“This is what you left,” he said. “And this is what you have here in Australia right now.” He drew Nicholas and I over our Pack, Allesandro over his Coven Leaders in Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne, and Perth, and the decentralized mermaid families along the coast. “No lines,” he said. “There never have been.”
“Why not?”
“Don’t look at me. I didn’t know about either of these kinds until this week,” Nicholas said.
“Because our history in this Colony was different than the Americas, or Europe,” Allesandro said. “I grew up and was turned in London in the seventeenth century. My leader sent me here; I arrived in Sydney in 1805. I met Philip Corcoran once; he didn’t know what to make of me, and I didn’t react to him. He was the only one of you I met, and I kept track of him and his descendants until now. None of you showed any hostility, so there was no need to enforce borders and treaties. I set up in the growing cities, while your ancestors fled for new territories every time it started to get crowded. The others were the same, mostly mariners who settled here. They preferred smaller fishing villages and didn’t cause any trouble. The continent was big enough for all of us to live our lives as we wished.”
“No border wars, no treaties,” I said to myself. “I’ve signed a treaty with the others; it’s a simple non-aggression pact. I would be happy to extend the same to you, and I could introduce you to their leaders.”
“Thank you, but Cyprian has a bigger plan.”
I didn’t know what to think of that. I was an eighteen-year-old Alpha female with a new and untrained Pack, a full day’s flight from my home Pack. What could I do? “What kind of plan?”
Allesandro smiled and picked up his pen. He took the picture of the Australian order, drawing a big circle around the three groups. “I’ve heard you are under a lot of pressure right now, Vicki. The North American Council desperately wants you back under their authority, while the European Council would like to steal you away to spite their rivals. Neither group wants what is best for you or your family. What Cyprian is proposing, and I agree with, is to throw away the old order. We create an Australian Council. My people, your people, their people. All united under a single banner, claiming the Australian continent for ourselves. No supernatural of any kind would enter without our agreement, and no foreign Council could do a damn thing about it.”
My jaw dropped, and I sat back, amazed at the elegance of the plan. In one act, we’d cut out the legs of the Werewolf Councils and set in place an example of cooperative governance that would shake up the rest of the world. “It’s brilliant,” I said. “There is a lot of work to get there, especially to bring all the Mer aboard. Still, I want this to happen.”
“Cyprian and Emily have promised to assist in any way they can,” Allesandro promised.
“I’ll work on it while you are gone,” Nicholas said. “I can work with Matt and Terry, who are already working on getting the treaty approved.”
“Christmas break,” I said. “Nicholas and I are getting married in Port Lincoln over Christmas; if we could gather all of us in one place, we could make this happen by the end of the year.” I looked over at Nicholas. “We’ll send you a wedding invitation.”
“I look forward to it,” Allesandro said. “I can see you are tired, and I know you leave early tomorrow. Here is my contact information; call me anytime.” He got up and walked out, his men following him to his luxury car.
“You can’t do it all tonight,” Nicholas said as he held his hand out to me. “Let’s get you to bed.”
That sounded damn good.
**********
“I’m not sorry about anything. You can sleep on the plane,” Nicholas said before he pulled me into another kiss. We’d been up almost the whole night doing what new mates do, and I was sore and exhausted.
Still, I wouldn’t change a moment. It would be a month before I could see Nicholas again, and until then, I’m left with BOB and my memories. LOTS of memories. “I have to go, love.”
“Call me when you get to Singapore.” We kissed one last time, and then I followed the rest of our group into the international section of the airport. Nicholas was heading back to Melbourne, where he would spend the next month learning how to be an Alpha from Leo. I looked back through the glass to where he was standing and the waterworks started. “I miss you already,” I sent to him.
“The month will go fast, and then we’ll be together again,” he said. We kept up the conversation over the link as I boarded the jet, and when we were out of range, I fell asleep.
We arrived in Singapore, which was the cleanest big city I’d ever seen. We had a big meal before I went to bed early. After all, I wouldn’t have raccoon eyes for our appearances. The fashion show was packed, with the four of us hitting the catwalk in everything from formal gowns to bikinis. The signing events were well attended and orderly; the people were friendly and patient in the long lines. The food was excellent, as was the hotel. It was a great stop, yet I had a hard time enjoying anything we did without my mate along.
I couldn’t believe I was now one of those lovestruck, co-dependent new mates.
I confessed my problems to Amy as we sat in our room, waiting for the series of video calls we had set up with America. It was early morning there. “How do you handle being apart from him?”
“I stay busy and work out my frustrations when I can. Running, swimming, lube, toys, and my rechargeable Hitachi,” she said with a blush.
“Seriously?”
She nodded. “It’s not the same, not even close, but it scratches the itch. I wish we could talk on the phone like you do with Nicholas; phone sex would be better than jilling off to memories.”
That was an idea. “Kai does the same?”
“More workout and no toys, but yeah. It doesn’t get any easier as you spend more time apart; the bond reacts to your separation by increasing the pull you feel to be together again. It makes you and your wolf suffer, but it can only get so strong. Kai’s father told him that it peaks in a few months as you train yourself and your wolf to ignore it. You can do this, Vicki. It’s only another month!”
“Anything else I can expect?”