Lucky's confession, that she was the Las Vegas Wolf, the hot topic of conversation in every werewolf pack in the United States, was met with silence, and she wondered if her intuition had been wrong.
She really thought they had figured it out. How many giant black wolves could have been in Las Vegas? If they had seen her wolf form, they probably knew. So why did they seem so surprised?
"Shit bricks and build a castle," Eli finally said, "I can't believe it. You? You are the wolf that has all the packs in an uproar, wondering why in the hell a werewolf shifted in Las Vegas and made such a public spectacle?" He looked concerned, but not angry.
"We try hard to stay off the radar, so why do something so reckless?" Daniel asked, looking genuinely curious. He and his brother both recognized her wolf, and figured there was a story behind it.
"You are a bit of a celebrity at the moment in both the human and werewolf communities. People are scared, we are scared that people are scared, usually scared people means trouble for us," Eli informed her. "Do you mind telling us what happened?" He leaned forward, eager to hear the truth about what had happened.
Lucky laughed, a bitter edge to the sound. "I thought you'd never ask." She was thankful for the liquid courage as she began to tell her life story. The tragedy of her early life on this planet, her life as a human who hadn't a clue she was more than a normal girl. She took a deep breath before getting to the hard part.
"When I was seventeen I was kidnapped by two men. They took me to a hotel, right on the strip in Las Vegas. I never saw much outside of my suite. I had no way to contact anyone." She was shaking, letting her long dark hair cover her face, her disgust with her abductors clearly conveyed by her voice. "Those vile pieces of shit started making me doubt everything I thought I knew. They fucked with my head until I wanted to literally cut it off my body. Then, I turned eighteen and my body became fair game. I am surprised they even waited for that." She stood up, tears in her eyes. "I doubt you need the gory details to know what I mean?"
The three guys shook their heads, looking at the floor. All three fighting tears for Lucky, none of them could imagine living through what she was describing.
"They sold my body to the richest clientele. Insane amounts of money paid to do whatever they wanted to me, as long as they didn't leave me disfigured." She laughed bitterly again. "One couple learned that the hard way, the only time I ever agreed with the way those pigs did anything." Never mind that they planned on doing the same thing to her. She sniffled, and Traven handed her some paper towels. "They beat me up so badly that the next day my "owners," well one of them, came in to my room with a gun to shoot me because they assumed I would be too damaged to make them any more money. But, that night, with that awful couple, was the first time I turned in to a wolf. It happened when I was in my sleeping room, so it wasn't on camera. I already hurt so much but all of a sudden I truly felt like I was burning alive. Within minutes that seemed like hours, I had claws, then paws, and I looked in the mirror and saw this huge black wolf. All the pain was gone. And I heard a voice in my head, it was Nyah, my wolf. She knew what I was going through. She saw it all. I just stood there, staring at the mirror, and listened to her, as she promised we would get out of there." Lucky was talking fast, trying to get this over with. "I felt hope for the first time in so long. After she had given me the quick version of werewolf basics, I crawled in to the bed and fell asleep. I woke up to a gun in my face, and one of the evil pigs was holding it but looking at me like he was shocked, he almost looked scared. I thought I must have still been a wolf, but it wasn't that. I had completely healed from devastating, face crushing injuries, broken bones, insides torn and bleeding, all of it healed. I looked normal. Better even."
Eli nodded. "We have extraordinarily fast healing, and often after the first transformation we are enhanced subtly."
He had mind linked their Alpha when they first arrived, so he could hear the story from the source. That had been the plan from the beginning, once their Alpha realized Eli had been serious about the resemblance. The Alpha told Eli there was something about this little she-wolf that was important, as he had also sensed a power in her that surpassed anything he had ever encountered. Lucky was a mystery that needed to be solved. Eli kept the mind link open, urging Lucky to continue.
"I remember I was disappointed. I thought he was going to kill me and I truly wanted to die. I truly did." Suddenly Lucky was exhausted.She looked at Eli and Daniel, who wore almost identical expressions, a mix of sadness and rage. Traven came over and sat next to her, his arm holding her against his side.
"If those bastards weren't already dead…. I wish I could bring them back to kill them again. If you ask me, she showed way too much mercy when she ended them." Traven held Lucky close to him, wanting her to feel safe, to know that no one would hurt her like that again.
Eli also found her story hard to listen to, because he kept thinking of his mate, Amelia. If anything like this happened to her, Goddess, just the thought was almost too much to bear. He found his respect for this brave she-wolf had grown enormously. How did she come out of all that and still have kindness and love in her heart? He could see her kind heart in her actions and sense it from her aura, which was powerful, as his Alpha had sensed.
He gently urged her, "go on, we are listening, Lucky. You have nothing to fear from us. I give you my word." That seemed to reassure her a bit.
"Everyone in that room had to die for Nyah and I to gain freedom. And they did. In less than a minute. I shifted in the cage they had me in and it broke apart. The chains were nothing to me in wolf form. Nyah tore them all to pieces. We grabbed one of the bags of money, just one bag, it was enough and it was all we could carry. We were careful, took the stairs down, then accidentally tripped an alarm going out through an emergency door."
"It was probably the fire escape," Daniel said. She nodded.
"Everything from there on is kind of a blur, I just ran. People were scared and I felt bad about that but I just wanted to get as far away as I could as fast as I could. I couldn't stand the smell of the blood I was covered in, so I jumped in the fountain and washed it off. The smell was that bad, putrid, nauseating. It smelled like pure evil. I didn't think about the effect it would have on the water and the people nearby. The water got redder and redder, the fountain started spraying red. don't know how long it took before someone shut it down because I was long gone by then."
She remembered them saying the Las Vegas Wolf was a huge national story, and turned on the TV. She found the news channel, and strangely enough, one of the top stories featured what they called "exclusive footage" of the exotic animal's "literal bloodbath." It showed what Lucky had just described. The video obviously came from someone who had recorded the scene from a cell phone.
You could hear him saying, "what the actual fuck is that? Are they filming some show with big wolves in it? Because wolves are not that big. That isn't real. Is this a show? It must be a show. Amazing special effects." The owner of the phone sounded like a young man, rambling as the scene unfolded. Most people were screaming and running away. This kid talked himself in to believing a computer generated or mechanical wolf was being filmed in a scene for a movie, because the alternative explanation was, well, impossible, exactly what she would have thought a month ago watching this as a human.
Nyah really was gigantic. At least three times the size of an adult wild wolf. She was stunnningly beautiful, after the blood was washed away and the haze of rage and fury began to subside.
She learned from the latest news reports that most humans believed the men had been trying to win this "exotic animal," and now she could see why that theory was the leading explanation. Nyah would be one hell of a trophy for any trophy hunter. Many people were angrier about such a unique animal being treated like a trophy than they were about the dead assholes.
She was surprised to hear the newscaster with the perfect white smile say, "what a majestic creature." Nyah soaked up the compliments, puffing her chest with pride.
"It's strange how the humans can be spot on but completely off at the same time," Daniel said.
"That's what makes them so dangerous," Traven mused. They watched until the news station cut to a commercial.
After a few moments of silence, Eli raised the whiskey bottle. "To Lucky," he toasted her, then took a big drink and handed her the bottle. She took a swig, and toasted her wolf. "To Nyah," she passed the bottle to Traven, and he and Daniel both toasted to "Lucky and Nyah."
Lucky had tears streaming down her cheeks, but they now came from overwhelming relief and joy. She felt acceptance, a connection, a kinship with these werewolves. Traven pulled her closer to him. She threw her arms around him, settling on his lap, resting her head on his shoulder.
He hugged her back, whispering "I am the luckiest werewolf in the world, I can't believe you are my fated mate, you are incredible on so many levels." To the others, Traven asked, "so do you still want to invite us to your pack?"
"Of course," Eli said. He had been given the go ahead to bring their guests. Alpha Jacob was eager to meet both Lucky and Traven.
Flappy had fallen asleep with his head on Eli's foot. "What is it about this dog?" He shook his head, amused.
"I will make sure and warn the pack not to eat him," Daniel joked. Flappy woke up as they all laughed, looking a bit annoyed, as if he knew what they were saying. He seemed to find their jokes about putting him on the menu less than funny. He headed for the bedroom to continue his nap. Lucky planned to join him soon. She was tired, but felt better, like she had started the process of letting go of the past.
She felt something move as she sat on Traven's lap. He jumped up, and she fell to the floor, confused for a moment. Then he started apologizing.
"I am so sorry, I can't help it, you just have this effect on me, forgive me," he stammered. she looked confused for a minute, then understanding showed in the gleam in her eyes and what she said next.
"I should be the one apologizing for giving you a hard time," she said, her voice serious as her eyes danced with laughter. Finally, she couldn't hold it in and lost it, laughing hysterically at her own joke.
Eli and Daniel were literally rolling on the floor, holding their sides. Traven's face turned bright red, but he only felt a tiny bit embarrassed about being the target of Lucky's quick wit. "Ha, ha, very funny. That's okay, make fun of me, mock my anguish, it's all good," he spoke with mock sarcasm.
When they were all breathless from laughing, and maybe from being a little drunk, Lucky finally said "I better take a nap and sleep this off," her words slurred enough for her mate to notice. He asked Eli and Daniel to wait while he helped Lucky to the bedroom.
She surprised him by kissing him with real passion as soon as they crossed out of the others' line of sight. He could smell the change in her. She wanted him. He wanted her too, but he couldn't. Not yet. She was tipsy, and he wanted to make sure their first time together was magical enough that it felt like a real first time for her. He knew this was very important. So he gently guided her head to the pillow and patted the bed for Flappy to join her for a nap.
He looked back as he closed the door behind him. His mate and his beloved dog, curled up together, sound asleep, it was a sight to see. All he felt at that moment was love. He thanked the Moon Goddess, vowing to run under the moon and howl his praise to her for the blessings she kept sending his way.
Eli and Daniel sat in the living room, patiently waiting. He smiled at his new friends, who had hooked up the PS5 Lucky bought for him. He had seen them eyeing the gaming system, and suspected they were gamers.
"Let's kill some stuff," Daniel said.
Eli nodded eagerly. "Gun Game!"
Traven knew he had found his tribe.
"Its spawn time!" He exclaimed, eagerly grabbing a controller. He had missed having friends. He had taken so much for granted when he was younger, but he knew that he would never make that mistake again.