Little Red's Riding

Back to School

"Of course, she would be the She-Wolf that you would decide to befriend?" Silas shook his head as he watched her move about the sitting room, running her finger tips back and forth across the ornate carvings on the mantle. Dahlia shook her head slowly at his words, repressing the urge to roll her eyes.

"I like her. She's funny and kind and she understands so many of the things that I'm worrying about right now, as a new Luna. Do you have a problem with that?"

Silas was laying back across an overstuffed leather couch and he turned his head and stared up at the ceiling, not answering her question. "I guess it makes sense. She's the closest thing to a Beta female that we have. Especially since Oliver still hasn't learned his lesson and can't seem to keep his hands off of her. I don't know what the Moon Goddess was thinking, not putting those two together."

"So do you have a girl like that that I should watch out for? An ex who's mooning around here for you?" Dahlia said the words in a teasing tone as she turned away from the fireplace and gave her mate a small smile.

"No. Unlike you and Oliver, I waited for my mate."

"You weren't a virgin. Don't try to say that you were. There's no-"

"No. I wasn't. But I didn't have relationships." He said the words with a sense of superiority that made Dahlia roll her eyes and pick up a throw pillow from the closest chair to toss at his head.

"Oh. So you only had meaningless sex? That's so much better Alpha."

"I wasn't going to let myself fall in love. But as an Alpha I had needs."

"You're impossible, you know that?" She tossed another pillow at him. "I never want to hear you say another word complaining about my past. After all, I was technically a virgin." A moment later he had crossed the room, so quickly she had hardly seen him move, and caught her in his arms, holding her against his chest as she met his gaze with that defiant stare of hers, her eyes locked on his as she refused to look away.

Standing on her tiptoes she nipped the spot on his neck that her mouth was always so drawn towards and laughed as a moment later he had her pressed against the wall, one hand searching for the bottom of her skirt as the other worked to undo the buckle of his pants.

Goddess, what was this? Even when they were arguing, or almost arguing, he couldn't keep his hands off her. How would he ever get anything done with this mate of his being so intoxicatingly frustrating?

Dahlia woke the next morning draped across Silas' chest, thoroughly sore, but thankful that she wasn't burning up again. Whatever was going on with her heat, it didn't seem to match up with a normal She-Wolf's that was for sure. Silas had told her, as they lay in bed falling asleep the previous night, that he'd spoken with one of the older women in the pack, who worked as a midwife and healer, and who was knowledgeable in medicinal herbs.

She had thought it very likely that if Dahlia's sister had been giving her Wolfsbane, especially for a long period of time, it could be the cause of Dahlia's inconsistent heat cycle. She also suggested that once Dahlia was comfortable in the village she might come over and examine her to see if there were any other signs of the damage that long term and consistent Wolfsbane dosing might have done to her body over the years.

In the meantime the woman was brainstorming ideas for solutions that might offset the damage that had been done by the Wolfsbane and as soon as she came up with anything she would be bringing it straight to Silas so that he could give it to Dahlia.

"Miss Dorian wants to know if you'd like to come into the classroom this morning. She could always use more hands and she said that the children loved having you there yesterday. Of course you don't have to go. But if you're looking for something to do it could be fun. And Lottie will be there. I think she's more or less become Miss Dorian's assistant. My guess is that when Miss Dorian retires in the not too far off future, she'll take over running the school."