by JJ King
Sylvie chuckled. “I’ve been called worse, believe me.” She began to list off an impressive number of horrendous words.
I laughed when she finished with a burr of Scottish that had been meant to hit hard. “Those are horrible!” I wiped a tear from my cheek and felt my shoulders relax. I’d been so wound up over this that I hadn’t stopped to realize how much an Alpha or Alpha’s wife would hear. She’d been both and had, apparently, heard it all. “But everyone talks so highly of you. Who would say that to you?”
“They don’t always say it directly to me,” she said with a sigh. “I much prefer those who have the balls to speak up, though. At least they have conviction.” Sylvie shook her head and looked out the window. “It’s the ones you hear about through the grapevine, the ones too devious to have their true feelings and intentions in the open that you have to worry about.” She adjusted the pillow on her lap. “Do you know who the boys were?”
I nodded. “Yeah, one of them called the other by name. It was Benson Wellington, Chaz Cartwright, and Donavan Boucher. Bash recognized the others by voice.”
I saw the twitch near Sylvie’s eye as I named the boys and wasn’t surprised when she put the pillow down and pushed to her feet.
“Benson Wellington,” she began as she crossed the room to the liquor cart and filled a glass with amber liquid, “is a pain in the ass, just like his grandfather.” She lifted a glass to her lips and took a long sip. “What else did Benson say?”
“He mentioned his grandfather, actually. Said that he’d assured him that it’s just a matter of time before The Sisterhood is taken down.” My stomach roiled in disgust.
Sylvie took another long drink then put the glass down. She looked out the window and took a deep breath as if she were deciding something really important. When she looked back at me, there was steel in her gaze. “Elena,” she said and walked back to sit next to me again. “It isn’t fair to share this with you, but it isn’t fair not to.” She shook her head. “You don’t have the background or knowledge to be able to deal with it. You’ve been pushed into a world you’re going to have to scramble to learn.” Sylvie sighed and closed her eyes for a moment. “I’m so sorry you have to go through this.”
I swallowed hard and blinked rapidly. The stress of telling Sylvie shifted now, morphing into something deeper, something more tangible. This wasn’t just her reality, I realized, it was mine now, too. Whether I liked it or not, I was knee-deep in Alpha business and intrigue. A threat against The Sisterhood was a threat against me and mine. I gritted my teeth and forced my emotions down. “It’s not your fault,” I said quietly, even though my own words sent a twinge of pain through me. It might not be Sylvie’s fault that I was being sucked into all of this, but she had known of my origins and had kept it secret. I was still coming to terms with that. “I need to learn.”
“Okay, then here’s what you need to know.” Sylvie grabbed the pillow again and laid it on her lap. “The Sisterhood has existed in the shadows of the Alpha Council for hundreds of years. Wives of Alphas and other strong, connected women, came together over polite tea or sewing circles, right under the noses of the men, and started discussing the world as it was.” She smiled. “It started slow, so slow none of us even realized what it was for a very long time.”
I leaned forward, gripping my own pillow as she spoke. This was the history of The Sisterhood that wasn’t taught in a classroom. I was being trusted with an insider’s peek. I was being included in the history of our world. A shiver of excitement raced up my spine.
“We called ourselves The Sisterhood as a joke, but it stuck and now, well, now I couldn’t imagine it any other way.” Sylvie plucked at a loose string on the fabric. “We worked behind the scenes, we had to, women weren’t seen as equals. We still aren’t,” she said with a frown that creased her forehead. “So, we made suggestions over glasses of wine, listened attentively for political news, and helped steer the strong men in our lives in more…” she made a flourish with her hand, “palatable directions, shall we say.”
“You steered Pierre LaFlamme?” I asked in astonishment.
Sylvie laughed and shook her head. “Old Ones, no. Pierre was my true mate.” She swallowed hard and took a deep breath. “He saw me as his equal in every way and knew about The Sisterhood from its inception.” A ghost of a smile lifted her lips. “He helped us in so many ways.”
Pierre LaFlamme had been an inside man for The Sisterhood. My mother would die of exquisite pleasure when I told her. I frowned and bit my lip hard. I couldn’t tell her this even if I were speaking to her.
“When we came out last year, it wasn’t because we had any idea I would be named Alpha. It was because we had no choice. The Alpha Council as it had existed was destroyed by Malachi’s treachery and our society was in chaos.” She lifted her chin and arched an eyebrow. “But you know what they say. Every great change is preceded by chaos. It was time to step into the light.” Sylvie took a steadying breath and looked me straight in the eye. “What do you know about the Old Ones?”
I stared at her for a moment, then hesitantly said, “They’re our ancestors. They watch over us and keep our memories.” It was the basic line I’d been taught since childhood.
She nodded. “But do you believe in them? Are they real to you?”
I opened my mouth to say yes, then stopped. I couldn’t remember a time in my life that anyone had ever asked me this question, or a time I’d asked it myself. “I’m not sure,” I said honestly. “I’ve never really thought about it.”
“Brace yourself,” Sylvie said with a twinkle in her blue eyes. “The Old Ones are as real as you or I, but they aren’t what you’ve been taught. They’re a race of wolves, so ancient that we’ve relegated them to the realm of legend. The Geliget,” she said softly. “We call them The Guardians.”
I looked down at my hands. I’d heard of The Guardians. My Nan had whispered stories of them to me on cold winter nights when the power would go out and we’d make our beds around the roaring fireplace in the living room. She’d never said they were the Old Ones, though. “How do you know?”
“Well,” Sylvie said, drawing out the word. “Katherine’s husband is a Guardian.” She left it at that and just waited for my response.
“What?” I gaped at her and pictured the gorgeous man Katherine had married. Quinn Deschains was a treat for the eyes, as her mother often said, and a good man, as rumor had it. “How…?”
Sylvie chuckled. “I know, right. A lot to take in. So, two years ago, roughly, a rogue wolf started stalking the women of the LaFlamme family. Things got really complicated for a while. A hunter showed up in Montreal and we lost some wolves.” Her eyes went dull with the memory of grief. “And then humans started to die. It was a mess. We thought Jacob LittleFoot was involved, since he’d just staked his claim of Alphaship based on the law of first dominion.”
I remembered learning about that in school. Pierre had been granted Alphaship of the Americas when it had been a fledgling society of wolves. As far as he and the world at large was concerned, there had been no packs in the new world, but he’d been wrong. Everyone had been wrong. Jacob’s tribe and others had hidden from the Alpha Council for fear of annihilation and had decided it was time to step forward and claim their right to rule their own people. Jacob had been their choice for Alpha.
“Of course,” Sylvie continued, “as soon as we met Jacob and got to know him, we realized how wrong we were. He’s a good man, one I’m proud to call a friend. I can’t imagine sharing the Alphaship of Canada with anyone else.” She paused for a moment, then reached into a pocket I hadn’t noticed and pulled out her phone. “I think we should bring in an expert on the subject.” A moment later a video screen popped up, filled with a flurry of movement and red hair. “Kat?” Sylvie asked with a laugh.
“Mom?” Katherine’s frazzled face appeared on the screen for a split second before the phone was yanked out of her hands and a tiny, dirty face appeared on the screen.
“Nana!” A cherubic voice bursting with laughter sounded, followed by the sound of a resounding kiss. Full baby lips filled the screen.
“Hi, baby girl!” Sylvie cooed into the phone. Her entire face lit up as she asked questions of the little girl and responded to her babbling responses as if they were written in gold. “Is that right? Tell me more,” she prompted with wide eyes.
“Peek-a-boo Nana!” Eve covered her big blue eyes with chubby hands and giggled explosively when Sylvie pretended she’d disappeared.
“Hey, mom.” Katherine came back on screen, wiping her damp hair out of her eyes. “Sorry, I just got out of the shower. Eve was supposed to be napping, weren't you, little girl?” Katherine scooped up the giggling girl and rubbed their noses together. “Where’s daddy?”
“Sorry,” a masculine voice that I could only assume belonged to Quinn Deschains, who was apparently a legend come to life, sounded from behind Katherine.
I leaned closer to Sylvie to get a good look at the Guardian in the flesh.
“She threw her ball and it rolled down the hallway,” he explained as he stretched out his arms to Eve. The little girl practically launched herself into them and wrapped her chubby arms around her father’s neck. “Sylvie,” he leaned into view with a wide smile that was even more striking in person than in pictures. “How’s the powder?”
“I wouldn’t know,” Sylvie said with a grin. “The last time I went skiing, I ended up with a broken collarbone and dislocated shoulder. It’s not on my to-do list at the moment.”
Katherine laughed and nudged her husband over so she had center-screen. “Come on, Mom! You used to love skiing and, besides, that was Dad’s fault.” The laughter died on her lips. For a moment, Katherine looked dazed, then she glanced over at her daughter and smiled again. “It would be good for you. Maybe when you get home we can go for a day.”
“Maybe,” Sylvie agreed magnanimously. “But that’s not why I was calling. Elena’s here.” She tilted the screen so my face was visible.
Katherine looked surprised for a moment, probably as she took stock of what I’d seen and heard, then smiled widely. “Elena, how lovely to see you! Are you enjoying the powder at least?”
I nodded. “I went out last night. Nearly killed myself, but it was a lot of fun. You know, when I wasn’t landing in a tangled heap on the slopes.”
She laughed. “I’ve crashed and burned more than my fair share, so I get it.” Katherine glanced back at Sylvie. “Is there something I can help you with?”
Sylvie nodded slowly. “Yes, there is. It’s time Elena learned the truth about The Guardians and I thought it would be best to hear it straight from the source.”
There was a pause on the other end as Katherine looked off-screen, her eyebrows shooting up in silent question. A moment later, she took Eve in her arms and passed the phone to Quinn.
“Hello, Elena,” he said in a rumbling voice. “I’m Quinn. What has Sylvie told you about my people so far?” He moved away from his wife and child and took a seat near a window.
The early morning light poured in through sheer curtains behind him, giving Quinn Deschains an angelic glow. I couldn’t help but be awed by his beauty and the fact that he was the equivalent of a mythical creature. Not that I should judge someone by their mythical status, I realized with a quirk of my eyebrow. We were all wolf shifters, after all.
I took the phone Sylvie offered and blew out a slow breath. “Nothing, really.”
“Okay,” he said. “Here’re the Coles Notes. The Guardians are real. We come from an older line of wolves that have watched over wolfkind throughout history, guiding when necessary but mostly just watching and staying out of the way. Our kind have long memories and some of us are born with the ability to speak with the spirits of our ancestors.” He smiled crookedly. “You know them as the Old Ones.”
The air felt too thin, it was making my head swim. I stared at him and tried to reason through the too-simplified version of a history that made no sense to me. “So, the Old Ones aren’t alive?”
He shook his head slowly. “Not in a way you’d understand, anyway. But, to me, they’re as alive as either of us.”
“Which means you’re one of the Guardians who can speak with them?” My thoughts whirled. I’d heard my Nan pray to the Old Ones many times and had followed her example when I was a child. When I’d asked her about it, if they were real, she’d always said that they were real to her and that praying to them made her feel connected to the wolves that had come before. I wondered now if she knew more than she’d let on about them. My family had known my true origins and kept it from me, why not this as well?
Quinn nodded. “I’m what we call a dreamer. My kind are rare, even amongst The Guardians. The Old Ones help guide us, through dreams, like we guide your race.”
My race, I thought. Were we that different? I looked at Quinn, at his features, and saw only wolf. I frowned. “How exactly have The Guardians guided wolfkind?” I felt a tangible click of connection as I asked the right question.
His grin was quick. “Smart girl. When wolfkind was building its laws, establishing its society and forming the Alpha Council, The Guardians offered their guidance. Then, for a very long time, we stepped back, watched from a distance as wolfkind flourished.” His shoulder lifted and fell. “We stopped paying attention as much as we should have, though, and people like Malachi hid their lies well enough to slide by. His treachery, the death of all those wolves here in Canada, that was on us. So, when the council fell, with the help of The Sisterhood,” he shifted his gaze and I knew he was looking at Katherine again, “The Guardians decided it was time to become more involved again.”
My gaze shifted from Quinn to Sylvie, who had moved to another seat and was reading through some papers I hadn’t seen her walk in with. Was it a coincidence that she’d become the first female Alpha just when The Guardians had “decided” to become more involved? I mulled it over, considered asking outright, then decided to hold my tongue. Sylvie was more than deserving of the position and the monumental role of being the first female Alpha. I didn’t want to even insinuate that she’d received the honor for any reason other than her worthiness.
“So,” I said, giving myself a moment to recoup my thoughts. “Does that mean that The Guardians are coming out of the proverbial closet, so to speak?”
Quinn chuckled. “Not to the world at large, but the Alphas now know and their families. We hosted a gathering last year of the families in power and revealed the truth of our existence.” His mouth thinned and his head tilted. “It wasn’t a completely smooth coming out, but we’re working on it.”
My gut twisted at his words. All of the families in power. “Was Viktor there?” I asked in a steely voice.
I felt the weight of his sigh through the connection. “Yes, Elena. I didn’t get to speak with him, but he was in attendance.”
Seconds ticked off in my head as the memory of my uncle’s eyes, the same blue eyes I was born with, swam in my vision. I closed my eyes against it and took a deep breath. I was safe, he was gone, I reminded myself shakily.
Sylvie’s hand touched my arm and I looked up, surprised that she’d crossed the room without my hearing a sound. She smiled softly and took the phone from my white-knuckled fingers and quietly said her goodbyes to Quinn, Katherine, and Eve. I heard her words as if through a dozen thick blankets, muffled and dull.
When she’d hung up, Sylvie turned to me and said my name. The buzzing in my ears intensified as I tried to focus on her eyes. They were blue, I thought absently. So many blue eyes.
I nodded slowly as if my head weighed a thousand pounds.
“I’ve told you this because you’re part of a legacy now, part of what will make our world stronger. We’re not weak women, not anymore.” Sylvie said with eyes that blazed with determination. “We’ve literally got the wisdom and strength of the Old Ones on our side...”
It sounded wonderful, I thought in a vague dreamy way as I tried to hold on to
her words and the promise behind them. They were so pretty, but they slipped out of my mind like water through my fingers as the world faded to black as I fell into oblivion.
Chapter 9
I fainted in front of the Alpha.
I stared into the mirror in front of me and blew out a slow mortified breath. I’d awoken on the couch in Sylvie’s room, utterly devastated and unable to stop my cheeks from flaming in embarrassment. She, of course, had been magnanimous and concerned, so I’d mumbled something about being alright and fled.
Kill me now.
“Does this look alright?” Rory called out from across the room as she turned sideways in the long mirror and skimmed her hand over her short green skirt.
I pushed away the horrifying memory of my idiocy and glanced up at her in appraisal, taking in the flirty cut of the skirt and the sharp, posh lines of the black top. A devilish grin had my lips creeping up. “Oh, I dunno,” I said coyly. “I mean, it’s okay. If you want to stop Darius’ heart or have him chase you like a little puppy all night.” I added, almost as an afterthought, and shrugged.
Rory’s dark eyes flashed with satisfaction. “Then, I think, we’re done here.” She bent to pick up two choices of footwear and held them up.
“The boots,” I said without a second thought. They’d add a few inches to her diminutive stature and make her legs look a mile long. With that easy decision made, I turned back to my own mirror and considered the look I’d chosen.
The party, as far as Bash had assured us, would be casual dressy, which meant no jeans. I’d complained about that for an hour before caving and agreeing to go. Since we were on a skiing trip, I’d brought precious few fancy outfits, and only one that suited the occasion.
It was deceptively simple, at least on the rack. Rory had given it to me for Christmas, wrapped in a box with a big gold bow and a note that told me to wear it when I wanted to blow Bash’s mind. I’d thrown it in my suitcase for the trip on a whim, more because the fabric travelled well than for any real purpose.