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  “They are all part of you and now our children are part of them. I’m only a human. There’s nothing extraordinary about me. The only thing that makes me in any way special is that you love me,” David tried to explain, with resignation.

  “Are you now trying to say you’re just jealous?” I snapped.

  “I’m not even sure what I’m trying to say. I’m only sorry and I promise I will make it all up to you. I won’t leave you again. I promise,” David looked at me wearily and I saw that he truly did mean what he said. I swallowed and he reached out to touch the corner of my eye where a lonely tear fell.

  “You promised that before,” I choked in a small, weepy voice.

  “I know. Please forgive me. I have been an idiot.”

  “Yes, you have,” I affirmed and tried to smile. But I failed miserably and swallowed, staring at the tips of my shoes.

  David looked at me in misery and took a step towards me. I didn’t move. Could this work out after all? In my mind I had already given up, but if David meant what he said, would I dare give him another chance? I scrutinized him. How deep blue his eyes were. How familiar all the features of his face. Was the man I had fallen in love with still hidden somewhere within him? Could I truly trust him or would he again crumble under the weight of new hardships? I pursed my lower lip and narrowed my eyes. Did I love him still? The answer hit me like a bright bolt of lightning. Yes. I was still very deeply in love with him and if I had even the slightest chance of keeping him in my life, I would take that chance.

  “Very well. I forgive you, but if you screw this up now I will go back to Gunward and take the girls with me. For good,” I threatened.

  David was visibly startled at that, but didn’t take his eyes off mine.

  “Agreed,” he said.

  “Agreed,” I affirmed.

  CHAPTER 31

  We eventually agreed that I would go out with Clarissa to bait the approaching wolves. Clarissa would lure the visitors in and I would penetrate their minds and command them to change form. The rest of our pack would also come out but hang back and observe the situation. Twilight had begun to descend and I sensed the wolves roaming in the vicinity. Clarissa sat on the garden swing, looking smashing. Snug black jeans encased her long legs and a tight-fitting white top set off her young, beautiful figure. Her long blond hair flowed down her back like a stream of liquid honey and her large green eyes surveyed the forest with apprehension. When the first howls began she rose and joined me in the center of the garden. I knew all twelve wolves were very close by now and sent my mind to touch them with caution. I sensed no barriers, but was surprised to find out that those nearest to us were only a few hundred meters away. I sent them a sternly worded invitation to come to our home in human shapes - the shapes we had also chosen.

  The wolves were surprised by my order, but since they had all come with serious intent to claim Clarissa for themselves, they decided to obey me. It was completely quiet. The howling had stopped and Clarissa and I stood tensely side by side. Suddenly we heard rustling in the woods and twelve physically very fit young men stepped out of the shadows. Their upper torsos were bare and almost all of them wore informal, worn jeans. Sweat gleamed on their skins and I saw Clarissa staring at them open-mouthed.

  “Oh, God,” she whispered.

  “Indeed,” I said, though for an entirely different reason.

  “They’re divine! Totally unbelievably handsome!” Clarissa drooled.

  “Clarissa,” I burst out.

  “Well, they are! Look at them, Mother! Can there be a more gorgeous sight?”

  I looked at the men, trying to see them from my teenage daughter’s point of view. She was approached by twelve gorgeous men with trained bodies, between eighteen and twenty-five years of age. Their bare, muscled upper bodies gleamed with perspiration and their hair was unruly. Their feverish eyes were hungrily fixed on Clarissa and they were all here for her sake. She only had to choose.

  “Wait a moment. You have to remember they’ve chosen the form you see in order to please you. They might just as well have changed into old men,” I warned Clarissa.

  “Still. They’ve chosen pretty well,” Clarissa muttered.

  The men stopped in front of us and looked at Clarissa as though she were their prospective prey. Clarissa didn’t disappoint them; she met their scrutiny with proud poise. Finally the largest of them moved his yellow-brown, slightly slanted, predatory eyes to me and inclined his head.

  “Mathair.”

  “Joshua,” I replied.

  I don’t know how, but the name slipped from my lips. I lightly touched his mind and he permitted it. This tall, brawny man was indeed dangerous. He originated from the Rocky Mountains in North America. Even as a wolf he had been an unusually large, light Grey alpha male. I knew his presence here was an honor to Clarissa. This was a wolf at least equal to Adam.

  “You have come from afar, brathair,” I said respectfully.

  “I heard you have something for me here,” he said, glancing brazenly at Clarissa

  “In that case you have been misinformed. Clarissa will make the choice but she will do it in accordance with human rules. She is still too young to understand the ways of the wolves.”

  “She is a wolf, though,” Joshua grunted.

  “In mind and body, perhaps, but she is newborn and you must respect that,” I reminded, giving the man a stern look.

  “Your rules, then?” Joshua lifted one eyebrow in inquiry and smiled dazzlingly.

  “My rules. Take it or leave it,” I nodded.

  “Wait a moment,” a red-haired freckled young man interrupted.

  “Derry, right?” I asked.

  He nodded and began a feverish discourse in my mind.

  “No, Derry. This time we will converse as humans do.”

  “As you wish. But I don’t understand why we should submit to human conduct while courting a she-wolf,” Derry said with a hint of cheek in his voice.

  “There is a riddle for you indeed. If you don’t understand it, feel free to leave,” I gave Derry a look of challenge and for a moment I was certain he would turn on his heels and leave.

  “In fact, any of you who do not agree to our terms can leave at once. This matter is not open to discussion,” I said in a voice that brooked no opposition.

  I scrutinized each man in turn and tried to estimate which of them would cause the most problems. If there was anything I could be absolutely certain of, it was that there would be more than enough problems to go around.

  “What exactly do you intend, then?” asked a black-haired, obviously, French young man.

  “I mean that you will proceed to court Clarissa in accordance with human manners. Meet publicly, go on dates, send each other secret messages and if all goes well, fall in love. But Clarissa will choose. You will not put pressure on her. Not even if it takes months or years. You will not pressurize her. Do you understand?” I asked, preparing for opposition.

  The men glared at each other. They weren’t prepared for this. They had come to fight over a newborn shape shifter female, not to pamper a young girl. But the allure of procreating and carrying on their lineage was so strong they were left with no choice. Muttering unclearly, they nodded.

  “I want your words on this. No trickery. Fair play,” I insisted.

  “Oui,” the Frenchman said. “You have my word at least.”

  “You have mine, too,” said Joshua.

  Soon enough all the men had given their words, though some of them clearly very reluctantly, and I invited them into the house. Clarissa couldn’t tear her eyes off the men and I noticed that Ciall was already somewhat bothered by that. Clarissa’s eyes met Joshua’s with particular frequency and I wondered whether it had been a mistake after all to send Adam to Senja. If Clarissa spent a few months in Joshua’s company, Adam would no longer stand a chance to win her for himself.

  Mathanan had somehow managed to conjure food so the table was laden with it and while the men stuffed the
mselves with delicious hot rolls and grilled chicken, they told Clarissa about themselves. I sat beside David but didn’t yet want to touch him. I sensed the men’s fervour towards Clarissa and I knew David had to sense it, too. David sat rigidly, trying to accept the new situation. He had promised to try to accept our new life, but this new turn had come so suddenly that he didn’t quite know what to make of it yet. Our house was full of strangers, all of them shape shifters. David was the only outsider and, even though he was Clarissa’s father, I noticed our guests ignored him and directed their words to me or the rest of our pack. David would have wanted to ask them all sorts of things but didn’t’ quite know where to start, so I decided to relieve him of the anxiety and ask the questions on his behalf.

  I didn’t always bear in mind how easy it was for me to find things out and I tended to assume others were equally capable. I only needed to lightly touch the visitors’ minds to gain answers to any questions I might have. They kept their minds open and allowed me free access to explore. I would have explored even without their permission, but they either knew that or merely wanted to prove they were serious about Clarissa and thus gave me free rein. I directed my words to David, but I noticed our daughters were also listening attentively.

  “That man at the head of the table is Fabio Bolelli. An Italian wolf. His pack lives in Tuscany and they all have taken human shapes. The pack is small and besides Fabio there are only a few elderly males. They’d really need Clarissa but I don’t think she’ll choose him,” I spoke very quietly.

  “The blond Viking is Jonas Bastianssen from Norway. He’s the only member of his pack capable of shape shifting and he’s spent most of his life on Senja with the elders. I do wonder how he’s managed to give them the slip without Adam or Gunward noticing. Jonas is a very noteworthy competitor and a serious threat to Adam.”

  Jonas glanced at me and flashed a reckless smile. Without quite realizing it, I moved closer to David and almost pressed my mouth to his ear.

  “The two dark-haired lady killers over there are from France,” I said, indicating two very handsome men whose eyes were like molten chocolate. They were already trying to flirt with Marie under the murderous scrutiny of Tiamhaidh. “The hawk-nosed one is Marc Gasquet and the one with the long dark lashes and nearly black hair is Adrian Benneteau.”

  “Who’s that morose-looking young man?” David asked.

  “He seems really scary,” Clarissa whispered.

  “His name is Igor Korolev and you truly do have reason to be scared of him. He hails from Romania but has lived for the past forty years in the pack of Alexei Safin, that other somber man. Alexei has for years been gathering up shape shifters in order to train them in Siberia to be secret killing machines for the Russian state. Those two are extremely dangerous and I wouldn’t be at all sure they haven’t made some kind of a pact to share Clarissa.”

  Clarissa inhaled deeply and stared into Igor’s black eyes. Igor met her gaze hungrily and Alexei flashed an insolent grin. Igor was very dark whereas Alexei was a light blond. Both had short hair in military crops, but where Igor’s eyes flamed with black fire, Alexei’s were a bright blue. Like ice. Clarissa quickly turned her gaze to me.

  “You mean they’d share me?” Clarissa whispered, aghast.

  “I think so. In fact, I’m almost certain of it. They are clearly united in some kind of an accord. Not even the Frenchmen would be prepared to share their females.”

  “That’s disgusting! I’ll never agree to that!” Clarissa cried out in a muted voice.

  “That’s why we have to be meticulous when setting common rules with them,” I whispered.

  “Look at the young man by the door. He’s Darel White from Australia. I think you’ll like him if you let yourself get to know him. He’s a hermit wolf, like Tiamhaidh, and they have a lot in common even if it doesn’t seem so at first sight,” I reassured Clarissa.

  Darel looked like a surfer. He leant against the wall with ease and his tanned, muscled upper torso revealed that he did indeed frequent the great outdoors, probably surfing. He, too, had startlingly blue eyes and that astonished me, as I had always thought it very rare for a wolf to have blue eyes. Even though wolf cubs are born blue-eyed, the color will have changed to yellow or orange by the time they reach the age of four months. Only rarely does a mature wolf have blue eyes. Different hues of brown and yellow abound but there shouldn’t be this many blue-eyed wolves. In fact, Tiamhaidh was the first one I had ever met. Marie kept glancing at Darel, obviously making comparisons. Tiamhaidh merely smiled at her.

  “I can’t really find any similarities. Tiamhaidh is unique,” Marie whispered and was rewarded by an exuberant kiss from Tiam.

  “I didn’t expect you could,” I said dryly.

  Then I turned my eyes to the man who was obviously the shortest of the crowd. Even he was about a hundred and eighty centimeters, but all the others topped him by at least five centimeters and were more muscular.

  “The one who looks like a schoolboy is Blake Jones from England. Don’t underestimate him. Bear in mind that he only looks like a schoolboy because he wants to. He may think he’ll get closer to you if he looks like any high school boy. If he wanted to, he might just as well be a frighteningly muscular male, ten centimeters taller and five years older. Always keep that in mind,” I warned Clarissa.

  David had surreptitiously taken my hand in his and I only now noticed he was slowly stroking my fingers. Without my volition, I shivered with pleasure.

  “What of those two?” David asked, indicating two serious-looking men who were quietly conversing with each other.

  “The one with darker skin is Marcel Ferrero from Spain and the one who looks like an ice hockey player is Drew Simmonds from Canada. They aren’t revealing as much of themselves as the others, but they don’t dare shield themselves fully either, for fear of being forced to leave immediately. I don’t think they will be a problem but I don’t think they had expected such serious competition.”

  “Are they planning to give up already?” Clarissa asked.

  “No. I don’t think they’ll give up but I do think they may resort to scheming. We have to empty the house so that we can figure out common rules for all the males – and soon, at that. Otherwise they will make up rules of their own and I don’t think we’d like those rules.”

  “All right. Let’s get them out of the house right now,” David offered.

  “I don’t think it’s quite that easy. Clarissa, we’re going to need all your charisma and your acting skills if we want them to leave. Do you think you can do it?” I asked doubtfully.

  “Just wait and see,” Clarissa whispered, chuckling.

  She rose and stretched languorously so that her small breasts were clearly outlined beneath the tight top. Then she ruffled her long hair and yawned audibly. I saw how the men almost drooled after her. How could a single rational thought have fitted in their heads when Clarissa was shamelessly coquetting in front of them? She approached the men and leant down in front of Igor, giving him a direct view to the neckline of her top, which generously revealed the uppermost parts of her beautifully rounded breasts. I held my breath. Was she out of her mind? Igor was quite possibly the most dangerous of these males.

  “Igor, correct?” Clarissa asked in a voice that oozed honey.

  “I am,” Igor managed to grunt.

  “Hmm,” Clarissa regarded him pensively.

  “I’m really, truly tired and though I’d like to get to know you better right now, I have to get some sleep. Would it be all right for you to leave now and come back in the morning? I’d really like to go to sleep now so I’ll have the energy to get acquainted with you tomorrow,” Clarissa said and yawned again.

  Igor clambered up and gave the other men a bloodthirsty glare. All the members of my pack held their breaths. The other men also rose and met Igor’s stare. Alexei, however, went to stand by his friend and one by one the men withdrew outside. Only Joshua lingered indoors and stepped right next to Cla
rissa.

  “Sly, my love. Very sly,” he said laughter in his eyes.

  “Out. Now,” The bear-like Igor ordered.

  Clarissa went to Igor and lightly touched his bare chest. Seductively she twined her fingers in his dark chest hair.

  “Thank you,” she whispered throatily.

  “Urghl,” Igor gave a muffled grunt and clumsily followed the other men out of the door.

  For a moment it was completely quiet. We listened as the men disappeared into the forest. Soon a few muted howls were heard and then all was silent again.

  “Passionate but stupid as a stump,” Clarissa said with a forced smile. Then she sank down on the nearest chair, shaking.

  “God! I was just about to faint with terror!” Marie said and wrapped her arms around Clarissa.

  “Me, too. I don’t know how I’ll be able to face them again. Even once was once too often,” Clarissa burst out.

  “They were like a pack of hungry wolves,” Marie said and flushed as she realized what she had just said.

  “That’s exactly what they are and that’s why we can’t lose our grip even for a second,” I murmured. “You do understand we really can’t rest tonight. We’re going to have to devise an airtight contract that will keep the men in check,” I said.

  “Not even a moment’s rest?” David asked.

  “I’m sorry, but the men will probably be back by dawn and we will have to be ready by then.”

  “I’ll get some paper and pens,” Ciall growled with resignation.