Dire Secrets

by Micca Michaels

  Raven takes a moment to look around. Turning her body in a full circle, “I feel at ease, I feel a rightness, a belonging, I guess that’s the best way to describe it. As for what I see, I don’t know how to explain it, other than to say I think I can see everyone’s aura. I see the colors.” Looking around once more, Raven realizes there are more people here than before, but they aren’t here, they’ve passed from this world. Smiling as she looks at the spirits standing around their loved ones, “I can see the spirits of our loved ones. I can see them standing near their loved ones as if they hadn’t passed from this life. Please, everyone know they are at peace and wish each of you Love, Light, and Healing. Know that you are not alone and that their love transcends the grave.”

  Stepping forward, Alpha Brandan puts his hand out to stop Raven. Stepping towards Raven, Alpha Brandan speaks in a tone of reverence, “Raven Sullivan, you honor this pack. The Gods Blessed not only you, but all of us in one way or another. Your message of the spirit world spreads comfort through us all. During your Ascension it was as if you needed to share your gift with us all, and because of this the Gods gave you a total of 4 different colored lights. I don’t know what they mean, but I only feel positive things will come of this. May the Gods hold you and keep you, for you are a true child of the Gods and a bright light. The Gods also Blessed each of us with sleep the moment your feet touched the ground. Raven Sullivan, know that you are well loved and respected. Happy Birthday and may you be blessed with many more.” Smiling and looking around at his pack, his family who are all wearing smiles, “I say we start the birthday celebration now. What do you say?”

  Seeing all the smiling faces, Raven looks up at Alpha Brandan, “Alpha, I say let’s party!”

  With loud whoops from the pack members, everyone breaks away to set up for the party. Watching as tables are spread all over the small gathering field, Raven feels a pull and decides to follow it. In an almost trance-like state, she walks past the Alpha, past her Gma, Uncle Liam, Aunt Celeste, even walking through her line of protectors and stops in front of Conner. Staring at Raven, Conner doesn’t move. Raven takes her hand and reaches out and caresses Conner’s cheek. Leaning his cheek into her palm, he slightly turns his head and kisses her palm, “Conner, you have a glow, a white glow. You are my white light in the darkness of life. You are my protector. You are mine as I am yours. Will you accept me as your mate in this life and the next?”

  Looking around, Conner realizes they have been surrounded and everyone’s attention is on them. Taking Raven's hand from his cheek, he holds it in his hand as he kneels on the ground, “I, Conner Michael Dwyer, have loved you since our first meeting. You, Raven, are my white light, my beacon of life. I give you and the Gods my oath to forever love you, to forever protect you, and to be your faithful mate till death takes me.” Kissing Raven’s hand Conner stands up, grabbing Raven around the waist, picking her up and spinning her around while shouting, “Blessed Be to the Gods, I have my mate!”

  Cheers rang out from everyone around. Cheering and yells of congratulations rang through the air. “Everyone listen!! Come on, you crazy people, hear me,” Alpha Brandan was trying to get everyone’s attention. Letting a loud whistle out, the pack quieted down, “Now that I can hear and everyone else can also hear, allow me a moment. Conner Dwyer and Raven Sullivan have acknowledged each other as mates. I approve of this long-awaited mating. Although this is not traditional, we all bore witness to it. As per tradition, the actual mating feast and mating ceremony will still occur at night fall. Now let’s celebrate,” with that the pack cheered and the celebration started.

  Walking hand in hand, Conner and Raven went table to table to speak with people. None of her protectors left her and also chatted with people. Everyone was full of laughter and smiles for a joyful day. Guiding Conner and therefore the rest of her protectors over to Alpha Brandan, Raven waved for him to meet her. Stepping to the side of the celebration, her Uncle Liam approached the Alpha and joined him walking over to Raven, “Raven, I hope you are enjoying your day. As your soon-to-be official Alpha, I wish you everything wonderful.”

  Interrupting the Alpha goes against all protocol, but Raven knew this was important, “Alpha, I have to interrupt you, and I apologize but we are being watched. I can tell you where they are and that there are two men, but I don’t know why or for how long.”

  Looking at his First Beta, the Alpha steps closer to Raven, making her protectors also step closer. “Gentlemen, I allowed your protectiveness to go unchecked the last time this happened,” glaring at all the men, “are we going to have a problem?” Raven’s protectors took a step back as one, except Conner. As his claim has been made public, his behavior is expected. The Alpha, Liam, Raven, and Conner stood in a tight circle, lowering their voices, “Yes, Raven, I am aware we are being watched. One of our seers came to me last night before your Ascension and informed me. They are no direct threat. I also don’t know what their game is, but I also know that they are gone and haven’t been replaced, as of yet. Our seers are staying in communication with me, and we have someone watching those watching us. I don’t know if more will come, but we are keeping our eyes open. What I would like to know is, how did you know?”

  Squeezing Conner’s hand to feel the connection with him, “At first, I felt it. Then it was like something told me to close my eyes and see, so I did. I also believe whatever happened to the pack, happened to them too, but a bit differently. You said you and the pack were blessed with a kind of gift sharing. I did intend that, but I think the gifts you received were taken from the two watching us. It’s like I feel the drain that happened. I am sorry, I wish I could explain this better. I can say without hesitation that we must leave tonight. Nothing can interfere with that, or all is for nothing.”

  Placing his hand on her shoulder, the Alpha stands up straighter, “Nothing will interfere with your mating or you and your protectors leaving tonight. You have my word as Alpha. Jack has already relocated your vehicles. Everything is ready for when it’s time. Now, let’s enjoy the rest of the day and leave all worries for another time.”

  As the small group dispersed to enjoy the party and the rest of the day, Raven knew that everything today would go as planned. It was all the tomorrows that concerned her.

  Growling at the noise interrupting his sleep, Damian decides to mentally kill whatever is making that Gods awful noise. Rolling over in his nice warm bed, opening one eye he sees the time. Growling even louder, he suddenly stops when he realizes the noise is his phone. Grabbing his phone and swiping to answer it, “Speak.”

  “Damian, it’s Niall. There’s movement on the Whitewood pack lands, and I thought you should know. It looks like the entire pack is awake. What do you want us to do?”

  Sitting up in his bed, Damian runs a hand over his face and through his hair, trying to ease the sleep fog. Glancing at the time again and allowing it to register, “Yeah, I expected this activity. Raven Sullivan is about to Ascend and receive her Gods’ Blessing and full access to her powers. Just want to see if anything unusual happens. Their Ascensions are the same as when our pack manages to be Blessed with a witch. You know what to expect. Call me if you see something you weren’t expecting and stay hidden for fecks sake.”

  “Alright, Damian, will do, bye.”

  Hanging up his phone and tossing it to the side, I can’t even bitch at them for waking me because they are following orders. If all goes as it should I won’t be woken up again, and I’ll get a report in the morning. Laying back down, Damian closes his eyes to hopefully dream again.

  Rolling over, Damian looks at the clock on the side of his bed, six thirty in the morning. Letting his head fall back down on his pillow, he does a full body stretch. Rolling over and getting out of bed, he walks into his ensuite to shower. Thankful his shower is big enough for a few people at one time and tall enough for his 6’5 frame. He has always been proud of his body. Having wide set, muscular shoulders that taper down to a trim waist and long muscular legs;
his arms are by far his favorite part of his body, well, that he can freely show in public anyways. Climbing out of the shower and toweling off, he hears his cell phone ringing. Wrapping his towel around his waist, he walks into his bedroom to answer it.

  Without thinking, Damian barks out, “Speak and be heard.”

  “So, that’s how you greet your Alpha when he calls you?” Kieran’s voice quickly responds.

  Stumbling and almost dropping his phone, “Shit, Alpha, I am sorry. I didn’t look when I answered the phone. I was expecting a morning report.”

  Laughing at his First Beta, Alpha Kieran clears his throat, “Well, why don’t you get that report and meet me for breakfast in the kitchen. I am sure you could use some breakfast and some coffee.”

  Straightening up and clearing his own throat, “I’ll meet you in ten minutes, Alpha. I just got out of the shower. The Whitewood pack should be resting now, gearing up for Raven’s birthday celebration. I’ll meet you in the kitchen.”

  Hearing the Alpha hang up, Damian breathes a sigh of relief. Fecking teaches me to answer the phone without looking at the caller I.D. first. Getting dressed Damian calls the team on guard last night for the morning report. Listening to the phone ring, he starts getting annoyed when there is no answer. He decides to try again while he is walking to the kitchen to meet Alpha Kieran for breakfast.

  Walking into the kitchen Damian sees Niall and Cian sitting at the island having their breakfast and coffee. Quietly walking up behind both men, Damian smacks both of them in the back of the head. Both men spin around ready to fight when they see who’s behind them they duck their heads.

  “I just tried to call you morons. Why didn’t you answer the phone? Better yet, why am I calling you for a report when you should have already called me with one? Talk and talk fast, I have not had coffee yet, so my patience is very thin at the moment.”

  Swallowing the food in their mouths, both men start to speak at the same time. Niall and Cian stop the moment they hear each other start to speak. Looking at each other, “Cian, you give the report.”

  Giving Niall a death glare, Cian turns to look at First Beta Damian, only to see Alpha Kieran standing there as well. “After we called to report that the Whitewood pack was up and moving around, Raven’s Ascension began. We wanted to call you, but we couldn’t move. It wasn’t a shock type thing, we literally couldn’t move. As soon as a bright blue light glowed in the sky, we were locked in the position we were in. We couldn’t move, we couldn’t talk, the only thing we could do was breathe and see. Then that bright blue light shot down to the ground. We couldn’t see below the rooflines, but we could tell it lit everything up in a blue glow. Then a few seconds later, it well, it had lifted someone into the air. They were only just above the rooflines, but we could tell it must have been Raven. Her arms were stretched above her. Her hair was laying flat against her back. It was like there was no air around her. I have never seen anything like it. Then we could hear chanting, it was rhythmic and really beautiful. Then as she started lowering to the ground, all these other small balls of color started flying into her body: white, green, red, and gold,” taking a breath like he hadn’t been breathing the entire time, “I need something to drink, please forgive me.” As Cian got something to drink, Niall turned to finish the story.

  “I will finish, Cian, rest. The colored balls of lights didn’t leave her body. She absorbed each one. We couldn’t tell if anything about her changed physically, but we felt the shock of her being released from the bright blue beam of light. After that, everything was quiet. Not a sound. Not a sound from the pack, from the forest, from us, nothing. I don’t exactly know how long we were out of it, but as soon as we woke up we ran back here. We were starving and extremely thirsty. It was like we hadn’t eaten or drank anything in days. Alpha Kieran, First Beta Damian, I have seen Ascensions before, but I have never seen anything like that before. Hell, I have never heard of anything like that before. I am sorry we didn’t call, but we couldn’t and still can’t. Our phones are dead, drained of all battery life, and that shouldn’t have happened to either phone, much less both of them. All I can honestly say is it was the most beautiful Ascension I have ever seen or will probably ever see again.” Turning from his Alpha and First Beta without being dismissed was out of the ordinary for Niall.

  Still standing, seemingly locked in place, Breena walked over and touched each man on the chest breaking whatever spell had them, “Alpha, Damian, why don’t you both sit down, and I’ll get you your coffees and some breakfast. I am also going to call Finn and see if he has anything to report. He is not usually up this early, so if he is I believe he will have something to add to this discussion.” Not waiting for any form of answer, Breena grabs a coffee for each man and takes it to them. Once she’s back beside the stove, she calls Finn to find that he was about to call her. Telling him to dress and come to the pack house, Breena hangs up. Grabbing the two plates she prepared, she walked back over to the table, “Alpha, First Beta Damian, eat. Finn will be here shortly. He was awake, so he must have something to report. I will serve him when he gets here.” Sitting with the two men, Breena watches them and drinks her coffee.

  Hearing the kitchen door open, all eyes swivel in that direction. As Finn closes the door and turns to face the room, he notices all eyes are on him. He ignores them and walks over to the table, “I had a dream and need to report it. I only woke up moments before Breena called me, so I am assuming something else has happened. If I may sit, I will explain my dream the best I can.”

  Watching Alpha Kieran chew his food, the Alpha bids and points to a chair. Swallowing his food and taking a sip of coffee, “We were just told a story from two first hand accounts. It will be interesting to hear what you dreamed of. When you’re ready, begin.”

  Not realizing Breena had even moved, he thanked her when she sat his coffee in front of him. Looking at both men and then Breena, “The best way for me to begin is with the colors. I could see white, green, red, and gold all surrounded by a bright blue glow. I know the colors inside the blue came from people. What people I can’t say. I could feel the power radiating inside and all around this bright blue light. The blue light absorbed the other colors. Once that happened, everything went still and was gone. What seemed to only take a few seconds actually took a few hours. If this has anything to do with our mission, I am at a loss as to how it’s involved.” Picking up his coffee, Finn takes a sip and sets his cup back down. Looking around he realizes no one looks shocked, “None of you look like I’ve told you something new, am I missing something?”

  After hearing the summary of what everyone was told before he got to the kitchen, Finn sits back in his chair, “Wow, that had to be Raven in the blue light. I don’t understand the other colors though. Does anyone else?” Looking around the room at all the shaking heads, Finn lets out a heavy sigh, “So, what now? Do we stick with the same plan and is someone still watching the Whitewood pack?” realizing who he was speaking to he stumbles, “Al-Alpha, I am sorry I didn’t mean to question...”

  Holding up his hand to stop Finn, “You’re fine, young seer, and you happen to be asking the appropriate questions. I don’t know what all this means either, but I do know we will proceed with the plan. There is no altering that,” turning to Damian, “When will you have the first team leave out to make sure they are in front of Raven and her protectors?”

  “I was going to report that this morning as well. Team one left this morning at dawn. At this point we are going on rumor as to where the Leprechaun Chieftain is, but I can always alter their direction after we leave and start following the girl. It’s the best option we have. I have another two-man team watching the pack till this evening. Once the mating ceremony starts, we don’t have to worry about them until at least morning. We will use that window of time to ready our gear and our vehicles. We are not using pack suvs, they would be too obvious. I rented each team, blue older-model Blazers. Team one is a six-man team, just like team two.” Looking at
Finn, “I suggest you do anything and everything you need to do to be ready to haul ass in a blink of an eye. I will not lose them and have to play catch up.”

  As everyone finishes their breakfast, Breena walks around collecting plates. As she is loading the dishwasher a hand lands on her shoulder halting her movement. Standing up and seeing it’s Finn's hand on her shoulder, Breena stops, giving him her full attention, “Breena, I know what you’re doing. I won’t waste either of our time by telling you not to worry. I know better than that. I also won’t say bye, that’s final to me and this is not anything like that. What I will say is I love you for being there when my own parents couldn’t be. I love you for being you. I will come back,” leaning forward Finn places a chaste kiss on Breena’s forehead, turns, and walks out of the pack house.

  As the party went on, Raven was having a blast. Knowing and understanding what was coming made her even more excited, the mating ceremony and her mating to Conner. The one man she has loved for what seems like her entire life. Hearing her name being called, Raven scanned all the tables looking for who called her. Seeing her Gma and Aunt Celeste waving at her, full smiles on their faces, she knew who it was.

  Walking over to her family, she noticed a large portion of the pack walking with them. Leaning towards Conner and lowering her voice, “What’s going on? I am just walking over to my fam...what is all that?”

  Lifting their joined hands and kissing the back of her hand, “What kind of birthday would this be without gifts? Come on my love, it looks like Jack is about to have a stroke from excitement. I wonder what she’s up to?”

  Leaning against Conner’s shoulder and whispering, “If the heifer embarrasses me, I will get her back at her Ascension in a few months. I swear it.”