by Petra Landon
“Do you live here too?” Tasia inquired with an answering smile.
“Nah, I had a meeting downstairs. Do you eat here often?”
“Not very often” Tasia shook her head.
The Shifter’s eyes went to the fruit that she’d been slicing.
“May I?” he asked casually, his hand hovering over a piece of fruit.
It was an odd request to make but Tasia, naïve to the traditions of Shifters, didn’t see any harm in it. She was about to answer in the affirmative when Sara rushed to her side, gesturing frantically at her. Tasia glanced at her friend’s frantic efforts in surprise.
“Tasia” Sara hissed in a loud whisper. “Remember what I said about Shifters and food!”
Sara had warned her that Shifters considered sharing food a very intimate experience and that food was used as a means to signal interest. Probably a tradition inherited from their beast counterparts. Thank God for Sara, Tasia thought in relief. A potential romantic entanglement with a Shifter was the last thing that her life needed right now. And if she sent out the wrong signal without meaning to, her living situation here at the Lair might just get more complicated than she could handle. Tasia turned to the male Shifter, prepared to gracefully turn him down. That’s when it struck her that they had a problem on their hands. The Shifter still stood casually by the sideboard but now, his body radiated tension as he stared at Sara with an ugly expression on his face.
“Why, little hawk, are you jealous?” he taunted, a definite bite to his words.
Sara turned slowly to meet his gaze and suddenly her body strummed with tension in response to his body language.
“In your dreams, Markham” she responded brusquely.
“Oh, definitely in my dreams” he drawled offensively, his eyes raking her from head to toe with the same ugly look. “But you never want to play when big brother is not around to keep an eye on you. What’s the matter, little hawk, you scared of this big bad cat?” he taunted softly.
Tasia uttered an inarticulate protest in a desperate attempt to insert herself in the middle of the spoiling fight but Sara pushed her out of the way to square up to the male Shifter. Tasia glanced around frantically for any assistance in diffusing the brewing confrontation. Though a few curious glances were directed at them, no one stepped in to avert the ugly situation. So it was that Tasia, engaged in desperately scanning the few faces in the room for a familiar one, missed the start of the brawl. All she noted from the corner of her eyes was a frantic blur. Then, Sara and the male Shifter were fighting in a rapid whirl of arms and legs. The fight seemed more sinister to Tasia since it was conducted in absolute silence and with deadly intent. Tasia held her breath as she watched the fast-moving bout, her heart in her throat for her friend. Suddenly, the male arched up in the air with brutal strength to strike Sara in the shoulder with a powerful blow. Tasia watched Sara sail through the air to land amidst a wreckage of table and chairs. The Shifter strode unhurriedly to where Sara lay struggling to disentangle herself from the furniture. He leaned down casually to pluck her up with ease from the wreckage. Tasia glanced around desperately once more at the small crowd of Shifters who watched the fight with clinical detachment. It didn’t look like anyone was planning to interfere. And she’d given her word to the Alpha Protector to not use her magic.
So Tasia did the next best thing. She ran for help to the only room in the house that she knew might provide a Shifter willing to offer it. She raced up the stairs to the Pack Room on the fourth floor with a vague idea of requesting assistance from either Hawk or the Alpha. This time, the large steel door stood open with no Shifter guard to announce visitors. Tasia plunged into the room in a mad rush before stumbling to an abrupt stop. A quick perusal indicated a single inhabitant. Duncan sat in his favorite chair by the fireplace with a book in his hand. At her somewhat precipitous entrance, he glanced up from his book to gaze at her calmly.
“Please … need help” she huffed out in a vain attempt to catch her breath.
“Yes, of course” he responded with quiet assurance. “What may I do for you?” he offered in his plum aristocratic accent.
“A fight in the Cafe! Sara …. afraid Sara will get hurt” she managed to gasp out, completely out of breath after her mad dash up two flights of stairs.
She needn’t have worried about her communication skills after all. Before she could complete her sentence, Duncan was off his chair in a flash to make his way out of the room at a dead run. For a large man, he could move surprisingly fast. Tasia gaped at his empty chair for a few dazed seconds before hurrying after him. She raced down the stairs to arrive at the Cafe a few minutes after him. She watched Duncan swat unhurriedly at Justin Markham with his massive fists. The Shifter flew into the air to hit a wall before landing on the floor with a hard thump. Duncan followed him to pound on him silently a few times to ensure that he stayed down. Tasia made her way to her friend’s slumped figure. Sara lay unmoving, curled into fetal position with her eyes closed. Anxious for her friend and unsure of how badly hurt she was, Tasia looked towards the only Shifter in the room who’d come to Sara’s aid. Duncan straightened up from the battered figure of the male Shifter he’d delivered a thorough beating to and made his way to her.
He knelt beside Sara to gently draw back her hair from her face as she lay unconscious, before glancing at Tasia with his usual calm gaze.
“Let’s go patch her up, shall we?”
Tasia nodded mutely, watching him lift Sara’s crumpled body into his arms with care. The silent throng of spectators watched as the little procession carrying Sara exited the Cafe.
“Thank you” Tasia said gratefully to the big man who waited beside her with his usual air of unflappability.
The Pack doctor had been summoned to check up on Sara. Tasia waited outside the room with Duncan.
“For Sara?” Duncan inquired.
He stood beside her at his ease, two massive arms covered in colorful tattoos folded against his chest. The tattoos peaked through the starched shirt whose sleeves had been casually shoved up the brawny arms.
Tasia nodded.
“No thank you necessary for Sara. I’m her Were-Alpha.”
So, he commands one of the were-packs that make up the larger Pack.
Her face must have conveyed some of her confusion for he launched into a brief explanation.
“Raoul acknowledges ten Were-Alphas. Each of us commands a were-pack. These comprise the Northern California Pack which he leads as the Alpha Protector. The were-packs are a legacy from a time before Faoladh put together the large Packs led by the Alpha Protectors. Sara is one of mine.”
“Hawk?”
“Hawk too. He’s my Second in the were-pack.”
Tasia digested the information in silence for a few moments.
“You did the right thing” he remarked abruptly.
Tasia glanced up into the calm brown eyes.
“By coming to me for help” he explained. “Only a handful of the Pack would’ve rushed to Sara’s aid today.”
That part she’d already guessed for the crowd of Shifters in the Cafe had preferred to watch the brawl - not one Shifter had come to Sara’s aid. What she didn’t understand was why. Her silent query hung in the air between them.
“Pack dynamics can be a bewildering maze at the best of times” he remarked cryptically. “There’s constant jostling in a Pack as Shifters fight to improve their position in the Pack hierarchy.”
Tasia gazed back soberly at the erudite Shifter. This man, she was beginning to realize, broke the mold of the Shifter stereotype in myriad ways - poised, even-tempered, unflappable and articulate. There was something almost scholarly about him. Yet he was the Shifter always to be found by his Alpha’s side, something she’d noted from her visits to the Pack Room. From what she knew of the Alpha, that could only be because the Alpha wanted it so. Duncan was also the only Shifter allowed to call the Alpha by his name. He must be a Shifter to be reckoned with in the Pack, Tasia conclude
d. It meant that not only was he well versed in Pack politics but that he also knew very well how to play the game of one-upmanship within it, as he seemed to suggest was widespread in Shifter Packs. He also seemed willing to explain the mysteries of Pack dynamics to her. Very few of the Pack, apart from Sara and Hawk, had been willing to engage in any substantive way with her, so Tasia jumped at the opportunity to have her queries answered. If today’s incident had proved anything to her, it was that she couldn’t continue to live amongst the Pack as a clueless outsider anymore. Her naivety and lack of knowledge about Pack traditions had gotten Sara hurt. And Tasia intended to make damn sure that she never put her friend in such danger ever again.
“Why pick a fight with Sara – how does it help his standing in the Pack?” Tasia inquired with genuine curiosity.
“Justin Markham is an ambitious Shifter” the big Shifter answered readily. “This is a large Pack with plenty of opportunity for an aggressive Shifter to power his way up the chain of command. He went after Sara because he could – an easy way to prove his intent to his Pack mates. It is also likely a jab at Hawk, someone he considers a competitor.”
“Why jab at Hawk?” Tasia’s confusion was clear. “Does he hold a grudge?”
“To him, Hawk is a relatively young Shifter with a powerful position as the Second in a were-pack whose Were-Alpha is known to have the ear of the Alpha Protector. It was intended as a warning shot at Hawk that Markham covets Hawk’s position in the Pack and intends to do something about it.”
The bluntly delivered explanation bewildered and shocked Tasia. She hadn’t realized that the dynamics in a Shifter Pack could be so convoluted.
“The Shifters in the Cafe were what – just the audience for his message?”
“No” Duncan responded with a smile. “This is what Shifters do all the time - elbow someone they consider weaker to climb higher up the chain. To the rest of us, it’s part and parcel of a Pack. They did nothing because they consider it none of their damn business.”
“And you do?”
“Oh yes, very much so. She is one of mine and so is Hawk.”
Tasia stared at him uncertainly. “I’m not sure that I understand it completely but thank you for explaining it to me.”
Suddenly Tasia felt overwhelmed by the sheer alienness of the Lair, the Pack and the Shifters – their traditions, their ways and their unwritten rules. What was she doing here, she wondered? Among these exotic and dangerous beings, she did not understand the first thing about. Creatures who started deadly brawls to merely send a message to an absent Shifter while others watched with clinical detachment.
I’ve lived amongst humans all my life. I know nothing about the Chosen. I can barely understand wizard dynamics and here I am attempting to fit into a Shifter Pack. What am I doing here?
A mix of despair and weariness assailed her. And her doubts about her temporary hosts raised their ugly heads. The Alpha had kept to his part of the deal so far but she wondered if she’d somehow jumped from the frying pan into the fire!
Duncan’s eyes gazed down at her, a question in them.
“This is my fault” Tasia confessed wearily. This man deserved to know what had truly gone down in the room and why Sara had found herself forced to fight. “Regardless of the message Justin Markham intended to send, I’m the one who provided him with the excuse to go after Sara.”
“How so?” he asked curiously.
“I’m afraid that I didn’t handle a situation particularly well and Sara got hurt as a result” Tasia replied, the contrition in her voice clear.
Duncan waited in silence, the brown eyes patient. The expression in his eyes encouraged Tasia to explain further. There was neither judgment nor blame in the brown eyes, just concern.
“Sara had warned me that the courting rituals of Shifters often involved food. I didn’t put it together when Justin Markham asked to share a piece of fruit from my plate. Sara rushed over to remind me what signal I’d be sending by Shifter traditions and that drew his attention to her.”
“I see.”
“I should’ve handled it better” Tasia hung her head in regret.
Sara, with her sunny smile. Sara, one of the brightest spots of my engagement with the Pack, lies hurt because of me.
“No harm done” Duncan’s voice was mild. “Sara will be fine.”
The calm words cut through Tasia’s despairing thoughts.
“In time, you will learn how to handle sticky situations like today” he said simply.
She glanced up into the wise brown eyes.
“Sara and you are good for each other. She’s not had an easy time of it either. She’s not very dominant. Normally that would keep her safe from the usual games of dominance we Shifters tend to play. Unfortunately, she has a twin who is very dominant and that makes a lot of Shifters try to screw with Hawk by going after his twin. Justin Markham’s probably been spoiling to tweak Hawk’s tail for a long time. When an opportunity presented itself today, he went for it.”
“I think Sara could learn a lot from you, Miss Armstrong. You’ve been on your own for a while now and have figured out how to fly under the radar. I also believe that Sara can give you some pointers on how to live with Chosen without causing any waves – something you will need to master unless you plan to hide out for the rest of your life.”
Tasia pondered his words silently. He was right, she realized. Sara and she had much to learn from each other. The old adage was right after all. Appearances could be very deceptive - even in the Shifter world. The big Were-Alpha had given her very sound and astute advice. Not surprisingly, the only revelation amongst the many this conversation with Duncan had revealed was the fact that he commanded a were-pack. She could sense the strength in his big powerful body. Shifters, after all, had no deceptive magic in them – their power was derived mostly from physical prowess. What had truly caught Tasia off guard was his remarkable perceptiveness. There seemed to be hidden depths to this large tattooed Shifter.
“I think Sara is lucky to have you as her Were-Alpha” she admitted earnestly to him.
“Well, Miss Armstrong, I hope that is something you remind Sara of once she is better” he responded with an easy smile.
“Is she asleep?” Hawk inquired softly.
“Yes, the doctor gave her something to sleep through the night.”
Tasia watched Hawk stand over the prone figure tucked cozily up in the bed. He gazed down at his twin with a rather somber expression on his attractive face.
“She’s going to be okay, Hawk” Tasia said softly to reassure him.
“I know” he acknowledged easily.
They watched Sara in silence for a few minutes. Eventually, Hawk turned to the girl seated in a chair by the bed. He seemed to see her for the first time as he observed the weariness in her while she sat in vigil beside her friend.
“Thank you” he said quietly.
“For running for help when you realized that Sara was in over her head” he clarified in answer to her silent query.
“If I’d handled things better, Sara would never …” she trailed off as Hawk jumped in to stop her.
“No” he stated firmly. “Markham hates my guts and the only way he knows to get to me is through Sara. He’d have gone for her, no matter what.”
“That’s what Duncan implied.”
“I hope that Duncan gave the bastard a beat down he’ll remember for a long time” Hawk bit out in a low voice, a savage undertone to his voice that he made no attempt to hide.
Silence descended between them as Tasia pondered this new side to Hawk.
“I’m sorry, Tasia” he apologized in a gentler tone. “I forget that you’re not one of us sometimes … a Shifter, I mean. We’re a pretty violent lot, I’m afraid. A throwback to the Neanderthals, Duncan calls us.”
Tasia smiled at him in a wordless gesture of comfort and reassurance. She was rewarded by one of his charming smiles.
“Want to grab a nightcap? Coffee or a drink …
” he trailed off.
“I could do with some company tonight” he cajoled as Tasia hesitated.
“Sure but maybe some herbal tea if they have it. Definitely not coffee!”
“Trouble sleeping?” he inquired with sympathy as they wound their way down the stairs to the Cafe.
Tasia nodded wearily. “Nightmares” she said briefly.
She sensed rather than noted Hawk’s glance brimful of compassion.
“It will pass, Tasia” he said softly as they walked into the almost empty Cafe.
She hoped so for the nightmares had only increased in frequency instead of abating. There were a few variations but the one where a blue-eyed lady tortured her seemed quite frequent. It felt almost like an unfolding story where a little more detail was revealed each time.
Tasia fixed herself some herbal tea while Hawk grappled expertly with the intimidating coffee machine.
Hawk stopped her as she turned to walk towards one of the unoccupied tables.
“Let’s see if the Pack Room is available, hmm?”
“We can talk without fear of anyone listening in” he said pointedly with a glance around.
Tasia followed him up the stairs to the top floor. It was important that she learn and remember the rules of her new life, she admonished herself. She needed to pay more attention to what Hawk and Sara told her about the Shifters if she intended to survive Pack life unscathed. The absolute rule number one was to never forget that no conversation was private when you lived at the Lair. Shifters possessed phenomenal hearing.
“Let me make sure that there’s no Pack business scheduled for tonight” Hawk said as they approached their destination. No young Shifter stood guard tonight to direct access to the room although the massive steel door remained shut.
Duncan’s words this afternoon had brought home to Tasia how very complicated Pack politics could be. Especially for someone like her who had zero experience living in any kind of collective with its implicit rules and complicated inter-relationships. Tasia realized that it was time to ask candid questions of the two new friends willing to guide her through this very complicated maze.
