by Noah Harris
Dean frowned, leveling his gaze at her in response to her unwavering one. “Are you worried about Lucille?”
Matalina let out a slow breath. “We have yet to hear back from her since her last message, and that was over a week ago. She was simply supposed to make final contact with a few of the packs to the north and then return back to us. We have heard nothing, and while she is ever herself, this is not like her, not at a time like this.”
“Maybe something has caught her attention?”
“That is my hope. She is dutiful, but there are things that can pull even her attention away from her more mundane tasks. I do not wish to leap to the darkest possibility first. So, I’ll simply hope that she found a shaman with an interesting spirit to speak to, or something equally strange to pull her in.”
“Running messages and playing diplomat for werewolf packs is mundane?”
She gave him a wry look. “For us it is, just another fact of our lives. It is things like shamans, and now in your case, druids, that interest her. Spirits, ghosts, all sorts of things that the average werewolf almost never deals with. The news about you would have reached her, but perhaps…”
“Perhaps someone else caught her attention on the way back and she’s just been delayed. I can’t say that I know her… at all. But she doesn’t strike me as the type to go running off without a good reason, and she seems smart enough to not be taken by surprise if someone is after her.”
“I know. She is intelligent and clever, and certainly possesses a greater sense of self-preservation than Katarina. I am trying to focus on the pack’s needs, but I can’t help but worry about my children.”
“I think that’s called being a mom.”
“The duty of my position says that I should at least attempt to be above that, yet the duty that nature brings through motherhood will not allow it. I worry for my youngest, out in the world by herself as enemies close in on us. My other daughter is spoiling for a fight, revenge for the wrongs that Damian and his ilk did to us. Revenge for the wounds she took, the damage to The Grove, and for the loss of our own kin.”
Dean’s gaze slipped from hers at the mention of Artemis, feeling a twinge of guilt rise up in him once more. No one seemed to blame him for that, but there was no shedding the feeling that he could have done something to stop it. When Nox had turned on Mikael, Dean had found the strength within him to stop the corrupted shaman from repeating his casual murder. Yet, he hadn’t found it in him to be able to do the same when Artemis had leapt fearlessly into the fray to save Dean’s life. She had died because he had failed to act.
“And then there’s my only son, and heir to his father’s legacy, to his pack. I hated both the pressure that we put upon him, and the necessity for it. He has always struggled to find his way, to find the line between what is expected of him and what he feels he should do. Now when he begins to find that way, the world conspires to fall down around him. War is such an ugly thing, and it changes people, Dean. I love Samuel, now more than ever, but the war of his younger years has changed him and I fear it will do the same to Mikael. A parent always wants more for their children than they themselves had, and while Samuel must be willing to forgo that in the face of the pack’s survival, it hurts me all the same.”
Dean reached across the table, daring to lay his hand gently around her small wrist and hold it. “Matalina, Mikael is… he’s going to be alright. He’s got all of us watching his back, and he’s got me to make sure he doesn’t go overboard. I think maybe in some ways, he needs to have things shaken up around him in order for him to get motivated. Hell, ever since he met me, things have been going to hell around him in one way or another, and all its done is make him come out of his shell and be ready to take on the world. I believe in him, and I’m never going to let him think otherwise.”
Matalina breathed deep, watching him with damp eyes as she nodded. “Yes, yes, you are right. Looking back now, I wonder if perhaps I should not have privately intervened in the disputes between Samuel and Mikael. Those two are so much alike at times, even in how they look.”
“He’s got your pretty eyes though.”
She laughed gently, slapping his hand playfully. “Flatterer. So, beyond his eyes, he took much from Samuel, including growing stronger in the face of adversity. Nothing quite brings Samuel to life like being faced with an enemy. In trying to keep the two of them from truly fighting it out, perhaps I robbed them of the chance to find a place to meet halfway, to find understanding.”
Dean pulled his hand back, seeing her steady herself as she spoke. “It’s not a crime to not want your husband and child to fight.”
“A crime? No, not a crime. But perhaps it was a failure on my part. In trying to be a peacekeeper between two people who found themselves in adversity, I might have delayed their chance of coming to terms with one another. It might have gone on even longer, had you not come along when you did.”
“I seem to have been really good at shaking things up around here, huh?”
“Yes, though do not think that I fault you for anything that has happened. What occurred when you first came around needed to happen. Mikael needed to truly stand up for himself, and fight for what he believed in, in the most direct way. For too long he had quietly opposed Samuel, finding ways to work around my mate’s word. What happened with Damian and Nox would have happened regardless of your presence. If anything, your proximity spared us an even worse problem, as you were the one who dealt with the real threat at the time.”
Dean shifted uncomfortably. “Like I told Talon, I’m not the one who killed Nox, that was Mikael. I mean, it was the right decision, but if we’re going to hand out credit for a good deed, give it to Mikael. He fought him too, and he’s the one who took advantage of Nox’s distraction when I was unable to finish the job myself and take him out.”
“You downplay the role that you played in that. Were it not for what you discovered you could do, my son would not have been able to deal the final blow; he most likely would not have survived. Just as you played a key role in my son’s ability to finally stand up for himself, for you, and everything in between, so did you play a key part in destroying Nox.”
“A lot of that was Mikael’s doing. Both things.”
“And a lot of yours as well. Without you around, driving him to be willing to stand up for something, who knows how it would have ended. I am glad you are with us, Dean. It is… good to see my son settling down with someone; someone who compliments him so well. I always wondered what kind of alpha he would be, and what the person he spent his life with would be like. I am happy to see the mate he chose is no quiet, meek flower.”
“Even if it means driving your mate to the edge of his sanity?”
Matalina snorted, sipping her tea carefully. “As I said before, Samuel thrives on adversity, on challenges. It is good for him to be confronted every now and again, and it had been some time since the last time that had happened. If you ask me, I believe he almost enjoys butting heads with you. My mate is a very strong believer in strength, and to have a mere human willing to bark back at him earned his respect. That, and like me, he wanted a strong mate for Mikael.”
“Even though it’s not one that will give him grandbabies.”
“I am sure you two will find a way, if children are the route you wish to travel. If not, Samuel will live, it is not as if breeding is required to be an alpha. Just strongly encouraged.”
The soft sound of the beaded strings over the doorway leading into the room drew their attention up. Talon moved through the strings, tall enough that he had to hunch to get through the doorway without hitting his head. For a moment, his serene expression faltered as he looked between the two of them, suddenly cautious. Dean glanced to Matalina who shrugged, and he realized that it probably appeared that Talon had interrupted the serious conversation they’d been having, or that he’d just walked into the middle of a gossip session.
“You called for me, Alpha Matalina?” Talon’s voice was so deep
it seemed to fill the room with its low rumble, as Dean idly wondered if his voice had any effect on his ability to converse with spirits. If it carried well through the air, would it do the same for whatever existed in the spirit world?
“Yes Talon, thank you for coming. As I said to Dean earlier, I apologize for not having personally seen you before, things have been quite busy around here and I have not been as active in my duties as usual.”
“Understandable, you have many matters demanding your attention.”
Dean glanced to Matalina. “What, are you, like, the public relations person?”
“Good relations should be established between host and guest, Dean, and I am honest with myself enough to know that I am good at it.”
Dean had to agree with that much, though he couldn’t imagine that Samuel was all that great at the casual conversations that came so easily to her. He was sure that Samuel was perfectly polite in greeting any guests that came in, and that his more taciturn manner was reserved for Dean. Or at least it had been; now he was less sharp with the two of them. Even with that softening of demeanor, Dean couldn’t imagine Samuel as much of a conversationalist. Now, as a leader, or as a commander on the field of battle? Definitely.
“What is that you have there, Talon?”
Dean turned his attention up to what Talon was holding, frowning when he realized what it was. “Hey, is that the plant Mikael got me?”
Talon looked down at the potted plant in his hand. “Yes. I had a conversation with the one called Apollo. He told me about the plant, it being the only one that you had kept in your home rather than in the separate greenhouse.”
“I… yeah, I did. You had a conversation with him? A full-fledged conversation?”
“Yes?”
Dean let out an indignant puff of air. “The guy barely talks for more than a few sentences at a time when he chooses to speak at all. Yet when he decides to talk to you, you get enough conversation with him to learn I not only have a greenhouse, but that there’s one plant I don’t keep in there.”
“And apparently you have a dog.”
“Okay, now that one I’m not surprised about.”
Matalina glanced between the two of them, questioning them with her gaze. “A dog?”
“Jax, he’s my boxer mix. Both Apollo and Jax took to one another better than Jax took to me in the first place. I might have to suck it up and let Apollo have him; the goofy mutt loves him.”
Talon stepped closer, holding the plant out toward Dean. “In any case, I requested that he return to your house and retrieve it. I assumed that any plant that you kept in your personal space was one you regarded as important, or of great value.”
Dean took it, cradling it carefully as he checked it over to see if it had been damaged in the transporting. “Oh, yeah. My mom used to have one when I was younger, loved the hell out of it. This one Mikael got me, um, the night of the… when we…”
“Mated?”
Dean flushed, nodding as he set the plant gently on the table before him. “Thing is next to impossible to really kill, but I liked having it around the house instead of out in the greenhouse. There a reason you decided to have Apollo go running all the way out there for it?”
“I thought perhaps it would be of better use to you than the fern I brought you.”
“Because Mikael bought it for me?”
“By all accounts, you have a strong emotional connection to the plant. It is tied to happy memories in your mind, of your mother, and this one in particular was gifted to you by someone you love dearly. That’s far more of a connection than the random fern that I brought you. That sort of personal connection runs deep, deep enough to perhaps connect with the power within you.”
“To love one person is to love the world,” Matalina cited slowly, rolling the cup in her hand enough to circle the dark tea within it.
“That a book quote?” Dean asked.
“I have no idea, it was something a passing messenger said to me once, many years ago. I remember her face, though I cannot recall what message she came to deliver. She too was in love, that early love, when it shows almost all the time.”
Dean wrinkled his nose. “It doesn’t show all the time.”
“Yes it does,” the simultaneous tone and words of both Matalina and Talon unnerved Dean even as he flushed once more. So much for being master of his own face and emotions.
“Well, thank you,” he told Talon, affectionately stroking the leaves dangling out of the pot, “It’s actually kind of nice to see it again.”
“I hope that it’s of more help.”
Matalina set her cup down gently. “Talon, I imagine you have heard word from your fellow shamans in the other packs?”
“Yes, I communed with a couple that I share a strong enough bond with. News of Damian’s advance spread quickly, and the rest of the packs all knew shortly after you did. One would wonder if the news of his movements were announced before he actually moved, it spread that quickly. All are, in the interest of watching over their packs, remaining where they are for now.”
“That is… unfortunate.”
“They are placing their trust in me to help Dean learn as much as he can about his abilities. So, with their blessing, and their occasional advice, I will be staying here to help Dean.”
“That, at least, is good news.”
“Then you will enjoy this as well. A few of them mentioned that either their pack, or their neighboring ones, were originally more…hesitant about engaging themselves in this battle. That is, until word of you having a druid within your ranks reached their leader’s ears. Then interest seemed to grow. I have been with Dean enough to confirm what he is, and have passed that onto them. They will, in turn, pass that news on to others around them, and hopefully it will spread from there.”
Dean stirred uneasily. “Meaning that everyone is going to know that the rumors are actually true. So those who would want to keep me safe are going to come off the fence and help us. But those who want a piece of what Damian’s probably offering…”
“That is a part of the nature of war, Dean. It grows and grows, feeding itself.”
Dean looked at the healthy, still unflowering plant before him. “Well, I just hope it doesn’t devour everyone.”
There wasn’t much for Dean and Talon to do once they had left the main house. Dean supposed that he could have gone back to the cabin alone to try to make progress with his abilities. Yet, the idea of sitting down and focusing on trying to listen for the voice of a plant was laughable in the face of his buzzing thoughts. The very outcome they had initially feared was now a reality. War between multiple packs was not just a possibility anymore, but a certainty. The only question now was simply a matter of when the time for battle would approach.
Knowing that Mikael would be busy bulking up their outer defenses, Dean had invited Talon back to the cabin with him. He knew that while he wouldn’t be able to accomplish much with his practice, he didn’t want to be left alone with his thoughts, either. There was still plenty of Talon’s wisdom that he would love to pick his brain over. If he could forestall his own bleak thoughts while learning something, he would gladly choose that.
“So, you really talk to spirits?” He asked by way of beginning a conversation as they entered the warmer air of the cabin.
“Yes.”
“Like, are these spirits of people and werewolves, or like… nature spirits?”
“I have yet to meet the soul of a living person who has passed on. The spirits that I deal with are natural spirits. Each is their own unique being, but spirits of the same ‘type’ also share similar characteristics. Much like people who come from the same region. They may all share certain qualities with their brethren, but they are individuals.”
Dean took Talon’s coat and hung it up with his own. “So, are they like how people imagine they are? Like, fire spirits are passionate or easily angered, air spirits are intelligent but have short attention spans.”
“Huma
n lore on spirits is not as inaccurate as you may think. Humans have many things wrong, but they are right in some surprising ways at surprising times. The nature and personality of different spirits is one of them. Spirits are rarely as general as ‘air’ or ‘fire’, however. They tend to be spirits that embody the very place that they inhabit. There are plenty of spirits of the glade around here, as well as of the trees. There are small ones that are of flowers, and of course there are those that embody sunlight, rain, lightning, and so forth.”
“So, they’re more specific than just an element, okay… oh, you want some coffee?”
Talon shook his head. “Oh, no, thank you, I don’t plan to stay long.”
Dean sighed, deflating a little in disappointment. “Oh. Are they all intelligent?”
Talon chuckled. “You will grow tired of this answer in time, I’m sure, but it depends upon the spirit. The surest way to know if a spirit is intelligent is based upon how strong the concept of what they embody is. A spirit of a flower will not be particularly strong or smart, while one that embodies a forest or trees will tend to be very intelligent and powerful. That, of course, can have a lot to do with the strength of what they tie themselves to. A spirit of a small, insignificant tree may be less than one of an entire meadow that has been there for ages.”
Dean leaned against the back of the couch, frowning in thought. “There’s a lot of variation to the whole spirit thing, isn’t there?”
“Yes, there is certainly much about the nature of spirits to know. Some of it can be taught, but for the most part it must be learned through exposure and experience. Gaining those things can make the process easier for a shaman, but a certain amount of versatility can be helpful as well.”
“Sounds…incredibly complicated.”
“Thankful you don’t have to deal with it?”
“A little, but now I’m wondering, if there are spirits for things like trees, what exactly is it that I’m dealing with then? Or will be dealing with once I figure out how to, anyway.”
“There is much debate about that particular subject. There are some who say that what a druid speaks to is a spirit that has become infused into the plant or plants. While others say that a druid instead communes with the nature of the plants, its essence, I personally believe the difference is of little importance. Whether you speak to nature’s version of a soul, or to a deeply embedded spirit, is irrelevant. You can, whereas I cannot.”
