by Niki Trento
“I will go over the plan at the meeting. I welcome any or all of you to speak your mind in front of the pack. If you have questions, opinions...please, anything may help us.”
Barin, everyone is here.
“Donovan just let me know the pack is ready for us. Shall we?”
We rejoin the pack in the living room.
Kathleen sits on the floor with an ottoman pulled up in front of her. Scattered around her are tomes, journals, and papers. Donovan sits behind her on a couch, flanked by Axel and Rock.
My parents sit on another couch with Zeke while Celeste and her parents take another couch. I am feeling thankful not only for my pack and family, but for the good sense Donovan and I had in building this room as large as we did.
“Thank you all for getting here as quickly as you did. First, I want to officially announce that Celeste has accepted me as her mate.”
The pack celebrates that with hollers and clapping.
I raise a hand to silence them after a moment. “Her parents,” I motion to where they are sitting, “Robert and Glenda have given their blessings and their help with what I brought all of you here for. Pandora gave some information to Celeste that we weren't aware of. She believes that Kane has the ability to block abilities...or to manipulate them to what he wants others to see.”
“For example Pandora can read auras, so Kane would make her see positive instead of negative intent. She believes that if more than one shifter with an ability to read all focus on him at once that Kane won't be able to block them all. We would like for any and all shifters to be there when I go to Kane next. He doesn’t know the extent of everyone’s gifts, therefore we may actually get the truth out of him.
“For those of you who don’t know, Kane made a comment that has led us to believe that he may be working with the elves. There is a lot we don’t know about the elves, about Kane, and how the two are connected, if at all. The floor is open for questions or ideas.” I move to sit on the arm of the chair that Celeste is perched on.
“Pandora, how did you figure out he could project himself? Do you think it has something to do with the elves, too?” Kathleen asks, pen poised to write down the response.
“When I first met Kane, his aura was troubled, but that was obvious to all of us. He was angry a lot. Then after a while he was reading more… content than angry. Again, we could all see that he hadn’t been nearly as angry, so it all coincided. When he started showing an interest in me as more than just a fellow pack mate, his aura didn’t show any anger, just love, and happiness.” Her foot starts twitching, gaining speed the longer she talks.
“My gift to read auras is fairly new. There are a lot of colors, shapes, and patterns to learn. When he was alienating me from the rest of you--not letting me play as wolves with you, or hunt with you, I knew something was wrong. I started doing research whenever I could get away from him. That is when I learned about the colors an aura would be if the person was truly in love. Kane’s aura was mostly fake.” Pandora’s face looks like it is about to crumple, but she steels herself and carries on. “The best way I can describe that to you is that if you were to see a rainbow, the colors blend into the next, that is how the colors of your aura blend.” She shakes her head as if she were in wolf form. It almost looks like a deep chill has run through her whole body.
“The colors of Kane’s aura didn’t blend as smoothly. At first, I ignored it thinking it was because the feelings were about me. He was mad at me almost all the time, yet his aura was always the same. I knew he was making me see what he thought I wanted to see. Only, he had no real idea what auras were supposed to look like. The colors he put out were too bold. That was when I started to really be afraid of him.” Pandora wipes at her eyes.
“It has been a few months since you and Kane started—dating? Do you know if he had been up to the cave?” Kathleen takes control of the questions as she takes notes in her journal.
“We went up there once, sniffing around after a rabbit. The cave smelled off and I refused to go inside. Kane took a few steps in but came right back out. I don’t know if he ever went back in again.”
Axel could probably look in to see if Kane ever went back to the cave and if so what happened when he did. If the elves got to Kane after he started sniffing around Pandora, then there were some kind of real feelings there first. He could have just been looking for a rut at the beginning. I can’t rule anything out at this point. No matter how I spin it, the only way to know for sure is to get Kane to talk. Trying to arrange a full-on assault without a full-on assault is not the easiest thing to do. But I have to try. Before I can verbalize a plan, Pandora clears her throat slightly before speaking.
“I think that Barin and I should go down to talk to Kane, the others should stay as far back as they can and still use their gifts on Kane. If he thinks he only needs to block me out, then maybe someone else can get in.” Pandora blushes slightly when she realizes she has taken the lead on this.
“Axel, I think you would be better off staying in the background. Your gift can be more intrusive than some of the others, no disrespect to the rest of you. Pandora, you should go. Play it off that you want to talk about what happened between the two of you. Perhaps he will let more of his guard down if he believes you are alone. He definitely won’t talk if he knows I am down there.” I look at Axel, watching as his brows dip down in thought.
“What makes you think he won’t see through that, boss?”
“When I came across him in town, he was mumbling about needing Pandora. I think that he had some kind of feelings for her at some point, but things have gotten cloudy somewhere along the line.”
“Pandy? Are you okay with that plan?” Celeste looks at her friend, concern in her eyes.
Pandora smiles back. “I think so. Getting answers about how he felt about me would help.”
“Okay, now we just need to decide who else needs to come down there.”
“I will go,” Glenda pipes in for the first time.
“Me, too. I can smell fear and lies.” My mother has a knowing grin on her face. It is in that moment that I realize why I never got away with any of my crazy antics growing up.
“All right, great. Axel, Rock, Glenda, and Mom, you will all be down there. Kathleen, you should come down, too, to record whatever you can. I know you would have done it anyway.”
Kathleen smiles and nods. In another life, she would have been a damn good reporter or novelist.
“If anyone else wants to come down, just stay out of sight.”
With that, the meeting breaks up and we head down to Kane.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
Barin
The dungeon, aptly named for the dark and dank rooms below the house, was built over the years. We never imagined having to use a lot of space for prisoners of any sort, but we built it anyway.
Each room, or prison cell, was built large enough for a wolf to pace and the man to be comfortable. The initial intention for these cages was for unruly or young shifters. We wanted to make the first shifts to be as easy as possible.
The cages are separated in distance and by a thick wall so if there were multiple caged shifters, they wouldn’t be able to antagonize each other. That set up made our plan a lot easier. Kane is locked in one of the rooms further from the only exit of the dungeon.
The pack could stay out of sight and seeing as most of us have been down there building, hopefully, he won’t be able to smell us. Again, with Pandora being the only one he sees, his attention will hopefully be focused on her.
Pandora goes down the stairs. She doesn’t go quietly, either. She wants Kane to know she is coming. The rest of us move quietly. We stay back while Pandora moves towards the back of the dungeon. I spread my mindsight to follow Pandora.
“Pandora?” Kane sounds surprised that she would come see him. And, I think, a little hopeful.
“Hi.” Pandora moves into the pool of light from the small hanging light outside of his cage.
“W
hat are you doing down here?”
“I wanted to talk to you. About us.”
“Us? You want to talk to me about us? You left me! You chose that sniveling bastard Barin over me!”
“You scared me, Kane! You pushed me away! What was I supposed to do? Wait until you beat me into submission?!”
“I wouldn’t have hurt you, Pandora. Not willingly.”
“Not willingly? What in the hell does that mean?”
Kane starts to pace.
Is anyone getting anything? Some of the pack nod.
“Damnit, Kane!! Answer me!”
“I can’t.”
“You can’t? Or you won’t?”
“Can’t.”
“Did you ever have feelings for me, Kane? Or was that some mysterious set of lies, too?”
“Of course I had feelings for you, Pandora.”
“And now?”
“I don’t know if what I am feeling is real anymore.”
“How do you not know? How can you stand there and tell me that?”
Kane stood silently with his back to Pandora, his shoulders hunching. He flinches when she slams her hand against the bars.
“Damnit, Kane! Look at me!”
He turns quickly and launches at her through the cage.
Pandora leaps back out of arm’s reach.
“What?! What do you want me to say?”
We are good here, Pandora. You don’t have to listen to him anymore. I push a little calm along the bond to her.
“Nothing.”
Pandora turns to leave. The first tear traces down her cheek when she knows Kane can’t see her. She moves fast.
The rest of us quickly and quietly go back upstairs. We go back to the living room to compare notes. I doubt Pandora paid much attention to Kane’s aura. She was truly upset over their conversation. I hadn’t realized that she felt so deeply for him.
Celeste takes Pandora’s hand and leads her to a couch. Axel sits on Pandora’s other side and takes her other hand. Donovan brings tissues and a beer for her. Rock has tears in her eyes.
Of all the shifters, Rock is probably the most sensitive due to her empathic abilities. She hides it well, but sometimes the emotions are just too much for her to handle.
The whole pack is watching Pandora with concern and sympathy. It doesn’t take an empath to feel the pain she is in.
I feel like an ass for sending her down that road.
Pandora looks up at me, her bottom lip trembling slightly. “I’m sorry, Barin. I should have kept my cool down there, but I just—those feelings came rushing over me so quickly. I thought I was ready to face him.”
“I shouldn’t have asked you to play decoy.”
“It needed to be done. For more reasons than for my curiosity. I hope it was long enough to get the information you were hoping for.”
I go to her and put my hand on the top of her head, pushing my power over her to help calm her nerves. Her eyes close and the tears slow.
While Pandora and I speak, Kathleen sets up a recorder and opens her journal. She is preparing to get everyone’s testimonies.
Pandora smiles at me and bows her head in thanks. She puts the bottle of beer up to her lips. Tips it back.
I looked at Glenda first. “Glenda, what were you able to tell about Kane?”
I knew Axel would have gotten more in-depth if he was able to get anything so I wanted to save him for last. I also knew it would take him a few minutes to meditate before he could tell us anyway.
“He is conflicted. He is starving for the truth, just as much as we are.” She nods, then shakes her head. “But there is more to it than that, I just can’t put my finger on it.”
“Did you happen to sense any regret or sorrow?” I ask, thinking maybe I can get that other feeling to grab hold of her.
“Maybe? Let me get some air, sometimes that helps to clear the mind.” Glenda moves to the open window.
“What about you, mom?” I am trying my hardest to be calm, like a proper alpha. Everyone has been on edge with everything going on, now is not the time for me to freak.
“He was being honest with Pandora. Even about him not knowing if his feelings were real.” My mother speaks with surety and compassion. Her head high, back straight.
“His aura kept skipping around. I couldn’t focus too much on it to nail down any one thing, but it kept changing. Almost like it was glitching.” Pandora’s face scrunches up like she is trying to pinpoint a moving memory.
“Rock?”
“I got the same feeling as the moms did. He was truthful, but definitely hiding something I can’t put my finger on.” Everyone looked at Axel. He is still in his meditative state. Until he was ready, I wouldn’t interrupt him.
“Kathleen, did you get all of that?”
“Uh-huh. Every...word.” Kathleen looks at Axel before speaking again. “Glenda, what do you think about what you read off of Kane?”
“Well, I think that there is definitely something influencing him. I can’t tell what though. If I had to venture a guess, I would think that the elves have gotten to him somehow, for some reason.”
“Boss?” Axel sounds a little distressed.
“Are you okay, Axel?”
“Yeah—yeah I’m fine. I got in deep.” Axel brushes off the concern for his well being.
I think we should let everyone know what you are able to do, Ax. Otherwise, they will question the amount of information you have.
Okay, Boss. Go ahead.
“Before Axel tells us what he found out, I think you all should know exactly what it is that he can do. Before I tell you, I want you all to know that Axel has great control of his gift and even greater respect for all of you.”
The pack looks confused but nods to let me know they understand.
“Axel is a telepath, he can read selective memories at will. It takes a lot out of him, which is why for the past few minutes he has been meditating. The only reason we didn’t tell you all sooner, is that people tend to think they have to constantly guard their minds against him. Axel has never dug through your memories, and won’t unless the need arises. In such cases as Kane.”
“I really don’t like having to root through memories. It is very taxing on me.”
“That’s great, Axel. Much cooler than being an empath!” Rock looks at Axel with a sympathetic look in her eyes. She still doesn’t understand how amazing her gift is.
“Sometimes. Anyway, let me tell you what I found. The time that Kane and Pandora went to the cave, the elves did contact him. They told him to come back alone. He did and that is when they convinced him, for lack of a better word, to work with them. They told him that he would be the new alpha of the pack with Pandora at his side.” Axel turns his gaze to Pandora, reaches a hand out and puts it on top of hers.
“Before that could happen, he needed to help them get to Barin. He had to get Pandora under his control by any means necessary. Kane had to make Pandora believe that he was her true mate. The elves gave him the means to block powers, just like Pandora said. This was to keep their involvement hidden for as long as possible.”
“Luckily for us, we found a way around that. The elves believe they are far superior to shifters in both talent and intelligence. Guess we proved them wrong.” Axel smiles. He accepts a beer from Spencer.
“Does Kane know what they want with Barin?” My mom’s face is covered in worry.
“No. Kane doesn’t know. He asked, but the elves told him it wasn’t any of his concern. As long as Barin was out of Kane’s way of taking over the pack, he didn’t care.”
The room is quiet. Eerily quiet for a room with almost two dozen shifters in it. The scratching of Kathleen’s pen is near deafening. I can tell everyone is thinking about all the information we were just given. What Axel told us confirms the suspicions that my top ranks and I already had.
“Axel, what about his feelings for me? I know the others said he was honest with what he said to me, but why doesn’t he know if what
he felt for me was real?” Pandora looks at her feet, hands wringing together.
“I’m sorry, Pandy.” Axel wraps an arm around Pandora. “The elves brainwashed him to feel what they needed him to. He likes you, but not enough to have made a true or happy mating.”
I can see the shared pain on Axel’s and Pandora’s faces; his for having to tell her the truth and hers for having to hear it.
Celeste pulls Pandora up from the couch and leads her to another room. I wonder if Pandora silently asked for the escape or Celeste was being protective of her friend.
Kathleen looks torn. After a moment of hesitation, she checks to be sure the recorder has enough time on it before following the girls. Rock is right behind her.
My heart breaks for Pandora.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
Celeste
“Pandy, honey, talk to us.” All I can do is rub her back while she sobs into my pillow. I am not sure what is hurting her more; the fact that Kane made her think he loved her and used her, or that he never cared enough for her to begin with.
Pandora sits up, wiping at her face. No matter how much she brushes away, the tears keep coming. She gives up trying to look dignified and speaks through tears and between sobs.
“At first—I really thought Kane loved me. When he started pulling me away from the pack, I wasn’t so sure. I couldn’t help but think that if he loved me so much, he would want me happy.”
“Is that when you started to really study his aura?” I ask.
“Yup. I love—loved Kane. I thought we would be mated and then he wouldn’t be so jealous. But the more he yelled at me, the more I found myself cowering from him, the more I realized he wasn’t my true mate.”
“I don’t get it. If you knew that, and pardon my callousness, but, why are you so heartbroken now?” Kathleen has obviously never been in love, or anywhere close to it, if she doesn’t understand. I feel for her, but I let Pandora speak for herself.
“It’s one thing to come to a realization on your own. But, when your telepathic pack mate not only confirms it, but tells you the bastard never had feelings for you? It’s like a punch to my heart.” Pandora’s breathing hitches as sobs rack her body again.