by Jana Leigh
Once again, Teagan looked at his Beta and frowned. He felt like something was going to change and really soon. He hoped that his friend was ready for it, she hated change and surprises.
Chapter 2
Bryan closed the door behind him and turned. “So what the fuck is so all important, that you had to come here?” He demanded and looked at the wolves that were standing in front of him.
Darien stopped, and held out his arm to his Enforcers, who were growling at the threat they perceived from the older wolf. Alphas were territorial, but this was a little overboard, Darien thought. He knew all the protocols; his father was the Alpha of one of the largest and most prestigious Packs in Europe. In fact, the Denver Pack started as an extension to the Gevaudan Pack. His brothers and he had grown up, being taught the true ways of the wolf. All of them were strong, and held the necessary traits to be an Alpha. But Quin had been the only one to really want it when the time came. Darien did not like the politics; he was too gruff and tended to piss people off when he ordered them around. That is why he was the perfect Beta. His brother Gregg was going to be the next Alpha of his father Pack. He was currently just helping Quin and the rest of the Old Council with this mess, while Darien was hoping that being the Beta of the Denver Pack turned into a full-time assignment.
Something else was going on here; he was protecting more than just his daughter. Since they met the man, he had been challenging. Darien did not know what to make of it.
Oliver said that of all the Chosen"s families, Bryan and his wife had been the most encouraging. He figured that when he showed up here and told him Oliver had a message the man would greet him with open arms.
They had hunted for a few months for any of the Chosen. Darien and his brothers had been surprised to find that one of them had settled not four hours from Denver. They were happy that Milliken was so close. Rogues kidnapped one of the Chosen and his mate, and they did not want anyone leaving the state in case they needed help to protect the Pack. The Denver Pack locked down its buildings and members, until they could get a grasp on what was going on. They had searched for the missing Chosen on the computer instead physically looking like they had been. Quin did not want too many of the Enforcers to be gone from protection detail for extended periods of time. They had a schedule, the Enforcers schedule already stretched them too thin, and Darien coming here caused a disruption. They were due to be back tomorrow morning at the latest.
Quin"s mate Cami, and Jo, another Enforcers mate and one of the Chosen were pregnant and due anytime, while Casey, one of the Chosen, was still in her first trimester. With so many of the females pregnant, it made the males ultra-protective. All because of the damn Prophecy, he thought, it said the Chosen could not claim their rightful place at the New Council unless they were breeding the new generation.
Throw in the fact that Rogue wolves are hell-bent on destroying the New Council before it could form, and you had a mess. Earlier this month, one of the Chosen"s parents betrayed them and helped with the kidnapping. Screwed up, as it may seem, it had at least given them a reason to call in for reinforcements from other Packs. Unfortunately, they were still reeling from the deceit, so until they found Reggie, they felt the need to increase security. They needed stronger wolves in the area, also someplace they could hide the pregnant females until they gave birth. Right now, they were in the apartment complex that was locked down twenty four seven. It was driving everyone nuts.
Quin and Jaden, the Alphas of both the Denver Pack and the Council Pack, had put all of their resources at finding the Chosen. Once they found all of them, they would make up the New Council Pack and lead the Were Packs into a new era, an era where they could live with the humans in the open. Until then though, they were all a bunch of sitting ducks at least that is what Darien thought.
Quin had been the Alpha of the Denver Pack for the last ten years. When he met his mate Cami, and found out his best friend Jaden was also his mate, they started a countdown they knew nothing about. When Quin was a baby, a Seer from the Old Council Pack had a vision given to her by the Gods. They said that on the first day of every month for one calendar year, one Were Child would be born. This child would be one of the Chosen, one of the special few that were intended to lead the Were"s in the future. They would make up the New Council and lead them into peace and harmony with humans.
Oliver, who was the Alpha of the Old Council, had a child born in February. Everyone thought Josephine was murdered. The kidnappers sent a bloody blanket as proof of her death, after Oliver failed to comply with their demands. It wasn"t until recently, when they found Jo, because she joined the Denver Pack without knowing she was one of the Chosen. It all came to light, when she changed into a White Wolf after an ex-lover shot her. Quin only learned about the Prophesy after calling his father, seeking advice and help.
When Quin discovered who Jo was, Oliver, and many of the Old Council showed up in Denver, with the current Seer. She had produced all the papers from the previous Seer.
Who, because of the attack and kidnapping, thought she had failed and had taken her own life as an offering to the spirits to make up for her supposed failure. She had written everything down with the hopes the Spirits gave them another chance to fulfill their destiny.
The spirits gave each of the Chosen a gift that coincided with the astrological signs they were born under. Something that would help them fulfill their position on the Council.
The Spirits assigned each of them with a specific job, which would ensure the New Council would succeed in their enormous task.
Quin, born in January, was the leader of the Council. Being a Capricorn, he was regarded as the zodiac's leader. His gift was being the Alpha Triad. Thus, having stability and strength needed to lead the Pack and the Council at the same time. As well as being a stable influence for humans to see, and would not fear that shifters would try to take over their realm. Because both jobs were of equal importance, the Gods gifted a Triad to help share the duties. Cami, the female Alpha, had a strong personality in her own right. Jaden, the other wolf in the Triad, was also an Alpha. Before coming here, he had been planning on establishing his own Pack somewhere close to here. When he arrived and discovered that he was mated to both Cami and Quin, he had been ecstatic.
They had decided over the last few weeks that Jaden would be the Denver Pack Alpha while Quin would be the Council Pack Alpha. They would share the responsibilities, but it made it easier on both Packs to have one Alpha to go to.
Jo was born in February. She was an Aquarius, the humanitarian. She was a White Wolf and had the ability to feel the entire Pack and Council, and transfer emotions to calm and reassure others. Once she gave birth to her child, she would receive another gift; none of them knew what it was. She was the emotional balance needed for them all.
Tey, her mate, would call it a curse as well as a blessing. Since Tey was the one who had to hold her when the emotions overwhelmed her or try to calm her down when she was high on excitement from all the emotions the Pack gave off. He had done a wonderful job so far, but taking care of the Packs emotional well-being was a full-time job. Tey had to be with her at all times, the Pack had lost one of its best Enforcers.
Quin and Jaden had decided to ask Quin"s brothers, Gregg and Darien, to join the Enforcers. Then Devon found his mate, they took over for the Betas of the Denver Pack, for the time being. They were going to share the title, since they were looking to add a huge number of wolves to their Pack. Both men had a fearsome reputation in Europe, and Quin was happy when they both decided to come and help with his Pack.
The next was the child born in March, Pisces. This child would be the visionary of the group. They would be the one who had the ideas and ability to see what the future held for the Pack. Though they had the Seer from the European Council Pack, the Spirits intended for this child"s gift to surpass that of the Seer. This person would see the very future of the Council, and the wolf whom Quin wanted found first. After reading the papers from the previ
ous Council, they also figured that she would be the hardest to find.
Then, the child born under the April constellation is an Ares. This child will be the one who will be the liaison between the humans and the Were. They will travel all over the world promoting the harmony that is needed for both races to coexist. There were more shifters than just the Werewolf, and making the decision to come out into the open was going to be difficult. All shifter communities needed to be involved in the planning of the revelation.
After April is, of course, May, the Taurus. This will be the spiritual advisor and historian of the Council. This Wolf will confer with the past notes, and make sure the Council is not making the same mistakes the previous Councils made. They will record our history as it happens, and make sure that future generations have the documentation of shifter history.
The child born in June is one of the most unique among the zodiacs, Gemini, the twins.
They will be the only ones who share a month, and will share the seat on the Council.
They will be the financial managers of the Pack. Because of the responsibility, and the task being so vast, two children needed the gift. The current Council had amassed a great fortune, and the Denver Pack was extremely prosperous. They needed to build more room for the new members of both Packs as well as making sure that each member was taken care of. Quin and Jaden would never allow for any of their Pack to want for anything. It would take a team loaded with financial people to normally run the funds from a Pack. The twins were going to be in command of the group.
The next child is born in July, a Cancer. They are the overseer of mates. Their gift allows them to see who is supposed to mate, and who is not. They are also the protector of the mates, should anyone force a mating or abuse a mate, and they are the ones who will deal with it. Quin did not tolerate any abuse of a mate in the Denver Pack. They had heard stories of other Packs that used their females as slaves, and refused to do anything like this. The overseer of mates for the Council would have a big job trying to clean up the mess in America. Quin and Jaden spent half of their time calling the Alphas from other Packs around, and reporting mate abuse that they heard about.
Devon was born in August. He is the Leo, the leader of the Enforcers of both the Denver Pack and the Council Pack, the leader of their army, a natural protector. Should he wish he could challenge Quin, of course he would never do that because he does not want the headache. He is perfectly happy being the Beta. Devon was going to be the leader of all the Betas. He would set up training for them and make sure that they were doing their job, as well as making sure the Enforcers was doing their job. He was like the military leader in the United States, the highest ranking General in the Were community. If there were a war with the Rogues, Devon would be leading it.
Next in line is Virgo, the child born in September. This will be the medical adviser.
They will work with the human doctors to understand the physiology of the Were, and will be the trainer of the Were doctors. There were subtle differences in the makeup of Were"s. The Denver Pack had a doctor, and he was a good one. Doc had been with Quin since he started this Pack, but there are too many shifters for the one man to help and know about, thus the need for a medical advisor.
The child born in October, Libra, will be the Pack builder. They will be responsible for setting up a new Pack and knowing what is going on in each of the Packs and report to the Council. Once the Council officially moved to Denver, there was sure to be an influx of Packs starting in the United States. Many of the Packs from Europe had small Packs in the States but Quin knew that they would grow and be much larger than they were now.
The next is the child born in November, the Scorpio. They are considered the oldest of souls and will be the consultant with the previous Council, use them as a resource, should the Council need them. There was much to be learned from humans, and other Were"s, and Quin wanted the old Council to be advisers, but they needed someone appointed to help with organizing them.
Finally, the child born in December, the Sagittarius, they will be the liaison between the other shifters and the Council. They knew there were other shifters, all with different hierarchies, and this person will be the go between for the groups. Devon had been surprised when he learned there were more species in the Americas than where he had grown up, and he had yet to meet any. Most of the shifter community kept hidden, even from fellow shifters. Once they became public, it would be a huge job to organize all the different communities. Quin mentioned that he would eventually like to have some of the other shifters on the Council as advisors.
Currently, Gregg was in Denver searching for Reggie. Darien found this lead on Cloe just last night, and since they were so close, decided to come to Milliken this morning.
He thought it would be a quick trip. Come out here, announce the Prophesy was back in play, and take Cloe back. It did not look like that was going to happen. In fact, it looked like they were going to have to find a place to stay for the night.
“Alpha, I have been sent by Oliver and Quin, the New Council Pack Alpha, to find your daughter, Cloe. I believe she was born on the first of September?” Darien said and waited.
“Why now? I told Oliver a longtime ago that his daughter was not dead. He refused to believe me. I also told him that if he turned his back on the Pack then, that we would all lose respect for him. My wife and I told Braden when we left, we would not return. Our daughter will not be subjected to this. We needed Oliver when everything fell apart, we were sympathetic, and I even looked into the kidnapping myself. I showed him the evidence that Josephine was still alive. I tracked her to the United States, I offered to come here and search. He told me I was wasting my time, that I was chasing a false lead. His so called advisors told him I was power hungry and just wanted my daughter to be in control of the New Council. It was an insult. I was an Alpha, I could have tried to take over the Council, but I pledged my loyalty to him, and he failed. He failed us all.” Bryan said and turned his back on Darien.
“I understand, sir. I have no excuses, and Oliver admitted that he gave up too easily. He has had to make up a lot to his daughter. That is really not the issue. Cloe is one of the Chosen, if I could at least speak to her and explain everything.” Darien said reasonably.
He was actually proud of himself for speaking so calmly when his wolf was pushing against him. What the hell was going on?
Bryan laughed and slapped him on the back. “Son, if you wanted to talk to Cloe, you should have done it when she was in front of you. I can guarantee my daughter is currently on her motorcycle already. She is not stupid, I explained to her what happened in the past, and she drew her own conclusions. She understands what it takes to be a leader; she will not follow a weakling.”
Darien looked at the old man in surprise. “What?” He exclaimed and shook his head; the only female he remembered was the drop-dead gorgeous one with the amazing eyes, and tattoos. He had assumed she was an Enforcer, the way she guarded the Alpha, not the Alpha's only child. “Why? And for your information, Oliver is not the Alpha any longer, my brother Quin is, and he is the strongest Alpha that any Pack has ever seen.”
“We set this up years ago, if someone came to our Pack looking for her, Cloe was to take her emergency stash and leave. It was for her protection, as well as her choice.” Bryan smirked and looked at the wolves that were now very restless. Something else was going on. “What aren"t you telling me?”
“Sir, we have a situation with some of the other Chosen. We need to get Cloe into protective custody and figure out what is going on. There have been attempts on their lives. Someone wants to stop the Seer"s Prophesy once and for all.” Darien said grimacing when he heard the large man growl at him. That was not good, pissing off the only person who could tell him where the girl had gone.
“Enforcers, find your Beta, Teagan check the office!” Bryan yelled, and Darien looked over his shoulder to the man he thought was the Beta of the Pack and frowned. Cloe was the Beta of the Pack? D
amn it, he was seriously fucking things up here. The information they had was the girl had gone to school in California and returned to open her own practice. How could she be the Beta and still be a doctor, he wondered and looked around at the men who were scrambling to find their leader.
He grinned in appreciation, she commanded respect, that much was obvious, or else they would not care one-way or the other if she was gone. Maybe this would work out after all. As a Beta, she would feel the responsibility to her Pack. Cloe being one of the Chosen, her Pack would benefit from her sitting on the Council. Also, by the looks of things, this small little town would be the perfect place to have a second base of operations.
They needed a place the women could go to just to get outside. This small little town was secure and there seemed to be many strong male wolves as Enforcers. He wondered if Quin would be willing to expand his territory a few miles. He already had all the Front Range of Colorado with the Pack base in Denver. Just a few more miles and they could include this town. The Pack itself would remain intact. They would just be a small addition to the Denver Pack.
There was a burst of power released in the room, and Darien cringed. Damn, Oliver had not told him everything about this man. He had more power than he thought, no wonder he was the Alpha. When they discovered Cloe was living in Milliken, they researched what they could find about the Pack. There was not much. Seeing it now, he thought Quin would be very interested in knowing more about this Pack.
Before any of the men could reach the door, Darien heard the gunfire erupt in the street.
Fuck, someone had followed them. They led the Rogues to the small town, and now they were under attack. He had put one of the Chosen in danger, now he had to fix it.
Chapter 3
“Mom?” Cloe said into the phone she was holding. She had walked in her office and ordered the receptionist to postpone appointments for the day and to close up and go home. Something was brewing and she did not want her people in harm"s way.
