by Celeste Raye
It was almost nightfall when she started to hear people in the hallways. Celeste had already gotten dressed and ready for the dinner party, but it had never come. The women had eaten together, and she had met Donovan’s wife. Claire was nice enough. She was a bit starstruck with all the magic going around, but Celeste really liked her.
She heard voices and footsteps in the hallway, which got Celeste thinking that Charlie was back. All of it was dashed away when she saw a group of elder shifters pass by. One stopped and looked directly at her and then looked over at Claire. Or maybe it was Alexis that they were checking out. Celeste couldn't know for sure, but she did know that the men didn’t look happy. Celeste felt cold go through her.
“Who were those guys?”
Alexis was looking at the men passing as well and she just shrugged her shoulders.
“I really don't know. Nobody that we've seen before. They look really old, don't they?”
Celeste agreed, and after a few moments, she excused herself so that she could retire for the night. Her head was hurting, and whatever the men were there for, she knew that it wasn’t anything good. Celeste didn’t know for certain, but she had a hunch.
Celeste found herself walking towards the meeting room. She knew that it was wrong to listen in, but her curiosity was getting the best of her. She had to know what was going on. Waiting around just wasn't going to do.
When she crept closer, though, her foot hit a board on the floor, and it made a loud creaking sound. Celeste cursed under her breath, standing still for a moment to see if that would be enough to dissuade anyone from checking out the noise.
“Who is that?”
There was scuffling and movement towards the door, so she immediately got away from it as quickly as possible and went back to the room she was sharing with Charlie. They were already on edge about her being there in general, so the last thing they needed to see her doing was listening in on their conversation.
She got the door closed and pushed her back against it, breathing hard. Celeste was trying her best to get herself together, but it wasn't as easy as it sounded. She was a wreck, and her breathing was definitely faster. She heard footsteps in the hallway, and someone was outside of the door. She held her breath like that was somehow going to keep her from being seen. Celeste held it for what seemed like forever until her lungs felt ready to burst.
Whoever it was that was going down the hallway must have decided against it. There had been a hope that it was Charlie, and he was coming back to her, but whoever it was walked back to the room she had run away from.
Celeste didn't know what to think of it all. Once again, she felt like her life wasn't her own, and it was never a good feeling for her. Why was it so hard for her to be able to handle her own life? While she thought that being with Charlie would free her, maybe she was wrong about that. Maybe she was never going to be free. Once again, a group of people were deciding her fate.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Charlie and his brothers were just about to get up, finally working out what it was they were worried about. There were a lot of changes in play, and Jake knew that it was going to take time to get used to it.
What he wasn’t right about, though, was the four ancients that wanted an audience with the four brothers. They were never people that anybody would want to run into. They were rude and only had bad news when they came. Jake’s relief was short lived, replaced with anxiety over why the old men were there.
“What can we do for you today?”
The smallest one spoke first. He stood a little closer than the rest, somehow explaining his leadership without words.
“It would seem that there are some rumors that have come to us. These are rumors so horrific, we were expecting them to be completely false. We hoped to find that it was all a lie…”
“But?”
Jake was the one taking control of the situation. He didn't like elders, and it looked like he didn't like the ancients either.
“But when we walked through your hallway to get to this very room, we saw that there was a human and a witch and a shifter woman, all sitting together. From what we hear, those are your wives.”
Jake paused for a moment and then looked from Donovan to Charlie. Charlie knew what he was thinking. He was thinking that they had made an error in judgment for bringing them. He knew that there was going to be hell to pay for their choices in companionship, but he didn't think that it would come from this angle.
Jake didn’t know what was worse: Donovan bringing the human in or Charlie bringing in a witch. He decided it was probably the witch. She was very powerful and destroyed many things already. It was a toss-up.
“Well, I would say that you can't always believe the rumors that you hear. Maybe you could tell us what it is that you heard, and I can tell you if it's right or not. I wouldn't want to leave you guessing.”
“Well, for one, I hear that two of your brothers have married outside of the race.”
The old man talking was just like his name: ancient. He had a smile on his face, but it was the sort of smile that didn't look good. He was just a scary-looking man. Charlie didn't know if he should be afraid of him or if he should give him something to sit on because he looked like he was going to keel over. The guy definitely did not look like he had too much vitality left. Charlie was surprised that he had been able to get there because it looked like they had come from far away.
“Yes, that would be right. Two of my brothers did find love outside of the race, and we have decided to embrace them instead of exiling them, which would be custom. Our family is precious to us, and keeping it together is my main priority.”
The old guy talking was named Marty, and he sat down after a moment. All of the brothers gave a sigh of relief because it really did seem like he was going to fall down if he didn't.
“That is the problem. Jake, right? You're the one that killed your father and took his position, correct?”
Jake felt a little unsure for a moment, and then he agreed. He lifted his head like he knew what was coming just from the way that Marty had phrased it.
“I guess you could say that. In the end, it was self-defense. My father was not the easiest man to live with. He did a lot of things that were against the rules. I didn't see you guys coming to stop him when he was selling human beings on the black market.”
The old man seemed uncomfortable for a moment. Marty decided to ignore that part of the conversation.
“We're not talking about your father. Well, I guess we are, but in the sense that you killed your Alpha. That, as you know, is against the rules.”
“Like I said before, it had to be done. And we didn't kill him right away. We actually gave him a chance to go off and do something else with himself, but instead, he decided that he wanted to fight to try to take it back.”
“Do you blame him?”
Jake shrugged. “I do. You didn't see what he had become. It was sad to see somebody that I looked up to turn into what my father was.”
“So that was your justification for killing him?”
The other three men that were with Marty had found seats, and they didn't say anything. They just sat with their judging eyes and their mouths shut, waiting for some kind of reaction. Charlie wasn't comfortable, and it seemed like Jake was irate. Donovan didn't say anything at all. What was there to say?
“I have already given my justification for killing him. I defended myself, and he ended up dying in the process. I did everything I could not to kill him, but I had to in the end.”
“And what is it that we hear of the Rebel Bears using a witch to kill off one of their enemies? The Bennigans, I believe? You wiped out more than three-fourths of their people. Was that something you had to do as well?”
While Jake seemed to have something to say about everything else, he was quiet on that point.
“That was unfortunate. Although, once again, we were defending ourselves.”
Marty sat back and smiled. “It seems li
ke you defend yourselves quite a bit, and people around you drop.”
“If that is what it comes to, then yes, we will protect ourselves no matter what. Against whatever enemy may come our way.”
“No matter what?”
Jake shrugged. “If that's how you want to see it. All I know, is that I will protect my people.”
“We're here to protect our people as well. It seems like the Rebel Bears are taking them out faster than they can be made. You can see our concern?”
Jake nodded. “I guess it could look that way. It is not meant to be that way, though. We really just have been trying to set things straight. We are working with more and more people every day, and we are trying to erase the legacy that my father left behind.”
“Your father's legacy is our legacy as well. You have besmirched his name, ruined all of the work that he put in. Your father paid off a lot of people and did a lot of good for the shifter race with money from his ventures, even the more distasteful ones.”
Charlie didn't really know what to say. He knew that Jake didn't know how to reply, either, because he was quiet. He knew that they had done a lot, and there was a lot that hadn't even been brought up yet. They ancients didn't seem to know that not only had they married out of their race, but they also had children out of their race. Both children had shifting abilities, so it wasn't like they were watering down the bloodline, but Charlie knew that there was a real possibility of that happening with the next generation. He had his own issues to worry about. From what Evelyn said, Celeste was already pregnant.
“My father was a monster, and I do not regret anything that was done to fix what he did. My brothers have found love, and I will not hold that against them, and I will certainly not banish them. The little witch saved us, and I will not regret that either. Everything has happened as it was supposed to, and the only decisions we made were the ones to save us.”
Jake stood up and tried to dismiss them. He cleared his throat. “Now, if there is anything else?”
Marty and the others were not happy to hear his words. Charlie could see that Marty was getting really upset, and he knew that it probably wouldn't end well.
Marty stood up and the rest of the men followed behind him. It was like they all moved as one.
“I was hoping that we could have an honest dialogue about what happened and come to some kind of amicable conclusion, but I see that that is not possible. All of the stories that I've heard are true, and dare I say, even worse. You, Jake, the Alpha of the Rebel Bears, will answer for the crimes that have been committed here. Crimes that you have agreed you've committed and you seem to have no issue with. It is our duty to make sure that we do everything in our power to keep everyone safe. Even safe from you, their own leader.”
Jake was lost for a moment. He had this look of shock on his face like he didn't know what to say. Charlie certainly didn’t have anything coming to him. He was blank, trying to figure it all out. How was he ever going to fight against charges that he’d agreed to? They’d all agreed to.
“We will be back with the consortium, and you will face your fate then. You all will. They will know what to do with you. Make sure that you don't go too far because we will be coming for you.”
Charlie, Jake, Donovan, and even Fred were speechless. They watched them walk away, and no one said anything until several minutes had passed. Nobody knew what to say.
Finally, Charlie came out with it. It was what everybody was thinking.
“Is that really a thing? A consortium?”
Jake agreed that it was. He had heard of the order, and he knew that it wasn't good news. It seemed like lately, it was never good news. Charlie could feel the weight of it on his chest, making it harder to breathe.
Chapter Twenty-Five
“So, are you going to tell me what happened?”
Celeste could see that Charlie had something else on his mind and she knew from the way his brow was furrowed, it wasn't a good thing. As much as she wanted to know everything, there was a part of her that realized that he wasn't ready to talk about it.
Instead of pressing it more, she started to rub his shoulders. She knew that it had been a long day for him. She hadn’t had to deal with it, but just the unknowing had been enough to make it hard to think clearly. Celeste couldn’t imagine how bad it was for him.
“You don't know how good that feels.”
She liked the sound of pleasure that came from him, and it made her smile.
“It feels good to touch you again. I missed you today.”
Celeste could feel the stress in his shoulders and in his muscles. Whatever happened in that room had reduced him to the shell of the man he was. It was so quick, and the reaction to it made her worry. Charlie was usually better at hiding the bad, but it didn’t seem like he was able to this time.
What could it be?
“Why don't you go take a shower or a nice hot bath? I saw the tub in there, and it seems perfect, doesn't it?”
Charlie agreed, and they walked into the attached bathroom. Celeste couldn't help keeping her hands off of him as he undressed. He really was magnificently made, and her hands had a mind of their own, going forward to touch him and keep the connection between the two of them.
“Are you going to leave me here, naked by myself?”
She quickly agreed that she wasn’t and started to shake off her clothes. Even though they had spent much of their marriage together, it didn’t seem like enough for her. It seemed like every other moment, they were taking care of something else. Celeste just wanted to take care of her husband, properly.
He started the water and dragged her in, pulling her under the hot water that was spraying down. Celeste made a sound of pleasure because it felt perfect against her skin. Everything at the moment was so surreal. Whatever was going on, she was going to do her best not to worry about it. At the moment all she knew for certain was, he was the man she wanted. Maybe that was just going to have to be enough.
Eventually, she would find out about it. It wasn't like he was controlling her life. He was just keeping the hard stuff from her. It was much like when she had been left behind and then needed her help anyway. She hoped that this time around, it wouldn’t turn into such a mess.
Then, of course, he was kissing her and telling her that she was the one for him. She wanted to believe it, though, after that morning, it had been hard for her to really determine where she stood.
At the moment, he made it clear that the only thing that mattered was the two of them together. Now his hungry mouth was on her, and her brain was shutting down again. She couldn’t think straight when he was touching her.
Soon, he had her against the wall, and Celeste was trying her best to keep it down. She was always calling out for him, and this time was no different. He slid in quickly, taking her breath away before he was then ready to give her everything that she wanted.
It wasn’t enough that he was inside of her; she wanted the connection as well. Their mouths melted together, and she moaned into it. He was pumping inside of her quickly, holding her up until she did so from the magic. He didn’t even notice until she heard him gasp when he realized she was floating.
It was one of the best feelings, and before she could stop herself, she was calling out loudly again. She really did have to get ahold of herself, or his brothers were never going to like her.
“Are you going to tell me what is going on now?”
“I was hoping that I wouldn't have to, but I guess I'm going to have to tell you the truth.”
“You should just get it out. It can’t be as bad as you’re making it.”
“Is that what you really think I’m doing?”
She agreed.
“That isn’t the way it is at all. The ancients have come, and they're not too happy with my brothers and me. They did some threatening and said that they would be back. There would be punishments, consequences, you get it.”
“What are they unhappy about?”
H
e kind of waved his hands and made a motion. Celeste asked him what that meant, and he told her not to worry about it. That was an impossible feat.
“You trust me, don't you?”
She agreed pretty quickly. “Yeah, I trust you.”
“And you're just going to have to understand, that no matter what happens, we're going to be okay.”
“When you talk like that, Charlie, you kind of scare me.”
“It’s not what I'm trying to do. I just want you to know that no matter what happens or what you hear, it's going to be fine. I’m not going to let anything happen to you.”
“What's going to happen to me?”
“Nothing; that’s the point.”
Celeste didn't know how to feel about it, but she knew that there was a reason for his words. What was it that he was so worried about? Should she be worried about it too?
“Of course, I trust you.”
“Then let's just leave it at that.”
Celeste pouted. She didn’t like that answer at all. She wanted to know what was going on, so he told her. It was an instance where she shouldn’t have asked. What he said, what they’d done wrong and the case against them.
“What do you think is going to happen?”
He shrugged. “I don’t know, but I am not going to worry about it. Not until it happens. Right now, it’s just threats, and trust me when I tell you that our family has gotten its share of threats. I am sure it is going to be fine.”
Celeste moved into his arms. It wasn’t romantic but because she wanted to feel his warmth around her. There was a lot going on that she wasn’t sure of, and Celeste knew that if she ever wanted to work it all out in her head, she was going to have to do something to make it right. She didn’t know what yet, but her aunt could help.