The Ancients Series

by Christine M. Butler

  “Correct. We also sensed a witch near a third pack. We have reassessed how we do things since. That witch has been dispatched from this world.” He looked to Serena again.

  “Sophia?” I asked.

  “Yes. She knew where Malachai was, and apparently orchestrated everything that transpired. From what we gathered, my dear sister wanted to be worshipped for the goddess she thought she was. The only ones who would have done so, other than our protectors, would be the humans. Taking you, and the white wolf line, out of the equation was only part of her plan.” Serena sighed heavily.

  “We came to dispatch the dark ones, but when we realized they were working with wolves, we sent our people in to start infiltrating the packs we had already cleared.”

  “That’s why we kept finding interlopers on our lands.” Avery added.

  “Indeed. Your two packs were near impossible to get into. The third, didn’t even realize they had a non-wolf living among them.” I thought about the Hunter we had taken to the Locks, and I felt sick. Had he just been doing his job? “You think of the one you locked away?” My head tipped up to look at Gabriel then. “It was good that you did. He abandoned our brotherhood and was working with the dark ones and that pack. He was young, and easily swayed to the delusions of grandeur they fed him when they realized what he was. They had the self-professed King of the Werewolves on their side.” Gabriel looked pained. “He still should have known better.”

  I turned toward Serena then, with a question that had been on my mind for a while. “The dark ones, were they a creation of the witches too?”

  A pained smile creased her flawless face. “In a manner of speaking.” She looked at me, and took stock of those in the room. “Sophia was not my oldest sibling. Jonah was.” There were a few gasps around the room.

  “The dark one who can walk in the light?” My father asked.

  “The same.” Serena said. “Witches have a feminine magic of the Earth. We almost always have daughters. There are exceptions, as with everything. My brother was one of those exceptions. He was the only male born to my family line. When a male is born they are endowed with what we think of as a tainted magic. They have their own type of powers, in some ways making them stronger than the females, but everything has a balance, and it was quickly realized that the males of our kind were creatures of darkness. While the females are creatures of light.”

  “My mother had another sister once. She wouldn’t hear of mother turning her son away, and so she stepped in thinking that no soul could be bad from birth. She nurtured the boy, feeding him fresh animal blood, and on occasion, allowing him to feed from sick humans who would die anyway.”

  “My mother, was not thrilled with the way her sister took on her son, and made him seem so normal when others berated her for the attempt. She thought to teach her sister a lesson, and locked her in a witch trap with the boy. As he grew weaker and hungrier, it left only one food source for him. The stories say my Aunt offered him her blood willingly at first, but witch’s blood is like a drug to the dark ones. It is full of the magic they are not able to access. Eventually Jonah drained my aunt of her magic and her life.”

  “Only a witch can kill another witch.” I mumbled, remembering my past conversation with Serena.

  “Yes, my dear. When a dark one drains a witch dry, killing her, and taking all of her magical essence in, he becomes Fiul Sange, a blood son, a dark one who can walk in the day.”

  Looking around the room, I realized, I was not the only person hearing this history for the first time. Never, in a million years, would I have imagined that the dark ones, vampires, were actually the discarded offspring of witches. My mind was racing in a million different directions at once. “Why Avery’s lands?”

  I glanced up to see Gabriel smile at my question. “You are a wise one, child. That is the question of the hour.”

  “So, it’s no coincidence that they’re here in this area?” Mikael offered.

  “Not at all. They were called here.” Gabriel stated, and then began to elaborate. “Looking around your little pack lands, both those of the Daniels Clan and the St. Marks Pack have small human towns on their outskirts, but no major development. This doesn’t seem like the most fruitful place to stage a coming out party for the supernatural beings of the world. There has to be something else drawing them here. At first, we thought it was you.” Gabriel’s multi-toned eyes landed on me. “Then we realized they were holding their concentrated efforts closer to the Daniels Clan lands. Now, we just need to figure out what the hell that means.”

  “It also means we will have to work together to figure it out.” Serena suggested. “I will be going back to stay with the Daniels Clan for the time being, as will Gabriel.” Gabriel nodded his head in agreement. “I have also called one of my sisters to meet with us. We all have different gifts, hers may be useful, as she can commune with the dead.”

  “Do you think the white wolves would have knowledge of what’s happening?”

  Serena smiled at me. “They may. I’m not sure they’ll share with us though. My dears are fond of their riddles and letting you figure them out.”

  I rolled my eyes. That was the truth.

  Serena, Gabriel, and Avery stood to leave. “We’ll keep each other abreast of what’s happening.” Avery said as he clasped my father’s hand in his.

  “Be sure to keep your females close at hand. I’m not certain why, maybe because they are weaker by nature, but they seem to be a target for the dark ones.” Gabriel added before leaving the room with Andy and Nicholi.

  Avery came to stand in front of me next, “Jessica, it was good to see you again.” He placed his hand on my belly, and received a kick from my daughter in response. Avery looked over my shoulder at Mikael, “Enjoy every minute of her while she’s little, once she gets here. When they grow up, you start aging, my man!” Avery blows out a sigh as he watched Andy Nicholi, and Gabriel leave the room. “Quickly, it happens quickly.” I smirked, knowing what Avery was insinuating. The poor man had two very gorgeous daughters, both of mating age.

  My parents saw the others out, and Mikael wrapped his arms around me, kissed my neck, and then moved until he was standing in front of me. He dropped to his knees and held my belly. “You’re not going to give daddy a hard time, are you?”

  I laughed at him. “Maybe you should ask my dad how he felt when we showered at his house that time!”

  “Bite your tongue, woman!” Mikael managed through a laugh. “My daughter would never…” His voice trailed off and he looked back up at me with a wink. “I bet your dad still wants to string me up for that. Hell, I’m mad for him, now!”

  “It’s all about perspective.” I laughed.

  “I suppose it is. I wouldn’t trade those moments for anything though.” He stood back up, hands on my large belly, and leaned in to kiss me. “Besides, it’s pretty obvious what we’ve been up to when no one’s looking anyway.” He winked at me again, and took my hand to walk me out of the office. Ashley and Asi were waiting on my parent’s porch. I’m not sure why they weren’t in the meeting, other than the fact that my dad needed a much bigger office.

  “Where were you guys?” I asked.

  “Ash wasn’t feeling well. We stayed out here for the fresh air, and figured you’d come fill us in later.” My best friend was starting into her second month of pregnancy. We joked that if she had a boy, our children were already destined to be mates, even if Willow was going to be older by a few months.

  We filled Ashley and Asi in on what was happening with the dark ones, Gabriel, and the witches. “It’s going to start getting crowded around here again, real fast.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Witches, an elder Hunter, the White Wolf,” he nodded to Mikael then, “the King.” That’s a lot of power in one little area. It’s going to bring everyone to our doorsteps. Friends and enemies.” Asriel was right, of course. It was something we probably should have addressed in the meeting, and one of the reasons it was
clear he didn’t need to miss any more. He saw the worry lines starting to crease my face and patted my shoulder. “Don’t worry, Jess. We’ll work through it.”

  Up to this point in my life I had been shot, burned with wolves’ bane, beaten, poisoned, drugged, and nearly raped. None of that compared to the contractions I was now facing. Now, these crazy fools wanted me to push again? Seriously, never in my life had I wanted to punch my own mother, but I was definitely considering it at this point. If she told me one more damn time how all the women through history had gone through labor and I could do it too, I was going to… scream! And so I did.

  “Come on, Jess, you can do it. I know you’re tired, but you need to push through it. She’s almost here now.”

  “I’m.” How could one word you leave breathless? “Not. Tired,” I managed to pant out in between the pains. “This shit hurts!”

  “It’s okay, baby, just squeeze my hand,” Mikael offered. I squeezed. He yelped. “Maybe not that hard,” he pouted.

  I shot a scathing look at him, and he quickly shut up, and let me squeeze his hand as hard as I wanted. “Why would any woman volunteer to do this more than once?”

  My mom smiled, “you’ll see.”

  “I see…” I breathed through the next contraction before continuing. “…already. No one in their right mind would suffer this way once they knew what it actually felt like.”

  “Okay, Jess, time to push again, now.” My mom called out to me, and I grabbed Mikael’s hand hard enough that I heard something pop. “That’s it, her head’s coming, push a little harder.”

  I never thought anything could hurt worse than the contractions, but the burn of pushing a baby out definitely topped it. I forgot how to breathe. I forgot everything in that moment, except trying to push as hard as I could to get that baby out as quickly as possible.

  “That’s it, just take a breath, and be calm.” My mom was coaching as the contraction subsided.

  ‘Be calm,’ I thought, ‘who is she kidding? There’s a little person, currently lodged between my legs, and I feel like I could give out at any minute, and she’s telling me to be calm?’

  “Okay, baby, I need you to push again as hard as you can with this next contraction. We need to get her shoulders out. Okay. Now. Push, Jess!” My mom’s coaching voice was annoying the crap out of me. This moment seemed to go on forever, like I was locked in some perpetual hell where I was doomed to live the worst pain of my life for eternity. And then, suddenly, the sweet rush of freedom from all of the pain came flooding in as the baby made her way out. My mom had tears in her eyes as she held my little girl in her arms. It took a second, or an eternity, but then I heard that shrill cry coming from my daughter. She was just as unhappy with this process as I had been moments ago. I knew then that we would get along just fine.

  My mom passed the baby off to Mikael so she could clamp off the umbilical cord, and help deliver the afterbirth. Mikael’s face was pure amazement as tears spilled freely down his cheeks. I’d never in my life seen anything more beautiful than the site of my mate crying over the birth of our baby girl. Now, I understood. I would go through it all again just to see that look of complete adoration on his face. Mikael finally looked up to see me smile at him.

  He brought our baby to me, and put her in my arms. “Willow, meet your mommy,” he managed to choke out through all the emotion.

  “Mikael?” My mom called out to him. “Why don’t you do the honors and cut the cord?”

  He was doing just that when my dad walked in the room. “Eileen?” He questioned.

  “Jameson, come meet your granddaughter.” My father’s hand flew to his face, rubbing across the stubble on his chin. I saw tears in his eyes then too. When he got close, he leaned in and kissed me on the forehead, and then repeated the gesture with Willow.

  “She’s absolutely beautiful, Jess.” He reached out one of his thick, calloused fingers and touched it to Willow’s tiny, puffy cheek. “I can’t believe my little girl is old enough to have her own baby now.” Dad shook his head in disbelief as I finally had a moment to take in the sight of my own daughter. The rest of the world seemed to fade away as I did.

  Her head was full of deep brown hair and she was still messy from birth, but beneath that, I saw the beauty. She was my little miracle with those rosy cheeks. If not for her I wouldn’t be here, and neither would Mikael. This tiny, beautiful girl was the reason we were both still alive. I made a silent vow the day that the witch, Sophia, told me that only my pregnancy had saved me. As I looked upon my daughter’s face for the first time I reaffirmed that promise to her. “I will always do whatever is needed in order to protect you,” I whispered into the softly curling hair of her head before I kissed her.

  A throat clearing in the doorway brought my attention away from my daughter. “Sorry to interrupt. Jameson, we have a problem.”

  “Then deal with it. In case you can’t see, my granddaughter has just been born,” my father snapped.

  “Patrols found another girl this morning.”

  “Damn it.” My father grumbled under his breath. “Well, unless the killer was still with her, I don’t suppose there’s a time issue now.” He raised his eyebrows quizzically at the man in the doorway.

  “Actually, this one’s not dead, yet. We thought you might want to question her yourself. You know, in case she doesn’t make it.”

  My father looked back at me then with an apology in his eyes. “Go!” I nodded my head toward the door and managed a weak smile for him too. “It might be just what we need to put an end to this and make the pack that much safer.” I looked down at Willow as I said it, and he understood. He could miss these first few moments with his grandchild if it meant our women weren’t under imminent threat anymore.

  “I’ll be back as soon as I can,” he announced as he rounded the doorway and disappeared into the hallway. Mikael looked between the now empty doorway and our daughter, torn between two impossible responsibilities.

  “I’ll go,” my mom offered. “Jess looks fine, and we’re done here. She just needs rest now.” She turned to me then. “I’ll send Sierra in to help clean you and Willow up.”

  “Eileen…” Mikael started; still not convinced it was right for him to stay.

  “I will send for you immediately if I need to, Mikael. I know in my heart that Jameson would not want you to miss this time with them for anything. Believe that.” My mom reassured him.

  Mikael settled down then, and sat in the chair beside my birthing bed as Sierra came through the door carrying baby Jack. She put him down in the cradle, and came over to take a look at Willow. “She’s so precious, Jess.” She leaned over, and carefully took Willow from my arms, “I’m just going to get all the gunk cleaned off of her, and then I will hand her right back over, okay?” Sierra glanced from Mikael to myself, waiting until both of us agreed before she moved another inch with our baby.

  ~*~

  I must have nodded off for a bit, because when I awoke it was because someone had entered the room, changing the air pressure as the door opened. It seemed like such a small thing, yet I immediately went on high alert. My first instinct was to seek out my daughter, and make sure she was safe. I didn’t have to look far. She was resting peacefully in the arms of her father who was still in the chair beside my bed, staring down at Willow as if she was the most amazing thing he’d ever seen. I knew in an instant that I would never grow tired of seeing him dote on her that way.

  Of course, as I drew my attention back to the doorway of our room, I realized there was never a threat to begin with. My mom stood there, as if not quite sure she bother us, but I saw the moment where resolve won out, and as she addressed my mate. “I hate to do this, but we think it’s important for you to come speak with this woman.” When Mikael appeared slightly confused she continued on. “The victim that was found earlier. She has quite an interesting story to tell. I think you need to hear it.”

  I didn’t hesitate. I flipped back my covers and started to
get up out of bed before I noticed the horrified look on my mother’s face. “What do you think you’re doing?”

  “I’m coming too. If Mikael needs to hear it, then so do I.”

  “Jess, you just had a baby. Willow needs you, and neither of you should be out running about just yet. Most humans take at least two days before they’re even allowed to leave the hospital, and then they still don’t go running off for to work for a while after.”

  “We’re not human, mother!” I challenged her.

  “No, but Willow hasn’t been through any changes yet, so for the time being she’s more human than werewolf. You need to remember that. Stay here, and take care of your daughter. Mikael and I will fill you in on what’s happening later.”

  I huffed an indignant growl at my mother, but before I could get another word in edgewise, Ashley was there, filling up the doorway with her bright and shining smile. “I can’t believe Asi and I were away for the birth!” She screeched out, and was immediately shushed by Mikael as he handed Willow off to me. “Oops, sorry,” Ashley whispered.

  “I’ll be back to fill you in as soon as I can, baby.” Mikael offered as he bent down and kissed me. “Bye sweet girl, you be good for your mommy.” He leaned in and kissed Willow on the forehead then. I watched as he struggled with not wanting to go, and then I wondered what the hell was wrong with me that I was so ready to jump up, and get back into the mix of werewolf politics and intrigue, when I had such an amazing little gift right here in my arms to enjoy all to myself if I chose to?

  “Love you,” I called out to Mikael when he was nearly to the door. He turned his head, and smiled at me, those jeweled eyes of his catching the light and sparkling as he turned to leave. “Love you too,” he called back over his shoulder and then he was gone.

  “You guys are too sweet!” Ashley was staring at me as if I were hiding a big secret, and then I realized I had Willow bundled so snuggly against me that she couldn’t see her at all. “Can I hold her?”