by Petra Landon
“In a strange way, she’s what saved me, Duncan” he admitted to his friend. “Ironic that the very Wizard chosen to make me lose it helped me hold it together. If it had been anyone else …” He trailed off.
Duncan’s eyes wandered over the Alpha. “Tasia hinted that there were a few touch-and-go moments in the cage.” He picked his words carefully.
A stark expression leapt onto Raoul’s visage.
“When I reached the alley, you were out and she was shell-shocked” Duncan explained. “I didn’t know what had happened, but I had to get the story quickly in case I needed to clean up, and to ensure the trail didn’t go cold. She answered all my questions readily but was reluctant to talk about you, Raoul. At my urging, she admitted that you seemed like yourself, though things had been tricky earlier.”
Raoul took a deep breath.
“There are bits I can’t remember” he confessed, his words stark. “But I wasn’t in complete control, Duncan. That I do remember. The past and the present were merging together. The cage and the silver took me back to the barn — it made my beast resurgent and ambitious. I was teetering on the edge, struggling to reassert myself. I heard her call out to me, dimly, like in a dream. My beast recognized her, and it convinced him to not fight me so hard. He sacrificed his ambitions for her because a part of him knew that she’d be safer with me back in control.”
As his words died away, Duncan stared at him. They were Shifters and they both knew what the Alpha had just admitted to his friend.
“Raoul …” Duncan’s voice trailed off.
“I know, Duncan. I know.” Things were getting complicated and Duncan didn’t even know the half of it. If only he could remember, Raoul wished fervently.
Duncan hesitated. “She might walk away again, Raoul” he warned gently. “This is not her world and it’s starting to get very dangerous. She can’t take the public heat, not like us. She has too much to hide.”
“She won’t” he said grimly, with a determination born of resolve.
Duncan contemplated his friend. “For what it’s worth, Tasia was not hysterical when I found her. Stunned and shocked, but remarkably clear-headed, for all that. She helped us find the house on Russian Hill. Whatever happened in the cage, I think she’d already come to terms with it.”
When he thought back to that night, the parts he could remember, Raoul had a clear memory of the witchling’s clear-headedness. She’d been the one to note the camera. She had convinced him to allow her to protect his hands from the silver. In hindsight, it had been a good decision. In his debilitated state with the silver sloshing in his blood, exposure to more would only have weakened him. Then, there would have been no escape from the cage. The witchling had worked in tandem with him, following his lead but stepping in, when necessary. She’d been a worthy partner in the cage, before, during, and after the escape.
Duncan felt rage rip through him again as he watched his friend brood. When Raoul had slipped over the edge before, it had taken months for him to come back. Duncan remembered that period well, the wildness and ferocity that he had kept an eye on, using his own superior physical strength to control the younger Shifter when things got a little too close to the point of no return. Then, Raoul’s strength had been sapped by the months in captivity, starvation and silver. But they’d also been lucky in a way — to have the space and time for Raoul to heal. They had roamed in the wild where there were no creatures to inadvertently injure.
This time, circumstances were starkly different. If Raoul had gone over the edge, even Duncan might not be able to save him. With his massive and public responsibilities, Raoul was a public figure in their world. Not a young, inexperienced and confused cub no one gave a hoot about. He could not afford even a momentary lapse, irrespective of how it was induced. Raoul would have been done for.
“Any lasting effects, Raoul?” he inquired somberly. A pragmatist and a control freak, Raoul would admit it to his friend if he felt even the slightest slip. Then, Duncan would have a difficult choice to make.
“No.” The Alpha shook his head confidently. “The silver’s still in me. It’s not all gone yet; I can feel it. But my beotan is silent.”
Duncan was satisfied. Raoul should know. Unlike most Shifters, the Alpha had actually gone over to the other side and come back to tell the tale.
“We dodged a fucking bullet, Duncan.”
Duncan’s expression hardened. “Let’s make damn sure there’s no next time, Raoul.”
The Alpha lapsed into silence, his mind working furiously.
“I suspect Guardian involvement” he remarked. “The presence of Wizards points to it. And frankly, this is exactly what I expect of a Wizard — without honor, below the belt, and unspeakably cruel … all without getting his own hands dirty.”
Duncan, who badly wanted to counteract his protégé on his devastating assessment, could not find any reason to disagree with him. This episode would increase Raoul’s distrust of Wizards.
“David in his last call hinted very strongly of GCW involvement” Duncan admitted. “And Jason says that it’s a possibility the First Wizard is taking very seriously.”
“It should alarm her, because if it is a Guardian and she attempts to shield him from punishment, like Anderson before, then this investigation into her sister will be in jeopardy” Raoul declared grimly. “My days of doing favors for Wizards are at an end. From now on, she must meet my price if she wants us to continue the investigation.”
Duncan said nothing, studying Raoul carefully. The boy looked tired, not yet back at full strength. Silver was debilitating for a Shifter and Raoul had had a fatal dose injected into him.
“You had me worried there, my boy” Duncan said heavily. “When we found your car riddled with bullet holes, I knew silver had been deployed to subdue you.”
For a moment, they stared at each other, past and present both heavy between them.
“There’s a silver lining to this” the Alpha admitted with a whimsical smile. “This might finally expel some old ghosts, Duncan. I’ve always guarded my control zealously, because it was so hard-won. But if Russian Hill has demonstrated anything, it’s that, despite the past, I don’t succumb easily.”
“I never doubted it, Raoul” Duncan said quietly.
The English Shifter reached into his pocket to pull out the memory-stick from the camera. “This should help jog your memory.”
Raoul reached for it with an expression Duncan found hard to decipher.
“Tasia told me about the camera, almost in a daze, and stated categorically that you wouldn’t want the footage in the public realm.”
Raoul pocketed the stick. “Thank you, my friend. For everything.” Without Duncan, he’d have had no time to recover or heal. Things would have been much tougher for both him and the Pack.
Duncan smiled, the first one since the discovery that the Alpha and Tasia were missing.
“Any time, Raoul. If I weren’t worried about you, my boy, I might’ve enjoyed the high voltage drama at the Lair. You should have heard the speech Luis gave to the Shifters, and Hawk’s gobsmacked expression when Atsá spoke up for you.”
“Atsá did?” Raoul arched an eyebrow. He was not particularly surprised by Luis.
“Without reservations, and with Maartje following his lead. You’ve built relationships here, Raoul.”
He chuckled. “Though, the Shifters had little appetite to challenge you, after Luis’ graphic account of how you, despite the silver poisoning, mangled the silver bars of the cage to escape.”
“That was the witchling” Raoul said.
“Tasia broke you out?” Duncan looked flabbergasted.
“No, she protected me from the silver.”
“Yes, she did say something about it at the alley.” Duncan remembered now.
“I didn’t agree to the magic at first” the Alpha admitted. “But if I went under again, it would leave her at their mercy.”
Duncan said nothing. Watching a Shifter fight to s
ubdue his beast was a fearsome sight for any Chosen. He’d once told Raoul that Tasia had a core of steel in her that belied the soft-spoken and unassuming demeanor. He felt vindicated — it had reared its head when the boy needed it the most.
Raoul glanced down at the memory-stick in his hand. “From the flashes I remember, I’m pretty sure I scared the bejesus out of her. But I’ll say this, Duncan. She kept her head, no matter how bad things got.” There was respect, admiration, and a hint of pride in his voice.
“Without her, I might not have made it out, Duncan” he confessed somberly.
“Atsá stood up for Alph” Hawk announced abruptly.
The bombshell was enough for the two ladies to abandon their conversation and gawk at him.
“What do you mean, Hawk?” Sara asked, while Tasia looked confused by the abruptness of his proclamation.
They were in the Pack Room. When Sara had joined them at the Lair this evening, Hawk had dragged the three of them to the vacant room. After the high voltage weekend, the Shifters had scattered early this evening.
“After Duncan declared to the Pack that he was taking the reins in Alph’s absence, he announced that anyone challenging Alph would have to go through him.”
Tasia looked appalled. “You were serious about challenges to the Alpha while he was injured.” She had understood Duncan’s intent with the Pack to mean that he would keep an eye on the fractious Shifters while the Alpha was out for the count. Not physically hold off challengers to the unconscious Alpha.
“The best shot at taking down an Alpha is when he’s injured. That’s how Packs work, Tas” Hawk said gently. “An Alpha Protector cannot afford even a hint of weakness.”
“What if there’d been no Duncan? Would the Alpha have accepted a challenge?” she asked hesitantly.
The man from the cage had been in no shape to fight anyone. He’d been running on will-power and sheer determination. An image of him rose in her mind, slumped over the stairs in the alley, fighting the silver with his last breath to make sure she was not left vulnerable, without him by her side.
“He’d have no choice, Tasia” Sara answered. “Faoladh would be notified and the challenge would go ahead.”
“Alph is phenomenally strong” Hawk said frankly. “This was the best chance for an ambitious Shifter with delusions of grandeur.”
Tasia shook her head to clear it of images of the man in the cage with the wild eyes, confused, struggling and frantic.
Hawk broke the silence. “Atsá publicly laid down the law to his Shifters — he would not allow a challenge to Alph.”
Sara looked astonished. Duncan stepping up to bat for the Alpha had surprised no one in the Pack. They all knew that Duncan and the Alpha went back a long way — neither Shifter would abandon the other easily. But Atsá’s public support for the Alpha was unprecedented.
“What about the other Were-Alphas?” Sara asked, her curiosity piqued. These were interesting times for the Pack.
“Maartje followed suit. Luis was clearly backing Duncan. He gave a dramatic speech about Alph’s escape, based on the mangled cage in the house we raided. Between Duncan laying down the gauntlet, Atsá and Maartje’s public support, and Luis’ subtle warning about going against Alph, even incapacitated by silver, I doubt any Shifter was eager to mount a challenge.”
“Luis” Sara muttered under her breath. The more she heard of Luis, the less he seemed petty. Yet, his changed demeanor towards her was inexplicable, even before the night of the Lair celebration. Sara was at a loss to explain it.
“Atsá surprised you” Tasia remarked to Hawk.
“Very much” he admitted slowly.
She glanced at Sara, who was watching Hawk with a frown in her eyes.
“Later, he admitted to me that he’d wronged us” Hawk continued, his eyes far away. “He called Alph the best thing to happen to the Pack. Said he respected Alph for standing up for us all those years ago, and Duncan for accepting us into his were-pack.”
Sara looked gobsmacked. As a reluctant Shifter, unlike her twin, her grandfather’s actions had not been taken as a betrayal. She’d kept her distance from Atsá partly because she kept all Shifters at arm’s length, and partly in solidarity with Hawk.
This might change Hawk’s opinion of his grandfather, just a tad, Tasia mused as she watched the siblings. Hawk’s sense of injustice about the past and his grandfather’s role in it were very strong. Perhaps, Atsá’s candid admission of his mistakes would finally allow his grandchildren to forge a tentative relationship with him.
The door to the Alpha’s Room opened abruptly, interrupting Tasia’s thoughts. A bevy of Were-Alphas exited into the Pack Room. They were a somber bunch today. While the Pack had survived the weekend unscathed, the Shifters were still coming to terms with the audacious and vicious assault. Now that she was on the mend herself, Tasia understood that the repercussions of that night would be felt in the Pack for a long time.
Luis came over to greet them and ask Tasia how she fared. Acutely aware of the undercurrents between the taciturn Were-Alpha and her friend, Tasia took note of how wary he seemed of Sara, almost watchful around her. Sara was not wrong, she concluded. There was something going on between Luis and her friend. But she did observe that this time, Sara was less constrained in his presence than before. Perhaps Hawk’s recounting of Luis’ unconditional support for Duncan and the Alpha had had an effect on her. For once, Hawk too made an effort with both Atsá and Maartje — a marked improvement from before.
“I hope you are recovered, Tasia?” Atsá inquired, his manner gracious as always.
“Yes, thank you. Sara took very good care of me.” She directed a smile at her friend.
“Both of us” the Alpha, who had sauntered over with Duncan and Elisabetta, chimed in unexpectedly.
Some of the Were-Alphas looked subtly taken aback and curious at this unexpected compliment from the Alpha. The Alpha was not one to speak publicly for any Shifter — he tended to keep his distance.
“It was my pleasure, Alpha.” Sara was clearly pleased by the compliment.
Both Sara and Hawk, Tasia was starting to understand, had very deep ties to both their Alpha and Were-Alpha because of the past. A past that had seemingly also played a part in Atsá’s loyalty to the Alpha, if his remarkable confession to Hawk was to be believed.
“Sara always rises to the occasion, no matter the challenge” Duncan interjected, adding his voice to the Alpha’s subtle compliment.
This time, Sara flushed with pleasure. Hawk’s face suffused with pride he did not hide, while Atsá watched his granddaughter with an enigmatic expression on his face. Tasia flashed a sidelong glance at Luis. He was staring at Atsá with a strange look on his face. There were undercurrents here, Tasia realized. Undercurrents she did not understand. As she watched Sara glow with pleasure, Tasia vowed silently again to help her friend navigate the maze of Shifter interests and ambitions in the Pack. Sara would never be allowed a life independent of a Pack; if the cage had taught her anything, it was that life was short and happiness was to be reached for with both hands when the opportunity presented itself.
“As do you.” Duncan turned to Tasia, offering his compliment publicly, without his usual subtlety. “You did very well, Tasia, and under very difficult circumstances.”
“Without Tasia, we wouldn’t have the house on Russian Hill” Luis chimed in unexpectedly, adding his voice to Duncan’s. “That house gave us every lead we have.”
There was a watchful air in the room now, after Duncan and Luis’ public appreciation of Tasia’s efforts. She had been at their Lair for nearly four months. They were now used to her presence in their midst. Some even worked with her on the Lady Bethesda investigation. But the Shifters had always looked upon her as an outsider — a Wizard who was treated as Pack not because they considered her one of them, but by the Alpha’s decree. Duncan and Luis, by their actions and words, were sending a subtle message to the room — they considered Tasia one of them. Not a m
ere guest provided temporary Pack status by command of the Alpha, but an integral member of the Pack.
“Raoul says you kept your head and didn’t panic when things got dire” Duncan continued. “I concur. Your presence of mind helped us retrieve the memory-stick from the camera, Tasia.”
With all eyes on Tasia, the Alpha chimed in unexpectedly. “We made a good team, witchling.”
Visions from the night flashed through Tasia as she met his gaze — of him using his depleted strength to part the bars and allow her to crawl through, gold eyes filled with pain as he kicked at the cage door while the silver burnt his skin, his fists pounding the Wizards as they rushed to escape the house, him carrying her down the dark stairs to safety … and finally, the image of an exhausted man, being slowly poisoned by silver, collapsing, but only after leading her to safety.
“You did most of the heavy lifting” she countered, her eyes heavy with memories.
“I used my physical abilities where I could.” He shrugged, using innuendo where he couldn’t give her public credit. “But it wasn’t enough. Our success is a result of us both playing to our strengths.”
Tasia’s eyes widened. It was Duncan who made note of two incongruous reactions — Elisabetta’s narrow-eyed glance at the Alpha, and Stefan Simeonov’s speculative one at Tasia. The other Shifters in the room were harder to read.
“Perhaps, Tasia is finally starting to find her place in the Pack.” Maartje entered the fray unexpectedly. She was being magnanimous; the way she saw it, Tasia had persuaded both of Atsá’s grandchildren to attend the Avian holiday party. Atsá was content at finally breaking the ice with Hawk after years of silence. While unsure of Tasia’s active support in the endeavor to reconcile Atsá with his grandchildren, Maartje instinctively understood that the Wizard would not stand in the way of it.
“Being part of a Pack when you’re not a Wyr is not an easy proposition” Atsá remarked, his message subtle but true.
Sara exchanged a pleased glance with her twin. This was a strong hint of the Pack’s willingness to accept Tasia. Their friend was finally making inroads into the Pack, especially with some of the powerful Were-Alphas who held great sway over their Shifters. For the first time, it also looked like the Alpha and Tasia were in sync, brought together by their shared experience. The twins felt a strong sense of relief. Tasia’s future with the Pack had just taken an upswing, and it made both Sara and Hawk giddy with hope for the future.
