The Millennium Wolves novel Chapter 1

I felt like such a cowering bitch, but my mind was fried from the woods.

I felt like I’d been drugged and whatever my attacker was about to do, I was powerless to stop it.

The shadow reached down and began to engulf me, but I stopped fighting back as I felt a familiar embrace.

“Sienna,” my dad’s voice whispered softly. “Calm down, sweetheart. Here, I brought you a robe. Let’s get you inside.”

His fingers ran through my fur, and everything started to feel normal again. He placed the robe over my shivering wolf form, and I shifted, collapsing into his arms.

“What happened? Were you attacked?” he asked, concerned.

Was I? I honestly wasn’t sure, but it felt like my mind had just waged some kind of war.

I wondered if this had something to do with Aiden running off with his pack. They must have been connected. I couldn’t think about it too hard right now, or I’d probably pass out.

“I’m okay, Dad. I just need some rest. It’s been a long, weird night,” I replied.

Aiden

My office was starting to feel like a prison cell. I was more restless than ever before, but I couldn’t run off without someone noticing

Josh and I had been to the spot where the patrol had lost the roamer’s scent, but I was unable to uncover any clues as to where it had gone.

I admit that it didn’t look good for me to come up empty-handed, but the only alternative was lying to Josh and the four soldiers, and I was already doing more of that than I’d like.

It wasn’t abnormal to have a stranger cross into Pack territory, but the inexplicable scent and subsequent disappearance had everyone who knew about it rattled.

So far it was just me, Josh, Jocelyn, Nelson, Rhys, and the four soldiers.

I made the last group vow their silence until we could figure out who this intruder was and where it was heading.

To be cautious, I dispatched small details of guards to any place or person that I thought was important.

Whatever it was, we would be ready when it surfaced, and hopefully we’d be powerful enough to confront it.

When we were alone, Josh folded his arms indignantly. “Well?” he asked. “Are we just going to sit here in the Pack House and wait?”

“What else would you suggest? I can’t send everyone combing through the woods if they don’t know what they’re looking for. We don’t even know what we’re looking for.”

“Well, whose fault is that?” mumbled Josh as he began to pace his usual path in my office.

“Yours, technically,” I replied, dryly. “It falls on the Beta to keep our borders secure.”

“You don’t need to remind me what my job is. I did exactly what I was supposed to. When it was clear we were dealing with something new, I went to find you. You’re the one who’s forgetting his duties.”

“Stop talking in circles and say what’s on your mind,” I said, growing impatient.

“You’re compromised, Aiden. An alpha at full strength would have been able to track the roamer.” Here we go again. His persistence was beginning to wear on me.

“You said yourself we don’t know what we‘re dealing with,” I replied. “If it’s powerful enough to mask its scent, of course it makes my powers look diminished by comparison. Or is this still about Sienna?”

“I lost control of my Haze. It was temporary.”

“My point exactly. You lost control. That’s never happened to you before. If what you told us is true, why aren’t you honest with her? You’re wasting her time and yours. If you let things carry on like this, one of you is going to get hurt. You need to be at your strongest now more than ever. I’m not just saying this for the sake of the Pack, Aiden.

I’m speaking as your friend.”

“I hear your concern, but I’m going to do it my way.”

Josh let out a growl and slammed his fist against my desk. “Damn it, Aiden, we could be under attack right now, and all you care about is some girl. A girl who’s refusing your advances so far.”

“Careful, Josh.”

“The point is, Aiden,” Josh fumed, “we were this close tonight to uncovering something new. I know you scented what Iscented. Not human. And not werewolves.

So if it is something new, what are its strengths? What are its weaknesses? Does it even have weaknesses? I feel like you’re not taking this threat seriously enough.” I was just as concerned as Josh, but I couldn’t show it. A gulf of power still sat between us.

For a moment, I thought of what my brother Aaron would have done. If he were here. A tinge of pain surged through me, and I pushed aside that memory.

There was no time to think of the past when the present was this dangerous.

“The thought of this roamer being something new crossed my mind, but there is nothing to do except wait. Whatever it is, the last thing I want is to make it feel threatened. If it is peaceful, want it to stay that way. Like you said, w have no idea what this roamer’s powers could be.”

“And if it hasn’t come here on peaceful business?”

“It would have attacked us by now if that weren’t the case. It likely masked its scent to avoid confrontation.”

“Or it’s preparing for a surprise attack.”

“That’s enough of your theories, Josh. Go check on the patrols and let me know if you hear any new intelligence.”

“As you wish, my Alpha. Remember, you have a job outside of getting this girl to sleep with you.”

I offered no reply, dismissing Josh with a simple nod. He was right to be concerned, though. Ever since I’d marked Sienna, my head was clouded with desire.

I had never denied my Haze this long, nor had it ever been as strong as it was when I was near her.

Perhaps if I spent a few days away, I could rebalance myself. This roamer was a welcome distraction.

Sienna

I was sitting alone in the dark when! heard a knock on my door. I sat up and removed the headphones from my ears. “Come in,” I said.

“Good, I thought you might have already fallen asleep,” said my father, gently closing the door behind him. “Do you mind if I take a seat?” he asked, pointing to my bed.