by Petra Landon
“If you close the door to this room, you’ll be fine in the Pack Room” the Alpha suggested.
“Thanks” Jason acknowledged him. “Coming, Sienna?”
“Yes.” She turned away after a last look at Tasia.
“Come join us after you’re done” Raoul invited them.
“Thank you, we will.” Sienna was prompt to accept the invitation.
As the door swung shut behind them, Raoul turned to Tasia with renewed urgency. He’d always found Sienna’s concern for the witchling a matter of immense curiosity. His gut told him there was something behind it, something that might prove important in the future.
“You’re sure you’ve never met Sienna before?” he asked Tasia once more.
“I’m sure.”
“Hmm.” He glanced at the closed door thoughtfully.
In the Pack Room, Jason directed Sienna to a chair before seating himself. Twenty minutes earlier, Sienna had knocked on his door, almost quivering with suppressed excitement. Conscious of the indiscretion of discussing anything in the Lair, Sienna had mouthed ‘vision’ at him, before taking hold of a sleepy Jason’s arm and attempting to march him up the stairs. Amused and curious, Jason had allowed himself to be herded up to the Pack Room.
“You saw the vision again, Sienna?” he asked.
Sienna had seen this particular vision three times in her life. Unlike most seers, she’d only ever glimpsed one. Nonetheless, it had had a huge impact on her, leading her down a path away from the Wizards; in effect, influencing her to walk away from the illustrious heritage on both sides of her family. Her father, a seer respected throughout the Chosen world for his perspicacious interpretations of his visions, had predicted the Council of Chosen a decade before Faoladh had attempted to form it. Sienna, conscious of her father’s successes as a seer, was extra circumspect because of it.
“No Jason, I didn’t see it again” Sienna said excitedly. “But I dreamt about it. I think my subconscious brought it to the fore, since it’s been on my mind so much the last few weeks.”
“You were able to note some new details this time?” Jason now comprehended the simmering excitement she did not hide from him.
“Yes. It almost felt like my mind was replaying the vision in my dreams. Except this time, I knew what details I needed to pay attention to, so I did. I ignored Tasia’s inquisition and focused on other details. Before, it was always about the mystery of this young girl — who she was, what she was being accused of, and this sort of impatience in me to stand up for her.”
“What did you see?” The chocolate brown eyes she loved so much focused on her to the exclusion of everything else.
Affection, and something stronger, for him surged through Sienna.
“Jason.” She held out her hand to him. “If I haven’t said so before, I’m not sure what I’d have done without you these past few weeks.” Since the day you walked into my shop to bring the past back to my doorstep, she added silently.
“You’re welcome, Sienna. I know these past few weeks have not been easy for you.”
Just promise me that you’ll continue to stay strong, he urged silently. She had become too important to him in such a short time, Jason acknowledged to himself.
“What did you see in your dream?” he asked again, to puncture the sudden fog of unspoken feelings in the air between them. This was more important right now.
“Since meeting Tasia, I’ve had this vague feeling that I’d forgotten something that hinted at her association with the Shifters. But try as I might, I couldn’t remember it.”
Jason nodded. He knew that she’d been preoccupied with this matter for a while now. Sienna’s alarm at the rumors of a tempestuous relationship between Tasia and the Alpha had brought those concerns back to the fore for her.
“Tonight, in my dream, I saw it, Jason. Tasia will have Shifters by her side when she faces the arena” she stated confidently, satisfaction lacing her words. “She won’t lack champions when she needs it the most.”
“You saw the Pack by her side?”
“No one I recognized, Jason.” Sienna was candid but confident. “But knowing what I know about Tasia’s circumstances now, who else could it be? I saw this massive black bear leap down from the stands to join her in the arena. The bear strode forward to place itself as if to shield Tasia from her accusers, aggression pouring from its pores. It was sending a message — they’d have to get through it to get to her. Its presence seemed to signal the other Shifters to flank Tasia in a show of support. At this point, though, my attention was distracted by something else. Those were Shifters, I’m sure. She’ll have them by her side when she needs them the most.”
“Good.” Jason, surprised by the details, was nevertheless happy for her, since he knew the matter had been worrying Sienna.
Though not as knowledgeable as he’d like to be, Jason did know a few things about Shifters. “Bears are very rare beast forms for Shifters, Sienna. Once prolific, bear beasts are almost extinct now, as far as I know. I wonder who that is in your vision.”
“The Alpha, perhaps?” she suggested. “It would make the most sense.”
“Perhaps, but I don’t remember any whispers about Merceau having a rare beast. It’s hard to keep that sort of detail quiet for an Alpha in the public eye.”
“Can we find out if anyone in the Pack has a bear form?” Sienna inquired impetuously. “That bear I saw was absolutely massive — very distinct.”
“That’s a detail a Shifter will rarely reveal to anyone but his intimates.” Jason shook his head. “The Pack will know, of course, but they’ll clam up about it to outsiders. Pack code makes that bit about a Shifter very personal, and that’s information you and I will not be privy to.”
“I’m at peace with what I saw tonight, Jason. That bear could only be a Shifter” Sienna said after a moment’s reflection. A huge weight seemed to be off her chest after her dream tonight. Since the night of the Lair party where she’d first heard the rumors, Sienna had been worried sick that Tasia’s alliance with the Pack might break down. For a while now, she’d believed her destiny was to protect and guard the young Wizard who would one day face the CoC and her brethren’s accusations against her.
“I’m glad, Sienna. Though, I’ve never had any doubts about this.” Jason was unequivocal. The Alpha had bluntly assured him of Tasia’s position in the Pack, and he trusted Raoul Merceau on this. Although Sienna, Jason acknowledged silently, probably needed to see the evidence with her own eyes before she could be at peace on this.
“I think I caught a glimpse of my siblings, Jason” Sienna whispered, a note of awe in her voice. “It’s what distracted me from the other Shifters in the arena defending Tasia.”
A slow smile lit up Jason’s face. The prospect of siblings was a balm to Sienna, constantly confronting the allegations against her mother. The crimes Lady Bethesda was accused of would be hard for most people. For her daughter, they were heart-breaking. Sienna also grappled with the possibility that her mother had played a part in her father’s death, sacrificing her husband in an ambitious quest for power.
“It was a blur” Sienna said excitedly. “A young man and two young women surrounded me. One of them, a girl really, had longish red hair and freckles. The other two had these unusual dark blue eyes. The redhead was leaning over the balcony excitedly to watch the arena below. At one point, she almost toppled over in her eagerness and the three of us leapt for her. I think they’re my siblings, Jason” Sienna whispered in disbelief.
As the two Wizards contemplated each other, their two Chosen brethren in the Alpha’s Room grappled with Tasia’s confession of her nightmares.
“This … what you told me about, is this what you dreamt of tonight before you came up here?” Raoul asked. The experience she had described to him was one of the worst ordeals a Shifter could ever experience, physically, emotionally and psychologically. That this young Wizard was being put through the wringer inexplicably seemed wrong to him on many levels.
Lord knew the witchling had her own demons and secrets to face; she certainly didn’t deserve the additional burden that a Shifter carried around with him every day.
“I don’t know about dreams” Tasia replied matter-of-factly. “This … this is the only nightmare I get.”
“The only one” Raoul exclaimed incredulously.
“Always” she admitted quietly. “It’s the same nightmare — over and over again. It’s been less frequent lately, but it’s still very intense.”
Raoul swore under his breath, gobsmacked anew. The big, expressive eyes that had looked so weary when she had first come to meet him all those months ago had gradually lost some of the shadows under them. He’d assumed that the subtle changes in her had been due to the gradual lessening of the enormous stress she had been under, always on guard and playing a part to hold herself under wraps. Now suddenly, she seemed to be under a different kind of strain. But how on earth had she ended up with nightmares that echoed a Shifter’s worst fears, he wondered.
“When did these nightmares start?” he asked, trying to come to terms with the incongruity of it all.
Tasia sighed softly. “I’ve been giving this a lot of thought, and I’m pretty sure it started when I moved into the Lair.”
“What …” Raoul paused abruptly as the door slid open to let in the two Wizards from the Pack Room.
Dammit, he swore silently. This thing with her needed to be sorted out quickly, if her current state was any indication. The strain was back in her eyes — he’d taken note of it. The whole thing was crazy. He’d never heard of anything like this before. Frustrated by the interruption, he shot Tasia a glance, trying to let her know that he wasn’t walking away from this. He would get to the bottom of this, he promised himself.
“Scotch?” he offered the two visitors graciously, rearranging his expression to its usual impassiveness.
“Don’t mind if I do, thank you” Jason responded as Sienna made her way to the couch beside Tasia.
“The bottom drawer on the left side of the desk has spare glasses. Help yourself.”
“Sienna?” the Alpha offered again.
“I’ll take a sip from Jason, thanks.”
Raoul settled in, keen to observe Sienna with the witchling. There was a mystery here and his gut screamed that it was significant.
“I owe you an apology” Sienna fired the opening salvo at the Alpha.
So, he was not to be allowed to observe her with the witchling, Raoul mused. In that case, two could play this game.
“For gossiping about my love life?” he inquired blandly. As he’d half expected, both women’s faces whipped towards him with identical expressions of astonishment.
Jason, about to plop himself down beside them with his Scotch, merely looked startled. “When were you discussing his love life, Sienna?” he asked curiously.
“On the flight back from Chicago.” It was the Alpha who answered him while Sienna gaped at Raoul.
“You knew?” Sienna gasped, seemingly unfazed by the Alpha’s pointed remarks.
“I always know when someone’s talking about me.” He directed a sharp glance at Tasia’s discomfited expression. “Especially when it involves my personal life.”
Tasia flushed.
“Tasia was an unwitting bystander, Alpha. You mustn’t blame her.” Sienna rushed to Tasia’s defense, at her friend’s obvious discomfiture. “I was the one asking Hawk questions about you.”
“And Hawk was certainly not shy in answering your questions.”
“Yeah.” Sienna grinned. Hawk was more than capable of handling his Alpha’s displeasure on this, she was confident.
“I see.” The Alpha’s voice was even.
Tasia, glad to be out of the firing range, couldn’t help but note that Jason watched the exchange with a lurking smile in his eyes. Times had certainly changed. Not only had the Alpha’s attitude towards the three Wizards he now worked with undergone a change, but Jason’s wariness of the Shifters and their Alpha had gradually been replaced by a level of comfort. Or perhaps the equation between the Alpha and him had developed into one of trust, Tasia mused thoughtfully. She was puzzled by this new amicability that the Alpha showed to her and the two Wizards — something that had been missing in their early interactions.
“Why this interest in my personal life, if I may ask?” the Alpha queried.
“I was curious.” Sienna sent him an impish smile. “You’re quite the enigma.”
There was a moment of silence before the Alpha shook his head with a wry smile. “Try and keep that curiosity in check, Sienna McAlister. And if you find you cannot, come ask me when it gets the better of you.”
“Will do” Sienna responded cheekily, before losing some of her chutzpah. “I owe you an apology on a different matter, though.”
“What matter would that be?”
Sienna took a deep breath, clearly ill at ease. Tasia turned her attention to the other Wizard, her curiosity piqued. She was so rarely ill at ease about anything that her tentativeness caught Tasia’s eye.
“At the Lair party, I heard some rumors of Tasia’s relationship with you breaking down. Jason tried to tell me that they weren’t true, but I wasn’t convinced. He also told me you’d be seriously displeased if either of us asked you about this.”
Tasia shifted uncomfortably in her seat, surprised by Sienna’s interest in the rumors regarding her association with the Alpha.
“Displeased is a bit of an understatement. Jason is right. I’d be seriously pissed by such an inquiry. Tasia’s relationship with me and my Pack is none of your business” the Alpha stated bluntly but with the absence of any rancor.
“My bad.” Sienna was contrite. “Jason asked Duncan about this. I wanted to let you know that he only did it to put my mind at ease.”
“Why do you care about this?” Raoul was hoping to precipitate Sienna into an honest answer about her interest in Tasia.
“I’m fond of Tasia” Sienna responded easily, with a warm glance at the other Wizard. “If Tasia were to lose the friendship of your Pack, then I’d do everything in my power to see that she found other allies.”
“Tasia doesn’t need other allies. The Pack will see to her needs.”
“I’m glad to hear that, and I hope you’ll accept my apology for any intrusion into Pack matters.”
“Apology accepted” the Alpha said in a manner that declared the matter closed.
“This is really good, Merceau.” Jason complimented the Alpha, gesturing at the glass in his hand. He thought it was time to direct the conversation into less controversial channels.
“Thank you. I keep it around for special occasions.”
“In that case, I’m doubly gratified you offered me some.”
“This is a special occasion. Having Wizards in my Lair is very special” the Alpha said blandly.
Jason smiled at the sally, while Sienna exclaimed spontaneously “I’m beginning to think all these rumors about you are exaggerated.”
The rumors are not that wrong — I can attest to that. The Alpha despises Wizards. This new avatar is a result of warming up to us, though I’m not sure why. Perhaps we’ve proved to him in some way that we’re worthy of being trusted.
“Like most rumors, there’s usually a kernel of underlying truth to it.” Raoul was enigmatic.
A comfortable silence ensued.
“A sip, Sienna?” Jason offered, extending his glass to her. “It’s good.”
Sienna leant forward to accept the glass he held out to her. Tasia, hyper conscious of Shifter mores, glanced at the Alpha to catch him watching the two Wizards with an unreadable expression on his face.
“In a roomful of Shifters, this would be enough to signal our romantic interest in one another, Sienna” Jason pointed out lightly, having made note of Tasia’s glance at the Alpha and the Shifter’s impassive face.
Sienna looked startled. “So it is. I keep forgetting how primal the Shifters are in many ways.”
“The
beast in us gives us our raw edge” the Alpha acknowledged.
Jason shot a glance at the enigmatic Shifter in the chair beside him.
“You certainly hide your raw edge well, Merceau” the Guardian observed with a half-smile. “Or perhaps it’s a deliberate attempt to let people know you’re not a traditionalist.”
“Not a traditionalist” Sienna exclaimed.
“Merceau doesn’t follow the old ways” Jason shared. This bit of information had been imparted to him on a night in Chicago when the two Wizards had first joined the Shifters to investigate the past.
“How does the Alpha Protector of one of the largest Packs in the Americas not believe in the old ways?” Sienna queried, her astonishment obvious. “I thought it was almost a pre-requisite for the job.”
“Just because I choose to not follow some of the old ways, doesn’t mean I don’t believe in them” Raoul answered easily. “Offering the spoils of a hunt to indicate romantic interest in a female goes back eons to the very first Wyrs. In today’s modern world, there are other, shall we say, less crude ways, to indicate my interest.”
“To non-Shifter women, certainly” Sienna pointed out laughingly.
The Alpha arched an eyebrow at her in response.
“Well, we know from Hawk that you never date within your Pack” Sienna said with a wicked glance at Tasia who sat frozen in place as she watched the conversation unfold, silently admiring Sienna’s nerve.
“I’m pretty sure you don’t date Wizards, if the rumors are true” Sienna added daringly. “That doesn’t leave much of our brethren to choose from, Alpha.” She waggled her eyebrows teasingly at the Alpha.
Raoul contemplated her, unseasonably amused by her chutzpah.
“You did tell me to ask you if I was curious about you” Sienna reminded him. “And like I said before, you’re an enigma. So, which is it — the Undead or First Ones?”
“Neither” he responded with a reluctant smile at her antics.
“You don’t date at all?” Sienna exclaimed incredulously. “I find that hard to believe. I bet women fall over themselves when it comes to you.”