The Characters of Clayton, Rya, Kennedy, Dallas, and the Valentines belong to Rachelle. The character of Cora is expanded on with Permission from Rachelle, and is written for the pleasure of the International Wildflower Pack, the WhiskeyQueenn fandom. #WildflowersUnited #iwp 

::: Inspired by the amazing narrative CLAYTON by Rachelle Whiskeyqueenn  ::

Not Our Ways

I am really glad I took the summer off. Jamison had dropped out of culinary school in the spring, once I had agreed to date him. He was still grumpy that I lived in the 17th street area but grudgingly accepted my choice. Actually, I think his mother informed him I would be allowed to stay where I wanted and do what I wanted with my time and my money. I had learned that his father got the Alphaship because of her family's money. She came from an old established urban pack back east, pretty much any electronic anyone owned, her family controlled the rare metals used in them and also owned a very large shipping empire, imports and exports. And she saw me as 'her' pack's best option for future Luna and actively was seeking a way to keep me from returning to Adams. 

Lately, Luna Elizabeth had been battling with wealthier but unproductive wolves in their pack about my work with the unpacked wolves. She wanted changes too, and appreciated duty to lesser wolves. She wanted them to be valued pack members. She wanted Urban to be more like traditional packs, where wolves were wolves, not wolves in human clothing. She and I spent many a lunch talking about changing the dynamic of the Urban Pack and the packless. She helped get better paying jobs for the unpacked wolves with the wealthier families, but Alpha Jefferson would not let any who were worth less than a million join the pack. 

Poorer wolves could work for the pack, but were not part of the pack. It was just another form of elitist prejudice, based on money instead of genes. It was a frustration she and I shared. Her family had worked as miners and prospectors, sea captains and sailors. They made themselves wealthy through work, not by inheritance, not by manipulating the stock market, bond numbers, and bank papers. Her wolf and mine ran together when we could get away from the city. I think we actually like her more than Jamison... No, wait that sounds weird. Or does it?

~

"Setting timer... and shift!" I yell at the group of eleven young wolves.

Liu and Lau watch closely, they are visiting from Tsang-Lao pack and staying with me. Jamison is not happy. Tonight there is a formal gala to welcome the international gathering of young Alphas and Betas. I will be there as a representative of both Noble pack and Adams pack. The Adams Alphas aren't coming, I hope. Luna Elizabeth hadn't received the RSVP as of yesterday.

"30 seconds!" 

Out of the corner of my eye, I see the twin Betas conferring. Only two make the two minute time limit for the shift. We wait for them all to finish before I put the pups on the treadmills. I can see the cringe in both the Betas' eyes as these city wolves roughhouse while waiting their turn to run on machines.

"Please tell me this is not the extent of their training and exercise," Liu begs.

"It is better than the nothing they had before," I answer sadly.

"Do they even know how to hunt?" Lau asks.

"I take them out to a local farm once a month to hunt wild rabbits, but never anything bigger," I explain. "I have made friends with a wolf who is a national park ranger a few hours away, he will let us come hunt deer if I have chaperons, but these Urban wolves don't hunt, so I can't take them." I am hopeful to my friends to volunteer themselves.

They bend their heads toward each other as I go to break up a squabble between two males. "We will take these children on their first hunt, Alpha Leong and his cousin wish to join us."

I can't hide my smile, as I bow, "Please tell Alpha Tsang Leong, we would be honored and thank you."

"Lady Min-Hau wishes to know if you will be in 'the dragon dress'? She has her phoenix dress" Lau looks perplexed by the question.

I giggle, imagining the look on her older cousin's face if we showed up in those particular dresses, showing off our tattoos and everything else to the mated and unmated elite of werewolf society. "Uh No. Kindly ask her to text me. Those dress aren't meant for tomorrow's party, perhaps tonight I can take you to one of Jamison's clubs."

Both frown slightly, but nod. The Tsang Lao wolves are not impressed with the future Urban Alpha and less impressed that I am dating him. After I dismiss my pups, I make the call to Remy. He will close the park for 'Maintenance'. We can hunt on Tuesday and Wednesday, plus Monday to drive there and Thursday to drive back or maybe Friday. It will take most of the week. I rent a couple vans and some camping equipment online. This is going to be an adventure the pups will never forget.

~

Sunday, while I cook us an early dinner, the Betas and I talk about other ways to train my packless pups. Leong and Min show up after a long day of  meetings, obviously frustrated.

"I just can't stand all those fake city wolves," Min laments, rolling her eyes. "I can't take four more days of meetings or my wolf is going to start eating them."

"I do not know how you live among them, Cora. I asked where to go running because I was getting angry and they took me to the basement... to run my wolf on machines! ON. MACHINES!" Leong looks so offended, I almost laugh but instead I just smiled sympathetically. 

As I plate them and the twins supper, I try to explain life in Urban, "Leong, they don't have green-ways like you do at home, most of them only shift when they visit their country estates, once or twice a year."

Lau makes a disgusted noise, "A wolf should shift at least once a week." Her twin nods his head vigorously.

I smile sadly, "Their ways are not our ways. They do not believe as we do about many things. Most of the she-wolves you will see tonight have not shifted in years. They find their wolf form repulsive." I actually laugh at the shock on their faces, Leong's expression is priceless. Standing on my tiptoes, I kiss him on the cheek, even sitting on one of my bar stools, he is still taller than me. I know he gets squirrely if he can't shift frequently. "Don't worry, big bad wolf. We'll play hooky and I'll take you hunting this next week. I promise. Now eat, I know the caterer for tonight and if we don't eat now, we will all starve."

He hugs me, burying his face in my neck, inhaling, murmuring, "You do not belong here, Cora. I do not like that you carry the stench of this city."

"Leong, you sound like Charlie. These wolves need me, and I have to finish school," I say.

He just snorts and begins to shovel dumplings into his mouth, groaning happily at the taste of home, his great-grandmother's recipe. He almost smiles.

~

The gala is horrible, crowded, bad music, worse food. The only bright spot was three of my Aussies came! Paully, Brett and Alistair all hugged me and their mate-in-laws. Corbin and Qwan had just had their first pup after two failed attempts. We were all crowed around Brett's phone looking at the baby pictures when Clayton and Kennedy showed up, so I made the introductions. Kennedy asked about my school and volunteer work. Luna Elizabeth sends Luna Catherine monthly updates as a courtesy. As I told them about my work and our upcoming hunting trip, Kennedy invited themselves along. I guess because I came home to cater her last two birthday parties, she thinks I've forgiven her, if she only knew. 

 My Aussies volunteered to come too. Angrily, Jamison had growled every time on of them hugged or touched me, then made some excuse not to go with us and stalked away. For a moment, I thought Leong or Brett was going to punch him. If I hadn't been playing the good hostess, I would have smacked him myself. He is so possessive sometimes it drives me crazy. 

Clayton got a little angry when Alistair put the moves on Kennedy, but the suave future alpha of the Queensland pack only laughed it off, saying if he wanted to keep his coppery-haired Sheila, he should mark her. I actually choked on my drink. A dozen drinks later, they were friends or so it seemed. Paully got Kennedy onto the dance floor and she took turns dancing with half the unmated Alphas there. Clayton's 'mate' was definitely the Belle of the Ball much to the dismay of the manicured, anorexic masses of the Urban she-wolves. Leong, Lau, and Liu danced with Min and I, but declined to dance with Kennedy. When I asks them why, they simply looked out the window at the Moon and back at me.  

'Well, obviously,' my wolf was so on their side.

Afterwards, I hoped to dance with Jamison, but I saw him with some anorexic she-wolf hanging off his arm and he ignored me. Before I left, I tried to find him again, but his brother Jackson said he had go deal with something at one of his clubs. As I tossed and turned, trying to sleep, I tried to figure out what Jamison's problem was. What made him so angry he would leave without saying goodbye to me. It must have been a bad problem, he didn't call to say goodnight. I texted him to see if the problem was solved and got no response. Later I texted good night, nothing. 

Guess he is still angry, oh well. Leong is here, let's talk to him instead. He is on the roof. My wolf encouraged. She loved spending time with him and hated spending time with Jamison. So to make her happy, I threw on a pair of boxers and tee and went upstairs to find the Alpha of Tsang Lao sitting in the soil of one of my box gardens. His infinitely dark eyes smiled at me even though his face remained stoic.

"Your garden is interesting. Everywhere you go, you bring life and hope," he finished by calling me his nickname for me, a word I had never learned to pronounce. 

I shrugged as I sat down beside him, leaning into the warmth of his shoulder. "It's what I do."

"Yes, it is."

~

I woke at dawn and baked sticky buns with maple bacon praline for the road. Packed a few in a plastic to-go box and changed into my jogging clothes. The vans and gear would be delivered at 8AM, so I had barely enough time to run to Jamison's building and surprise him with his favorite breakfast before I left. And I needed to get my tension out before I spent hours in a van with Kennedy and days camping with her.

'We could push her off a cliff or drown her in the river or I could just bite her wolf and claim I thought it was a fox or red squirrel, they are the same color and size...' My wolf had no end of suggestions of what we could do to remove the princess from this world. I can't help but laugh at her, she is so creative and yet practical too. Although the dropping a boulder on Kennedy was a tad too Wile E Coyote. My run was entertaining to say the least.

The doorman let me in the building and I punch in the elevator code to Jamison's floor. As the silver doors slid from view, my nose was immediately assaulted with the smell of expensive alcohol, she-wolf, and sex. My wolf began snarling, she may dislike Jamison but she knew I liked him. Jamison was sprawled across a naked faux-blonde, the one from the gala. Several empty vodka bottles sat empty on the bedside table. In a fit of anger, I cleared the bottles, smashing them across the floor. Jamison sat up suddenly, the slut hardly moved. He blinked and looked shocked when he realized I was standing there.

"Cora... I.." he started. He didn't even look ashamed.

"Save it Alpha, I just brought you breakfast in bed before I leave for the week. I didn't know you had company." I slammed the box down loudly, he cringed. Werewolf hangovers were the worst. The slut sat up and smirked at me. I turned and walked out with as much dignity as I could manage, I would not let him see me cry.

"Cora! Wait! Let me..." he shouted, then a stream of profanity came from his room, as he stepped in the broken glass littering his bedroom's floor.

As the elevator descended, my wolf was pacing, snarling, 'I am so glad we didn't mate with that dog.' I couldn't stop the tears. 'Don't cry, I am with you. Our mate will come.'

The doorman was on the phone when I entered the lobby. Wilson was nice, I liked him and he liked what I was doing with the young unpacked wolves. His eyes shot me a startled glance and he made a quick shooing motion with his hand, "I'm sorry Alpha, I haven't seen her come down yet, but I was out hailing a cab. Yes, I will stop her if I see her."

I bolted, by the time I got back to my apartment, my tears were dry but my heart still hurt. Leong sniffed me before growling something in Mandarin, Min just hugged me, and I knew that somehow they knew what I had found.

~

We were driving away in the rental vans when I saw Jackson's sports car stop front of my building, he helped his brother climb out of the low car. Jamison was limping. I hoped his feet hurt as much as my heart. No, I hope they hurt as much as my pride because my heart really didn't hurt that much but I felt utterly foolish and humiliated.

In moments, my phone began chiming with text messages. The first hour's worth were apologetic, an hour later they were demanding, then hatefully angry, then they were apologetic again, they yo-yoed this way till my phone died. Min had read them to me as I drove. In between them, she and Girlie loudly planned ever more terrible ways to torture Jamison. Kennedy cooed her sympathy and it was all I could do to keep driving and not stop to punch her perfect little face. She didn't even realize she was no better than that slut. I was glad all the males were in the other two vans, I would have been too embarrassed to continue on. Jamison had promised that we would wait until I was 25, if I didn't find my mate, I would become his Luna. But I guess he couldn't wait for somethings, my wolf growled about we don't mate dogs.

I felt a new respect of Rya's pain, and it sucked. I realized I had never told Jamison I was sworn to return to my pack or anything about Rya. He would not understand, I knew that, and I guess it was my way of having an out. My wolf never trusted him and I guess I never truly did either. I realized I was never serious about Jamison, not the way he was serious about me but was he really? He was just my golden distraction with emerald green eyes while I waited for my mate, I guess in that way, I was no better than the princess. But what was I to him? What of value did I bring to him and his pack?

My ways are not his way.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

9.2018 - CLAYTON is published!!!

Clayton (The Wildflower Series) by Rachelle Mills https://www.amazon.com/dp/164034487X/ref=cm_sw_r_tw_dp_U_x_S8sbDbB084P46 via @amazon

2.2019- DALLAS is published!!!

Dallas (The Wildflower Series Book 2) by Rachelle Mills https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07MXRVB7M/ref=cm_sw_r_tw_dp_U_x_o9sbDbPFY61NH via @amazon
Find them on Amazon

::Thank you to Rachelle for allowing this CLAYTON Fanfiction to be published.:: 

If you are reading this on a site that is not Wattpad, it has been taken

and published without my permission.