by Petra Landon
“Possibly” Duncan agreed. “Since Miss Armstrong also happened to match their target list, their plan was to make it look like a mugging gone awry. Just like she overheard when they came after her. They probably assumed that they could get away with it pretty easily. She’s a wizard of little significance with no influential friends or family to ask uncomfortable questions. I would guess that is precisely why they picked her for the Mfector job in the first place.”
The Alpha contemplated Duncan, his expression thoughtful.
“I know that she meets their target demographic but I want you to find out whether her name was on the list of targets that they’d been given.”
“I’ll give Luis a heads up.” Duncan contemplated Raoul for a moment. “Any particular reason for this line of inquiry?” he asked.
“Just a hunch” Raoul shrugged. “Something’s not adding up for me here.”
The witchling had certainly managed to mire herself in serious quicksand by her single act of altruism. Tangling with a bunch of Shifters would be considered brave for any low level wizard. For the witchling, with her kitty of powerful secrets to protect, it had been highly risky as well as intrepid. If he hadn’t made the decision to throw the mantle of Pack over her, she’d have been in a world of trouble!
“When Miss Armstrong escaped their attempt to finish her off, they hired the vampires to take care of her” Duncan continued. “By now, the Pack was on the hunt for them and they needed to lie low.”
“Why the leeches?”
“Probably because they knew the leeches would take care of the matter for the right compensation. They had already used one of them to set up the silver cage. And perhaps they didn’t have the time to contact anyone else who’d be willing to do the job.”
“So there’s no other connection between the rogues and Franciszka’s leeches except for a contract for hire?”
“Certainly seems so.”
There was a short silence while the Alpha ruminated quietly. Duncan, who knew Raoul better than most, gazed searchingly at him.
“Something bothering you, Raoul?” he inquired quietly.
The Alpha, deep in his thoughts, glanced sharply at his friend.
“Why do you ask?”
“Just a feeling. You alright?”
“I’m fine.”
“I’ll have Luis find out whether Miss Armstrong was on the list. And then I’ll personally make sure I get you the information on who hired them.”
Raoul stared back at the other Shifter, his gaze steady.
“You’re the Alpha Protector. These are just a couple of mercenaries who trespassed on Pack territory. I’ll get you the information you want, Raoul. You go deal with the wizards” Duncan emphasized.
Raoul sighed silently in aggravation. Explaining this to the wizards without destroying the cordial relations between the Pack and local wizards was going to need hard work. This was a relationship that he’d nurtured and built up carefully. And if he wanted it to continue in the same vein, the situation would need some nifty diplomacy – not his strongest suit. Duncan was absolutely right. The matter deserved the Alpha Protector’s personal attention. It would be a lot easier if he offered up the mercenaries to the wizards for interrogation after he informed them of the muggings. But Raoul was damned if he’d do that. This was a Shifter matter. And he would get to the bottom of what those rogues had been up to here in San Francisco before he decided on an appropriate punishment. Something that would send a strong message to other Shifters from ever contemplating such a transgression again.
“Alright” he acknowledged softly.
“There’s something else you might find interesting” Duncan added.
“Yes?”
“Phil is an Uncommon, possibly a reason why he’s had difficulties finding a Pack willing to accept him.”
Duncan was an Uncommon himself and knew first-hand how hard it could be to find a sympathetic Pack. In his case though, his formidable prowess as a Shifter had helped. Duncan had the power to lead a Pack as an Alpha Protector should he chose to. Raoul was well aware that there were other reasons that compelled Duncan to stay with the Northern California Pack.
“You feel sorry for him” Raoul stated.
“No” Duncan shook his head. “I understand his difficulties but no one forced him to follow another mercenary onto Pack turf. Perhaps this will prove to be his wake-up call.”
Raoul gazed at his friend who met his eyes steadily.
“What is he?” he inquired.
“Kuruk” Duncan replied succinctly.
“Aah.” That had to have hit a little too close to home for Duncan!
As Duncan turned to leave the room after a last searching glance at the Alpha, something struck Raoul about the rogue’s confession.
“What was their goal with the wizards? I’m guessing that the mugging was a smokescreen to hide something. What were they after?”
“A few drops of blood, would you believe it. Once the wizards were unconscious, they’d extract some blood from them.”
“Blood” Raoul repeated incredulously. “What good is blood?”
“Beats me” Duncan shrugged. “I’m not sure that Mick bothered to ask the man who hired him. He was asked to place the vials of blood in an ice-box and to drop the box off every night to an address here in the city.”
“What the hell!” Raoul’s exclamation was heartfelt. This whole mess just kept getting weirder.
“Exactly!”
“Get the address of the drop from them while you’re at it.”
“I will” Duncan stated with quiet confidence as he walked away.
Hawk knocked on her door as Tasia was getting ready for bed. It had been a long day and particularly trying after her sleepless night. Long days on inadequate sleep seemed to have become her new normal, a habit Tasia was determined to break.
“Don’t tell me” she raised her hand in a gesture of mock self-preservation. “His Highness has summoned me.”
“His High …? Yeah, Alph wants to see you” Hawk acknowledged with a grin.
Tasia sighed tiredly. Would this day never end! She was in no mood to tangle with ‘ole cold eyes and Shifter testosterone.
“Alright, I suppose I’d better go get it over with” Tasia responded wearily, following Hawk out onto the hallway.
“Watch your step, Tas. Something’s gotten him in a snit today.”
“Today” she exclaimed. “When is he ever not in a snit is the question we should be asking!”
Hawk sent her a glance laden with sympathy.
“He does tend to be a bit tough on you” he acknowledged softly as they walked up the stairs to the Pack Room.
“Because I’m not a Shifter - I’m just a witchling whose name is not worth remembering” she muttered under her breath.
“Sorry, Hawk” she apologized in the next breath. “Don’t mind me. Just had a long day.”
Hawk put his arm around her affectionately to give her a hug. She was going to miss both Hawk and Sara, Tasia realized. They’d proven good friends to a lonely young wizard. Lying awake in her bed last night, she’d determined that when she did walk away from the Pack, the break would need to be a clean one. To begin with, at least. The Shifters’ first loyalties lay with the Pack and their Alpha – she would not put her friends in a position where they might be forced to choose sides in the future.
“Congratulations on catching the mercenaries, Hawk.”
“I got lucky” Hawk said soberly. “Those Shifters knew where to hide themselves. We suspect that they had help. Alph’s determined to find out who helped them.”
Tasia glanced at Hawk in some surprise. She hadn’t realized that the Pack’s inability to ferret out the rogues in their own backyard might mean that someone was helping to hide them.
“The good thing is that you’re safe now, Tasia. I’m sure Alph informed you of that.”
Tasia nodded thoughtfully as they approached the Pack Room. The door stood open with no attenda
nt sentry although the enormous room was full of Shifters, clustered in groups and engaged in discussion. Hawk walked her to a group with the Alpha, Duncan, Elisabetta, Luis and two other Shifters that she remembered from her first time in this room.
These must be some of the other Were-Alphas.
The Alpha strode away to the smaller ante-room after a silent gesture at Tasia to follow him. Duncan shot Raoul a troubled glance, watching him move away with Tasia in tow. Tasia didn’t catch it but Hawk did. He arched an eyebrow discreetly at his Were-Alpha but Duncan merely shook his head in response.
Tasia followed the Alpha into the smaller sound-proofed room. He waited for the door to swish close behind her as he stood by his large desk. His body strummed with tension and a tight expression played about his handsome face.
Hawk wasn’t kidding. He’s in a serious snit – even more so than usual.
“I had an interesting meeting this afternoon with the ranking wizard in this city. Perhaps you can shed some light on the matter” he announced coldly, his face and body rigid with tension.
Tasia, taken aback by his words, couldn’t help but wonder what the wizard had said to the Alpha to make him spit such fury. Not that it took much to get the Alpha angry! Usually her presence was enough to rile him up. Occasionally, when she thought back to that horrible night when Hawk and his Alpha had crashed into the room at the vampire nest to save her, Tasia found it hard to reconcile that brusque but gentle man with the quick-to-temper, trigger-happy and aggressive Alpha. This man frightened her while the stranger that night had soothed and comforted her after one of the most terrifying encounters of her life.
“I’ll try my best, Alpha” she responded quietly. She hadn’t done anything wrong, after all. She was genuinely grateful to him for throwing the mantle of the Pack over her when she’d needed it. And Tasia had made sure to scrupulously keep to her side of the deal they had made.
“Damn right you will, witchling” he retorted coldly, with simmering hostility.
There was a short silence as the two protagonists stared at each other, his gold eyes spitting cold hostility while her gray ones merely looked puzzled although her bemusement was tempered with a tinge of wariness.
“I informed him that some non-Pack Shifters had been preying on female wizards in this city. We enjoy cordial relations with the local wizards and I wanted to make damn sure that the rogues didn’t muck that up. I was prepared to soothe some seriously ruffled feathers - the wizards have a perfect right to demand that I keep a tighter rein on all Shifters in my territory. Instead, imagine my surprise when he informed me that not only was he aware of the rogues and their connection to wizard muggings in the city, but that he also knew that I’d given orders for the Pack to hunt them down.”
Her heart started a slow pounding as the gold eyes stared down at her in wrathful accusation.
So I dropped a quiet word in Caro’s ear. Is this what has him in such a temper?
“You didn’t ask me to keep this a secret from the wizards” she suggested softly, her alarm causing her to blunder in her defense.
It was the wrong thing to say. At her artless words, the tension in him ratcheted up a few notches. The gold eyes narrowed on her as the palpable anger in his voice dropped to a kind of whisper-soft fury, the very softness managing to frighten the already alarmed girl.
“I’m pretty sure that was implied, witchling. Are you telling me that you didn’t get the implication?” he inquired softly.
Damn, damn, damn, he’s furious! And I’m not even sure what rule I’ve broken this time.
“Does my name come up at all in connection with this information?” she inquired after a short pause.
“No” he acknowledged tightly. “It was implied that someone he trusted provided them with it.”
Tasia wondered wildly how to explain to the furious Alpha that her intentions had never been to malign the Pack. She’d merely meant to warn the wizards targeted by the mercenaries - wizards particularly vulnerable since their power was inadequate to protect them from those who presumed them easy prey.
“Who did you tell, witchling?” he demanded.
“Caroline Hamilton.”
Her words elicited a brief flash of surprise in the Alpha before anger overpowered his emotions again.
“David Hamilton’s daughter” he muttered under his breath. “How’d you meet her?”
“She’s my friend” Tasia explained in an attempt to articulate her jumbled thoughts. “I had a discreet conversation with her because she’s very well connected. And because I knew that I could trust her to keep my name out of it.”
“I see. And when were you planning to inform me of this discreet conversation you had with your friend?” he inquired sarcastically. “I’m guessing never.”
“Alpha” she began, in a second attempt to explain herself.
The Alpha raised a large hand peremptorily to stop Tasia’s attempts at further explanation.
“You need to decide where your loyalties lie, witchling. If you’re Pack, you do not snitch to the wizards and forget to tell your Alpha about it.”
“I’m not Pack” Tasia protested softly, troubled by the accusation levelled against her. “And I’ve never lied to you.”
“Be very glad that I don’t consider you Pack” the Alpha bit out, ignoring the latter part of her words. He took a stride closer to loom over her, his body vibrating with a kind of tightly controlled fury. “Do you know what I do to my Shifters if they betray me like you’ve done?” he inquired with a whisper-soft menace that had Tasia take an involuntary step back from him.
Tasia stood there trembling as she stared up blindly at two hundred and fifty pounds of muscled Shifter breathing fire and fury down on her. Her heart sank like a stone and a dead weight seemed to press down on her chest. She felt utterly defeated; regret and despair swamping her. How had a single act of kindness led to this, she wondered despondently. She was truly thankful to the Alpha. And she had tried her best to repay him and the Pack for their protection. She’d even braved a pair of Guardians at the Alpha’s request. Something she had promised herself that she would never do. Her old boring life where she played it safe suddenly seemed a much better proposition than this. Her fear had come true - she had somehow managed to jump from the frying pan into the fire!
“Please” she pleaded as a kind of numbness spread through her. “I meant no disrespect. I just … wanted to warn the wizards out there so they could watch out for themselves.”
Her words, which under other circumstances would have gotten through to him, fell on deaf ears now. Raoul was past listening to any explanations. In his fury, his past experience with another powerful female wizard who had betrayed him to devastating effect had merged with his present. Her explanation merely served to roil him up even more.
“You lied to me, witchling. That is what you Spell Casters do” he bit out bitterly. “A lie of omission is still a lie. Have you forgotten what you told me – forgotten your own observation regarding the dynamics of this Pack? When you’re Pack, especially mine, you ask my permission before you do anything, even if just drawing your next breath” he hissed softly, stalking towards her to loom over her in a rage fueled by aggression.
Tasia raised a small hand instinctively to hold him off as he crowded her. The telling gesture seemed to snap the Alpha out of his angry ferocity. He caught himself in mid tirade to take a deliberate step back, careful to ensure Tasia her personal space.
A pregnant silence descended on the room as they stared at each other across the small distance and greater divide; both pairs of eyes stark with the reflection of a new awareness between them.
“You have nothing to fear from me” his tone was curiously formal, his voice sounding oddly strangled.
Tasia lowered the hand that she had instinctively raised to ward him off and gazed at him in weary resignation.
“I … I think it’s time we went our separate ways, Alpha. It’s clear that you dislike me. You certai
nly don’t trust me. I know that you offered me Pack protection from a sense of obligation.”
The Alpha, who’d been listening to her with a stony look on his face, opened his mouth to interject. However, this time it was Tasia’s turn to raise her hand to stop him.
“Please” she pleaded softly, clearly overwrought. “Let me get this off my chest. I’ve had doubts about this from day one. It is no one’s fault but my own. What was I thinking – how could I ever fit in a Shifter Pack? I know nothing of your ways or traditions.”
Tasia shook her head, her dejection clear. The Alpha, utterly silent, watched her with a shuttered expression.
“I chose to take the easy way out when you offered me protection because I was weary. Weary of always looking over my shoulder; and tired of fighting to suppress every ounce of magic in me for fear that someone someday would recognize me for who I am. It’s no good – no matter what I do, I will always fall short of your expectations. We’ve had a good run. It’s now time to dissolve this … this association. The Pack has protected me from the mercenaries and the vampires. You’ve more than repaid any assistance that I provided Hawk. Please consider any debt repaid in full.”
Tasia took a deep breath as she moved determinedly towards the door.
“It is time I left the Lair. Thank you again for your hospitality, Alpha.”
She pulled at the door blindly, the heavy sound-proofed door defeating her attempts to open it. The Alpha watched her attempts blankly, an oddly unfocused look in his eyes. Eventually he snapped out of his stupor to stop her precipitate exit.
“Wait, witch …” he stopped abruptly to prevent himself from completing the familiar epithet he’d always used for her.
His unfinished words seemed to give Tasia greater impetus as she grasped the door with both hands to pull at it, her strength given wings by desperation. This time, the heavy door slid open just enough for her to slip through. Tasia crossed into the Pack Room, still just as thronged by Shifters as before. Just before the heavy door swung shut behind her, there was an almighty crash from the Alpha’s Room. Tasia flinched in response but forced herself to keep walking as the Shifters turned en masse to stare at the Alpha’s Room. Hawk was the only Shifter to turn his attention to Tasia, his eyes filled with concern. It didn’t take long for the curious and speculative gazes of the other Shifters to move from the closed door to Tasia. Duncan, she noted from the corner of her eye, ignored everyone to stride towards the Alpha’s Room, concern writ large on his face.
