The Lupine Necklace

I growled playfully as my boyfriend Ian stalked closer to me. He had a predatory gleam in his eyes and they were focused solely on me. We were on a run for fun, escaping everyone that seemed to hover after everything that went down when I got kidnapped.

See, my dad is the keeper of the Lupine Necklace, a necklace that grants the owner the ability to control real wolves. This power in the wrong hands could be disastrous, giving a werewolf pack more power than they should ever have. It's for this reason that my dad tried to keep the necklace hidden from everyone. However, when he enlisted the help of his best friend to help him find me, his friend used that as an opportunity to force Jeremy to give him the necklace.

He kidnapped me and told my dad that he'd let me go as long as he handed over the necklace. Naturally, my dad refused and after only one very painful lashing, my pack came to our aid and rescued us. Now my dad was staying with us to try and get to know me and we were all on high alert, waiting to see of Derek would make another move on me or Jeremy.

I was still surprised they let me out with Ian. I hadn't been allowed out in the woods without at least two other wolves since they rescued me. It's not that bad, considering my runs are normally with my best friends, Nate, Lee, Xena and Ian, but sometimes, Ian and I want some alone time and it's impossible to get in the alpha house.

Ian and I were on alert and ready for anything to happen, but we were also enjoying some alone time that we hadn't had in quite a while. I was ready when he pounced on me and I rolled, trying unsuccessfully to evade his attack. We rolled through leaves and sticks before a tree broke us rather painfully apart. I barked at him in challenge and took off, hopefully leaving him in my dust.

I heard an unfamiliar howl and skidded to a stop just in time to see a large brown wolf slam into Ian, knocking him to the ground. I saw red and leaped into the fray, angrily slamming the wolf off Ian and into the ground. He didn't put up much of a fight and within seconds I had him pinned to the ground, my teeth exerting pressure on his neck.

Layla, stop! Ian exclaimed through our mental link. I growled at him. No wolf comes into my territory and attacks whoever they feel like. I told him so.

I felt Ian's human hand on my flank as he said, "Let him go, Layla. That's my friend, John, from my old pack. Remember the stories I told you about him?"

I released him slowly and moved to stand in front of Ian, still on alert. The adrenaline was still pumping and I'd most likely be protective until my system calmed down. Ian scratched between my shoulders, helping me.

John shifted and stood slowly. "Jeez, man. Did your girl have to attack me?"

Ian snorted. "You're the idiot that barreled in here and attacked me. She didn't know who you were and we've had some problems lately. You're lucky she didn't kill you."

Now John snorted. "I could take her if I wanted to."

I growled menacingly and Ian grabbed the fur at the scruff of my neck to keep me from launching myself at his friend. John stared at me in surprise and Ian smiled down at me.

"She's the alpha's daughter and I don't think I'd want to challenge her. I've seen her fight and I don't think you want to go against her today," Ian assured him. "Now straighten up and show some manners."

John had shaggy brown hair that fell almost to his eyes and a little past his ears. His eyes were brown to match and he was grinning charmingly at me. "I'm sorry about how we're meeting. I heard how relaxed your pack was and didn't think you would think I would hurt Ian. Forgive me?"

I huffed and nodded. He smiled happily at me and moved to give Ian a man hug. I stepped out of the way so he could reach Ian and Ian pulled me right back after the hug.

I'm sorry, too, he told me. I didn't know he was coming or I would have warned you. He's impulsive and doesn't always think things through.

I nudged his hip with my head and said, it's okay, he just startled me. Let's take him back to the house. We'll try to escape another day.

Ian leaned down to kiss my head and John said, "look how cute you two are! It's like you can communicate without words." His voice was a teasing falsetto and Ian reached over and punched his arm.

"Shut up, man." Ian started walking back to the house with me on his right side and John tagging along on his left. "We'll head back to the alpha house and you can meet everyone. And be polite."

John put his hand over his heart, pretending to be wounded. "Your faith in me is astounding, my friend." I chuckled a little and John leaned forward to smile at me. "I was beginning to think you didn't have a sense of humor, alpha-chick." I rolled my eyes and he laughed.

When we walked through the kitchen doorway, Alice took one look at us, sighed and yelled, "Jason! The kids brought you another present!"

We heard a menacing growl from the living room and my eyes widened as Jason came into the room, shortly followed by Jeremy. They were menacing as they looked at John and I shifted quickly.

"Not a bad present!" I quickly assured them all. "This is Ian's friend, John. He passed us while we were running. He came to visit Ian."

All three of them released sighs of relief. "Thank god," Jason said. "I'm not ready for lockdown."

"Neither are we," I assured him as I walked forward and reached for a robe.

"Whoa! What happened to your back?" John exclaimed.

I paused in my reach for the robe and heard Ian slap the back of John's head. "Ow!"

I grabbed the robe and pulled it on. The lashes from Derek had scarred and my back wasn't a pretty picture. Jason and Jeremy had dark looks on their faces and Alice just looked sad. I shook my head. "It doesn't matter. We took care of it."

John seemed to know to leave it at that as he look around at everyone's faces around him.

Jason, changing the subject, asked, "So how long are you planning to visit, John?"

John shrugged. "I didn't want to intrude, so I only planned on staying for the day and heading home tonight."

"Well, you're welcome to stay the night, if you'd like. I know Ian would love to have you around while Layla is training later and we have a guest room you can stay in," Alice assured him.

"That would be great, ma'am. I haven't seen Ian in a while and it would be nice to catch up."

"Well, you're just in time for lunch," Alice replied, pulling him over to the table. "Have a seat and you can tell us all about Ian when he was younger."

Ian groaned and I grinned as I took a seat across from John. Ian sat beside me, Jeremy beside John and Alice and Jason at the ends.

John regaled us with stories about Ian when he was young, all of which I hadn't heard yet from Ian himself. We enjoyed listening to the entertaining stories all the way through lunch.