Finding the Power Within

by C. C. Masters

  Chapter 8

  Austin

  I strode down the hall in council headquarters with the twins following behind me. Mason had settled down and was more contemplative than angry. But Jason was still glowering as he trailed behind us.

  I hesitated at the door to my father’s office with my hand on the door handle. My father had been such a constant and overbearing presence in my life for so long that his absence left me unsure of how to feel. The sting of his betrayal still smarted, but deep down I hoped it wasn’t true.

  A part of me hoped that he would have an explanation for all of this once he was found. The night that Cody, Anna and I had been taken captive after James was shot was still fresh in my mind. I found it difficult to believe that my father was behind that.

  Why would he be behind the failed attempts to kidnap Anna when he had easy access to her as part of the council? Why would he order James killed while he was on the way to the house in the woods to confront us? As much as James and his cousin disliked each other, they were still bound by blood. Reed was a member of the council and would have been honor-bound to take revenge for his cousin’s death. Or had my father thought he could escape detection all together? Never be caught?

  Whomever ‘the boss’ was had never arrived that night. After going through the house, Caleb was convinced that it was my father behind it all. Not too long ago, my father had confessed to setting Caleb up to take the fall for some spyware he had installed on the other council member’s computers. So, it was possible that he was behind the attacks on us, but the unexpected appearance of the fae had put doubts in my mind. It just didn’t feel right.

  My ears perked at the sound of someone in the office and I turned the handle apprehensively. The door swung open to reveal my brother, along with his new fiancé, Jessica.

  Justin sneered at me from behind my father’s desk, but Jessica just frowned at me from where she sat in his lap. Jessica and I had a difficult history – she had joined my pack temporarily in the hopes of becoming my mate. However, she had not been a good fit for me or my pack.

  “Ready to relinquish your temporary council member status?” Justin asked as he twirled a strand of Jessica’s hair around his finger.

  I rolled my eyes. “You sound confident. Just because you took over my father’s pack doesn’t mean you’ll automatically be named to the council. I heard that you’re having a difficult time maintaining the pack. Rumor has it that more than a few of your pack mates want out.”

  Justin scowled and pushed Jessica away before standing. “We’ll see about that.”

  I merely shrugged. “You’re welcome to use the office for now, I have a council meeting to get to anyway.”

  Justin took a step towards me. “You think you’ve won?”

  “Won what?” I asked in exasperation. “There has never been a competition between us. You were born first. You get the pack. That’s always been a given and I’ve never challenged that.”

  Justin narrowed his eyes. “You never accepted my authority; you left the pack and started one of your own,” he snarled. “You’ve always done everything you could to prove that you’re better than me to our father.”

  “I left the pack because you made my life a living hell,” I growled. “I was being a good brother by stepping aside and letting you have your place, despite you doing everything to instigate me into a fight.”

  “Father said he regretted that I was born first,” Justin spat out. “I needed to prove to him that I was better than you.” I felt Justin calling power to himself from his pack and braced myself. He was gearing up for a fight.

  “Father is gone,” I told him quietly. “You have your pack, and I have mine. Let it go.”

  Justin slammed his hands down on the desk. “I’m going to destroy you and take everything you value for myself,” he snarled. Jessica backed away from him slowly and tucked herself into the corner of the room.

  I felt the twins vibrating with anger behind me, but they knew better than to try and usurp my authority by challenging Justin themselves. I sent some soothing waves of energy in their direction, they were already on the edge and I didn’t want Justin to tip them over. I had not expected the disappearance of my father to push Justin over the edge.

  I held Justin’s eyes. “I have no reason to fight you, but if you even think about harming one of my pack members – I will completely crush you.” I reached for my power and brought it forward, making sure that he could feel the full weight of it bearing down on him. I rarely needed to make a display like this, but I needed him to understand that if he tried to take me on, he would lose. Badly.

  Justin held my eyes for a solid minute and I was steeling myself for an attack when he looked to the floor. I held in my surprise, but Justin wasn’t cowed. If anything, the anger that I sensed from him was even greater than before. I wanted nothing more than to walk out the door, but my eyes flicked over to Jessica.

  She was still cowering in the corner, her hand covering her mouth. My eyes narrowed when I saw the shadow of old bruises on her wrists. Her eyes widened when she realized what I had seen, and she hurriedly pulled her blouse to cover the exposed flesh.

  Jessica avoided my eyes and Justin laughed. “Having regrets, brother?”

  I took a step closer to him, still holding my power so that he could feel the threat I was about to deliver to him. “Dominance fights are one thing, but harming a female?” I loomed over him. “I’m content to let you have the pack for now, but if I hear you are abusing them – I will put a stop to it.”

  Justin just smirked at me. “Calm down, they’re just love bruises. Your female doesn’t like to play rough sometimes?”

  My eyes flicked back to Jessica and she gave me a shaky smile and a nod. As much trouble as she caused in my pack before, I had no desire to see her harmed. And I certainly wouldn’t stand by if my brother was harming her or taking advantage of the lower ranking wolves in his pack.

  My stare-down with Justin was interrupted by a knock on the door. I stepped away from Justin but didn’t turn my back on him. I wanted to have at least one eye on him until we had more of a resolution.

  Mr. Phillips stepped in the door when Mason opened it after a nod from me. “If you boys want to fight for the council seat, it’s going to have to wait. We have business to discuss with Austin.”

  Justin glowered at Mr. Philips, probably not pleased at being called a ‘boy’. Neither was I, but that was an argument for another day. Mr. Phillips was right to interrupt a petty fight in between the two of us on council property. This was a neutral zone and we should both know better. We were both pack-masters and needed to be setting a good example for our packs, not indulging in petty squabbles.

  “We’ll finish this discussion later, brother,” I told Justin. I glanced at Jessica before following Mr. Phillips through the door. She squared her shoulders back and gave me a glare, but it was lacking any real heat.

  I sighed to myself. I was going to have no choice but to try and contact my mother again to find out what was really going on in that pack. She had refused to speak to me since the news of my father’s betrayal surfaced, and she probably blamed me for everything that had happened.

  I pushed all thoughts of my father’s pack away as we walked down the hall and to the room where the other council members waited. Anna was my priority right now. I needed help to be able to take on the fae and get her back.

  The twins trailed behind me as we made our way to the council meeting room but were stopped in the hall. I gave them some last minute orders via the pack bond to make sure that they behaved while I was out of sight.

  Mason hesitated but communicated back to me that they weren’t pups that needed to be watched. He wanted to prove they were just as reliable and valuable as Cody. Jason just looked sullen.

  I hid my surprise from them. The twins had come as a packaged deal with Cody and I had gotten into the habit of treating them like errant little brothers. Maybe it was time for me to take a step back
and let them have a little more responsibility. I sent them a couple images of what Cody would usually be doing in this situation – talking up any of the council members pack members he could find. Cody excelled at being the affable, fun guy that the wolves from other packs wouldn’t mind hanging out with and letting little tidbits of info drop. Mason and Jason both straightened up and gave me determined nods.

  Mr. Reed watched our interaction from inside the council chamber with amusement and gave me a smirk when I entered. “Where’s the giant wolf you usually bring with you?”

  I raised an eyebrow. “I’ll let Cody know you asked about him.”

  I took my seat at the table and folded my hands in front of me. Mr. Morgan and Mr. Reed had been struggling with each other to be the one to fill the hole that my father had left and were now glaring at each other to determine who would be the one to lead the meeting.

  Mr. Phillips rolled his eyes. “Austin, why did you request this meeting?”

  I put a neutral expression on my face, but my blood pressure spiked. I desperately needed to make sure that the council was willing to back my fight to get Anna back. Every word that I was about to say had to be perfect.

  I cleared my throat to give me a moment to clear my mind and allow the dueling council members to take their seats. “I wish to discuss an unexpected interaction with the fae.”

  There was complete silence in the room and I evaluated each council member carefully. If there were any wolves that knew about the fae, it would be the men in this room. They exchanged glances around me, as if debating what to say.

  “You were approached by one of them?” Mr. Reed said cautiously.

  “I was.”

  “You’re not the only one,” Mr. Morgan informed me quietly. “We have received several other reports from around the country. They seem to be approaching more isolated packs, though. I’m surprised that they contacted you. They asked to purchase females?”

  My eyebrows rose. “No. They took my female.” They were asking to purchase females from other packs? My heart sunk. What were they planning to do with Anna?

  “Anna?” Mr. Morgan said in surprise.

  “Does he have another female?” Mr. Reed asked caustically.

  “Technically, she’s not his female to begin with,” Mr. Morgan spat.

  Mr. Phillips sighed. “Let’s be realistic. Things have changed since our meeting with Anna. Austin, how is your relationship with the lamia?”

  “Better than ever,” I stated pointedly. “Caleb is using his contacts among them to gather more information on the fae.”

  Mr. Morgan’s face turned red and he focused on the wall above my head, unwilling to meet my eyes. “How much do you know?”

  I shrugged. “I will be getting his report when I return to the pack later today.”

  Mr. Phillips tapped his fingers on the table. “The fae are one of the things that we usually only discuss with new council members.” He shrugged. “The fae have been gone from this world for so long, that no one had any concerns about them until now.”

  “But the pack in Canada is aware of them,” I stated bluntly.

  “They have to be,” Mr. Reed informed me. “They guard the gateway into the realm of the fae.”

  I sat back in my chair as all of the little pieces of information fell into place.

  “This is an informal discussion, of course,” Mr. Morgan stated as he watched me carefully. “But I believe that you will best your brother to become the next permanent council member.”

  I hid my surprise. Justin had not been the only one who had assumed he would take our father’s place on the council. It wasn’t long ago that these same council members were giving me a difficult time about Anna and the way I was running my pack.

  “I hope you’ll be able to best your brother,” Mr. Reed muttered. “The last thing we need is that asshole here all the damn time.”

  I hid my smile. Apparently, I wasn’t the only one irritated by my brother’s presence. Mr. Morgan continued as if he hadn’t heard Mr. Reed. “We’ve always know about the fae, of course. This stays in these walls…”

  He gave me a hard look to make his point and waited for me to acknowledge him before continuing. “The wolves are distant cousins to the fae. We’re descendants of lesser fae who stayed behind when the veil was closed.”

  I sat back in my chair and kept my expression neutral. “And that’s not made common knowledge because?”

  Mr. Reed shrugged. “The lamia originally negotiated for all fae to leave this world. Our presence here was a secret at first. But my guess is that as we evolved into what we are now, the council decided that the fewer who knew the truth, the better.”

  “I think we can all agree that we have become something other than fae,” Mr. Morgan added. “We are an independent race, and announcing to the world that we are merely a version of lesser fae would destroy that independence.”

  Mr. Phillips cut in. “Because of that, I think we can all agree that it’s best if the fae stay out of this world.”

  “I think that’s best for a lot of reasons,” I murmured. “But do I have your support to get Anna back?”

  The council members exchanged looks. “How do you plan to do that?” Mr. Reed asked snarkily. “Only they can cross through the veil.”

  I frowned. “Let me worry about that. My question is – do I have your support if it comes to a battle?”

  Mr. Phillips snorted. “I think you lack an understanding of what the fae are. One of them could destroy all of us. Facing down an army of them? That’s hopeless.”

  I leaned forward. “And yet, it was done before. I doubt that the fae left this world to us by choice.”

  Mr. Morgan tapped his fingers on the table in front of him. “Yes, but that was a feat accomplished by the lamia and the witches. Not us.”

  I shrugged. “And I’m in negotiation with the lamia. We all know the witches will follow their direction.”

  Mr. Reed watched me carefully. “Come to us again when you have the support of the lamia and the witches and we will discuss this again. Until then? You should hope the fae are generous and decide to return your female to you.”

  I gave a sharp nod, but internally I was fuming. “And when I get her back, do I have your assurances that she is mine to keep? No more discussion of sending her off to other packs?”

  Mr. Phillips laughed. “Son, if you can get her back, you earned her. You won’t get any opposition from me.”

  The other council members nodded in agreement. At least I had won one battle. Now that the topic of the fae was closed, the council started to discuss petty matters and I tuned out. My next project was going to have to be getting the lamia ready to take on the fae.

  Chapter 9

  Anna

  I woke this morning with a purpose. I felt more refreshed than I ever had since coming here. Caylee was surprised to find me already up and dressed by the time she came to my room with breakfast. Normally, I would be too tired to do much and would just let her primp me before the lessons with the prince.

  Today, Caylee watched as I gobbled up my breakfast within minutes and popped back up to my feet. “Um, my lady? Are you alright?”

  “I feel better than ever!” I told her with a grin. “We are going to pay my father a visit this morning.”

  Caylee paled. “My lady, your father asked that you stay in your room unless you are with him or the prince.”

  “That’s fine, we’re going to find him,” I told her confidently as I strode to the door.

  Caylee followed after me hesitantly. “Perhaps I could find him? And let him know that you need to request a meeting?”

  “Don’t worry, Caylee. I’ll make sure you don’t get in trouble.”

  Caylee sighed but led the way. “He’s usually in his office at this time of the morning, my lady.”

  Froston was in his office with two other men. I hesitated at the door and frowned. They both looked familiar, but it took me a moment to place them. I narrow
ed my eyes when it came to me - these were the two men who had helped Froston kidnap me.

  “Anna.” Froston stood in surprise and walked over to me. “I wasn’t expecting to see you this morning.”

  He looked like he wanted to push me right back out the , so I widened my stance and crossed my arms. “There are some things that I would like to discuss with you.”

  One of the men behind him chuckled and my hackles rose. I knew that laugh, and I never wanted to hear it again. I pushed past Froston to confront my nightly tormentor.

  He met me with a grin. “So, you finally figured it out?”

  “Morpheus…” Froston warned.

  Morpheus just laughed, not breaking eye contact with me. His eyes were all black, no white, no color. Just an endless dark that felt like it could suck you in.

  I narrowed my eyes at him. “What is wrong with you?”

  He smirked and started to walk towards me. I was proud of the way I held my ground, but I couldn’t help but let out a low growl when he reached forward as if he was going to try to touch me. He must have thought better of it, because he dropped his hands.

  “Morpheus, Talen, will you excuse us so that I can have a word with my daughter?” Froston asked smoothly.

  Talen shrugged one elegant shoulder and walked to the door, but Morpheus winked at me with one of his unusual eyes. “I’ll be seeing you.”

  “Don’t count on it,” I said darkly but he merely waved a hand at me as he shut the door behind him.

  The moment they were gone I turned my attention back to Froston. “Did you know what he was doing to me?” I hissed at him.

  Froston was taken aback. “Doing to you?”

  “At night. In my dreams.” Hearing Morpheus’s laugh in the flesh had brought back flashes of the nightmares that had plagued me since I got here. I had to push away the emotions that they brought up and focus on the here and now.