by Jana Leigh
Lacy: Seeing Double
Denver Pack Book Seven
By Jana Leigh
Editing: Kerri Good
Published by JLK
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Electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.
This is a work of fiction. Names, places, characters, and incidents either are the product of the author"s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, organizations, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
© Copyright 2011 Jana Leigh. All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author From the Author: Thank you to all those who have sent encouraging email and messages. You can check out my web site: janaleigh.webs.com. Alternatively, contact me on facebook: http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Jana-Leigh/252352951490534.
Email: [email protected]
Prologue
Lacy looked around her business and smiled. It was all hers, maybe not what you would call conventional, but still hers. Lacy lived in the perfect town for her business. New Orleans, Louisiana, was the voodoo capital of the world. Lacy fit right in with her coven here. She owned a small shop that sold her potions and charms, amulets and talismans.
Witches are practitioners of witchcraft, and generally are skilled in sorcery and the magical arts. Through rituals, charms, spells and the conjuring or invoking of spirits, they manipulate natural and cosmic forces for either good or evil purposes. The word
„witch" comes from the Middle English word „witches", which is also derived from the old English terms known as Wicca and Wiccan, which mean to work sorcery, bewitch.
Throughout most of history, they have been feared and despised because of the fact they were thought to be vindictive, cast evil spells on others, and consort with evil spirits.
The western concept of them had evolved from sorcery and magic beliefs dating back to the ancient Assyrians, Babylonians, Acadians, Hebrews, Greeks, and Romans. In ancient Greece and Rome, they were renowned for their herbal knowledge, magical potions, and unnatural powers. Classic witches often were said to have the evil eye.
Now, Lacy, she was a white witch. She only used her powers to help and heal. Never for personal use or gain, and never to harm someone. When she was ten, her coven leader (also her mother), explained their history. There were witches like her, red witches like her mother, who were powerful in all areas and usually the leaders of a coven. Blue witches who were powerful in casting spells, Green witches were good at mixing potions, and Black witches were those who chose to use their powers for personal gain. Their colors changed, and became blurred, hence the name Black witches.
She was given a choice to join the coven, or to take the easy path, and renounce her powers and remain a normal person. It was a big decision for such a small girl to make.
Her father supported her mother, but had never taken to his powers. He claimed not to want the responsibility. Lacy discovered her powers were best suited for healing. Being a White witch was unusual; in fact, there was not another White witch in her coven. Her mother said that she was special.
Lacy wanted it. She wanted to be a witch, she wanted to be special. Her mother told her that when she was older she would be a powerful witch, one that would help change the course of the world. She did not understand it, but she never questioned it.
Lacy took her witchcraft very seriously. She especially liked to use her powers for people who came to her for help with relationships. Part of her gift allowed her to see when couples came in if they were meant to be together. She did not advertise this because she would have couples standing at her door waiting for her to decide if they should get married or not, but that was her calling. She did not question the gift the Spirits had given her. When she saw a couple who were supposed to be together, she would see a small thin magical connection between them. It reminded her of static electricity; a thin silver strand formed between the couple and connected them.
The gift was also a curse. Where she could see the joy of a binding, she could also see the tragedy of a mismatch or if one of the spouses was being harmed, even in a matched relationship. A few times she had even helped women who were being abused by their spouses realize that they were destined for a better life. Lacy did not care if they were meant to be together or not, she would help them. She helped them leave the abusive relationship; because of this type of work, she had gotten her degree in psychology while practicing her craft. Her mother had protested, saying that she could not do both, but her father made sure that she went.
Lacy sighed and moved around her store. She longed to find the man she would spend the rest of her life with. She was not classically pretty, more like the cute, short, chubby, best friend pretty. She had long, blonde, curly hair, when she was smaller she hated it, but as she grew she learned to love it. It had perfect corkscrew curls that most women pay a fortune for. Her face was round, eyes blue and her cheeks were naturally pink.
She carried probably an extra 30 pounds for her five foot five size, but she really did not care. She wanted a man who looked beyond the physical.
This was the reason for her inexperience, that and because her father would not allow a man within a foot of her unless he checked them out. He claimed that no one was good enough for his daughter, but she thought there was something else going on. Heck, even when she wanted to go out for ice cream with a guy, her father would show up.
She tripped on the rug that was in front of the door and rolled her soft blue eyes. She also needed a couple of feet of bubble wrap to keep her from getting hurt all the time.
She was clumsy and sadly, very prone to accidents. When she was small, it was cute.
When she became older, not so much, especially when she was carrying a vat of potion, then tripped and spilled it on a few of the women in her coven. It had been an honesty potion, normally it would not have been a problem, but one of the witches started spouting of how many men she had slept with. Including a few of the husbands of the witches in the room, it made for a very long day, and night. She had to sit through no more than three lectures from the coven elders. Since then, when she mixed her potions she was alone, so when her hands turned green, it had just been her.
Lately, she had become restless, thinking that something was coming, but she had no clue what it was. Her powers were a little weak in the future telling. Her mother could do the whole spell casting thing to see what was meant to be. Lacy refused to allow her to tell her. But over the last few months, her mother had been looking at her and smiling.
Opening time. One last look around and she twisted the door lock and opened her shop.
Chapter 1
Shawn and Sevi climbed into their truck after gassing it up. They had been on the road for days now, and as bear shifters, they were starting to get bored. They wanted to shift and wander, find a nice tree and take a nap, maybe a honeycomb to snack on, or a female bear shifter to fuck. At least that"s what they wanted to do. Their brother however, threatened to cut off something very important to them if they stopped.
Give a guy a little power and look what happens. There brother was one of the Chosen, well make that their adopted brother, not that they ever distinguished between the two.
To them, Blaine was their brother, and as much as he would like to deny it, they were close. Both of them would do anything for their little brother. Right now though, they were thinking this was above and beyond the call of duty.
“How much further?” Sevi
asked.
“Let"s see, maybe five miles since the last time you asked. Just read the FUCKIN" map.” Shawn growled.
They were identical twins, and bear shifters. When identical twins are born in the shifter community it is different than twins, or triplets etc. Identical twins are thought to share the same soul, halves that complete each other. This probably explained why the twins were so different. Sevi was quiet and more reserved, while Shawn was outgoing and rowdy. When people met them, they could never tell the difference, even their mother had a hard time telling them apart sometimes. She told them when they met a woman who could tell them apart, she would be their mate because she was seeing their hearts, not their looks.
At the time, the twins had rolled their eyes and laughed, but after searching for their mate and continually having to remind women who was who, they finally agreed. It was frustrating, and being on this trip when they could be back at the Pack compound making sure their family was safe, was driving them nuts. They always thought that they would find their mate in the Pack.
Bears usually had a den, but when their parents adopted Blaine and he was a wolf, they moved to a shifter community. Milliken, Colorado accepted all shifters. It was now the Council Pack, because the Alphas were wolves. His parents had not cared; bears usually were pretty relaxed about stuff like that.
The last few months though had brought so many changes to their Pack that Sevi and Shawn had become hopeful that their mate would join soon. Their mother had tried to be positive with them, encouraged them to go into town more, but bears were solitary creatures and tended to like being on their own. But the guys tried, and everyone in town had been nice and accepting, but they had not found their mate.
Shawn and Sevi went out of town when they wanted to find a woman. Not that the women in Milliken weren"t interesting and beautiful, most were, but none of them were their type. They liked a full shaped woman. Most shifters were on the thinner side and usually could kick the shit out of them. They wanted a soft, curvy woman who wasn"t afraid to be feminine.
Part of the reason was because of their size. Being a bear shifter guaranteed they were not small. Both stood at six feet, eleven inches. They had golden brown hair that hung down to their shoulders and green piercing eyes that changed when their bear was aroused or pissed. Most people were scared of them, which made for a solitary life.
They didn"t mind because they had each other. The brothers lived together, hunted together, and worked together.
Sevi was lost deep in thought when Shawn slapped him on the back of the head. “Dude, twin, can read your thoughts, you"re giving me a hard on, and we"re on a mission.” Sevi groaned and put his head back on the seat. “I know, I know, but it has been so long.
Maybe when we get into town and find the whatcha call it, Witchy Prime Minister, we can hang out for a few days and check out New Orleans. Party central on Bourbon Street.”
Shawn frowned and looked at Sevi, “First, we have to complete the mission, then maybe. But I"m not sure I wanna hang around Witch Central. Shit, what if one of those voodoo women put a curse on our dicks? Then what?”
“Hadn"t thought of that. Maybe we should just get the info and get out of town.” Sevi said thoughtfully.
“Yeah, they could shrink our dicks, like those heads you always see. And what if we really piss them off and they like, give us a disease? Damn Blaine all to hell, why did we have to be related to one of the Chosen? Shit, it"s like walking around with a bull"s-eye on our back. Did you see the chicks in town? They looked at us like we were fresh meat.
All of them want to be close to the Chosen.” Sevi said.
“Yeah, felt a little objectified, but didn"t really stop us from banging that cougar in the spare room before we left.” Shawn grinned.
“Dude, that was in case we died trying to get out. It would have been a shame not to have had sex before we tried to get out of town.” Sevi said.
Milliken was under attack. They were sent by the Alpha bitch to get out of town, and try to make contact with a coven of witches in New Orleans. Sevi and Shawn had been given a crash course on what was going on with the New Council. It was simple really.
The shifter community was large, it needed a governing body. It was called the Old Council and it was in Europe, since that was where most of the shifters can trace their roots. Many years ago, the Seer of the Old Council made a Prophesy that special children would be born on the first day of each month. They were Chosen by the spirits and given special gifts. They were going to be the New Council. They were supposed to unify all the shifters and the human race. There was great hope in that time that things would be better. Then the unthinkable happened and one of the Chosen was kidnapped and presumed dead. They all figured the Prophesy was lost.
Many shifters would rather live in secrecy. With their increased powers, they could use them to control certain things. It was mostly money, which is what the Rogues were after. The Rogue Pack of shifters was responsible for the kidnapping of one of the Chosen.
Then a few months ago, Quin and Jaden, the Alphas of the New Council, found their mate Cami. Her best friend from childhood turned out to be the missing Chosen one that was thought to be dead. So, the Prophesy was back, and the Alphas began searching for the rest of the Chosen. Of course, since one was supposedly killed, all of their parents scattered to protect their children.
The spirits gave each of the Chosen a gift that coincided with the astrological signs they were born under. Something that would help them fulfill their position on the Council.
The Spirits assigned each of them with a specific job, which would ensure the New Council would succeed in their enormous task.
Quin, born in January, was the leader of the Council. Being a Capricorn, he was regarded as the zodiac's leader. His gift was being the Alpha Triad. Thus, having stability and strength needed to lead the Pack and the Council at the same time. As well as being a stable influence for humans to see and would not fear the shifters would try to take over their realm. Because both jobs were of equal importance, the Gods gifted the Triad to help share the duties. Cami, the female Alpha, had a strong personality in her own right. Jaden, the other wolf in the Triad, was also an Alpha. Before coming here, he had been planning on setting up his own Pack somewhere close to here. When he arrived and discovered that he was mated to both Cami and Quin, he had been ecstatic.
They had decided over the last few weeks that Jaden would be the Denver Pack Alpha, while Quin would be the Council Pack Alpha. They would share the responsibilities, but it made it easier on both Packs to have one Alpha to go to.
Jo was born in February. She was an Aquarius, the humanitarian. She was a White Wolf and had the ability to feel the entire Pack and Council, and transfer emotions to calm and reassure others. Once she gave birth to her child, she would receive another gift. None of them knew what it was. She was the emotional balance needed for them all. Tey, her mate, would call it a curse as well as a blessing. Tey was the one who had to hold her when the emotions overwhelmed her or try to calm her down when she was high on excitement from all the emotions the Pack gave off. He had done a wonderful job so far, but taking care of the Packs emotional well-being was a full-time job. Tey had to be with her always and so the Pack had lost one of its best Enforcers.
The next was the child born in March, Pisces. This child would be the visionary of the group. They would be the one who had the ideas and ability to see what the future held for the Pack. Though they had the Seer from the European Council Pack, the Spirits intended for this child"s gift to surpass that of the Seer. This person would see the very future of the Council, and the wolf whom Quin wanted found first. After reading the papers from the previous Council, they also figured that he would be the hardest to find.
However, they had been wrong, Blaine had been right under their noses. Now that they found him, and his mates, they thought it would be easier to find the Chosen.
Then, the child born under the April constellation is an Ar
es. This child will be the one who will be the liaison between the humans and the Were. They will travel all over the world promoting the harmony that is needed for both races to coexist. There were more shifters than just the Werewolves, and making the decision to come out into the open was going to be difficult. All shifter communities needed to be involved in planning the Revelation.
After April is, of course, May, the Taurus. This will be the spiritual adviser and historian of the Council. This Wolf will confer with the past notes and make sure the Council is not making the same mistakes the previous Council made. They will record our history as it happens, and make sure that future generations have documentation of shifter history.
The child born in June is one of the most unique among the zodiacs, Gemini, the twins.
This was Reggie and Casey. They will be the only ones who share a month, and will share the seat on the Council. They will be the financial managers of the Pack. Because of the responsibility, and the task being so vast, two children needed the gift. The current Council had amassed a great fortune and the Denver Pack was extremely prosperous. They needed to build more room for the new members of both Packs as well as making sure that each member was taken care of. Quin and Jaden would never allow anyone in their Pack to want for anything. It would take a team loaded with financial people to normally run the funds from a Pack. The twins were going to be in command of the group.
The next child is born in July, a Cancer. They are the overseer of mates. Their gift allows them to see who is supposed to mate and who is not. They are also the protector of the mates, should anyone force a mating or abuse a mate, and they are the ones who will deal with it. Quin did not tolerate any abuse of a mate in the Denver Pack. They had heard stories of other Packs that used their females as slaves, and refused to do anything like this. The overseer of mates for the Council would have a big job trying to clean up the mess in America. Quin and Jaden spent half of their time calling the Alphas from other Packs and reporting mate abuse that they heard about.
