Unknown Touch

by Gina Marie Long

  Zac and Tessa mentioned a few other nonessential details about their surveillance. They didn't spend much time near Stephen's cabin as it did not have a decent road leading up to it, making it harder to sneak up on him. Luckily, he spent most of the day at Simon's place.

  Daniel had remained quiet and attentively listened to Zac and Tessa's reports. He bluntly announced, "Well, we better head out tomorrow morning before Stephen and David get a chance to sabotage anything. Right now, it sounds like we've got a little time since they haven't decided exactly what their plan is yet. We'll go to Simon's house and speak directly with him. I want to hear what he has to say about all of this. If we're lucky, Stephen will already be hanging around there and we can nab him up for our little intervention. I doubt we'll get that lucky. And if he saw all of us coming, he'd probably take off anyway. So, be prepared to hunt him down and David, too, although I imagine he'll change his mind pretty fast when he sees we mean business. Let's keep the focus on Stephen, unless, of course, David becomes violent with any of us. I seriously doubt that from him, though. We'll capture Stephen, in whatever way we deem necessary at that time, even if that means shooting him in the leg. Then Kara and Dominic can work their psychic tricks on him. Hopefully, having those two almost sitting on top of him, Kara can break through his mental block and instill positive thoughts, images, and behaviors. If he'll allow himself to feel soothed, relaxed and in control of his aggression, maybe he'll see the light and recognize how he's been on the path to destruction. He needs a different perspective on his life, to have his bad thoughts be replaced with good thoughts."

  We sat at the table, and nodded in agreement with Daniel. I barely remembered what I ate during the discussion. I understood why everyone preferred to eat first, then go elsewhere to talk. Everyone had finished their supper and there was a moment of silence.

  Suddenly, Abigail burst forth with a confession, "I can't hold this in anymore. I'm going to make myself crazy. When Stephen was still part of the main pack, before he split, we had been seeing each other secretly. We were falling in love. I suppose we had gone beyond falling; we already were in love. There was just something about his bad-boy image I found appealing. He wasn't as aggressive and uncontrolled then...as he is now. Rebecca, my mother, she knew about us. I don't think anyone else ever found out about us. There were a lot of reasons we didn't tell anyone. We craved the thrill and excitement of meeting on the sly and fooling everyone. It was our own little secret. We felt a little awkward starting a relationship after having known each other for over 300 years. We feared the other werewolves would shun us, would say it wasn't acceptable since he was so close to being like a brother to me, even though there isn't any actual genetic blood relation. Mom was concerned about Stephen's wild behavior, too. We knew that Daniel and Stephen didn't get along very well. They didn't see eye to eye on many issues, and here I was working for and living at Uncle Daniel's resort. Stephen felt like I was consorting with his enemy. But I love it here and I didn't want to leave." Abigail was about to have a nervous breakdown. Or transform into a werewolf right on the spot, I wasn't sure. I rushed over and knelt down in front her. I grabbed her hands, held them firmly, not at all afraid.

  "Abigail! Look at me. Let me into your mind. I can help you calm down," I insisted. She was sobbing uncontrollably and by that time, I had tears in my eyes, too. But she did look up into my eyes and brought my hands closer to her heart. I entered her mind and flooded her with comfort, reassurance and calm images. I let Abigail know that we were all here for her and we would not be judgmental. I encouraged her to take a few long, deep breaths, and to feel free to continue with her story.

  Abigail hugged me and whispered, "Kara, thank you. I can see why Daniel loves you so much." That statement made me feel like a million dollars. I knew Daniel was able to hear what she had said and I looked over to smile at him. It also confirmed she was completely aware of how serious our relationship had become and the deep feelings we shared. I squeezed her hand and moved back to my chair.

  Abigail's vulnerability throughout her confession was heartbreaking. She was opening herself up to possible criticism from family and friends. Feelings of guilt, shame, embarrassment kept trying to surface and I stayed partially merged in her mind to keep those negative feelings at bay. She was conscious of the fact that I continued to monitor and adjust her emotions ever so lightly, not forcing anything into her mind that she didn't want. She freely accepted my help, the waves of comfort and love I mentally sent her.

  She sighed heavily, and continued, "As I was saying, I liked being here, but it did create a conflict between Stephen and myself. We bickered over it many times. He really wished I would leave here and go to live at my parent's resort. Before long, he started a mutiny within the pack, as everyone obviously knows, and convinced several to leave with him and start a new pack. Stephen begged me to come with him. I still loved him but he had radically changed from the early days when we had started our little affair. At times, I was even terrified of him. I told him that I would not leave. I did not want to split from Daniel's pack. And I knew my parent's had absolutely no intentions of breaking away from Daniel. We were family and loved one another. I suppose when Stephen, Simon and his family moved away, that's when we officially broke up. He kept secretly pleading with me to come with him all the way up to and including the day they left. He said since others were leaving, too, no one would suspect that we had anything going on between us. I think he had fooled himself into believing that more would follow him. He wanted to outnumber Daniel's pack. But, that didn't happen. The majority of the werewolves had chosen Daniel's side. I am positive that our break-up was the icing on the cake that sent Stephen over the edge." Poor Abigail looked so exhausted, although relieved, after revealing all of this information to us. Not one person jumped down her throat about this, as she feared could happen. Stephen was the issue, not Abigail.

  Daniel cleared his throat and made another revelation of his own. "This all makes sense now. When I had confronted Stephen at his cabin the other day, he was talking in circles, but he had made a comment on how he had found happiness. A light at the end of the tunnel. But he had lost that light. The light was you – Abigail. He said he couldn't have that light and his freedom from me at the same time. He lost you."

  Eli made his own speculations. He said, "No wonder we've got such a ticked off werewolf on the loose. Let's tally this up, folks. According to Daniel's accounts over the years, Stephen's been a wild child from day one. He's just gotten much more uncontrolled and violent of late. He can't get along with Daniel. He didn't persuade as many wolves to join him in creating a new pack as he had planned. Most of that pack doesn't really approve of his actions anymore, so there's turmoil there. He briefly finds a new buddy, Cassius, that we politely kill. We're on his case almost daily trying to curb his bad behavior. And, gee, to top it off, he's lost the love of his life. Yes, we've got to find him before he loses all control and turns completely evil."

  "I'm going to call Isaac tonight and request his help tomorrow in hunting Stephen," Daniel relayed to the group.

  Abigail blurted out, "Please, don't kill him. Try to help him if you can. Kara, you're a miracle worker with your psychic gifts. What you did for me tonight, when you reached deep into my mind and soothed me, please, try to do that for Stephen. I know this might sound stupid, but I do still love him."

  "I promise Abigail, I will try my best to break through his mind and implant calm, positive thoughts. Does he know how you feel? Have you talked to him at all?" I asked.

  She said, "No. I stopped all communication with him after he left."

  "Hmm...," I was thinking, "Did you have any psychic connection to Stephen when you were seeing each other?"

  Abigail explained, "Most of the werewolves have tiny amounts of telepathic links to each other if we focus really hard. But, just to remind you, it's nothing even close to what you are capable of doing. You're able to have complete conversations in someone's head, full se
ntences, as if you were speaking out loud. You're able to read their minds, to capture their thoughts, as they are mentally speaking to you. Amazing. Werewolves can't do that. The extent to our telepathy is like a presence tapping at the other wolf's mind. It is so elementary, so basic. It can let another be aware who is near. It's like saying, "hi", "come", "stay" or "danger". I would compare it to teaching a dog simple commands. I know, I know. I shouldn't be comparing us to dogs. But, think about it. If we are werewolves, that is part animal, and a wolf is related to a dog. When using human language or signals with teaching dogs tricks, it's usually one or two words. So, in answer to your question, I'm not able to mentally speak with Stephen in the way you're thinking."

  "Kara, what are you getting at?" Dominic wondered.

  I wasn't really sure myself what I was getting at, but I felt an idea, a plan emerging. I said, "I thought Abigail could touch Stephen's mind. Let him know she still loves him. Maybe if he thinks there is still some chance to reconcile with her, it might chill him out enough for us to work with him better."

  Abigail commented, "I see what you're getting at. But he'd probably think, what is the point? If I still refuse to leave Daniel's pack to move in with his dysfunctional pack, then we are back to square one. Nothing would have been resolved. He might even suspect a trap, knowing full well I'm right in the mix with The Liaison and Daniel. I don't think he even has a phone at that crummy cabin, so I can't call him, either. Not that he would even answer a phone if it did ring. He's really been rejecting technology. Trying to live without all the modern conveniences. It fits his natural, animal side better; at least, I think that's what he told me once."

  It was getting late in the evening once again. We had been sitting so long our rear-ends ached. And the dishes were still scattered all over the table. We needed to sleep. But, I wanted to be polite and asked Abigail if I could possibly help her with the dishes, even though I knew her speed was incredible. She laughed and said I'd probably slow her down. It was good to see her smile again after the stress of the evening. Daniel still had to call Isaac yet to ask for his assistance. We knew to set our alarm clocks for an early time. Everyone stood up from the table, stretched and scattered for the night.

  I gave Daniel a hug and kiss before retreating to my cabin. Abigail was still in the room. I told them, "I have an idea that might work to catch Stephen off his guard. As all you guys call it – the element of surprise and the art of distraction. I'm getting so devious in my old age."

  Chapter 21

  New Plan

  Another morning. Another gathering of the great minds in the infamous conference room. This meeting was meant to be short and to the point. Daniel had mentioned we would go to Simon's place in hopes of locating Stephen. If he was not on site, Daniel wanted to question that pack about Stephen and David's whereabouts and actions. He planned on divulging our intentions of capturing Stephen and what I would attempt to do in order to calm his mind.

  Zac and Tessa were prepared to engage in tracking the enemy. They would provide a variety of weapons for our protection and defense. Daniel and Isaac would be capable of following Stephen's scent. Needless to say, besides Zac, they were the muscle, the strength, of the group. If needed, Eli would act as a mediator, since he had great psychological understanding and speaking skills. Dom and I were, of course, the psychics and would use our abilities when the time arose.

  I brought up my idea of using a distraction once we had Stephen in our grips. If we could get his mental block to break down long enough for me to slip into his mind, I felt I had a much greater chance of succeeding. But, I didn't want to blow the element of surprise by having Stephen figure out ahead of time what we might use against him. We would have to be cautious and use methods of concealment until the time was right to throw the distraction at him in full force. To literally take his breath away. Daniel was not too sure about my idea, for fear of it backfiring, and Stephen's rage becoming uncontrollable and then hurting someone.

  I said to Daniel, "Oh, come on. Between you and Isaac – two powerful werewolves holding Stephen down on the ground and Zac and Tessa pointing guns at him, I can't imagine him breaking free and being allowed to hurt anyone."

  I'll admit, I was throwing them a challenge. Getting them psyched up for the hunt and take down. And I truly believed all of them could contain Stephen. I had complete faith in their abilities. Everyone, including Daniel, finally agreed to use the form of distraction I had in mind. We just had to keep it under cover.

  We took two vehicles to accommodate everyone and drove to Simon's place. We tended to call it Simon's place because it consisted of his house and the woodworking business. Both structures were located on the same property, side by side. Since it was the other pack's home and business, it made more sense to refer to it as Simon's place.

  We arrived at 8:30 in the morning. Simon sauntered out of his workshop to meet us. He appeared to be on high alert, concerned, alarmed with the number of individuals stepping out of the vehicles on to his property. Anyone would be nervous seeing our unified group walking towards them. Heck, I'd take off running for the hills. He contained his aggressive side quite well, though, since he had a pretty good clue why we were there. It wasn't for him. Still, being outnumbered, he was careful not to be backed into a corner or stuck in a building. Simon made sure he was out in the open. His wife, Lydia, and daughter, Rachel, boldly came outside and stood next to Simon.

  Simon spoke first and politely asked, "Daniel, how can I help you?"

  "Simon, it is good to see you. I'm sure you have figured out why we're here. It's for Stephen. Is he here now?" Daniel asked.

  "No, he and David are out running and I assume hunting wildlife, again," Simon shook his head and glanced at Lydia and Rachel.

  Daniel prompted, "Are you aware they are planning to sabotage my property?"

  Simon looked stunned and stuttered, "I, I, heard them toying around with possibilities...I don't think they had definite plans yet. How did you know?"

  "We have done our own surveillance. So, did you think to call me and warn me about this?" Daniel was really attempting to stay calm, but it was difficult.

  "I guess I was trying to stay out of it. I don't know. I should have called. If they had said they were heading out to destroy something of yours, I would have called then." Simon clearly gave off feelings of guilt. As it was, he was looking in the eyes of the one person he had defected from. Left. Deserted.

  Daniel explained to Simon, "We believe that you and the women are not the problem. We don't have any concerns or issues with the three of you. We're definitely going after Stephen and are suspicious about David's behavior. It should come as no surprise to anyone standing here, that Stephen's rage and actions have gone well beyond any acceptable behavior and can no longer be tolerated. We have to protect humans from any werewolves that have gone rogue and turned evil. And we have to keep our existence hidden. Stephen is drawing too much attention to this area, risking our exposure. We will capture Stephen, and David, if necessary, and use the psychics' skills to attempt manipulating their destructive emotions, thoughts and excessive aggression."

  At that moment, Daniel gestured with his hand for me to come forward. "Simon, meet Kara. She has incredible telepathic power to soothe and calm the beast that resides in all of us. I can vouch from personal experience, as can most of the others with me, for her extreme capabilities. And, she is my girlfriend."

  With that statement, no one moved a finger, no one breathed. It was rather shocking hearing those words. Girlfriend. Yet, I obviously knew it to be true. My entire team had witnessed the relationship progressing between Daniel and me. Recently, we had started to show our affection for each other in public. We no longer hid our feelings or pretended like nothing was going on behind closed doors. The shock of Daniel's statement was probably felt much more by Simon's pack. They knew, they could sense, I was not a werewolf, but a human being. It had been almost fifty years earlier that the latest werewolf had entered the
pack. That was David. Rachel had changed him to have a lifelong companion. And now, here I stood, next to Daniel, with his arm possessively around my shoulders. I'm sure they were wondering what our future plans were. Was he going to turn me?

  Simon broke the ice, stating, "Nice to meet you, Kara." Total awkwardness in his voice, but he went on, "Daniel, I want you to understand that Lydia, Rachel and I had no intentions of ever attacking you, any of your pack or your property. We don't believe in such things. We have no feelings of revenge like Stephen seems to carry within him. We thought splitting away from the main pack with Stephen would give him the opportunity to be an Alpha male. To feel he wasn't under anyone's control or influence. We didn't mean to reject you, Daniel. I was actually trying to avoid conflicts between all the werewolves so everyone could live in peace. And since I had my own little family circle, we had each other to rely upon. I figured we could handle moving fifteen minutes away from your area, in order to prevent an upcoming death match with you and Stephen fighting it out. That's why we agreed to go with Stephen. And I didn't want to tell you, since we all have that little mental link, I didn't want Stephen to pick up on my real reason for leaving you. I don't believe in his ways, his lifestyle. He has influenced David, too. But, David thinks this is just a game, and will back off when he recognizes this isn't all for fun. So, please, try not to attack David. We don't think he's dangerous."

  Rachel stood next to her father, tears in her eyes. She said, "I'm coming with you on the hunt. I want to be there to help pull David back to me. He isn't lost to us, just confused because of Stephen's insane peer pressure and ridicule. If he is in wolf form, he will be very aggressive, and maybe if he sees my dedication to him, he'll chill out."