Clay’s Hope

Melissa Haag

Clay’s Hope

Copyright: Melissa Haag

Published: April 28, 2015

ISBN: 978-0-9888523-6-5

Cover Design: Indie-Spired Designs

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without express written permission from the author.

Titles by Melissa Haag

Judgement of the Six series in order:

Hope(less)

(Mis)fortune

(Un)wise

(Un)bidden

Judgement of the Six Companion Series:

Clay’s Hope

Standalone titles:

Touch

Shadows and Light

Clay is a man of few human talents. As a wolf, he hunts well and can fight off a grizzly twice his size, but has no aspirations. The idea of a Mate isn’t something he has ever seriously entertained. Dreamed about, maybe, but he knows the chances are nearly non-existent.

Then he meets Gabby, a human girl. She hates him at first sight, yet he can’t let her go. Who he was is no longer important. Now, who he needs to become to win her over is the only thing that matters.

Chapter 1

Clay, we need your help.

Winifred’s voice interrupted my contemplation of the scene before me.

When? I sent back.

Tonight.

I didn’t respond or ask why. The Elders knew I would come, just as I knew the reason they’d called me.

For a moment, I continued to watch the house from my place hidden within the trees. The woman in the window moved around the kitchen, cooking dinner. Passing the table where her son sat doing his homework, she stopped to kiss the top of his head. The boy started speaking. The distance and the closed house kept me from hearing everything, but I heard her response. She congratulated him for his high score on a math test. Love lit her gaze as she turned to study the boy’s bent head.

Exhaling, I turned away from what I would never have. A family.

With an easy lope, I started the journey to the Compound, the meeting place for my kind. Werewolves. As I traveled, I thought of the human boy and his mom. We werewolves were similar to humans in some ways, yet different in so many others.

One of our differences was the Elders, like Winifred. A group dedicated to the wellbeing of all werewolves. Once a werewolf took the oath to serve our kind, they became an Elder. Through an oath, Elders gave up their right to put their wants before the wants of our race as a whole. It wasn’t a subjective promise but a mental bond that ensured our safety. While the bond allowed an Elder to communicate with any of us directly, it also served as a death sentence if the Elder ever acted in a way that wasn’t in the best interest of our survival...such as finding a Mate.

Like an Elder, I would never have a Mate. It wasn’t that I’d taken some oath that prevented it. No, the possibility of a Mate for someone like me, an outcast without a pack was...well, I’d be more likely to wake up with the ability to turn into a bear instead of a wolf.

The Elders knew it, too. That was why they called on me to help at Introductions, gatherings to introduce an eligible female to the unMated of our kind. Yet another way we differed from humans.

I’d heard the call for this upcoming Introduction weeks ago. The Elders were giving all the unMated time to journey to the Compound. That meant there would be hundreds of males there. One lucky wolf would find himself a Mate. It wouldn’t be me. A brief surge of jealousy clawed at me, but I shook out my fur and the feeling.

When the Elders called for my help, it was to keep the peace among the males. Then I’d leave again, returning to the woods and my isolated life.

The image of the humans remained in my mind as the miles slowly disappeared under my paws. While my father was alive, I would have never gone so close to their home. Since he’d died though, I found myself wandering closer and closer. I knew why. I missed him. And though I had no memory of my mother, I missed her, too. I missed belonging to something.

Maybe it was time for me to submit to Thomas and join his pack. The thought filled me with disgust. As much as I wanted to be a part of something, to be able to stay in one place for more than a night, I didn’t think I’d be able to bow to another person’s whims again. After all, my father had been a good leader, but I’d struggled against many of his rules.

The scent of a cougar tickled my nose, and I veered to the south to avoid its territory. Cougars worked differently than werewolves. A lone cat could hold its own territory. A werewolf, like me, couldn’t hold a territory alone. It made having a home without a pack impossible. But the idea of a place of my own settled in my gut. I couldn’t keep a place as a werewolf, but I could maybe find a place as a man.

I recalled the woman in the window. Could I live like that? Walking on two legs day after day just to be able to call someplace home? The idea made my skin feel tight and itchy, and I didn’t have to think long on it. Not a chance. I was meant to run on four paws, not walk on two feet.

I stretched my stride until I ran.

The Compound teemed with unMated. They paced between the trees, a restless tension pervading their movements. A few already faced off, trying to determine the strongest and their order in the upcoming Introduction line. Poor fools.

I ignored the fight that broke out and loped in the direction of the back door. The unMated could fight all they wanted out there. As long as they kept it away from my post at the Introduction door, I had no problem with them. I briefly wondered what female had caused such a large gathering. Generally, paying attention to the females was a lost cause. Too bad the ones getting their pelts kicked in the trees hadn’t figured that out yet.

Several piles of picked over clothes waited at the back door. Charlene’s doing most likely. She must have anticipated the arrival of so many. I grabbed what I needed at random. Loose pants and a shirt. A shiver rippled over my flesh at the odd furlessness. How long had I gone this time between shifting?

Dressed, but still cold, I went around to the front door and helped myself to one of the jackets on the hooks before ambling to the kitchen. One of the perks of coming to the Compound. Food.

Charlene was moving around in the kitchen, checking this and that. She reminded me of the woman in the window.

She looked up and nodded to me as she walked past.

“Buns are in the warming oven. Stew’s on the stove. Help yourself, Clay.”

She left the room, and I stared after her. I’d been to the Compound maybe five times in my life. Three of those times had been before I hit puberty. How she remembered my name was beyond me.

The scent of fresh bread pulled me toward the ovens. Heat poured out when I opened the door. The sight of a full tray of golden buns made my mouth water. Reaching in, I grabbed several. One went in my mouth, the rest in the large pockets of my jacket. With my pockets stuffed full, I padded back outside to take up my place near the Introduction door. The heat of the buns warmed my side as I leaned against the building and pulled the first one out of my pocket.

I ate slowly, watched the fighting, and waited.

Vehicles continued to roll into the yard over the next hour. Men crowded into the woods near the door I guarded. A few strolled by to size me up but weren’t stupid enough to try anything. One on one, they wouldn’t stand a chance. More than one on one would bring the Elders. Elder intervention meant banishment from the Introduction. None of them wanted to miss their chance at a Mate.