The Ancients Series

by Christine M. Butler

  Serena quirked her eyebrows up at that, a smirk appearing at the corner of her mouth. “Indeed, he did, as you say, blow his stack.” Her light chuckle reverberated through the room with a life of its very own. It was rare to hear Serena laugh, but when she did, I would swear it was like being in a princess movie, where the birds chirped just for her. She was magic incarnate. “At any rate,” she finally continued on, “she will be pleased that you loved it.” Serena sat up a bit straighter, and put her no-nonsense business face back in place. The transformation was astounding. One moment, she was a free, magical, happy cartoonish character. The next, she became a woman to be reckoned with. “Now, on to the business at hand. I need to know everything that took place with Natalia before we call them to us.”

  ~*~

  “Thank you for coming,” I greeted Natalia and Evan as they entered my house.

  “It’s not like we had a choice,” Evan complained.

  Natalia glared at him, and apologized, “please, forgive him. He has no manners.”

  “I am well aware.” I agreed.

  “I would like to have help. To understand what has happened to me, and how to control it better.” Natalia seemed genuine. Her thick accent washed over me in waves as she spoke, calming my nerves. It took a moment before I realized something wasn’t quite right about that, and I shook free of the feeling.

  “Did you…” I didn’t even finish getting the question out before Serena was upon us.

  “You, my dear, just glamoured the White Wolf. I think this is far more serious than we originally thought.” Serena tugged on Natalia’s arm, and pulled her into my living room. Before I could follow, Evan stopped me.

  “What just happened?” He actually looked concerned now.

  “A feeling of calm washed over me, like I was okay with what Natalia could do, and nothing was wrong. I was ready to just go bake some cookies, and invite her to stay for tea, but...” I bit into my lip as I thought about what snapped me out of it. “I don’t know. Something deep down inside me told me it was a lie, and the minute I let that doubt kick into full gear the feeling of calm fell away.” I studied Evan’s expression and he was not happy to hear the latest news. “She doesn’t affect you, does she?”

  “No. At least, not that I am aware. I have seen her affect other things, and people before, but I never felt any different during those times either. Just like now, with you. I knew something was off, but I didn’t feel it myself.”

  “You do remember when I told you yesterday that I would hunt you down to the ends of the earth and beyond if you didn’t play this straight with me?” He nodded that he remembered. “Why the hell didn’t you tell me about her doing this to people before?”

  “Honestly, I didn’t think she would be able to affect you. You are the White Wolf after all. You even managed to beat my father’s compulsion.”

  I sighed then. “You know, maybe your bond makes you immune to whatever is going on with her. We’ll talk to Serena about that in a minute though. Come on, we better not miss any of this.”

  I listened as Evan and Natalia re-told the story of how she discovered her abilities, watching Serena for any sign that she was afraid or worried. I saw only interest on her part.

  “So, these abilities didn’t really manifest until after you became a mated pair?” Evan and Natalia looked at each other then, and while Evan acknowledged what Serena said, Natalia appeared thoughtful instead.

  “No, I think I remember my sister and I making things glow when I was younger, but…”

  “But what?” Serena prodded.

  “It’s like the memory has just come back to me. It wasn’t there before, so maybe I am just making the memories happen in my head while searching for an explanation?”

  “You said you and your sister both had bracelets given to you by your mother?”

  “Yes, we did.”

  “And yours was taken off by a woman Antoine knew?”

  “That is correct.”

  “Did these things also start happening after the bracelet was taken off?”

  “I don’t know. I was given some kind of medicine from the woman. It made me not feel so good all the time, and there are spots that I don’t remember. Everything is blank, but the girls say I was gone for long periods of time.”

  “Hmmm,” Serena offered, as she took a closer look at the woman who sat before her. “Okay, but you definitely noticed things beginning to happen often after you were mated with Evan?”

  “Yes, everything was normal for a while, when I was first brought here. I don’t remember having any odd things happen. Not until we became mated. The first time I saw the light, since I was a child, was then. And again when we found my sister’s bracelet.”

  “Very interesting.” Serena stated before turning in my direction. “Didn’t your abilities begin to skyrocket after you were mated with Mikael?”

  “Um, I’m not sure if there was a direct correlation with that. I mean, my abilities were already on an incline at that point.”

  “I suppose so,” Serena added. “I feel as though we should call my sister in on this. She would know better than anyone how to handle this type of situation.”

  “We had a witch help before, when we were still in Romania.” Natalia looked nervous as she mentioned this, because it had clearly been left out of their story.

  Evan turned toward me, “We told you that Nat got everything under control for a while before we came back this way, and that a witch named Layla helped with that.” Serena turned to me then, with a questioning look as if the name Layla should mean something to me. I had honestly forgotten her name when I retold Evan and Natlia’s story to her. Evan continued talking though, so I turned my attention back to him. “Well, we ran into the witch while we were trying to figure out what was triggering the episodes with Nat, and the witch happened to see her in action.”

  “Could you please describe this witch, Layla to me?” Serena asked.

  “Oh, yes. Layla was a beautiful little thing, all silvery blond, like moving moonbeams. Her eyes were captivating, like liquid silver. She was a vision.”

  Serena chuckled at Natalia’s description. “I’m sure my sister would be amused by your recollection of her appearance.”

  “You’re sister?” I questioned, but then the memory snapped into place. “Sophia mentioned Layla when…” I let the reminder of my time spent as Sophia’s prisoner drift away before it brought up worse memories for me.

  “Indeed.” Serena started, but then focused back on Natalia. “Layla’s specialty is with the dead and dying. She can help usher spirits to the beyond, and there was a time when she could help bring them back as well. While I am certain she helped figure out a way to manage your episodes, my other sister, Gwyn would be a wiser consult. Her abilities lie in the realm of nature. She makes things grow, and live. That sounds more in line with the abilities you’ve shown.”

  “How long will it be before we can get Gwyn here, if she agrees to come at all?” I asked.

  “I have no doubt that Gwyn will agree to see them. She doesn’t reside too terribly far from here, a day or two at most.” Serena rose from her seat. “I need to go see Avery, and let him know that I will have to stay on with your pack for a while longer.” She searched me out then, trying to convey something with her eyes. “You may call Sierra to bring your daughter back home now. Natalia is of no danger to her. I can promise you that much.” Serena smiled and didn’t wait for a reply before leaving my house, on her way to find Avery.

  “That wasn’t really very helpful.” Evan muttered.

  “Not really. Except that Serena wouldn’t have told me I could have the baby around you guys if she thought there was a danger. I suppose she knows a little more than she’s letting on right now. Maybe, she’s just going to wait for Gwyn to get here to explain everything.”

  “Maybe.” Evan echoed. “So, are you going to call my lovely niece back so I can spend some time with her, or what?”

  I smiled at that.
“I would love to, but first, I need to take care of a couple things.” When Evan appeared to be hurt by my putting him off, I had no choice but to tell him the truth. “While Willow is off with Sierra and Ashley, it gives me the perfect opportunity to go find out what everyone is keeping from me.” I explained how all the girls who were going missing were similar in appearance to me these days.

  “They don’t think someone is trying to find you, to bleed you dry for some reason do they?” Evan asked, concern obvious in his voice.

  “I know I’m worried about it, and everyone seems to like to meet when it’s most inconvenient for me to show up. I just need to figure out for sure what everyone knows, and what they’re guessing.”

  “Well, I will go with you then. Hell, if you want, maybe we can put Natalia’s mind mojo to the test, and have her convince everyone that they want to tell you the absolute truth.” Evan winked at me, letting me know his suggestion was only a joke, but Natalia missed the gesture and blanched at the suggestion.

  “I do not think that would be wise, Evan.” She scolded him.

  “Neither do I,” I reassured her. “Although, when you learn to control it, maybe we will be able to find a way to put our weirdo wonder-twin powers together and activate them.” I laughed, Evan caught on to the cartoon reference as well, but Natalia still seemed a bit lost. “Evan can explain later. I was just being funny.”

  The three of us took off then, headed towards my parents’ house where Avery was, no doubt, still meeting with my father. When we got there my mom let us in, and walked with us back to my father’s office. I felt her calming influence, and guessed at what would happen next.

  “Ah, Jessica, we were just wrapping up.” My father stood to and shook Evan’s hand as he came through the door, and while he was a tad apprehensive, he also shook Natalia’s.

  “Really? Well, since you’re both still here, would you mind filling me in on what I missed?” My father and Avery glanced at one another, each looking away guiltily, in the end. “Seriously? So, I give birth to a baby, and suddenly I’m too fragile to know the truth?” My voice rose as my mother also amped up her gift to try to calm me. It wouldn’t work this time though. I’d had enough. “I am the same woman who has been kidnapped, twice. I’ve been shot, poked, prodded, drugged, and had a slew of other nasty things happen to me over the past couple years. In between all of that, I have proven myself time and again. I have not given in, given up, or walked away. I have not huddled in a ball in a corner to cry myself to sleep at night. I’m here, and all I ask is that you respect me, and if not me, you damn well need to start respecting my position, because if anyone out there saw you treating me this way they would think I have no strength of my own to stand on. Every damn good thing I have done for the packs will go out the window if any of them gets one whiff that you think I’m not up to handling things.” I was yelling at them by the end, and I also felt like the only person in my corner was Evan, who stood with his arms crossed, leaning against the wall, grinning like a fool. I turned to him them. “What’s so damn amusing?”

  “I just forgot how feisty you could get.” He chuckled, and then turned to Natalia. “We need to give them some privacy, because I think Jess made her point, and they won’t discuss anything with us here.” Evan winked at me as he left. Under his breath he added, “go get ‘em tiger!”

  I couldn’t help the small chuckle that escaped me. Part of it was thanks to the built up tension, the other part was because I had missed my friendship with Evan. I forgot how easy it had been to laugh with him before. There was yet another thing to put on my to-do list. Make time for the people in my life I didn’t seem to see as much anymore.

  “So, where do we stand now?” I asked as I took a seat.

  “Jessie-girl, do we really need to do this right now?” My father looked around as if some other phantom had strolled into his office with me. “Where is Willow, anyway?”

  “She’s fine. She’s with Ashley and Sierra right now. I’m not here to talk about my daughter though. Right now I’m Jessica-the White Wolf Ruler, not Mommy Jessica, it’s about time everyone started recognizing the difference. No one bothers to talk down to the new daddies out there.” I was on a tangent now, and there would be no stopping me. “I mean, where’s Mikael right now? Oh yeah, he’s off with Asi, running patrols, trying to see if he can catch these assholes. Where is Jess? She’s being tucked away in a glass case because she had a baby. STOP! Just stop! I’m the same old me.”

  Avery just stared at me while I saw a smile break free on my dad’s face. “You’re right, Jessie-girl. I just don’t know how to be any different. If you remember correctly, I gave up leading the pack to be a dad.”

  “I know that, and I appreciate it, but no one else can be the White Wolf. There’s not like an application process, there’s just me.”

  “Again, you’re right. I have to remember things are different for you all around.”

  “Well, Mikael did warn you earlier.” Avery interjected.

  “Mikael warned you how exactly?”

  “Well, he stopped by earlier to let me know that if I kept withholding information from you I was going to face your wrath sooner or later. He also let me know what your thoughts are on everything. They are very much in line with what we’ve been discussing.”

  “Which means you need to seriously stop underestimating me. I’m not in the dark. I can put two and two together. So, what have you guys come up with in here?”

  Apparently, they were toying with the idea of using some of the female guards as decoys, but they weren’t sure if the risk would be worth the payout in the end. “My worry is that we won’t have enough people there to cover. Tamara said there were three dark ones, and the bite wounds on her neck proved that.”

  “Did Tamara ever say why she wasn’t taken all the way to the place she heard them discussing?”

  “Yeah, she did. They saw her hand, and knew she wasn’t the one they were looking for.”

  “What’s wrong with her hand? I didn’t notice the other day.”

  “She’s short two fingers on her left hand. They got caught in some machinery, when she was playing around at the mill as a child. She hadn’t turned yet, so she didn’t have access to our healing capabilities.”

  “Oh. I didn’t notice.”

  “She wears a prosthetic sometimes so that she doesn’t stand out.” Avery gave my father a quizzical look then. “She’s a lot like my daughter here, and doesn’t want to be associated with any perceived weakness by the pack.”

  I smiled at that. “I totally get that.” I turned to Avery then. “I need to see Serena before you guys go. Do you have any idea where she ran off to?”

  “Yes, she went to see one of the women in your pack who dabbles in herbs. She needed a few things before we head back. We lost our herbalist a few years back and no one has taken her place yet. The younger pups think it’s an old person’s roll. They all want the action and drama jobs when they’re young.” He laughed at that. “I know I did too.”

  As if she sensed that someone needed her, Serena opened the door to my father’s office and stepped inside. “Oh good, Evan told me he left you here.” She spoke directly to me, as if there was no one else in the room. “I was able to get a hold of Gwyn, but she refused to come here.”

  “What? Why?”

  “There are too many dark ones around these days. Her daughter, Samantha, had not reached maturity yet. She would be easy pickings for those monsters. Gwyn actually moved a bit further away than she was before, because their numbers in our area were growing steadily for a while.” She turned to the two men in the room then. “That’s something to note. When my sister is willing to uproot her family and move, we have a bigger problem than just a few rogue dark ones.” Serena turned back to me then. “I can get Evan and Natalia to her, but that is the best I can do. My sister will send updates, but she says she will not take them against their will.”

  “Did they both agree to go?” I asked, thinkin
g that I already knew the answer.

  “Of course they did. Natalia is a smart girl. She wants to hone her skills, not be trapped by them.”

  “Good for her. I hope Gwyn can help her.”

  Not too long after we finished our meeting, we saw Natalia and Evan off with Serena. Avery wasn’t too happy about sending them without security escorts, but Serena reminded him that she’d been around for a very long time and there was a reason for that longevity.

  “I heard you chewed your dad and Avery out today.” Mikael whispered in my ear as we watched his brother and the two women pull away in Evan’s car.

  “How did you hear about that?”

  “The guards outside the house heard you yelling all the way outside.” I looked up at him then, and noticed how he was trying to contain his laughter.

  “No way.”

  He failed at containing it after all, laughing for a few steady minutes before he could actually get any words out.

  “I’m glad you find my fight for equality so amusing.”

  “It’s not that. The guards didn’t tell me, my brother did.”

  “Of course, you two would be in cahoots. I remember the good old days, when you hated one another.” I rolled my eyes. “Now, I have to worry about practical jokes, and nonsense.”

  “Hey,” he started, still chuckling at my expense. “I’m proud of you though, seriously. You stood your ground, and let them have it.”

  I took a good hard look at my mate then, and I finally realized what he’d been doing. I had been half mad at him for playing along with their insanity of not including me, but I figured on some subconscious level he thought he was protecting me too. That wasn’t the case. “You’ve been waiting for me to stand up for myself for a while now, huh?”

  “I may have been wondering what was taking you so long.” He smiled, and pulled me into a hug then. “You’re a strong woman, Jess, and I promised you a while ago that I was not going to stand in your way. I meant that, and along with it, that means making sure you can speak for yourself when something is bothering you, because you’re right, wolves smell weakness quickly.”