Psyche Honor (Psyche Moon) (7 page)

Billie's phone pinged quietly, signaling receipt of
a text message. Her mood darkened when she read it. “Elder Meeting, love,” she
announced slowly, her eyes apologetic. “We always meet here. Can you take off
for a bit?”

She'd been enjoying a lazy Monday morning with Sadie and
didn't want to end it precipitously. Dressed in a flattering suit, she’d
dallied before leaving for Lorren Volstein & Marks, the law firm where she
worked as a CPA. Ordinarily, Sadie would be headed to work too, but she'd
called in sick again. The dark cloud that hovered over her had begun to lift,
but she still jumped at noises and cried out in her sleep. Billie worried about
her mate.

The last couple of days showed tremendous change in Sadie,
but a thread of doubt nagged at her. Something didn't feel real about Sadie's
improvement, and Billie believed her mate was burying the trauma instead of
recovering. Pack supported each other through difficult times. Instead her pack
ostracized Sadie and kept secrets from her. She was more of an outsider than
she’d ever been in the Human world. No wonder she felt new walls in her mate’s
mind.

Sadie smiled easily, but Billie noticed the brief darkness
that clouded her eyes when she mentioned the Elders. “I'll head home for a
while. Give Kathryn a hug for me. And Richard if he'll accept it.” Her smiled
widened into a wicked grin. She screwed up her face and stuck her tongue out
like a six-year-old. “Give Jason this.”

Billie enjoyed the joke. “No promises on the last one. I'll
give everyone your love, though. Can you give me some privacy during the
meeting too? No matter what you sense from me?” She didn't want a repeat of the
Elders' reaction in the last meeting.

“Yes. I'll stay away until you give me the all clear,” Sadie
promised wistfully.

Billie wrapped her in a hug and planted a kiss on her nose.
“I love you. I'm working on it.”

“There’s nothing wrong with asking for privacy. I don't have
a problem with that,” her mate replied softly. “It hurts that they distrust me
for who I am and not what I've done.” Billie felt guilt behind her words. It
broke her heart that her mate felt like she deserved ill treatment from the
Wolves.

“They'll come around. They have to.” With a final soft kiss
on the lips, Sadie collected her purse and keys. Richard and Kathryn pulled up
in their white hybrid as Sadie closed the front door behind her. Billie could
hear Sadie's heart rate rise through the door. She listened closely, wondering
how Richard would respond.

Kathryn spoke first, genuinely happy to see her. “Hello,
Sadie. My apologies for interrupting your morning.” Billie thought they
embraced but couldn't be certain.

“Good morning. No worries, Kathryn. I'm going to head home
for a while.”

“Thank you, dear. That's very gracious of you.” Billie could
hear Richard let out a huff so light Sadie may not have heard it.

“It's good to see you, Richard.” Sadie spoke hesitantly.

Richard didn't respond, and after a moment Billie heard
Kathryn's voice clear and critical. “Simple courtesy isn't beneath you, my
love. She did save your best friend's life after all.”

“It’s the only reason she's still alive.” Richard’s lilt
appeared again. “Keep your nose out of our meeting.” Billie felt Sadie's heart
drop at his statement. Kato entered through the doggie door in near silence. He
listened to the exchange with rapt attention, red wolf ears forward. Billie
gave him a sorrowful look. She wanted to rush to her mate's side. She wanted to
grab Richard by the throat for his veiled threat. What she wanted more was for
the tension to ease and for Sadie to be able to stand on her own in the Pack.
So she waited and listened with Kato sitting beside her.

Sadie apologized. “I didn't mean to intrude last time. I
already promised Billie I won't do it again.”

“Make sure you don't,” Richard growled low.

Sadie's voice strengthened a little, though her words were
respectful. “Richard, I'm sorry for what happened to your first mate and your
Pack. I really am. But I didn't do it, and I've never done anything like that
to anyone. I never will. Don't blame me for someone else's actions.” Her voice
began to waver. “I'd like to be friends again.”

“You're a Mage. You can't change who you are.”

“That's what I am, not who I am.”

“What you are is the most evil creature on this Earth. When
you show your true Mage colors, I'm going to enjoy killing you.” Billie heard
Sadie's footsteps hurrying to her car without another word. Surprisingly she
didn’t fear he’d attack her, but his words cut a painful wound in her heart. A
quiet sob escaped her throat before the car door muffled further sounds.

Billie could barely contain her anger. Only her certainty
that Richard wouldn’t fulfill his threat kept her from flying out the door.
When the couple walked inside and saw her expression, they stepped back
automatically. Kathryn's eyes widened, while Richard's narrowed.

“How dare you threaten my mate!” Billie roared as soon as
the door closed behind them. Kathryn placed herself between the two Wolves,
holding a hand out to each. Even her talent for calming a situation couldn't
temper that one.

“She is a Mage.”

“Listen to yourself, Richard.” Kathryn spoke icily. “You
can't even provide a proper reason for hating Sadie.”

“I don't need any more reason than that.” He spat at his
wife. “I don't want you anywhere near her.”

“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?”