Chapter 27

Stacy’s eyes drifted open slowly, her mind was still waking up so it took her a few moments to realize that the ceiling she was staring at was not the one above her bed, her memory then kicked into gear and she remembered Kyle, he was taking the bed while he healed, then who was currently spooning her? And why the hell was she comfortable in their arms, so comfortable that her Wolf and her Demon were both content to be laid there, swimming in the aroma of his scent, the scent of a Wolf, the scent of river water and burned phosphors, the scent of… Kyle.

Stacy bolted upright waking the slumbering Wolf behind her, she quickly ran to the en-suite bathroom and closed the door, while she screamed inside her own head Kyle asked,

“Everything ok in there?” he rubbed his eyes to clear them and took a deep breath, he could smell her, her scent was like nothing he had ever smelt before strawberries and charcoal.

“Yeah! Why would it not be ok?” Stacy bellowed back running the sink to create a distraction.

“Maybe because two minutes ago we were spooning and now you are acting like we just did the dirty and you are trying to avoid me.”

Stacy banged her head against the wall, the ringing in her head bounced off of her skull bringing her back to the moment, her Wolf was pacing, confused as to why she ran from the warmth of the Wolf while her Demon was clawing at her, trying to get her to go back to the sweet scent.

The bathroom door opened with a slight squeak to its hinges, and in the doorway was Stacy, looking directly at Kyle, “Look, before you get the wrong idea…”

Kyle cut her words short as he stood and rushed to her with preternatural speed, “No ideas, you just passed out while watching the film, I didn’t want to wake you by moving so I stayed put, that’s all.”

Stacy breathed a sigh of relief which hurt Kyle a bit, he may not have wanted anything to happen but his Wolf was going crazy for the Hellhound, as was the Hellhound for his Wolf.

“Ok then, so nothing happened, just two friends keeping each other company, and falling asleep.” Stacy stopped speaking but the sentence continued in her head ‘in each other’s arms, just like lovers’.

“Exactly, we just fell asleep.” Kyles mind was on much the same wavelength, ‘together, lovingly’.

Stacy had no interest in Mates, or love, even sex had lost its interest to her but this Wolf, this fresh, strong amazing scented Wolf was driving her nuts, why couldn’t he just be a normal guy? Why did he have to be so god dammed gorgeous?

“You know I can hear you right?”

Stacy’s eyes grew wide as her face flushed the color of roses, “What?”

“Since I woke up, I have been hearing you in my head.” Kyle explained while helpfully pointing to his temples.

Stacy knew what was happening, she would never admit it but she knew all too well, she had been through it before, but how to explain it to Kyle?

“Oh, that’s the Pack link, sometimes with bitten Wolves it can be quite strong at first, it should pass soon, and you will just hear the Alphas, when they want you to of course.”

Now all she had to do was put up a wall in her head so he wouldn’t be able to hear her, that shouldn’t be too hard, it’s just cutting of psychic communication with her Soul Mate, no biggie, and it will just be temporary, he will find someone to hook up with, they will bond and she can move on, as long as she doesn’t fall in love, oh who was she kidding, Soul Mates always find each other, but hers died when she was a kid, could his Wolf spirit really be back already? Or was it the Demons Soul Mate? No, they only Mate with Valkyries, but Demons are also only supposed to be male, and Stacy most definitely had a female Demon inside her, she knew just what to do.

“I... I have to speak to Ellie, I gotta go.” With those few short words she had left the room, Kyle slumped against the wall and slid down to the floor, his Wolf was begging to go after her, but he was too weak.

Stacy rounded the corner and brushed pass Charlie in the hall, he shouted to her but she carried on, looking, searching for the person that might have some answers for her.

Kacey was stood in the doorway to what she called her salon, in truth it was little more than a spare bedroom that Steve had modified to act as a salon, until her hew place in Westingdale was ready, she saw Stacy marching down the hall and decided, for the first time to say hello first, “Hey Hun, fancy a chat and a trim?”

Stacy almost ignored the She-Panther but remembered that she is mated to Steve, a Wolf and had done a lot of research on Soulmates as part of her time with the Company, “Actually, yeah, but I need more than a trim.” Stacy plucked at her chest length dirty blonde hair, that hadn’t had much attention in the past two years except for the odd hacking with an axe to expel any split ends.

Kacey lead the Wolf to a seat and draped a gown over her and fastened it at the back with Velcro, the Panther then proceeded to quickly brush through Stacy’s hair and lay it out in its most natural path, “So Hun, what are we going to do?”

“Short. Like Ruby Rose short.” Stacy said realizing just how much she actually needed a cut.

“Wow, ok so short back and sides with a sweeping top?” Kacey asked pulling out the clippers from the side drawer.

“Exactly, oh and you can lose that guard,”

Kacey removed the length guard from the clippers and began her work, she started with scissors taking large amounts from all over the head until it was all about 8 inches long, then she asked, “Thought about a different color?”

Stacy closed her eyes and pondered for a moment, her thoughts were broken by Kacey, “Oh, My, Gods!”

Stacy opened her eyes and looked in the mirror to see that her hair was changing color, each strand was getting its own personal gradient from fiery orange to pitch black tips, “Holy crap, my Demon is awesome!”

“You can say that again.” Kacey added as she continued to feather the layers on the top of Stacy’s head before shaving the sides, “So come on, out with it.”

“Out with what?” Stacy asked.

“Out with why you looked like you were looking for someone to kill, or fuck, it’s hard to tell with you.”

Stacy chuckled, no I was looking for Dominic, see we have a new Pack member, he is a bitten,” Kacey nodded in all the right places as she listened, “And I think he might be…”

“Oh my gods, really?” Kacey interrupted,

“Yeah, but mine died, when I was very young, it couldn’t be, could it?”

“Sweetie, it seems that anything is possible these days, even a Soulmate from the great beyond.”

Stacy smiled, “Maybe you were the one I needed to see.”

“Hunnie, if your hair got any wilder we were going to take you out back and let the gardener have a go.” The two smiled and laughed.

“It was getting pretty bad huh?” Stacy felt it again, that pull, every time she was happy she felt it, a pull to that new man, that new Wolf.

“I’m just glad you’re smiling again, whatever that man is doing for, with or to you, keep it up, let him do it all night long, as long as you are happy.” Kacey began the shaving process.

“Honestly, we just cuddled,”

“Cuddled? Shit if a man makes you that happy from a cuddle, never let his ass go, I’m not joking you get a ring on that finger and keep him.” Kacey brought the clippers up to the curve of Stacy’s skull and flicked them, creating a short taper, carrying on this action around the whole head she finally said, “Ok, you may look a bit odd for a while, until your head tans that is, but this is California.”

“Yeah, southern Cali, hell we may as well be in Mexico.” Stacy joked,

“Just remember hun, he is new, you are going to need to teach him what it is to be a Wolf, just remember he didn’t have the childhood you did, well. Not entirely.”

Stacy nodded and smiled, “I know, he is going to be a pup for a while, that is why I won’t sleep with him, pups create bonds far too easily, I have to wait, which is gunna be hella hard.”

“And why is that?”

“Because he is big! I mean a real man big, even before the Wolf.”

Kacey laughed as she placed the clippers drown and ran a touch of pomade through Stacy’s hair, she slicked it back loosely and let it flop to one side, “What do you think?”

Stacy looked into the mirror and didn’t recognize the person looking back at her, then she realized, she wasn’t the person she was, she was new too, she smiled and a tear formed in her eye, “I.. I fucking love it!”

“Good, now go teach that new Wolf boy how to be a Dominant Wolf, then make some babies.”

“I don’t think babies will ever be on the agenda, but I can start with the Wolf boy.”