Only For Her

Our Golden State Home Came With 6 Special Packages

The moment we reached California, I drove straight north to Lake Tahoe to find us a home. I could buy a mansion if I wanted to with the inheritance Costin left me, but we needed to lay low. I couldn't let Tess get hurt.

"Sign here and here." The woman says uncertainly and I do as she asks. "Do you want me to take you out to the house or...?" She trails off. "I'd like to take the family alone, thank you." I say politely but inside I was impatient. My wolf was pacing to be let out but I couldn't yet. "No problem, Ms. Lupei. Hope you love the house." She smiles and I return it then walk out of her office. I bought the first house that could hold all of us.

We drive out into the forest and Tess looks out the window. "It looks like there hasn't been wolves in years." She comments and I nod. "Says here that the last wolf pack seen here was in 1924. So it's been a long time." I say and her jaw drops. "That really has been a long time for wolves to be killed off." She says more to herself than me. "But there was a pack of two adults and five pups spotted last year in May." I say, reading the article on my phone. "That's good." She says and I switch back onto the map app. "Just ahead, Luke." I say excitedly and he chuckles, "You look like a five-year old." I ignore the comment and he slows as we see a large stone home hidden in the trees. "It's beautiful, Hay." Tess says and Dawson nods in agreement. I smile and get out of the car. I pull the key out of my pocket and we walk together to the door. I twist the key and open the door.
Inside was furnished nicely and I see that the house was left untouched, as if no one had ever lived here. I sniff and what catches my attention puts me on defense. I follow the scent to a door in the kitchen and I open it. The smell comes stronger once I open the door. I turn on the light and it flickers on. I slowly go down the rickety steps and I see a small room in the corner. I put the key in and twist the handle. The door opens and a low growl makes me jump back. A shadow jumps out and I fall on the ground. The shadow races past me up the stairs and I scramble to get up. I hear Tess scream and I run up the stairs. I see muddy paw print tracks in the kitchen leading to where I left them. I follow them and see Tess standing in the living room, holding a large knife in her hand. "Tess put it down. It's safe." I say and she drops it and it clatters against the wood floorings. "They went after it." She says and points to the open door. I run out the door and see four wolves surrounding an all black animal looking thing. I step forward and the animal snarls. I see that in the sun, it wasn't black at all. It was actually a light gray color and its eyes were pale yellow. It looked just like a wolf. "Stop, shift back." I say lowly and one by one they do. "It's a wolf, or a dog hybrid. But it's trained to attack." I say and it barks at me again. I lower down so I am at eye level with it. My eyes glow with my wolf's power and it stops growling. It instead whines in confusion and I reach my hand out. It sniffs my hand then sits down. "Good boy." I say and it gets up again. "Good girl." I say when it sits again. "Let's see what you got here." I say and reach for her collar. "Nanook." I say and she barks happily. Her tail wags and a black and tan wolf comes out from under the house. "Black Ice." I read his collar and I look at the small wooden building beside the house. I walk towards it and open the two doors. A cloud of dust comes out and I cough, and try to wave it out of my face. I look around and see various medals, ribbons, and plaques. All say the same name, "Aaron Washington." I say and look at the pictures left on the table in the corner. He was a young man, around his late 20's. He had Nanook and Black Ice under his arms and was smiling. I see a large piece of cloth in the corner and walk towards it. I yank it off and see a large dog sled. "How the hell do you use that here?" I hear Chase grumble behind me. "I think Aaron would travel north to Alaska or something because all of his pictures have snow, and a lot." I comment and hand them the picture. "There's more dogs. You can't use a sled with only two dogs." Luke says and I nod. I walk past a cabinet and Nanook pushes me towards it. I look at her and she whines. I put my hands on the handles and her eyes are bright as are Black Ice's. I open it and there are six black harnesses. "We're missing four dogs." I say and Luke nods. "Either they went with him or are here somewhere." He says. "They wouldn't have gone with him. Why would he leave Nanook and Black Ice then?" I respond and close the cabinet. This room gave me chills. These dogs were hoping for a past that would never happen again. "At least now I have them under me as an Alpha." I say and he nods. "Nanook, where are the others?" I ask her like I would a person. She barks and moves in a circle. Black Ice mimics her and I look at them confused. "Under the house. The cellar or basement." Luke says and we run outside. "I'll take basement with Nanook. Go to the cellar with Black Ice." I say and Luke runs with the dog. "Come on Nanook." I say and we go inside and to the basement. She races down the stairs and I follow slowly after her. She barks twice and waits, her tail slowly moving. A huge silver and black wolf dog steps out of the dark. He comes to me and sits. "Kodiak." I say and he barks. "Come on." I say and the three of us go back upstairs. "Luke, any luck?" I ask. "Found a pair of twins, Aiko and  Ayka." He says and they sit in a line. Black Ice sits in front with Nanook then Aiko and Ayka. Kodiak sits alone and I know from reading, that there is always a pair of strong wheel dogs. "Where's the other one?" I ask and I hear paws scrambling in dry leaves. A large black wolf dog races out of the trees and he sits beside Kodiak. "There he is." Luke points and I laugh. "Nanook, Black Ice, Aiko, Ayka, Kodiak, and..." I name them off then read the new dog's collar. "Timber." I say and it barks. "The entire team." I say and Luke nods. "They're all under you're control, so whatever you do they'll do." He says and I nod. Bryce and Chase come out with cans of soda in hand and they give us each one. "Nice dog team." Chase comments and Timber growls at him. I lower my hand, palm down, and he stops. "You have them controlled already?" Bryce asks and I nod. "They know she's Alpha. They're all wolf hybrids." Luke explains. "Then make sure they don't hurt anyone." Tess calls from the doorway. "They won't. More like they'll protect us." I say and smile at the dogs. Nanook gets up and goes to Tess. She bows playfully and Tess pets her head. Nanook rubs her head against her thigh and Tess laughs nervously. "She likes you." I say and Tess laughs again. "I'm not used to such big dogs. Sky was so small and tiny." She says and I don't reply to that.
"Where are we going to put them all?" I ask Luke as we sit outside watching the sunset. "In the house. We can't risk them running off after something. I'm pretty sure they can sleep in the living room and with us if we wanted." He says and I nod. "I'll sleep with Nanook, Kodiak and Ayka." I say and he raises his eyebrows. "One will sleep on the floor." I say and he still gives me that look. "If Kodiak gets the bed first, only you and him will fit. I think it's best if I took him and Black Ice." He says and I nod. "Chase, Bryce!" I call softly and they come out. "Yeah?" They both ask. "Are you okay with sleeping with one of the dogs?" I ask. "I'm cool with it." Chase grins. "Yeah, I guess." Bryce says. "I'm taking Nanook and Ayka." I say. "I'm taking Kodiak and Black Ice." Luke says. "I'll take Timber." Chase says. "I'll take Aiko." Bryce says and the dogs come when they hear their names. Aiko jumps onto Bryce and he cradles him like a toddler. I giggle and Aiko licks Bryce's face. Timber stands on his two hind legs and almost is Chase's height. "Come on, you monster." Chase chuckles and goes inside with Timber. Bryce follows with Aiko then Luke goes in with Black Ice and Kodiak. Nanook and Ayka curl at my feet and I look up at the starry sky. "Come on girls. It's bedtime." I say and we go inside. I smile, seeing that they left me the master bedroom. I open the door and see how nicely furnished the room was. I guess that they used to sleep in here because Ayka goes into the closet and curls up under the clothes. Nanook jumps onto a chair and curls up, though her paws hang off. I pull on Luke's shirt and put on some shorts I bought on the way. I lay on the left side of the bed and cover myself with the soft blankets. I close my eyes, tired from today's drive.

Around midnight, I smell Luke come into my room. "Goodnight beautiful." He whispers and I smile. "Goodnight, Romeo." I say and I feel him smile.