They ran out the door and turned left, the three guys stopping in their tracks, their eyes wide. Althea nearly ran into the back of them, turning and looking at each one of them in confusion. Slowly she followed their stares, looking off in the distance toward the Alpha area of the Settlement. She narrowed her eyes, and pushed through them taking a step forward. Billowing high above the treetops was a large plume of white smoke.
Althea glanced over at the guys. “Did someone set another fire?”
Yansa reached over and gripped her wrist shaking his head. “No. There’s no fire.”
Althea crinkled her brow. “I don’t understand. Then where’s the smoke coming from.”
On the other side of her, Billy slid his hand into hers, gripping it tightly. “They only light the ancestral flames when the Alpha has died. It’s a special type of leaf that creates bright white smoke but no flames. It’s said to help carry off the Alpha spirit to the Fields of Moribund.”
Althea’s heart dropped in her chest as she looked back at the white smoke. That meant that Long Claw had died and after just spending time with him, Althea had a sick feeling in the pit of her stomach that there was no way that it could’ve been coincidental. Someone had killed him, she could feel it in her bones.
“Wait here just a second, I’ve got to get my things,” Yansa said, running back toward the house.
Althea crossed her arms over her chest and gripped her hands into fists. Glancing over toward the woods, she narrowed her eyes watching white sporadic streams of light zoom past, moving toward the smoke. “What is that?”
Minco watched the lights with her. “We’ve never figured it out. It happens every time an Alpha passes. When your mother passed, the woods were lit up for days. Some believe that it’s the spirits of Grizzly Shifters passed, going to help bring the Alpha to the next realm. But Long Claw, he thought it was much simpler. He thought it was one Grizzly Shifter, one that was known to be quick, almost so fast you would miss him if he ran past you and you weren’t looking.”
Althea kept her eyes on the woods, nodding her head. “Which one is that?”
Minco looked down at her, just as Yansa ran back out of the house. “Your father.”
Althea wanted to know more, but now wasn’t the time for further questions, they had to get down there. When they arrived at the scene, the other guards allowed them through, showing them into Long Claw’s bedroom. Althea took a deep breath, turning away as they entered. The Alpha was dead inside of his room, murdered brutally. On the ground were Tiger, Dryad, and Bull prints smeared through the blood.
Minco turned to run from the room. “They can’t be far. Going to go get the other guards to search the grounds.”
Minco nodded at Billy and he nodded back before sliding over next to Althea and pulling her close. “You need to stay as close to me as you can. It’s imperative that we keep you as safe as possible. You’re now in charge of the Grizzly Shifters until the next Alpha can be named.”
This wasn’t a surprise to Althea, she had learned that in her studies growing up, but it did catch her slightly off guard. She stood there staring down at Long Claw’s mangled body, wondering why in the world fellow Alphas would do such a horrible thing to someone as kind as him. He wanted nothing more than the best for everyone, he never caused problems, he never called people out, and the Grizzly Shifters kept relatively to their self.
Guilt began to trickle through Althea, knowing full well that no one within that Settlement would’ve been injured if she hadn’t come there. The Alphas weren’t out for the other Alphas, they were out for her. They wanted her place in the ranking of the Shifters. What Althea couldn’t understand was how they thought they would get away with it. If they were to kill her, and try to take her place, her sisters would definitely have something to say about it.
Althea put her hand to her chest, suddenly realizing that if the Earth Sigil Alphas were to succeed, if they were to kill her and take her place, her sisters would be in grave danger. It was possible they were already in danger, especially if their Sigils had traitors among them like hers did. As Billy led her out of the house, she had to try to push back her thoughts of her sisters. In those moments she had to completely immerse herself in the idea of catching the Alphas who had done this. Even more than that, she needed to catch whoever they had hired, whoever within their own people they had sent out to complete the murders.
As she stood there among the crowd of people, sheltered by Billy, she stared up at the white plume of smoke, tears brimming on the edges of her eyes. She took a deep breath, and calmed her nerves knowing that the people would be looking to her. Until the next Alpha was chosen, a High Alpha would take his place. This is what she had been trained for her whole life, but in those moments, wrapped in Billy’s arms, she felt small and meek.
Chapter Fifteen
The wind blew fiercely down the streets of the Settlement. The houses were all empty, a single candle lit in each window. The silence that surrounded the town spread out through the forest. There were no chirps of birds, no sound of insects, and even the children were quiet. The lights raced through the forest around them as everyone gathered at the north end of the Settlement for the burial ceremony of the Clan Alpha. It was a somber affair, and tears stained the cheeks of so many. Everyone that gathered was in their human form as it was customary to arrive in whatever Shifter body that the Clan Alpha had passed away in. Long Claw never had a chance to shift into his Bear before being massacred during his evening meditation with the Ancestors.
When Billy had ushered Althea back to the cabin after watching them wrapping the body in inscribed cloth, she had immediately reached out to the Council of Shifters to let them know what had happened. She could hear the sadness in their voices but that sadness quickly turned to anger when she explained to them who was behind it. She set them on the task of finding those Alphas while she looked for the ones that the Alphas had hired to carry out the crime.
But that would come, first they had to bury the dead. Out of all the things that Althea had done to her life, she had never been to a ceremony for a Clan Alpha before. It was extraordinarily emotional but at the same time spiritual in nature. In the clearing where they buried the Clan Alphas, Long Claw’s body sat perched atop a wooden structure wrapped and rewrapped in ancestral writing. The white smoke surged across the field, rolling along like the fog she had once seen in her dreams. She couldn’t help but wonder if those dreams had been more of a premonition than anything else.
Standing next to Billy, wearing robes of black and gold as was standard for the High Alpha, she leaned on him. She could feel the pain inside of him, his loss great. It trickled through his whole body and transferred over to her. She kept her hand firmly placed on her chest, fearful that if she released it, she would collapse from the amount of grief that was being passed through her and the three brothers. She had never stopped to think about the fact that while they share energy, and positive emotions, they also share the bad as well.
Billy wrapped his arm around her, and pulled her close watching as Minco stood with several other guards, lined up behind Yansa in front of the wooden structure. He sang out in their language, chanting and praying to the Ancestors for the safe passage and peace of the Clan Alpha soul. Althea didn’t understand the language but it didn’t matter, she could feel the pain and sadness wrapped in those words.
When the ceremony was complete, the Clan Alpha would lie on the wooden structure for six days and seven nights and then he would be buried along with the rest of them. It was customary that everyone gather in their location of choice within the Settlement to have a giant feast and celebrate the life of Long Claw. Althea stood in the grass, staring out over the field as the others began to trickle away heading toward the feast. She waited for the guys, tending to the last bits of the ceremony before they could leave.
The phone tucked in her pocket began to vibrate and she pulled it out putting it to her ear. “Yes?”
“Althea,” t
he voice said. “I hope we’ve caught you after the ceremony. This is the Clan Alpha of the Lions calling on behalf of the Council of Shifters.”
Althea nodded, turning and looking across the field at the guys. “The ceremony is over, everyone is heading to the feast. What did you find out?”
The Lion Alpha cleared his throat and she could sense the sadness in him. She knew he had been an Alpha as long as the Grizzly Clan Alpha had been in his place and there was always a camaraderie between the Lions and the Bears. “We searched their homes, their offices, and several other places but we haven’t been able to locate the Alpha of the Tiger, the Dryad, or the Bull. It seems they’re not with their Clans.”
Althea stood there for a moment, not knowing what exactly to say. That rage she felt when she watched the Tigers fighting Billy and Minco returned with a vengeance. Suddenly it all became clear to her. The office may not have paid anyone at all to carry out the murders. Instead, the leaders themselves had made the trek to the Grizzly Settlement where they murdered the Clan Alpha, one of the guards, and set fire to her cottage all on their own.
“If they aren’t with their Clans then they’re here,” Althea said angrily. “They are trying to send me a message, and I’ve received that message loud and clear. They want me gone. But I can promise you, I won’t be giving into them. They won’t get what they want this time around. Instead, I’m going to make it my first order of business to hunt each and every one of them down and make sure that they’re more than repaid for the damage they’ve done to both the Grizzly Shifters and the Earth Sigil. We won’t stand for this treason. We won’t stand and watch our brothers and sisters die. I will be in touch.”
Before the Lion Alpha could respond, she hung up the phone and shoved it in her pocket. Turning back to the field she crossed her arms, biting her bottom lip in anger. Up ahead along the wood line, she watched the lights soar past. It was in those moments that she wished her father was alive. From the sound of it he was a great warrior, and he would know exactly what she needed to do at that point.
Althea shook her head, staring down at the ground and letting her thoughts wander through her mind. They took her back to when she was a child, wandering aimlessly as her Bear through the woods. She could still remember the tune she used to hum as she skipped along, dreaming of fantastical worlds. Althea smiled slightly, thinking of how easy times were when she was a young girl. As she reminisced, another idea popped into her mind, something she hadn’t thought of before. Slowly she lowered her hands down, and glanced up at the lights as they came to a stop in the wood line right in front of her and swirled in circles for just a moment before racing off.
Nodding her head, she knew exactly what she needed to do. “Thank you, father.”
With that she turned and jogged back across the field toward the guys. They all stopped and turned, watching her running toward them. She didn’t waste any time, jogging straight up to Yansa and catching her breath quickly before asking her question. “You know when you took me to that world I had created when I was a child? That day in the woods when I got to see exactly what that world would look like?”
Yansa looked at her curiously nodding his head. “Of course, I do. I was letting you see the fantastical world that you made up as a child. In fact, you were letting yourself see that world and I was just guiding you.”
Althea nodded. “I need you to do that again, only instead of taking me there, would you be able to lead me to where the Alphas are hiding?”
Billy walked over. “The Alphas?”
Althea glanced over at Billy. “The Council just called me. They can’t find those three Alphas anywhere. I’m thinking, they didn’t hire anyone to do this. They did it on their own. Those Alphas are still here hiding, and waiting for their chance to get me. But if Yansa is able to guide me, we may be able to track them down before we ever even leave the Settlement.”
By that point Minco had joined them and everyone looked at Yansa. “Yes, I think we can do that. But it’s going to take a lot of strong energy, so the three of us are going to have to join together in order to allow you to walk that path. You’re going to need to be anchored as much as you possibly can. This is incredibly dangerous. We may not be able to see exactly where they are, but we should be able to at least get an idea of the area.”
Althea turned her head and glanced at the Grizzly Alpha’s body lying on his pedestal. Turning back to the guys, she shook her head. “I’m not going to let anybody else die because of me. I’m not going to let them continue bullying me over this. There are a lot of things in this world that are dangerous and this is absolutely worth it. I trust you guys, and I know that if you’re there you’ll be able to pull me back out. I want to do it.”
The guys were apprehensive, but they all agreed. They wanted to find the ones responsible for their Alphas death just as much as Althea did. They gathered their things and the four of them headed back to Yansa’s home. Once inside, he went to work instructing Billy, Minco, and Althea on exactly what they needed to do to prepare. Billy cleaned the house, dusting and vacuuming every inch and corner of the place. Yansa gathered his tools, dozens of candles, and created a circle within the living room floor.
Yansa handed Minco a bar of handmade soap, some sage, and a towel. “You need to bathe her. She needs to be bathed by one of those that will be grounding her. The sage will protect her, so burn that as she is washing and hold it near her so that it falls down over her skin. When she is done, wrap the towel around her and dress her in the robes that are on the back of the door. They are inscribed with the words of the Ancestors and should help with another level of protection. They also… They are also a guide. If for some reason we are not able to bring her back out, the inscriptions will allow the Ancestors to find her and take her to the Fields of Moribund.”
Minco paused, glancing over at Althea and back at Yansa. “She’ll wear them but that’s not going to happen. We’re going to bring her home.”
Yansa reached out and gripped onto Minco’s arm. “I know brother, there is no doubt in my mind. But as you know, life has a funny way of happening when we aren’t looking. I want to be prepared for that.”
Minco nodded. “We will be prepared. And none of us will take our eyes off of her for even a second.”
The words that the two brothers spoke touched Althea. She could hear the love in the tones of their voices, the worry that they had of losing her. She wasn’t scared though, and she knew that this was the best way to find the Alphas before they found her. They couldn’t just go wandering through the forest and expect to randomly walk up on them. They could’ve been anywhere. So, into the dreamworld she’d go, and hopefully, with the bond she had with her mates, she’d return to fight another day for the Shifters.
Chapter Sixteen
Althea sat in the bathtub, smelling the spiced aroma of the sage circling around her. She stared ahead, thinking about everything that had happened as Minco gently rubbed the sponge down along her arms and over her back. There were flashes of memories that moved through her mind, all the things that made her life exactly what it was. She saw each one of her sisters just as she remembered them. Iris, strong and wild, soaring high in the air as her Griffin. Brigid, her bright red hair visible from a distance. She was the child of fire and light, one of the oldest and noblest Shifters in existence. Her Dragon was mighty, but her personality was what could burn you. And then there was Indra, the sea Princess, the swimmer of 1000 leagues, a Dolphin Shifter. Her blue eyes and blond hair lit up a room every time she was in it.
Minco finished washing her and she stood up, turning toward him as he used the cloth to dry her off. She took his hand and stepped out of the bathtub, staring ahead as he circled her with the sage letting it consume her. Her mother’s face flashed in and out of her mind, the strength she had when she was alive, and the wisdom she possessed even in death. Althea turned and put her arms back, allowing Minco to pull the heavy robes up and over her shoulders. He tugged the fabric across
her and tied it at each hip.
Leading her from the bathroom, Althea stepped gently across the floor toward Yansa who was standing in the circle ready to begin. As she passed by Billy, she smiled at him and then stepped into the center. Both Minco and Billy stood behind her with Yansa at the head. Yansa waved more sage in front of her blowing it over her head and down her back. He set it down on one of the many silver trays lined behind him on what looked to be an altar.
“Before we begin, I want to make sure that you understand what you’re walking into,” Yansa said in his normal calm tone of voice. “This journey is all about you. How far we get and how close we get to finding the Alphas during the ceremony is based on how strong you are as a High Alpha. One thing you need to remember is that it’s very easy to get lost in the world between worlds. They will not be able to see you, almost as if you’re walking through a dream, but that doesn’t mean you can’t get trapped there. You need to use the three of us to tether yourself to this world. It is the only way that you’ll be able to pull yourself back if you’ve stayed too long.”
Althea took in a long deep breath and glanced around at the guys. “I understand.”
Yansa nodded, lighting a match and leaning down to the candle at their feet. Once the flame had risen, he picked the candle up and held it out in his palms and began to chant. As if Althea was being led by Yansa without even speaking, she reached out and put her hands beneath his, helping to hold the candle. The incense burned thickly and the smoke from the sage filled the room creating a haze around them.
Yansa sang, the words of the ancestral counsel flowing from his lips. Althea closed her eyes, taking in a deep breath of the sage and incense around her. Flashes of different locations within the woods slowly popped into her mind. They began to come rapidly, appearing and reappearing so quickly she could barely even tell that they were places. However, as she sunk deeper into her meditative state, they began to move slower until finally, she could feel herself grounded within the world between worlds. She opened her eyes, and instead of finding herself standing in the Shamans living room helping to hold a candle, she stood in the forest.
Her Earth Mates Page 9
