Dreams of the Forgotten (14 page)

"Ira, tell him what D said," Marek pleaded. "Why? He should be thanking us. Justus brings nothing but shame," Ira snapped at his friend. His words were bold but his hands anxiously twisted the hem of his shirt.
I turned my gaze to Marek until he too began to fidget. "What man?"
"Don't you tell, Marek!" Ira snapped. "You know what he said!"
"We're going to be punished, Ira. Do you think if Alpha Janick was okay with what we were told to do, we'd be sitting here?" Ira opened his mouth to retort but then closed it as he darted a quick glance at me.
Marek turned to me. He was a brave boy for his age. "A few weeks ago, we were walking home after one of Mentor Uttu's history lessons. There was a Lycan who'd sat in our class. He walked with us, asked us how we liked the lessons and stuff. He seemed pretty cool. We saw him a couple of days later and had a burger with him. He talked about Twin Flames and sacred bonds. He said your Twin Flame cheated on you and you almost died. He told us the kids born to Alpha Sullivan were abominations and a burden to you." For the first time, Marek lowered his gaze, whether in embarrassment or shame, I didn't know which. "He said we'd be doing the tribe a great service if we taught them a lesson."
I breathed through my nose and tried to stay calm. It pissed me off that pups in my tribe had been preyed upon by a bigoted adult. Now I had to gauge how much the children believed and decide how to rectify the problem.
I regarded Ira, who for the first time seemed worried. "What do you think now?"
Ira shrugged a shoulder. "Don't know."
Kent Weatherby reached across his wife and smacked Ira in the face. "Stupid boy," the man hissed with venom. "Make me look bad because of some stranger."
Kent reached out to hit the child again only to have Gregori jerk him away. I was seething, growling under my breath as Ushna ran as soothing hand on my back.
"Mr Weatherby!" I barked. "You will restrain yourself!"
Ira leaned as far away from his parents as the chair allowed. He stared at me through shaggy bangs with wide, scared eyes. Joyce Weatherby was pale, lips pinched together as she glared at Ira. My conference table sat thirty people. I wouldn't excuse the Weatherbys yet but I needed them separated from the boy before I gave into the compulsion to bite one of them.
"Gregori, please escort Mr and Mrs. Weatherby farther down the table. Ira, you move and sit there." I indicated a seat next to Gregori and gritted my teeth as Ira flinched away from his father.
Once the boy moved, I asked again, "After what you've heard here today, do you think your action is justified?"
"It's not right that your Flame cheated on you. Justus and his sisters shouldn't be here," he replied.
"Why is that?" I prodded.
"Their existence is wrong." This was said with less confidence. His hands went back to twirling the hem of his shirt, his brow wrinkled in thought.
"Did you think that way before the stranger spoke to you?" Ushna asked. He slipped an arm around me to rest on the back of the chair.
Ira shot a quick look down the table to his father before answering, "I've heard it before."
Ushna addressed Marek. "And you?"
"Yes, from some of the adults," he answered.
Stephen Gillander appeared surprised.
"What's the name of the man who approached you?" Ushna asked.
A noise came from Kent. Ira crossed his arms over his chest as he slid into a slouch, his neck sinking into his shoulders. Next to me, Gregori growled under his breath as we regarded Mr Weatherby, who hadn't noticed he had our undivided attention. He was focused solely on his son, giving him a hard stare.
"Mr Weatherby, is there something you wish to add? You appear to know the man who's been manipulating these pups."
Kent's gaze snapped up to mine before they dropped to the table. "I don't know what you mean." That was when I noticed it. The ring. It was very similar to the one Daniel wore the first day on the ranch. Like the box of rings we'd found in the apartment, a ring of power that pulsed softly.
I cocked my head as I regarded Kent. In my experience, people who were guilty of something couldn't stand silence. So I sat there, unmoving, and stared at the man waiting to see what he'd do. Kent moved and squirmed in his seat, clenching and unclenching his hands. He sent stabbing glares to his son as he pressed his lips together.
Ira chewed his thumb nail as he watched the silent battle between his father and me. "I request…" The scent of fear poured off the boy as he struggled to speak.
"What do you request, pup?" I tapped my security button under the lip of the table, signaling to the guards I'd need their assistance.
Ira sat up straight. "I request sanctuary," he declared in a firm voice.
Marek nodded his head at Ira in encouragement. Ira pulled up the long sleeve of his shirt, revealing bruises from wrist to elbow.
A snarl tore from my lips. Ushna clutched at me to keep me from launching myself at Kent Weatherby. Gregori on the other hand wasn't restrained and in a flurry of shredding clothes, his red-gold wolf leaped across the table, pouncing on Kent.
Weatherby, sensing an attack, finished his transformation right before Gregori landed on him. The two wolves rolled around on the floor, snarling and snapping. Gregori was smaller than Kent's black wolf but it didn't seem to matter because within no time Kent was beaten, bleeding, and lying in submission under Gregori's clamped jaws, whining.
In an unexpected move, Joyce kicked Gregori in the ribs twice before Stephen Gillander grabbed her from behind. He pulled her away from the two wolves. Gregori hadn't release his hold on Kent.
"You selfish little shit," Joyce screamed at Ira as she struggled against Stephen's hold. "You little bastard, after all we've done for you! If you say anything… that's it!"
Snarling, I pulled Ira out of the chair, away from the table, and under the shelter of my arm as the guards came in. A wall of warriors pushed the two of us into the far corner, separating us from the rest of the room. Not realizing what I did, or how close I held Ira, the illusion broke. The warriors shielded me for the moment from the rest of the room as Ira stiffened in my arms.
He stared down at my very pregnant stomach with saucer eyes and whispered, "Are you okay?"
I gently released Ira, forming a response when I noticed we weren't alone in our sequestered corner. Marek, shielded by his mother's protective arms, stared at me as well.
"Alpha," Denise whispered, "do we need to get you a doctor?"
I smiled at them, strained though it was, and shook my head no. The mention of a doctor made me grimace. Nathan would kill me.
I moved Ira far enough away for the illusion could wrap around me again but continued to hold Ira's hand. "I'll explain in a minute."
We listened as the commotion on the other side of the living wall died down. Only then did the men finally move. Both of the Weatherbys were restrained. Kent had changed back into his human form and one of the guards was slipping a pair of pants onto him. Gregori was dressed in a pair of sweats. Ushna and Corey were talking in the corner but I couldn't catch their words.
Gently I put Ira's hand in Denise's. She looked at me with understanding, drawing the boy to her side, and stepped farther away from everyone else, guiding both boys to stand behind her.

I turned my full attention to Kent Weatherby. His former polished veneer had disappeared. He was pissed and had a feral quality that pushed at the meager control of his wolf. I noticed the ring was still on his finger. He'd shredded and lost all of his clothing and yet the ring remained, its ruby glinting red in the light, pulsing with an unknown magic. It should've fallen off his hand when he changed but there it was.

Weatherby surveyed the people around him, his gaze calculating. He continuously gripped the hand with the ring into a fist as he weighed his options. Gregori started to walk by him to get to Ushna and Corey, and didn't see Kent adjust his stance. But I did. I snagged Gregori's arm, pulling him back toward me as Kent lunged, reaching out with his ringed hand to touch Gregori but missing. I released the
Alpha Bond
and… nothing happened. The magic slid off of Kent.

"The Ring!" I pointed. "He has a ring. Don't let it touch you!"
Kent and Joyce renewed their fight with the guards. A swift right cross and Ushna downed Kent as the guards pulled his wife kicking and screaming out of the room.
"Someone get a pair of pliers or a heavy glove. I don't want anyone to touch that thing."
A soft, high whine came from behind me. Ira had his head buried in Denise's neck, his shoulders shaking as he mewled softly in distress. Marek stroked the boy's back, giving some comfort. As much as I wanted to soothe the child, there was still a threat in the room. A pair of pliers was brought into the room and while Kent was held still, Corey grabbed the ring and pulled it off of Kent's finger. Carefully it was placed on the table.
Gasps of shock filled the room as Kent change before our eyes. The man revealed was drastically different from the man who'd originally walked through the door not a half an hour ago. Short fawn-colored hair covered his body. The knee joints and calves were backward and the hands were shorter with blunt, square fingertips. His body was sleek, graceful looking as if he could run for hours and not tire. Kent's face was flat, the nose short, triangular, lips thin and dark brown. The eyes were larger than a human's with no white surrounding their golden brown depths. He smelled… like prey.
Unconsciously, I took a step toward Kent but was politely restrained by Juan. All of the Lycans scented the air. A fine tremble worked through Kent, his overly large eyes pleading.
"Who are you? What are you?"
"We are the descendants of the Glorious Firsts. We are who you should've been." Kent glanced around the room. "You Lycans, so secure in your dominance, how easily you forget. Your day is as good as past. Soon we'll choose a true king and you'll see what your arrogance has wrought."
Kent stared past me to his son. "What do you say, boy, now that you know who—what—spawned your ungrateful hide? Who do you think you'll look like on your first shift? Do you think it will be this form you take or that of these Lycans with whom we are surrounded? Or will you be a grotesque combination of both and be shunned as a freak? Do you think you'll smell like prey and be hunted by your friend Marek?
"What would you say to your dear father if he told you that you were only an experiment to see if the Lycan would still breed true when set against a True Blood like me? Do you care that you've disappointed me?"
Corey and pair of guards took Kent away and I turned to the sobbing boy. How would I mend the damage those hateful words caused? Ira openly cried, staring at the door his father had gone through. I could see his eyes clearly now, a deep golden brown framed by long thick black lashes. He was distraught and lost. My heart ached for the little man.
I cupped his face gently, drawing his gaze up to me. He struggled to put on a brave face but his lips trembled as his tears fell.
He swallowed a couple of times as he regarded me. "Am I… am I going to look like him?"
I leaned in and sniffed softly at him. "You don't smell like prey."
Ira's eyes had become impossibly wider. "He smells like prey?" His voice broke, "Does that mean you're going to hurt him? Eat him?"
"No, pup, it means I should protect him and others like him."
"Why?" He asked in confusion. "He knows the man who told us to beat up Justus. He wanted me to hurt those girls too but I wouldn't. I don't know why my dad's not nice. I don't know why he hates me so much."
"Stop. You did nothing wrong. You aren't responsible for anybody's actions but your own." I said that a lot here lately.
Renewed tears slipped down his pale angular face. "Then that means I'm not nice either." Ira started crying harder. "I'm like him and I don't want to be like him."
I pulled Ira into my arms, breaking the illusion again, but for the moment I didn't care. Juan and Corey were the only remaining warriors. Denise and Marek had both seen the illusion disrupted earlier. Ira needed comfort and I couldn't keep myself from giving it to him.
The boy sobbed into my shoulder. He might have been exceptionally tall for an eleven year old, giving the impression he was older, but he was still only a pup with an easily crushed heart. His father had made sure of that before he was taken away. Why a parent would treat an offspring so was beyond me.
I sheltered the boy in my arms and let him cry his heart out as I whispered nonsensical words in his ear. Denise and Marek joined me in consoling and soothing the pup. Eventually everyone gathered around the two of us, giving strength and encouragement.
Ira's sobs were winding down when my unborn children decided to participate and made themselves known as they moved and kicked. Ira sucked in a breath and leaned away to look at me with wonder. The boys placed their hands on my stomach to follow the movement.
"Mom," Marek exclaimed, "he's pregnant!"
We waited to see how Denise and Stephen would receive this bit of news. For long moments, neither said a word as they stared in shock. Stephen pulled out of his stupor when his wife went weak in the knees. He guided her over to a chair where she sat heavily. I motioned for the boys to take a seat.
Ira asked the question on everyone's mind. "Who
are
you?"
How to answer? Corey Bahar, my Arms Master, held out his hand revealing the black brand of the Caduceus on his palm.
"He is our Xenres, our last and only living royal and Prince. There are those of us who bear his mark, who know his identity, and we are sworn to him. We would give our lives to keep him safe."
Stephen ran a shaky hand through his blond hair as he glanced between Corey and me before regarding Ushna, Gregori, and Hakim. "Why doesn't he reveal himself?"
"I will at a time I choose. For now, I ask that you'll keep my secret until I do."
Denise reached over and slipped her hand into Stephen's. He stared into her eyes, a silent conversation passing between them. Marek fingered the small
ouroboros
on the side of his neck, his brow wrinkled in thought. Standing, he grabbed Ira's hand and pulled him to his knees before me. Ushna and Corey moved protectively in reaction when together, Stephen and Denise rose from their chairs to drop to their knees next to Ira and Marek.
"We would pledge ourselves to you," Stephen said.
Marek pointed at Corey's hand, "I want to be like him."
I fought the urge to scrub a hand over my face. What was supposed to be an inquiry into the actions of a couple of pre-teens had turned into much more. I was still absorbing Kent's transformation. What was the significance of his ring? I know I'd seen more like it around but where? I'd revealed my secret to two people whose child had been coerced into terrorizing Theo's children.
I should've been more concerned than I was. Maybe I was tired of keeping secrets, of hiding. In that moment of weakness, my predator easily pushed to the surface and we regarded those who knelt before us. Absently we stroked our stomach, our pups kicked and rolled under our palm. Ushna took our hand and we gazed up at our beloved, licked the back of his hand before turning to those who waited for our response.
"Our pups come first. Danger to them won't be tolerated." We bared our teeth at the man and woman in front of us. "We have no mercy for betrayers. Make your pledges. Loyalties are proven through actions, not words."
We sat back and licked Ushna's hand again before the predator withdrew, settling back, leaving me alone, considering Lycans who were lying prostrate while Corey led them through their pledge.
Ushna gently ran his palm down my cheek. "That's happening more often," he murmured. He was right. My predator came forward when I felt threatened or overwhelmed, sometimes when I was tired. I was acutely aware of him. He was another part of me, not separate, but definitely with his own wants and desires. Luckily they weren't different from my own, only more fierce and passionate than mine. Sometimes it gave new meaning to being of two minds. But no matter how strong my predator was, he always bowed to my will, and I never lost myself to his desires.
"We'll talk about it later," I whispered back as the Gillanders took their seats.
I turned my attention to Ira and Marek. The two were overwhelmed. We asked questions about the man who wanted the children hurt. They didn't know his name and referred to him as "D". Corey took a description of the stranger. He could be any blond haired adult male in my tribe. The only exception was the depiction the pups gave of the sunburst pendent the man had worn. Why would the
Servants of the Glorious One
want to hurt those children?
Ira recalled D had come to his family's home several times over the last couple of months. D and Kent retreated behind locked doors for hours. Weatherby wasn't a Lycan. The ring hid his true form, allowing him to carry the scent of, and change into, a wolf. Did that mean the assassins weren't Lycan? The thought had never occurred to me they might be something other. I didn't know what kind of creature Kent was and I doubted he would be forthcoming. Maybe Ashur would know. Just in case, I'd made a note to contact Elder Luis to search the King's library.
"Do you understand what D asked of you was wrong?" I received quick nods. "Justus, Neoma, and Dawn are members of my tribe. I'm their guardian and that makes them a part of my family." I paused and let my words sink in. "Before I give judgment, I'd like to…"
"Alpha?" Justus shuffled his feet in the doorway, sending furtive glances toward the two boys. The bruises were vivid colors against his pale skin. I scented his fear, but to look at him, you couldn't see it.
"What is it, pup?"
He took a step into the room, Atash peered around him. "Are they in trouble?"
"Yes, they are." I rested back in my chair and steepled my fingers under my chin.
Another step. "What if I said I forgive them? Will that be okay? They can say sorry back and then it'd be over."
"There must be a consequence for their actions. They are more or less four years older than you. They purposely hurt you and your sisters could've been harmed too. You'd show them mercy?"
"Yes," he replied immediately.
Atash took Justus's hand in encouragement. "They were doing what an adult told them to do. Teach them what to do next time. Maybe all they needed was a safe place." Justus regarded Ira. "Sometimes all we need is somewhere to go."
I held out my hand for them to come to me. "Ira. Marek. Are you willing to give a sincere apology to Justus and his sisters?"
Pride welled up for Justus as he bravely walked up to each boy and shook their hand. Atash's influence or not, it didn't matter. Justus acted with mercy and honor.
Justus leaned into me as I put my arm around him. Atash sat on Ushna's knee. "People will often have a difference of opinion and that's okay, until it causes someone harm either emotionally or physically," I started. "We should be aware of our words and actions. The two of you were told things about Justus, Dawn, and Neoma that were wrong and hateful. I can tell you these pups are innocent of the failures of their parents, but it would be better if the two of you found out for yourselves, and formed your own opinion." The boys appeared apprehensive but resolute as they faced me.
"Therefore, I'll have a car pick you up two days a week to bring you here to the ranch so you can get to know these three pups. After two months, if you wish to continue visiting, I'll make arrangements. I expect you to relate to me what you think, regardless of the answer.
"Understand this, pups, if I find out that after this day you've fought with other children, I'll withdraw the judgment, and give you the one I'd originally planned. Take advantage of the mercy that has been offered to you and do something worthwhile with it."