by Lynn Crain
“God, my head hurts,” Cordelia leaned back on the couch. “Tom, can you do anything for psychic headaches? They didn’t just hit my head, they unlocked a psychic maelstrom. I’m surprised you didn’t feel it.”
“Probably just a focused burst of energy. That would give you one whopping headache. I’ve never really tried to relieve someone of a headache, but I can now.”
“Do it so I can function,” she snarled. “It looks like it’s going to be a long night.”
They watched for a moment as Clarity’s husband leaned in to touch Cordelia’s temples. ”So, what you’re trying to say, Dad,” Clarity began, “is that Iain has or might have somehow changed something in our past which leads us to right now, right this moment.”
“That’s basically correct. At least in my opinion.”
“So what do you think it is?” Chastity questioned, clutching Justin’s hand.
Charles looked to where Connor sat on the floor. “Clarity, what compelled you to look Connor’s way that night?”
“What?” Connor and Clarity spoke at the same time.
Clarity gazed at her brother. “I was screaming loud enough that any psychic could have heard me within a ten mile radius.”
Connor rose and sat on the couch next to Cordelia, watching Tom rub the woman’s head. “I was out of sight in the forest and for some reason I stepped forward. I don’t know why, Dad, but when I did I was nearly pushed over from the psychic waves she gave out.”
“You’d never stood up for yourself? Never questioned the things that they did? But yet on this occasion you found yourself out of the shadows and staring your destiny in the face.”
Connor looked down at his hands. “I suppose that’s true. I’d never challenged any of Rowan’s decisions because I didn’t want the hassle. Didn’t want to die for something I didn’t believe in in the first place.”
Charles sat on the edge of his desk. “So don’t you think that it is very strange for a lower pack member to do something quite out of the norm?”
“Well…yeah…I guess so. I mean, I was never fully integrated into wolfen society -- Beta-style anyway.” Connor sat there confused. Searching his mind, he tried to find something different about that night, something unseen.
“Iain doesn’t know enough to affect those types of changes, Charles.” The pleading tone of Cordelia’s voice drew Connor back to the present.
“I would agree with you, Cordelia, but even the youngest intuitive knows how to appoint his own protector.”
Cordelia sat there, stunned. “That would explain so much, wouldn’t it?”
“Think back. Think back hard, boy. Did Cordelia’s son say anything to you when you were with him and in wolf form?”
Connor swallowed hard and tried to remember every detail. The whole thing had had him so distraught at the time that he had practically disengaged himself of it ever happening. It was only because he wanted to come clean with Cordy that he even brought it up. “I don’t think so, Dad.”
“Think, boy, think as if your life depended upon it because Iain’s might.” Charles stood before him and gently pressed two fingers to the middle of his forehead.
The memories all came back in a rush. Everything, just like a streaming video. Practically back to the moment he was born. And there it all was. The women, the milking of his body for his seed, the possible children, Rowan laughing any time he tried something different, tried to affect a change in the way things were. The good and the evil. All there for him to take out and look at any time he wanted or needed. Far away, a light shone as a beacon, calling him forth. Fear-tèarmuinn. Protector.
“He said…he said…fear-tèarmuinn. That means protector, doesn’t it?” He stared up at his father.
Charles placed his hands on his shoulders. “It means protector in Gaelic, our ancient language.” Turning to Cordelia, he continued. “I hope your headache is gone.”
“Would it matter?”
“Hardly. Now that we’ve got most of the emotional baggage out of the way, we need to plan our strategy.” Again he looked at all present, investing each with the power to affect the outcome of what was to happen. “Cordelia, what did you get when you monitored Connor?”
“Monitored me?” He was surprised that her hand was in his.
“I’m sorry. I probed you almost daily.” She pleaded silently with her eyes for forgiveness.
His wry snort spoke volumes. “Don’t be. I’m sure it was for a good cause.”
“It was, son.” Charles was once again behind his desk. “Rowan has had a psychic tag on you since you left the compound. A really good one, too. Cordelia tried her best to keep it muffled but obviously it wasn’t enough.”
“You mean that crazy bastard has somehow marked me?”
“More like put a tracer on you so that he always knew where you were.”
“So, I was the one who was actually the leak.” But the real truth dawned on him slowly. “He was looking for Iain.” The simple statement needed no further explanation.
“One could only assume.”
“Just what good could that do?” asked Justin.
“Whoever put the tag on Conner could monitor him and no one would be the wiser. Remember how we all thought everything was a little two easy for Connor to escape?” Murmurs of agreement could be heard throughout the room. “Cordelia realized that something was up in short order. But she didn’t know what. She couldn’t feel anything at all.”
“I’m sorry I’m not a good enough psychic. I just couldn’t figure it out. The tag was so subtle. When I realized what was happening and that they had been monitoring Connor, it was too late.”
“There was nothing you could do, Cordelia,” Tom sympathized. “No matter how good a psychic one is, it’s hard to find deception where it appears there is none.”
“He’s right, Cordelia. The same goes for you, Connor. Neither of you can blame yourself for the turn of events. But there’s one thing that Rowan didn’t expect.”
Connor looked at his father, miserable. “What is that?”
“Connor, close your eyes.”
“Why?”
“Humph.” The old man scowled at his son. “Just do it, boy.”
Connor closed his eyes.
“Do you remember how that little boy’s hand felt in yours? Do you remember how his blue eyes connected with yours?”
Suddenly, he could feel the world opening around him. “I know where he is.”
“Welcome to the role of protector.”
“I can feel him.”
“Yes, you can. When he stated the word fear-tèarmuinn, he bound you two together. Much like you and Cordelia are bound.”
Cordelia gasped, her hand clenching the clothing over her breast.
“Really, Cordelia, I’m not blind.” Charles watched her with a knowing gaze.
“Couldn’t prove it by me, Daddy,” Chastity stated.
Joanna cleared her throat. “Charles, girls do like a little more fluff than that. We aren’t as matter-of-fact as you men are.”
“What? They are already in love, they are going to get married, and they are going to have children, more children if Connor proves to be Iain’s biological father. You have the mark…don’t you?”
“They haven’t discussed it. And if I have the mark, it’s my own business.” Cordelia’s voice was bland and without emotion, arms crossed over her breast.
“What mark?” Connor questioned and immediately remembered the mark on his chest.
“If you are truly meant to be together, you and she would bear the same mating mark. Each of your siblings have it, your mother and I had it. I was even lucky enough to get a second mark upon mating with Joanna.”
Connor frowned. He knew he bore the mark but hadn’t seen one on Cordelia. “Cordelia?”
The woman frowned at the old man for a minute more before pulling her eyes away. “What?”
Connor watched her face. “Do you have any such mark?”
“Connor…pl
ease…that isn’t important now,” she pleaded. “We need to…”
“Tell me and I’ll leave the rest of this for later.”
Frowning once again, she swallowed hard and moved her shirt away from her left breast. Nestled on the inner surface of her breast was a mark, a heart with a sword. The sign of a protector.
“Thank you,” he whispered and leaned in to give her a quick kiss. “I have one too.”
Her eyes pleaded with him. Things were going much too fast. Connor could see her distress. “Iain’s all right. I can feel it. We can discuss what we want later. Right now let’s concentrate on getting your son back.”
She looked at him with sad eyes. “You’re welcome,” she whispered.
“So just what does the job of protector entail?”
“That’s the spirit, son.”
Connor put up his hands. “That’s all well and good but I have questions that need answering.”
“We’ll do our best.”
“You mean you and Cordelia, Dad. You’re the only two in on everything.” Chastity glared at one then the other.
“There’s no need to get jealous, honey,” Justin said as he rubbed her shoulders. “I’m sure there’s a good explanation. Just like Connor said.”
“There’d better be,” Charity stated. “Didn’t you two think about the consequences? Didn’t you think that one or all of us could have been hurt?”
“Charity, I haven’t thought of anything else for months. You have no idea.” Charles looked at his middle daughter in exasperation. “I’ve known about the boy for three years. And for two of those years, I’ve waited for Rowan’s attack. I just never thought it would be this horrific and I never expected to find a son in the bargain.”
Connor gazed at his sister. That shut her up. “When did you know Iain was an intuitive? And when did you know I was a plant?”
“The moment he was laid in my arms. And about you, I still don’t really know what Rowan has planned. Your mind doesn’t have any of the usual pitfalls of someone who’s spying,” Cordelia murmured and closed her eyes as if remembering the event of her son’s birth.
“How?” Connor turned to look at the woman he loved. “About Iain, that is.”
“There was a chaos in his mind. I went to Aaron and we went to the histories.”
“So wolfen like these have been mentioned in the histories?”
Cordelia turned to look at Lucas. “A case or two. It was a really rare book and Aaron knew exactly what I was talking about when I told him of the chaos that seemed to be in Iain’s mind.”
“How did you keep him in check?” Tom asked.
“At first, we didn’t. I had to learn how to channel his thoughts until he was old enough to put a cap on his psychic abilities. It was exhausting working here and having Iain at home. Aaron and I worked different shifts just so we could handle it. The cap should have stayed in place until he was a teenager. We went to the elders to have them perform the ritual.” Cordelia sat there wringing her hands, tension etched in every line of her body.
“I don’t think it’s breached, Cordelia.” Charles looked at her over his hands.
“Then what, Charles?” The desperation rose to the surface again.
“I think it’s leaking, Cordelia, I think that whatever you, Aaron, and the elders cooked up to hold that child’s mind isn’t holding in his power. Clarity and Tom have already felt it. He has more ability than any of you thought.”
“Obviously,” she stated dryly. “Just what do you propose?”
“Well…he was smart enough to appoint a protector,” Lucas stated as all eyes looked at Connor. “Does the protector have the ability to control the child?”
“To a point.” Charles tapped his hand against the desk. “Do the histories say anything more, Cordelia, about how we can deal with an intuitive?”
She shook her head. “Not really. Most of them chose to live a solitary life because they didn’t want to be exploited by one side or another. Time is a precious thing.” Cordelia looked at Tom and smiled. “Thanks, you took the edge off, at least.”
“And something in short supply,” Charles sadly observed.
“My point exactly. Could we hurry it up a bit?’ Cordelia questioned.
“Patience, we need patience and clear thinking right now,” Charles stated, watching her for a moment.
“Why does Rowan want Iain so much? I just don’t understand.” Connor shook his head.
“It goes back to what he wants to change, Connor.” Justin looked at Charles. “What event or events do you suspect those to be, Charles?”
“I can think of a few.”
“Then tell us.”
“My marriage to Mariah, the birth of Connor, and the thing that turned our friendship into hatred are the things that come first in my mind.”
“You were friends?” Clarity looked in disbelief at her father.
“When we were much, much younger the Beta families and the Elite families all lived together, like in the old country. They had hoped to forget all hostilities when they landed on this foreign shore. Sometimes, it worked; a lot of times it didn’t. Many Betas were slaves in the old world.”
“What happened, Father?” questioned Charity.
“More and more Beta families were leaving our enclave. Sometimes it started with a disagreement; many times it escalated to something more insidious.” He paused a moment, as if trying to gather strength from his nearby family. “We didn’t want this war. We never wanted this war. It had always been hoped that we could alter the more animalistic side of the Betas. But we couldn’t. If anything, we made it worse.”
“How could you have made it worse?” Lucas looked pointedly at his father-in-law. “It’s as if their hate is inbred in them, Charles. They are almost psychotic in nature and sometimes nothing can deviate them from their course of action.”
“According to the histories, the elders thought that too. But as time went on and we allowed them access to fully incorporate themselves into our society, the elders came to the realization that it didn’t matter if we altered things. For some reason, Betas and Elites couldn’t co-exist in the ways we envisioned. In ages long past, Betas and Elites married but something would always make a Beta-Elite hybrid turn against his or her Elite side. The outcome was always ugly. And we don’t know if it was because the Betas had turned them or what happened exactly.”
“Then just what am I?” Lucas questioned harshly.
“A miracle in the making,” whispered Cordelia.
“How so?”
“You are a true Alpha-Elite hybrid. You knew what was right and wrong from the very start. You never questioned it. It made the elders want to encourage the Alphas and Betas to mate even more. They thought that was the bridge. They weren’t sure though. There are so few of them left in the old world, their only hope is that we bring about an assured future. One where all wolfen can exist harmoniously.”
“I think I’m beginning to understand why Rowan hates you so much, Father. You’re everything he isn’t,” Connor said quietly.
A parade of emotions crossed the man’s face, heightening the tensions that were already in the room. “Rowan has always had this need for power, even at an early age. At first, everyone ignored the signs: the accidental killing of small furry animals, the apparent lack of concern or other constructive emotions, the apparent lack of remorse when he did something wrong. It was as if the bloodlust had him in its grip. Nothing could alter its path, not even our friendship, which came to an abrupt end when he raped and killed a young human woman outside of our compound. He tried to dismiss it as another accident. My father would have none of it and banished the whole family. Rowan was already in a place I could not follow.”
“They started the compound in Brey Forest,” Connor stated.
“Yes. Matter of fact, I do believe they are and continue to be the reason that people around here believe in the werewolf legends so intensely.”
“I know.” Connor chuckled w
ryly. “They think it funny to go out and scare the humans.”
“I’m sure they do.” Charles nodded his head in agreement. “Rowan, from that point on, tried to maintain contact but he always wanted what he thought I had.”
“And what was that, Dad?” Chastity asked quietly.
“A perfect life.”
An indelicate snort came from the youngest. ”We’re hardly perfect, Dad,” Clarity muttered.
“You think?” Charles asked sarcastically. “Try and be on the outside and look in. Sure, we know we have our problems. But to the outside populace, we appear rich snobs. We keep to ourselves and even though we have contact with the outside it is on a limited basis. Why do you think I don’t mind that all of you are so community minded?”
“Yeah. I do remember the hassle we had going to that conference in Vegas,” Charity agreed.
“It had its moments, darlin’,” Lucas drawled.
Charles raised his eyebrows. “I think you get my point.”
“I do believe we do.” Connor looked at Cordelia’s face and then to his father. “So, where do we go from here?”
Chapter Twelve
Connor was so mad he could spit nails. “I don’t think this is a good idea.”
“I don’t care what you think, Connor. This won’t be my first mission.”
He winced as he watched her load her 9 mm Beretta with special shells meant to kill Betas. “You sure they won’t kill us?”
Cordy’s violet eyes raised to his face. “I’ll tell you again. These are hollow bullets filled with a liquid that can hurt the Betas. It’s formulated that way. It will sting us and make us uncomfortable but no, it shouldn’t kill us.”
“I thought my father said that biological weapons were out of the picture.”
