Dawn

by Sherry Foster

  “Couldn’t we have one of the males prepared to tranq the guy?”

  “You know Jamie, that would be an excellent idea. If you will tell me which one of the males will one hundred percent certain not have a mate in that place, one male for each helicopter so give me the four names of the males with no mates there we will make sure they are standing at the front of the bird ready to shoot at the first sign a team mate is preparing to abandon ship.”

  “Well, you and Jaden and Craig are all going right?”

  “No, Craig will not be going on this mission. Which would explain why Craig is not here.”

  “Well, yeah, I can see he isn’t here, but he told me earlier he would be meeting with you later to go over his part of the plan.” Jamie stopped talking when Marcus started growling.

  “Okay, yeah, I will be talking to Craig later. We aren’t counting on him at this point so that leaves Jaden. You know Krys and I aren’t true-mated. The risk may be infinitesimal a true-mate will show for one of us one day but I can’t risk everyone’s life on anything we could have planned for if we had only looked a little harder and thought a little longer.”

  “Well since the alien dudes are playing a different role they won’t be on the birds so just take 3 more mated males and let them catch a ride back on the plane later. Hell Marcus, take Edward and Gammon and William here. Stick one man on each bird and if any males give any sign they are about to bail let the guys shoot them. Then they can put the guys on the plane and get them back to us. Seems simple to me. Wait,” Jamie turned to stare up at Edward, “You did get mated right? I thought I heard you and Gammon saying something about it when I picked you up earlier.”

  “I have a future mate, she is underage, but yes, I have one. I would be happy to contribute to the mission, even if my contribution may mean shooting one of those who would punish the ones who hurt my mate.”

  “Holy shit, you mated the screamer? Is she, man, she was, gods she made us want to cry. She was so broken.”

  Edward gave a slow smile as he stared down at Jamie, “She is still broken, they are always broken, but sometimes we can help put the pieces back together to make them stronger than before. The fire that breaks them lets us forge a stronger weapon. A weapon which will bring our people back one birth at a time. She will one day soar higher than the birds and her laughter will delight the wind who will carry it far and wide.”

  “Ah yeah, you know, you don’t seem a bit like, I mean,” Jamie spun back toward his Alpha “Marcus my man, what do you think of the plan? Will it work? And what happens if someone in a critical position goes down in the helicopter, what then? Are we making plans for replacements?”

  “Jamie, one day you will make a fine mission leader, that day is not today. We have plans for replacement for everyone and replacements for the replacements. Everyone can cover down on two other positions. Your job is to fly the bird down there and fly the bird back. If you can’t fly the bird down there we, well shit, we don’t have a replacement for you. Tell you what, you get hurt, and you shouldn’t be far enough from the birds to put you in danger, or close enough to the action, but if you do, I personally will beat you to the ground. So my suggestion, don’t screw up, don’t get hurt, because your replacement won’t be going if he can’t get a handle on his powers.”

  Gammon snorted, “So Edward gets asked and William and I don’t? Santiago can cover down on Jamie. We all want in, and he can fly any bird you have. Jamie will be the only one with no co-pilot. So if not Santiago then one of his men. We have replacements for everyone.”

  “We don’t know Edward so no idea what kind of Alpha he is or how much he had invested in the rescue of the females, you we know, William, well I figure it is the cost of being High Council in his case.”

  Chapter Eighteen

  “So what do you think? Can you use your incredible powers to find my friends?” Dawn begged Alice later that night after Charles and Leah had gone to bed. Charles had some men bring in a set of twin beds earlier and move the larger bed out so the girls were currently sitting cross-legged on one bed with their heads close together. Alice had listened with interest to the story and part of her wanted to research ways the female birth-rates could be improved. Possibly with some genetic modification, maybe she should switch her current studies. But after a brief thought she regretfully released the idea. She might look into the situation later but for now she had other plans.

  Since Leah had taken all her paperwork and folders taken away before bedtime Alice wasn’t in any mood to entertain Dawn’s plea. Leah had not taken the tablet away and Alice had spent time trying to find a connection between her grandfather’s pack and this pack. So far, even with all the records she had tapped, she had come up blank. If the two packs had any dealings with each other she couldn’t find a financial trail linking them together at all. She found plenty to link a pack in Nevada and of course the one in Alaska, but nothing to the pack in Colorado. She was still smarting from having her research taken away.

  “I fail to understand why you persist in trying to find these people. I told you what I overheard. The men at the prison were not happy and if they were not happy then you should, in theory, be content in the realization your friends were rescued. What does it matter if you know their current location? You are to go to Gammon’s and I will go to Santiago’s and from there we will make the best decision where my future rests based on all the available resources.”

  “My god, how can you be so cold about where you are going? Don’t you care what your life will be like when we leave? Don’t you want to go somewhere people aren’t forcing you to mate to a stranger?”

  “I am not cold about my future. I have everything mapped out precisely as I need for the direction I have planned. My concerns are focused on the availability of the research materials I will need in my future home. I have made concise lists of all the equipment and research materials I will need along with the courses I will need to take to complete my degree. I have researched the internet speed most conducive toward furthering my education and how many bytes the pack will need to make available for my needs. Everything the pack will need to provide has been carefully researched so again, I am not unconcerned about my future. If I were I would be wailing and flailing about wishing for someone to tell me what I should do next.”

  “You little bitch. I am not wailing and flailing about waiting on someone to tell me what to do. I think I hate you. You are more like a robot than a person. A little android, annoying, know it all android. You don’t care about people at all do you? I bet you would fit right in here with their robots.”

  “That is incorrect. I care a great deal about people. Though we may one day have artificial intelligence capable of creation, we have not yet evolved to the point where one can, with reasonable expectation,”

  “Oh shut up. Please, I do not want to hear about any of your geek stuff. Can’t you just be more like a real girl sometimes and less like a freaking robot?”

  “I am uncertain what you are asking of me. I am flesh and blood just as you are so how can I be more like what I already am. I have to wonder if you analyze what you say before you speak or if occasionally you are as surprised as I am about your word choices. For I will admit, I am often surprised at the thought patterns of other people. Most people are extremely illogical.”

  “Illogical? No Alice, you seem to think you can plan every single aspect of your life and everything will just fall into place but that isn’t how life works. I mean, really, could you ever have imagined being kidnapped and held prisoner and having to make escape plans?”

  “Well yes of course that eventuality was planned for otherwise I would likely not have had the supplies I needed when I was captured.”

  “Wait, you are telling me you planned to be captured? Why?”

  “I’m sorry, I did not say I planned to be captured. I said the eventuality was planned for, in great detail I might add. I appear to have only made one small mistake but I have rectified the mi
stake and I predict things will swiftly resume as planned.”

  “What’s the difference? What mistake?”

  “Well, you I assume were taken by surprise, most probably in the late evening hours or early morning, if not in the middle of the night. Your caretakers were killed and you were removed from your dwelling with whatever you had at hand. I would venture to say you did not have anything but the clothes upon your back and most probably those were nightclothes leaving you with no option of supplies. Would this be correct?”

  Dawn looked at the little girl and blinked a few times before attempting to answer, “Of course it was a surprise, no one could expect us to know we were going to be attacked and the attackers would then kidnap me. Who plans on that.”

  “This is incorrect. If your caretakers,”

  “Oh my god, caretakers, they killed my parents, my mom and dad you unnatural robotic girl. My parents, quit calling them my caretakers. Maybe you did not have parents but I did, you may not have known what it was like to have parents but I did. So stop calling them my caretakers. Just, don’t.”

  “I see. I apologize if my words offended you. However, parents are also expected to take care of you to a reasonable degree so it is not unnatural to call such people caretakers as in reality this is their role in your life. Being a parent is not a job as much as a title. It relays no information as to what kind of job the person or persons preform on your behalf. Now, unless you plan to misdirect the conversation again I will finish explaining why you could have expected to at some point be captured.”

  Dawn thought of all the times her parents had told her being a parent was a full time job while she stared at the little girl in disbelief before asking in awe, “What raised you?”

  “Again, do you want the explanation of why capture should have been expected and planned for on your behalf or would you like to discuss other items such as the genetic make up of my caretakers?

  “I think, if you are going to tell me we could have somehow saved my mom and dad, I think I changed my mind. I don’t want to know.”

  “Oh I am certain saving them would have been beyond the skills obtained by them otherwise they would still be with you. No, I can confidently say you could not have saved them and they could not have saved themselves. If the possibility existed then my caretakers would not have perished in the kerfuffle to capture me. The event could have been better planned for on the part of your care, excuse me, parents, but the capture was inevitable.”

  “I don’t understand. If we could have planned for it then we could have stopped it. My parents would still be alive.” Dawn’s shoulders were shaking as silent sobs racked her body.

  “That is not at all what I said and I do not understand your tears.” Alice looked around the room. She wasn’t sure how to deal with the violent emotions the other girl was suffering from and after a moment she did the only thing she could think of, she hopped off the bed and headed for the door. Dawn was too caught up in her grief to notice the door opening, she never heard the light knocking, the short conversation Alice had with Leah did not penetrate her grief. The first indication she had of anyone else in the room was when Leah’s arms went around her and started rocking her. In that moment in time Dawn finally broke down and let the grief and despair of the past out. Alice, after a brief moment retreated to the living room with her tablet. Charles found her there moments later.

  “I hesitate to ask what you did, but curiosity demands I find out. I don’t believe, from the bits and pieces one can pick out between the sobs, that she is relieved to finally be safe. It appears she thinks you could have saved her parents, which doesn’t make sense so out with it my girl. What did you say?”

  “I do not believe she understood her question.”

  “I don’t understand your answer so how bout we start over. What did she ask that caused her to believe you could have saved her parents?”

  “She asked me if I could have anticipated, no she said imagined, she asked if I could have imagined being captured.”

  “I am dying to know your answer to that question.” Charles leaned back in his recliner and prepared himself for whatever the little girl had to say.

  “Well of course my capture was anticipated. If one paid attention to what has happened in the shifter world in the last few decades one would know that unless one is protected by the correct pack then one could reasonably expect, at some point, to encounter the wrong people. Those people would then use the resources at their command to take over the care of the female. If the current caretaker does not have the resources to neutralize the attempt then the takeover will be successful. In the eventuality the takeover occurs the female should be prepared to formulate plans to relocate herself to a more suitable environment unless the takeover benefits the female. In which case the female would be expected to arrange her life to continue on the desired path. The takeover did not benefit me nor did it further my plans for my education. Upon further study I determined the most suitable approach would be to relocate myself to a Santiago’s territory on a temporary basis. In doing so I appointed Donna as my temporary caretaker until such time as I could discuss new guardianship with Santiago.”

  By the time she was finished with her explanation Charles was leaning forward with his elbows propped up on his knees staring at her in fascination. He had not been as prepared for her answer as he believed. When it was clear she had finished Charles got up, “Stay here I will be right back.”

  Alice shrugged her shoulders, people could be difficult to understand.

  A few minutes later he returned with his cell phone. Motioning for silence he dialed a number and waited. Alice heard a male answer the phone.

  “Hey son, I hate to bother you but I need to discuss something with you. You got a minute?”

  Sure dad, what’s up.

  “Well, about Alice, I was wondering if your mom and I could apply for adoption.”

  Alice? You want to adopt Alice? No. Hell no. Dad, I can’t let you do that. Did you talk to mom about this first?

  “Well, no, I haven’t spoken with her yet. As the Alpha I would have to go through you to bring another into the pack and I thought, well I didn’t want to get your mom’s hopes up if you had a reason not to adopt her.”

  Hold on. I am going to put Santiago on the phone with you.

  Hello?

  “Good evening Santiago, this is Charles Caveno. Look here we have Alice staying with us and I must say she is a delight to be around, mostly. Now I asked Trey if Leah and I could get permission to adopt Alice and although he initially said no I do hope between myself and Alice we can change his mind if Alice and Leah are agreeable. He thought I should speak with you on the subject though, possibly because she was headed toward your territory. I would like some insight into the situation if you don’t mind.”

  You want to adopt Alice? Have you spent much time with her? I am asking because Alice is rather special to me, on a personal level. Most people do not want to spend much time with her.

  “Well, I admit I haven’t gotten to spend much time with her yet but I was hoping we could further our acquaintance over the next few days. At this time I am checking to see if the people most concerned would be amendable to Alice staying with me and Leah.

  Mr. Caveno, I can’t give you an answer at this moment. Let me get this mission wrapped up and I will come for a visit. The decision will rest with Alice, I hope you understand.

  “You are going to leave the decision to the child?”

  Mr. Caveno, you haven’t spent enough time with my mija if you have to ask that question.

  “No, you misunderstand me. I understand the reasoning behind the statement, I just didn’t expect you to defend the child’s right to choose at such a young age. But you did say she is special to you on a personal level so I will assume this means you know the child well enough to know her capabilities which I have only gotten a glimpse of so far.

  Mr. Caveno, spend some time with the child, let your mate get to know
her, take her around your pack and let her meet people. When this mission is complete, then we will discuss the future.

  “That sounds fair enough. I look forward to your visit. Again, I am sorry to disturb you.”

  “I accept your guardianship.”

  “Well, we still have to get Leah on board but if I might ask, what was the turning point since we haven’t even discuss the possibility.”

  “Mr. Charles, you have a robotics plant and the computing power I need for my studies. I am certain Santiago will prefer me to remain at this location than to relocate to Alaska, which I am sure would have been his plan.”

  “I see. I thought after the reports I got on you today the plant would be a deciding factor. I am pleased to see I was correct in my initial assessment of you. Now, if you wouldn’t mind I am going to go back to bed young lady and if you would like to change rooms feel free. End of the hall the right leads to another bedroom. Goodnight little one.”

  “Goodnight Mr. Charles.”

  Chapter Nineteen

  “Remember, don’t hesitate to shoot the first man who tries to unbuckle his harness. Men, if you unbuckle or even look like you are going to unbuckle you will be shot. My suggestion, don’t unbuckle for any reason unless you want to spend the rest of the mission flat on your back where ever the rest of the team decides to stick you.” Marcus had flown down to the airstrip with Casey to watch the mission unfold and provide rear support. The teams were preparing to do a five mile fly by of the compound and turn around to approach with-in three miles before landing at the prearranged site where they would unload the birds and as soon as dusk fell they hoped to take down the compound.