breukelen mess ourselves and both packs appear to be fine and not warring, or making a grab for either one’s territory, I suspect a slap on the wrist, young wolf.”

  Paris parked the car outside their destination and they both looked out at the building. “Seriously, I’m a pack leader, you think they’re not going to respect that?”

  “You know the council better than me, but is there anyone on that council under the age of fifty?” Addison answered him with as they got out of the car and headed in to the meeting.

  6

  Whilst werewolves existed the world over, not all of them were run in the same manner as the New York werewolves packs. And sometimes, Paris wondered, when having to deal with the tri-state council, like now, wether the New York packs had it right. He wasn’t one for politics even though all his hierarchy assured him, he handled the politics of pack life, a hell of a lot better than most of them.

  “Mr D’Arenberg It’s come to the council’s attention an incident that occurred recently in your territory.”

  “So?” Paris quipped back at them, standing before the seven council members, with Addison standing directly beside him. They’d refused to sit. It was a good assurance to Addison that his friend hadn’t gone completely soft. Addison took it to mean, Paris had his game face on and was ready to do some fighting, on behalf of their pack.

  The council members stared hard at him as if dealing with a temperamental child. “Packs going into territory without invitation or approval on lunar nights is not something to be taken lightly, given it’s one of the biggest rule we govern ourselves and others by.” The female council member stated back at him.

  “It has been dealt with both packs are at peace. There is no war. There is no dispute, no misunderstanding between us.” Paris stated back at the woman.

  “That’s really not the point.” The New Jersey representative stated.

  “It has been dealt with.” Addison added on but may as well have been invisible for all it mattered. All the council members were looking to Paris for the answers.

  “The Breukelen pack have broken our own law. Despite the fact that you seem to thin
k you’ve dealt with the matter at hand,”

  “I have.” Paris affirmed his arms crossed over his chest.

  “There is the matter of the message this and your handling of it sends out to the other packs, to the wider werewolf community.”

  “The message is clear. The Manhattan Maen can deal with that which comes at us.”

  “And what about the werewolf under your pack protection that suffered at the hands of the Breukelen beta wolf?” Another council member asked.

  “Breukelen Werewolf.” Paris growled back at the council member. Addison looked across at him, he got it. Paris would not have Bg denigrated down to anything less than werewolf status by the council members.

  “Whilst we can not tell you how to run your pack, we will step in if we think you have lost control of your pack in some manner that greatly affects the community we have all built here.”

  Addison’s mouth dropped open. It sounded like old money talking. Influence and wealth that came with status and power. Which sounded completely like Gabby Colton’s line of money and influence. The Colton family came from a well to do background.

  “This isn’t about pack welfare.” Addison spoke up.

  “The council does not recognise the speaker and would ask Mr D’arenberg to keep his lieutenant in check.” Came the stern reply.

  “Keep this in check,” Addison fired back at the council member with a glare. “This is about Gabby Colton. This is about her, reaching out to you, one of you at least, on this council and trying to have a swipe at Paris for what happened to her that night.” Addison fired off, glancing from each council member as he started to pace in front of each of them behind their table.

  “Gabby’s not opposed to using pressure and influence right? Do you think that we, Manhattan Maen are just going to let you usurp the best pack leader this werewolf pack has ever had, because of some woman with a grudge for being rejected by our pack leader? With a werewolf who just can’t get her way, because she can’t get this werewolf,” Addison said getting louder “Into her bed?” Addison stopped walking in front of them and watched the stunned, silent faces of the council members.

  “We’re done here, let’s go Addison.” Paris said as Addison turned to walk back to him.

  “It’s about more than that Mr D’arenberg.” The Jersey council member stated. Both Addison and Paris turned around to face them again.

  “It’s about your partnership with this Breukelen werewolf and the concern it raises amongst all the packs of alliances that might be being formed to benefit your pack alone, through your relationship with her and therefore, the Breukelen werewolf pack.”

  He watched Paris tense and still dramatically. His anger was on the rise. He wouldn’t allow someone to try and come at Bg, neither would Addison. Addison had seen her when Gabby had poisoned her with silver, after stabbing her. The alpha female wolf had intended for Bg to bleed to death from a very mortal wound. A painful, long, death.

  As much as Addison hadn’t seen the violent streak in Bg coming, for her retaliation back at Gabby, that had lead them here, to this council meeting. He also hadn’t seen the true depth of Gabby’s vindictiveness for Bg.

  “My pack mate is none of your concern.” Paris growled at them in warning.

  “Actually, she is of our concern, as are you and your pack because of her. Because of your manner of dealing with the recent hostile actions taken by your pack mate, we are all drawn to wonder, why as a pack leader who has more than three hundred werewolves under his care and protection would allow her insult of invasion, and torture of your own kind, to stand. Do you not understand our concern? Or how we can not but see that perhaps the Manhattan Maen and the Breukelen packs are somehow building a mutual relationship here?”

  Paris took a step forward growling in a low menacing snarl at the council member who had spoken to him. Addison put a hand on his leader’s chest and stepped in front of him, this was his role to play. To keep Paris at bay to ensure that he thought things through.

  “You’re words are insults to us. That you would assume our pack, the requires a beneficial relationship of any kind.”

  “And you’re words Mr Harrington, are further words of concern to us. The Manhattan Maen is the second biggest pack in all of New York, if you combined them with the Breukelen, the resources from your pack, funding the warriors of the Breukelen, well, you’d have quite a start to a powerbase, wouldn’t you?”

  Addison frowned at the council member. Where did they get these outlandish theories from? Why would the Manhattan Maen need power? They were powerful in their own right? And what kind of power was the council member actually implying they were after or needed?

  “Paris is the only pack leader to be involved in a relationship with another’s pack’s wolf. “ The woman councillor spoke up again.

  “That is why pack leaders, even hierarchy do not date outside of pack, is simply not done. Packs work, because they work as their own for their own. A combined, large werewolf community would just make us a large target to be noticed by nons interested in our kind, for all the wrong reasons.” Another council member fired at them.

  “There is a reason, we are five separate packs Mr Harrington, Mr D’arenberg. If you know your history, you will understand this reasoning.”

  “Yeah, super pack thing, didn’t work before did it? In Europe. That’s why you all came here. Start a new life in New Amsterdam.” Addison answered them. Using New York City’s historical name. He knew his werewolf history, as did Paris. They weren’t as ignorant as the councillors seemed to think they were.

  “So why would we even attempt to repeat your heritage’s past mistakes when we know it won’t work?” Addison watched the councillor’s fall silent to his challenging remarks.

  “I understand you seven here, are concerned because you make it your concern, where there is no reason to be concerned. You are creating your own problems and projecting them onto me and mine for no good reason and no solid proof of anything we have done to break Tri-Council ruling.” Paris stated angrily through gritted teeth, his hands fisted by his side.

  “I wish it were so,” Muttered a council member softly.

  “You have my word.” Paris said back at the council member, solemnly, before looking directly at each member.

  “Mr D’arenberg this is the only warning we will give you that we will be monitoring the Manhattan Maen.”

  Paris glanced across at Addison and nodded his head back. Addison turned around and started to walk back out of the room, Paris at his heel, without any further word. Not a good sign.

  Addison could see the rage simmering under his friend’s skin. He either needed to punch something till it broke, or he needed to shift to his tribal form and kill something till he could feel the life leave it’s body and the blood drip down his throat.

  7

  Staten Island was small. The two fired up werewolf males needed to let some true aggression off without getting messy and loosing the control they used daily in their unusual lives.

  One look at Paris’s stern face and veins in his neck popping out with contained anger, at what he’d just been subjected to and Addison knew there was no way they could just hop in the Porsche and drive back to Manhattan. The man looked like he was about to burst.

  “They have nothing.” Addison stated thinking out loud at what Paris must be running over in his head.

  Addison understood his anger. The council, seemed to think they were somehow slipping in power, perhaps they figured they’re relevancy wasn’t so relevant anymore. They’d decided to belittle the Manhattan Maen alpha. He was after all, the youngest current pack leader in New York, who unlike his predecessor, did things differently.

  “Head to the Greenbelt.” Addison said as they slid into the car again. Paris glanced across at his second in command. “You need to let off the steam those pricks just put on you. Greenbelt’s your best bet.” Paris nodded his head and started the car up in silence, listening to Addison’s voice of reas
on.

  The Greenbelt was the largest natural parkland on Staten Island and luckily for them, it contained woodlands. Woodlands, meant natural habits and animals indigenous to the area. Addison knew that Paris needed more than stretch his feet or run. He needed to hunt and kill, it was the only way the aggression building in him, would leave him. Addison knew this because the two of them were far too similar to not think alike.

  A shape shift in the day time, in a public area was risky and not common practice for them. But both males knew they had to exercise control in being werewolves. Even if they were both alpha males. Alpha’s tended to exert more control than their beta wolf counterparts, but like their fellow werewolves, were still subject to the human emotions that ran rampant through them.

  Paris parked the car at the Greenbelt walking into the park’s grounds together. Shape shifting from human to werewolf could be difficult, if the werewolf in question was traumatised or under duress stress. The emotions their human sides carried tended to impact on their shifting abilities and their wolf after the shift. The boys looked around them as they hurriedly jogged through the park and left the commonly used park paths.

  Jogging was a good start to calming down. The Greenbelt was two thousand and eight hundred acres of land. More than enough space for two werewolves to loose themselves in for an hour or so.

  They ran, and ran, using their arms to widely sweep away branches of shrubs from their face, Paris’s pace increased and Addison lengthened his strides, galloping along with his friend. He could outrun Paris if need be. But this was more for his friend’s benefit than his own. Not that Addison himself didn’t feel the anger that had been raised because of the Tri-State Council’s ignorant presumptions.

  They jumped a fallen log and staggered their steps running down a hill, sliding and running on ground leaves, hitting the bottom of the landscape and sprinting onwards, deeper into the Greenbelt.

  Coming across a heavily wooded area, without much clearing in it. Paris stopped and looked around them, as Addison pulled up and panted next to him. Addison slid off his long sleeved top up over his head. Hastily unbuckling his jeans and kicking off his boots.