Dire Secrets

by Micca Michaels

  “I remember something about a blue raven birthmark,” closing his eyes and pinching the bridge of his nose, deep in thought, “something about the chosen one will possess remarkable spiritual strength, helping the spirit world, something about her mates helping her to keep the worlds apart...wait, Raven...I...”

  Grabbing Liam’s hand, not only for him but to ground herself as well, “I know Liam. We need to find this legend and figure out everything we can. I don’t think Raven knows anything, but we won’t be able to wait long to tell her. I do know one thing, and that’s never changed in any vision, Conner Michael Dwyer is her first fated mate but not her last. We cannot keep Conner away from her. If he or she feels the pull of the bond, we must let it happen.”

  “Mum, with everything that happened to that poor girl, do you really think she will be open enough to feel the pull of the bond. What if the stress of everything shuts the bond down? What are we...”

  “Liam, stop. You will assign Tris and Conner to her protection detail. We can’t even let her know she has a protection detail till we reveal everything else to her, and we have almost no time left.”

  Liam glares at his mum, “What have you not told me? Why does Raven need a protection detail when she will be on Pack lands? You know I have to tell Alpha Brandan everything. He may want more protection for Raven. We can’t overwhelm her, but we must protect her. Finish, mum, tell me the rest.”

  “I was able to see everything concerning Raven until Ailin and Sinead were killed. Now, I can only see up to the day before her Ascension, and it worries me. If the legend of the Blue Raven being the Double Raven is in fact true, shifting into a Dire wolf will be the least of what she will have to deal with. That is all that I know right now. We have a lot of work to do. Now, I suggest we do as the young ones are and take a nap. It will seem like the flight is faster than it actually is.”

  Reclining both of their seats back, “I can agree to that. Besides, my mind needs to process everything.”

  Waking up to his shoulder beginning to be given a light shake, “I’m sorry sir, but we are preparing to land in Dublin, and I need you and your travel companion to raise your seats to an upright position. I fear you both were so deep in sleep you didn’t hear our announcement.”

  Opening his eyes wide, “Dublin? My Gods, we slept for several hours. Yes, of course. I’ll wake my mum. Could you make sure my niece and son are also awake. They are the only young ones in the…”

  Smiling, “We woke them first, so no worries there. They have already gathered their belongings, stowed them, and are ready to land. It seems they slept as long as you and your mum. Welcome to Dublin, we’ll be landing in about ten minutes.”

  Returning flight attendants smile, “Thank you.” Turning to wake his mom, he sees she’s already awake and ready to land, “I guess I don’t need to wake you up, and I can’t believe we slept like that. Not just you and I, but the kids as…Mum, did you put us all to sleep?”

  Pulling her hand to her chest, looking offended, “Liam Patrick Sullivan, I would never use my gift to manipulate someone to do what they didn’t wish to do. However, I may have assisted in making our naps deeper and more peaceful.”

  Laughing at his mum’s antics, Liam takes her hand and kisses her palm. “Ladies and gentlemen, this is your Captain speaking. If Dublin is the end of your travels, welcome home. For those catching a connecting flight, the information you will be needing will be located on the board to the right as you enter the main part of the airport. Thank you for flying Irish Air. Flight crew, prepare for landing.”

  Once the plane came to a stop, Raven and Tris joined Liam and Brigid in the small line to exit the plane. As Liam leads everyone down the gangway and into the terminal, “Everyone wait here for a minute. I’ll check what terminal we need to get to and how fast we need to get there.” Walking over to the Connecting flight bulletin, “We only need to walk down to the right. We’re only three terminals away, and we have thirty minutes. I will meet you three there. Now that we are at least in Ireland, I need to call Celeste and check in. I’ll be right behind you.” Pulling out his cell phone, Liam turns it on. When it finally connects Liam calls his Alpha first.

  Hearing the ringing, Liam waits, “Shanahan residence, how may I help you?”

  “This is First Beta Liam, I need to speak to the Alpha.”

  “Hi Liam, hold on and I’ll get da on the phone.”

  “Chloe, is that you? You sound so different. I haven’t been gone that long for your voice to change.”

  Giggling into the phone, “Sorry Liam, I had something in my mouth. Is this better?”

  “Yes, now you sound like you. I do need to speak to your da, and I don’t have a lot of time.”

  “Here he is.”

  Hearing some rustling sounds on the other end of the phone, “Liam, my man. Tell me you’re back in Ireland.”

  “I am, or I should say we are. Listen, I apologize for the lack of formality, but there’s no time. Our connecting flight takes off in thirty minutes.”

  “Speak, Liam, this sounds serious and since Celeste won’t tell me anything and you couldn’t tell me anything, I am in the dark. Dispense with formalities and tell me what the feck is going on that three of my pack members took off?”

  “Brandan, Ailin and Sinead Sullivan were hunted and attacked by the Blackwood Dire Pack. There was an avalanche during the battle. Ailin and Sinead as well as six Blackwood Dire wolves were killed. I will give you more details after we arrive, but I have their pup, my niece, Raven Sullivan. I need Conner Dwyer to go with Celeste to pick us up from the airport. She was going to take Kevin Kelly with her, but it needs to be Conner. This needs to stay quiet for now. I have to ask for your blind trust for now.”

  Growling angrily, “Jesus, Mary, and Joseph...Yes, you have it and anything else you need. I assume Celeste knows when to pick you up?”

  “Yes, she does. Could you call Conner and just tell him Raven is flying in tonight. He will call Celeste himself now that I think of it. I will text her to tell him yes. Alp-Brandan, I have to go, they are boarding us early.”

  “Don’t worry, I will handle this end. You keep that pup safe. I fear this is just beginning.”

  “You have no idea.”

  “I expect that to be explained later, now go. We’ll see you soon.”

  Running over to the terminal, “Sorry, that took longer than I thought it would. Let’s board and get this flying business over with already. The best part is this flight will take less than an hour.”

  Raven giggles, “Why didn’t we just drive it then?”

  Tapping Raven in the back of the head, “Because the drive is almost three hours, and I would rather your Auntie Celeste not drive that distance this late in the evening.”

  “Well, that makes sense.”

  Smiling at the flight attendant, Raven shows her ticket. “Welcome aboard. You four are indeed lucky, as you are the only passengers. The Captain said that the four of you are welcome to sit in First Class if you like.”

  “Well, I can’t speak for these three, but I will accept a First Class seat. I guess it doesn’t matter which one we grab either.”

  “My niece thinks she’s funny. We’ll all take the Captain up on his offer, and please thank him for us. Alright everyone, grab a seat and buckle up. Let’s get this show in the air.”

  “Dun, dun, dun. Please excuse my da, he only thinks he has a sense of humor. I keep trying to tell him he’s not funny, but he just won’t listen.”

  “Well, I’m sure he tries,” giggles the flight attendant.

  At that remark everyone starts laughing, and Tristan gloats, “See da, that was funny. You could learn a thing or two.”

  “Good evening to our four passengers, this is your Captain. This flight will only take approximately forty four minutes. I would say sit back and relax, but by the time you do, we’ll be landing.” At that the entire crew as well as those four passengers burst out laughing. “Flight crew, prepare for a hop, sk
ip and jump.”

  Just as the Captain had said, by the time they were settled in and comfortable, it was time to land.

  “This is your Captain speaking, our hop, skip, and medium-sized jump is now over. Flight crew, prepare for landing.”

  After landing and taxiing to the terminal, everyone was still laughing as they walked down the gangway and into the terminal. ”Alright, passports out. We have to deal with customs, Raven more than the rest of us. I will stay with Raven. If we are delayed, Tris, you go with Gma and find mum. She should be in baggage claim, grabbing our bags.”

  Brigid and Tris made it through customs without a hitch. Raven however, was asked several questions and had her carry-on searched. Liam also made it through customs without any issues.

  “I hate going through customs,” Raven whines, “I understand it, but Gods, what a pain in the arse.”

  “Raven, stop bitching, my girl. You won’t have to deal with it again for a long time,” Celeste walked right up to Raven and wrapped her in the tightest hug, “I’m not letting you out of my sight for a long time. I am so glad you’re here. I brought someone with me. He heard you were coming, and I couldn’t keep him away.”

  The moment Celeste moved to the side, Raven took off running, “Conner!”

  Opening his arms, for the one and only woman he swore he would ever love, Conner caught her. Wrapping his muscular arms around her, “My love, I have missed you. I’m so sorry for what happened to your ma and da, but I selfishly can’t be sorry you’re here.”

  Burying her face in his neck, she can’t resist inhaling his scent, “Oh Conner, seeing you fills my heart. I’ve missed you. I am so glad you came with Auntie Celeste. I wasn’t sure what you knew and what you didn’t.”

  “Well, to be honest, I didn’t know a damn thing. I got a call that told me you were landing soon and that Celeste was picking you, Brigid, Liam, and Tris up. So, I did the only thing I could do, I called Celeste and begged her to bring me with her. It was on the way here that she filled me in on everything.”

  Smiling at the couple, “I hate to break this up, but we need to load up and head home. I am sure there are going to be a lot of questions coming our way, and Raven’s been going almost nonstop for days and that doesn’t look like it’s going to end soon.”

  Letting go of Raven, with the exception of one hand intertwined with one of hers, Conner wrapped Brigid into a hug, “Awe Brigid, I would have come with you if you would have told me.”

  Patting him on the back, “ I know, dear boy, I know. Everything happened so fast there was hardly any time to think. Do we have everything?”

  “Yes ma, we have everything. If everyone will follow Conner and myself, we’ll get loaded and on the road. We should be home in about twenty minutes.”

  The walk to the van was a short one. The fact that the flight was a late one helped with parking. Everyone loaded the bags and themselves. Raven and Conner sat in the last seat. Tris and Brigid sat in the middle, while Liam drove and Celeste sat in the front passenger seat. The drive did, in fact, only take about twenty minutes. Liam pulled up to his ma’s place and everyone climbed out.

  Liam spoke first, “I think it would be easier if we all crashed here and unloaded the van in the morning. What do you say, ma?”

  “I am fine with that. There is room for everyone, you know that,” turning to the kids, Tris, Conner, and Raven can be downstairs. Celeste and Liam can have the upstairs guest room. If everyone is good with that, first one up makes coffee and puts tea on. Agreed?”

  A chorus of “agreed” rang out as everyone entered the house.

  Knocking on the Alpha’s door, Ciara waits for the cue to enter.

  “Ciara, what can I do for you?” Kieran says from behind her.

  Jumping and spinning around, “Jesus, Mary, and Joseph! Alpha, you’re going to give me a heart attack one of these days,” taking a breath to settle her nerves, “I have the report about the tracking device you inquired about.”

  Opening his office door, he invites her inside, “Come in and close the door.” Walking around his desk to sit in his chair, “Sit, Ciara, tell me what you found out.”

  She smiles and continues, “Alpha, you will be happy to know that the tracking device will be placed on the pup this evening. Someone I trust was able to create a device small enough to fit in her cell phone cover. You know young girls go nowhere without their cell phone. So, we will be able to track her at all times. I will need your cell phone for a couple minutes to program it so that you will be the one to track her. My cell phone will be for backup purposes.”

  Pulling his cell phone out of his back pocket he hands it to Ciara, “Go ahead and do what you need to. I refuse to lose that pup.”

  “Alpha, if you don’t mind me asking. Why are we waiting? Why don’t we just attack the Whitewood pack and kill her in the process? It seems like a win-win to me.”

  Leaning back in his chair and crossing his arms across his chest, he calmly explains, “There are still a lot of things we need to learn. Such as, is it true every single Whitewood is a witch as well as a Dire Wolf shifter? Is it true they outnumber us five to one? How many Enforcers do they have? Are their Enforcers their only physically trained warriors? How many allies do they have, and who are they? Even calling our allies won’t aid us if they have more allies than we do. Every bit of information we are able to gather matters. Rushing an attack could lead to a disastrous situation,” Kieran waves his hand through the air, “Besides all that, their Alpha has the gift of foresight, or so I have heard. I need to know if this is true. If in fact it is true, planning an attack will not be easy. So you see, we have to tread lightly.”

  Fidgeting with pent up energy, Ciarra nods her head, “I understand, Alpha. Sometimes I forget there is more to an attack than the physical side of the battle. Please forgive my rush for revenge.”

  Leaning forward and placing his interlocked finger on his desk, “You are forgiven. No one wants revenge more than I do. Now that includes avenging the death of my sister. As soon as you are contacted that the tracking device has been secured in Raven Sullivan’s cell phone, I expect a call. You are dismissed. Oh Ciara,” with a stern look, “talk to no one about this and ask all the Betas to report here to my office within the next thirty minutes.”

  Turning back towards the door, Ciara leaves and closes the door behind her. Spotting Beta Damian, Ciara grabs his attention, “Damian, the Alpha wants all Betas to report to his office within the next thirty minutes.” Starting to walk away, Ciara is stopped by Damian’s words.

  “Do you know what this is about?”

  Tilting her head a bit and taking on a small smile, “Why would I know what it’s about? I’m merely a lowly pack member,” turning on her heels, Ciara strides away.

  Crossing his arms across his chest, Damian releases a low guttural growl. Taking a deep breath, the first thing that crosses his mind adds to his frustration, if that bitch wasn’t our Alpha’s cousin, I’d rip her throat out. What a hateful, sour cow. Deciding to get to the point of this meeting, Damian gathers the Betas and reports to the Alpha’s office.

  All five Betas gather themselves outside of Alpha's office. Not knowing what this is about has them fidgeting. Each taking a moment to stand up to his maximum height, shoulders back and heads up, Damian knocks on the door.

  Leaning back in his chair, arms relaxed on the armrests of his chair, he beckons from within, “Enter.” Watching each of his Betas walk into the room, Kieran is convinced he has chosen his new first Beta well. If any of the others choose to dispute my decision, they can always issue a challenge and fight for the First Beta position. “Gentlemen, come in and grab a seat. We have a few matters to discuss. First off, have the she-wolves started preparing for our fallen family members to be buried in the ritual manner?”

  Without hesitation, Damian speaks up, “Yes Alpha, when I checked a couple of hours ago they were about finished with the preparations and said we would be ready to proceed at sunset tonigh
t.”

  Smiling and nodding his head the Alpha continues, “Now, for something I didn’t think I would ever honestly have to face. I, this pack, this family, need a new First Beta. I want you all to know I have given this some serious thought, and I have chosen Damian Walsh,” taking a moment to allow the news to sink in, “does anyone have an objection to this? If you do, speak now or remain silent. If I hear of issues arising from this later, I will personally deal with the offender.”

  As Damian sat in a haze of shock, the other Betas came to him and congratulated him. Blinking away the haze Damian thanks each Beta. Turning his attention back to his Alpha, “Alpha Kieran, I am honored to be selected as your First. I will strive to live up to First Beta Claire’s memory.”

  Getting up from his chair, all the Betas stand with him, “No guys, sit. I just need to move around a bit.” Clapping his new First Beta on the shoulder, he began, “We need to start quietly gathering as much information on the Whitewood pack as we can. Raven Becca Sullivan must die, but getting to her won’t be easy. We must tread lightly. Other than those in this room and our two most powerful seers, no one is to get wind of this. You know how gossip flows freely, and we cannot have that. We know that they know we orchestrated and delivered the attack in Aspen, Colorado. They will be in a heightened state of awareness for a while. We will use that time for information gathering. At some point, they will relax that state of hypervigilance. They will assume we only wanted Ailin and Sinead dead, and that will be their downfall. Questions? Suggestions?”

  “Alpha,” looking around the room and then at his Alpha, Finn relaxes a bit. “We know where Whitewood tends to hang out. It’s a neutral territory, so some of us going there isn’t unheard of. Notably the pub always mixes a bit of wolfsbane into the alcohol, buzzed and drunk, even their own pack members may spill a bit of information. We could always use that to our advantage. Of course, we couldn’t always use the same members of our pack as that would look suspicious.”

  Smiling and nodding his head, Kieran agrees, “Finn, that is a brilliant idea. Do we know if any of our wolves get along with, or can at least talk to, a Whitewood pack member without a fight happening?”