by Scott, Talyn
When they reached the mouth of the first cavern, Ail barely stifled a gag. The stench nearly unbearable, leading him to wonder what really went on down here. He’d heard there were medical conveniences inside the Joint Faction Facility, and that Dru, Mason, and Renee practiced medicine here when necessary. He also knew that Bane and Rock held certain prisoners here for their Pack to interrogate or exchange with other factions. A sudden chill shook him. Ail never anticipated that his first time coming here would be under scrutiny, all for defending a female placed under his care.
Bane directed him to the center table. Nothing impressive, just an everyday aluminum-folding table scattered with top of the line laptops, battered maps, and a few ancient tomes. When he reached for the flimsy chair, wondering if the thing would break under his weight, Bane nudged him to stay standing. To the left, Ail nodded at the grave face of Mason, who was standing against the far wall of the meeting hall, with his arms crossed. Ail read his stance easily, had seen it enough times to know that Mason was ready to pound someone, to take out any creature who dared to question a Ruyter, particularly his little brother. Still, something told Ail the ax was about to drop and any Ruyter present couldn’t do a damned thing to stop it.
An incredibly large Vampyr Vojak glided in, one of the two that Ail and Molly had passed at the end of the Sanibel Causeway. The Vojak met Bane’s eyes and something passed between them. Ail might have spied a kinship amid his brother and the warrior, although he couldn’t be sure.
“Greetings, Ail Ruyter. I am Oycher, acting commander of the Vampyr Vojaks. It’s been a long night, so I’ll just cut right to it.” His eyes, nearly orange, then focused on Ail in an unblinking stare. “You took out two of our Dynasty’s Gryphs without just cause, one of which you killed.” When Ail opened his mouth, Oycher held up his hand. “I came upon the scene, at the very last. Still, there are witnesses saying you attacked first, while the Gryphs were airborne.” He shifted his weight, his long leather coat creaking with his fluid movements and the weight of his hidden arsenal. “What nonsense is this?”
“The nonsense isn’t coming from our side,” Ail insisted. “While transporting my female charge from Fort Myers to Sanibel Island, Gryphs circled my car, swooping low. They were hunting.”
“Lovec hunt,” Oycher argued quietly. “Gryphs guard the monarchy, uphold their orders, and, when necessary, carry them out. What is this, your second year at the academy? You know this much, I’m sure.”
Ail curled his fists, trying his best to ward off his claws. “Gryphs followed my vehicle all the way down McGregor Boulevard before they set up an aerial roadblock across the Sanibel Causeway. What right do vampires have to keep me from my Pack’s territory? Zilch. If I were to do that to any in your Coven, cutting a vampire off from Captiva Island, wouldn’t you take that as a serious threat? Commander, if you were transporting a vampiress, a female of your own race, what wouldn’t you do to protect her?”
“I would do anything to protect any female, vampiress, werewolf, or otherwise. But that’s me, always soft-hearted for the ladies.” A flash of grief passed over the vampire’s face before his cheekbones sharpened into blades beneath his skin. “But Molly Shirley is not one of your own.”
“What are you getting at?” Apprehension spread through him.
Oycher shrugged. “Molly Shirley is not part of your Pack.”
“She’s a mixed blood,” he countered through stiff lips, though he knew the vampire was correct. “Her immediate grandmother is a pureblood. Her sister, Tatum Jordan, is my queen!”
“And yet, no one brought her inside Pack.” An eerie prickliness went up Ail’s spine when Oycher added, “What you saw as an attack, wasn’t. Tonight, the Gryphs were only trying to protect Molly.”
“I know what I saw. They didn’t have protection on their minds.” Ail raised his voice, though kept his expression carefully guarded. “I even warned them I was of the Beta’s blood before I took the first shot. With my weapon clearly in hand, the Gryphs refused to back off. How else was I supposed to take their stance, other than a direct confrontation?”
“You’re either confused or hotheaded, Ail. So allow me to remind you of the law. Apart from a full-blooded werewolf female, any member of the Dynasty Empire, which includes Gryphs, can interact with any unclaimed mixed blood they desire, whether said female is riding in a car with a Pack male or not.”
“They weren’t going to interact with her or to protect her.” Ail’s stomach churned when he said, “Besides, Molly is claimed by a human male, her husband.”
Oycher flattened his hands on the table. “No, she’s not.”
Bane quickly interceded, “Oycher, it’s on me. I told Ail to take care of Molly and he did. I stand behind every decision he made. If he said they were attacking, that’s what happened.”
“Bane, we’ve come a long way in our joint efforts, you and I,” Oycher said with a shake of his head. “At least, that’s what I keep telling myself. But how can I overlook this when I have the Dynasty up my ass? In fact, the deceased Gryph belonged to Prince Volos himself, the highest-ranking monarch in our Dynasty – the vampire of vampires. So if I don’t follow through on my side, I will die by my master’s hands.”
“All because I was protecting Molly,” Ail growled.
“So you thought, Youngling,” Oycher told him. “If the Gryphs were attacking, you wouldn’t have seen them until it was far too late. They have skills you cannot imagine, blending into the night is second nature to them.” He threw up his gloved hands in a helpless gesture. “Yet tonight, they showed themselves in good faith.”
“We can dance around this all night.” Gage interrupted impatiently. “This is the second time that Gryphs encountered Molly. Why did they start to begin with, all of three months ago?”
“Just like your Pack, I’m still waiting for that firsthand information,” Oycher said, staring head on at Gage. “And repeating rumors gives them undue credence, so I refuse to do so.”
Gage snarled, “Then stop waiting and find out, Oycher. One Gryph entering our territory in the dead of night without paperwork is absurd.”
“I was unaware a Gryph entered your territory.” Oycher seemed genuinely confused. “By my word as a Vojak, they haven’t imparted any significant information to me regarding Molly Shirley, though, after tonight, I intend to find out. I’m meeting with Maestru after we adjourn here.”
To that Gage said, “I’m not going to wait for you to have a sit down with Maestru. If tonight is any indication, things are moving aggressively, which is dangerous.”
“If you are suggesting Jayce Jordan would declare war over one mixed blood female or one Beta blood youngling, I find that threat idle. His queen is carrying the next Alpha, due in the next month, I’m told. A child born of that kind of power ends up as spoils of war. Need I say more?”
“Not if you want to keep your head attached to your shoulders!” Bane roared.
Gage put his hand on Bane’s shoulder but kept his eyes on Oycher. “Fine, have your meeting with Maestru. From that point, I expect any of the Dynasty’s interests concerning Molly Shirley or Ail Ruyter reported to Alpha Jordan by morning.”
Oycher inclined his head. “I will try.”
“I know the bind you’re in, Oycher. I’ve been around long enough to know what your Masters will do to you and your family for the dishonor of disobedience. But I would trust Ail Ruyter with my life. If he says they were attacking, they were, indeed, attacking.” Gage then shoved his hands in his pockets, thinking a mile a minute. “Go another route if you have to, but dig deep for us. Dead Gryph or not, whether Molly is a Pack member or not. So far, Prince Volos has an easy acquaintance with Jayce Jordan. Is your prince really willing to lose that?”
“I would hope not,” Oycher relented. “I will obtain everything I can and have Kash deliver the information to your office by noon tomorrow. Whatever you receive will be the best that I can do.”
Bane didn’t appear satisfied. “By the w
ay, I find Gryphs wanting to protect Molly eerily fascinating, particularly when coupled with the nearly drained security guard Heath Faden and I found at her workplace. As Beta, I take a savage feeding near my sister-n-law as a warning, a threat. So when Ail left the Edison Winter Estate with that knowledge and your kind on his tail, what was he supposed to do?”
“The guard is a sad coincidence, yet the very reason the Gryphs protected Molly in the first place,” Oycher argued. “As far as I’m concerned, whoever attacked the human will die. I’ll handle the execution personally. Everyone present knows that I have no tolerance for vampires who kill their food or for those who have succumbed to bloodlust.”
Bane laughed mirthlessly. “There are no coincidences in our collective worlds.”
“I have nothing else to add until I hear back from that particular investigation.” Oycher leveled his gaze back on Ail. “As for you, already the Gryph’s widow is talking compensation. Blood for Blood.”
“Blood for Blood,” Ail repeated in disbelief.
“Unfortunately,” Oycher said, “And I’m curious as to how a werewolf youngling, who wasn’t even in mid-transformation, took out two of our most powerful royal guards – killing one, with a compound bow.”
“We’re done, here,” was Bane’s response. “Follow through with Gage’s request, Oycher. If Maestru or Prince Volos wants to present formal charges against my little brother, so be it. I’ll let Jayce know to expect them.”
Ten minutes later, Ail was back at the Sanibel Island compound. “Well, that went well,” he grumbled. To his left, Bane was walking back and forth, talking with the Alpha on the phone, clearly trying to come up with a game plan. “If only Bane had called you and left me to my ladies at the bar,” he said to Terje, watching as Rune circled the perimeter alongside Mason, both going into mid-transformation, their collective colors red with escalating rage. “Then I’d be nicely pleasured, and you probably wouldn’t be in this situation, seeing as how I’m an idiot.”
“On the contrary,” Terje offered, “I don’t think you’re an idiot at all, but simply being played, and vampires are the most lethal of game players. But you don’t need me telling you what you already know.” Terje raised his hand, willing on the nearest torchlights. “You know what really happened tonight, don’t you?”
He sure did. “I know what I saw. And I didn’t even know about the other Gryph coming for her on Jayce’s property.”
“It’s been a few months. And like Gage said, we still don’t know why.” Terje sat on top of a picnic table, the wood groaning under his Viking weight. “Jayce won't let anything happen to you, Ail, especially since you didn't let anything happen to Molly.” With his hands on either side of his thighs, he extended his long legs. “We know the drill. There were three Gryphs present, and by your description, they utilized a typical formation for aerial pack hunting. Two swoop down, whether in unison or back-to-back, and distract any protector. This leaves the third free to abscond with or to kill their target."
“I feel like a fool for even warning them." Ail kicked a seashell, instead of sailing into the ocean, it disintegrated into powder.
"You really used a compound bow?”
“Same one I use to hunt wild boars, when they get unruly around here.” Ail shrugged, he never released his werewolf when he hunted, thought every creature deserved a sporting chance. "Though on the Gryphs, I used wooden arrows."
Terje’s smile stretched wide. “I take it; you used a be-spelled, wooden arrow, blessed by the Druids. I’d keep that part to myself, man. None of the younglings are to have those arrows.”
“No, they’re not,” agreed Bane, now standing next to him, his phone put away. “I’ll be collecting the rest of those arrows tomorrow.”
Ail had only one left, and it was worth a fortune. And he refused to hand it over, since the other two arrows, no matter what Oycher had said about the Gryphs’ intentions, had surely saved Molly. “I used them all,” he lied. A first for him, he had never lied to his brother before, and it felt miserably wrong. Bane stiffened, possibly sensing the untruth, although he didn’t press. “Anyway, how’s my car? I didn't get a chance to look it over before we left.” It had been a graduation present from Bane, costing more than one-hundred grand.
“It could be better, could be worse,” Bane replied, crossing those massive, inked arms in agitation. “We'll get it fixed.” His eyes narrowed. “Explain what happened after the Gryph landed on your car.”
“Yeah, he swooped down after I took out his comrade,” Ail said. “Then I nailed his throat with the end of my compound bow, although, even with the wooden arrow, I can’t understand how that was a killing blow for such a potent creature.” That thought still troubled him, and, obviously, it troubled the vampires, too.
“I keep piecing over what happened.” Bane blew out a breath. “When I urged you to leave, I spotted only one overhead and I turned fully werewolf, chasing it away. I never anticipated misting over the causeway and finding you and Molly in such a predicament. There was nothing left for Heath or me to do. Not that you needed our help.” He smiled proudly, but then his smile faltered. He turned, studying a specific, rectangular window in the main building. Even without Bane’s pointed stare, Ail knew Molly was just inside that window, could sense her there. “No matter what the vamps say, you protected a precious female of our race against the seemingly impossible. Congratulations.” Bane spun back to him. “For this, the Pack will celebrate. Youngling or not, Jayce will be declaring you a full Pack male at next month’s meeting.”
The enormity of those words shocked Ail. “I have two years left at the academy.”
“It’s up to you if you want to stay,” Bane replied.
“No, I don’t want to stay.” It was true, what Jayce sensed in him. When at the academy, he did feel like a Pack male living in a youngling world. He also didn’t feel like celebrating. He hadn’t the time to celebrate. Something told him that he wasn’t finished protecting Molly, didn’t want to be finished with her in any way. With that on the forefront of his mind, a foreboding question continued to plaque him. "Brother, what gave me such a power boost that I trumped two Gryphs without even turning werewolf?"
"For one thing, it's in your blood."
Ail shook his head impatiently. "It was a surge that I felt. It's almost inexplicable, like it came from my gut, the very center of me."
When Bane opened his mouth, Rune approached the group, his hair blown back from running. "Everyone's pissed."
"And why is that?" Bane asked.
"Heath took Molly, yet not a single werewolf who scented her orgasms could claim her as a mate."
Ail felt as though he'd been sucker punched. Or was that his werewolf doing karate chops inside his head? "What do you mean by Heath took Molly? And for that matter, what other werewolves scented her... her orgasms?"
"Now you're going into mid-trans?" Bane asked Ail suspiciously.
Rune stepped back while Terje laughed.
"She's married to a human." Ail’s claws shot out.
"She was married." Bane stepped closer to him. "Yesterday, she was finally granted her divorce from Wilson."
Ail’s mouth opened and closed a few times. Molly wasn’t married. His head started spinning so hard, he felt as though he was suffering from bed flops minus the bed. But still…"Divorced just yesterday? And the very next day, after she was nearly taken by vampires," he continued, his canines shooting over his bottom lip, "she's taken advantage of by a horny highlander, while the others press their noses to her window.”
Rune explained, "No one pressed any noses to her window, Ail. Whatever walls are surrounding her, we can smell a female’s climax within a mile or so radius. Furthermore, Heath wasn't conducting Rights to Mate, nor does he have the authority to in North America. He’s still of Ciaran’s Scotland Pack.”
Bane looked at him curiously. “You’re probably the only one who didn’t know, besides Molly, that Heath is her mate. The sooner he claims her, the
better. On that note, she needs the added protection multiple mates can provide, so we need to convince her to participate in Rights to Mate. Hopefully, she’ll agree, but I’m not expecting it.”
“She does need the added protection,” Terje agreed. “Rune and I were watching over Molly just last night, at the bar. Since she had gone into a critical point of her Heat, many immortals were circling. Even for us, we had our hands full. Heath was out here, getting another Druid tattoo from Gage, when a vampire misted Molly all the way to Lighthouse Beach before any of us could stop him."
Bane stepped closer. “Yeah, Heath told me tonight, while we were waiting for the vampires to pick up the drained security guard. He suspects the vampire at the bar and at her workplace is one in the same. If that’s the case, his power trail that I picked up on was phenomenal. Like I said to Ail, there’s a sick vibe to this.”
Rune murmured, “Logic leads us to believe a Gryph is following orders from its Dynasty Vampyr, and you’re talking a phenomenal power trail…”
“Don’t say anymore,” Ail snapped, swearing a blue streak. “I want facts. Questions are piling up and we need answers. And I’m left wondering why none of you brought any of this up with Oycher,” he accused, trying to pull his werewolf back, which proved difficult. “I mean – we were just there arguing with the leeches.”
Bane placed his hands on Ail’s shoulders, willing the Beta Beast onto him. In seconds, a sense of peace washed over Ail, though he knew it wouldn’t last long enough. “You’ll learn in time that Joint Faction Meetings are like playing poker. Difference is - no one ever shows his hand.”
Ail’s muscles started loosening, his claws retracting. “I could have sworn you were almost…friends with the vampire.”