Kierra

My mouth drops as I gape at him. Can feel the Arctic wolves turn instantly wary and tense.

"You are such a butt face."

Original, right? I’m too stunned to come up with anything else. He keeps a straight face for as long as he can, which isn't long. Even resorted to biting his lip to keep it from coming out, but it didn't help.

He bends over in laughter, the sounds coming from deep in his belly. I look to the other males and try to look as honest as I can even as I set myself up for mistrust.

"I can get into your head, yes. Much the same way you guys can when in animal form. I can do the same, just in all forms. I cannot, however, make anyone do anything. I can see, read, and feel, but I cannot direct actions."

The maned wolf is still chuckling and slightly turned, so I kick him in the ass. Not 'real' hard, but should have been enough to get him to fall on his face. But does he? Of course not.

"You and your damn long-ass legs. I'm so going to get Maii to trip you since he can stand under you with no problem. Tangle yourself up while strutting around."

He had caught himself by bringing forward a leg to brace his weight. Long hair gets tossed back when he slowly stands, watching me the whole time while turning to bodily face me.

Shit. Now I've gone and done it. I clench my legs hard as he turns on his sensual flirt. When we first met, it didn't work on me, so he's been working on changing it up, learning, and studying my reactions.

"Oh no you don't, not even. You are so getting it when we get home, I promise."

Quickly putting a hand over my eyes and even turning my head so there's no peeking, his deep chuckle works its way into my ears.

No peeking...no peeking...no peeking.

How does one close their ears? Kinda missing being half deaf now.

"You guys live together?"

Older brother sounds surprised. I point my whole body in his direction so I don't see any possible yumminess from the heathen behind me. Everything wouldn't be so bad...if he couldn't smell my interest. Pheromones and female reactions suck.

"In a way. I seem to have adopted him. Have a Vampire, coyote, wolf, and a human at home too."

They both look at me with wide eyes, so I look at them confused. Xavier fills in the blanks as he comes closer. I tense, but I know he won't touch me.

Aside from light hand touches here and there and him using me as a pillow, there isn't much touching between us. He knows how uncomfortable I am with any heavier petting. He isn't in flirt mode anymore though, watching the humans work their way closer without thinking we're noticing. We may not look like it, but we're all on high alert.

"Aside from establishments like the one in Pecatonica, different animal breeds aren't known to interact, let alone live together. Living the way you do is unusual, even moreso when you aren't..."

I look at him, and he waffles his hands. Still kind of lost here. Younger bro actually speaks up this time.

"Even moreso when you aren't sleeping with them."

"I do though, I sleep with all of them. Wait...oh. Oh! Nono, there isn't any of that kind of sleeping. When we all bed down, we're all in animal form in a nest I made in my basement."

My cheeks had flared red when I finally caught on, especially from what I had said just before. I'm sure it can look that way, especially with how easy Xavier and I are towards each other when in public. The joking, laughing, and him constantly standing guard.

But we aren't so it can be confusing to those who are just looking on. Brothers are giving me a weird look so I give a weird look back. Younger brother seems to have taken up the mantle of questioning. Really would like to know their damn names.

"And the Vampire? The human?"

"Question for a question?"

They look to each other then nod to me.

"The Vamp is my sister, and the human is a boy who is mine, even though we do not share blood."

Their expressions are almost comical as they look at me and blink, so I ask my questions.

"Ever going to give me your names? Was coming to get a look at me your only purpose for being here?"

Older brother looks to younger again, motioning him to speak. Younger doesn't look happy about it but does so.

"We heard rumors of a Silver Wolf. Not sure what all the fuss is about, but you seem to be important. I wanted to come meet you. My name is Shade and this is my brother, Zypher."

I raise an eyebrow, but I leave them to their secret names. They sound pretty nifty anyway.

"So you don't know any of the stories surrounding them?"

My question comes out in slight surprise. Xavier is a loner yet he knew of them. How old are these guys? They both shake their heads.

Arctic wolf brothers are standing a few feet in front of me, having moved when noticing I was keeping an eye on our pursuers. I intend on changing their minds about following me. Leading them right to my home really isn't a good idea.

With them being human, I can't exactly hide away the bodies with no one knowing, let alone looking for them. I should probably have a problem with my willingness to kill so easily, but with everything that has been going on, my squeamishness is non-existent. Might also be from my reactions to things being so different from a 'normal' person.

I don't have the same reactions to some things that other people do. The emotion either delayed or just not there, laughing when it's inappropriate. I've had to talk my way out of many misunderstandings from people assuming me cold, rude, heartless, and-or mean. Granted I can be those things, usually when I'm meaning to be. Having a resting bitch face probably doesn't help either. That's what my sister called it, since it's apparently a thing.

The meaning being that while in a neutral state where you aren't making any specific expression, you look angry or annoyed. I've had times when I'd be staring off into space with no expression while at art showings, then getting elbowed by whoever is with me because I'm scaring people away from approaching. I don't do it intentionally...usually.

Speaking of gazing off into nowhere, I seem to have done it just now as Xavier waves his hand in front of my face. The motion catching my attention.

"Err, sorry. If you said anything I didn't hear it."

Maned wolf has seen me do it before, so he doesn't take offense, the wolves in front of me look amused. I blink a few times and take a deep breath. What had I asked them? Oh, yeah.

"Um, so the prophecies and stories you guys know nothing of?"

There we go. Back on track. Can feel my cheeks tingeing red when they just smile at me, even though they're shaking their heads. My eyes catch movement behind them, causing me to frown immediately at what I see.

"We got trouble guys. These are definitely not friendlies. Two males are approaching with guns drawn, just held at their sides. This part of Rockford, the shots won't be uncommon, but we're going to want to move fast. Incapacitate but leave alive."

Spoke low, and they all incline their heads. Awesome, they all take instructions. Wasn't sure about the brothers and I know Xavier can be a pest, but not when it comes to situations like this. Slipping into each one and showing them an image of what I want to do, they give another small nod, even though the brothers go on the defensive.

I drop down as the males disperse to either side, drawing the humans' attention. When they move to raise weapons at the guys, I leap forward and do something daring. Not even sure it will work, but if nothing else, it lets the guys get closer without being shot first.

Human movement was used when they first turned and darted, now they put on the Were speed as they come in on either side. My daring move was to yank the guns from their hands. I get a hold of one but miss the other.

As they turn back to face me though, the guys are on them. The gun I didn't grab goes off, something bites into my lower calf, but I ignore it as I backhand him, sending him flying into Shade's arms.

The other human in front of me takes his chance, having lost his gun, he throws a punch. Since my focus was on the other one, he connects solidly. My left cheek gets the impact that rocks my head to the side.

Zypher grabs him before he can throw another, my head turning back towards him slowly, eyes bleeding yellow as I glare at him.

"Now that wasn't very nice, didn't even buy me dinner first."

He starts screaming at me but is silenced real quick when the older brother spins him around, throwing his own punch that has the yelling man hitting the ground hard. That broken jaw is really going to hurt later.

The other human is also out on the ground. I don't see Xavier, my heart thumps hard but settles instantly when I see him dragging out another man.

"Shit, I missed one, didn't I?"

He nods but smiles at me. He has military training, so he'd known there was probably another surprise attacker. This one is still aware even if he does look a little dazed.

Dressed in all black doesn't hide that he has a broken arm and a busted nose. Doesn't look like the typical gangster or street rat, so I'm a little lost. His muttering of a monster in the dark has me smirking.

The three of them get dragged to lay in the brushes decorating the area behind the library. Really cold down here since the Rock River is right there, a few feet away. Not exactly hidden, but not out in the open either. I want to check for IDs but we're out of time as I hear sirens.

"That's a little faster than usual."

Looking at the brothers, I make my offer.

"I can share more information, willing to since you've helped me twice now, but you'll want to come with me."

There’s not even any hesitation as they accept. They hop into the back of my jeep while Xavier and I take the front and we head off. Where many people mess up right here is when they try getting away as fast as possible.

That's stupid and just calls attention to yourself, you leave at a normal pace as if you know nothing of what just happened. Only way I don't see that working is if you're trying to dispose of a body and no one else is around for miles. Since that isn't what I'm doing, I should be good.

To be safe though, I do turn off at the next street, just have to circle around to go the way I want. I keep an eye on my rearview mirror, then Xavier pulls a tape out of his pocket, holds it up, and flips it between his fingers.

"Trophy?"

I ask, but I got a feeling what it is, and that isn't good.

"We were being videotaped. The camera got smashed, but I grabbed this from it. Probably a good thing none of us started shifting."

I wince, considering I sort of did with my eyes, but I can't control that. The brothers' speed could also get called out. Since it's a tape, I have nothing to see what's on it, only one I know who would is Benjamin.

Will have to give him a call when we get to the house. Going to be fun explaining to Asher my bringing in a couple more strays. Don't think they'll stay long though.

Had noticed Shade had grabbed up my coat for me when he jumped in, so I reach back for it, pulling it up and setting it next to me. I brake kind of hard when I drive into what's almost a wall of water.

"What the hell?"

Rain? Not just rain, but pouring rain. I've heard of it raining in the later months, but I haven't seen anything like this. We’re halfway home, but I've slowed way down, 4-wheel drive does not mean you're immune to spinning out if you get hit.

"You guys bring the rain with you?"

It's coming down so hard it's nearly impossible to see. Even with new sight, it's still blurry, my wipers unable to keep up with the deluge. I keep my eyes on the road now instead of keeping an eye behind us.

"It doesn't rain in northern Wisconsin this time of year, it's all snow."

Even they sound confused. Flooding is almost immediate, the previous piles of snow adding to the water as it melts. So glad I don't live closer to the river. Shit... Ava.

Pulling my phone out of my pocket with a little difficulty, I hand it over to Xavier.

"Call Ava, make sure she and Lily are alright, they're damn close to being on that lake."

Scrolling through contacts, he calls them while I focus again on getting home in one piece. Assholes are always aplenty on the streets, ones that think they're immune to everything. Sure enough, one skids off into the ditch on the opposite lane with spinning tires from going too fast.

"Dumbass."

No sympathy here. They're safer staying in the ditch then driving anyway, safer for others as well. Ava and her daughter are fine, they got Asher and the kids home before it started, rain's not bothering them as much as it is their horses and her crop field. I'd rather it be the fields then them, so I relax a tiny smidge. Going to be a swamp around the house, which has me groaning.

Takes three times longer than it should've, but I finally pull into my driveway.

"Well, if nothing else, we shouldn't have been followed very easily. Doubt Asher is gonna want to be out in this either."

Putting my jacket over my head, I make a run for it after parking in the makeshift garage. It's technically a really big shed, but it works. Glad my front porch is wide, leaves room for everyone to jump onto it.

"Shoes off, please. I don't have carpets, but that doesn't mean I want mud everywhere."

I get grinned at all around, but they oblige me as mine come off. Looking out over my 'front yard', my lips purse. Under the pines it isn't so bad, but the clearing around my house is muddy as hell and flooded.

Door opens before I even get close to the knob. There used to be a screen door, but I finally just took the damn thing off. It's leaning against the side of the house now, gathering all sorts of rust and rips. Nowhere else to put it.

Bastion opens up, blue eyes widening when he sees the two new men. Kid is going to have plenty of males to potentially model himself after.

"Hey Imp, please tell me Asher isn't out in this? If he is, he isn't coming back in."

The amused warmth slipping into my head lets me know he's inside. I let him know we have company, but he can already tell that by scent. We file in, me in front and Xavier at the rear.

I head straight for my room where I lay the wet leather out on my bed. Don't know if it's waterproof or not, but I guess I'll learn soon enough. Heading back out, I snag a hair tie and pull mine back.

Makes my face look really round, but I could care less at this point. My socks get peeled off outside the bathroom and tossed into the hamper. I hate socks. Go without whenever possible. Have to wear 'em with shoes though, hence why I also hate shoes. It’s only in the last few years that I could stand flip-flops.

Walking back out and actually looking around this time, Bastion and Maii are at the table working on one of his puzzles, both taking looks at the newcomers. Asher is in his typical spot on my couch, the L shape now more of an I shape since his length takes up one whole side. Drives him nuts when Xavier gets his scent on it, which makes the wolf spend at least five to ten minutes rubbing all over it again.

"Orion pick up Faline?"