Chapter 16: The Water

“Stop the carriage!” I screamed as we approached the waterfall too fast. I curled into Atticus, burying my face into him. I tensed, waiting for the cliff to shatter the carriage around us.

But the impact never came.

Instead, the water of the waterfall passed right over the carriage. It didn’t even pour in the window.

I opened my clenched eyes and slowly peered out from Atticus’ hold to see all three of the alphas amused by my reaction.

“Not one of you thought it would be the time to tell me we were going through the waterfall and that the cliff on the other side was just an illusion, hmm?”

Zachariah said nothing, smirking as usual. Dorian smiled, still relaxed in his seat. Atticus full-blown laughed, then turned me so I was facing straight out into lake territory.

And what a sight it was.

This end of the lake seemed so much richer than the human side. It had healthy green grass at its bed, docks with little boats and fishermen at them. Canoes are used to travel down the many rivers that move through the city, and I’m in awe.

The serenity, the smiles on everyone’s faces—it wasn’t what I was expecting. Atticus was so big, so burly, and a little hot-headed most of the time; I had been expecting his territory to reflect that, but it didn’t.

I grinned and leaned closer out of the window. I narrowed my eyes on the middle of the lake where a huge piece of land sat surrounded. It had a huge white castle on it.

I peered over my shoulder at Atticus. “That’s where you live, isn’t it?” I asked.

He grinned. “You’ll see, Fox.”

The homes sprawling over the land were separated by rivers and the bridges that connected everything; the way the land in the middle looked like a mini city on its own—it was breathtaking.

“Wow.” Was all I could manage.

Atticus beamed and kissed my cheek. “Welcome home.”

The carriage came to a stop next to a row of wooden docks, canoes, and small boats tied to them. But the one we stopped next to is huge.

A big dock and a huge boat. Well, it was Atticus, so I should have known. Atticus climbed out of the carriage and held the door open for me.

I took his hand in mine and climbed down. Dorian and Zachariah followed. Both of them were tense, but I was used to them being tense when they weren’t in their own territories.

Atticus stopped before we got to the dock, and my breath caught, staring ahead at what greeted us.

The foreign city and large bodies of water were enough on their own, but apparently, Atticus had a greeting party too.

Men and women, some children, all stood next to the dock with the large boat waiting at it.

They wore smiles, all staring between me and Atticus.

The group was at least twenty large and the four children at the front bowed and curtseyed, “Alpha Atticus, welcome home!” They grinned. Atticus walked over and ruffled the two boys’ heads, then kissed the hands of the girls.

It made them all blush, their eyes glistening in awe. I stood back with Dorian and Zachariah, nervous to be confronted by so many of the pack at once.

“Alpha. Welcome home,” one of the men said from behind the tallest boy child. He wore a hat and tipped it towards Atticus. Every woman there lowered her head in greeting. Then the men.

And they all smiled about it.

The impressive show of respect was so different from what I had expected and how Dorian had been treated.

Atticus even lowered his head back to them, “Wolves of Water Pack. You saw my claim in the blood moon ritual, but allow me to introduce her officially. This is Luna Kassandra Kane.”

I stepped forward, “Uh, Atticus, Kassie is fine.” My whispers fell on deaf ears because they kept looking at Atticus.

He pointed to the other two alphas, “You know Alpha Dorian and Alpha Zachariah. They’re guests for the week—treat them accordingly,” Atticus introduced.

One of the women came through the crowd holding some necklaces. They were made of gold and gems, with a clear pendant that held a drop of the lake in it.

She came to where Atticus was, “May I?” she asked. He nodded once and she smiled, moving past him to me. I tensed, not sure what she was doing until she placed the necklace around my neck.

“Oh. Thank you,” I smiled, touching the pendant.

“Welcome, Luna. This will keep you connected to us. We will feel your emotions as much as our Alpha allows. If you need something, will it into the pendant; we will make sure you have it.”

I raised a brow at that. She walked to Dorian and Atticus, doing the same thing to them.

Atticus looked so proud, grinning before he came over to me and kissed my mouth in front of them.

I pulled back quickly. I did not need them feeling what he did to me through the pendant.

“First of all, don’t be embarrassed about kissing me; they don’t care. Secondly, I will not let them feel anything unless you are in trouble.”

“That’s a very impressive welcome gift.”

He touched the pendant, and a shock of pleasure teased my clit. I sucked in a breath, my eyes wide as I stared up at him.

“Okay, no touching.” I stepped back. He laughed at that, then walked over to the pack. They started talking, heading towards the boat on the dock. He helped each one of them in, waiting until they were before helping the alphas in.

I was surprised they let him.

“They can’t get on themselves?”

“It’s a respect thing. By me helping them onto the boat, I am giving them permission to be on it. If they get on without my touch, they will be thrown overboard and the lake will hold them there for me until I release them.”

More information that intimidated the hell out of me.

“Those rules I asked you about earlier, Atticus? This kind of thing was what I meant.” My hushed whisper was pointless, but I was frustrated.

And a little nervous. They respected him so much that everything behaved with his authority. It was an interesting dynamic and one I wasn’t sure I could follow.

It was a submissive setting, and I wasn’t prepared to be that way after being captive for so long.

Atticus pointed to the small building up in the reeds aside the lake. “The pack that need to cross wait there for me until granted permission.”

I gasped, “They’ve been waiting a whole week?”

He nodded, “They’d wait a year if that’s what it took.”

“But there were children,” I frowned, looking around at the pack on the boat. Its ornate wooden carvings were impressive to me, but the others were focused on the bay across the lake, the main one on the center island—the one we were heading to.

It looked like there was a receiving party there too.

“There is food, latrines, wash basins. They are cared for.”

I nodded, then went with Atticus as he led us over to the side of the large boat. It had sails, and we floated on the water, picking up speed.

Zachariah stood on the other side of me, his hand dug into the wooden railing. A woman on the other side of him came over with a mug of something.

She smiled up at him, “For your sickness.”

He begrudgingly took it, his face pale. Atticus laughed and nodded to dismiss the woman. She smiled and curtseyed back, then left.

Zachariah emptied the mug. “Shut up, Atticus.”

That had the entire pack tensing, but Atticus laughed. “Seasickness, my friend. It happens to the best of us.” He clapped Zachariah on the back, then turned to Dorian, who was staring out at the sprawling land of canals and villages.

“You have humans here too?” he asked with a frown.

“Some. We have better trading on this side of the lake. Better markets, so I do allow humans to wander during the day. Not nighttime, though.”

“Why not the night?” I asked, looking out to where the other two were.

Atticus sighed and leaned on the banister. “Well, Fox. Dorian’s pack may not respect him like mine do me, but I will admit, I envy the control they have. No human incidents, no accidental shifts, no full moon breakouts. No winter escapes.” Atticus looked over his shoulder at his pack, then back out at the water. “My pack cannot say the same. They try, and I appreciate that. I respect them too for the effort they use to withhold themselves, but sometimes, they lose that battle. So humans have a curfew.”

“I understand,” Dorian nodded.

I did too. To an extent. I had heard the vampires talking about how bad the winter was for wolves—that they didn’t shift for the entire season because the moon disappeared.

I went to say that, but suddenly Zachariah snarled. I spun to him, but he yanked me behind him and shoved Atticus onto the banister with an impressive strength I hadn’t expected.

“Zachariah,” I whispered. His eyes were wild and glowing, his claws on Atticus’ throat.

His pack was ready, spears already aimed at Zachariah. Tears stung in my eyes. I had no idea what was happening or why, but I didn’t want either of them to die.

“What can I do for you, Zachariah? And speak quickly, my pack is going to spear you if you don’t let go of my throat.” Atticus was outwardly calm, but I didn’t believe it.

Dorian moved to me, pulling me aside—out of the way of the spears.

“You should have warned her. You should have told all of us,” Zachariah spat in a rare show of intense emotion.

Atticus’ eyes went to me, an apology in them. Then he shook his head at his pack. They lowered their weapons and took a single step back.

“I was waiting until we were inside.”

“Told me what?” I asked, my voice shaking.

Zachariah looked over his shoulder at me. “There are vampires here.”

I sucked in a breath, panic seizing my chest. Dorian growled and pulled me behind him.

Atticus pushed Zach off him and rubbed the back of his neck. “I know. I should have said something, but they are not allowed to harm in the city. They wear a pendant too. If they do any harm, it will break and poison them.”

“You should have warned her.” Zachariah shoved him back and then came over to me. He pulled me to him and wrapped me in his cloak, kissing the top of my head. I couldn’t stop shaking.

The vampires were connected. One look would be all it took for Silas to know exactly where I was.

“Fox—” Atticus reached for me, but Dorian stepped between him and me. He shook his head.

“They can’t see her, Atticus. You know that.”

Atticus nodded once, and his eyes glazed over. I peered at him out the side of the cloak. Atticus stood still for a few moments before he turned to me. “They are being escorted from water territory, Fox. They won’t see you. I was going to show you the castle first, then take you out once they had left. They have an hour in the city to sell their elixirs; that is all.”

“You tried to hide it?” Zachariah scoffed.

“No. Just ease into it. Later.”

“She doesn’t feel very at ease,” Zachariah muttered. I was still shaking. I cleared my throat.

“It’s fine. I’m sorry. I just got a shock,” I tried, but the lie was easy to hear even in my own ears.

“I am truly sorry, Luna. If you are to stay here, I wanted to explain the roles the vampires have in our economy before you choose to have them banished. Their elixirs are of a different magic, one that helps healing. They are expensive, and our kind donate our blood in return. It is a transaction. That’s all.”

I nodded. I understood. I just couldn’t get past the Silas thing. He was allowed in this territory. He could come for me.

Atticus’ chest rattled with a growl before he turned to the others. “Tell the vampires they are not to come back for the week. Our markets are closed to them.”

The captain steering the boat nodded. “I already put the order out, Alpha.”

He nodded in thanks, then met my eyes. “Come here, Fox. Let me fix it.”

I went to him. He wrapped me in his arms and pulled my lips for a kiss. In that kiss was his apology. I accepted it and kissed him back.

He pulled away, and when he did, the boat stopped. We were at the dock.

The greeting party had dispersed, and I had a feeling that was Atticus’ doing. I was about to step off the boat when the wind blew past, and with it, a soft whisper on the wind. A singing melody that had my heart aching. My throat went hoarse, clogging with the breath I tried to take.

“Fox?” Atticus asked, holding his hand out for me from the dock. I narrowed my eyes around me, trying to find the source of the sound. It was a peaceful melody that was so quiet, I wasn’t sure it was real.

Nobody else seemed to hear it. I was probably going crazy.

I shook it off, instantly missing the sound when it floated away. It had felt familiar, tugging at a longing in my mind.

But I couldn’t risk even bringing it up. Especially not here.

So I took Atticus’s hand and stepped onto the dock. He helped all of his pack from the boat, then the alphas.

He led us to the land where there was bright green grass leading up to a huge white palace.

I looked up at it with a grin.

“This is amazing.”

“Wait until you see inside,” Atticus wiggled his eyebrows and then led me inside.

If I had been in awe before, going inside pushed that beyond anything else. My jaw dropped and I turned in the lobby, spreading my arms wide. There were archways and open doorways into communal areas. A sprawling kitchen, a hobby room that was all filled with the pack coming and going.

It was so different from the solitude of Dorian’s home.

The pack nodded as they passed. They went up the spiral stairs, up to the turrets, and wherever they led.

“Are we upstairs too?” I asked.

Atticus shook his head. “No, Fox. In my territory, the closer you are to the water, the higher rank you are.”

I looked down at my feet, at the solid ground. I eyed the rounded halls and then turned to Atticus. “Lead the way then.”

He did, taking us down the left hall and around another spiral staircase. As soon as we went around the first curve, I stumbled back.

“Oh,” left my mouth on a breath. The whole wall was glass, showing a crystal-clear view of the lake. Schools of fish swam close, following us down the staircase as it wrapped downward.

The stairs opened up into a hall with a glass tube. Atticus grabbed my hand and pulled me along it. I couldn’t help but be distracted, not watching where I was going at all. How could I when we were walking underwater?

It was surreal, and the pendant sitting on my chest warmed like it appreciated the compliment. I grinned and then looked up as a huge, bright silverfish swam past.

“This is incredible,” I said. Atticus pushed open a door at the end of one of the many halls and underwater sections that shot out all over the lake bed.

“And this is where we are staying,” he said, leading me in. His bedroom had glass walls too, same as Dorian’s. I shivered as the clear water surrounded us.

His room was huge, as big as Dorian’s. There was a bed that was at least twice the normal size. I hadn’t seen a bed so big in my life. It was covered in silks too, low to the ground. His wardrobe hung multiple clothes. He had swords, weights, clutter all over his room.

Over the dresser in the corner, over the chair and desk in another section of the room. That part of the room was covered in parchment, books, and didn’t look organized at all.

It was the total opposite of the minimalistic, clean room of Dorian’s.

He had lanterns in random places, and his wardrobe was open, which looked just as jumbled.

“It looks messy, but I know where everything is,” he grinned.

I laughed and ran my fingers over the bed. “This bed is huge.”

“So am I,” he smirked.

I shook my head, a smile on my lips until I touched the edge of something lacy.

I pulled out the offending item and swung the panties from my fingertips.

Atticus blushed and grabbed the panties. He chucked them in the corner where a laundry pile was.

Then he thought better of it, then put them in the bin.

Dorian smirked. “Might be better to burn them. The arousal on them is stenching up my senses.”

“Was she good?” I asked.

“Who?”

I nodded to the underwear. “The owner of the panties,” I said, slowly walking up to Atticus. Zachariah still wasn’t speaking, but he did seem curious now that we were here.

Atticus shrugged. “They’re all good, Fox. But none of them are you.”

“Smooth, Atti,” I teased.

He shuddered when I said his nickname. His cock thickened against me, and I smirked.

“I’ll change the sheets,” he promised. I pulled his lips down for a kiss.

Something inside made me do it. A need to prove I was his, to claim him as he had been doing to me. To put my scent even more on him so the others knew why I was there.

I had been the same with Dorian.

Which made no sense because I was only allowed one.

My body didn’t seem to care that I had to choose, though.

I pulled back before things could escalate. “You change the sheets, I need the bathroom. Where is it?” I asked.

Atticus nodded to the door we had come through. “First on the left.”

I kissed him again, then left him to get rid of the ‘before me’ scent. And probably for Dorian and Zach to scold him again.

I smiled and left them to it, going to use the latrine and wash myself. The water systems were impressive, connecting so water came from a spout. As far as I knew, the humans were still on wells and buckets.

I took advantage and doused myself in water under the overhead spout, showering the warmth over me.

I didn’t even have to boil the water on the fire first. It was luxury at its finest.

I grinned, leaving the spray of water and turning the spout off.

I used a cloth there to get dry, then redressed. The bathroom had a lot of space, a large tub, stone slab walls with no glass walls, which meant it was a private space.

It was kind of nice to have a moment to myself.

I took a deep breath, collecting myself after my panic and the weirdness of that song in the wind. Then I left the room. I went to turn back into the bathroom when my eye caught a thick door down the hall further.

It called to me, something about the ornate wooden carvings on it making me want to go to it. So I did.

I walked over to it, touching the designs, then the chunky black padlock that was on the handle.

I frowned down at it, giving it a small yank. It didn’t budge. But I wanted inside. My chest was tight with the need for it.

“Kassie.” Atticus’ voice was dark and dangerous as he came up behind me. I jumped as he glared down at me, holding the lock.

I had never seen him so angry, his eyes glowing toward me, his lips pursed.

His wide jaw ticked, his muscles holding back whatever he wanted to do to me.

I let go of the lock and held my arms around me, his narrowed eyes making me shrink back from him.

“And the Fox slips past the wolf,” Atticus growled. “It’ll be the last time that happens.”

~