Resisting The Alpha (Werebear Shifter Romance) (The Crane Curse) (6 page)

Jerry met his gaze evenly surprising Erich that a non-Alpha had the nerve to speak to and look at him that way. Normally Erich would have fought back and put the man in his place, but he was curious to hear more and was surprised to find out Jerry and the Talisman were the source of his assignment.

"Continue," Erich said. "We're among people we both trust."

Jerry nodded and his warm smile returned. "Most people believe the school works for the Council. And while we do provide them with information, it is the Talisman who secretly controls them. Its complicated, but needed for security."

"Who is in this Talisman and why have I never heard about it?" Pinky asked.

"There is only one now," Jerry said. "Its passed down from one generation to the next, but the others didn't survive." He waited for understanding to cross his daughter's face, then nodded. "You have a lot to learn."

"So wait, I get to be the one person in this crazy town who doesn't have any power or anything at all and the one cool thing I get, I have to be quiet about?"

Jerry sighed, sounding annoyed. "Yes, Pinky. That's right. And don't ever discount being normal. I don't have to use my ability to know I'm not the only person in this room who thinks you're quite extraordinary."

Pinky looked down at her feet, obviously embarrassed. Erich sat back in his chair and stifled a chuckle, proud that his assessment of Rafael earlier had been correct.

"So are you going to help us or not?" Erich asked. He was tired of all the games. It was time to finally bring them back to the point of his visit.

"Of course I'll help," Jerry said. "I'm actually quite intrigued by all of this. You have a witch with no name...ah ha Faith. Thank you, that'll make it a bit easier. And you want to find out who she is, where she came from. Very interesting indeed. Do you know anything else?"

Erich grunted. He didn't want to answer but knew Jerry would take the information from him anyway. "She met Abel in high school."

"Hmm even more interesting and definitely narrows it down. Abel moved here from out of state his senior year of high school. We should be able to find something out about her. I'll put my protege on this assignment." Jerry looked over at his daughter who was lost in thought.

"Who? Me?" Pinky said as she realized he was talking about her. "An assignment? How much time do I have?"

"I need everything you can find as soon as possible," Erich said. "Abel might be without a pack, but he's still dangerous. I'm sure he has something up his sleeve. If I can find out more about Faith, then maybe I can figure out his plans and how he intends to use her."

"And perhaps why she's with him?" Jerry said with a smirk.

Erich stared at Jerry, a fire burned in his belly as he fought to not hit that smirk off the other man's face. Luckily he was smarter than his instincts, he needed their help. And if Jerry was telling the truth about the Talisman, then creating an enemy out of him was the last thing Erich needed.

"Just get me everything you can find out," Erich growled through clenched teeth.

CHAPTER FIVE

Faith stood on the porch as Abel in full coyote form stalked into the forest. He would be gone for a while as he hunted for food, giving her the time she needed to get back to the clearing and hope Miranda appeared again.

After slipping her arms into her sweater she reached around behind her for the belt and knotted it at her waist. Stepping back onto the porch she felt a little guilty for sneaking out on Abel. He had been very upset when he realized she wasn't there last night. So upset, Faith was surprised he left her to hunt. The fresh bruise on her temple when she returned didn't help matters.

Fingering the silver crane at her neck, Faith stepped off the porch then stopped. Did she really want to find out about her family? What difference did it make after all this time? She couldn't fool herself though, she needed answers and was willing to do whatever it took to get them.

As she entered the clearing, she looked up at the moon as she did the night before. Everything looked the same, even felt the same. The only difference was that yesterday she followed Miranda there and had no idea how to find her again.

Faith thought about Abel's teachings on witchcraft. The one thing he repeated was that if she believed she could do it, she would. That faith in herself got her very far in his teachings and she pulled on it now as she imagined Miranda in her white nightgown, running through the woods.

Slowly, as if appearing from an old movie projector, Miranda appeared in the clearing. She wore the white nightgown again and smiled warmly at Faith.

"I knew you'd figure it out," Miranda said. "You're lucky I showed up, I'm sure you've heard stories about these woods being haunted. What's funny is in all this time no one has bothered calling me. I have so much to say, yet no one seems truly interested."

"No, I don't think its that at all. I think people like the tale, the idea of the woods being haunted. If they called you then they'd have to deal with reality."

"Well my reality is why I'm here and have been here for so long. At least it feels long. I'm sure its been at least thirty years." Miranda looked up at the moon then around the clearing. "Feels much longer than that."
 

Miranda walked towards the tree line and kicked at some loose white stones but they didn't move. After taking a few steps back she grinned at Faith. "Watch this," she said.

A flash of white light hit the ground and spread out until it reached all the stones. Throughout the clearing the stones glowed, the majority of them were collected into a large square resembling the foundation of a house.

"Is that where your house was?" Faith asked.

Miranda nodded as she looked wistfully at the glowing stones. "It hasn't been long enough for there to be nothing left of the house. My great great great grandfather built this house centuries ago using a stone foundation. Almost my entire family had been born here, died here too. So did I, just not in the same way as the others."

Faith was afraid to ask but could see Miranda wanted to talk about it. "What happened?" she asked quietly.

Miranda smiled, her eyes wet with tears. "Thank you for asking. It's the only way I can talk about it," she said then shrugged. "Strange dead rules, nothing you need to know about. You were probably too young to remember, but just thirty years ago things were much different here in Leeds Point. Nowadays shifters can be themselves and not have to live in fear. Back then, shifters were just beginning to make themselves known to society."

"So you're a shape shifter?" Faith asked.

"Yes, or I was. Being a spirit now I lack the body to hold onto my animal spirit. But when I was alive this clearing and the surrounding areas were my territory. I was an Alpha wolf. My entire family were Alphas. Its hereditary you know, not much different than those bright green eyes of yours."

"Who..." Faith couldn't utter the words.

"Killed me? Well some asshole, obviously," Miranda said. "Trust me, I've been angry about it for thirty years. He took me from my life, my baby."

"You had a baby?"

"Yes, a son. He was everything to me. I never had a reason to live before him. That night I had just put him to bed. He was only five years old then, so young...things like that simply shouldn't happen," she said then was silent. "A group of four men came with torches. I heard them coming and grabbed my boy. It was just me and him and I needed him to be safe. I carried my half asleep son into the woods, into an area I knew was thickly overgrown and begged him to stay there. Then I came back here.

"They had set the house on fire," she said as her face filled with horror. "They were looking for us, calling for my son. They called us devils and said the fire would purify us and rid us of our evil. I killed three of them, before I sensed my son coming closer..."

As her words faded Miranda began running like when Faith first saw her the night before. She turned back and Faith finally saw the expression on her face was a mixture of love and worry. Then as she turned to continue forward something stopped her. Miranda turned towards Faith and dark red blood spread across her white nightgown. As Miranda collapsed to the ground Faith ran to her and fell onto her knees beside her, sobbing.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make you cry," Miranda said sitting up, suddenly healed.

Faith wiped her tears with the tips of her fingers and shook her head. "I'm so sorry that happened to you. I just...I'm so sorry. You said I can help you. Just tell me what it is and I'll do it."

"That man never got my son, but he did take from me the one thing I had from his father. My husband was in the military and had recently been deployed. I'm sure they knew that when they attacked. Before burying me the man removed my wedding ring and slipped it into his pocket, but he never made it home."

"What happened?"

"When an Alpha dies and a child is left behind another Alpha must protect that child. My son's godfather was Alpha of the next territory, Connor Overstreet. He felt my death and arrived as quickly as he could. My spirit watched as Connor destroyed that man, ripping him apart as if he was nothing. The ring fell to the ground but Connor didn't know about it. He found my son and took him away before he could see what happened."

"Did your son stay with Connor? Wait, is he...?"

She laughed. "No, he's not Caleb. Caleb was born later. Unfortunately state law and shifter law don't coincide and back then no one really cared about shifter law anyway. My son was taken from the Overstreet family and placed into an orphanage until his father returned from duty. I watched him grow. I saw the incredible man he became and then when he was ready he chose to follow in his father's footsteps and enlist. My son had fallen in love by then with a beautiful girl and I hoped to see them marry. I wanted to give him my ring to give to her. But then she stepped in," Miranda said bitterly.

"She? Who? What happened?"

"The same woman who deserted you at birth," Miranda sneered. "She was just like those men, she hated shifters and didn't want her daughter to be with one. She broke them apart and did everything she could to keep it that way."

"My mother? You know my mother?"

"She couldn't keep them apart forever though. True love has a way of finding each other again plus they were fated to be together, you know. But for so long he was lost. Lost without his other half, his mate. You've met him. You knew him as a child and were one of the few who accepted him despite his being a shifter. You later kept him safe when Abel imprisoned him with the other wolves."

Faith recalled the handsome wolf shifter she moved into one of the cells that housed the shifters who had lost their minds. When the pack captured and brought him in, she recognized him as the boy she knew long ago and vowed that if she couldn't save any of the others, she would do what she could to protect him.

"You mean your son is Knox Whitman?" Faith asked.

Miranda beamed with pride. "Yes, Knox is my son and the only reason I didn't become one of those crazed spirits who runs around attacking people. I've spent my time following him. I've seen his ups and his downs and he is finally happy and whole again. He asked Eliza to marry him."

"Eliza?"

"Your older sister. You have a family, Faith. A family worth knowing. That dreaded woman is dead. She's actually trapped here in this clearing with me. I think its her final penance," she said as she giggled. "Knox and Eliza live in the small house at the end of the path. Go there, tell them everything I told you and bring him my ring."

Miranda pointed to an area not far from them and something began glittering in the soil. Faith stood and walked over to find a simple gold band with an antique cut diamond. Miranda appeared in front of her and smiled warmly.

"Thank you, Faith. You've helped me do the final thing I needed to before I can rest."

"Does that mean you're going to leave?"

"No, I can't leave my Knox. I'll always be around, but now I can rest. I might not be a part of his life, but at least I get to watch. Thank you again, Faith."

Miranda faded and left Faith alone in the clearing. She looked at the ring, a family heirloom, and for the first time she wasn't jealous about someone having a family, she finally had one herself.

As she stood to go she heard Abel howling nearby, then the wind picked up. The hair at the back of her neck rose and a chill ran down her spine, but not from the coyote. She wasn't alone anymore. Turning she saw an older woman with short black hair in a yellow housecoat.