“She is my friend, and I will spend time with her as I choose.”
“I forbid it!”
“You will forbid me nothing.” Kathryn eyed him stonily. “Do not begin to command me like a child.”
The couple’s exchange gave Billie the moment she needed to calm her rage. She'd come perilously close to attacking Richard. Kato watched with typical curiosity and uncharacteristic unease. He shifted into human form and addressed the Wolves.
“Jason is nearly arrived, and we have much to discuss. Richard, would you do the honors of retrieving our meal?” Unable to deny Kato's request, Richard plodded to the kitchen.
The women didn't speak, knowing Richard would hear every word. Billie raised a hand to her forehead in consternation, her body shaking with unspent anger. Kathryn took her friend by the shoulders, leaning her forehead comfortably against Billie's cheek. Jason found them that way when he arrived, a single eyebrow raising at the sight.
“What did I miss?” he questioned.
Kato responded gravely. “Old fears have surfaced with the presence of our newest packmate.”
“Yeah, she's raised quite the fuss around here,” Jason agreed.
Kato blinked twice. “That is not what I said.”
Jason didn't get the distinction but didn't want to admit it. Instead he replied, “Let's get down to business.”
Richard entered with an armful of food containers, and they made themselves as comfortable as possible considering the amount of tension between them. Billie’s grey cat appeared as she often did when Kato arrived, curling in his lap and purring loudly. Jason began the meeting. “How’s it going with the Pup?” he asked Billie.
“His training is progressing well. He's learning control over his strength and speed, growing comfortable with it. Emotionally he still has a long ways to go. He's jumpy and erratic, but no more than is normal.”
“Can you tell if he's collared?” Richard asked.
Billie hesitated. “I'm not sure. Something doesn't feel right, but I can't nail it down. He hasn't said or done anything definitive. I’m still evaluating him. There's something else, and it may be related. Yesterday when we were training, I felt someone watching me.”
Jason's eyes narrowed. “Any idea who?”
“None. That's what has me worried. I’m not even sure how I knew he or she was watching. I didn’t see, hear, or smell anything, and it felt like he was deliberately hiding. With all that's going on, I think a regular stalker is too much to hope for.”
“I agree.” Richard piped in. “If he could successfully hide from you ... that doesn't bode well.”
Kathryn questioned, “Do you know what watched you? Human, Wolf, or Mage?”
Billie shook her head. “There was no wildness in what I felt, so it wasn't a Wolf. It had to have been a Mage. I’ve never felt anything like that from a Human. I don’t even know if the person was male or female.”
Jason thought deeply. “I'd like to think you'd recognize a Mage in your surroundings. Sadie has proved that isn't always the case.” Billie bristled, but he had a point.
Billie continued neutrally. “Sadie’s the only Mage I’ve ever met, and she’s my mate. Our bond is unique. Even to the rest of you, she feels like a Sensitive most of the time. I’d like to think I’d recognize a Mage too, but it hasn’t been put to a proper test.” She continued. “I've been thinking about why she feels like a Sensitive, not a Mage and I have a theory. She doesn't willingly use coercive Mage power. When she used the power to kill those boys, she felt different, Mage not Sensitive. And when she returned from the crime scene, it was the same, but it faded over time. Those are the only two times I've ever sensed anything other than Sensitive in her. I believe what we sense in Mages is the coercive power they use rather than the race.”
Kathryn nodded, following her line of thought. “Do other Mages feel like Sensitives except when they're using that power? If so, they could slip right past us.”
“Do some Mages use it frequently enough that they always feel like Mages?” Billie finished. “Kato, do you know the answer?”
Kato looked at her in pride, and Billie knew she'd raised an important point. “Compulsion smells rotten to the Wolf, who breathes freedom like air. Those who know the emotion and thought of others are of Mage lineage but have less than full ancestral blood. We cannot claim the full extent of their powers.”
Silence filled the room. Billie's mind raced with the new information, and a dozen questions surfaced. Jason spoke before she had the chance. “Sensitives are Human-Mage crossbreeds?” Kato nodded.
“You said 'we.'“ Billie spoke. “You are part Mage?”
Kato nodded, eyes shining brightly at his Beta. “My father was Mage. From him I received great gifts but was spared the ability to harm.” Richard's jaw dropped and Kathryn covered her mouth with her hand.
“How did we not know this?” Richard demanded.
Kato replied as if obvious. “You did not ask.”
Billie ignored Richard's rudeness, resuming her own questions. “Were you raised as a Human or a Mage?”
“I was raised as a Sage.”
“What does that mean?” This revelation meant more to Billie than to the others. Here before her sat a man who could help Sadie come to terms with her Mage heritage.
“I can only be who I am.”
“I don't understand.” She leaned forward, desperately wanting to.
“Time will bring the understanding you seek,” he advised paternally.
Kathryn, silent and pondering, voiced a disturbing thought. “Kato, we have always believed that a Mage could not be turned. The bite would kill rather than transform. Yet you are Wolf as was your brother. Is this because you are half Human?”
Kato's tone grew grave. “A Mage bitten does not live to transform.”
Billie had not heard this before and realized she had much to learn about Mages. She sensed the Sage omitted a crucial piece of information. Instinctively, she chose not to ask. The conversation had reached a dangerous level, though she could not explain why she felt that way.
“Eldest, may I ask a favor?” He nodded. “Will you speak to Sadie? It would comfort her to know she's not alone, and you could answer some of her questions.”
Kato smiled warmly at his beloved Beta. “If the future unfolds as I believe it will, I will speak to our newest packmate of her people before the winter turns.”
Jason spoke at long last. “Old friend, I have known you most of my life. We've been friends for nearly a century. In all that time you've never mentioned you're half Mage. Why?”
“I hid nothing.”
“I'm with Jason on this one.” Richard sided with the Alpha.
Kato looked deep into Richard's eyes and spoke with severity. “I am who I have always been, and you have known me longest of anyone here. Would you judge my heart by my parentage?”
Billie and Kathryn listened to his accusation, wondering how Richard would respond.
Richard bristled. “I don't like being lied to, old friend.”
“I hid nothing. I did not deceive. This wound of betrayal is misguided, yet I understand and forgive your anger. Please explain how our newest packmate lied when she did not know the truth.”
Richard looked at Kato and Kathryn icily, rose from his seat, and stormed out of the Elder Meeting without another word. Kathryn followed him with her eyes and remained behind. Jason looked at Kato through hooded eyes. “You should have told me.”
Kato cocked his head at his Alpha. “You are not like your father even though he raised you. My father disappeared the day my brother and I drew breath. I was raised as a Sage. How was this information important before today?”
Jason didn’t answer right away. “This changes everything,” he said at last. Without explanation, he stood and walked out.
Kathryn and Billie watched in astonishment as they left. “I’m taking the day off,” Billie announced.
Kathryn nodded, still watching the closed door.
“Wise decision, my dear.”
Kato spoke kindly to her, drawing her attention away from her retreating mate. “He is stubborn in his anger. I have foreseen his path. He may not turn from his current stance. It is more likely that he will.”
Billie rubbed her jaw, sore from clenching it all morning. “Kato, I don't know what to do. My Pack is terrified of Sadie. Most of them want her dead. I'm afraid I will be forced to choose between my mate and my Pack.” For the first time she voiced what she'd known all along. “If forced to choose, I choose Sadie. If one of my packmates tries to kill her, I will defend her no matter what.” She looked apologetically at Kathryn, desperation thick in voice and stance. “He's my best friend and your mate. I love him, and I don't want to hurt him. Kathryn, I'm sorry, but I will kill him before I let him kill Sadie. Jesus, I can't believe I'm saying this. It's fucked up. How do I fix this?”
Kathryn moved to sit beside her friend and Beta, embracing her warmly. “I know, my dear. I know.” She met Billie's eyes without wavering. “He's wrong. I will do everything in my power to prevent it from coming to that. I have no desire to watch you kill my mate in order to protect your own. Neither will I stand in his hypocrisy. Dearling, if the worst must happen, I will stand with you.”
“I don't understand.” She’d been saying those words a lot and didn’t like it. Confusion showed on every line of her face. “My first instinct is to protect my mate. Isn't it the same for you?”
Kathryn smiled sadly and took a deep breath. Kato’s eyes shone bright with anticipation. “I've told you of meeting Richard during the Civil Rights Movement. For nearly a century he'd fought tirelessly for equal rights, and I loved him for it. Before long we discovered our matebond and eventually married. I have never explained why his work is so dear to my heart.”
She paused in painful memory. As she told her story, Billie finally understood why her friend didn't speak about her life before Richard. “My father was a very wealthy and influential man, and I his youngest daughter. He owned the largest tract of land in our region, worked by many slaves. By their labor, he grew rich, and by their suffering, I lived a privileged life with fancy toys and pretty dresses. My father, a cruel and selfish man, did not tolerate my kind words towards them. He discovered me one day, laughing with my maid and brushing her hair. To punish me, he had my maid whipped and sold before the day's end. He forced me to watch her tortured and led away by her new owner like cattle. My mother chided my foolishness, and my sisters laughed at me. As a child I watched the people my father owned and learned to hide the disgust I felt.
“The Civil War began, and my father gave aid to the South. He worked long hours, as did my mother and sisters. In their distraction, I found some freedom. One day, as I dallied by the river, I spied a teenage boy not much older than I at the time. He looked at me through the trees, frozen in dread. He held a small sack containing all his belongings, and his bare feet were raw with sores.
“I asked him: 'Where are you going?'
“'North,' he said, and his voice trembled. I couldn't turn him over to his owner to be tortured or killed. I'd witnessed the example made of runaway slaves to warn others from the attempt. Instead I showed him to a forgotten shack and gave him the food in my pocket. On my way home, I encountered slave catchers searching for the young man. When they asked about the boy, I lied. I feared my father's temper if caught, and I knew he would not beat me. He would whip my maid instead, knowing my affection for her. My maid was a kind girl who would have approved of my actions, and so I risked her safety. I hoped if caught my father would not kill her. That night I could not meet her eyes for the guilt I felt, and I could not explain my actions to her without risking her more.
“I assume the boy told a trustworthy individual about me, for the reverend of a nearby church approached me within days. He asked if he could send others to me for shelter and food. I became a station for freedom under the nose of my father and his Confederate friends. By good fortune none were caught on my watch. A few months before the war's end, just past my fourteenth birthday, I hid a woman and her husband. Emma and Tomas were kind and newly married. The woman possessed a spirit that captivated me. We enjoyed the evening meal together, dreaming of their new life in the North. As the sun set, I prepared to leave them for the night.
“Unexpectedly my father's brother came upon us. He flew into a rage and beat me mercilessly. With a pistol pointed at Tomas, the poor man couldn't help me. I believed he would kill me and then kill the young couple. Out of nowhere a wolf leapt on my uncle and killed him in front of me. Once dead, she sat and looked at me calmly with blood on her chin. Despite my fear, I stretched a hand out to her. In the blink of an eye, the wolf transformed into Emma, naked as a new baby. She rushed to my side and cried over my bruised face.
“I ran away with Emma and Tomas and never saw my home or family again. I loved them like a sister and brother and we were family. Emma taught me about Wolves and told me stories she'd heard of a pack that would adopt runaway slaves. Tomas wanted to remain Human, but I admired her strength and asked her to bite me. She agreed to prepare me for the transformation. In time we found the rumored pack, and they accepted all three of us with open arms. This pack lived isolated and as one people without regard to one's race.
“The Alpha was old and wise, a Wolf who led our Pack with strength and spirit. Isingoma spoke often of his twin brother and a white attorney, Wolves who worked to bring people together as equals in each other's eyes. I listened to his stories and loved them long before I met them. Kato visited his brother frequently over the years, and his tales of Richard's contributions to civil rights enthralled me.
“For 150 years Richard and I have devoted our lives to equality. For over sixty years we have stood together in it. We've watched the world change, and we've contributed to its progress. His behavior towards Sadie is pure bigotry fueled by blind rage. I love my mate too much to watch him become what he hates. My first instinct is to protect my mate, just as yours is. To protect him I must challenge his hypocrisy. If he kills Sadie, I will have lost him. If he tries I will fight by your side and hope our matebond is stronger than his anger.”
Billie sat speechless when Kathryn came to the end of her story. Kato spoke with deep affection. “My brother's Kirabo is a Wolf of great courage and wisdom.”
“I have not heard your brother's name for me in many decades.” Kathryn's eyes glistened with nearly shed tears. “You are much like him and bring back memories of my beloved.”
Abruptly, Billie's tied tongue loosened. “You and Kato's brother were lovers?”
Kathryn nodded. “We were together for many years, and would still be today if he lived. He was the most beautiful man I've ever known. When he died a piece of my soul went with him.”
“He was your mate.” Billie spoke reverently of the man who she knew little about except in legends.
“He was my first mate, though secretly. Interracial marriage was not legalized until long after his death. Only our packmates and Kato knew of our relationship.”
“Does Richard know?” Billie thought back to the earlier argument.
“Yes. I did not keep that from him. I refused to marry him until interracial marriage was legalized. I would not disrespect Sanyu nor others in the same predicament by marrying because the man I loved had the acceptable skin color.”
“Sanyu?” Billie questioned.
“Sanyu means joyful in Isingoma's native language. When we found each other, he called himself Sanyu and named me his gift, Kirabo.”
“How beautiful.” Billie smiled. The light mood didn't last as she directed the next question to both Wolves. “Richard believed that Kato betrayed him by not telling him he's half Mage. I was surprised how angry he was. Do you believe his anger is more about Kato or Isingoma?”
Kathryn darkened. “I believe much of his anger is directed towards my first mate.” Something unspoken passed between Kathryn and Kato.
The Eldest nodded. “In his mind your relat
ionship is now tarnished. He trusts me no more, and memories of respect for my brother are withering. There is no benefit to adding more at this time.” His next words brought some encouragement. “The power of your matebond is greater than his distrust. He may yet turn from this hypocrisy. Your courage makes it possible.”
“I'll do everything I can,” she promised her friends. “Richard is one problem. Adversarial Mages are another. We were too busy arguing earlier to address this.”
Billie spoke thoughtfully. “I wish I could ask Sadie for help. I can't help feeling that they're here even if I haven't smelled them.”
“If I thought we could bring Sadie into this without risking her life, I'd say do so,” Kathryn responded. “I trust your instincts, dear. If you believe they're here, they certainly are. Kato, what do you sense?”
“I smell Mages on the wind. They are here. Our newest packmate brings strength to the Pack, even though the Pack does not embrace her.”
“What do you advise about the Mages?”
“You are prepared for the coming battle. You are bound in spirit and joined in friendship. You have welcomed our newest packmate as one of us, offered her friendship, and given her the trust she deserves. This is the path to victory.” Kato stretched both hands towards the women in front of him, and each grasped one in turn.
“We will protect our Pack,” Billie vowed.
Chapter 9
Hello lovely, Billie called to her mate sweetly.
Well, hello.
Billie chuckled. Longest Elder Meeting ever, I think.
You're in a better mood than last time, so I'm not going to complain. Sadie's relief was palpable. Between her girlfriend's reaction after the last Elder Meeting and the conflict with Richard before this one, she'd expected a very different state of mind. Did everyone make it through the meeting intact?
I did not kill Richard for threatening you, but it was a close call, Billie told her soberly. Gods, I wanted to tear into him after what he said to you. I would have if I thought it wouldn't make it worse.
Psyche Honor (Psyche Moon) Page 7
