BestTace

by Jana Leigh

  Shane smiled and said, “You guys need me to get the ball of string?” The two men frowned and then growled. Jordan held up her hand and said, “Good kitties, play nice with the birds. Sorry, they are kinda dorks sometimes.” Trace nodded and said, “It’s genetic, I don’t hold grudges.” The two men threw their heads back and laughed. “Larkin, we are gonna have fun with the cowboy.”

  Trace smiled and nodded. He was glad he’d put it out there that he wasn’t going to take any shit from the shifters. It was a basic negotiating skill, to deal from strength. Birds sometimes get a raw deal with their beliefs and of course their size. But Trace learned long ago to only show his talons when needed. He was glad that Shane had also said something.

  “Anyway, I’m the human, and the only person on the whole entire planet that can’t be changed into a shifter. Sucks, but apparently that’s part of my gift. We are historians and unfortunately, due to the mess the bomb made, we’re still sorting through all of the surviving documents or getting new copies trying to find the last of the Chosen. I’m so glad that you found us first. You need any background, come to us. My guys are super analysts and we can find anything if we have the right bread crumb, because it’s not just knowing how to look, it’s knowing where to look. I’m sure you heard about the bombing. Poor Trinity had just arrived with her parents, who were planning on exposing Braden, somehow he found out and set off a bomb, her other mate, Lagon, is the one who pulled almost all of us out and got us help.” Jordan and her mates settled in next to him at the table. He laughed when one of the cats narrowed his eyes and growled at Teagan who got up and checked Jordan’s bandages.

  A very small woman stood up and smiled at him. “Hello, Trace, I’m Trinity, and these are my mates, Blaze, who’s a tiger, and Lagon, who’s a dragon,” she announced and Trace sat back and opened his mouth but could not actually think of an intelligent response to that. Trinity waved and said, “I know, I know, Dragon, impossible. Well here he is, only the Council can see him in his shifted form so don’t freak out, or you’ll look a little crazy. None of the rest of the Pack knows what he is and he loves to play practical jokes on them.”

  The huge man laughed and leaned forward. “Yeah, they love shiny things, all I have to do is grab a hand mirror and then fly around in dragon form, they see a bouncing reflection, and they chase it for hours.”

  The group laughed and Trinity continued. “Not nice, puff. Anyway, we’re the pack builders. We’re all dealing with this challenge thing and protecting the compound right now so I can’t start yet, but I am so excited to see that we have eagles. I hope we can get an Aerie here to join us.

  Lagon also has a separate reason to be here. The spirits made him as a special addition to the Council. He has the duty of protecting and training the next generation, all of our children. Just keep in mind before you start teasing that no, he’s not the nanny.” Trace nodded and looked at the man. There was no way in hell he was teasing the dragon. “Good tip,” he muttered and then looked up when a ruggedly handsome man with what looked like perfect hair stood up.

  “I’m Argus. Before you ask, yes, I’m a lion, and no, I’m not king of the jungle, and yes, my mates are lions as well. We are the liaisons to all the magical community. If you need anything let me know,” Argus said and sat down. Then a little pocket Venus stood up, slapped the back of Argus’ head, and said, “Nice introduction. Sorry for him. I’m Skye and this is Jacob, we’re the mates to Mr. Short speech...”

  “My lunch was interrupted, I’m hungry,” he interjected and everyone laughed while his mate glared.

  “We just arrived from Texas last week and so it will be nice to have someone to be a newbie with. Have you found your female mate yet?” Trace shook his head and then stood up. “Not yet. Like Shane said my name is Trace Pete, I’m an eagle shifter from Montana. I was raised by my adoptive Aerie; I was left in the care of my Aerie’s Peck, which for those of you who don’t know is the eagle’s version of an Alpha. Eagle groups are matriarchal following the traditions of our animals. My Peck, Genaya, explained my history to me last week. I was quite surprised to find out that I was one of the Chosen. I have spent the last years as a professional mediator, negotiator, and arbitrator and believe those are the skills I will use here on the New Council. I am the liaison with the Old Council. I apparently have a lot to learn, Shane told me about Braden. Shane is my brother-mate, as you can see we are also Native American, and we discovered today that Shane’s mother is my Aunt. So in the eyes of our people, the Diné, we are brothers.”

  Cami, Jo, Casey, Cloe, and the rest of the girls all leaned forward and listened intently to him. He must have had a confused look on his face because Blaze spoke up. “Accent, they are listening to your accent.”

  Cami sighed and said, “Cowboy up.”

  “So that’s the entire New Council as we stand now. We’re still looking for the last Chosen. I hope we find her soon. I say her because now that we have 12 of thirteen, we need another woman to round things out. We all know the prophesy, we must all join and pledge to the New Council, take our mates and have a child for our full strengths and powers to be given to us. Our goal is to unite the shifter, magical and human worlds together. Braden and his Rogues are determined to not allow this to happen. They want to use their shifter abilities to rule and steal power and money,” Jaden said from the head of the table. He looked at each member and then continued.

  “The Challenge is in the morning. Trace, let me give you a little background in this; first, I apologize for having to give you a crash course in protocol. Ryan and Ariel, the leaders of the Northern Pride of Felines are the officiating shifters. Along with a special group of Enforcers, they chose the place and time. Yesterday was the waxing Gibbous moon, and they have planned the challenge at dusk since it must take place before the Full Moon.”

  “We will be informed in the morning where the challenge will be. Then it is expected for the members of the New Council to be there as well as members of the New Council Pack. Quin and I believe that is exactly what Braden wants. All of us away from here for some reason. If we try and change the protocol, Quin will be forced to forfeit. The challenger is Michael, an Enforcer of my Denver Pack; he called for the challenge after the bombing. We suspect he’s working for Braden because he’s not strong enough to actually beat Quin under normal circumstances. Trip, the Enforcer who is in charge of arranging our side, has informed me that Michael has very few people coming. Again, we believe this is a plan not to take over leadership but a diversion for some other end.” At this point Jaden sat down and Quin rose to his feet. He gave Jaden a squeeze on the shoulder as he arose. “Cloe has given me pointers on how to shield my still sore ribs, and I am warning all of you right now, this is gonna be fast and bloody. I don’t have a choice. For those of you who have never seen a challenge, it is usually a fight of tactics and strength. My wolf is larger and stronger than his is, so he will have to rely on his wits. I can’t give him the chance. I am going to have to take him down quick. There are two problems with that. I think Braden has told him to draw out the fight until they can get into place and attack. With all of us in one place, it’s the perfect time. Second, I think that if I try and end it too quickly, Michael will make me kill him.” The women looked upset by the fact that a wolf was going to die. Cami whispered, “We know, better him than you. I want to celebrate our first anniversary, so don’t blow it.” Quin nodded and lifted his other hand and brushed her cheek with the backs of his fingers. Trace watched as the rest of the mates moved together. “I know this is a stupid question and silly at this point. But it’s my training too. Have you tried talking to him about this?” Trace asked.

  Quin looked at him in surprise and said, “An Alpha challenge does not give me that option. With an Alpha challenge I have two choices, to accept or give him the Pack.” Trace shrugged and said, “I get that. I mean has anyone tried to see if they could talk to him and learn anything from his reactions to questions. In any mediation, there are
a lot of ways to read people. Ways to see if they’re telling lies or evasions. I can tell you, if they’ve planned this challenge there has to be some underlying plot and you have no idea what it is. Yes, maybe they will attack you because you’ll all be in the same place; however, that seems unlikely. They would have needed prior knowledge of the challenge location to adequately plan an attack there. That doesn’t make sense; they must want something besides the Pack, have a different goal in mind. They could have attacked after the bombing when you were at your weakest. No, in my experience, with everything you’ve told me they have another plan entirely.” Quin frowned and looked around the room. “So any thoughts on what that could be?” Blaine looked up and said, “We’ve had no visions yet. I would have told you. The only one I have seen is that my mates and I have been given the green light for the claiming after the challenge. When we saw the vision there was nothing, other than the fact that we were finally claiming. We have tried to force a vision but for some reason the spirits are not showing us.”

  “It’s because, they don’t know. I have spoken to the spirits and they say that there are too many unknowns and we have not completed our Council. They are bound by the prophesy as much as we are, until we find the last of the Council they can’t help us.” Lagon said and sat back. “That’s why they sent me.”

  “Let’s assume that Braden thinks that he can fulfill the destiny himself,” Trace said.

  “Really that’s the issue, right?”

  Quin turned around and narrowed his eyes. “What do you mean?”

  “Well, in mediation, it is two sides reaching a common goal; I either mediate between two parties or I negotiate for one side in particular. It’s all in how you get there. The goal is to have the power of the New Council. Take that a step further that Braden’s most likely goal is to have the New Council’s power throughout the shifter world within his control. Braden is not one of the Chosen, so how could he take over the Council?” Trace said.

  The room was silent and Devon slammed his fist down on the table. “Mating.”

  “Merde,” Jaden said.

  Chapter 6

  Bama leaned back against the wall she was shackled to and focused. It was a skill of her eagle, when hunting a harpy eagle could sit still for up to twenty four hours waiting for the moment to strike. Braden had ordered them to make sure she didn’t escape. So they had put on shackles that were torture devices. They had spikes on the inside that when closed pierced through her wrists and ankles. If she tried to shift, she would be trapped still and unable to fly. She had refused to scream when they put them on, though her hair had gone flat. The men had laughed and pushed her around between them, causing the wounds to worsen in an attempt to break her down. She refused to give them the satisfaction, and sat silently as blood dripped and pooled on the floor, she had been lucky the shackles on her wrists had missed her veins or before long, she’d bleed out. She thought of the thin wire in the seam at the corner of her suit jacket’s lapel and planned.

  Obviously, these cretins didn’t know the anger and abilities of a female harpy eagle. And because of her bloodline, she had abilities few shifters had. She concentrated fiercely.

  And shifted just her head and neck, a harpy eagle can bend their neck far enough to look under them at the prey in their talons or behind them looking for prey. She only needed to pull the tip of the wire out of her lapel and then hold it in her beak, shift back and use her lips and teeth to pick the locks on one of the shackles. Once she got free, she could shift to stop the bleeding, though she’d still be weak.

  She heard two women talking. They had to be the ones she had seen last night when she flew over. One was older and the other younger. She tried to focus through the pain to hear what they had to say, it was difficult though.

  “Reggie will be so happy when he gets home and sees that I’ve prepared everything for him and his child,” the older woman said.

  “Gods woman, do you ever shut the hell up about him? HE HATES YOU!” the younger voice yelled.

  The older woman laughed, “You don’t know a thing about my son or me. You’re lucky the Master even let you live after the mess you made. This could have all been over if you would have done your job in the first place. Besides, Reggie knows he’s my heart.

  He will be Alpha, the Master promised us. When Reggie is in charge, then everything is going to change.”

  “Shut. Up.” The younger woman hissed. “He’ll never be Alpha while the Master is here.

  Are you that stupid or that delusional?”

  They argued for the next hour and Bama was ready to kill both of them herself. Who the hell were they and what did they have to do with this whole mess? By now, her mother would be sending the eagles Braden had requested, buying her some time, Braden wouldn’t know of her ability as a royal to contact all birds with mental pictures and her own eagle’s telepathically if they were within her line of sight. Her mother would never allow herself to be blackmailed even if it meant the death of a child. Bama accepted that possible outcome and would do what she could to prevent it. Bama knew her mother’s policy and approved of it. She knew that at some point, most likely after the eagles were here, she’d demand proof of life from Braden before instructing her eagles to go by his commands. It was unfortunate that Roarke had struck her phone so quickly, or her mother would have been able to pass word of her plans. When they spoke, she’d use a pre-arranged code, a number between one and six because they had come up with six contingency plans when working on this mission, and whichever her mother chose she would do. Including shifting and hurting herself. She rather hoped that her mother chose the ‘sit tight I am sending in the troops’ plan, instead of ‘you are on your own, escape’ plan.

  Of course, she said to herself she had to use the latter plan and not sit around waiting, just in case. She finally got the slender wire free from the cloth. She quickly shifted back to hold the wire in her mouth before it fell from her harpy’s beak. She shook her head to clear it, she was becoming faint from blood loss, she needed fluids. She concentrated on all that she’d seen and heard as she began to painfully work on the lock of the right shackle.

  Braden had contacted her mother under the pretense of speaking for the new Alpha. He said that Quin and his mates wanted to reach out to other countries and develop relations so when the time came for the reveal, they would be united. Her mother had been quite pleased to be asked. After having ruled the Parliament for so many years, though she was no push over, somehow he had to have convinced her beyond a shadow of a doubt that he worked for Quin.

  ‘Click’, now came the hard part. She listened again to the conversation on the other side of the wall as she once again shifted her head; she poked the wire carefully through the fabric on her shoulder within reach and then very carefully used her beak to open the unlocked shackle, pulling the sharp protrusions from her flesh as she did.

  “You need to take your cigarettes outside on the balcony. They will not be good for the baby when it arrives.” The older woman said.

  “WHAT BABY? You raving lunatic, how many times do I have to tell you, Reggie has not had a kid yet,” the younger screamed.

  “I know that. But smoke lingers. The Master told me the women he was bringing here would be the mothers of the Alpha’s children. That means Reggie. So I’m just getting ready. You know how long it takes to prepare for a child? Of course you don’t, since you have no mate,” the older woman said with a smirk.

  Then the other voice yelled, “Someone get me out of here before I kill her!” Bama almost laughed at that and thought if it were that easy she would have tried that an hour ago. But then she heard footsteps approaching. She listened to the murmur of voices but could not make out the exact words.

  “The Master….soon,” A male said.

  Braden was coming here? She had to hurry, she had one hand free. She turned her head only against the wall that the women were behind so she could hear better. Then she brought up her hand, Nojoda! Her wrist w
as a mess, she wiggled her fingers, she didn’t want to risk dropping the wire when she still had three shackles to unlock. Good, she had enough fine motor control, she carefully wiped her fingers clean of blood on her jacket so they wouldn’t be slippery and continued listening as she began work on the other wrist.

  “Ha, I told you,” the older woman crowed and clapped. “Tomorrow his mates will be here and Reggie will come too. Lacy and Jordan, what lovely names, I like them better than Rudy or whatever her name was.”

  She heard footsteps approaching just as she unlocked the second shackle. The spikes embedded in her wrist kept it closed. She quickly lifted her right hand and put her wrist within the other shackle, leaning her head to cover it from view. Hopefully if someone came in they wouldn’t notice. The footsteps drew closer to the door in front of her and she prepared her expression. She heard keys rattling and scraping. The lock clicked and the door opened. She cringed when she saw the ugly man with a face full of scars smiling at her.

  “The Master is on his way. He said to be ready to tell your mother to do what he says.” The man laughed and stepped forward and put a foot on her left ankle. It caused the spikes to dig in but she refused to cry out. Instead she looked up at him and glared, then said, “In my country, you would be hung from a tree and disemboweled for the scavengers to pick at your flesh. I understand it is a lengthy and painful death. You should pray now for a swifter one.” She gritted out.

  He froze for a moment, scared that she could give such threats when she was so near death herself. He soon recovered his bravado, lifted his hand, and squeezed her breast hard enough to bruise. “It’s too bad I don’t have more time I like to have a woman stretched out at my disposal. But don’t worry I’ll be free later; I may even bring some friends. You may even live through it.” He laughed at his threats and left the room, locking it behind him.