Credo Quia Absurdum

by Sophie Martin

“Congratulations on your mating. May all of us find such happiness.” He smiled to the woman and her face lit up with excitement.

  “Thank you, that’s very kind.” She shot her words quickly like bullets from a machine gun. “We were disowned by our families when we decided to mate. They wanted nothing to do with a mixed couple like us.” She gestured between herself and her husband. This time, it was Toby who intervened.

  “Well, that is ridiculous. Why would people be so prejudiced these days? There aren’t that many paranormals, from what I understand, so it shouldn’t matter who you mate with. Just look at the three of us. Each is a different kind and we get along perfectly.” Then he faked a frown and added jokingly, “As long as Ty doesn’t shred any more upholstering or shed on furniture. He can be a menace!” Everyone laughed at that and the tension disappeared from the air.

  “We were pretty reluctant about joining a pack. We were afraid other people would have the same views our families did.” Jane spoke in her quick manner and her husband added much more calmly, “We’re glad we were wrong.”

  “Great!” Jack clapped his hands when there was a moment of silence. “Who’s next?”

  “Um, that would be me.” A gangly-looking young man, barely more than a teenager, stepped forward. “Hi, I’m Morton,” he said, adjusting his big, black-rimmed glasses, then started to play with the chain that was connected to them. “I’m…uh…I’m a student of the nearby university and, uh…I wasn’t sure if I should join the pack or not, but Jack said that I should. I…erm…I study biology…and…and…” He swallowed quickly before muttering something that nobody could understand.

  “What was it, Morton?” Toby asked, and Morton blushed beet-red, before repeating, “I’m a witch.”

  There were more gasps and even small shouts at the boy’s statement. Tim felt for the guy. Witches had a notoriously bad reputation that even transferred to the fey realm. This guy looked harmless, however, and Tim could see he was one of the good ones.

  “It’s nice to meet you, Morton. If you’d ever like to discuss differences between witch and fey magic, I’m glad to do so. I studied the topic for some time in the past,” Tim said, and the youngster looked at him, his eyes huge behind the glasses.

  “Really? You’d do that?”

  “Sure.” Tim shrugged as if it wasn’t a big deal, which for him was the truth. “I find the topic fascinating.”

  “Wow! Okay, thanks. That will be great!” There was a carefully hidden excitement and hope in the kid’s eyes. It was obvious he didn’t have many friends.

  “So, it’s my turn, now,” came a gravelly voice from someone who was hidden in the darkest corner of the room. A mountain of a man stepped forward and Tim’s eyes grew huge. The man had to be easily seven feet tall, with bulging muscles. “If you were shocked by the kid being a witch, I’ll probably give you a heart attack.” He smirked, showing off white teeth. He was bald and wore a tank top that showed off tattoos covering the bulging muscles of his arms and neck. It all made him look very imposing. “Who can guess what I am?”

  “A demon,” came a small voice to the right of Tim. The pixie looked there and saw Morton watching the new guy with fear. It looked like more than prejudice about a species. It looked like a very personal thing.

  “That’s right, little one.” The big man zeroed in on Morton. “I am a demon, but you do not need to fear me. I would never harm you in any way.” Morton nodded but didn’t look convinced. The demon looked away and Morton relaxed instantly. The man continued his speech.

  “So, I’m a demon. The name I’m using in this world is Douglass, but you all can call me Doug. I work as a farrier. In my spare time, I like to renovate old buildings. I bought one in the town lately, and that’s how I got to be a part of this pack.” The man finished and stepped back into his corner, where his imposing figure wasn’t in the way. Tim thought it was his cue.

  “Hello, everyone!” he said with a brilliant smile on his face. “I’m Timiny Jones, but don’t you dare use my full name. Call me Tim. My twin brother and I are fey, and we came to this world about five years ago. Our meeting with Jason was an effect of many strange coincidences, but it was a fateful and fortunate one. I’m another one of the people our Alpha rescued, and I will be forever indebted to him for that.

  “I was held captive by the same men that kept Jack, and I wouldn’t have lasted much longer if it wasn’t for my brother’s stubbornness and my friend Tyler’s mating to the most powerful person I ever knew. I wish to officially offer my gratitude to Jason, as I haven’t had a chance to do it before. Oh, and on a different note, my brother and I have an online business selling personalized, handcrafted gifts. Feel free to check it out and tell your friends about us.” He winked, creating a more casual mood with his playful advertisement. Next were Dominic and Jim.

  “Hi! I’m Jiminy Jones, Tim’s twin brother. Like he already said, we’re both fey and haven’t been in this world long. He also said that we own an online gift-shop. I’ll only add that we live in the next town over, in an apartment building with Dominic and Joel.” Tim saw that his brother was nervous and excited at the same time. “Dominic is my mate and he is the greatest! We only mated recently and we are very, very happy!”

  “That’s true,” Dominic interrupted, encircling Jim’s shoulders with his arm, calming him. The little fey beamed at him in gratitude. “I found my perfect mate in Jimmy, and I think that he is wrong. I think he is the greatest!”

  Dominic smiled as everyone laughed. The happiness of the newly mated couple simply radiated from them, and everyone could feel it.

  “I work as a private investigator for my uncle, and that’s how I met Jim. He came to me for help finding his brother, and the rest, as they say, is history. Oh, I’m also a wolf shifter, but hadn’t known it before meeting Jimmy. When my mate told me I was a werewolf, I thought he was cray-cray. Anyway, I’ve learned a lot since then and discovered the reason for my ignorance. Apparently, my family has a sort of genetic defect that makes some of us unable to shift. With my father, and then me, it was so far advanced that we couldn’t even feel the wolf within us.

  “If not for Jimmy, I would have lived my life and died as a human. Now, my wolf is awake and very active. We believe that I will be able to shift at one time, but have no idea when it might be.” Dominic finished and there was a slight commotion to one side of the room. Jane whispered to her husband and he nudged her encouragingly until she spoke what was on her mind.

  “Um, sir, if I may…”

  “Yes?” Dominic turned to her, surprised with her respectful tone.

  “I…a…um…”

  “Go on, you can speak freely,” the big wolf encouraged her.

  “My wolf is convinced you’re an alpha,” she finally blurted out and looked around, slightly panicked. Dom smiled at her calmingly and nodded.

  “That’s true,” he admitted, and people were too stunned to react. Finally, Jane was the one to ask.

  “But if you’re so powerful as to be an alpha, then why aren’t you the Alpha of this pack? Why is someone else in the position?” Dominic looked to Jim then they both glanced at Toby and Tyler, and all burst into laughter.

  “I’m sorry, don’t be insulted.” Jim was the one to clarify. “We’re not laughing at you, or your question. It’s just that we were all so clueless when it came to pack structure, shifter laws, etcetera, that we would be completely lost without Jack’s guidance. It’s good to know we’re not the only ones with doubts and questions.”

  “Um, okay.” Jane nodded but still looked unsure. Dominic provided her with an answer.

  “Basically, it all comes to the amount of power in a person, doesn’t it? I might be a powerful alpha wolf, but there are other powerful beings in this room, and none of them is the Alpha of this pack.”

  People glanced at Doug, who hid in the room.

  “Hey!” He smirked. “Why are you all looking at me? The tiger there is pretty impressive himself. He has that same alpha
air around him. Oh, and little Morton? He’s packing some serious magic, aren’t you, little one?” Morton went beet-red once again and stepped further away from the demon.

  “Yeah, well, not to argue about the amount of power in the room, but I think it’s time to introduce our Alpha,” Tyler said and stood up. “My mate, Jason Thorne, is the Alpha of this ragtag group of paranormals. He saved some of us and went as far as giving us a home when we had none. He also created this pack for our protection. Jason is the best man I’ve ever met. He is also a demigod, who did a rare, almost unheard-of thing and went through the process of turning into a fully-fledged god. Jason is the second most powerful being I’ve ever met after his father. He is able to change reality, if he so wishes. I’m sure you’re all wondering why he isn’t speaking for himself.”

  Every eye in the room turned to Jason, who returned it with a disinterested gaze of his own.

  “One of the side effects of Jason turning into a god was a loss of his emotions. They returned when he met us, his mates, but there are situations when the symptoms return.”

  Toby decided to interrupt and he spoke up.

  “Jay-Jay knows his condition makes people uncomfortable, so he asked us to speak for him. He is considerate like that.” Tim could almost feel doubt permeating the air and knew not everyone believed in a considerate Alpha. He knew what Toby said was true and decided that others would learn in time, as well.

  “Okay, that only leaves one person here,” Jack said, and all the eyes suddenly turned to Joel, who stood, ramrod-straight, to Tim’s right. He didn’t speak. Dominic took it upon himself to explain Joel’s presence.

  “That’s one of the things I wanted to discuss with the Alpha. My wolf considers Joel a part of his pack, and wants him to have pack protection. We brought my cousin here to be accepted officially as a pack friend.”

  “Um, okay,” Jack said and seemed to think hard on something. “I think a protocol of accepting someone as a pack friend is much less strict than when it comes to a new pack member. Since Joel is obviously human, we’d need to have his assurance that he will keep secrecy when it comes to paranormals. We also need someone to vouch for him.”

  “That would be me.” Dominic lifted his hand.

  “Oh, he also needs a sponsor within the pack, someone to go to if he ever has any doubts or problems.”

  “I volunteer.” Tim stepped forward. “We already share an apartment, so it’s only logical that I become Joel’s sponsor.”

  “Great, so that only leaves the Alpha’s official acceptance.” Jack turned to Jason, who lifted his brows the tiniest bit. He then gestured to Joel to come forth. Joel went, not very excited with the situation, clearly. Jason stood up from the sofa and waved for Joel to follow him from the room. They came back after less than a minute, and Joel marched straight back to where he stood before. Jason stopped in front of the sofa and spoke before sitting.

  “I accept Joel Simmonds as a friend to our pack and grant him the protection that comes with it.” Everyone breathed with relief and Jack motioned to Joel.

  “Would you like to speak a few words about yourself, Joel?” The man didn’t look very eager at the suggestion, but he nodded nonetheless.

  “My name is Joel Simmonds, and I’m Dominic Sawyer’s cousin. I work for our uncle as a PI like Dominic does and learned that paranormals exist just a short while ago. It was a shock that my cousin and best friend since we were kids is more than human, but it didn’t change how I feel about him. I’m part happy to be here, to participate in this part of his life, and part nervous about stepping my foot in a completely new world. Anyway, it’s good to hear that I now have a protection of this pack. It’s kinda scary to know there are so many different kinds of paranormals, and humans aren’t the toughest kids on the block. It makes me feel safe that you’re all on my side,” he finished and smiled.

  A sound of hands clapping, as if asking for attention, could be heard after that, and everyone turned to Jack. For such a short and unimposing person, he could sure command attention. He wasn’t a teacher for nothing.

  “Okay, now that the fun part is over, it is time to get to the tough one. There is a reason why we brought you all here on such short notice, and unfortunately it’s not a pleasant one. However, the next bit will be best explained by our friend, Annette. Ty, could you please call and tell here that it’s okay to materialize now?” Ty nodded and pulled his mobile from his pocket. He spoke a few short words into it, and the next thing everyone knew, three people appeared in the middle of the room out of nowhere.

  Chapter Seven

  Joel froze, watching three people appear out of thin air. This paranormal shit was weirder than he expected. A slim, dark-haired and olive-skinned woman stood between two men. They looked right at home with a hand on each of her shoulders. The woman opened her brown eyes, which before were closed in concentration. The man named Jack stepped forward and shook the woman’s hand in greeting.

  “Annette, welcome to our pack meeting. Everybody, meet our good friend Annette. She’s here to explain things to us. Annette, these are all our new pack members.” Annette smiled a clipped smile and nodded. It was obvious she was under a lot of stress. One of the men accompanying her spoke in her stead.

  “Jack, it’s good to see you in such a great form. I see pack life is good for you.”

  “Thank you, Dane. It is indeed good to be a part of a pack again.” Jack’s smile was genuine. Then he sobered and asked, “Could you please explain, in short, the situation to those pack members who do not know what is going on? We waited for you three before debriefing them.”

  “Right.” The man’s face turned dead-serious when he faced the crowd. “I’m not sure if you heard anything, but paranormals started to go missing a while ago. Since we’re so few and do not stay in contact with each other, it was easy to overlook those disappearances, especially since humans go missing every day. Anyway, as we learned by experience, there is a group of people kidnapping paranormals and humans alike and keeping them as slaves. We experienced it firsthand, and were only freed thanks to Jiminy’s efforts to find his brother.

  “Since we were kept in the same facility, the rescue mission freed us all. After that, Annette decided to investigate the trafficking ring and get to the bottom of this. Unfortunately, it goes deeper than we thought. Annette will tell you more about her latest findings.”

  The man stepped back and gestured for the woman to continue. She did after taking a deep breath.

  “As we didn’t have much to go on by way of information, my investigation was taking longer than I expected it to. I tried to pursue a lead that ultimately allowed Dominic Sawyer to discover the location where we were all kept prisoner, but it proved to be a dead end. The man who owned both places where the prisoners were kept, Bradford Manning, is a young, self-made billionaire. He is also blissfully unaware of what was going on within his own company. After a thorough investigation, I deemed him innocent. However, some of his employees were nothing but. Pursuing that lead I found some very disconcerting news.”

  Annette took a deep breath and released it slowly, as if fortifying herself for what she was about to say. “There is a man. He’s a businessman and a politician, but he’s also more than that. He is from an old and well-connected family, and he’s very influential. He’s got friends in the highest places. He’s very well-known, and his family are treated like celebrities. They are basically untouchable.”

  Annette breathed deeply again, and shut her eyes tightly. “I believe the man I’m talking about is Mr. Z, a client in the establishment where we’ve been kept, and more than that. I believe he is directly involved in the trafficking of paranormals. I think that Mr. Z might be the head of the ring.”

  A dead silence followed her proclamation. It was Jack who broke it. With a shaking voice he asked, “Are–are y–you s–sure? He’s not j–just some r–random guy with despicable sexual habits? He’s truly involved in all of t–this?”

  Joel could
see the guy trembling as he asked this. Gone was the self-assured young teacher, and in his place stood a victim of the man just mentioned. Toby must have realized how hard this was on Jack, because he went to hug him. Joel’s cousin turned to Annette, whose face softened as she looked at Jack.

  “Are you sure about it, Annette? There is no mistake?”

  “I’m sorry, but no, I’m certain we’ve got our guy. The only question is how deep he is into all of this. I’m sure he’s involved, but is he truly the head of the ring? That I can’t tell.”

  “So what do we do now?” Dominic asked. To Joel’s surprise, it was Tim’s vehement voice that answered him.

  “We go after him!”

  * * * *

  “You most definitely do not go after this man!” a young-sounding voice came from the doorway, and when Joel turned, he could see a beautiful, androgynous-looking man standing there. Joel heard a groan and turned to see Dominic covering his face and shaking his head.

  “And just who the hell are you?” asked Doug in his gravelly voice, stepping forward from his corner. The young man’s eyes turned to the demon and his brows lifted, but he said nothing. It was Tyler who spoke with a curl to his upper lip.

  “Everyone, meet Eric Phane, Jason’s father and my father-in-law. Also, the most annoying god this world has ever seen,” the tiger almost snarled.

  “Said the person whose goal in life is to annoy as many people as possible.” Eric smirked, not bothered by Ty’s obvious hostility. The sound of a throat being cleared brought Joel’s attention to the only man who hadn’t spoken during the entire meeting. He was surprised to see a fire of irritation filling Jason’s previously empty eyes.

  “Father, what are you doing here? I thought you said you weren’t going to be at the pack meeting,” Jay greeted through clenched teeth.

  “Yes, but that was before I learned the identity of the person you were just discussing. Alistair Bradshaw is more dangerous than you can imagine.”