Freya's Founding: Book 2 of the Winging It Series

by Sonja Bair

  “Maybe, but I don’t know for sure. He didn’t say anything specific that would point to him knowing, but I got a feeling he knew there was more to the story than what the media portrayed.”

  “Stay away from him. I don’t like the sounds of him.”

  I chuckled under my breath. Alrik didn’t have to tell me that twice, or even once for that matter. I would try to avoid that guy like the devil. San Luis Obispo was a large enough city that more random encounters would be highly unlikely.

  Chapter 14

  The stiff tags on the collar of my new blue cotton blouse scraped nonstop at my neck, and the side seams were unbearably itchy—I shouldn’t have bought a new outfit for the wine and cheese reception. The confidence of new clothes was vastly offset by the irritations not discovered in the store’s dressing room. Perhaps it was because my stress level then was nothing like it was presently, causing every little annoyance to be amplified past reason. But now, on the Friday that would start the weekend conference, standing at the entrance of the outdoor meeting area at Wolff Vineyard, I could hardly stand my new clothes. David and I had showed up right after school ended to make sure all the details were covered, but the staff had been very professional in attending to every matter, and so now we had nothing to do besides wait and try not to panic.

  We had been very upfront with the Alphas—the Elders were here to intrude on werewolf business. Of course, this was not something they wanted to hear, but after their initial ranting and raving, we tried to spin it in the best way possible. They had one of the most powerful supernatural species coming, and this group had highly vested interests in making sure werewolf problems were solved. I’d say our spin efforts increased their goodwill into at least single-digit approval ratings. Werewolves are grumpy beasts.

  Regardless of whether they were wanted, the four Elders had arrived in SLO earlier in the day. Alrik had picked them up at the airport, got them set with rental cars and their hotel, and left them with a couple of bottles of local wine. I sincerely hoped that they would drink a bottle or two before this meeting to reduce some of their stiffness. Elders were rigid beasts.

  “Here come the Maine Alphas,” David said, motioning down the dirt road leading to the winery.

  “Okay. Let’s do this,” I said, squaring my shoulders. David and I had talked through the list of every werewolf coming, and their personality. He hadn’t met all the Alphas before, but knew the personalities through reputation. The Maine werewolves were some of the most hostile, so I was glad to get the introduction over with as few people around as possible.

  Their Cadillac Escalade slid into the parking lot followed by a cloud of dust and spitting pebbles. All four doors popped open at the same time, followed by four neatly dressed, well-muscled people. The coordination between them was creepy; it was as if they had rehearsed a synchronized arrival. I pushed my nerves away and stepped up to greet them.

  “Hello. Thank you for coming,” I said with a smile. “Welcome to San Luis Obispo. I’m Freya Holm.” I looked to the couple leading the way up the sidewalk, their serious eyes and aggressive set of their shoulders revealing their Alpha status.

  “Freya Holm, why the hell do you think you could be an Alpha?” Carole, the female Alpha, growled at me.

  Okay, I guess we aren’t going for pleasantries, I thought. I took a deep breath and replied, “I never thought I could be an Alpha. I never wanted to be an Alpha. I don’t want to be an Alpha. But for some reason, I am an Alpha and I take that role very seriously.” Looking into her eyes, I tried to show the sincerity I felt. We stared at each other for a moment. Her glare was intense with malice but I didn’t drop my eyes, determined to not back down in this contest of wills. As the seconds drew on, a bead of sweat gathered at the back of my neck, then slowly dripped down my spine, but I still didn’t blink.

  A harsh, earsplitting screech ripped into the silence. As unexpectedly as it started, the scream stopped, echoing off the nearby foothills. Both Alphas whipped around to face the person standing behind them.

  “Jerry! Control yourself,” said the male Alpha, grasping him by the shoulders.

  Horror rising, I caught a glimpse of Jerry, the source of the scream. Fur was sprouting from his neck and I could see his incisors lengthening and sharpening in his drooping mouth. His eyes were unfocused and rolled skyward.

  Carole grabbed two handfuls of Jerry’s hair and pivoted his face to hers. “Come back, Jerry. Your Alphas demand you come back.” By the look of Carole’s clenched muscles, Jerry’s hair was in imminent danger of being ripped out of his head. But perhaps because of that pain or maybe the sheer will of his Alphas, Jerry’s eyes began to refocus. His whole body started shaking furiously, the fur disappeared from his neck, and his knees buckled. Carole let go of his hair and he collapsed into a pile on the ground. Carole caught her mate’s eyes and a whole conversation went back and forth in that single moment of eye contact.

  Turning back to David and me, she said, “Now you have seen our main problem.” She sighed. “Frankly, right now I wouldn’t care if the newest Alpha was a goldfish, if that goldfish could solve this problem. We had to bring Jerry and drive all the way across the country since he is so close to losing it. Tasha isn’t as bad, but we didn’t want to leave her in Maine, either.” She motioned to the young woman standing a couple of feet behind her. Tasha was trembling as she stared down at Jerry, a look of panic only barely controlled, crossed her face.

  “Henry and I have had to kill two of our packmates. This is the real reason why we came to the meeting.”

  David stepped forward and lightly placed a hand on Carole’s shoulder. “And we will do everything we can to figure out what is happening. Does Jerry need anything?”

  Henry shook his head. “He will recover soon. Tasha will stay with him.”

  “Then come inside and have a glass of wine. We can start brainstorming suggestions even now.”

  Jerry did recover within a few minutes and slipped back into the room. He grabbed a glass of wine but didn’t join the conversation; instead, he huddled in a corner with Tasha, looking shell-shocked. The other Alphas arrived in short order. Each Alpha couple had also brought two other werewolves, bringing the total number of weres to twenty-four. It wasn’t clear if the non-Alphas were all suffering from breakdowns like Jerry and Tasha, or if they were merely support staff. Either way, I tried not to be intimidated by the number of dangerous supernaturals in the room. Wineglass in hand, I moved from group to group, refusing to let the icy reception stop my mingling. The friendliest werewolves by far were David’s old packmates from Santa Fe. They only frowned at me but didn’t make offensive remarks, like everyone else.

  The biggest surprise was Rex, Gina’s twin brother. Before he was introduced, I recognized him—he had the same dark hair and round face as his sister. But where Gina was reserved and cautious, her brother appeared to be the opposite. As soon as he walked into the room, he was patting backs and shaking hands; he even grabbed a wine glass from the bar. Nobody else seemed to care that a very underaged kid was drinking so, although it grated on me, I let it go. When he worked his way around to me and I introduced myself, his confident, nonchalant demeanor slipped a notch and I could read sadness in the creases around his eyes. I wondered if he was going to mention Gina and he seemed on the brink of saying something, but stopped short and reverted back to small talk. Deciding to let him off the hook, I dropped her name into the conversation without any preamble.

  “Gina is okay,” I said. “It was a challenging transition and she really misses her family, but she’s doing much better now.”

  Rex opened his mouth, then closed it. Then tried again without success.

  “I don’t know where your relationship stands right now, but I know that Gina still loves you. She would appreciate you stopping in and seeing her sometime.”

  His head and shoulders slumping down, Rex seemed to deflate before my eyes. There was silence for a moment and then he mumbled so quietly, I had a har
d time catching what he said. “I miss her too. It was crap what happened to her.”

  “Will you see her while you are here?”

  “Yeah. Maybe. I don’t know,” he said almost inaudibly.

  “Let me know if I can arrange it.”

  “Maybe,” he repeated, turning on his heel. He walked back to his parents and started talking animatedly with them. At first, I was concerned that Rex had repeated what I said to Julia and Amir, but they didn’t turn my way or look angry, so perhaps not.

  David and I had purposely planned the meeting so the werewolves would have time by themselves before the Elders showed up. After the about a half an hour of mingling, David motioned everyone to have a seat.

  “I want to thank everyone for coming,” he began. “We are facing a time unlike any we have encountered before, but I have unwavering faith in our abilities to beat this. The werewolf culture is long and storied and we have often faced persecution and misunderstanding, yet each time, we have overcome the problem. This time will be no different. The trouble affecting us right now is striking at the core of who we are, so we will solve this problem by using the strengths of who we are. In this room, we have many strong, capable leaders who represent strong, capable packs. Together, using this combined wisdom, we will prevail.”

  David’s words permeated the room. Just as had happened at the train station, his voice gained a physical power. But this time, instead of him controlling all the authority, I felt the power of each person rise and connect with others throughout the room. It was unlike anything I had felt before. All Alva belong to the Flock, and we all cooperate and work together for harmony, but we remain individuals. Now I was experiencing something greater. I could feel myself lose some individuality, some sense of self, but in return, I felt the combined strength of all those around me. It was similar to the pack initiation ceremony, but much more intense and much more potent.

  Intoxicated by this new feeling of more, it took me several moments to realize that nearly every werewolf in the room was staring intensely at me. Some faces looked pleased, some looked downright hostile, but most of all, everyone looked shocked. I glanced up at David at the front of the room, but he was the only one not staring at me. His eyes flicked from person to person as if he were mentally taking tally of reactions. After a quick scan of the room, he spoke again.

  “We have many talents in this group, some old and some new, but by working together and utilizing all our skills, we will overcome.” Motioning to the Denver contingent, he drew most people’s attention away from me. “And now I would like to invite Amir and Julia to direct the meeting, as they were the ones to call this assembly together.”

  Julia still stared at me, speculation in her eyes, but Amir nudged her to the front of the room. As they approached the front, David moved toward me and took a seat. I desperately wanted to grill him about what had just happened, but I had been raised better than to whisper while others were talking. Dredging up what little patience I possessed, I pushed the questions away and tried to focus on Amir. He jumped right into the situation without any introductory pleasantries. The situation he described was dire. Werewolf packs usually consist of thirty to forty pack members and all naturals associated with them. Contrary to the legends, werewolves were born, not made, and therefore, family ties run strong through the pack. But the werewolves having these breakdowns did not follow family lines. Neither did there appear to be a connection between pack statuses—both high-ranking and lower-ranking weres had suffered. This malady had not affected any other region of werewolves besides America, and the packs located in the motherland of Southern Europe could not provide any historical precedent. Every pack, besides the newly formed and tiny SLO pack, had several werewolves who lost their humanity to the point where they needed to be killed for the safety of those around them. A handful more werewolves in a few packs had started to display symptoms. Amir finished talking by appealing to everyone that this was a problem that must be solved, no matter the cost or nontraditional methods. He made eye contact with me as he said this. My heartbeat tripled. I could take what he had said as a threat or as a gauntlet thrown down for me to prove my usefulness. Either way, I was screwed. I had no idea what to do.

  Julia, who had been standing motionless next to Amir, her gaze distant, snapped to attention, focusing on the back of the room. Along with every werewolf, I jerked my head around to see what had caused her reaction. Four Elders had slipped quietly into the room and were standing blank-faced while surveying the gathering. They had arrived way before they were scheduled and appeared unapologetic for the intrusion.

  At that moment, I simultaneously wanted to crawl under the table, go kick the Elders in the shins, and give every single one of them a hug. One of these Elders may have been the one that saved my mom’s life, but this wasn’t the time or place for their intrusion. This pre-dinner meeting was supposed to be the time where werewolves could let down their guard, mourn their losses, and try to regroup. But now, in the very beginning of the conference, they had admitted to weakness and therefore lost face in front of another very powerful supernatural species. Where was Alrik? He could usually be counted on as being a voice of reason. But he wasn’t here, so that left me to be a voice of reason right now. Oh God, help us all.

  I stood abruptly, almost knocking over my chair. “May I introduce some of the Elders from the Alva, based in Sweden? They arrived in San Luis Obispo only yesterday. Like werewolves, Alva have a long history including facing troubles which have threatened the Flock’s existence.” I didn’t know if that was actually true, but it didn’t hurt to throw it in. “They have come to offer assistance in any way they can. First let me introduce Viktor Ingersson, who is currently the longest-serving Elder. His family originally came from Gotland Island in the Baltic Sea, and his paternal grandmother was also an Elder. Viktor is a financier by trade. He has three grown sons, two of whom are also Alva.” After introducing the other Elders, I turned back to werewolves—scowls everywhere I looked. They didn’t trust the Elders’ intentions. Neither did I.

  I continued, “I have often found that the first step to a successful partnership is to develop an understanding. Therefore, the Elders have been asked to share some of the Flock’s prior problems and ways they have approached and solved these problems. Perhaps previous Alva tribulations can spur ideas on how to solve the current werewolf trouble.”

  Feeling my cheeks flame red, I sat back down. Although the Elders had donned the usual Nordic stoic demeanor, I read disapproval and anger in their glances my way. We had never planned on having the Elders share past Alva problems, nor were they used to being told what to do by a young upstart. But they were the ones who changed the plans, so they had to deal with the consequences. My consequences.

  David placed a hand on my leg, which I realized was trembling. Patting his hand absently, I carefully watched the Elders as they reluctantly made their way to the front.

  “So Viktor,” said Julia after the Elders were facing the room, “tell us about Alva problems.”

  “And how you solved them,” I added, practically stumbling over my words.

  Viktor looked around, making eye contact with many of the werewolves before he spoke. His eyes lingered the longest on Jerry. The werewolves were acting perfectly normal at the moment, but a look of speculation grew in Viktor’s eyes. Jerry shifted nervously in his seat, causing Viktor to smile, then turn back to the rest of the tables.

  “Alva have long been a powerful species,” he said. “But perhaps I can share our origin story and how we overcame our troubles in a bloody but glorious slaughter of our enemies.” I felt all the blood drain from my face—this was not going well. Viktor caught my glance and smirked slightly. “This, however, is a tale that is best saved for sitting in front of a roaring fire on long, cold Scandinavian nights. Today, I shall tell you of a more recent story. A story of how one Alva moved far from the Flock for supposedly good reasons, but reasons which her Elders did not understand. She ma
de contact with different supernaturals and started to make friends among these others. Some of the Flock did not like her actions and started to cause her trouble. These Alva thought that the best way to maintain our power was to stay above the problems of those lesser beings. So she was ordered to stop and come back home. But she didn’t listen. Instead, she tried to build a coalition between these other supernaturals and the Alva. Most Alva did not believe such action would be for the benefit of the Flock and opposed the coalition, but she persisted even after being told to stop, frustrating and angering her Elders.”

  Although I kept my back straight, inside I felt about two inches tall. It had been a long time since I had gotten a public scolding. Viktor cleared his throat and continued. “This woman’s name is Alma Holm, and she is Freya’s mother. She was a driving force in creating the Union of Supernaturals and has demonstrated the wisdom of her actions many times in the last few decades. The Elders who told her to stop and return home were wrong, although for many, it is still hard to admit. Or at least it is hard for me to admit I was wrong.”

  He smiled at me again, but this time with warmth and I grew slightly. If the public scolding-turned-vindication was for my mother, then perhaps I too would be vindicated.

  “I pride myself on not making the same mistake twice,” continued Viktor, “and so when Alma’s daughter pushed for interspecies cooperation, I listened. Many of the Elders do not wish to involve ourselves in others’ problems unless it was with clear and immediate benefit for the Alva. Or they say that we should use the advantage of another’s weakness to increase our own power.” Here Viktor paused and moved his gaze to the other Elders at the back of the room. His face and tone were absolutely neutral, as if he were merely reading a script, but everyone in the room, Elder and Alpha alike, shifted uneasily. He continued, seemingly oblivious to the hostility steadily growing around him.