Whoever Brandon had
managing the tithe he was receiving from the pack was good. He
hadn't managed to hit the kind of self-sustaining levels Donovan had
achieved, but they were generating a hefty return. In fact, if
Brandon hadn't been siphoning so much money off for bribes they'd
probably have almost doubled their assets over the last two years.
Once I finished up
with Donovan, I ran Rachel into school, and then there was a full
day's worth of homework to work my way through. Just because I was
skipping school didn't mean that I could forgo the homework.
I'd actually
contemplated going to school, but my control had been so spotty the
day before I just couldn't justify the risk. I didn't like the
thought of Rachel being alone at school, but she was adamant about
going, and not even Brandon would be stupid enough to attack her.
The end result of that scenario wasn't pretty, but he'd lose most of
his wolves before the dust settled.
Rachel was as
defenseless as any other human, but Jasmin, Dom, Isaac and I all
loved her dearly. Besides, even if the others hadn't, I was dominant
to everyone else in the pack. It wasn't the kind of thing I liked to
use, but they knew what would happen to them if they let Rachel get
hurt.
Even with such an
impressive amount on my to-do list, I managed to finish up my
classwork and sneak in some painting time before Jasmin returned from
Colorado. Predictably she wasn't happy. She stormed into my studio
and almost knocked over my latest, still-drying piece.
"I understand
that you're not happy, Jas, but if you ruin one of my paintings
you're going to be sorry."
It wasn't often that I
saw a repentant expression grace Jasmin's face. I didn't get very
long to enjoy it.
"I got the
permits and property rights issues all straightened out. It was the
secretary."
Now that
was
a
surprise. Brandon had certainly economized on his bribes there.
"I burst into
offices of half the city council and no less than three regulatory
bureaucrats, but just wasn't getting anywhere with threats or bribes.
They were all claiming innocence and didn't seem to be lying. It
wasn't until I'd made my second round that I realized he was way more
nervous than the situation called for."
I nodded my thanks as
I tried to figure out what the canvas wanted to become. I'd created
a border, but was uncharacteristically stuck on where to go with it
from there.
"You did
excellent work as always. I appreciate your going out there and
handling things."
Jasmin's anger was
back; closer to the surface than before. Damn full moon. It was
going to turn this into a much bigger deal than it had to be.
"You didn't have
to send me out there, Alec. Donovan could have handled things. Even
Isaac could have handled this one."
I shook my head as I
finally gave up and started cleaning my brushes. "You're
missing the point Jas. There was no way to know at the outset just
how sticky things were going to be, and aside from Donovan you're my
best troubleshooter. Donovan has a number of other duties. I can't
tear him away from those lightly, and if things had gotten dicey with
Brandon's pack last night you would be missed less than Isaac."
And there was the rub.
Jasmin was as stubborn as any hybrid ever born, but when push came
to shove she was still just a wolf. Granted her bloodline, the one
we shared, gave her certain advantages, advantages which weren't
discussed with those not of the same descent. Even so, she wasn't my
second, and never would be.
Jasmin looked for a
moment as though she'd argue with me. "Ok, I get it. I'm not
as valued as either of your muscle-bound hybrids. I'll try to keep
that in mind. Do you want me to go get Rachel?"
"No, you just
got back. I'll go get her so you can get caught up."
I was surprised when
Jasmin indicated she wanted to go with me, but welcomed the company.
A short time later we pulled up to the school.
Rachel was waiting for
us. Or rather she was outside where she usually waited for us. The
two Sorensen boys were out with her. It took me several seconds to
realize the dark item they were tossing back and forth was her math
book.
The rage that had been
lapping at the borders of my control all day came within a sliver of
breaking loose. I slammed the car into the closest parking spot and
was out striding towards them before Jasmin even had a chance to get
her seatbelt off.
With my beast so close
to the surface, my power flared up without any conscious effort,
lashing out at the pair with enough force that they spun around. The
math book fell forgotten to the ground as they turned and ran.
Rachel retrieved her
book and went to the car without speaking. I stood on the sidewalk
for several seconds, fighting the urge to run the boys down and tear
them in half.
Nobody spoke until we
were back home, and then Rachel turned towards me with tear-filled
eyes. "Alec you have to stop doing that. I'm never going to
have a normal life if you keep interfering every time someone teases
me."
"Rachel, they
aren't your friends. People don't treat their friends like that."
"You're missing
the point. Right now I don't have a chance of even developing a
friendship because everyone is so worried about how you'll react."
"That's
ridiculous. Nobody who really wants to be your friend would give me
any reason to harm them."
"Please. No guy
in the entire town would even dream of asking me out. You'd totally
freak."
I wanted to deny her
accusation, but I'd spent plenty of time around the boys her age.
You didn't need especially acute senses to realize that they weren't
worth the effort it would take to push them out of a speeding car.
"See, you can't
even argue with me."
"They aren't
worthy of you, Rach."
"I don't want
someone worthy of me. I'm not looking to get married right now, I
just want to be able to spend some time with people who are normal,
who are human."
That was truly the
underlying problem. It hadn't been as bad before everyone had made
their first transformations, but since then Rachel had been on the
outside looking into a life she couldn't have.
"I'm sorry. I
know this all hasn't been easy for you. I'll try not to be so
menacing."
"That's not good
enough, Alec. I want your word as the leader of our pack that you
won't take any action to interfere with all of the stuff that
normally happens to someone my age."
Jasmin stirred for the
first time as I met Rachel's gaze and finally nodded.
"I won't promise
to forgo any action, but I won't interfere short of anything that
will cause you lasting harm."
I let me beast rise
back up to the forefront of my being as Rachel invoked the ritual
words.
"This ye so
swear, unto this you bind yourselves?"
A wash of power surged
through me as I opened my mouth. "This we so swear. That we
won't interfere with your fellows unless lasting harm is offered,
that we will use all resources at our command to avoid becoming
forsworn. Unto this we bind ourselves."
Jasmin completed the
ritual in her own flare of power. "An oath sworn, a promise
witnessed. We will stand in testimony."
Rachel hugged me and
then bolted from the car, smiling at Donovan as she disappeared
inside the house.
Donovan greeted me at
the door, smiling until he felt the lingering traces of power. "You
swore an oath. To Rachel, or Jasmin wouldn't have been able to
witness it."
I nodded and Donovan's
mouth thinned to a disapproving line. "That was rash at the
very least, Alec. What did you promise her?"
I felt my beast rise
to the surface again, and fought to keep from lashing out. Donovan
had the best interest of the pack at heart. Not only that, he was
right. I'd been unusually impulsive.
"She's lonely,
Donovan. Right or wrong she's convinced she'll never have a chance
at real friends until people can rely on the fact that the entire
pack isn't going to jump all over them for looking sideways at her.
I promised to stay out of all of the teasing, to avoid interfering
unless it is something that will bring her lasting harm."
"And you Jasmin?
I'd have thought you'd talk him out of such an ill-advised promise."
Jasmin's chuckle was a
dry, humorless thing. "Unless you've got super powers hiding
up your sleeve, Alec is still the boss. I've tried to talk him out
of one stupid action after the other for the last two months and he's
pretty much established that the only time he'll listen to me is if
I'm supporting what he already wanted to do."
Her parting comment
was tossed over one shoulder as she disappeared around the corner.
"If he'd asked me, I'd have said it was foolish to promise the
entire might of the pack to ensure that any dweeb in the town can
hassle Rachel. I wasn't asked though, so I'll leave you to clean up
the mess Mr. Wizard."
Donovan sighed
disapprovingly at Jasmin and then turned back to me. "I must
discuss this with Rachel. Once she understands the gravity of what
you've promised I'm sure she can be convinced to release you from the
promise."
My beast rose to the
surface in a hissing display of power. The promise hadn't been
binding on just me. The 'we' in the ritual had included my beast,
and it had a very black and white view of a promise. The beast would
casually kill for food or to eliminate a rival, but once it had
committed to something all other options ceased to exist. The gray
areas where humans went when they needed to justify something were
anathema to it.
My beast wouldn't
allow me to bring pressure to bear against Rachel to get her to
release us from the promise. Since Donovan was one of my submissives
letting him do the talking wasn't any different than me doing it
myself.
"You get three
minutes, Donovan, and there won't be any blackmail or emotional
overtones. You can make your case this one time, and that's it. If
she says no and I later find out that you've been trying to bully her
into recanting, I won't be able to help myself."
Donovan looked as
though he'd have liked to take offense at my calling his normal,
well-reasoned arguments bullying, but this close to the full moon he
knew better than to push any of us very far.
"I'm very aware
of the effects of the binding ritual, Alec. I'll be ready at your
convenience."
Feeling more exhausted
by the minute, I followed Donovan to Rachel's room, where his efforts
were exactly as effective as we'd both known they would be. Rachel
wasn't swayed in the slightest.
Donovan reached the
end of his three minutes, bowed ever so correctly, and departed. I
had one more duty before I could finally surrender to my bed.
The alpha of the
Chicago pack hasn't ever believed in cell phones. It made contacting
him somewhat tricky, but the antiquated land line he'd finally had
installed a few years before, usually worked sooner or later.
This time the phone
cut off on the second ring. "Yes?"
"Is Ulrich
available?"
Calling another pack
leader was always risky business. There were dozens of different
ways to offend someone, and the situation with the Chicago pack was
even more touchy than most. "No. This is Shawn, though. Is
that you Alec?"
I felt a brief surge
of relief. Shawn was Ulrich's son. We were approximately the same
age, and he was decidedly modern American as opposed to his father's
Old World upbringing. The odds of me putting my foot wrong with
Shawn were much less than with his father.
"Yeah, it's me.
I've got a situation developing over here. Brandon's insinuating the
Coun'hij's decided to take a blind eye where he's concerned. It
seems pretty far-fetched, but I thought maybe I'd better check and
see if anyone else had any clues how the wind was blowing."
Shawn was quiet for
several seconds, digesting my revelation and fitting it with
everything else he knew before responding. "That's bad news.
Agony made a surprise visit yesterday morning. Dad figured it for
just another expedition to dish out some hurt for him having been
friends with your dad. I'm betting it was at least partially
designed as a message."
"And a nasty one
at that. I'm sorry that you guys are bleeding again because of what
happened with our pack."
"Nothing to be
done about it now. History isn't going to re-make itself. Just be
careful, none of us are looking to have it repeat."
The conversation
stayed with me even after I'd retired to bed. Shawn had touched,
however obliquely, on the events that had destroyed my father's pack,
and resulted in the murder of more than a dozen innocents.
My father's legacy
should have been the dawn of a new age among the moon born. Instead
he'd left a pair of shattered, unhealthy packs and nothing else.
Contemplating the past
didn't solve anything. There weren't any new insights to be offered
after so many years of analysis, but it at least distracted me from
the more pressing concerns of what to do about Brandon when the
Coun'hij had all but signed my death sentence.
He was little more
than a jumped-up thug, but I couldn't avoid the feeling I was being
carefully outmaneuvered on nearly every front.
When sleep finally
found me, it was only a brief respite. Dreams hadn't been a place of
innocence for nearly as long as I could remember. It was one more
thing they'd taken away from us.
This dream seemed
innocuous. I found myself in the grotto, the heart of the garden
that Donovan and Andrew spent so much time maintaining.
It was evening, the
time when the garden was the most peaceful. Night blooming flowers
and the tranquility pool mixed their scents with the myriad aromas
that rose from the desert just to the edge of the family holdings.