by Petra Landon
Tasia kept walking, out of the Pack Room and down the stairs into her room, numb with reaction after that scene with the Alpha. She picked up her cell mechanically from the chair, her gaze unfocused as she glanced blankly around the room. She needed to pack up and get out of here like she’d boldly informed the Alpha. Yet she wasn’t ready to go back to her dingy little studio to stay by herself. On impulse, she whatsápped Caro – Caro had reiterated her invitation to Tasia at their lunch date this afternoon.
Caro, that invitation from the afternoon still good?
Her cell pinged back almost immediately with a response.
Absolutely! Do you need a ride?
Thank God for Caro.
I’m at the Pack Lair.
I’ll be there in forty minutes. See you then, Tas.
Tasia pulled open her suitcase and proceeded to throw in her clothes and things in a frenzy of activity. Until the shakes hit her. She collapsed onto the chair, delayed reaction causing her to shake silently. It took a few poundings on the door from Hawk before Tasia managed to hear it.
“Tas, you in there? It’s me, Hawk. Let me in, Tasia!”
Tasia got up shakily to open the door to let Hawk in.
“What’s going on, Tasia? Did Alph say something to you? Why did …” he stopped abruptly as he got a good look at her face.
“Hey, you’re shaking. Come here” he said gently, putting his arms around her to give her a hug. Tasia clung to him in comfort as the shaking slowly subsided. When she was ready, he ushered her to the chair.
“Better now?”
Tasia nodded slowly. The open suitcase with stuff piled in it caught Hawk’s eye.
“You’re leaving?”
Tasia nodded again.
“Now? At least wait for the morning.”
“No” Tasia shook her head. “This is best for everyone. I should never have come here. It was a mistake.”
“It can’t be that bad, Tas. You don’t want to stay here. That’s fine. Come stay with Sara and me. We’d love to have you until you figure this out.”
“No, Hawk. I can’t do that to Sara or you.”
“What’d you mean?”
“Your Alpha will come down like a ton of bricks on you if he finds out that I walked away from the Pack to stay with you.”
“Alph would never be that petty. In any case, I can handle it, Tasia.”
“No” Tasia shook her head firmly. Now that she’d made the decision, she was determined to stick to it. She wanted to be done with the Pack and its Alpha for good. “I will not put either Sara or you in that position.”
“When it comes to his Pack, your Alpha has a thing about control” she added quietly.
Hawk contemplated her determined face for a moment.
“Are you planning to cut us completely out of your life, Tas?” he inquired softly.
“Not Sara or you. I couldn’t do that, Hawk, even if I wanted to. But I need to walk away from the Pack for my own self-preservation. I don’t fit in here and I never will.”
“What happened tonight?”
Tasia stared at him, her expression uncertain.
Between Alph and you?” he asked gently.
“I told an influential wizard friend of mine in confidence that mercenary Shifters were involved in mugging the less Magick wizards” she responded simply, forgetting all about the Shifters’ hearing abilities and the reason Pack Rooms existed in a Lair.
“You wanted to warn others like you out there” Hawk said slowly. “And Alph found out when he went to meet David Hamilton.”
Tasia had known that Caro’s family was influential in wizard circles in the city but hadn’t realized how far up her father ranked in the local wizard hierarchy. At least, she’d done one thing right. Warning Caro had helped propagate the information to the right people. Unlike everything else that she’d managed to muck up!
“This explains his serious snit all evening” Hawk stated quietly. “I’m guessing that he let you have it.”
“Yes” Tasia replied baldly. “And how.”
“He frightened you” Hawk exclaimed softly, as the sudden realization smote him. Suddenly it made a little more sense to him.
“Terrified me off my wits is more like it” she replied quietly with a little shiver at the memory.
Hawk stared at her somberly for a moment, his dark eyes intent on her.
“He’d never harm a hair on your head, Tas. I’d bet my life on it.”
He paused as if he wanted to say more but didn’t quite know how to say it. Tasia said nothing, her thoughts and emotions in a jumble. She’d never really felt in any danger from the Alpha. Somehow, despite the Shifters’ well-deserved reputations and that of the uber testosterone fueled Alphas who rose to the top of the heap by dint of raw power, aggression and ruthlessness, she did trust Raoul Merceau at an instinctive level. Possibly because of that night when he’d crashed into a dark room as she lay petrified from a Blutsauger’s bite. That had been their first meeting! A stranger had come rushing in to save her from one of her worst nightmares. That first impression had persisted with Tasia, no matter what else he threw at her. That night, the Pack had been vastly outnumbered by the vampires. The Alpha could have chosen to walk away from the situation and leave her to their tender mercies. That would certainly have been the easy way out. Yet he’d stayed and fought like the very devil for her. Even if his actions had been a result of repaying the Pack’s perceived debt to her, it was still commendable.
“I’ll be the first to admit that we Shifters have a well-deserved reputation when it comes to certain things, Tasia” Hawk said. “Alph can be aggressive and brutal – he’d have to be to command this Pack. But he’d never touch a hair on your head, no matter what. You’re not a Shifter and our rules don’t apply to you. To him, you’re an innocent – someone caught up in this because you happened to come to the aid of one of his Shifters. And you’re Pack – one of his. He doesn’t extend protection lightly but once you’re Pack, he’ll go to the ends of hell and back to keep you safe. A lot of Shifters, especially the Alphas, don’t live up to these ideals but not Raoul Merceau. I know him, Tasia. He’s got a temper on him but he’d never harm you.”
“I never thought that I was in any danger from the Alpha, Hawk” Tasia said wearily. “It’s just that this is not me – I’m not a Shifter and I’m not sure I ever will fit into a Pack. It all just came to a head today. The Alpha – he doesn’t like me very much. No matter what I do, that’s not going to change.”
“I have to say that I’ve never seen him this intense with anyone else” Hawk acknowledged candidly. “I suspect that it has to do with you being a wizard. He has a thing about your kind and he can’t seem to see past that when it comes to you.”
“But are you sure you want to walk away, Tasia? You need the insurance that the Pack brings with it. Alph will come around – he knows that you’re not a Shifter and that the same rules don’t apply to you.”
“The Pack has the mercenaries, Hawk” Tasia pointed out, a tad uncertainly.
“Yes and it does look like you ended up being their target completely by accident. But we haven’t finished questioning them yet. And Tasia, even taking that out of the equation, you could do with a bulwark like Alph watching your back” he lowered his voice as he said the last bit, gesturing silently to indicate that the walls had ears.
Tasia’s cell beeped suddenly, interrupting their conversation. Caro must be downstairs, she realized. She hurried to stuff and zip up her suitcase. Hawk put out a hand to stop here before she could heft it up.
“Tas” he pleaded, his handsome face writ with worry.
“It’s alright, Hawk. I’m not going back to my apartment. I’ll be staying with a friend – she’s downstairs. Say bye to Sara for me. I’ll see you soon. Okay?”
Hawk let go off her arm reluctantly. He accepted that Tasia wasn’t going to be swayed on this – not tonight at least.
“Promise me that you’ll call if you need anythin
g. And I mean anything” he urged.
“I promise, Hawk.”
Hawk hefted up her case and overnight bag.
“Come on. I’ll see you off. And Tasia, I expect a call from you tomorrow, yeah?”
Tasia nodded, feeling a surge of affection for this young Shifter she hadn’t even met until a few weeks ago. One she now knew; she could count on.
“What do you have for me?” the Alpha inquired brusquely to his Shifters. Hawk watched silently as the three Were-Alphas involved in the interrogation of the mercenaries updated the Alpha on their progress. It had been a long day but Hawk had hotfooted it to the Lair to catch the Alpha’s attention.
“I’ve confirmed that Tasia Armstrong’s name was on the list given to them” Luis Beltran spoke up first. “When they needed a wizard to Mfector the warehouse, they conveniently picked one from the list of wizards provided to them. They figured she’d be easy to disappear if they ever needed to destroy all evidence of their connection to that particular warehouse.”
“Why’d they pick her?”
“Armstrong - closer to the top of the list” Luis shrugged. “And they made sure that she had no family or influential connections in the city to make too much of a fuss if it came down to getting rid of her.”
“They checked her out before they chose her?” Raoul asked.
“A cursory check but yes, they did” Luis acknowledged.
“Raoul, I think you’ll be very interested to know why they’d not yet targeted Miss Armstrong even though her name was close to the top of their alphabetical list” Duncan interjected quietly.
In response, the Alpha gazed inquiringly at Luis Beltran.
“They were targeting the wizards on the list by location and hadn’t gotten to where she lived yet.”
There was a moment of pregnant silence.
“They had access to the home addresses for the wizards” the Alpha exclaimed incredulously, this astonishing piece of information managing the feat of penetrating the layer of grim implacability that hung over him this evening.
“And most addresses were current, from the sound of it” Luis assented.
Elisabetta, silent so far, spoke up to state the only plausible conclusion that could possibly be drawn.
“Whoever hired them had an inside connection with the local wizards. That kind of personal information is not easy to obtain from the Registry.”
“Wizard involvement in this might be more than an inside connection to the local Registry” Luis remarked thoughtfully. “Mick insists that he never intended to create a situation between the Pack and the wizards. He claims that the guy who hired him had given him his word that it would never come to that.”
“And this rogue believed him?” Raoul asked skeptically.
“Apparently! He claims rather vociferously that he did.”
“Do we have a name for whoever hired him?” the Alpha inquired brusquely.
“Mick claims that he doesn’t know his name.”
“Of course, neither of us buys that bit” Elisabetta drawled. “There’s no way those mercenaries would’ve dared set foot on this Pack’s turf to harm wizards without a guarantee that it wouldn’t start a war between the Pack and wizards. Along with truckloads of cash, of course. Mick is no fool. He knew well what this particular Alpha would do to him if he lit the blaze of a civil war here.”
Luis nodded mutely, silently agreeing with the other Were-Alpha.
“I want a name” the Alpha reiterated peremptorily.
Elisabetta exchanged a fleeting glance with the other Were-Alpha before she hurried to assure Raoul.
“And you shall have it” she promised.
“Work as fast as you can” the Alpha responded curtly. “I want this thing wrapped up quick. What about the drop location, Duncan?”
“Post box. Empty now. We’re tracing who rented it as we speak.”
“Let me know as soon as we have something” the Alpha said dismissively.
As Raoul made to walk away, Hawk, who’d remained a silent spectator to the discussion, called out to him.
“There’s something else I’d like to bring to your attention, Alph.”
The Alpha’s back went rigid for a moment before he turned to meet Hawk’s eyes, the expression on his face formidable. Hawk soldiered on, undeterred by his Alpha’s unusually severe façade of grim unapproachability. The other Shifters, sensing the tension in the air, directed their attention to the unfolding tableau.
“It’s about Tasia. I’ve been trying to reach her all evening without success. Her cell seems to be turned off.”
“Enough of your little girlfriend, Hawk” Elisabetta drawled out. “The Pack has repaid its debt to her. We owe her nothing anymore.”
Hawk’s eyes darkened with a flash of anger. He took a deep breath before turning to confront Elisabetta. The Alpha said nothing as the two Shifters squared up to each other.
“This is none of your damn business, Elisabetta. Stay out of it” Hawk warned softly.
Luis watched the show with a smirk on his handsome face. Elisabetta had been angling to get close to the Alpha for months now. It’d be good to watch her taken down a peg or too by young Manotti. If he managed to perform that feat, of course. Hawk was a powerful Shifter but he was no Were-Alpha, unlike Elisabetta who was also a seasoned veteran of playing these types of games. Yet Luis had hopes for Hawk. He liked the boy. And if the boy was even half the Shifter his father had been, he’d certainly give Elisabetta a run for her money in a few years.
“You’re young, Hawk, so allow me to give you a piece of advice. Keep your personal business separate from Pack business” Elisabetta remarked with mock indulgence, her green eyes flashing with silent amusement as she baited Hawk. She was enjoying putting him in his place. The little upstart had dared to pass snide comments on her attempts to cozy up to the Alpha.
Everyone knew what had gone down last night. The news had spread like wildfire within the Pack. The young wizard extended Pack protection by the Alpha had fled the Lair last night. It hadn’t escaped anyone’s notice that Hawk had befriended the wizard who’d come to his aid against the rogue Shifters he had been hunting on the Alpha’s orders. Apparently, she’d whispered some information to a fellow wizard without the Alpha’s consent and he had predictably blown his fuse at the transgression. The wizard had fled in tears, despite Hawk’s pleas. No one knew what had actually transpired in the Alpha’s Room but word had spread to tread very lightly around the Alpha.
Hawk, worried sick about Tasia, was starting to lose his patience and get seriously annoyed by Elisabetta’s barbs. The Alpha continued to watch their back and forth in grim silence – the air of aloof impenetrability that had hung over him all day more pronounced. A quick glance at his Were-Alpha for guidance indicated that Duncan was watching the Alpha with an unreadable expression on his face. Unreadable for most but Hawk had learnt to read him well over the years. Duncan was worried about Alph, Hawk surmised. Duncan had been like this since last night, ever since the incident between Tasia and the Alpha. Fine, he’d handle this by himself, Hawk thought grimly. He was damned if he’d stand by and allow an opportunist like Elisabetta to waste his time when every second could prove costly for Tasia.
“Or what?” Hawk inquired of the female Were-Alpha, his voice laden with soft menace.
“Or I’ll be forced to teach you how to keep them both separate, little bantling” she responded.
“You, Elisabetta” he scoffed with mocking amusement. “You teach me anything – that’ll be the day! You’re better off playing your little games to get Alph to notice you.”
An ugly expression flitted across her beautiful face as the green eyes narrowed at him.
“Watch your mouth, bantling, or I might have to shut it for you.”
Hawk opened his mouth to retort but the Alpha raised his hand peremptorily.
“Enough” he lashed out with quiet ferocity. The two Shifters, protagonists in the rapidly escalating argument, ceased immedi
ately. Raoul waited a moment to make sure that his command had sunk in properly before directing his attention at Hawk.
“It was her decision to walk away from the Pack, Hawk” he said brusquely. “For all we know, she’s deliberately ignoring your calls.”
“Alph, I made her promise to call me today. Something is wrong!” Hawk responded impassionedly.
“Raoul” Duncan chose that moment to interject. “Mick did reveal something rather interesting about the muggings. The man who hired him wanted to be kept informed of any wizard who put up a struggle or managed to evade their grasp before they could get a blood sample.”
The Alpha’s eyes narrowed on Duncan in response. That made absolutely no sense! Which L3 wizard was going to put up any kind of fight against a Shifter, he wondered. Unless, the collection of the blood sample was just an excuse for something else. Could the muggings be a ruse to ferret out a wizard masquerading as a low level Magick; specifically, a wizard with sufficient power to successfully evade a Shifter. A female wizard with enough power to tangle with a Shifter lying low in San Francisco by hiding her true powers. Raoul realized immediately that he didn’t like where this was going – the profile of the wizard being hunted was beginning to look ominously similar to that of the witchling. Could the Chosen who had hired the mercenaries actually be searching for the witchling - gambling on her to reveal her considerable magic when in fear of her life. That would certainly be one way to flush her out.
And it looked like Duncan bought the same theory for the English Shifter’s steady gaze reflected the same realization that had just struck Raoul. Had this whole thing been an elaborate ploy to identify the witchling after all, he wondered in amazement. It would be ironic indeed if the mercenaries had unintentionally stumbled upon the person they’d been hired to flush out, completely by accident and for all the wrong reasons. It would also mean that the witchling’s life was in danger, he realized in dawning concern.