I had my three favorite men with me, and the feelings within me warred with each other. I missed my brother and now Davis, but I also had so much to be thankful for. I fought with the guilt of feeling too happy. Augie said my brother Cord would have kicked my ass if he could for having those thoughts. He’d want me to be happy. I knew that, but it didn’t lessen the guilt.
We were the first to arrive at the burial, soon joined by Rick, Sam, Tommy, and a few other members from their training team who had worked directly with Davis on an almost daily basis. Edmund, who had spoken at my brother’s burial, was the last to arrive.
After his speech, we all helped lower the casket into the ground. Once it was settled, we each got a shovel and began to bury him. That was Davis’s most important request, that we each had a hand in the actual burial.
Tears streamed down my face as I did so, but I also fought back a smile, because I knew this was Davis’s way of making us work even when he was no longer with us. He always enjoyed pushing people and now was no different.
Once we were done, we headed back to the house to clean up before the reception. I took a shower in my room to wash off the dirt, then changed into new clothes and met the guys back downstairs.
Liam, Caleb, and Augie were laughing over something. Aiden and my dad were off to the side, having what was probably a more adult conversation than the other three were having.
I stood at the edge of the living room and took in the sight. I may have lost a lot recently, but I was slowly figuring out how to be okay without my brother and realizing how lucky I was that I gained Liam in the process.
He could never replace the hole Cord’s death had left in my life, but he had helped heal my heart in a way I hadn’t expected. I loved him, and he loved me. I never realized how powerful an emotion it was until now. I just needed to make sure that nobody was going to take that away from me anytime soon. Tomorrow, we would get back to the mission and remind Declan we hadn’t forgotten about him. Not even close.
The following day, my dad called a meeting with us and the witches. He wanted a full update, so he could plan our next course of action. I was just as eager as he was, but I was glad he had been the one to hold the meeting. I was equally excited that he was back to being in charge. I still had a lot to learn from him, and it felt right having him here, leading us all again.
My dad stood at the head of the table glancing around at each of us. His intimidation game was on point today; even I wiggled a bit in my seat at his intensity. I sat closest to him with Liam and his brothers next to me. Augie sat opposite of me with Zarai and Lex next to him. We were an interesting mix of beings.
“Here is what I’ve surmised from the little each of you have told me. Please correct me if I’m wrong,” my dad began. “Declan is working with a sorceress named Jaye who is known by our witch friends here. She’s been turning humans to create a wolf army for Declan, so they can take over the shifter territories and do god-knows-what from there. Zarai and her people are here only to save the turned humans that were rescued and then capture Jaye. After that, we’re left to deal with our kind on our own, correct?” Zarai nodded. “So, where are we with the humans and stopping Jaye?”
“The three sisters we brought with us have almost finished with the reversal spell for the humans. Once we have it, we ask that you bring the humans here. They will return the humans to their natural state in batches of three to five. They may need a day or two between each spell as the process will take more energy to counteract than they’re used to expending. I promised my witches they would not be overwhelmed. We will also be wiping the human’s memories, so there will be no recollection of us, your shifters, or their time with Declan. They will only remember the night they were taken; everything else will be a blur. It will be up to your shifters to get them back to their hometowns before they wake.”
Dad nodded. “We can do that. We’ll send teams out to bring the humans back. Taya, I’d like you to take point on that.” I gave a brief nod as he continued without skipping a beat. “What about tracking Jaye?”
“Jaye is a powerful sorceress. She has managed to keep herself off our radar for longer than we care to admit. She made a mistake, though, and it will help us. We are waiting on one of our sisters to bring us her blood and then we should be able to track her.”
“Her blood?” I asked. “You just have some lying around?”
Zarai glanced down at Augie. “No, but when this one mentioned he tore half her arm off, I doubted Jaye had gone back to clean up the mess. She may be powerful, but she’s careless and cocky. We sent one of our witches there yesterday after Augie mentioned it. They reported back with positive findings and should be arriving here this evening. We will need some time to rest after the soul exchange, but we hope to have their location pinned down within the week.”
“I’ll talk to Jamie and see if there is anything else she can remember to help narrow down the search field,” Caleb added. Jamie had been extremely helpful in tracking them down before, so it couldn’t hurt to try again.
“So, for now, we wait. Let’s meet again this weekend for updates unless you find something concrete sooner,” my dad said, then most everyone dispersed from the room.
Unfortunately, until we found Declan and Jaye again, there wasn’t much for us to do besides get the humans back to their homes where they belonged, safe and sound. My gut was telling me that wasn’t going to be as easy as it sounded, though. My guard wasn’t coming down anytime soon.
Chapter 10
I decided now was as good a time as any to collect the first batch. I didn’t want to waste any time once the witches were ready. Having a handful of the turned humans at our pack now that some things had settled sounded like a good idea.
“Since the witches are almost done with the reversal spell, how does a road trip sound?” I asked Liam when it was just the two of us. “I don’t want to sit around and do nothing.”
“We could look for a place for us to live…” Liam suggested with a smirk.
“I promise that will happen soon, but not yet. I just got my dad back. I don’t want to send him to an early grave with that news.”
“I get it. Just an idea to think about.”
Oh, I’d definitely thought about it. My hormones were dying for a release and that wouldn’t happen until we had some privacy.
Liam continued, “A road trip sounds like fun. I’d like to see more of your territory now that I’m staying. My brothers will probably want to come, too.”
“Not a bad idea to have a few extras with us anyway, just in case. We have no idea where Declan is, so we can’t be too safe at this point.”
“Let’s do it. We can check in with the others and take off this afternoon if you want. Probably better to get the group furthest away. How far would that be?” Liam asked.
“Just a few hours. We’d be there and back before dark.”
Once we had the plan sorted out, we went in search of my dad and Augie. They couldn’t have gotten far since the meeting ended.
We found them in the first place we looked, holed up in my dad’s office. Augie’s smile while my dad was explaining how the protection rotations and trainings worked made my heart happy. He may be a book nerd on the inside, but I knew he was more than capable of helping to keep our pack safe and I was glad Davis had seen that in Augie as well.
“Hey,” I said from the doorway. “Mind if we interrupt?”
“Not at all. Did we forget something during the meeting?” Dad asked.
I repeated what Liam and I had discussed, and my dad nodded in agreement. “Bringing a few back early isn’t a bad idea. I’ve heard from Joseph’s pack from outside Hood River. One of the humans there has been giving them some grief. Let’s start with them.”
I nodded. It was second furthest so still went with our original plan. “Mind if we bring some others along just in case we run into trouble?”
“Good idea,” Augie said. “Why don’t you take Rick and Sam?”
“Probably just one or the other,” I said. “Caleb and Aiden will likely be joining us as well.”
“Ask Rick first. He needs to get out of here and get his mind on something else. Losing Davis has been hard on him. They were like family,” Dad said. “I checked in with him last night after dinner, but he wasn’t ready to talk.”
“Got it. I’ll check in with you guys when we get back.”
“Keep her safe, Liam,” Dad called out as we turned away from the office.
Liam leaned his head back in the doorway. “Always.”
I heard the snicker from Augie, followed by a thump. My dad likely smacked him upside the head, and I smiled, wishing I could have seen it.
We went out to the training facility and found Rick taking his aggressions out on one of the punching bags. His face was beet red and his ebony hair was plastered to his face from sweat.
Liam and I approached slowly and arched around to the front of the punching bag, so we wouldn’t surprise him. Rick threw a few more punches after he saw us, but finally dropped his arms.
“What’s going on?” he asked, out of breath.
“Came to see if you wanted to join us on a run to Hood River. We need to go pick up the humans from Joseph’s pack,” I said.
“Yeah, I can do that. Let me clean up first.”
“Meet us by the SUV when you’re ready and we’ll head out,” Liam said.
Rick nodded, and we left him be. I peeked back before we exited the building to see him walk toward the shower area. His shoulders were tight with tension and his stride stiff. Hopefully, a few hours with us would help ease him some.
“Let’s go get your brothers,” I suggested. “Make sure to warn Caleb to behave himself with Rick. We don’t need him to be pushing buttons right now.”
Liam agreed. When we arrived back at the pack house, we found Aiden downstairs on his laptop, but Caleb wasn’t with him.
“Where’s Caleb?” Liam asked.
“Off with Jamie,” Aiden grumbled. “They went on a hike or something. I only paid partial attention to their conversation. Pretty sure I heard him call her ‘mate’. He’s going soft on us like you did.” Aiden nodded to Liam. “It’s annoying.”
I couldn’t help the laugh that slipped out. “I promise you, Liam is anything but soft.”
“TMI, Taya.” Aiden rolled his eyes. “What did you need?”
“We need to head up north and get some of the humans for the witches to work their voodoo on,” Liam said. “Figured you guys would want to go.”
“I’m in. I’ll leave a note for Caleb in our room. Let me put my laptop up and do that.”
We waited on the couch for a few minutes before Aiden appeared back downstairs. “Let’s go.”
“Going a little stir crazy in the house?” I joked.
“Just slightly.”
I patted him on the back. “You can have Liam and Caleb all to yourself tomorrow. I’ll hang out with Jamie, so you boys can go do whatever it is you do when you’re bored.”
“I just decided to officially stay here with you and you’re already trying to get rid of me.” Liam pouted. “That hurts, woman.”
“You’ll get over it,” I teased as we walked out the door.
When we arrived back outside and to the SUV we’d be taking, Rick was already waiting for us. He was showered and changed, but the haunted look was still clear as day on his face. Once he saw us, he slid into the very back row. Aiden hopped in the driver’s seat, while Liam took passenger and I had the middle to myself.
I stretched out my legs across the seat and smiled at Rick, but he ignored me and stared out the window. Instead of pushing him before he was ready, I gave Aiden the address of the other pack, then pulled some earbuds out of the bag I had brought. I plugged them into my phone and turned on some music. The night before was finally catching up to me and a nap sounded fantastic. I leaned my head back against the window and closed my eyes.
Sometime later, I heard Liam and Aiden arguing. I opened my eyes and found we were in the middle of a raging storm. Oregon was known for its summer storms and it looked as though this one was going to be fierce. Sleet pounded on the roof of the SUV, making it hard to hear anything, and the rain was coming down so thick and fast, I could only see a few feet in front of us.
“Where are we?” I yelled over the rain.
“We don’t know,” Liam answered. “Storm is messing with the GPS. We have to pull over.”
I nodded and watched as Aiden maneuvered us through the heavy winds.
I glanced back at Rick. “Glad you came with us?”
“Never a dull moment when you’re around,” he replied with a small smile.
Well, that was more than we got from him earlier. Progress in any size was good, in my opinion. I went back to watching out the window. We were in the middle of nowhere, but Aiden managed to get us off the highway and to a closed-down truck stop. We pulled under an awning where the truckers would have parked and could finally see out the windows more than a few feet.
No lights were on and no other vehicles were in the parking lot. We were the only crazies out there in the storm. I should have checked the weather before we left. Even though it was the middle of the afternoon, the storm blocked out the sun and it felt like early evening.
“Well, I guess we just sit here and wait out the storm,” I said to no one in particular.
“Agreed. I’m not driving in that rain if I don’t have to,” Aiden replied.
Typically, storms like the one we were experiencing passed through within an hour or less. I kept my fingers crossed this time would be no different and that the awning above us held. I could hear it creaking under the pressure of the storm and wondered if taking cover beneath it was such a great idea.
“Mind if I get out and stretch my legs?” Rick asked.
“Not at all. Just be careful out there and don’t go too far.” I moved over so the seat could fold down and let him out.
“How long did we have left before the GPS went out?” I asked.
“About an hour,” Liam answered.
We wouldn’t be home before dark now, but that was okay. It wouldn’t be the first time things didn’t work out the way we planned. I pulled my phone out to call my dad and let him know, but there was no service. Damn it. We’d have to use a phone when we got to the Hood River pack.
Another ten minutes passed, and Rick wasn’t back yet, but the rain was letting up. I was getting worried, so I asked Liam to go look for him.
“Sure, I’ll be right back.”
I reached in the back seat and handed him a flashlight. “Here, take this. Visibility still isn’t great out there.”
“Thanks.” He took the flashlight and hopped out of the SUV.
I watched the light bounce around as he jogged out into the rain to look for Rick. I began tapping my fingers on the window as I waited for some sign Liam was headed back this way, preferably with Rick right behind him.
“He’s a big boy. You don’t need to worry about him,” Aiden said.
“I know, but that doesn’t mean I won’t.”
He huffed. “And this is why I’m content without a mate.”
“Oh, Aiden. We’ll soften your broody heart one of these days.”
He grunted at me, but didn’t say anything more. I went back to staring out the window until I finally saw Liam coming our way. Relief ran through me until I noticed the large form in his arms.
“He needs help,” I said urgently as I swung the door open. I ran toward Liam with Aiden right behind me. Rick hung limp in his arms with a gash on his head. “What happened?”
“I don’t know. I found him at the edge of the awning, laying on the ground. There was a rock next to him with some blood, but the rain washed a lot of it away. I couldn’t tell if he fell and landed on it or if someone hit him. Let’s get him in the back.”
I jogged ahead and opened the back door again while Aiden helped Liam slide Rick inside. He was soaking wet and co
mpletely knocked out. The cut on his head was bloody and messy. Liam took his shirt off, since it was already ruined, and pressed it to the wound.
Aiden went around the back and grabbed his bag from the trunk. He pulled out a medical kit, and we both began cleaning Rick up while Liam got a new shirt and cleaned up.
Once the cut was bandaged, Aiden used a smelling salt capsule to wake him up. Rick came to with a jolt, jerking his head from side to side. “What happened?” he asked.
“We wanted to ask you the same thing,” I said. “Liam found you knocked out, lying in the rain. You don’t remember?”
Rick shook his head and grimaced. “No, I must have slipped. I never saw anyone out there.”
“Well, whatever happened, you’re okay now. If someone did hurt you, we would have a hell of a time tracking them in this weather. The storm’s let up a little, so visibility is good enough to drive in, but any tracks are long washed away. Let’s just get on the road,” Aiden said.
Aiden was right. If it had been one of Declan’s guys or someone we needed to worry about, they wouldn’t have left Rick alive. I was leaning toward the assumption of him slipping.
I crawled in the very back, so Rick didn’t have to move, even though he was probably already halfway healed. Liam surprised me by joining me in the back as Aiden hopped into the driver’s seat and we took off again.
The weather cleared as we drove further north. We must have driven right into the storm and hit the worst of it. Within twenty minutes, there were blue skies for miles. Typical Oregon weather.
We arrived outside Hood River and were welcome by the pack alpha Joseph. “I was getting worried about you guys. I thought you’d be here a while ago.”
“We got caught up in a storm and had to wait it out,” Liam said as he shook the alpha’s hand. “I’m Liam. This is my brother Aiden. I’m sure you know Taya and Rick.”
“Nice to meet you and yes, how are you doing, Taya? I heard your dad woke up.”
Shades of Magic (Raven Point Pack Trilogy Book 2) Page 7